Welcome the New Year with a Re-cap of 2013

Happy New Year and welcome to my Top 13 of 2013 as part of the OWH bloghop.  You can check out all of the fun at:                                                   http://operationwritehome.org/starsandstamps

It is funny... when I reviewed my posts from 2013 there were some cards that completely slipped my mind and others made me sigh with happiness. And some- what was I thinking?!! OK- you are not going to see those here- I posted them once- that was more than enough! I loved all of the inspiration last year from OWH; the Sunday Sketches, MidWeek Throwdown, Boot Camp, the weekly tutorials, blog hops, ODBD challenges, OWH TV, visiting fellow OWH cardmakers on their blogs and Sandy's ICSE classes! Hopefully- my creativity and techniques improved over the past year!  This is a honkin' long post but please make sure to read all the way to the end!

 Here are my favorites from last year:

1.  A no-coloring card- the fan is from my Cricut. I like the semi-circle and the star brads.

2.  This image was colored during one of Sandy's ICSE classes- I enjoyed those so much! I like the image and the patterned paper and the lime green with the red.

3.   Awww- a sweet Mo Manning image- I love the determination on his face and I like the stitching around the circle- just like a baseball! I got the idea from an OWHer's comment on a previous card- easy and fun!

 4.  A super simple card- a copic colored butterfly and a cricut frame, some velvet ribbon-and black and pink- a favorite color combo!

5.  I love this handy man-- and his jeans overalls! I like the tools- made from little dies! 

6.  Blue and yellow- another favorite color combination- and another Mo Manning digital image- I can just imagine a younger brother looking up to his big brother--a true hero!

7.  This is a step fold card- and while there is not a ton of room to write a message- I thought it was a fun card for one of our hard working troops to send home. Hero Arts stamps- fun!

 8.  Oh- don't you just smile when you see a Paper Smooches stamp? This little farmer guy just called to me and I had to color him! Again- blue and yellow!

9.  Another blue and yellow card! This time a loving robot- from another of Sandy's ICSE classes- coloring metallic images. I love the layout, the hunky robot and the sentiment!

10.  Yup-another Mo Manning image! Love these 2 pals-- and they were fun to color!

11.  I love this stinkin' cute angel by Amy Young for CC Designs. She just made me smile and I hoped she brought smiles to others! She is recessed into the opening and the circle surrounding her is OWH safe glitter paper- no flaking off!

 12.  Finally- a My Favorite Things stamp! I think I have more MFT stamps than any other (Paper Smooches, Hero Arts and Penny Black come close behind!) I like that he can be used to send to a boy and love that he lassoed a star!  Yeehaw!

13.  And I think this is my all time favorite- I love the soft papers and colors- but mostly I love that I think of my lil Maggie every time I see this image (all grown up at 19- but she will always be my lil darling!)! I am happy with the coloring, the simple layout and the softness of the card.

So- what have I learned? 

• I adore coloring little kids.
• Mo Manning images are so full of personality! I need more!
• Blue and yellow is a great color combination. 
• I like clean and simple cards!
• I love looking at blogs and getting ideas and adding to my list of 'must have' stamps, papers and other goodies!
• And I like to share....so please leave a comment, you can follow my blog- but it is not required-- and out of all of the comments left by midnight (eastern time) 1/18/14 I will draw a winner for a gift card to Paper Smooches or to Oozak (where I get my copics)- the winner can choose either PS or O! (I won a CG to PS from a previous blog hop and I thought it was such a fun prize- I was in heaven- picking out stamps! I was very lucky in 2013 and won several blog candy prizes and loved each and everyone of them!) Make sure I have a way to contact you or check back on 1/19/14 to see if you are the winner! And why the 19th? Well, it gives you plenty of time to get to my blog along the fabulous hop- and it is an easy date for me to remember- it is my birthday!  (Sorry- members of my family are not eligible to win...you all have access to my stash- you do not need anything else- lol!)

Thanks for stopping by and here is to a wonderful 2014!
Diane

And the Party Continues!

Hello! The OWH VCMP  has been so much fun...the final challenges were posted yesterday. Marlene got the day started with our Sunday sketch- based on a card by Seongsook.
                               

I used papers from a few Christmas 6x6 pads and my image is from Peachy Keen! Love this Santa!

Next challenge: This one almost stumped me.....then I stopped thinking so hard and just had fun! Sybrina K wanted us to make cards for kids....playing tic tac toe to decide what goes on the card!
http://scrappingwithpurpose.blogspot.com/2013/09/owh-vcmp-cards-4-kids.html
                          
I went right down the center row- I stamped and colored the Paper Smooches cow and used a sentiment that came with the set....super easy and fun once I stopped stressing-lol! All the papers are DCWV. I love their glitter paper because it does not rub off so it is perfect for OWH! I mounted the cow on an Action Wobble-let's face it- what kid does not like movement! I remember the simple thrill of spinning on a stool at the donut shop as a kid...it drove my father crazy! 
(LOL I forgot to insert my image of this card...only realized when I went to post it at Sybrina's link! I guess I am tired or old..or both!) 

Next up- Marilyn challenged us to make a fall card. I made my card based on sketch #179. My papers are scraps from other projects-yeah me!- and the sweet little gnome boy is a digital image-and I have no idea who made him-boo me! I regret that I did not save some of my digital images indicating the artist or the store!
http://marilynscards.blogspot.com/2013/09/labor-day-weekend-vcmp.html
                         

Thia challenged us to create a bee card with a bee sentiment. 

http://bluemooncreation.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-un-bee-lievable-challenge-owh-labor.html?m=1

The Stamps of Life stamps  to the rescue-used for the image and the sentiment. I put the bee on an Action Wobble too! Bees very rarely are still...always buzzing around! I used an embossing folder by ProvoCraft to mimic honeycomb!

And our final challenge for the weekend:

Donna inspired us to make a card using the negative of a die or a punch! Loving this! 

http://indianainking.blogspot.com/2013/09/owh-vcmp-play-along.html

This angel is a digital stamp and I know this is from CC Designs- the Meoples line and I am pretty sure the artist is one of my favorites- Amy Young.

I embossed pink cardstock and then cut a circle with a Spellbinders die, then I made a ring from DCWV glitter paper from that circle die and the next size up. I colored the sweetie with Copics and the wings with a Sakura clear star pen. Whenever I use glittery pens-I always use a Sakura clear glaze pen over the glitter- the shimmer shows thru but the glitter is sealed in! I adhered her underneath the circle opening and stamped my sentiment on an EK Success punch. Signo white stitching....and my challenges are complete! 

I have really enjoyed looking at a lot of the cards that have been made for our troops! I am impressed with the talent and creativity and love how everyone is so generous and shares their talent! OWH supporters ROCK!! (like always being on an Action Wobble! lol)

OWH is celebrating their birthday all month long! I am looking forward to more fun and inspiration....it would be great to have some cake and ice cream...some balloons, banners, music...I love parties!

Craft on and thanks for stopping to visit!

Diane

Autumn Around the Corner

Hello- thanks for stopping by! Over at OWH this week we are challenged by Jan to make cards inspired by fall! Yeah- my favorite time of year!
http://operationwritehome.org/midweek-throwdown-fall-theme/
I used a very cute MFT gal holding a big pumpkin- yes- the kids always want huge pumpkins! The paper behind the image is embossed with a wood grain folder. I made a small bow with stash ribbon,  used spellbinders dies  and copic makers, paper pieced dress-and my card is complete! 

 Sandy has told us that there is not a huge need for Halloween cards so I only made a few and I could not resist these adorable ghosts from CC Designs.

                    

My issues with posting continued- and the only way I could resolve it was to install google chrome and I can post without problems when I access it from GC. 

Please come back Saturday when I will post my first challenge creation as a Designated Designer for Drunken Stampers!
Have a wonderful week and craft on!
Diane

Give me an H...H

This enthusiastic Amy Young image, Betsy,  a Sweet November gal from CC Designs  ccdesigns.typepad.com reminds me of my cheerleading days! OK- my legs were NEVER that thin...but our skirts were pretty short! LOL  Give me an H... H!  Give me an E...E... you are cheering along, aren't you?

This cutie had sparklers in her hands but I wanted her to be less seasonal (the sparklers were adorable but seemed to scream 4th of July to me)- so I fussy cut Besty and left off the sparklers. I think she will make a great hero card! Oh- and the card is for this week's throwdown at OWH- use red, white, blue and kraft! Color challenges sometimes stump me- but I love this combo! And how come when I colored her I thought all that fluff was hair- but now I see that part of each ponytail is a scrunchie??? I wonder if I can fix it with paper piecing?

OK- are you ready for some more bragging??? I know you are all just chomping at the bit to know....yes- Tessa and the Sun Devils won the championship game! Yahooooo! She pitched and struck out 11 batters! She caught 2 pop ups and fielded a grounder for an out to first base-- are you counting? She played a role in 14 out of 18 outs in the 6 inning game! It was a fun and exciting season. Her mom- my darling baby sister- and I are going to make an album of the season for her coach..some games were so exciting I forgot to take pictures but I think I have plenty to make a nice scrapbook of all the girls. Her coach is the type of guy who will really appreciate it and we want him to remember this team forever!
Have a wonderful and safe Independence Day!
Craft on,
Diane