Friends Always

This weekend is Mother's Day and I want to wish all of you a wonderful day!  My mom passed away in 1989 and this card is a tribute to some special friends who have been like a mother to me, (even though I'm older, LOL!)

 I decided I wanted to enter my card into two of my favorite challenges - Runway Inspired and CAS-usal Fridays.

For the Runway Inspired Challenge #35, their inspiration photo is of a gorgeous outfit from Miu Miu.  My eyes immediately went to the horizontal stripes of the dress with a pink polka dot collar and black zipper detail offset to the side.  I also felt that the model wearing a yellow dress in the background was a detail I wanted to incorporate.  To give some movement to my card, I wanted to draw your eye down to the bottom of my card with a few black pearls, emulating the dots on the handbag.  I was also struck by the simplicity of the wooden runway, so I used a wood grained embossing folder as the card base.

For the CAS-usal Fridays Challenge CFC100, their theme is one of their Top 10 challenges, Tic Tac Toe, (celebrating their 100th challenge and 2nd birthday.) I chose the top left, polka dots going diagonally down to black&white.  With Black Diamond Stickles, I think I brought the bling, baby!

I had fun fusing these two challenges together!  And to make it even more fun, I am including this card in a batch I am sending to my dear friend, Barb Engler, for a United Way campaign she will be participating in at work.  All the profits from the sale of the cards will be going to United Way!  

 

Thanks for stopping by and as always, I love to read your comments!

Supplies:

Paper - HA snow layering, PPI black cardstock, Bazzill

Stamps - HA Pinstripe BG and Untitled Postmark

Ink - Versafine Black Onyx

Other - Lil Inker Bow die, Spellbinders classic circle, Hero Arts black pearls, Black Diamond Stickles, Sizzix wood grained embossing folder, black velvet ribbon from my stash

Here Comes The Sun!

Good afternoon!  Today, I am hosting the Hero Arts Flickr Group 90 Minute Scramble challenge.  The theme is "Here Comes the Sun."  This for all of you who could use a good dose of sunshine!

In our crazy world, we are experiencing a weather phenomenon that is bringing record-breaking snow to the South and 80 plus degrees to the North.  It’s like the Earth has flipped, LOL!

So I’m asking you to create a project that uses one or more of these elements:
The word SUNSHINE

An image (die, cut file, or stamp) of the SUN

An ALL YELLOW monochromatic project that conveys the feeling of a SUNNY day

Here are my cards I made for the challenge.

 My first project is a tag from one of the new Hero Arts stamp sets, Tag Collage.  I stamped it in Pale Tomato mid-tone shadow ink and then dry embossed it with a bird and vine folder.  The flower is one of my very favorites, Hero Arts Stencil Flower.  I used the emboss resist technique with clear powder and Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold, and Worn Lipstick distress inks. The bird is a wood cutout that was originally intended to be a score/bone folder - yeah right?  REALLY!  I covered it in a scrap of MME Miss Caroline paper and added a pretty pool pearl for the eye.  I think she's sweet!  My SUNNY element, as if the flower and bird aren't enough, is the Hero Arts sentiment stamp from Homey Patterns.  I've used this stamp often.  I thought Soft Pool shadow ink would match that paper and pearl perfectly.

To finish off my tag, I added a bow made out of seam tape I dyed with Squeezed Lemon distress ink and a pretty new-to-me die from My Favorite Things, Leaf-Filled Flourish I also distressed with the lemon ink. 

My next project is a CAS card.  I KNOW - I don't make these EVAH!  But hey, it's a challenge and this is the only sketch that came to mind.  It's from the Clean and Simple On-Line Card class. 

I simply dry embossed a white card with a SU lattice folder.  Next, I stamped the Hero Arts Radiant Banner in Butter mid-tone shadow ink on white cardstock, then die cut a circle from Spellbinders on the bottom part of the stamped image.  I turned the image on its side and attached it with foam squares to the card base.  I added some puffy, white clouds using my new Lil Inker die cut set and then used a Copic to shadow it in blue.

I finished off this quick card with a scrap from the same MME Miss Caroline paper pad, but this time I used another Hero Arts stamp from Heydey Sentiments set with Memento ink in Tangelo.  I used My Favorite Things Fishtail Flags die for the sentiment.  That's it!  Easy Peasy!

I hope you can join in on the fun!  Thanks SO much for visiting my blog and as always, I love to read your comments.

Smile

This week, I'm playing along for the first time at Muse Challenge Blog.  Their challenge #9 is created by the extremely talented designer, Marion Vagg, in a gorgeous play on color, stripes, and design.  I would LOVE it if you could stop by their BLOG and vote for my card!  Voting starts at 12 noon EST on Saturday 3/23 and ends 12 noon EST on Sunday 3/24.  I'd really appreciate it!

 These aren't colors that I use often, so I had to dig through my inks and then remembered my Hero Arts shadow inks.  LOVE them!  For the stripe element, I used the new Papertrey Ink set Watercolor Wonder, a very abstract set of "smears" that look handmade.  SO cool.

I experimented with a variety of stamps for the design and remembered my cherished  Hero Arts stamp Fabulous Flourish.  I embossed it in white, keeping the card in landscape, so I could fit the entire stamp on top of the stripes. 

For the sentiment, I chose Hero Arts Made With Love stamp and masked off SMILE, from You Make Me Smile - one of my faves!  I embossed it too, in white.  To finish it off, I added some pearls for a little bling!

I'm also entering this in the Hero Arts Blog monthly challenge.

As always, I enjoy reading your comments.  Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:

Paper - Hero Arts Layering Papers - Snow, Pool Mixed

Stamps - Hero Arts Fabulous Flourish, Papertrey Ink Watercolor Wonder

Ink - Hero Arts Soft Pool, Pool Mid-Tone, Cornflower Mid-Tone, Memento Blue Danube, VersaMark

Other - Hero Arts White Embossing Powder, Pool Mixed Accents

Lawn Fawn Birthday Mini Hop

Stamp Fever is a charming little store in Orange, California. We carry all things related to the crafting hobbies of stamping, card-making and paper crafting.  We stock a variety of stamps, papers, inks and supplies. We can also provide special orders for items you find online. We offer weekly stamping classes along with demos and make ‘n takes throughout the month.

Stamp Fever participates in the Southern California Shop Hop! Our design team goes all out to deck our store in theme related finery and we always have a charming Photo Op to add to the memories of your Shop Hop experience.

Stamp Fever is hosting a Lawn Fawn 3rd Birthday celebration! The party is on Saturday March 16 from 1-4. If you are in the area, please stop in for a visit and to share some birthday cake with Kelly and Mike, owners of Lawn Fawn. Kelly will share a special Make ‘n Take featuring one of Lawn Fawn’s newest sets “Summertime Charm”. 

There will be prize drawings at the party but we don’t want to exclude our blog readers. We will randomly choose one winner from those who comment at The Stamp Fever blog and one more random winner from comments on the Hop Participant blogs. To increase your chances of winning: Follow the Stamp Fever blog in a reader or by email subscription; sign up for our Newsletter; follow Stamp Fever on Facebook and leave us a comment there. Each winner will receive a Lawn Fawn Stamp set and coordinating Lawn Cuts Die set.

Comment to enter prize drawing until 10:00 pm PDT on Friday March 15. The random drawing will take place at the party. The two winners will be announced Sunday, March 17 on the Stamp Fever Blog.

Please feel free to HOP on over to the blogs of all the participating ladies listed below!  They have made some gorgeous cards!   I also want to add a special THANK YOU to Nancy Kreuger for the invitation to be part of this exciting celebration and setting up this hop!

  
Nicole- Unify Handmade 
Chari- MossyMade 
Britta- Britta Swiderski Creative 
Vera- Ling's Design Studio 
Lynnette- Netter's Notables 
Barb- ...Enjoying Life 
Lin- Sending Hugs 
Marcy- En Papillote Arts 
Kathy- Wading in Creativity 
Katie- Katie's Quarks 
Virginia- Yes, Virginia 
Melissa- Love My Scraps 
Deborah- Society of Stampaholics 
Nancy- Happy Heart Studio
Lawn Fawn Blog 
Stamp Fever Blog 
Annette- My Clever Creations
  
Here is my card for the blog hop.  It's Critters on the Savanna and in my opinion, the cutest set ever!  Thanks for stopping by!

Crafting with Barb

When I saw this photo on Pinterest, I swooned! I used to decorate cakes and I know how much work this must have taken.  But as a card maker, I saw inspiration in color and design!  That's when I sent it over to my dear friend, Barb Engler, a most talented card maker in her own right! And I knew she was on vacation this week, so we hatched a plan to create together!

We decided to spend the afternoon on speaker phone (will learn to Skype VERY soon!) and craft together, using this beautiful photo as our inspiration.  We live half way across the country from each other, but it was like being in the same room.  We both bounced ideas off each other - even though our styles are so different.  I usually go more literal with an interpretation and she is more visual.  This time, for some reason, it was in reverse.

We are hoping to do this again very soon, because it is such a great way to get those creative juices flowing!

Pinterest

Here is my interpretation, but you should see Barb's!  Head on over to her blog, Enjoying Life, to see her AMAZING card!

 

I had a new Hero Arts stamp, Flowers and Stripes K5765, that was begging to be used.  I inked it up with the inspiration colors using distress stains Broken China, Shaded Lilac, and Squeezed Lemonade.  I then sprayed it with water.  I wanted a watercolor effect.  When dried, I stamped the Spring Memories stamp over it using Hero Arts mid-tone shadow ink Cornflower.

Finding colored paper that matched the photo was not as easy as I thought, but I found a piece of Core'dinations in the celery green for the image card blank. But I had to ink up a piece of Hero Arts snow layering paper in Tumbled Glass (thanks for the idea, Barb!) for the background piece.  It seemed to fit the bill!  I found the perfect embossing folder to emulate the circles in the photo and mounted my image on top of it with pop dots.

Next I created the flower using another piece of Core'dinations and a My Favorite Things flower die called Prima Dona Petals.  I set it off to the side and in the center of the image as in the inspiration photo.  I finished it all off by mounting it on white cardstock.  All in all, I'm pleased with how it turned out.  Most importantly, I loved spending the day with Barb getting inky!

What we would like to do is invite everyone to join in the fun using our photo inspiration to create a card and then post it to the Flickr Hero Arts Group forum.  Barb has posted a thread where you can add your photos too, as well as posting in the Flickr photostream.  That way we can see all the creations in one post.  No need to tag your photo with anything other than your stamps.  We do ask that you use a Hero Arts stamp for your main image, and not just a sentiment or embellishment. And for extra fun, we are both having a little giveaway.  Create a card by March 15th, 11:00 PM CST, 11:59 PM EST and we will each draw a name randomly! 

We are REALLY looking forward to seeing what you create!  Have fun and Happy Spring!

As always, I enjoy reading your comments!  Thanks!

Longing for Spring

Hi everyone!  A post has been LONG overdue, but I'm back in the saddle and with a new card and a cool challenge!

Just in time before I completely lose my mind from lack of sun up here in New England, Hero Arts has a new challenge for us!  It's full of fun and color and some great techniques.

I decided to use the color palette Hero Arts chose because it sang Spring to me and I am honestly burnt out on Christmas and Valentine's Day colors.  I also had a new Spellbinders die I wanted to try out and it was perfect for the design I had in mind. 

I used the Hero Arts stamp Scallop Flower because of its whimsical and organic nature, to go along with the Botanical Swirls die.  I couldn't resist dotting the flower centers with Ranger white Enamel Accents and then I fussy cut them out. I used Hero Arts Shadow Inks in Butter Bar, Soft Sky, and Soft Granite for the Made with Love sentiment.

I had some gorgeous sheer ribbon that was a gift from my friend Cheiron - it's perfect with all these soft colors and I used some gray and white twine to "tie" it all together!  I thought it needed a little feminine touch, so I used the Martha Stewart doily lace edge punch on the side.

I hope you get a chance to enter this fun challenge!  Happy Spring!

I'd love to hear your comments, as always!

Hugs,

Marcy

Card Class Clean and Simple 2 - Day One

Well, I did it! I completed my first official card from the Clean and Simple 2 Card Class.  Day one was focused on craftsmanship - chock full of tips, techniques, and cardmaking awesomeness.  I do appreciate how clean and crisp the cards turn out.  I may even fully embrace this CAS style! 

I only did one card for now, because I'm a day behind and I want to catch up.  The sketch I used really appealed to me.  It was from Kristina Werner. (I was drawn to her video with her pretty purple nail polish!)

In my typical style, I went down a different color "road."  Hey, I'm a CAS newbie - I have to move into this genre SLOWWWWLY.  So I went with cocoa instead of white. :)

Here's a lookie!

Paper - Bazzill

Stamps - Hero Arts Glow Girl CL650

Ink - Stazon Timber Brown

Other - Hero Arts Stamp and Cut Arrow D1072, Studio Calico Huey's Chevron Mask, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Sunshine, Sakura Gelly Roll Pens Clear and Copper, Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Circle Small

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!  I'd love to hear your comments.

Hugs,

Marcy

A Really Quick and Easy Breakfast

Good morning readers!  It's a cold, snowy day here in New England and I had some recipes I wanted to try.  One of them is this recipe for Crockpot Oatmeal with Apples.

I found this on Pinterest, which is always "iffy" in my eyes.  Since it's a simple recipe with ingredients that are relatively inexpensive, I figured it wouldn't be a total loss if it failed.  Well, it WORKED!  My husband said it was the best oatmeal he ever ate and that it tasted like apple pie!  I have to agree.

It literally takes no more than five minutes to throw together.  Do it at night and you have a warm, stick-to-your-ribs breakfast in the morning.  It keeps for a week in the fridge.  Please give it a try!

photo courtesy of  Pinterest

                      Crock Pot Oatmeal with Apples

Serving Size  : 4-6, depending on your preference    

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  2             apples -- peeled and sliced
 1/3           cup  brown sugar
  1             teaspoon  cinnamon
  2             cups  oatmeal
  4             cups  water

In order, put sliced apples, brown sugar, and cinnamon in the bottom of the crock pot. Pour oatmeal then water on top. Do NOT stir. Cover and cook (overnight) for 8 – 9 hours on low.  Serve with milk.

                                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving: 243 Calories; 3g Fat (10.1% calories from fat); 7g Protein; 50g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 14mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Fruit; 1/2 Fat; 1 Other Carbohydrates.


ENJOY!!