My Buddy Barb

As some of you know, I am participating in the Summer Card Camp which is hosted by Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner. Super-amazing and talented gals. It is a great class. This is the Week One Color Challenge. Not my comfort level colors, even though I consider myself an island girl and these are very tropical.

I made this card using the colors and a new water color technique for my final entry in Hero Arts' monthly contest.

The nifty technique is to scribble water color crayon (they are so much fun!) onto an acrylic block, mist it with water and stamp it onto water color paper. I love the look. The stamps are Hero Arts(CG298 and CL490).

The twine, button and pearls are from my stash. That is a brad new EK Success border punch - love it!

And the adorable flower? Well, that is from my wonderful friend Barb! Isn't this world amazing how we can develop relationships with folks from everywhere? Barb has become such a special friend through the Hero Arts flickr group, our blogs and so many "places" and interests we share. She is the dearest lady - always a kind word for everyone, just full of joyful talent, most inspirational, lots of fun and tireless energy! I can't tell you how delighted I am to have found her - I so enjoy her! I feel so close to her, yet we have never met. Ain't life grand?!

Anyway, Barb recently did a neat thing on her blog where she made a beautiful series cards that was inspired by the work of another talented gal. They had a contest where names were drawn from all the comments they received. Barb drew my name and I won her lovely prize!  Random?

Can you believe this fantastic orange gift that arrived in my mail? Not only was it chuck full of flowers in the most wonderful colors and lots of ribbon to simply die for - she made me a super-adorable card! Just for me! A Barb original! Don't you just love that glittery center and that gorgeous lace! Such a special gift! Thanks so much, Barb - you continue to amaze me.

I Hear Music!

I know that this card isn’t going to win any design awards. It is the story that is so special. I have a dear friend, Hossie, who was actually a close friend of my Mom’s – they were in nursing school together when my Mom was only 19 years old. One summer when I was about 7 years old Hossie came to California for a visit. She thought it was great fun to chase after the ice cream man, who usually came down our street right before dinner.  My Mom wasn’t so happy about that.

After that, every time Hossie wrote a letter to my Mom or sent me a Valentine or something, she would always enclose a dime for the ice cream man. I know – 10 cents! I must be really old, eh?

So, this has been a running joke (ha - get it?) between us for over 50 years! She is still very dear to me. Gary and I went to visit her in Pennsylvania a few years ago and we had great fun. Hossie shared memories and stories of my Mom from when they were both such young and happy nursing students – things that I have never before heard.

I have had this sentiment stamp for years (another garage sale find!), thinking that someday I would use it to make a funny card for my friend. Last week I was reading the extraordinary Lisa’s blog, where she encourages us to “Make it +Mail It” and I had thought that this would be a great time to just do it.  That evening I went to my local scrapbooking store and I saw this adorable ice cream truck stamp (2-7052E). Just perfect for my card, and 50% off! As my Mom would say, “It was meant to be!”

So, today is the day that I finally put it all together for my Mom’s sweet friend. I know she will get such a kick out of it. Thanks, Lisa, for the inspiration.

Love you, Hossie!

Lily Pad Cards!

“I became a Member of Lily Pad Cards today! Go become a member for a chance to win a collection of Hero Arts stamps. Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, July 15!”

Memory Box

There is a great company out there that I have just recently discovered called Memory Box! They have great stamps and some fantastic dies, some of which are coordinated with their stamps. What a score! I used their products to make two additional cards for Lucy's Lovely Lines sketch challenge (see yesterday's post) at Lily Pad Cards. 

For this first card (on the right) I used their "Tree of Birds" stamp. I watercolored the tree with ink pads, water and some Liquid Pearls. The tree is raised with dimensionals. Fun! The background is Hero Arts' Envelope Pattern (S5507) stamp. The cute label is cut with Memory Box's "Pastry Labels" die set. The sentiment is by Savystamps.

For the second card (on the left) I used the "Orchid Branch" stamp and matching die. I love that I didn't need to cut the image out with scissors! I made the banner sentiment with Hero Arts CL047 using a technique that I recently learned - I rolled the banner around a pencil, one end one way and the other end is rolled in the opposite direction. I added some Stickles, lace and pearls from my stash. I love this fresh look.

Thanks to Memory Box for the great products and for sponsoring this challenge. Of course, thanks to the amazing gals at Lily Pad Cards who rock when it comes to inspiration.

Lucy's Lovely Lines at Lily Pad Cards

Hello everyone! Wow! What a great summer weekend I had. I hope you all had a great one, too. I am posting this tonight because I have a couple of card classes tomorrow so I will be short on time. 

This card was made for the "Lucy's Lovely Lines" challenge at Lily Pad Cards and for the Hero Arts June contest to use water coloring. 

Here is Lucy's sketch and my take on it.  I used Hero Arts CL315 set. I water colored with Distress Inks, added a piece from a vintage dress pattern and some twine from my stash. For the sentiment I broke out this cool brass charm that I have been hoarding for years - it was just too perfect. Fun! I will be back tomorrow with another take on Lucy's sketch - she really inspired me!

Have a great week and thanks for looking.

Last of the Grads

Good morning everyone! Happy Summer for real. I was shocked because I went into my local Michael's store on the first day of summer and saw that they had some Halloween stuff out! Seriously! Too much. Couldn't we at leaset get through the 4th of July?

You may remember that I mad this Graduation card for our dear Emily who graduated from law school. We have had a couple other graduations worth celebrating.

This card is for a special guy and I wanted it to be very masculine, yet cute. For the great notebook texture I used another Tim Holtz embossing folder by Sizzix in my Cuttlebug. The paper has a white core and I sanded it to bring out the design. The key is by K&Company and the Hero Arts smart bird is watercolored on kraft paper. I finished it all off with some matching ribbon from my stash. Perfect for a wonderful guy. Congrats, Dominic!

This next card was lots of fun to design and make for our dear Melli. We have known her for her entire life and are so proud of her.

Her school colors are black and orange. I wish I could have photographed this card better, but it was difficult. It is a tri-fold card and the front is a circle. There is a sentiment and a gift card holder inside - a bit of a challenge to put together. I even made a matching envelope.

And what else does a new grad need? Thank you notes! So, I made a set of 20 matching notes and embellished this adorable mini-lunch box to hold them. Because I made so many of the notes, I kept the design fairly simple, using Hero Arts little graduation owl again. I added some ribbon and gave each a little flower. Lots of love to you, Mellisa!

 

Have a great weekend - enjoy the summer. We have a wonderful weekend plans starting with music in the park tonight. Perfect summer fun. Thanks for looking.

I'm Just Ribbon Ya!

I wanted to finish one more ribbon project in time for the Lily Pond Cards Ribbon Challenge. The gals over there really rock - such fantastic ideas!

For the background tag I was inspired by the amazing Lisa Spangler who showed us (Tag You're It!) how to use Distress Inks and Washi Tape to create wonderful tags. Now that I have some tape, I've been wanting to try it. I used Hero Arts lacy CG168 stamp on the tag. So much depth. Love it!

Lots of different ribbon on this project. I added stripes of ribbon to the Tim Holtz Dress Form die cut, wrapped some textured fiber ribbon around the waist, put a ribbon knot on the button die cut and tied on a sweet little Memory Box die cut label with a bow. I just don't think there is room for any more ribbon!

Thanks to the Lily Pond gals and Lisa - all great connections I have made who inspire me so very much. Thanks to you for looking!

Congrats on the New House!

My dear friend Sylvia and her husband sold their big house in South San Francisco where they had lived for 20+ years and they bought an adorable condo at the coast. They can even see the ocean (when it isn't foggy)! Wow! A new chapter in their lives and a new adventure. I am so happy for them. I made them this card to congratulate them on the big move.

It is extra perfect because Sylvia drives a blue VW Bug (the stamp is by Elzybells Art Stamps, G0073, made in Canada)! I even used my Hero Arts Magical Background Stamp to make fog. Lots of fun! In keeping with this month's Hero Arts challenge, I colored the image with watercolor pencils and my aqua brush.

Good luck, Sylvia and Robert! Wishing you lots of happy memories in the new abode (especially in that room that is dedicated to the new grandson)! Love you!

Make It + Mail It Monday

Well, just pretend it is Monday. I need to head out early tomorrow, so I am doing Monday's post tonight. Yep, you guessed it - it is another Make It + Mail It inspired by the incredible Lisa Spangler. She rocks my boat and gets me thinking! Thanks, Lisa! I decided to make a quick set of 6 textured cards in my very favorite colors and that would be easy to mail.

I got out my trusty embossing folders, some white core paper in yummy colors, a sanding block and went to town! The stamps are all Hero Arts and the cute labels are made from a great die set I just got by Memory Box - love them! I adore hearts, so I used them on four of the cards and my trip to the Farmer's Market on Saturday inspired by the colorful veggies. 

So, here they are. Here is a closer look of the middle one which is going out to my cousin in NY who is on Weight Watchers (as am I). I wanted to give her a little encouragement. I love that carrot's expression and that entire stamp set.

Father's Day

Good morning everyone! This weekend is Father's Day so I am sharing a card I made for my dear Uncle. He is an avid golfer, so I featured this guy from Graphic 45 paper. Love the vintage look. The background is the Fabric Design from Hero Arts on watercolor paper. To complete the vintage look I added a key from K&Company and a distressed sentiment from Hero Arts (CL498) which I cut with Nestibilities in my Cuttlebug.

I am glad that I was able to spend last week with my Dad. So many happy memories - I was blessed with a loving & happy childhood for which I am most grateful. Love you Dad!

Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping in.

Birdie Bingo

Good morning, everyone! I went outside my comfort zone with this card today. It is one of those cards where I worked on it a little, put it away for a couple of days, thought about it lots, pulled it out again, etc. Crazy!

I have been wanting to use this "Timely Bird" stamp by Hero Arts (CG292) with water color and with this month's blog contest, the time was right. I stamped the image with Memento Ink on watercolor paper and used watercolor pencils and Distress Inks. Don't know if you can see it in the photo, but the birdie is cut out and added with dimensionals for some pop.

My embossing folders have also been neglected lately, so I wanted to use one - this Bingo Card is from Tim Holtz by Sizzix on white core paper which I sanded to bring out the details. Fun!

Finally, my good crafting pal Julie Kelly introduced me to a new Cosmo Cricket product called Glubers. They are huge glue dots for making flowers from ribbon and fabric strips. Now, I have seen some glorious 3-D flowers on cards; but, seriously?! I want to mail my cards! So, I kept this fairly flat, rolling and attaching vintage ribbon in a circle onto the Gluber around a Webster Pages Sparkler Button. Here is a video, if you are interested. I will also enter this into the May Arts Ribbon Challenge over at Lily Pad Cards.

I added some vintage music & an old ticket (love those garage sales!) and some coffee brown bling. The background stamp is Hero Arts CG119.

Have a great day - the heat has finally hit here (all at once!). Thanks for looking!

Yes, Virginia......

You are an inspiration! There is a super-talented lady that I have gotten to "know" over at the Hero Arts flickr group. Her name is Virginia and she is so full of wonderful ideas and inspiration. She also always has a kind word of encouragement for everyone. Please visit her blog and some of her beautiful work.

Virginia has been kind enough to sponsor a fun challenge which she calls "Stamp Your HeART Out" with the theme "share your inspiration". She is offering some terrific Hero Arts stamps, so check it out and play along! You have until June 25th.

I was scrolling through Pinterest and came upon this lovely picture which became my inspiration. As they say, "Ooh, La La"! I love the feminine and lacy pinkness accented with the classy pearls. This really isn't my style, but maybe in my dreams.......HA!

Anyway, here is the card I made using this photo as my inspiration. It features one of my all-time favorite Hero Arts sentiments from the "So Artsy" collection (CL435). I used some wonderful patterned paper, a Spellbinders die, lots of Distress Ink and some Hero Arts pearls. The flower center is a rhinestone from my stash and dots from a Pearl Pen (by Viva).

Great fun! Thanks so much, Virginia, for creating this fantastic opportunity! You, too, have mastered the art of kindness. Bless your heART!

Giraffe on Film!

Home again! I had a great road trip visiting with family. I spent some quality time with my Dad and his wife in Southern California and with my cousins in the Central Valley. I even made some cards with my 11-year old (third) cousin. I will post those cards after I photograph them. Nice trip!

Here is a card I made right before I left. I couldn't post it here until I gave it to my good water aerobics and crafty pal, Kathleen. She loves and collects giraffes.

For this birthday card I decided to play with Shari's digital challenge over at Lily Pad Cards. The challenge is open until June 24th, so check it out and play along! The remarkable Shari provided these free Hero Arts digital dies for the challenge. At this point I refuse to go digital for die-cutting - I love my little hand-cranker Cuttlebug and don't plan to replace it in the near future. I still had fun with the images. I could just imagine this cute giraffe posing for several shots until the perfect one was taken and printed. What a character! No; the giraffe, not me!

I hand-cut and colored the film strip and used several Hero Arts stamps (CM002, CL382, CL155, CG 267) for the giraffes, the background and the balloon.  I also used one stamp by Paper Salon, 1020F.

Thanks, Shari and the great gals over at the Lily Pad !

Lily Pad Cards Inspirational Challenge

Even though I am on my way out of town, I wanted to quickly post my entry into Lily Pad Cards Inspirational Challenge.  Check it out an play along - you have until Thursday! The inspiration for my card is this adorable Happy Wishes card by Sherri. What a sweet source of inspiration she is! Check out her blog. Anyway, I used some bright Hero Arts banners (CL475, Friendly Flags) rather than the cheery lanterns....I love the look. Sentiment is also Hero Arts (CL371).

Thanks, Sherri and to all the gals at Lily Pad Cards. You are such a damp delight!

Honey Pops!

I was recently introduced to a stamp company called Inky Antics. Now, they may have been around for some time, but they are new to me. I have found a few of their stamps in my stash, but I somehow never inked them up (why do we all do that?). Anyway, you all know I am typically not one for cute little smiling animal stamps, but SERIOUSLY, their stamps are too darn cute! I love them - they make me smile big-time! They also have great sentiment and other stamps - such a versatile & fun company. Check them out.

Today I want to share with you their new line of stamps called "Honey Pops". What did I tell you? Isn't this little bird the sweetest thing? I stamped her with Memento Ink and colored her with Copic pens. Love that cherry!

But, the birdie fun has just begun! The big surprise with these cards is the inside. Inky Antics has nifty honeycomb paper packs to go with these stamp sets and there are easy instructions for using them to make the insides really pop! Check it out.

Can you believe it? Have I said "cute" too many times? And it really is not at all difficult. My new friend Jackie at Inky Antics has made the most amazing video over on the Inky Antics blog. It just takes a little practice to get the positioning correct. This is the first card I made, and with subsequent cards I now have the technique down perfectly. You will soon see how my skills improved with the sweet Monkey and Elephant cards, both equally cute. CAn't say it enough - cute! Along with my crafting friend Kathleen, I think we have 7 or 8 sets of these great stamp sets. The stamp sets and the honeycomb pieces are very reasonably priced and such fun. Don't you know a kid - or, a grown up kid - who would go nuts for these cards?

I am hitting the road to southern California (I am hoping there will be some warm weather there) next week to visit with family, so I will not be blogging. I'll be back in about a week. In the meantime, take good care and, as always, thanks for stopping by.

Friend to Friend

Here is a card that I made quite awhile ago. I love this old (1996) Stampin' Up stamp, maybe because I was a blond and chubby little girl. Now I am a (bottle) blond and chubby old lady! Ha!

I colored the stamp with my Copics pens. They are such fun to use. I embellished this card with die cuts from an old dictionary (Sorry, Mrs. Whitecap, my elementary school librarian!) and a vintage button from my stash. I actually went through all my vintage buttons yesterday and cut the volume to about one-half - how many vintage buttons does one girl need? I love them - each one has a story and the colors and textures are such fun!

Bright Butterflies

Bright Butterflies, a photo by mkmermaid (Maureen) on Flickr.

In celebration of June I decided to ink up my new Hero Arts Antique Engravings set. I think it will soon become a real favorite. I only wish our weather was like June! I've never seen anything like this. Stormy weather predicted today. At least the days are nice and long - I love that!