Another Thank You Card

I made another thank you card using a BEAUTIFUL Deco flower background stamp by Basic Grey/Hero Arts  and a great versatile thank you set called Thanks A Bunch!  My friend Angela gave me these sparkling little silver and white ornaments and they have been sitting there too cute to use. But I decided it was time to put them to good use by making some holiday thank you cards.


Here's the recipe:
I clear embossed the background.
To showcase the snowflake I die cut a circle and then framed it with some kraft card stock
I attached the snowflake to the white card stock using scotch tape
A lovely bow below with the sentiment also embossed finished it up
Popped and ready to serve! (sorry, been watching cut throat kitchen on Netflix)

I think I am going to have to give in and get a lightbox. My photos just are not consistent and the light here is odd. You can't see the glimmer of the snowflake very well at all! BUMMER!

And THEN There Are the Thank You's

Hi! I hope everybody had a good holiday. I am sitting on the floor between my girls beds waiting for them to go to sleep and making good use of time by typing up this post. See the baths are done, teeth brushed, book read (short story about the boy who cried wolf) and now I have to wait for my 2 youngest girls to go to bed and then sneak off. Sometimes I end up falling asleep myself, sometimes they go to bed fast enough I can leave with enough energy to craft a bit or watch a program. Honestly, the days go by so fast, there doesn't seem to be much left over for me. In Colorado, I was able to stay up till 11 or midnight, but seems like I am getting more tired in my old age ;)

In any event, I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. After getting those fabulous gifts, it's time to send out the thank you's! I am on the Hero Arts blog today showing off a thank you card using ink daubers. It was fun to experiment. I hope you will check it out during your "me" time...

I hope you will check out HERO ARTS blog to see what I did with it!

Top Cards of 2014

It's that time again. I want to share with you my top 14 cards of 2014.

PLEASE DO NOT PIN THESE CARDS FROM MY BLOG! Click on the link and it will take you to the persons blog and you can pin it from their own blog! Thanks!

1. Amy Tsurtura

This is the year of Amy. Her cards have been wonderful this year. Original and full of personality.  I love this card...The perfect mix of fonts, the white tone on tone, the gray etched looking snowmen with that cute baby in color. The offset tag. All these subtle details make this card dramatic, cute, original and edgy all at the same time.

2. Melania Deasy

I adore her work. She uses the Silhouette like no one else. I always buy whatever she makes using the Silhouette! Her use of colors are always playful!

3. Emily Leipart

This girl has got cute and clever all figured out! Look at this card!

4. Shelly Kurth

I love that coffee steam in the background, the simplicity of this card had me happy.

5. Amy Sheffer

The way that ribbon is tied just has me giggling. Perfectly placed stars, a bit of splatter, a dash of sequins and gems. It's a whole lot of perfectly placed sparseness.

6. Lisa  Adessa

When I pinned this...oh my so many other people did too! I think it is because it's timeless, and great for both boys and girls, men/woman, old/young.

7. Laura  O'Donnell

I can't remember where i saw this, but when I did...I fell in love. The girl is quirky, she is placed on such an artsy background and the sequins compliment her tiara. It's the right amount of awesome!

8. Julie Ebersole

That rainbow. The open and filled in stars. The rainbow. that GOLD GLIttErY strip on the cloud. It's yummy.

9. May Park

She understands how the canvas works. Beautiful white on kraft, gorgeous coloring of the dainty wreath. One corner rounded for a subtle something. Her entire body of work is all about impactful subtle artistic cards that have all kinds of wonderful if you just take a minute to look.

10. Erin Taylor

What a wonderful combination of color, shape, pattern. It's lovely.

11. Veronica  Zalis

I have such a card crush on her. She makes such lovely cards that have universal appeal. She uses patterned paper so well and look at that bow!

12. Jill Foster  

Oh my goodness, this was dramatic! I loved the way the colors have such depth.

13. Teri Anderson

I love the layout and the use of the stars in so many ways!

14. Heather Pulvirenti

Swoon! She always uses color combinations that are unusual, but this one takes the cake as the COOLEST card! I love the perfect bow. The texture with the felt. The beautiful snowflakes and that swooping hill. Very pretty.

For my favorite cards of 2012, click HERE.
For my favorite cards of 2013, click HERE.

THESE folks are still in my favorite list, the continue to be top notch designers in my eyes!

My Last Post for Crate Paper #Sad

I am on the CP blog today. It is my last post. It is a SAD moment. As you know, there are a few companies that I drool after and top of the list was Crate. They have the prettiest papers and embellishments out there and to rub elbows with the fantastic team was a dream come true. It has come to an end. I am sad.

For the last post, we were asked to make holiday DIY projects...Here is a sneak peek of my ensemble.

To see the rest of it, Click HERE.

Thank you CP for everything. It was a dream come true. 

Valentine's Day Release by Hero Arts!

I am on the Hero Arts blog today showing a card I made using the new Hero Arts Valentine's Day release stamps and stencil. Here is a sneak peek:

I hope you will check it out!

Holidays with Crate Paper!

Your favorite paper company is having a first ever holiday DIY challenge...Crate Paper is going to feature the design teams holiday projects with giveaways starting Monday!

Deck The Halls Blog Hop

Hi Everybody! If you arrived from the talented Donna Mikasa's blog, welcome! Today the Hero Arts design team is showcasing homemade ornaments. I searched google for my inspiration. The original post can be found HERE.  I have a tutorial to show you how I made my scrapbook paper ornament. 

Die cut 15 (3.5inch) circles. You can make the circles any size you want. I wanted a large ornament so that is why I made mine the size that it is.

Fold the circles in half alternating the pattern.

Stack them, alternating the pattern. One green side up, one blue side up. etc etc. 

Staple the circles on the fold line (thanks Melissa), one on the top and one at the bottom. OR you could use wire. I also tied the twine at this time (to hang the ornament). 

Glue (using glue dot) the top of the ornament. Put the glue dot about a third of the way down. 

Next glue the bottom, about a third of the way up. Alternate this around for the entire ornament. 

Attach the tag. I stamped Using Red Royal, Field Green, and Green Hills inks some of my favorite images from the  Spread Joy holiday set. Put rhinestones in the center of the snowflake for a little jaz. These are from Hero Arts too! 

Last attach a wood veneer snowflake and tie string!

Here is the hop order:

Hero Arts Blog  http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/

Yana Smakula  http://www.zrobysama.com.ua/?lang=en
Mariana Grigsby   http://marianagrigsby.wordpress.com/
Cheiron Brandon  http://www.cheironbrandon.typepad.com/
Donna Mikasa  
Wida Miller  http://beachorado.blogspot.com/  <----YOU ARE HERE!

If you feel inspired, Hero Arts is having a giveaway for anyone who wants to make a ornament too! Go to the Hero Arts blog for the inlinkz to include your ornament. You will have until Friday Dec 12 at 6pm EST, and we will announce the random winner on Saturday Dec 13. 

Hero Arts is also having a sale! This weekend only (Friday to Sunday) so check it out! 

Make You Envelopes MATCH...

   I had this idea and well it worked! Thought I would share it today...First take your favorite embossing folder. I am using this pretty one by Maggie Holmes Crate Paper Open Road collection.

I ran just the envelope flap through the big shot...WOW! The results were beautiful!

Finding color combinations can sometimes be challenging. Oh my sweet Pinterest, how I love you so. Did you know Crate Paper has a Pinterest board dedicated to color inspiration? Well that is where I went and found this beautiful photo. You can find it HERE.

Want to see the card I made inspired by this image AND that goes with the envelope? Click HERE!