Happy Thanksgiving!

If you're celebrating in the US today, Happy Thanksgiving! I'm sitting here watching the big parade on television; no cooking for me today - we're going to the Afton House Inn for Thanksgiving dinner - yummy!

I made five different styles of Thanksgiving cards this year but I'll share two here - first up, the invitation I used to invite friends (more like family to me) to join the celebration at Afton House Inn.

Supplies: Hero Arts stamps CL886 Color Layering Fall Trees, DC150 Happy Stamp & Cut, 

CL179 Sparkle Clear Party; Lawn Fawn Happy Everything

Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Gathered Twigs, Fossilized Amber, Carved Pumpkin, Tumbled Glass

I just love the new fall Hero Arts layering tree stamp! And it'll work well for a winter card I'm planning! On the inside, I used more stamps from the Party set - a plate with silverware and "where" and "when" for me to hand write the details of my event. I made the next card for my parents who are across the country enjoying Thanksgiving with cousin Jon and company.

Supplies: BoBunny paper; 3M glitter tape; Stamps - Hero Arts: CL799 Thankful for you, 

CL119 Happy Thanksgiving; Inks: Tim Holtz Distress Inks - Ground Espresso; Copic markers

Hope you're having a wonderful day! I'm thankful today for a great family, fabulous friends, and the freedom to enjoy life - including crafting! Thanks for stopping!

Blue and White with Texture

Merry Monday, everyone! It's always merry when I can make a card on my day off! This week's challenge at Merry Monday is a color combo - use blue and white with some texture - courtesy of Lesley. Right away I went to the embossing folder stash, planning to ink the white embossed paper with blue ink. As usual, the ink went on more than the embossed portion so I continued adding with a lighter blue and then edged the paper with a darker blue. I stamped and white embossed my sentiment directly on the card base, then stamped a tone-on-tone blue snowflake background. I popped the embossed snowflake onto the card with foam and added some crystal domes. Done!

Here's my card:

Supplies: 

Stamps - Hero Arts CL630 Miracle of the Holidays (sentiment), CG685 Hand Drawn Snowflakes Bold Prints 

Embossing folder - Sizzix/Hero Arts 658287 Snowflakes Set

Inks: Hero Arts Cornflower Blue; Ranger Embossing Ink; Tim Holtz Distress Inks- Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass

Embossing Powder: Stampendous Detail White

Gems: Michael's Reflections crystal domes

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out Merry Monday for more blue and white inspiration!

Reindeer Time on Merry Monday

Happy Saturday! Hope you're having a crafty day. I made a quick card this morning before running off to see the final Hunger Games movie. I'm back from the movie (a satisfying conclusion to the saga - Jennifer Lawrence is amazing, as always) so thought I'd post this morning's card.

It's reindeer time for this week's Merry Monday challenge so I've been thinking all week what to do. I have lots of reindeer stuff - stamps, dies, Silhouette files, you name it. But I didn't decide until I opened the Simon Says Stamp December card kit. I'm not one to buy kits but this one had a cute cat stamp I couldn't resist. The kit includes some yummy card stock, puffy stickers, sequins, etc (see the link above for the full contents). Anyway, I found a cute reindeer in the sticker package and decided to use him, along with a sentiment sticker, and a stack of presents. Here's my card:

After forming an A2 card with 1/2 a sheet of SSS Audrey cardstock, I layered a black mat, a patterned paper (a snowy piece of Basic Grey's Juniper Berry), and a white hill topped with Lawn Fawn's Forest Border. I used three Pinkfresh Studio puffy stickers from their Christmas Wishes package (29 pieces - a great deal). I added some stickles to the bow on the present stack and I matted the sentiment with Audrey and black cs. Done - a very quick and easy card! I call this Inquisitive Reindeer because it looks like the reindeer is sniffing the bottom package - maybe some reindeer treats are inside?!

Thanks for stopping and have a great weekend!! For more Christmas card inspiration, be sure to check out Merry Monday!

One more Hero Arts Challenge Card

Yay - another day off so I thought I'd take the opportunity to make another card for the current Hero Arts Challenge!

Hero Arts started doing monthly kits and I was lucky enough to get the debut set for October. I also ordered oodles of sets from the new Christmas collection so decided to incorporate some stamps from Holiday Pine Branches (CL889) with my kit stamps. Thanks to Hero Arts for all these great products!!

Jennifer McGuire, who always inspires, showed a monochromatic stamp layering technique on this blog post. I decided to try it with my new stamps. I must say the MISTI makes doing this technique a lot easier. I just moved my paper a bit to do the white stamping once I was done with the tone on tone stamping. Then I'd move my stamps to a new spot and start all over again. Because the flowers are designed for layering, I added some of the definition lines using a darker ink than the tone on tone - I liked how it turned out! Here's my card:

The kit included a felt flower and set of leaves but I had an entire package in my stash. I layered two flowers and two sets of leave using a brad - haven't used a brad in eons! But the holes in the leaves and flowers were made for brads so I couldn't resist - LOL The final step was to add some white dots with a gel pen.

Thanks for stopping and I hope you're having a crafty day!

Merry Pink, White & Green!

Hi everyone - it's another Monday  off work - yay! So I had time to play right away with this week's Merry Monday challenge from the amazing and colorful Deanne to use Pink, White and Green on your Christmas card!

Well, let's say I checked out the challenge right away this morning but first I had to make a couple of birthday cards. While I was working on them, I spotted some plaid paper with pink, white and green (plus a teensy bit of light red) - jackpot. I love plaid for Christmas but it's not usually this color - LOL! The paper pad from American Crafts is titled - Spring - so it's totally the wrong season. Who cares - I knew it would be perfect for Deanne's challenge! I also knew I wanted to use a new Penny Black die I just got. 

Here's my card:

Supplies: Hero Arts - CL722 Merry Christmas Messages (sentiment) & pine folded card; May Arts ribbon; white vellum; Penny Black die - Whirl Wreath; American Crafts paper; Reflections cs; liquid appliqué; Simon Says Stamp circle dies

I love the Reflections card stock from Michaels that I used - it's a jumbo 3.5x3.5 cube with 10 different colors, perfect for cutting out small dies. The hot pink really caught my eye and it was perfect with the plaid paper. After I layered the pink behind the green wreath, something felt missing. That's when I decided to add the white vellum behind the stack. The berries started out with a white gel pen but they didn't pop so I used liquid appliqué instead. 

Thanks for stopping and I hope you're having a great Monday! Be sure to check out all the inspiration from the fabulous design team at Merry Monday. I'm nearing 70 Christmas cards for my stash so I'm very thankful to Merry Monday for keeping me inspired!

Merry Monday - Red and Gold

Back today with the Merry Monday card I made yesterday but couldn't get uploaded until today. Finally, my computer remembered my camera!

Anyway, enough of my computer woes! The challenge from Bonnie this week is to use red and gold on your Christmas card. What a gorgeous combination and I had fun using a Spellbinders set (Heirloom Reflections) I bought last year but hadn't even opened. I die cut the ornament base with red glitter paper and the topper with a metallic gold paper. I embossed another piece of the metallic gold paper using Sizzix's Holiday Joy set from 2012 and framed it with a red glitter mat. I saved the sentiment for the inside, letting the ornament take center stage. The little bit of gold thread for the hanger came from a felt ornament kit I'm working on - oops, I should be saving it for the kit....

Bad photo - sorry - the card base is red but it looks pink in my photo! Also, the red in the bow matches the card better in real life. Here's my card:

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out all the inspiration at Merry Monday! This was my first year participating in the Merry Monday challenge and I can't believe how much fun I've had. I feel so prepared coming into the Christmas card season! Thanks Merry Monday!!

Some Hero Arts tags by Lia

Happy Monday everyone! It's not my Monday off but I did take a day off work. The chorus with which I sing, City of Lakes Chorus, performed midday for a senior citizens' group. They were having an early Veterans' Day luncheon with us as entertainment (doing some of our Rosie the Riveter package), then a speaker from the Historical Society. On the corners of the stage they displayed mannequins wearing WWII service uniforms - so cool. We had a wonderful time singing and I even had some MC lines and sang in a "pick up" quartet - two of my old Chord Company members and the bass from StarBurst quartet. The audience loved it all and we were delighted to honor the veterans there.

I made a quick card this morning but I'm having trouble uploading! Instead, I'll share a card I made on Saturday to add to my Christmas stash, using new Hero Arts items I just received. Their new Lia tag dies were a big hit and my order had to wait for a fresh supply - yay for Hero Arts! And thanks again for the goodies!! I adored all three Lia tag sets when I spotted them in the holiday catalog and couldn't wait to receive them. Here's my card:

Supplies

Hero Arts: DC166 Merry & Bright Tag Set by Lia (die), DC167 Joyful Tidings Tag Set by Lia (sentiment). DI087 Spring branch, CG685 Hand Drawn Snowflakes Bold Prints, light pool layering paper, Soft pool ink Other: Ranger Princess Gold ep, May Arts ribbon, Stampin' Up CS, 
vellum, American Crafts glitter paper.

When I die cut the tag from the pool panel, I left it inlaid and topped it with a green one that I cut from the other half of my sheet of green used for the card base. I stamped the sentiment and gold embossed it. When I saw the leaves on the tag, I thought they'd work well with Hero's Spring Branch die. I die cut it from vellum and snipped it into two pieces, tucking the ends behind the tag. I covered the opening with a bit of glitter paper and added the bow to make it look like a hanging ornament. Then I popped the whole pool panel onto the card base. Both the pool panel and the card base were stamped with the Hand Drawn Snowflakes - love this 6x6 cling stamp!! I'm submitting this to the current Hero Arts Holiday Cardmaking Challenge.

My next Saturday fun was to play in a card Scramble hosted by my friend, Heather. She had a fun theme recognizing Hero Arts' achievement as a "green" company. We had to make a tag and include something recycled! A Scramble lasts 90 minutes but I knew I'd only have 60 due to a memory service I was to attend. Here's my quick tag:

Supplies

Hero Arts: DC166 Merry & Bright Tag Set by Lia (sentiment), DC167 Joyful Tidings Tag Set by Lia (die)

red gems; Other: Copic marker (to shade the leaves), sequins, White gel pen, 

Embossing ink & white ep, recycled Hallmark card (behind the tag)

Thanks for a great Scramble, Heather! And thanks to you for stopping in today! I'll post today's card as soon as I can get it uploaded. Happy crafting!!

Christmas Lights and Glitter!

Hey everyone - Merry Monday!! Just love having a Monday off every other week so I can check out the latest challenge at Merry Monday! This week, Wendy asks us to use Christmas lights and glitter on a card. I did a string of Christmas lights for the rainbow challenge a few weeks ago, so I decided to do something with individual stamped bulbs. I had the perfect little bulb on a Hero Arts clear set called Friends and Family (CL803).

I should start from the beginning and thank Hero Arts for the goodies that arrived in my mailbox on Friday. Just love everything!! That very night I stamped a bunch of elves from a new holiday Stamp & Cut called Santa's Elves (DC160). When the catalog came out, this set went right on my wish list but it disappeared quickly from stock. I had to wait a bit to get my set but it was well worth it - these elves are simply adorable!! When I saw the new Merry Monday challenge today I knew I had to get at least one elf on a card with Christmas lights! I can also use this card for the current Hero Arts holiday challenge.



Here's my card:

I started with a Flourished Tree (Design id #22591) made on the Silhouette. I inked it with Twisted Citron, Evergreen Bough and Gathered Twigs Distress inks, misting it a bit to blend. I doodled a bit of texture on the trunk with a Copic marker. I adhered it to a metallic blue layering panel and stamped the bulbs using my MISTI. Added the white hill cut with Lawn Fawn's Stitched Hillside Borders. I colored the girl elf with Copics, added green metallic accents (Hero Arts) to her dress and cap, then added clear gems to the cap and slippers. The present stamp came from a cute 2012 Hero Arts set called Bring on the Merry (CL644), also colored with Copics and the bow has stickles for my glitter!! I added glossy accents to the Christmas bulbs - done! I saved the sentiment for the inside.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you get a chance to check out all the fabulous Design Team cards for this week's Merry Monday challenge. And you have until November 12th to add a project to the Hero Arts Holiday Challenge - people have uploaded some gorgeous cards there already!

Birthday time

Hi everyone - hope you're enjoying your weekend! We celebrated some October birthdays in my family this weekend. I had fun personalizing the cards and they were a big hit. First up a card for my dad who turned 84:

I stamped an azure Hero Arts card with their Lines Background cling stamp using Mermaid Lagoon Distress ink. I cut the DAD on the Silhouette and stamped the letters with the same background. I used Tumbled Glass ink, very lightly. Using my MISTI, I stamped the 84 from a Hero Arts alphabet clear set (CL687 Days and Month) with Mermaid Lagoon. Then I positioned the star (from Hero Arts CL582 Year Round Sentiments) over the numbers, picked it up with the MISTI, inked it with Tumbled Glass and stamped over the numbers. Trimmed the star and popped it and the DAD with foam tape. The happy was die cut with Hero Arts Happy Stamp & Cut. I used a Lawn Fawn soft print that I thought looked too light so I colored over it with a Tumbled Glass marker and painted it with Wink of Stella. Added a bit of May Arts' ribbon - done.

I had fun with this card for my sister-in-law Donna who loves turtles and hits the big 50 this year:

The 50, turtle and seaweed were all cut on the Silhouette. I doodled the texture on the turtle using a Distress Marker. I stamped the 50 with Hero Arts' Forest Floor Bold Prints cling stamp for a bit of texture. I stamped Simon Says Stamp Falling Snow upside down to look like bubbles floating up. I tried a piece of blue for the layering but I ended up liking the green so I guess it's a green sea :)

Thanks for stopping!

Snowflake Frame

Back on a Friday with a Merry Monday card - this time to "Frame It", Sue's fun challenge. I had a darling snowflake frame in my Silhouette library and decided to use it to frame a large word stamp. The "peace" comes from a Hero Arts clear set CL680 Jolly. I used foam tape to adhere the frame to the card base, then added some snowflake sequins by Lawn Fawn. 

Here's my card:

This was a quick and easy card since I had a few birthday cards to make this week. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out all the yummy cards by the Design Team!

Merry Moose Monday!

Hmmm - use a moose on your Christmas card? That's Nina's challenge over on Merry Monday this week. When I read the post on Monday, I headed right to the Silhouette online store for a browse. I ended up downloading and cutting the Moose Frame by Joel Pilcher with a piece of black cardstock. Just fell in love with this serene image!! I finally got a chance to play with it today. Here's my card:

I embossed  a swirl pattern on a shimmery blue heavy weight vellum, then rounded the corners. I adhered it to an azure folded card from Hero Arts and rounded those corners too. The little circle was die cut using one of Simon Says Stamp layered circles after I stamped the postmark from a 2007 exclusive Hero Arts for Archivers clear stamp set (Winter Wonderland). Added a few gems - done!

Thanks to Nina for a fun challenge! For more moose-y inspiration, check out Merry Monday! I was sorry to miss the fun last week when the challenge included coffee - yum, my favorite beverage! I was on vacation to attend the Sweet Adelines International annual convention and competition in Las Vegas from Sunday to Sunday so totally missed Merry Monday. But I had a great time in Vegas enjoying all the fabulous singing (I didn't have to compete this year) and congratulate Speed of Sound quartet on becoming Queens of Harmony!! They will be on our April 2016 show - can't wait! Big congrats to the Scottsdale Chorus who won the chorus contest - I have some friends in that chorus and it was such fun to see them win again! On Saturday night we skipped out on barbershop harmony to attend the Donny and Marie (Osmond) show at the Flamingo - fantastic, although a bit loud on the band.

Hope you're having a great weekend and thanks for stopping!!

Rainbow Colors

 

Hi all - hope you're having a great weekend! I survived last weekend's move of our office - it was only two blocks to the new location but we still had to pack up everything. We worked hard and now are settling in.

Needless to say, this weekend is all about relaxing - which includes crafting! I looked in on Merry Monday and this week's challenge from Kristie is to use rainbow colors.


Here's my card:

Supplies: Hero Arts Stamps - CL890 Holiday Greetings, CL908 Sparkle Borders, DC110 Stamp & Cut Ornaments

Copics, Festive Berries Distress ink, Memento Tuxedo Black ink, May Arts string twine, Stickles

I rounded the corners on an A2 card and a white layering piece. Stamped the bulb string and the sentiment, then doodled the ornament hanger. I stamped and fussy cut the ornament, then colored it with Copics. I colored the bulbs with Copics too and added stickles. I popped the ornament with foam and added a string twine bow. Done!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out all the inspiration at Merry Monday!!

Watercolored Cardinal

Hey everyone - I'm back with a Merry Monday card - now up to 61 Christmas cards; I'm so excited!! The challenge by Katie this week is to use watercolor on your card. I had stamped a cute cardinal like the inspiration photo on non-watercolor paper. It wasn't turning out like I wanted so I decided to try watercoloring on a linen ATC by Ranger. Here's my card:

I started out stamping the cute lacey border from a clear set (Bubbly Card Borders) by Pink and Main; thanks to my amazing friend Lin for enabling me with this post. I used Distress Inks and then added water to blend the border. Then I stamped the cardinal (from Pink and Main's HollyDays clear set) in black and painted him with a combination of shimmery watercolors and Distress Markers. I softened the stamped edges using a Hickory Smoke Distress marker. I sponged Tumbled Glass Distress ink onto the background and then added random brush strokes of the watercolors. I love the texture of the linen! The Hope (older clear stamp from Hero Arts) is stamped in Pine Needles Distress ink onto a piece of the watercolored background from the scrapped bird panel. I clear embossed it and die cut it with a Sizzix stitched circle. The snowflakes are from Lawn Fawn and I used Enamel Accents for the bird's eye and eyelashes. The paper strip is from the Paper Studio.

Thanks for stopping and be sure to check out all the inspiration at Merry Monday!!

Merry Monday - Sentiment in the Spotlight

Merry Monday, everyone, and the Merry Monday Christmas Challenge blog is back to weekly challenges after a summer of doing two week one. This week, Kathy wants us to let the sentiment be the focal point of the card. See the details and all the great design team cards here!

I was excited to get an order with some Simon Says Stamp Stamptember products, including the exclusive Enchanted Snowflakes set - love this! I knew the ornament with the lovely Merry Christmas flowing through it would be perfect for this challenge. Here's my card:

I stamped the A2 card base (medium shade from Hero Arts Sea Mix set) with SSS Falling Snow tone-on-tone so hard to see. I die cut the ornament and smeared Candy Cane Stickles on it and colored the hanger with bronze Distress Stain. The pine branch is from Impression Obsession, cut from green card stock and embellished with stickles and a Ground Espresso Distress marker. I was hoping the SSS circles would include one that matched this ornament - no such luck! I had to try for the right size on my Silhouette - was a bit off but used it anyway, just trimmed off the excess.

So that's my card for today - thanks for stopping and have a Merry Monday!

Same stamp set - a challenge

Hey everyone - back with a challenge I threw down to my friend, Heather. We both recently ordered a bunch of new Hero Arts supplies from their 2015 Christmas release - love, love, love!! This was all part of their new website makeover so if you haven't checked it out, please do so - it looks great! Many thanks to Hero Arts who is always so good to us former Hostesses!

Anyway, Heather and I both bought the new Color Layering Dimensional Bird (CL906), among many other things. We decided to use this one for our same stamp challenge. Here's my card:

I started by gold embossing the bird with ultra-thick gold embossing powder. I had done another bird using Ranger Princess Gold but it didn't stand out enough. The thing about doing the layers on the bird, though, is that the embossed outlines prevent some of the stamping along the edges. Not to worry, I just filled in with Distress Markers to match the Distress Inks used. Each time I did a layer, I clear embossed it. I did the birdie feet last and apparently some of the bird's lower body wasn't fully clear embossed - I got a bit of gold down there too, but decided it was ok. Couldn't do anything about it but start over which I wasn't about to do!!

I had intended this to be a one layer but after I finished my entire bird with all that embossing, I stamped the branch totally off for the bird to be sitting on it - ugh, hate when that happens! So I ended up fussy cutting the bird. The rest of the card is a one layer. I stamped the card base with Paint on Canvas Bold Print (CG672) using Scattered Straw Distress Ink for a tone-on-tone look. After stamping the branch, I decided I wanted a fall card so I added some leaves & a sentiment from the new clear set Autumn (CL882). I felt the card needed some shading so I went round the leaves with some Distress Markers and then colored some of the lines - just a random few. Oops, I see some ink blobs - guess my fingers had some Aged Mahogany on them. Added a few Hero Arts gems and a couple Doodlebug sprinkle shapes - done!

I had taken a photo of the card but wasn't really sure I like the gold embossing, given the direction the rest of the card. Then I remembered a sheet of gold leaves I bought from the dollar bin at Target! Tried a few before deciding on the two I stuck down. There, that tied in well with the gold embossed bird - whew!! I'm sure I'll have plenty more chances to use this beautiful bird set! I'm also quite sure that dear Heather has come up with something much better than this - can't wait to see it!!

Decided to enter this in Hero Arts current Makeover challenge too, as it's a remake of this birdie card.

Now for one last picture of Misty - in an earlier post, I mentioned putting all the crafty supplies away into the guest room because my brother's cat Misty is visiting. Well, I didn't close the door very well when I was grabbing some items to bring to the kitchen. She hastened to jump onto a card table I had used to pile all sorts of stuff - her little body is wedged next to a tote on which, moments earlier, she was chewing!! I distracted her by snapping my fingers so that's why she's looking up in the photo. Isn't she precious??!

Misty goes home later today after being here for almost two weeks. I will miss her; she has been quite the sweet guest. I won't miss having to watch where the crafty stuff lands - I'm used to keeping it out all over the place with no little animals coming to play with it! You should also have seen her bat a Starbucks cup stopper and a plastic bottle top (aka new Misty toys) all over the living room!!

Thanks for stopping by and if you happen to create something with the Color Layering Dimensional Bird set, I hope you'll share a link - would love to see it!!

Hello duo and a laundry "helper"

Happy Sunday everyone - it's Labor Day weekend and we could hope for a better weather day! It's been raining (or should I say storming) off and on all morning. I went to get gas and lightening struck so close to the station that their power went out for a sec and their system went down. Needless to say I didn't fill up at that moment!!

A couple weeks ago my friend Jayne and I meet Betty for lunch. See Betty's post about it here. Dear Betty brought us some goodies in a yummy bag with a card - thanks again, Betty!! Oh, oh - reminds me, I owe her a thank you card! I made her a card and an ATC so I thought I'd share them today:

I used an old favorite cling stamp by Hero Arts called the Friend Definition, for the little rectangle on the card at left and as the background on the kraft ATC. Both got a "hello" die using a newer Hero Arts Stamp & Cut set DC151 Hello - just love these sets!! The "friend" stamp is from the Hero Arts w/Studio Calico clear set 331234 Oh, Snap - the sentiment is Hello, Friend but I cut off the Hello, - LOL. The card got some branches from Hero Arts Spring Branch fancy die and the ATC got a butterfly from the Color Layering Butterflies die set.

I'm doing the usual Sunday chores including grocery shopping and the dreaded laundry. Today though, I have a little laundry "helper" - my brother's cat Misty. Misty wasn't too interested in yesterday's crafting but she was quite delighted to jump into the laundry basket! At least she waited until I took the dried laundry out of it!! I once had a cat who's favorite spot was on top of the freshly dried laundry - ugh, the cat hair! So here's sweet Misty in the basket:

I also once had a cat who like to help me make the bed with freshly washed sheets. She would dive under the top sheet when I shook it out over the bed! Made a lovely bump as I tried to spread it out!! Thankfully Misty was off to her favorite spot in the window during the bed-making operation.

Well, I'd better head off to make that overdue thank you card for Betty!! Then I hope to have time to play with some new Hero Arts Christmas stuff that came in the mail on Friday. Thanks for stopping and enjoy the Labor Day weekend!!

It's Scramble time again! Quickcard117 with LaVon

On the Hero Arts Flickr group today, LaVon posted a fun Scramble challenge to use one of three Hero Arts Sketches from 2012. I love sketches and these are three I remember fondly. I decided to use sketch # 3 and I'll tell you why in a bit. Here's my card:

I used a fun new Hero Arts clear set that just arrived in my mail yesterday - CL882 Autumn. When I first saw this set I thought it might be fun to color all the little panels on the leaves. Well, not for a Scramble - not  enough time! I'll try it sometime soon, though. The kraft card is stamped with one of Hero Arts' 6x6 bold prints cling stamps called CG671 Forest Floor - just love this stamp. I inked and stamped twice, first with Fossilized Amber and then with Antique Linen with splashes of Gathered Twigs. I used the same Distress inks for the leafy panel. The little label is from a set of three by Memory Box called Pastry Labels. The embellies are from Doodlebug.

I went with sketch 3 as it seemed the quickest. I put away all my crafty supplies due to my brother's cat coming over for a visit. Misty enjoys her "vacation" from her home on the other side of the Twin Cities! One of her favorite spots is the windowsill in my lower level family room. If the blinds are closed she will meow until I open them!! Here she is, soaking up the sun:

Well, I'd better clean up the Scramble mess before Misty gets into it! Thanks for stopping and have a great Labor Day weekend!!

New Hero Arts website, plus 2015 Christmas products!!

Hero Arts launches its new website today and we're excited for this great new look, plus 2015 Christmas products! Be sure to check it out for amazing inspiration, a fabulous blog, and all sorts of fun new stuff. I'm fortunate to already have some of the new release, with more on the way - I just love Christmas anything and can always find way too much to add to my stash. Here's my card for today:

I used a new clear set called Holiday Greetings (CL890). Just love this set - 7 fabulous sentiments and all sorts of little bits to make a background or, as I did here, a masked off sentiment. Well, it started as masked but I used the wrong tape and ink bled through - I hate when that happens! So I did my sentiment on a separate panel which I edged in Elmer's silver marker (got it at Target - love!) and popped up with foam tape. Wish my photo had truer colors - the bottom half is actually closer to real life. The mat for the white panel is a piece of Bazzill Gemstones cardstock - more of a silver - looks blue in the photo, oh well....

You can also see a couple more cards I made with 2015 Hero Arts Christmas products here. Many thanks to Hero Arts for their wonderful products and daily inspiration on their blog!! Congrats on a great new look to the website!

This also fits Karren's challenge over on Merry Monday where we are to use holly on a card. Stop and check out all the inspiration over there too. Thanks for stopping!!

A Scramble and more Merry Monday cards!!

Happy Saturday, everyone! Janet hosted a Scramble on the Hero Arts Flickr group - her theme: Use a solid and an outline stamp. How fun!! I have plenty of those, in fact - just got a new Hero Arts Stamp and Cut set called Merry. This set will be out on Hero Arts shopping site starting 9/1 (I bought mine at Simon Says Stamp). Here's my card:

The red dotted and bitty green stars were in the same set; the green Merry is stamped, the red one is the matching die. The outline star comes from a Hero Arts clear set called Year Round Sentiments. This was actually card #2 - I started out with this one:

I used Hero Arts CL787 Holiday Petals and Leaves. I was inspired by Janet's card featuring a strip of stamping on plain white - it looked very cool, see it here. I first clear embossed the sentiment, then swiped it with Twisted Citron Distress Stain. Dried that and stamped the rest using my MISTI for positioning. The funny part - the light green holly leaves are stamped in Twisted Citron ink - it looks very different from the stain!

Here's a card I made on Thursday with another new Hero Arts set Color Layering Wreath; I also got the matching die set. I do not have the hang of this set yet but here's what I did with it on the first go:

I'm just finishing up on my sister's birthday card which I need to get in the mail today. I'd better head out to the PO. Thanks for stopping and happy crafting!!

Snowy Trees

Happy, or should I say Merry, Monday! Ahhhh, it's great to have a Monday off and the first thing I did was check out Merry Monday. Debbie's challenge for the next two weeks is to use Light Green, Dark Green, and Red on your card.

I just love the inspiration photo with the colorful M&Ms. Yummy! Well, I had several different ideas running through my mind but ended up white embossing a trio of snowy evergreens and watercoloring them the two shades of green, using Mowed Lawn and Pine Needles Distress Markers. The stamp, Three Tree Christmas, by Hero Arts was from their 2009 release. I just love the sentiment from this set: "May your holidays be filled with happiness and good cheer." I use it on a lot of card interiors. Then I decided to add a Polaroid frame (Simon Says Stamp's Holiday Frames) cut in red for the red element of my card. Behind the "Christmas" is some dotted lime green BoBunny paper. The other patterned papers are also BoBunny from their Christmas Collage 6x6 pad. I cut a stitched circle (by Sizzix) as a base for a snowflake gem. 

Here's my card:

Now that I look at it, I wish I had placed the polaroid up a bit further up on the card - oh well... I was happy with the watercoloring, though - I thought the Hickory Smoke Distress ink made a lovely shadow and I used Tumbled Glass for the sky.

Be sure to check out all the merry inspiration using Light Green, Dark Green, and Red over on Merry Monday - the DT over there rocks it every time!! By finding Merry Monday, I'm now at 54 Christmas cards! Really feels good to be ahead of the game!!

Thanks for stopping and have a crafty week!

A Pastel Christmas

Happy Monday everyone! It's time for pastel colors over on Merry Monday for the next two weeks. Deanne likes her non-traditional colors and there are plenty of pastel Christmas papers out there. One of them is from Lawn Fawn - Peace Joy Love. I had the stamp set and just found the paper at this fun stamping store in my hometown. I also bought a couple other 6x6 Lawn Fawn paper pads (Let's Polka & Beachside) so I used all three for my card. The guest DT this week is Vicki  who had another post recently sharing a card using a sketch at La-La Land Crafts. It's for a square card but I modified it a bit for an A2 card. Here's my card:

The card base is stamped with Falling Snow by Simon Says Stamp. I stamped it from the top and then reversed the card and stamped again to fill the bottom using Hero Arts Soft Pool Shadow Ink. On the sentiment (from a Hero Arts clear set called Family and Friends) I tried to create a bit of a shadow with the same soft pool ink. It's a little further off than I would've liked - oh well.... The poinsettias are by Hero Arts but I've had them a while and don't see them in their current line. I added an enamel dot to the center from Doodlebug; the pool gem and pearl are from Hero Arts. 

Thanks for stopping and I hope you're having a crafty day!! 

Personal Scramble Challenge

Happy Saturday everyone! We might've had a Scramble at the Hero Arts Flickr group today except Dasa had to do hers early. See my offering from that event here. Since it'll be a while until the next Scramble (90 minute events) in a couple weeks, I decided to throw out a challenge for a "personal" Scramble. Go here for the details; you have until 7/28/15 at 11:59 PDT to play along if you're a member there.

I really love to have personal Scrambles and do it fairly often. I usually set the timer on my stove for 60 minutes and try to get my card done within that time. If the timer goes off and I'm not done, I set another 10 minutes, then another 10 and a final 10, but I'd better be done soon after setting it that last time!! My goodness, 10 minutes goes fast while crafting!!

For a personal Scramble, you set your own theme; the host sets the theme for the scheduled group Scrambles. Today I decided my theme would be to use a background stamp and a sketch. I received an online order recently containing Hero Arts Drippy Lines Bold Prints cling stamp - love it but hadn't used it yet. Earlier in July I spotted this Hero Arts Blog post by Kelly with a fun sketch I wanted to try. Here's my card:

I started my Scramble at 12:43pm. I stamped and white embossed the background stamp on a piece of Tim Holtz watercolor paper, then applied Distress Stains (Abandoned Coral, Picked Raspberry and Wild Honey) and some Hero Arts Pale Tomato Dauber ink. Edged the panel with some Hickory Smoke Distress Ink - love this color!! Then I cut the zig-zag circle window and laid the panel in place on my card base to line up the Happy Birthday using my MISTI. Stamped and white embossed the Happy Birthday, then used foam to adhere the watercolored panel to the card base. Then I stamped the rest of the sentiment (it's a single line - from a clear set by Hero Arts called All Occasion Messages - but I've cut it in two pieces) onto a banner. Then I stamped and die cut the flower using the Flowers Stamp & Cut set by Hero Arts. I stamped and hand cut the leaves. Both were stamped on BoBunny patterned paper from the Garden Journal 6x6 paper pad. I added some Abandoned Coral to the flower and Twisted Citron to the Leaves so they matched my color scheme better. Added some pearls/gem - done! 1:38pm - woo hoo - less than 60 minutes. I had enough time in my 90 minutes to photograph and upload my card (which is normally required during a group Scramble). Then I came here to blog about it.

Hope you're having a crafty day! Stop by and play at the Hero Arts Flickr Group if you get the chance.

Thanks for stopping!

Merry Monday - Hearts!!

Hey everyone - Merry Monday announced a new challenge this morning - yay! This'll be another two week challenge and this time Bonnie asks us to use a heart or hearts on our Christmas card. As a Valentine baby, I love anything with hearts on it so this challenge is right up my alley!! I decided to treat my card making today like I would a Scramble on the Hero Arts Flickr Group - 90 minutes to design, create, photograph and upload your card. It really stimulates creativity, plus you don't get to agonize on what goes where.

I was amazed that I actually finished this within my time limit, including finding the supplies! The only thing my time frame didn't include was blogging about it. LOL! Here's my card:

Supplies: Hero Arts layering paper, Neenah cardstock, Lawn Fawn stamps, Copics, Stickles,
Liquid Applique,Foam Tape,  patterned paper, Inks: Pine Needles & Barn Door Distress & Memento Tuxedo Black

I used my MISTI to plan this card. Beginning with a piece of patterned paper (sorry - can't remember whose), I stamped the Be Merry border from Lawn Fawn's PEACE JOY LOVE along the left edge, then I arranged the peace, joy and love and stamped them after blotting off the bitty heart that is above the joy on the stamp. I did this because I wanted to use the big heart from the set which I stamped in red. Then I stamped the branch from WINTER SPARROWS (which I always call Season's Tweetings - because of the sentiment, I guess) under the peace and added a heart to it and another heart to the love. My branch looked a bit thin so I embellished it with some Copics - looks a bit funny in the photo but just fine IRL. Then I stamped and die cut (gotta love matching dies) the three little sparrows and colored them with Copics. Added some liquid applique to the joy bird's hat. Popped the birds up with foam tape - done! Whew - 90 minutes flew by this time - usually I'm done with my card in about 45 minutes for a Scramble and I spend the rest of the time blogging my card and commenting on the other participants' cards. If I were really doing a Scramble, I wouldn't attempt something this complex, that's for sure!

Well, my blogging time is done - I'm off to practice chorus music. Talk about Christmas in July - we're working on music for a Christmas show coming up in December! It'll be great fun but it's rather odd to be singing "Mary Had a Baby" when it's 80 degrees!

Thanks for stopping by!

Scramble time - so soon?

Second post of the day - can you believe it? Anyway, we normally have Scrambles at the Hero Arts Flickr Group about every two weeks, but today we have an early one. Our hostess, Dasa, couldn't do it next weekend so challenged us today instead. Her theme - Wedding Cards - and what a fun one it was, even though I just finished a wedding card yesterday and posted it earlier today!! Here's my card:

Supplies: Hero Arts stamp set Best Wishes, Little Yellow Bicycle paper, Copics, Spellbinders dies,
heart charm, Hickory Smoke Distress Ink, clear embossing powder, May Arts ribbon, gems

I wasted some of my precious 90 minutes of Scramble time looking for a different wedding stamp set but ended up reaching for one I used yesterday - Hero Arts CL360 Best Wishes. I had a scrap of the great Little Yellow Bicycle "Wedding March" paper left over too. It's two-sided paper so I used the other side called "Elopement" for the larger scalloped oval. What took the longest? Opening the packaging to get at that heart charm!! I bought them in Walmart's jewelry-making department the other day, thinking they'd be cute on a card. What do you think?

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend! It is a gorgeous day here in Minnesota - blue skies, a soft breeze, not too hot (78F)  - I love it! And I still have time to enjoy it!! Thanks for stopping by!!

Wedding Couple

Happy Sunday! I've been making so many penguin Christmas cards, it almost felt funny making something else!! Well, I need a wedding card for my cousin Ryan and his bride Katie. They married in June at a destination wedding in Florida with a small group. The rest of us will celebrate at a family and friends event later this summer. So here's my card:

Supplies: DCWV shimmer cardstock, Bazzill Bling cardstock, Little Yellow Bicycle paper, 

Tattered Lace "Couple" die, Hero Arts - Best Wishes stamp set, May Arts ribbon

I went shopping at Anchor Paper Express in Roseville MN (a fave place to visit) yesterday and found this fabulous Wedding March 12x12 paper from LYB; it's a heavy weight, high quality paper - perfect for my wedding card. Also bought the May Arts metallic mesh ribbon there too - Anchor carries a huge supply of May Arts and I rarely leave without a few yards of something! The Couple die was a find at that stamping expo a few weeks ago - I cut it using Bazzill Bling cardstock. The sentiment is from a fun Hero Arts clear set called Best Wishes. And here's the inside:

I used the left 4" of the Wedding March paper and stamped the sentiment from the same Hero Arts set. The champagne glasses and hearts are from the set too. You can see a bit of my MISTI along the border - love, love, love this tool and I find myself using it as a work surface too - I bought a couple pads of Simon Says Stamp grid paper to protect the MISTI foam lining and it really helps with lining things up (even though this photo's a bit crooked).

Anyway, I'm all set for the festivities! Thanks for stopping by!!

One more penguin card...

Happy Saturday everyone! I've been having fun over at Merry Monday as guest designer these past two weeks! Wendy's challenge was to include a penguin on your card and you can still play along today. Join us!

You can see my guest card at this post, then I did two more cards last week. I couldn't resist doing another one - these penguin cards really make me smile! Here's my card for today:

Supplies: Whimsy stamps - Snow Fun, Simon Says Stamp - Falling Snow, Hero Arts - Woodgrain Background, 

Neenah cardstock, Lawn Fawn sequins and Stitched Hillside, Spellbinders embossing folder, Copic Markers, Stickles, gems

Just love this toboggan filled with winter-loving bear and penguins. I saw several cards posted at Merry Monday (check out the gallery for this challenge - it's amazing!) with the penguins colored grey. Thought I'd try it here since I'm not good  at shading blacks with Copics! Don't laugh, but I think the embossing folder is a flower pattern of some kind! I chose to think of it as a bunch of snowballs with flakes...

Thanks for stopping and I hope you have a crafty day!