Another anniversary card! Really happy with this one!! The background paper is acutally a coffee filter that has been watercoloured with thinned acrylic paint. Another gold embossed Magenta heart on polished stone. Some scrap ribbon from the grab bag. I received a Japanese screw punch (Lee Valley) for Christmas. WOW!! What a great tool! You can make holes in 5-6 different sizes anywhere you want. Worked like a darn on this cardstock. I expect it will work admirably on heavier stock as well. I am thinking - fat book covers and the like!!

There are always anniversary cards to be made as well and here is my first one of the year!! I always like to include hearts on these cards. I gold embossed this Magenta heart on polished stone! Love that look! The background paper is one I made myself with leftover acrylic paints.

I made this one for my niece whose birthday is next month. The heart is made of shrink plastic. I added a jump ring and a string to make a necklace. I punched a hole behind the heart through only one layer and pulled the cord through. I used double sided tape to attach the stamped layer to the front of the card to ensure the string did not get glued in place. When she receives the card she can simply peel off the heart (foam tape) and pull through the string and her necklace is ready to wear! Pretty happy with how well that worked out.

I have also started on my birthday cards for the year! The colours all worked so well together on this one and yet most were supplies dug out of stashes that are very unrelated. The inspiration was this little purple flower from the grab bag! I used white pigment ink and white embossing powder to get the greeting to show up on the colour printed paper I used.

Some more quick and easy cards using ribbons and flowers from the grab bag and my own paper scraps. Another one using those velvety red hydrangeas!! I used envelopes collected from the local Shoppers. If you ask those who handle the cards for a donation of envelopes they are often more than willing that they get put to good use by someone!

I just love this paper!! Bought it at Canadian Tire in the seasonal gift wrap section at half price just before Christmas. It is a wonderfully embossed hot stamped foil paper. Sort of a greenish pewter colour with gold foil stamping. I thought the design could easily transcend the holiday season! A lot of background paper for $3!!

Was very happy with the way these ones turned out. I used slidemounts cut with a Sizzix die. Really like this one with the offset window because it gives you room to add something to the larger side. Tied on scrap gold fibers to the right hand edge. The flowers are from a sprig I picked up in the parking lot outside Michaels just before Christmas!!

This is another card I made from random scraps. The ribbon was from the grab bag and I used it as the theme for the card. I punched some circles from leftover paint chips from another project. Really like the THANKS! From a foam mounted set of stamps my other daughter gave me for my birthday!

I have made Thank you cards for everyone who was so generous to us over the holidays! I used supplies I received as gifts (ready made cards with envelopes from my sister) and the flower from a grab bag my daughter was clearing out of her craft room along with scraps from my Slab of scrapbooking paper. I was going for fast and easy! I like the way this one turned out.

I have committed to making more art this year and thought I would share it as it is created on this blog. I am most appreciative when others share their creative works - it provides me inspiration and often a launching pad for my own art. I had hoped to make art everyday. So far, I have not been successful, so I have set my intention instead to do art regularly. I make cards for friends and family and belong to several groups where we share the art we make. I will be creating cards, ATCs and fat book pages this year along with anything else that strikes my fancy along the way!!

Have a creative day!

Therese