Cards That Inspire

Hello Everyone,

It is hard to believe that this month’s challenge is just about over; time has gone by very fast for me. Here are a few cards that I made this week while I have been sick with another very nasty cold. I am entering these cards in the Hero Arts Flickr Group january2011B challenge.

My first card was an inspiration from the “Friends are Special Treasures” card on page 34 of the 2011 Hero Arts catalog. I stamped the card base with the Blossom Art stamp CL495 and then I made individual mask and covered the leaves with the mask and stamped over them with the old letter writing stamp S5105. The negative images of the leaves were placed around the leaves and then I distressed the leaves with bundled sage and shabby shutters. The sentiment was stamped with the Friends Stamp set CL351. I cute a strip of paper (3/4” x 5 ½”) and added distress ink, scattered straw and also added lace and green gems. I am going to send this to a friend who recently had surgery.

This second card was an inspiration from the Flower Text Stamp (S5506) on page 66 of the 2011 catalog. The flowers come from the stamp set Stamp A Garden CL379. I stamped the flowers and then masked the leaves and the flowers and then stamped over them with the Diagonal Dictionary Type stamp S5497. Then I colored the flowers and highlighted a small part of the background image.

The last card was an inspiration from the Happy Birthday Card (with the cakes) on page 27 of the Hero Arts 2011 catalog. The background was stamped with the magical background stamp CG211 in So Saffron ink by Stampin Up. The cupcakes and candles come from the Clear Design Cupcakes CL158. The sentiment comes from the Essential Massages stamp set CL371. The images were colored with Copic markers.

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

You Are Special

Hello Everyone,

This card was an inspiration from Kelly Rasmussen’s card “Warm Thoughts”. To see her card and the directions, please click here. I also entered this card in the Hero Arts Flickr Group challenge january2011B. I like the Musical Collage stamp (S5501), but I don’t own it, and I wanted to make a card similar to Kelly’s card. I went to Hero Arts to find the stamp so that I could get a clear image of what the stamp looks like and I based my card on the actual stamp and Kelly’s card. I have other stamps that are good images for a collage card and I used the following stamps to make my card: Two Birds CG152, Musical Background CG222, Old Letter Writing S4878, Graph Background S5435, Birds and Branches CL219, Take Good Care Greeting LL206 (from the 2007 Catalog).

The first thing that I did was distress the paper with Antique Linen. Then I stamped the branch in Walnut Stain distress ink and then I made a mask for it. Then I stamped the bird in Stormy Sky distress ink. I made a mask for the bird and placed the make on the bird and then masked the branch. Then I masked the center of the card and stamped the music background so that I had part of the image at the top and bottom. Then I masked off the top, bottom and left side of card and stamped the Old Letter Writing image. The last portion that was stamped was the Graph Background image. I kept the mask on the bird and branch and distressed the background with Spun Sugar distress ink. I matted the main image and roughed up the edges of the matt and then used Walnut stain distress ink along the edges. The card base was stamped with Stormy Sky distress ink and I rounded the corners.

This was a fun card to create and I lost all track of time while I was working. It was very satisfying to make something that did not hinder my creativity. Everything fell into place and I was able to find the stamps that would work for what I had in mind.

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

Love the Masking Technique

Hello Everyone,

I have fallen in love with the “masking technique” and I can’t seem to get away from this fun way of stamping. Last night I was on a roll and completed three cards. I had so much fun masking my images that I got carried away and before I knew it, I had three cards finished. I sure surprised myself; it usually takes me one evening or longer to complete one card. I am entering these cards in the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge (january2011B).

For the butterfly card, I used the technique that Shari Carroll did a few weeks ago in one of the hero arts video. The stamps used for this card are: Artists Butterfly H5426, Classic Design CG245, and Essential Messages CL371.

For the Earth Flower card, I embossed the flower with white embossing powder and then stamped over the image with Dots and Flowers S5213. The flower image comes from the Earth Flower stamp set CL428.

For the Flower Petals card, I stamped the main image in clear versa mark ink with white embossing powder and then stamped the other images and wiped the extra ink off of the flower. The stamps that were used are: Old letter Writing S4878, Music Background CG222, Water Color Petals CL431, and Large Plaid Pattern S5447.

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

Sunflowers Masked with Glossy Accents

Hello Everyone,

I thought that I would share a fun card that I made last evening. This card was an inspiration from a card that Jennifer McGuire did sometime last fall. To see the video, please check here.

I stamped the Three Sunflowers stamp S5420 onto white cardstock with walnut stain ink. I let the ink dry and then I applied glossy accents to the sunflower. The card sat overnight so that the glossy accents could dry. Once the card was dried, I applied distress inks to the card. The glossy accents acts as a mask, in this case the mask is permanent. After the ink was applied, I stamped the Diagonal dictionary type stamp S5497 with Tea dyed distress ink and then I stamped the Bold Flourish S5146. For the finishing touches I matted the main image to a white piece of paper and distressed the edges and then applied walnut stain ink.

The distress inks that were used are: Broken China, Shabby Shutters, Wild Honey, Scattered Straw, Spun Sugar, and Spiced Marmalade.

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

Layered Flower

Hello Everyone,

This is a quick post today. I have been trying to return to a normal routine of making my cards and then posting them in a timely manner. It seems like that is not happening. Since I returned home from Christmas vacation, things have just been getting in my way and preventing me from my crafts. Well, anyway, I am not going to let things discourage me and I will do my best to devote as much time to crafting as possible.

This card is an inspiration from the card that Shari Carroll did a few weeks ago. To see her video, please check here. The stamps that I used are all Hero Arts: Antique Flower Background S5264, Old Letter Writing S4878, Blossom Art CL495, and Clear Design Birthday Messages CL139. I distressed the flower with Scattered straw ink and wild honey and the leaves were distressed with Shabby Shutters. The center of the flower was distressed with Vintage Photo and then for the finishing touches I added brown pearls of various sizes.

Close up of flower center

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

Music and Flowers

Hello Everyone,

Here are a few cards that I made for the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge. I have not had much time to craft (again) even though I have been home bound due to the snow that we got on Monday. It seems like other things around the house had to get done before I could begin any crafting projects.

For this first card, “you’re in my thoughts”, I used Hero Arts Be Happy stamp set CL377, Friends CL351, and the large plaid pattern S5447. I stamped the flower with Memento tuxedo black dye ink and colored the flower with Copic markers (YR65 Atoll, Y17 Golden Yellow, G24 Willow, G09 Veronese Green and E29 Burnt Umber. I also applied glossy accents to the flower. The inside of this card was stamped with the friends stamp set CL351 and Hero Arts Rectangle Stitched-Edge Background stamp E3479.

Inside of Daisy card

For this last card, “Music gives you wings”, I stamped the Music Background stamp CG222 in antique linen distress ink and then stamped the butterflies (Antique Engraving CL383) and the speckled ornaments (CL401) with brushed Corduroy distress ink. The music clef was stamped with black distress ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. The inside of this card was stamped with the antique background stamp CG120. The sentiment inside was printed on vellum paper using the Chelsea font in black ink.

Inside of Music clef card

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

Cards for My Class

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. It has been over three weeks since I posted any cards and I have missed this craft. We were out of town for Christmas visiting our children and grandchildren and when I returned home I had a million and one things to do and could not do any crafting for a few weeks. I finally was able to spend some time this week end working on a few cards for a class that I am going to teach this month. I kept the cards simple (doing simple cards is very difficult for me) because the class that I will be teaching is a basic stamping class. The ladies that will be making these cards have never stamped before. But, I am positive that they will enjoy this craft and that their cards will turn out wonderful. I am also submitting these cards to the Hero Arts Flickr monthly challenge.

Two Hearts

The heart card on page 10 of the Hero Arts 2011 catalog was my inspiration for this card and I also thought that this would be easy for a beginning stamper. This could be an anniversary, Valentine’s Day, or even a wedding card. The stamps that were used are Hero Arts Swirl Frame K5355 (stamped on the hearts) and the Love stamp comes from the Mix and Match stamp set CL266.

Birthday Butterfly (outside of Card)

Birthday Butterfly (Inside of card)

There is not much stamping to this card; the only stamping is the sentiment on the outside and the poem and border on the inside. The stamps that were used are Hero Arts. The sentiment (on the outside) comes from Birthday Sayings CL340 and the greeting on the inside comes from Special Birthday F456 and the border on the bottom of the inside portion of the card comes from Artistic Borders CL322. The pattern paper and the butterfly come from “Garden Party Stack” by DCWV.

Thank You Flowers

The ‘hand made with love” flower card on page 6 of the 2011 Hero Arts catalog was my inspiration for this card. I wanted the flowers to appear that they were leaning to the left and right, so I curved the stem slightly and placed it on the block in that position. The stamps for this card are: Hero Arts Blossom Art CL495 and Big and Small Flowers CL374. The “Thank You” sentiment comes from Hero Arts thank You note C3397.

This is the first time for me to teach a card class and I am a little nervous about it. I don't know what to expect and I am afraid that I might forget something or that I won't be able to answer any question that someone might have. But, at the same time I want to have fun and I also want the ladies that will be learning how to make these cards to enjoy themselves.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Take care and God bless.