awesome news - sweet stamp shop

Howdy, peeps! Do I have something to share with you today... I'm in the 'Designer Spotlight' over at Sweet Stamp Shop! :D

My wonderful friend, Judy Marino (who's on the Sweet Stamp Shop DT and whom I've known since the Hero Arts Flickr group first started) emailed me about it one day, and once the shock had worn off, of course I said "yes"! Looking at past spotlight designers, I don't feel I qualify... but I couldn't be more humbled and grateful. ♥ Nicole sent me some of the November releases to play with, and let me tell you, their stamps are So. Much. FUN!

Head on over HERE, to the Sweet Stamp Shop blog to see what stamp sets I used (this trendy alpha is a must, MUST-have). Judy also asked me a few stamping/cardmaking related questions, so you can read that little interview as well. AND, be sure to swing by Judy's blog HERE to see a card she created inspired by one of my recent designs... GORGEOUS  :)

Thanks for sharing in my excitement today! And thank you to Judy and Nicole for this incredible opportunity... I had a blast, and l LOVE your stamps! :) xxoo

simon says... halloween (or halloween colors)

Back again, with a Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog post! :)

As always, your participation could win you (via random drawing) a very generous gift voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp!

This week's theme is Halloween/ Halloween Colors (purple, orange, black). Here's a color inspiration board to get the mojo goin'...

..so even if Halloween cards aren't your thing, you can still play along using the colors shown as your inspiration... yay! :)

Here's my card:

I used the Hero Arts SCARY HOUSE cling stamp and heat embossed it on to a glossy paper, gradient background (sponged Dusty Concord, Worn Lipstick, and Spiced Marmalade - the moon was masked). The card base is Simon's WHITE WOODGRAIN CARD STOCK, liberally inked with Hero's Charcoal Mid-Tone ink (direct to paper technique). After using the Charcoal ink, I inked up my brayer with some BLACK INK and lightly rolled it over the paper a few times. The brayer ensures the black ink just sits on "top" of the woodgrain, and not get in the recessed areas.

It really helps emphasize the texture and give it a very weathered look (that center-left photo on the inspiration board is what really inspired this technique)! The sentiment was created using KELLY PURKEY WHITE ALPHA STICKERS, stacking several of each letter so they look like they're pop-dotted.

Now it's your turn! Upload your Halloween/Color Challenge project HERE, no later than 8am EDT next Wednesday (the 30th), and you'll be entered into the drawing for that amazing gift voucher!

And please go HERE to see the incredible projects created by the rest of my fab teamies, including our newest addition, Emily Leiphart! :)

Thanks for reading.. later, 'gators! xo

more simon says stamp STAMPtember® exclusives.. whimsical flowers

Howdy again! Back with another card featuring some of the STAMPtember® exclusives... this time, the Whimsical Flowers set! :)

These bold, graphic flowers are so fun! I first stamped the solid flower image in the set three times with Hero Art's Fresh Peach ink, masking the center flower. Then I stamped the patterned flower on top of each one with Hero's Raspberry Jam, carefully lining them up. Love these colors together and how the peach shows through! I finished them off by stamping the outline and centers with black ink, fussy cutting the edge, and mounting it on to my card base with pop dots. The sentiment is heat embossed with a super-fine detail embossing powder. I promise the white panel is straight and evenly matted in person... the angle of the photo makes it look like it's not. :)

Don't forget you can go HERE to see all of the brand new STAMPtember® releases in one place... stay tuned, because I have more projects to share using STAMPtember® '13 goodies! ;)

Thanks for stopping by today! xo

Simon Says... it's a blog hop!

Welcome to the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember® Wednesday Challenge group blog hop! :)

A bit about STAMPtember®:

Simon Says Stamp was founded in 2002 with an interest in exclusively selling rubber stamps. It didn't take long until we realized we couldn't stop there. During the past 11 years we celebrate rubber stamping in it's full glory by giving access to people around the world to a one-stop shop. Rubber stamps still remain the heart of our business, and we are celebrating by hosting a STAMPtember® event intended to inspire, educate, and celebrate the greatness of rubber stamping. Part of the enticement of rubber stamping is that stamps can be used in creating or complimenting ANYTHING! from stamping dates on bank documents and postage parcels in the early 18th century, rubber stamping has dramatically expanded to include card making, life documenting, art journaling, scrapbooking, mixed media, and many forms of altering and expressing art!

To celebrate the 4th annual Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember® event, we're 'hopping' along and sharing some great projects featuring the new STAMPtember® product releases, YAY! This is one of the BIGGEST releases Simon has had to date, and features new stamp sets, dies, flair, and stencils... AMAZING stuff! Check out the releases RIGHT HERE!

My favorite products of the release are all the incredible dies... which, on their own are already very versatile and can be used any number of ways. But so many of Simon's dies are really unique! A lot of them coordinate with stencils and stamp sets... furthering their value and your creativity!

We're SO excited that you're here to celebrate with us and hop along in this special challenge group hop! :) Once you're done 'hopping' please be sure to head over to our Wednesday Challenge group blog found RIGHT HERE, and participate in this week's challenge: Celebrate STAMPtember® by using any Simon Says Stamp product on your project. As always, Simon Says Stamp will be randomly giving away a $50 voucher to one lucky participant to spend at the fabulous Simon Says Stamp superstore!

So now, on to my card:

I used the super-fun BIG HELLO craft die, and diecut several strips of card stock all at once. Then I adhered them evenly spaced onto my card base with pop dots. The sentiment is from the new WHIMSICAL FLOWERS stamp set, and I LOVE how fine the font is! I used VersaFine ink in Onyx Black, which is fab for fine-line/detailed images. Overall, I wanted to keep the card simple and bold, just like the die... SO many possibilities with this one! :)

Thanks so much for visiting my blog on the hop! Your next stop is the sweet Laura Sterckx! You'll find her blog, 'Making Cards Is Fun' right HERE. :)

The hop began at the newly designed official Simon Says Stamp blog, so if you encounter any broken links while 'hoppin,' you can head back there for a full list of participants and stops. The Simon blog has a new address and an amazing new look, with all the great inspiration you've come to love and expect from Simon Says Stamp! :)

Don't forget to click below to play along in the challenge once you're done 'hopping' and officially inspired! :)

hello... :)

Hi, friends! Just a quick Simon Says Stamp July 2013 card kit share today... :)

This is such a fun kit... what am I saying, they're all fun. LOL But this one is super festive. I *love* the stamp set in this one, which you can get by itself HERE. I used all Hero Arts inks to match the colors in the kit (RED ROYAL and BUTTER BAR and TIDE POOL) and stamped the dotted line in a fun, random pattern for the background... totally happy with how it came out. The stickers ("Hello") are also from the kit, found separately HERE.

Thanks for reading! See you soon. :)

simon says... by the sea

Hi, friends! Time for another challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog! PLEASE NOTE: the challenge blog now has a new name, new look, AND a new home...

may I introduce, 

the NEW Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog!

You can click either the badge or my link above to get to the new blog. Please be sure to update your bookmarks and blog readers! Email subscribers, your addresses have been saved and transferred over, so you're already good to go. Go check it out! We love our new home, and we know you will, too.  :)

And now, back to the challenge!

This week's theme is the trendy By The Sea. Anything nautical! Here's a lovely inspiration board provided by the ever-fab Joy Taylor to help get those creative juices flowin':

The DT all used products from Fancy Pants on our creations, so if you have any Fancy Pants in your stash, we'd sure love to see you use it, too! But of course, it's not required to be able to participate in the challenge. Anyway, here's my card:

I used the adorable DOWN BY THE SHORE 6x6 paper pad. All of the papers you see here - with the exception of the white card stock - are from that pad. Such perfect colors and cute patterns! The sentiment is from these Kelly Purkey alphabet stickers RIGHT HERE, and though I very rarely use it, this card definitely warranted a bit of twine... THIS ONE would be fab for those nautical-themed cards! :)

So now it's your turn... upload your By The Sea creations to the NEW challenge blog, found RIGHT HERE. As always, please have your project uploaded no later than 8am EST US so you can be eligible for the random gift voucher drawing!

And please stop by the new blog HERE to see what my fellow teamies have done for this challenge, and leave them some love as well. :) xo

That's it for me today. Thank you so much for your supportive comments regarding my mom. They are appreciated more than you know. ♥ See you soon... :)

simon says... happy mail!

Hi, friends! Time for another challenge over at the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog!

The theme this week is  Happy Mail, and the product line we on the DT worked with is TECHNIQUE TUESDAY. If you have any of their fabulous stamps in your stash, we'd love to see them used! But if not, no worries.. it's not mandatory to enter the challenge. :)

My card features images from the Ali Edwards SIMPLY YOU stamp set. First, I just adhered strips of colored card stock in rainbow order (because to me, rainbows are happy, and this is supposed to be happy mail, :) right?) and then heat embossed the sentiment over the top of them. Great way to use up those scraps! The flower is also from the set, and I used ENAMEL DOTS for their centers. Easy peasy!

So now it's your turn! Create your "Happy Mail" project and upload it HERE by 8am EST US next Wednesday, May 8th, and you'll be in the random drawing for a generous gift voucher to spend at Simon Says Stamp!

 

And don't forget to go HERE to see what my wonderful teamies did for this challenge... sure to make your day a happy one! :)

 

 

Thank you for reading today. See you very soon with those cards from the Simon Says Stamp April 2013 card kit! I wanted to get some done this last weekend, but ended up spending my time nursing a major toothache on top of a sinus infection (complete with fever and body aches) instead. So NOT a party... UGH. Ended up having a root canal on Monday, and it's been a slower recovery than expected. But I'm on those wonderful antibiotics and pain meds now, ;) so I hope to have something up very shortly! Thanks for hangin' with me. :)

 

Have a great day!

simon says... anything goes - FOR THE KIDS! :)

Hi, everybody! I have a very special post today... the Simon Says Stamp challenge blog is having a challenge just for the kids! :D


And I have two young girls who were THRILLED when asked if they wanted to participate. ;) I told them they could use just about anything in my craft room (as opposed to just their collection of my no longer used hand-me-down stamps) and here is what they came up with:


This card was made by my 10 year old daughter Ariana. Can you believe how STRAIGHT she stamped the image and the sentiment?! And she must be my daughter, with that clean and simple, one-layered card. :)


And this one is by my seven year old daughter, Emily. Emily is my little card making protegee. She's already got a thing for fussy cutting, heehee! ;) I love how she has the bird talking to the butterfly. She has made some fabulous designs before... maybe I will post them here from time to time!

And now, do you have a young one in your life (ages 2-16) who loves to craft or stamp? Is it too hot outside for them to enjoy their summer break? Then encourage them to be creative and go HERE for all of the important deets and to link up their project. They could win one of TWO Junior Stamper Kits that will be given away! Woohoo! Thank you, Simon Says Stamp! :D


And thank you for reading and for your lovely comments. :) Be sure to go HERE to see some more fabulous kid creations! Be back soon!

SUPPLIES: (my youngest used a kid-friendly washable ink, not shown here ;))

InLinkz.com

a card a day in may - 5/20: JUST SAYING HELLO

Hi, friends! Hope you had a lovely weekend. :) I know it's super late, AGAIN, but better late than never, right?! Weekends are just such a spontaneous time for us... I never quite know when I'll get to sit down stamp/write up a blog post. ;) Anyway, here's another ACADIM post for ya (sorry for the bad photo):


Another really simple one, but a much more cohesive look this time. :) Once again, I just put this together using some scraps that were left on my desk. I really love stamping images with Memories white dye ink these days... such a subtle look:


This was really quick to put together... and it would make a great set if you just changed out card stock colors and sentiments!

As always, thanks for looking. ♥ See you again tomorrow with a very special post! ;)

SUPPLIES
paper: Hero Arts mixed layering papers ('Floral'), Georgia Pacific (white) and JoAnn's (black)
stamps: Hero Arts/Studio Calico #331067 'Chevron' and Hero Arts CL342
inks: Memories dye (in black and white)
other: Hero Arts lavender gemstones

challenge triple play

Hey there! Long time no chat. :) A nasty back injury a couple weeks ago took me out of the crafting game for a while, as it was entirely too painful to sit at my craft desk for any length of time. Actually, it was too painful to do much of anything but lay flat on my back in bed! LOL And once I did start to heal, I had a TON of catching up to do on my day-to-day chores, like laundry and shopping and whatnot. Now that I'm all caught up, I thought I'd come back with a bang and enter THREE challenges this week:

Lisa's second Scribble This! challenge (involving working with levels in your photo editing program)...

Kristina's 54th Color Inspiration challenge...

and of course, the diecut challenge over at the Hero Arts blog. :)

Here's my card, the "before" shot:



And here it is, "after":



And here they are once again, side by side:



Quite a difference! I must admit that I never paid that much attention to the levels of my photos before... I usually just adjusted the shadows/brightness/contrast and thought that was enough. I definitely like how adjusting the levels does all of that for me, in one, simple step. So thanks, Lisa! I'm excited to have learned something new! :) I apologize for the harsh shadows... we're extremely overcast today and I had to use artificial light. :P

Also, I've yet to play in any of Kristina's color challenges, although I've LOVED every single one of them. I'm so glad to finally have had the chance to play along. This was a FABULOUS color combo to work with... thanks, Kristina! :)

And obviously, you can see where I used the die cuts here on my card for the Hero Arts challenge:



Just a Label 1 Nestie and the QuicKutz Blossom Grand alphabet for my sentiment. All stamps, button, and gems are Hero (colored with an orange Copic marker), and the flower is Prima. :)

Thanks for reading! I'll be back on Monday with another new card to share. Have a great weekend!

SUPPLIES: stamps are Hero Arts CL221 and C3085, inks are VersaMagic and Stampin' Up!, white EP, Nestabilities Label 1, QuicKutz Blossom Grand alpha, and pop dots

dotty hello

Hello again! :) Here's my card for last week's "Dots" challenge over at the Hero Arts blog. Who doesn't LOVE dots?! :)



I used a classic Hero set - Box of Dots (of course!) - to make the flower petals by stamping repeatedly in a circle. The background was first stamped with the dots, then with the clouds. I L-O-V-E this cloud stamp, can you tell?! LOL ;) The white dots on the card base are actually embossed from a Cuttlebug embossing strip and then rubbed with a sanding block to reveal the card's white core underneath. I love this color combo, too, don't you?! This was such a fun challenge! :)

Thanks for the peek. It's almost the weekend, YAY!

SUPPLIES: all images (except Dotted background, which is SU!) are Hero Arts (LL890, CL223, CL291, S5215), card base is DCWV, inks are Colorbox chalk inks, Cuttlebug "Just My Type" embossing folder strip set, and LOTS of pop dots. :)

hero arts 'inspired by' challenge

Hey there! Whew, it's REALLY windy today... hope we don't blow away! :O

One of my "duties" as a Hero Arts Hostess is to create cards for the weekly blog challenges. Last week's challenge was to create a card inspired by one of the MANY entries into the "Win a Day on the Hero Arts Blog" contest. There were almost 2,500 entries! To say I had a tough time narrowing it down would be an understatement. But I finally settled on this FAB card by Jill as my inspiration, resulting in this card:



I loved how Jill used color and texture to take her one-layer card to the next level. I changed up a few details, but basically kept the design the same. I LOVED your card, Jill! Thank you for all of your wonderful contributions to the the Hero Arts Flickr group! :)

Thanks for stopping by today... it's almost Friday! :)

SUPPLIES: all stamps (cloud, dotted flower, butterfly, and sentiment) are Hero Arts... diamond Stickles on the butterfly wings and black pen used to outline.

hello friend (may flowers challenge)

The challenge over at the Hero Arts blog last week was right up my alley - flowers. Just about every card I do has a flower somewhere on it. LOL For this card, I wanted to really highlight the flower, so I used a really cool technique on it and popped it up, front and center:



The flower was stamped on shimmery card stock and then "painted" with a waterbursh and reinkers while the paper was still dripping wet. This makes the ink run and bleed, darker in some areas and lighter in others. Tough to catch with the camera at 11:30 at night, but pretty cool in person. I wish I would've had more time to really get that sentiment nice and straight and perfectly spaced... it bugs me. LOL But, I had to get this done in time to post to the Flickr pool. And I think I can say that I'm pretty much all caught up now! LOL *deep breath* Feels good. :)

Thanks for peekin' in today. Hope your week is off to a good start! :)

SUPPLIES: Hero Arts stamps (CL223 and CL272), black and white pigment inks and embossing powders, MM square button, DCWV notecard, and pop dots

Colorful Hello

Here's another card pub'ed in SNR's September issue. It was for a "Simple Sentiment" assignment (click to see larger):


The alpha is from Scrappy Cat and I just love it - it's so fun! Who doesn't love dots? ;) Each letter was stamped with Memories black ink on to different colored card stocks and then cut out and arranged on the card with pop dots. The flowers are Heidi Swapp and Hero Arts. The button isn't really that day-glo in real life! LOL Not too sure what happened there... anyway, pretty "simple". :)

Have you been to the Hero Arts Club Blog yet today? It's Day 1 of the first ever "Win A Day On The Hero Arts Blog" week. (Remember This post here?) Today was Ashley and Lisa's day, and boy, did they spoil everyone with some amazing creations! Thursday is my day with Nancy... can't wait! So very excited. :) And I may just celebrate the occasion with a little give-away right here on the ol' blog. ;) Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great week!

PAPER - Georgia Pacific (white) and SU! (black)
STAMPS - Scrappy Cat "Pajama Party" alpha
INK - Memories black
MISC - Cuttlebug "Swiss Dots" embossing folder, Heidi Swapp and Hero Arts flowers, Hero Arts button, machine stitching, simple string, and pop dots