Jennifer McGuire, ink.

Day 5 of a Hero Arts + A Muse Challenge...

Hi there. I am sad to say it is the last day of my challenge with the oh-so-cute Julie Ebersole - a Hero Arts + A Muse Challenge. This has been a delight to do as I love both of these companies... and Julie. (Julie - thanks for joining me. Mwah!)

For this last day, we are both using Hero Arts Snowflakes and A Muse Ice Skate stamps...

I wanted to create a "flat" card with three skate images lined up perfectly. Since the skate stamp is wood, it is hard to line it up, so I broke out my handy-dandy EK Success Stamp Positioner. Worked like a charm - I always use it with wood stamps these days. I stamped the same skates on some Basic Grey paper and glued them on top.

I also covered the ice skates with a heavy layer of Glossy Accents. And to make the skate blades and the greeting sparkle, I traced them with a Glitter Pen. Love in real life.

And this is that Stamp Positioner I mentioned I used for this card. I highly recommend it. I think they recently re-did the packaging, but it is the same tool. I will have a video soon showing how to use it, but it is simple.
 

And just wanted to enable you for a minute - you will be happy I did. :) Check out the new Basic Grey line. YUM...

Lovely, huh?

And I want to also take a second to introduce you to my current drug of choice. OH. MY. They are luscious and yummy. Doodlebug buttons...

Be sure to hit Julie's blog next to see her creation. I know it will make ya smile.

See you soon.

 

 

Skates Card Supplies:

Glossy Accents	Adhesive	Black Dye Ink	Glitter Pen	Favorite Scissors
Snowflakes	A Muse Skates	Stamp Positioner	Basic Grey Papers

 

Day 4 of a Hero Arts + A Muse Challenge...

It's Day 4 of my challenge with the extra fun Julie Ebersole - a Hero Arts + A Muse Challenge. These two company's stamps work so well together!

Today we are using the Hero Arts Cozy Moments and the A Muse Snow Gent (great name!) stamps.

Mine is super simple. I applied a thin line fo Glossy Accents just along the bottom and two sides to create a pocket for a Starbucks gift card...

And it is as easy as that to make someone smile. :)

Now head on over to Julie's blog to see what she created - I am sure it is fab.

Oh, and the winner of Latrice's necklace giveaway is Pam. (I emailed you.)

Eek... one more thing! Creating Keepsakes just announced their 2011 writers and such. (A GREAT list!) I have gotten a few emails since I am no longer listed as a Contributing Writer. Yep - I decided to hang up my hat and retire from my article. I will miss it, but just felt it was time as I was running out of creative juice. :) But I will still work with CK here and there - I love that team. :)

Happy Friday.

 

 

Snowman Card Supplies:

Cozy Moments	Snow Gent	Favorite Scissors	Copics	Glossy Accents
Memento Ink	Adhesive	Foam Dots	B&W Enamel	Neenah White Paper
Stamp Press	THE Fiskars Trimmer	Craft Sheet	Clear Gems

 

Day 3 of a Hero Arts + A Muse Challenge...

Hey, stampers.

It's Day 3 of my Hero Arts + A Muse Challenge with Julie Ebersole. This girl is the master of creating "happy cards" - cards that instantly make ya smile. LOVE that.

Today we are using the Hero Arts Christmas Trio and the A Muse Sweet Houses stamps.

 Here is my simple card. Not much here, but I love this color combo.

And I adore the dimension and shine that the Black Enamel Accents adds for the eyes and buttons.

I also used one of my favorite A Muse stamps - the oval. They have lots of sizes and they are perfect for creating grounds for your snowman and critters to sit on. :)

Now head on over to Julie's for her masterpiece!

Happy Thursday.

 

Snowman Card Supplies:

Sweet Houses	Christmas Trio	Copics	Glossy Accents	Memento Ink
Adhesive	Foam Dots	B&W Enamel	Ink Blending Tool	Distress Inks
Stamp Press	THE Fiskars Trimmer	Ink Blending Tool	Craft Sheet	Favorite Scissors
Neenah White Paper

 

Day 2 of a Hero Arts + A Muse Challenge...

Welcome back for Day 2 of my Hero Arts + A Muse Challenge with Julie Ebersole. (BTW... did you see her card yesterday? So gorgeous.)

Today we are both using the Hero Arts Get Merry set and the adorable A Muse Santa...

Here is my take on this combo. I decided to play with my Sizzix Box With Flap Die. This guy is so stinking cute and perfect for holding a holiday gift. I also used some new K&Company paper. Yum.

Used Copics, a glitter pen and some Black Enamel Accents to spice my Santa up...

Thanks for stopping by. Be sure to check out Julie's blog for her take on this stamp combo!

 

Get Merry Bag Supplies:

Box Die	Favorite Trimmer	Big Shot	Hero Arts Pearls	Ink Blending Tool
Stamp Press	Neenah White Paper	Black Dye Ink	Memento Ink	Adhesive
Vintage Photo Distress Ink	A Muse Santa	Yuletide Paper	Glitter Pen	Copics
B&W Enamel	Get Merry

 

 

 

Day 1 of a Hero Arts + A Muse Challenge!

Hello there.

I am so excited to start another fun challenge today. This week is with the amazingly talented, adorable, funny, witty Julie Ebersole. Her blog is fabulous - it always makes me smile.

Since Julie works with the wonderful A Muse stamps, we are doing a Hero Arts + A Muse Challenge.

For today - Day 1 - we are both using the Hero Arts Magical Background and the A Muse Winter Scene...

That Winter Scene circle stamp screamed "transparent window" to me. Just stamped it with White Staz-On Ink on transparency and embossed that background with white on the card. Reminds me of a winter day...

And a closer look at the transparent window and the punched kraft circle inside.

Lots of Stormy Sky and Vintage Photo Distress Inking...

I will link to the supplies used at the bottom of this post. Love Distress-Inked-edges with white embossing and stamping. So striking.

Now, be sure to head over to Julie's blog to see what she created with these stamps, too!

Oh... and a bit of fun enabling. Check out these new cloud punches. You will see me using them a lot in the future...

See you soon.

 

 

Snow Card Supplies:

Winter Scene	White Staz On Ink	Acetate Cards	Magical Background	Versamark
White Embossing Powder	Kraft Cards	Clear Gems	Distress Inks	Ink Blending Tool
Adhesive	The Best White Pen	Holiday Sayings

 

Just playing...

I love going to stamping retreats with friends since I always seem to get a bit of time to just play.

On my last retreat, I made a few random cards, including these guys using the Tim Holtz Grungefly. (Awesome name.) This stamp is fab since it can work many different styles. And to top it off? Rock Candy Distress Stickles to make it glisten...

And look closely at the Rock Candy on there. It goes on wet, but dries away leaving just a crystal/sugar/broken glass look. Awesome on any color as it is clear...

Used some small dictionary pages as a background. They always seem to work on any card. Just don't use pages from a medical dictionary. Trust me - I know this from experience. :)

Oh, and here is that Tim Holtz stamp. So lovely...

Here is the Rock Candy Distress Stickles. I just sqeeze a glob and spread it around.

That's all for today... have a good one...

 

 

Butterfly Card Supplies:

Grungefly	Craft Sheet	THE Fiskars Trimmer	Neenah White Paper	Ink Blending Tool
Foam Dots	Adhesive	Memento Ink	Copics	Rock Candy Stickles
Glossy Accents

 

Inspired...

I am so very excited to be sharing a blog day with the amazing Jill Foster over on the Hero Arts blog. I thought I would also share over here. For more details, be sure to head over to Hero.

The first one uses that great scallop die. Lots of layered stamping here...

And lots of bold coloring here...
 
And a fun little 3-D ornament. Lots of Copics used here, even to color the string...

Off to bed. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Key Supplies for all Projects:

Scallop Die	Big Shot	Ornaments	Copics	Memento Ink
Glossy Accents	Adhesive	Foam Dots	Black Dye Ink	Versamark
White Embossing Powder	Ink Blending Tool	Hero Arts Music Bkgd	Distress Inks	Neenah White Paper
Stamp Press	Mini Misters	Hero Arts Watercolor Paper	THE Fiskars Trimmer	Craft Sheet
Grid Background	Wildflower Garden	Memento Markers	The Best White Pen

 

Caring Hearts Card Drive Blog Hop - and giveaway

Hey there.

Welcome to the Blog Hop for the Caring Hearts Card Drive. This card drive was started by the dear Vera and focuses on collecting Thanksgiving & Christmas cards to be sent to the elderly who live in nursing homes or care centers. The drive goes until November 15 - I hope you will consider participating!

I have a few cards to share today and a fun giveaway. First? The cards.

I love love love K&Company's Yuletide line. Check it out HERE. Made this quick card with it. Check out the notecard - these cards are printed on the inside and out and have a decorative edges. So. Very. Cool.

Thie reindeer is sure to make someone smile...

And, a silly Thanksgiving card...

Now be sure to hop to the next blogger on the hop - the talented Jinny. (If you want to start at the beginning, head over to Vera's.)

A few randoms:

• Sweet Kristina (who helps with the Cards for Kids stuff) had a gorgeous baby boy. Be sure to head over to her blog to see the cutie. God is good.
• The winner of the K&Co Halloween goodies is Mary Dawn Q.
• Have any of you seen THIS? Would be fabulous to win this.
• Check out the free shipping deal over at 2Peas HERE.

Finally? The giveaway. Just leave a comment here by Monday night for a chance to win this great Halloween stamp set from Tim Holtz. (Donated by the awesome Simon Says Stamp. Thanks!)

Good luck!

 

 

Supplies for all cards:

AC Adhesive	Glossy Accents	Adhesive	Foam Dots	B&W Enamel
Self-Adhesive Lace	Black Dye Ink	Holiday Sayings	Styled Label Die	THE Fiskars Trimmer
Craft Sheet	K&Co Cards	Reindeer	Thanksgiving

 

I {Heart} Papers Blog Hop!

Hey, there.

Today I am part of the i {heart} papers 2^nd Birthday Bash blog hop and scavenger hunt. If you are hopping along, you should have arrived here from Gretchen. If you're jumping into the middle of the hop be sure to start at Kate's from I {heart} papers. 

i {heart} papers (a great online store with exclusive stamps) is celebrating the second birthday and are having a great birthday blog hop with their designers and some guest designers. Every one on the hop was challenged to design the "Perfect Pair" - a birthday card and coordinating gift, tag or other  item.   

IHP would love you if you all played along and created your own Perfect Pair. Just upload to your blog or an online gallery with the keyword IHPBB10). Also be sure to post your link on Kate’s blog so they can see your project and enter your name in their challenge prize drawings. 

In addition, IHP has some more fun this week with challenges and such - find out the details at Kate’s blog. Winners for each day will be randomly drawn from each day's entries, and everyone who plays along, either with the challenges and/or the scavenger hunt (more in a second) will be eligible for the grand prize drawing that will close the festivities on Friday. So be sure to stick around.

Submitting your challenge projects is not the only way to win! Tucked into the text of today's blog hop posts there are clues to an easy scavenger hunt (most have to do with our favorite products and tools or hobbies and interests we have) that we invite you to play as you hop. When you find the answer (look for "hint, hint"), click the link to visit the store and collect "evidence" that is listed on that particular product’s page and email your complete list, in blog hop order, to Kate when you're finished. You can take your time and stretch the hop over the three days of our Birthday Bash celebration...it's not a race, but like any other sale, the earlier you shop, the better the selection! Deadline to submit your scavenger hunt entry is Friday morning, 3AM EST.

By participating in the scavenger hunt you'll receive an exclusive, one time use 20% off coupon code to use when you shop at i {heart} papers. (This will be emailed to you after the Bash when entries are checked.) You will also be entered for your chance to win the grand prize $50 gift certificate drawing on Friday. Also, there will be random drawings for additional prizes from IHP's PaperCraft Planet group members, IHP's mailing list (sign up on the right side of the homepage) and IHP's fans on Facebook. If you are on all three, then you’ve got triple the chances to win!

OK... back to the hop. Here are my projects using some i {heart} papers stamps. I embossed everything in white on watercolor paper, added lots of Distress Ink and sprayed with lots of pearlized water...

 

On this set I used the Mint Motif Very Square Sentiments (hint, hint) and School Basics. LOVE these stamps.

Your next stop on the hop is the fab blog of Joan. (There's a list of all of the participating designers on Kate's blog just in case you get lost along the way.)

Thanks for hopping by.

 

Holiday Thinking Inking Week 3

Hello there, stampers.

It is the third week of my free 8-week online class I am teaching over at 2Peas called Holiday Thinking Inking. This week shares some creative ways to use embossing powders...

     

Here are the links for Week 3 of Holiday Thinking Inking - Embossing Powders:

• Click HERE for Project 1, including handout and video.
• Click HERE for Project 2, including handout and video.
• Click HERE for Project 3, including handout and video.
• Click HERE for the whole event.
• Have questions? Click HERE for the discussion thread for this week.
• Be sure to head over to 2Peas for it - there are challenges and prizes.

Here are some of my favorite things I used this week. Enjoy!

Craft Sheet	Verdigris Powder	Embossing Ink	Ink Blending Tool	Basic Grey Jovial 6x6
Basic White 6x6	Cling Dots	Reindeer	Snowflakes	Distress Embossing
Ornamental Die