Wintery Thank You Card

Hello Everyone,

This is a quick post and I am entering this card in the Hero Arts Flickr Group challenge. I wanted to post one more card before I leave for our Christmas holiday. I wanted this thank you card to have a winter theme. I used glossy accents on the base of the globe and also on the snow man’s jacket, scarf, mittens, and brim on his hat. I the shine is hard to see on camera. I used a white pop corn pen to make the snow. For information on the pen, please check here. I embossed the snow flakes with white embossing powder and then distressed the background with broken china and tumbled glass distressing inks. The sentiment is embossed with white embossing powder on clear vellum.

Stamps used are Hero Arts: Snow Globe CG235, Four Snow Flakes (set of 4) CG210, Essential Messages CL371.



Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!

Birthday and Thank You Cards

Hello Everyone,

I really haven’t had a lot of time this week to make many cards and that makes me sad. I have been trying to get organized for our upcoming trip to Ohio next week for our Family Christmas Holiday. Between buying gifts, wrapping them, having car problems, refrigerator problems and a vacuum cleaning that died is enough for everything for me to end up being very overwhelming. I am finally able to upload these cards that I made on Sunday of this week.

The Meadow Flowers card was made with the following stamps: Stamps used are Hero Arts: Silhouette Meadow Flowers K5340, Essential Messages CL371. The background paper is from Basic Grey and is called Porcelain. I used Jennifer McGuire’s technique for painting the silhouette image with distress inks and white liquid pearls. To see how she did this technique, please check here.
My next card, Swirl Birthday, was made with the following stamps: Stamps used are Hero Arts: Swirl Frame K5355, Essential Messages CL371. I used the technique of stamping with versa mark ink and clear embossing powder. To see the technique by Kelly Rasmussen, please check here.

I am not sure if I will be posting anything on my blog between now and Christmas. So, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Take care and have a great day.

Dove of Peace

Hello Everyone,

I am not feeling well today so I will make this post short. I wanted to do something different, so I made my card into a pocket card that holds a bookmark. The Hero Arts Stamps that were used are: Holiday Sayings CL343, Celebrate the Season AR158, and Magical Background CG211. I made this card for the December2010A Hero Arts Flickr group challenge and I am also giving it to my friend. I used Jennifer McGuire's technique for her Pearl Snowflake card from the Holiday Thinking Inking class that she taught during week 7 over at two peas in a bucket. To see how she did this technique, please go here. I used green patina, forever violet, and pewter perfect pearls for my background colors. The shine from the perfect pearls does not show up very well on camera as well as it does in real life.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Take care and have a great day.

Thank you for your kindness

Hello Everyone,

The stamps that I used for this card are Hero Arts: Floral Brocade CG187 and the sentiment are from Feather Grass CL282. I have entered it in the Hero Arts December2010A challenge. I embossed the Floral Brocade stamp with versa mark ink and white embossing powder. Then I used bundled sage distress ink to color in the image with the inking tool and I used dried marigold distressed ink to color the flowers. I stamped this image and colored it three times before I was satisfied with how it turned out. But, I let the brocade panel sit on my desk for a night before I actually used it on this card. I almost tossed it in the trash. I am pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Take care and have a great day.

Hero Arts is having a Blog Hop!!!

On Friday, December 10, 2010 Hero Arts is having a blog hop and they will be showing off their new products in their new 2011 caralog. This will be losts of fun! For details about the hop, please clicke here.

Joy Card

Hello Everyone,

I haven’t had much of a chance to make any cards since I returned home from my vacation. I spent most of last week and this week trying to get ready for Christmas.
I have all the Christmas gifts bought and wrapped. Now all I have to do is finish my Christmas cards for mailing.

I made this card for the Hero Arts challenge and I wanted it to have a little sparkle. (The card has more shine in real life.) Shari Carroll’s card that can be found here (using this technique) inspired me to create this card. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Stunning Snowflakes S5069 and Snowflake Circle CG100.



I stamped the Stunning Snowflakes background on white cardstock using versa mark clear ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I took Stormy Sky ink and distressed the background. Then I took glossy accents and went over the snowflakes with it so that the snowflakes would shine. I stamped the circle with clear embossing ink and powder onto baby blue paper. I panted the letters with a dark blue acrylic paint and after it dried, I went over the letters with glossy accents. I added blue gems for a finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Take care and have a great day.

Spotlighting Card

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My family and I were able to spend Thanksgiving together this year and it was so good to see everyone. My husband and I flew out to Oregon on November 19, 2010 and spent 10 days with family. The time went by too fast and before we knew it, it was time to return home. During the time we were away I did not have the chance to make any cards and I missed commenting on everyone’s cards. I finally got the chance last evening to make a card and I will be entering it in the Hero Arts Flickr December2010A challenge.

I Used Hero Arts stamps: Delicate Blossoms CL449 and the sentiment is from the Clear Design "T" set CL020. I have wanted to make a card using the spotlighting technique for a long time and I have finally gotten to do so. I stamped the main image with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then I stamped the part of the stamp that I wanted highlighted and I colored only the portion of the flower with Garnet red (R39) Copic marker. The colored portion of the flower was punched out and I glued it to a larger mat circle and lined it up with the uncolored flower. The rest of the card fell into place and I used the colors for the color theme of the challenge. My card base is Kraft paper, the flower image is stamped on white paper, the circle mat and mat for the main image is green and there is a small amount of slate blue on the background paper. This technique is fun and easy to do and I enjoyed making this card. There is a tutorial on Split Coast Stampers for this technique.

It is good to be making cards again and I really missed it while I was away.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Take care and have a great evening.

I've been busy this week

Hello Everyone,

I haven’t been around much this week to the Hero Arts Flickr group and I also haven’t put anything new up on my blog. I feel like I am behind in everything and time seems to have slipped away from me. So, this post will be long. I have spent this week preparing for a visit with family. Next week will be just as busy and I probably won’t have much time to make any cards. But, I did manage to squeeze in a few cards (this week) and get them posted.

This card was made for the HA flickr Group challenge (november2010B) and I am also entering it into the Holiday Thinking Inking challenge over at Two Peas (week 7). The stamps that I used are Hero Arts; Starry Sky S5448, Good Cheer Messages LL260, and Holiday Sayings CL343. I used the starry sky stamp for the background and I stamped it twice in Chipped sapphire distress ink. To see how this technique is done, check here.

This card is for the HA flickr group challenge and for the Holiday Thinking Inking Challenge over at Two Peas (week 7). See the technique here. Stamps used are Hero Arts; Cuckoo CL388, Holiday Sayings CL343.

This is a simple Christmas card where I used a simple embossing technique on the blue panel. (The embossing on the panel is hard to see in the picture, it is much better in real life.) The stamps used are Hero Arts; Merry Christmas Tree CL459 and Magical Background CG211.

This Card is for the HA Flickr group challenge november2010B. Stamps used are Hero Arts; Create Your Own CL368. The only inking technique on this card was stamping the snowman and coloring him in.

I made this card for the Holiday Thinking Inking class (week 7) (Two Peas) and also for the HA Flickr group challenge (november2010B). To see how the technique is done, please check here. The stamps that are used are Hero Arts; Flourish Pine S5247, Joyous Wishes AR160, Holiday Sayings CL343.

Thank you for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful day and a Blessed Thanksgiving.

Birthday Card for my Daughter

Hello Everyone,

I made this birthday card for my Daughter, Michelle. I tried to get the colors for the side panel to match the flower center panel and I wanted the butterflies to compliment the flower. The colors are not an exact match, but I am still happy with how it turned out. I am entering this card into Hero Arts Flickr group challange for this month. Check here for contest information.

The flower was stamped on acrylic canvas with clear embossing ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. I added a couple different shades of red and a yellow alcohol ink until the canvas was completely covered. (This image was stamped a few weeks ago and because of that, I don't remember the exact colors that were used.) When the ink was dry, I lightly went over the flower with a sanding block so that the flower would stand out more.

I stamped the side panel using the old letter writing stamp (S4878) with van dyke brown ink. Then I stamped the butterflies in clear ink and emboss with clear embossing powder. The side panel was distressed with worn lipstick and scattered straw. These two techniques that I used are techniques that I learned from the Holiday Thinking Inking class that Jennifer McGuire is currently teaching over at Two Peas in a Bucket. To finish off the card I added white ribbon and black pearls in the center of the flower.

The stamps that were used are Hero Arts: Designer Butterflies CL115, Three Flowers CG128, Old Letter Writing S4878, and the sentiment comes from the Birthday Messages CL139 stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Joyous Holiday

Hello Everyone,

I made this card for the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge (November2010A) and I am also entering it into the CPS Card Sketches 192 challenge (here).

I stamped the holly in clear embossing ink and then embossed with white embossing powder. I colored each leaf with a green marker and then used broken china and scattered straw distress ink. After the ink was applied, I stamped the sentiment in clear ink and embossed with white embossing powder. I added the red pearls after the card was assembled. This was a fun card to make and I enjoyed picking out the materials to make this card.

Stamps used are Hero Arts: Classic Holly CG229 and Joy to All CL460. I am entering this card in the flickr HA group challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Thinking Inking cards and HA Flickr Group Challenge

Hello Everyone,

I didn't have much time in the beginning of this week to make any cards for the challenges that are my favorite. So, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week was the first time since Saturday of last week that I was able to make a few cards.

I made this card for the Holiday Thinking Inking card (week 6, project 2) over at Two Peas and also entered in the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge. For instructions on how to make this card, go here. The stamps that were used are: Holiday Sayings CL343, Magical Background CG211, and Swirl Christmas CL469. I Used the Snowflakes 37-1140 cuttlebug embossing folder for the acetate background.

This is my other card that I have entered at Two Peas for the Thinking Inking class (week 6, project 3). For directions, please go here. The stamps that I used were: Magic of Christmas CL462, Holiday Sayings CL343, and Flourish Background CG119.


I found directions here to make this gift card holder and thought that the original card was cute. The original directions call for pattern paper and no stamping is involved. But, I started out with white paper and embossed the swirl image with white embossing powder and distressed the background with chipped sapphire distress ink. After I stamped my image, I followed the directions the way they were written. The stamp that I used was: Magical Background CG211.

Beanie Gift Card holder -- closed

Beanie Gift Card Holder--open

This last card was inspired by Kristina Werner. Her card may be seen here. I used her design, but used different paper and used stamps instead of premade embellishments. The stamps that I used: Decorate Your Own CL366.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Two cards, Two challenges

Hello Everyone,

I made this card for Jennifer McGuire's Holiday Thinking Inking challenge over at Two Peas and also for the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge, November2010A . The project that inspired this card is from week 5, project 2 from the Holiday Thinking Inking class. I didn't have any sticky back canvas, so I used canvas that was on a small (4”x5”) frame. I took the canvas off the frame and stamped my image with clear embossing ink and embossed in white embossing powder and then applied the alcohol ink. When my canvas was dry, I frayed the ends and I lightly sanded the image with a sanding block. I tried stamping and embossing on muslin, but I wasn't getting the results that I wanted. The embossing would not stick to the fabric very well and kept flaking off. The stamps are Hero Arts: Christmas Penguin F5266, Raindrop Background S5101, Starry Sky S5448, and Holiday Cheer Messages LL217.

I made this card for the Hero Arts Flickr group 90 minute challenge that was hosted by Barb. I only had 90 minutes to make the card and upload it to the Flickr group thread. Because of only having 90 minutes to make a card, it didn’t give me much time to think about what I wanted to do. It usually takes me a long time just to make one card because I have a difficult time deciding on color, style, and stamps to use. My husband tells me that I always over think what I want to do. I guess he is correct. Sometimes when I am making a card I might change my mind when I am half way through with my design. So, basically you could say that I start all over. No wonder it takes me so long. But, this was a learning experience for me. Making a card in 90 minutes proved that I can complete a card in that small amount of time and it will look nice. So, I am going to try an experiment the next time I make a card—I am going to set a 90 minute time limit to complete my next card. I will try not to ponder too much. I did enjoy this challenge and I would do this again. I am so glad that I joined in the fun. Thanks Barb for hosting the challenge.

The stamps that I used are Hero Arts and they are: Magical Background CG211 and Joy to All CL460.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

The Magic of Christmas

Hello Everyone,

I bought several bottles of alcohol inks about a year ago, but have not used them. So, this was a good opportunity to take them out. I enjoyed playing with these inks and will have to get them out more often. I love how the colors blended together on this card. The inks that I used were: Stream, Slate, Meadow, and the Pearl Mixatives along with the blending solution.

I had lots of fun playing with my alcohol inks and this is what I came up with for the
Hero Arts Flickr Group challenge (November2010A). I am submitting this card to Two Peas for Jennifer McGuire's Thinking Inking Challenge (Week 5, project 1). The die that I used is called “Asian” which comes from the "Lacy Labels" Cricut cartridge. Stamps used are Hero Arts: Magic of Christmas CL462.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Sympathy Card for My Friend

Hello Everyone,

This is a sympathy card that I made for my friend who lost her Dad a few weeks ago. I am also submitting this card in the Hero Arts November2010A Flickr group challenge.
This inking technique, which I used on this card, was the same technique that Jennifer McGuire used in week 3 project 2 in her Thinking Inking Class over at Two Peas. I stamped the Friendship Definition stamp with van dyke brown ink onto white cardstock. Then I stamped the Festive borders and woodland grasses stamp in clear ink and then embossed with clear embossing powder. I used Bundled Sage and Tumbled Glass embossing ink to color over the stamped images. After the inking was completed, I assembled the card and added the finishing touches.

Hero Arts Stamps were used for this card. These are the stamps: Friend Definition CG125, Festive Borders AR133, and Woodland Grasses F3182.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

My Thinking Inking Win

Hello Everyone,

Today was an exciting day for me. I found out this morning that my “Three Christmas Trees” card that I entered over on Two Peas last week for Jennifer McGuire’s Thinking Inking class (week 4 project 1) won. The first thing that I did when I got up this morning was to go to the two peas web site to find out who won. I didn’t see my card so I figured that I didn’t win. I was probably in the wrong place as it is sometimes difficult to get around at two peas. So, I went about doing things around my house and a few hours later I decided to check my email. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the email from Two Peas and my friend Virginia left a comment congratulating me about my win. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw Virginia’s congratulations. I squealed and did a happy dance and I have been wearing a smile all day. I wasn’t expecting this at all, but I can tell you that it was a very nice surprise. My card may be seen here.

The two cards that are below were posted on Two Peas for the Thinking Inking challenge (week 4 projects 1 and 2) yesterday. The details for the techniques of these cards can be found here. The stamps for the Snowflakes card are: Winter E2572 and Stary Sky S5448. The stamps that I used for the Flowers and Trees card are: Silhouette Meadow Flowers K5340 and Merry Christmas Trees CL459.

I entitled this card "Snowflakes and the technique comes from Jennifer McGuire's Thinking Inking class over at Two Peas (Week 4 Project 2)

This card is entitled Flowers and Trees and the technique is from week 4 project 1.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Inspirational Card

Hello Everyone,
I received this greeting card about a month ago from my friend. Usually I throw away store bought cards, but I kept this one because my friend gave it to me. She is like a sister to me and I appreciated the thoughtfulness that my friend cared enough about me to send me a card. I liked the design of the card and adapted it for a 4 ¼ x 5 ½ handmade card.

Inspirational Card received from my friend.

My version of the inspirational card

The stamps used for my card are Hero Arts. Merry Christmas Tree CL459, Swirl Christmas CL469, Joyous Wishes AR160, and Music Background CG222. I cut a white piece of cardstock at 1 7/8” x 5 ½”. Then I stamped the Music Background stamp with vintage photo distress ink. The tree and sentiment was stamped with clear ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I distressed the panel with stormy sky and weathered wood distress ink. The panel was mounted on a white panel and then on a dark blue panel. The sentiment and stars were stamped on bashful blue cardstock by Stampin Up.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Christmas flourishes

Hello Everyone,

Last Friday My friend and I went to Joann’s Fabrics in Florence, AL. This store opened a few months ago and there isn’t one in our area where we live, so we drove a little over an hour to see what was available at Joann's. When we arrived at the store, my friend went to the fabric department and I headed for the stamps in the scrapbooking area. I immediately spotted the Hero Arts Stamps and was a little disappointed because the Hero Arts stamps that Joann’s carries are stamps that I already have or stamps that are no longer being made. I found a few older stamp sets that I didn’t have and decided that I liked them, and purchased them. Here are the stamps that I purchased:

Hero Arts Needles & Cones LL605

CR2008

This set is used on my card.

Hero Arts More Real Leaves LL685

CR2008

To make my card, I randomly stamped a piece of white cardstock (3 ¾ x 5) with Hero Arts Three Pinecones stamp E1976 in Olive ink The next thing that I did was stamp the Thank You Flourishes CL286 in clear ink and embossed the image. Then I distressed this with worn Lipstick, Antique linen, and Tumbled Glass. I went around the edges with Vintage Photo then I stamped over the entire image with Old Letter Writing S4878. To finish off my card, I added ribbon, the sentiment (came from stamp set Holiday Cheer Messages LL217), and pearls.


Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Christmas Cards

Hello Everyone,

Here are two cards that I made for Jennifer McGuire’s Thinking Inking Holiday challenge (Week 3) over at two peas.

Christmas Tree Card (click here for directions)
The center panel was stamped with the Music Background stamp CG222 in van dyke brown ink. Then I stamped the Christmas tree, Swirl Christmas CL469, over the music background and distressed it in Forrest Moss distress ink and then inked around the edges with vintage photo distress ink. To finish off the card, I wrapped red sheer ribbon around the panel and added red pearls.
Santa Card (click here for directions)
The Santa was stamped with black ink and colored with markers. I used Holographic embossing powder for the top of his boots, bottom of his coat, beard, trim and the pom pom on his hat. This embossing powder does not show up too well on camera. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Santa with Gift H5267, Holiday Cheer Messages LL217 and Raindrop background S5101.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Doves of Peace

Hello Everyone,

This card is my version of the card that Jennifer McGuire made for project 2 week 3 of the Holiday Thinking Inking series that is taking place over at Two Peas in a Bucket. I used the Tim Holtz “Baroque” die for my center panel. The directions that I followed can be found here.

The stamps that were used are Hero Arts; Swirl Christmas CL469, Merry Christmas Tree CL459, and the background is from the Hero Arts digital kit “Holiday Prints”.

I will be entering this in the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge and try to get it entered over at two peas.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Merriest Wishes

Hello Everyone,

I finally got around to playing with my stamps on Wednesday and I had so much fun making this card. This card is my take on Jennifer McGuire’s Holiday Thinking Inking card from Week 3 project 1 (Season Flowers Card). I basically used the same design as she did but changed it around a little. The roses were fun to make once I figured out how to make them. The roses do not lay flat on the card so this card will be hand delivered.

The stamps that I used are all Hero Arts; Dots and Flowers S5213, Merriest Wishes CL113, Christmas Script H2309, and the leaves from the Big and Tall Flowers set CL374.

I will be entering this in the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge and try to get it entered over at two peas.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Four Christmas Trees

Hello Everyone,

I haven’t had much time during the last 3 days to make any cards. So, today I had a chance to do some stamping and I decided to make a card based on Jennifer McGuire’s Holiday Thinking Inking class. To find out how this technique is done, please check here. Before I began working on this card, I made six practice pieces to get a feel of how much water to use on the stamp. Out of the six practice pieces, I chose the one that I felt was the best one. This is the card that I came up with and I had lots of fun doing this technique. I have entered this in the October2010B Hero Arts Challenge.

The stamps that I used are Hero Arts; Three Trees LP123, Holiday Cheer Messages LL217, and Old Letter Writing S4878.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Snowman and Ornament Cards

Hello Everyone,

If anyone is interested in some yummy blog candy, go on over to Kathy's Blog, The Daily marker. She is giving away Penny Black stamps. See the picture of the blog candy on my side bar and click on it to get to her blog and follow the directions to enter.

Here are the last of my cards that I have posted in the Hero Arts Flickr group pool for the first part of this months challenge at the Hero Arts flickr group challenge (October2010A).

The cards were inspired by Jennifer McGuire’s Holiday Thinking Inking Class that is being held over at two peas. The snowman card uses the Block Inking Technique and the ornament card uses the color bleeding technique. These two techniques can be found here.

After I made the snowman background, I stamped a few snowflakes in random places (on the background) and then stamped in the sentiment in black ink. The snowman is a quickutz die and I colored the scarf with barn door distress ink and the hat was colored with black distress ink and I place black pearls for the buttons and the eyes


For the ornament card, I stamped it on watercolor paper with chipped sapphire distress ink and sprayed a small amount of water mixed with perfect pearls so that the ink would bleed. (I used a heat gun to dry the paper.)
Stamps used are Hero Arts:

Snowman Card
Jolly Christmas CL232
Warm Wishes CL243

Ornament Card
Magic of Christmas CL462
Starry Sky S5448

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Wreath of Leaves

Hello Everyone,

I received this stamp in the mail a few days ago and finally got around to making this card. (It arrived just at the right time.) This card is an inspiration from Jennifer McGuire’s card that was featured on the Hero Arts Blog on October 13th. Lately, I have been using my Prisma color pencils and I have found that using them is one of my favorite ways to color in different images.

I wanted to make a one layer card with only a few embellishments. I stamped the image in a light color ink and colored the leaves with two different shades of green. When I was satisfied with how my image looked, I blended the color with a blending stump and then painted each leaf with glossy accents. Then I masked off the edges and distress the front of the card with Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar distress ink. It took me a long time to decide on the bow and I finally choose a burgundy colored ribbon (the ribbon looks brown in the picture, but it is actually burgendy in real life) and accented the wreath with a few pink gems.

The supplies that I used are:

White Cardstock
Neenah Classic Solar White
5 ½ x 8 ½
Card measures 4 ¼ x 5 ½

Hero Arts Stamps: Wreath of Leaves CG215
Sentiment is from Merry Christmas Trees CL459

Prisma Color Pencils
Olive Green
Grass Green

Distress Inks by Ranger
Tattered Rose
Spun Sugar

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Share the Spirit of the Season

Hello Everyone,

This is a short post today. I managed to make a card yesterday in record time. Usually it takes me most of the day to get one card made and to get it to come out the way that I want it to. This card took me about 2 hours and I am happy with how it turned out. The sentiment stamp is one that I have had for a long time; I think that I bought it in 2005. I also thought that this sentiment went well with the poinsettias.

The stamps used are Hero Arts: Share the Spirit E3694 and Poinsettia Bloom B5085. I stamped the sentiment with Fired Brick distress ink and matted it with white cardstock and distressed the edge of the paper. The flower is colored with colored pencil and the edges of the paper is distressed with spun sugar distress ink and matted on red paper. The light green background paper is embossed with the new 5 x 7 cuttlebug “Polka Dots” embossing folder.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

Two Cards

Hello Everyone,

I have a few cards to post here and upload to the Hero Arts Flickr group. It seems that I have run out of ideas for Christmas cards and I am trying to get my mojo back so that I can get started on them. I guess that I need a jump start at the moment. I have come up with a few ideas, but just can’t seem to get my ideas into a card the way that I want the card to look when I am finished. Anyway, here are the two cards that I was able to finally finish over this past weekend.

Reindeer Card

This card is my version of Jennifer McGuire's card from her Holiday Thinking Inking "Such A Deer Card" that is being featured for 7 more weeks over at Two Pea's. To see the basic directions to make this card, please go here. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: The sentiment from the Jolly Christmas set CL232, Starry Sky S5448, and Friend Definition CG125. The digital reindeer comes from Hero Arts. This reindeer image was a free download for this card. I thought that it would be cute to add a small jingle bell around the deer's neck.

Penguin Card

I saw a picture that had penguins standing on a brick wall (I can’t remember where I saw the picture.) and that picture resulted in this card. The wall that I duplicated was a piece of 1”x 4 ¼” white card stock that I scored down the middle of the paper and scored every 1” vertically. Then I distressed the paper with tea dye distressing ink and attached it to the background with pop dots. I thought that scoring the paper would make it look like a brick wall. I stamped the background with the Starry Sky stamp S5448 in silver embossing powder and distressed the paper with broken china distress ink. The penguins come from the Jolly Christmas set CL232 and I stamped them with black pigment ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. I wanted to stamp a sentiment, but didn’t think there was enough room for one.

Note: The Jolly Christmas Stamp set CL232 was a set that I purchased in 2009 and might be discontinued?????

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless

Christmas Cards

Hello Everyone

I haven’t posted anything in a few days. It seems like time has just gotten away from me and other things have kept me from doing what I love, making cards; especially Christmas cards. These two cards are entered into the Hero Arts monthly challenge. My first card is stamped with the Poinsettia and Birds (S5068) Hero Arts stamp (I think that S5068 is a discontinued stamp.). I stamped the image onto white cardstock with a very light color ink. Once the ink was dried, I colored the images with colored pencils and then I outlined it with a .005 black felt tip marker. I added glossy accents to the leaves, flowers, and the birds.

For my next card, I chose the wreath with bells stamp (CG131) and the Holiday Cheer Messages (LL217) (I think that LL217 is also discontinued.) . I stamped the image with versa mark clear ink and embossed with green embossing powder. Then I took barn door, faded jeans, tumbled glass, broken china, pine needles, and peeled paint distress inks to color in the bells, ribbon, and leaves. To get the silvery blue color for the bells, I blended faded jeans with some broken china. For the leaves I blended pine needles and peeled paint. Barn door ink was used on the ribbon. I used the technique for Jennifer McGuire’s ornament card from the Holiday Thinking Inking class (week 1 project 3) that she did for her project. It was fun making this card and I am pleased with how it turned out.

Thanks for stopping by and the comments are always appreciated. Have a great day and take care and God bless.

Flourish Pine Christmas

Hello Everyone,

Hero Arts is hosting a challenge for World Card Making Day and I didn’t think that I would get the chance to join in this challenge. This was a busy weekend for me and there were circumstances that prevented me from my favorite thing; making cards. But, I was determined to sit down this evening and make at least one card and that I did. The design of this card was inspired by Jennifer McGuire. Actually, the design is from her card tha is found here. I decided to turn my card into a Christmas card and I am also entering it into the October2010A challenge. The stamps that I used are Flourish Pine S5247, Flourish Border H5289 and the sentiment is from Holiday Cheer Messages LL217. (Note: I think that LL217 is discontinued.)

Thanks for dropping by and I always appreciate the comments. Hope that everyone had a great World Card Making Day. God bless.

Three More Things

Hello Everyone!!

These three projects are my last items that I have submitted to the Flickr Group for the Hero Arts September challenge. The directions for the bag with the turkey came from here. It is called “Totally Totebag” and it was easy and fun to make. This little gift bag is just the right size for a gift card. The stamps that I used for this are Hero Arts Large Plaid Pattern S5447 and So Thankful CL466.

The next item is a flower bag. I thought that this would be a cute way to put some type of scrapbooking or card embellishment in to give away to someone. So, I decided to use paper flowers. The stamps that I used for this is So Thankful CL466. I got a gift in something similar to this and I just used my bag as a pattern. I cut a piece of Kraft paper 4” x 10.5” and scored it at 1”, 5”, and 6.5”. I cut a piece of pattern paper 2” x 4” for the top and cut an oval on the front of the bag. This can be decorated anyway you like.

The last item that I made was a quick card. I took a piece of double sided pattern cardstock and cut it 6.5” x 6.5” and punched out a 1 ¼” circle and then stamped a scallop edge around the circle. Then I randomly stamped on the front of the card and drew stitching lines around the sides of the cards. I punched a fancy scallop edge border and attached it to the bottom. (I Can not remember the name of the punch). The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Circular designs CL124, Hello Circles CL291, and the sentiment came from Just A Note 4x6 CL404.

Thanks for dropping by and I do appreciate the comments. Take care and God Bless.

A Card and A Gift Bag

Hello Everyone!!

Today, I have two things that I am entering into the Hero Arts Challenge. I have wanted to make a mosaic type card for a long time and I finally got around to doing so. There is a tutorial here. I did not follow the directions in the tutorial exactly but, I basically used the tutorial as a guide. I stamped the image on heavy white cardstock in black StazOn ink and then painted the flowers with twinkling H2O’s. Then I sponged the background in fall colors with twinkling H2O’s. This was a easy card to make but, the tricky part was keeping the tiles in order after I cut them. I first cut all the strips and kept them in order by numbering the rows as I cut. Each row was cut into four parts and for example, row 1 was numbered from left to right with the first tile being 1a, second tile 1b, third tile 1c and the 4th tile 1d. Row 2 – 9 was done in the same way. When it came time to glue the pieces down I knew where they belonged. The most time consuming part was cutting the tiles and gluing each tile down separately. I used only one stamp on this project and it is a Hero Arts Stamp: Three Sunflowers S5420. I had lots of fun making this card and the time went by very quickly.

Another name for a mosaic card is a Brick Wall card.

My Second item that I made is a bag made from one sheet of Kraft cardstock. This was an inspiration from Lucy Abram. See the directions to her bag here. I downloaded the bag template from Hero Arts and then I copied it out on Kraft Cardstock and cut it out and scored it. Then I stamped my image on it and colored the stamped images with markers. I tried to use Copic markers, but the colors are too muted on Kraft cardstock so I decided that regular markers worked better on this type of paper. This was another fun project and I was totally absorbed in this project. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts Scallop borders CL288 and So Thankful CL466.


Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate your comments. Have a wonderful day and God Bless.