2019 was the year of the card kits.

I'm going to call 2019 the year of the card kits, since I bought 8 of them. 2 of the kits I never even made 1 card from, not one!

The above kit, the limited edition kit for Simon Says Stamp Stamptember is one of them. I really can't say why I needed to have this kit. I really don't know why I did it.  I have used the Gina K glimmer gel from the kit, but that's all.

The Tonic Studios Christmas themed kit that I got during the summer is completely unused also.  Tonic Studios gets me with their embellishment "goops" and their specialty cotton papers.  The main feature of this kit is a die that creates a box frame. I'm probably never going to use that, but I had to have it just the same.

A couple of kits were well used, most recently Spellbinder's Merry Everything, and previously Simon Says Stamp's Bee Yourself.  I consider a kit well used if I make the "recommended" number of cards with it.  Most Youtube gurus do "10 cards, one kit" with the SSS kits, so that's my standard for SSS.  The Spellbinders kit came with 25 card bases and envelopes, so that's my standard for it.

A big lesson for me is to look at the sentiments included and REALLY think about where I would use them.  I'll always need birthday, sympathy and Christmas cards, but I have enough "love" cards to last me to the end. NO more Valentines.  No kits for minor holidays like St. Patrick's Day, either.  Is St. Patrick's Day a card sending occasion for me? No.

I have, so far, managed to resist Halloween kits.  Yay, self control.

GOAL! I made 25 cards from the Spellbinders Merry Everything kit

On the 4th day of Christmas I finished making the 25 cards from the Spellbinder's Merry Everything kit that I had set myself as a goal.  Here are last 3, all featuring the VW bug die that came with the kit.

Now I can box this up until next summer when I'll dig into it again.  There is still plenty of product left in the kit. For the moment, however, I've had enough of it.

Forgotten cards, found.

Seriously, I can't remember if I showed these yet, so here they are. I'm pretty sure I did these last summer and wanted to hold off posting about them until it was seasonal, so here they are. Yay.

These are using Concord & 9th dies and old paper from my stash.

Merry little elves (or gnomes)

Yes, I'm still making Christmas cards. Woo hoo!  Since Christmas is in the middle of the week and I can't take time off from work, I'm staying home this year. So, how about a sassy card, eh?  This one will accompany a gift card to a restaurant.

The elves are a copy of a set of dies from a company in Germany, so I won't be using them again. Sad, since I really like them. The cover sentiment and its speech bubble die are from My Favorite Things, and the inside sentiment is from scrapbook.com.  

When you think of pickup trucks you think of dogs.

Yes, I had to do it at least once. I slipped a white, die cut dog in the back of a pickup truck. Think of him as a pale yellow lab.

My only basset hound die was way too big for this truck or card.   This card has been mailed already, but here's what I did with the inside:

Yes, another little white-on-white dog. Sometimes I crack myself up.

Getting merry, part 4

Here are 6 more from the big Spellbinder's "Merry Everything" kit.  Only 3 more to go to hit my goal of 25 cards from this big kit. Whew!  

One thing I'm starting to do is use red and green card bases from a box of bases gifted to me a couple of years ago.  It's part of my "use up the old, horded stuff" program.

truckin', part 3

Another vintage red truck from Queen & Co,'s Special Delivery kit.  I do love these trucks.

The black and white "road" is washi tape, and this time I used a sentiment from the kit.

I have enough Christmas cards now, but I can't seem to stop making them. So I won't.

Birthday break!

I stopped with the holiday cards long enough to make a few critterless birthday cards.  I give my friend cards each year for her birthday and she hinted that she needs more birthday cards.  She also is not a big fan of critters, so there's that.

The first 2 cards are using the Simon Says Stamp Leafy Frames kit from last June. The sentiment on the front is from an older set, and the inside sentiment (the scripty "happy birthday to you") is an older one from Lawn Fawn.  "Queen for the Day" is an older sentiment from My Favorite Things.

As much as I liked the Leafy Frames kit, the sentiments were not really on point for me and my card making style.

Then, because I couldn't resist, I made another vintage red pickup truck.  From Queen & Co.'s Special Delivery kit.

Now that's done with I can get back to Christmas again!

More truckin'

More holiday trucks from Queen & Co's "Special Delivery" kit. 

I seriously love pictures of vintage pickup trucks.

The top card is larger than normal, at 5 by 6.5 inches.  The sentiment on the bottom card is the same one I've been using from Hero Arts.

Keep on truckin'

Yes, I'm starting in on my new kit from Queen & Co, "Special Delivery".  These kits are killing me, I seem to need them all.

There is something festive about a vintage red pickup truck that is speaking to me quite loudly recently.   This particular kit comes with shaker elements that stand up higher than I usually make.  I finally can put some of the dollar store beads in a shaker without doubling up on the foam tape. That's the good news.  The bad news is that it's so deep that extra postage may be necessary. 

For this, my first card from the kit, I used pearlesent paper from Michael's for the truck, and also for the back window and sentiment banner.  The sentiment is from my old favorite from Hero Arts. 

After I embellished with the 3 dots of Nuvo drops in the upper right corner, I noticed that I had forgotten to cut and attach the tail lights.  So I just put Nuvo drops there, too.

Now that I've had some fun with the truck, I need to go make some birthday cards for a birthday present. I wish I could say I had some in my stash to give, but the recipient doesn't do critters.  So I need to make some more with flowers and other non-animal focal points.

Happy December, everyone!

Getting merry with it, part 3

Yup, I'm starting to slow down with these cards from the Spellbinder's Limited Edition kit. And the kit is still practically full! 

I have 9 more to go to meet my goal of 25 cards from this kit.

Old paper pads need love, too!

This group of cards features an old 12 x 12 paper pad from Michael's that is about 4 to 5 years old.  It's one of those pads that I keep because I'm "going to use it someday", but it's never the right one, right now.

The card bases for these are larger, 6.5 x 5, and have been in my stash since about 2009.  Yup, 10 years they've been carefully stored, stashed, and moved around from one shelf to another in my craft room. Can't blame Mimi for these because I remember buying them before I found out that "everybody" does A2 cards.

So, the plaid backgrounds are from the old plaid paper pack, and the " Love Peace Joy" is a cut-apart from the same pack.  The "Happy Holidays " banner is from a die from Concord and 9th.

The poinsettias on the cards are from an old Spellbinders die, and the poinsettias on the side are new this year from Sizzix. The twigs are from Gina Marie Designs, and are a classic to me.  The Sizzix flowers will eventually get onto cards, but now they make good photo props.  

The center panel from this card is from a cut-apart from a newer paper pad called "Say Freeze" from Michael's.  The gold snowflakes are from a Spellbinder's Small Die of the month club die for November 2019.  This one is A2 sized. Yes, I really do like to mix in new with the old to give it better life.

Yes, it appears I'm still avoiding coloring. Oh well.

Honoring Mimi by using her craft stash

My mom, Mimi, was an artist and a crafter. After she died in 2000, I took home a lot of her craft stash.

One of the items that had me baffled were card bases with fancy front edges. I'd never seen that kind before, and that was before I got into card making.  The card bases were in their original Jo-Ann's packaging.

Well, DUH, Mimi had cut the edges herself with decorative scissors. How many years did it take me to figure that one out?  About 17 years, that's how long.

This fall I am trying to use up pre-made card bases and since these are at least 20 years old, they must be among the first ones used.

This first card features a sentiment die, some glitter snowflakes, and some red decorative tape.  The tape is a dollar store find.

This card features the pink paper from Michael's called Sugar Blush.  It's one of the 6x6 pads I picked up just after Christmas last year.  The sentiment is a die from Simon Says Stamp, and the gold glitter snowflakes are from My Favorite Things' layered Snowflake Splendor kit from 2 years ago.

This card features the pink paper from Sugar Blush (Michael's), the layered tree from Pretty Pink Posh, and the sentiment from Concord and 9th.  I cut the tree parts from paper I had glittered with glitter gel. I also applied the glitter gel around the edges of the pink panel. 

For each of these cards, I put a strip of patterned paper on the bottom inside, to contrast with Mimi's fancy cut bottom edge.  I've a few more of these card bases to use up, and I will remember Mimi with each and every one I do.  I sure miss her.

It's finally cool in Florida, so sweaters it is!

Yay, we got a cool front here in South Florida, and temps are down to the '50s. It won't last long, but it really gets me in the Christmas card mood! 

All of these cards were inspired by Mary Polanco and a Youtube video she did a few weeks back about not overthinking your designs. I was going to follow her idea with my own dies, but I needed this sweater die that she used. 

A couple of things I don't remember Mary mentioning are that when you ink-blend onto a finished card base you will get ink on the back of the card. Well, I did, anyway.  Also, I used these kraft card bases and they warped, a lot.

I used some white acrylic paint watered down for the white splatter, and the paint picked up some of the Distress ink and turned beige or pink. I kept it.  I also cut the warped fronts off and attached them to some cream colored card bases that also have been in my  stash a long time.

Most of this paper is from "Say Freeze", new paper packs I picked up at Michael's last week. I especially enjoyed fussy cutting some of the images for the inside.  I used some washi tape that's been in my stash for a while, also.

The outside sentiments are from Simon Says Stamp and Concord & 9th.  

Sweaters on cards, none in real life.

I am loving this sweater die from Hero Arts. It has tiny round and heart shaped punch-outs as well as a tree that can be punched out or left in place.

I cut a second sweater out just so I could get the tree in striped layers, and embellished the card with snowflakes cut from mirror gold and glitter card stock. The sentiment strip is from a 6x6 paper pad I got at Michael's.  Sigh, yes, I bought more patterned paper. So sue me.

The red background layer is textured card stock from DCWV, and was recently given to me by my sister-in-law. She's de-stashing craft items that are not quilt-related. So, even more paper for me.

The layered poinsettias will be featured soon on another card. 

Getting merry, part 2

OK, seven more cards using the Spellbinders' Merry Everything kit.  So much cool stuff in one kit, I'm just a little overwhelmed.  So I'm trying to keep it simple. I use some of the patterned paper as a background and select from either the journaling cards or the ephemera for the focal points.

The main character in this kit is the die that creates a car that looks suspiciously like a Volkswagen Sedan (aka VW Bug, Beetle, etc.)

So, I finally put one of the cars together. Oy vey is that fiddly. For my next one I will not attempt to attach the vehicle to the card over an uneven surface.  I thought it would look better to pop up the forward snow bank. No, I won't be doing that again.  Another thing I won't be doing is using double sided silver paper for the bumpers and other detailing.  It was very time consuming to put the bumper bits back on, over and over.  Bet you can't even tell the windows are velum, either.  With the windows being mostly over "snow" it hardly matters.

Still, I am enjoying taking a break from coloring.

Fun fact about my family:  Back in the late 70s or early 80s (dim memory for time) everyone in my family drove a VW, except my sister.  At one time there were 3 Rabbits, a sedan (bug), a van and a Karmann Ghia. No, we didn't own stock in the company, it just worked out that way.  My dad started it. Funny, at no time were they all parked in my parent's yard at the same time, since none of the "kids" were living at home at that time (well, maybe one brother was left). That would have been a photo op, right there.