2011 Top Ten Favorites

Happy New Year!  Last year I really enjoyed looking through all the cards I made and creating a Top Ten list.  I made 76 posts in 2010 and hoped to double that for 2011.  I came close with 131 posts and it was tough to narrow them down to my favorite ten.  So, here are my Top Ten Favorite cards for 2011.

Make a Wish

Hello Sunshine

It's Your Day

Eat Cake Tag

A Little Birdie Told Me

Birthday Witch's Closet

First WMSC Winner

Paper Ruffles

Velvet Santa

Nordic Winter Sock Monkey

My very favorite is the last one, Nordic Winter Sock Monkey.  It reminds me of my sweet little niece and was so much fun to give to her on Christmas Eve.

Which one do you like the best?  Thanks for looking at my favorites and for all the sweet messages and encouragement throughout the year.  Happy New Year!

WMSC#78: Best Wishes on Your Engagement

No Christmas card today, I am officially done making Christmas cards until next month when my resolution is to make both outside and inside of my cards monthly, rather than up until the last minute like this year.  Todays card is for Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge #78.

Here is this weeks cute sketch: 

I just got my copy of scrapbook magazine yesterday, and as I flipped through the pages I saw a gorgeous layered doily embellishment tutorial.  If you are looking, Page 94 of the February 2012 issue of Scrapbooks etc. 
It takes 5 doilies and some scoring and folding, but you end up with a really elegant layered focal point for your card.

This card is going to a couple who are getting engaged on Christmas Day.   For this card I used Waltzingmouse stamps Big Day Additions and their beautiful scrolly sentiments.  These are the most elegant sentiments, just perfect for congratulating someone for an engagement, wedding or anniversary.  I also used Nordic Winter images on top of the layered doily.  The patterned papers are from My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Madison Avenue papers.  They are almost too pretty to tear out of the package.  I used a Spellbinder Edgeability die to shape the bottom of the card, added several layers of lace and pearls to add to the elegant feel to this card. 

Here is a look at the really pretty sentiment on the inside of the card:

After they open this card, I am going to snap it right back from them because it will on one of pages in their wedding scrapbook I plan to make for them.  I predict a lot of scrapbook pages on my blog in the near future.  I am really looking forward to it!

WMSC#77-Nordic Winter Sock Monkey

I bet that title surprised you, didn't it?  Today I made a tag for Waltzingmouse sketch challenge #77 based on this cute sketch:

First, a picture.

This my one year old niece and her mom.  Isn't that the sweetest little sock monkey you have ever seen?  Natalie loves sock monkeys.  Her whole room is decorated with a sock monkey theme and she was a sock monkey for her first Halloween.  When I saw my new Waltzingmouse stamps Nordic Winter stamp set, one of the stamps totally reminded me of the pattern in the body of a stuffed sock monkey and decided to try making one.  Here is what I came up with:

I was able to find a sock monkey svg file somewhere on the internet (sorry, don't  remember where) and cut it out twice on my cricut.  I used Papertreyink Linen and Canvas impression plate on the rustic cream hands, feet and tail and stamped the body with the Nordic Winter set.  Since I was going to use this as a tag to tie on her Christmas gift, I added a little Santa's hat with some white flock on the brim along with a pom pom ball on the end.  That cute little monkey looked kind of bare, so I gave him a little banner using Waltzingmouse stamps Bitty Banners and the words Ho, Ho, Ho are from Waltzingmouse Sewing Box Christmas.  The patterned papers in the tag are from Echo Park Holly Jolly Christmas and the diecut behind the monkey is a Spellbinder Ironworks diecut.  I added some punched snowflakes and red sparklies along the bottom and tied it all  up with a gingham ribbon.  I love how this turned out and hope her mom saves it to put in her baby book scrapbook, a little reminder of Christmas, 2011.

Coffee with Friends

I wanted to share with you some pictures of a very fun morning I had yesterday.  I have spoken many times about how grateful I am for the wonderful friends I have met through my cardmaking hobby and today I got to have coffee with two of them, Joyce Mehrberg of Cards by the Sea and MaryBeth Lopez of MaryBeth's Time for Paper.  I have met Joyce in person before, but this was the first time I have been able to meet MaryBeth other than in blog land and we had such a great morning together talking about cards, kids and family.  We all exchanged little cards and gifts and I wanted to share those with you.

First, Marybeth made us some delicious honeycomb candy and presented it in a bag tied with this gorgeous tag:

They are  nearly gone now and were so delicious.

Joyce gave us some homecooked caramels in a super cute little tin decorated with snowflakes and a sweet little penguin.

She also gave me a beautiful card with lots of snowflakes and a sparkly ribbon.  Those caramels are actually gone and storebought caramels could never taste as good.

Here is a picture of the three of us:

This was a great start to my holiday vacation and I am so looking forward to getting together again sometime next summer. 

Seasonal Remedies

Today I made a card with a new set of stamps,  Waltzingmouse Stamps Seasonal Remedies. 

Seasonal Remedies

I have made a ton of holiday cards, but as I organized them today, I realized I hadn't made one for my own mom and dad.  Not a very good daughter, but as long as I hurry and get it in the mail,  they should be none the wiser.  You won't tell, will you?   Here it is:

The best thing about Waltzingmouse stamps is that their images are so detailed, they can stand alone, not needing a lot of coloring and are perfect for making an elegant card.  I used a little swirly image from Vintage Labels 4 to fill in the nestie circle and layered it on top of a couple of Spellbinder Ironworks diecuts and the "Peace" word is a Papertrey Ink Wonderful Words Holiday diecut.  I distressed the edges and did a little stitching, added a bit of ribbon and this card was done.  So, I am off to the post office and I just hope my parents don't compare notes with any of my other relatives about when they all received their cards!

Holiday Button Boutique

Today I am sharing a card I made using PTI's Button Boutique, my all-time favorite PTI stamp set.  I especially love to make a card using this set and send it to one of my crafty friends along with a spare set of buttons.  Here is the card I made:

The patterned papers were given to me by my friend Renee of It's a Patchwork Life along with about 10 pounds of other papers, all cut into the perfect size just ready for me to use on a card.  I diecut a PTI Parisian Doily diecut and also a tiny envelope which I used to tuck the little button card into.  The buttons were adhered to a PTI pinked square.  The sentiment is from Waltzingmouse stamps A Christmas Cottage and was embossed onto a Spellbinder ribbon banner. Here's a little close-up of the button cards:

Isn't that gingerbread man adorable?  Thanks for taking a look!

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #76 and Holiday Tag Contest: Velvet Santa

Ho! Ho! Ho!  Today I have a tag card for Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge #76 and the Waltzingmouse Holiday Tag Contest.  Check out this cute inspiration sketch: 

I'm not sure what made me think of Santa for this one, but here is my card:

I used the neatest velvet paper for his "coat".  Here's a picture which better shows the velvet:

I cut two Spellbinder Fleur de Lis diecuts for the belt buckle, one in coasterboard and one in gold vellum and layered them together for a nice dimensional belt buckle.  The belt is black glitter paper and there are two little square brads for buttons.  The pom poms represent the fur on his coat.  I added my sentiment tag from Candy Jar Christmas embossed in gold and a little scroll to hold the tag from a Spellbinder Ironworks die.  The whole thing is tied up with a gold ribbon of course Santa has to have some bells, doesn't he?   This rather large tag is going on my husbands gift this year.  He's a pretty good guy and deserves to be on my "nice" list!

If you want a chance to win 4 sets (yes, I said 4 sets) of Waltzingmouse Stamps, all you have to do is make a tag using at least one Waltzingmouse stamp set by December 20th.  For more information, here's the link.