Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my blogland friends!  Let's make 2013 the year we want it to be!

I have had a lovely Christmas with family and even managed to squeeze in a few hour's crafting.  I made the most of the opportunity, finishing a frame that I had covered with gesso back in October and then hadn't time to do anything with.  I love creating little garden and wildflower scenes so I was in my element with this.  My new stamp sets that I treated myself to with my first pay check have been sitting there lonely and uninked, so this was always intended to be pure inky self-indulgence!

I started by painting my PoundLand frame with gesso and sanding it down.  (The leaving for 3 months part is optional.)  I stamped the leaves from Summer Silhouettes in VersaMark and then embossed in a shimmery type of embossing powder that I've had for some time.  I measured out some Whisper White card, but as the frame measures 15" I was always going to have a line to deal with.  I inked the bottom of the card with a combination of Pear Pizzaz (retired, but I love it), Old Olive and Summer Starfruit.  The top of the card was inked in Bashful Blue and Baja Breeze. I do find my sponge daubers very easy to use for inking.  

I started stamping with the beautiful bloom on the left from Elements of Style and then stamped randomly along the rest of the card.  I used the top of the fir tree from Lovely As A Tree, the dandelion heads from Serene Silhouettes, the leaves from Papaya Collage and the flowers from Summer Silhouettes.  The inks used were Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, Rose Red, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Pear Pizzaz and Gumball Green.  I added some insects from Nature Walk and the beautiful butterfly from Papillon Potpourri, stamped twice, once directly onto the card, once onto some scrap. Both were coloured, and then the scrap was punched out with the coordinating punch and mounted on top of the other.

The chipboard tree looked a little stark against the vibrant summer flowers so I stuck leaves onto it, punched out with my Bird Builder Punch and the stems trimmed off.  I added paper roses and gardenia to the edges, with some die cut leaves positioned behind.  The final touch was a rub on quotation.

Supplies

Stamps: Summer Silhouettes, Papaya Collage, Elements of Style, Lovely As A Tree, Papillon Potpourri, Serene Silhouettes, Nature Walk (edit: definitely not retired, clearly I am confused from lack of crafting)

Ink: Basic Black, Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Summer Starfruit, Gumball Green, Pear Pizazz (retired), Rose Red, Raspberry Ripple, Primrose Petals, Baja Breeze, Daffodil Delight, Bashful Blue, More Mustard, Pretty in Pink, VersaMark

Card: Whisper White

Other: aquapainter, sponge dauber, Elegant Butterfly Punch, Bird Builder Punch, heat gun

Non-SU supplies: paper roses and gardenia, rub on, chipboard tree, copper shimmer embossing powder

Now, on a serious note, Socks felt that he should give you all some advice as you contemplate a new year.  Firstly, set realistic and achievable resolutions:

Always see the best in yourself:

Reorganise your clutter:

Spend time on your hobbies, or even learn a new one:

Make sure you spend time with your family and those you love:

Wishing you all the happiest of New Years!