Celebrating the Fifth Anniversary of A Blog Named Hero!

Welcome to my stop for today's 5th Anniversary Celebration of A Blog Named Hero!  I have been honored to be a guest designer there several times.  We all share a love of Hero Arts products, and I'm thrilled to be able to be a part of this celebration.  It's taking place over 2 days, and of course there are lots of prizes!  Here's the card I made for it, using some oldies from 2011:

supplies: white cardstock, Doodlebug Gingham petite print, Hero Arts Large Blossom and Sending Smiles Messages, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, peacock feathers distress ink on flowers, finger dauber, Audrey Blue ink for sentiment, dyed seam binding, white pearls, adhesive foam squares

Hero Arts made several of these negative print stamps that allowed open spaces for coloring the images, while inking the details and background.  I chose to white emboss this one over an aqua gingham design paper.  I darkened the centers of the flowers by dabbing on some peacock feathers distress ink, trimmed the image, then popped it above the card front, adding some of my favorite pearls and a pretty ribbon.

There are prizes to be won for commenting on the cards along today's hop, and there are a separate set of prizes for doing the same for yesterday's hop!  Here are the prizes for today:

• $50 gift card to Simon Says Stamp
• $50 gift card to Gina K Designs
• $25 gift card to Winnie & Walter
• $25 gift card to Lawn Fawn
• $20 gift card to Avery Elle
• prize pack from Mama Elephant
• gift card from Studio Katia
• one Online Card Class of your choice
• one set of distress oxide inks from Jennifer McGuire Ink

Comments must be left by 11:59 pm on Tuesday, March 28, and winners will be announced on March 30.

So get hopping!  Your next stop is Francine Vuilleme - I know she'll have something wonderful to show you!  If you'd like to begin at the start of today's hop, please start at A Blog Named Hero.  

Thanks, as always, for coming by, and enjoy the rest of the hop!

ABNH Flowers

The challenge at A Blog Named Hero is simply to make something and use a flower - can't pass that opportunity up!  I used one of my favorite old flowers from Layered Flowers, and paper-pieced it:

I found this pretty Bella Blvd button at Archiver's before Christmas, and thought it would make a pretty center for this flower, so I went looking for papers that would complement it.  I found them in pads by Simple Stories Vintage Bliss and Echo Park's This & That.  This old sentiment from Thoughtful Messages works perfectly, and I updated it a bit by using a MFT Petal Pattern stencil and modeling paste for my background.  When everything was dry, I added red pearls to the centers of the stencilled flowers.

Thanks for visiting today!  We had more snow this morning, and everything is clean and white again!  Have been enjoying watching the birds at the feeders.  Looking forward to Downton Abbey this evening!

If I could turn back time........

If you're here to see my post for the current Simon Says Stamp challenge, please click HERE.

"If I could turn back time".....that's the current challenge theme at A Blog Named Hero.  And today's my day to have a post there as one of the February Guest Designers!  I adore shabby chic and vintage cards, and I had so much fun making this card today, using some of my favorite Hero Arts stamps.

I started with a piece of paper from Pink Paislee's London Market paper pad, distressing the edges with my fingernail and then with antique linen distress ink.  I overstamped some ferns using shabby shutters distress ink.  The Etched Flowers were stamped  and clear embossed on cream cardstock in Latte chalk ink., sponged with spun sugar distress ink and I used a spun sugar distress marker to darken some of the details slightly.  The leaves and centers of the flowers were also colored in with markers, then I carefully cut them out and popped them onto my panel.  The sentiment is from Friend You're the Best, and my seam binding was dyed with spun sugar distress ink.  I also added some pale pink pearls from Hero's Blush Mixed Accents.

Many thanks to Linda and Mary Dawn for having me as a Guest Designer this month - I love my Hero Arts stamps and love playing with them!  Thanks for visiting!

Snip and Stick

If you're here to see my card using the February sketch at The Craft's Meow, please click HERE.

Happy February, all!  Today I'm thrilled to share that I'll be a Guest Designer at A Blog Named Hero this month; thank you, Mary Dawn and Linda, for this honor!

The challenge for this first half of the month is paper-piecing, one of my favorite techniques.  Playing with fun printed papers is just like playing with fabrics like I did when I was a quilter.  Today I used a 6" paper pad from pebbles called "Family Ties", and 2 of my favorite Hero Arts stamps, Pattern Hearts and Flowers and Made with Love.

I used a 3/4" square punch for the squares that I used around the border on my card, which I cut to 4 1/2" X 5 1/4" to make everything fit, and a Nesties Scalloped Rectangle die for the white panel.  The flowers were stamped on 4 of the papers, then pieced back together as shown, and then popped up above the card.  To finish I added some pearls.

Please visit A Blog Named Hero to see the Design Team's projects for this challenge - I know you'll be blown away!   And I hope you'll make something, too!

Flower Box

Here's another entry for A Blog Named Hero's challenge.  I love kraft and had forgotten that it is really lovely when stamped and colored with colored pencils.

I used 2 "shades" of kraft and these Hero Arts stamps: CG127 Flower Box, and a woodblock from 2002 that I found in a local stamp swap this spring - was thrilled to find it, as I don't think I've ever seen it, and the set appeared to be brand new!  The set is LL747 Friendship Messages; the one I chose for this card is E2289 Thank You Message.

Crafting with kraft

Our challenge over at A Blog Named Hero is to use kraft paper in our creations.  In going to get my kraft cardstock, I found in my stash a couple pieces of Core'dinations/Tim Holtz kraft core and chose this dusty pink color to use for this challenge.  I hadn't tried dry-embossing it and wanted to see the effect.  I like it - will be stocking up on more colors, now!

supplies: kraft cardstock, Core'dinations Kraft Core color #2, scrap of unknown design paper reverse for stamping flowers, Hero Arts 657773 Antique Flowers & Butterflies stamp and die, Latte chalk ink, ST508 My Happy, Sizzix flowers embossing folder, Nesties oval die, EK Success Sticko dimensional stickers in centers of flowers

I had trouble stamping on the kraft core, however - the inks I tried faded, even when embossed, so I had to use a scrap of another paper close in color for my flowers.  Has anyone else had this problem with the kraft core?

And since this layout is loosely based on one of the sketches this month for our Hero Arts contest, I'll enter this card there also.  

CASE-ing Lisa

This card of Lisa Spangler's is the one that put me on the Washi Tape bandwagon.  It was the first time I'd seen "pretty" tapes, so I went on the hunt for some.....didn't have to look too far, as good old Martha had done most of the choosing for me (red plaid, wide floral, and skinny green dots).  I added the blue gingham one by Bella Blvd, and the bigger green dots came from Target.  Here's my card for the challenge at A Blog Named Hero:

supplies: white and aqua cardstock, tapes from Martha Stewart, Bella Blvd, and Target, Hero Arts CL569 Truly Grateful, Sizzix little flowers embossing folder, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper (LOVE this thing)

I really liked that Lisa also embossed her panel with a small pattern, so I followed suit there also.  

Inspired by Shari Carroll

At A Blog Named Hero, our challenge is to be inspired by the Hero Arts Artists.

I chose Shari Carroll, and specifically her Stamp Layering technique, which she taught us in March of 2011.  Here is my card using her method:

supplies: white textured cardstock, CL428 Earth Flowers, VersaMark ink and white embossing powder, S5507 Envelope Pattern, broken china distress ink, CG172 Garden Bouquet, distress markers spritzed with water, CL156 Treasure the Moments, 657773 Antique Flowers & Butterflies stamp and die, VersaFine onyx black ink

I challenged myself to use her technique and mask the borders as well.  Here's how I did it:  I first masked my card around a rectangular piece of acrylic that I used as a shadow stamp.  Then I stamped and embossed the white "bush".  Next I inked my acrylic block with tumbled glass and broken china distress inks, spritzed it well with water, and "stamped" that in my open area over the embossed bush.   After that was dried, I overstamped the envelope pattern using broken china distress ink.  Then I inked my Garden Bouquet stamp using distress markers, spritzed that with water, and overstamped and let that dry.  Next I pulled off the masking, overstamped my sentiment, and stamped and die-cut the butterfly and popped it above the card.   So if you count the acrylic block stamping as a layer, there are 5 layers of stamping on this card.

Color Me a Hero

At A Blog Named Hero, our challenge is to use their logo colors.  I decided to use one of the monthly sketches from Hero Arts blog this month, too.  And since I couldn't find the right colors any other way, most of the stamping is done with VersaMark ink, getting my colors from embossing powders.  The plus is that, viewed from certain angles, the embossing gives a nice glow to the card.

supplies: white, tan, and red cardstock, Hero Arts CL510 Sweet Threads Labels (large flower), CL266 Mix & Match (small flower), CL342 Everyday Sayings, VersaMark ink and Zing leaf embossing powder and Recollections Glacier embossing powder, Brilliance Pearlescent Beige and clear embossing powder, Memento LadyBug Red, Hero Arts red metallic accents

Dust 'Em Off!

That's our instructions for the challenge this time at A Blog Named Hero: to use a stamp that's been sitting on the shelf for awhile......I chose this Garden Silhouette, and did it in yellow.

supplies: white cardstock, dps from MME Howdy Doody and Echo Park Hello Summer pads, A Muse green dot dp, Hero Arts  K5370 Garden Silhouette, VersaMark ink, white embossing powder, Memento green and yellow markers, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, yellow dotted ribbon, green button

Topsy Turvy

For their 3rd challenge at A Blog Named Hero, the challenge is called "Topsy Turvy", to use a sentiment stamp for something other than a sentiment.

I knew immediately what I wanted to do.  Today I found the new spring distress inks at Archiver's and was able to use a nice big coupon to get them - I was so thrilled because I thought I'd never be able to find them!  I ADORE the shaded lilac - it is the most gorgeous shade of periwinkle, and I also used the squeezed lemonade color, plus some pinks for the 3rd flower.  Here's my entry:

supplies: Hero Arts spring notecard in pink, white cardstock, Darice Damask embossing folder, Hero Arts E3373 Spring Memories, stamped in VersaMark, embossed in clear and sponged with shaded lilac, squeezed lemonade distress inks and Adirondack Shell pink.  The pink and yellow were hard to read, so I went back in and sponged a darker shade of each color in the centers of the flowers: dusty concord, wild honey, and worn lipstick distress inks.  Leaves are die cut using Wplus9 Folk Art Florals for the leaves and a Hobby Lobby dotted green paper, tiny buttons and thread.  The lilac flower is popped above the rest with a Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam square.

Here's another picture focusing on the lilac flower, to show you the lettering better:

And once again entering this into Simon Says Stamp's "Anything Goes" challenge:

On a bird binge?

I appear to be in my bird phase :))  It happens every year - being able to open the windows and hear the birds busy with their nests is a sure sign of spring to me.

supplies: white and spring green cardstock, Hero Arts S5050 Wavy Leaf Pattern, stamped twice using peeled paint and shabby shutters distress inks, LP169 Bird Trio, colored with Prismacolor pencils, CL342 Everyday Sayings, stamped in Memories Artprint Brown ink, Nesties Labels Four, and stamped inside is Great Impressions E580, again colored with pencils, then shaded with tumbled glass distress ink

I made this card to enter the 2nd challenge over at A Blog Named Hero.  We're to make a window card. I pulled out some of my older Hero Arts stamps and paired them up with a newer sentiment.  

Playing Favorites

Have you joined the new challenge blog called A Blog Named Hero?  Their first challenge is running now, through April 10, and all you have to do is make something using your favorite Hero Arts stamp or product.

One of my favorite stamps is this one from 2004, called Sketch Tulips.  It is discontinued now, but you can find it as a free digital image.  It was on a card sent to me by my friend Mary Anne Rhodes, and it made me fall in love with Hero Arts stamps!

supplies: white cardstock, Amuse gingham and dot papers from Barb, Hero Arts E3020 Sketch Tulips, Northwoods H4632 sentiment, VersaFine onyx black ink, prisma watercolor pencils and Memento markers, Hero Arts CH173 Hearts Accent Pearls, Nesties Labels Eighteen, tiny white ric-rac, tiny pop-squares to lift flowers

Another of my favorite products is the little pink heart pearl, which I used to dot the "i" in the sentiment (it's really a tiny flower).  I hope Hero Arts never discontinues these; I think they are darling!

A Blog Named Hero - PLAY FAVORITES

Have you heard?  There's a new blog launching this week, the brainchild of Mary Dawn and Linda!  It's called A Blog Named Hero,

and it will be a place for all of us who love Hero Arts to play together!  It has been officially sanctioned by Hero Arts, and it will feature challenges twice a month!

I was so pleased to be asked to contribute a card as a guest designer for the grand opening celebrations!  All week they are showcasing each designer's favorite Hero Arts Stamps!  Can you guess what mine is?  Here's a sneak peek:

 

Please visit A Blog Named Hero to see my card, plus the projects of several other designers.  The festivities have been going on all week, so scroll on down from the latest post to see even more, and then visit there again tomorrow for the final day.

Be sure to become a follower of this new blog, so that you don't miss any of the upcoming challenges!  The first challenge will begin April 1 -  I'll see you there!