Showing posts with label 2017 Holiday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2017 Holiday. Show all posts

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Happy New Year!


As we come to the end of another year, I like to take stock of things, both in my personal life, and in my stamping life. What did I do right? What can I improve upon?  Getting organized is something I always need to improve on! Clutter and chaos clutters my mind, and I can't get anything done, so I will be streamlining my craft room, purging a lot of unused things that are just taking up precious space, and re-evaluating my blogging.

I know last year I promised more step-by-step photo tutorials, as well as videos, but that has proved to be difficult for several reasons, which I will get to in a minute. On the plus side, I did blow my previous total posts for a year completely out of the water! My old record was 176 posts.....this year it's 253! (Counting tonight's Stamp Review Crew post.)


The whole reason I started card making was for a fun filled, relaxing creative outlet. When I committed to blogging five days per week, it added pressure to what should have been a fun activity. First I had to come up with a project and create it. Then I needed to take photos, and the photos had to be edited (they never look good straight out of the camera), the watermark added, and THEN they were ready for the blog post which, of course, had to be written.

It is way more time-consuming than you would think, and there were times I was ready to throw in the towel, because it wasn't fun OR relaxing anymore. And don't even get me started on the videos! I tried three times, with three different videos, to get them uploaded from my iPhone, and never could get it to work. They weren't even very long; all were under five minutes. (And that was after wrestling the cat out of the area, because he wanted to plop his hairy butt right in the center of everything!)


So my resolutions for 2018 are:
  1. SEND MORE CARDS! No point in making them if they aren't going to be used, right?
  2. Purge and organize, both the craft room and the rest of the house.
  3. Be better about scheduling posts in advance, especially during the summer when I'm completely overwhelmed with processing veggies from the garden. (Lesson learned!)
  4. Cut back to four posts per week. I'll be eliminating Wednesday posts unless they happen to be when a blog hop is scheduled. New schedule will be Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. So no posts on days that start with T or W. *grin*
  5. Figure out the gosh darn video upload thing! (Might have to use a different camera than my iPhone.)
  6. Do more step-by-step tutorials, even though it means more photos (and the extra time & editing that goes with it) and longer blog posts. I hopeful that fewer blog posts will mean I can devote more time to this.
  7. Reevaluate the posting schedule after three months and see if it needs tweaking.
I wish you all a very happy 2018, and hope that you do something creative every day!

Smiley from Millan.Net

Monday, December 18, 2017

The OTHER Card

Christmas Quilt, Quilt Builder, Stampin' Up!

This is the card I started out making for the Stamp Review Crew hop, when I realized halfway through that it didn't feature the STAMP we were highlighting. D'oh! *smacks forehead*

Christmas Quilt, Quilt Builder, Stampin' Up!

I think it looks kind of elegant with the Very Vanilla and Gold Foil. There is a layer of Whisper White, covered by Vellum behind the die cut, on which I used the stitched die that coordinates. But it is so subtle you really can't see it, even in real life!

Christmas Quilt, Quilt Builder, Stampin' Up!

This is one card that won't get a greeting until I use it, and even then I might not put a greeting on front. I like the simplicity of it, just the way it is!

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Sunday, December 17, 2017

Stamp Review Crew - Christmas Quilt Edition!


Welcome to another blog hop from the Stamp Review Crew, a group of Stampin' Up! demonstrators from around the world who twice a month focus on a single stamp set. It's always so inspiring to see how many different ideas there are for just one set! This time we are spotlighting Christmas Quilt, which is retiring soon!


You might have landed here from Tanya's blog, Tinkerin' in Ink with Tanya. Weren't her projects awesome? If you started here, follow the link at the bottom of the page to go forward to the next stop.

I have a simple card to share, and it didn't turn out at ALL the way it started. Ever have one of those days? You're going along in one direction and suddenly do a 180? That's what happened here. I realized the card that I was making just used the Quilt Builder Framelits, and not the stamp set at all! Well, we are the STAMP Review Crew, right? So I started over and came up with this!


I love the way the white and gold look with Pool Party. The image was stamped and heat embossed in gold, then stamped with the filler in Pool Party. The solid areas were colored with the Light Pool Party Stampin' Blends marker. I liked the contrast better that way, rather than the Dark Pool Party marker.


The center dot is a White Perfect Accent colored with the Light Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends. And see that gorgeous ribbon? That's the Whisper White Organza Ribbon that's coming in the Occasions Catalog, colored with the Light Pool Party marker!


Well, that's all I have today, so head on over to see what Holly has for you at The Rubber Redneck!

 http://rubberredneck.typepad.com/rubber-redneck/2017/12/the-stamp-review-crew-christmas-quilt.htmlhttps://tinkerin-in-ink.blogspot.com/2017/12/src-christmas-quilt.html











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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Wishing My Friend a Happy Hanukkah

Seasonal Lantern, Hanukkah, Stampin' Up!

I always feel weird sending my Jewish friends "happy holidays" or "season's greetings" cards, because even though it doesn't specifically say Christmas, it's kind of implied. So I was really happy when I saw the Seasonal Lanterns stamp set, not only because it can be used for Autumn or Thanksgiving or Christmas, but because it included a menorah and Happy Hanukkah greeting!

Seasonal Lantern, Hanukkah, Stampin' Up!

Sadly, this is another one of the stamp sets that is retiring January 2nd. I hope that next year's holiday catalog will include something that can be used for Hanukkah and Passover, since I like to remember my friends on their special holidays, too!

Seasonal Lantern, Hanukkah, Stampin' Up!

I used the new Simple Stripes embossing folder (coming Jan. 3rd!) to give it a little texture. The menorah was embossed in gold and the candles stamped in Memento ink, then colored with Stampin' Blends. LOVE those markers!!!

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