Saturday, September 12, 2020

The Power of Practice Blog Hop Birthday Card and Prize You Could Win!



Are you a new cardmaker or blogger? Or do you ever look at someone else's cards or blogpost and wish yours were more professional or just better? I have and so have many of the bloggers who are hopping today. I started making cards 20 years ago and started blogging 10 years ago. Here is the card I CASED from a blog post of mine in May of 2010

Nothing wrong with this card- in fact I kept the same sketch and colors. Here is my new card:



I now own many stitched dies (the square ones in my new card are from Crealies) and think they add so much to a card's design. I also own many more sentiment dies and I used a My Favorite Things circular happy birthday die and a pretty "celebrate" stamp from Elizabeth Crafts along with favorite gems from Gina Marie Designs on my new card. I like the new card more because of these changes and much more creative experience.

I think if you look at the blogpost (linked above) from May of 2010, you will see where blogging and taking pictures has greatly improved through practice for me. My pictures are much brighter and I now title my blogposts in a better way too.  I also have a professional watermark now. 

One thing that has not changed through time is I love to use humor on my cards. The inside of the card from 10 years ago said: "Keep this up and pretty soon you will be older than dirt." Here is the inside of this card: 


This funny sentiment is also from Elizabeth Crafts in Suzanne Cannon's gorgeous calligraphy. 

I appreciate your visit today and am offering a prize you could win by commenting on this blog post before September 19, 2020 (if you have a mailing address in the USA. Please tell me in your comment where you live.) To earn extra entries, tell me if you are a follower of my blog (picture on the side of the blog), and/or if you are a subscriber of my YouTube channel here, and/or if you are a follower of my Instagram here (leave a comment there on the post of my card.) You  could win the sweet stamp set from Gina K Designs called "You Make Me Happy" and a Birthday Cut Out Die from Die-Versions shown here: 



I am entering this card in the humor challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

To see more "The Power of Practice" comparisons, be sure to keep hopping. The next stop on this blog hop is: Vicki Parson at https://stampedsmiles.com/2020/09/12/the-power-of-practice-blog-hop/

15 comments:

Akansha Sahgal said...

This was truly an inspirational blog. People often tend to compare their work with others but they forget that everyone gets better with practice only.

Quillish said...

I am so glad to be a part of this hop with you Karen, your work is inspiring and also, I feel you get better with experience. I can definitely see your photography is amazing now. So much to learn from each other.

Debbie J said...

Thanks so much for sharing. It's amazing how much our cards change over time... I have some that I HATE from a couple of years ago that I loved at the time. Just further proof that we all improve with practice.
I'm in Florida and I follow your blog, IG and YT. (On the latter 2, I'm DebbieJsCraftingCorner ;) )

*Vicki* said...

Hello Karen! :) Yay! I'm so thrilled to be apart of this wonderful blog hop with you my friend! I think I've "known" you for a while my friend and I enjoy your involvement with the "Send a Smile 4 Kids" blog! I've foolowed you on Feedly, but now I've added my photo to your Blogger Followers gadget. I subscribe to your YT channel as well!

I honestly love both of your cards here and the updated version with the dies certainly do make a difference like you mention in your post! Really incredible job with your design and I appreciate you sharing my friend! HUGS

Clayton said...

I found your post on the carmakers group on Facebook and now follow your Instagram profile. I enjoy making cards but haven’t found the time to do such so I enjoy seeing a variety of styles to get my creativity going for when I do have time! I love your humorous style as well. Enjoying from smoky California!

Katy said...

It's so fun to see other people's first cards and where they are now. I have been a cardmaker and scrapbooker for a long time. Every now and then a beginner project shows up-and sometimes I cringe LOL but we all have to start some where :) Love how you used the same sketch. Both cards are awesome. Stopping by from Florida :) And I just became a follower of your blog :)

Jeanie Ellis - Scrapbookingmamaw said...

Both cards are amazing! xxx

cghundley said...

Lovely newer version
on your card. Looks
more modern. I am
a blog follower.
Carla from Utah

cghundley said...

I also follow
your Instagram.
Carla from Utah

Denise Bryant said...

I love your updated version with the stitched dies and circular 'happy birthday'! Fun sentiment for the inside of the card!
I'm in the US, and I follow your blog, subscribe to your YouTube, and follow on IG too!

Multiplicity Crafts said...

So wonderful! (It's Maranda, so I'm not entering the giveaway - but wanted to stop by to show my support). P.S. I love the sentiment! LOL

Verna Angerhofer said...

Wonderfully designed cards. I love the birthday sentiment inside the card too. So fun. USA

Lady Joyful said...

Wonderful to be a part of this hop with you, Karen! I'll pass on the prize as I don't have a US address, but I do enjoy seeing your posts on Instagram and YouTube.

Jean said...

I think your cards are wonderful. What fun to go back and look! Super cute inside which I tend to leave looking very empty:) I am in Michigan. I follow your blog, I also am a youtube subscriber and follow on IG. Thank you for the inspiration!

creativetimewithme said...

Nice to see how you have progressed in your crafting. Love the newer card!