December 31, 2017 in

Looking Back at 2017

What an amazing, special year! What started out in sadness ended up moving towards happiness, hence the quote on my blog header:

The best view comes after the hardest climb

Here are my top 17 picks from my crafting experiences in 2017:

January
Snow Angels
I quite enjoyed this SSS card kit and loved making a shaker card

Birthdays Are Cozy
This card won an Honourable Mention at Art Impressions, earning me a stamp set of my choice

February
Happiness Lives Here
I chose this stamp set as a prize and enjoyed colouring up these cute doors on some very snowy days

A Note For You
Watercolour card sets have been fun to make with these Art Impressions sets

March
Simply Sympathy
I really liked incorporating vellum into many projects this year

April
Spring Colours
Gotta love that Lawn Fawn plaid

May
Blossoms
Here's another version of the Ai tree using some watercolour techniques

June
Here Comes The Sun
I love the digi sets over at Verve and knew this would be perfect for a retirement card using my Minc
July
Lighthouse Inspiration
I was inspired to colour up these images after spending some time at one of my favourite places: Kootenay Lake
Hawaiian Hibiscus with Distress Inks
I finally got into distress inks this year and this was my first project with them

Let The Bliss Begin
I love the look of Oxide Distress Inks on Kraft

Mason Jar Pin Cushions
This fun project was even better with this awesome fabric I found

August
Snowflake Blueprint Tags
I set out on a mission this year to build a stash of tags and these Tim Holtz blueprint images were great to use


September

Fall Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 2017
I couldn't resist this digi stamp from Verve and enjoyed creating a distress ink background for it

October
Photo Inspiration Fall Tree
Another creation with my distress inks made for some easy cards to whip up and have on hand

November
The Smallish Things
This sentiment rings true for me in so many ways :)

December
A Little Bit More
Another great sentiment with a good reminder at this time of year

I had been looking for a quote or something to sum up the year and finally got one when my good friend texted me this afternoon:

This year will not end
Like last year at all.
You have learned to be free.
You have learned to be strong.
You have held onto light
When the night was too long.
You have braved many fears,
You learned a new song.
And through all of these valleys
You have learned to stand tall.
This year will not end
Like last year at all.
- Morgan Harper Nichols

Cheers to 2018!
Needing a few last tags to finish off my Christmas wrapping I pulled out this favourite sentiment from The Grinch. I decided it would be fun to start a tradition with our son on Christmas Eve for pajamas and a new Christmas story so I decided to go with this classic this year :).
Paper - Kraft (CTMH); Stamps - Quoted: Little Bit More (PTI);
Ink - Fired Brick, Mowed Lawn distress inks (Tim Holtz);
Ribbon - Poppy twine (PTI).



December 13, 2017 in , ,

Stuck With Us

A family member recently got engaged and requested a card for her best friend to ask her to be the maid of honour. I was inspired by the bride-to-be's engagement ring of rose and white gold so I tried to incorporate that into the card. She also requested the following sentiment, so I printed it off on a laser printer and ran it through my Minc machine in silver.
Paper - White Glitter paper; Gold Foil paper; White Daisy cardstock (CTMH); Burnished Rose Mirrored cardstock (SSS);
Dies - Hearts (CTMH); Noted: Scalloped A1 Die Collection (PTI).

I purposely made this project ahead of time knowing this hop was coming up but it seems to have taken me awhile to post! I am happy to be playing along with this fun hop again and decided to make an accompanying gift bag and tag along with my coffee card. Happy 2017 Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!
Paper - Wonderland paper collection; White Glitter paper; White Daisy cardstock (CTMH);
Stamps - Holiday Treats, Coffee Helps (Verve);
Ink - Crystal Blue (CTMH); Tuxedo Black (Memento);
Dies - Cup 4 All Seasons (Verve); Basic Tags, Snowflakes (CTMH); 
Snowflake Confetti (Taylored Expressions); Noted: Scalloped A1 Die Collection (PTI).

December 01, 2017 in

Snowflake Resist

I set out to create a few simple one layer cards that I needed this week and was inspired by some cards I found on Pinterest. Once again I pulled out my distress inks and had some fun!
Paper - White Daisy (CTMH);
Stamps - Silver White Winters (PTI); Happy To Be Friends, Just To Say...(CTMH);
Ink - Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserves, Peacock Feathers (Tim Holtz Distress Inks).
November 24, 2017

The Smallish Things

I was happy to get back into my craft room tonight and make a special card. I just love this sweet quote from Winnie The Pooh :). I loosely used the layout from Freshly Made Sketches and found some inspiration at Inspired By All The Little Things.
Paper - White Daisy, Blush cardstock; vellum (CTMH);
Ink - Charcoal (CTMH); 
Stamps - Silver White Winters, Inside & Out: Baby (PTI);
Dies - Silver White Winters die (PTI); Wonky Stitched Squares (MFT).



After getting inspired on Pinterest to get out my distress inks again and checking out the photo inspiration over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, I decided to create a fall scene using one of my favourite Art Impressions stamps.
Paper - White Daisy cardstock (CTMH);
Ink - Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, 
Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean distress inks (Tim Holtz); Archival Black (CTMH);
Stamps - WC Tree Set (Ai); Ever So Much (PTI).

I tried some other colour combinations and am happy to have a stash of these versatile cards on hand!


I really enjoy the Picture My Life cards that come in our paper collections now - especially to make up some quick and easy cards! I made this to play along with the sketch at the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge.
Paper - Silver & Gold paper collection and coordinating cardstock (CTMH);
Embellishments - Sparkles Holiday Shapes (CTMH).
The "mad about plaid" challenge was definitely one I wanted to play along with this month over at Heart2Heart!
Paper - Jack paper collection; Juniper, Black cardstock; vellum (CTMH);
Stamps - Frosted Cardmaking Workshop (CTMH);
Dies - Snowflakes (CTMH); Wonky Stitched Squares (MFT);
Embossing Folder - Buffalo Plaid (CTMH);
Embellishments - Sparkles (CTMH).
Once I got my cards made I loved the look of the colour combination and decided to make some matching tags as well.
 Paper - Jack paper collection; Black cardstock; vellum (CTMH);
Stamps - Frosted Cardmaking Workshop (CTMH);
Dies - Snowflakes (CTMH); Holiday Tag Along Mini Kit (PTI);
Embellishments - Sparkles (CTMH); Polka Dot Ribbon (Verve); Pure Poppy twine (PTI).
I was quite interested in playing along with the "sentiment windows" challenge over at Make It Monday and took out my new Papertrey Ink dies to create some cute cards. Since the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge is to add to your Christmas stash I set to work. The BeYOUtiful challenge over at Heart2Heart to use something you think is beautiful led me to incorporate last year's beautiful Close To My Heart Oh Deer! papers. I just love the tree inspired papers, especially at this time of year as I look out my craft room window and see our gorgeous Poplar trees. I have to thank my Auntie Karen for the cute stitched snowflake die cuts she sent me that ended up being the perfect embellishments for these cards!
Paper - Oh Deer! paper collection; White Daisy cardstock (CTMH);
Stamps - Wet Paint Holiday Stamp Set, Holiday Tag Along Mini Kit (PTI); Holiday Jingle (CTMH);
Ink - Juniper, Whisper (CTMH);
Dies - Noted: Scalloped A1 Die Collection (PTI); Stitched Snowflakes (Memory Box).

Here are the other cards I created:
I was very excited to try out this week's Make It Monday technique of creating faux epoxy embellishments. I loved the design of the sample and chose to incorporate some plaid into mine. It proved to take a lot of time to make 3 cards using this technique but I am pretty pleased with the outcome!
Paper - White Daisy cardstock (CTMH); Plaid Patterns Merry & Bright (MFT);
Stamps - City Scene Christmas Sentiments (PTI);
Ink - Picked Raspberry, Salty Ocean, Mowed Lawn distress inks (Tim Holtz);
Dies - Snowflakes (CTMH); Stitched Circles (SSS); Snowflake Confetti (Taylored Expressions).
I was inspired by the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge gallery by this card and decided to make my own using the October Stamp of the Month. I first made a card but then loved the idea of how it looked on a tag so I decided to do that for the "anything goes" challenge. I am also linking up with the new Merry Monday challenge of using a Christmas tree!
Paper - Colonial White, Sea Glass cardstock (CTMH);
Stamps - Christmas Tunes (CTMH);
Ink - Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Seedless Preserve, Fired Brick, 
Spiced Marmalade, Antique Linen distress inks (Tim Holtz);
Dies - Stitched Dress Up Tags (SSS);
Embellishments - Extra Thick Twine in Glacier and Thistle; Bitty Sparkles (CTMH).
This is one of my favourite winter sayings and I was stoked to see it on the October Stamp of the Month! It is my goal to play along with the Merry Monday challenge each week now, so I set out to make a card with a penguin on it this week. I loosely used the Freshly Made Sketches layout for my design.
Paper - Silver & Gold paper collection; White Daisy cardstock; Gold, White glitter paper (CTMH);
Stamps - Christmas Tunes (CTMH); Ink - Archival Black (CTMH); Embossing Powder - Silver (CTMH);
Dies - Stitched Circles (SSS); Snowflake Confetti (Taylored Expressions).

Here is the full stamp of the month set for this month. Visit my website to get yours this month only!
Sunflowers are definitely my sunshine on a cloudy day and I knew just what to pull out when I saw the challenge over at Fusion! I LOVE sunflowers and when I saw this set from Papertrey Ink I just had to have it! It was fun to take this card out into our yard and play around with all of the fall colours.
Paper - Kraft, White Daisy cardstock (CTMH);
Stamps & Dies - Sunflower Harvest (PTI);
Ink - Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Black Soot, Walnut Stain distress inks (Tim Holtz);
Embossing Folder - Buffalo Plaid (CTMH).
© Allie's Adventures in the Kitchen, Crafting, and the Kootenays! · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS