Thursday, December 31, 2015

Farewell to 2015, Year in Review

What a year it has been, it's a year in which I've been blessed with many creative opportunities, and also experienced some difficult personal losses.  My Dad passed away at the beginning of the year, and throughout the year it's been a struggle to find a balance between personal, professional, and creative life.

I learned to cut back and say no to opportunities this year, leaving the Jane's Doodles team and decreasing some of my workload for Neat & Tangled, while at the same time increasing some of that workload in other behind the scenes areas.

As the new year starts, I'm also saying goodbye to My Favorite Things.  It's been such a pleasure to work for such a generous and caring company.  A huge thanks to Kim, Jody, and number one Cheer-and Ring-leader Susan.  MFT is making some big changes in terms of the creative teams.  The Challenge & Inspiration team won't be back next year, but there will still be challenges hosted on the main blog.  You can get the official skinny on all the changes here.

In 2016 I will be continuing to grow and pick up some additional duties for Neat & Tangled, and I'm still actively designing stamps and dies for them as well.

There are some other very exciting opportunities that are taking up a lot of my free time in the near term, so the blog might be a little sparse in January, but no worries, it's all good stuff.

Besides that I'm really hoping to get back to my first love (scrapbooking) a bit more in the new year.  I've got lots of stories and memories to capture both for my kids and myself.  

Thanks to all of you for stopping by throughout the year.  Here's a little year in review for you:










May 























Thanks again for all your visits and comments.  It really means a lot to me.  See you in the New Year!

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

MFT Sketch 261



Last sketch of the year!  Are you ready?



I've had a great time creating this year for MFT, and this card says it all.

Using my all time favorite MFT color, Grout Gray.  The background was stamped with Versafine and clear embossed and I added a bit of vellum beneath the mail panel to soften it and add a bit of texture.



Be sure to head over to the blog and check out what the rest of the team created.  Hope you will play along!




Thursday, December 24, 2015

MFT Color Challenge 36



Last color challenge of the year!



I've been eyeing the Ride the Wave dies since they came out and I finally broke down and bought them.  The great thing about dies is that when you use multiple colors, you always end up with extra pieces and can make multiples.

So I got three for the price of one today.

The first card uses a sentiment from Geek is Chic and has a sprinkling of enamel dots for embellishment.



The next two cards used sentiments from Wavy Greetings.



For this first one, I created a panel with the wavy dies at the bottom and then popped it up for some extra interest.



The last card shifts to a square format and instead of butting the die cuts up right against one another left a bit of space between them.



These were all really quick and easy to complete.  It's the sign of a great set of dies!

Stop by the blog to check out what the rest of the team created.  And have a wonderful Christmas!




Wednesday, December 23, 2015

MFT Sketch 260



Ready for a new sketch from MFT?



I used the sketch as a mere suggestion this time in creating this cute scene using the new Adorable Elephants set.

The images and sentiment were stamped with pigment ink on watercolor paper and then the entire piece was colored with Kuretake Gansai watercolors.



Short and sweet today.  Be sure to stop by the blog to check out what the rest of the team made and come back tomorrow for our final color challenge of the year!