A bright and hopeful new year

Hello, crafting friends!

 

Well, 2023 is here and I'm rolling up late to wish you all a happy new year! Top of my new years resolution list this year is to be more punctual but erm... oh well, maybe next year!!

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time you may remember that my youngest son used to take quite an interest in my crafting when he was growing up. One of my fondest memories is of him comparing Stampin' Up ink names with those of his War Hammer model paints - Soft Sea Foam versus Poxwalker for example, or Melon Mambo versus Doomfire Magenta. Ah, good times!

Anyway, nothing has changed! Opening his Christmas present to me this year, I was so touched to find some clear stamps inside. One of them was a floral that I couldn't wait to try, so I used it for a new year card for a friend.

 

It's quite a large stamp and perfect for a bit of colouring fun! Once I'd stamped and coloured my meadow scene, I trimmed it to size with a Crimped Frame die from The Greetery.

 

I mixed it up with a variety of colouring media: alcohol markers for the bright flowers, coloured pencils for the grasses and leaves and sponged blue ink for a soft sky.

 

For the sentiment, I stamped one of my much-used PreText sentiments from the Greetery using pink ink and added die cut numbers beneath it. I used some basic number dies from The Works, cutting them from card stock that had been sponged with orange ink to give a bit of extra interest.

CHALLENGES

I'm linking this card up at Little Red Wagon's New Beginnings challenge; also Make My Monday, where the theme is Something New; and Inspire Create, where the challenge is New To You; and last but not least, I'm joining in with We Love Stamping, where they want to see us use some favourite colours.

AND IN OTHER NEWS

Just a bit more about Christmas and then I'll move on I promise! Every year, I place a few little gifts for Eva under the tree with the rest of the family's presents. We always open one gift at a time so we can really appreciate them and Eva gets her turn just as we all do. She knows just how to open a present but never peeks before Christmas day!!

 

This one was a paper cup that had a squeaky ball in it and was wrapped in several layers of newspaper and a paper bag as well as the final gift wrap. She had SO much fun getting the wrapping off and shredding it, enjoyed playing with the paper cup and making us laugh by carrying it about over her nose, and then FINALLY found the squeaky ball! It reminded me of when the children were little and they pleasure they got from the boxes their presents came in.

Sending hugs,