Hero Arts Hostess Hop

Hello and welcome to the Hero Arts Hostess Hop, featuring fabulous stamps from the new 2015 release!

Hero Arts Stamps - Playful Animals, Lines Background, Butterfly and Flower Stamp & Cut and Write Your Message

If you’ve been following along, you’ve just arrived from Virginia's blog! I know Virginia will have shared fantastic creations with you - I can't wait to see them! If you find a broken link or didn't know about the hop, you'll find a master list of the hop links at the Hero Arts Club Blog. Also, please report broken links to: blog@heroarts.com.

Hero Arts will be awarding prizes from randomly drawn comments. For a chance to win, simply comment on ANY of the stops along the hop on ANY day, including each day’s starting post at the Hero Club Blog. The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning! I have comment moderator switched on so don't worry if your comment doesn't appear immediately. Good luck:)

I’m so happy to be hopping along with my Hosti sisters to show you what we’ve made with products that Hero Arts generously sent us from the 2015 Spring Catalogue. I was delighted to receive the gorgeous stamp and die set with stitched detail - Butterfly and Flower Stamp & Cut. I just love stitching so the set was barely in the house before it was inked up! I decided to make a birthday card using the flowers and leaves from the set and a gorgeous new sentiment stamp Happy Birthday to You. Isn't the handwriting on the stamp just beautiful? It's by Kelly Rasmussen and you can find other wonderful new stamps with her handwriting here.

Hero Arts Stamps - Butterfly and Flower Stamp & Cut and Happy Birthday to You

As well as the stitching I love the cute button centres on the flowers.

After making the card I thought it might be nice to make a matching gift tag using the stem included in the set and making the flower in a slightly different way.

Hero Arts Stamps - Butterfly and Flower Stamp & Cut and Birthday Messages

I have to admit I’m often guilty of overlooking smaller images in sets (maybe my eyesight is getting worse!) but I wanted to ink up the cute ladybird image in the Butterfly and Flower Stamp & Cut set too. I decided to make wrapping paper using just plain parcel paper, the ladybird stamp and a hole punch. For the tag I again used the Happy Birthday to You stamp and omitted the lower part of the sentiment to leave space for the ladybird to nestle under the “birthday”.

Hero Arts Stamps - Butterfly and Flower Stamp & Cut and Happy Birthday to You

The cute cat image on my first card is from a fun set called Playful Animals which includes the cat, a mouse, hedgehog, fox, dog and pig. In addition, playful accessories for the animal are available - a fish bone, ball of yarn, cheese and dog bone, so cute! I know I’ll be pairing the yarn with the cat very soon but I couldn’t resist borrowing the yarn from the cat to make tags for items I’ve knit. I will cut the washing instructions from the yarn I’ve used and put it on the back of the tags.

Hero Arts Stamps - Yarn, Sew Artsy and Dolls

I love the cute images in the Playful Animals set and feel they will appeal to both children and adults alike. Also I think it would be a great set for children to stamp with as the animals are so easy to stamp and cut out. I opened my post with the cat from the set and now I'll finish with the sweet pig from the same set.

Hero Arts Stamps - Playful Animals, Thanks Stamp & Cut, Pinstripe Background, Be Happy and Clouds Background

Before you head off to your next stop along the hop I want to thank you for visiting, thank Hero Arts for yet another fabulous release and for their generosity, thank Deborah and Tami for all the work they do behind the scenes in organising the hop, thank my Hosti sisters for all the fun and inspiration they provide and last, but most definitely not least, thank my dear friend Linda for items she sent me for the hop.

Your next stop on the Hero Arts Hostess Blog Hop is Sue's blog. Sue is such a lovely and talented lady, I know she'll definitely have lots of inky goodness for us to enjoy! Now I'm off to have fun hopping too:)

Quilt Block Card Set

I wanted to make a set of cards to include with my Mum's birthday present so pulled out one of the dies from WPlus9's Quilt Cuts 2 set.

Die (WPlus9) - Quilt Cuts 2, Stamps (Hero Arts) - Dolls, Everyday Sayings and It's Your Day, Paper (Studio Calico) - Snippets

Having dabbled in quilting in the past, I just LOVE this set and am looking forward to making lots more blocks in the future, using fabrics as well as paper. It will be a perfect way of using up some of my mountain of scraps.

Die (WPlus9) - Quilt Cuts 2, Stamp (Hero Arts) - Dolls & Paper (Studio Calico) - Snippets

Anyway I still had Studio Calico's Snippets paper out on my desk from making this card the other day so decided to use the same papers again.

Die (WPlus9) - Quilt Cuts 2, Stamp (Hero Arts)- Everyday Sayings & Paper (Studio Calico) - Snippets

After die cutting and putting together the quilt blocks I added little heart gems to the centres. Then using Nestabilities, I die cut scallop squares to use as a border around the blocks. The sentiments were stamped using Hero Arts Cup O' Joe shadow ink.

Die (WPlus9) - Quilt Cuts 2, Stamp (Hero Arts)- Everyday Sayings & Paper (Studio Calico) - Snippets

I'm submitting this card set into Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge.

Die (WPlus9) - Quilt Cuts 2, Stamp (Hero Arts) - It's Your Day & Paper (Studio Calico) - Snippets

The birthday girl should be here any minute so I'm off to get the cake ready!

Moxie Fab Thanks! Blog Hop

I'm delighted to be part of the Moxie Fab Thanks! Blog Hop, to celebrate and thank the moxie fab Cath Edvalson, former editor at Paper Crafts Magazine and brilliant blogger at Moxie Fab World!

You should have arrived here from sunny California from the blog of the very talented and sweet Nancy Krueger. If you didn't begin at the start of the hop, you can go to Moxie Fab World where the hop begins. A list of all of the stops on this blog hop will also be listed there.

Cath has been such a big part of the paper crafting world so needless to say I was very shocked and saddened when I read Cath's farewell post over at Moxie Fab World. So today I'd love to say thanks a million to Cath for everything and let her know I'll miss her so much.

In her farewell post Cath quoted Winnie the Pooh, and today I have to say to Cath, also in the words of that wise bear, I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen. And what adventures I've had since I came across Cath's wonderful, inspiring, eloquent, fun and intriguing posts in Moxie Fab World. Because of Cath, visits to Moxie Fab World have always been a must for me. I've also thoroughly enjoyed playing along with the Tuesday Trigger and the amazing variety of challenges Cath has come up with over the years. Cath has always been so generous with her kind words of encouragement to paper crafters. She has even managed to keep me, a non trendy person, interested in and abreast of all the latest trends. My online “visits” to CHA with Cath have been fantastic. Often because of her I’ve ended up with a very long shopping list indeed!



Stamps (Hero Arts) - Exotic Bloom & Dolls (sentiment)

Cath, this card was made for you and about you. The panel represents all the colour you have brought into my life, something for which I will always be thankful. I want to wish you all of the very best in your new adventure in life. I'm sure many, many exciting and fun experiences lie ahead! As the blog hop banner says, Cath, you'll always be moxie fab! Hugs and best wishes :)

Thanks so much for visiting today and now why don't you join me as I hop from here in Ireland over to Switzerland for the next stop in the hop. You will be visiting the lovely and talented Isha Gupta . Happy hopping and hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Welcome Baby

I wanted to try the letter tile technique that you can see here in Shari Carroll's brilliant video. So I decided to make a baby card and use some pretty pastel colours inspired by Cath's Pastel Pretties Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World this week.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - New Baby, Dolls, Adorable Baby Girl and Small Variety Alphabet

I just used a bit of baker's twine for the clothes line and added little letter tiles and tops which had been embossed. It was fun looking through my stamps for some little images to put on the tops.



The sentiment strip was cut to match the letter tiles and the sentiment was embossed on it. To finish I added the little heart pearls and dots with a white gel pen.

Tuesday Trigger - Pastel Pretties


Well as you'll see from the photo below, once I started making the baby tops I couldn't stop making them and enjoyed picking out Hero Arts images and punched pieces to go on them. Now I'm all prepared for any babies that may arrive!


I'm also submitting this card into the current Hero Arts Challenge.

Thanks a Million Hero Arts and a Ramble

Today is my last day as a Hero Arts Hostess and this is a card I made to say thanks a million for the fantastic and fun time I’ve had over the past three months!

Hero Arts is the most amazing and generous company and I'm so happy that I came across them shortly after I started stamping - I have been a huge fan ever since! So for me it was an honour and an absolute pleasure to be a Hostess.


Stamps (Hero Arts) – Clouds, What’s Cooking, Just a Note Bird and Dolls

I applied faded jeans distress ink to the Clouds stamp, spritzed well with water and stamped on watercolour paper. I added an extra branch to the branch image as I wanted to cover up a seam in my sky! The little flowers each represent my sister hosti and friends – Linda, Sharon, Anita and Sally. I white embossed the apron on some pp and pieced the hearts.

I must have had flowers and blue skies in my mind from yesterday. We spent the whole day in Glendalough and enjoyed sunny weather, the company of good friends, a lovely picnic and a ramble – a great way to spend the day.

Some of the views along the route we took - my photos never do justice to the amazing scenery.








A herd of wild goats.


Some of the pretty wildflowers we came across






The ferns starting to unfurl.


On the way to the monastic settlement.


St Kevin’s Church or St Kevin's Kitchen


Glendalough Round Tower which stands 30m high.


Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

A Big, Big Thank You:)

Below is a card I made for today’s Hero Arts Social Club. Linda, Anita, Sharon, Sally and I were delighted when Tami from Hero Arts asked us to be on the Social Club today and we decided on a theme of thanks. I have so much to be grateful for and have enjoyed every minute of being a Hostess with the talented and fun hostis - Linda, Anita, Sharon and Sally. I’m just sorry that our time as Hostesses has whizzed by so quickly.


Stamps (Hero Arts) - Many Petals, Classic Fabric Design, Blossom Art and Dolls.

Thanks to Hero Arts for their wonderful stamps, amazing generosity, inspiring blog and, of course, for the brilliant Hero Arts Flickr group. I am inspired on a daily basis by everyone in the group and never imagined when I joined how much fun I would have and the good friends I would make there. I can’t thank Tami and Libby from Hero Arts enough for all they have done for us over the last three months, they have been absolutely brilliant! If you aren’t already in the Hero Arts Flickr group, I’d encourage you to join right away!



To start with I applied broken china distress ink to the Fabric Background, spritzed well with water and stamped on watercolour paper. Then using white embossing powder I embossed the leaves and flower. I applied broken china and shabby shutters distress inks to the leaves. On the bottom layer of the flower I applied worn lipstick distress ink and spritzed lightly with water. Worn lipstick distress ink was also applied to the upper layer of the flower and I added a selection of beads to the centre. For the sentiment piece I applied worn lipstick distress to white card, spritzed with water and embossed the sentiment in white.

Floral Thank You

After not making anything but Christmas cards for a while it feels a bit strange but great to be making other types of cards again!

I was lucky to have won a prize in a random draw on the Die Cut Divas group and Maureen was very generous and sent me lots of gorgeous goodies including the beautiful Good Thoughts stamp set. Thanks again Maureen!


Stamps (Hero Arts) – Good Thoughts & Dolls.

In the photo the white card has a pink tinge on it which it doesn't have in real life - I hope it's because of the foggy weather we've having here today and not that my camera is about to die!

I stamped the image twice on watercolour paper and coloured the flowers and leaves with watercolour pencils. Then I machine stitched the stems on the leaves and layered some of the flowers. To add some shine I applied a layer of Glossy Accents to all the petals and green leaves. Since I had the sewing machine out I decided to add lines of stitching in green, purple and pink to the background.



Most of the time as I’m making a card I chop and change things as I go along and this one was no exception. After adding the stitching I decided to emboss the background with my Cuttlebug swiss dots folder. I just hoped for the best that the embossing wouldn’t distort the stitching too much but it doesn’t seem to have moved it much at all.

PaperPlay Challenge - Anything Goes

It’s time for another new challenge on PaperPlay. This week the challenge has been set by Julie and is titled "Anything Goes". So basically the choice is totally yours this week. You can make a card\project for any occasion, using any design, colours etc.

Waltzing Mouse Stamps is kindly sponsored the prize this week. Claire has so many wonderful products in her store and is offering the lucky winner a full set of stamps.

Sparkling Thank You, originally uploaded by heather maria.

Stamps used:- Hero Arts Large Flower & Dolls

It’s been a while (all of 30 days but who’s counting!) since I last used the Large Flower stamp. The flower, which has two layers, is embossed in white on vellum. Using an embossing pen, I embossed parts of the petals with stardust embossing powder. I machine stitched some meandering lines on the card and added beads and gems to finish.



I’m submitting the card to the Card Style Classy and Elegant Challenge in the Moxie Fab World.

I hope you will join us for our “Anything Goes” week on PaperPlay!

Crazy Quilt Card - PaperPlay Challenge

I wanted to make a card for the current PaperPlay Challenge (Something Old). As I’ve only been making cards for a little over 18 months I don’t have any very old things in my card making stash so I decided to use some old upholstery fabrics out of my fabric stash. Thanks to Lin, I’m on a bit of a quilt card kick at the moment! When I finished the quilt card in yesterday’s post, I just had to make another one!



Stamps (Hero Arts) Lace Background, Dolls

In keeping with the something old theme, I made a crazy quilt for the central panel and cut it out using a Labels 8 die. The bigger panel is also cut out in the same way from another piece of upholstery fabric. I clear embossed the Lace Background stamp (Hero Arts) on the card and embossed the sentiment in gold.



Crazy patchwork is a great way of using up odds and ends of fabric. Last year I made this little Christmas boot from scraps. On some of the fabrics I stamped various Hero Arts images in white, silver or pink ink. The colours aren't the usual Christmas colours as I entered it in a challenge in which unexpected Christmas colours had to be used.

Hello and Welcome!

Well I never thought I'd be saying this, but hello and welcome to my new blog!

I thought I'd start with a couple of cards I made for the June challenge (Summer Fun & 4th July) at Hero Arts

As soon as I saw the Flourish Grids stamp set by Hero Arts, I knew I'd have to get it and this is my first card using this set.



I applied broken china and faded jeans distress inks to the upper part of a panel of white card and spritzed with water. Then I sponged the base of the panel with shabby shutters distress ink. For the flowers I used two pink chalk inks to get a few different shades. The flowers have diamond stickles centres. Originally the background was white card which I sponged with worn lipstick distress ink and stamped randomly with the flourish background using water.

Stamps
(Hero Arts) Flourish Grids, Scattered Leaves, Flourish Background, Birthday Messages, Dolls .


For the second card I used a stamp which is my absolute favourite - Large Flower by Hero Arts. I just saw that the Crafty Angels challenge this week is using your favourite stamp so I'm entering this card.



The flower is embossed in white, covered with distress inks (shabby shutters and broken china) and has four layers. The scallops and sentiment were also embossed in white and covered with worn lipstick distress ink. For the card itself I lightly applied shabby shutters and broken china distress inks to white card and splattered water on it. I just added some machine stitching and beads to finish.



Stamps (Hero Arts) Large Flower, Scallop Borders, Birthday Messages.