Top 10 cards of 2012 and top 4 for Christmas

Hello everyone.

Happy New year to you and your families, and a very warm welcome to Victoria who is a new follower this week.

Well the festivities are over for another year and I have loved spending time with friends and family, but I won't be sorry to get back into some kind of routine. Like many of us, I have over indulged in yummy food and will be glad to get back to healthy eating in order to shift the weight that crept on over the last month or so. I will also be glad to get in some crafting time and want to use some of the gorgeous crafty gifts I received but haven't had time to play with yet.

As I haven't had time to make something new yet, and quite frankly, I feel too tired after New Years Eve celebrations to be creative, I thought I'd look over the past year and pick out my 10 favourites before moving on to some new makes for the coming year. I warn you that this is a long post and you may need a cup of coffee to sustain you on the journey - or you could just scroll quickly through to the end! There is a link to the original posting if you want to know more about each card.

I made this card in January for some friends who were going on a cruise and it was one of the first that I made using my Silhouette Cameo machine

I loved that I found a way to use the little anchor charm that had been in my stash for ages.

The next card  was made for a friends new baby

This used Papertrey Ink materials and I loved stamping the hearts to make the background. I decoupaged the baby's blanket to give a little dimension.

The next card was made for Valentine's Day and was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest

The stamps I used belonged to a friend, but I loved them so much that I had to get them and they are now sitting in my stash!

This card was made for my friend Angie's birthday

and I really like how the bow turned out because I usually struggle to get them right.

The next card was made whilst I took an on line course in using the Silhouette Cameo.

 I was so pleased that I could make a shaped card and this seemed so right for a new baby card.

Next up is a card I made for a Papertrey Ink blog hop

I like this because I used a colour scheme that is way outside my comfort zone and mixed and matched a variety of dies

The next one is a really simple design and can be altered for so many occasions

I love the simple star embossed background - especially as the embossing folder came free on a magazine!

This card was made for the wedding of one of my oldest friends

and the tree shape was cut out on my Cameo. I was so impressed with how it can cut such intricate shapes, and I also tried colouring a button with Copic markers to make it match the colour scheme.me.

The next card was made using the Papertrey Ink zipper die

You pull up the strip that has the arrow on it and a sentiment is revealed underneath! The people at PTI are so clever.

The last of the cards is another one cut on the Cameo

I had great fun cutting the birdcage aperture and frame, and trying to get the cage to have some dimension. But most of all I loved putting the two little birds in the cage! I'm still not too sure about the colour scheme though but they were the colours we were asked to use for the challenge.

I made a lot of Christmas cards this year, but for the first time I made multiples of some of them.

 This one was particularly easy to replicate 

using punched circles and the stamped crackle background.

I discovered a love for the PTI colour 'scarlet jewel' this year and used it on this card

I love how rich and bold it is.

The next card was also easy to batch make and was made with a bird stamp that was not from a Christmas set.

I gave him a party hat and some notes to sing.

My final card was in my last post and is a favourite because it included stamps and dies sent to me by Ann and introduced me to a new (to me) Company called Wplus9

as well as the lovely scarlet jewel colour again.

Thank you for staying with me and for all your kind comments and encouragement over the past year.

Hugs

Carol x

PS I just realised that every single card used Papertrey Ink materials of some kind. I truly am addicted and admit to my problem!!!!