A Baby Girl Shower Card

I had an inspiration to use some of the same card design from this card and my old Stamps of Life stamp set with baby peas.  This stamp layers color and I decided to go monochromatic using some olive green ink to match the softness of the light pink in the papers and sentiment. 

I ended up making a couple of these cards, thinking that they will be a useful addition to the stash.  I used the same dies and layered the image up in the same way - keeping the assembly line process simple.

On the inside of one I stamped this sentiment and image, coloring the umbrella with my Clean Color Brush Markers.  So simple, but a nice add.  This will help me in the future, but leaving one without a clear sentiment allows it to be assigned for any purpose.

I had so much fun, I decided to die cut some more frames and I'm going shopping in my stash for a third new baby stamp set to see if I can shake up the front design a bit.  More on that to come

A Special Birthday Card

I have so enjoyed having a little more downtime through the holidays.  It made me want to go shopping in the stash for bits and pieces to see if I could put together some cards without much effort.  Both of these cards I'm sharing today were made from die cuts previously made for other cards and left as excessive from those endeavors.  This first one uses some Heartfelt Creations Poppy flower die cuts, Prickly Pear Mini-Butterflies die cuts and a gold flake covered frame.  I paired it with some patterned paper in the stash and am really proud of how delicate those flowers look with their Prill centers.

This next card is an almost exact duplicate of this card made for my SIL's Kentucky Derby inspired birthday celebration.  I figured there was no reason not to make this second card with all the leftover bits and pieces. 

So much fun and now my husband has caught on to the fact that I can "shop" my stash and make something pretty.  Hmmmm, on second thought that might not have been such a bright idea.  Oh well, I'll just have to keep crafting with what I have for a bit.

Watercoloring Peonies Buds

I had previously stamped some of these Peony buds onto Bristol cardstock and kept them in the stash for a fun coloring day.  No masking, just strategic stamping.

Ultimately, I decided to play with my Mission Gold watercolors.  I layered up the colors, eliminating blooms as I went (not all, but some) and intensifying the color.  That means that I spent several hours coloring this image as I let the paint dry between layers.

I'm not as happy with this yellow as I think it ended up being very flat in color and appearance.  Still, I enjoyed the process and learned as I went.

I also am not fully content with the chunky glitter frames on either card - I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and in the end I think they take away from the delicate nature of the flowers and the watercoloring of the image.

Live and learn - I need to take more chances creatively than I usually do.  For that, I'm pleased with how these both turned out.

Some Bunny Is On the Way

I was feeling particularly "pinky" after all those Christmas card and gift projects.  I knew I'd need a couple of baby cards and so I decided to combine an image and sentiment from my Lawn Fawn Hello Baby stamp set with some different layered patterned paper die cuts for simple designed baby cards.

I used my Clean Clear Brush watercolor pens to color the bunny and give him something to sit on.  This was a quick color - nothing fancy because the stamped image is so adorable.

I was a little nervous that I might boof the stamped sentiment or hearts and so I colored two versions.  I decided to use them both so that I could add two cards to the stash.

Super fun and inspiring with a different color palette.  Hoping your New Year started off well.  Mine sure did with this fun crafting time spent on my day off.



I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge Something New
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge Something New

Annual 12 Days of Christmas Post

I wanted to share my version of the 12 Days of Christmas gifts with you again this year.  This is another tradition that I have been doing for several years.  It started with friends who stopped by every day for the 12 days before Christmas one year.  I'm never quite that good so I have made it a habit to bring 12 gifts for my niece and nephews to enjoy.  This year, I pared down the gift giving - my niece and nephews are getting kind old for it.  I made this set for our good friends who have children that span the ages. 

I used my Graphic 45 12 Days of Christmas stamp set again this year.  I chose a warm color theme based on some patterned paper in the stash.  These bits are the last of a set of patterned papers purchased for cards prior to 2011.  I think it was time to put to good use, don't you?

The brown paper lunch bags were stamped with emblems from my Pretty Pink Posh Stamptember Damask Greetings stamp set using brown Archival ink.   The centers are gems and metal embellishments that I adhered with my heat tool similar to this.  I can't for the life of me remember why I don't use this more often.  It worked great and these bags seemed much more decorative because of it. 

The back of the tag included a teaser of sorts that the kids could use to guess what was included in the prize.  The 4 calling birds always bring handmade cards (more on that in a minute), but I'm guessing the kids won't remember what they are because they probably don't enjoy that gift as much as mom or dad....

This year I decided to go a little bit bigger than usual so some of the gifts took up more space.  I used some kraft handle bags to spice it up.

For the cards from the calling birds, I used my Clearly Besotted Stamptember My Best Friend stamp set to create this beautiful spray of flowers.  Everyone could use a good set of thank you cards and I thought these were quite wonderful once finished.  A one layer card that makes gifting easy.

One of the gifts was apple cider and this mix spice it up.  I just love things in mason jars with a cute little tag, don't you?  I ended up make several of these and dispersing at work too.  So fun!

































I ended up filling two trays of gifts this year.  A photo of them under the Christmas tree right before Christmas giving began...

One other treat, my daughter has a boyfriend this year.  A young man with a good heart who brings her home to see her mama occasionally.  We thought that every young man paying his way through college (not so common these days, actually!) needed some good supplies for the coming days.  This is why we filled his bags with an assortment of practical supplies in quantities matching the day - like 1 roll of toilet paper, 2 Dove bottles of shampoo/conditioner, 3 chicken noodle soup cans, 11 different candies, and a Chick-fil-A calendar for 12 months of free treats (he particularly loves Chick-fil-A, so I thought that brilliant!!).

Unfortunately our college bound young man has more gifts that can fill his tray, so he's carrying a couple extra wrapped gifts (that is a very heavy box of ten (10!) capri sun drinks) back to college next week.  Hopefully, he'll think it fun and useful.

Sending our wishes for an excellent start of the new year as we wrap up pictures from a few of these older projects.