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.

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!

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!

Elephants on Parade!

Sometimes the best way to try new products and techniques is by making tags. These were fun and easy!

I started by playing with Hero Arts’ new liquid watercolors (check out the great video in the link) in Strawberry, Moss and Indigo (the only three colors I have, but see how nicely they mix and play together?) . These come in a dropper bottle and are highly pigmented.

I used the watercolors to create a large background sheet (which I cut into tags), but they are also great for coloring individual images. I dropped some watercolors into a paint tray, let them dry, and keep them handy on my desk. They re-activate with the touch of a damp or wet brush.

Once the paper was dry, I stamped and white embossed a portion of Hero Arts Bold Prints Floral Mandala background.

The larger pink elephant on the left is a punch from EK Success; the smaller elephant is a Hero Arts layering stamp (which has a matching die). The balloons on the large pink elephant is from Stampin’ Up!’s Balloon Builders set (if you can’t find it, there are several other great balloon stamps on the website!).

So much fun!

Thanks for stopping by.

 

 

I (heart) Valentines!

It’s so close to Valentine’s Day! One of my favorite card making holidays.

Here are a few that will be going out this year:

I’ve always loved these three hearts from Hero Arts. I embossed them on black card stock with Wow! Fluorescent Tickled Pink powder. The grey layer is embossed with athe Swirly Bird Cuttlebug folder. Sentiment from Hero Arts.

Below is a fast and easy card, also a Hero Arts image. (May be an old image?)

As you can see, the heart was stamped and heat embossed (two with white, one with black).

And one more, little wilder:

Also pretty fast and easy. I pulled an ink-splattered background from my stash, stamped this terrific Laurel Burch designed cat (from Stampendous!), added the box of candy (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Crazy Birds Accessories) and put it all together.

Next post will feature a beautiful die cut floral from Altenew.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tags, Tags, Tags!

Happy New Year! I spent a fruitful week before Christmas finishing up some gift boxes to deliver to friends and co-workers. One of my most relaxing projects was creating these easy watercolor tags:

These were so fun and easy! First, I splashed watercolors on some scrap watercolor paper using various paints, including handmade colors from Pfeiffer Art Supply.  While those were drying, I punched a bunch of tags using a Fiskars tag punch (with built-in eyelet setter!) and painted swooshes of watercolor.

I die cut cut some birds (unknown die … one of the first dies I ever used)  from that painted watercolor scrap. Because the die did not come with a bird wing, I created wings by using a leaf die that was the right size! The stamped birds (old Hero Arts Decorative Birds set and a Claudia Rose flamingo) were white embossed.

Here’s another look:

(The larger bird is Tim Holtz’s Caged Bird Sizzix Alterations die.) sitting on a double stitched oval die from Gina K. Designs.

Such fun to make, and happily received.

Here’s to a happy, healthy new year with many creative opportunities ahead. Thanks for stopping by.

 

Pop-Up Housewarming Card

Love this pop-up die from Lawn Fawn! Here’s one I used for a housewarming card:

The little houses are from a set from Stampendous! The plaid paper is also from Lawn Fawn. Look how easily it fits into the envelope:

I did a flat version of the card for another housewarming:

This card was so easy to put together because I had already stamped, colored and cut out a bunch of houses: (sorry for the blurry photo!)

The card base was also something made earlier, using a Hero Arts brush stroke stamp.

You can see my earlier report on this die, with other photos, here.

Thanks for “popping” by!

Fabulous Finds Friday: The Cats’ Meow

Today, I’m obsessed with cute cats.

Here are two quick and easy cards using two different kitties:

I love this playful cat set from Waffle Flower. Above is just one of the cute kitties from Flora Cat Play.

I die cut the Stitched Journal die from Lawn Fawn then painted a soft blue watercolor wash rectangle. I stamped the kitty in black VersaFine and lightly colored in the images with a bit of grey. Gel pens added color to the cat’s flowers and a Wink of Stella added a touch of glitter.

The background was stamped in Hero Arts Unicorn white pigment ink using images from Spellbinders Designer Series Feather stamp and die set. When everything was dry, I mounted the cat panel with foam dimensional tape.

I’ve always loved Laurel Burch designs, so I was delighted to find that Stampendous! has licensed her images for stamps. This was also fast and easy, and came about as I was playing with the stamp, testing it out. (This cutie is from the Indigo Cats set.)

I stamped the cat on watercolor paper with VersaFine black ink, then colored with a mix of Ranger Distress yellow and mustard markers (which I first scribbled on my palette, then picked up with a watercolor brush.)

I added some color with sparkly gel pens. I did a light wash of blue watercolor around the cat and decided it needed more interest, so I used the stencil that comes with the stamp set to add a bit of Ranger Distress blue ink. I trimmed the panel, edged it with black permanent marker and attached it to a top-folding yellow 4Bar card. A few sequins finished the deal.

Have a great weekend! Meow!

More Fabulous Finds from Creativation

Here’s another look at some of the Fabulous Finds found at the Creativation craft and hobby show in Phoenix last month:

 

(Layering stamps clockwise from top: large roses, Hampton Art; koi and rooster, Hero Arts; small vintage roses, Altenew)

Stamp layering (images you layer to create depths of color and design) is so pretty … and still oh-so popular, with more and more companies producing layering images. And ditto for stamps with coordinating dies. I became a huge fan of Altenew stamps, a company that elevated the stamp layering technique, when I first saw the company a few shows ago. They really ignited a trend.

Also fun, Hero Arts (love the koi and rooster and … a croissant? Whaaaat? So yummy); Waffle Flower  (marble, cross stitched cacti and roses, and more); Hampton Art, and more.

Here’s a cute layered/stitched cactus from Waffle Flower:

… and a nifty marbling stamp, also from Waffle Flower.

I also love the flower border stamps!

Thanks for stopping by!

Fabulous Finds Friday: Easy Pop-up Card

Would you believe I have never made a pop-up card? My goodness! It seemed so complicated to me … until I got the Stitched Hillside Pop-Up die from Lawn Fawn:

Of course, I had to play with it ASAP … so I started this card completely backwards with no idea of what I wanted to do. I just wanted to see how the pop-up was created. I cut the die from white card stock and attached it to a white card base, just to see how it fit together and how easy it was to construct. It was so cute I decided to go ahead and create a winter scene.

Here’s the inside:

I stamped and fussy cut trees using some old Hero Arts stamps and stuck them on. Of course, it was still too plain so I added some silver snowflakes (also from Hero Arts). And then the greeting. Totally unplanned; I just kept building the card.

I felt kinda dumb, because now I had a plain white front that would be difficult to stamp on. But then … ta da! … I watched this great Lawn Fawn tutorial and I loved the way Kelly Marie created a belly band for the front of her card! So simple!

And now I’m hooked! It’s not the greatest card, but it was fun and surprisingly easy — a good learning experiment!

Thanks for tuning in.