Sunday, December 31, 2017

2017 in Review......


As we get ready to welcome 2018 tonight I thought I'd stop by to say Happy New Year!  We are in a deep freeze here in the Northeast.....crazy cold (25-30 below wind chills - yikes!) even for winter lovers like us!  So we are staying in tonight and watching movies with the pups.  I plan to get back into my stamping routine tomorrow.

It was a great year for stamping.  Had a wonderful trip to Atlanta for World Cardmaking Day and I am so fortunate to be on three Design Teams (Freshly Made Sketches, Fusion, Stamp Review Crew) with some amazingly talented and oh-so-fun-to-be-around ladies!

The highlight of my stamping year was the email from Lydia Fiedler in January asking me to join the Dirty Dozen team at Splitcoast - wow I couldn't believe it!  Splitcoast is an amazing resource of techniques, inspiration, challenges and friendship. If you are not a member - join - now!  Dirty Dozen team members serve a six month term and create six cards on a specific theme every month.  If you are a member of Splitcoast you also get to see that gallery of over 70 incredible cards every month.  Because my term ended last summer I can share a few of those cards with you now - I picked my favorite from each of the six challenges I did.  


February's theme was "Food for Thought" so I used an apple and SU's Labeler Alphabet to create a punny sentiment with Concord & 9th's set You Are Enough.



March's Theme was Secret Garden and I created a Graffiti Garden using SU's Swirly Bird and Adventure Bound DSP and the set You from SSS.

                                               


April was all about Backgrounds so I used some diecuts from SSS and inked up a summery background with Distress Oxide Inks.




May's theme was my favorite - Hop To It!  Lots of rock and roll and jumping critters!  One of my cards was this street scene using SU's In the City and City Streets by Sunny Studio.  And what does this parade of VW bugs have to do with hopping?  It was all about trying to teach my daughter Erin how to drive a standard.......we hopped all over town for days and days and days!

                                       



June brought a Sunrise/Sunset theme.  SU's Everyday Hero provided the perfect skyline for a sunshine sentiment from My Sunshine by SSS.




July's theme was Relax - the perfect summer theme!  This card shows my favorite place to relax - lakeside in my Adirondack chair!  I used SU's Seasonal Layers Thinlits, Serene Scenery DSP and Lots of Love along with My Sunshine from SSS to create the scene.




It was an amazing six months sharing and learning from so many talented artists at Splitcoast. Hope you enjoyed the sneak peek! I am looking forward to another year of stamping fun in 2018.  Thanks to each and every one of you who read my blog - I have made some wonderful friends through blogging and stamping!  And special thanks to everyone who leaves a sweet comment - it means a lot!  Wishing you all a fabulous 2018!  Sending love from me and my wonderful supporting cast of characters.......The Big Guy, Miss Emma, Gram, Erin and the Pups......

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Snow-One Like You.....FMS318





Holiday festivities have started around here!  Every year we kick off holiday happenings with my daughter's birthday, then roll right into my birthday (TODAY!!!), catch our breath and then Christmas!  

                                     Gram has no trouble getting festive!






Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season!




I am delighted to be hosting the last challenge of 2017 at Freshly Made Sketches!    Our challenge will be open straight through the first week of 2018 so hopefully hope you will get a chance to sneak in some crafty time during this busy time of year!



Stamp Set:  Frozen Fellowship (Newton's Nook)
Paper:  Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Christmas Around the World DSP

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

Warmest Wishes......FMS317







The triangles on Concord & 9th's Triangle Turnabout set remind me of funky little shelves so I put some coffee cups on them to send warm holiday wishes.  It is snowing today and The Big Guy is snowblowing. In his heart I know he wishes he were running this sno-cat instead of that snowblower!  Yep that's him in all his glory when we ran a local ski center many years ago.  He loved heading up the mountain to groom trails in that old tucker.......a much more difficult task than you would think especially at the top of a trail!  

And then there was the time we took a cross country road trip and we each made a list of what to see on the west coast.  My list had things like "Redwoods"  "San Francisco"  "Hollywood".  His list had two things....."Uncle Benny" and "Tucker Sno-cat factory in Medford, Oregon"...........








I loved Jen Mitchell's fun square sketch and stayed pretty true to the design making a 4 1/4 in square card.  Hope you find some crafty time this week and join us at Freshly Made Sketches!



                                         



It is also time for the winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!  Always an incredible source of inspiration and a huge gallery to enjoy!
                             
Stamps Sets:  Triangle Turnabout (Concord & 9th), Hug In A Mug (SU), Newton Loves Coffee (Newton's Nook), Sentiment from Hero Arts Nov. 2017 Kit
Paper: Whisper White,  Merry Little Christmas DSP
Ink:  Black, Real Red, Garden Green, Lemon Lime Twist, Sweet Sugarplum, Crumb Cake



Thursday, December 7, 2017

Fusion: Blue Gift






I decided to create my own "wrapping paper" to put on my card today by inking  a holiday stencil with Versamark and applying silver embossing powder.  A tag, tinsel trim and silver cord complete the look......and this card is runway ready!



Be inspired by the sketch.....or the gorgeous photo.....or both at Fusion!




CAS-ual Fridays has a Winter Blues challenge this week!




Stamp Set: Season to Sparkle (SU)
Stencil:  Holiday Foliage (Newton's Nook)
Ink: Versamark (silver embossing powder)
Paper:  Dapper Denim, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer


Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Christmas Scene! FMS316





You may appreciate this Christmas scene if....... 

..........you are guilty of putting funny Christmas sweaters on your dog......

.......a pup has knocked over your Christmas tree while digging through packages looking for that wrapped box of Pupperoni.......

........you love the Grinch's pup and putting antlers on your own pup makes you happy.....

........your pup barks loudly up the stairs announcing breakfast because there is always bacon sizzling on Christmas morning.....



.........not that any of those things happen at our house.......




Silas and Corduroy getting ready for the Big Day!





My wonderfully talented friend Jen Timko has a great sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches! Plenty of room to make a scene ;0)


Stamp Set:  Ready for Christmas
Ink:  Emerald Envy, Real Red, Black, Fresh Fig
Paper:  Whisper White, Glimmer, Quilted Christmas DSP

Sunday, December 3, 2017

Stamp Review Crew: Wood Words












The Stamp Review Crew is featuring Wood Words this week.  Being a country girl at heart I love the rustic look of this set.  But I am also a practical girl at heart trying to make every minute count during this busy month!  As the deadline approached for this hop I realized I needed a new baby card.....hmmmm could I possibly make a welcome baby card from Wood Words?  Sure I could!  Pink, blue and yellow ink transformed those wooden cutouts into a baby mobile!




If you missed stopping at my talented friend Stesha's blog head back there......




Otherwise go forward to see what my other talented friend Cindy has in store!



Stamp Sets:  Wood Words
Ink:  Versamark, Crushed Curry, Pink Passion, Soft Sky, Black, Basic Gray
Paper:  Whisper White, Wood Textures DSP