Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to pop in and wish you all a 

Merry Christmas 

and 

Happy New Year!

{ All stamps are Hero Arts - CG363 Poinsettia & Berries, S5507 Envelope Pattern, 

CL543 Very Merry Christmas, K5344 La Lettre }

♡

Kelly

2012 Hero Arts Catalog Blog Hop

Hello and welcome to my stop on the 2012 Hero Arts Catalog Blog Hop!  I am so honored to be a part of this fun event and had a blast playing with these new stamps. :)

My first card uses a new clear set called XO (CL586).  It's full of lovey sentiments as well as a couple of cute heart images.  Perfect for those special people in our lives!

My second card uses another new clear set called Year Round Sentiments (CL582) as well as a new woodblock stamp called Wild Flowers with Label (K5583).  This sentiment set is one of my favorites in the new catalog!  Love the mix of fonts and there's a wide variety of sentiments for any occasion.

Be sure to leave a comment for a chance to win some of these fabulous new stamps!  Hero Arts will be giving away five prize packs that include brand new 2012 Catalog stamps. The five winners will be randomly chosen from ALL of the blog hop comments received by midnight PST on Monday, December 12, and will be announced on the Hero Arts blog shortly thereafter.

Your next stop on the hop is the talented Maile Belles.

Remember, if you find a link that doesn't work, you can always hop back to the Hero Arts Blog for a list of direct links to all the blogs in the hop.

Merry Christmas Flourish

Hi there!  Sorry for the month-long break...but sometimes life just gets crazy.  I'm sure you can all relate. :)

Today I sat down and created a card just for fun.  And it was so enjoyable!  I really need to do this more often.

I started out by white embossing the Bold Flourish image onto some white cardstock.  And I eventually ended up with this card:

I really didn't intend on making a Christmas card, but the flourish with dots reminded me of blustery snow and so I just went with it.  That's the great part about creating just for fun...you can take a card in any direction you please. 

Thanks for stopping by!

♡

Winners of Handmade Holidays

The randomly selected winners of Latrice's Handmade Holidays class are...

Tanya

and

CinnamonSally!

Congrats, ladies!  I have sent each of you an email.  Latrice will be in touch to get you all set up for class.


Have a great day!


 

Handmade Holidays + Giveaway!

Hi there!  Today I wanted to share a little bit about a new class that my sweet friend, Latrice, has asked me to be a part of later this month.

Handmade Holidays is a class that is all about Doing it Yourself. You will learn how to create projects with varied difficulty from cards to a monogram wreath. We will focus on both Fall and Christmas holiday for our DIY projects. Lots of the items you will have on hand and a few you can find either online or at your local craft store. No worries though the class blog will be available to you for one year.

Registration Dates: October 7-21, 2011

Class Dates: October 24- November 4, 2011

What are we making: We will complete 10 Fall and Christmas themed projects. Here is the full list of projects.

1. Cards using sketches (2)

2. Scrapbooking with sketches (2)

3. Holiday Wreath

4. Yearly ornament

5. Paper pom pom balls

6. Holiday odd and ends banner

7. Framed artwork with stitching

8. Ruffled pillow

Cost: $10 for students who sign up within the above registration dates! Individuals who sign up after the above date will pay $12. Click here to register now!

 

And...Latrice has offered me TWO spots to giveway!  Just leave a comment on this post by Sunday, October 16th at midnight CST for your chance to win!

 

Have a great day!

thanks

Hi!  Just playing around with the Hero Arts/Studio Calico Alphabet Pattern background stamp.

I stamped it with white acrylic paint...love the texture and distressed look it creates!

I like to have thank you cards on hand for teachers and I think this one will be perfect.

♡

thanks for your kindness

Thanks to a little enabling from some fellow crafters, I broke down and bought the new Autumn Seasonal Distress Inks.  And I'm so glad I did...they are gorgeous! 

Here's a card I created using them along with the Hero Arts Real Leaves and Thanks For Your Kindness stamps.

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Ideas for Paper Crafters

Hi there!  I've been meaning to share this card I got published in the special issue of Paper Crafts magazine called Card Ideas for Paper Crafters.  It is a fabulous issue full of 288 cards that are based off of sketches.

I also made another quick card just to show how I did the scallop border on the card.  Just punch a few circles, fold them in half and adhere them on one side to your card

Very simple.  :)


Thanks for stopping by!


♡

winner & thank you card

Hi there!

The winner of my giveaway last week is....

Congrats, Kimberley!  Please contact me at kellyras23@hotmail.com with your address so I can get your goodies sent out soon!

This weekend I had a little time to play with some more of the fun techniques from Jennifer's Inspiration Showcase class.  This time I used the traditional resist technique with VersaMark ink and glossy paper.  And I also got to ink up the new Artistic Circles stamp that I've been dying to play with.

Such a simple technique, but I love it!  It's great be reminded of techniques I learned way back when I first started making cards.

Thanks for stopping by!

♡

giveaway!

Hi there...hope your week is going great!   I've been busy cleaning out my craft room and have cleared out a HUGE box of stamps and supplies I need to get rid of.  Most of them are lightly used, but some are brand new.  What do you do with stamps you no longer want/need?  I'd love to hear, because I have no idea what I am going to do with them.


So while I was cleaning, I came across a duplicate of a new Hero Arts Christmas clear stamp set and thought I would give it away to one of my sweet blog readers...along with a Hero Arts Holiday 2011 catalog! So just leave me a comment on this blog post by midnight CST Sunday, September 25th to be entered to win.

If you want to see these stamps in action, here are a couple of mini cards I created for Hero Arts using this stamp set.

Well, I guess it's time to get back to cleaning/organizing before the kids wake up from their naps.  I love finding the perfect way to organize my supplies almost as much as I like using them.  Containers, baskets and labels make me a happy girl. ;)

Thanks for stopping by! 


♡

sweet of you

I absolutely LOVE the Hero Arts/BasicGrey Flower Dot Pattern stamp...definitely one that I will be using over and over again.  On this card I inked it up with a variety of blue and green Distress Inks, spritzed it with a little water and stamped in onto watercolor paper. 

 I also decorated the inside of my card with a leftover green scallop strip from the front of the card and a sentiment from the Sweet of You stamp set.  The sentiment on the front of the card is also from this set.

I'm working on putting together a little giveaway that I will post later this week, so make sure and stop back soon. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

♡

Best Wishes

Happy Monday!  

This past week I've been having fun with all of the amazing techniques I'm learning in Jennifer McGuire's Inspiration Showcase online class.  I've mostly just been playing around and experimenting, so I don't have much to share yet.  But here is a window card I did create the other day using the kissed resist technique.

The hearts are stamped using the Hero Arts Large Fabric Design and Envelope Pattern images.  The sentiment is from the Luscious Frames clear stamp set.


Thanks for stopping by! 


♡

hope your day is fabulous

Hi there!  I have a quick card to share today I made with some scraps of paper that were hanging out on my desk.

I love the My Favorite Things Die-namics Dainty Lace Border Die...it cuts beautifully!
The flower embellishment was made using some polymer clay and a mold from Mold Muse.
And the sentiment is from the Hero Arts Yummy Treats clear stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Moxie Fab Felt Challenge

Hi!  Just sharing a card today I created for the Fabulous Felt Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.

The felt buttons were really simple to make...just took a little time to do do the stitching around the edge.  The 100% wool felt I used from Felt on the Fly cuts beautifully.  I used my circle Nestabilities for the button and a 1/8" circle punch for the four button holes.  The sentiment is from the Hero Arts Big Hugs clear stamp set...one of my favorites!  And I white embossed the Envelope Pattern on the white card base to add a little more texture.

Thanks for stopping by!

♡

Winner + Cards

ETA:  The first winner never claimed her prize, so I drew a new one.  

The new winner is Tina! 

Congrats, Tina! I have sent you an email.  Thanks! :)

Hi!  First up, the randomly chosen winner of Summer Card Camp is...

 

Jenn!

Congrats, Jenn!  Please send me an email and I'll pass your info on to the girls at Summer Card Camp.

And now I just have a couple cards to share I created ages ago that were just sitting in a folder on my computer. (Acutally, I think they were both rejects from magazine submissions.)  All stamps are Hero Arts.

 

Halle starts 1st grade next week and Gage will be in preschool next month.  Which means hopefully you'll be seeing a little more of me around here. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

♡

A Giveaway!

Hi!  Jennifer and Kristina have decided to open registration for Summer Card Camp as a read/watch-only class for anyone who missed it the first time around.  You will get all the same great inspiration from Jennifer, Kristina, guest artists, and fellow students, but available all at once for your learning and reference. You can find all the class info HERE.

And if you want to win a spot in this class, just leave me a comment here by Thursday, August 11th 12:00pm Noon CST.  I'll announce the winner Thursday afternoon!

Have a great day!

♡

Hero Arts Holiday Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Hero Arts Holiday Blog Hop!  Today we are celebrating because all of the new Holiday 2011 stamps are now available in the Hero Arts online store.  Yay!

I've got a couple projects to share using some of these fabulous new stamps. First up is this card...

The trees and sentiment are from the Christmas Reindeers (CL540) stamp set.  And that scalloped border was created using one of the snowflake images from the Snowflakes (CL562) stamp set.

I had an extra tree leftover from my card, so rather than throw it in my scrap pile I decided to make it into a little gift tag to add to a bag.

The tag image used here is one of three cute images from the Christmas Tags (CL554) stamp set.  I will definitely be using this set for my Christmas wrapping this year!

Well, you have reached the end of the hop.  Did your wishlist grow?!?! ;)   Click here to shop for all of the new products in the Joy to You Holiday 2011 catalog.

If you missed any of the stops you can find all the links on the Hero Arts Blog.

And don’t forget about the giveaway! We have new holiday stamps up for grabs! Be sure to comment here and on ALL of the designer's blogs, as well as the Hero Arts blog, for a chance to win.

Have a great day!

♡

Studio Calico + Hero Arts Blog Hop

Hi and welcome to my stop on the Studio Calico + Hero Arts Blog Hop!  I just love these new stamps so much that I have a couple projects to share with you today.

First up is this soft and sweet little card.  Those polka dot clouds are so adorable!  And they even are sized just right to work with the Fiskars Cloud Punch.

{Stamps used: ST508 My Happy,  ST509 Hooray}

That diagonal pattern along the bottom was created by repeatedly stamping the line/flag stick image from the Hooray (ST509) stamp set.  I love to come up with new ways to use stamps to create fun background patterns. 

My next project is a cute little bookmark.  I think it would be perfect to stick inside a book for a friend or include it with a gift card to a bookstore.

{Stamps used: ST508 My Happy,  ST509 Hooray, ST506 I Love Books, ST512 Silhouettes}

To create the bookmark I folded a 4"x3.25" piece of cardstock in half and sewed along the top and right edges.  The left side and bottom need to be left open so it can slide over the page.  Super easy!  I know I'll be making more of these.

Be sure to leave a comment on each stop of the hop for your chance to win some of these fabulous new stamps!  Hero Arts is giving away five sets each day of the hop (Monday - Wednesday), and the winners will be drawn from ALL blog hop comments!

Your next stop is Sasha Ferina!

Thanks for stopping by!

♡

Week 2: Summer Card Camp

Hello!  This afternoon I sat down with my daughter, Halle, and we both made a card using this weeks Summer Card Camp color combo.

Here's my card (with NO stamping...I can't even remember the last time I made a card without stamping)...

For the sentiment, I used some Basic Grey alphabet stickers as a mask on a piece of wood (I got mine here) and then inked over the top with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink.  Then removed the stickers and the natural wood color shows though.

And here's Halle's card...she was all about the stamping! How cute is that lobster holding the drink. ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

♡

Week 1: Summer Card Camp

Hello!  I'm so excited that Summer Card Camp has finally begun!  Jennifer and Kristina are putting on an amazing class and I just love the fresh inspiration they are offer each day.

I got a chance to play with this weeks color combo and here's my card...

A lot of inspiration for this card came from the video/card that Jennifer shared on Tuesday.  (Thanks, Jen!) All stamps are Hero Arts and I used Memento markers for the pinks and orange.

Thanks for stopping by!

♡

Another Summer Card Camp Winner!

Since I didn't hear from one of the previous winners, I decided to draw a new name. So...

#129 - Ashli Dardenne

...you are the winner of a spot in Summer Card Camp!

Congrats Ashli!  I've sent you an email. :)

Summer Card Camp Winners!

ETA:  I still haven't heard from Ladybug68 and do not have any way to contact her.  If I don't hear from her by Noon CST on Tuesday, June 28th, I will draw a new winner.

Out of the whopping 272 entries, the three randomly chosen winners of a spot in Summer Card Camp are...

Congrats ladies!  Please email me ASAP at kellyras23@hotmail.com and we'll get you all set up for the class.

Pack your bags...camp begins on Monday! :)

♡