Snow Wonderful

Hello Hello! Christmas has come & gone and now it's time to get those thank-you's in the mail.

After the family was all on their way home yesterday, I had a chance to sit and color for a while using a digi image from Whimsy Stamps.



Papers are from October Afternoon Good Cheer line.

2 down. A few more to go. LOL
See you soon!
HB

Holiday Treats!

Each year we have a holiday luncheon for our department at the bank. We have a beautiful catered lunch on the 25th floor that has windows all around it looking over St. Paul. It's a spectacular view!

And each year I make little treat boxes to put at each place setting as part of the table decorations. 40 of them! :)



I love these boxes that Deb Felts shared on her blog and they are so easy to make. They are the perfect size to hold 2 Dove chocolates. The only change I made was to glue the sides so they maintained their box shape when opened.

The majority of the boxes are made using My Minds Eye Merry Little Christmas 6x6 pad. Others are made with various holiday papers from my bin. The images are digi stamps from Pink Petticoat that are colored with Copics. I used lots of glitter and fun flock to make them all *wintery*.

I'm excited for the holidays! How about you?

HB

Thanks a latte!

First and foremost - I would like to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to all the men and women who have, do and will give of themselves to protect and serve this country. We honor you on this Veteran's Day (and every day!)

Now.. on to the card. I picked up this stamp set (Art Impressions) at Archivers during Scrapfest. It's just the perfect card/gift card combination!

The coffee cup is paper-pieced and attached to the kraft layer. Once attached, I cut a slit at the top of the cup (under the *cover*) for the gift card to slide into.

The insulated wrapper is actually a wrapper from Panera. I love the texture it gives the card! (that idea is from my friend Bevie Pearl. She's a genius!)

The papers are from Echo Park and My Minds Eye.

I'm off to make a big pot of soup. I love holidays!
HB

Oh happy day...

Happy Monday everyone!
Recently, October Afternoon had their warehouse sale and I scooped up some beautiful paper for a great price! OA is one of my very favorite paper companies because, well... there are too many reason's to list so let's just look at today's cards.

This cutie (Pure Innocence) has a paper pieced skirt and is colored with Copic markers. The sentiment referenced clouds and sunshine and OA has awesome cloud paper!

This easy peasy card uses an OA journal card along with a Papertrey sentiment and die.

Don't you love when things come together so easy? I sure do!

Have a happy Monday!
HB

Happy Halloween..

It's vacation time for me today... through next Tuesday! woooHOOOIE!
I'm suppose to be getting things organized to leave tomorrow morning for a girls weekend, but I've been finishing up some last minute Halloween things.

First up... cards for our daughters. Since they don't live here I need to send them their "treat" and what holds a gift card better than a card! :)

I love this funny set by Raisin Boat!

I've been working on tags for treat bags for the office over the last couple weeks. 20 in all! (have I said I am so not a good mass producer!?!)

These were really fun to make. I used a mixture of Raisin Boat and Boyd digi stamps. The papers are from My Minds Eye and We R Memory Keepers 6x6 pads.

They will be tied to bags of homemade white chocolate popcorn. YUM.

Ok, now I REALLY need to get packing!

HB

Friends

Hello!
Looks like I need to do a little dusting around the 'ol blog again. Life just gets a little busy.

I have been stamping though. It is a great stress release after all. LOL! This is one of my recent favorites. The stamp (Penny Black) was a birthday gift from a wonderful friend. Isn't he just the cutest thing!

The other thing I've been keeping busy with is making cards for our local Meals on Wheels organization. They send birthday cards to each of their clients (the folks who receive the meals) and are in need of so many cards.

Here is my recent "batch". 50 of them! I just love knowing that I'm helping to put a smile on someone's face.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you soon!
HB

Peaceful

Happy Saturday everyone!

It's a beautiful morning here in MN. I love to wake up, open ALL the windows and let the cool Fall breezes flow through the house and make big breakfast.

My friends often do fun challenges on the weekends and this is one of my favorites... stamp on dictionary paper.

The silhouette stamp (Flourishes) is perfect for this challenge. Notice I even found the dictionary page that starts with the word "Fish"! Attention to detail my friends. LOL

Well... I'm off to clean up the kitchen. Have a beautiful day!
HB

Happy Haunting

Now that it's getting cooler out we all know what's just around the corner. Halloween! I love making Halloween cards - don't know why, I just do.

I had an extra die cut of these houses laying on my table from making this card and decided it would make a perfect row of haunted houses! The houses are cut from watercolor paper, so they have a bit of texture to them. When I colored them with gray Copic markers (W2 and W4) it gave them a mottled look. Spooooky!

Gold cardstock was put on the back of each house for some light in the windows.

I am excited for fall... it's my favorite season! The colors, the crisp air, the NO AIR CONDITIONER, making a big stockpot of soup on a Sunday afternoon... I am SO ready!

See you soon!
HB

Sewing?

I have been seeing such fun sewing-themed stamps for quite a while and finally gave in and bought this adorable set from Hero Arts. I made two cards right away... one with a clean , simple look. (Don't you LOVE the little hangers from Tim Holtz?)


And this one with a vintage feel. The little skirt is vintage lace, rubbed with Spun Sugar Distress Stain, loosely gathered with needle & thread and then attached with glue.

Ya, that needle & thread was the only "sewing" I did on these cards. LOL The zigzag stitching on the first card is a STAMP! Don't you love it?

Thanks for stopping by!
HB

Everyday is a Gift

Hello my crafty friends!
We are enjoying a lovely, cool (yea!) Labor Day weekend here in MN! And you know what THAT means... it's a 3 day weekend! wooHOOO!

I can't think of anything better than to sit in front of an open window, with a cool breeze and sunshine coming in, and STAMP!

This simple card uses Hero Arts butterflies, a Papertrey Ink sentiment and My Minds Eye papers. A black Viva Pearl Pen gives the dots on the butterfly wings dimension.

Don't you just LOVE when your Copic makers match the pattern paper so perfectly? *sigh*

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend!
HB

Hello

hello hello.... it's another rainy, humid day here in MN. ugh.

Here's a little something to brighten your day (unless you live somewhere beautiful and you don't need brightening).

The layout is last weeks sketch challenge (SC342) over on SCS. I love it's simplicity, and yet you can really pile on the stuff to make it all that and more!

The flower is from Hello Spring (Taylored Expressions), the grass is an old old little stamp from my drawer and the sentiment is from PTI. Paper is Simple Stories.

I'm off to dodge raindrops on my way to work.
HB

Delight

I've been seeing beautiful cards out in cyberville that have butterflies in flight across the front. I love this look and thought I'd give it a shot.

The large butterfly and the embossed background of the medium sized ones are from the Discover your Wings set (Taylored Expressions). The sentiment is from Miracles Blossom (Verve) and the little butterflies are from a couple Martha Stewart punches.

I needed various size pearls for all these sizes of butterflies - Viva Pearl Pens to the rescue! I love that stuff!

Well... that's it for today!
HB

Yellow & Black

Yellow & Black... makes you think of bumble bees, doesn't it? LOL
It's such a bold and sophisticated combination if you ask me.

I used the Sweet Sunday sketch (#126) and my new Authentique papers. The stamp is from Unity. I left the front "sentiment free" because a. I couldn't figure out where to put it and b. because then I could use this card for anything.

Hope you're having a beautiful day!
HB

Hope

It's been a crazy, hot week here in my little corner of the world. Thank goodness I have a hobby (addiction?) that keeps me sane.

My friend Lana sent me a card recently using this awesome layout. She's an amazing stamper!


The stamp is from Verve, paper from Echo Park, dies from Papertrey Ink and My Favorite Things.

It's gonna be a hot one again today. I guess I better stay inside. {giggle}
HB

Wish you were here...

I was playing with various dies this weekend and came up with this...

The houses are Tim Holtz, the tree is Memory Box and the cloud is Papertrey Inc. I love how such varied products can all work together! The sentiment is Market Street Stamps.

It was hotter than blazes here in MN this weekend so I felt it best to stay in the coolness of the house and my stamp table. LOL That means I have a few more creations to show you this week! See you soon.
HB

Just a Note

I was in St. Cloud, MN last weekend for a family get-together and managed to talk my wonderful husband into letting me have an hour at Crafts Direct. Those of you who don't know, Crafts Direct is a huge craft store that carries just about every paper line made. I could spend hours walking up and down their stamping/scrapbooking aisles!

I found the display of the new Authentique line and stopped dead in my tracks. Beauty!

I pulled out one of my favorite Whipper Snapper stamps (Basket of Blooms) and the whole thing just came together (don't ya love when that happens?).

Hope you're having a great week!
HB

Miss you

Last weekend we moved our youngest to Chicago. I used to be able to run over and get a hug whenever I was missing her. Not so much any more. : (

I've been making *miss you* cards that I can tuck a hug inside and have her get things in her mailbox besides bills.



Just look at that sad face! I know it will bring a smile to my daughter's face and that's what's important.

The image is a Pure Innocence digi stamp from Heather Ellis. The sentiment is from Say it Big (Our Craft Lounge).

Thanks for stopping by!
HB

Summer

Can it get any hotter? Well, I know it can but another day in the 90's is... well, enough all ready. My favorite summer time snack (and spring, fall & winter too) is ice cream. Plain 'ol vanilla. Sure, I like the fancy schmancy flavors, but I really prefer vanilla.

So in honor of this hot summer day...

The Tall Sundae (Whipper Snapper) is stamped, colored with Copic markers and cut out. It's mounted with foam tape on a tag (Simple Stories).

I hope you're keeping cool!
HB

Flying into July

This year is just *flying* by! OMGosh it is JULY already. YIKES!

I can't think of a better pilot to guide me through this month than this little guy.

He's a digi stamp from Zlatoena Designs and I think he's the cutest pilot ever! Papers are all Stella & Rose Hattie collection (My Minds Eye).

If your year is going as fast as mine... enjoy every second!
HB

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July! It's a beautiful day here in MN and after all the craziness of the last few days (we moved our youngest to Chicago this weekend), I had to sit down and create something this morning. I just HAD to!


It's also my friend Bevie's son's birthday. How cool is that? He always gets sparklers and fireworks to celebrate!! I wonder if his birthday cards are always red, white & blue? lol

Well, he can add one more to his stack.

I used a new digi image from Zlatoena Designs and the sentiment and die for the cloud is PTI.

I hope you're having a beautiful day!
HB

Lighthouse at Sunset

Masculine was the theme of the day being it's Father's Day. As I sat at my table this morning (I'm up waaaay earlier than Harry, so I can enjoy my coffee and play before he gets up) trying to decide what to start on, I spied this little watercolor tray I bought after last summer's CHA. I had stood in front of Tim Holtz watching him show how to watercolor using Distress reinkers and I was hooked. Then I got home, put things away and, well....you know.

And so it began this morning... water, brushes, reinkers, watercolor paper, and not to much of a mess. lol

I used a wide brush to create sand, water and a sunset. The image is from an old SU! set (Coast to Coast) that I colored with Copic markers. The anchor (tied to red & white twine) was actually on a button, but the button was baby blue and didn't match, so I pulled out my trusty wire cutter and removed it. The sentiment is Papertrey Ink.

It was fun finding the inner *artist* in me today! LOL
HB

Challenges

Good morning friends and happy Tuesday!

This past Sunday I had a chance to play in the Featured Stamper challenge over on SCS. This week the FS is Stampercamper and she has a wonderful gallery! I loved the layout of the card I chose (THIS one) so much that I made two!

This one used Fruit Fusion: Grapes stamp set and matching die, the Jar Label die and Polka Dots Basics II embossing plate (all PTI).


The second card uses Make a Wish additions stamp set along with the coordinating die set (all PTI) and a Fiskars embossing plate and border punch. The papers are Basic Grey.

It's suppose to be a beauty of a day here in MN. I hope you have the same!

HB

Sweet Thank You

Hello! It's a great Saturday morning here in MN! That means I am spending the morning playing at my table. Yeaaaa!

A week or so ago I entered the Penny Black borders & frames challenge and won with THIS card! I was so dang excited! I was able to pick any transparent set I choose and selected Wonderful Day. It came in the mail yesterday so the first thing I did this morning was make a thank you card.

Isn't that hedgie the cutest ever? I stamped the image on white cardstock and die cut with a big scallop circle Nestabilities. I stamped a second time and cut out just the petals of the flower. After coloring with various shades of yellow Copics, I cut them out and attached just the tip with a bit of glue. I curled the ends of the petals with a bone folder.

I didn't have a tag die that fit this little space, so I used a Nestabilities tag and after I die cut it, I re-cut it, putting the tag half way down to cut off the end, but still give me that wonderful edge that Nesties give. I ran a Copic around the edge for color and then added glitter.

Papers are October Afternoon and Echo Park. The seam binding is colored with Trunk Bay Glimmer Mist (a gift from a wonderful friend!)

I'm off to stamp some more. I love Saturdays!
HB

Cheer Up!

Happy Saturday!
A friend of mine was a little down last week, so I need to get a *happy* card in the mail! I've had this Penny Black stamp forever and he needed a little dusting off, but I know the cuteness factor will bring that much needed smile to her face.

He originally had a bird flying over his nose, but since the sentiment (Penny Black) I was going to use had "butterflies" in it, I masked the bird before I stamped and then added a little butterfly and the trail so it looks like he flew right off the hedgehog's nose.

This card is flying off to a friend who needs cheering up! I hope you have a cheerful Saturday!
HB

Hello

I had fun playing in various challenges this weekend (husband and son were on their annual "manly men become one with nature" trip). This one is for the Featured Stamper challenge over on SCS (FS225).

I love this tent topper layout - originally created by Mish!
I used all Papertrey goodies to create it. Library Ledger paper, Ocean Tides and Harvest Gold felt, Beautiful Blooms #2 and #3 dies, Edger #3 die

I've got one heck of a mess on my stamp table - but it's SO worth it! : )

See you soon
HB

Today is Memorial Day here in the USA - a day we honor those who protect and serve... both past and present.

I thought Betsy Bluebell (Penny Black) would look darling all decked out in Red, White & Blue. She's poised with patriotic balloons in celebration of the service of our solders have given, and still give, to keep us free.


I hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend.
HB

Happy Saturday...

It's actually a very nice day here in MN... the sun is shining, but it's a bit on the chilly side. Hey... I'll take sunshine and goosebumps over rain any day!

I started the day out right... playing with new PTI stuff!

*happy* is from the new Wonderful Words die set. *everything* is from the matching stamp set (both PTI). The flower is a MTF die-namics die using PTI felt (that stuff cuts like butter!).

To make the word *happy* sparkle, I ran a piece of white cardstock through the Xyron machine and then die cut it. Having the whole word be sticky allowed me to dip the word into the glitter and it sure sticks better. *everything* is stamped with white ink and then embossed with white embossing powder.

Pretty easy-peasy card. I like that!

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend!
HB

Happy Mail!

Sometimes, I just like to send a card to say "I've been thinking about you". This little Pure Innocence image is perfect for that message!

Papers are from my new favorite line... Life of the Party (My Minds Eye) and Little Yellow Bicycle. The little flower is made with a mini rolled rose Die-namics die (MFT) and has a pearl center. The leaves are cut free-hand.

Off to the Post office...
HB

It's your day!

Hi Friends!
I had a few minutes to stroll through Archivers the other day and found the new 6x6 pads from My Minds Eye. I snapped up Life of the Party and could hardly wait to start cutting into that luscious paper!

I dug through my stamps looking for a cupcake stamp. Seriously, I had to DIG! I finally found this cutie (Our Craft Lounge) and new it had to take center stage on the adorable cupcake paper.

I stamped the cupcake with Berry Sorbet (PTI), cut it out and then covered the base in glitter. I frosted the cupcake with my pearl Viva Decor pen. It looks like old fashioned seven-minute frosting! A few sprinkles of glitter and it looked good enough to eat!

A simple little sentiment from Fillable Frames #8 (PTI) and this card is ready for the mail!

Thanks for stopping by!
HB

Celebrate today...

It has been a rainy weekend here in MN. The sun would peek out for a minute or two and then Mother Nature would dump more rain on us. I figure if I can't play out in the sun, then I'll stamp in the rain (on the dry side of the window anyway)! I now have quite a few treats stored up to show you in the coming days!

First up... Lily of the Valley (PTI).

I stamped the image on pink cardstock and then colored it in with Copic markers. I was amazed at how well I was able to color and shade on a colored cardstock!

The bottom strip is embossed (Quickutz embossing folder) and the tag is highlighted with a pink Copic marker using my airgun.

I hope you saw some sun this weekend - and if not... well then you stamped, right?
HB

You made my day

Happy Sunday everyone! The sun is trying to poke through the dreary skies here in MN this morning. I hope it tries a little bit harder!

Yesterday was raining, and there really isn't anything better than spending the day at my stamping table on a rainy day. A couple friends and I decided it was "challenge day". We each picked a challenge out in blog land that we'd all participate in. Today's card is for the Hero Arts' May challenge, which is all about flowers.

After coloring the bunch of flowers in shades of yellow with Copic markers, I filled the centers with a little dot from my bronze pearl pen (Viva Decor). I love those things!

The stamps are all Hero Arts and the papers are My Minds Eye. The sentiment is on a Spellbinders ribbon tag.

I hope the sun shines on you today!
HB

Birthday Candles

It's always a challenge for me to make birthday cards for the guys on my team at work. I mean really... I can't use pretty ribbons, or flowers, or anything like that. So, knowing I have a few of those birthday's coming up, I figured I better get a head start.


I used October Afternoon paper (Campfire line) and paired it with various colored cardstock. Stars are safe for guys, right?

The candles (Birthday Bracket set by Stampendous) are colored with Copic markers and the dots and stripes are glittered. A guy can handle a little glitter for pete's sake.

The little pennant banner (Taylored Expressions) brought the stars to the top of the card and the top 3/4 of the yellow panel is dry embossed with polka dots (PTI impression plate)

One down... a few more to go. I better get busy!

HB

You make the world...

I felt like coloring yesterday, so I pulled out this beautiful Rose (PTI) and got busy.

It really makes a pretty little card to send to someone... just to let them know you're thinking of them. I could use a bunch of these. lol

Thanks for visiting!
HB

Happy 4th Elise

Today is our granddaughter, Elise's 4th birthday. Where does the time go?
Each year I make a her special birthday card and then her mom puts the card in a clear envelope and attaches it to her bedroom door. The pressure is on to make sure it's "door worthy". LOL

A couple months ago I was browsing around SCS and came across THIS beauty by Stampit74. The image looks so much like Elise that I had to order the stamp (C.C Designs). I copied the original card by replacing the pumpkin with the number.

I left this picture a little dark so you could see the dotted swiss effect on her apron. I tried to paper-piece white cardstock with swiss dot embossing, but it just didn't work. Then I spied my Viva Decor pearl pens! I love these things. The Ice White made perfect dots!

The papers are from Imaginisce Garden Party 6x6 pad and the number die is from PTI.

Elise is all about princess' these days, so I just had to make her envelope a fairytale land. It was easy peasy using a sheet of paper from the paper pad.

Thanks for stopping by. I'm off to have cake with the cutest 4 year old I know!

HB

Happy!

Hello my friends! It's suppose to be a rainy day here in MN, but the temps are already in the 40's and it's only 7am! You know what that means? SPRING!!!

I love spring... seeing *green* popping up all over, being able to go outside without a big 'ol coat on, listening to kids outside my window riding their bikes. Speaking of bikes...

I had an "ahaaa" moment yesterday. I was looking at my new button dies from PTI and thought "I wonder if the size works with the Everyday Button Bits set?". Sure enough!

(you can click on the image for a close up)

I colored the middle size button with a brown Copic marker, ran it through my mini Xyron and covered it with brown glitter (Martha Stewart). The small, scallop button is covered in pattern paper for the wheel center.

The tag is stamped with Background Basics Text Style in Antique Linen ink (Tim Holtz) and "happy" is from Boo to You.

The papers are all from my new favorite line... Stella and Rose (MME) and the sketch is CPS Sketch #193.

I hope you have a day filled with Spring!

HB