Top 10 Favorite cards 2019

Hello friends,

I'm back with my favourite non-Christmas cards of 2019 to share in this lull between Christmas and New Year. They are in no particular order and there is a link for each card that will take you to the original post if you want to see more information about them.

We needed several new baby cards this year and I really liked how this one turned out. It almost ended up in the bin because I messed up when colouring the cute bunny. Instead, I stamped and coloured another one which I glued at the bottom to give a bit of dimension and I was quite pleased with the 'save'!




This second card is the one I made for my Granddaughter's first birthday. She loves looking at the Very Hungry Caterpillar book so this was ideal for her. I used the Silhouette Cameo to cut the caterpillar, letters and the cloud-shaped top. I really enjoyed inking that sky!





I needed to make a big card for my friend Zoe who had a big spring birthday this year. We are in the same reading group and it needed to be big enough for all the group to sign. I used an 8x8 inch card base and the Papertrey Ink Tulip Time stamps and dies to create the bouquet which was perfect for the season, and as I need a lot of practice with layering stamps, I was pleased with how the tulips turned out.




This one is a very simple card but I was so pleased with how the inky background paper turned out. The anchor came free with a magazine and I cut it and stacked it four times before adding glossy accents to give it an enamelled look.





I made this card for my youngest son's birthday. He occasionally does some DJ work so I was delighted to find this turntable die from MFT. I made it into a DJ double deck and used double-sided card so that it will fold up to go in an envelope. I tell you, small things make me happy and I love that the records go round and the arms move off and on the record lol!





I love the WPlus9 Unforgettable stamp set with the adorable elephant in it and pulled it out again to make this new baby card. You just can't go wrong with this set and I just inked up a sky background for him to come floating from with his bunch of balloons.




I practised again with layering stamps on this Peruvian Lily get well card. The stamp set is from the Altenew Build a Flower series and this is a favourite cutting flower in my garden. I let the large flower take centre stage and just added a little inking behind it.




 I think this card is my favourite of the year. I have always wanted the Lawn Fawn Vegtastic stamp set but it was retired before I was able to get it and I haven't seen it for sale second hand either. So, I was delighted when Lawn Fawn came up with the Be Hap-pea set and I had such fun making this one. Love the background MFT All Lined up stamp too.





I don't often use patterned paper but it worked really well on this bright and cheery birthday card. I used the Simon Says Stamp Birthday Borders set and added glossy accents and glitter to the candle flames.



Now I know my final card is the same overall design as the anchor card above,
but those sweet little love birds and the hearts really please me so I had to include this one too.




Well, that is my selection for this year and my take away lesson from going through all my cards is to be more adventurous and try some new techniques. I also want to practice more with all the layering stamps I have that I just can't seem to line up properly. Oh, and I have to spend some time learning how to use the Scan n Cut. It's got to pay for itself by helping me cut down on my die purchases this year lol!

Have a Happy New Year.

Hugs
Carol xxx

Top 10 favourite Christmas cards of 2019

Hello friends,

I hope you've had a peaceful Christmas and you were on the nice list so that Santa brought you lots of crafty goodies to play with over the coming months. I was a lucky girl and got some long wanted items that I can't wait to get into.

The past few months have been very hectic for me so I haven't had as much time to craft and blog as I would want but I'd like to thank you for sticking with me. I truly appreciate your visits, comments and support, and I really value our little crafting community. In this hiatus between Christmas and New Year, I like to have a look back at my crafty year and pick my top ten favourites Christmas cards before we are sick of seeing them. Here they are, in no particular order and there is a link on each card to the original post if you want more information.

I really like the foliage from Papertrey Ink on this first card and I was pleased with how the layers of gloss on the berries turned out.

I love kraft cards and was pleased with how easy it was to die cut the Crafter's Companion Nordic birds from burlap on this one




I made this card for a particular friend who is a true doggie person and I love how it turned out. The doggie is from the My Favorite Things Pawlidays stamp set which is just gorgeous.




I love a wreath card at Christmas and I stretched my supplies by cutting some Memory Box poinsettia dies to stick onto this non-Christmas wreath from Pinkresh Studio. This one was for hand delivery because of the dimension of the flowers.




I had to have this Bright Rosa die set when I saw the designer, Paula Pascual, demonstrate it on Hochanda. I love the shape and it was a great background for one of My Favourite Things Santa's Elves.




Above, I mentioned how I value the blogging community spirit and this card is an example of it in action. I saw a card using this set on Stephanie's blog and commented on how I loved it. The set was retired but Stephanie kindly sent some of the images which she stamped for me all the way from the USA!! The cool Santa really cracks me up with his shades on and for this cardI put him on an action wobbler so his head shakes - small things make me happy lol!

I really enjoyed building up the layers of the nativity scene from Papertrey Ink's Scene it: Bethlehem set for this card, and I like how the stencilled rays set the scene.

I love the foliage again on this simple card using the Papertrey Ink Bold Borders: Yuletide die. This card is quite flat and therefore easy to post which is important when sending out a lot of cards.




I fell in love with this snowflake wreath die from Christina Griffiths and although I had some trouble cutting it from glitter card because of it's intricate nature, it went through mirror card like butter. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.





I think this final choice is my favourite Christmas card of the year. The polar bears from Penny Black are adorable and I really enjoyed colouring the image and making the sky and woodland background for them. I didn't even want to give this one away lol!




Well, that's my selection and the lessons I need to take away for this year are to
make more multiple copies whilst I have the supplies out, and to bear in mind postage costs when I'm adding embellishments with gay abandon.

I'll be back soon with my non-Christmas favourites.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs
Carol xxx

Top 10 favourite cards from 2018

Hello everyone,

I do hope that you have had a lovely Christmas if you celebrate it, or at least had some time off with family and friends over the holiday period. Last Christmas for us was very chaotic as my husband had just had the second of two hip replacement operations and we had celebrated the birth of our first grandchild, Alice, just a few weeks before. This year has been a good year for us with my husband making a great recovery and we have been lucky enough to spend lots of time getting to know Alice who has brought lots of sunshine into our lives.

The period after Christmas always sees me looking back at my year, and here on the blog, I like to look over the cards I made and pick out my favourites.

The first post looks at my Top Ten picks of general cards in no particular order:-

I loved the colours in this card that I made with the Bloom stamp and dies from Neat and Tangled. I really like how the flowers frame the sentiment, and I always like to have a few thank you cards ready in my stash.

You can see the original post on how I made this card here.

I love to see kraft cards in blogland but I don't make many of them myself. I  made this one for a wedding and I really like the dusky pink of the autumn rose ink alongside the cream and kraft colours. Paper piecing the heart shape was a labour of love but I like the finished effect.

You can find the original post here.

I'm very partial to Penny Black critter stamps and this little hedgie from the Hugs stamp set is so cute. I masked over him to add the grass and the sentiment is from a favourite Paper Smooches set.

You can see the original post here.

I don't make many cards that are suitable for men but I really enjoyed putting this CAS card together. You actually build the burger with whatever layers you choose from the Papertrey Ink King of the Grill stamp set and I embossed the top part of the bun with clear e/p to make it look like a glazed bun. 

You can find the original post here.

I didn't use my Silhouette Cameo much this year but my neglected friend didn't hold a grudge and came to my rescue when I wanted to make a wedding card for an art deco themed wedding we attended. I created the background fan on the Cameo and the stamps came from a variety of Papertrey Ink stamps.

The original post can be found here.

I'm still in the very early stages of learning how to use watercolours, but I was really pleased with how this one turned out. It's the first time I've managed to add a reasonable background colour and I cheated by sponging the blue ink on before colouring the pretty Penny Black flowers with Zig watercolour pens. I need lots more practice before I could achieve a similar effect with watercolour.

The original post can be found here.

I received the Lawn Fawn pop up box dies for Christmas last year but I didn't get round to using it until November! Truth be told, I was a bit daunted by it but I actually had a ball putting everything together and adding bits and pieces from lots of stamp sets to finish it off.

You can find the original post here.

I had the Seaside Gulls stamp set from My Favorite things in my stash for far too long before I inked it up and made this CAS card. I've used an inked cloudy background many times this year and I masked off a circle for this one. That sentiment just makes me smile!!!

You can find the post for this card here.

Balloons and stars in bright colours make me happy and I made this card for the Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge 6th Birthday celebrations. The balloons weren't stamped though - they were sponged through a Neat and Tangled balloon stencil. After putting the completed panel onto the base card, I thought it was too plain, so I added wonky layers behind it to finish it off.

You can find the original post here.



My eldest son experienced his first Father's Day this year, but as little Alice was not yet up to getting him a card, I created this one for her to give to him. I used the cute Clearly Besotted Love You Tons stamp set and experimented with making thin frames from my nested rectangle dies.

You can find the original post here.

Well, that's my little roundup, and I'll be back soon with a selection of my favourite Christmas cards.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x

Top 10 Christmas cards of 2017

Hello everyone,

I'm back as promised with a look back at my favourite Christmas cards of 2017. I made more Christmas cards this year than ever before, thanks to doubling up each one I made, but I still had a shortfall in the end and had to buy some. I'm thinking that next year I'll make a few designs suitable for mass production and do a few piles to give me a good start. I also need to give some thought to postage costs and do some cards with a slimmer profile. How did yours work out? I hope you had enough for your needs and didn't have a last minute panic. The regular challenges really helped me and, although I won't be able to join in with the January ones because of my current home responsibilities, if all goes to plan, I'll be back again in February with Happy Little Stampers and ABC Christmas challenges.


This was the first Christmas card I made last year and it was my favourite. I love that silver burst in the background and the scarlet jewel card and ink really pops against the white.

You can find the original post here.

I really like the traditional look of this card. Red, green, cream, and gold coupled with that gorgeous sentiment from Clearly Besotted Most Wonderful stamp set made a pretty card. It still looked in need of something though, until I added the little gold dots that were waste from another die cut that I hadn't been able to throw away. 

You can find the original post here.

I tried a lot of masking techniques this year, and I enjoyed playing with this one. This is my favourite Christmas tree and was a freebie from Penny Black which came with a magazine. I added a lot of sparkle to the tree, which sadly doesn't show well in this picture

but you can see it a little better here:-

You can find the original post here.

The colours on this card make me happy and I love the mugs with the hearts and creamy swirls from My Favorite Things. The sprinkles are a perfect finishing touch and the stripey paper from Papertrey Ink is so cheery and festive.

You can find the original post here

I really like this clean design and I enjoy mixing my supplies on my cards. This one used Penny Black, Clearly Besotted, Papertrey Ink and Happy Little Stampers products and I love the way they come together.

You can find the original post here.

The My Favorite Things Merry Christmoose stamp set is really cute, and I loved creating a sitting room scene for him to sit and drink his hot chocolate next to the tree. I found some patterned paper in my stash that reminded me of some wallpaper we had years ago, and I hung a picture on the wall to show the sentiment.

You can find the original post here.

I always find white on white cards difficult, but the addition of the silver embossed sentiment and spots of red for the berries really lifted this design. The die cut flowers and leaves were made with Creative Expressions dies and I love how you can add texture with the embossed detail.

You can find the original post here.

For this card, I used the Papertrey Ink Scene it: Bethlehem die set. I love using kraft card and I was so pleased with how it took colour. I inked the buildings with distress ink and the palm trees with alcohol markers. Paper piecing the windows and doors is little fiddly but it really adds interest to the finished card.

You can find the original post here.

This card used a non-Christmas stamp in an attempt to stretch my supplies and was another of my masking experiments. I did a step by step photo tutorial on the blog if you'd like to see it.

You can find the original post here.

I loved blending the background of this card using distress inks. I used some Oxide inks alongside the original ones and they worked beautifully together. I don't have many silhouette stamps, but this one from Paper Smooches is gorgeous. I really like those stars from Clearly besotted too, but I'm looking for small Christmas star dies if you can point me in the direction of some.

You can find the original post here.

Well that rounds up my look back at 2017, and all that remains is for me to wish you a very happy, healthy and crafty New Year, and I hope 2018 brings all that you hope for. It's going to be a better one for me with my husband being able to get on with things again, my daughter buying her first house and most of all with the addition of this little darling to our family.

Thank you so much for visiting and leaving lots of encouragement throughout the year - it means such a lot.

Sending big hugs.

Carol xx

Top 10 cards of 2017

Hello everyone,

I do hope you have all had a lovely Christmas if you celebrate it, or at the very least enjoyed some time off with friends and family over the holiday period. It has been pretty chaotic in our household with my husband having his second hip replacement just before Christmas. You may remember that he had one hip replaced in June and it did not go very smoothly. However, I'm pleased to report that this one went according to plan and we just have the normal slow recovery process to go through in January. The highlight of Christmas day was having our four-week-old Grandaughter, Alice and her parents join us for the day and as I looked around at my three gorgeous adult children, it took me right back to when they too were little babies. How time flies. Happy days!

The period after Christmas always sees me looking back at the year gone by, so I have been looking through the blog to pick my favourite makes of 2017. Here they are, in no particular order.

I have a good friend with a February birthday, and I bought this stamp from Papertrey Ink with her in mind. I really liked the vivid yellow and orange colours for brightening up dreary February days. I don't know about you, but I am not a big fan of February. I have trouble with January too but I think when we have got through it, we should be rewarded by being able to fast forward to spring. Of course, those of you in other areas of the world probably don't agree because it would speed you through your summer days.

You can find the original post on this card here.

My Favourite Things design some fabulous images and I just love these cute little Harvest Mice. I'm ashamed to say that I had these stamps in my stash for far too long before they saw ink, but I think they really suited this CAS design

You can find the original post here

This card used a large Creative Expressions stamp by John Lockwood called, appropriately 'Daisy Heart Stamp' I really enjoyed creating the little raised circles around the heart and adding the tiny little bow.

You can find the original post here.

You will have noticed that this one isn't a card, but it makes me happy and I wanted to include it here. Penny Black is so good at character dies and I really took to this FeLINE die with all the cats having their heads tilted at slightly different angles. I did a little snipping to remove the cats from their frame and watercoloured a background for them.

You can find the original post here.

I've added this card because it took me outside my comfort zone and is not my normal style. I used tone on tone black by clear embossing on the black card to add some shine and used a blue watercolour spray to make the background. The silhouette fairy is a Lavinia stamp and I added sparkle to her wings which is sadly difficult to see in the picture.

You can find the original post here.



Several members of our local book group are cat lovers so I made this card for one of them and it fitted the bill perfectly. The stamp is from Newton's Nook and I coloured the cat to match her own little kitty.




You can find the original post here.



This one has to be my favourite card of the year because I made it to celebrate the birth of my first Grandchild, Alice who was born at the end of November. I used my Silhouette Cameo to cut the stork and the film strip, and  I love the curved 'welcome' die cut from Paper Smooches. I cut Alice's name from an ancient alphabet die set from Sizzix called Mac'n'Cheese which has a whimsical feel to it that I really like.




You can find the original post here.


This card was made for a young friend who had just been told she was expecting a little boy. The rocket is from an old Papertrey Ink 'Out of this World' stamp set. I'm pleased to report that Sam arrived safely and is a delightfully cuddly baby boy.

You can find the original post here.

It was a big year for new babies and this one was made for another new arrival. I used a Crafter's Companion baby quilt embossing folder on patterned paper to make the background tag and then sanded it down to expose the white core of the paper. The sweet little eggs and nest are again from Papertrey Ink.

You can find the original post here.


Finally, I have included this one because I love the textured sponging technique I used through a masked off oval shape. The sentiment reminds me that this is the attitude I should have about every day in 2018 - even those that occur in February.

You can find the original post here.

Well, that is it for today but I'll be back in the next day or so with my Top 10 Christmas cards of the year. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs

Carol x