tuesday trigger - warm fuzzies

Hello, friends! The last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy for me. Lots of family birthdays in a very short time - five in just two weeks, to be exact! And two of them are my own kids, a few days apart! So, to say I've been busy lately is a bit of an understatement!

However, I really wanted to participate in the latest Tuesday Trigger challenge over on the Moxie Fab blog:


I just love the colors, the soft yet explosive look to the flowers... I knew right away what I wanted to do:


Aaaannd this isn't it. LOL BUT... I still like it. :) About half way through my original design (with different images and techniques), I realized I was starting to incorporate a lot of elements like those Julie used in her jaw-dropping creation HERE (with the more muted colors of the inspiration pic, of course). I really wanted my design to be different, so I started over, obviously going in another direction. I still adore Julie's card! And I'm sure I'll still finish the other one... I'll just be sure to post it as an "inspired by.." piece. ;)

Anyway, I was inspired by the colors, obviously, as well as the grouping of the flowers, and thought that the new Hero Arts Starbursts stamp would be perfect. After stamping the image with that wonderful new Cup o' Joe mid-tone shadow ink, I punched some circles the same sizes as the bursts out of masking paper. Then, I placed the negative masks over the corresponding bursts and sponged away (the Scattered Straw isn't this bright IRL). I picked this sentiment because it reflected how the inspiration photo made me feel. :) The white lines parallel to the sentiment strip were added with the Unibal Signo... the card base looked a little plain without them.

And that's it! Thanks so much for stopping by today. :) Can you believe it's almost the weekend?! YAY!

SUPPLIES
stamps: Hero Arts K558 & CL342
inks: Hero Arts AF214, Ranger Scattered Straw & Tattered Rose
paper: The Paper Studio (kraft), Bazzill (peach), Georgia Pacific (white)
misc: Hero Arts button, Stampin' Up! twine thread, Unibal Signo, Eclipse masking paper, sponges, & pop dots

new card, new year, new blog!

Hello, friends! Did you think I had completely abandoned my blog altogether? :) Since my last post back in April, a lot has happened in my personal life. I ended up encountering challenges that I never imagined I would ever have to face. As a result, I had no time or desire to create much at all, let alone blog about it. So, I had to take a much-needed break and leave the blog indefinitely, to avoid self imposing even more stress upon my life at that time.

However, we have finally settled into our new house here and things are gradually on the upswing. I'm certainly happy about getting to spend more time in my craft room these days! In fact, I'm so excited for the new year and all the possibilities it brings, that I've decided to totally revamp my entire blog - a fresh new look... a blog "face lift", if you will. But more on that later.....

Here's one of over a dozen cards I made on World Cardmaking Day. Did you participate, too? It was the first time I had been creatively productive in months. Like a breath of fresh air. The card's nothing special, since I was challenged by my hubby and oldest son to make 25 cards that day... they needed to be, easy. ;)



The flowers are from the Hero Arts/Sizzix stamp & die combo set called "Floral". For an avid fussy cutter like me, these sets are a dream come true! The dies are 'cookie cutter' style, with the cutting edge on the inside perimeter of the die. So you can see your stamped image and position the die over it perfectly. No stamp positioners needed! Some sponging to create a focal point, one of my fave color combinations, and it's done. :)

As for my new blog: in addition to the face lift, I've decided to create a new URL (web address)... something that was easy to remember and not blog title-specific. So look for my post about that early next week, hopefully (it's still being tweaked as I type). I know it's a pain to have to change your book marks and feed readers, but I promise this will be a one-time thing. :) I can't wait to reveal it!

I look forward to the new year and the hope it brings. May 2012 find you healthy and blessed beyond measure. Happy new year! See you soon!

SUPPLIES
stamps: Hero Arts
inks: SU Cool Caribbean & Wild Wasabi, Ranger Distress Fired Brick, & Memories black
paper: SU Cool Caribbean & Basic Black, Georgia Pacific white
misc: Hero Arts/Sizzix dies, Eclipse masking paper, corner chomper, and pop dots

old card... masking and copics

Hi, there! Life is still keeping me incredibly busy. I don't even have time for email! I update my Facebook status about once a week, just to keep close friends and family in the loop, but other than that, no time for much else. And now that we're heading into the holiday season, I don't see any of that changing! ;)

Here's a card I made quite a while ago. I was editing some family photos the other day and came across this picture of it and thought, "Hmm... did I ever get around to posting this one??" Searched my blog and lo and behold, I hadn't. So here it is, better late then never. Besides, with all the holiday cards out there these days, I thought it would be refreshing to see something kinda springy. :)


I used one of my all-time favorite stamps, the Hero Arts Friend Definition stamp. I also love the Hero Arts Antique Engravings set for coloring, which on here, I used some Copics. I popped up the butterfly's wings with some super thin (1/8th of an inch) pop dots to make it look like it had just landed on the card. :)

And as you probably already know, masking is also one of my all-time favorite techniques for creating interest without adding a lot of bulk. Here, I just cut a circle out of thin copy paper with my circle cutter, and used the negative piece as my mask. Here's a masking tip: When you want to mask with a negative piece, first use repositionable adhesive and position the positive cut-out exactly where you want the stamped area to be on your project. Then lay the negative over that so it fits perfectly over the positive, adhere the negative to the card front, remove the positive, and voila... your negative mask is now perfectly positioned on your card front, ready for stamping. :)

Hope this finds you and your family well! I'll be back with another post soon... more cards I forgot to put up on the blog. LOL Thanks so much for stopping by and reading. Hugs!

SUPPLIES:
Hero Arts stamps CG125, CL383, and CL342. Memories Black ink. Copics V15, V01, and Colorless Blender. Hero Arts gems.

long time no chat! (new stamps, masking examples, & a question...)

Hello, again! Remember me? Ha. I know, it's been a while since my last post. Many of those New Year Resolutions I made have kept me quite busy! ;) I've definitely kept the one about stamping more often as well, just haven't had the time - or, quite frankly, the desire - to photograph much of what I've made. Just between you and me, photographing my cards is the thing I like the least... might even borderline despise. LOL If you've read my blog for a while now, you know this, as I've lamented about it many times. :P However, practice does make perfect, right? Although in my case, I'd be happy with 'decent'. :P

Anyway, while a handful of my cards made recently have already found their way into the hands of friends and family (in other words, weren't photographed before being sent - oops), I still have some left that I can share here. :) These are made with some newer Hero Arts stamps that I just got first of the year (click to enlarge):

As you can see, some masking done here. One of my favorite techniques for keeping things clean, simple, and less bulky, but yet still unique.


Create a window with a circle punch, and then stamp a little something on the inside that shows through... it's easy to do, but looks complex and is quite engaging for the recipient.


Maybe even add an embellishment with a pop dot for a little dimension. This is a great way to make both the front AND the inside of your card fun and interesting, all at the same time!

Thanks so much for looking... and for sticking around these last couple of months! :) I do hope your new year is shaping up to be the best so far. Before you go, I do have a quick question... I know there are sooo many bloggers out there who do videos, and there really isn't anything that has yet to be done. However, I've thought about giving it a go myself this year, and wondered if there was anything you all would like to see? Let me know in the comments, or drop me an email (over there in the sidebar -->)... maybe if we put our heads together we can come up with some fun ideas. ;)

Thanks again for reading. Hope to see you soon!

SUPPLIES: all stamps Hero Arts (friend text, butterfly, sentiments, flourishes), Memories and Stampin' Up! inks, Copics, Stampin' Up! card stock, EK Success punches, & pop dots.

happy thoughts (pub)

Hi, there! Hope you had a nice Labor Day weekend (to all American and Canadian friends). A quick post today, as it's only our second day of school and we're still getting acclimated. :)



I masked off an area and stamped the woodgrain pattern (Hero Arts). The flower is actually a large capital 'O' alphabet stamp, stamped repeatedly in a circle. I cut it out and mounted it to the card base with popdots, and then threaded a button (Autumn Leaves)with some yellow gingham ribbon, and attached that to the flower's center with gluedots. A heat embossed sentiment (Hero Arts) finishes it off.

Funny thing I noticed today while updating my blog... today's date is 09/09/09! :D

Have a lovely day! Thanks for stopping by. :)

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.

halloween in the spring

Hey, there! :) I know I'm posting later than usual... the weather is seriously luring me outside today! It's gorgeous. I'm really trying to appreciate it all that I can now, considering we may be moving back to AZ in a month or so. :/

Anyway, here's those two Halloween cards that I made and had pub'ed last year. I don't usually make Halloween cards, but they were for an assignment. This first one uses some Hero Arts owls that are actually line art images, but coloring them in with a black pen turns them into silhouette images! Perfect for that spooky night time scene:



I know the photography isn't the best here, but I was literally shooting dozens of pics the other night... didn't strive too much to make each one come out perfect, sorry. ;) You can click the images to make them larger to see more detail. Anyway, I punched out a piece of copy paper and used the negative from that to mask the entire sky so I could brayer the moon in with yellow ink. Then I used the punched piece to mask the moon and brayered the sky. Like I said, I stamped the owls, but then colored them in with a black pen and added googlie eyes to really make them spooky!

This card is pretty straight forward, but it was a fun one to put together:



The card base was stamped ("Sanded" from SU) and sponged, the pumpkins were paper pieced with their expressions heat embossed, and the bats were heat embossed. The alpha is from SU's "Typeset" alpha - pretty sure that's the name - also heat embossed.

Anyhoo, better get back outside! We're scheduled for rain this weekend, so it's now or never! OH - and my brand NEW Cricut Expression is on it's way! YAY! Can't wait until that gets here. :) I still have my original up for sale, and I'm now including an exclusive cartridge (Plantin Schoolbook) with it, so let me know ASAP if you're interested! And stay tuned for some really great clean and simple cards done on the Cricut machine with the Storybook cartridge, too! ;)

Thanks for reading today... see you soon!

SUPPLIES:
"Happy Halloween" - stamps are Hero Arts (Sparkle Clear Yoo Hoo Owls), Stampabilities (web), and Inkadinkado (sentiment), Vivid and Memories inks, glossy card stock and googlie eyes
"BOO!" - stamps are all SU!, inks are SU! card stock is SU!, ribbon is May Arts

another challenge card

Here's another card I did for the Hero Arts one layer challenge. And of course, there's more masking. It really is a great way to give your one-layer cards dimension and interest without adding bulk.

With this card, I tried to mimic a strip of my favorite patterned paper - the Bo Bunny tone-on-tone dotted papers:



Again, sorry about the photo. The red strip was masked and brayered with Lipstick Red chalk ink, the dots were stamped with a darker burgundy red ink (Maroon chalk ink, I think?), and then the flourish stamped over that. All stamps (dots, flourish, and sentiment) are Hero Arts. Do me a favor, will you? Just pretend that you don't see the red fingerprint smudges all along the crease... I did my best to edit them out, but I can still see them and it's driving me batty. Grr, the pitfall of working with glossy card stock. ;)

We're in for even more snow today! It's so weird... been such a mild winter and now, all of a sudden, while everyone else is celebrating the beginning of spring and warmer weather, we're getting dumped on. LOL But, it is still desperately needed moisture, so I can't complain too loudly.

Thanks so much for peekin'. Have a great day! :)

SUPPLIES
All stamps are Hero Arts (Thank You Flourishes, Card Messages, and Tiny Jubilee Dots), inks are Colorbox and Memories, flowers are Paper Studio, Hero Arts, and Chatterbox (rhinestone flower), and black gemstones are Hero Arts.

hero arts blog birthday challenge

Hello. :) Here's a card I did way back in December during my blogging hiatus... one of, I think, maybe two total. LOL I didn't stamp much because it was still too painful. But, it was right after Christmas and I needed a couple of really special thank you cards.

I love this little Hero Arts thank you tree. Lots of possibilities with it, such as masking/reverse masking and punches, etc. Here, I did some reverse masking:



Please excuse the poor photo quality. I don't have the time, strength, or patience anymore to stress about it too much. :/ The heart is a punch that was covered with red glitter and popped up on dimensionals, everything else is pretty self explanatory.

This week, the Hero Arts Blog is celebrating its first birthday with a one layer card challenge. I decided to just replicate the above card, but modify it to fit the challenge:



This time, for the heart, I used the negative of the punched out heart as a template to draw a red heart directly on to the tree, which was then traced with a glue pen and covered with red glitter. On the first card, the tree was semi-grounded by the red ribbon. Here, I just used a row of irregular polka dots from the Sparkle Clear "Just Wanted" set as the ground. This card has such a simple, clean feel to it that I really love. :) It's been a long time since I've participated in a Hero Arts challenge, but this week's seemed right up my alley. I'm looking forward to participating in them again.

In an effort to save time and strain, I have to start making my supply lists as short and sweet as possible. I'm just going on the assumption that everyone can pretty much tell what products I've used, but if there's ever anything that you'd like to know more about, by all means, please feel free to email me. :)

Oh, and thank you for your input regarding my pub'ed cards. I'll be posting those as soon as I can get them re-photographed.

Thanks for stopping by today. Stay tuned for a give-away soon! ;)

SUPPLIES:
Card 1 - stamp is Hero Arts, inks and card stock are SU!, Cuttlebug embossing folder, EK Success heart punch, May Arts ribbon, Art Institute glitter, and pop dots.
Card 2 - stamps are Hero Arts, inks are SU!, glitter is Art Insitute.

simple friend

Here's a friendship card that I made over two weeks ago. I've been struggling to get a good photo of it (click to see larger):


Real simple, but still effective. The kraft card stock was masked and the 'By Definition' image stamped over the mask. Then I stamped the flora image over that, and embossed with some white EP. I also added some bling to the flower centers, and a little scoring with my Scor-Pal adds a nice, elegant touch, without being too distracting.

Hope you're having a great week so far! Thanks for stopping by today. :)

**This card can be seen in the Feb. '09 issue of Scrapbook News & Review .**
**Comments have been disabled for this post.**

SUPPLIES
paper - black and kraft card stocks
stamps - SU! 'By Definition' and Archiver's exclusive Hero Arts 'Friend' set
ink - Memories (black) and SU! Whisper White
misc - white EP and heat tool, Hero Arts (black) Gemstones, Scor-Pal, and pop dots

Taking a break from the pink

Here's a card I made for a super sweet person to thank her for basically fulfilling one of my wildest stampin' dreams EVER (click to see larger):


Pretty simple and straightforward, although "you made my day" might be understating things a bit. ;) The oval was stamped after making a mask of the tree trunk. Then, after stamping the tree with black ink, I used dot stamps of various sizes with varying shades of green ink and dotted the tree for some color and added interest. The tag was stamped on the corners with the edge of the tree stamp and some green ink. A little ribbon, some unusual matting, and of course the bling, and that's all there is to it. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a fabulous weekend! :)

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

SUPPLIES:
paper - SU! Whisper White, Basic Black, Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke
stamps - Stampendous oval, the rest are Hero Arts (Scroll Tree, Flourish Wave, Box of Dots, and Anytime Messages)
ink - Memories black, SU! Certainly Celery, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke
misc - Hero Gemstones, Offray ribbon, SU! tag punch, and pop dots

Flocked Mother's Day

One of the techniques I couldn't wait to try with this awesome Hero Arts 'Stencil' DesignBlock stamp (besides chalking) was flocking. I love the rich look and texture of the flock. When paired with bold, swirly images like this one, it gives such a dramatic, elegant feel to the card (click to see larger):

This card is for my mom, so I used her favorite color, blue, as the base. After masking my area and then stamping the image in black, I went over it with my Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, section by section, followed by flock. I have yet to find another adhesive (pen or pad) that does a better job of adhering the flock than a plain ol', trusty glue pen (the Zig 2-Way and the Sakura being my faves). And believe me, I've tried them all! ;) Anyway, the "Mom" medallion was stamped and matted, with a row of Gemstones added in a curve to complete the circular design. A small flower was stamped onto the blue paper, flocked, punched, and put up on a pop dot for dimension. An additional sprinkling of Gemstones throughout the flocked image ties it all together.

One thing I realized while making this card, is that I just can't tolerate my Coluzzle any longer! The edges of the card stock seem to snag and curl, even with a fresh blade (which by the way, are becomming harder and harder to find)! I would also like to find a circle cutter that gives the option of cutting mats in 1/16th of an inch increments. Does one such cutter exist? Over all, I just don't like the inconsistent results I've been getting with the Coluzzle and need something different. What kind of circle cutter do you have? What do you like about it, and where can I find it? I'd appreciate any opinions, thanks! :)

And to all the mothers, moms, mommies, mamas, and mums out there... my sincerest wishes to you for a wonderful Mother's Day. May it be filled with all things sweet and special. :) Thanks for stopping by!


SUPPLIES:
Paper - Stampin' Up! Whisper White, Basic Black, and Soft Sky
Stamps - all Hero Arts
Ink - Memories (black)
Misc - Sakura Quickie Glue Pen, Stampendous Fun Flock, Coluzzle, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, Hero Arts black Gemstones, circle punch, and pop dots

Garden Silhouette Birthday

It's been almost a week since I put up a card, so I figured I better get to it! ;) Here's one version of the many birthday cards I sent out this month. They were all the same design, but done in different colors... like plum, garnet, and this one here in blue:


I have a permanent mask made out of acetate that I used for the sponged rectangle area. Then I stamped the gorgeous flora image in different generations of Brocade blue, still over the mask. The final image was stamped in black, without the mask, to pay homage to the set's name and give it a real sihouette look. On this version, I added some sparkle by using my Sakura Quickie glue pen (which rocks, I just love that thing...) and my absolute favorite glitter - Barbara Trombley's Art Institute glitter in Black. Gentle taps of the glue pen made perfcetly sized little dots - exactly the same size as the dots that make up the image itself - so random little dots of sparkle really make the main image stand out... I wish the camera could've captured it.

Anyway, another OLC... quick, easy, and inexpensive to mail. ;) While I managed to abandon the circles, I'm back to the panoramic card-scapes. LOL Oh well. I do have a card that I will post in a day or two that is the COMPLETE OPOSITE of all the simple OLCs I've been making lately. Be sure to check it out! ;)

We got some snow last night so I best be gettin' out there to shovel the sidewalk. Thanks for lookin' and have a great week! :)


CARD SUPPLIES
Stamps: SU! "Garden Silhouettes" (retired '07 hostess) and Endless Creations )sentiment)
Ink: SU! Brocade Blue, Memories Black
Misc: sponges Sakura Quickie Glue Pen and Barbara Trombley's Art Institute glitter in black
Technique: masking

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