An Oldie, but Goodie…

Celebrating with Hero Arts

As Hero Arts celebrates its 45th anniversary, I’ve started digging into my EXTENSIVE (!!!) old stash of Hero Arts images. I’ve always been a Hero Arts fan.

When I needed a few quick congratulations cards, the Pop Art with Bird stamp seemed like the perfect solution.

I made three cards, using different colored cardstock for each one, and in no time, I had some quick cards. I inked the stamp with black VersaFine and covered it with clear embossing powder. Images were colored with Ranger Distress Inks (using Tsukineko Imagine Crafts’ Fantastics. The congrats stamp is also from an old Hero Arts set. A little Ranger Stickles and I was good to go.

Fun, fast and easy! Thanks for dropping by.

Hooray for Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite card making holidays. And this time I started early (well, early for me!!!).

Here are a few samples:

Dancing Hearts

I figured I’d start out simple — just stamping, embossing, and cutting out hearts. These hearts are from Hero Arts and Fiskars. The background is a Spellbinders embossing folder. And the sentiment is an old one from Hero Arts. Easy peasy! I made a bunch of these cards in various color combos.

Another easy one, but all that color and glitter pack a punch. The washi tape is from Love + Lemon (the Main Squeeze set), the heart die cut (Cheery Lynn designs) from Cosmo Cricket paper. I added some Fun Foam to the back of heart before adhering it, to give some depth. Sentiment, I believe, is also from an old Hero Arts set.

And this pretty pink card uses Lawn Fawn’s quilted background die and various hearts from my collection.

Stay tuned for more Valentine cards — and thanks for stopping by!

Valentine Throwback!

Just found a photo of this card, made last year:

Playing with Silver Hessian and Chocolate Bronze Metallic Gilding Polish from Creative Expressions to create swaths of color. The Scribble Hearts are dies from Simon Says Stamp. A little splatter, a few sequins and bam! Call it a day!

And check out this throw-back card from 2013 or maybe earlier!

Back in the day, Hero Arts was among the first to use so-called “shadow stamps,” solid stamps that made great backgrounds for images stamped on top. This was one big stamp! I’m pretty sure all the smaller stamps used are from Hero Arts.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rose Are Red … and Yellow … and Easy

I am addicted to these Rose Flurries dies from Altenew. Absolutely addicted.

Now, you know nothing makes me happier than using up my paper scraps. And then making pretty things. These dies let me do it all.

First, check out the card:

(Cover die is Altenew’s Watercolor Stripes over a watercolored background. Sentiment is from Altenew’s Persian Motif set. Gems from Studio Katia.)

As you can see if you look at the dies, there are a LOT of them in this set. So here’s what I did to keep them straight:

First, I used a Sharpie to label the back of each die (yes, they are skinny!) according to their set (1, 2, 3, etc.). Then I added letters to show the layering order (a, b, c, d). So it looks something like this:

While I was cutting, I separated the dies and the pieces in a box top. This helped me keep track of the dies and the pieces:

After all that cutting, I stored them in little baggies, which makes putting them together so much easier!

And now I have a nice stash of dies for easy card making!

Turnaround is Fair Play

Just a quick post today to mention a great stamping concept. The “turn-around” stamps from Concord & 9th are brilliant. With four turns of the stamp you have a fast-and-easy image.

The concept is so unique (it helps if you have a stamp positioning tool). You ink, stamp, then rotate your card and do it again… four times. I have only just begun to explore these stamps … and want more!!!

That’s it for today … told ya it was quick!

Background Bonanza!

I love to have a handy stash of background papers on hand. Here’s a stash I made using Art Foamies big, bold foam stamps and some acrylic paint:

The Foamies come with their own palette, making it easy to add paint and then just stamp. Clean-up is a breeze, too.

And with these busy backgrounds, you don’t need a lot of embellishments to make a card, such as this:

You can see the shimmer of the gold paint in this close-up:

(The “hello” die cut is from Simon Says Stamp.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Foiled Stamping

Let’s get right to the point — stamping and foiling are a dynamite combination! Especially with the Gina K ®Designs Stamp’nFoil™ material from Therm o Web.

The new Stamp’nFoil™ system combines stamps, inks and foil designed by Gina K.  Start with the Foil-Mates™ Detail Sheets, which have pre-printed toner-based designs. (Toner is what allows the foil to adhere.) Add colorful stamped details over the designs, place the foil on top, and run it through a heat-activated laminator. Ta da! Foiled and stamped designs.

But enough chatter, let’s get right to the samples.

Check out the foil elements on the cake, gift and balloons and banner.  (The background is another Gina K. Designs/Therm O Web product that has toner-based designs.)

Here’s how it works:

See how I’m stampin’ over the printed designs? Then I die-cut the images.

And here’s a close-up:

It’s a foilin’ good time!

Altenew Floral Congrats Card

I am having so much fun with these dies from Altenew!

This card is almost all Altenew — the floral dies are from the Fantasy Floral 3D die set, the background texture is thanks to the Watercolor Stripes Cover die. The sentiment is from Altenew’s Persian Motifs stamp set. 

This card was so easy to put together, especially since I had a frenzy of die cutting of the floral dies (a great way to use up my scraps!). See here for more on this die. It’s so easy and fun to make the flowers ahead of time … and then you are ready to rock and roll when you need a card. They were layered with Therm O Web Zots.

The gems are from Studio Katia. I also added Nuvo Glitter Gloss to the top later of the front flower — but oddly enough, it changed the color and made it more orange. Hmmm…. interesting.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday Balloons

Balloons are such happy things! I’ve been having lots of fun with this Balloon Bundle die set from My Favorite Things (see this post for another use).

This card base was leftover from some of my watercolor experiments (so I’m not sure which watercolors I used!). The open cake is an old one from the late, lamented Stampa Barbara. The gemstones, I believe, are from Hero Arts.

Hope your day is as happy as these balloons!

Shop ’til You ….

…. Can’t stop making these adorable shopping bags from Hero Arts!

These are made using the Fancy Dies 3-D Shopping Bag.  As you can see, I couldn’t stop making them! The bag is open enough to let you add things, but not so puffy that it won’t easily slip into an envelope.  I love that you can put anything in these bags!

Check it out:

For the background, I did a soft watercolor wash using Hero Arts’ liquid pigment watercolors. The greenery was created from Spellbinders’ Fern Dies. The dots are Nuvo crystal drops.

For this card, I first stamped Hero Arts’ Floral Mandala Bold Print in Unicorn White onto the gray cardstock. The flowers are from Hero’s Coloring Layering bird CL866, and the stems are an older stamp from Art Impressions F3022.

This one is a particular favorite — I love the ombre bag and the balloons!

The paper for the bag was colored using Ranger Distress Oxides; the background is Lawn Fawn’s Quilted Backdrop die, and the balloons are from My Favorite Things,  the Bundles of Balloons card kit.

Thanks for stopping by!