First Card of the Year

Well, hello there! Happy New Year 2012! Hope it is the most creative and inspiring one for you yet!

2012 holds a promise to be very busy and exciting for me. I am looking forward to it and I hope to squeeze each and every minute of paper crafting time I possibly can get out of it. 

Behold the first card of 2012, which will be part of Wiggles & Giggles' Card of the Month - January class, which I will be teaching on January 12, 2012 at 6pm. I got to use so many fun new toys on it - it was a real joy to create it. 

First, I finally gave in a got myself one of Martha Stewart's (not so new anymore, as far as scrapbooking market is concerned) pattern punches. I did not expect to love it, but, boy, I adore it now! Love the ability to create all over the page patterns.

Second came the new Fiskar's border punch with interchangeable cartridges. I've had my eye on this new system for a while, waiting for it to come to stores, ever since it was introduced in ads. They're finally available to mere mortals and I am in loooove! Super easy to use, just like any other punch aaaaaaand one can weave ribbon through some of the new patterns.

Last, but not least, new just released Hero Arts stamps are crazy versatile and I basically want all of them. For this card, the sentiment from the "Keep Calm" set seemed perfect!

Supplies:

Cardstock

Ink: Memento in Tuxedo Black

Embellishments: ribbon, Fiskars border punch, MS pattern punch, pearls

Have a happy day!

Mimi, Oh Deer...

I love the Christmas card making season because there are so many wonderful people I can finally make cards for and send cards to, which gives me a perfect excuse to engage all of my stamps, punches, inks and fun paper crafting tools.

...and speaking of punches, I just had to get the EK Success reindeer edge punch this year - adorable, adorable, I say! See it in action below:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Echo Park
Ink: Adirondack in Red Pepper
Embelishments: COPIC, MS glitter pens, red pearls, EK Success Reindeer edge punch, Crop-a-dile Corner Chomper


Those reindeer noses were just calling for red pearls...I just had to do it, it was a MUST!

Another favorite, at Christmas time in particular, is Mimi. Penny Black came out strong this year and brought some seriously cute Mimi Christmas stamps. Mimi with the reindeer nose is just such a fun stamp to work with.

Christmas is a great excuse for using glitter with reckless abandon. It can't quite be seen here, but Mimi's antlers are shiny, sparkling gold - fortified by some Martha Stewart glitter pens.

Have a sparkling evening!

Mimi and the (Birthday) Bear

I chose to open the Christmas card season with a stamp my darling husband selected and gave to me for my birthday :). He actually went to my favorite store Wiggles & Giggles and picked it out for me :) with owner's help! He said it took them a while to find something I didn't already have! Oy!

I also absolutely had to do a non-traditional color scheme. That purple on the scarf and the coat was entirely too enticing.

Supplies:
Cardstock
Stamp: Penny Black Mimi and the Bear
Ink: Memento in Tuxedo Black
Embellishments: Reminisce edge punch, bling, COPICs

Best Fishes

A co-worker of mine, a true fishing enthusiast, recently had to undergo a medical procedure. I knew I wanted to make him a get-well card, but all I could think of were fishes, fishes, fishes...So, what do you get in that situation? Hmmm, see for yourselves:

Cute, huh?

Supplies:
Cardstock 
Stamps: Hero Arts
Ink: Memento in Tuxedo Black
Embellishments: COPIC markers


Have a great night!

A Fall Wedding

Recently, our son's preschool teacher, who also happens to be one of our favorite people in the world, got married. This, of course, called for a card! While I didn't have a particular idea about the card design, I knew that the card had to involve her wedding color, terracotta.

Now, I openly admit that terracotta is not the easiest of colors to work with, when it comes to wedding cards. A little goes a long way. Hence, the color splash design below.

The bride called it "very Miss Kim weddingish" :). I think I got it just right for just her personality...

Also, another teacher at the daycare approached me and asked, if I could create a card for the same person and the same wedding, which she could give to her. Here's what I came up with for her:

Supplies


Card I


Card stock: corrugated card stock
Embellishments: MS border punch, pearls, chipboard flowers, ribbon


Card II


Card stock: corrugated card stock, Bazzill basics in cream
Stamps: And the two become one...
Ink: Memento in Dessert Sand
Embellishments: Spica atyou pen in gold, bling, MS butterfly punch, ribbon, copper mesh ribbon, EK Success border punch

Have a great day!

Eeeeeek!

Halloween is near my friends! Even though I typically do not make cards for Halloween, I could not resist using the Martha Stewart spider web punches.

I typically also don't do CAS, but this card begged for it. I had to show off those itsy bitsy spiders :).

This card will be part of my "On the Edge" class at Wiggles at Giggles, coming up on October 30th at 1:30pm.

Supplies: 
Cardstock: DCWV metallic stack, orange and black cardstock
Embellishments: MS punches, pearls, Millenium pen

Eeeeeeek!

Happy birthday, princess!

I think I have mentioned before that I love making cards for my son's friends' birthdays. It's just so much fun to make cards for 4 year old kids, I am telling you! Given that I have a boy and am surrounded by boyish stuff all the time, I especially love making princess themed cards. They are just so very cute.

So, when I heard that my son's friend likes Cinderella and Rapunzel, I knew right away what the card should look like. And here it is:

I happened to spot this birthday stamp, when I was out looking for a Cinderella sticker. It is almost a perfect match to a fairy tale inspired card, with all its swirls and tiny little stars.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Surfer Girl, pink cardstock
Stamp: Inkadinkado
Ink: Memento in Tuxedo Black
Embellishments: Cinderella sticker, EK success border punch, MS border punch, pearls, Spica atyou pens


Have a simply marvelous evening!