Hello Friends!

It's been over a month since I've posted or really sat down to create anything. I sure have missed it. I figured I would share a couple of cards I did this weekend. I logged in over at the Hero Arts Flicker site Saturday afternoon and found a scramble starting. So I thought well why not, so here is the card I created.

I had a few of these die cut labels sitting on my desk so I grabbed one and went with it. The challenge was a tic tac toe theme. We were given a tic tac toe board where we could choose a row. I choose the row that required you use a die cut, green and patterned paper. It was so much fun and I won the random drawing for a digi kit from HA. Again feeling so blessed!!!!

Then I was inspired by another card I saw from the challenge created by Nancy here's a link http://www.flickr.com/photos/happyheartstudio/6845015800/ ... I decided to get my inks out and do a little distressing. I sure do LOVE my distress inks.

I hope you are all well. I sure have missed hangin' out and crafting, visiting all the wonderful card blogs out there. Sometimes you just have to go through a season and for me that time is now. If your the praying kind please pray for my family. This past year has really been a difficult one. Don't get me wrong I have seen blessings along the way, however the struggles continue to test us. May your week be blessed and Thanks for stopping by!!

Hugs!

A few new cards

Here are a few cards I did this past week. I have to say January was very good to me. First I started my new job, then I won Barb's blog giveaway and I also won another drawing on the Hero Art's Flicker site. How cool is that !!!!!! The first card was done with one of the new Hero Art's stamps that Barb sent to me!

I love this new BG stamp. It's called "Flower Dot Pattern". I can't wait to use the other fun things that Barb sent.

This card was done with the background stamp I won over on the Flicker site. I just love all that fun text.

For this card I used 2 of the new Hero Art's stamps I ordered. I was so inspired after the clean and simple card class that I just had to have that chevron background, and I love the new word shadow circles stamps.

I'm loving my new job!!!! And today our Pastor had the staff and their spouse's over for a Superbowl Party. We had a great time, even if my husband's team didn't make it to the big game.

Have a blessed week, and Thanks for stopping by!!!

Hugs!

Karen

Clean and Simple

I can't believe Monday is the last day of the Clean and Simple Cards Class... :-(  I really have enjoyed each and everyone of the On line card classes even when I don't get a chance to try each technique. The good news is when you sign up for class you get  lifetime access!!!! So I will eventually get to try everything. Here is a card I did from day 8. I needed a couple of Thank You cards for my new Co-Workers. The lady I'm sharing an office with started my first day off with flowers, candy and a card!!! Another lady that I will be working closely with took me to lunch on my second day! Talk about a warm welcome. Yes I do believe, God is good, and I'm feeling so grateful!!

I used the Hero Art's Friend Definition stamp for the background and another set for the Flower and Thank You.

Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
Karen

Scramble Cards

These are the cards I did for the Hero Art's Flicker Group Scramble...

It was so much fun and it was my first time hosting. 

The challenge was to use patterned paper with your stamping, and we had a great turn out.




The ladies did an amazing job. If you would like to see the fun cards they created you can search the Hero Arts Flicker group with the work "quickcard30"...no spaces.

Thanks for stoppin by!
Hugs,
Karen

Hero Arts Challenge

Hero Arts has a new challenge for January....

So I've been playing around a bit with the color challenge. Here are 2 cards I made using the color family.

This is not a color scheme I would typically use and it did prove to be a bit of a challenge but fun!

On this one I added the sentiment at the end and then was sorry I did.

 Oh well I should have known better, LOL.

Remember tomorrow, Saturday Jan 7th I'm hosting the scramble on the Hero Art's Flicker group at 11am.

I hope you will come and play.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!!!

First Hero Art's scramble of the New Year...

I want to let you know that I am hosting the first Hero Art's Flicker group online Scramble. If your not familiar with a scramble it's a 90 minute challenge. Here is how it works.

• Log in to the Hero Art's Flicker group Saturday morning (the challenge begins at 11am Pacific time)
• Look in the discussion thread where I will post the scramble challenge
• Create a card using the challenge guidelines
• Use at least one Hero Art's stamp
• Post a picture of your card within 90 minutes
• Tag your card with "quickcard30" for a chance to win prizes!!

Please think about joining in on the fun. If you've never joined in on a scramble here's your chance!! and here is a link to the Flicker site http://www.flickr.com/groups/heroarts/

Here is a fun little card I did on New Year's day. I just love this tree, it's an old stamp by Wendy Vecchi.

Here's a close up...I was trying to capture the shimmer of the glitter embossing powder I used.

I hope your New Year is off to a great start and I hope to see you on Saturday over in the Hero Art's Flicker group.

Hugs!!!!

Hero Art's November Challenge

I have to say I'm really missing my blog and the time to create. Working full time again in an office setting is more challenging than I remember. Sitting in front of a computer all day just exhausts me.

I did find a little creative time on Sunday so I thought I'd share with you what I came up with. This month's challenge over on the Hero Art's flicker group is ...



So here is my Gift Card holder made from a CD holder. Love it when I can recycle something.

Here is the front of the CD case. I opened it so you could see the spine. I love how that little sentiment fit just perfectly in that little space. I used a glue pad to stamp the starry background and added some fine white glitter. For the snow on the mound I used Polar White Flower soft. The reindeer was colored with Copics.

                                  

For the inside I created a little pocket for the gift card. 

And to finish it off I extended the scene over to the back.

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. We are looking forward to having all 3 of our kids together and spending time with good friends, family and good food, yum!!

Hugs!

Found an hour today...

and made a tag for this month's Hero Art's Challenge.

The past month has been such a whirl wind. First I participated in an amazing R.A.K. with my Hero Art's friends, then we went on an amazing vacation and upon returning I was finally getting call back's for interviews and started a new job...wheew! I was afraid I had left my creative mojo in the Philippines! Here are a few more photos from the trip and one of the pieces I tried to create using this photo as the inspiration. I was a bit frustrated with it and decided to put it aside...maybe I will give it a go another time.

The pink coral blooms yellow flowers, if you get to close the flowers disappear. I only saw a few with the flowers blooming and I just loved it. And here was my feeble attempt...so not what I hoped for.

These next 4 photos are different types of anenomes.

The colors and design are just magnificent.

 

I think this one above looks like a crazy hat, LOL!

I'm not sure I have ever dove anywhere that had such intense colors.

As for the new job, I am working as a customer service/dispatch representative for a National Glass and Door company. The company services, repairs and replaces glass, locks, doors, windows ect for commercial clients all across the U.S., Canada and Pureto Rico. The types of accounts are businesses like Banks, Restaurants and Retail chains.

Thanks again for stopping by, I truly do appreciate your visits and sweet comments.

Hugs!!!!

Hero Atrs October 2011 Challenge

Hero Art's has a new challenge for October, which includes 3 sketch's.

Here is my take on one of the sketches.

For this card I started off by punching circles 1 3/4 inches, nine times. Using repositionable adhesive I laid the cirlces onto a 6x6 card and used distress inks to create the blue background. (Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire). Using the cling snowflake stamp I stamped using a Pearl Paint dauber. After I lifted all the circles off I stamped snowflakes into the white spaces...

Next I took the circles that I had removed and added them to another 6x6 card adding brown snowflakes ontop of the ink and pearl paint. It was so fun getting 2 cards out of this technique.  

Thanks so much for stopping by. I will not be posting for the next couple of weeks but hopefully when I get back I will be able to give these other 2 sketches a try. Have a great couple of weeks and check out the Hero Art's blog to join in on the fun.

A Window Card

for the Hero Art's September Challenge. I didn't think I was going to have time to create a window card for the technique challenge but I found a little time last night to get started. I had been thinking about what I wanted to do for a Fall Window card so I just dove in. Do you ever have the perfect idea in your head and then what you end up with is really quite different? That is what usually happens to me.

So here's my card... 

This first picture I took with the card laying flat. I started by die cutting the window into the card and covering it with Fired Brick Red and Aged Mahogany Distress inks, using the ink blending tool. Next I took the Hero Art's flourish background stamp and misted it heavily with "Sunflower" Perfect Pearl water mixed. It's hard to see in  the card but it gives a touch of gold shimmer. I was really pleased with how it worked out.

Next I used Staz On "Saddle Brown" ink with the Hero Art's Real Leaves stamps to stamp 2 leaves directly onto the acetate. The darker brown leaves were stamped onto the inside. I was going for a very layered look, kinda of 3 dimensional. For the leaf on the front of the card I stamped using Wild Honey and Aged Mahogany Distress Stains. I also added leaves from Petaloo behind the stamped leaf on the front. I also think this picture is a more accurate photo of the color. The picture above has the flash.

Here is a picture of the inside.

I thought the inside was very plain with just the 2 leaves stamped in brown so I decided to add a little Dried Marigold around the edges. I was careful not to go to far in so that it didn't show through the window. I think I've only made one other window card before so I was glad I did this. I love that Hero Art's has a technique each month. Sometimes it really helps to stretch me.

Hope you are having a great week!!

Hugs!

Another Card for...

the Lily Pad Cards Sketch challenge. I'm really having fun with this sketch. For this card I turned the sketch upside down. It will also work for the Hero Art's "Everything Autumn" challenge.

The pumpkin is from Quickutz and I stamped it with the Hero Arts Flourish S5034. The sentiment is also from Hero Art's CL 361. The stamped border is from Lawn Fawn, Blissful Botanicals. I used distress Inks to color in the leaves.

Thanks for stopping by!! Hope your having a great week!

TTFN!

Karen

More Distress Stains...

Oh how I'm lovin' these Distress Stains. My In-Law's came for a visit over the long, Labor Day Weekend and brought me a care package from SBP (Scrapbook Paradise). Yesterday I finally got to play!!!!  Here is what I came up with...

First of all I needed to get organized. I keep my stains in a drawer and thought it would be nice to be able to look in and see the colors from the top.  I created circles on my silhouette (.75") colored them and using a bit of glossy accents glued them to the top of the lid. Love It!

Next I created  swatch tags. I did this years ago for all of my ink pad colors and I love having it for my stains as well. It makes matching with other papers and embellishments a cinch. Tags also cut on my silhouette 2x3.

And here is the card I created using my new distress stains. This month on the Hero Arts Group the challenge theme is "All things Autumn"  The Colors I used are; Bundled Sage, Crushed Olive, Aged Mahogany,  Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain. Hero Arts Stamps; Lg Lotus Pattern CG350, Designer Woodgrain S5208, Real Leaves CL457.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!

Cards for Kids?

Little kids or your own kid....even if they aren't so little anymore, lol!!

My daughter started at CSUN yesterday...I'm so excited for her. She has been wanting to go to this University for so long and her dreams are finally coming true. (She is a Deaf Studies Major) We are so proud of her! It's been a long battle, from the University not accepting any new enrollment, to finding funding, ect.. Patience and Perseverance won and she's started yesterday as a Junior with an AA from the Jr. College where she started.

So here is a little card I made for her to send her off, (it's been kind of fun having her back at home, but don't tell anyone, lol)

I was totally inspired by the card Jennifer McGuire did on Monday for the Hero Art's Blog.

And here is my girl...I made her take a picture for her first day, just like I used to when they were little.

Thanks for stopping by

TTFN!



2nd Post of the Day

Well I'm back with another post. Another card from my inky weekend. This also falls into the embossing category for CAS-ual Friday's. And since I couldn't decide which one to enter into their challenge I decided to enter both!



For this card I started off again with a white piece of cardstock that I stamped and heat embossed with Hero Art's CG330. Next I applied a generous amount of Spun Sugar distress Stain onto my craft sheet, added some "Pearl" Perfect Pearls and laid the embossed cardstock into it. Once it was dry I used my Spellbinders Label die to cut the shape. Added a bit of ribbon and a button. I love how much coverage you can get with the stains!!

Thanks for stoppin by!

TTFN!

CAS-ual Fridays

Well my inky weekend is paying off. I checked out the CAS-ual Fridays blog yesterday and saw that the challenge this week is Embossing. So I too a couple of pieces I inked over the weekend and here is one of the cards I came up with..

If you saw yesterday's post you will notice the die cut flower is from one of the pieces I did over the weekend. For this one I applied Antique Linen distress STAIN on my craft sheet, added some Sunflower Perfect Pearl to it. I had already white embossed the image on the background (Hero Arts Dot Flower Background CG330) so I just laid it into the stain mixture. I wish you could see the extra gold sparkle in it. Next I just did a dry emboss on my Vagabond and wah-lah! The pearls are Kaiser Craft Latte.

Thanks for looking and have fun playing with your inks!!! And Dana, I would love to see what you create!

TTFN!

Hello Friends!

I've been playing around a bit this weekend with my Distress Stains. I watched a video on the Tim Holtz blog this past week, so I thought I would jump in and try some of the techniques he shared. Here are some of the pieces I created and I'm working on turning them into cards.

I just started out with some white paper, mostly Bazzill. I just cut 81/2 x 11 pieces into 4's (4.25x5.5) and started trying the different techniques. I really would like to find some other cardstock to try as well. In the video he uses his tags and there are a few things that didn't work out as well on the Bazzill. Anyway you can see one of the cards I came up with  below.

For this I just heat embossed the Lg Lotus pattern in White and then swiped the distress stains across. The colors I used here are Antique Linen, Wild Honey, Faded Jeans and Vintage Photo. This was so easy!! I have a few more colors on order and can't wait to get them. Especially the Picket Fence. He shows some really cool stuff with that. I finished another card tonight with another piece in the photo so I will get it photographed and uploaded tomorrow. Sometimes it's just fun to play and get inky! It's one of my favorite things to do!!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs!!!!

This weeks PDC Challenge #94

I've been having some fun with my new Hero Art's stamps and decided to try my hand at this weeks color challenge at The Play Date Cafe.

I love the warm rich tones of these colors. I kept it pretty simple but really liked how it turned out. I used my new HA background stamp Flower Dot Pattern CG330. I stamped with Rich Cocoa Memento Ink on the yellow cardstock, backed  it with the teal and also stamped that in Rich Cocoa. I added the flowers and a little twine for a more country feel. The pearl was colored with Copic BG49.

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

TTFN