Tag, You're It!

We made these cute little tags at our November Hero Arts Club at Stamp Antonio!  Come join us in December.  Hero Arts Club meets Thursday, Dec. 16, 1-3 p.m; Friday, Dec. 17, 6-8 p.m.  For those unable to come to the full event, Saturday Dec. 18 we will host make and takes featuring the new 201l Hero Arts stamps.  Come and have fun!

Autumn Wreath

I have been admiring all the wreaths created by the talented Hero Arts Artists using this wreath stamp--Lisa Spangler did a luscious pink and white confection, the I saw Shari Carroll did a very fun Halloween wreath.  I really wanted to make that Halloween wreath, bought all the supplies, but that never happened.  So I decided to make an autumn wreath using this leaf ribbon and some striped autumn colored ribbon.  The leaves (from a Hero Arts set) are colored with pencil and the acorn has a glitter "helmet".  This is of course the year of the acorn here in San Antonio.  While we have many oak trees in my yard and neighborhood, never have we seen so many acorns, of all shapes and sizes.  The squirrels are regularly scheduling parties on my roof to celebrate their abundance!  So of course, an acorn on my wreath is de rigeur, even though I do not have a current acorn stamp!  This one is from Stamp in the Hand, and inks up nicely, even with dye inks. I tried out my new Stampendous clear bark embossing powder, and was amazed to find out it really is "clear brown".  I used it with Versamark for the card, but found when a brown pigment is used underneath the powder, the image is much darker--more the color of the ink than the powder. 

Southwest cards from Outlines stamps

Here are the pictures of the cards I am presenting at a class at Stamp Antonio on Tuesday, Nov. 9 from 10:30 -12:30.  We will be using two Outlines stamps:  I1060 and H1061.  They are both Southwest Collage stamps, and I used only a portion of each collage.  Each stamp has innumerable possibilities of combinations for collage orientation.  Here is the link to the stamps:   http://www.outlinesrubberstamp.com/ecom/products.cfm?catID=162&maincatID
You can see where I got my ideas from!  Stamp Antonio will have the stamps available the day of the class.  Of course, while the Basic Grey paper is fabulous, I had to change papers for my cards.  I also used fibers I got from Stitches from the Heart.  These cards are really fun to make, and I hope I can make some additional cards from the stamps to show on the day of the class.

Note Card Set

I just finished this beautiful notecard set as a sample for our October Hero Arts club meeting at Stamp Antonio.  I got the idea from an out of print book featuring PSX stamps.  Each card features a stamped vellum overlay and the card holder is folded corrugated cardstock held together with ribbon.  These stamps are all from Hero Arts--wood -mount "Real Blossom" K5414 and the clear stamp set "Just Find Me" CL 434.  I love the beautiful script of the sentiments on that set.  I used Pink Pizazz and Lavender Ancient Page inks on the vellum.  You can see the lavender ribbon on the original notecard I made, but I ran out of lavender ribbon and had to use a silver one on the remaining cards.  This set would make a lovely gift and could be adapted to any occasion.  Our monthly theme for October is "Botanical" and I made several examples using other flower/plant stamps from Hero Arts using not only Ancient Page dye ink but also chalk inks and Tombow markers.  I hope you will be able to come to the event this coming Thursday or Friday, where you, too, can create this lovely set.  See you there!

Retro Witch

Check out this cool tag I made at Totally Tim Tags today!  This is Carrie's design, but my witch!  (Well, with a little help from Tim Holtz!)  We did a Studio Canvas transfer--I used the stripe paper.  I stamped some spiral circles around the edge of the tag before laying down the striped transferred canvas.  I spread some gesso onto the central part of another piece of studio canvas, let it dry, inked the edges with green Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint, then stamped the witch from the Tim Holtz Retro Halloween stamp set.  You can't really see it in the picture, but I painted the witch's face with pigment inks and added definition to her hair with a black fabric pen.  What a way to start thinking about Halloween!

Dancing Skeletons

This fun little card is the "take home" card from my Card Factory class this morning.  The little dancing skeletons (Deadbeat Designs) are heat embossed with white ink and white powder on BoBunny dot paper.  The little pumpkins they are juggling are from an Inkadinkado stamp, stamped in orange on black paper and heat embossed with Judikins orange sparkle powder.  The top of the card is a 2" strip of BoBunny orange dot paper, stamped with a Hero Arts circle border stamp in black and decorated with dots of Stickles and the new Ranger Enamel accents in both black and white.  I love how the new Enamel accents come out slick as glass, and easy to apply, just like Glossy Accents.  I added a strip of Bazzill black pom pom ribbon at the top.  Stamp Antonio promises to get pom pom ribbon in green and white as well.  I hope the participants in Card Factory enjoyed putting this card together as much as I enjoyed designing it!  It's that time of the year when we all find ourselves "dancing as fast as we can" as fall marches toward Halloween, then Thanksgiving, and before we know it, Christmas is almost upon us!  I hope more treats than tricks come your way as you fill your autumn days with family and fellowship.

It finally feels like fall!

Autumn is my favorite time of the year!  I love the crispness of the cooler air, the feel of wearing sweaters, the colors of the changing season.  This morning on my walk, I could definitely feel the change in the air as I quickened my pace due to the cooler temperature.  The card pictured above displays those wonderful fall colors, and is just one of the cards I will be presenting at Card Factory at Stamp Antonio this Saturday.  A little bit of marker color, a little bit of heat embossing with various leaf colored powders, and a little bit of colorful paper all tied together with a smooth overlay of vellum--this card whispers "fall!"