High-Five Birthday

For my nephew's 5th birthday, I was able to finally break out my Rachelle Anne Miller stamps that I bought from My Favorite Things before they closed. The images were so cute but I hadn't realized how difficult it would be to color since they were small! I tried blending as best I could but now I know why all my critters are so large normally. I was going to try and add something to the background since it looked so bare, but at that point, I didn't want to mess anything up. (the sentiment already got screwed up a bit so there was a lot of yelling at that point) I was proud of the ombre effect I created with the 5 though!

Christmas 2025

Despite starting this year's batch of cards in October, I only managed to create 6 final cards. I spent a chunk of time coloring images that didn't even make it past that stage but at least I have them for next year's set. (I am determined to do what other sane crafters do and just create Christmas cards all year long) 

While Hello Bluebird isn't producing as many stamps as they used to, they are still coming out with sporadic releases and this fall themed pack entitled, Book Buddies became my whole identity this year. If you know me, then you know I am a reader and these critters were SO cute and quite large so I spent a majority of my time coloring them in. (I really am crap when it comes to making up color combos) I also started leaning heavily on my distress oxides instead of patterned paper trying to come up with subtle winter themes. 

My one outlier this year. The distress oxides used were Speckled Egg, Mermaid Lagoon, Chipped Sapphire, Black Soot.

The Distress Oxide colors here were Mowed Lawn, Rustic Wilderness, Salvaged Patina and Black Soot

Same as above. I do have to say, this is the one I'm most proud of. The coloring of this bear took forever to perfect since my browns just kept drowning out his features. Once I got it, I was so happy with it.

I can't find the combo I used for this one! But if I had to guess, Tumbled Glass, Mermaid Lagoon, Cracked Pistachio 

Same as above. Sometimes, I'm not the most organized! Taking a guess, Fired Brick, Festive Berries and Carved Pumpkin

These stamps are so versatile so I know I will be using them again this year, but it's nice to have some conformity with my holiday cards this year! Hope you all had a wonderful holiday full of love, rest, good food and of course, books! 2025 was a very transformative year for my little family so I am looking forward to seeing the possibilities that 2026 holds. 

 

Dandelion Wishes

For my 8-year wedding anniversary, I wanted to make something for JP since I can't remember the last time I made him a card. I also wanted to keep it simple because like always, I get grand plans in my head only to realize I am out of time.

I wanted to play around with my distress inks because I want to use them for upcoming Christmas cards and I've forgotten all my color blend combos. (Thank Christ for Kristina Werner) The combo I used was Chipped Sapphire, Mermaid Lagoon and Scattered Straw. I used a cute Bunny stamp from Mama Elephant and used Copics to color it in. I'm also starting to realize that some of my markers have dried up (I mean, some of these are 10+ years old so I think that's a pretty good run!) so I am trying to discover new combos for my critter stamps. Thankfully, I DID write those down. But this just means I get to ask for Dick Blick gift cards for Christmas! 

We Make a Great Combo!

Good news was recently shared in my family- my brother-in-law got engaged! To be honest, he's been with his girlfriend for so long, I cannot remember what life was like before her. It'll be nice to make it official though!

I wanted to make them a congratulatory card and I knew the exact stamp set to use. Years ago, I bought this set from My Favorite Things (RIP to a real one) entitled We Make A Great Combo and it's all different kinds of food that go together. I thought the burger and fries was beyond adorable and before I had put everything back into storage, I had started to stamp and color but never made anything with it. Until now!

I used the stitched heart die from Waffle Flower and colored it with Fired Brick, Scattered Straw and Squeezed Lemonade distress ink. Using copics on the stamps, I also used a white Posca marker that my husband gave me a long time ago for accents. The next part literally took me two hours. I had different letter dies that I cut out to spell combo and I tried embossing the first half of the sentiment on black paper, but I haven't embossed in years and I forgot just how tricky it could be! I kept messing it up and then the letter dies were too big so I just went for a simple sentiment. (finally got the hang of embossing again!)

Excited for a fun wedding! I know my son is looking forward to ring-bearer duties. =)

It's all coming back to me now

I finally got to a place where crafting was possible again. While my craft room now also doubles as my office and my son's playroom (Legos everywhere is super fun!) it's still a space I've been carving out for myself. When my friend Rachel's birthday was coming up, I knew I wanted my first card in over three years to be for her.

It took me a LONG time to figure this out. At one point, I had all of my birthday stamps laid out on my table and it was just overwhelming. So I picked something simple and looking at the card now, I'm kind of disappointed and how simple it actually turned out, but baby steps.

I used a balloon die from Waffle Flower partnered with the corresponding stencils which helped me use my distress inks to shade them red and yellow. Rachel shares my love for Disney so I grabbed another Mickey stencil I had and used it only for the larger balloons. I was going to add a border but then it looked too cluttered and then I tried balloon strings, but it also looked messy so I left it as it was. To end it, I added a small sentiment on the bottom. 

Not my best work, but I was dipping my toe in. It certainly opened the floodgates because I've been creating other things since then (oh the fun of discovering Copic markers that have dried up!) 

I'm tackling Christmas cards next.... in October. 

2025

 An unexpected hiatus- probably one of my longest, but unavoidable. Life has completely transformed since that last post in August 2022. Crafting took a backseat for a long time. I managed to make a few cards but it's been so long that I no longer remember colors, techniques or even who they were for, sadly. So I'm just going to post them without comment. 

I've recently created a new craft space for myself and hope to get back into the swing of it by the holidays. Wish me luck.

One in a Million

This next card is another thank you. This summer, JP and I made the decision to hire a babysitter for the afternoons and it was honestly, the best thing we could have done for both our son and our sanity! I've been able to get work done uninterrupted knowing he was in good hands either at the park or splashing in his pool in the backyard. I was worried about how he would get along with someone who was essentially a stranger, but being a teacher herself, she was SO good with him and he really got along so well with her. (he talked about her a lot over the weekends 😏) 

Sadly though, with the school year approaching, her days with us were coming to an end.  I wanted to make something to show our deep appreciation so along with some goodies, I knew I wanted to make a card. The crayons are from Lawn Fawn and I couldn't wait to finally have an excuse to use them. I used copics to color them and placed a smiley face on one of them. Instead of using the sentiment that came with them, I went with this one from Mama Elephant. To finish it off, I let my son decorate the inside.