Inspired by my blog header

The challenge this week at CAS-ual Fridays is to create something inspired by our own blog header!

This is a great way for me to give credit to Ingrid at Cute Blog Layouts, from whom I get many of my blog headers (she also makes blog backgrounds, and all are free, just for the asking!).  She has a wonderful assortment, and it's so easy to change them when she's doing all the designing!

Looking at my header, this Hero Arts twig and daisy wreath immediately came to mind, so I started with that, and added some PTI sunflowers:

supplies: white cardstock, green paper from Authentique's Delightful paper pad, Hero Arts CL499 Special Note of Thanks (wreath), CL490 Sending Smiles Messages, CL586 XO, Paper Trey Ink Simple Sunflower, VersaFine Vintage Sepia ink, Hero Arts butter bar mid-tone ink, peeled paint and wild honey distress inks, green and gold markers, UniBall white pen, Tombow grey marker for shading edges

Bittersweet Wreath

Just playing today, with a brand new stamp I found this week at Michael's and one that I got last year.  Here is my card:

supplies: cream cardstock, Stampendous "Autumn Words", Rosewood (FrogsWhiskersink.com) "Bittersweet Wreath", Anita's Teddy Bear Brown ink, clear embossing powder, mustard seed, spiced marmalade and barn door distress inks, orange gems, orange gingham ribbon, Dear Lizzie button

I have been on the lookout for many years for such a background stamp, and was thrilled when I stumbled upon it yesterday.  I stamped it on the front of the card, then masked off the edges so I could sponge in the distress inks.  the wreath was stamped separately and cut out, then popped above the background with some added gems and the gingham bow.  

Hope you're not tired of my autumn cards, 'cause I'm not done yet!

Since I used a Stampendous stamp and everything is embossed, I'd like to enter this into the Stampendous Impressions September challenge - embossing techniques.

Wine, Pumpkin, and Moss

I loved the colors that were chosen for this week at the Play Date Cafe:

......wine, pumpkin, and moss.  I remembered this digital Hero Arts tree called Basic Tree, and printed it out, then colored it using the 3 colors, plus light brown for the trunk.  Since I collect autumnal papers, it was easy to find some coordinating ones to pull the colors out further, and this Webster's Pages' pleated ribbon from Sue worked, too.

supplies: cream cardstock, dps from BoBunny Very Vintage Dots,  Simple Stories Harvest Lane, and Crate Paper Farmhouse collections, EL Success Binding Edge punch, Hero Arts Basic Tree digital image, Memento and Tombow markers to colors, sentiments from The Paper Company Studio Autumn Stamp Kit, brown ink, Webster's Pages green pleated ribbon trim, October Afternoon 9 to 5 button, twine

I edged all the papers with vintage photo distress ink before assembling.

Flowers on a fence....

Happy Wednesday!  It's time for your favorite challenge at the Simon Says Stamp challenge - Anything Goes!!  

My teamies and I have been playing with all things October Afternoon.  I chose the "9 to 5" paper pad and matching buttons.  I wanted to show off the papers, so I chose 5 of the papers and made a card based on a quilt pattern called "Rail Fence", really just a bunch of strips, turned 90 degrees each quarter. With these papers, it sure makes a colorful card:

Besides the October Afternoon products listed above, I also used a Nesties Labels One die, and flowers from these Hero Arts sets, (Stitched Frame and Layered Flowers) and  plus one of their sentiments from their "XO" set, also a Sizzix die for the leaves and a bit of crochet thread.

Our generous Heidi has provided us with a $50.00 gift voucher for the random winner of this challenge - you can use it for anything you'd like at the Simon Says Stamp store!  

                       

Hello birds

Torico is our muse this month at the CASE Study Challenge,

I loved the way she used the wide scallops on one side, and her cute owls.  Here's my take on her card:

supplies: pale aqua cardstock, flowered paper from Simple Stories Harvest Lane, Hero Arts K5483 Tree Trunk, CL493 Live Life (sentiment), VersaFine onyx black ink, Memento markers, Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam squares

Autumn Blessings

Happy Autumn!  It's no secret to my regulars that I adore this season: the smell of woodsmoke, crisp blue skies, pumpkins, cider, doughnuts, football and soccer games.........and the beautiful colors of our changing maple trees.  A couple of things coincided this week that inspired this card.  I got an order from Simon Says Stamp that included a beautiful set of clear leaf stamps and some gorgeous BoBunny paper pads in the colors of the season.  And a few days ago my October CARDS magazine arrived and I saw a card there by Tonya Dirk that immediately spoke to me.  I thought these banners would be a great way to show off all the beautiful paper patterns.   Here's what resulted:

supplies: cream cardstock as card base, design papers from BoBunny Apple Cider Collection and Very Vintage Double Dot Designs, Just Rite Shabby Chic Autumn Leaves, Hero Arts CL559 Greatest Gift (blessings), The Paper Company Studio Autumn Stamp Kit (autumn), raffia ribbon, orange button

I'd like to enter this into the Play Date Cafe challenge this week.

Fall Fun

I DID have fun making my entry for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge!  Because it's a CAS challenge, I decided to make a smaller, square card, 4 1/4" square, and use this Papertrey Ink Vintage Picnic set.  Simply stamped and colored with Letraset Flex Markers.

And since I had this small scrapling left from cutting my card square, I made an even eensier one, this time using the images from Lawn Fawn's Happy Haunting set:

A scrapling, according to Shari Carroll, is 1 1/4" wide by 4 1/4" tall, the leftover paper after you've cut an A2 card (5 1/2" X 4 1/4") into a square 4 1/4" card.  My sentiment is from a Hero Arts Thanksgiving clear set, and I added some swirling winds with an embossing folder, Cuttlebug's D'Vine Swirls.

Denim, tan, and brown

I'll never pass up the opportunity to make a blue card, so when I saw these colors at CR84FN, I was all over it!  I just received this Penny Black set of stamps called Petal Party - I got them because of all the flowers.  Here's my card:

supplies: blue, tan, and brown cardstock, unknown denim design papers, Penny Black Petal Party, Hero Arts CL491 Made with Love, Palette Burnt Umber ink, Wplus9 Folk Art Florals leaf dies, BoBunny Snowfall Brads, Nesties Labels 18 die

I'm also entering this into Moxie Fab World's Card Design Handbook: Gallon, Quart, Pint Challenge, as I think it's a good example of that design element.  

Jars of Joy

Cath has a fun challenge going over at the Moxie Fab World, called "Jars of Joy".  I have always loved Mason jars - we've used them for years as our glasses, and I've stored buttons, pencils and old spools of thread in them.  I even have a lamp made from a big jar,  and I've devoted a Pinterest board to the subject.. I've loved seeing cards using them starting to pop up everywhere, too -   Here's my card:

supplies: white cardstock, denim design paper, vellum, Papertrey Ink Friendship Jar and Friendship Jar Filler and tiny tags die, Hero Arts CL304 A Million Thanks (daisies), VersaFine onyx black ink, Hero Arts butter bar mid-tone ink, Memento Dandelion and New Sprout markers, Spare Parts lace, white twine

The stems and leaves are from PTI's Spring Jar Filler - they are actually tulips.  I stamped 8 of the Hero Arts daisy heads and covered the tulips up with them, leaving only the stems and leaves from the original.  I also added a piece of vellum to the jar to make it look more opaque.

Emboss It!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  It's time for another challenge at the Simon Says Stamp blog!  This week we're embossing - you can emboss either dry or with hear, or both!  The design team is using Stampendous products, and because mine is a set, I made you 2 cards again to show it off.  Here's the first one, using just 1 of the 4 stamps in my set.

The set is called Cling Foliate Quad Set.  I chose the design that was "open" so I could color inside the leaves after I stamped it twice and embossed it with this fantastic Zing Copper Glitter Finish embossing powder.  I also used the powder on the sentiment.  Other products: VersaMark ink, October Afternoon 9 to 5 button, natural twine, and Memento Dual-tip Markers.  Here's another picture with the card tipped to show you the gorgeous glittery effect of the embossing powder - it makes a coppery dazzle!

I wanted to show you the other 3 patterns that are in this set, so I chose some autumn colors of cardstock, and stamped them again with VersaMark ink, but this time I heat embossed them in clear powder.  Love how the ink darkens the impression in a tone-on-tone effect.

Since I have lots of fall birthdays coming up, I made this one into a birthday card using the Hero Arts sentiment, colored with the same markers as above, and a wood button from Dear Lizzy.

The generous Heidi is giving away another $50.00 gift voucher for the random winner of our challenge, to spend any way you like at the Simon Says Stamp Superstore!!

  

So come on over to our blog and see what my teamies and our Guest Designer Shannan did this week - can't wait to see what you do!

I'd like to enter my first card into the Card Design Handbook Week: Assymetry Challenge, and into Stampendous Impressions Embossing Techniques challenge for September.

An exciting weekend

Wondering why I've been so quiet lately?  We've been to Scrapfest!  A group of Hero Arts flickr friends met at the Mall of America last weekend, and we've all just returned home.  I'll warn you now, this is picture heavy.

Most of us arrived sometime on Thursday.  We met up at Starbuck's - Barb brought us all sunflowers!

There's Virginia, Linda B, Barb, Marcy, Janet, Linda W, Lin, Sheila, and Kathy.

Most of us took classes Friday and Saturday and stood in line for make and takes when we weren't in classes.  Barb had arranged dinners for us on Friday and Saturday nights.  Here's some pictures from Friday night:

top row, Linda B, Janet, Marcy, Lin, Linda W, Ava, and Sheila.  Sitting, Kathy, Nancy, Judy, Virginia and Barb.  Virginia is holding her famous Hero Arts sign, which she carries with her when she knows she'll be meeting up with one of us; we all write her a little note on the back as we meet her.

This is a group of Hero Hosti (what the Hero Hostesses call themselves): Marcy, Lin, Linda, and Judy standing, and Kathy, Nancy, Virginia, and Barb sitting.  Now here's a candid taken after our Saturday night dinner:

Same suspects, but Jennifer joined us that night - she is on the top row, 3rd from the left.  

Here is our support group: my hubby, Denny, Sheila's daughter Bess, Judy's daughter Kathy, and Dr. John, Virginia's hubby.  Dr. John dubbed them the HAHADA: Hero Arts Husbands and Daughters Anonymous!!  They acted as our paparazzi.....

Isn't this a sweet shot of Virginia and Dr. John?  And here's one of me and Janet......we spent most of the day together on Saturday doing make and takes.  She is a sweetheart - so glad we had that time to get to know one another better!

And just one more, a picture of just 5 of us, who have become friends through our common Hosti experience: Marcy, me, Nancy, Barb, and Virginia.

And, as if all of that wasn't exciting enough, Denny and I got word on Friday afternoon of the birth of our 3rd grandchild, little Owen!!  We were over the moon!

And I'll leave you with this beautiful shot of his brother and sister meeting him for the first time:

We are so very blessed!

And the winner is.........

Thank you all for participating in our STAMPtember blog hop at the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog!  I have a $25.00 gift voucher to give away to one of you.  I used Random. Org to choose from my 266 comments and number 36 is the winner!  That number belongs to Rene, who said "Awesome!".  

Rene, please contact me via email (found under my profile over there on the right bar), and I'll let you know how you can claim your $25.00 gift voucher to the Simon Says Stamp store!

Chevrons and hexagons and neon - oh my!

Welcome to a new challenge at Simon Says Stamp!  This week we're calling it "We're So Trendy", and we're using chevrons, hexagons, or neon.  I made you 2 cards this week.

Here I used Die-Namics Chevron Stripes dies, and Hero Arts stamps:  Heydey Sentiments,  Stitched Frame (large flower and leaf), and Layered Flowers (small flower).  The flowers are pieced from Lawn Fawn's Bright Side paper pad, Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl, and centered with a Candi dot.

And here's my card using hexagons.  

I again used some Die-Namics dies, the Hexagon set, and 2 Hero Arts clear stamp sets: Find Joy for the sentiment, and Dots N Flowers for the leaves.  Most of the papers are from October Afternoon's Sidewalks paper pad, and I also used the Cuttlebug  embossing folder called Wicker Weave, and an edge punch from EK Success called Scallop Diamond.

My first introduction to hexagons was many years ago when I made a quilt called Grandmother's Flower Garden, which is made of nothing but hexagons.  

So, which will you choose?  You can also make something using neon colors.  The random winner of this week's challenge will get a $50.00 gift voucher from the Simon Says Stamp Superstore, courtesy of Heidi.

                  

I'd like to enter my chevron card into The Card Design Handbook's Repitition Challenge at the Moxie Fab World.  

Triple Embossing

Today I saw a gorgeous card on Pinterest that led me to a photo tutorial by Kim for a tutorial she calls double embossing resist.  I thought her results were beautiful and set out to make my own version.  I'll let you read the tutorial for the way it's done.  Here's my card:

supplies: white cardstock for main panel, ivory parchment for card base and sentiment, Hero Arts CG125 Friend Definition, CG228 Maple Leaf, CL559 Greatest Gift ("Blessings" sentiment), The Paper Studio Autumn clear stamps ("autumn" sentiment), VersaFine ink and clear embossing powder, mustard seed, spiced marmalade, rusty hinge, barn door, fired brick, and vintage photo distress inks, Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirl embossing folder, rust ribbon

LOTS of inspiration from my flickr friends: from Barb for her recent emboss resist cards using these colors, from Jacqueline for her use of a Christmas sentiment "Blessings" on a non-Christmas card.  Thank you ladies, and thank you to Kim for her tutorial!

I'll enter this into A Blog Named Hero's current challenge: Who's the Boss?

Sending you Sunshine

I appear to be in my yellow phase lately!  Really, I'm beginning to look forward to fall, and golds and yellows are a good lead into it from summer.  The challenge at CAS-ual Fridays this week is to use embossing.  I decided to use these new (to me) Papertrey Ink sunflower stamps and after I'd stamped and cut them out, this houndstooth embossing folder seemed to be a good match to them, bringing to mind more textured clothing coming up as we get into fall......so here's my card:

supplies: yellow/gold, white and brown cardstock, PTI Simple Sunflower set, Hero Arts butter bar mind-tone and Poppy chalk ink, Anita's Teddy Bear Brown ink, peeled paint distress ink, Cuttlebug Houndstooth embossing folder, natural twine

I'm also entering this card into the Moxie Fab World's Card Design Handbook challenge: Assymetry.

Sunshine

I've been wanting to try one of these pieced sunburst cards, and when I saw the challenge at CASE Study this week, I knew that's what I would do.  Our inspiration is from our September Muse, Torico:

And here's how I interpreted it:

supplies: gold and white cardstock, various yellow dps from mostly October Afternoon, Our Craft Lounge Sunshine Cheer #CCM080, Hero Arts sentiment from 330053 Heydey Sentiments, VersaFine onyx black ink, Doodlebug Designs tangerine baker's twine (thanks, Marcy!)

And I think this will work for The Card Design Handbook Week's Repitition Challenge, too, at Moxie Fab World.

Read All About It

I adore cards that incorporate some text, so I decided to play along at the Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge this week.  I used an excerpt from The Secret Garden and framed it up, adding some flowers and a sentiment.

supplies: peachy-pink cardstock, ivory parchment, digital excerpt from The Secret Garden, Hero Arts S5324 Simple Frame, CL596 Pattern Hearts & Flowers, ST508 My Happy, VersaFine onyx black ink, distress inks for watercoloring the roses, tiny pink pearls

There are some great gift vouchers to the Simon Says Stamp Store up for grabs - you should check out this challenge!

STAMPtember BLOG HOP: Put a STAMP on it!

Welcome to the Simon Says Stamp STAMPTEMBER Blog Hop!  The Simon Says Stamp Challenge Design Team are helping kick off STAMPtember ™ festivities with a Blog Hop for this weeks challenge! You have multiple chances to win gift certificates by hopping along on the Design Teams' blogs, leaving a comment, and entering in the Simon Says Stamp and Show "Put a Stamp on It"  challenge. Each Design Team member has a $25.00 Gift Certificate to award to a randomly selected participant!   Winners will be announced at 8 AM September 12. 

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. Over the past 10 years we celebrate rubber stamping in its 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 complementing ANYTHING! From stamping dates on bank documents and postage parcels in the early 18th century, rubber stamping has dramatically expanded to include card making, scrapbooking, mixed media and many forms of altering and expressing art.

Here's my STAMPtember card:

I used this wonderful set of washis from My Mind's Eye Indie Chic Nutmeg collection, called "Hanging Out".  And I paired them with a sentiment from Truly Appreciated.  To make my card, I simply covered a square piece of cardstock diagonally with my washi tapes, then die-cut a flower out of the center.   From that die-cut, I used a smaller die to cut a 2nd flower to put back into the center.  The whole panel was first framed with another square of blue cardstock and the flower was popped above the surface.

Please leave me a comment here, comment on all my teamies blogs, and make something using at least one stamp and you'll have a chance to win a $25.00 gift voucher from the Simon Says Stamp store from me and a $100.00 voucher from The Simon Says Stamp challenge blog!!

If you get lost, or you'd like to start at the beginning of our hop, please visit the Simon Says Stamp Blog, where you'll find the complete list and order of the hop, ending up at our team blog, the Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog.  There is where you can also enter your own card using at least 1 stamp (sorry, no digis this time) for a chance to be the random winner of a $100.00 gift voucher to our Simon Says Stamp store!!  Winners will be announced on September 12.

Here's the order of the hop

•  http://simonsaysstampblog.blogspot.com/
• CHEIRON
• DAWNY 
• DEBBY
• HEATHER
• JENNIFER INGLE
• JO
• JOY
• LAUREL
• LIN - that's me!
• LISA
• LORRAINE
• MANDY
• MARCEA
• MELISSA
• SHANNON
• SARAH
•  http://www.simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for visiting me today!  your next stop is my lovely friend and teamie, Lisa Carroll!!  Her cards always are one of a kind, so I know you'll love what she's made for you!  What are you waiting for - get hopping!

I'd also like to enter my card into the Card Design Handbook: Focal Point Challenge at the Moxie Fab World.

Mojo Monday

I love the sketches from the Mojo Monday blog - this one is especially wonderful.

I just got a new My Mind's Eye paper pad at Michaels earlier this week and used the beautiful papers from it to make my card.  I have always loved blues and yellows together!  Could it be that "true" blues (not the green-toned ones that we've had so much of lately) are coming back?  Sure hope so!

supplies: white cardstock, MME "Moments" 6" paper pad from Michael's, Die-Namics oval doily die cut (thank you Carol!), Papertrey Ink The Sweet Life, Technique Tuesday Simply You by Ali Edwards, Hero Arts Cerulean chalk and Stone Wash midl-tone inks, Recollections pearls