Top 10 cards of 2014

Hi everyone,

I thought I would do my top 10 of the past year again, so here are my picks of 2014 which are in no particular order. If you would like to see more details about any card, just click on the link and it will take you to the original post.

I love Penny Black hedgie stamps and my first choice is a card I made last January



I love this cute hedgie blowing those heart bubbles and I thought it would be good for a Valentine card, an anniversary, or even engagement card if an appropriate sentiment was stamped inside.

This next card was for the Papertrey Ink 7th Anniversary celebrations where we were asked to make  a card and envelope combo:-




I really like the stripe impression plate used for this and I enjoyed  playing with the envelope because I'm not usually organised enough to decorate an envelope as well as make a card.



I think this card was my favourite one for the year :-)



I used a small stamp set from Clearly Besotted called Good Times and I stamped the butterflies several times and cut out a few pink ones to add some dimension. This one makes me happy!

I love seeing what people do with apertures and this card was inspired by a sketch on the Hero Arts blog



I used a tag to create the aperture and then stamped on the tag, coloured it, and placed it inside the card. Love the big die cut greeting.

We went to a number of weddings this year and this wedding card was fun to make



I love the die cut from PTI and I really enjoyed playing with the clothes - it took me back to playing 'dress up paper dolls'




It was my bloggy friend Darnell's birthday in July and I made this card for her



The card screams summer to me so it is perfect for a July birthday, especially when you live in drought prone California!

In August I took a class with Online Card Classes and made this card using techniques shown to us by Jennifer McGuire




I love this design and I'm also partial to the colour combination. I really like the Sweet Life stamp set from PTI but this was the first time I was able to get it lined up correctly so I was cheering this effort!

In September I needed a congratulations card for a very special young lady and came up with this card



I pulled out sentiments from lots of different stamp companies and made up this colourful greeting that I hoped would appeal to a teenager. She really was a superstar!

I really took to Clearly Besotted Stamps this year and here is another card, this time made with Steph's lovely Celebrating You stamp and die set





Finally, in November we celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary so I had to include this card  I made for my long suffering other half.



Papertrey Ink's scarlet jewel card and ink was perfect for a ruby wedding but I was unable to give a name to the stamp I used until Liz and Darnell came up with it for me. It is a House Mouse stamp call Together Under Moon - so cute!

Thanks for coming on a trip down memory lane with me and tomorrow I will be back with a Top 10 Christmas cards of 2014!

Hugs
Carol x

Clearly Besotted Christmas Tree card

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, or other happy holiday celebrations.We has a lovely but very busy time and I'm hoping that things will be a little quieter now until New Years Eve. I was lucky enough to get some luscious crafty goodies that I'm itching to play with, and I also want to do a clear up in my craft room and reorganise a few things before 2015 arrives.

We are up to week 4 at Christmas Card Challenges and this time Anything Goes. I do hope you are not all Christmassed out and will continue to join with us each week to make a holiday card that will make next Christmas so much easier for you.

I made this card using stamps and dies from Clearly Besotted and L'il Inkers on some kraft card

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Silhouette Cameo Christmas decorations and ornaments

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to share some of the Silhouette Cameo Christmas projects I have been playing with when I've had time in the past few weeks. I have had some Ribba frames from IKEA hanging around waiting for me to think up ways of using them, and I was inspired by an idea I saw on Pinterest to try a Christmas light box;-

I used several coats of frosting spray on the glass to make it opaque so that the wires on the lights I was going to put behind it wouldn't show, but this didn't work so I put some frosted vinyl behind the glass instead. The image on the front was from the Silhouette Store and I cut it from vinyl in 2 different colours before transferring it to the front of the glass. I then took a string of battery lights and stapled them to the inner frame making sure the battery box didn't get cought up. I put the back of the frame back and stuck the battery box to the back so the batteries can be changed as necessary. This is how it looks when switched on:-

I wanted to make a bauble for my eldest son and his partner who are having their first Christmas in their new home, so I bought one of those flat, clear baubles to play with. I typed the greeting in the Silhouette Studio software and cut it out in aqua coloured vinyl before transferring it to the bauble.

On the other side, I added a snowflake before filling it with snow and adding a bow at the top.

An idea for the next ornament also came from Pinterest and this time I used a round glass bauble so it is a little more delicate. I cut a bauble shape from acetate that was just a bit smaller than the diameter of the bauble. Then I  cut a nativity scene from black vinyl and stuck it to the acetate before inserting it into the bauble and adding some snow. A bow on the top finished it off, but it was hard to get a good photo!

I wanted to make up some pedicure gift bags to put in Christmas stockings this year and I used a bag topper idea I got from the Silhouette Store:-

Love those painted toes - they really tickle my fancy!

Finally I'd like to thank you for your support and for visiting my blog and leaving such nice comments throughout the year.

 I hope you have a very happy and peaceful Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Holly Jolly Christmas snowglobe card

Hello everyone and a very warm welcome to Lynn of Lynnpenguin's Creative Corner blog, who is a recent new follower. Lynn is on a number of Design Teams and scrapbooks as well as making awesome cards, so you are sure to find some inspiration when you visit her. Welcome too to Jennifer who is a new follower but I cannot find a link to you Jennifer, so I would just like to thank you for joining us.

The time has come for my last card for the Holly Jolly Christmas Design Team as I am stepping down at Christmas. I'd like to thank Cindy who offered me my first try at a Design Team, and all my Teamies for their encouragement over the past year.

I used this Snowglobe image from Eureka, printed it on to acetate, and also printed it onto white card. I colored the card and embossed the sentiment with a wonderful new embossing powder from WOW which gives amazing shine and dimension. I placed the acetate over the image and put it behind a frame of blue card which I embossed with a snowflake embossing folder. The card looked a bit plain at this stage so I added a couple of robins on opposite corners to sing the Carol.

I'll keep it short and sweet today because I know we are all so busy in this run up to Christmas.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Penguin Christmas card for Christmas Card Challenge

Hello everyone,

Only 4 sleeps until the big day and I'm chasing my tail to get everything done. Our choir has just finished the last few performances before Christmas so I should have more time to spend at home and start wrapping! We sang at a Hospice Service the other day and it was so moving. They have a service to light their outdoor Christmas Tree and invite everyone who has had a bereavement to come along. Each person is given a candle, and as the tree is turned on, a candle flame is passed from person to person and they are invited to remember their loved one, and give thanks for the time they shared with them. Although the service is very moving, it isn't at all maudlin and I am so thankful for Hospice Services that help so many people.

It is time for week 3 over at Christmas Card Challenges .where this time the theme is penguins and we were given this sweet picture to inspire us

I came up with this card using a very cute penguin but I'm afraid he is one of the stamps that I removed from a wooden block, and the name of the stamp has been lost in my chaos.

I kept it simple and used a Papertrey Ink snow stamp to create the background, then added a Penny Black tree just off the left hand side. I cut the snowbank and embossed the greeting in Wow embossing powder. The penguin was stamped and coloured, then I fussy cut him so he could skate down the bank on a frosty path that I added with some snow glitter.

If you are making last minute cards, why not pop over to my talented Design Team friends to get some great inspiration. Our challenge is for any kind of Christmas card and the theme is just for inspiration, so if you don't have penguin image, you can still join us.

                Alanna     Donna     Gail    Heather     Jessica     JoAnn     Lisa  
                                     Margo     Marsha     Monica     Shirley Anne     Tenia





I can't resist entering this into the

 Casology Challenge which is - snow

A Creative Need - playing with snow

Christmas at Sweet Stampin - winter sports

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x

Clearly Besotted CAS Christmas card

Hello everyone,

Only eleven sleeps to Christmas Day and I'm sure that, like me, you are busy with all the preparations so I'll keep this short and sweet. We are on to week to over at Christmas Card Challenge 

                

and this time we are asking you to make a Clean and Simple card. I came up with this one

I used my new Clearly Besotted Ornamental Style stamps and dies and the sentiment is from their Most Wonderful set. I chose non traditional colours for this and I quite like how they go together.

Why not join us this week and if you click on the DT names below you will find lots of wonderful inspiration.

                             Alanna     Donna     Gail    Heather     Jessica     JoAnn     Lisa
                                     Margo     Marsha     Monica     Shirley Anne     Tenia

Thanks for stopping by.


Hugs
Carol x

Christmas table setting

Hello everyone, and a very warm welcome to Kristen of a Simply Enchanted Life, who is a new recent follower. Kristen is a stay at home Mum to 6 girls and her blog includes recipe ideas and book reviews. This busy lady also makes jewelry and handmade bath and body items to sell in her online shops.

Well today it is time for the final challenge of the year over at Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge

and this time it is a month long challenge with 2 themes, firstly - an anything goes Christmas card, and secondly - anything but a card. This week I am sharing my anything but a card. I chose to use a pretty Christmas candle image from Fitztown called Winter 2 and made my Christmas table place settings.

I reduced the size of the image to make my placecards and cut them out with a Papertrey Ink placecard die and stamped the matching border image on it. I finished them off by stamping the names on the cards with the AveryElle Lovely Letters alphabet stamp set, and a little holly stamp.

For the napkin holders, I simply coloured the candle images, cut them with a circle punch, and added a backing layer with a scallop punch. I made a tube of thin card to push the napkin through and adhered the focal image.

And finally, I cut out a gable favour box on my Silhouette Cameo, and added another circle focal image with a couple of background layers on the front.

I know we are all really busy at this time of year but I really enjoyed playing with these simple ideas that are easy to make multiples of, and I hope they will look good on my Christmas table.

Thanks for stopping by, and while you are here, why not pop over to the Holly Jolly Christmas Challenge and see what my talented Team mates have for your inspiration.

Hugs

Carol x

Papertrey Ink Christmas Card for Christmas Card Challenges

Hello everyone,

I'm delighted to say that I have been asked to join the Sparkle's Sunday Christmas Card Challenge Blog Design Team, and I'd like to thank Alanna for the opportunity to work with such a talented group of people. Week one is a colour challenge and Alanna gave us this lovely photo for inspiration

I came up with this card

using Papertrey Ink Polka Dot Parade 9 die and stamps, and Lawn Fawn Stitched Scalloped Border die. The sentiment is from Clearly Besotted, stamped with dark grey ink. Although I have popped the central panel on foam pads to give a bit of dimension, it still is flat enough to mail at normal postal rates which is always a bonus.

Why not join us over at Christmas Card Challenges and you can access each of the Design Team@s creation by clicking on the links below.

  Alanna
   Donna  
  Gail
  Heather  
  Jessica      
  JoAnn  
  Lisa
  Margo  
  Marsha
  Monica  
  Shirley Anne
  Tenia

I'd like to enter this into he challenge over at

Addicted to Stamps and More - CAS

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol x