Glow On!

Hello, dear Bloggin' Buddies!

My husband's best friend (since 2nd grade!) - he's my friend now, too - recently had a milestone birthday so I thought I'd make him a card. I don't really like to make masculine cards, but one of Larry's hobbies is collecting antique and vintage lanterns. When I found this perfect stamp, I knew I had it handled.

This lantern stamp is from a San Francisco Bay Area (Berkeley) company from which I have bought stamps for over thirty years - Leavenworth Jackson. Very cool and unique stamps! I haven't bought many from them recently since I am trying to avoid wood-mounted stamps, but this was worth an exception!
I sure wish you could see this in person - I just haven't figured out the best spot for natural light photographs in our new house.
The Hero Arts gold embossing powder seriously glows.

For the background I used Hero Arts Shadow Ink, Cup O' Joe, and a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The lantern is cut with Spellbinders Labels 4, and the sentiment is from Hero Arts "Birthday Messages". On the insdie I used Hero Arts "Glow Girl" set and stamped "Keep Calm and Glow On". Perfect!


Thanks so much for the visit - have a glowing weekend!

29 again?

Hello, dear Bloggin' Buddies:

Today I am sharing a fun stepped card that I made for a dear friend's birthday. This is another great set from Art Impressions - doesn't she look like a typical Grandma? I colored her with my Copics and went with a pink theme (patterned paper right from Granny's kitchen!) and added a couple of birthday sentiments from Hero Arts.

Hope you are having a great week! To all my eastern friends - stay warm and safe!

 Thanks for the visit,

Strike!

Good morning, Bloggin' Buddies!

I made this set of four note cards for a dear friend with whom I used to bowl. Well, truth be told, we didn't do all that much bowling - but we had the outfits and ALL the accoutrements!

This is a great stamp from Art Impressions and the printed paper is from my stash. Fun to color!


 Thanks for the visit and have a great week!

Playing with Watercolor

Hello, dear Blogging Buddies:

I was so inspired by this lovely card by the amazing Laura Bassen (can you believe her?!). I love her blog - please check it out.

I did NOT make my own flower (what can't that gal do?) as she did, but used a Prima from my stash. I water-colored the background with Squeezed Lemonade and Shabby Shutters Distress Inks. This is not an easy technique for me.

To help soften up the lines and add a bit of shimmer, I sprayed it with Perfect Pearls mist. That is always a good thing to add to any design, as far as I'm concerned.

The stamp is an old one (2009) from Hero Arts ("Birthday Frames") that I almost sold at the annual used stamp sale in which I participate, but I thought it might just be perfect for the chalkboard technique, and I think it is. I did some heat embossing and added some Hero Arts Snow Chalk Ink and white colored pencil to achieve the look.

The leaves were cut from vellum with another oldie - Spellbinders Foliage dies.

I made this card for a wonderful gal in my card-making class who has been so friendly to me - she is super-fun and very talented. She has already thanked me, so I am safe posting it.

Have a great week and thanks for the visit,

So long!

Hello, dear blogging buddies:

We had to say good-bye to some really dear neighbors today. They had been so kind to us when we moved in less than a year ago and we have really enjoyed them. They are moving closer to their grandkids, so who can blame them?

This card was made with an old Hero Arts stamp and die set (DI028) that I picked up a couple of years ago at their warehouse sale in Richmond, CA (that was such fun!); it's an Archiver's Exclusive. The sentiment is from Hampton Art Stamps (BG5041 - Fun Farewell). I added some pearls for some pop!

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! We are looking forward to returning to our "routine" lives now that the holidays are over! Take care and have a great week!

Glowing with Hero Arts

Happy New Year, dear bloggin' buddies!

I took some inspiration from a card over on the Hero Arts Blog done by Lucy. And, since the neon trend is now long over, it is about time for me to give it a try - ha! I made this to send to a special friend who truly does glow!

I used some neon paper, sprayed some gold Heidi Swapp color shine and heat embossed the sentiment from Hero Arts'"Glow Girl" stamp set with Ranger Platinum embossing powder. Simply hot! I added some metallic thread by DMC.

Get out your sunglasses!

A fun card for a wonderful new year! Thanks for the visit and stay happy and healthy,