Year in Review

Happy New Years Eve!

I wanted to fill this day with 'something'.... thought it would be fun to look back over this year and pick out a favorite card I created from each month.

Here we go:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

That's it! I hope you have enjoyed this look back at the best of 2011. Do you have a favorite of the 12 cards that I have posted?  If so, please tell me which one when you make your comment.

Thanks so much for a great year - Now, onto 2012!

Calendar Girls--Secret Word

 
It is the 28th, so I am here to welcome you to another round with the Calendar Girls!

Who are the Calendar Girls? We are a group of bloggers who want to have a place where friendships blossom, creativity abounds, and encouragement prevails! In keeping with that dream, this blog group has been created so we will have a place to interact and enjoy being fellow bloggers. 

This month, our organizer Jeanette posted the following for December - Who loves a secret? I know I do! Let's have a secret ONE-WORD challenge. This is how it will work. Each Calendar Girl will come up with a one-word challenge for the Calendar Girl who follows her on the list. It can only be ONE WORD, but it can be any word (glitter, three, apple, blue, holiday, sponging, friendship.... whatever word you choose!) Then secretly email or PM that ONE WORD challenge to the next person on the list and she will create a card that in some way represents that word.

So, the sweet Terry was to send a word to me—the word was TISSUE!  And I sent a word to Carol;  you will have to check her blog to see what the word was and what she created.  Back to my word—Tissue.  Are you kidding me—tissue?  What am I to do with that word?  I even whined a bit on the thread, but got no sympathy.  So, I created a get well card, with a box of tissues and used white mulberry paper behind the image to look like real tissues.  How did I do with the secret word?

This is a close up of the sentiment. I used three layers of ribbon—Espresso on the bottom, then Daffodil and Cobber on the top.

Image/Sentiment—Unity Heart Times

Cardstock—PTI White; Stampin’ Up Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight; White Mulberry Paper

Ink—SU Cherry Cobbler

Accessories—SU Cherry Cobbler and Daffodil Delight Ribbon; Espresso Ribbon (unknown company); Cherry Cobbler Brads; Nesties Tag

Please check out the blogs of all of the Calendar Girls—there are 10 of us, so it might take you a bit. I am sure you will enjoy all of the creations made with the secret words!

Snowshoes and Cardinals in Woods for Forest Swap

Christmas Greetings

This is the second of the two swap cards I made for Jeanette’s current forest swap on SCS—the theme is “What we can do in the Forest”.  I think this Northwoods Stamp is so pretty—I saw it on a display board at a recent stamp show and knew that I needed to get it.  We do have snowshoes and hope it snows soon so that we can use them and maybe see some wildlife in the woods for real!

I took a close up picture of the card so you can see the glimmer of the paper as well as the stickles of snow on the trees and ground.

Image/Sentiment—Northwoods Rubber Stamps Snowshoes and Cardinals in Woods

Cardstock—SU Handsome Hunter; Gina K White, Rocket Red; My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found Christmas Tinsel DSP

Ink—Memento Black

Accessories—Mini Gold Brads; Copics, Stickles

Peaceful Wishes in the Forest

This is the one of the two swap cards I made for Jeanette’s newest forest swap on SCS—the theme is “What we can do in the Forest”.  I love her swaps and all of the people—friends—that are in the thread.  This is one of my favorite Stampin’ Up sets.  I stamped off a couple of the branches for the base of the card.

Image/Sentiment—Stampin’ Up Peaceful Wishes

Cardstock—SU Always Artichoke, Bravo Burgundy; Gina K Ivory

Ink— SU Always Artichoke

Accessories— SU Bravo Burgundy ribbon and brads

Whipper Snapper Love Bear

Here we go again with another Whipper Snapper card—I guess living less than 20 minutes from the home store is one of the reasons why I love them so much!  There is red crystal lacquer on the hearts above his head.

Image/Sentiment—Whipper Snapper Love Bear

Cardstock—SU Creamy Carmel, Pink Pirouette; Basic Grey Sugared DSP; Gina K White

Ink— Palette Black

Accessories—Crystal Lacquer; Pink and Brown Ribbons; Pink Brads; Copics

When Live Gives you Lemons

Today I am posting a card made by another favorite company of mine—Penny Black. This little guy is trying hard to get the lemons zested for lemonade or even for a stronger drink! There is a tiny pink brad on his nose.

Image/Sentiment—Penny Black Live Gives you Lemons; Serendipity Stamps for the sentiment

Cardstock—SU Basic Gray, Yo Yo Yellow, Real Red; Gina K White

Ink— Palette Gray

Accessories—Yellow button; Nestabilities; Punches; Tiny Pink Brad; Copics

Thank You Card

I am ready for some pastel colors and I thought this is a perfect fit!

Image/Sentiment—Stampin’ Up Polka Dot Punches, Wonderful Words

Cardstock—SU Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Raspberry Tart DSP; Gina K White

Ink— SU White Craft Ink, Rose Red

Accessories—Pearl Brad; Pearls in center of flower;  Pink Taffeta Ribbon; White Gel Pen; Punches

Pocket Thank You Card

Pocket cards are one of the favorite types of cards to make—and this one all came together with the brown color combinations.  There is a bit of paper piercing on the corner of the pink square.

Image/Sentiment—Stampin’ Up Say it with Scallops

Cardstock—SU Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral, Creamy Carmel and DSP; Gina K Vanilla

Ink— SU Chocolate Chip

Accessories—SU Stylized Silver Brad; Polka Dot Ribbon; Punches

Congratulations on Your Retirement

I do love being retired—as you can sure tell by the name of my blog!  This is a card I made for a friend who is retiring at the end of this year—let the fun begin!

Image/Sentiment—Stampin’ Up Congrats

Cardstock—SU Always Artichoke, Manchester DSP; Gina K Vanilla

Ink— SU Always Artichoke

Accessories—Green Brads; Tag Nestabilities; Green Ribbon

Another Snowman from Whipper Snapper Desisgns

And here is another Whipper Snapper card!  I think this is the very first Whipper Snapper stamp I ever purchased more than 10 years ago and the first homemade Christmas cards was made with this cutie.

Image/Sentiment—Whipper Snapper Snowman Angel

Cardstock—SU Baroque Burgundy; Shimmer Gold (not sure of company, but it is from Target); Gina K White

Ink—Palette Black

Accessories—Snowflake Brad; Copics; Punches; Gold Nail heads

Free Snowman Hugs!

I do love my Whipper Snapper stamps and this cutie is one of my favorite images.  I think that WSD does such a wonderful job designing snowmen and they make such a cute card!

Image/Sentiment—Whipper Snapper Snowman Hugs

Cardstock—Bazzill Bling browns and greens; Gina K White

Ink—Palette Black

Accessories—Copics; Snowflake Brad; Punches; Brown Sparkly Ribbon

Crafty Gals Challenge Debut Card

 Inside Sentiment:

Welcome to the Crafty Gals Challenge Debut!  The Crafty Gals are a group of bloggers who will participate in monthly challenges, posted on the 5^th of every month.  We also chat on our favorite site—SCS.  Melina organized the group and I know it will be a nice, welcoming environment for us Gals to come and feel comfortable.

For our first post and the December challenge, Melina posted the following:  THE POWER OF THREE!  Make a holiday card keeping the number 3 in mind. Everything on your card has to be in 3's. 3 layers (card base does NOT count as a layer), 3 stamped images (or an image with 3 things on it), 3 embellishments (3 buttons, 3 ribbons etc. or 1 ribbon, 1 pearl, and 1 brad etc). Not 1 Not 2 Not 4....Your minimum is 3 and your maximum is 3!  Oh yes, and no words or sentiments on the front of your card. Your sentiment must be on the inside. So, if you're making a Christmas card, you must tell them Merry Christmas on the inside, not the front!

I was able to ink up a new stamp set—Tailored Expressions Winter Wonderland--and the matching snowflake die set.  It is a great stamp set and I love how the dies work with the various snowflakes in the set.  I know it will be used more in the future.  The sentiment on the inside of the card is from the same fun set.

Image/Sentiment— Tailored Expressions Winter Wonderland

Cardstock—PTI Ivory; Stampin’ Up Pacific Point, Bashful Blue; Authentique Jaunt Designer Paper;

Ink—SU Pacific Point

Accessories— Tailored Expressions Winter Wonderland Snowflakes Die; Tim Holtz Snow Flurries Embossing Folder; Rhinestone Brads

Please check out the blogs of all of the Crafty Gals—there are 11 of us, so it might take you a bit.   I am sure you will enjoy all holiday creations and I hope you get to meet some new crafty-bloggers!  All of the blogs are listed on my left sidebar. Thanks for joining us!!!!!!!

It's a Cupcake Kind of Day!

This time of year is full of sweets and all types of yummy foods!  But, a birthday is a special day to celebrate and it is for sure a Cupcake Kind of Day!

Image/Sentiment—Impression Obsession Cupcake; Cupcake Kind of Day

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Regal Rose, Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal; PTI White; Basic Grey Cupcake DSP

Ink—Palette Black; SU Regal Rose

Accessories—Copics; Apricot Ribbon; Cuttlebug Lines and Dots; SU Crystal Effects

Think Pink Card

This is a card I recently made for a friend who is going through chemo right now.  Many of you know how I love this line of stamps and I do have many of their awesome stamps.  I hope you enjoy this one too!

Image/Sentiment—Paper Inspirations Survivor Calligraphy

Cardstock—Stampin’ Up Pink Passion, Pink Pirouette, Shimmery White

Ink—SU Pink Passion

Accessories—Pink Ribbon; Cuttlebug Vines; White Brads; Corner Punch

Christmas has Arrived--the Transformation!

Good Morning--Happy December!

The transformation has begun at the house and is about 75% complete.  I thought I would share some pictures of what I have been doing the past few days, instead of playing with paper, ink and stamps!

Tuesday morning--Here is a picture of some--most of the boxes of ornaments for the main tree and the themed trees. They are packed full of ornaments--each of the sections has more than one in it.

This is the main tree--all done.  It takes about a full day to complete and the topper was added this morning.

Yes, it is packed full of ornaments--people always ask how many are on it and each year I try to count, but give up after the first hundreds.  Many of the ornaments are handmade and some are very old.  I have a couple from Germany that are more than 100 years old and I treasure them.

This is my Green Bay Packer tree that sits on one of the window ledges--and it does have a couple of 2011 Super Bowl Champions ornaments on it!

I have many sport themed ornaments, being a coach for more than 20 years, so this silver tree sits on the hearth of the fireplace.

I love Boyd's Bear ornaments.

I also have collected Wisconsin Badger ornaments and have kept the roses that I had on it  last year as I know the football team will win on Saturday night and go to the Rose Bowl again!

I hope you enjoyed a stroll around my house this morning, looking at my trees.  I still have a couple of more smaller trees to go--the purple/silver one in the bedroom and in the basement family room a red/white/blue one, a farm themed tree and a German one.  We are also putting a tree in our new greenhouse.  We are having our annual holiday cocktail party Saturday night, so all will be complete later today.  That means tomorrow, I might be able to get inky!

Thanks for joining me in my home--I wish you could visit for real some day!