GrammySue's Creations

CAS-ual Fridays CFC#37

2012-02-01T19:44:00.017-06:00

This week at CAS-ual Fridays the challenge is to make a card according to this sketch. I have been visiting with my daughter for the past two weeks and this is the first chance that I have had to make any cards to submitt for challenges. Making this card was the perfect opportunity for this challenge. The flower image is from Hero Arts Merci Bouquet CL580 stamp set. I made the background using a EK Success Scallop edge fan punch. I punched out the scallops on thin scratch paper and used it as a stencil. I used Stampin Up Rose Romance ink for the inking on the background. This is all that I have for tonight. Hope that everyone has a great week. Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments.

Casual Fridays CFC36

2012-01-25T10:22:00.011-06:00

The project this week at CAS-ual Fridays is to create a clean and simple project that is only black and white. (No other colors are allowed not even a speck.)

The stamps that I used are Stampin Up: The background stamp is called "Dots and Daisies" and the sentiment is from "All Natural".
I masked off 1 inch from the bottom of the card and stamped the top using Brillance Black ink. Then I tied a black and white ribbon on the bottom and stamped my sentiment. This card was assembled in a fairly short time. Trying to decide on the paper and stamps was the hard part for me.

Thank you for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments.

Amour

2012-01-19T19:16:00.015-06:00

Yesterday (Day 8), on the CAS online card class, Jennifer Mcguire showed us how to do the "Mirrior Image" technique. Before I stamped my birds on my paper, I practiced the technique on scrap paper. (I stamped on the plastic for a very long time before I was satisfied with the results.) I tried stamping the image on the back of a clear stamp, but I didn't get a very good impression. Then I tried using a piece of vellum, but I still didn't get a good impression. So, I used a clear sheet of plastic packaging and that worked very well. After I traced over the image with a black copic marker my image looked like it had been stamped in the normal way. This is a cool technique and I had fun experimenting to get the results that I wanted.The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Hugs & Kisses Birds CG155 and Paris CL325. This is all for now and will be back again soon. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Just Saying Hello

2012-01-18T15:41:00.013-06:00

I made this card for the CAS online card class. This is an inspiration from Kristina Werner's card from Day 6 of the class. I liked her design but did not want to use the same flower as she did. I to use a different flower and after searching long and hard for a flower for the center, I decided to use a medallion. I tied embroidery floss around the card and to me the floss looks like the stem of the flower and the bow the leaves.
The cut out scallop circle was cut out with a spellbinders nestabilities scallop circle die. I stamped the Antique Background CG120 on the front with tea dye distress ink and drew faux stitching lines around the scallop edge. This was very easy to make and did not take a long time. I am liking the CAS cards more and more and this style seems to be growing on me.

Thanks for stopping by and I always appreciate the comments.

Sending Love Your Way

2012-01-14T12:46:00.012-06:00

I have been so busy since the Holidays have come to an end that I haven't had much time to sit down and make any cards. I made this card a few days before the first half of the Hero Arts Challenge ended and this is the only time that I have had to post this card. Oh well, better late than never.

I stamped the flower pattern stamp (Hero Arts CG330) onto a light lavender cardstock and then embossed with white embossing powder. After the image cooled, I colored all of the blank space with a versa mark pen. The clear pen darkened the paper and I like the effect of simply coloring with a clear pen. The sentiment (Tree Bird Hero Arts CL182) was embossed with a very light lavender embossing embossing powder. (It looks white in the picture.) The flower was made out of pink tissue paper. I punched out 15 scalloped circles and punched a small hole in the middle of all the circles and placed a small pink brad to hold all the layers together. The next thing that I did was scrunch the paper around the brad and fluffed out the paper and attached it to the card and added pink pearls. I am entering this card in the Hero Arts January2012B challenge. I hope that I am able to make a few more cards.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

CAS-ual Fridays CFC Challenge 33

2012-01-02T18:51:00.012-06:00

Hello Everyone,
Here is my card for the CAS-ual Fridays (CFC 33) challenge. I found this challenge to be fun and I enjoyed every minute creating this card. I love the rustic look of Kraft paper and twine together.

I stamped the flowers with Penney Black stamp set Flowers & Wishes 30-047 and colored the images with Copic markers (YG67-Moss, E04-Lipstick Natural, and Reddish Brash-E17)and one Bic Marker (Blue Skies Blue). The sentiment comes from Penney Black "To You" stamp set 30-067. The card base is 4 1/4" x 11" and opens from the side and the Kraft panel is 4" x 5 1/4". Thank you for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

These are two cards for the Hero Arts Sketch Challenge

2011-12-18T18:48:00.018-06:00

I made this first card for my husband's birthday that he celebrated today. His gift to me was going to his restaurant of his choice and I would buy him dinner. So, we had a early dinner and he choose to go to Longhorn Steak House.
The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Wild flower Garden CG170 and Birthday Sayings CL340. I followed the third sketch for the Hero Arts current challenge for this month.This second card was made for my sister and her husband. They recently bought a new house and I thought that this would be perfect for the first sketch in the challenge.

The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Whimsical House CL484. For the sentiment I used the font MV Boli. This is a short post tonight as I have so many things that must be done before my kids get here for the holidays. I haven't posted much lately but I am grateful that I had this small amount of time to do so this evening,

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that every one has a very Merry Christmas and Happy New year. God bless.

Gift Cards and Envelopes

2011-12-10T14:52:00.037-06:00

It has been a very long time since I posted anything on my blog. I have been very busy with trying to get everything ready for Christmas and I also needed a break. The break has done me good and I feel like making cards once more.
This year we are staying home and our kids and their families are coming home this year. It makes me very happy that we will be celebrating Christmas at our house and with our family.
One part of the challenge on the Hero Arts blog is making card sets. This set of cards will be entered in the Hero Arts current monthly challenge (December2011A) This is the perfect time for this because this set of cards will be going to my friend for Christmas.
I stamped each white circle with one sentiment per card and embossed with white embossing powder. Then I took distress ink and distress the circle and then stamped over each individual circle with the stamp. (See list of stamps that were used.) The card base for each card measures 4 1/4" x 8 1/2". The card measures 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 when folded in half.
The circle was cut from a Quickutz Nesting Circle (CC SHAPE 14024) and the outer circle is from Nestabilities Lacey Circles.

The envelopes are made from a 4 3/4 x 6 1/2" envelope. I sealed the envelope and turned it on its side and cut off 1 1/2" of the envelope. I cut out a 2" x 3 3/4" piece of pattern paper and scored it a half inch along the short side and then attached it to the back of the envelope that measures 4 1/2" x 4 3/4".

These cards were lots of fun and very simple to make. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful weekend.

The stamps that I used are Hero Arts:
Music Background CG222
Garden Bouquet CG172
Dots & Flowers S5213
Flower Bird Garden CG270
Inspiring Messages LL240

CAS-ual Fridays CFC26

2011-10-31T15:56:00.026-05:00

This weeks challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays is to create a clean and simple card using the sketch that is pictured below.
This is my take on the sketch. I took the Dearly embossing folder (from the Dearly & Frost set Sizzix 657060) and inked up the non-raised portion of the folder with soft pool ink and ran it through my cuttlebug machine. Then I stamped the sentiment onto a tag with clear versa mark ink and embossed with white embossing powder. After the panel was assembled, I attached it to a 4.25" x 5.5" white card base. The sentiment comes from Stampin Up Merry & Type 122550.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Penny Black Sketch Challenge

2011-10-30T19:23:00.019-05:00

This weeks challenge at Penny Black is to create a card using this sketch below. I tried to get this card made all week, but didn't get around to making my card until this afternoon. This is my take on the sketch. The flower panel comes from Sizzix's Dots & Flowers Set (655838). I inked the embossing folder with Hero Arts soft green and ran it through my cuttlebug machine. Then I punched out four panels from Stampin Up's postage stamp punch and stamped the images onto each stamp punch panel. To finish off my card, I added a sentiment banner and placed the ribbon between the small square panels.

The stamps used are Penny Black: Flowers & Wishes 30-047, to you 30-067 (leaves), and Flower Gallery 30-031. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that everybody's weekend was great.

Christmas Cards & Ornaments

2011-10-27T15:26:00.041-05:00

These are the last of my cards for this months Hero Arts Challenge. I had these cards and ornaments finished for a few days and totally forgot to get these posted. This first card is an inspiration from Kristina Werner. To see her card, please go here. I stamped the sentiment (Happy Wishes CL255 [discontinued]) onto the card base with clear versa mark ink and then embossed with white embossing powder. Then I stamped the Music Background stamp CG222 with clear versa mark ink. I added a border and then some red ribbon and trees for the finishing touches. For this card I followed the second sketch in the challenge but changed it up a little. Stamps used are: Flourish Pine S5247, Holiday Sayings CL343 (sentiment), and Joy Snowman 657781.

For these last two projects I decided that I wanted to make a few Christmas Ornaments and this is what I came up with. This ornament has a front and back side. The back of the ornament has the sentiment "Wishing You a season filled with all special things" comes from Hero Arts Stamp Wish Messages C2877 (Circa 2003). To make the frame of the ornament I cut white cardstock with the Lacy Squares Nestabilities Die and then Cut a smaller square die to create the cutout center. I cut a 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch square and stamped the Ornament in clear versa mark ink and embossed it with silver embossing powder. then I mased the ornament and distressed the paper with thumbled glass distress ink and then stamped the flourish background CG119 over the masked image. Then I colored the ornament with sky blue memento marker and went over the colored image and the flourish with Sakura star dust pen. The back of the ornament was done the same way as the front. The frame sits on top of the image with dimensional adhesive and front & back are adhered together.

This Ornament is done the same way as the ornament above; only thing different is I used different stamps and a different die. The penguin is from Hero Arts; cap and scarf penguin D5081. The stamped used on the die is Four Leaf Grid S5141. The red circle around the penguin was colored with Rhubarb Stalk memento marker and then I went over it with a clear Sakura star dust pen to give it some sparkle. The front and back of this ornament are the same.

It was fun making these cards and ornaments. The ornaments will be given away to one lucky person who attends my card class that I am teaching tonight.

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

CAS-ual Fridays CFC #25

2011-10-25T17:12:00.025-05:00

I haven't posted a card for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge for over a month. I can't believe that it has been that long. This weeks challenge is to "use any medium (markers, pencils, watercolors, blending pens, etc) to add color to your stamped image". Here is my card that I made for the challenge. I stamped the Decorative Tree Stamp (Hero Arts) K5440 unto a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" white card base and then colored the leaves and ornaments with Faber-Castell PITT artist pens. Then I went over the image with a clear spica pen (made by Copic) to give the tree some glittery shine. The shine is hard to see on camera, but in real life it sparkles. The sentiment is stamped with Hero Arts Traditional Messages LP178. I am also entering this card in the Hero Arts Challenge for this month. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

90 Minute Scramble

2011-10-24T20:11:00.016-05:00

Today I participated in a 90-Minute Scramble that was hosted by MyPink Mexico(call me Mary Dawn) (Mary is part of the Hero Arts Flickr group). The challenge was to create a birthday card using Hero Arts stamps and one of this month's sketches. Or we could create a Christmas card using pink--a little or a lot. This is the card that I came up with for the challenge. This was the fastest card that I ever made. I could not believe that it only took me about an hour to make this card. I guess that I need to challenge myself more often. Being part of this challenge showed me that I can make a card within 90 minutes. It was fun making this card.
I cut my paper to 4" x 5 1/4" and covered the paper with forest moss distress ink. Then I sprayed water onto the Flourish Pine stamp S5247 and stamped the image onto the colored paper. To speed up drying, I applied an heat gun to the paper. For the ornament (magic of christmas CL462), I stamped onto white cardstock and embossed with white embossing power and fired brick distress ink was applied to the ornament and then the ornament was cut out. The sentiment (Very Merry Christmas CL543) was embossed and for the finishing touches I added two clear gems. I was very pleased in how my card turned out.

Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments.

Christmas Tags

2011-10-23T13:25:00.029-05:00

This week I have been busy trying to make Christmas tags.
I stamped the Christmas Pride stamp 40-075 onto my tag with tuxedo black memento ink and then masked it so that I could distress the background with wild Honey ink and then while the mask was still in place, I stamped over it with the Paisly Outline stamp 40-048. Once all that was finished, I colored the flower with a red copic marker and added a few pearls to finish off the tag.

This next tag was stamped with the Adornment 3996J Penny Black Stamp and Let It Snow stamp 30-086. Peeled paint and fired brick distress stains were used for my ink. After, inking the images, I distressed the background with wild honey distress ink. The sentiment was stamped with tuxedo black memento ink. This tag was an inspiration from Jill Foster. To see her tags please go here.

This third tag was stamped with the Jolly Friends stamp set 30-058. First I stamped the stocking onto the tag and then stamped it again onto white cardstock and then colored in with copic markers. When the coloring was complete, I cut out the image and attached it to the tag using dimensional adhesive. The sentiment comes from in a pear tree 30-035 stamp set.

This last tag was simple to make. I stamped the Christmas Note image 4097J onto a cut tag with tuxedo black memento ink and colored the image with copic markers. Then I used fired brick distress ink to ink around the edges of the tag. The sentiment comes from the in a pear tree penny black stamp set 30-035.

The Penny Black blog has a card challenge every week. I had time, so I am entering these tags into the challenge. Here are the directions to enter the challenge:

CARD CHALLENGE Create a *new* Penny Black stamped gift tag and load it into their Gallery by Midnight Sunday night, PST. Be sure to tag your entry with “pennyblackgifttag“. They will choose a random winner to receive a Penny Black prize package. The winner will be announced on Tuesday.
You’ll love all the gift tags we have lined up this week. We hope your week at the Penny Black Blog inspires you to join our Gallery if you haven’t already, and upload YOUR Penny Black artwork!

I am entering these tags into this challenge. Thanks for dropping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful day!!

Christmas Planner

2011-10-17T18:42:00.079-05:00

I will be teaching a card class next week at my church and I wanted something that I could ramdomly give away to one person. I thought that a Christmas Planner was the perfect give away. This is the front of the planner. The main image panel is 5" x 8.5" and it has 4 pages inside that have pockets. For this first part of my project, I stamp the Starry Sky S5448 stamp onto white cardstock with silver ink and embossed with silver embossing powder. Then I distressed the panel with broken china and chipped sapphire. The trees were stamped with the Merry Christmas trees stamp set CL459 unto white paper and embossed with white embossing powder. Then I colored them with bundle sage distress ink and forest moss distress ink. Then I cut them out and mounted them with dimensional adhesive. The deer is called Young Deer D5234 and colored with copic markers. The snow was embossed with swiss dots embossing folder and I used light blue stickles on the edges of the torn paper.

Planner Closed

This is page one and two of the inside of the planner. The pockets measure 4.5" x 5" and there is a total of 4 pockets (receipts, cards sent, events and parties, gifts) On page one, I stamped the Hanging Christmas Ornaments stamp CG221 onto white cardstock (twice) with white ink and embossed with white embossing powder. Then I distressed it with broken china distress ink. On the second stamped image, I colored each orniment with individual distress inks and then cut each orniment out and paper pieced them to the panel. For page two I stamped the raindrop background stamp S5101 onto white cardstock with white ink and embossed with white embossing powder. The background of this panel was colored with a baby blue chalk ink. The stamp Joy F5246 was stamped onto white cardstock with Soft Pool ink and cut with a Spellbinder die.
pages 1 and 2

For page three I stamped the four framed snowflakes CG209 onto white cardstock with baby blue chalk ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. The word winter (Create Your Own CL368) was stamped onto white vellum and embossed with white embossing powder and then I glued it to the panels with glossy accents. On page four, I distressed the paper with bundled sage and forest moss distressing ink and then stamped the Classic Holly stamp CG229 using forest moss ink. I added red nailheads for the berries. The sentiment under the Holly comes from Holiday Sayings CL343.
Pages 3 and 4

Another view of all 4 panels open (inside--pages 1-4)

Planner opened flat

The background paper that is behind each panel is from Stampin Up. The back of the planner is also covered with Stampin Up Paper. To hold the planner closed, I attached ribbon and tied it into a bow. The total measurements (when opened flat) is 8.5" x 20". Each panel is scored at 4.5" and folds up accordion style.

This was a fun project to make and I the time went by very fast while I worked on this. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that everyone has a wonderful week.

All stamps are from Hero Arts.

Snowmen and Snowflakes

2011-10-14T16:05:00.016-05:00

This card was meant to be uploaded to the Hero Arts Flickr group october2011A challenge, but I didn't get it finished because of sleepiness. I stamped and colored the snowmen and snowflakes last evening and after I finished, I couldn't decide on what paper to use. So, I put it aside and left it until this morning. Leaving it for awhile gave my brain a chance to think about the design.I used the last sketch to make this card, but changed it little and also made it a Christmas theme. This card will be entered into the second half of the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge. To learn about this challenge, please go here. I guess that it is better late than never. Anyway, this was fun making and I like the way it turned out.
The stamps are Hero Arts: Framed Flakes B4263, Framed Frosty B4264, and the sentiment was stamped and embossed with the Holiday Wishes Stamp set CL255. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Butterflies

2011-10-13T19:09:00.015-05:00

For today's card that I am entering into the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge, I decided to make a Thank You card instead of a Christmas card. In order for this card to qualify, I used the the Merry Christmas sketch that is pictured here. I distressed the background paper with Age Mahogany distress ink (by Ranger) and then stamped the butterflies with the same ink. I wasn't planning on doing a monochromatic card, it just turned out that way. The butterflies are from Hero Arts/Sizzix stamp set Playful Flowers and Butterflies 657778. The frames are from The Frames with Sprigs set 657775. The sentiment comes from Mix and Match CL266. This was a fun card to make and I really like the idea of dies matching the stamps. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that everyone has a great weekend.

An Ivy Christmas

2011-10-11T08:25:00.010-05:00

Here is a quick card that I made for the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge (October2011A). One part of the challenge is to use non-holiday stamps to create cards. For this card, I chose the Silhouette Ivy K5313 by Hero Arts. I inked the image with white ink and then embossed with white embossing powder. Then I used worn lipstick and fired brick distress ink to color the paper. Then I stamped over the image with fired brick ink using the Flourish Pine stamp by Hero Arts S5247. The sentiment is a Hero Art stamp and came from the Holiday Sayings CL343 stamp set. The green panel was embossed using a flourish embossing folder by provocraft. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Christmas Cards

2011-10-09T12:51:00.030-05:00

I've started making my Christmas cards this week. I entering them into the Hero Arts Flickr Group card challenge.
For this first card, I stamped the image onto white cardstock with versa color cyan (VS-19) ink and clear embossed it. I love how the light blue gives off a sense of peace. On the bottom of the image I applied 3 layers of holographic embossing powder to give the appearance of snow around the trees. the snow is hard to see on camera. The stamps used are Hero Arts: Starry Night CG224 and Holiday Sayings CL343. I used pearlescent paper for the cardbase. For this next card I stamped the snowflake with silver ink and embossed with silver embossing powder. The stampsed used are Hero Arts: Four snowflakes CG210, Holiday Sayings CL343, and Swirl Christmas CL469.

This card is an inspiration from Jennifer McGuire's canvas leaf thank you card that is featured in the Nov/Dec 2011 papercrafts Magazine, page 61. I took the three holiday messages stamp LL956 and used all three stamps as a background for my card. There are three stamps in this set and I alternated them onto the card base. I used the flower from the frames with sprigs stamp set from hero arts/sizzix 657775 and turned it into a christmas flower. I heat embossed the flower and the sentiment onto sticky back canvas with white embossing powder and once the canvas was cool, I went over the fabric with pine needles distress ink. I used Jennifer McGuires same design but changed the colors and the stamps. I enjoyed making this card and working with the canvas was easier than I thought it would be.

For this last card I embossed the Christmas trees with silver embossing powder and also inked the trees with silver ink. The sentiment was done the same way. The silver around the edges of the panel behind the trees was also embossed with silver powder and silver ink. the background embossing folder is by provo craft D'vine Swirls 37-1142. The stamps used are Hero Arts: Three Trees LP123 and Holiday Sayings CL343.

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

World Card Making Day October 1, 2011

2011-10-01T22:58:00.022-05:00

Today is World Card Making Day. It is the time of year when card makers from around the world sets aside some time on this day to make cards. I planned on spending the whole day devoted to making cards. But, a lot of cards did not get started due to other things happening. This is the only card that I made, but at least I made one and I enjoyed making this card. Actually, this card is an inspiration from Tami Hartley's card that was posted today over on Hero Arts. I CASED her card from todays posting over at Hero Arts. I used her same design but the only thing that I did different was to use different stamps and change the border slightly.

The stamps used are Hero Arts: Starry Sky S5448, Good Cheer Messages LL260 (circa 2008), and Holiday Sayings CL343.
Hope that everyone had a "Happy World Card Making Day".

Let it snow

2011-10-01T12:39:00.015-05:00

This winter card was not suppose to be a snowman. I originally planned to use a Penny Black hedgehog stamp, but the hedgehogs did not fit in with my design. I stamped the snow man with Memento tuxedo black ink by Tsukineko. I colored the arms, the scarf, and ear muffs with copic markers. The buttons are black gems. The snowman is by Penny Black "Warm and Cold" 3260H and the sentiment is also Penny Black "Let It Snow" 30-086. I love this snowman, he looks so happy that winter has arrived and that it is snowing. I am entering this into the "pennyblackwinter" challenge over on the Penny Black Flickr group. Thank you for stopping by and I always appreciate the comments.

September2011B

2011-09-29T06:30:00.052-05:00

I have had these 4 projects finished for about a week and I almost forgot to post them. I usually only make cards, but once in awhile I will do an occassional scrapbook layout. In this case, I did an 8 x8 page of my grandson Michael. He was 18 months in these pictures (He is now 7 years old; my how time flies by.) I used a few of the techniques from Inspiration Showcase Card Class. On the upper left hand corner, I embossed the paper with an embossing folder (used glossy paper) and then used Latte Chalk ink over the embossed area. The butterfly was stamped with Hero Arts Moments Background (E3019) stamp and I used Tea Dye distress ink. For the panel on the center right, I used the Hero Arts Fall Memories (E3375) stamp and stamped with white embossing ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. Then I distressed the panel with distress ink (can't remember the colors). For the bottom left hand panel, I stamped a piece of layering paper with the Happy Definition Stamp (CG269) with scattered straw distress ink and then heat set it. Then I stamped the Maple leaf (CG228) with Poppy Chalk ink and used perfect pearls over the leaf. It was fun making this layout and I came to the conclusion that I need to put together more scrapbook pages of my grandchildren.
For this first card, I stamped the leaves (HA Real Leaves CL457) onto water color paper and used distress ink. After I stamped the leaves, I lightly sprayed each leaf with water so that the color would run a bit. Then I heated the paper with a heat gun. This technique is called "Wicking". To see how this technique is done, please go here to see a video.

For this second card, I stamped the trees (HA Whimsical House CL484) onto pattern paper and paper pieced the trees and added a sentiment.

For this last card I stamped my trees (Whimisical House CL484) onto white cardstock and colored them with copic markers. After I finished coloring, I took the colorless blending pen and put dots onto the tree to give it dimension. The sentiment is from the HA Friends stamp set CL351.

I am entering these projects to the Hero Arts September2011B challenge.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that everyone has a great day.

CAS-ual Fridays -- CFC21

2011-09-28T15:06:00.016-05:00

This week at CAS-ual Fridays the challenge is to pick three shades of the same color and add the color brown to the combo. At first I tried purple and brown and did not like the colors together. I finished the card and left the card on my work table over night. When I returned to my work table the next morning, I decided that I did not like the colors or the card and decided to make a new card in different colors.

Here is the card that I decided to enter into the challenge. I took three different shades of yellow cardstock (Stampin Up) and stamped the flowers with Tsukineko Rich Cocoa ink (the lightest color doesn't show up very well on camera). I added brown ribbon down the middle of the center panel and added scalloped edges. The flowers are from Hero Arts. They are part of the new stamps and Die cut sets that Hero Arts and Sizix are making. The set is called: Playful Flowers and Butterflies 657778. I added glossy accents to the center of the flowers and also to the little dots on the outside of the flowers.

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

CAS-ual Friday's CFC #20

2011-09-21T07:48:00.020-05:00

This week at CAS-ual Friday's the challenge is to create a Clean And Simple Mini Card no larger than 4 x4. The final measurement of this card is 3.5" x 3.5" square card. I use a simple technique of dry embossing the front panel with the Sizzix Dots & Flowers embossing folder and then lightly sanded over the top of the dots until the white core of the paper appeared. Then I lightly colored the top of the dots with markers. I learned this technique from the Inspiration Showcase card class taught by Jennifer McGuire

I had lots of fun coloring the butterfly and the dots on the paper. I love making the mini cards because of their small size and that they are quick to make. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Sending Smiles CL490 (sentiment) and Three Artistic Butterflies LP215. I took the words from the sentiment "You Are Very Special To Me" and cut them apart so that I could use only a portion of that sentiment.

Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments.

The Penny Black Blog Challenge

2011-09-17T08:41:00.021-05:00

for this week is to make a card using the colors purple, Green, and cream.

I usually have a difficult time deciding how I want my cards to look and sometimes I go to my pagemap sketches to get an idea for my layout. (A lot of times I just can not visualize how my design will look.) Going to these sketches help me a lot; guess that I should use these sketches more often.

The stamp that I chose was perfect for this sketch. Most of the time when I begin a stamping project, I usually will stamp and color my image and then pick the paper and design. I do love it when I can make a card in under an hour. I guess if I used card sketches more often, it would not take me so long to make a card.
I spotlighted the 4th flower, but it is hard to see on camera. The image was colored with Prisma color pencils. I used yellow gems for the flower centers. The card sketch that I used came from here. The stamp set is Penny Black: Flowers & Wishes (30-047).

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

Inspiration Showcase Card Class

2011-09-15T08:57:00.010-05:00

I am still on day one of the Inspiration Showcase Card Class. I have gone through the lessons for the first three days, but I am behind in class. That is Okay, I am having fun learning about all the techniques that Jennifer McGuire is teaching. She is an awesome teacher and she makes some gorgeous cards. Thanks Jennifer for teaching this class.
The technique that I used for this card is called "Patterned Paper Trapped Embossed Resist". I stamped the Lotus background (CG349) stamp with clear embossing ink onto pattern paper. Then I heat embossed with clear embossing powder. When the embossing was cool, I rubbed Faded Jeans distress ink all over the embossed paper. Then I buffed the resisted ink with a dry cloth. Once the technique was finished, I assembled the pieces for my finished card. The sentiment (Smiles and Laughter F2361) on the tag was stamped on white cardstock in black ink and I used a decorative edge corner punch for the bottom of the tag. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful day.

These cards are for

2011-09-14T13:19:00.032-05:00

three different challenges. My owl card, below, is for the CAS-ual Friday challenge (CFC #19). this week's challenge is to make a card that is paper pieced. I choose three owls from the "Owl Together Now" stamp set from Stampin Up! The paper that I used were scraps that were left over from other projects. I made this next card for the Hero Arts challenge. For more details on their challenge, please go here. The stamps are Hero Arts: Thoughtful Messages CL184, Tall Pumpkin G5269, and Traditional Pumpkin F5270. The pumpkins were colored with Prisma color pencils and I lightly blended some antique linen distress ink around the pumpkins using a blending tool.

This last card is an inspiration from Jennifer McGuire. I am currently taking the Inspiration Showcase card class that she is teaching on-line. The technique that I used for this card is called Paint Resist. I inked up the flowing flowers stamp with a pearl paint dabber and then let the paint dry before going onto the next step. After the paint was completely dried, I inked up a blending too with Tatered Rose Distress ink and inked around the outside edges. Next I applied Antique Linen to the center of the image. Then I buffed the image with a damp cloth to remove the resisted ink.

Stamps used: Flowing Flowers CG146 (hero arts). The sentiment comes from C.C. Designs (Amy R stamps) stamp set "Get well Sentiments".

Thanks for dropping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful day!

It seems that lately

2011-09-09T18:30:00.039-05:00

things have been preventing me from making many cards. I keep telling myself that I will make the time to at least stamp a few images so that I can turn them into one or two cards. But, before I know it, the whole day has gone by and I feel as though I have not accomplished anything. It took me all week to make these three cards, but at least I did got them finished. And, now that I think about it, I did accomplish something positive. I will be entering these cards into this months challenge on the Hero Arts Flickr group. For the "time for thanks" card I used the following Hero Arts Stamps: Graph Background S5435, Big & Small flowers CL374, Blossom Art CL495, and So Thankful CL466.

The Hero Arts samps that I used for the Sunflowers card are: Three Sunflowers S5420 and Find Joy CL497. The Hero Arts stamps that were used for the butterfly card are: Silhouette Grass S5316, Antique Engraving CL383, Envelope Pattern S5507, and Everyday Sayings CL342.

Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful weekend.

CAS-ual Friday CFC18

2011-09-07T17:21:00.031-05:00

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to enter this weeks challenge. I was having a little bit of a difficult time trying to decide which book to use for my inspiration. This weeks challenge over at casual friday's involves making a card that is black, red, and white and the inspiration is to be a book. After thinking about it for a very long time, I decide to use the book "A Light in the Attic" by Shel Silverstein. My inspiration came from the "Eight Balloons" on page 58 of this book. Here is my card--the balloon image comes from Hero Arts Celebrate All CL292 and the sentiment is a Gina K (stamp TV) stamp set and comes from the Follow Your Dreams stamp set. This card was easy and fun to make once I figured out what I wanted to do. Here is the poem that inspired me from "A Light in the Attic" :

Eight Balloons

Eight balloons no one was buyin' all broke loose one afternoon. Eight balloons with strings a flyin', Free to do what they wanted to. One flew up to touch the sun--POP! One thought highways might be fun--POP! One took a nap in a cactus pile--POP! One stayed to play with a careless child--POP! One tried to taste some bacon fryin'--POP! One fell in love with a porcupine--POP! Onelooked close in a crocodile's mouth--POP! One sat around 'til his air ran out--WHOOSH! Eight balloons no one was buyin'-- They broke loose and away they flew, Free to float and free to fly And free to pop where they wanted to.

Author: Shel Silverstein, "A Light in the Attic", page 58

I didn't have room to stamp 8 balloons; that is why there is only 6, but the poem was a great inspiration. Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful week.

It's been a while

2011-08-31T09:01:00.025-05:00

since I've posted any cards. My Hubby and I returned home two weeks ago from our vacation and I am finally able to start making cards for a few card challenges. It was fun to visit different places but at the same time it was also nice to get home and return to a normal routine. anyway, on to my cards.

This card was inspired by Jill foster. I admire her work and love her style. I used the Hero Arts stamp "Antique Background" CG120. I stamped the image with Hero Arts Latte chalk ink. Then I colored the buttyerfly and dragonfly with Prisma color pencils and used distress inks around the images (Antique Linen, Brushed Corduroy, and Walnut Stain) The paper that I used is stampin Up paper that has be discontinued (can't remember the name of the colors) The edges were distressed with a distressing tool and distressing inks. When I was happy with the look of my image I mounted it on the base card. For this next card I used Hero Arts Froggy CL323 and Classic Messages CL414. I wanted the sentiment to say "Hoppy Birthday", but I didn't have a stamp that said "Hoppy", so I masked off the "A" on the stamp and replaced it with an "O". I thought that this would be a good card for a child's birthday. The die cut that I used for the sentiment is from Memory Box. The background was made with a few baby wipes and distress reinkers. I folded two baby wipes and then added drops of Broken China, Shabby Shutters, and Scattered Straw ink along the top of the folded wipes and ran the inked wipes horizontally and vertically along glossy cardstock. These two cards will be entered into the Hero Arts Flickr challange for this month. It was fun making these cards and I am looking forward to making more cards on a regular basis. Thanks for dropping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a great day and God bless.

CAS-ual Fridays (CFC17)

2011-08-30T13:09:00.019-05:00

I haven't participated in the CAS-ual Friday's challenges for over a month due to being away on vacation. This card is for CAS-ual Friday #17. The directions said to use stickers or rub ons. I didn't have any stickers so I used a playful butterfly rub on from Royal & Langnickel Brush Mfg, Inc and the title of the rub ons is: Butterfly Kids glitter #GAR1726G. The die that I used is called "frame" and is from Quickutz (C-0163-S-REV) I embossed the blue paper with the Swiss Dots (37-1604) embossing folder by Provo Craft. The embossing doesn't show up very well on camera. The hello sentiment comes from the Mini Marks Hildi collection from American Crafts.

This card was fun and easy to make. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Frosty the Snowman

2011-07-31T20:50:00.012-05:00

This will be my last posting of cards for a few weeks. My hubby and I are leaving for our yearly vacation on August 1st. We will be going to 5 different places; Philadelphia,PA to see the liberty bell and othe places in the area, New York City, Niagra Falls (on the Canadian side), Lake Ontario, and then on to Mt. Vernon, Ohio to spend a few days with our daughters and their families. I am most excited for our visit to NY City. I grew up on the East Coast and never visited New York City. We are looking forward to all the sites and adventures that this vacation will bring. Now, on to my card.

The stamps used are Penny Black "Warm and Cold" 3260H and the word "to" comes from the Air Mail stamp set 30-072. I stamped the snowman on white cardstock with memento tuxedo black ink. Then I stamped with clear ink and embossed with black embossing powder onto cardstock vellum. I colored the scarf and hat with two shades of blue and then attached the vellum to the snowman to give the appearance that he is in a globe. I went over the snowman and the snow with stickles "Icicle". (The stickles are hard to see on camera, but in real life the snowman has lots of shine.) For the globe base, I found a tag that had a globe and I resized the tag to fit the snowman in the circle. This was fun to make and I am pleased with the results. I have been making a lot of CAS cards lately and I am starting to like this easy way to make cards.
This is all for now. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a safe and wonderful week.

CAS-ual Fridays CFC #13

2011-07-30T14:06:00.015-05:00

This weeks challenge was fun and I enjoyed working on this card. This is my fourth challenge for CAS-ual Fridays and I look forward every week to see what the next new challenge will be. This week, the challenge at CAS-ual Fridays is to make a 4 x 9 inch card and to keep it clean and simple. I love the color red and I thought that the black ink on the white paper would be peerfect to work with. Here is my take on this weeks challenge

Materials:

Hero Arts Stamps: Delicate Blossoms CL449

Small Greetings LL662

Markers used:

Faber-Castell Pitt artist pens:

Deep Scarlet Red #219

Pale Geranium Lake #121

Light Green #171

Permanent Green Olive #167.

I Stamped the image and greeting with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored the popies with the Faber-Castell markers.

The Hydrangea

2011-07-27T18:00:00.028-05:00

I used Prisma color pencils to color this flower and used Copic blending solution to blend the colors. My inspiration for this card comes from "Coloring Techniques for Card Making", by Annie's Attic. (page 13) The artist of the card in this magazine is Asela Hopkins. I followed the design according to the directions; the only thing different that I did was to use paper that I had available and I used ribbon instead of rickrack and I omitted the pearls. I had lots of fun coloring the hydrangea and I plan on using this stamp more often.

This book shows you three of the most popular coloring techniques in card making: watercolors, colored pencils and alcohol-based ink markers. Plus, it contains lots of projects with step-by-step directions.

The stamps used are Hero Arts: Hydrangea K5376.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

CAS-ual Fridays CFC #12

2011-07-25T16:57:00.039-05:00

When I first read about this weeks Cas-ual Fridays challenge, my reaction was to pass on this challenge. You see, I usually do not get along very well with rub-ons and stickers. In the past, every time I used a rub-on I had a very difficult time getting the rub-on off of the sheet they were on and putting them onto my project. So, I eventually stopped buying them. But, I stopped and thought about the challenge and decided to give the rub-on another chance. It turned out that I enjoyed making this card for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge.

The flower rub-ons are by Royal & Langnickel Brush Mfg. (I think that this set of rub-ons are discontiued; I could not find them on the web site. The sentiment rub-ons are by American Crafts--Mini Mail Phse Multi 43370. The sentiment rub-ons are here.

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

Summer Card Camp 2011 Week 4

2011-07-21T13:22:00.021-05:00

Wow!! It is hard to believe that this is the last week of Summer Card Camp. I have enjoyed making my cards for card camp and playing with the different color combinations. One thing that I have found is: if you decide on a color combo to use before making your card, the design for the card comes together quickly.
This is one of the cards that I made for Summer Card class. I found this color combo very easy to work with and my design came together very quickly. I had lots of fun stamping, embossing, and assembling this card. The butterfly was colored in with glitter pens. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts; 3 images CG130, sending smiles CL490, and Artistic Borders CL322. The distress inks are: broken china, tumbled glass and shabby shutters.

I have also entered this card into the current Hero Arts Challenge. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful day.

CFC #11

2011-07-17T16:46:00.020-05:00

This is going to be a short post. We have been having an issue with the internet for the past few weeks and we never know (lately) when we will be bumped off the internet.

This is my card that I made for Cas-ual Fridays (July 15h). The Hero Arts Stamps that I used are: Frame Messages CG357, cupcakes CL158, and the sentiment comes from Birthday Messages CL139. I have alsoadded this to the Hero Arts current monthly challenge.

Thanks for dropping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that everyone has a great weekend.

Summer Card Camp 2011 Week 3

2011-07-14T06:55:00.027-05:00

This weeks card camp colors were a challenge for me. I usually do not use more than one neutral color at a time, but when I saw the cards that Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner made, I had to try working with those colors. The cards pictured here on this post are what I came up with for this week.

These cards have also been entered into the Hero Arts Monthly challenge. For details on how to enter, please go here.
I made this card for my friend who had knee surgery a few days ago. Hope that it cheers her up. The stamps used are Hero Arts: Earth Flowers CL428, Everyday Sayings CL342, the butterflies come the Friends Stamp Set CL351. This is also an inspiration from Jennifer McGuire's card from Tuesday's video at card camp.

This is another inspiration from Jennifer McGuire. I used her same design, but with different stamps. The stamps used are Hero Arts: Two Birds CG152, Dots & Flowers S5213, and Thinking of You CL140. The panel is a Labels 17 die by Spellbinders.

I turned the Three Sunflowers stamp S5420 into a silhouette image by going over it with Walnut Stain distress in using a blender pen. This also is an inspiration by Jennifer McGuire. The other stamps that I used are: Thinking of You CL140, Music Background CG222.

The background panel was stamped with the Large Butterfly stamp CG200. I inked the stamp with soft brown shadow ink and then I inked the edges with Memories Ruby ink and stamp on the paper. Each butterfly was individually stamped. The sentiment comes from The Best Gifts stamp set CG282.

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

Hero Arts Challenge and Summer Card Camp cards

2011-07-10T08:50:00.050-05:00

Here are two quick cards that I am entering into Summer Card Camp 2011 and also into the Hero Arts current challenge. This is the end of the second week of Summer Card Camp and the time once again has flown by fast.
The flower card was inspired by Kristina Werner. To see her card, please go here. Hero Arts Stamps: Flower Swirl Vine K5486, Thoughtful Messages CL184. On Friday's at Summer Card Class, we have 6 extra color combos to choose from and for this card I choose Comb #2.

For this card, I chose combo #1 for the summer card class. Hero Arts Stamps used: Stripes Pattern CG118, Cupcakes CL158, Birthday Sayings CL340, and Magical Background CG211. The background was stamped with the Magical background stamp, but it doesn't show up very well on camera.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day.

CAS-ual Friday's (Shaped Cards) -- CFC #10

2011-07-09T18:49:00.025-05:00

Last evening, I was looking at different blogs that I have saved to my favorites and I came across the casual Friday blog. I wanted to see what their challenge was for this week and when I saw that it was for shaped cards, I decided that I wanted to take part in this challenge. I have a Cricut machine and several cartridges; so, I began looking through the cartridges that have shapes which would be good for shaped cards. After spending about 45 minutes, I narrowed down my choice to the Walk in My Garden Cartridge and I picked the turtle for my shaped card.
I cut the pieces for the turtle out of Stampin Up Confetti White paper. The shadow portion of the turtle was inked with Bundled Sage and Old Paper distress ink. The body of the turtle was inked with Tea Dye distress ink and then after I applied heat to to dry the paper, I stamped over the body of the turtle with Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain S5208 with clear Versa Mark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. The turtles shell was inked with Bundled Sage and Forest Moss. Once the ink was dried, I stamped the Design Block Tree S5037 (Hero Arts) with Versa Mark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. After all the pieces were finished. I assembled the card. For the finishing touches, I tied a small tag (that I stamped the word Hi) around the turtle’s neck. The word Hi comes from the Happy Hello stamp set CL231 by Hero Arts.

This card was a lot of fun to make and now I am ready to make more shaped cards. To check out the CAS-ual Friday's blog, please go here. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Summer Card Camp week 2 (continued)

2011-07-07T19:33:00.033-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Here are a few more cards for Summer Card Camp. The only card that is not being entered for card camp is the candle card. I have been struggling to get these cards posted all day. I had my eyes checked this morning and my eyes were dilated and my eye sight was not in focus for most of the day, but I think that I am back to normal now.
The Hero Arts stamps that I used are: Designer Woodgrain S5208 and Raindrop Background S5101. The Inch worm comes from Inky Antics Caterpillar set.

Stamps used are Hero Arts: Diaginal Dictionary Type S5497, Silhouette Garden AR166, and Everyday Sayings CL342. This card was inspired by Jennifer McGuire.

Stamps used are Hero Arts: Stamp A Garden CL379 and the sentiment cames from the birthday messages stamp set CL139. Vicky Papaioannou was my inspiration for this card; to see her card, please go here.

Hero Arts Stamp sets used are: Big Candles CL287 and Stripes Pattern CG118. My inspiration for this card came from Jennifer McGuire. See her inspirational card here.

This was a quick post for this evening. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that everyones evening is a great one. God bless.

Summer Card Camp: Week Two, Day One

2011-07-04T14:35:00.017-05:00

Hello Everyone,

It is hard for me to believe that this is week two of Summer Card Camp. Time sure flies by fast when I am having fun making cards.
The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Solid Flowers Flourish LL228 and Mix and Match stamp set CL266. The flowers came from the Solid Flowers Flourish stamp set and the sentiment came from the Mix and Match stamp set.

This is my first card for the second week, Day one of the Summer Card Class. This card was very simple to make and I usually don't make many quick and simple cards. I had this particular design in my mind last evening and when I saw the colors for this week, I knew that this was the perfect design for the stamps that I had in mine. I am starting to like making the simple cards. I am also entering this card in the current Hero Arts Challenge.

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

Two Simple Cards

2011-07-03T13:41:00.032-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Here are two quick cards that I made for summer Card Camp 2011 and for Hero Arts current challenge.
Stamps used: Hero Arts Thanks So Much Owl K5283 and Life of the Party CL514. The original sentiment on this owl stamp says "thanks so much" and it is in brackets. I thought that this owl would make a good image for a party invite so, I substituted the words for "Birthday Party!" The words on the card comes from the Life of the Party CL514 Hero Arts stamp set. The circles on the background are colored green, but they don't show up very well on camera.
The stamps used for "birthday Party" are Hero Arts: Summer Memories E3374, Layered Flowers CL496, Thinking of You CL140 and Thoughtful Messages CL184. I don't have any sentiment stamps that expresses a memorable summer, so I made my own by combining three stamp sets. The "Enjoy Every moment" comes from the Thoughtful Messages stamp set, the word "of" comes from the Thinking of You stamp set CL140, and the word "Summer" comes from the Summer Memories stamp E3374. The flower comes from Layered flowers stamp set CL496. I embossed the flower onto water color paper using black embossing powder and then I colored the flower with Memento markers.
Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that everyone has had a wonderful weekend.

Congratulations card for summer card camp day 4

2011-06-30T18:44:00.016-05:00

Hello everybody,

Here is another card for Summer Card camp.
The following Hero Arts stamps were used: Antique Background CG120, Layered Flowers CL496, luscious ledger CG302 and Everyday Sayings CL342. The following distress inks were used: Victorian Velver, Faded Jeans, Antique Linen,dried marigold, wild honey, tea dye. Classic Rectangles Large nestabilities was used to cut the rectangle.

I inked the layered flower stamp with white embossing powder and stamped it off center. Then I applied antique linen distress ink to the paper and then destressed the flower with Wild Honey and dried marigold. Then I stamped over the entire image with the antique background stamp and used tea dye distress ink. I used faded jeans distress ink to ink around the edges of the backing panel. The card base was stamped with the luscious ledger stamp that was inked with victorian velvet distress ink. The gems on the flower are a very light purple but they are hard to see on screen.

Thanks for dropping by and I appreciate the comments. Hope that the rest of the week is a good week for everyone.

Summer Card Camp

2011-06-29T13:46:00.023-05:00

Hello everyone,
This is the card that I made for Summer Card Camp 2011. I am a day behind and hope to catch up before tomorrows class. The long panel started out as white Neenah Solar White cardstock. I distressed with three colors: spun sugar, milled lavender, and dusty concord. Then I inked up the magical background stamp (CG211) with Dusty Concord and stamped the image on the paper that was inked. After I stamped, I went over it again with dusty concord. I placed the panel onto a pink scallop border and stamped the sentiment on vellum and water colored the flowers.

The following Hero Arts stamps were used: Find Joy CL497, Profile Blossom III E3756, Bud Blossom IV E3757, ( The blossom stamps come from the Peeking Poisies LL072 Stamp set) and Magical Background CG211. Distress Ink: Spun sugar, Milled Lavender, and Dusty Concord.

My mojo was gone for awhile, but now I think that I have it back. I am so glad that I enrolled in the Summer Stamp Camp class. It is helping me get my mojo back. Thanks for stopping by and I do appreciate the comments. Have a wonderful day.

Hello everyone -- It has been a long time.....

2011-06-29T09:50:00.034-05:00

since I posted anything on my blog. I went to San Diego during the first two weeks of June and did not have the chance to make any cards and post anything while I was away. When I returned home, I wasn't ready to make any cards and other things had to take priority at home. My Mojo was lost for awhile and I am trying to get it back and still struggling with it. I guess that I could say that I was also missing in Action. But, after being home for a few weeks, I received an email about Summer Stamp Camp 2011 and decided to enroll in the class. So, here is my first card for Stamp Camp. I am also entering this card in the Hero Arts monthly challenge.

The following Hero Arts stamps were used: Find Joy CL497, Profile Blossom III E3756, Bud Blossom IV E3757, and Magical Background CG211. Distress Ink: Spun sugar, Milled Lavender, and Dusty Concord.
These next two cards are also being entered in the Hero Arts challenge. Hero Arts Stamps used: Card Art Decorative Birds K4892 and Flourish Background CG119. The image was stamped with Sahara Sand Ink by stampin up and then I colored over the image with Prisma color pencils.

Stamps used are Hero Arts: Classic Fabric Design CG245 and Heart Cake F4651. Distress Ink used: Broken China and Antique Linen. Hero Arts Shadow Ink Soft Stone and Soft Sand. The cake was colored with Copic marker BG10. Card was an inspiration from Sally Traidman of Hero Arts and to see her inspirational card, please go here. I used the same technique, but with a different stamp.

It is good to be back making cards again and I think that I have found my Mojo. Have a wonderful day and God bless. Thanks for stopping by and looking.

ATC's from Sally

2011-06-01T11:47:00.023-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to share the ATC's that I received from Sally last week. These are just gorgeous and I love all of them. Some of the members of the Hero Arts Flickr group participated in an ATC swap a few weeks ago that Heather Maria organized. Sally and I were paired up and we decided to make 5 ATC's for each other.

These ATC's are too pretty to put in an album that will sit on a shelf unopened. So, I decided to purchase a shadow box type frame and put them in it and display my ATC's in my craftroom on the shelf above my desk. Thanks Sally for making these for me, I truly appreciate your beautiful works of art. I am so glad that I had the chance to join in on this swap--it was lots of fun. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Inspirational Cards

2011-05-26T19:19:00.018-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I want to share a few cards that I made a few days ago. I haven't had much time to do any crafts this week, but I did manage to squeeze a few hours in. I am entering this card and the ATC card into the Hero Arts challenge. Please check here for details of the challenge.

This "HappyAnniversary" card was inspired by Jill Foster and I used the following Hero Arts Stamps: Flower Burst Pattern CG315, Blossom Art CL495, and Everyday Sayings CL342. To see the card that inspired me, please go here. (The card that was my inspiration is called "Daisy Thank You" on page 2 of the PDF.)

This ATC was inspired by Jennifer McGuire. I saw a one of her cards on her blog a few days ago and it inspired me to make this ATC. To see the card that inspired me, please go here. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Antique Brocade CG102 and Friends C3002. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Flowers and Flourishes

2011-05-23T19:35:00.038-05:00

Hello Everyone,

I made these two cards and the ATC over the weekend. I was inspired by Jill Foster and I have always admired her work. I used basically the same design as she did, but I used different stamps.

For this first card, I stamped the Garden Roses (Hero Arts K5056 [circa 2008]) with Memento Tuxedo Black by Tsukineko. Then I colored in the image with Copic markers. I destressed the bottom of the image with Walnut stain destressing ink and used China Blue for the sky area. I destressed the front of the card base with Peeled Paint and Crushed destressing ink using a blending too. I stamped over the green panel with the Flourish Background (Hero Arts CG119) with peeled paint. After the destressing and stamping was finished, I flicked small amounts of water over the inked portion and then let it dry. The sentiment is from the Everyday Sayings stamp set by Hero Arts (CL342). This card was also inspired by Jill foster and I used her same design, but with different stamps. I took a 5.5" x 8.5" piece of white cardstock for the card base. I pierced holes on the top portion of the card and destress the bottom portion of the card with peeled paint and then stamped the Antique Flower Background stamp (Hero Arts S5264) with Forest Moss Destress ink. For the flower panel, I stamped the solid flower flourish (Hero Arts LL228) with Memento Ink in Cantaloupe. (I used the thumping technique to achieve the black and red stripes.) After the image is inked in a light color, I taped a red marker and a black marker along the image and then stamped the image on the paper. The flower panel was destressed with spiced marmalade destressing ink. To make the image stand out on the page, I applied walnut stain ink along the edges of the panel.
For this ATC, I destressed the paper with Tumbled Glass destressing ink and then used Hero Arts Soft Pool Shadow Ink to stamp the Fabulous Flourish stamp onto the card (Hero Arts S5449). The Rose is from the Hero Arts Two Birds (CG152) stamp set and it was stamped with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink. The rose was colored with Copic markers. The word Love was stamped with Hero Arts Fancy Love stamp (A1295[circa 1997]) using clear ink and white embossing powder.

These three projects are entered in the Hero Arts Flickr group. To see how to enter, please click here. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

May Challenge Cards

2011-05-19T19:28:00.058-05:00

Hello Everyone,

Wow, I can't believe it, it has been over a month since I posted anything on my blog. Part of the reason was because I lost my mojo for a couple of weeks and decided to take a break. Then when I my mojo returned, Alabama was hit with very bad tornados on April 27th and we were without power for almost a week. Now that things are starting to return to normal, I can get back in the routine of making cards and posting them. Anyway, it is good to be back.

I got my inspiration for this first card from Jennifer McGuire. To see her inspirational card, please go here. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Flower Bird Garden CG270, Friend Definition CG125, and thinking of You CL140.

This card is another Jennifer McGuire inspiration. Please go here to see her card. The stamps are Hero Arts: Good Thoughts CL443 and thinking of You CL140.

ATC's

Here are a few ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) that I made. These little cards are fun to make and they measure 2 1/2" x 3 1/2". The stamp for the "I like you a latte" is by Hero Arts: Coffee CL187.

The stamps used in the next 3 ATC's are Hero Arts: Party Time LP160, Small Variety Alphabet CL137, Birthday Sayings CL340, Birthday Messages CL139, and Cupcakes CL158. These three ATC's are a set.

These cards and ATC's are going into the Hero Arts Flickr pool for their monthly challenge. For more information to the challenge, please go here.

Thank you for dropping by and I appreciate the comments.

Find Joy Every Day

2011-04-15T14:48:00.012-05:00

Hello Everyone, This card is based on Shari Carrolls sketch #4. I distressed the music background with antique linen distress ink and stamped the music background with tea dye ink. The Garden Bouquet was stamped with more mustard ink by Stampin Up and I used the thumping technique with the Lady Bug Memento marker. You ink up the image with a light color ink and use a darker color marker to thumb the ink onto the stamp. Then you huff on the stamp to put moisture back to the ink and stamp your image on the paper. This was a fun technique to do and I like the results. Thanks for stopping buy and I appreciate the comments.

Supplies used:

Hero Arts stamps:

Garden Bouquet CG172

Music Background CG222

Grid pattern S5216

Inks used:

Tea Dye Distress ink --Ranger

More Mustard--Stampin Up

Antique Linen Distress ink

Memento (Tsukineko) marker--Lady Bug PM-300

Quickutz nesting circle die (3 1/4") CC-SHAPE-14-024

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Thinking of You Cards

2011-04-13T13:55:00.023-05:00

Hello Everyone, I wanted to post these cards yesterday, but couldn't because the internet was down for almost 24 hours. I made these Thinking of You cards for a few friends who have been ill. Hero Arts Stamps: Creative Trees LL230 and Designer Woodgrain S5208. The sentiment is by C.C. Designs. I used tan and green cardstock for this card and kept it masculine and simple. I am sending this card to a friend who has had a mini stroke. Hope that it makes him feel better.

For this card I used the same stamps as the first card (above) but used light and dark green cardstock with some white. Hero Arts Stamps: Hello CG112. The flowers are from the following Hero Arts stamp sets: Find Joy CL497, Cuckoo CL388, and Mix & Match CL266. The sentiment is from a C.C. Design stamp set. I substituted the Hello sentiment with Thinking of you by masking off the "hello" on the stamp. I substituted the flowers with other HA flowers from other HA stamp sets. Then I paperpieced everything. I made this card for my friend that had knee replacement surgery a few days ago. I hope that she likes it. Thanks for stopping buy and I appreciate the comments.

Some New Cards

2011-04-11T11:12:00.056-05:00

Hello Everyone! Wow! It has been over two weeks since I have made and posted any cards. Time sure goes by fast when we are having fun, enjoying life, and spending time with family. I spent the week of March 27, 2011 visiting my 2 daughters and their families in Ohio. It was so good to spend time with my children and grandchildren and just enjoying each other and catching up on what is happening. It was also great to help my two grandsons celebrate their birthdays; my oldest grandson turned 7 and my youngest grandson turned 1. Here are a few cards that I made this past weekend. I am entering these cards into the Hero Arts Flickr Group Challenge. My mojo left me last week and I am trying to get it back; I am sure that it will return soon. It is always hard for me to get back in the swing of making cards when I have been away for awhile. It seems that when I return from a vacation or a long week end, I always have things that take me away from making my cards.

Happy Father’s Day

I wanted to keep this masculine Father's Day card simple and I think that I succeeded. This card is for my son-in-law. The stamps used are Hero Arts: Fathers Day Script C4968 circa 2008 and Decorative Bamboo K4900. The ink that I used is by Stampin Up: Sahara Sand for the image and chocolate brown for the sentiment. The ribbon is by "The Ribbon Boutique" for Hobby Lobby.

Meadow of Flowers

Stamps used are Hero Arts: Blooming Meadow CG171, Thinking of You CL140. Ink used is Memento by Tsukineko: Ruby Red and Tangelo. For this card, I used the first sketch for the Hero Arts challenge this month.

Sending Smiles

Stamps used are Hero Arts: Magical Background CG211, Layered Flowers CL496, and Sending Smiles CL490. I used the third sketch for the Hero Arts Challenge.

NOTE: See challenge sketches here.

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

flowers and butterfly card

2011-03-30T17:37:00.044-05:00

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

2011-03-29T09:18:00.037-05:00

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

2011-03-26T19:30:00.030-05:00

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

2011-03-23T19:49:00.027-05:00

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

2011-03-20T20:45:00.021-05:00

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

2011-03-16T13:29:00.023-05:00

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

2011-03-13T18:12:00.027-05:00

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

2011-03-10T18:36:00.034-06:00

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

2011-03-09T19:23:00.068-06:00

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

2011-03-07T09:49:00.044-06:00

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

2011-03-06T13:21:00.033-06:00

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

2011-03-04T22:06:00.018-06:00

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.

Flowers and Bees

2011-02-27T15:23:00.022-06:00

Hello Everyone,

I made this card for the Hero Arts Hostess challenge 1. The inspirational pictures and the directions for this challenge may be found here. I used Mustard Seed and Barn Door distress inks for my background colors. The two large flowers were embossed on white vellum with white embossing powder. Then I used Memento markers (Dandelion and Lady Bug) to color the flowers. I wanted the colors in the background to resemble the colors of the flower in Sally's picture.

The stamps are Hero Arts: Flower Wallpaper CG123, Messages CG132, and Artistic Borders CL322.

I wanted to submit my Hugs and Kisses card (pictured below) to the second part of the Hero Arts Challenge, but I didn't finish it on time. I was inspired by a card that I saw over on the Penny Black web site and this is my take on the inspirational card. The author of the inspirational card is Elizabeth Allen (Her Bio is the last one on the page.) and her video is here.

The stamps that were used are Hero Arts: Be Happy CL377, and Dots & Flowers S5213.

Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments.

Butterflies and Flowers

2011-02-23T18:42:00.023-06:00

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful week. So far, this week has been good and I had some time to make a few cards. I am entering these cards into the Hero Arts Flickr Group challenge.

This first card was inspired by Jennifer McGuire. I used her smooching technique that she demonstrated last week. To see her technique, please check here. I used the following Hero Arts Stamps: Hero Arts Stamps were used: Designer Butterflies CL115, Envelope Pattern S5507, and Friends CL351
This next card, I decided to go with a Friendship theme. I stamped the background with Poppy Chalk ink and the flower was stamped with grass green chalk ink. The flowers were embossed and then adhered with dimensional adhesive. Hero Arts Stamps used are: Antique Flower Background S5264, Four Blossoms H5256, and Gratitude A3079.
Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Take care and have a great day.

Flower Kissed Cards

2011-02-20T13:56:00.015-06:00

Hello Everyone,

I haven’t posted anything in a few days and today was the only chance that I had to post these two cards. This has been a rough week for me and I am hoping that the next week will be better.
I inked the large Blossom stamp (CG271) with soft apricot and inked the box plaid stamp (S5369) with weathered wood distress ink and kissed the two stamps together then stamped the large blossom stamp on white paper. The sentiment was embossed with clear embossing ink that was stamped with black soot distress ink. When the weathered wood ink and the soft apricot ink were combined on the box plaid stamp, it changed the color to look like an olive green. I thought that using the Box plaid stamp with the large blossom stamp made the flowers look like they were growing on a trellis. Stamps used for this card are Hero Arts: The Flowing Flowers stamp (CG146) was used for the background of the card, the Envelope Pattern (S5507) was used on the tag, and the sentiment comes from the Be Happy stamp set (CL377).

For this next card, I used Pearlescent sky blue ink on the Flower medley stamp (K5361) and inked the Flourish Background stamp (CG119) with chipped Sapphire Distress ink and then stamped the flower medley stamp on white paper. The sentiment comes from the Truly Appreciated stamp set (CL380).
Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Take care and have a great day.

Valentine for my Husband

2011-02-15T15:48:00.012-06:00

Hello Everyone,

This is the Valentine’s card that I gave to my husband yesterday. I am finally able to post this card to my blog; I didn’t want to post it yesterday because I didn’t want my husband to see it before I gave the card to him. I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, so I didn’t put any ribbon or embellishments on it.

I used the kiss technique for this card and I like the way that it turned out. I inked the Love Confetti stamp (E3730) with Victorian Velvet distress ink and the Antique Brocade (CG102) with Forest Moss distress ink and “kissed” them together and then stamped the Love confetti stamp onto white cardstock. I decided that the “with love” stamp and the sentiment stamp went together perfectly. The stamp used on the scalloped panel is the Envelope Pattern S5507 and the sentiment is Wavy From My Heart F3912. I am entering this in the Hero Arts Flickr group monthly challenge, February2011B.

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

Friend Sentiment Card

2011-02-13T19:20:00.011-06:00

Hello Everyone,

I have wanted to make a card that I could enter into the Make it Monday challenge that is sponsored by papertreyink.com. It has taken me about 4 days to finally sit down and create my card. To learn of the details of this contest, please click here. I am also entering this card in the Hero Arts flickr group for the February2011B challenge. The stamps that I used are Hero Arts: Friends CL351, thoughtful Messages CL184, Envelope Pattern S5507. I stamped the sentiments with warm red chalk inks by color box.

This was a fun card to make and I was very surprised at myself that it did not take me two days to figure out how I wanted my card to look. Everything came together very quickly and I like it when that happens. Normally, I over think what I want to do and therefore, that causes me to take way to much time to come up with a design.

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

Sympathy Cards

2011-02-10T22:22:00.021-06:00

Hello Everyone,

My Church Family has had some very sad news this week. My Pastor’s wife father died yesterday from a very long battle with pneumonia. This person who died was loved very much by everyone. Our whole church is devastative by this news. I did not know what to do for the family that is suffering from this loss. I know that they are in deep pain and I thought that a card would give a little comfort. This first card is for Lora, (Pastor’s wife) and this second card is for Lora’s Mom.

Card for Lora

The stamp sets used for this card are: Garden Bouquet CG172, Flourish Background CG119, and Flower Bird Garden CG270. I used the kiss technique for the panel portion of the card. The flower bird Garden image was inked with westeria chalk ink and the Garden bouquet was inked with forest moss destress ink. The sentiment is computer generated.

Card for Lora's Mom

I used the Tall Flower Stamp set K5431 for this card. The flower was stamped with Lime Pastel chalk ink (color Box). I stamped the flower a second time and embossed the blossom with white embossing power and colored it with a lavender marker and then paper pieced the blossom. the blossom is attached with dementional adhesive. Pearls were added as a finishing touch.

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

Wishing You

2011-02-08T20:21:00.009-06:00

Hello Everyone,

This was a very quick and simple card to make. Actually, I was in Michaels yesterday in the stamping section and I found a project sheet and decided to make my version of the card that was on the project sheet. The project card that I CASED is called “Peony Border Card” by Debi Hammons (project sheet #26024). I used the same design but with different stamps and I used a paper clip to attach the ribbon. (The original design has a picture hanger attached with a brad.) I also cut the image and the sentiment slightly larger.

I stamped the Classic Design stamp CG245 with Wisteria Chalk ink by Color Box. I cut the image down to 4 ¼” x 1 ¾” and then matted it with two colors. The sentiment comes from an old Hero Arts stamp “Smiles and laughter” F2361 and was stamped with black ink. The sentiment is attached with dimensional foam adhesive to give it some depth.

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

Thinking of You and Valentine's

2011-02-06T20:53:00.021-06:00

Hello Everyone,

I am finally able to get back to making cards again. Two weeks ago I caught a very nasty cold and it did not want to go away. I thought that I would be down for only a few days, but I was wrong. It tuned out that I was still trying to get rid of this cold all last week. So, that resulted in not getting any cards made. I started feeling better on Friday (2/4) and I made a set of 4 cards and one card using the “kissing” technique. It sure feels good to be feeling normal again and being back in the swing of making cards.

The stamps that I used for the set of cards are: Together LP141 and Envelope Pattern S5507. I wanted to keep the cards clean and simple and I hope that I succeeded in doing so. I used Color Box Fluid Chalk Ink “Warm Red” to stamp all of the images. I used Hero Hues White Dye Ink to stamp the envelope background on the mat. To finish off the cards I added ribbon and pearls. I love the clean, smooth look of the chalk ink.

For the thinking of you card I used the “kissing” technique for the center panel. To see how the kiss technique is done, please check here. I inked the Floating flowers Stamp CG124 with Ice Blue Chalk Ink by Color Box. I inked the swirl Frame stamp K5355 with Tangelo Ink by Memento and “kissed” this stamp to the Floating flowers stamp and then stamped the floating flowers stamp to the paper. Before I attempted this technique, I practiced it about 12 times with different color inks so that I could see what the results would look like. I wanted a hint of another color besides the blue and I thought that the orange color would be good. I like the combination of blue and orange and a hint of dark blue. When I first tried this technique I was not sure if I would like it or not. I guess it takes practice (for me anyway) for something to turn out nice. The inside of the card and the panels are stamped in Summer Sky by Memento using the Dots & Flowers Stamp S5213. The sentiment is sunny thinking C4072 (This stamp is part of a Hero Arts stamp set that was released in 2006; could not find it on Hero Arts Web site.) stamped with Paris Dusk ink by Memento.

The stamps that I used for this set of cards are: Together LP141 and Envelope Pattern S5507. I wanted to keep the cards clean and simple and I hope that I succeeded in doing so. I used Color Box Fluid Chalk Ink “Warm Red” to stamp all of the images. I used Hero Hues White Dye Ink to stamp the envelope background on the mat. To finish off the cards I added ribbon and pearls. I love the clean, smooth look of the chalk ink.

These cards will be entered in the Hero Arts Flickr group challenge (february2011A) and I plan on making more cards before the first half of the challenge ends. Thanks for stopping by and I appreciate the comments. Take care and have a great day.

Cards That Inspire

2011-01-27T20:22:00.046-06:00

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

2011-01-23T15:30:00.014-06:00

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

2011-01-21T10:36:00.019-06:00

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

2011-01-18T13:56:00.014-06:00

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

2011-01-15T14:53:00.015-06:00

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

2011-01-13T21:00:00.017-06:00

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

2011-01-09T16:58:00.045-06:00

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.

Wintery Thank You Card

2010-12-19T19:26:00.010-06:00

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

2010-12-16T13:03:00.012-06:00

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

2010-12-12T14:12:00.015-06:00

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

2010-12-10T11:48:00.010-06:00

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!!!

2010-12-09T15:43:00.005-06:00

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

2010-12-09T07:58:00.010-06:00

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

2010-12-05T18:59:00.014-06:00

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

2010-11-18T14:06:00.040-06:00

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

2010-11-14T15:10:00.026-06:00

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

2010-11-12T09:15:00.012-06:00

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

2010-11-11T08:48:00.038-06:00

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

2010-11-08T08:42:00.030-06:00

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

2010-11-04T08:47:00.010-05:00

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

2010-11-03T09:18:00.010-05:00

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

2010-11-01T19:28:00.018-05:00

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

2010-10-29T11:09:00.014-05:00

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

2010-10-27T14:56:00.019-05:00

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

2010-10-25T12:48:00.019-05:00

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

2010-10-23T09:47:00.013-05:00

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

2010-10-21T11:03:00.017-05:00

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.