Christmas Blessings

The images from the Hero Arts Floral Nativity stamp and die set have been colored over a year but just never made it onto a card. I did record the colors then in a draft post otherwise I would just be guessing. I assume it is a retired set as I only find it on Amazon and Ebay. 

Since the images were already completed, I just needed a background. I decided on the Craft Consortium Ink Drop-Midnight papers which provided a quick and easy, rich alcohol ink background look without all the mess.  I cut it with the PTI Love to Layer: Soft Ridges die, stamped the sentiment using Versamark ink and gold heat embossed. After adhering the images to the piece, I attached it to a dark indigo stitched edge cardstock panel. The sentiment doesn't show up that well in the photo but looks better in real life. 

Products: Hero Arts stamps and dies, Craft Consortium dp, PTI cs, PTI die, Altenew and Versamark ink, Copic Markers

Baby Jesus-E00, E01, E21, E25, W00, E81; Mary-E000, E01, E02, E21, E25, G20, G24, R83,W00,E81, BG10,BG11, BG23, Y21, Y23; Joseph-E00, E01, E02, E11, G20, G24, W00, E81, B91, B93, Y21, Y23, Y26; Manger-E30,E31,E33,W1, YR30,YR31; Stable-C1,C3,W00,W1

Have a blessed Christmas! 

When Snow Falls

I bought the Hero Arts Wintertime Fun set last December actually too late to actually get any Christmas cards completed so it has been languishing in my stamp stash for a year. Sadly I have a few I have purchased this year that probably will not make it on a 2017 card. Can any of my fellow stampers relate? Sigh.

With a bit of masking, I stamped the tree, fox, owl and deer onto Neenah cardstock and then colored with Copic Markers. I added a bit of sparkle on the snow tipped tree with a clear gelly roll pen. After cutting out the image with a stitched die, I stamped a trio of snowflakes using soft stone ink and the sentiment with black licorice. And yay, a perfectly flat card for easy mailing. This card was inspired by the fabulous and creative Debby Hughes.

Products: Hero Arts stamps and dies, PTI cs,  Sakura Gelly Roll pen, MFT die, MFT and PTI ink, Copic Markers
Copics: Tree-YG01, YG91, YG93; Fox-W00, E81, E97, E99; Owl-W00, E81, W1, W2, W5, YR31; Deer-W00, E81, W2, W2, E50, E51, E53, E55, E57; Sky-BG70, BG0000. BG000; Snow drifts-C00,0

Off to church this morning. See you here back soon.

Peace Joy Love (#christmasinjuly2017)

Summer is a wonderful time of the year but then again so is Christmas so I am doing a Christmas in July series. My goal is to make at least 20 cards this month but I am not going to stress over the goal. The point is to get a jump start on my Christmas cards while enjoying the process. See below on how to participate too.

I stamped a simple background using an image from the Essentials by Ellen Wonky Backdrops using blueberry ink and the star images in Delicata Shimmery Silver ink. After stamping two of the small images from the Hero Arts Winter Time Fun set and I cut out with the matching dies. I attached them to the background with foam tape and stamped the sentiment came from the Essentials by Ellen Cozy Christmas set also in blueberry ink.

Products: Hero Arts stamps, Ellen Hutson stamps, MFT and Delicata Tsukineko ink, Copic Markers
Copics: Deer-E40, E31, E33, W00, E81, E41, E44; Bird-R20, R22, R24, YR31; Bunny-W00, E81, R01

If you feel like joining me to get a head start on your Christmas cards, please link up below. I would love the inspiration and promise I will stop by to take a look and comment. If you post to instagram, use #christmasinjuly2017.

An InLinkz Link-up

May Your Days Be Merry & Bright

Today's card features a tag created for Day 1 of Ellen Hutson 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2015. Now that is a mouthful of challenge! I have my tag placed on a card because I need all the Christmas cards I can get right now. I actually forgot and had this baby glued down before I thought to take a photo of the tag by itself. I was inspired by Carolyn Peeler's tag which featured embossing and watercolors as well as trees.

I failed to write down the inks I used to watercolor piece of Ranger Distress Watercolor cardstock but I know that they were  Ranger Distress inks. Once dried I cut out a tag with the Pretty Pink Posh Stitched Duo 3 die set. I stamped the two graphic trees from the Hero Arts Joy to the World set with Versamark ink and heat embossed both with Citrron powder with a bit of masking in between. I then stamped the sentiment at the top and heat embossed with Glacier powder. I decorated the trees with Kaisercraft jewels in pink and aqua. I used the same tag die to cut another tag from Berrylicious cardstock and then tied them together with Honeydew twine.  I stamped two of the solid stars from the same stamp set directly onto the card base and also heat embossed them before attaching the tag set.

Products: Hero Arts stamps, Ranger Distress Watercolor cs, MFT and PTI cs, The Twinery twine, Kaisercraft jewels, Recollections embossing powders, Pretty Pink Posh die, Versamark ink, Ranger Distress inks

Thank you for stopping by on a Monday morning.

 

Joy to the World

Today's card is for the current Merry Monday #171 Challenge to create a sentiment centric card.

I used a new Hero Arts Stamp & Cut set to cut the word "joy" from Pure Poppy cardstock, as well as the tag hole reinforcement. I used the also new Reverse Confetti Thanks Tag die to cut the tag from the actual Hero Arts packaging insert. Yet here I have stacks of paper pads. Go figure.

After attaching the die cut word, I stamped the remainder of the sentiment in black. A small snowflake cut with a die from the Lawn Fawn Stitched Snowflake set was anchored with a red enamel dot to represent the "dot" on the j. The tag was attached to the card base with Hemptique cord which was wrapped around the card front and tied through the tag hole. Easy peasy.

Products: Hero Arts stamp and die, PTI and Bazzill cs, Hemptique cord, Doodlebug enamel dot, Reverse Confetti and Lawn Fawn dies, Versafine ink

Happy Hump Day!

Believe

TGIF!

I have another Christmas card today for this week's Merry Monday 97 challenge featuring another one of those stamps  in my not-yet-used-basket, Hero Arts Wreath of Leaves.

I started out by stamping the wreath onto white cardstock in Versamark ink and then heat embossed with silver embossing powder.  I placed several sequins in two shades of aqua and silver sequins centered with aqua jewels onto various spots on the wreath. The sentiment from The Cat's Pajamas Believe set was stamped with Stampin' Up Bahama Bay ink onto a skinny tag that I tied some silver thread through. I wish all my cards came together as easily as this one!

Products: Hero Arts stamp, The Cat's Pajamas stamp, PTI cs, Darice and Lawn Fawn sequins, Kaisercraft jewels, Paper Source thread, Stampendous embossing powder, Stampin' Up and Versamark inks

Have a great weekend!


My sale page (new items).

On the Tenth Day of Christmas.....

Good morning. It's day 10 of my 12 Days of Christmas series.

12 Days of Christmas: My step-granddaughters in North Carolina at age 8 and 10 are right on the cusp of no longer believing in Santa Claus. Twelve days of small packages arriving in the mail will {I hope} help keep Christmas a magical time for just a little longer. It's purely for fun and not really about the gifts. 

Today's gift is a box of Sugar Babies aka reindeer poop. If you remember I also included  snowman poop (tic tacs) earlier in the 12 Days series so I thought I would give equal time to another Christmas figure. I wanted to do something different this time so I wrapped up each candy box with leftover Christmas wrapping paper with cute reindeer images. Then I made a tag for each bag featering a Hero Arts Big Reindeer image that I stamped, sprinkled with gold embossing powder and then heat set. I allowed the legs and part of the nose to fall outside of the tag and added a red pom pom for the nose and a white one for the tail. After cutting out The Cat's Pajamas Snowflake Lace paper, I cut into two pieces and added to the edge of each tag. I tied the completed tag onto the package with some pretty ribbon and gold metallic thread. 

 

I'll see you back here tomorrow for Day 11!
 

Happy Father's Day

Today's card is a Father's Day card for my husband. Although I never really understood  the "owl" phase in scrapbooking products,  I did really like this big owl stamp from Hero Arts. I stamped him onto Copic X-Press It blending card and then colored him with Copic markers. It took a while because I colored each little feather one a time since I was afraid I would mess up the color pattern I wanted if I colored ahead. No time lost though since I did it during one night of insomnia. I emulated the argyle shape in the pattern paper with a Cuttlebug embossing folder for the main image panel. All pattern paper is from the My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose "Hattie" 6x6 pad.

Products: Hero Arts stamp, My Mind's Eye dp, PTI button and sentiment, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Copic Markers

Copics: BG70, BG72, BG75, Y21, Y23, Y26, E40, E41, E42, W2, W5, W7, YG91, YG93

As always thanks for stopping by.

Two for Tuesday

I am still working on Christmas cards and hope to do a weekly post featuring them from now until December. With the realization that my cards tend to the more on the feminine side, I decided I needed some that were a bit more masculine for my husband's bachelor friends.  I really reached back for some older product for these, which I have to say, feels great to do so.  I've had the Hero Arts Large Reindeer stamp for a while.  I remember looking for this stamp everywhere several years ago but couldn't find it.  An internet friend found it at one of her local stamp stores and sent it to me.  Oh those were the days! 

I followed this week's Sketch for You to Try for this card.  I decided to make it into a square so more of the reindeer pattern in the Basic Grey background paper would show.  I stamped the image onto PTI cardstock with Versamark ink and then heat embossed it with a bronze gold embossing powder.  After cutting out the image with a Spellbinders Nestabilities (not cutting the back legs so they would kick out beyond the circle background) I inked the edges while it was still in the die.  I added a white pom-pom for the tail and a red one for the nose since I am sure he is Rudolph.  Although knowing Don's friends, I suppose he could be Blitzen! 

While I had Rudy out, I made a second card using the same Versamark/embossing powder combination.

Products: Hero Arts stamp, Basic Grey and Carolee's Adornit pp, PTI cs, button and scallop die, Heather Bailey felt, Creative Imaginations epoxy tree, May Arts ribbon, Martha Stewart punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities


Have a great day.  As always, thanks for stopping by!

Queen Bee

Today's card is for this week's Sketch for You to Try challenge.  I love the subtle colors in the Pink Paislee Queen Bee line of papers and used them as the  inspiration for my stamped piece.  The Hero Arts stamp hasn't seen any ink in a very long time. I stamped it once with Brilliance ink in Pearlescent Yellow, then again with Stampin' Up Going gray.  I love my Copic markers but it was nice to just stamp and go for a change. 




Products: Hero Arts stamp, Pink Paislee pp, Papertrey Ink cs, Fiskars border punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Martha Stewart seam binding ribbon, Basic Grey pearls

Happy Earth Day!