Merry Christmas!

I'm popping in to show a few more Christmas cards and to thank you for stopping by and leaving sweet comments. It means so much to me. Sending you and your families wishes for a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2014!!

All of these cards were made with the same Hero Arts nativity stamp seen here.

Enjoy the holidays!

Christmas Trees

Just a quick share today. More Christmas cards with a Hero Arts stamp called Shari's Tree #3. Such a cute tree, festive and whimsical too.  :) The greetings are also Hero Arts stamps.

Here's the 2nd card. I love the background paper on this one. Reminds me of an old wood barn or shed.

Thanks for stopping by. Are you done with your shopping and ready for Christmas? :)

More Snowmen Cards

I've been trying to get all of my Christmas cards made so I can get them sent out. I'm behind this year. Here are a couple cards I made using the Hero Arts Sleeping Snowman stamp again. Love that snow guy!

On this next one I added one of the Lawn Fawn birds on his head. heehee... The Lawn Fawn Winter Sparrows is one of my favorite sets!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Seasons Tweetings

Hello! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My Thanksgiving weekend was so busy with family get-togethers that I didn't have any crafting time. I'm very thankful to have a big family, so hanging out with them makes it worth skipping my crafty time. haha!

Here are a couple of Christmas cards I made a few weeks ago. The first one uses stamps from Lawn Fawn. Love those sweet birds. :)

This 2nd card uses stamps from Hero Arts. I love the Peace stamp and the Red Royal mid-tone ink.

Thanks for dropping in. I'm hoping to get back to blogging more regularly after the holidays. I promise. :)

I Love Snowmen

I love this Sleeping Snowman stamp from Hero Arts! I paper pieced the scarves on both of these cards. Love that technique.

On this second card, I used another Hero Arts stamp called Merriest Christmas Wishes for the background. I colored the cardinal with Copic markers.

Have you started your Christmas cards yet? Only 6 weeks until Christmas! yikes!  :)

Birthday Flowers

I made this card for my sister for her birthday (back in September!) but never posted it here.

October has been busy - so busy that I can't believe it's already over. It seems that life is flying by lately and I don't have much time for blogging.  Anyway, I hope your week is off to a great start!  :)

Halloween #3

Hey there! I'm just posting a couple more Halloween cards.

I used my Silhouette to cut out the haunted house and the fence. They are images from one of Kerri Bradford's kits.

I think that's all of my Halloween cards. I've moved on to making Christmas cards now.  :)

Halloween #2 - more cards

More Halloween cards.  :)  Once again, I used the same basic design and just changed some of the patterned paper.

My nephews will like these spiders. :)  It's hard to tell in the photos, but they are fuzzy. 

Hope you're having a great week!

My 1st Halloween Cards for 2013

I always make Halloween cards for my nieces and nephews. Because life has been busy lately and I haven't had much time to create, I decided to use very similar designs for both of these cards and just change the patterned paper. A good friend of mine sent me this adorable 6x6 paper pad, so I had to put it to good use. I love the owls! Thanks Ava!

Which one is your fav? Also, do you make Halloween cards? I'd love to know.

September Birthdays

I have several family members who have birthdays in September so I was busy cranking out some cards. Here are a couple I made for my nieces.

Life has been so busy lately and I haven't had much time to blog or to blog hop. Hoping to visit your blogs very soon!

Baby Girl

Some friends of our family just had a baby girl so I made this card for them. Don't you just love pink carriages with buttons for wheels?  :)

I'm hoping summer sticks around for another month or so. I know most people are ready for Fall, but summer is always my favorite time of year and I don't want it to end! Hope you're having a great week!

So Grateful 4 U

I made this card for my niece, Megan. I love that the Hero Arts flower from the Bold Pop Design set can be used as a sun. It's one of my favorite stamp/die sets. I also love the cloud in this For the Record Simon Says Stamp set. Another fav of mine. 

Hope your having a sunny week!

Make Art Everyday

My Hero Arts hostess sister, Cheiron, made this card a few weeks ago and I just love it! I asked Cheiron if she would mind if I used her card for inspiration. She is so sweet and willingly agreed. Thanks Cheiron! I  "cased" her card and put my own spin on it - which is very close to Cheiron's original card.  Here is my card:

I used several stamps from the Stamp Your Story Brush Strokes set so I'm going to enter it into the Hero Arts contest. Thanks for dropping by. Hope you're making life better by making art every day. :)

Another Scramble

I had a chance to play along with the Hero Arts Flickr group's scramble today. The scramble theme was to use another company's stamp along with a Hero Arts stamp, so I created this card. The dog stamp is from a Simon Says Stamp clear set. The background bird stamp is actually this Christmas stamp from Hero Arts.

I had to make a very quick card because we were going out of town for the day. The hardest part was cutting out the dog's tail. :)

Stamp Your Story Contest

I haven't played along with a Hero Arts contest in awhile, so I thought I'd create something for the Stamp Your Story contest.  I was inspired by the colors and the paint splats on Lisa's tags here. I made a bookmark and a card to go with it using the Brush Strokes stamp set and several of the mid-tone inks.

Thanks for stopping by. Have you played along with the contest yet? If not, go now and create. :)

Masculine Card

I made this card for my Dad for Father's Day and realized that I never posted it here. I love using the mustache as part of the sentence, "I must ask you." :)  On the inside of the card, it said, "Who Loves You?" My Dad often asks me that rather than saying, "I love you", he'll say, "Who loves you?" or "You know who loves you, sweetheart." That's why I added the heart on the card.  My Dad chuckled when he read the card.

Hope your week is going great. I'm so glad the weekend is almost here! Aren't you?

Hero Hostess Summer Picnic Blog Hop

Welcome to the Hero Hostess Summer Picnic Hop!

If you've been following along, you have just arrived from the ever so talented, Heather Doran's blog! Isn't she awesome?

When I think of summer picnics, I think of lots of sunshine and flowers and sometimes flower table clothes too. I love summer. It's my favorite time of year, so I think of summer picnics as perfect days. :)  I based my card on all those things: flowers, sunshine and the greeting, "Wishing You a Perfect Day".  I used several stamps sets including a new stamp from the Stamp Your Story My Words set for the middle of the sun. It says, "today." Hoping today is perfect for you!

Don't forget that Hero Arts will be awarding prizes from randomly drawn comments! For a chance to win, simply comment on ANY of the stops along the hop on ANY day, including each day’s starting post at the Hero Club Blog. The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning!

If you find a broken link, you'll find a master list of the hop links at the Hero Arts Club Blog. Also, please report broken links to: blog@heroarts.com.

Your next stop on the Hero Arts Hostess Blog Hop is my sweet and creative friend, Barb Engler.

Supplies:
My Words
Bold Pop Designs
Happy Birthday
Mid-Tone Inks
Perfect Day 
Hero Arts Layering Paper

And here's my summer picnic recipe. It's called GREAT Fresh Salsa and it's delicious! Perfect for picnics! 

GREAT Fresh Salsa
The quantities in this recipe are meant to be base guidelines – use your own taste to guide you.  If it is too soupy add some extra Roma tomatoes at the end to make it meatier.

10 Roma tomatoes

1 medium to lg onion

4 medium tomatoes

1 green pepper, seeded

1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded (optional)

8 cloves garlic

3 T wine vinegar

3 T olive oil

1 T chopped cilantro

salt, pepper

Wash and dry the veggies. I don’t peel any of them except the onion and garlic. I don’’t seed the tomatoes either. Quarter the Roma tomatoes and regular tomatoes.

Using a food processor, put in chunks of green pepper, onion, and garlic. Buzz them together till they are finely chopped. Then add the quartered Roma tomatoes. Add the regular tomatoes last because they are softer and don’t need much processing. Just buzz them till the salsa is the consistency you like. I sometimes add 4 large diced Roma tomatoes at the end for texture (do not put in food processor, just hand dice.)  If you want, you can leave out the jalapeno pepper.

Transfer to a large bowl. Add the chopped cilantro, jalapeno pepper (optional), salt and pepper to taste, and then add the wine vinegar and olive oil.

Taste before adding the whole tablespoon of cilantro – sometimes it’s rather strong so you may need to adjust this measurement. There’s no right or wrong w/salsa. :)

Thanks for hopping with us today! 

Birds on a Wire

I bought this Hero Arts Bird stamp and cut set at Archiver's a while ago. I wanted to make a very quick card and this is what I came up with. Nothing too exciting, but I still love the stamp.  :)

Hope your week is going well! Thanks for stopping by!

Good Friends - ABNH Challenge 27

Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long since I lasted posted. I guess life has been busier than I thought! :)  I made this card for a crafty friend of mine. This balloon is one of my favorite Hero Arts stamps so I'm going to enter this into the current "fav stamp" challenge over at A Blog Named Hero.

I paper pieced the balloon. I also used the Basic Grey What's Up paper for the background. I LOVE this paper pad!

Have you made a card for the "fav stamp" challenge yet? If not, go now and create!  :)

Summer Birthdays

I made this card for my sister's birthday. It's a very simple card, nothing too complicated, but I think she'll like it. I did add Glossy Accents to the balloons, but it's hard to tell in this photo.

Hope your week is going well! Thanks for stopping by.

You Are Loved

Just a quick card post today. I made this card after taking the Pattern Play online card class. It teaches how to use all kinds of patterned papers. I heat embossed flowers from the Simon Says Flower Friend stamp set onto the blue patterned paper. Love that set! The greeting is from the Simon Says YOU clear stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you're having a great week!

CASology Furry Challenge

I created this card with the dog from one of the Simon Says Stamp sets and the balloons are from a Hero Arts set. The banner is also from Simon Says Stamp. After I colored the balloons with Copic markers, I added glossy accents to them. I'm entering it in the CASology Furry challenge this week.

I think I'm going to save this and give it to my niece for her birthday because she loves dogs. :)

Pink and Red.....

I found this Hero Arts bird stamp at Michaels and just had to have it. Some people say pink and red are only for Valentine's Day. What do you think? Can I use this any time of year, or should I save it for next Valentine's Day? 

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Do You Like Neutrals?

I made this card awhile ago and forgot to post it here. I used the Hero Arts Leafy Vine stamp with white ink and Desert Storm kraft paper. I have a friend who loves neutral colors so I made this birthday card very neutral for her. I added some pearls and made a 3D butterfly to finish off the card.

Almost time for the weekend, yeah!

Muse Challenge #14

My very crafty friend Virginia is featured over at the Muse Challenge blog this week so I knew I had to play along.  :)  Here is Virginia's beautiful card.

And the card below is my interpretation. I was inspired by the flowers and the colors. I also cased a design I saw on Jennifer McGuire's blog, but changed it slightly by using the die cut heart instead of the masking technique. I used the Flower Friend stamp set from Simon Says Stamps and Hero Arts mid-tone inks to stamp on patterned paper. The heart die cut and note card are also from Hero Arts.

If you haven't played along, there's still time, so go now and create!  :)  And thanks for stopping by today.

CAS-ology Challenge #40 - Word

I decided to play along with the CASology challenge again. The cue word this week is "Word." Check it out here.

And....here's my card.

Hope you have a brilliant day!  :)

CASology Up challenge

I love hot air balloons so when I saw that the theme on the CASology challenge blog this week is Up, I knew I had to play along. Check out the challenge here.

Here is my card. I colored the balloon with Copic markers. 

Hope you're having a great weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by. 

It's time to Scramble!

The Hero Arts Flickr group has card Scrambles every couple weeks. If you don't know what a scramble is, it's a specific time where you are given 90 minutes to make a card based on a theme that the host has chosen. You don't get to know the theme ahead of time. Anyway, here are a couple cards that I made for different scrambles. All of the stamps used on these cards are from Hero Arts.

The theme of the scramble for this first card was embossing. I dry embossed the background of the card and I heat embossed the flower panel and inked it with distress inks.

The theme of the scramble for the card below was to use pink/green plus patterned paper, plus a die cut.   This was a little more challenging, but I pulled it off and came up with this card.  :)

If you'd like to join in on one of the Scrambles, here's some information. There is one coming up this Saturday!

Easter Egg!

Hello friends!  I made this card using my Silhouette. I cut the card base (the egg) out of Hero Arts layering papers and then added some punched chevron strips of patterned paper. This bunny is from an older Hero Arts set, but I still love him. The flower is also from a Hero Arts stamp and die set called Garden Flowers. I didn't want to distract from the cute scene, so I put the greeting on the inside of the card.

Hope your week is off to a good start! 

Online Card Class - Pattern Play

I've been taking the Online Card Class called Pattern Play and I've created the following two cards as "homework."  On the first card, I used the embossed resist technique on pattern paper that Jennifer demonstrated in her video. Sorry about the poor lighting in the photos. I had to take the pictures at night and the lighting was not good.

On this second card, I used Kristina's technique for using bold patterned paper and cutting it into strips.

I'm loving this class! That's all for today. Hope your day is awesome!  :)

Colorful Spring Flowers

It's only 34 degrees here on March 19th.....which is 20 degrees below normal. I'm still longing for Spring.

That's all. :)

Happy 3rd Birthday Lawn Fawn!

Welcome to the blog hop!  Today we are wishing Lawn Fawn a Happy Birthday and we'd also like to introduce you to Stamp Fever.

Stamp Fever is a charming little store in Orange, California. We carry all things related to the crafting hobbies of stamping, card-making and paper crafting.  We stock a variety of stamps, papers, inks and supplies. We can also provide special orders for items you find online. We offer weekly stamping classes along with demos and make ‘n takes throughout the month.

Stamp Fever participates in the Southern California Shop Hop! Our design team goes all out to deck our store in theme related finery and we always have a charming Photo Op to add to the memories of your Shop Hop experience.

Stamp Fever is hosting a Lawn Fawn 3rd Birthday celebration! The party is on Saturday March 16 from 1-4. If you are in the area, please stop in for a visit and to share some birthday cake with Kelly and Mike, owners of Lawn Fawn. Kelly will share a special Make ‘n Take featuring one of Lawn Fawn’s newest sets “Summertime Charm”.

There will be prize drawings at the party but we don’t want to exclude our blog readers. We will randomly choose one winner from those who comment at The Stamp Fever blog and one more random winner from comments on the Hop Participant blogs. To increase your chances of winning: Follow the Stamp Fever blog in a reader or by email subscription; sign up for our Newsletter; follow Stamp Fever on Facebook and leave us a comment there. Each winner will receive a Lawn Fawn Stamp set and coordinating Lawn Cuts Die set.

Comment to enter prize drawing until 10:00 pm PDT on Friday March 15. The random drawing will take place at the party. The two winners will be announced Sunday, March 17 on the Stamp Fever blog.

To celebrate Lawn Fawn's birthday, I made two cards.  I love the Fanciful Frame stamp on the first card! I combined it with the greeting and the tiny images from the So Much to Say stamp set. I cut the Happy Birthday stamp so I could stamp the Happy on top of Birthday. After I colored the image with Copic markers, I added glossy accents to the balloons and the party hat to give them some shine.  

On my second card, I challenged myself to use only paper from the Fa La La paper pad for a birthday card. I think it worked out well. :)  I also used the Say Cheese stamp set. This is one of my favorite Lawn Fawn sets.

Below is the list of participants for the blog hop. Have fun hopping with us and be sure to check out the Stamp Fever site too!  

Nicole- Unify Handmade

Chari- MossyMade

Britta- Britta Swiderski Creative

Vera- Ling's Design Studio

Lynnette- Netter's Notables

Barb- ...Enjoying Life

Lin- Sending Hugs

Marcy- En Papillote Arts

Kathy- Wading in Creativity  (you are here)

Katie- Katie's Quarks

Virginia- Yes, Virginia

Melissa- Love My Scraps

Deborah- Society of Stampaholics

Nancy- Happy Heart Studio

Lawn Fawn Blog

Stamp Fever Blog

Annette- My Clever Creations