Holiday Countdown

So much crafting to do, so little time!  I don’t make a lot of holiday cards–just a few, though, for special friends and to say a special holiday hello.  I also try to make a one-of-a-kind gift tag for every present I give, and gift card holders for each gift card.  So, cards are done.  Tags are done–and gifts are mailed.  But I’m a few gift cards short of finished.

Fortunately, the weekend will be quiet (ah, finally).  Lovely!

I’ll post tags soonest and gift card holders, but will leave you with W plus 9’s Holiday Hugs that is my favorite holiday card image for this year, and is the perfect size for Copic coloring.

There’s Snow Place Like Home

Do you ever do this?  Make a card—and then make it again?  I never used to do that (no time?), but recently, I’ve started to do that.  First, it’s efficient:  I need cards–s…

Source: There’s Snow Place Like Home

There’s Snow Place Like Home

Do you ever do this?  Make a card—and then make it again?  I never used to do that (no time?), but recently, I’ve started to do that.  First, it’s efficient:  I need cards–so many times I wish I had the one I just sent out to send it out to another friend!  And so I’ve started stamping things out multiple times–if it’s good once, it’s good later, and coloring a few things at a time is faster than doing one item at a time.  Second, I think that my images are better the second (and sometimes third) time around.  My hands feel more sure of themselves and my eye is a bit more critical…I think.   Third, it give me a stash of leftover images.  Until recently, I keep those in an old raspberry container on my desk (love those things for crafting storage).  But that overflowed, and I never remembered what was there, and things sometimes got wrecked or swiped by my daughter for her creations–which was sometimes okay, and sometimes not.  So now the spares go in the  back side of the stamp pocket I store the stamps in.  Easy!

So, card 1 from the Snow Cool set by Lawn Fawn is up top.  For my coworker, who just bought a home.  And then my dear neighbor bought a new home….and I was able to take the “extra” penguin set and whip up card 2–in literally about 30 minutes, since I knew what I was doing.  and set three  is in the back of the stamp envelope–ready to go for the next time I need an igloo and some penguins!

 

 

 

So little time, so many cards!

I’ve had a great couple of months in terms of my card-making obsession.  I like what I’m making more and more, and it feels, mostly, less forced.  On the other hand, I have very little time to build out this site, but as it’s mostly a spot for me to learn how to blog and put up photos of my creations, I thinking stressing about it is not worthwhile.

Tonight, I just want to post some of my favorite recent cards and the coloring images for Kathy Racoosin’s latest 30-day coloring challenge.  And if you stumble onto this site, leave me a post….that would make my day!

This is a lovely little stamp from W+9 that is my new favorite winter stamp set.  And it’s a good thing I have a new stamp set — it’s time to start those wintery, holiday, sparkly cards ands tags.  This bear and his friend are easy to color and big enough to get some nice depth and shadows even if you’re a Copic neophyte like me.  My first one try was more fall than winter.  It looked like this:  

Hard to go wrong with this one, I think!

 

Okay, time to:  make dinner, pay the tutor, take son & pal to basketball practice, check work email account.  One of those days, but at least I’ve updated my blog for the first time since I created it in JANUARY!  (My, my, how the time flies.)  More soon.

 

Online Card Class

Source: Online Card Class

Online Card Class

Two snow days off work and two days of the latest fabulous and inspiring course from onlinecardclasses.com !  I’ve started “Watercoloring for Card Makers:  Intermediate Techniques and it’s just great!  All my favorite card makers and bloggers, showing us step-by-step techniques to help learn watercolor techniques…and then using them in cards with steps and ideas we can either repeat or riff on at home!  What a great break from work.  Here are two exercises and a watercolored card I’ve made as some of the introductory work–Not great, but great fun!

 

Snow(e)scape crafting

There’s nothing better than this week–two fabulous days at home in the snow with my family–we’re healthy, happy and the power hasn’t gone out, despite 22 inches of snow in a place that averages 19 inches a year!  Hallelujah!  And every day I get to make cards–so many new toys to play with, so many great blogs and videos to look at.  It’s a visual feast, and I don’t have to set foot outside, unless I want to!

And so, at my daughter’s urging, and without telling her about it, I’m starting this little blog in the blogosphere.  Just because I can–and to prove to myself that a middle-aged puppy can learn a few new tricks.  And maybe because in addition to that urge to make something that has hit me so hard this last year, there’s an urge to share what I’m making that a Flickr account doesn’t quite satisfy.  Well, we’ll see where it goes, shall we?

If you’re among the snowbound and reading this, be well and warm.  If you’re my family or friends, be happy.  And now back to a bit of watercoloring while the kids are occupied with their own activities.