New Year's Eve

Yes, the hours are counting down to the end of another year.  Have you taken time out to review 2012 and consider changes you might want to make to the coming year?  Sometimes that can be a really gut-wrenching situation, but it can also be very enlightening on how you want to live the next 12 months.  Whew, that's getting pretty deep there.  Hope I haven't lost you yet!  Instead of being too introspective, let's look ahead to the coming year with Stampin' Up!  The new Spring Mini Catalog is coming up in just 3 days!  How exciting is that?!  Today I have a card to share using some of the new products, and boy do I love them!  Hope you do too.

Stamps:  En Francais, Hearts a Flutter, and Happy Valentine Heart
Ink:  Real Red, Crumb Cake, and Early Espresso
Paper:  Very Vanilla, Real Red, and Crumb Cake
Accessories:  Big Shot with Honeycomb TIEF, Hearts a Flutter Framelit Dies, Full Heart Punch, Small Heart Punch, Rhinestone Basic Jewels, Crumb Cake 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon, Sponge Daubers, and Dimensionals

So, whatdya think?  Some pretty cool new products there, right?  Don't you just 'love' the new heart stamps?  And I'm so tickled that the lacy heart stamp has a Framelit to match - along with a bunch of other Framelits to match all the Hearts a Flutter stamps.  That just makes the stamping so much easier!  What card doesn't look better with a few popped-up accent pieces?

And did you notice the cool Honeycomb embossing folder?  It's so versatile.   I can see that's going to be getting quite a workout with my stamping.

Now we're going to have to talk on January 3rd about that cute little Happy Valentine Heart stamp.  It comes as a bundle with some cello bags to make quick and easy treat/gifts.  You'll just love it!

Ok, this is it for this year.  Full Steam Ahead in 2013!  Wishing you a creative, happy new year!!

Season of Giving

Oh my, can you believe I'm posting two days in a row?  Yowza!  Since Christmas time is the season of giving to others, I thought it would be a good time to post a card using the Ronald McDonald House stamp set.  It always makes me feel good when I can give to help others in less fortunate circumstances.  And purchasing this year's stamp set called Moving Forward gives a $3 donation to Ronald McDonald House Charities.  It's a win-win for everyone!

Stamps: Moving Forward
Ink:  Gumball Green pad, Midnight Muse marker
Paper:  Whisper White, Midnight Muse, and Gumball Green
Accessories:  Midnight Muse Stitched Ribbon

This is a very simple child's card that stamped up in a jiffy.  The marker was used to color the little dots on the main image, and also color the curly trail behind it.  The strip of Gumball Green cardstock was added to give it a little more color and suggest the ground beneath.

Thanks for stopping in today.  Just closing out a few items before the end of the year.  Have a great weekend and a restful Sunday!  Sharon

 

 

Christmas Gifts

I bet you thought I was long gone by now.  It's been a rough month of lousy health and laying low (like either bed or sofa!!).  I finally got out of the house on the 22nd, but it was to go to the funeral of a very sweet woman from church.  Christmas was tiring, but oh so wonderful, spent with our family.  What could be better than little ones enjoying Christmas?  So that's been my month so far.   Not exactly as planned, but it is what it is.  I had mentioned sharing the pictures that I made for my daughter and 2 sisters.  Luckily I made them in November before the bronchitis and pneumonia hit me for a loop!  Today I'm finally getting around to sharing them.  The first one is the original one I made for my younger sister, and I made one for myself too.  Here it is...

Instead of a listing of all the materials and products used, I'll just give a little explanation here.  The frame has an opening of 11"x14".  The cardstock used on the background is Primrose Petals.  The Designer Series Paper is Be Of Good Cheer and one square of each of the different prints was used.  The cardstock layer behind the DSP is Cherry Cobbler.  The lettering on this one was done on the Cricut by a friend of mine - no idea of the cartridge name.  Accents were made on the Big Shot with Champagne Glimmer Paper and other items.  That's the basics for you.

 This blue version was made for my daughter who has decided to use blue and silver for all her Christmas decorating, so I went along with her wishes.  The lettering here was made with the retired SU! Serif Essentials Bigz Die set that I'll hang on to probably forever!  I had to hit the stores looking for printed papers that would, hopefully, fit her ideas!  I used Bashful Blue cardstock for the background and Marina Mist for the layering. I laid out the lettering and accents for the picture pretty much the same as the original one, just changing the colors as needed.

My older sister loves purple.  No, that's not quite right.  My older sister LOVES purple in any of it's many shades and hues.  Now you get the idea!  Luckily the printed paper package I got for my daughter had even more purples than blues in it, so I was set for this picture too.  The background cardstock I used was Wisteria Wonder and it blended perfectly with all these different purples.  I dug into my retired cardstock and found Concord Crush cardstock that blended well with everything.  I also used that color of ink for the mug ang 'merry'.

Ok, that pretty much covers the info on these picture gifts.  Thanks for coming back to see if I'm still here.  Now that I'm on the mend, I hope to be hanging out here more often.  Hope your Christmas was wonderful and wishing you a very blessed New Year.  Sharon