Brrrrr and a Happy Birthday card

Brrrr - it's cold out there - 4 degrees F and it hasn't been this cold in quite awhile.  I'm sure I'll get used to it - it'll just take time.  Last night I came out of Target and the wind blew so hard it practically sent me to the next county - LOL!  Thankfully I can stay in with a hot cup of coffee and enjoy the morning.

If you're looking for my Hero Hostess Blog Hop post from last week,
please go here.  

Note that you can still comment on all those Blog Hop posts until 11:59pm PST on Monday, January 21, 2013 to be entered for the Hero Arts prizes. To start each day of the 2013 Hero Hostess Blog Hop, use these links:

Day 1 * Day 2 * Day 3 * Day 4 * Day 5

Yesterday after I drew Sandra as my prize winner, I zipped over to Anchor Paper in St Paul to buy the clear set she wanted - Hero Arts CL676 Typewriter Notes.  Naturally, after all the inspiration from the Hop (especially my friend Jenn) I ended up buying that set for myself!!  I also came home with CL672 So Kind,  CL671 Alphabet Hexagons, and an old set from 2009 CL302 Getaway Travel  which was 40% off - yay!  Ooooo, Anchor Paper also had some of the new colors of Tim Holtz Distress Stains so I came home with several of those too.  I thought I'd better get inky with this new stuff, especially since I need a birthday card for a friend.  Here's my card using the Typewriter Notes clear set:

First I made a background paper using elements from the set.  I inked the typewriters with my newly purchased Mowed Lawn and Picked Raspberry Distress Stains.  Love the splotchy look I got.  Then I added some sentiments here and there using Hero Arts Neon Pink and Neon Green inks - love these inks.  Oh - I stamped this all on a piece of Ranger Specialty Stamping Paper covered first with Antique Linen Distress ink (applied with a foam blending tool).  That softened up the stark white to match the papers I used.  The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye - the Lost & Found Two "Rosy" 6x6 pad.  The lattice strip had an ivory background but I swiped it with the Picked Raspberry to make it match my background better.  Also dotted the intersections of the lattice with a black gel pen.  Stamped my card base with the new Hero Arts S5729 Pinstripe Background - used Neon Green Ink but you can barely tell on the kraft.  The friend having a birthday this week loves that cartoon character Maxine so she will appreciate the little expletive type on the sentiment!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks and a winner!!

Hey everyone - Happy Saturday!  If you're looking for my Hero Hostess Blog Hop post from this past week, please go here.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by for the Hop - we had a great time creating all the cards and sharing the camaraderie of being past Hero Hostesses.  Note that you can still comment on all those Blog Hop posts until 11:59pm PST on Monday, January 21, 2013 to be entered for the Hero Arts prizes.  To start each day of the 2013 Hero Hostess Blog Hop, use these links:

Day 1 * Day 2 * Day 3 * Day 4 * Day 5

Here are a couple thank you cards I created to say thanks to Hero Arts for all the fun.

The cards feature more new Hero Arts products, including a new woodblock background stamp that I adore - S5657 So Many Thanks and one of my new favorite sentiment sets CL663 Thanks a Bunch.  On the card base for the right hand card, you can probably spot another new go-to of mine, S5729 Pinstripe Background.  And you can't go wrong with card bases made from Hero Arts Layering Papers - I used PS602 Grass and PS605 Cerulean Layering Papers here, along with a bit of PS610 Snow for the sentiment flag.  I love these study, white-inside papers!  The card on the left has some pretty papers from Serenade by Basic Grey. For the ric-rac look, I just cut a strip from one of those papers. To make it coordinate a bit better with the colors in the grid patterned paper, I colored some of the ric-rac blocks with Distress Markers. The sweet heart on the right is a die cut paper button I cut on my Silhouette SD. Named 4 Button Set by Lori Whitlock, the cut has a star, a circle and a scalloped circle button besides the heart - love this set! The neon pink on the button came from Hero Arts AF218 Neon Pink Ink which I used ink-pad-to-paper to cover the button. I did this with a bunch of the neon inks and buttons to do some Christmas thank you cards. 

And now for a WINNER - I did a random draw from the comments on my Hero Hostess Blog Hop post (the deadline for that drawing was midnight CST Friday 1/18/13) which mentioned a favorite clear set from the 2013 catalog.  The lucky winner - drum roll please - is Sandra, who said:

        hmm favorite? that is tough, I like Typewriter Notes and Love Jar ... 2 sets High on my list.  thanks for the fun and inspiration - love that tall ice cream cone!

Sandra ltb

January 16, 2013 at 7:53 PM

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a crafty weekend!

Day 3 - Hero Arts 2013 Catalog Blog Hop with the Hero Hostesses

Hello everyone!  It's Day 3 of the Hero Hostess Blog Hop, featuring fabulous stamps from the new 2013 Hero Arts Catalog release!  I'm so excited to be hopping this week with 27 very talented ladies, all past Hero Hostesses.  If you're following today's hop, you should have arrived here from the amazing Marcy's blog.  If you didn't, and want to start from the beginning of Day 3, go here.   If you missed the previous days, start at the Hero Club Blog - Day 1 here and Day 2 here. 

To report any broken links along the hop, contact Tami at blog@heroarts.com.

Hero Arts will be awarding prizes - that's right - PRIZES!!! - from randomly drawn comments. For a chance to win, simply comment on ANY of the stops along the hop on ANY day, including each day’s starting post at the Hero Club Blog. The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning!  For Hero Arts prizes, be sure to comment by 11:59pm PST on Monday, January 21, 2013.  They will announce the winner at the Hero Club Blog later that week.

For a stamping artist, there's nothing better than a new catalog of stamps!  And Hero Arts has produced another winner in their 2013 Catalog.  I was lucky enough to get a lot of products from this catalog, both locally and from Hero Arts.  I haven't even made a dent in my new stash with the 3 cards I'm sharing today!  Up first, a card for my niece's 12th birthday.  I had such fun with the clear set CL677 Fantastic Birthday!  If you count the scoops on the ice cream cone, you'll find one for each year of precious Annika's life.

Supplies:  Hero Arts - PS603 Celadon Layering Paper, CG516 Number Pattern, CL 677 Fantastic Birthday, AF221 Neon Green Ink, AF218 Neon Pink Ink, AF220 Neon Yellow Ink, AF 231 Neon Blue Ink, gems; Other - various papers, Martha Stewart punch

Because it's a long card (to fit a #10 envelope), I had to stamp the background twice.  Some people would use a stamp positioner but not me - I just put my finger where I thought I should go & it worked fine.  I always lay my clings face up on the counter, ink them up well, and put my paper to them.  Works the best for me - I can press my fingers over the paper for a crisp impression every time.  I did lots of paper piecing to make the cone. Some of the scoops were stamped onto white paper that I covered first (ink pad-to-paper) with Hero Arts Neon Ink - love this ink in every shade!!  I stamped other scoops on papers from Authentique's Lovely 6x6 paper pad.

This next card was inspired by the oh-so-creative Lisa Spangler.  She used the wonderful CG527 Map of America on her stop in the 2013 Hero Arts Catalog Blog Hop back in December.  When I saw her cards, that stamp went right on my wish list!  Can you tell I was thinking of those Indiana Jones movies where they showed that old airplane flying over the maps?  X marks the spot!  I stamped the sentiment on a torn chunk of paper stamped with another new cling CG526 Large Notebook Paper.  The sentiment came from CL574 Say it All which is one of my go-to sets; I love the font on those sentiments!!  The airplane and compass are from a fabulous Art of the Card set, AC007 Past Times.  I just love this set for making masculine cards!  I used PS608 Latte Layering Paper for the card base - what a yummy color; it's one of my faves.  I stamped the map onto a piece of Basic Grey patterned paper from the Serenade 6x6 paper pad.

I'm sure to make cards galore with all my new supplies, but I have just one more card to share today.  This one's a thank you card using the new CL673 Love Jar clear set.  I love everything about this set, especially the jar.  But I've already seen several amazing cards using the jar, including by Nichol Magouirk here and Sandy Allnock here.  So what to do??  I decided to use the flower and stems to make a bunch of flowers.  The sentiment from CL663 Thanks a Bunch worked perfectly with my bouquet.  I inked the flowers with Distress Markers for a soft look (no water used) and stamped them on Hero Arts PS610 Snow Layering paper.  I left a bit of a white border so they wouldn't be so flimsy and tied them with a bit of purple raffia.  The scalloped card base is by Bazzill - I have bunches of these in many colors - love them!!

Hope you enjoyed this stop on the Hero Hostess Blog Hop!   Next, head over to the fabulous Arlene's blog where you're sure to find even more inspiration!

But before you go, remember to leave me a comment for the chance to win a fabulous prize from Hero Arts (see their deadline above)!  In addition, if you tell me in your comment which is your favorite Clear Set from the Hero Arts 2013 Catalog, you'll be entered in a separate random drawing for a chance to win that set (plus some other goodies) from me.   Deadline to enter my drawing is midnight PST Friday 1/18/13 and I'll publish the winner in a post on Saturday.  Good luck and thanks for hopping with us!

Coming Next Week - the Hero Hostesses are hopping!

Hi all - hope you'll join me and 27 very talented friends, all former Hero Hostesses, for our Blog Hop next week - each day will bring 5 or 6 of us.  For those of you who don't know what a Hero Hostess is, Hero Arts, a fabulous stamping company, selects a group of Hostesses to facilitate on their Flickr group for a three month period.  I enjoyed being a Hero Hostess from February - April 2011 with 4 other fabulous crafters - Heather, Anita, Sally, and Sharon.  I can't believe it was nearly 2 years ago already!  What a joy it's been to be involved with this great company and group!! 

We'll be sharing projects created with materials from the 2013 Hero Arts catalog.  What an amazing bunch of new products - thanks so much, Hero Arts!!  I was especially excited by the new Fancy Dies - I just received two in the mail from Art Plus, a premier Hero Arts Retailer.  Karen from Art Plus even included a darling baby stamp with my order - thanks Karen!!  I'll make something with that soon but today I was eager to use my new dies.

Anyone who knows me, even a little bit, knows my favorite holiday is Valentine's Day.  And I adore hearts so the new Hero Arts Renaissance Heart fancy die was on my must-have list from day one.  When it came in the mail I raced to the craft room and began cutting it on all sorts of different papers.  The die cuts like butter using the Vagabond, amazing for such a detailed die!  So, here's the card I created:

Besides the fancy die, I also used a strip from the Tweed Pattern, another 2013 Hero Arts release and some of their fun adhesive lace.  The sentiment is from a Decorate It! Valentine set you can find at Target stores.  Thanks for stopping and hope to see you for the Hop.  There are sure to be prizes involved!