MY FAVORITE CARDS FROM 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!! 

Like many others, I thought I would take a few minutes to look back over the year to see what I had created. And like family photos, I found each brings back some special memory. Hope you enjoy going on my journey with me.

May 2013 hold much happiness, peace and good health for each of you!

Hugs,

Sharron

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

APRIL

MAY

JUNE

JULY

AUGUST

SEPTEMBER

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

The 12 Kits of Christmas: December

Just two more days in 2012 and our last 12 Kits post for this year! This month I had the honor of putting the kits together and decided on a winter theme. I started with the patterned paper collection from Bo Bunny called Snowy Day, a mix of green and blues with a touch of yellow. I love designs that are nature inspired so I was able to include some of my favorite things. Now I am SO anxious to see what everyone else made! Kara was so sweet and took a picture of the supplies in the kit (see below).

If this is your first visit, HERE is a link where you can find out more about our little group.

PHOTO BY KARA

I kind of went crazy with the glitter this month! For this card, I used glitter on the trees, the snowflake and some on a few of the 'snowflake dots' in the background.

More glitter! The snow drifts are glitter paper but I added my own after stamping a sentiment on the snowflake. "Peace on Earth" seemed to fit better for a nature-themed card (a little deviation from the sentiments in the kit). This sentiment is half of one in the Love Lives Here-Holidays set by PTI.

I cut out one of the circles in the patterned paper to decorate the mug in this card--then covered it with a layer of Glossy Accents. The steam is glittery too but doesn't show up well so you may not see the sparkles!

This is my easy peasy card. I love birds so knew I had to use these! I cut the 'Merry Christmas' from the embossed cardstock that was embossed using a Cuttlebug holiday sentiment folder. I didn't realize the birds would need something so small for eyes and after searching my stash I luckily found these teeny pearls on a flourish that Renee sent to me earlier this year. The red trim was cut with a Spellbinders border die.

Love these little snowmen by Lawn Fawn! For the kit the plain snowmen were stamped on a piece of cardstock and I first thought about being more creative and cutting them apart. But in the end, they were just fun to dress up, add a little glitter and have them ready to mail to the grandkids who are enjoying their first snow after just moving from Florida to Ohio.

Funny, I thought the first things I would use in the kit were the sweater and mittens. I found the dies recently through Ellen Hutson and thought they were so cute. So guess what I haven't used yet! 

Below is a list of all the participants so be sure to take time to visit all the blogs. You'll love all the inspiration available from my 12 Kits stamping buddies. There are always amazing creations to see!

May each of you have a safe and happy New Year's. 

Wishing you peace and many blessings in 2013,

Sharron

Renee {It's a Patchwork Life}

Suzanne {The Card Yard}

Cathy {Empty Nest Crafter}

Joyce {Cards-by-the-Sea}

Kim {Cupcakes Cards and Kim}

Kara {KandRDesigns}
Amy Kolling (Stamp-n-Paradise)

Marybeth {Marybeth's Time for Paper}

Jeanne {A Kept Life}

Jessica {The Paper Parade}

Christina {Sea Glass Papercrafts}

December Kit Supplies

Stamps: Snowflake Greetings (Cas-ual Fridays); Making Frosty Friends, Winter Fox (Lawn Fawn); In the Meadow, Pretty Peonies, Signature Christmas (PTI); Folk Art Flurries, Winter Wishes (WPlus9)

Cardstock: Enchanted Evening, Pure Poppy, Soft Stone, Stamper’s Select White, Vintage Cream (PTI); Baja Breeze, Old Olive (Stampin’ Up); Oatmeal (WPlus9)

Patterned/Textured Paper: Glitter Paper-Opal White (LSS); Snowy Days (Bo Bunny); Mitten Weather (for one of the sweaters) (Cosmo Cricket)

Dies/Punches: Birds, Pine Branch (Impression Obsession); Mittens, Sweater (Lifestyle Crafts); Anna Snowflake, Tall Birch (Memory Box); Sentiment Strips, Snow Drifts (MFT); Christmas Label, Framed Out #3, In the Meadow, Mat Stack 4, Pretty Peonies-Frame (PTI); Pretty Patches Tree, Seasonal Sentiments, Simple Snowflake (WPlus9); Scalloped Oval Punch (Marvy)

Embossing Folders: Christmas Words & Dots Set (Sizzix-Hero Arts)

Embellishments/Misc: Bells (Darice); Buttons (PTI-Hawaiian Shores); Felt (National Nonwovens); Gemstones (Paper Studio-Hobby Lobby); Pearls, Rhinestones, Large Gemstone (Recollections-Michaels); Ribbon (Hobby Lobby & Michaels) 

Inks: Baja Breeze, Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive (Stampin’ Up); Rich Cocoa, Teal Zeal, Tuxedo Black (Memento)

My CAS Challenge!

I haven't posted in ages and haven't even looked at possible challenges yet so I thought I would share the two cards I made for hubby over the holidays. I could call it my CAS challenge! We always exchange Christmas cards. I used to spend lots of time at Hallmark's reading through all the verses so now I write my own. Since I photographed this after I gave it to him, I will only show the front! I really did decorate the inside too using a couple more of the little birds.

And here is his birthday card. He's one of those people who always has to share his birthday with Christmas celebrations since it's on the 27th! But this year it meant I was able to use some of my new Christmas stamps. This is one of Lisa Johnson's (Poppy Paperie) sets. I have many of her stamps from when she designed for PTI but this is the first one I've used since she started with MFT. It stamps beautifully and has a wonderful variety of sentiments. I'm hoping to order more of her designs soon. 

Everything is embossed in silver so photographing it was a bit difficult. It's so much better IRL and he really liked it!

Here is a picture of the inside of the card.

I had the most wonderful day today! We got a late box of Christmas gifts and I received the January 12 Kits kit from Joyce. What fun---LOVE happy mail days!!!!

Thanks for letting me share! And I hope your day is wonderful too!

Sharron

Supplies

Card #1

Stamps: Heartfelt Mix (WPlus9); Love Lives Here-Holiday (PTI)

Paper: Pinefeather Cardstock (PTI); Patterned Paper-Silver Valley (SEI)

Dies: Folk Art Florals (WPlus9)

Card #2

Stamps: On the Line by Lisa Johnson (MFT)

Dies: Stacking Stars (MFT)

Additional: Stamper's Select White Cardstock (PTI); Silver Paper from my stash; Silver Embossing Powder (Ranger)

Cloud 9 Blog Hop-December

It's the ninth of the month already so it's time for the Cloud 9 Blog Hop. This month we have not one, but two, awesome inspiration photos. Aren't they wonderful! It's so easy to get the wheels spinning and start thinking of options of fun things to create!

I love the Nordic designs in this room. The first thing I noticed was the wallpaper. And, of course, that fabulous couch. It was easy to choose grey, cranberry and cream for my card colors. 

Luckily I had this SEI paper pad that included all the colors plus patterns that would work. Most of my inspiration came from the photo above but I also liked the gingham check pattern in the first picture and wanted to use it for a border. I used the large medallion from Winter Wishes for a focal point. The 'joy' and the snowflake were cut from the Seasonal Sentiments die set.

The hop lasts for three days and is a great way to show off your WPlus9 stamps. Check HERE to find information about entering. And be sure to take time to view what everyone else has made.

Thanks so much for taking time to visit my blog. Hope you enjoy the hop!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Winter Wishes (WPlus9)

Cardstock: Oatmeal (WPlus9); Cranberry Red is from my stash--I think it's something I bought at Michaels and it matched the ink!)

Patterned Paper: Silver Valley (SEI)

Dies: Squares (Spellbinders); Seasonal Sentiments (WPlus9)

Additional: Cherry Cobbler Ink (Stampin' Up); Rhinestone (Martha Stewart)

CAS-ology #22: SPARKLE and The 12 Tags of Christmas

Isn't 'SPARKLE' a fun theme for the holidays! I got inspiration from a couple of sources for my Christmas tag. I have been following the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2012 over at The Classroom at Ellen Hutson's. Teri Anderson's tag for yesterday featured twine trees--so cute! And one of my 12 Kits buddies, Marybeth (Marybeth's Time For Paper) recent cards used fun glittery candies. Thanks to both of you!

So I did a tag, with a glittery tree! The die is from WPlus9. I cut out two tag dies and cut the tree out of one. After putting 1/8" Scor Tape around the back edges of the tree, I laid twine back and forth at an angle. Then I cut a mask to cover everything but the tree and sprayed with clear adhesive, followed by a hardy dose of coarse glitter. I added the small sentiment and tied some narrow satin ribbon along with a piece of glitter eyelash trim (a little treasure that I had left over from Marybeth's 12 Kits April kit). The rhinestone star is from Martha Stewart.

Do you have exciting weekend plans? Hope you're having a Happy Friday!!

Thanks for taking a peek,

Sharrron

Supplies

Stamps: Tiny Treats: Christmas (PTI)

Cardstock: Oatmeal (WPlus9)

Dies: Pretty Patches-Tree (WPlus9), Tag Sale #4 (PTI)

Additional: Peapod Twine (The Twinery); Crystal Coarse Glitter (Martha Stewart); Star (Martha Stewart); Ribbon (stash); Eyelash Trim (Marybeth)

A Note About Waltzingmouse

Here's some fabulous news from Waltzingmouse. Some of their stamps have been made available for shipping from the USA. If you live in the States, this will be a wonderful way to get your stamps quicker and also save the international shipping costs. HERE is a link to see which sets are currently available. It include the ones from the last release!

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #80: Gift Tags

I recently bought the smallest of the Memory Box snow globes thinking my PTI Tiny Treats images would fit inside. And they work perfectly! This will be a quick way to make a bunch of tags. And the images are quick and fun to color. The sentiment is from my new CAS-ual Fridays Stamps set. Can't wait to order more!

HERE's the link to this week's challenge. There's plenty of time to enter and it's a great way to get started on your Christmas tags.

Thanks for stopping by,

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps:  Snowflake Greetings (CAS-ual Fridays); Tiny Treats-Christmas (PTI)

Cardstock: Oatmeal (WPlus9); Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White (PTI); Aqua (Bazzill)

Dies: Small Snow Globe (Memory Box; Tag Sale #4 (PTI)

Additional: Clear Plastic (Grafix); Copics, Twine (The Twinery)

The 12 Kits of Christmas: November

It's so hard to believe it is almost Christmas and I have already received 11 kits from the other members of our wonderful group. And you should see all the leftovers I have still available to play with! There has been so much variety and so many fabulous new products to try out. If you are just visiting for the first time, HERE is a link explaining about how we got started.

This month our hostess is Jeanne Jachna, A Kept Life. Jeanne makes really gorgeous cards, with lots of layers and oodles of awesome die cuts. Oh, and gorgeous bows too! The photo below just shows a hint of all the wonderful things she sent to each of us! Thank you so much, Jeanne. I loved your kit!

PHOTO BY KARA

Special also this month is a drawing for some blog candy and a one-day discount sale at Serendipity Stamps in honor of this month's 12 Kits blog hop! Everything Christmas will be 20% off today only! See details about the blog candy below.

My first card may be my favorite. It would be hard to choose because I am also so in love with Santa and the plaid paper in my second card! But I made this one first and loved coloring the gorgeous poinsettia. Plus this die cut is so pretty. I used some Antique Linen Distress Ink to help show more of the detail. 

Here's my second card! I absolutely love plaid and this Santa is another one of the great Serendipity stamps. They are super easy to color. I used Spellbinders Labels 1 to cut him out. I debated about adding a bow but decided to keep it simple and just use the ribbon to give the look of a wrapped gift. 

Look at the fantastic ornament die that is available as blog candy! Serendipity Stamps is giving away the ornament die and stamp set to one lucky winner drawn from all the comments left on the 12 Kits blogs. I used the silver one but Jeanne sent red and gold too. Just imagine all the beautiful cards you could make!

This last card is using another one of the many die cuts I had to chose from. The detail on all of them is fabulous! I added a little Martha Stewart chunky glitter to the stamped scene.

Well, you will want to be on your way. Be sure to visit all the blogs and see what everyone has made. And don't forget about the blog candy! 

Enjoy the hop! And hope to see you back next month when I will be the hostess for December!

Sharron

Renee {It's a Patchwork Life}

Suzanne {The Card Yard}

Cathy {Empty Nest Crafter}

Joyce {Cards-by-the-Sea}

Kim {Cupcakes Cards and Kim}

Kara {KandRDesigns}
Amy Kolling (Stamp-n-Paradise)

Marybeth {Marybeth's Time for Paper}

Jeanne {A Kept Life}

Jessica {The Paper Parade}

Christina {Sea Glass Papercrafts}
And Special Guest: Kelly (Gingham Girl)

Waltzingmouse Blog Party-November

THEME: GRATITUDE

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE

It's time for another Blog Party over at Waltzingmouse! With the theme this month being GRATITUDE and Thanksgiving coming in a few days, I first thought I would do a fall design. I don't know why this idea popped into my head. I don't often use purple but I thought it would be a fun design to have on hand. I have several friends that would love the tea die cut! I've had this die for quite some time but never used it. I really like it and can see doing similar cards in different colors!

I used the large border from French Country. The sentiment is from Blessed by You and those sweet pearls came from a wonderful friend, Renee. Thanks, Renee!

HERE's the click to the party! Be sure to go visit and see what everyone has made.  

Thanking for letting me share!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: French Country, Blessed by You (WMS)

Cardstock: Winter Wisteria, Royal Velvet (PTI)

Addditional: Pearls (Renee); Tea Time Border (Cottage Cutz); Elderberry Ink (Memento)

CAS-ology #19: THANKS

I used some of the leftover pieces from yesterday's card to make another quilt square to use for this week's CAS-ology. It is so easy to use this die from WPlus9! LOVE it so much!! I started to use a cream-colored card background but liked the Terracotta Tile color better. And white space doesn't always have be white!

The patterned paper is from Farmhouse's Sugar Hill and I cut the little heart from some Basic Grey's Indian Summer. The sentiment is from another WPlus9 set, Pretty Patches: Apple.

There are just so many ways to use these quilt dies. Can't wait to try something else! 

Well, do you have something exciting planned for this weekend? Hope you have a great one!

Thanks so much for coming by,

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Pretty Patches: Apple (WPlus9)

Cardstock: Oatmeal (WPlus9); Terracotta Tile, Kraft (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Sugar Hill (Farmhouse)

Dies: Quilt Cuts #2, Clear Cut Pinking Squares, Seasonal Sentiments (heart)--all WPlus9

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #123

The sketch for this week's Waltzingmouse challenge was provided by Lenet Mos. Isn't it wonderful! I've been playing with this WPlus9 quilt die (which I dearly love) so combined it with some of my favorite autumn patterned papers and WM stamps to make this card. I enjoy finding patterned paper pads that include some printed patterns that can be incorporated into a design, like the leaves here. The gingham pattern on the Terracotta Tile cardstock piece was stamped in Versamark. The colored quilt pieces were cut from papers in the same Sugar Hill pad and the little birds from Teeny Trees were stamped on Oatmeal cardstock.

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

There are lots of gorgeous samples and entries over on the WM Sketch blog. Just click HERE to check them out! 

I'm glad you took a minute to visit my blog. Don't forget the Blog Party on Saturday!!

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Gingham and Co., Teeny Trees, Frame It (WMS)

Cardstock: Oatmeal (WPlus9); Terracotta Tile (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Sugar Hill (Farmhouse Paper)

Dies: Quilt Cuts #2 (WPlus9); Open Scallop Border Punch (EK Success)

Additional: Twine (WMS); Inks (Memento); Button from Stash; Embroidery Thread

Cloud 9 Blog Hop-November

It's the 9th day of the month and time for the Cloud 9 Blog Hop! Isn't this inspiration photo wonderful--SO many, many things to inspire a card!  

The fun design on the sheet set has all those mittens and hats so I made my card with mittens from Winter Wishes.

For the background a piece of Lake House cardstock is embossed with Snowflakes, a Lifestyle embossing folder. I stamped the mittens and then added a piece of MS baker's twine and a second set of mittens popped up with foam dots. The red square is embossed in herringbone and the snowflake is cut with little snowflake included in the Seasonal Sentiments die set.

Check out the awesome Design Team samples here. And there is still time to enter the challenge too!

Enjoy the hop! We're going to be gone until Sunday so I won't be able to look at everyone's cards until I get back.

Sharron

Supplies

Stamps: Winter Wishes (WPlus9)

Cardstock: Lake House (WPlus9); Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy (PTI)

Dies: Seasonal Sentiments, Pinking Square (WPlus9)

Embossing Folders: Snowflakes (Lifestyle), Herringbone (Sizzix)

Additional: Ink (Memento), Rhinestone (My Mind's Eye), Baker's Twine (Martha Stewart)

The Twelve Kits of Christmas: October

Hi all! As you may know, we usually post our 12 Kits of Christmas cards on the last day of each month. But with several members on the East Coast and all the devastation from Hurricane Sandy, we decided it was best to put it off a day. Our hostess this month is Jessica Davis, The Paper Parade. If you've ever visited Jessica's blog you know how much she loves Paper Smooches. I love her awesome designs! She is also now on the PS Design Team. Not only will you see lots of great PS creations on her blog but visiting there is sure to put a smile on your face! Thanks Jessica for a fantastic fun-filled kit!

PHOTO BY AMY

For this first card I used PTI's Tag Sale #3 die to cut some of the patterned paper and added a few tree decorations from a set I bought at Hobby Lobby earlier this year.

There were several snowmen images included in the kit.  These two worked great for my snow scene.

Since we had an extra day this month, I had the time to make an additional card. For this one I cut pieces of the different patterned papers with My Favorite Things chevron dies.

I had this card done but not glued together when I saw this week's PTI Make It Monday Challenge. I had intended to put all the images on the front but decided to create a window using clear cardstock. There aren't any floating images but I love the look!

My last card is totally non-traditional. Aren't the dog and sentiment adorable? The rose-colored embossed paper and strip of stars were in the kit. After coloring the dog with Copics, I thought dark chocolate and kraft might be fun companion colors. I also added some stacked stars that I cut with a MFT die set.

Below is a list of all the other 12 Kits participants. We don't get to see what each other has made until the final reveal so I can't wait to see the projects either!

Renee {It's a Patchwork Life}

Suzanne {The Card Yard}

Cathy {Empty Nest Crafter}

Joyce {Cards-by-the-Sea}

Kim {Cupcakes Cards and Kim}

Kara {KandRDesigns}

Marybeth {Marybeth's Time for Paper}

Jeanne {A Kept Life}

Jessica {The Paper Parade}

Christina {Sea Glass and Sentiments}
Amy Kolling (Stamp-n-Paradise)

Have fun at the hop!

Smiles,
Sharron