Cat and Mouse Chase

As I've detailed in previous posts (see HERE, HERE, and HERE), I'm a little in love with a particular background.

After making THIS card, I had the vellum piece leftover, and so this card came about, using the adorable Mewn and Back stamp set.

Because I've made this background several times, you can follow one of the aforementioned links at the top to find out how to make it. It uses the beautiful Star Confetti die, some pretty inks (Fresh Peach, Ultra Pink, Navy, and Grape Juice) and my fave embossing powder, Hero Arts Clear Sparkle embossing powder.

With my background done, I heat embossed a sentiment from Astronomical in Silver, and then die cut the cardstock using the Circle Infinity dies. The sentiment was adhered to the base with thin dimensional adhesive.

The cats and mice were stamped in Charcoal, and then colored with Pale Gray, Gray Brown and a touch of Pale Pink for the cheeks and ears. I die cut the cats, trimmed the mice out, and adhered them around the sentiment, filling in some space with black gems.

The Mewn & Back and Astronomical stamp sets are both part of the August My Monthly Hero add-on release.

If you haven't heard of this kit before, the website HERE does a great job explaining it. The actual kits are often sold-out, so subscribing guarantees you can get the main kit.

However, Hero Arts releases similarly themed stamps to the main kit (August was space themed), that can be purchased separately. If you order them along with the main kit, there is no additional shipping charge, but if that's not your thing, you can totally buy them later! Either way, it's great to check in every month, even if you're not a subscriber, and see what new add-ons there are.

If you have any questions about the kit, feel free to message me, but again, the website really does a good job explaining all the ins and outs - it's not too complicated, so no worries there. ;)

Thanks for stopping in today and God bless!

SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Michaels, Bazzill black
Stamps: Hero Arts Mewn and Back and Astronomical
Ink: Versamark, Hero Arts Charcoal, Fresh Peach, Ultra Pink, Navy, and Grape Juice; ZIG Pale Gray, Gray Brown and Pale Pink
Other: Hero Arts Silver and Clear Sparkle embossing powder, black gems

Tools: heat gun, Cuttlebug, Hero Arts Star Confetti, Circle Infinity, and Mewn and Back dies

Snowy Background

Hi all! Today I'm participating in a blog with CardMaker Magazine and Quietfire Designs.

I got to play with A Whisper on My Nose stamp set, and I made a quick little tag with it....

I blended Distress Oxide's Faded Jeans, Worn Lipstick and Wilted Violet to get my background, and then die cut it using Hero Arts Tag Infinity dies. 

I stamped the sentiment in Versamark and heat embossed in white, then splattered it with some water and Hero Arts Unicorn spray. 

It's hard to tell in the pics, but I also stamped the snowflakes in Versamark, and heat embossed with Hero Arts Clear Sparkle embossing powder for a little extra sparkle.
The tag was topped off with some luscious silk ribbon, and that finished it off!

Thanks so much for stopping in today!

PRIZE

Quietfire Design/Suzanne Cannon is hosting a giveaway of a $50 gift certificate to their online store.

BLOG HOP

For lots of inspiration, follow this hop!

CardMaker

Robyn Josephs

Clare Prezzia < you are here!

Teresa Horner

Yogi Grunwald

Diana Carr

Wanda Hentges

Gaylynn Martling

Kathy Jo Wood

Jen Shults

Yvonne van de Grijp

Nicole Coursey

Diana Nguyen

Savannah O’Gwynn

Teresa Kline

Suzanne Cannon/Quietfire Design

SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Canson watercolor
Stamps: Quietfire Design A Whisper on My Nose
Ink: Versamark, Distress Oxide's Faded Jeans, Worn Lipstick and Wilted Violet

Other: Hero Arts White and Clear Sparkle embossing powder

Tools: Cuttlebug, Hero Arts Tag Infinity dies

Birdy Background

Today's card has been almost a year-long in the works. 

When I got the Color Layering Birds and Blossoms prototype stamp set back in November, I knew right away I wanted to make a cute background with it. So I did just that, stamping my little birds on some pretty Simon Says Stamp Fog cardstock, and then...I just tucked the background away, never to see the light of day again until almost a year later!

My background was made by stamping the solid part of the bird in Soft Granite, and then stamping the second layer in Black. I stamped some hearts in Versamark, and heat embossed in Gold.

The last bit is pretty easy – just stamp and heat emboss the sentiment (from Color Layering Happy Day Flowers) in White, then die cut using the Heart Infinity dies. Adhere the sentiment to the card.

I trimmed the panel down to fit an A4 card, and that finished off the card!

How often does that happen with you? You start making a project, but then set it aside to finish at another time, and then you just forget? I've got a whole little box full of backgrounds and images all ready to be made into cards!

Thanks so much for stopping in today and God bless!

SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Michaels white, Simon Says Stamp Fog cardstock

Stamps: Hero Arts Color Layering Birds and Blossoms and Color Layering Happy Day Flowers

Ink: Hero Arts Black and Soft Granite, Versamark

Other: Hero Arts White and Gold embossing powder

Tools: Cuttlebug, Hero Arts Heart Infinity dies, heat gun

Toile de Jouy

I'm over on the CardMaker blog today with a Toile de Jouy inspired card! Don't know what that means? Head on over to the blog to find out!

Thanks for stopping in today and God bless!

Chatty Owls

I'm over on the Hero Arts blog today with some chatty owls...

Head on over to the blog for more details, and thanks so much for stopping in!

The Reach of Kindness

I'm a creature of habit. When I find something I really like, I usually stick with it. Examples:

• Chik-fil-a original sandwich. Nothing else on the menu is as good...(not that I've really explored)
• McDonald's mocha frappe. Or just mocha frappe by any other name at any other coffee-selling vendor.
• My mom's Italian meatballs (everything else is 😝)

Hm, well, upon reflection, it appears I'm mostly a food-based creature of habit...but it does extend a bit to my card making!

Case in point: this background.

When I was on a roll making it, I was on a ROLL.

So when I got my hands on the August My Monthly Hero add-on, Astronomical, I just knew the pair were a match made in heaven.

Because the background is so utterly gorgeous (if I do say so myself), I decided to keep it simple with the images. I colored them lightly with Light Gray and Gray Brown, and then die cut them with the coordinating die cuts.

I adhered them to the background using Scrappy Glue, my favorite kind of glue for smaller, delicate pieces and also slicker surfaces, such as this embossed background.

HERE'S a video showing how I made the background, but here's a quick overview:

1. Blend Hero Arts Grape Juice, Ultra Pink, Soft Apricot, and Navy. You could play around with other pinks and oranges, but it's really the Grape Juice and the Navy that really ties everything together for me.
2. Cover dried inks with Versamark, and heat emboss using Hero Arts clear Sparkle embossing powder (aka, the best stuff EVER invented!!). I feel like this is the most essential, as it seems to really blend the background together.
3. Die cut using the Hero Arts Star Confetti die. (you could do this step last and get two cards - check the video for details!)

You can really get a lot out of this project - the video itself shows how to get two backgrounds from this process, and you could even get three projects, if you used the die cut stars as confetti.

I die cut a shimmery navy panel using the Rectangle Infinity dies, and then tucked a white heat embossed vellum sentiment behind it.

Thanks for much for stopping in today and God bless!

SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Michaels
Stamps: Hero Arts Astronomical
Ink: Versamark, Hero Arts Grape Juice, Ultra Pink, Soft Apricot, and Navy, ZIG Light Gray and Gray Brown
Other: Hero Arts White and clear Sparkle embossing powder

Tools: heat gun, Cuttlebug, Hero Arts Astronomical Frame Cuts, Star Confetti and Rectangle Infinity dies

Subtle Die Cut Background

Hi all! Today I'm participating in a blog with CardMaker Magazine and Spellbinders.

The card today uses one of the dies from the September Spellbinder XL Die of the Month. Today is my parent's 35th wedding anniversary, so I wanted to make a clean and simple card for them using the dies.

I die cut one of the borders three times in white cardstock, then adhered the strips to a white card base. I topped off the die cuts with some blue gems from my stash.

The sentiment is from the Happy stamp set by Hero Arts, and was embossed in Copper powder on vellum. I cut one short edge of the strip into a banner edge, and adhered it to the card base. I used a little bit of vellum adhesive on the right short edge, and also used some Scrappy Glue directly behind the embossing (so it wouldn't show behind the vellum).

I really like using Scrappy Glue - it's a little less flimsy (funny word to describe adhesive, I know ;)) then Multi Matte Medium, and it also dries matte.

Thanks so much for stopping in and God bless!

PRIZE

Spellbinders is hosting a giveaway on their blog of a one-year kit subscription.

BLOG HOP

For lots of inspiration, follow this hop:

CardMaker

Savannah O’Gwynn

Jen Shults

Clare Prezzia < you are here!

Debi Adams

Diana Carr

Gaylynn Martling

Teresa Kline

Yana Smakula

Nicole Coursey

Spellbinders

SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Michaels
Stamps: Hero Arts Happy Stamp and Cut
Ink: Versamark
Other: Hero Arts Copper embossing powder, blue gems from stash

Tools: Cuttlebug, September Spellbinder XL Die of the Month, heat gun

Enjoy the Last of Summer

Fall is always so bittersweet for me, as I am a huge fan of summer, but I guess if you have to leave the greenness and sunshine of summer, what better way to go out then the beautiful colors of fall?

Before my musings take me to winter (ugh! and I'm a winter baby, too!), let's have a nice summery card, shown in the Hero Arts 2017 Summer catalog.

This simple card features my first stamp set, Enjoy the Journey.

First, I heat embossed some of the waves in white on watercolor cardstock, and loosely colored around them with my ZIG Cobalt Blue pen.

I heat embossed the main ship in white on black, and trimmed that out (I didn't have the super handy-dandy die on hand at the time). With the boat adhered to the dried out waves, I topped the panel off with a cheeky sentiment stamped in Black and some Ocean Ombre sequins.

I adhered the panel to a card base, along with a strip of gray cardstock, and finished the card off with some string.

I love how this card can be used for anyone, for almost any occasion!

Thanks for stopping in and enjoy the fourteen (!!!!) days left of summer!

SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Canson watercolor, Bazzill Licorice Twist, gray cardstock from stash
Stamps: Hero Arts Enjoy the Journey
Ink: Versamark, ZIG Cobalt Blue, Hero Arts Black
Other: Hero Arts White embossing powder and Ocean Ombre sequins, string

Tools: heat gun, water, paintbrush, Cuttlebug, Hero Arts Enjoy the Journey die

Squirrelly Thanks // Hero Arts

I'm over on the Hero Arts blog with Amy today, sharing some cards that use add-ons from this month's My Monthly Hero.
Here's a peek at what I made...

Check out the Hero Arts blog for more details, and thanks for stopping in!

Misprinted Stationary Style

Hello all! Today I'm participating in the Hero Arts September 2017 My Monthly Hero Arts blog hop!

My card today was inspired by pretty misprinted stationary, and stars the one of the monthly add-ons, the adorable Color Layering Squirrel.

I stamped the three layers in Fresh Peach, Pale Tomato, and Mulled Wine, respectively.

I purposely didn't try hard lining up the stamps and getting crisp impressions, so that I could achieve the misprinted look. It's also a great excuse when you want to be lazy, which is definitely not me. Ever. ;)

I used some of the small elements from the same stamp set to create the little scene around the squirrel, but I used more elements from one of my favorite Hero Arts stamp sets ever, Let Love Grow. I used Passion Flower and Soft Purple for the purples, Soft Pool and Pool for the blues, Soft Apricot and Pumpkin Pie for the oranges.

The top sentiment was stamped in black, and the bottom heat embossed in white on black cardstock. I die cut the squirrel panel using the Rectangle Infinity dies, and then layered it on the card base, finishing off the card.

Quick, easy and cute!

GIVEAWAY

The supplies included in this months kit:

• 1 6" x 8" Color Layering Clear Stamp Set
• 8 Coordinating Frame cuts
• 5 Ink cubes (Butter Bar, Cup O’ Joe, Orange Soda, Pumpkin Pie and Tangerine)
• 3 Brass sunflower charms 
• 3 Brass leaf charms
• 2 5.5" x 8.5" Pumpkin Vellum 30lb
• 2 5.5" x 8.5" Moonrock Cardstock 80lb

The kit value is $70, an amazing deal at $34.99. 

The kit is available for a limited time only - once it's gone, it's gone. However, you can now subscribe to receive the kit monthly and never miss one!

BLOG HOP

For loads of inspiration and a chance to win a prize, follow this hop! Here's the entire list:

The Hero Arts Blog 

  Jennifer McGuire 

  Lydia Fiedler 

  Yana Smakula 

  Amy Kolling 

  Wanda Guess 

  Ilina Crouse 

  May Park 

  Michelle Short 

  Jessica Frost-Ballas 

  Amy Tsuruta 

  Clare Prezzia 

  Libby Hickson

GIVEAWAY

Hero Arts is giving away one kit as a prize to one blog reader - selected from the comments across all of the blogs in the hop. (Hero will reimburse the winner if they have already bought the kit) Giveaway closes Monday, 9/4 at 11:59pm, and the winner will be announced the following week.

SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Michaels
Stamps: Hero Arts Color Layering Squirrel and Let Love Grow
Ink: Hero Arts Fresh Peach, Pale Tomato, Mulled Wine, Passion Flower, Soft Purple, Soft Pool, Pool, Soft Apricot, Pumpkin Pie and Black
Other: Hero Arts White embossing powder

Tools: heat gun, Hero Arts Rectangle Infinity dies, Cuttlebug