If you've got it USE it!

Did you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving?  I know I did! I have so much to be thankful for J God is good.

I do have to apologize to you dear reader as I was supposed to post this on Wednesday. I had an impromptu union meeting that came up Wednesday night and I had to go in to work night shift so I had no time to post. Sorry!

The stamp set I used today isn't new but that's the wonderful thing about stamps, they don't have to be. I think they are as cute today as I did the day I bought them! Today’s card set was made using Hero Arts Holiday Dolls set, distress inks, and spellbinders. As always covered with a healthy dose of stardust stickles J I stamped the starry night background in white on white just to use it as a guide to place my stickles. If you have any questions please let me know!

crushed olive, peeled paint, forest moss

scattered straw, mustard seed, wild honey 

dried marigold, ripe persimmon, spiced marmalade

barn door, fired brick, aged mahogany

spun sugar, worn lipstick, barn door

victorian velvet, seedless preserves, dusty concord

tumbled glass, broken china, faded jeans

Thanks for coming over to take a peek !

Whimsy Abounds

Afternoon J

I’m back with that whimsical card set I promised!

Today’s set uses Hero Arts Laughter & Joy set, Starry Sky background, and more distress inks (shocking I know!)  The punch for the snow is by EK Success.

I made all the backgrounds the same colors this time around. I inked with tumbled glass, broken china, and faded jeans then stamped in broken china. The ornaments on the trees are colored with one distress ink coloring and topped off with stardust stickles or glossy accents. I also used the stardust stickles to outline my snow.

seedless preserves

dusty concord

faded jeans

mustard seed

spiced marmalade

ripe persimmon

barn door

worn lipstick

Thanks for stopping by I cannot put into words how much I appreciate each and every visit :)

Tomorrow's set is using some older stamps but they are still super cute!!

Card Set Numero Uno :)

Hello all!

Sorry about the blogging hiatus this past week. I have been crafting like crazy just haven’t gotten around to posting any of it J

This month I have been telling you all about the wonderful card drive Vera and Jennifer are doing called Cards that Care. I thought it would be fun to show you the sets I created for it this week. So each day I’ll share a set I made. These posts will be pretty picture heavy so I’ll be skimming on the process but as always if you have a question please let me know J The distress ink colors I used are listed below each card.

To make today’s set I used tons of bling, distress inks, and the Hero Arts stamp set Decorate Your Holidays.

spun sugar, worn lipstick, barn door

barn door, fired brick, aged mahogany

dried marigold, ripe persimmon, spiced marmalade

scattered straw, mustard seed, wild honey

crushed olive, peeled paint, forest moss

tumbled glass, broken china, faded jeans  

stormy sky, faded jeans, chipped sapphire

seedless preserves, dusty concord, chipped sapphire

Thanks for checking in today and I hope to see you tomorrow for a more whimsical set J

Last Day with Vera

Welcome back for mine and Vera’s last day of Pinterest inspiration.  I had such fun creating this week. Vera is one talented gal and I am so blessed to have her as a friend J

Here’s our last photo

Now I don’t know about you but when I see a boutonniere I think corsage. Maybe I had one too many high school dances hehe.

I decided to go with a Christmas corsage. I used the colors from the photo adding the green into the mix.

I started with a white card base and stamped my leaves (Hero Arts, Delicate Leaf Clusters) using crushed olive, peeled paint, and forest moss. The holly(Hero Arts, Archivers, Holiday Cheer) I added in by using just forest moss. Lastly I inked up my branch (Hero Arts, Delicate Leaf Clusters) with gathered twigs to add some brown.

For the flowers (Hero Arts, Layered Flowers) I stamped them on a spare sheet of white and trimmed them out. They were colored with barn door, fired brick, and aged mahogany.  I added them to my card by just adhering the middle. I didn’t want the whole card to be flat :) It's hard to see in the photo but around the edges I added some tumbled glass very lightly.

The sentiment (Hero Arts, Merry Christmas Trees) was stamped in jet black archival ink (Ranger). I added some burgundy stickles for the holly berries and a brown rhinestone to the flower centers to complete.

This card is a little busier than I usually prefer but I’m hoping it still brings someone a smile. Remember even though our pairing up is over Vera and Jennifer are collecting cards for the Cards that Care drive until November 30^th so there is still plenty of time to start crafting!! I’m heading over to Vera’s to see what she made on our last day!

Day Two with Vera

Welcome back for day two of my pairing up with Vera! Wasn’t her card yesterday just lovely? I’m so proud of her for tackling that flower stamp!

I’m sticking with the Christmas theme and here is our inspiration photo

I really took to the stripe and the flowers. You know I love me some big flowers J

I started with a white card base and rounded opposite corners. Then I took my background stamp (Hero Arts, Stripes Pattern) and inked it up with crushed olive. I did spritz it with water before stamping so I got really good coverage. My ink pad needs to be reinked (for shame, I know) and it isn’t as wet as it could be so the water helps. I stamped on an angle to created a diagonal stripe. To cover the whole card I had to do some matching up but I’m thrilled with the way it came out.  To add to the Christmas feel and throw in a little more interest I went back in with a fine red marker and a T-square to create the thin lines.

For the center panel I stamped my flowers (Hero Arts, Stencil Flower) in jet black archival ink. I stamped them again on a scrap piece of white and fussy cut them out. Once I had my flowers all cut apart I colored them with barn door, fired brick, and aged mahogany. I adhered them flat to my panel and trimmed off the edges. Since I wanted a Christmas card and I didn’t actually use any Christmas stamps I added stardust stickles to the edges of the petals and glossy accents to the center. Is it just me or does glitter say holiday to you too?

I stamped the sentiment (Hero Arts, Merry Christmas Trees) in black and added some clear rhinestones. To add the panel to my card base I used dimensional adhesive.

I’m off to see what Vera made, I just know it will be fabulous J

Pairing up with Vera

Hello and a Happy Tuesday to you!

I am so excited to tell you that Vera Yates and I will be pairing up for the next three days J  I absolutely adore her! We will be using a different Pinterest photo for inspiration each day.

Here’s today’s inspiration photo

and since Vera is doing Cards that Care Card Drive I decided to make a set of cards to send in.  

If you missed the info or the hop for the card drive please check out Vera’s blog all the info is here. It is a fantastic opportunity to give back.

I started by stamping my sentiment (Hero Arts, Archivers, Celebrate the Season) with Versamark and then heat set it with white.

I rubbed on two distress inks per background then stamped the background (Hero Arts, Magical Background) in the darker color ink. For the close up (and my fav) I used faded jeans and chipped sapphire, then stamped in chipped sapphire.

I stamped my doves on white then fussy cut them out. I stamped the wing a second time and cut that out too J I adhered the dove’s flat to the card panel then added the second wing with foam. To add some sparkle (you know I love me some sparkle) I highlighted certain areas with a silver gel pen and covered the entire dove in stardust stickles. To make the eye pop I used black enamel accents.

Here is the whole set, sorry for the terrible photos but foe some reason blogger won't load the nice ones :(

Thanks for visiting and be sure to head over to Vera's Blog to see how she was inspired! Hopefully you’ll be inspired to make a few cards yourself for the drive ;)

Cards that Care Blog Hop

Welcome to your next stop on the Cards that Care Blog Hop. You should have come here from Karin's blog. If you are just stopping in to visit me please join us in the fun :) I hear there are some super awesome prizes to be won *wink*wink* The blog hop starts with the wonderful Vera. If you get lost on the way you can find the entire list of participants on her blog. 

Okay for those of you who don't know the Cards that Care card drive is all about collecting Christmas/Holiday cards to send to nursing homes. I grew up spending summers with my Grandparents and all their friends so I have a real affection for this card drive. Big thanks to Vera and Jennifer for putting this together. You can find all the card drive information here.

So about those prizes. Winners will be picked from comments left on the participants blogs. So leave some love and maybe win a cool prize ;) You have until Sunday at midnight (cst) to leave comments.

Now to the card

All the stamps are Hero Arts (who just so happens to be one of the sponsors of those super cool prizes) I used Decorate Your Holidays and Magic of Christmas stamp sets.

I like a clean and simple card (with lots of shine hehe) and I hope you do too. Now you are off to see what the super talented Amy created. Thanks for hopping along!!

Cas-ual Sketch

Happy Hump Day! Which is actually my Friday, so I'm happier about it than most :)

I'm playing along with Cas-ual Fridays super cute sketch tonight.

Here's my take

I started with a white card base. I stamped the sentiment from Hero Arts, Sending Smiles Messages to create a text background. The sentiment is actually meant for the inside of the card  but it worked perfectly for what I wanted. The added a cardstock strip in create the cut off. Both the sentiment and strip are pumice stone.

The flower (Hero Arts, Sweet Petals) was colored with dried marigold, ripe persimmon, and spiced marmalade. The leaves (Hero Arts, 3 Leaves) are colored with crushed olive, peeled paint, and forest moss. It's hard to see in the photo but I curled the leaves for some dimension.

The large sentiment is from the same Hero Arts set as the small and was stamped in Jet Black Arcival ink (Ranger).

Thanks for looking! Hope you enjoyed this clean and simple card :)