2019 FAVORITES

In 2014 when I began my blog adventure, my first post was my favorite cards from 2013.  So today I am writing my 638th post with my 2019 faves.  Link on the captions to go to the original posts. 

MONDO WILDFLOWERS

SPRING FLORALS

PINK TEXTURE

BLUE AND BLACK

PINK AND GOLD

SENDING HUGS

FALLING LEAVES

ERUM INSPIRATION

OMBRE LEAVES

DAISY

Since The Card Concept Challenge is a favorite card from this past year, I am entering my "spring florals" card (clean and layered).

Many thanks to my blog friends for your kind comments, looking forward to 2020 and may it bring all good blessings to everyone.

 

A SPARKLING SNOWFLAKE

Our challenge at A Blog Named Hero this month is "sparkle" and I've created a very sparkling snowflake shaker card for your inspiration.

I die cut the snowflake (retired HA) from silver glitter paper and used it for the background of my shaker which is filled with icicle sequins.  The sentiment is a very old HA one which is one of my all time favorites.

Make a sparkling card for our challenge this month and be eligible to win one of two gift certificates from Hero Arts.  

Thanks for stopping by and will be looking forward to seeing your cards.

 

POINSETTIA CHRISTMAS BLESSINGS

Several months ago Dave Brethauer did a video showing how to watercolor a die cut made from paper napkins.  I found that quite fascinating and decided have a go with this technique using my new Hero Arts paper layering poinsettia.

Following Dave's guidelines I die cut the poinsettia and leaves and did some watercoloring.  I did have a bit of a problem with the napkin layers separating after they were wet but a little glue solved that.  Put my flower together and added it onto a snowflake dry embossed background with the little sentiment.  

I am entering my card in the Color Throwdown challenge although my colors are not quite as vibrant as theirs.  Am also entering this in Virginia's Show and Share for December.

A new challenge begins tomorrow at A Blog Named Hero - check it out and join in the fun to be eligible for a gift certificate from Hero Arts.

Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas and much happiness and joy this holiday season.

Holiday hugs,

A CHRISTMAS CARD WITH MICHELLE

It's time for another Christmas card challenge with Michelle!  I'm so pleased to be joining her again this year and challenged her to make a card using gold metallic.

For my card I used my new HA ornament die.  I die cut it from gold metallic paper and then three more times from the same navy cs I used for the card base.  Adhered these all together for a nice sturdy ornament.  After edging a 5x3.75 piece of navy cs with gold embossing powder and a little sprinkle of ep here and there, I put it all together.  The ornament is only adhered right at the top - was thinking that if the recipient wanted to use it as an ornament on the tree, it could be easily taken off and then use the gold thread streamers to tie to the tree.

You can see Michelle's wonderful card here. Thanks Michelle for having me join you in this fun challenge.

Thanks for stopping by - love to read your kind comments - hope you have a fantastic day.

PEACE AND JOY

Muted tones is our them for this month's challenge at A Blog Named Hero.  I chose some soft green with pale pink to make a Christmas card in non-traditional colors.

The wreath was die cut and then inlaid into the gray/green background with another layer of wreath added.  A few crystal drops, a silk bow and the sentiment completed my card.  Both the wreath and the sentiment are no longer available from Hero Arts but these are similar here and here.

There is still time to enter your "muted tones" card at A Blog Named Hero and have a chance at two gift card prizes from Hero Arts. 

Thanks for visiting today and wishing you all a joyous and peaceful Christmas.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Thanksgiving will be here in a few weeks and I know I have so many things to be thankful for - am sure you do too.  

I used a wreath die from a My Monthly Hero kit (no longer available but this wreath die and stamps are practically the same), die cut it from four colors and layered them together. I simply watercolored a piece of watercolor cs with browns and grays and then cut out the little leaves from it.  Added the sentiment, a little twine bow, some gold Nuvo drops and done!

A new challenge  begins tomorrow so be sure to hop over to A Blog Named Hero to check it out.

The colors on my card fit the Fusion challenge for this week.

I am also entering this in Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge where the theme is thanksgiving.

Many thanks for visiting my blog - I am so thankful for my blog friends.

PEONY BLOOMS

Our A Blog Named Hero challenge for this month is "nature" and flowers certainly fit that bill.  I've had these peony blooms stamps for awhile - don't know why I've not broken them out yet so here goes!

I stamped the large bloom in black on opposite corners of a 4x5.25" piece of watercolor paper and used my Zigs to color them.   White embossed the sentiment from the same stamp set onto black cs and stacked it with 4 layers to give a little texture.  Placed this on medium gray card base, added some black Nuvo dots to the centers of the flowers along with some black sequins and done.

You have until 10 November to enter our "nature" challenge and a chance to win one of two Hero Arts gift certificates.  Would love to see your cards in the gallery.

Thanks for stopping by and always enjoy reading your kind comments.

RETRO RUBBER CHALLENGE #122

Several months ago I was asked to be a guest designer for this Retro Rubber Challenge and I had so much fun creating a card with the challenge sketch.

Love making Halloween cards and this sketch was perfect for a Halloween bridge card.  My pumpkin is a die from Hero Arts 2018 and the bat stamps, die cuts and the sentiment are so old - think they might be from Inkadinkado.  Had a difficult time photographing my card - so many shadows but you can get the idea I hope.

Find some stamps older than a year and give them some love with a card for the challenge.  Thanks for stopping by today and love to read your kind comments.

HAUNTED HOUSE

Halloween is soon here, so made a haunted house bridge card using a fence to make the bridge.  

Used a cloud stencil to sponge purple ink over navy cs to make the background for the whole card.  Then sponged black ink on the bottom portion for ground.  Die cut the house, fence, bats and moon and assembled.  

Another new challenge will be up on A Blog Named Hero's blog tomorrow, so be sure to check it out.  

Happy Halloween.

BATS AND A SUNFLOWER

Have two challenge cards today and just getting in under the wire with both of them - sometimes just photographing, editing and then doing a post just causes me to miss deadlines.  

My sunflower card for Just Us Girls was stenciled using my blending brushes - masked the stencil so the colors would stay separate.  The red mat and the kraft card base reflect the red barn in the JUG photo.

I love making Halloween cards to send out and had fun making this one for The Paper Players tic-tac-toe challenge this week.  I used patterned paper from Graphics45 for my background and just made my little scene - blended black ink on the bottom and then some in the sky part to make it a little more spooky. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week!

INSPIRED BY...

Our theme for this month at A Blog Named Hero is "Inspired by...".  I have loved Yana Smakula's card designs forever and since she is a designer for Hero Arts, I had no problem finding one of her cards for inspiration.  A big thank you to Yana for allowing me to post the photo of her cards.

Yana's Cards

Yana did these cards with an overall design stamp, but since I didn't have a Hero Arts stamp that would cover the whole card front I used my new Hero Arts/Gina K. Friendship Blooms.  Both were stamped and embossed in gold and a few of the flowers were shaded with a gold pen.  Whereas Yana had masked off her stamping to give a 1/4" border for the card front, I trimmed my stamped pieces to 3.75x5 and popped them up with some thin fun foam.  The sentiment on the white card is from the HA Hello set and the one on the black card is from Everyday Sayings.

Find a card designer who inspires you and enter our challenge for this month and you will be in the running for a gift certificate from Hero Arts.

Thanks for visiting today and your kind comments always make me happy!