Hats Off to You!

Last week I was inspired by the shaped cards featured on the Hero Arts website. So when I picked up the Spring 2009 issue of Paper Creations and saw patterns for these cute hat cards, I couldn’t resist crafting some spring bonnets.

The stamps used (all Hero Arts) are raindrop, houndstooth and leaf flourish. The stamped flower is from Hero Arts clear set Artistic Borders CL322. The two pink flowers are from Imaginesce, the smaller  red flower is from Prima. The floral pattern is a napkin and trims are bits from my ribbon and lace scrap basket. These are all sized to fit in a regular card-sized envelope.

Quick card

Here is a quick card made using the Asian Doll set from Hero Arts. Colored with Twinkling H2Os, enhanced with Stickles. 

Asian Doll

Welcome to my creative place!

Hello world!

I’m not an artist. I’m not a designer. And yet, I create. If I can do it, anyone can.

 I was sort of crafty as a kid, making my share of macaroni necklaces and braided friendship bracelets. I sewed outfits for my Barbie and traced dresses for my paper dolls.  I even sold some hand made crackled marble jewelry in junior high school. I wanted to be an artist, but I couldn’t draw.

 So imagine my thrill when, as a leader in my daughter’s Brownie troop, I returned to my crafting roots and discovered rubber stamps. An obsession was born. I still couldn’t draw, but I could color, letting the stamps do the hard part.  

 A journalist by trade, I accidentally became a craft writer when the publisher of The Rubber Stamper Magazine – gearing up for its first issue — called me about a card I had apparently submitted on a dare. 

 “Can you write up something on how you created your collaged card,” Tammy asked.

 “You want me to write an article about collage?” I replied, confused because I had forgotten all about that card.

 “You write?” she shot back.

 And so I became an Accidental Crafter. I knew nothing about collage, or layering or color theory, but I gamely did what any journalist would do – I researched the heck out of it. And wrote a story about using collage techniques with rubber stamps.

 So welcome to my blog, where I can combine my two loves – writing and crafting – and where I can show my husband that I really AM working as I play with paper, stamps and ink. Join me on this great adventure.