checking in

Hey there. :) I realized it's been a while since I last updated my blog, so I thought I'd check in with an update.

Lots goin' on of course, to get ready for our move, but I'm also working on a few major projects right now. I'm finishing up my sister's wedding favors (she gets married 10/10), as well as starting on TWO Christmas card orders that I got this year! Gotta say, THAT was exciting... to know that not just one, but TWO people love my work enough to want ME to make their holiday cards just blows me away! :D So anyway, for obvious reasons, those things need to be kept private. ;) And with everything else that's going on, I really haven't had a lot of time to sit and stamp just for me, therefore I have nothing to show you at the moment. :)

Next week begins the countdown until our move. We are just a few weeks away, so I probably won't be posting anything until after we're settled. By then, it's almost the holidays, and *whew*! The REAL craziness begins! LOL Anyway, just wanted to post a quick update. If anyone needs to get ahold of me right away, just click "Email me" over in my sidebar. Thanks for reading and for your patience... talk to y'all soon! ♥

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. :)

♥ U (pub'ed)

Hey there! Well, summer's quickly coming to a close. School has started (for many) and the weather's cooling off. I'm still finding myself a little swamped, particularly as we just found out that my hubster's job will transfer us all to Nashville, Tennessee, effective immediately. SO... in addition to getting all four kids started with school, I can add a deep house cleaning, minor routine maintenance repairs, packing, house hunting, and multiple appointment scheduling (movers, showings, etc.) to my list. I really despise house hunting, especially from long distance. :P And we know NOTHING about Nashville... can any of you guys fill me in? Nice areas? Suburbs to avoid? Any advice in general? And if you could just keep me (and my sanity - ha) in your prayers over these next few weeks, I'd REALLY appreciate it that, too. :)

Anyway, on to a card. This was a pub a few months ago... which means that I made it several months ago. LOL So I'm not sure I can remember exactly what stamps (sets) I used, but I do know that they're all Hero Arts. ;) It was for a "Stamping Double" assignment, which means that I was required to use at least 2 stamps on my project. Easy peasy!



As you can see, I used many... the cloud background, the bird, and the grass, obviously. I also used a speech bubble stamp and some alpha stamps for the sentiment. The bird was colored with Prismas and Gamsol, cut out, and put up on pop dots, as was the speech bubble (sentiment). I remember that I had just gotten this Hero Arts bird stamp set at the time the assignment was due and thought he was so cool and funky looking! :D Anyway, not my usual style, but still fun. :)

Thanks again for reading. I know my posts have been sporadic at best lately, and with all I have to do this month, September's not going to be much better. :( But I really appreciate those who are patient and stick with me. Means A LOT. :) XO

On a more personal note, just had to say happy birthday to my sweet daughter 'A', who turns 8 years old today, and a great big kiss to my hubby today as well, for stickin' with me these last 16 CRAZY years (yep, it's our anniversary, too). I love you both, with all my heart. You are my reason and my purpose! Every day. :) XOXO

Thanks... I hope to have more cards to share, so see you soon!

so sorry - pub

Hello there! Once again, I let the blog go for over a week. :P It'll be nice once we start school again... a daily routine, consistency... always a good thing. :)

Here's a quick card that was done for SNR quite a while back. It was for an "I'm sorry" assignment. I remember being quite pressed for time making this... I think it was right around the time of my day on the Hero Arts blog, or maybe when I was helping to co-ordinate the Winter Wonderland Card crop. Regardless, I wasn't overly pleased with it... I'm still not. But it uses a cool technique:



The flowers were colored with markers and then spritzed with water for that mottled, watercolor look. The flecks were made with my Color Spritzer from SU, but you can make your own with a re-inker and an old toothbrush. Just put a couple drops of re-inker onto a non-porous surface like a CD case or coffee can lid. Lightly dip the bristles of your brush into the ink, gently tap off the excess, and then use your finger to flick the bristles so they splatter ink onto your project (practice on scratch paper first, to get the right distance from your paper). Oh, you might want to cover your work surface with a few newspapers or magazine pages to catch the stray splatters, and gloves are also a good thing here, otherwise you'll have ink under your nails for DAYS. ;) Of course the Color Spritzer from SU takes all the work out of achieving this look, but in a pinch, a toothbrush will suffice.

I finally got pics of my more recent cards - yes, I said CARDS, plural LOL - but I've decided to try submitting them! So I won't be posting them here just yet. ;) I've never had the courage to submit to a print magazine before. We'll see what happens. :)

Hope your week is off to a great start! Thanks so much for reading... I appreciate it so very much. XO







SUPPLIES: all paper (yo-yo yellow & mellow moss), stamps (upsy daisy & inspired by nature, can't remember the name of the set for the sentiment... it's from an old SAB set), and inks (markers - yo-yo yellow, mellow moss, always artichoke, chocolate chip) are SU.

celebrate the 4th - pub

Hey, there! Holy cow, it's been over a week since I last posted! I'm just so busy enjoying our summer break while I can that I keep running out of time to blog. The kids will start school on the 8th and this year, I'll be teaching ALL FOUR. Yes, my baby will start pre-K. *sob, sniff sniff* I guess I can't really call her may "baby" anymore, can I? :(

I digress. :) Here's a card that I made for a 4th of July pub assignment for SNR. I wanted to make a card with a sort of "flag" look to it, and this is what evolved:



Some stars are white embossed on blue card stock and then cut out and mounted on pop dots. The rest were stamped directly on the card with navy ink. The "Celebrate" panel was stitched on my machine and then the sentiment was stamped in between and heat embossed. It's different, but I think I like it. :)

I did manage to find some time to stamp this past week (used my new Hero Arts CLiNGS!), but my pics aren't coming out too well thanks to being so overcast these last few days. But one way or another, I'll post them soon.

Can't believe it's Friday already... hope you have a great weekend! And thanks for reading!







SUPPLIES: all stamps are Hero Arts (Galaxy of Stars with miscellaneous stars from other random sets, and All Occasion Messages for the sentiment), inks are SU! craft (white) and Versamagic (navy), white EP, machine stitching, Hero Arts star gems, and pop dots.

pub'ed card set

Hey, there! How's your summer going? Mine's keeping me pretty busy. :) Trying to get outside and enjoy this weather as much as possible before it ends! Either it's going to start snowing in a couple of months, or we're going to be living back in AZ in a couple of months... either way, the weather's NOT going to be conducive to getting out much! LOL So hopefully that explains part of why I've been so absent. Still not feeling all that well either, so nothing brand new to show yet. I have been playing around with my new Hero Arts CLiNGS stamps a little bit, so I hope to have something new to see soon using those. :)

Until then, here's just a simple card set that was done for SNR back in Nov./Dec. When making card sets, I like coordination and unity. :) Using the same colors and patterns, and just a select few stamps makes the set more cohesive. Here's the stationery box that the cards all go in. I got the template from my local stamp store, and they got it from Stamp Your Art Out (seen here in the 'The Envelopes Please' section). I LOVE this template! SO easy to use:



The ribbon is used as a belly band, and just slides down to reveal the opening flap. I Xyroned (so not a word, I know, LOL) a piece of red card stock and a piece of polka dot paper together, BEFORE tracing and cutting with the template. Lining the stationery box with patterned paper just gives it a more interesting, finished look:



You can see that I also used the same patterned paper on the cards. Again, to tie everything in together. :) I just used a simple layout and alternated the orientation to get different looks. I used only one flower stamp (that same flower from my favorite Hero Arts flower set of all time!) and colored it with Copics to match. Each one was adhered to each card with pop dots for dimension:



When making card sets, I like to include a variety of sentiments. You can see here I included one for friendship, one for birthday, one for thanks, and one just to say "hello". I gave this set to my mom... she loved it. :)

Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great Tuesday and see you soon!







SUPPLIES: stamps are Hero Arts (flower, "hello", "thanks", and "friend" sentiments) and Inkadinkado (happy birthday sentiment), paper is Making Memories (OLD!), Fiskars Threading Water border punch, Hero Arts black gemstones (on stationery box only), and Offray ribbon

Christmas in July

Hey there! I've been noticing on a lot of other blogs and websites doing "Christmas in July" posts... cards for the holidays posted now, during the dog days of summer. Anything to help us forget about the heat for a moment, right? ;)

It just so happens that I have a couple of cards from last year's holiday that I've yet to share. The first one is from the December issue of SNR and features the emboss resist technique:



The large snowflake was stamped with white ink and embossed with white EP on the white card base, and then navy ink was sponged over it to bring it out. Smaller snowflakes were stamped with the same navy ink around the main image. I also used my Quickie glue pen and drew some swirls which were then sprinkled with iridescent glitter. Very simple, fun, winter-time card. :)

This next card was also featured over at SNR... I can't remember if it was for our World Cardmaking Day crop or the Winter Wonderland Card Crop, but I do know it was for a photo inspiration challenge that I was hostessing. LOL The photo was of a lovely bedding ensemble from JC Penny that had a gorgeous color-blocked comforter with patches of navy and silver fabric. I wish I still had the photo, but my computer has crashed since then and I lost all my photos, including that one. :( Anyway, here's what I went with:



Simple lines, to compliment the graphic feel of the color-blocked comforter, and simple color scheme. I think this wise man stamp is from Stampabilities... he was stamped and heat embossed in silver, with Hero gemstones put in his crown. I wasn't overly fond of the ribbon treatment, but it needed something. I eventually just took the bow out and left it a plain knot, which looked a little better. I just didn't have any silver ribbon that looked NICE (this one is white with silver). Why is it all the silver ribbons out there look so cheap and "plasitc-y"? Anyhoo, another pretty simple one. I was quite busy around that time last year and cards had to be quick and easy. LOL ;)

Speaking of SNR, I am no longer on staff over at the magazine. Just FYI. :)

Sorry I don't have anything new or exciting to share... I haven't been feeling very well and I think wherever my health may be, that my mojo is there with it, too. :P So no stamping for me lately. I'm also getting started on my sister's wedding favors... a SUPER fun project that comes with LOTS of stress! LOL They gotta be just right, ya know... it's my sis. ;) But I hope to have some new projects to share soon.

Thanks for stopping by today. See you later! :)







SUPPLIES:
Winter's Butterfly - Hero Arts and SU! stamps, white pigment ink and navy dye ink are SU!, Art Institute Crystal Ultrafine glitter.
Wise Men - Stamp is Stampabilities, card stock is SU!, Colorbox pigment ink, Ranger embossing powder, Hero gemstones, unknown ribbon

I ♥ Hero Arts! blog hop

Happy Friday! And welcome to another stop on the the "I ♥ Hero Arts!" blog hop, hosted by the ever-so sweet Ashley! If you read my blog at all, you'll know that I'm probably one of Hero Arts' biggest fans. They make the most awesome stamps, employ the most incredible people, and provide the BEST stamping inspiration anywhere. What's not to love?! :)

Here's my card... unfortunately, it wasn't created exclusively for the hop. I was planning on having some time to stamp this week, but something extremely pressing came up and I just wasn't able to get into my stamp room. BUT, I really wanted to play along, and since one of the requirements for the card was that it be a thank you card, I was lucky that I had this one from an April pub sitting in my drafts folder, waiting to be posted! :) Not only that, but one of the other requirements was that we use one of our favorite Hero Arts stamps on the card, and whaddya know... this card uses images from my absolute FAVORITE Hero set of all time - the 4x12 Flower Blossom Border set:



That set is an absolute flower-lover's DREAM. It has a 12 inch border image for backgrounds and/or scrapbook pages, several different types and sizes of flowers... I honestly find myself reaching for it ALL. THE TIME. (In fact, scroll down to my previous card posted, and you'll see I used a flower from the set on it, too!) This card also employs one of my very favorite techniques - partially cutting around a stamped image to create interest. The flower image was stamped with Memories black ink, colored with Copics, and then I used a T-square to help cut the white panel up to the flower's edge. I then used my micro-tipped scissors to cut out around the flower itself. It's a great technique that doesn't require any fancy tools to create a lot of impact. :)

And finally, the last two requirements of the hop were:

A. Tell us your Hero Arts story. How did you get started using Hero Arts products?
and
B. Hero Arts is full of great people. Tell us why you are thankful for Hero Arts!

As for my story, I'm sure it's much like many others out there: I started out as a scrapbooker first and eventually started stamping. At the time, I didn't have any independently-owned stamp/scrapbook stores close by, and had to shop at my local major craft chain. ;) There, I always found myself drawn to (and of course buying!) Hero Arts stamps. I don't know, something about their style just spoke to me. And once I started using them, I was thoroughly impressed by the quality of the stamps. So I became a loyal follower. It always amazes me how they have managed to stay on top of trends, create a wide variety of images, and appeal to so many different types of stampers on so many levels... not an easy feat!

As for why I'm thankful for them, there's probably too many reasons to count! I'm grateful that they're such a customer-driven company and are always looking for ways to improve (as if they really need to). I'm grateful that they care so much about the environment. I'm grateful that they employ the most generous staff who continuously amaze and inspire us with their creations. I could go on, but they're just such a fabulous company, it's difficult to reign it in. LOL Seriously, stamping has become my therapy... and if it hadn't been for their images catching my eye, and their quality and commitment to customer service keeping me loyal, I'm not sure where I'd be with this hobby. Their stamps and ideas thoroughly INSPIRE me... make me want to drop everything and STAMP! That's the thing I'm most grateful for. I ♥ HERO ARTS! :)

Thanks for stopping by and for reading... enjoy the rest of the hop and have a fabulous weekend! :)








SUPPLIES: Hero Arts stamps (Cl223 and CL175), Memories black ink, Colorbox Primary chalk ink queue, Copics, and Hero Arts pearls

amazing - inspired by Jennifer McGuire

Hello again! Thank you for all of your lovely comments on my alcohol ink butterfly card! :) To tell you the truth, I liked the one with the black butterflies better, too. But when hubby said he liked the simpler version more, I thought maybe he saw something in the card that I didn't... so that's why I thought I'd ask you guys for your opinion. Thanks for confirming my gut instinct! ;) And sorry, hubby. LOL

There's still tons of excitement over at the Hero Arts blog regarding all of the new changes to the site! Lots of inspiration, too. Here's my card that was featured today (click to see larger):



I was completely inspired by two of Jennifer's cards... this one because of the lovely Liquid Pearl background, and this one for the great color scheme. My card seems pretty simple and straight forward, but see that tiny little strip of striped paper? Under the sentiment? Yeah... the BANE OF MY EXISTENCE. LOL Seriously, that little strip of paper gave me such a headache! It's not striped patterned paper... it's actually hand done, with various strips of card stock glued down in a random order (clicking on the card above will make this more apparent). Just cut slivers of card stock various widths and colors, and glue them to a strip of white card stock in a random order. And if white is part of your color scheme, be sure to leave some gaps when applying, so the white card stock can show through from underneath. Then, just cut the entire glued piece into strips, perpendicular to the stripes and voila... a customized, striped "patterned paper" embellishment. :)

The problem came when I first tried to do it with just a dry adhesive (tape runner) to save time. Normally, a tape runner works great if you're adhering papers of at least some substance together. Gluing those teeny tiny strips of card stock, went fine, but when I went to cut the strip, the now little SQUARES of card stock no longer wanted to stay in place. LOL They started shifting and/or popping off, and I had to start over and go back and REGLUE alllll of those little strips of paper back on! :P So if you ever use this technique, be sure to use a STRONG liquid glue to apply your strips right off the bat. I really love Tombo Mono Multi... very permanent! ;)

Well, it's the weekend! Can you believe it? And summer's in full swing. :) Thanks for reading and have a good one!







SUPPLIES: all Hero Arts stamps (S5213, CL223, and C4901), VersaMark and Colorbox Chalk inks, clear embossing powder, DCWV card base and SU! card stocks, white opal Liquid Pearls, Hero button, May Arts ribbon, white floss, and pop dots

first shot at alcohol inks! - warning: long post

Hey there! I know... it's been a while since my last card post. I've been so wrapped up in the festivities over at the the Hero Arts blog that I haven't even thought about blogging myself myself! :) Have you SEEN the awesome changes over at the website?! AMAZING. That's one thing about hero Arts... just when you think they can't get any better, they find a way to do it anyway. Love, LOVE that company. :)

So, here's a card I made last night for the Thinking Inking Class over at Two Peas, which is being taught by the faboo Jennifer McGuire. The class is 9 weeks with 3 videos each week demonstrating the infinite ways to use Tim Holtz's Distress products by Ranger... such as Distress Inks, Crackle Paints, Paint Dabbers, and Alcohol Inks. This particular card is for the Thinking Inking Class Week 5: Part 1 - Alcohol Inks (Backgrounds).

Okay, QUICK CONFESSION: I've been stamping for nearly seven years, and NOT ONCE have I ever delved into the world that is alcohol inks. *gasp* I know. I'm not sure exactly why... maybe it's because I associate them with distressing, which is not one of my stronger areas (it terrifies me actually, LOL). Maybe it's because I've always thought of them as too dark and grungy, which also just isn't my style. AT ALL. Maybe I was too afraid of making the investment in product, only to find that I didn't like or couldn't produce the the results I wanted. Or, maybe I've just been too afraid of the mess. LOL

But one thing Jennifer's classes have really taught me so far is that distress products and alcohol inks don't have to mean messy, dark, and grungy. I have been simply blown away by what she has demonstrated so far! And I've been SO inspired by her work that I had to finally try it for myself (click to see larger):



And I LOVE IT. Seriously! What took me so long?! Why was I so afraid and hesitant to try something that is so quick, and so easy... and SO gorgeous! This card was completely inspired by these cards here. I mean, come on... do these look "messy" or "dark and grungy" to you?! Gorgeous. Loving everything about her cards - the backgrounds, the dimension, the butterflies - I kept with the butterfly theme and broke out my new SU! butterfly die and gave it a shot. Above was my initial version, but I played around with it and added a few extra touches (click to see larger):



So what do you think? Better, or too much? My hubby likes the first card better... he says the simplicity really allows the amazing background to shine and take center stage, which in this photo, is a little easier to see (the marbling). I'm not sure which one I like more... leave me a comment and tell me what YOU think! :)

To get this look, I used the Wild Plum, Butterscotch, and Copper alcohol inks on a 4 x 4 inch piece of glossy card stock. I then diecut only HALF of the butterfly on one edge of the card stock, ink-side up. Then I flipped the card stock ink-side down, and diecut the other edge, then cut the 4x4 piece in half, between the negative wings. Finally, take one half from each side (one diecut and one negative) and put them together with pop dots for that dimensional "split negative" look. :)

Anyway, sorry to get so windy... but I gotta say, that I am in LOVE with alcohol inks now! The card above took 15 minutes. And the best part - I have the two other pieces left over to make another card just like it! Fifteen minutes, to make two cards, both with completely beautiful, unique backgrounds... definitely worth it. I'm HOOKED.

Thanks for peekin' and have a great day! :)







SUPPLIES: Archiver's glossy card stock, Wild Plum, Butterscotch, and Copper alcohol inks, Memories black ink, Hero Arts CL341 "Thank You Sayings", SU! butterfly die, Martha Stewart 3-in-1 butterfly punch, pop dots