A New Love Affair!

I have had a very open love affair with Hero Arts for many years now.  It began when I went to a CKU (Creating Keepsakes University) Convention many years ago...like 10? I had signed up for a class taught by Jennifer McGuire...had no idea who she was...and she used Hero Arts stamps and we learned kiss stamping.  It was so much fun and I began a wild affair with HA!

It's been a great 10 plus years and although I have an new love...I will remain loyal to HA, as well.  There is plenty of room in my heart for HA and my new love.

What or who is my new love?  Mama Elephant!  Oh my gosh...how I love those stamps and dies!  So darned cute and it is taking great restraint to NOT buy out the whole store! 
Check out a card I made with Mama Elephant's Tiny Heroes Set:

Is this not the cutest little card?  I just love that tiny super hero...and the super hero doggie!
Here is the stamp set:

and the coordinating dies:

and lastly, a set of some miscellaneous dies called Sew Fancy that can be used for matting or borders, etc.:

The little x's on the card base above are actually little debossed x's from the die.  Too cute!

I am away from home right now so my supplies here are limited...I used Salty Ocean Distress Ink to make my background and ink up a messy sky and clouds.  I colored the little girl and the dog in with my Copics. I had no foam tape on hand so I used a couple of stacked glue dots.  They didn't work great but did add a tad of dimension.

I'm in love...I think Mama Elephant has a winner on her hands!

Happy Crafting!

You're So Cool and Project Life Week 2

I have been sitting with laptop in hand working on my digital Project Life for 2014.  I am loving doing it but I do miss the feel of paper and the mess of glue and glitter and paper scraps everywhere!  (sort of...)  I'm going to try to make some time for some actual scissor, glue and paper crafting sometime soon but today is a fun day with the grand kids so we will see how much energy I have after my time with them! (usually it's not much!)

For the paper crafters I do have a card to share....but first I want to share Week 2 of my Project Life for 2014.

I used to January kit from Traci Reed and a template or two from Lily Pad for my photos.  It still takes me several hours to do these pages but it is something I can do while watching the Atlanta Braves on TV (or the Military History channel....what is it with men and the History Channel?  I mean...I like history as much as the next...but do I really have to watch re-enactments of the Battle of the Bulge again and again and again??  Of course, if it's not the History Channel then it is National Geographic and I have to endure yet another Gazelle getting eaten by a lion.  Really??? LOL!).

I diverted...sorry....

Anyway, Project Life is moving right along....

And now onto PAPER.  Here is the card I promised I'd share....made from elements from the Simon Says Stamp Card kit for August which is sadly out of stock.  The cute stamp set shown below is still available HERE.

And here is my card:

I colored the ice cream and hearts with Copics and then put Wink of Stella clear glitter over it at the end.  I also die cut a circle with some We R Memory Keepers paper backed burlap.  It cut so easily!

The sentiment "you're so cool" was stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Of course, you knew that.

Here is a closeup:

 

and that's it for today....hope you all have a wonderful day...and Happy Crafting!

Boy Cards Rock!

....not really but I did have fun making more boy cards with the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for May.
:)

Here are a couple more I made.  The first one is just a simple birthday card done with strips of paper.

And a little heat embossing with some white powder for the sentiment.  I love the cute little monsters.  The big red one was cut out of some of the Fancy Pants printed paper.

The second card is actually NOT a boy card but was made with the same stamp set.  I think it is gender-less.  :)

The kit came with a star stencil and I used it to make the background with some Hero Arts Ink.  I love the red, white and blue theme I have going here, too. :)

The tennis shoes were inked and colored with a few Copics and then cut out .  I stamped the sentiment with Memento Luxe ink and then threw some clear embossing powder over it and heated it.  I love clear embossing powder...one of my favorite things to use!  I added some neutral twine over some red strips of cardstock that I cut sort of randomly.

I am actually sending this to a friend who runs all the time.  I think she will like it very much.  I do not run.  In fact when I play tennis my favorite word is "YOURS!" (said with great gusto and enthusiasm) so that my partner will run down the ball.  Of course, my tennis partners use the same favorite word with me.  It's a mutual give and take....and run...


Happy Crafting!  I'm hoping to do a bit today myself....I have several birthdays coming up and need to get some cards going!!! :)

I entered the Cuttin and Stampin Challenge Little Monsters HERE.

Thank You

I made a set of cards for a friend of mine who has done some very nice things for me recently.  She's also the friend who owns the house at the beach that I rented earlier this year for a month.  What a lovely time that was.  I enjoyed it so much that I am booked for a repeat in 2014!

Anyway, she's helped me with a few other things and I wanted to make a few cards for her.  She requested something beachy so this is what I came up with using the Hero Arts Let's Chill clear stamp set.

I used Salty Ocean distress ink to ink up some white cardstock, tore some paper for the "sand" and stamped the other items with Jenni Bowlin and Memento inks.  I colored the palm fronds, coconuts and the little crab with Copics and  added a bit of Crystal Stickles to the coconuts.  The sentiment is from Lawn Fawn.  The palm fronds were adhered with foam dimensionals.  It came out purdy cute, I think, and my friend liked them so there you have it!

Lots of fussy cutting but it was fun!

We had a full day of rain today but the weather today was fantastic.  So pretty!!!  It was warm and sunny...I really am dreading colder weather.  Give me 80s any day! ;)

Happy Crafting!

There's a Baby on the Way!

Sometimes you make a card and you just love it, right?

Most of the time I go...'eh...' after I make a card but the one I am sharing here for my daughter who is expecting babynumberthree in less than 3 weeks I JUST LOVE!  We had a little get together with some family and a few of her friends last night and I made the card for that occasion.

I made it with the Lawn Fawn set Plus One. It's just such a cute set!

I used some older KI papers I had.  Some of the clouds were punched out with a Fiskars punch and some were cut out with my Silhouette Cameo.
I used Copics and Wink of Stella pens to color the beak on the stork and the little bag the stork is holding.  I added a bit of yellow rickrack for an extra burst of color.

I loved my little clouds.

And I loved my little sparkly bird. ;)

Below is the sentiment I put on the inside of the card:

I made an envelope with my We R Memory Keepers Envelope board and then stamped it to jazz it up a bit.

And lastly, when I was in New York recently I went to this great paper shop and bought these really small envelopes that are great for gift cards.  I stamped and colored the outside of the envelope for just a little bit more fun and just paper pieced the little "bun"!

And that's it.  I think it was perfect for the occasion and she loved it so that's a bonus!

Happy Crafting!

Things Girlfriends Say....

We girls have perfected the art of communication...especially with each other.  We know how to pump each other up..."I LOVE your hair", "That skirt is so slimming", "I love what you did in your living room", etc.  :)

I saw this stamp set from Art Impressions at Archiver's a few months back and just fell in love with it....it is soooo the things we talk about!  LOL

I used the same (yay, me) American Crafts With Love papers I've used several times in the past few posts!  I colored the little ladies with Copics but paper pieced the hat and swimsuits with papers from the same paper pad.  To get the ladies in a large circle I had to make it 4 1/4 inches so ended up with one of my most unfavorite sized cards....the 6 by 6 but I LOVE the way it turned out!  "My, Susan, I LOVE what you did with this card!" LOL!

I didn't photograph the inside of the card but it says "Friends always know just the right things to say!"
I hope you have some friends that know just the right things to say to you, too!

Happy Crafting!

Thank You!

And a big Merry Christmas and a thank you to all my blogging friends and followers!
I get so much inspiration from all of you...thank you so much!  

I've hated the thought of putting up all the Christmas stamps and fun papers I have so have been making a few thank you cards with a wintery theme.

Here is a card I made that I think turned out sooo cute....

The snow globe is from the Sihouette store and cut out on my Cameo.  Hero Arts has a lot of designs in the Silhouette Online store and this happens to be one of them.  The little reindeer is a Hero Arts stamps and colored in with Copics and fussy cut.  The paper is My Minds Eye.  I also cut the snow globe out of some shimmery gold paper as you can see.  I used some Ranger inks for the reddish snow globe base and some blue for the snow bank.  And I added the teensiest of gems onto random snow flakes.  The sentiment is also Hero Arts and was punched with an EK Success label punch.
I put a little Rock Candy Stickles on the reindeer.

And once again....wishing you a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Happy Crafting!

Fall Festival

My daughter, her husband and their little kiddos live in a great family oriented community.  They have lots of family events each year and one they have annually is the Fall Festival.  The kids love it...this year there were jump houses, games, food, animals to pet and see, classic cars and more.

I took my camera and got a few shots although those children move so quickly I seem to never get a good one anymore! HAHA!

I used DCWV papers and my Silhouette to cut the title:

I printed the pumpkin from a free digital stamp but can't recall where I got it right now.  

I colored it in with Copics and then used Spellbinder dies to cut the flag pole and rectangle to use for journaling.

Off to see the little ones today...

Hope you all have a wonderful day with some time for some crafting!

The Best Things Come in Small Packages

That's what they say anyway....the best things come in small packages.  Being a small person I've used that to my benefit many times.
I don't know if that's true....my Silhouette came in a big box...my Big Shot came in a pretty big box...I guess size is relative though and those boxes were small next to...say...an elephant.

Anyway, I do like small things....and when I was at a local stamp store the other day (Impressive Ideas) I picked up this Memory Box die called Wildflower Patch which was quite teensy and proceeded to put it in my basket.  The teensy sizes of the flowers was just so appealing to me.  I like teensy!

I ran them through my die cut machine and they cut beautifully and they are just so darned cute!  I colored them with Copics and adhered them to a small 3x3 card and used a Papertrey Ink sentiment on it.  Perfect for a teensy eensy gift box! :)

Not much too it....but so cute and tiny.  Clean and crisp.  You know?

Happy Crafting!

More Copic Coloring

I love the cute little Mimi stamps from Penny Black.  They make me think of my little granddaughter, Taylor.  Although she's not quite as "big" as Mimi is....I can see a lot of Taylor's sweetness in cute little Mimi.
This is a wood block stamp....I don't usually buy woodblocks anymore because of the storage space they require but I couldn't resist this cute one.
After stamping with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on Neenah Solar Crest cardstock I colored with lots of different Copics.

 I actually stamped her and then cut her out.  I don't know why....probably could have saved myself that step but initially I was going to mount her on some colored paper.  That just didn't look right so I went back to putting this cute little gal on white to make her stand out.  I cut the mat out with a Spellbinders die.  The printed paper is from Imaginisce and I also used an embossing border from Cuttlebug.

I added a little Scattered Straw Stickles on the little bluebirds beaks and the flower centers. The sentiment was From Papertrey Ink's Fillable Frames #6.  The rickrack border was cut with a Papertrey Ink die.
And 4 hours later she was done!  OK, she didn't really take that long!  LOL!  And every second spent was total fun! :)
I heart Copics.
I hate Copics.
It's a love/hate relationship.  A definite learning curve which I am still at the bottom of! LOL!

I'm entering this in the following challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Simon Says Put a Stamp on It
Perfect Sentiments Challenge: PSC48: All Creatures Great and Small
Simple Salutations Challenge 10: Animal

Happy Crafting!

A Teensy Bit of Mojo....

....ok, so I wrote earlier how my Mojo had up and disappeared!  Once it's gone it sure is hard to locate!  :)
So, I went in my craft room today to play with a few of my toys and to see if I could locate some creativity.  I'm not sure I was all that successful except I did get a card made!
This is a new Spellbinders and Hampton Arts set....clear stamps with coordinating Spellbinder dies.

 I embossed some plain white cardstock with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  I stamped the cupcakes image with some Memento ink and then colored it with Copics and adhered it to the card base with some foam tape.  FUN! I also added a little rickrack that I made with a Papertrey Ink die.
I finished with some Glossy Accent and that was it!

4 hours later.....

Not really....this didn't take all that long....and I also stamped and cut out a whole bunch of images to keep on hand for the next birthday card in need of making!

Happy Crafting!

Coloring -101!

I took a Copic coloring class with Jenny Gropp at our wonderful local stamp store yesterday, Impressive Ideas.   Now I am a Googler and a Youtube Extraordinaire and I just knew I would go and be..."ho-hum, I know all of this!".  Well, I was so very wrong.  From the minute Jenny opened her mouth to speak I was learning, learning, learning.  And a lot of what I learned was that I don't know nothin' and have so much to learn!  It was a great class with wonderful information about the whole Copic system...and we ended with some blending practice.  Again...so much to learn and I need to practice, practice, practice! :)  But, we all have to start somewhere don't we?

I came home and decided to practice on this flower and just totally threw out everything I had learned because I didn't have the right colors! LOL!  I think Copics are going to be like paper...you NEVER have the right color! So I didn't get great blending on this although I think my leaf looks pretty ok....but I do like the way this turned out and is sort of op-artish, perhaps.

I used Close to My Heart papers and a stamp set (given to me for my birthday by my good friend, Christine!) as well as some Papertrey ink twine and a Die-namics die for the banner.  The image was stamped with Memento Tuxedo black onto Neenah Solar White cardstock and cut out. The button was from "who knows where" (do you have that same line at your house?)....just a stash I had around.

Well, I had a fun time playing with my colors and can't wait to try again!  Now why is it Copic-101?  Because I need to go back to the cellar and start all over again.  I don't think I passed 101...need to start back at -101! ;)

Happy Sunday and Happy Crafting!

Flat and Little!

I don't usually do flat and I don't usually do little.  I like buttons and ribbons and lace...and all those things that make sending a card by mail virtually impossible!  Is that why I make cards but keep them?  I probably have a card sitting here for you I never mailed! LOL!

I don't do little either.  I don't like when cards don't fit into envelopes perfectly.  And square cards cost more to send than A2 or more standard sized things.  I'm frugal....why should I pay more to send a square envelope?  Wah, wah, wah.....

It must be the rain here in Atlanta today .... we need it but it makes me cranky!!!

Anyway, here is a little 4x4 card I did with some various stamps....I used a Hero Arts stamp to make the background....inked a piece of paper with some Broken China Distress Ink and then stamped it with the same color ink.  The cute little images are by Penny Black.  I colored with Copics and added a little Glossy Accents to her glass of Lemonade.

I cut the images out and then put them on some foam tape to add a little dimension.

We celebrated Taylor's birthday with a party yesterday and it was also her mother's birthday who happens to be my daughter (are you following that?).
Here are some photos from the day...first the cake and table that my friend Kelly made for us (to match the one from Saturday when we did her photoshoot)...It was absolutely gorgeous....and the inside was four layers and the bottom layer started with a darker pink...and each layer got lighter.  So gorgeous!

And the table:

And a photo of the 2 birthday girls:

 Happy Crafting!

Quick and Easy Birthday Card

I love watching the videos at Lily Pad Cards.  I saw one a few days ago and thought I'd like to scraplift it.  You can see the original version HERE.  I put my own spin on it....added a butterfly and inked my mat but I loved the inspiration I got from the video.  I also stamped my images and then die cut them...I think that was an easier route...at least for me.  The card base and mat were cut out with Spellbinder dies.

I used Broken China Distress Ink to give the mat a little color.  The butterflies were colored and shaded a bit with Copics.  The mat is mounted on foam tape and then the little butterflies are glued into the die cut openings and folded a bit for a lift.

The whole thing took me less than 30 minutes.  I think I will make a few more to keep on hand!

Susan