Hero Arts Cat Stamp - rereleased!

ETA 5/5/19: I was thrilled to be chosen as a Top Pick at the Retro Rubber Challenge!

Hello and hope everyone is having a good start to their week.  It is sunny here, but it was nearly freezing overnight! 

Some of you may have seen that Hero Arts is celebrating 45 years in the stamping business!  If you are like me, your very first stamps were theirs!  They recently asked people to share on Instagram photos of their oldest stamps.  This cat one is one of the ones I shared.  It is marked 1985  (although I think I remember getting maybe in 1988).  Anyhow, I then perused their new catalog and saw that this stamp is one that is being re-released in clear form!!! (See page 32 of their catalog.)

So, I had to get this stamp off the shelf and make a card.  I colored it with alcohol markers, then die cut it and sponged blue ink within the die.  I used a sketch from MojoMonday and a paper pad I just picked up the other day.  I did sponge the blue print with blue ink around the edges.  I didn't want to mat those pieces, so the sponging did the finishing without an extra layer.  

I paired it with a couple sentiments from other Hero Arts sets.  The inside has the second generation stamping in light pink.  

Supplies: Hero Arts Cats on Pillow 1985, CL582 and CL342 clear sentiment sets, Memento and Versafine Black inks, Gina K Innocent Pink ink, Tumbled Glass distress ink, Bo Bunny Early Bird 6x6 paper pad.

I would love to enter Retro Rubber’s Anything Goes Challenge and Mojo Monday #514

Thanks so much for visiting today!!!  What is your oldest stamp?

Poinsettia Christmas wreath

Hello all!  I would like to share a set of Christmas cards today.  So glad to add 4 more cards to my 2019 stash.

I colored all the wreaths with alcohol markers, with two colors of red, so I didn’t get bored.  I added glitter glue to the centers of the flowers.  Then I die cut them out and added sentiments. You can see that they are the same, but different. And I did do some finishing off of the insides.  

Supplies :  Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Poinsettia Wreath, Merry Christmas Sentiment, Memento and Versafine Black inks, Close to My Heart Mistletoe Wishes stamp set, Gina K Designs Christmas Magic set,  Nuvo drops blizzards, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles, Spellbinders Fancy Edge Rectangles, Pebbles Home for Christmas 6x6 paper pad.

 I am entering the Rudolph Days Challenge for April.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Loveable Panda Card - What’s Up?

Hello everyone!  Hope you are having an enjoyable day.  Today I would like to share this cute panda card.  

I colored this with alcohol markers and then masked the panda, and sponged over the background with Tumbled Glass distress ink.  I did emphasize the eyes just a touch with a white gel pen.  

I found this sentiment in my stash that fit just right between the trees.  I think it turned out cute.  😃

Supplies: Blue Knight Rubber Stamps Loveable Panda, Sentiment from Power Poppy Short Stacks stamp set, Memento and Versafine Black inks, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, Distress Ink Tumbled Glass, Recollections Grey Kraft Cardstock

I would love to enter this in SimonSaysStamp Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge and WordArtWednesday’s Anything Goes challenge.

Have a wonderful day and thank you for visiting!  As always, double thanks to my subscribers and those who take time to leave a comment.

American Goldfinch Notecard

Hello!  How are you today?  When I recently saw that the American Goldfinches in my yard were molting into their beautiful breeding plumage, I had to get out this stamp!

These birds reside in my area all year round, but are a drab color in winter.  If you catch one in the middle of its molt, it will look strange and patchy, as they do not molt all their feathers evenly.  Another interesting fact about them is that they breed later in the Spring than other songbirds, as their food of choice, the thistle, is in bloom in late Spring/Early Summer, so that is when they want those eggs to hatch!

 I colored this bird with alcohol markers.  A male American Goldfinch’s breeding plumage is a lovely bright yellow color all over, but I wanted to add a bit of shadow and texture so I added some light grey marker here and there.  

Supplies: I Brake for Stamps Goldfinch stamp, Sentiment is from Quarter Sheet Dahlia, Memento and Versafine Black inks, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched rectangle dies, other items from my stash.

Like this stamp?  Use Coupon code SAVE10HEIDI to save 10% off your entire orders at the I Brake for Stamps Store.

Thanks for visiting today!

Chocolate Themed Notecards

Hello and Happy Tuesday!  Today I would like to share a few chocolate themed cards I made.  This set has a bunch of very cute sentiments to go with the images.  This stamp set is retired, but I have found that a lot of the Close to my Heart consultants carry stock, and may have all kinds of stamp sets available that are not in the catalog anymore.

I used a sketch for the first two cards and I was working on using up some old paper pads. I thought the “brownie points” could be used for a fun “thank you” card. The Chocolate Understands sentiment cracks me up and I think could be used for all kinds of occasions, including birthdays (with a gift of chocolate, of course) or for a friend going through a hard time.

The third card, I made a pattern on the cardfront and then used second generation stamping on the label.  I enjoyed using this pack of different colored kraft cardstocks - I think I got it at Hobby Lobby.

Supplies: Close to My Heart  A Chocolate Affair and ‘Tis the Season Cardmaking stamp sets, Gina K Dark Chocolate Inkpad, My Mind’s Eye patterned papers (old), Nuvo Crystal drops Blizzard, other items from my stash. 

I would like to enter this card into The Library Challenge’s Chocolat challenge.

Thanks for visiting today!

Leaping Lions Handmade Card

Hello!  I have had the pieces-parts of this card sitting on my desk for quite a while, but hadn’t gotten the card finished till this morning.  I have gotten into the habit of working on bunches of projects at once, which may or may not be a good way to work. Lol.

This stamp set is one that was RAKed to me, secondhand. It is so cute.  I colored and die cut the images and then created a stenciled background.  I did cut up the sentiment so that I could put part on the outside and part on the inside.  

Supplies:  Reverse Confetti Leaping Lions stamp and die set, Memento and Versafine black inks, Hero Arts Soft Sand, Butter Bar, Forever Green and Red Royal inkpads, Plaid stencil, Distress Oxide inks Candied Apple, Wild Honey, Fosilized Amber and Fired Brick, Echo Park Happy Camper 6x6 paper pad

I’d love to enter this card into the ModSquad Challenge Use a Stencil.

Hey! Thanks for coming by today, and double thanks if you left a comment!  If you are new, please consider subscribing.  

Gingham for Easter!

I would like to wish all of you, who celebrate, a Happy Easter!

As I have already sent out all my Easter cards, I thought I would go with something a bit festive today, but that could be used for an every day card.  I decided on gingham!  JFF has a lovely set of ribbon stamps and one of them is a cute gingham check.  So I stamped this out in 5 pretty pastel shades and just cut them out with scissors.

I arranged them on my card and then added some butterflies!  I was really pleased how springy this looked!

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Ribbons & Rick Rack stamp set, Just Saying Hello sentiment stamp, Flora & Fauna Unmounted Sheet, Inks: Gina K Designs Innocent Pink, Applemint, Hero Arts Butter Bar, Soft Pool and Soft Lilac, other items from my stash.

Thank you for spending a few minute of your day with me!  I hope you have a very nice day, and will see you soon!

Cowgirl Card with Stamped Bandana Background

Hello!  I wanted to take a moment today to first thank all of my readers.  I am so appreciative of all the lovely and encouraging comments you leave on my blog.  It is a real blessing to me that you take the time to visit and comment.  And I also enjoy visiting you!

Today, my card is a bit different.  My focal image is cut from a piece of patterned paper. But the background and accents are stamped.  I added white gel pen to the background to get a nice bandana look.  And I colored and cut out some small flowers to match the image.  

Supplies: October Afternoon Sasparilla 8x8 patterned paper, Stampendous Bandana cling background, Power Poppy Folk Heart Stamp set, Versafine and Memento Black inks, MFT DieNamics Pierced Square dies, Sizzix Tim Holtz Tag dies, other items from my stash.

Horsing Around is the theme for the Free4All challenge this week at SplitCoastStampers.

I’d like to enter this into Crafty Hazelnut’s Patterned Paper challenge for April and Word Art Wednesday’s Anything Goes Challenge.

Thank you for stopping by!

Pansy Card colored with Chalks

I have a pretty pansy card to share with you, which is right in season!  I love these cheerful flowers for Spring and Fall, and all the wonderful colors they might be.

This image was stamped in a dark purple ink onto some textured cardstock.  Now, textured card is not usually the best surface for stamping, but I knew I wanted to color this with chalks, and I like the extra interest it gives.  Chalk is a wonderful coloring medium, it blends so well and is very fast to work with.  It might be a good idea to seal your work when you use chalk.  Since this is a card that will likely be displayed for just a few weeks, I just seal mine with a little aerosol hairspray.  

I thought these colors looked a little vintage, so I decorated my card with some velvet rick rack and scraps of pretty floral paper.

Supplies: I Brake for Stamps Three Pansies, Gina K Designs Edible Eggplant ink, Pebbles Chalks, MFT Die Namics Pierced Squares die, Scrap of paper from Recollections Backyard table 6x6 paper pad, Cuttlebug Gingham embossing folder, other items from my stash.

Like this stamp? Use coupon code SAVE10HEIDI to save 10% off your entire order at the I Brake for Stamps store.

I would like to add this card to the Snippets Challenge - Anything Goes, SimonSaysStamp Monday Challenge - Beautiful Blooms and WordArtWednesday Anything Goes.

Thanks for visiting!  

Alcohol Ink Background - 2 Different Cards

Hello!  I am back with two new cards today. I had some trouble getting back into the swing of things, but I think I will be posting regularly again.  

I made this alcohol ink background a couple months ago, but like so many backgrounds, I often have trouble using it right away!  Especially when I am happy with the result!  So, yesterday, I was determined to make some cards with it.  

This background was made with green alcohol inks, silver mixitive over Yupo paper (which is really a thin sheet of smooth plastic.)  I also added some silver foil to the parts that were still sticky enough to transfer the foil. I cut my background in two and decided to make two very different cards.

This one is simple, I just stamped and colored some butterflies and folded their wings up to add dimension. This card I would like to add the ModSquadChallenge Three’s Company Challenge.

This second card I wanted to be for Christmas. I added birch tree and cardinal die cuts and embossed the red background with a Christmas Poinsettia folder.



Supplies: 
Card 1: Gina K Designs Whimsical Spring stamps set, Purple Onion Designs Sentiment, Memento and Versafine Black inks, Avery Elle Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers.
Card 2: Impression Obsession Birch tree die set, Purple Onion sentiment, Versafine Onyx Black ink, Sizzix Poinsettia embossing folder, Spellbinders Fancy Edge Rectangle dies

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Wild Bunny - Handmade Easter Card

Hello everyone!  I do hope you are well.  We had a couple days of LOVELY, sunny, warm weather, but today it is set to cool down to normal temperatures.  I would like to share an Easter card, today.  

I colored the bunny image with some earthy tones, and cut it out with an oval die.  I paired this with patterned papers from several different packs.  I thought this was a lovely look for Easter, even if it isn’t the traditional pastel colors. 

Supplies: I Brake for Stamps Wild Bunny, Memento black ink, Spectrum Noir alcohol markers, patterned papers from various packs (Recollections Backyard Table and scraps from another pack I don’t have the packaging for), Spellbinders Oval and Scalloped Oval dies.
Please use coupon code SAVE10HEIDI to save 10% off your entire order at the I Brake for Stamps Store.

I would like to enter Double Troubles’s Let’s Get Groovy challenge and Cupcake Inspirations Woodland Animals Challenge.

Thanks for visiting today!  Are you sending out Easter cards this year?  I was not going to, but we are no longer able to travel for Easter this year, so I will be sending some out to immediate family.  

Kayak Themed Card - With Shaving Cream background

Howdy everyone!  Not too long ago, I did some backgrounds with ink refills and shaving cream.  This background was leftover, and I thought it looked like swirling water, and wanted to use it with this fun kayaking stamp.  

Supplies: Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Kayaker Silhouette, Dream Big sentiment stamp, Versafine Onyx Black ink, MFT Die Namics Pierced Squares dies, Sizzix Swirl embossing folder, for background: Distress Ink refills in Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Picked Raspberry and Dusty Concord.

I’d love to play in Casology’s Burst Challenge, and Die Cut Diva’s Water challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!

“Kitty in a Can” Handmade Card

Hello everyone!  If you noticed that I have not been posting or commenting much lately, it is because I have been away from home, attending a family funeral.   Of course, no one wants to have to attend a funeral, but it is what happens, and it is always good to pay your respects and then spend time with family.

The card I am sharing today is one I made last week and saved for today.  

  I have a cute everyday card to share with you today.  I noticed this sweet Kitty in a Can image in the IBFS store and thought it would make such a sweet card for my many cat-loving friends and family members.  And working with it really made me happy!  It is amazing what great therapy stamping can be!

I colored it with alcohol markers and framed it out with several die cuts.  I stamped the sentiment (found in the Quarter Sheet Dahlia stamp set) on coordinating patterned paper and cut it out with a tag die.  A bit of baker’s twine and I felt this card was finished!

Don’t forget that you can use my coupon code, SAVE10HEIDI, to save 10% your entire order at the I Brake for Stamps store!  

Thank you for your visit today!  Hope your day is filled with creative moments!