Top Cards of 2013 by Bloggers **Pictures Now Included**

I picked these artists for their body of work as well as the particular card that wowed me. So impressed with card makers. I can't believe this little canvas can have such limitless possibilities!! There is NO RANKING and I couldn't stop at 10. Also I did not pick any from my top 10 last year (you ladies remain on my love list. Here is the list from 2012)  I have also grown to appreciate so many more design aesthetics also and that is reflected on my list.

Pamela Ho the IT girl of 2013 as far as I am concerned. She is amazing, innovative, and has such a flair to make cute and edgy work flawlessly!

Laurie Willison her card had me looking at sketches and design completely differently. It catapulted me to see the card canvas in ways I have never seen it before. In other words, it changed my card making life!

Joni from the first look into her blog I knew she was going to be a somebody in blog land. She has the "it" factor. Her cards take effort and it shows.

Maggie Holmes for starting my journey into a new style.

Agnieszka S. for her constant way of making me say WOW.

Elena for making me speechless with the time and effort spent to make every detail perfect and for loving MIMI as much as I do!

Lisa Spangler and this honorable mention by far one of the leaders of the industry.

Danielle Flanders for making me appreciate whimsy like no one else.

Donna Mikasa and this honorable mention for her CAS wonders including innovative design using very little supplies

Kay Miller for her graphic yet,  cute,  SOLID cards every time.

Therese Calvird this card...this card is delicious! funny, well done, perfect.

Vivian Maskett for her uncanny way to make cards look like scrapbook pages

Jocelyn Olson and this honorable mention for being able to trick me again and again with hybrid design

Meredith McRitchie for her beautiful soft photography to capture her stunning work and making Christmas fun all year round.

Lea Lawson for her special way of creating a jam packed EDGY card

Roree Rumph for her ability to use patterned paper and embellishments so effortlessly. Every time I see this card, I want to pin it on Pinterest and Pinterest tells me I already did!

So that is it! See you in 2014 for an amazing year...great things are ahead. I am renewed to make this blog better starting with the blog redesign which I did myself (thanks to my sister-in-law Carla). 


**edited to include photos of the cards...thanks Debby Hughes :)

Farewell Dear Heart...My Last Post of 2013 and a Video

Welcome to my last post for i {heart} papers and of 2013 :( I had a wonderful term and want to thank the team and Kate for all the fun! Yeah, I know the blog post was a little dramatic, but how else was I going to get you to read the post?!?!?!

I made this card and then when I was done, I thought, um....what's the SPECIAL part? Where's the MODERN? The EDGY? the WIDA part? So after thinking about it for about 12 hours, I decided to make it a pop up card!

I even made a quick video. I pushed myself to do it in ONE take:

Supplies:
Stamps Avery Elle Handwritten Notes
Paper: Simples Stories Smarty Pants


I have learned so much this second year of blogging. My favorite part is the people and relationships I have made while crafting. I won't bore you with the details. Let's get on with 2014!!

I will have my favorite Cards of 2013 posted on Jan 1, 2014. See you then :)

CFC #124

It is time for another Casual Fridays Challenge...I Know I KNOW, It's not Friday. Take it up with the boss Michele. I just work here ;)

Let's see your New Years projects!

2 week challenge

our sponsor:

When I think New Years, I think VELLUM, GOLD, SILVER, and CHEERS...

I simply cut strips and glued them to the card base...This week our challenge blog is participating in the 10 minute craft dash. The goal is to make a card in less than 10 minutes. This card was done in less than 10 minutes, but I didn't time myself. And it was my second attempt. I get too neurotic about cards to do that. But if you want to join in the craft dash, have a go!

the sentiment is from Sweet Stamp Shop set called Elegant Sentiments. This is the last challenge of the year!!! See you in 2014 for more Casual Fridays fun!

"Hey I Like Your Stuff. You Inspire Me."(OK. Not exactly in those words)

I have a card to share and then to tell you a story. First the card. This "lovely" card is made using the new Penny Black heart banner and Hugs and kisses die. The heart confetti was a gift from my new blog pal Danielle Flanders :)  

So here is the thing. I make cards. I know many of you make cards. And some days us making cards seems really important and enjoyable and fun. And then sometimes you wonder if anyone is out there  or cares about what you are making. Are you making "good" stuff? Do people like it? And well these kind of analytical thoughts can make a carefree card maker a bit neurotic. 

Then, one unexpected day, you get an email from a sweet fellow blogger who says, "Hey, I like your stuff. You inspire me." (OK not sure if she used those EXACT) words.  And your whole world just seems a little better.

I had just such a day thanks to Christine Drogt. She is CASEing bloggers whose work she likes for the month of December with a video to boot! No easy task! I think it is interesting to be CASED and wondered which card she would chose?! You can see the chosen card and how she cased it on her blog HERE. 

So if anyone else feels this way, hey drop me a comment and lets chat about it. Maybe I will CASE my favorite card of YOURS ;)

Doors

Something cute today using Paper Smooches Bitty Bungalow and Avery Elle Simply Tag Dies. Twine is by Lawn Fawn, all from i {heart} papers. 

My door is painted with a glaze. Here it is dressed up for fall. I love a pretty door :)

I am going to enter this in the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes Challenge!

Paper Smooches Special Blog Hop

Kate (owner of i {heart} papers) suggested an idea to Kim Hughes to create a stamps and dies to support our rescued furry friends. They worked together to create some really fun dog rescue products! A portion of the sales will be donated to Home for Good -http://www.homeforgooddogs.org. Kim asked us to share these fun products with you, through our projects.

I used Paws For A Cause and Lucky Dog stamp sets to create this holiday card.

and on the inside:

To add extra fun to our blog hop...we are offering up a prize! 
 TWO winners will be chosen at RANDOM from any of the design team blogs.
 The prize - A Lucky Dog stamp set, Paws for a Cause stamp set and Dog Icons dies.
 Just leave a comment on any of the design team blogs listed for your chance to win! (you do not need to comment on all blogs to qualify but it increases your chances) 
 You have until midnight MT on Wednesday, December 18th to leave a comment. 
 Please check the IHP Blog (http://www.blog.iheartpapers.com) on Friday, December 20th to see if you are one of the TWO lucky winners.

Blog Hop Participants:

Kate/IHP: http://www.blog.iheartpapers.com
Sarah Gough: http://thinkingstamps.blogspot.com/
Lori Tecler: http://inkingaloud.blogspot.com/
Judy Rozema: http://www.jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com/
Deb Felts: http://withastampandasong.blogspot.com/
Vera Yates: http://lingshappyplace.blogspot.com/
Wida Miller: http://beachorado.blogspot.com/
Stacey Schafer: http://stampinwithstacey.blogspot.com/
Lindsay Amrhein: http://lindsayamrhein.blogspot.com/


I am going to enter this in the Paper Smooches Sparks Anything Goes challenge!

Top 10 Reasons Why I Love this Card

Time for another Casual Fridays Challenge:



Tip: Easiest way to make it look effortless? Throw it on the card, photograph it, then glue it down. Danielle Flanders reminded me of this idea and I thought I would pass it along!

Use snowflakes or snow of some kind

1 week challenge, use your stash

if you play, you could win a GC from:

My favorite things on this card and well any card actually:

1. Snowflakes 

2. Glitter

3. Snowmen

4. Jumbo Sequins

5. Cream card stock

6. A hint of stamping, a pinch of ephemera, a dash of patterned paper

7. A great font

8. A vertical oriented card

9. PINK!

10. Stars

Getting Grease Off Your Cabinets and a Mini Card.

I am so excited because my 2 cousins are coming to visit me for the holidays as well as my mom, brother, sister-in-law and 2 nieces!Preparations have started and I began with cleaning my cabinets. They can get greasy from finger prints and such. I found THIS pin on how to get rid of them and guess what? IT WORKS!!!!

Simply it is:

2 parts baking soda to 1 part vegetable oil. Scrub with a toothbrush and wipe away. Easy!!





This feminine Mini Card was simple to make:

1. Stamp the images from THIS  flair stamp set by Ali Edwards/Technique Tuesday randomly on a piece of card stock
2. Spray with adhesive
3. Apply white glitter
4. Die cut THIS Snowflake die on a piece of the same color card stock
5. using pop ups, adhere the die cut to the stamped card stock
6. pop up panel on pink card stock

**Edited to add: thanks to Lyndal, I will be entering this in the CASology challenge for this week: snowflakes!!

Loving Mimi and Photoshop

This is Mimi and I love her :)

Supplies All Penny Black:

Penny Black Creative Die, Sweetheart Mimi and My Type Stamps 

I recently bought Photoshop. I am completely addicted to actions. Got some from 2peas digital for a song. Anyone have a good action out there that they think was a good purchase? I am kinda obsessed with this one, though my digimaster blog pal Jocelyn says it might be a challenge to work with. Beats me, I am new at the whole Photoshop thing!

CFC #122 and the Lorax!

I will have to say that this Lawn Fawn set is probably my favorite Christmas set EVER! I love the possibilities. This is a stamped one layer card...kind of a big stretch for this gal who likes to put stuff on her card most of the time!

For this weeks Casual Fridays Challenge, the theme is:

Use a tree or trees.

1 week challenge, use your stash.

our sponsor:

And I know I promised a post a day for the month of November. I have failed miserably. I couldn't do it. I had to break my promise and I am really sorry. I don't know how those of you who are faithful bloggers do it.  It's a lot harder than it seems.

Trees remind me of one of my favorite movies: The Lorax and my favorite quote from the move...

A Really Easy Card with A Lot of Impact!

This card was SO easy to make!  I think it has lots of impact yet wasn't so time consuming or costly!

Supplies all Penny Black:

Stamps-Winter Berries, Hanging Treasures. 

As the pace of my blogging life slows down to make room for more madness at work and home, I wanted to express my thankfulness to you all for visiting and cheering me on. I am SLOWLY falling in love with card making again, especially when I can create for stress relief once more.

Gold makes everything better! Dedicated to my blog pal Taheerah and her magical post on Moxi Fab World!

I continue to discover new talent at every corner.  And although I stink at commenting, I am visiting and looking, being inspired by all of you out there who continue to make me push myself to improve. If anyone is interested in some eye candy, check out the Glitz Design team, Particularly Magda!

Room Makeover!

When my first child, a precious girl I named Sophia, was born, I spent time decorating her room. I painted a flower stencil on the wall and picked out pretties. It was so fun to decorate for a little girl.

Anya came along and she slept in a crib in our room for a while and then we had Karina and had to move! Coming into this house, I used the same bedding I used in Sophia's old room (which I redecorated again when she was about 3). Karina slept in the guest room in Sophia's old crib with no real space of her own to decorate.  :(

One day I heard Anya say to a playdate, I don't really like my room and she kept making excuses about her room. I felt so sad.  We have been in our house for over 2 years and she never said anything like that to me. I knew it was time to make it pretty. We moved Karina into the room once she outgrew her crib and so to give my 2 girls the same love I had given my first in decorating her space made me happy. 

Here is Sophia's old room. 

and here is the bedroom in the new house for Anya and Karina. Anya didn't like the color on the walls at all. 

So Anya and I started our consultation together and here is what we came up with. She wanted a pink/purple room. We started with the bedding. A cute set from Target.

Then I found this inspiration room from Pinterest and this is how it all came together! 3 coats of paint including the ceiling. The color was Sweet Illusion by Behr with primer. 

tissue paper pom pons, about $1.00 each to make

Butterfly wall hanging using papers from my stash and Silhouette file (Design #12033).  

I got this distressed desk that is a gray, I still need chair but am waiting for the perfect one...

Frame from Ikea. I cut a large butterfly that is the same one I used for the wall hanging.

Some shelves from Ikea with recycled toys.

 Picture frames from Ikea.

So that's it! Anya is very thankful and proud of her room now and I am so pleased with how it came out.