Fresh Inspiration Friday

Its a Fresh Inspiration Friday challenge today on the Hero Arts Blog! The idea is to stamp something just for fun that’s based on the inspiration piece provided.

 My Hero Arts Hostess"sista" Anita  emailed us  a photograph of some gorgeous pictures she has hanging on her dining room wall. Here’s one of them! The challenge is to create a card using this photo as inspiration.

 This is my card , I am not really a blue person, I prefer pinks, reds and oranges but this has changed my mind about using blue.  The background is on watercolour paper and I have layered up the Classic Fabric stamp and the Envelope pattern stamp using broken china distress ink and some perfect pearls.  I have then stamped over with Chipped sapphire and the Garden Bouquet stamp and more perfect pearls for a real shimmer.

Here is a closeup, I am really pleased with the effect.  The butterfly is one that the lovely Brenda sent me, Thanks Brenda, I just distressed the edges a little for a vintage effect.

Supplies: Hero Arts Stamps. S5507 Envelope Pattern.  CG172 Garden Bouquet. CG245 Classic Fabric. Distress inks. Broken China and Chipped Sapphire. Perfect Pearls. Spekkbinders Lacey Circles.

Joy's and Linda's Challenges

 I have long been an admirer of Jacqueline's cards, she has her own shabby chic style and I love it, so when Joy set her first challenge "Create a project that honours someone in the crafty world that has inspired you", I had to choose Jacqueline.

The card I have chosen is this one, made by using up scraps of stamped paper that would otherwise be thrown in the bin.

 I also know that Jacqueline  loves to use butterflies cut from pretty patterned paper and she loves this Hydrangea stamp.  So a perfect tribute to a crafter with a unique style.

This second card was my entry in the 90minute challenge set by Linda yesterday in the Hero Arts flickr group, I followed Linda's sketch and created this card in the 90 minute time deadline.  Such fun, I was lucky enough to have my sewing machine already set up, as I had been sewing all afternoon. it meant I was able to add the zig zag very quickly to my card.  The background was really simple, I just stamped the classic fabric design with Bundled Sage Distress ink and spritzed with water, followed by the envelope pattern also in Bundled Sage.  The butterflies were stamped onto a piece of shimmery green paper from my scraps box.

I have had a really crafty weekend and  have had time to do a little gardening as well, so a productive time, always a bonus!!


Supplies for top card. Hero Arts Stamps CG187 Floral Brocade. CG 245 Classic Fabric. K5376 Hydrangea stamp.CL383 Antique Engravings. Artistic Outpost stamp. Bloom and Grow. Distress inks.
Bottom Card. CL383 Antique Engravings. CG245 Classic Fabric. SS507 Envelope pattern. Bundled sage Distress ink.

Wee Memories Scrappy Saturday Challenge #48, "Cute or Cuddly"

Wow another week has whizzed by and its time again for the Scrappy Saturday Challenge over at The Wee Memories Blog, this is my third week as Guest Designer and I am really enjoying it!

This week's challenge theme is "Cute or Cuddly". All you need to do is create a card with this theme for your chance to win a stamp set from this weeks wonderful sponsor Lawn Fawn,

This week is extra exciting as we are doing a Co-Challenge with Lawnscapings! Everyone will have TWO chances to win a  Lawn Fawn Prize. The same inlinkz code will be used by Lawnscapings. So anyone from there and from us can enter!


Kelly-Marie  from Lawn Fawn Stamps  and Kathy Racoosin will be joining in with us as guest designers.how exciting is that! !

 Here is my card as you can see I went with the "Cute" theme and created this night time scene with the two foxes. The blue background paper has a lovely shimmer to it which is hard to see in the photograph.  The fox stamp is from Hero Arts and to make the reverse image, I scanned a stamped image with my computer and flipped it, adding eyelashes to make it female!

So, ready to play along? I hope you will! Link up your finished creation to the Wee Memories blog. You have until midnight PST on Fri., Mar. 25th to be eligible for the prize. Have Fun.

supplies. Hero Arts Stamps. E5465 Fox. Copic markers.

A new challenge.

This is a new challenge for me, but when I saw the mood board over at Simply Create, Alford I knew I would have to make a card.  I love these colours and the images are beautiful so I had to make a pretty card to match!

I have been having more fun with layered backgrounds and made this using Broken China distress ink on my HA Classic Fabric stamp and then spraying with perfect pearls for a light shimmer.  I have then lightly stamped the envelope pattered stamp just on the edges.
Hope you are all having a great St Patricks Day!


Supplies: Hero Arts stamps. CG245 Classic Fabric.  S5507 Envelope Pattern. CL 383 Antique Engravings. Broken China Distress ink. Flowers, buttons, lace, ribbon and pearls.

Hostess Gift Box and Tag!

It's  Hostess week on the Hero Arts Blog, and we decided we would all use this months theme of birthdays for our cards and projects.  Yesterday Linda and Sharon featured birthday cards and today its my turn.  If you looked through my blog you would notice that I love to make gift boxes and gift cards as well as general cards. (you can see one of my gift cards in the post below!) I always like to make an effort when wrapping my presents for friends and family,  You can really make your gift stand out by making your box unique, go on have a go and make your gift even more special!!

Boxes are really easy to make there are so many great tutorials if you search through the Internet, for this box I have used this tutorial for a "Five in one" template box from splitcoast stampers.

If you visit the Hero Arts blog you will find all the instructions and supplies for making this project.

Please check out the Hero Blog all this week to see what all the Hostesses have created!!

Give seeds as a gift.

Wow this week has flown by and its time for another challenge over at Wee Memories.  Challenge #46 is sponsored by Annabelle Stamps, go check out their site to see some great stamps and crafting items.

For this weeks challenge I decided to make a gift card, the idea is you give a card with a hidden surprise inside like special tea bags (see some I made here) store cards or even seeds as I have done.  I like the idea of giving a wildflower garden to a friend.  Its easy to sow and creates a beautiful sight in the summer and it attracts butterflies.

I made the holder using this Tutorial  The only difference is instead of making a band to fit round the card I added some ribbon that is attached behind the main stamped image, so can tie it with a pretty bow.

The base image is made using bundled sage distress ink to cover the card and then I stamped old letter writing in the same colour.  For the main image I used a Dew Drop ink called Pearlescent Thyme and then after attaching the ribbon I put it on to the card with pop dots..

So, ready to play along? I hope you will! Link up your finished creation to the Wee Memories blog. You have until midnight PST on Fri., Mar. 18 to be eligible for the prize. Have Fun.

Supplies:Hero Arts Stamps F5407 Lets Garden. CG197 Old Letter. CL430 Real Garden Petals.  Distress inks. Bundled Sage , Forest Moss and Dusty Concord. Dew Drop ink. Pearlescent Thyme.

Another go at layered backgrounds.

I had another go at Shari's layered background technique , this time I used earthy tones and I love the result.
Busy day again so another short post, be sure to check back tomorrow when the new challenge at Wee Memories starts!

supplies: Hero arts stamps, CG172 Garden Bouquet, G5507 Envelope pattern. Distress inks, Old Paper, Spiced Marmalade, Crushed Olive and Scattered Straw. Spellbinders Lacey Circles.

Layered Backgrounds!

Hi ladies its been a beautiful sunny day here but still very cold so I needed another bright card to cheer me up.  I have at last been successful with Shari's Layered background technique, after quite a few attempts hitting the bin this is the card I ended up with.  Its still not perfect but I love the reds and purples.


Supplies:-Stamps by Hero Arts CL430 Real Garden Petals, CL383 Antique Engravings , S5507 Envelope pattern.  Distress inks:- Old Paper, Barn Door, Crushed Olive, Dusty Concord.

Spring flowers.

Just a quick post tonight, I decided to get my marker pens out of the drawer as I haven't used them in ages and this seemed the perfect stamp for them!  I wanted to make a Spring like card , so I used the markers to colour the stamp then spritzed with water before putting on the paper, I love the soft effect it has created

Hope you are all having a great week.

Supplies. Hero Arts stamps: CG172 Garden Bouquet and S5507 Envelope pattern. Marker pens and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.

Guest Designer for March !!!

I was so thrilled when sweet Jenny from The Wee Memories Blog contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I would like to be their March Guest Designer , for the "Scrappy Saturday Challenges".  I jumped at the chance as I have been a follower of her blog for ages and often take part in the weekly challenges.

This is my inspirational card for this weeks challenge  #46, the theme is "Woodland Friends" and a card or project  inspired by woodland creatures and nature!

To make my card I used an old owl stamp that I had and enlarged the stamped image on my computer, I then cut it out and added strips of Patterned Paper cut with a border punch.. The balloons are coated with UTEE to give a shine.

 The challenge is sponsored by Serendipity stamps and the prize this week is a stamp set.

So, ready to play along? I hope you will! Link up your finished creation on the Wee Memories blog. You have until midnight PST on Fri., Mar. 11 to be eligible for the prize.  Have Fun.