My Top 10 Cards for 2014

So, last year I did a post where I took a look at some of my favourite cards for the year.  I thought it would be fun to do again this year.  I decided to leave out Christmas cards as I just did that post.  :-). Without further ado, here's my top 10 cards (in no particular order.  Click on the titles to see original post)...

Blue Butterfly

This card was made for a sketch challenge over at Inkspirational and won me a spot on their design team.  :-)

Birthday Peony

I love this huge peony stamp and how this card turned out.  It was a winner over at STAMPloprations too!

PCS Gallery Idol 2014

I made this card for Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking's Gallery Idol contest (going to miss that and PC&S so much!).  It wasn't a winner but I loved the challenge of using washi tape in a new way.  Yes, those flowers are made from washi tape!

My First Post For Inkspirational

My first Inkspirational design team project and a Top Pick over at STAMPlorations.

Never Too Early To Make a Card for Your Mom

This card was going to be published in PC&S in the May issue before they shut their doors.  Its inspired by my wonderful Mom.

Inkspirational Challenge

Another Inkspirational project and one that gave me some trouble.  :-). Received an Honourable Mention over at Addicted to Stamps and More.

Guest Designing at Paper Crafting Challenges

Made for a guest design spot.  I just love how this turned out. Still makes me want to go someplace warm with a nice beach.  Especially now in wintertime!

Father's Day Fan

This is one of those cards that just came together exactly the way you wanted it to.  It won a challenge at Addicted to Stamps and More and was a favourite over at CAS-ual Fridays.

Birthday Butterfly

This was made for a good friend's birthday.  I love the butterfly and all that white!

Moonrise

I adore the Penny Black branch stamps and this one is no exception.  I was trying to channel my inner Heather Telford.  :-). She makes some of the most gorgeous cards I've seen.  It got noticed by Penny Black and was tweeted about.  :-)

Well that's it!  I hope you enjoyed walking down memory lane as much as I did.  Thanks so much for all your support and encouragement this past year.  Your comments really make my day!  All the best for a happy and healthy New Year!

Hugs!

Kim

Guest Designing - STAMPlorations Spotlight Project #2

Hello everyone!  I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.  I sure did.  :-).  Once again I'm guest designing over at STAMPlorations for their Spotlight Project segment.  I have a set of two Christmas Thank You cards to share.  I hope you'll all go over there and check them out.  :-).   Have a great day!

My 5 Favourite Christmas Cards of 2014

Hi!  I was visiting some of my fav blogs on this lovely (if extremely windy) Boxing Day and ran across an interesting post.  My friend and fellow Ink teammate, Nonni, of Korttikarkuri-Runaway Cards, mentioned that over at A Scrapjourney, Debby has a linky for your 5 favourite Christmas cards of 2014.  I figured why not join in the fun?  So here we go!

I made this with a lovely Penny Black stamp and it managed to win a challenge over at Festive Friday and make a couple other people go out and buy the stamp!  (It's an older stamp and not easy to find). :-). I couldn't ask for anything better!

This was made using STAMPlorations stamps and coloured with pencil crayons.  I just love the look of it on the kraft paper.

I had trouble making this card but when it finally came together it was instantly one of my favs.  It won a sketch challenge over at STAMPlorations too.

I love this card.  It turned out even better than the idea I had in my head!  I just love the white and aqua together.

Lastly, this card was a top 3 pick for the November challenge at Spectrum Noir.  I used their markers to colour the free digi image by Uniko Studios.  I love the big snowflake and woodgrain background.

Well, that was fun!  I hope you all had as lovely a Christmas as I did and I hope you enjoy your weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas To All!

I'd like to wish all my followers a Merry Christmas (if you observe this holiday)!  I hope this holiday season brings you all much joy and that the coming new year is filled with prosperity and happiness.  I won't be posting for a few days as I enjoy my holiday with my husband and son.  Thank you for all being such loyal and wonderful followers and for all your wonderful comments this past year.  See you in a few days!

Big hugs!

Kim

All is Calm, All is Bright

Okay, I said I wouldn't post another Christmas card until the new year.  But I just HAD to play in a couple of challenges and try out some new goodies!  :-).  I got my order from Simon Says Stamp a little while ago and in it was my new Wink of Stella pen.  Can I just say, amazing!  I love this pen.  So awesome!  So glad I decided to get it.  I also got the falling snow stencil I see everywhere (I have yet to play with this), some heirloom gold Perfect Pearls mist (so beautiful!) and a SSS ink pad (sea glass).  The other goodies I got were from Neat & Tangled.  Got some stamps and sequins.  I love new crafty stuff!  :-)

Okay onto the card!  Apparently, I'm on a one layer trend as I seem to want to make them lately.  Guess I'm just getting into the groove for my new Design Team over at One Layer Christmas Card Challenge.  (yes, it is a shameless plug for the blog.  So there!). :-).  Take a look...

You can see the Wink of Stella glitter a bit better here.

I masked off my area and then created a snowy hill mask and sponged brocade blue (SU!) ink.  Then I stamped my tree (from Neat & Tangled, Winter Wishes set) in mellow moss (SU!) and forest moss distress ink.  I repeated this step several times.  I splattered some white paint for snow. It's a little hard to see as it turned out more subtle than I intended.  Then I added some Wink of Stella to the hills.  I removed the mask and created another for the small strip on the one side where I sponged the green inks in a ombré look.  I stamped the sentiment (from the same set) in forest moss distress ink and then added a cute little snowflake sequin (also from Neat & Tangled, winter wonderland mix).  I really like this little scene.

I'm going to link up to the following challenges:

CAS-ology - cue card is Snow.
CAS on Sunday - Christmas.
Little Tangles - challenge #51 Bling Bling.  I've got that with the Wink of Stella glitter and the snowflake sequin.

Merry Monday Christmas Challenge - create a winter themed Christmas card.

Well, I don't know if I'll be posting again before Christmas so I'll wish you all a very a Happy Holidays and I hope Santa brings you lots of great crafty goodies!  Thanks for stopping by!  :-)

Inkspirational Challenge - Inspiration Picture

Hey everyone!  It's that time again for another challenge over at Inkspirational!  We have an awesome inspiration picture for you.  Take a look...

Isn't it great?  Now I had all these ideas in my head for this one but do you think I was able to pull any of them off?  Nope!  I had such a hard time this challenge!  So, I decided to scrap my initial ideas and just go with the colour scheme (black, purple, white) for my card.  Here it is...

I masked off my area and sponged perfect plum (SU!) ink in an ombré effect.  Then I splattered some water and white and silver paint.  I made the splatters fairly subtle as I didn't want to make them too busy.  Then I stamp my foliage (CAS-ual Fridays) in black and grey.  I removed my mask and created another to sponge in black a narrow strip on one side.  Then I stamped the sentiment (CAS-ual Fridays).  Despite how long it took me to get to this card it turned out rather nice, didn't it?  It's a one-layer too!

So, I hope you will all join us and play along.  You have to check out what the other DT girls made too.  Awesomeness abounds!  Plus, we have a wonderful Guest Designer, Karen, of Made by Meadie.  Go leave her some love.  Her card is fantastic!

I'm going to link up to the following challenges:

Crazy For CAS - anything goes
Addicted to Stamps and More - anything goes with optional twist of love.

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fabulous day!

STAMPlorations Spotlight Project - Guest Designing

Hey everyone!  Some exciting news!  A little while ago I was asked by Shery, owner/creator of STAMPlorations to be a guest designer for their Spotlight Project segment.  I was so excited and honored!  My task was to make a Christmas/Holiday Thank You card.  I actually prepared a tutorial even!  So, if you want to check it out swing by the STAMPlorations blog.  Here's a little teaser to entice you!  ;-)

Hope to see you there!  Have an awesome day!

Exciting News!

There's a new Christmas card challenge blog on the block called One Layer Christmas Card Challenge.  And guess what?!  I'm on the design team!  Shery, designer/owner of STAMPlorations came up with this fabulous idea.  One layer Christmas cards make sense, really, since we mail out so many that it's easier and less expensive to send a one layer card.  Plus, I love how they can be so "wow" and not have any layers.  :-).  The first challenge starts in January so I hope you'll all come check it out and play along.  There's an amazing design team that's been assembled and I am so lucky to be a part of it!  Well, that's all for now.  Have a fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!

**update**. Just so everyone knows, STAMPlorations stamps are not required to play in this challenge as far as I know. :-). Thought I should mention it.

Never Too Early to Make a Card For Your Mom

So, it may seem weird to see a Mother's Day card in December but who said you can't start early?  Heck, I make Christmas cards in May so it only seems fair.  LOL.  Besides, you are all probably tired of seeing Christmas cards right now.  This is a simple card but I just love how it turned out.  Check it out...

I used one of the flowers from STAMPlorations, Bloom Sketches set and stamped it in soft suede (SU!) several times using a mask.  Then I coloured it with some pencil crayons.  I stuck with white and browns to keep it neutral and soft.  I stamped the sentiment (Stampabilities) in the soft suede as well.  That's it.  Simple, one layer and sweet.  I love this flower stamp.  So pretty.  :-)

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

STAMPlorations - December challenge, pick a previous challenge.  I chose stamps and flowers.
STAMPlorations - ongoing anything goes challenge
Addicted to CAS - code word is "family".
The Card Concept - inspired by the neutral colours.  In my usual CAS style.

Well, I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I thank you for dropping by for a visit!

A Postcard Christmas

Well, everyone, this will likely be the last Christmas card I post this year.  I'll take a break from making them and start again in January.  :-). You may think I'm nuts but I love making them so I never really get tired of it.  This card came about because of a challenge going on at Virginia's View Challenge.  She wanted distressed so I gave her distressed!  LOL.  It's not my usual CAS style but I still like the results.  Take a look...

So I used a NBUS stamp (the postcard is by Stampendous) and stamped it in brown on tan cardstock. I cut out the oval part with the cabin and did some distressing in the form of sponging ink and tearing up the edges.  I coloured in the holly and berries with my Spectrum Noir markers.  I took a teal card base and cut an oval window out if it and then attached my postcard frame.  Then I added some acetate which I had splattered white paint on to mimic snow.  I then stamped the postcard again in blue ink on white paper.  I sponged some extra colour lightly here and there.  I also added some dazzling diamonds glitter (SU!) to the roof of the cabin and various snow covered areas.  Can't see it at all but it's there.  :-). I cut out the oval with the cabin, discarding the frame part this time and attached it to the inside of the card to show through.  Like I said not quite my usual style but it's rather lovely, isn't it?

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

Kylie is Addicted to Stamps - she's having a Christmas card challenge on her blog.  You could win a custom watermark designed by her.  Sweet!  :-)
52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown - use a previous 2014 challenge.  I used the previous challenge February 2014 which was the theme of Christmas landscape.
Virginia's View Challenge (obviously.  LOL) - all things distressed.

Well, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend.  Our house is looking more Christmassy as I get decorations out and up.  Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Daisies

Hey there, everyone!  It's another rainy, grey day here in the Maritimes.  Or at least my part of the Maritimes.  Others are getting snow.  We have been too warm for snow but that'll change soon.  Anyway, I have another card to share today.  This one isn't Christmas either.  Check it out....

Lovely and bright isn't it?  I first cut out a circle from my white card base then I took a white card stock panel and created my own striped paper.  I used washi tape as a mask and sponged black ink on it.  Took off the tape and voila!  I attached this in behind the circle opening.  Next, I stamped my daisies (STAMPlorations - Bloom Sketches set) and coloured them with my Spectrum Noir markers.  I fussy cut them out and arranged and attached them to my card.  I raised the top one up with some foam dots.  Then I stamped my sentiment (same STAMPlorations set).  I love the colours of my daisies against the black and white.

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

STAMPlorations - December challenge - choose a past challenge.  I chose "stamps and markers".
STAMPlorations - ongoing anything goes challenge.
Uniko Studio - challenge #16, anything goes

Well, I hope you are all as excited for Christmas as I am!  It's hard not to be with a six year old in the house.  We will finally put up our tree this weekend too so that will add to the excitement.  Have a wonderful day and thanks for visiting!

Washi Tape Birthday

Hello!  It's been a while since I last posted.  I've spent the last week or so trying to get over a nasty sinus infection.  Finally, after a trip to the Doctor, I'm starting to feel better.  I got me some good meds!  LOL.  I'm trying to catch up on my sleep but it's hard since my cough is reluctant to go away and let me.  Oh well, it'll all be fine soon I'm sure.

So, I have a card to share today and lo and behold it's not a Christmas one!  Say what!?  LOL.  While, I'll still make some Christmas cards (cause I never really stop) it's not urgent for me to do so since all my Christmas  cards are packed up and ready to be mailed.  :-).   So, I'm sharing a birthday card today.  Take a look...

It's pretty simple but I love how bright and fun it is.  I took some NBUS washi (Scotch 3M) and glitter tape (Darice) and randomly stuck it down on my card.  Then I stamped my sentiment (Stampabilities).  Easy peasy!

I'm going to link up to the following challenges:

CAS-ology - cue card is "silver".  I've got my silver glitter tape.
Seize the Birthday - anything goes

I'll be back to share more non Christmas cards soon!  Thanks for dropping by and have a lovely day!

Inkspirational Challenge - Everything Goes With Gold

Hello Inkspirational fans!  It's time for another awesome challenge over at the Inkspirational headquarters.  This time you need to create a card with some gold on it.  All other colours are acceptable too!  I expect to see some lovely golden cards for this challenge!

For this challenge, I decided to try a black Christmas card again.  Black and gold look so beautiful together so why not?!  Take a look...

So I took a panel of black cardstock and stamped my snowflake (Hero Arts F5793) with Versamark and embossed in gold.  I love this gold embossing powder.  It's probably over 10 years old as it's one of the first I ever bought and it's such a bright gold.  And it's almost gone!  :-(   I'll have to go on a search for a nice bright gold embossing powder soon.  Anyway, once that was done I attached my panel to my black card base.  Then I made a bow from some sparkly black ribbon I got from Michaels.  Lastly, I added some gold jingle bells.  I really love how this looks.  It's pretty simple to do too.

Well, I hope you will go check out what the other girls on the Ink DT have come up with.  You know it's going to be fabulous!  Plus, we have an amazing Guest Designer joining us too.  Please stop by and pay Deborah of Deborah's Gems a visit.  She's created a wonderful card for your inspiration!

I'm going to link up to the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge - Christmas/holidays
Kylie is Addicted to Stamps - Kylie is having a little Christmas card challenge on her blog.  She even has a prize of a customized watermark!

I hope you all had a nice visit here and I was able to inspire you to play along with us Ink girls.  Have a fabulous day!

Poinsettia Gift Tag

Good Morning!  Today I have something other than a card to share.  It's a gift tag but it's still Christmas!  :-). I was inspired to make it because of Tracey McNeely's 25 Tags of Christmas that is going on at her blog, In My Creative Opinion.  She's almost done now and there has been a plethora of amazing tags made by her and her guests.  It's hard not to be inspired!  She has a lot of great prizes to be won too which is a generous gesture.  Its amazing to see the sheer variety of tag designs that everyone has come up with.  Anyway, here's my tag...

So, I broke out my STAMPlorations poinsettia stamp again and stamped it on the corner of my white tag.  I coloured it in with my Spectrum Noir markers.  The colouring is very similar to what I did HERE in a previous post.  I loved how it turned out so decided to do it again.  Perhaps I should make some more in different colour schemes.  Anyway, I then took a permanent gold pen (Pilot) and splattered it all over.  It's one of those pens you have to pump to get the ink flowing so I did that to get excess ink so I could splatter it.  It's a really nice bright gold colour.  Then I stamped my sentiment (also by STAMPlorations).  I added some ribbon and it was done.  Looks more complicated than it really is.  :-)

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

Merry Monday - red, green and white

STAMPlorations - Anything Goes Challenge (it's an ongoing challenge)
Addicted to Stamps and More - "Holiday"
I'm also going to add it to Tracey's Flickr group.  You should check out all the great tags!

Well, it's US Thanksgiving tomorrow so I want to wish all my US friends a very Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy your dinner and time with family!  Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely day.  :-)

A Study in Blue

Hey everybody!  (Ok is it weird I heard that in my head with a Grover voice?  Anyone know what I'm talking about?  No?  Ok, never mind.  LOL).

***Edited***
Okay, one of my blogging friends just accused me of making her crazy!  LOL.  All because I didn't explain what I was talking about above.  Grover is from a popular, long running children's program, called Sesame Street and he's famous for saying, "hello, everybodeeeeeeeee!".  LOL.  So now I've explained it maybe my lovely friend will forgive me?!  :-D.  Okay, now we take you back to our regular scheduled programming.

Today's card is blue.  Very blue.  Take a look...

I used my Slice to die cut my snowflake again, this time out of metallic blue paper.  I attached this to my white panel. I stamped my candle and poinsettia (STAMPlorations) in grey and used my Spectrum Noir markers to colour in my candles and the middle part of the poinsettias.  Then I used some diamond Ice Stickles on the poinsettias leaves.  Then I fussy cut it out and attached on top of my snowflake with some foam dots.  Then I stamped my sentiment (also STAMPlorations) in grey.  Lastly, I attached my panel to my card base with some foam dots.

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

STAMPlorations - November challenge, stamps and layers.  Also adding it to the STAMPlorations "anything goes" ongoing challenge.
Addicted to Stamps and More - make your mark
CAS(E) This Sketch - great sketch this week!

I have a feeling that most of the cards I make for the rest of this year are going to be Christmas ones.  LOL.  Good thing they are my favourite to make.  :-).  Well, before I sign off I thought I would post a couple of pictures of our puppy, Summer.  I've had some requests for pictures, you see.  She's doesn't look like much of a puppy anymore.  She's pretty much full grown now at 7 months.  She's still acts like a puppy though.  Getting into trouble.  LOL.

Apparently, my lap makes a good bed.  LOL.

She loves her pig toy.

They are both watching the birds at the feeders.  :-)

Well, I hope you all had a great weekend and thanks for visiting!

Inkspirational - Designer Challenge - Christmas With a Twist

Hello and good morning!  It's that time again for another challenge at Inkspirational.  It was Designers choice this time and it was my turn so I decided to go with my favourite type of card to make.  Yep, you guessed it, Christmas!  But wait, there's more!  There's an optional twist to this challenge.  If you'd like, try making a Christmas card with no red or green.

Yes, I want to see your lovely non-traditional colours schemes!  And if you do choose to accept the options challenge, you will be entered in to win a prize!  Yes!  There's an awesome prize up for grabs!  My fellow teamie, Sandie and I, have put together a great prize package.  Take a look...

Prize package includes the following:

£10 gift certificate to Uniko Studios
Bo Bunny die cuts
Bo Bunny dimensional stickers
Bo Bunny rub ons
A TCW (The Crafter's Workshop) stencil
3 different types of ribbon

All kinds of goodies!  So, in the effort to inspire you to create a Christmas card using non-traditional colours, here's what I came up with.

I don't think I've ever made a black and blue Christmas card before.  Black is not what I would normally think of for Christmas but that's the whole point of this challenge isn't it?  :-). So here's how I made it.  I stamped my snowflake (Inkadinkado) in white on my black panel then embossed using a embossing powder that I would refer to as interference blue.  It's basically translucent with a blue iridescence to it.  Its pretty cool and shimmery which, as usual, is hard to capture in the photo.  I matted my panel on metallic blue paper then attached it to my card base.  I stamped my sentiment (Michael's) the same way as my snowflake.

Well I hope that my card inspires you to join in on the fun.  Please, check out the awesome projects of the other DT members too.  And don't forget to pay a visit to our talented Guest Designer, Janet, of Swanlady Impressions.

I'm linking up to the following challenges:

Time Out Challenge - embossing with the option of sparkle.  My snowflake and sentiment do have some sparkle to them it's just hard to see.  :-)
Christmas Cards All Year Long - no patterned paper.
CAS(E) This Sketch - I changed the circle with my rectangle (it's not quite a square).

Well, I appreciate you stopping by for a visit and I hope you have a fabulous day!