2016 – That’s a Wrap!

Even with all the amazing celebrities who’ve left us this year and with all the residue left from the political battles, 2016 has been a pretty great year.  As the year comes to an end, I want to wrap up with some of my most popular posts from 2016.  These are the project that were very popular on Pinterest, receiving a lot of clicks and repins.  What fun!

I have an emotional connection to every card I make – I can remember WHY I designed it that way or HOW I learned in the process of making it or WHAT song I was listening to at the time.  I even remember what I was wearing when I made some of these cards – likely a pair of cargo shorts and my Piggly Wiggly tshirt.  Anyway, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the end of this year than with a quick parade of my most popular projects.

2016 Parade of Cards

** You can click on any of these pictures to see the original posts about these cards. **

This is my all-time, most pinned project.  I love this paper (Pretty Petals Designer Series Paper Stack) and feel that the card showcases it beautifully.  I split the sentiment on this fun Suite Sayings stamp (one of my all-time favorites) which made it work.  The thin borders give the card structure while not reducing the impact of the floral pattern.

At the beginning of 2014, I shared a fun card with an arch of colorful flowers.  At the beginning of 2016, I CASE’d that card with the sweet happy faces from Sale-a-Bration’s Hello and the “sending smiles” sentiment from Greatest Greetings.  The sweet colors and fun arrangement made this card happy and fun.

The very minute Thoughtful Branches was available to purchase, I grabbed it up.  Demonstrators were able to purchase this amazing bundle a month before it was available to customers.  I think this one got a lot of coverage because it was one of the first projects to showcase the new bundle.  This was another card that was inspired by a Paper Players color combination.

I created this simple beauty for my local club and then shared it on my blog after we’d made them.  There’s something very special about a large span of untouched paper on a card.  This piece of Pool Party was a perfect way to showcase this Detailed Floral Thinlits Die – you don’t always need to do a lot to make something pretty.

I wasn’t particularly fond of this card, but I can’t always be too picky if I have to get projects out every day.  The layout “haunted me” a bit as I tied to fit everything on the card and still showcase the paper and sentiment.  I had fun coloring the inside of the mummy and the outside of the skeleton and remember thinking on them a lot before gluing them down.  In the end, it earned as much Pinterest traffic as most other projects, so there was something you liked about it.

This card was the start of my love affair with the combination of Pool Party and Daffodil Delight.  While I wasn’t able to attend Stampin’ Up!’s April convention in Salt Lake City, my upline Pam was able to go and brought me back this stamp set to play with.  It was one of the first projects to showcase this fun sign, and I had a lot of fun snipping out the pieces to build this fun card.  I remember that it was very overcast the day I photographed this and wish I had a better picture.  Still, a dear friend asked for the card to give to her son – so glad it went to a good home.

This was a “throw-away” card that sat on my desk for a long time while I created other projects that I liked more.  It was a great showcase of this Wildflower Fields Designer Series Paper from Sale-a-Bration, and I used it for a Stamp-a-Stack I did with a local group.  One day, when I had nothing else to show, I featured this card, nervous that it didn’t show well – and it got lots of great feedback and repins.  You never know which cards will have the biggest impact.

This is one of the first projects with the Moroccan Nights stamp set (Pam brought this back from Convention, too).  I love the pairing of Mint Macaron with Basic Black and was thrilled with the off-center placement of this medallion.  The sentiment from You’ve Got This works wonderfully here – as do the cluster of pearls I colored with a black Sharpie marker.

Like the Pool Party card above, there’s something about a card that lets the color speak for itself.  This large panel of  Pear Pizzazz gave the sweet flower and fun sentiment lot of room to show-up.  I paired this panel with a piece of Pear Pizzazz paper from the Subtles Designer Series Paper Stack and coordinated the envelope flap to match.

This might just be my all-time favorite card, so I’m glad you liked it, too.  Not only did I use this “celebrate” from Fabulous Four A LOT over the years, but I had fun adding the teeny-tiny balloons to the tall-reaching letters in the sentiment.  I pulled these colors from a Paper Players challenge and featured the card in a blog hop with my team.  I do love this card.

Don’t miss a thing!  Follow me on Pinterest – CLICK HERE to visit my Pinterest page and to follow me there.  Pinterest makes it so easy to save off things we love so that they are at our fingertips when we want them.  You are so sweet to check-in on me – please help me share my work with the rest of the world.

LAST DAY to earn a Grab Bag from me.  During December, I’m giving away bundles of Designer Series Papers, ribbon and  embellishments for every $50 you spend with me.  What you receive is a mystery, but I know you’ll love it!  Click below to read more:

Occasions Catalog Product Shares.  I’ve posted my Occasions Catalog Product Shares and Designer Series Paper Swatch Books.  There’s no better way to get a little bit of each paper, ribbon and embellishment at a small price.  🙂  If you’d like learn more, please click here.

Thank you for helping to make 2016 such a great year.  I appreciate every blog reader, blog subscriber, comment and Pinterest pin.  I’m so fortunate to have you in my life and am glad I can share with you on this super-fun stamping journey.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian