Pretty Poinsettia

Lately I've been very inspired by Jill Foster and Joy Taylor. Both are so talented and I'm learning a lot about distress inks watching them work on youtube. I think they used this Penny Black poinsettia stamp and I had CASE it. It's embossed in white and then sponged with Festive Berries distress ink and some Fired Brick for the darker shading.

I made this one for my sister and her family. Hope she likes it ! :)

Penny Black blog is a great resource - they are already showing Valentine's stamps. I don't really send V-day cards but I might have to get some of those stamps. Maybe use them for friendship or anniversary cards instead.

Stamps used:
CL460 Hero Arts Joy To All
S5507 Hero Arts Envelope Pattern
Penny Black Cling Christmas Pride

Trio of Trees

Here are a few cards featuring Hero Arts cling set CG223 Season's Greetings. The trees are embossed in metallic green zing. It's not quite as metallic as I had thought it would be. The sentiments are all from Hero Arts clear set Joy to All and another set that has a bunch of smaller Holiday sentiments.

The chevron appears again ! It's the Studio Calico/Hero Arts cling stamp. Love that one. I went for simple and flat cards this year, as you can tell. Did not do much embellishing with buttons, etc. I was running out of time and tried to keep it simple.

Pine cones Three Ways

Here are some cards using the Inkadinkado Evergreens cling set. You can build up a little scene with pine needles and cones. I used distress inks (including the winter ones that were released - the colors are gorgeous!) for the images. I went modern with the last one. That chevron pattern is a Hero Arts/Studio Calico cling stamp. I love it and used it for some other cards too.

Other products used: Spellbinders die, Hero Arts sets Music Background, Joy to All, and Season's Greetings. The red label is a Jenni Bowlin stamp, Corner Chomper.

Seasonal Flourishes

I have friends who celebrate both Chanukah and Christmas in their families - so I always need some general Happy Holiday cards. I had favorited this gorgeous card on Hero Arts flickr group last year. Of course I didn't get a chance to really CASE it but I loved the idea of using the flourish. Looks so pretty stamped with Colorbox pigment Frost White on kraft paper. I used versamark ink to stamp Hero Arts Music Background cling stamp on the base.

The top card uses a sentiment from Hero Arts Joy to All cling set (great sentiments that I used on a lot of holiday ards this year) embossed in Zing Rouge embossing powder. The bottom card uses a sentiment from Stampin' Up and is embossed in silver. Finished both cards off with some bling.

Happy Chanukah !

Here are 2 of my Chanukah cards for this year. The sketch is from a Clean and Simple sketch (I think?). The main focal image is an Outlines stamp, which I embossed with silver embossing powder. I had gotten the Spellbinders labels which I thought would work nicely for the sentiment, which is from Papertrey Ink Mazel Tov set. It took a little doctoring to do the sentiment as they come from 2 different stamps in that set. I also tried to curve the sentiments to fit on the label - that's why they look so wonky :)

I also added some jewels to the image. Something was missing :)

I'll be posting my holiday cards later. I was very late this year (as usual). I had promised myself to start earlier this year, but of course that didn't happen. Maybe 2012 will be different!!

My BFFs

Look at me scrapping so much !! :)  Lately I've been really enjoying scrapping more than making cards. In this page I used Studio Calico July Kits Mind the Gap (main) and Knickers. I added some Hero Arts stamping around the picture. It's hard to see though. This layout I am submitting for Shimelle's Bingo Cards & Butterflies challenge. I am obsessed with the Jenni Bowlin butterfly (I need to buy that stamp!) and was inspired by the yellow + butterflies of Shimelle's page for this layout!

I won't be crafting as much in the next few months, so I was very productive this weekend!

Celtics Season

Here's my first attempt at a 2 page layout! I wasn't sure how to photograph it properly! These pages use Studio Calico August Kits Boardwalk and Boogie Board (and a few other papers and embellishments from my stash). I played along with Shimelle's Grid It Up Challenge in this layout. I had printed these photos up at a local drugstore. I take so many pictures during games and wanted to capture the fun and excitement we had, especially during the playoffs.

Berlin Bound

This beautiful family of 3 moved to Germany recently. We will miss them so much but can't wait to visit them and see their new life unfold in a new city.

I played along with Shimelle's Starting Point Challenge (she's having a great week of challenges with videos too which I really enjoy watching) in this layout using Studio Calico's August kit Boardwalk. There may be some of the add-on Boogie Board kit too.

Off to start the weekend. I have some fun activities planned and also hopefully get to do some scrapping as well!

Welcome Baby Brynn

We went to visit our friends' new baby girl yesterday! Oh she's so sweet! So happy for them.

I made this card for them - I found this clear stamp from Studio G. It had a cute elephant and sentiment that said "be natural" which I found odd :). I used Versamagic chalk ink which does a good job on the cheaper clear stamps. Anyways, the sentiment is from PTI's Baby Button Bits. The set had rhinestones included too so I add them to the bottom border. The white border shape is Fiskar's Upper Crest punch.

My cards have been so simple lately - usually because I'm rushing to make a quick card before having to run out the door with it. I really would like to spend more time on each card!

Have a great day!

Happy Anniversary!

A Happy Anniversary card using this week's camp colors! I really like this combo because brown is one of my favorite colors! Plus that pop of red. The hearts are Studio Calico wood veneers. It looks like more mfgs are coming out with wood shapes which will be fun - especially using them with the mists that are so popular now! The sentiment is Hero Arts. A very simple and quick card to celebrate my anniversary. I wrapped the twine in the number of years we are celebrating our relationship. Thought that was a funny idea :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy New Home!

I'll be sending this card off to my sister who just moved to California ! A generous SC member was giving away some Studio Calico stamps and she graciously sent me this house one. Super cute. I heat embossed it with Mustard Zing. The hearts came from an older Hero Arts clear set. I used a Martha Steward grass border stamp and some letter stickers from American Crafts and Cosmo Cricket. I have to stop hording those stickers! :)

Summer Camp Week 2

I'm in camp right now :). Just participating in a fun summer online card camp. I made this card for week 2 color combo. I got this new Flower Text Hero Arts woodblock stamp. I heat embossed in white, colored in distress inks and cut each flower and leaf. I popped up the flowers and most leaves. I didn't have room for a sentiment, so I'll stamp something on the inside when I am ready to address the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

Flourish Flower

Another quick card playing with some new toys! The blue flower is made from felt using the Sizzix 3D Flower Die. I've seen so many beautiful cards with white ink on kraft, so I was trying this combo with a new Hero Arts stamp. However, my Colorbox Pigment Frost White is so juicy - I'm not getting great images with it. Oh well, I will keep trying :)  

Have a great day!

Embellish Challenge - Thank You

I made this card for the the Embellished Background Stamping Color Trends Challenge! I love the color combo - nothing I would think to put together myself since I'm a little color-challenged :) The circle stamps are from an older clear set (I'll have to add the name later) with different border type images. I stamped that image repeatedly to get the background image. The flower is made with PTI felt from the Sizzix 3D Flower die. Love that thing! Thanks for looking!

Hello Friend

Oh it's been too long since I made some cards ! I won this Critters in the Forest set from Lawn Fawn so I inked it up and colored with Copic markers. I forgot how fun it was to color :) The sentiment is also Lawn Fawn, from Hello Friend set. I really like that stamp company - really cute images that are fun to make quick and simple cards with. The background of clouds is from Hero Arts. I can never have enough of Hero Arts stamps! Thanks for stopping by!

Getting Inky

 

2 of my favorite products here - Tim Holtz distress inks and Hero Arts stamps! I watched this great video on Lily Pad blog and was inspired ! I used distress inks and the foam applicator to apply the colors on the tag and butterfly. I think I'll do a tag series - I'd like to make a set of these and give them as a gift. I know someone who loves to give gifts to her friends and this will be perfect for her!

Stamps Used:

S5033 DesignBlock: Silhouette

H5426 Artists Butterfly
CL490 Sending Smiles Message

Mother's Day

Here is the card I made for my Mom. Thought I'd try a vintage-y style for her. I pulled out some old Basic Grey papers (I have an never-ending pile of the 6x6 pads!). I used several stamps from Poppy Stamps: Peony Branch stamp, Bamboo Shoot, background stamp Peach Blossom Poem. I was lucky enough to win a ton of stamps from them a few months ago. Check out their blog - they make a nice variety of stamps - super cute little gnomes (?), gorgeous floral images and Asian themed stamps.

The sentiment is embossed. I used it a lot on my cards this year - need to see who makes it. I will update.

Happy Mother's Day!

 

Wishing all Mothers a wonderful day! This one was sent to my fiance's Mom. Hope she like it! Very simple and quick card. Embossed Hero Art's stamp It's a Parade with Zing embossing powder in Blush. The base pattern paper is some older paper from A Muse Studio. The resin flower is from Michael's. Love it, but will be costly to mail :)

I will upload the one I made for my Mom. I uploaded it to Flickr at work and deleted the image from my camera, so I will upload it on Monday. Thanks for looking!

She's Having a Baby

I've not been making cards and stamping too much lately. Skiing almost every weekend this winter. The conditions have been great in the Northeast this winter with all the snow. Well, spring is here and I'll be back creating more.

In the meanwhile, I've started scrapbooking! I created a scrapbook page to frame for a friend and sort of got hooked. I've been subscribing to Studio Calico for awhile now so I've been playing with those kits a lot. Honestly I have no idea what I'm doing, but it's fun.

Here is a page I just made - my sister is having a baby! I'm so excited for her and her husband. And for me and my parents as well. :) I came across a fun new sketch challenge blog that focuses on journalling the story behind the pictures. I like that! I played along on the 4/1/11 challenge.  Here is the link if you want to play as well!

Edited to add: Page made from Studio Calico Feb 2011 kit called Candy Shoppe. Additional supplies include Marvy heart punch, MM fabric tape, Martha Stewart butterfly punches, EK Success border punch, Recollections fabric flower, Autumn Leaves Journalling Stamp.

Studio G stamps

Noticed these new mini sets and larger sets of Studio G stamps in my local Michael's. Thought people might be interested - there are some cute sets! You can click on each pic to view a larger pic. Sorry about the quality - taken with my phone.

Love You Sweetie

This is the card I made for my sweetie for Valentine's Day! Are these hedgies or porcupines? They are a cling set from Studio G from Michael's. I was reminded I had this set after seeing Asela's beautiful card. You can see I completely CASED it. I also wanted to play with some new Hero Arts products that I got. The paper is from the Blush Layering pack. The inks are Hero Arts Iris and Poppy. I also used gems from the Blush gem pack for the heart. And the gems on "me" are Hero Arts too :) The sentiment is from a clear set called Anytime Messages CL129.

Hope you have a nice weekend! We are going skiing in western MA. Should be fun!

Thanks a Bunch!

How cute is this little girl? She's from a Penny Black clear set called Betsy Bluebell. Penny Black Blog is hosting challenges on Mondays so I played along. Be sure to check it out here - it was a sketch this week. Used a few EK Success border punches and October Afternoon pattern papers. A little sparkle on top of copic markers and it was all done! Thanks for looking!

Moxie Fab - Bright and Bold Challenge

Paper Crafts came out with a special magazine issue called Color Inspiration for Card Makers. Moxie Fab is celebrating the release with some color challenges. I hope to do more, but I tried The Bold and Bright Challenge. Such a fun combo that I wouldn't have put together myself, but I love it! Makes me want to try more bright colors in my crafting. Play along - there are other great color combos to try out on Moxie Fab World !

The set I used for this card is from Hero Arts called My Type (CL483). The typewriter is embossed with black embossing powder which gives it a nice shine. Thanks for stopping by!

Wedding Wishes

Another overdue wedding card that needs to be sent! I usually go with plain papers for wedding cards, but decided to use these pretty K&Co papers with coordinating button. The image is embossed with silver powder. The sentiment is Hero Arts. Have a great day!

Happy New Year!

Wishing you a wonderful new year! I hope this year is productive for all of us in whatever goals we set for ourselves. I love a fresh start!

I have been a long time Studio Calico subscriber. I love their kits - esp their exclusive stamps that they make! You can buy them later on the site usually. I pulled out a kit from last year (Feb 2010) and started making a few cards with them. I intended to make a wedding card for my sister, but then started making a few more cards with the kit.

Here is a new card using a new Hero Arts set called My Type (CL483). I used Unscripted Sketches #88 for this. Just discovered this new site for great inspiration! Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by!