flowers and butterfly card

Hello Everyone, Here are a few more cards for the Hero Arts flickr group challenge.

Three Flowers

Supplies Stamps Used: Hero Arts Stamp A Garden CL379 Hero Arts Birthday Messages CL139 Hero Arts Large Line Dots Border F4862 Circa 2007 Colored flowers with Copic markers. Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5 scored in half Green panel: 5.25 x 4 Image paper: 5 x 3.75 Plaid ribbon 1/2" wide

Birthday Friend

Supplies Stamps used: Hero Arts Feathered Grass CL282 Hero Arts Friend Definition CG125 Hero Arts Antique Engraving CL383 Distress Inks Used: Tea Dye Dried Marigold Crushed Olive Paper used: pattern paper (unknown source) Water color paper by Hero Arts card base: 5.5 x 8.5 scored in half orange panel: 3 1/8 x 4 3/4 water color image: 3 3/8 x 4 5/8 1/4 " ribbon orange pearls

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

Celebration Cards

Hello Everyone, It has been a few days that I have posted any cards. I made a few cards for the second half of the Hero Arts challenge about a week ago and this is the first chance that I have had to post my cards. At the moment I am in Ohio visiting family and enjoying every minute of it. It is a joy to spend time with my grandchildren, too. It is spring break for my oldest grandson so I am able to spend more time with him, too. Here are some of the cards that I am entering in the HA Flickr group challenge. I seem to use the Birthday Messages (CL139) sentiment often, it always seems to go perfect with most of the cards that I make. The other stamp sets that I used are: Flowing Flowers CG146 and LusciousFrames CL509. To make the panel look like windows, I scored the paper horizontal and verticle and then stamped over the scored lines with a navy blue momento ink.

Birthday Wishes

The stamps that I used for A Day To Celebrate card are Hero Arts: With Sympathy CL476 and Birthday Messages CL139. The background paper is from Websters Pages; Petite Papers.

A Day To Celebrate

The Hero Arts stamps used for Butterfly and Grass are: Feathered Grass CL282, Friend Definition CG125, Antique Engraving CL383, and Envelope Pattern S5507. This card is an inspiration from Shari Carroll. To see her video, please check here. The distress inks used are: Tea Dye, Dried Marigold, Crushed Olive, and Faded Jeans.

Butterfly and Grass

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

Two Birthday Cakes

Hello everyone,

I am taking a break from my usual posting. My two grandsons, Michael 7 years old and Alex 1 year old are celebrating their bitrthdays this weekend. Last evening I watched my daughter decorate a birthday cake for her son and a birthday cake for her nephew. Alex is getting an elephant cake and Michael is getting the monster cake. I think that these two cakes turned out very well. My daughter usually doesn't decorate cakes and she says that it is not her forte and that she would not decorate cakes on a full time basis. But, I think that she did an excellant job on these birthday cakes.

One-eyed purple people eater

Elephant Cake

My daughter made these cakes that are pictured above. The one-eyed purple people eater cake was inspired from Hero Arts Monster Fun stamp set CL391. She stamped the image of the one eyed monster on scratch paper and then enlarged it and used the enlargement as a pattern. She traced the pattern on the frosted cake and filled in the area with different color frosting. The elephant cake was baked in a Wilton cake pan and various tips were used to decorate the different parts of the elephand. These cakes turned out very well and they are too cute to cut into.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful week end.

Frogs and Flowers

Hello Everyone,

I have been busy making cards this week, but I havc not had the chance to post them. I made a total of 8 cards including these two cards. I have also been busy trying to get ready to go to Ohio to spend a week with my two girls and grandkids. I have a grandson that is turning 7 and a grandson who is turning 1. The 7 year old celebrates his birthday on March 30th and the 1 year old on March 31.

My daughters and three grandchildren will be meeting me at the Columbus Airport and from there we are going to Archiver’s and then to lunch. I am anxious to spend time with my family to have some quality time scrapbooking and making cards and just enjoying each others company.

Frog Card

The green background was stamped clear Versa Mark Ink using the Scattered Flowers stamp. I stamped the frog, grass, flowers and sentiment on white cardstock that measures 2 5/8 x 3 ¼-inches. I distressed the edge of the paper and then attached it to the front of the card with dimensional adhesive. The flowers are from another stamp company but I can’t remember what company. I drew the stem and stamped the leaves. The leaves are from Hero Arts Birds and Branches set CL219. Stamps used are Hero Arts: Sending Happy thoughts CL305, birthday Messages CL139, Be Happy CL377, and Scattered Flowers S5129.

Flower Pot Card

I stamped the wavy leaf pattern in versa mark ink and embossed with white embossing powder. Then I distressed the paper with scattered straw ink. The next thing that I did was stamp the flower and I stamped the dictionary type over the flower. For the top of the flower pot, I distressed it with wild honey ink and stamped the sentiment with rusty hinge. I wanted the ribbon to match the card, so I dyed it with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. Stamps used are Hero Arts: Wavy Leaf Pattern S5050, Earth flowers CL428, Truly Appreciated CL380, and Diagonal Dictionary Type S5497. Distress inks used are: Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge, and Tea Dye.

Both of these cards were fun to make and I lost all track of time and by the time I was finished I had ink all over my hands. It feels good to get ink on my hands; it makes me feel like I accomplished something.

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

Gift Box and Card

Hello Everyone,

I have been busy this week making more cards, but have not had the chance to post them to my blog. This week end the weather here was gorgeous and once again I had a hard time staying inside. Here are a few of the projects that I have been working on.

Gift Box (top)

I was inspired by Sally's gift box that was on the Hero Arts Blog last week. Instead of making a square box, I made a box that would fit the 4.25" x 5.5" cards and envelopes. Because my gift box is a rectangle, I had to refigure the dimensions. I took my Hero Arts envelope template and traced around the lines and then added two inches for the sides of the box lid and then rounded the edges. Once I had the lid cut, I used the stamp layering technique to decorate the top. For the corners, I cut out two scallop circles out of textured white cardstock and cut them in half and secured them to the corners.

Gift Box (side view)

The stamps used for this project are Hero Arts: Wild Flower Garden CG170, Antique Background CG120, and Flourish Background CG119.

Mini Bird Collage

I stamped the base card (5.5" x 8.5" folded in half) with the antique flower in spun sugar distress ink using the Antique flower stamp set. The border on the top of the card was distress and stamped with Victorian velvet and with the dotted flowers stamp . The sentiment was also stamped with Victorian velvet. I used the stamp layering technique for the scallop panel, but did not use any water coloring. The stamps used are Hero Arts: Antique Flower S5264, Peacock AR178, Earth Flowers CL428, Old Letter Writing S4878, Dotted Flowers S5213, and Everyday Sayings CL342. The distress inks are: Tattered Rose, Broken China, Victorian Velvet, and Spun Sugar.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Music and Flowers

Hello Everyone,

This is a short post today. I haven’t had very much time to do much this week, but I did manage to get two cards finished.

Birthday Garden

This card was very quick and simple and I enjoyed making this. I wanted a little change of pace, so I decided to pick a stamp that was easy to color. I colored these flowers with the following Copic markers: Pink, buttercup Yellow Y21, and Willow G24. I colored the ribbon to match the flowers with RV11 Pink. Stamps used are Hero Arts: Good thoughts CL443 and Sending Smiles CL490.

Happy Birthday Rose

I made this card for a friend. She plays the piano at the church where I attend and she is an outstanding pianist. I wanted to show her that she is appreciated and loved. I hope that she has a great birthday. I thought that roses and sheet music would go well together. The stamps that were used are: Hero Arts: Birthday Messages CL139, Two Birds (3 images) CG152, Flourish Background CG119, and Music Background CG222. The distress inks that I used are: Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Tea Dye, and Aged Mahogany.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

A Cupcake and flowers

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful week end. My weekend was great, we had gorgeous weather where I am from and I could not stay inside. So, I did not get many cards made. These cards were made on Friday and this is the first chance that I have had to post them.

Birthday Cupcake

This card was an inspiration from Kristina Werner's Finally Friday video that she did over at Two Peas in a bucket last Friday 3/11/11). I am submitting this in the Hero Arts Flickr challenge, their 50grand challenge, and over at Two Peas. Stamps used are Hero Arts: Cupcakes CL158, Daisy Outline Pattern S5472, Dots & Flowers S5213, birthday Messages CL139. This card was inspired by Kristina Werner from her Finally Friday's series.

Blooming Wildflowers

I got the idea for this card from Splitcoast Stampers. I stamped the image with Hero Arts Grass Green chalk in and then glued paper flowers on top of the stamped flowers. When the glue was dry, I put the whole image inside the Tiny Mosaic embossing folder and ran it through my Cuttlebug. I am not sure that I like the results of this card. If I made this card again, I would not stamp the card base, I would leave it white and just stamp the sentiment under the image. Stamps used are Hero Arts: Blooming Meadow CG171, Envelope Pattern, and Birthday Messages CL139 and envelope pattern S5507.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

More Inspirational Cards

This week has been a fun and inspiring one for me. I made a total of 10 cards and that is over my average of 4 or 5 cards. Being inspired by someone really helps me to get my mojo going. These three cards are the last of my six inspirational cards and I plan on entering them in the Hero Arts challenge.

Bird Garden Birthday

I used my Hero Arts envelope template to create the panel on this card. Sheri Carroll showed a video on the Hero Arts blog last week showing how she used this template to create a border for the card she was making. I was inspired to use my envelope template to make the panel on my card. The Stamps used are Hero Arts: Birthday Sayings CL340, Bird Garden H5396, and Scattered Dots CG267.

Birthday Birds and Balloons

I stamped the images on kraft cardstock and then stamped the birds and balloons on another piece of kraft paper and colored them with Copic markers. The images were adhered to the stamped images on the card. This was a simple card and I had fun stamping and putting this card together. This card was an inspiration from Tami Mayberry. To see her card, please check here. The Stamps used are Hero Arts: Balloon C4982, Decorative Bird IV -- B4752, Decorative Bird I -- B4749, and Birthday Messages CL139.

Bird Collage

I distressed the paper with antique linen and stamped the music background over the distressed paper using the antique linen distress ink. The leaf, flourish, flower and sentiment were stamped in frayed burlap. The Birds were embossed with black distress ink and colored with tumbled glass. The stamps used are Hero Arts: Music background CG222, Water Color Petals CL431, Earth Flowers CL428,Thoughtful Messages CL184, and Two Birds (3 images) CG152.

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

Lots of Inspiration

Hello Everyone,

I have made 6 cards in the past three days and did not have the chance to post them. I didn't want to post all 6 cards because I felt that was too much to do at one time, so I will post the other three tomorrow night. These cards are inspirations from two people.

The Hydrangea Card and Single Flower Card are inspirations from Sue McRae known as Stampin Sue on the Hero Arts Flickr group. Sue made a video about alcohol inks and demonstrated how to use them. To see her video, please check here. Thanks Sue for making this video and inspiring me to experiment with these inks. It was fun and I enjoyed making new colors and getting my fingers inky.

Hydrangea Card

The hydrangea was stamped and white embossed onto a piece of vellum that I colored with alcohol inks: stream, denim, and eggplant. Then I put my image on a white panel and white embossed the sentiment and added a ribbon. This was lots of fun and the time went by quickly while I was playing. The Stamps used are Hero Arts: Birthday Messages CL139 and Hydrangea K5376.

Single flower Card

The layered flower is stamped on vellum that I colored with alcohol inks, but I can't remember the colors that I used. I distressed the background paper with shabby shutters, tumble glass, walnut stain, and peeled paint. Then I stamped the old letter writing stamp onto the paper and then the envelope pattern stamp was stamped on top of that. I hope that this counts as being a layered card. The Stamps used are Hero Arts: Layered Flowers CL496, Old Letter Writing S4878, and Envelope Pattern S5507.

Birthday Wishes

This card was a card that I CASED from a card that Elizabeth Allen made (To see her card, please check here). I used her same design, but changed it a little. I used the same basic design, but used Hero Arts stamps and changed the top panel and added leaves to my flower. I sprayed the flowers with perfect pearls to give them a shine, but the flowers look a little splotchy. I don't know if I shook the perfect pearls with the water enough or if I didn't spray enough of the mixture on the flowers or if they are suppose to look that way. The stamps used here are Hero Arts: Birthday Messages CL139, Layered Flowers CL496, Envelope Pattern S5507, and Designer Woodgrain S5208.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Layered Flowers

Hello Everyone,

This is a short post this morning. For these two cards, I used the layered background technique. I wasn’t happy with how these cards turned out, but I will keep on trying to get the results that I want. To see this technique please go here.

Happy Day

The stamps used for my "happy Day" card are Hero Arts: Thoughtful Messages CL184, Garden Bouquet CG172, Envelope Pattern S5507, and Silhouette Grass S5316. I stamped the sentiment on vellum and attached it over the ribbon with dimensional adhesive. But since the vellum is so thin, I glued 3 blank shapes of vellum to the back of the sentiment. (That gave the punched out sentiment some sturdiness.) The Silhouette grass image was embossed with white embossing powder and then I inked up my clear block with bundled sage distress ink and sprayed it with water and stamped over the embossed image. The Envelope pattern stamp was stamped over this image (can't remember the ink color that I used). The last thing that I did was walk and twist the garden bouquet stamp through 4 different ink colors and stamped this image over everything.

Exotic Flowers

The stamps used for the "Exotic flowers" card are Hero Arts: Musical Clef CG279 (embossed with white embossing powder), Antique Background CG120, and Exotic Bloom H5424. The inks that I used are: Scattered Straw for the background color. The other inks are: aged mahogany, broken china, walnut stain, and rusty hinge (colors used for the exotic bloom image). Hero Arts Soft Brown shadow ink was used to stamp the antique background. I wanted the flowers to have a more vibrant red, but they turned out to be more of a brown color.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Flower Cards

Hello Everyone,

This card was inspired by a card that I saw in Paper Creations Magazine (spring 2011 issue, page 77). I am not sure who the author is of this inspiration. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Large Blossom CG271 and Birthday messages CL139. I stamped the Large Blossom stamp unto red paper with white polka dots using white embossing powder. I like the effect of the embossing powder and that there was not any coloring involved. This was a simple card to make once I figured out the colors of the paper and my design that I wanted to use. I am entering this in the current Hero Arts Challenge.

I made this card (below) for the 50grand challenge sponsored by Hero Arts over on the Hero Arts Flickr group. The stamps used are Hero Arts: Bird Garden H5396, Wallpaper Flowers K5185, and Floral Scallop K5358. The white paper was embossed with the dotted swiss cuttlebug embossing folder, but the embossing doesn't show up very well on camera. This card looks better in real life.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Megan's Cards

Hello Everyone,

I haven’t been around much this week. This post is a little different today because I want to feature my granddaughter, Megan. She is 4 years old and loves to scrapbook and make cards with her mother (my daughter, Pam). Pam called me yesterday (she lives in Ohio) to ask me a question and every time that we call each other, we always have a conversation regarding scrapbooking and card making and all the supplies that go along with this awesome craft. While we were talking about this, Pam told me about a card class that she and her sister and Megan went to a few months back. To make a long story short, Megan made two cards by herself with very little help from the adults that were at this class. The only help that she had was from her mother reading the directions to her.

Here are the cards that she made:

Megan's Thank You Card

Megan's Cupcake Card

Megan looks so pleased with her card

Pam sent me these pictures via email while we were talking on the phone and when I looked at them (while talking to Pam) I got very excited and kept saying (in a very loud, and excited voice) to Pam, “Wow, Wow, these cards are wonderful”. Needless to say, I think that Pam went temporally deaf and I hope that her hearing has returned.

I wanted to share my excitement about my granddaughter and I am looking forward to making cards with her when I go to Ohio at the end of the month.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.