Happy Fall!

Today is the "official" start of my favorite season, and I thought that this new Hero Arts My Monthly Hero card kit was a great way to mark the occasion!  

supplies: white and a yellow dp from Lawn Fawn Watercolor Wishes, My Monthly Hero Card Kit from September, (die, stencils,inks, and lacquer pen), Taylored Expressions Handlettered Thanksgiving sentiment, adhesive foam

I was really impressed with how nicely this all comes together, and it will be fun to vary the colors of the leaves  - I think this will become a fall classic for me.

Hero Arts has several other "window wreaths" and matching stencils similar to this: a Poinsettia one and another called Bee Florals.

Happy Fall!!

Butterfly Birthday

 I really liked the Hero Arts My Monthly Hero February card kit!  Here is my first card using it.

supplies: white cardstock, Hero Arts MMH Feb kit: layering stencils and die, variety of Pink Fresh Studio and Altenew mini ink cubes, Mama Elephant Paola's Wishes sentiment, enamel dots

The kit sold out, of course, but it consists of 4 layering stencils, and an oval die that cuts out the center of the design, and leaves areas around the edges so that the butterflies and flowers can be semi-popped up - a fun effect!

This will make a great design for lots of occasions, and I want to try it cut from an ink-blended panel with no stencilling - maybe in a metallic?  

Thanks for visiting!

Christmas Cardinal

 I recently took advantage of a great sale at Taylored Expressions and scooped up some fun items.  Today's card features the Layer It Cardinal die set, mixed with some older supplies from a mix of other companies.

supplies: white, green, black, Lipstick Red, Schoolhouse Red, and Orange Peel cardstock, Taylored Expressions Layer It Cardinal dies, Hero Arts (retired) My Monthly Hero September 2016 Card Kit wreath, Simon's Christmas Blessings die and Winter Scene (merry), Echo Park (retired) Snow Flurry embossing folder

I cut 3 wreaths to make it fuller, and then just layered everything over the snowflake background.  The cardinal is just 3 pieces, easy to layer, and I think the perfect size for a card!

Christmas is coming!  How are you doing with your cards?

Hero Arts January Card Kit

I was one of the lucky ones to get Hero Arts MMH Card Kit for this month, and I'm besotted!  Here is my first play with it, and once I got started, it was hard to stop, so I have 3 cards using it today.

supplies: white, Audrey Blue, Surf Blue, Lavender, Green Leaf cardstock, Hero Arts (retired) Earth designer paper, January My Monthly Hero kit: (Sending Love Mail sentiment, Boutique Accessories and Envelope Accessories dies), wilted violet, blueprint sketch, and peacock feathers distress ink, a green marker, Sunny Studio Quilted Hearts embossing folder, twine

I used Jennifer McGuire's tip to cut the flowers from colored cardstock, and add details with ink, so I chose 3 colors and green, and cut out the flowers and leaves.  After inking the details and allowing the ink to dry, I popped up some of the details in the flowers, then arranged them in my paper cone, which was cut from some long retired Hero Arts text printed paper.

I haven't had any dies like these florals before, and they were fun to work with!  I love their dimension!  There's also a little envelope die in this set - here's another card using it, filled with sweet pink roses.  I think it's the perfect size!

supplies: white, black, cream,  Cotton Candy, and Green Leaf cardstock, January My Monthly Hero kit: (Sending Love Mail sentiment, Boutique Accessories and  Envelope Accessories dies),  worn lipstick, mustard seed, and mowed lawn distress inks, Lawn Fawn Quilted Backdrop die, pink satin ribbon from kit

The flowers were cut from Cotton Candy cardstock, then detailed with distress inks.  There's a nice variety of sentiments in the stamp set that covers almost any occasion, and I haven't even used the text and adorable little stamp images yet.  I'm so glad that Hero Arts gave us the fishtail banner in the dies, too - I know these will get used alot!

And one more, in more earthy colors, also bringing in one of the butterfly dies in the kit.

supplies: cream, Schoolhouse Red, Green Leaf, and Desert Storm cardstock, an unknown text dp, Hero Arts January Card Kit: (Sending Love Mail sentiment, Boutique Accessories and Envelope Accessories dies), MFT Wonky Stitched Rectangle die, twine

This time the flowers and leaves were left untouched after cutting them from colored cardstock, but I did use some mustard seed distress oxide ink on the butterfly, which I cut from white cardstock.  The sentiment is another one from the stamp set in the kit.

I hope Hero Arts continues with dies like these - once you get the hang of them, they make a fast card!  Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your day.

A Valentine Shaker card

supplies: white cardstock, dps from My Favorite Things Lucky Prints and Tiny Checks Bright pads, heart dies from Hero Arts Jan 2016 My Monthly Hero card kit, My Favorite Things hugs die, Studio Katia Cupid's Kiss crystals, Darice adhesive foam strips, piece of acetate for window

The adhesive foam strips worked really well for containing the crystal elements, and for adhering the top panel to the heart background.  I inserted a square of gingham inside the heart.  Unfortunately, after assembling everything, and dumping in my confetti, I didn't get my panel centered perfectly, and the adhesive was impossible to budge to fix it.  

Giving Thanks

I made this card for a special friend, but it works also to wish you all in the US a Happy Thanksgiving - may you be surrounded by family and friends, and enjoy this very special holiday!

supplies: white, kraft, Lipstick Red, Orange Peel, and  Sunshine card stock, Tammy Tutterow's Mad for Plaid stencils, fossilized amber, carved pumpkin, and candied apple mini distress inks, stitch stamp from Winnie & Walter Stripes stamps, leaf die and sentiment from Hero Arts Sept 2016 My Monthly Hero Card Kit, Stitched Circle die, Doodlebug Rainbow Hearts sprinkles

Happy Thanksgiving!

Buffalo Plaid

I've been noticing (and enjoying) the buffalo plaid trend I'm seeing this season.  This plaid will always remind me of the Woolrich plaid that my Dad wore when hunting!   I decided to make a Christmas card using it.

supplies: 2 shades of kraft, Schoolhouse Red, and green card stock, Impression Obsession Painted Stripes cling, VersaFine Onyx black inks, Tim Holtz mini Holiday Greens dies, Winnie & Walter In a Word: Merry cutaway, May Arts natural twine

I stamped a big striped background cling vertically, then horizontally, and trimmed the panel out to allow for some of my card base to frame it.  The rest are all die-cuts.  I glued the greens only at the top of each branch to allow the rest of it to stand out a bit from the card, and I used 2 shades of kraft to give a kind of shadow to my sentiment.

Here's another, changing up to red against kraft:

supplies: kraft, Schoolhouse Red and green card stock, Impression Obsession Painted Stripes cling, Hero Arts Red Royal ink, Tim Holtz Holiday Words die, Hero Arts wreath die from a 2016 My Monthly Hero card kit, jingle bells and Natural twine

Same process as above, just added different embellishments.

Thanks for stopping by - have a great week!

Merry

Happy belated Thanksgiving!  I hope yours was a lovely one.....

I have another card today that uses nothing but dies - no stamping involved!  I remembered this wreath die that was in the Hero Arts September My Monthly Hero Card Kit and decided to see what it would look like as a Christmas wreath.

supplies: woodgrain and BoBunny Wild Berry Red dot dp, Hero Arts September Card Kit die, Winnie & Walter In a Word: Merry cutaway and Take a Bow cutaway, hole punch

I started with a woodgrain design paper, and scored and inked it to make planks, then cut out 3 wreaths, and staggered them to make a fuller wreath.  The merry and berries are cut from the reverse of the dot cardstock that I used for the bow.

Enjoy your weekend!

Sugar Pea Mix it Up Challenge #16

I thought the sketch for this week's challenge at Sugar Pea Designs was fun.  Here's my take on it:

supplies: recycled white and various fall tones of cardstock, dp from Echo Park Fall is in the Air pad, My Monthly Hero September leaf dies and twine, Darice pearls, sentiment from The Craft's Meow Fall with Fibi and Lilly

Here's the challenge graphics:

Fall and its delightful temperatures and sunny skies has finally arrived here - enjoy your day!!

An autumn wreath

Here's a fall card using my new September My Monthly Hero card kit, which has sold out.  I'm SO glad that I grabbed this one when I did, as I love wreaths and this kit is all about wreaths and autumn!  For my card, I used just 2 of the dies, along with a few embellishments, pairing them with one of the sentiments in the stamp set.

supplies: white, red, orange, gold, and dark chocolate cardstock, wreath and branch dies, twine, and enamel dots, stamped sentiment from the September My Monthly Hero kit

Coincidentally, I saw the colors for this week at ColourQ, and used them for my first play with this set.

Thanks for stopping by today on the first day of fall!  

My First Valentines!

I was lucky enough to win the My Monthly Hero January Card Kit, and here is my first play with it:

supplies: watercolor paper and white notecard, abandoned coral distress ink, Hero Arts die and sentiment from Card Kit, tiny pearls, Winnie & Walter Audrey's cutaway scalloped stitched die

I smooshed some coral distress ink on a watercolor panel, die-cut my heart, then added more of the same color to the tiny hearts and added some tiny pearls.

Isn't the sentiment perfect?

And another, using the other 2 dies in the kit:

supplies: white notecard, poppy layering paper,  Lucy's shaker mix, small sentiments, and acetate from kit, abandoned coral distress ink, smooshed, Winnie & Walter hugs and Audrey cutaway panel

I should have dumped more of the shaker mix inside my shaker, but, since this is my first sampling of Lucy's mixes, I want to make it last!

In other news, have you seen the brand spankin' new Hero Arts catalog?  It is being unveiled today!  I've got my eye on some pretty flower stamps and they will also be releasing 14 new hybrid inks!!  Hero Arts inks are a staple in my stamping, so I'm excited about these new ones!

Thanks for visiting, as always!