2012

Last year I wrote an end-of-year post, and here we are again- 365 days later (well, actually it was 366, since it was a leap year...)  I really like to reflect upon what I have done in the past, so I can move ahead in the future.  2012 has been the best year yet, crafty or otherwise.

Here are some of my creative accomplishments from 2012:

• I have had 2 projects land on the covers of Paper Crafts Magazine
• I competed in the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol competition for the second year in a row!  I made some amazing friendships with those top 20 girls, and we keep in touch pretty much daily
• I was recruited by one of my favorite companies to join their design team.  Being with Clear and Simple Stamps has been amazing!
• I was voted as honorable mention for Paper Crafts Stamping Royalty.  It did not get me a crown, but I was humbled by the love from the people who voted for me.  (aaaaaaand I got the big prize! hehe)
• I illustrated a book! (will be released 2013)
• Even more crafty friendships have been made, both online and in person (hello Jessica and Suzanne, my weekly stamping buddies!)
• Followers/visitors/commenters keep coming back....I must be doing something right! Right?  Thanks to everyone who takes the time to visit Our Change of Art :)

I've seen a few posts around the block from other bloggers who have featured their favorite cards from each month that have made.  Although I love reading those posts, from me today you are going to get the good and the bad and the in-between. Sorted by month, here's everything I blogged about this year:

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September



October

November

December

I love seeing the photography get better from month to month and you can also see how I phased out the sheet music background and phased in the wood :)

My favorite?

See you in 2013!!!

YCU#17

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!  When I was little (7 or 8 maybe?) I wrote a song about Christmas Eve Eve. I still remember it, since I sing it every year.  Yes- to this day, I sing a song once a year that I wrote when I was in 2nd grade.  In case you were wondering, I will in fact share the lyrics with you :

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve Eve

I've waited a long, long time

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve Eve

ALL the presents are mine!

You don't get any presents

'Cause you've been bad this year

I get all the presents..

Yes, my dear!

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve Eve

I've waited a long, long time

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve Eve

ALL the presents are mine!

You'd think from those lyrics I was a greedy kid or something- so far from the truth!  My nickname was "Sweet Jen" (seriously- and my uncle still calls me that!).  I think I thought I was being funny or something when I wrote that :)

Well anyway, speaking of "sweet"...that is the new challenge at Young Crafters Unite!!  Here's my sweet Christmas card:

The rub-on and striped overlay are some Hambly goodies that I have in my stash- I love them! 

Please check out the DT to see their sweet creations:

Britta

Chari
Chunyuan
Danielle
Marie
Stephanie

CSS Make it Sparkle

This is post #2 for the day...please scroll down for my Runway Inspired Challenge post!

Today a few of the gals from Clear and Simple Stamps are posting cards that sparkle and shine using the new Limited Edition Joy set (a gift for 2012 customers).

I made my card sparkle with glitter and one of the new CSS metallic envelopes:

My glittered flag is one-layer.  It was pretty easy to do, but in case you were not sure, I'm including a mini tutorial:

Die cut flag and cover in adhesive. I used CSS Simple Adhesive.

Cut off excess, and peel off protective sheet.

For each color, you will die cut a smaller flag from the protective sheet, adhere it back onto the sticky side, then add glitter.  In the photo above, I already did the outer layer, and am working on the middle one.  You can see where I die cut the smallest flag from the protective sheet and placed it where I wanted it. Once the green glitter was in place, I peeled off the flag so I could pour on the gold:

Peel off the last one, then adhere gold glitter to the center.

Here's the finished flag:

Thanks for stopping by!

Jaclyn
Laurie
Lori
Tracy
Clear and Simple Stamps

ric#26

Woohoo, it's a Runway Inspired Challenge day!

I love the bold black outlines on the top part of her dress- they reminded me of stained glass.  Such a perfect opportunity to retry the glitter stained glass technique!  

(augh...see that crooked "sparkle?" That's not from my stamping- that's what I get with a $1 bin stamp!!)

I colored the glitter in with Copic markers....I only own about 7 of them, but luckily I have a green and blue that match fairly closely to the inspiration image.

You know the drill...visit the DT and play along for a chance at a prize from Freckled Fawn!!

Virginia Lu -  Yes, Virginia

Nina Yang - Waffleflower

Angeline Yong - The Creation of Creativity

Tasnim Ahmed - Cards & Bookmarks

Pamela Ho - miao

Wida Miller-Beachorado

Laura Bassen - Doublestick Heaven

Aga - Just Made From Paper

finally done!

Finishing yesterday's post:

inspired by Day 23

inspired by Day 24

inspired by Day 25

Catching up...

Last week was concert week- 4 successful performances!  I was so busy, that I let my blogging and online presence slip- sorry!  That doesn't mean that I haven't been crafting.  In fact, I have been doing more, in my traditional crazy pre-holiday fashion.

In addition to the cards I share with you today, I knocked out about 70 Christmas cards for myself to send out. That brings this year's grand total to about 150 (in addition to the ones I send, I mail my mom cards to send, and a friend of mine sells some in her shop).

I blogged about my goal to CASE all of Kristina's holiday cards here.  Well...I made it! I am so proud- I got through all 25 days. It was fun!  Her style is different from mine, so I really enjoy the process of re-imagining her cards to suit my own aesthetic.

No explanations here- I have to get to bed soon! If I have time tomorrow, I'll do a product list at the end of the post.

inspired by Day 13

inspired by Day 14

inspired by Day 15

inspired by Day 16

inspired by Day 17

inspired by Day 18

inspired by Day 19

inspired by Day 20

 close-up detail of faux wax seal:

inspired by Day 21

inspired by Day 22

 ...and a variation with rhinestones:

This is taking longer than I expected...Days 23-25 will hopefully go up tomorrow!  Goodnight :)

CSS CASE of Joy

Have you seen the new Limited Edition set from Clear and Simple Stamps?  It is for 2012 customers, and you get more stamps depending on how much you have spent this year.  Today, the DT is using this great set to CASE their favorite cards from the year.  We could CASE our own project, or one from one of the other designers.

I chose an awesome card from Laura Bassen.  When I think of her, I think of plaid!  She has done some amazing cards with hand-stamped plaid, including this beauty:

Oh man- how could I even attempt to CASE this? It's perfect!  I went with a thinner plaid, using diagonal stripes in green and coral:

The "JOY" was embossed in white over the plaid.  The layout was kept pretty much the same.  Laura, I hope I did okay!! :)

As a bonus, I have two more.  I love this card from Elena:

..and here's my interpretation:

For the card base, I used the new metallic paper from CSS in white pearl.  It's photographing slightly pink, but it is definitely a neutral pearl.  I love how heavy it is- perfect for a card base!

Last is a great card from Laurie:

I love the way she used an imprint plate for the background, and left so much white space. I kept a lot of the design elements the same on this one too!

When I found out that the group challenge was "CASE of Joy," I wanted to CASE every designer on the CSS DT!!  I had big plans to make lots and lots of cards....but sadly I could only manage these three.   

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else made:

Dana
Elena
Jaclyn
Kim
Laurie
Lori
Tracy
Clear and Simple Stamps

CSS Cardstock- A Blanc Check	CSS Cardstock Coral Necklace	American Crafts POW Glitter Paper - Silver Stripes	CSS White Pearl Cardstock
CSS Designer Lines	CSS Ink- Perfect Little Black Dress	CSS Coral Necklace Ink	CSS Ink Glamazon Green
CSS Watermark Ink From an Anonymous Source	Stampendous Embossing Powder, .92 oz Detail White	CSS Uppercase Die	Fiskars SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer (12")
Martha Stewart Scoring Board, Mini	3-D Foam Squares, Mixed	ATG Kit, Advanced Tape Glider

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