Friendship is my Favorite Adventure

It's funny how effortlessly this next card came together because the person I made it for became a friend just as quickly. I tend to think the older you get, the harder it is to make real, genuine friends. And that's still true but sometimes, life surprises you! I sat down to make this and usually, I spend hours deciding on what to do, but this card just came out in a little more than an hour and I haven't worked on a card that quickly in ages. It was really calming and fun too which is how I would describe my new friend as well. 😊

I wanted to try some stamps I haven't touched before and these from Hello Bluebird were still in the original packaging. I wanted to make the bear resemble a polar bear and I'm pretty proud with how the coloring came out. For the background, I wanted to create a darkening sky so I blended Salvaged Patina, Salty Ocean and Wilted Violet but that top layer looked waaaay too bright still so I mixed some Speckled Egg to darken it a bit. Then I went in with my MFT cloud stencil and with Chipped Sapphire, I blended all the way down. 

Once I adhered the images and stamped the sentiment, it still looked a bit too plain so I made a border with an MFT diecut and tried to trim both sides equally (I failed) But looking at the finished product, I am so happy with how this thank you card came out.

Heart Shaker

For Valentine's Day, I was only able to make one card. However, I forced myself to FINALLY sit down and create a shaker card. I should preface this with every SINGLE Christmas, I buy all the supplies to make a holiday shaker card and I always get too intimidated to do it. My fear is that the recipient will open the card only for the whole thing to fall apart. 

But I told myself to just try and worse thing I just throw the whole thing out (you'd be surprised how many times THAT does happen)

I bought the heart cover from Waffle Flower which if you are going to create shakers, they are the folks with the most idiot proof supplies. The insides were a Recollections glitter palate from Michael's. I used the Waffle Flower heart background stencil and kept the pink and purple color theme throughout. I was really happy with how it turned out until I realized I adhered the whole thing onto the card crooked. I did let out a few expletives there, but overall, I decided this was really good for a first try! I decided to send this to my close friend Rachel who is always encouraging me to craft and try new things. She would always tell me shakers are totally doable so I knew my first one should go to her.

And what do you know- it arrived all in one piece. 

Thinking of You

I made this next card for another coworker who sadly lost his mom over the holiday break. Sympathy cards are undoubtedly my least favorite to make for obvious reasons, but I also want the person to know that I am truly thinking about them. When my dad died a few years ago, I remember getting notes from people and just putting them aside. Then a few weeks later, going through them again, the sentiments hit me in such a powerful way. After all this time, it's still hard to navigate a reality without him. 

I wanted to create a twilight effect with my distress oxides and I used Spiced Marmalade, Peacock Feathers and Chipped Sapphire to make that. The dandelions are from a Simon Says Stamp set and looking back (because I always have to be nitpicky) I wish I would have stamped the sentiment sliiiightly lower in the lighter shade. Sigh.

Happy New Year.... a little too late

This card really should have been posted last month, but here we are. I made this card for a close work friend who just moved into her first apartment with her boyfriend over the holidays. I was so happy for her and excited for her to start this new chapter with her wonderful guy. I found this adorable background stamp from Michaels and I was going to add some sparkle to it but then chickened out before I could ruin it. Instead, I added the HNY sentiment from Waffle Flower and tried to match the background color. 

Who says simple cards can't be nice?

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!