2015 in Books

Happily, I've been able to get some scrapbooking done recently.  I've managed to get one layout done each week for the last three weeks, which after not scrapping for about six months is pretty encouraging.

This is the layout I completed this week.  I did a similar layout for 2014 and 2013.

I love reading, and have continued to delve more into fiction this year.  I got up to 59 books this year, so my goal for 2016 is to get to 60.

I'm using the same October Afternoon Public Library collection that I used last year because it's just so perfect for this theme, but a very different feel this year.

This Maya Road envelope contains the full list of books, and the little library card, also October Afternoon from the Woodland Park ephemera pack, has the stats on how many of what genre of books I read.



This was also the first year in which I had 'assigned reading' from Ellie.  At 8 years old, she's quite the accomplished reader herself, and it's been fun to share her excitement about the particular books she assigns to me.

Hope this inspires you to pick up a book, and to do some documenting about your favorites/past times.  It really is fun for me to see what types of books I've read from year to year and how my tastes have changed.

Have a great weekend!

Just for fun Christmas Card

Yesterday's card was all about technique.  Today's card was just for fun, but I got a Christmas card out of the deal, so win-win!

I picked this cute little fox stamp up back in December, but never got around to using it last year.  While I was poking around the craft room the other day it resurfaced, and he was just begging to be stamped.

Really easy, he's stamped on some Close to My Heart White Daisy cardstock.  I don't have any of that Neenah White that everyone raves about.  When I know I'm going to do a one layer card, I tend to use this stuff.  I think it handles color really well, and I like how white and bright it is.  The CTMH 'is not as heavy as some of the other card stocks, so if I know I'm going to die cut and pop something up when I'm coloring I'll use My Favorite Things Smooth White.

He's colored with Copics.  I'll list the colors I used below, but I did give him a gray shadow, around the edges, using first Cool Gray 3, and then Cool Gray 1.  I also used Warm Gray 1 around the inside lines of his white parts.  I think it gives it a more finished look.

The sentiment is from Neat & Tangled's Bright Baubles set.

Short and sweet today, hope this inspires you to make a Christmas card, or two.  ;)

*Affiliate Links Below

COPIC Sketch Marker C1, Cool Gray No. 1

COPIC Sketch Marker C3, Cool Gray No. 3

COPIC Sketch Marker W1, Warm Gray No. 1

COPIC Sketch Marker R22, Light Prawn

COPIC Sketch Marker R24, Prawn

COPIC Sketch Marker R29, Lipstick Red

COPIC Sketch Marker E97, Deep Orange

COPIC Sketch Marker E99, Baked Clay

COPIC Sketch Marker R02, Rose Salmon (Formerly Flesh)

COPIC Sketch Marker YR09, Chinese Orange

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

The Best is Yet to Come - Die cut Overlay

I'm playing along with the April Waffle Flower Challenge today.  I realized after I started that it was a Photo Challenge, and well, I might have actually ignored the photo and just concentrated on the colors, but that's what happens when you only half read instructions.  Anyway, here is the inspiration photo/colors.



I really wanted to work with the Doily die for this one, and my card is kind of the reverse of inlay.  Instead of your everyday inlay, I die cut the doily twice.  One version was used as the base and the other was scavenged for parts.

I kept the doily intact, and colored selected portions with Copics, adding in a bit of shading as I was doing that.  Then I popped those pieces out and adhered them onto their corresponding pieces on my base doily.  The result is kind of a tiled/mosaic look, which also adds some dimension to the card.  I'm calling it die cut overlay.



I decided to alter the doily a bit, so I snipped off the outer ring of scallops to have just the basic circle shape, and then I added a simple sentiment from the Doily Circle Stamp Set

Hope your week is off to a great start!


*Affiliate Links Below

VersaMark Ink Pad

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, White

COPIC Sketch Marker G40, Dim Green

COPIC Sketch Marker G43, Pistachio

COPIC Sketch Marker Y00, Barium Yellow

COPIC Sketch Marker Y32, Cashmere

COPIC Sketch Marker RV21, Light Pink

COPIC Sketch Marker RV34, Dark Pink

COPIC Sketch Marker BG10, Cool Shadow

COPIC Sketch Marker BG72, Ice Ocean

COPIC Sketch Marker B95, Light Grayish Cobalt

COPIC Sketch Marker B97, Night Blue

COPIC Sketch Marker, 0 Colorless Blender

Scotch Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape

Congratulations and Craftsy Class sale

I've had this Altenew set for at least a year, and I just love the images, but hadn't inked it up until this week.

I was in the mood to color, so I stamped a couple of the clusters and colored with my Copics.  I opted for a more neutral palatte, using Warm Grays for the flowers.  I used a solid very dark warm gray for a few of the flourishes, then thought it was a bit too much of a contrast, so I added some white gel pen dots to break it up a bit.



For the greens, I used Warm Gray 1 as a base, and then added the green.  This kept the color more subdued and in line with the florals

The sentiment was stamped and embossed on a thin strip of cardstock and popped up.

It's been a crazy week here, but thankfully I've been able to squeeze in some creative time which helps keep me sane.

I also wanted to let you know that Craftsy is running a 50% sale on a bunch of classes now through Saturday, including mine.  I've taken a bunch of the paper crafting classes through Craftsy and also signed up for some crochet classes, but they offer lots categories, including knitting, sewing, cooking, drawing and painting.  If you're looking to learn something new, now's a really good time to try.  Here's my affiliate link if you are interested:  http://www.craftsy.com/ext/MiriamPrantner_holiday

That's all for me today, have a great one!

*Affiliate Links Below

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

Altenew Clear Stamps, Persian Motifs

VersaMark Ink Pad

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, White

COPIC Sketch Marker W1, Warm Gray No. 1

COPIC Sketch Marker W3, Warm Gray No. 3

COPIC Sketch Marker W5, Warm Gray No. 5

COPIC Sketch Marker W9, Warm Gray No. 9

COPIC Sketch Marker G40, Dim Green

COPIC Sketch Marker G43, Pistachio

God is Within Her

I'm still having fun with Journaling cards and my Love Never Fails stamp from Studio Calico.

This time I pulled out some dies that have been languishing in my stash.  I love these fun blooms, they are actually my first ever set of Savvy dies.

The patterned paper is from an old BasicGrey pad.  I thought that colored strip in the center was a great way to ground it, and I adhered the flowers to line up with the lines in the paper to tie them together.



I added a few black sequins for some balance.

Super quick and easy. I love how journaling cards really do a lot of the design work for you!

*Affiliate Links Below

Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black

Savvy Stamps Dies, Flower Blossom, Set 1

Be Still and Know

I've been eyeing this Love Never Fails stamp set from Studio Calico for a while now, and finally picked it up a couple weeks ago.

I really wanted to ink it up, and still had that Documenter kit out (because as you may recall I never put anything away), so I pulled out this striped journaling card to use as the panel for my focal point.

I wanted a really bold image to go with the sentiment, and chose the large peony from my favorite Jane's Doodles' stamp ever, Pretty Peonies.  It was colored with Copics, fussy cut, and popped up on the journaling card.



A simple black mat finished things off.

Thanks for stopping by, hope your day is going well!

Inspired by All the Little Things Guest Designer

Hey everyone!  I'm excited to be guest designing for the Inspired by All the Little Things Challenge today.

Karen Day, who is on the design team, invited me to play along with the inspiration photo.  I've been following Karen since I started blogging, and was more than happy to be her guest for this week's challenge.



I was really inspired by the textures in the inspiration photo.

I used some Distress Ink to color some white Gesso, and painted it onto my cardstock to mimic the swirly icing in the photo.

Since I'm a bit of a hoarder, I knew that I had some tulle from long ago, and pulled out a little piece to include under a bit of glitter paper that was stitched into place.

The sentiment combines the Happy Holidays die from Neat & Tangled with a stamped sentiment from the Life is Beautiful N&T set.



Finally I added some sequins and gems for sparkle.

Please stop by the Inspired by the Little Things Challenge blog to see what the Design Team created, and I hope you'll play along too, I'm looking forward to seeing how the inspiration photo inspires everyone!