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!