100!

So it turns out I made exactly 100 cards in 2012! Maybe a few more that I didnt actually count because they were varying designs, but the last card I updated here was called '100.jpg' so there you go! I like these to varying degrees. The top card is my least favourite though I may experiment more with the basic technique.

Emma and I both liked this card. It is a right-angle stamp that I lined up by sight and picked out some rainbow colours. I went with muted shades rather than really bright and I liked it. I contemplated putting more on the card but decided simple was best. I guess the base cardstock could be any colour from the inks, I just like orange a lot!

This card was using up scraps. I made the flower stamped part when I was showing someone a stamping technique and thought 'might as well use it! I wish I'd done something more to the background though but as it wasn't a planned out card, I am not too worried.

I made this card quickly as we were going out the door to a birthday party (for a male) and really like how it turned out. The background was one small stamp so I had to do a LOT of lining up! The stamp ink matches the paper btw, this photo was just taken at night so the colours look odd.

A friend lost her grandmother (who I knew well as a teenager) so I made this card. I really hate making sympathy cards but make more than my fair share. I really need to make more because I have some I should have sent already.

And here's to lots more card making fun in 2013!

Christmas cards

Here are a few of this year's Christmas creations...I know there are more because I can think of a card I sent to my friend Tracy that isn't here and I am sure there are more.

This one is actually a sticker! You just have to pop out everything and add stars to the sky. I used this card for Ryan's aunt.

This one was Bianca's Christmas card (which I forgot to give her lol): 

This was a gift card wallet. I made heaps of these, but bigger than this one and more ornate. This one was made quickly as I had forgotten to get my dance teacher a gift: 

I quite liked this card. I enjoyed hand (water) colouring in the leaves. The heart is actually raised above the rest of the card: 

Don't ask why this card is sideways! It isnt in my folder but insists on uploading sideways (I tried twice). I didnt like how these came out so I let Emma use them to write Christmas notes to her teachers: 

This card has an embossed background which you cant really see too much...but see the shine in the bottom right? It is in the design of that tree stamp and I sprinkled powder on and heat embossed it.

I dont even know why, but this very simple card was my favourite of the year! I did a few slight variations on this card.

I made a few variations on this card. We heat embossed the tree onto the card then used inks and water colour paper to dye the background. The embossing resists the ink (like crayon and dye that you did as a child). I drew a fake stitched line around and put it on a grey card that I'd embossed. This time, embossing was like indenting the paper. I know, a bit confusing, embossing and heat embossing. I quite liked these cards, simple but nice. I made a few variations on this theme.

This was Ryan's Christmas card for the year. I used my new stampin' up stamp and die cut system. So I stamp the ornament, then my machine cuts exactly around them for me (thank goodness-I hate hand cutting). It is a white card, with striped paper glued down, then another green sheet of paper that I created a scalloped edge on. Then stamped and cut the ornaments, embellished them with liquid pearls, shimmer spritz an rhinestones. Glued gold cord and bow onto the ornaments then stamped a greeting, punched it with an oval punch then again with an oval scallop punch. Not sure if I took a photo of Emma's card...hers collapsed in a complex way!

I sent this to my Aunt in NZ. I quite like this design but didnt make too many. Emma made quite a few more than I did.

71-79

I made two of these butterfly cards. Nothing special, I just wanted to play with a new stamp that I think is beautiful! It deserves a nicer card than this! I made two copies of this butterfly card. The patterned paper in the background was a gift from my friend Sharain a few years ago (I'm trying to make it last lol).

Loved these cards, they are really sweet! I'm making something similar with orange instead of blue because this card lends itself to all sorts of card colours. A little harder is to co-ordinate is the colour below (in this case, the green was pretty easy). I made three of this design/colour scheme:

A sneak preview of one of my cards for this Christmas. Emma is currently making a bundle of these so I'm leaving it alone for a while and making non-Christmas cards.

Three robot cards. I don't love this card but then again, I'm not a little boy!

up to card 70

Playing around making cards, not hating and not loving any of these.

65 and 66 (except not, because I'm hiding all my Christmas cards from my blog lol)

Two cards I made today. Both ideas were not my own and came from Gina K at StampTV. I love her style of cards, its very similar to my preferred style. If I vary from it I dont like the cards I make. Most of the cards I have made lately have been an attempt at new techniques. It's only when I go back to what I love (and what Gina K is fantastic at) that my cards are how I like them.

Changes from Gina's...I only used one copic marker because I didnt have the oranges or reds (I have six other sets though). And thus I added spots to the orange rather than removing colour with the copic blender pen (I did that on the right tree). Everything else was from the stamptv kit I bought and my own inks. I loved creating that fake wood panel background-its gorgeous!

Another idea from stamptv. I didn't ink my versamark resist background as much as she did, I preferred it to be more subtle and I used my own cream card stock on this one (stampin' up)...the inkpads memento.

For Emma

I've been making things for my niece Emma. Since she has messy hair right now, I'm forced to show you what I've made lol. This is a red headband that photographed kinda weirdly but it shows the texture and you can just imagine that it is fire-engine red.

This two stranded headband is actually the same design as the one above but because the wool was really cute, colourful and fuzzy, I decided just to leave it without a flower or bow. Btw, please excuse my red blotchy face-I have the flu.

Using the same concept, I made a four stranded bracelet. None of these three designs are single strands the whole way around, I crochet the ends together each row, and crochet a button hole so all I have to do is sew in two loose ends and sew on a button. I'd wear it!

62 and 63

This is a triple layering effect I saw online and wanted to try. You layer the white (or cream) card on top of each other then stamp them with a background and flowers. Then they get pulled apart and layered onto coloured card stock. I made one rectangular and one square. I cant say I love either (I wanted a pop of colour on the black card but my niece talked me out of it lol).

I'm up to 62

Ahh red, my favourite colour for cards. They are always so pretty and striking. I like the grey ribbon colour more than the white below it. Which do you prefer? These have perfect pearls in the centre of the three flowers.

This was kind of a copy of a card I saw in a card catalogue. I didnt have the colours they used so I just made it work with what I had. The second card is blurry but pretty well the same as the first anyway (umm, except I forgot the base stripe):

I poked the holes in this because it needed something. Then I remembered perfect pearls and added those...and then the holes look wrong! Oh well, its still useable.

This card is SOOO annoying...I couldnt find the card I wanted and I hate the red with the blue. Right after I finished and hated the card, I found the colour I wanted. *sigh*

If you look closely, the pink card (blush blossom) is corrugated and there are dogs in the back of the ute:

This one is my favourite card of the day, I just love it. It's simple but cute:

Bumble bee for anyone?

51 and 52

Two cards I made at the same time. Identical except for the stamp and ribbon colour. I think I'd make this again but change the brown scallop circle to a more contrasting colour. I'd love to make some in red!

cards

This top card is the closest colour to what they really are. I made these on black card, they're very pretty.