My Most Popular Posts of 2015

We have come to the last day of 2015 and I look back fondly on my creative endeavors during the year! I wish you all a Happy New Year and look forward to having you visit my blog in 2016!

January–Bokeh Technique and Sneak Peek From 2015 Occasions Catalog




February–My Least Favorite Card To Create




March–Projects From Stamping Group







April–Remnants of Easter






May–Corner Garden Blues




June–2015 Catalog Launch






July–New Floor and Grateful For You




August–Best Thoughts Joy Fold Card




September–Pretty in Pink Poinsettia




October

This was a busy month for me and I didn't get to post AT ALL :( Hopefully, 2016 will allow me to post every single month!


November–Color Burst Christmas and Wonderful Wonderland






December–Tag Exchange and December Stamp Class







I hope you have enjoyed this review of my most popular posts from 2015. I look forward to your comments in 2016!

Corner Garden Blues

Today was supposed to be a play day with my crafting friend, Charlene, but in the end she couldn't make it. Though I was sad she couldn't come, I was able to clean up my craft room a bit and then play with a card that had been rolling around in my head for awhile.

I was initially inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest but I have lost track of it :( It had flowers popped up over a neutral background. One flower was a brighter or darker color than the rest so it stood out.

I knew that I would be using my Corner Garden stamp but because it was a wood-mount, and I wanted to use the MISTI, I had to stop and convert to clear-mount first.

I traced the block of the stamp onto some of the retiring Clear-Mount Cling Foam and cut off the top piece to reveal the clear-mount foam below.

I inked up the Corner Garden stamp with Jet Black Stazon and stamped it onto the clear-mount foam.

Next, I carefully peeled off only the rubber stamp from the block and after revealing the sticky side of the Clear-Mount Foam, I positioned the stamp onto it.

Next, I let my new tool, a Hot Knife by Walnut Hollow, heat up. I then used it to cut carefully around the stamp, excising the excess foam around the stamp. Because the knife was VERY hot, this was like cutting butter with a hot (ordinary) knife! I highly recommend this tool - easy to use and makes the job so much easier!

My stamp was now ready for MISTI!

I carefully placed some "bumpers" into my MISTI (check out the video by Maureen Wong to find out what "bumpers" are and how to use them with the MISTI) to allow me to hang the stamp off both the left edge and the bottom of the matte I wished to stamp.

I inked up the stamp and did a test stamp on scrap paper to be sure it was how I wanted it positioned. I then proceeded to stamp with Night of Navy on a Sahara Sand matte. I re-stamped two more times to be sure it had good, clean lines. MISTI makes it so easy to get a good crisp print from a background–or any–stamp!

I also stamped the image onto a piece of Whisper White. I used by Night of Navy Blendabilities to color one flower and fussy cut it.

I stamped a sentiment from Painted Petals onto the top right of the matte and then adhered it to a Night of Navy matte using Fuse Fast.

I adhered a strip of Sahara Sand Lace, Night of Navy seam binding and some Linen Thread across a larger Crumb Cake matte and then adhered the stamped matte into place on top of it. The fussy cut flower was popped up using Dimensionals.

The Crumb Cake matte was then adhered to a Sahara Sand card base. To complete the card, a few sequins were added to provide a bit more color and sparkle.

Have you used the Corner Garden stamp in a unique way? Leave me a comment below!

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My 10 Favorite Cards From 2014

Can you believe that it is already the last day of the year? I know I can't! It seems that December and blogging don't work for me–only one blog post in December so I thought I better get another one in before 2015!

Anyway, I decided to round up my ten favorite cards to share with you. Click on each photo to be taken to the original article.

Enjoy and Happy New Year! See you in 2015.

Fussy Cutting: Necessary Nightmare

I realized yesterday that I had a LOT of crafting to do in a very short time, the least of which was to create a card for my mother's birthday this week.

Luckily, I knew exactly what I wanted to use–the Corner Garden stamp. I had a brief play with it this week but nothing that was card worthy. However, I did find a technique done with the stamp that I thought would be perfect for my mother's card.

I started by cutting and scoring a Whisper White card base. I did not yet fold the card but I needed the score line so I could tell where the fold would be. I used a large post it note to mask off the back of the card so it would not get inked.

Because this stamp is large, I turned it on its back; after inking it up with Versamark I carefully placed my card front down onto the stamp and placed scrap paper over top to allow me to smooth over the entire surface of the stamp. I then heat embossed it with Whisper White embossing powder.

I used my Blendabilities to color in all the flowers and foliage. Because the spaces are so tiny, I did not worry about blending with the markers; I simply colored with them, like coloring in a coloring book, making sure I had scrap paper below my card stock.

As I colored, I realized that what was to be my card front would show the marks of the markers on the inside of the card. Due to this, I decided to create an inner card of Bermuda Bay which I adhered to the card base when it was completely colored and dry.

The next step in the technique was to fussy cut around the flowers where there was a large white space on the card.

Fussy cutting is definitely not for the faint of heart! You need to have a very good pair of sharp scissors (this is where my Stampin' Up! paper snips came in handy) a LOT of patience and a LOT of time.

Actually, I think that the term fussy cutting is a misnomer; the technique should really be called, Cutting Out Something That Was Never Meant To Be Cut Out!

Of course, I knew going in that this would be labor intensive and somewhat frustrating but I persevered, even using my favorite tool, the Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife, to finish up the most difficult bits. I highly recommend this tool. The knife fits comfortably over your index finger, allowing you to wield it comfortably.

When I finished, I needed to add a few bits of glue to adhere the little bits of the front to the Bermuda Bay interior card. I was quite pleased with the results!

I then added the sentiment and a daisy-like flower from the Flower Patch stamp set to the inside of the card where it could be seen in the cut out area. These were both heat embossed with Whisper White.

I used a glue dot to adhere a bow made from the now retired Pumpkin Pie 1/8" ribbon (why do they retire this stuff?).

The finishing touch was to use the medium marker from the Mambo Melon Blendabilities to color a rhinestone for the centre of the flower.

Some close up details.

I think my mother will enjoy the card. What do YOU think? Let me know in the comments below.

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