3.31.2016

Hoppy Day // Hero Arts

Today I'm "hopping" in for a quick card, the non-identical twin of THIS card I shared last week.


I didn't customize the sentiment for this card like I did for the twin, but it's definitely possible. Using a small 1" ink cube, you could selectively ink up the sentiment, and get "hoppy" instead of "happy."


I just love these adorable Hipster Animals!

Thanks for stopping in and God bless!

SUPPLIES


Cardstock: Canson
Stamps: Hero Arts Hipster Animals, Color Layering Happy Day Flowers and Garden Flowers by Lia  
Ink: Hero Arts Charcoal, Soft Pink, Soft Apricot and Soft Pool
Other: Hero Arts Sunshine Mixed Accents

3.28.2016

Watercolor Wash // Hero Arts

Today I'm popping in with a card I made for the Hero Arts catalog, but didn't quite make the cut (it's twin did though - see if you can spy it in the catalog ;))


I masked off the fun piñata to add a pale peach watercolor wash behind. You can actually use almost any ink pad to watercolor, although some inks work better than others. For this card, I smooshed my Fresh Pink ink against a clear block, added water, and made my wash. I find that the Hero Arts inks usually dry pretty quickly, so you have to add a decent amount of water and work quickly with them.


Thanks so much for stopping in and God bless!

SUPPLIES


Cardstock: Canson (watercolor), Hero Arts Brown Bag Kraft
Stamps: Hero Arts Piñata and YAY!
Ink: Hero Arts Black, Fresh Peach and Mint Julep

Tools: water, paintbrush

3.24.2016

Hoppy Day // Hero Arts

I'm over on the Hero Arts blog today, with a spring card using the adorable bunny from the Hipster Animals stamp set - hop on over for more details! (sorry, I couldn't resist ;))


Thanks so much for stopping in and God bless!

3.17.2016

Stretching Layering Stamps // Hero Arts

Hiya! Today I have a bright and cheery card set to share with you, using one of my favorite stamp sets from the Hero Arts 2016 catalog release.

I may or may not be obsessed with For You Flowers Color Layering stamp set - I used only this one stamp set to make both of these cards.


First off, I used the stamps to create a focal point, and topped it off with the super fun sentiment embossed in white on navy.


For the second card, I used it to make a focal background - the flowers aren't exactly fading in the background, but they don't make up one whole focal point themselves.


With both of these cards, I didn't use the second layer of the stamps - this stamp set is really so versatile that way, in that the images look awesome layered or alone.

Thanks so much for stopping in today and God bless!

SUPPLIES


Cardstock: Canson
Stamps: Hero Arts For You Flowers Color Layering
Ink: Hero Arts Soft Vanilla, Soft Apricot, Kelly's Fashion Inks, Tide Pool
Other: sequins (Lucy's Little Things), white embossing powder (Hero Arts)

Tools: heat gun

3.11.2016

Coordinating Dies Focus // Lawn Fawn

Hello all!
Long time, no see!
I had a hectic two midterm weeks at the end of February to the first week of March, and then drove straight off to Iowa to visit my brother and some friends. Now I'm home and back in the saddle!

The cards today were rather experimental ones...


The Chit Chat stamp set and dies are both so versatile, and I decided to focus on the dies for the two cards.
The sensible thing to do in the case of this first card would be to color the cardstock first, and then die cut, but as is well known, I am not usually very sensible, and as a result, I have this extra card...


These cards are for the Lawnscaping Color Splash challenge...


Also, to announce the winner of the Altenew gift certificate giveaway; Random.org picked #25, which is...
Joy Meadows!
Thanks to all for the sweet comments, and Joy, if you could just shoot me an e-mail, I'll get the gift card code out to you ASAP. :)

Thanks so much for stopping in and God bless!

SUPPLIES


Cardstock: Canson
Stamps: Lawn Fawn Chit Chat
Ink: Versamark, Stazon, watercolors
Other: sequins (stash), enamel dots (Doodlebug), white embossing powder (Martha Stewart)

Tools: Cuttlebug, Lawn Fawn Chit Chat dies, water, paintbrush

3.03.2016

Lasting Hearts Blog Hop // Hero Arts

Hi, today I'm participating in a blog hop to support a beautiful cause, Lasting Hearts, started by Kimberly Saldana, the Hero Arts Director of Sales. Lasting Hearts is here to help comfort parents, mothers in particular, who have lost a piece of their heart.


For more details on this drive, see the end of the post.

For my cards today, I'm using a stamp set by Hero Arts, designed specifically for this cause. There are two others, and Hero Arts is donating 25% of the profits from these stamps to support the Lasting Hearts efforts, in cooperation with Angela Miller, the author of “You Are The Mother of All Mothers.”


The stamp set I'm using is So Sorry Stamp and Cut. This is beautiful little set that makes creating these difficult cards a little easier.
For this first card, I created my wreath by masking off a circle, and then stamping a lot of tiny little branches from the Spring Hello by Lia in Mint Julep.


For a slightly easier second card, I just stamped the Heart Vine in Soft Pink. On both cards, I used a die to add the little dots, but you can always use a sewing machine without thread for a similar look.


Now for more details on Lasting Hearts;

Lasting Hearts is here to help comfort mothers who have lost a piece of their heart. Losing a child, whether in pregnancy or older, can be one of the hardest pains a parent can endure. We would like to raise awareness and show other mothers that they are not alone, that they are stronger than they realize, and that there are people out there who care dearly. Hopefully, our story will move others to do just that.
Just 9 months after giving birth to our first child, we were surprised and overjoyed to be welcoming another one on the way. We did what all parents with a growing family would do: told our close friends and family, looked into buying a larger home, and started planning for another life-changing event. We were elated to be bringing our sweet daughter another brother or sister.
Our joy soon to turned to heartache. We found out at our first ultrasound that we were set to have twins, however one of our precious babies had passed early on in the pregnancy. With heavy hearts, we tried to stay positive and prayed for the surviving twin to be a healthy baby. In our second ultrasound we were relieved and comforted by our baby’s precious heartbeat and left the doctor’s office feeling hopeful. Sadly, our fears became reality in our third ultrasound. After examining the ultrasound, our tech turns to us and asks, “Did you say you heard your baby’s heartbeat”? Instantly, we lost a piece of our hearts. Our lives were forever changed after losing not one but two of our babies in the same pregnancy.
We sat in the examination room, completely devastated and broken, waiting for our doctor. She comes in and does her best to console us but nothing she says could ease the pain. Her clinical response of “25% of pregnancies end in miscarriage” or “there was nothing you could’ve done to prevent this” just fell on deaf ears. None of it satisfied the two questions that kept running through our heads – “How could this happen?” and “why did this happen?” As amazing of an OBGYN as she is, she just wasn’t equipped to comfort 2 people whose world had been turned upside down. The conversation continues to how best to proceed in removing the fetuses, a conversation that’s cold in stark contrast to how we imagined delivering our precious children. We were absolutely heartbroken.
We kept our loss private for some time, not knowing how to express our grief and slightly afraid of the stigma that comes with miscarriages. It was too painful to speak of and too agonizing to share. One of the first people I reached out to was my dear friend, Amy, who had lost her son towards the end of her pregnancy and who knew the heartache all too well. I looked to her for her strength and for guidance on how she’s been able to continue to be a great mom to her young daughter after losing her infant son. A couple of days later I received a book from Amy, “You are the Mother of all Mothers” by Angela Miller. After only reading a few pages, I finally let myself accept for the first time that what happened to us was not my fault and that I did have the strength to continue to be a better mom and wife. The book’s encouraging message is conveyed in a way that is thoughtful, uplifting, compassionate and relatable.
With a newfound strength, I brought this book to our OBGYN and asked her if she’d be open to distributing these to patients who had miscarried if we provided them. She agreed without any hesitation. The author, Angela Miller, has graciously agreed to offer 40% off the list price so that we may help those who are in the disheartening situation we were once in. I can’t help but think of the mothers who don’t have support, don’t know where to turn, or just need to know that “No one else could carry this unrelenting burden as courageously. It is the heaviest, most torturous burden there is”.
In summary, Kimberly is hoping to have copies of this helpful book along with handmade cards available for doctors to give to parents who lose their babies. There are TWO ways you can help. You can do one or both – whatever you are comfortable with. You can donate money and/or cards.
Visit THIS link to donate, and to send cards;

Lasting Hearts Card Drive
2892 N Bellflower Blvd Ste 216
Long Beach, CA 90815

This is really such a beautiful cause - I know several people who have suffered from such a loss, and to have something like this to let you know you are there for them and support them? Just beautiful.

Now, for the rest of the blog hop - be sure to visit everyone on the list and leave a comment. Hero Arts is giving away a special prize to three lucky commenters - Angela Miller's "You Are the Mother of All Mothers" book, as well as the So Sorry Stamp & Cut set. Please comment by Sunday, March 6 at 11:59 PT, and they'll announce the winners next week.

Blog hop order:
Clare Prezzia < you are here!
Libby Hickson
Yana Smakula

Thanks so much for stopping by and God bless!

SUPPLIES


Cardstock: Papertrey Ink

Tools: Cuttlebug, Avery Elle frame die

3.01.2016

Crazy Pigs // Paper Source

I thought I'd break the monotony of this blog (and my studying for midterms) with some random cards for this weeks Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge (anything goes);

My brother got me THIS Paper Source stamp a while back, and I decided to have it do some crazy things...


First, through space! I thought the sentiment would be cheeky and perfect to send to a friend.


This one I struggled with more - I haven't used this much patterned paper in forEVER!

Thanks so much for stopping in and God bless!

SUPPLIES


Cardstock: Canson
Patterned paper: Crate Paper
Stamps: Paper Source Pig, Simon Says Stamp Sending and Wishing and Mama Elephant True Friend and Up and Away
Ink: Tim Holtz, Versamark, Versafine
Other: string, embossing powder (Hero Arts)

Tools: Fiskars cloud punches, sewing machine, Cuttlebug, Simon Says Stamp Wishing die