A few cards for a few challenges...

Last night I got busy making a few cards for a few challenges that are ending today or tomorrow.

All three of these cards are for the Hero Arts blog challenge to use both their stamps and diecuts on your creation. And, there's a bonus prize if some Quickutz items are used!

Additionally, all three of these cards are for the Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combos challenge #1 to use these colors:

These first two cards use the Mojo Monday sketch #90:

On this one, I used a Quickutz Squeeze butterfly die and a flowers embossing folder. The butterfly's wings use the stamped resist technique.

This one uses a Quickutz Squeeze dots embossing folder. The blue triangle uses the stamped resist technique.

This card uses the Sketch for You to Try sketch :

Ever notice how things always seem more reasonable when you are tired? I didn't begin making this one until around midnight and at the time handstitching the three fabric panels seemed like it'd be easier than breaking out the sewing machine. Ha ha.

It may also be hard to see in the picture that I got the Brilliant Blue color in there on the staples. They're Making Memories colored staples. Now that I look at it, the color on this pic is a little wonky. The yellow really is So Saffron and the green banner and stem really are Old Olive.

It's also hard to see in the picture but all of the flower layers are also made with the stamp resist technique. They all have little hearts embossed on them. The paper is watercolor paper and I used some So Saffron and Old Olive ink smooshed onto a craft mat and sprayed with water to color them.

The little "happy day" banner is a Cricut Storybook Font diecut.

Details - Butterfly card: Paper - Stampin' Up!, The Paper Company; Ink - VersaMark, SU!; Hero Arts stamps; Quickutz Squeeze cutting and embossing dies; SU! punches; Stampendous clear detail embossing powder; SU! linen thread; piercing tool; foam squares.

Details - Frog card: Paper - SU!, The Paper Company; Ink - VersaMark, SU!; Hero Arts stamps; Quickutz Squeeze embossing die; SU! punch; Stampendous blue embossing powder; SU! brad; piercing tool; foam square.

Details - Happy Day card: Paper - SU!, The Paper Company; Ink - VersaMark, SU!; Hero Arts stamps; SU! punches; Cricut diecut; Stampendous clear detail embossing powder; SU! button; DMC floss; Making Memories colored staples; thread; fabric.

I'm hoping to make a couple more cards tonight that I have in mind for the Hero Arts challenge. How can I resist? Two of my favorite things right now - stamping and die cuts! If I get them done, I'll most certainly post those, too.

TFL!!

Heidi

Whoo (heart)s U

Here's another card combining the Unity Stamp Co. So & So Loves stamp and the Hero Arts Whoo Loves You set. They just go so well together, eh?

See how I carved the sentiment (Who (heart)s U) on the tree? Tee hee.

I love, LOVE, LUH-UH-UHVE the new Cosmo Cricket Early Bird line. So adorably retro and sporting my favorite color combos at the moment. This particular paper is the "B" side of Cherry Pie.

The scalloped square is from Cricut's Storybook cartridge. The aqua background is the Cuttlebug Diamonds in the Rough emboss.

Details: Paper - Cosmo Cricket, The Paper Company, Quickutz, Basic Grey; Stamps - Unity Stamp Co., Hero Arts; StazOn ink; Zig Millenium pen; Cricut; Cuttlebug; foam square.

Thanks for looking!

Heidi

Woodland Love Note

I think this card is pretty adorable if I may say so myself.

I made it mainly for the Hero Arts weekly challenge of which the theme is "manly" this week. Do you think it's "manly" enough? The love squirrel image is from the Hero Arts Whoo Loves You clear stamp set. The trees image is the Unity Stamp Co. So & So Loves... single. The images are colored with ink and a blender pen.

The argyle background is a Cricut die cut. The argyle and colors were inspired by that gorgeous DCWV ribbon. The green diamond shaped brads were originally silver ones that I covered in Ranger Distressed Embossing Powder. You know, there's something quite powerful in discovering that you can alter the color on just about anything with a little ink or embossing powder. It opens up a whole new (and more cost-effective) crafting horizon.

Finally, this card follows this week's Mojo Monday sketch #88:

Details: Paper - The Paper Company, SU!; Ink - StazOn, SU!, VersaMark, VersaMagic; Stamps - Hero Arts, Unity Stamp Co.; Cricut die cut; SU! circle punch & brads; Ranger Distressed Embossing Powder; DCWV ribbon; foam square.

TFL!

Heidi

Hip Hop Hangover Part 2 - Good Times

OK, so I came up with one more Unity Stamp Co. card worthy of Hip Hop Hangover! This one uses an image from the October KOTM.

The martini glass and olive are Cricut die cuts. The bubbly background is a resist using a Hero Arts stamp. The color scheme on this card was also inspired by Moxie Fab World's citrus challenge (hence the martini being yellow and therefore I figure a "lemon drop" martini):

Details: Paper - The Paper Co., SU!; Ink - SU!, StazOn, VersaMark; Stamps - Unity Stamp Co., Hero Arts; Cricut; Diamond Glaze; SU! embossing powder, punch & brads; piercing tool; foam dots.

Good times!

Good Friday!

Good weekend!

TFL!

Heidi

Hero Art Go Green Pt. 2 - Celebrate!

Here's another offering for the Hero Arts Go Green challenge this week.

May 2011 issue

The large Chinese lantern is made from a recycled ribbon spool. (I knew saving all these would benefit me someday!)

The adorable doll, lantern, and flowers stamps are Hero Arts (CL297). The parasol is from the Cricut Happily Ever After cartridge. It's hard to see it in the pic, but the doll's jacket and the large lantern are stamped with gold flowers. The tassle on the lamp was white ribbon - I separated it then colored it with gold ink, too.

The layout for this card is from the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge sketch #69 this week. I flipped it and rotated it 90 degrees:

The color palette on this card also works with kwernerdesign's color challenge this week:

Details: Paper - SU!, The Paper Company, Hot Off the Press; Stamps - Hero Arts, g Studio; Ink - StazOn, SU!, Tsukineko Brilliance; Cricut; Cuttlebug; thread; ribbon.

Thanks for looking!

Heidi

p.s. - Don't forget to vote for me for the Vintage Plum Star Search "medium madness" challenge. See this link HERE for my layout and the voting links. Voting continues until Monday early evening. I rely on your votes! Thank you!!

Hero Arts Go Green challenge - You're a Tweet-heart

This week, Hero Arts issued a challenge to "go green" with our cards and projects - to use at least one repurposed/recycled material.

On this card I recycled my seriously ink-y stamping blotter sheet for the background:

This uses the uber-cute Hero Art clear stamp set "Whoo Loves You" (CL309).

March 2011 issue

This card also uses the Weekend Sketch Challenge sketch:

I thought it only appropriate that the card should get "natural" with kraft paper and twine.

Details: Paper - The Paper Company, SU! blotter sheets; Ink - SU!, Ranger Distress Ink, Staz-On; Hero Arts stamps; Cricut Storybook cartridge; foam squares;twine.

TFL!

Heidi

p.s. - Don't forget to vote for me for the Vintage Plum Star Search "medium madness" challenge. See this link HERE for my layout and the voting links. Voting continues until Monday early evening. I rely on your votes! Thank you!!

Little Birdie Thank You Card - TECC69

Someone is getting this adorable little card in the mail soon!

I used the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #69 sketch for this one.

The birdie stamp is Hero Arts. "Thank You" is Stampin' Up!. The Cuttlebug folder is swiss dots. The flower center is a craft mini pom pom which was colored with yellow ink.

Details: Paper - SU!, The Paper Company; Stamps - Hero Arts, SU!; Cuttlebug; Ranger Distress Ink; Fiskars border punch; unknown chipboard flower and pom pom.

Thanks for looking!

Heidi

p.s. OK I'm not sure what's going on with the formatting here. I assure you there are spaces between paragraphs but they're just not showing up. Sorry for the poor readibility.

Smile - BBTB, Hero Arts "Dots", TECC68

Thought I'd hit a few challenges in one card tonight.

Bitten by the Bug's challenge is to use the smiley (or frown) face on the Wild Card Cricut cartridge. The Hero Arts challenge is to use dots or circles. And the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge is to use this sketch (which I rotated to the right 90 degrees):

Details : Paper - Stampin' Up!, Die Cuts With a View, The Paper Company; Ink - VersaMark, SU!; Hero Arts stamp (dots); Stampendous embossing powder; Cricut Wild Card & Accent Essentials cartridges; ribbon & butterfly unknown.

*** Don't forget tomorrow (Sunday) I'll be posting some yummy blog candy (see post HERE for a sneak peek). All you'll need to do is visit the Vintage Plum website and VOTE FOR ME in the Plum Star Search week #1 challenge. Come back Sunday for that opportunity!!! ***

Thanks for looking!

Heidi

Hero Arts Inspiration Challenge - XOXO

The Hero Arts challenge for this week was to make something inspired by one of the submissions for their "Win a Day on the Blog" contest that ended last month. There were about 2500 entries so there was quite a glut of inspiration.




My card is inspired by the card by LysaQ here. I really loved the color and composition of her card. (I think I was also swayed by the Japanese doll stamp she used - I'm DYING to get that set!!)

The hearts are all covered with Diamond Glaze to make them shiney and slightly bulbous. The XOXO overlay was cut using my Quickutz Silhouette.

Details: Paper - The Paper Company, DCWV, SU!; Stamps - Hero Arts ; StazOn ink; Zig Millenium pen; Quickutz Silhouette; SU! 1/4" punch; Fiskars border punch; Diamond Glaze; foam squares.

Thanks for looking!

Heidi

Hero Arts mayflowers challenge

Here's my contribution to the Hero Arts mayflowers challenge (http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2009/04/27/motivating-you-with-spring-flowers/).

I created the flower, leaves, and butterflies using heart stamps. You can see in the pic below the stamps next to the card. The flower center and the butterfly bodies are covered with beads.

Details: Stamps - Hero Arts LL187, SU! Stem Sayings; Paper - DCWV spring stack, The Paper Company; Ink - SU!, Staz-On; Fiskars border punch; SU! Pop Up Glue Dots; foam squares; beads; brads

TFL!

Heidi

3 more Hero Arts distress challenge submissions

After watching Jennifer McGuire's tutorial on the Hero Arts Blog about distress resist stamping, I had to try it. (See that tutorial here http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2009/04/21/more-distressing-fun-and-two-videos/.) Oh, how addictive it is! I've used alcohol inks on glossy paper for a similar effect but didn't realize that all those beautiful (*gasp* unopened) Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks I possessed could create a similar effect on watercolor paper. I used the Hero Arts Clear Stamps "Mixed Design" set for all 3 cards.

The first one I did was the children watching the fireworks. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to convey the fireworks background and show that the silhouette is popped up for dimension without sacrificing some quality on the pic, so I apologize for that. (Details: Stamps: Hero Arts, Rubber Stampede; Paper: SU! watercolor, DCWV The Spring Stack; Ink: Versamark, Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Unknown: mini tag, brads, ribbon, foam squares.)

The next one I did was the submarines one. I thought the background looked like bubbles underwater. There's a lot of "fussy cutting" on this one. I think this is my favorite. The combo of the colors and antiquey-looking patterened paper images reminds me of "The Misadventures of Flapjack." (Anyone have kids that watch that on Cartoon Network? My hubby hates that show. I admit, it's a bit "off".) (Details: Stamps: Hero Arts, SU!; Paper: SU! watercolor, K&Co Daydreams collection; Ink: Versamark, Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink; foam squares. )


The final one is the rocket. This reminds me of that Laurie Berkner song, something about, "...a rocketship in space," trying to convey the idea to kids that they can be anything they can dream. I love the colors that came through on the main image. I love the white splatter effect on the dark background paper. It's paint splattered on using a toothbrush. It looks like deep space to me. Again, I tried to show in the picture that the rocket is popped up but the dimension doesn't come through all that clearly. (Details: Stamps: Hero Arts, Technique Tuesday; Paper: SU! watercolor; Ink: Versamark, Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink; Misc: Cricut, Making Memories paint, EK Success border punch, foam squares, toothbrush, unknown cardstock.)

Think I'm done with the Hero Arts distress challenge for now. Now on to some others to be displayed later...

TFL!!

Heidi

Get It Over With!

Another distressed offering for the Hero Arts contest. Not quite as distressed as the vase card below but I used the ink distressing technique and used gorgeous Basic Grey paper which is already nicely distressed.

There's actually a coffee ring on the paper, too, in another attempt to distress it further but I guess my coffee is no match for BG paper colors! Oh, well.

The sentiment says, "Start every day with a smile and get it over with. - W. C. Fields". Sage advice, W. C. :)

Details:

Stamps - Hero Arts Clear Stamps "Mixed Design", SU! "Edgy Eloquence"

Paper - Basic Grey "Mellow", SU! c/s

Ink - Color Box Chalk ink, Versa Mark

Misc - Cricut, EK Success punch, Stampendous embossing powder

TFL!

Heidi

Embrace Life Vase

April 2011 issue

I submitted this one for the Hero Arts challenge to distress. Of course, one of my favorite card artists was hosting it - Jennifer McGuire.

The vase is much more detailed IRL than on the pic. I began by sponging on Creamy Caramel, Sage Shadow, True Thyme, & Real Rust ink. Then I stamped in Chocolate Chip Hero Arts' Conversation Dots and clear Mixed Design stamps. Then I rubbed on some more Real Rust on the Conversation Dot image and finally rolled on the Rough Texture Wheel by SU!. THEN I applied the crackle medium which muted/blended everything.

I love how the frame came out. I tore up pieces of a "vintage" dictionary page. Love how I can call a dictionary that I used in college "vintage". It's nicely browned/yellowed over the years. LOL.

TFL!

Details:

Stamps - Hero Arts & Stampin' Up!

Cardstock - SU!

Ink - SU! & Colorbox

Other - Cricut diecuts, Making Memories paint, Inkssentials Ranger Crackle Accent, SU! distressing tool, glue dots, foam squares, glue stick, vintage dictionary page, m/u pads, qtips.