Great stamps + simple design =

My Papertrey anniversary set came in the mail yesterday! (yes, that shake of your screen is me bouncin'!) Now, I admit... I searched the Papertrey forums looking for a hint of what the set would look like a couple weeks ago and when Nichole posted a pic I looked at it for quite a while. "What am I gonna do with that?" was my first response. The words are wonderful, but there's no main image? Just a bunch of little doodads (adorable doodads to be sure!).


But (and isn't there always a *but* to a story like this? lol), then I spent the weekend stamping my friends Lisa and Pine. Pine (ok, so ya'll know her as Heather Nichols, but I've always called her Pine and I get confused when people call her Heather), was playing with her anniversary set and making the most unbelievably awesome backgrounds! She completely turned my impression of this set around!



So in honor of Pine (who is the craft and white QUEEN), I made this card. I love it when stamps are so gorgeous that you don't need any designer paper or a bunch of bellies to make the card look good!


The main image (ya, ok... so I still need a main image) is by Inkadinkadoo and is embossed with white detail embossing powder. The design on the bottom of the cards is one of the designs from the anniversary set, also embossed in white detail embossing powder. The Papertrey stamps are clear acrylics, so I can see where I'm putting them without digging out the stamp positioner!



Here's a close-up of the tag. The little background is a matching stamp in the set.


I only had light blue ribbon and I wanted it to match the little flower, so I used my Copic Airbrush system and sprayed it with E31 Brick Beige until I had that vintage look. Oh, how I love my tools!


Thanks Pine, for making me see things differently!


HB




Supplies:
Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Inkadinkadoo
Paper: SU! (craft), Neenah (solar crest)
Ink: SU! (craft white, brocade blue)
Misc: tag from office supply store, Cindyribbon, Prima flowers, SU! brad

A busy day!

What a busy day! (Well, busy in the *rubber room* anyway) I found these adorable little lunch boxes at Michaels the other night and thought they would make perfect gift tins.

I made 6 note cards, a coaster book and a gift card holder for each tin. I'm thinking they would be perfect for an end of the year teacher gift or even for Mother's Day!

I love these little gift card holders! Pine was working on them when we stamped at Lisa's last weekend and they go together just easy peasy! The base is a little envie that opens on one end (mine are from SU!)

Ok, so here comes a confession.....

I bought my Bind-It-All from Eclectic Paperie when they first came out about a year ago. Today was the first time I've used it. (hangs head in shame) I don't know what I was so afraid of. OMWord it is so easy to use! And it cuts through coasters like BUTTER!

Val send me a coaster book for my birthday last year and I love it so much I can't bring myself to use it! lol Now, I'm glad I haven't because it was the inspiration for these.

So... after a full afternoon of *work*, here is what I ended up with:

I used so many different products on these, that I'm not going to do a supply list (I'd like to go to bed before midnight!) But the main stamps were from Papertrey Inc, SU! and Hero Arts.

Thanks for stopping by!

HB

ps - Want to know what DH was doing while I was working so hard? He was vacuuming cobwebs in the basement! YUCK! LOL (I think I won the better deal here, don't you?)

Silly!

I am in LOVE with the new Penny Black acrylics! (you can find them at Eclectic Paperie, but hurry cuz I know they will FLY out of the store!) This little critter is from the Bubbly set.


After coloring him (her?) and the balloons with Copic markers, I used the Copic Airbrush System to shade the background sky. Then realized it just wouldn't be a party with out sparkle, so I glitterfied one of the balloons.




The side strip was created using a Heidi Swapp mask and the Airbrush System. I placed the mask down and sprayed the pink and then repositioned it and sprayed the green. I love how the dots have a bit of natural shading to them.




Someone asked in a post if I mask off my image before spraying the background. It depends what my image is. In this case, I didn't because the color (B00) was light enough that wouldn't effect the color of the image. If I'm spraying a darker color, or if the image is light (like a face), then I do. The best thing about the Copics and the Airbrush System is the experimentation!


I hope you're spoiled silly today!
HB


Supplies:
Stamps: Penny Black
Paper: Papertrey Ink (white, berry sorbet), CTMH
Ink: Palette Noir, Copic markers, Copic multiliner, SU! (craft white), Inkssentials opaque white pen
Misc: Copic Airbrush System, white ep, glitter

Just sitt'n here miss'n you!

I had an amazing weekend stampin and laughin and shoppin with my friends Pine and Lisa. Then to top it off, when I got home a box from Whipper Snapper was sitting on my counter (no, the mailman doesn't bring my mail into my kitchen, my DH does. lol).

I have soooo many things that need to get done, but I just had to play tonight. This little mouse caught my eye as I was flippin through the on-line catalog last week and I new he was going to be mine. He's perfect for those cards where I want to tuck a hug inside for someone who's needing one.

I stamped the image on the pink polka dot paper and cut out the chair. I then stamped the image again on white cardstock, colored the mouse, cut him out and attached him to the chair with Tombow glue. The rest of the image is colored with Copic markers and the *wall paint* is done using the Copic Airbrush System and my newest toy. Yes, I am the very proud owner of a Sparmax air compressor! When I was at CHA in February Marianne from Copic was using this one, so I talked to my friends, Joy & Daisy (eP) and they were able to order one for me! It is sooooo nice to just flip the switch and spray to my hearts content. No more worries about having the cans go empty! And it's SO CUTE!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

HB

Supplies

Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs

Paper: PaperTrey, Fancy Pants, SU! (basic gray), pink polka dot is from my scrap pile and I'm not sure who it's by.

Ink: Copic markers, Palette Noir

Misc: Nestabilites, Wizard tag die (both of these are available at Ellen's Store), Sparmax air compressor, glitter, SU! ribbon (basic gray), hole punch

On the Run...

My friend Bevie is the QUEEN of challenges! A few weeks ago she mailed a stamped image (yes, I said *a*, meaning just ONE! No room for messing up!) to a bunch of us girls and asked us to make something with it and post it on April 20th. I have to remember to ask her if there is any significance to April 20th. hmmmmmm.

Anyway... This little mouse (by House Mouse) is what she sent me. All I could think of was "he's on the run!" LOL

So, that is the theme I went with. I used my Karen Foster snap stamps for the *on the run* sentiment on the front, and created the inside sentiment on my computer, which says "... with a wish for lots of birthday fun!".

I cut his balloon out of the background paper, covered it with Ranger Glossy Accents and then attached it to his little hand with a piece of thread.

Are you on the run today?

HB

Supplies

Stamps: House Mouse, Karen Foster snap stamps

Paper: Basic Gray Cupcake, CTMH (red and yellow), Papertrey Ink

Ink: Palette Noir, Copic markers

Misc: Ranger Glossy Accents, SU! ribbon, black thread, SU! Stampin Dimensionals, sewing

Bloom with Love!

About a year ago a few of us girls got together to stamp for the weekend. I had just gotten my Beautiful Blooms set (Papertrey Ink) and while playing made a 8.5 x 11 sheet of pattern paper with the flowers and leaves. It was so pretty I just couldn't cut it up! Probably should have framed the thing vs letting it sit on my table for this long. LOL!

Anyway... I did it! I cut it up and made this card, which is 5.5 x 5.5 square. I like this much better than that sheet laying on my table cuz now I can put a hug inside and mail it out!

The flowers are stamped using VersaMagic chalk inks (you can find them at eP). They have such a soft look to them.

Speaking of getting together with friends to stamp... that's where I'm off to this weekend. Pine and I are heading to Lisa's for a weekend of putting ink to rubber (and I'm guessing a little chit-chat and laughter will be thrown in!).

Hope you have a weekend Blooming with Love

HB

God's biggest gift!

We have been blessed with two adorable granddaughters. Gracie is 5 and Elise is turning one at the end of this month. For those of you who aren't a Grandma yet... just wait! It's like being reborn! You can lay on the floor and play all day and the rest of life just doesn't matter. The laundry, the cleaning, the cooking... everything can just wait while you enjoy just watching and cuddling and playing.

Each year I make Gracie a special card for her birthday. Her mom has them all in clear envelopes taped to her bedroom door. Each time I visit their house I see those cards and it reminds me how FAST she's growing up.

Now I'm starting that same tradition with Elise. This card is for her first birthday (YIKES! The years go by so fast!).

The little dress stamp is from Impression Obsession. I love it's whimsical look! The sentiment, which rings so true in my heart, is from Stampendous.

The layer behind the dress was embossed with a Fiskars embossing plate and then the edges distresssed just lightly. After cutting the dress out I popped it up with foam tape.

The little flower peaking out of the pocket is two flowers layered together. I used a teeny tiny flower punch that I found in a Michaels $1 bin a long time ago. I added just a touch of Stickles (glitter glue) to the butterflies to make them sparkle in the light.

The tiny lace that is peaking out under the velvet Cindyribbon was white, so I ran it through my Distress Ink (linen) pad to give it a more vintage feel.

Thanks for letting my share my "Proud Grandma" moment!

HB

Supplies

Stamps: Impression Obsession, Stampendous, SU! (linen background)

Paper: SU! (vanilla), Crate (girly girl), DCWV

Ink: SU! (choc chip), Copic Markers, Distress Ink (linen)

Misc: Nestabilities, Fiskars embossing plate, Cindyribbon, JoAnns (lace, button), Michael's (flower punch), Stickles

Beate's challenge

Beate has the best challenges on her blog! Each Friday I sketch the Weekend Sketch Challenge in my notebook in the hopes that I'll have time to play. This weekend I made sure I had time because I LOVE this one (WSC43)!

Now, I am NOT a "bright" girl (no, not THAT kind of bright! lol). I tend to use deep, rich colors, or more subdued colors. Brights scare me! BUT, I was over at Twisted Chick Creations ( Michelle Giraud's blog) and was wowed by her ability to use bright colors! So... I gave it a try.

The flowers are from Anna Wight's Posies For You set. After I stamped and colored them I decided they needed just a bit more dimension so I stamped only the flower three times on a scrap piece of cardstock, colored them pink, filled the centers with Fun Flock cut them out and then popped them on with foam tape. The Fun Flock makes awesome flower centers! (Eclectic Paperie has gobs of colors!) The sentiment is also popped up with foam tape.

Beate... thanks for challenging me with an awesome layout and a chance to step out of my "color comfort zone"!
HB

ps - In my supply lists you'll often see Cindyribbon, Cindybrads, Cindy"things". These are my term for the awesome supplies I get from Cindy at StarLitStudio. The ribbon (May Arts) from her is so delicious!

Supplies

Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs, Hero Arts

Paper: SU!, The Paper Studio

Ink: Palette Noir, Copic Markers

Misc: Cindybrads, Cindyribbon, foam tape, tracing wheel, photo corner punch (EK Success), Fun Flock

Happy Birthday Cupcake!

Jen del Muro (I{heart}2stamp) has an awesome sketch challenge on her blog this weekend, so I thought I'd play along.

I pulled out my Hey There Cupcake set, which available only at Eclectic Paperie and matched it up with some delicious Basic Grey paper called... are you ready? CUPCAKE! It was meant to be!

The hardest part about this layout is getting the strips to match in size and distance apart. I'm a bit anal about those things. Once I got everything measured and cut, I sewed around the strips with my sewing machine (yup, sometimes I set the tracing wheel aside and actually move over to the machine lol).

After I stamped the cupcake frosting, I used a Gelly Roll stardust pen to add some shimmer and then cut it out. I used foam tape to layer it on the scallop circle, which is blinged out with glitter on the edges.

Super fun card to make! Have you played in any challenges yet? They are FUN!

HB

Supplies:

Stamps: Stampendous (Hey There Cupcake), Art Gone Wild

Paper: SU! (certainly celery, rose romance), BG (cupcake), Papertrey Ink, Die Cuts with a View

Ink: SU! (certainly celery, rose romance),

Misc: Nestabilites, Heidi Swapp ribbon, pink droplets (StarLitStudio), Gelly Roll stardust pen, glitter, sewing machine

For my dad...

My father was a fabulous gardener. He would play in the dirt for hours, tilling the soil, planting the seeds and giving them such love and care until the fruits of his labor could be picked and enjoyed.

Alas, I am NOT. I have tried and tried to grow things. Oh, I start out great... watching those first sprouts peek up through the dirt is just so exciting! But then it turns hot out, and the bugs come out, and the next thing you know, it's August and I have a patch of weeds with vegetables peeking through.

So, since my dad is now gardening in heaven, I must resort to the Farmer's Market. I LOVE to cook with fresh produce... homemade sauces, scrumptious casseroles, new baby red potatoes... yummmmmm! Oh, sorry, I digress...


This card is in honor of my dad (I know it looks kinda flowery, but he also planted flowers, so it's ok!).

I brushed Ranger Glossy Accents on the boots so they look like rubber. The butterfly is from Anna Wight's Posies for You set. I stamped it on acetate and then put white dots on it from behind with the Inkssentials opaque white marker. I then glued the center of it to a piece of blue cardstock and trimmed it out. Makes the wings fluttery!

Can you see the double row of dots around the edges? This is done with my very very favorite tool - a Tracing Wheel! Using a ruler and this tool I can make fabulous edges easy peasy!

Do you have the gift of growing things? (I'm jealous!)
HB

Supplies:
Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs (Potting Plants, Posies For You)
Paper: Imaginisce (for peeps sake), CTMH, SU!
Ink: Palette Noir, Copic markers, Inkssentials opaque white, Ranger Matte Accents
Misc: ScorPal, brads (from StarLitStudio), bling, tracing wheel, shimmer chalk

An award...

Beate and Cami each awarded me the Arte y pico award recently. My blog is only a few months old, so I am so honored to be recognized by these over-the-top talented girls! Thank you both!!!

I checked out the Arte y pico blog... but it's in Spanish! (I think it's Spanish, I can't tell you for sure because I can't read it! lol) Here are what the rules say I am to do after receiving this artist award:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone. (click on Beate and Cami's names above to see their FABULOUS blogs!)

3. Each award winner has to show the award that she has been given.

4. The award winner, and the one who has given the prize, have to show the link of Arte y Pico blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

I would like to pass this award on to these AMAZING blogs:

1. Lisa Zappa (Shabbychick Junk)
2. Mish Wooderson (Mish Mash)
3. Vicki Chrisman (This art that makes me happy)
4. Pam Hooten (Iris Garden)
5. Anna Wight (Sassy & Sweet Notes)

There are SO MANY bloggers out there that I love that this list could go on forever!!!

LOL! You know, now that I look at my list, I realized that these girls are all on the Craft Secrets design team! I LOVE Crafty and consider the creations made with their stamps gorgeous art, so that is what my mind must have been thinking of.

Hope you have a creative day!
HB

Friends and Flowers

Friends and flowers... don't they just go naturally together? Both make me smile, both add beauty to my life, and both grow with love and care (friendships grow, not necessarily the friend, unless I feed her too much chocolate! LOL)!

I love these American Art Stamp images. They are so unique!

The *friends* tag is a little metal bellie that I found when digging in my bellie stash a couple weeks ago. I just love resurfacing things that I forgot I had! Kinda like Christmas!

We are in the midst of a winter storm here in central MN. UGH! Someone has to tell Mother Nature that it is Spring now and we should be seeing flowers peeking... NOT snowflakes falling.

Hope YOUR day is filled with blooming friends and flowers!

HB

Supplies:

Stamps: American Art Stamps

Paper: Basic Gray (sugared), SU! (so saffron, pretty in pink)

Ink: Copic markers

Misc: Copic airbrush system, Nestabilites, Pebbles Inc pearlescent chalk, Martha Stewart ribbon, SU! brads, paper piercing tool

You're the chocolate...

When I found this Whipper Snapper stamp (designed by the awesome Anna Wight) at the LSS I stood and looked at it for the longest time. "hmmmm" I thought, what would I create with this? A summer time treat card? A party invitation? Then, like a bolt of lightning, this idea popped into my head. (if you know me, you know lightning strikes far and few between! lol). So, buy it I did and home I ran and it actually came together just like I had in my head!

The outside sentiment says: You're the chocolate...

The inside says: in a vanilla world!

I think this is PERFECT to send to that person that just *stands out*... who makes such a difference in my life... who is the CHOCOLATE!!!

I may have to make more of these because I have quite a few people in my life in that catagory!

I hope you have many chocolates in your life!

HB

Supplies

Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs, Karen Foster snap stamps

Paper: SU! (choc. chip), Papertrey Ink, My Minds Eye

Ink: Palette Noir, Copic markers, SU! (choc chip, going grey)

Misc: Glitter, Gelly Roll glaze pen

A Bouquet of Wishes...

I received a wonderful envelope in the mail from my friend Bevie Pearl the other day. It was filled with stamped images! She knows I LOVE to color and they were all images that I could sit and color to my hearts delight. Man, I love that girl!


She just got this stamp (Spring Sprigs by Stampendous) from Eclectic Paperie and knew I would love it. Now, I have to have it! (thanks Bevie you little enabler you!)

After coloring the flowers, I used my Gelly Roll Glaze pen to add some dimension to the flower centers, and then sprayed blues and yellows for a background using my Copic Airbrush System (available at Eclectic Paper and Ellen's store).


This card is 5x5. I'm in a square card mood lately. LOL


Thanks for stoppin by!
HB


Supplies
Stamps: Stampenous, Savvy Stamps
Paper: Basic Gray (Sultry), Papertrey Ink, SU! (Pretty in Pink)
Ink: Copic markers, Palette Noir, Palette Burnt Umber, Inkssentials Opaque white
Misc: Nestabilities, chipboard, paper piercer, Martha Stewart ribbon, brads from StarLitStudio and colored with a Copic marker.

Home Sweet Home

My friend Mishie and I are lovin Whipper Snapper lately. We swapped some images to play with and I am head-over-heals in love with this one!


When I was at the LSS the other day, I ran across this paper by Sweetwater (Daydreams) and instantly thought of this stamp. The paper says *I love my family* all over it with little houses, trees and sunshine, hearts and stars and other little doo-dads.


The card is 5.5 x 5.5, which is larger than I normally would make, but I needed it that large to fit all the elements I wanted to use.


The little heart in the corner is made of felt using a Cuttlebug heart die and finished off with a brad in the center.


I think the little birds are my favorite part of this stamp. Don't they just look like happy neighbors?

Thanks for stopping by!

HB

P.S. You'll notice my adorable siggy line that Bethie made me went away. I don't know WHY it went away, it just did. grrrrrrr. She's making me a new one and I'm contemplating signing my posts as Carol vs HB. What do you think? To confusing?

Supplies
Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs, Karen Foster snap stamps
Paper: Sweetwater, SU! (old olive, cranberry crisp), Papertrey Ink.
Ink: Palette Noir, Copic markers
Misc: Felt, button, CB heart die, brad from SU!, pattern marker, sewing machine

Thanks for making me smile!

I love this saying! It's so versatile! It's perfect as a traditional *Thank-You* but it also works great for one of those *just because* cards. You know, the one where you just stick a hug inside and mail it for no reason other than to mail it.



I used a Beate sketch for this and it needed a little something more than a button in the corner. Digging in my massive miscellaneous 'bellie container I came across a metal flower. Remember those? They were all the rage a few years back. LOL! Resurfacing old 'bellies is a good thing, right?



So... thanks for making ME smile today!

HB



Supplies
Stamps: Whipper Snapper Designs, SU!
Paper: SU!, PaperTrey Ink, Scenic Route
Ink: Palette Noir, Copic markers
Misc: Nestabilities, ribbon, metal flower, sewing