Favorite Cards of 2022 - Part Two

Every year I go back through all the cards I blogged in the year and pick my favorites from each month to share with you one more time. Underneath the pictures is a link to the blogpost so you can click to easily see more details or how the cards were made. Here are my favorites from the second half of 2022. 

July 5 Blogpost

August 15 Blogpost

September 19 Blogpost

October 31 Blogpost

November 18 Blogpost

December 19 Blogpost 

December 5 Blogpost

I couldn't decide on one Favorite from December, so included a bonus card. Happy New Year to you and yours!

More Non-Christmas Cards Made With Christmas Dies and Embossing Folders

I couldn't resist many of the new Christmas dies from The Greetery but when I got them my Christmas cards were done. I didn't want to put them away until next holiday season so I used them for cards for the New Year showing ways to stretch the use of Christmas dies for my newest video here. I made this slimline card with The Greetery's Round About Winter Foliage and Small Stripes Ribbon Maker as well as their Paper Ribbon. 

Isn't this Penguin Mug card adorable made with dies from Pixie Dust Designs? I used new Christmas embossing folders from Sizzix and Simon Says Stamp as well as layered stencil sentiments and matching dies from Pinkfresh Studios:

In the new video I also shared this idea for making a paperweight to set on liquid glue as it sets with the large acrylic blocks we no longer use since getting stamp positioners:

To see many more cards made with Christmas dies that are not Christmas cards and a fun fold,  watch my newest video here. Happy New Year! 

Favorite Cards of 2022 - Part One

Every year I go back through all the cards I blogged in the year and pick my favorites from each month to share with you one more time. Underneath the pictures is a link to the blogpost so you can click to easily see more details or how the cards were made. Here are my favorites from the first half of 2022. 

Blogpost January 20

February 28 Blogpost

March 28 Blogpost

April 25 Blogpost

May 23 Blogpost

June 13 Blogpost

Stop back on Thursday for my favorite cards from the second half of 2022. Hoping you and yours have a happy, healthy and creative New Year! 

Design with Christmas Dies Into the New Year!

I am done with Christmas cards, decorating and shopping for this year but have a bunch of Christmas dies and embossing folders I haven't played with yet. There is no law that says we can't make cards well into the New Year with our Christmas dies, right?  I share many such cards and a new fun fold in my newest video here. 

I learned how to make an A2 Bridge Card with a Window from Frenchie in her tutorial here. I used my new Frosty Corners and Small Stripes Ribbon Maker from The Greetery along with a sentiment die from Sue Wilson on this A2 Bridge Card with a Window. Here is a look at the back of this bridge card where I will sign and write a message:

I really wanted to use a larger Snowflake Frame Backdrop Die from Kat Scrappiness on a Bridge card with a Window, so I adjusted the size to accommodate that die as I show in the new video:

Inside the pretty snowflake frame is a Clear Views Transparency from The Mark - It Place I purchased at Let's Create in Wisconsin Rapids. In the new video I show how to make another size of this fun fold step by step illustrating how we can adjust fun folds to accommodate the dies we want to use. 

The beautiful Clear Views Transparency snowy scene is framed by Penny Black's Snowflake Frame and I added patterned mirror card strips and a snowflake also from Penny Black. Here is a look at the back of this Bridge Card with a Window I show how to make in the new video:

The stenciled "Birthday Wishes" was made with a layered Brushed Sentiments stencil and matching die set from Pinkfresh Studios. Here is another version of this size of bridge card with a window that I made with the same products:

Of course all of these cards could be Christmas cards with the right sentiments but I wanted to show how to use Christmas dies in to the new year and needed some special thank you and birthday cards. 

I hope my cards encourage you to watch the new video and give some of the ideas and products a try. 

Wishing you all a healthy and joyful New Year!

Merry Christmas and Celebration Wine Tags

Cheers to you and yours this holiday season! One of the die sets I treated myself to during all the Black Friday sales was this set from Trinity Stamps that is a wine tag with many layered sentiments perfect for gifting wine or liquor. I made the one above for a friend for Christmas, and this one for any special occasion:

Isn't that "sip, sip, hooray" fun? Here is a set I am giving away to my kids:

Some are for the holidays and some for any special wine gifting occasion. Wishing you and yours Merry Christmas and a Happy Healthy and Creative New Year!

I am entering the tags in the Party challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

More Bokeh Eclipse Cards From My Newest Video

My favorite backgrounds for the Bokeh technique are created with watercolor powders on watercolor paper, and this card and the next were made with Nuvo's Shimmer Powders. It is hard to see in the photo, but there is a lovely shimmer to the background, and the Bokeh circles were created with white pigment ink and a layered Bokeh stencil from Kat Scrappiness. I share these and many other Bokeh Eclipse cards in my newest video here. All the dies on the card above are from Crealies, and the balloon was also raised with the pattern from the background continuing through the balloon, another way to use the Eclipse technique. 

Instead of white pigment ink Bokeh circles on this card, I made them with Nuvo Glacier Paste and white shimmer cardstock. 

Here is a card I made with layered Bokeh stencils from Simon Says Stamp and Condensed Uppercase Alphabet dies from Kat Scrappiness. I hope you will watch the new video for many ideas on how to update the Bokeh and Eclipse techniques with today's products, and thanks for visiting today!

I am entering the second card in the Party challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.

Bokeh and Eclipse - Revisiting Older Techniques Video

Older techniques become new and easier to do with today's products, and in my new video here I show how to combine the Bokeh and Eclipse techniques to make many unique cards. Years ago I played with the Bokeh technique and even wrote an article with card samples for a nationally published magazine. 

Bokeh is a photography term that describes the blurry, out of focus points of light in a photograph, but has been used in card making backgrounds with stamps and stencils. I recently purchased a couple bokeh layering stencil sets that do all the design and placement so much easier than the handmade stencil I made years ago. And the Eclipse technique can be expanded to include shadow word dies rather than just the alphabet dies as in the past.

This is the card I show how to make step by step in the new video with both those techniques and how to create the colorful background with Brusho Crystal Colours watercolor powders. The alphabet dies are a favorite of mine from Kat Scrappiness and the layered Bokeh stencil set I used in all these cards is also from Kat Scrappiness. "Thinking of" is part of a sentiment die from Karen Burniston.

Of course you don't need to use white pigment ink to make the stenciled bokeh circles as I show in this card which features all dies from Kat Scappiness. Below are two more cards I feature in the new video both made with a mix of dye ink and white pigment ink for the Bokeh circles, a double layer of stenciling with a Gina K Designs floral stencil and the Eclipse technique for the sentiments: 

The purple one above is a sneak peek of one of the cards I am teaching on February 19th at Harts N Scraps in Cedar Creek in Rothschild WI on stencil techniques and inspiration. If you are in Wisconsin and want to learn more stencil techniques, call 715-298-2055 for more details and to reserve your spot.

To see many more cards and how do combine these techniques for unique easy cards, watch the new video here. I hope my cards inspire you to give some of techniques and products a try and you find time to play this week!

More Fun Fold Interlace Snowflake Cards - but only One Snowflake Among Them

I love snowflake dies and decorations for my house but not so much the real thing. I am done with Christmas cards for the year but couldn't resist the Hunkydory Moonstone Interlace Snowflake die set I found at Paper Wishes recently. I did make the pretty two sided snowflake above for my tree, but then challenged myself to use the die set in different ways that do not look like snowflakes for my newest video here.

What if I glued the Interlace Snowflake down and then cut it with a circle die? I used the pretty circle on an interactive card I learned from Jennifer McGuire and pops open like this when the pull tab is pulled:

The background was created with a die from Memory Box, the wonky circle is from Crealies and the sentiment is from IO. 

I created this purple diamond fold easel card with two sided thinner weight paper (and the  Interlace Snowflake die) from Hunkydory as well as a pretty "Thinking of You" die from Simon Says Stamp.  Here is another fun fold card I made with Creative Craft Products Diamond Fold Die Set and no snowflakes in sight:

Here is what the inside of this unique fun fold looks like with the layers perfectly cut using that Diamond Fold die set:

I hope the cards and new video here inspire you to look at your seasonal dies differently, and then you send some of your handmade joy out into the world!

I am entering the snowflake ornament in the Ice Cold Challenge at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday.