Magic Five - Snowmen Quintet

Hi all - time for another Merry Monday challenge!! 

This week, Debbie hosts challenge 233 - she asks us to use five of anything on a Christmas card. I flipped through a bin of stamp sets and decided to make a quintet of snowmen in various sizes using four different stamp sets by Hero Arts. Here's my card:

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts CL800 Frosty Wishes (largest snowman & sentiment), CL541 Snowman Christmas (two medium snowmen), CL727 Lisa's Mix and Match Messages (small snowman with top hat), CL885 3D House Essentials (smallest snowman); Whimsy Stamps Penguin Fun (cap with matching die)

Die - Stitched Rectangle from Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Stitched Shapes

Paper - Hero Arts Sea Mix Layering Paper (medium shade), Neenah Solar White

Other - Copic Markers, foam tape, Fired Brick & Salty Ocean Distress Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

I was delighted to find a mix of snowmen facing different directions for some interest. Isn't that littlest snowman just the cutest? I started stamping the two smallest ones, made a mask and then stamped the next two. Made a mask of the medium snowmen and stamped the largest one. The largest one comes with a separate top hat but I decided to mix it up and use a knit cap from a Whimsy Stamps set. BTW, that Whimsy set has five penguins so it might see action this week too! I blobbed my first stamping of the smallest snowmen so I used that panel as a guide for the final product. The MISTI came in very handy for this process - just popped the guide in and arranged the next set of stamps, replaced it with the "good" panel and stamped again. It still took a while to set up the card, create the masks, then stamp and color the images - probably about two hours total. I should've stamped extras while I was at it but didn't. No worries, I kept the guide and masks so I can easily pop out more cards later.

Thanks for stopping and be sure to stop by Merry Monday to check out the great inspiration from the Design Team. And thanks to MM for the honorable mention for last week's card!!

More Valentines for Cards for Hospitalized Kids!

Hope you can stand a few more Valentines - I couldn't seem to stop making them for Cards for Hospitalized Kids!! I had planned to make a quick 10 and pop them in the mail but had worked my way up to 24. Well, I went to package up the 24 and thought them too bulky for an envelope. I put them in a small box and had lots of empty space - so I started making more - LOL! By the time I was done, I had 40 cards! If you have any spare time to make some cards for a good cause, check it out - the young woman who started this charity really inspires me!!

I managed to finish cards with all 10 Disney Princesses - these were some of my favorites! Then I made a fun ice cream cone and a few more boy cards. I made some duplicates but just photographed the first version of each. Here are the cards:

 

Supplies: Disney Princess diecuts by EK Success
Stamps - sentiments from Hero Arts, Clearly Besotted and Simon Says Stamp
Ice Cream Cone from Hero Arts CL963 Color Layering Ice Cream Cone
Car and cycle from Hero Arts CL478 Going
Silhouette Designs for the teepee, tower, pagoda, path, and cowboy
Other - foam tape, puffy heart stickers & red cards (Target Hot Spot), Hero Arts folded cards, 
various patterned papers (Basic Grey, BoBunny, My Mind's Eye), 3M washi tape

I'm off to the post office to put my box in the mail - they like to receive the cards two weeks before the holiday so I should be good. I enjoyed making all these cards and hope they'll bring joy to the recipients!

Thanks for stopping!

Photo inspiration at Merry Monday

Hi all - Deanne hosts this week at Merry Monday and offers a photo inspiration challenge!

(photo source)

I'm showing an extra large image so you can see how wonderful it looks - I just love the colors in this photo!! And how about the sprinkles on the cookie - don't they look yummy? Although, my favorites are the colorful ones, especially on a frosted doughnut!! But enough about sprinkles, here's my card:

Supplies: Hero Arts Infinity postage stamp DI345 and rectangle DI198, Sentiment from CM100 Christmas Messages, and
Silhouette ID 46362 Mixed Silhouette Shapes (tree "cookie") 
Jamie Cripps Silhouette ID 112195 Pocket Gift Card Holder (holly "cookie")
CottageCutz Hot Cocoa Cafe (cup)
My Favorite Things Die-namics Oval Shadows ("coffee", "saucer"and "plate")
BoBunny, Neenah and American Crafts papers; Copic Marker W1 and Icy Stickles

I was inspired to use white, brown and dark red with the coffee cup and cookies. I hand decorated my cookies, first with a light Copic W1 line & then covered with Stickles. Don't they look good enough to eat?! I got the MFT Oval Shadows dies free with an order a while back - thought they were weird when they arrived but I have found so many uses for them! Here, they made the plate and the cup saucer, plus the coffee in the cup. Fun, huh?

Then I couldn't resist showing a couple more boyish Valentines for Cards for Hospitalized Kids. I'm putting my package in the mail - sending 24 cards. I love Valentine's Day and was moved to participate when I learned they need cards for this holiday. I meant to make 10 cards but got a bit carried away with all the fun!

Supplies: Target, Lawn Fawn, Neenah and Basic Grey cards/papers
Hero Arts Silhouette ID 46362 Mixed Silhouette Shapes and Nested Hearts Infinity Dies
Stamps - Hero Arts CL754 OWH Dude (#1 hand & football) and the rocket set (You Rock), 
Simon Says Stamp Circle Sayings (UR GR8)

Thanks for stopping and be sure to check out Merry Monday and all the Design Team's fabulous creations with the inspiration photo. Have a crafty day!

A Scramble and more Valentines

Happy Saturday! I spent the early morning making more Valentines with the EK Success Disney die cuts. Then we had a Scramble over on the Hero Arts Flickr group - timed activity to create a card based on a theme - which ended about 12:40p my time. I'll share that bit first.

Karen hosted the Scramble and her theme was a bit of a challenge - use your oldest Hero Arts stamp (by that I took to mean the first one I bought) and then use a household find to make your background. If time, you were to make a second card with some new Hero Arts item. Well, if you know me, you know I'm quick at Scramble time - I was able to fulfill both old and new. I photographed the cards together; the one at left has the old stamp, a sentiment woodblock stamp I bought in 2000, and the one at right has new stuff from January 2017 My Monthly Hero.

Supplies: Paper - Tim Holtz watercolor, Neenah Solar White, scrap of My Mind's Eye patterned, 
DCWV glitter, Hero Arts Floral Mix Cards

Ink - Distress Inks in Shaded Lilac, Picked Raspberry and Embossing Ink; Distress Marker - Wilted Violet 
Ranger Archival Watering Can (Wendy Vecchi) and Memento Tuxedo Black

Other - White Embossing Powder

Dies - Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangle die
Hero Arts DI348 Heart Confetti Fancy Die and dies to match stamps from January 2017 My Monthly Hero

My background for the "old" card was made by inking a paper towel and applying it to water-spritzed watercolor paper. To reinforce the diamonds in the pattern I went back randomly and pressed the moistened paper towel to the paper. I had white embossed the sentiment for a resist effect but had to go in with heavier color on a sponge to get it to show up. Here's a photo of the inked paper towel:

I really liked how the background turned out. For the second card I enjoyed using a new background die and cutting glitter paper. Now I have a bunch of bitty hearts to glue on other project - a bonus! I'm adding this to the "Anything Goes" January challenge at a2zscrapbooking - thanks for the reminder, Greta!

Now back to more Valentines for Cards for Hospitalized Kids... Funny how we get excited by a certain product - I'm just loving these Disney princess die cuts!! It's such fun making Valentines with them. I'm really going to have to get more boy ideas because I now have 12 girly cards and 9 boyish ones.

Supplies: Lawn Fawn Spruce & Wild Rose Folded Cards; Lawn Fawn papers
Die cuts - Disney Princesses by EK Success; large hearts from Hero Arts DI334 Nested Heart Infinity Dies
Stamps - Shells from Hero Arts CL383 Antique Engravings 
sentiment from Hero Arts CL954 Many Everyday Messages

There are 10 princesses in the EK Success package - I'm betting I'll made a card with each of them before I'm done - LOL. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

More Valentines Cards

TGIF and I began my day by making some more Valentines to send to Cards for Hospitalized Kids. My stash of 12 had more girly cards than boyish ones so I hoped to make more of the latter. My eyes spotted a cute set from Taylored Expressions that I bought a few years ago when Archiver's still had a brick & mortar store in my town (miss it!!).

Supplies: Plane Awesome stamps & dies from Taylored Expressions, 

Paper - Neenah, Basic Grey and Studio Calico; Other - Target bin cards and mini heart stickers; Copics

Hero Arts Nesting Hearts Infinity Dies DI334

Plane Awesome comes with solid, not outline, dies.With a MISTI, I was able to stamp the die cut, no problem! Simply used the technique of lining up the stamp in the negative after die-cutting, then putting the diecut back in the negative for stamping. Just look at how perfectly the stamp lined up on the diecut! And how do I love the new Hero Arts heart dies? Another must have with 10 dies - I cranked out a lot of hearts in various sizes for my Valentines! I made two versions of each of the plane cards so then I had 9 boy cards and only 7 girly cards. Decided to make some more girly cards with fun printed Disney die cuts by EK Success that I bought 40% off at JoAnn's this afternoon. Who can resist a Disney princess?!

Supplies: Paper - Neenah, American Crafts (Target bin), Hero Arts, Lawn Fawn, My Mind's Eye
Dies - Hero Arts Nested Hearts Infinity Dies; Xcut Lacy Doily
Stamps - Raisin Boat gumball machine, Hero Arts sentiment from the Rocket set
Other - Copic markers, foam tape; Target puffy heart stickers; Darice heart Embossing folder

The card at the bottom of the photo was in my 12 count but I hadn't photographed it yet so included here. Now I have 9 cards for each - will try to make a couple more so I can send 20 cards.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the weekend!

Exercise Grumplings card

Back today with a card using a new Taylored Expressions cling set called Exercise Grumplings. I have a friend who likes that grouchy character Maxine so I thought she might like these grumpy critters on her birthday card.

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts CL480 Wish You Were Here (chandelier and chair, retired 2011); 
Taylored Expressions Exercise Grumplings (sentiment and pet trio) & matching dies

Paper - Hero Arts Pool Layering Paper; Neenah Solar White; Bazzill orange; Basic Grey and Paper Studio patterns

Other - Copic Markers, Foam Tape

I also made a few more Valentines for Cards for Hospitalized Kids but they were versions of ones I already posted so I won't share. I have 12 made, two more than my original goal, so I'm feeling good about my progress! I have time to make a few more and mail at least 2 weeks before the holiday.

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

Another Reindeer card and a snow couple

Hi all - I was excited to come home from a meeting last night to find new goodies from Taylored Expressions in my mailbox! They had a new release last week and I ordered the Exercise Grumplings set - so perfect for those who struggle with exercise. I'm planning a birthday card for a friend who likes grumpy quips - I'll start it later today.

So... after last week's Merry Monday challenge to include a Scandinavian element, I looked at Taylored Expressions line for that theme and found a fun cutting plate and an embossing folder to include with my Exercise Grumplings order. I received them too late for that challenge but the embossing folder has reindeer on it - perfect for this week's challenge!! This is my second entry - I'm well on my way to building this year's Christmas stash. Yay!!

Supplies: Stamps - Inkadinkado 60-31349 Home for Christmas, Hero Arts CL997 Color Layering Snowy Tree (reindeer)
Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints 20, Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Stitched Shapes, Hero Arts DI310 Color Layering Snowy Tree Frame Cuts (die to match the stamped reindeer)
Embossing Folder - Taylored Expressions Nordic Holiday
Paper - Neenah Solar White and Red, Hero Arts Punch; Ink - Fired Brick Distress Ink, Ranger Archival Watering Can

How cute is that embossing folder?! Just love it! Next, I have a card I sent to my aunt and uncle - their wedding anniversary was Sunday. I thought it would be fun to create a snow couple for them, using a darling retired Hero Arts clear set from 2009 - still in excellent shape due to their awesome quality!

Supplies: Stamps - Hero Arts CL368 Create Your Own Snowman & CL342 Everyday Sayings
Dies - My Favorite Things Blueprints 21, Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders
Paper - Neenah Solar White; Hero Arts Sea Mix Layering Paper
Other - Copic markers, Scraps of pattern and glitter paper

Thanks for stopping by and remember to check out all the creativity at Merry Monday. Have a wonderful day!

On Dasher, on Dancer, etc.

Merry Monday everyone! Yes, time for another Merry Monday challenge - this week, Colleen asks us to use a reindeer on our Christmas card. I have several stamp sets with reindeer but I went for one I just received before the holidays from My Favorite Things. I couldn't resist the sweet Santa in the set but there's also a trio of darling reindeer - perfect for this challenge!

Supplies: Stamps - My Favorite Things Merry Everything CS-151; Inkadinkado Rudolph 60-31358
Hero Arts Polar Set by Lia DC165 & Blizzard Bold Prints CG697

Dies - Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Stitched Shapes (rectangle); Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Borders, 
MFT matching dies to Merry Everything
Inks - Distress Inks Tumbled Glass, Lucky Clover, Pine Needles; Memento Rich Cocoa
Paper - Neenah Solar White and Hero Arts Punch; Other - Copic Markers, foam tape

I'm not happy with all the shading on my reindeer - oh well... I used the heavier weight Neenah - don't know if that made the difference. Anyway, I started by stamping, die-cutting, and coloring the reindeer. Then I decided to make a scene backed with the blizzard and stitched hill. I stamped and fussy cut the seven trees from the Rudolph set - that way I could place them wherever I wanted. Fun card to make but it took several hours with all the stamping, coloring and cutting.

Well, I'd better cut this post short since I have some music to practice for chorus. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out all the lovely creations at Merry Monday. The Design Team outdid themselves with their reindeer goodness!

January My Monthly Hero Kit

Hi all - can you believe it, a non-Merry Monday post? I was excited to come home from car shopping (more on that later) to find the Hero Arts January 2017 My Monthly Hero kit in my mailbox! It was just announced on Monday and was to start shipping on Friday so I was thrilled to get it so quickly!! The kit includes:

• Color Layering Flower Heart clear set (large 6x8″ size)
• A set of 18 coordinating metal Frame Cuts dies
• Tide Pool ink cube
• Mint Julep ink cube
• Soft Pink ink cube
• Bubble Gum ink cube
• Strawberry ink cube
• 4 woodgrain envelopes (2 A1 and 2 A2 sized)
• 4 woodgrain cardstock (half sheets)
• Red wax cord (8 yards)
• Pool envelopes (2 each of 3 different shades)

What a great value at only $34.99 and, of course, I couldn't resist some of the add-ons. As of this moment, the kit is still available but once it sells out, it's gone. Loving Valentine's Day as I do, I couldn't resist adding this kit to my stash and I just love everything in it!! Here are the first cards I made with it:

 

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Solar White, woodgrain cardstock from kit, American Crafts (Target bin)
Stamps/Dies - January 2017 My Monthly Hero (flower heart bouquet and matching dies); 
thanks banner from an old Hero Arts set # unknown
Other - Copic Markers, foam tape, Reflections gems

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Solar White, American Crafts (Target bin) glitter paper, Basic Grey True Love (2012) pink
Stamps - January 2017 My Monthly Hero kit (sentiment); CG690 Confetti Bold Prints
Dies - DI348 Heart Confetti Fancy Die; Sizzix Heart Die
 Other - puffy stickers from American Crafts (Target bin); recycled fairy from a card Hero Arts put in with previous kits

The thanks card is for my friend Connie and her husband. They had me over for brunch yesterday and then took me car shopping. We had spinach quiche and blueberry muffins - yum! Then we visited a few car dealerships to look at vehicles. Connie and Doug served as riders to test the comforts for passengers in front and back; they both got new cars last year so are more familiar with the process. I was glad of their assistance and for the delicious brunch! And no, I didn't buy anything yet - I'm just starting to look.

The valentine is the first of cards I'm making for the Cards for Hospitalized Kids project. I hadn't heard of it until recently but it's been around for 5 years. A woman mentioned it on the Hero Arts Flickr Group and mentioned they need Valentine cards for this year. Here are four more cards I made for the project; I'm planning to send a package of 10 and already have 7 made (I made duplicates of some of these).

Supplies include Target bin and Doodlebug papers, Hero Arts rocket set (#unk);
Xcut doily die (thanks Heather!), Sizzix Lori Whitlock gatefold lace kit.

Thanks for stopping by and hope you're having a great weekend!!

Scandinavian Noel

Hi all - typical - I'm seeming only to post for Merry Monday these days! Marcia offers a fun challenge this week to use the word Noel with an optional Scandinavian element. Really made me regret not ordering this darling Lia Griffiith set from Hero Arts when it was released!! I'll probably end up ordering it next time! I decided to google Scandinavian Christmas decor to see what might inspire me. I found these cute Scandinavian Gnome Tomte and immediately went with the grey/red/white combo. I wanted to use a large NOEL stamp so went searching through the stash to find one. Ta da - found one in a fun Tim Holtz set. While the font isn't what I'd consider Scandinavian, I went with it anyway. Here's my card:

Supplies: Paper - Neenah Solar White, American Crafts Target Hot Spot Christmas 2016 pad (red foil)

Die - My Favorite Things Blueprints 20 (stitched rectangle)

Stamps - Stampers Anonymous - Winter Wonder CMS 033; DoCrafts Tall Urban Stamps - Craft Christmas

Inks - Ranger Archival Watering Can by Wendy Vecchi, Fired Brick Distress Ink, Candied Apple Distress Marker

Other - Copics C1, C3 & R22, Marvy white pen

I absolutely love the border stamps I used at the bottom - thanks again to my friend Heather who sent me this set! This was the third card I made of this design. On card one I used foam tape and got the panel on wonky. Tried to fix it and the panel got wrinkled. Tried to iron it - no luck so I trashed it. Second one - the row of x's went a teeny bit crooked; I think it will be usable but I still decided to try another one. Third one looked the best so I didn't press my luck - LOL.

Thanks to Marcia for a fun challenge and be sure to check out the inspiration at Merry Monday! I have had plenty of Christmas cards for the past couple years due to playing along all year.

Angels Sing

Hi all - Happy New Year and hope you had wonderful holidays! I'm back from 3 weeks in Arizona to subzero temps in Minnesota - ugh! It's supposed to warm up this weekend and I can't wait!! Anyway, Merry Monday is back after their holiday break and we have Sue's challenge to use an angel on a Christmas card. It's fun to be blogging again after my holidays!

I just love angels and made a card before the holidays using a Silhouette angel file by Hero Arts. For this week's angel card I decided to use an old favorite Hero Arts stamp set.

Supplies: Neenah Solar White paper; Hero Arts pool card; DCWV Linen Closet Matstack; scraps of patterned paper
Stamps - Hero Arts CL354 Let the Angels Sing
Dies - Spellbinders Classic Ovals & Elegant Ovals
Ink - Ranger Archival Watering Can by Wendy Vecchi
Other - Copic Markers, Stickles (gold and icy), washi tape; Marvy white pen; foam tape

I started by stamping the angel on thick white paper and trimming it. Then I paper-pieced her. The head to the collar, hands with white robe trim, and feet were stamped on white and colored with Copics; I stamped the robe on a scrap of patterned paper. I trimmed the pieces and glued to the solid white angel, then stickled the wings and halo. The sentiment comes as one horizontal line but I had cut it into four pieces long ago so I could stack the words. This time I decided to stamp the words in a curve - so easy using the MISTI. The piano keyboard washi tape came from my friend Heather (with a bunch of other goodies) - thanks again, Heather!! In a "make it work" moment, I dotted the card with white pen to cover up a tiny ink spot and decided to keep dotting!

Be sure to stop by Merry Monday for inspiration and impetus to get your Christmas cards done before the holidays. This is my third year of playing in their challenges and just love them! Thanks for stopping and have a crafty week!