Bev's Creative Path - talented new blogger - and candy!

Stop by and see Bev's lovely creations and while you're there be sure to enter for this wonderful prize:

clipped from bevscreativepath.blogspot.com

Ladybugs are everywhere

At least on this card. We have some sort of weird teeny, tiny, itsy, bitsy, miniscule black flying, biting bug which appears around dusk and prevents me from sitting outside to enjoy this beautiful weather…but that’s another subject for another day. Here are the lady bugs:

It’s a birthday card for a dear friend of mine who loves……yes, you guessed it….LADYBUGS!

Do you think there are enough of them on there? Hand stamped, every one. Except for the two big ones that are punched out (MS ladybug punch). The ladybug stamps are clear stamps that might be from a Studio G set from Michaels or they might be from some other clear set I bought at Target a couple of years ago, I really don’t remember. I am glad I had them because ladybug patterned paper is hard to find.

The red flower is one I crocheted using embroidery thread and a small crochet hook (2.75, I think). The ovals are all Nestabilities, of course.

I am in a Fall colors card making mood now. Starting tomorrow the weather is supposed to be cool and breezy, I can’t wait! I love this time of year and the beautiful colors of Fall…..deep red, burnt orange, golden yellow, olive green and chocolate brown. Mmmmmm.

I hope to get some more Operation Write Home (formerly Cards for Heroes) done and in the mail soon, too. I am sending off a box tomorrow but they can always use more. If you would like to participate, click on the link on the right sidebar to find out more.

Happy Fall, ya’ll :-)

Makng clear stamps

If you've ever wondered about the process, Inky Antics has a post showing how it's done. Very interesting.

clipped from inkyanticsrubberstamps.blogspot.com When I was in Cleveland between the Westminster and Rhinebeck conventions last week, I worked at the shop each day. In addition to changing out some of the Inky booth cabinets to make room for holiday designs and helping manufacture those stamps, I had the opportunity to learn how we produce our clear stamp sets. Interested in seeing the process? Here's our 10921MC Halloween Turtle Clear Set as it's being made. We start out with polymer pouches, which are placed into the exposure machine:

A Great Idea

I wish it was mine, but it isn't. I used my stamp positioner and it works beautifully. Am I the only one that didn't know to do this? No more under-inked images for me! To see the photo larger you'll have to go to their site.

clipped from thedailymarker.blogspot.com

Some Sweet Candy

I found this over on Lucy's Cards - while you're there be sure to check out her awesome cards!

clipped from hedgehogsandladybirds.blogspot.com 30,000 Visitors Giveaway... I promised a giveaway, and here it finally is. I can't BELIEVE I've had more than 30,000 visitors to my blog since March.  I am so happy - and so honoured.  Thank you all so much. To be in with a chance of winning leave a comment below and please pass it on. :) Giveaway includes: Clear Stamps by Hero Arts, Pink Paislee and Studio Calico; Stickers and Gems by Hero Arts, K&Co and Making Memories; Rub-Ons by GCD Studios; Distress Inks by Tim Holtz; and lots of buttons. :) I will draw the winner next Saturday 26th September.

Cards for Heroes...

has changed their name to Operation Write Home. Check out their new website and join in their birthday party!

Stamper's Alley on Dave Brethauer's blog!

Check it out HERE - there's even a video.

Fall is in the Air

Or at least it was last week. Fall is my favorite season, I love the crisp, cool breezes, the beautiful colors of the trees, leaves blowing in the wind…..love it! So, with that in mind I decided to bring a little Fall color into my cards.
Barbara Hammerstad sends cards to Stamper’s Alley every month and both of these were inspired by some of her lovely creations. She is so creative and sends such beautiful cards every month. You can see them all here.

Great Impressions stamp, Nestabilities dies, Fiskars Apron Lace border punch, misc flowers, ribbon from Michael’s

All Hero Arts stamps, Nestabilities scalloped square die
The leaf stamps on these 3 cards are in a Hero Arts set and I wanted to use them together on one card but couldn’t make it work the way I wanted it to so I made 3 cards instead. The stamp along the bottom is a dollar stamp from Michael’s.

Thanks for visiting!

Crocheted Flowers

These first two cards were made a couple of months ago but I never got around to posting them. I really enjoy making these little flowers and wish I had a larger variety of colors, but the cotton yarn I use for them isn’t available in too many colors, at least not locally.

Hero Arts stamp, BoBunny paper, May Arts ribbon.

Hero Arts stamps, the grass was made by just cutting into the paper with scissors.

These cards are an absolute CASE of this one I found on the Hero Arts Flickr Group. There are so many talented card artists there, and lots of inspiration to be found!

The stamp is a new Hero Arts Cling. I inked it up with Ranger Distress Inks (Spiced Marmalade and Peeled Paint on the left, Broken China and Shabby Shutters on the right) and stamped it on to watercolor paper. I used my waterbrush to move the ink around to the spots that didn’t stamp, because the watercolor paper is so bumpy it’s hard to get an even impression. That’s one of the good things about the Distress Inks, being able to move the color around after you stamp. It works really well on watercolor paper, but I haven’t had much success doing it on regular cardstock.

The verse stamp on the card on the right is one from the dollar bin at Michael’s, colored with Prismacolor pencils.

I have some Fall cards ready to post and will get them up in the next day or so. I hope everyone is having an enjoyable Labor Day weekend!