Slightly Different Take on the Peonies

I said I'd be back and I meant it.  I found some other peonies (made using my Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp and die set) previously made and stashed for future use and paired them with some of the faux metal die cuts.  I decided to use some not so common techniques/layouts.  Here, I used a cream card.  Not much of a change, but it does make a different look.

For this card, I tried a very different background - stamped with a background stamp in London Fog ink.  My husband didn't like this card, but I like it because it is different.  Not my favorite, but appealing because it isn't my usual style.

I'm going to enter these cards in the following challenges:

City Crafter Challenge Blog - Week #343 - Hello 2017

Word Art Wednesday's Challenge Anything Goes Weeks 264 & 265

These cards will go into the stash with the others to be used as gifts and/or encouragement in the days to come.  I hope your new year is off with a crafty bang!  I'll be back just as soon as I can finish editing a bunch of pictures to share my 12 Days of Christmas.  All the bags should be opened today, so there won't be any spoiling of surprises.  See you soon!

A Very Peony Hello Card Set

I just love using Jennifer McGuire's faux metal embossing trick on die cuts.  Here, I used the technique to make the gold metal frame - having die cut with my stitched rectangle dies and then heat embossed to create the centerpiece for this floral arrangement.  The peonies were made using my Altenew Peony Bouquet stamp and die set.  I white embossed the flowers and leaves onto watercolor paper and then used my Mission Gold watercolors to fill in the color.  It created this lovely effect - very soft and much more stunning in person.

The little berries were stamped and die cut pieces I had laying around so I just pieced this all together.

I chose to make two different layouts - portrait and landscape.  I don't really have a preference since I typically enjoy a very symmetrical card so the landscape appeals and the portrait version really ends up having the nicest flowers.

I'm entering these cards into the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Anything Goes

Word Art Wednesday's Challenge 262-263 - Anything Goes

Yay - these were so fun to make, I am going to use the remaining bits on a couple more cards.  See you soon.

Teeny, Tiny Yarn Hats - A Christmas Tag Set

Brandy sent a photo of these adorable yarn hats to me and I couldn't resist a share.  Aren't they just the most adorable you've ever seen?  They are approximately 2.5 inches tall or so.  Instructions are similar to those found here though I truthfully don't know exactly who's instructions she followed.  I love the use of varigated yarn and can think of a bunch in my closet that could be put to good use!

Hope your 2016 is winding down in fine fashion.  We've a bit of excitement this weekend - a last minute planned trip to Las Vegas to see Sting at the Cosmopolitan for a New Year's Eve concert.  I won tickets through my work - thank you work!  We're driving up tomorrow to spend a whirlwind night and day before rushing back to send me on *hopefully* my last work trip for a while.  I will wish you and yours a very Happy New Year in case I don't make it back until next week!

2017 Scrapbook Calendar

Each year for the past five years, I have made a scrapbook calendar for my grandparents and a copy of the same for myself.  I typically used the Basic Grey calendar kit and always, always loved how they turned out.  You can find the posts here:

2013 for my grandma    2013 for myself
2014
2015
2016

It was dismay and shock when I realized that Basic Grey's going out of business in early 2016 meant that the 2017 calendar would need to be made without the help of a pre-layout kit.  Arghhhh!

This meant that I'd have to do without the easy assistance of instructions (something that shocked my Katie a few years ago when she realized I followed instructions rather than make up the pages myself).  So, I turned to Pinterest and followed some keen sketches and examples found there.

I used a 8 x 8 paper pad from Graphic 45 called Time to Flourish which had double sided pages with the calendar and then patterned papers.  I stamped the numbers using a Close to My Heart letter set and brown Archival Ink.  It surprised me how much I enjoyed the repetition of these pages - all 24 of them (a set for me and a set for my grandma).

Who could resist a picture from my grandparents 70th wedding anniversary - a kiss over the cake - for February's month of love...

Or a photo from 2016 - when my grandma turned 89.  This means that March will mark her 90th birthday which seems to me to be a crafting event waiting to happen!

Katie's 2016 prom dress matched the April page like it was meant to be.

 

One of my favorite pages.  We all gathered for the 70th wedding anniversary which gave me a chance at a family photo with my grandparents.  I simply loved this shot and couldn't help making it my favorite of the year.

I don't see myself ending this tradition anytime soon - making calendars is a joy and simple enough when you find the right tools.  I suppose as long as there is a blank calendar I can suck it up and make some creative layouts.  Hurry, it's not to late for you to do the same.  Just a few days left until 2017, but enough time for some scrapbooking fun.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of you,  this fine Christmas day!  I made the error of sending out all of my Christmas cards without taking a photo so I snapped these over at my mom's this afternoon.   The sentiment and garland stamps were made using my SSS For To Us which I stamped and white embossed onto watercolor paper.   I used my Mission Gold watercolors to color the image.

These cards were some of the most fun in card making I've had this year.  I'm hoping your celebrations were ever so fun,  too.  We're about to sit down,  so I'd better go help.

Merry Christmas to you!