winner winner, chicken dinner! and a hero challenge card

Howdy! WOW - thank you for all of the great comments on your springy/Easter plans. So many of you love gardening... that's cool! It's still snowing out here about once a week, so outdoor activities are sporadic at best. And we have no extended family out here either, so we'll just be celebrating Easter with our own little family - eggs, goodies, church, maybe some afternoon kite flying... :)

Anyhoo - the winner! I had random.org pick a number for me:



And the 21st comment belongs to:



Congratulations, Jessica! I will email you for your mailing address. And thanks to everyone for playing along! :)

Now, for something to see... the Hero Arts blog challenge this week is to stamp on anything BUT paper. Here's my card, inspired by Tami Hartley's adorable tote (see link above):



I stamped on acetate and buttons. The acetate is "floating" due to putting the stamped panel up on pop dots, which are strategically hidden under the flowers. Also hidden is some stamping I did with VersaMark on the card base - they're the same dots and circles used on the flower centers, embossed with some clear EP. This color combo was a bit of a stretch for me. Overall, I'm not too sure if I like how it came out. But it's good to try new things every once in a while, right? That's what challenges are for. ;)

Thanks for peekin' in today. It's almost the weekend! :)

SUPPLIES: All stamps Hero Arts, StazOn and VersaMark inks, DCWV card base, clear EP, acetate sheet, flowers are Prima and Hero, buttons and gemstones are also Hero, and pop dots

One of my pub'ed items

Here's a card that was pub'ed in the September issue of SNR. (Speaking of SNR, check out a sneaky peeky of my Thanksgiving table scape at the top of the main page! :D Subscribers get to see the whole enchilada... napkin ring, dinner favor, wine glass charm, and more!)


The assignment was to use clear/sheer elements and this is one of two cards (click to see detail) I did for that assignment. Similar to this card here, I stamped the image on acetate and then painted on the back. Popped it up on dimensionals, added some bling, some piercing, and it's good to go. :)

Not feeling too chatty today, so I'll just leave it at that. Thanks for stopping by. :)

PAPER - Stampin' Up! (R. Rose, C. Celery, B. Black)
STAMPS - Stampin' Up! dotted argyle background, Hero Arts "Flourish Flower", Technique Tuesday "Simple Sentiments"
INK - Staz On
MISC - acetate, Making Memories acrylic paint, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Perfect layers, Stampin' Up! Ticket Corner punch, dimensionals (black ones are from EK Success), rose adhesive rhinestones (unknown), paper piercer and template (Stampin' Up!)

the first of a few challenge cards

Hope you and yours had a safe and happy fourth! :)

Here's a card I made for the Inspiration Challenge that was part of the Two Peas WSW. Here's the inspiration piece (paper plates by Design Design Inc.):

And here's my card (click to see larger):


Like I mentioned before, the acetate made this a tough card to photograph... I had to shoot at a really sharp angle to prevent glare. Anyway, the floral image (a Hero Arts Archiver's exclusive) was stamped and heat embossed. The sentiment was also stamped and heat embossed on acetate, and added to the card with 1/16th inch pop dots (under the gemstones). The sentiment almost appears to "float" on top of the card front. This card went together pretty quickly and I'm really happy with how it turned out.

As always, thanks for dropping by. Have a great weekend! :)

ETA: This card can be seen in the Sept. '08 issue of Scrapbook News & Review

**Comments have been disabled for this post.**

SUPPLIES
paper - SU! Soft Sky
stamps - all Hero Arts (flora: Archiver's exclusive "Friend" set, sentiment: Clear Design "Anytime Messages" CL129)
ink - SU! Whisper White (craft) and Colorbox pigment in black
misc - acetate, black and white EPs, heat tool, Perfect Layers, Hero Arts Gemstones, and pop dots

Special Acetate "Window" Thank You

Thank you for your well wishes! :) Before sending it to Jennifer to thank her for her INSANELY generous RAK, I managed to get a few of my own shots of my card that was featured on the Hero Blog (click to see larger):

I have finally given up on ever learning how to get a decent picture with my camera. :(

The inspiration for my card was this amazing beauty which I just LOVE, made by Tami. The main image (from one of the stamp sets that Jennifer had sent) was stamped on acetate and then painted on the back with acrylic paints, requiring a verrrry small paintbrush and a verrrry AMPLE glass of Pinot Noir. ;) It was mounted onto the black card stock with black pop dots, which virtually disappear into the mat. The pop dots were even further camouflaged with a little red bling.....


Let me tell you... it's quite the intimidating task to make a card for a professional card maker who's amazing work is all over the magazines and interweb! I've admired Jennifer's talents and style in both card making and scrapbooking for several years, so the pressure was really on with this card! However, I thoroughly enjoyed the privilege to make one for her and I hope she liked it as well.

Thanks for peeking today. :)


CARD SUPPLIES:
Notecard: Hero Arts Crimson Notecards
Stamps: all Hero Arts (Sparkle Clear 'Just Wanted' & 'Special Friend' sets, retired 'Thanks' background)
Inks: Stampin' Up Real Red and StazOn
Misc: acetate, Making Memories acrylic paints (Red Wagon and Honeydew), SU Ticket Corner punch, Hero Arts red Gemstones, and black pop dots (EK Success)

The kind of card I hate to make

"What kind of card is that?" you say?

Well, that would be the sympathy kind. :(

My SIL lost her dad back in October. And just a few days ago, lost her cousin - to whom she was so close while growing up. Two very significant people in her life are gone in such a short period of time, and my heart just breaks for her. :(

I have been playing with acetate a lot lately and since her favorite color is purple, this is what I came up with for her (click to see larger):


I knew going into this that I wouldn't be able to get a very good picture of the card, thanks to the acetate. I did what I could. Hopefully you can see enough to get a good idea of how it looks IRL. Regardless, I've decided that I LOVE working with acetate, so be on the lookout for more acetate cards soon! ;)

All in all, I'm very pleased with how this card came out. Don't you just love it when you have an idea in your head and you're able to successfully translate it to paper?! That's what happened here... I'd had an idea like this in my head for a while now, and I'm just SO thrilled I was able to make it work. The masking, the two-tone flowers, the design on the acetate... since I think the card is pretty self-explanatory, I'm just gonna say "YAY!" and leave it at that. LOL ;)

Have a GREAT weekend and be sure to hug the ones you love. :)


Supplies
paper - SU! Whisper White, Pale Plum and Perfect Plum
stamps - SU! "Close As A Memory" and Autumn Leaves' Swirls
ink - SU! Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Mellow Moss (marker), and StazOn white
misc - acetate, Perfect Layers tool, SU! ticket corner punch, and rhinestones
technique - masking