Cards for Grace & prize pack!

I love making cards for kids and especially those for Jennifer's Cards for Kids drive. Putting a smile on a child who is sick? Sign me up. I've been making cards for this great cause for quite awhile and was so sad to hear the news that one of the children (Ellie) lost her battle with cancer. She left behind her twin, Grace and now Jennifer is collecting cards for her and wants to send them out A.S.A.P. Jennifer has all the information on this post . Even if you can send in one card, that would be great. I think of it as 1 card = 1 smile. :)

I've been making these cards for the card drive and will definitely be sending one to Grace...I love to include jokes like this one...."How much does a crab eat?"Punchline..."Just a pinch!" LOLIt's hard to see but I colored the crabs with distress inks and then sprayed pearlized water for some shine...So I decided to not only send in some cards but make a goal for collecting cards for Grace. My goal is 100 cards. I'm asking everyone I know to join in, even if they don't create handmade cards, purchased cards are great too! So in honor of that, I've put together a Hero Arts prize pack that includes...

Some clear card buttons...
An elephant clear stamp set (perfect for making cards for kids!)

a scallop circle woodblock stamp...
A pack of foilage mixed folded cards....and a soft apricot shadow ink pad...

Wanna win? Just leave a comment below telling me if you are going to create and send a card for Grace...and I will enter you in the drawing for a chance to win this prize pack. If you leave a link to your blog or gallery showing me your card or cards, I will enter you again into the drawing! The drawing ends July 31, 2010.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back soon with more card ideas....

Crafting is in the blood...

Okay, so it's been over a week since I blogged. Huh? Where has the time gone. Sorry to be MIA. I am really trying to blog more often because I love to share and connect with all of you. So as I slow down from all the craziness around here, I thought I'd share a cute picture of my niece, Taylor and her new favorite person in the whole world... (photo credit-Sandi Neumann..thanks Sandi!)

Yes, some of you may recognize her. That's Kay McGuire, step-daughter of the super sweet Jennifer McGuire. Kay taught a card class for kids last week and I thought it might be fun for Taylor because she is SO much like me when I was her age. Obsessed with anything paper, markers, art. She is so creative and when I asked her to go, she was counting down the days. :)

And what a FABULOUS teacher Kay was. All Taylor has talked about since then is her. When I see her now, the first thing out of her mouth is, "Remember when you took me to that card class and my card teacher Kay...." Yes. She know refers to her as her card teacher Kay. LOL I don't think she will be able to take another class from anyone else. Here's hoping Kay does another class.

Here is a shot Jennifer took during class...

I love this pic because Taylor should be working on creating her cards but she is talking to Kay instead. Kay must be super special to rank over paper and stamps!

That reminds me, Kay and Alex are about the same age....hmmmm ;)

I'll be back soon with some more creative shares. Promise.

Coloring with Chalk Inks...

Happy Friday!! Today I want to share with you a quick and easy way that I've been coloring stamped images. I will take you step by step on how I created this card...the inside sentiment...I just received some NEW Hero Arts stamps and had to play with this set called, "A kiss from the sun"...Here are the instructions to create this card...

1.Start with a scrap piece of blue cardstock. I used the Pool color from Hero Arts...and cover the front of your card.

2.On white cardstock stamp the Hero Arts background stamp in soft pool shadow ink...Cut out the image and adhere on top of the blue cardstock, leaving a little room on either side.

3. Next, swipe some Hero Arts chalk ink onto a white piece of cardstock...4. After it dries...start stamping your images that you want to use and then cut them out..
(Chalk Inks I used are Grass, Poppy, Iris, and Cerulean)
I absolutely love the velvety finish it gives.

5. Stamp the HA tiny owl using black ink onto white cardstock. Once it dries, add glossy accents to his eyes and let that dry. Cut them out to create googly eyes!

6. Stamp the tree image from the set in the middle of the card and color brown. Stamp the grass image along the bottom.

7. After you put on the finishing details to each piece, (the owl on the t-shirt, the glitter on the dress, the button on the jeans, the flower gems in the trees) you can assemble the card...Hope you enjoyed! Have a wonderful weekend!

Butterfly Show...

I realized I haven't had a personal post on the blog for awhile so I thought I'd share some pics from our adventure today. Because of this WONDERFUL young man...I got to go to the butterfly show. It's held every year close to where I live and I've always wanted to go but never got around to it. Alex surprised me today and took me. Bless his heart.

A few pics of the butterflies that I had time to edit...

Can you spot the butterflies? The best part was just spending time with Alex. Yep. I'm a happy girl. (FYI-Alex told me after he snapped this picture that he made sure I was on the right side of the frame in the pic so that I plenty of room on the left in case I wanted to digitally add my journaling to. LOL Yes, this kid knows me so well and has a heart of gold. Love him.)

Going to hit the sac...I'll be back over the weekend with a creative share. Thanks for stopping by!

Upcoming Class...

Hi! I will be teaching an upcoming class and thought I'd share an example of one of the cards. I like to give options so I created the same card with three different color choices to pick from... The theme for the class is Distress Inks. I absolutely love Distress Inks because of all the possibilities that you can create with it. A closer look...

A little information about the class. It will be held on Sunday, June 27th @11:30. The cost is $15.00 and we will create four different cards and a fun project (necklace). If you are interested and live close to the Cincinnati area, email me and I will email with the rest of the information. If you are not local but would still like a class kit, email me and I'll get you one.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week...

Laura's Birthday Blog Hop...

I was so honored when I was asked to participate in Laura's Birthday Blog Hop. I can't think of a more deserving person. Laura's blog was the first I ever read. She is super creative but more importantly, she is so kind. I've never "met" another person in this industry that has been as giving as Laura. She is encouraging and so willing to share. Happy 40th Birthday Laura and thank you for being you!

Here's the card I created for Laura...The inside greeting reads, "Wishing you a day to get your craft on!"... I also wanted to make Laura a little gift for her birthday. So I created a coordinating mini card set. Now I know Laura can make her own cards (and I'm sure they would be amazing) but I just love to give handmade gifts. Here is the set...I put them and some envelopes in a clear container and they are on their way to Laura's house...I hope you like them Laura! Have a fabulous day!

Next on the blog hop is the very talented Cindy Liebel.

(If you want to start at the beginning of the blog hop, click HERE)

Happy Saturday everyone!

Couch Cards...

Hello! I had some time to play in my scrap studio yesterday and found THESE couches that I stamped at the last crop I was at. My sweet friend Shane let me borrow her set and I went to town stamping, knowing I would put them to good use someday...

I decided to make flat notecards, so the opening is actually the die-cut label. I used a brad to make them swivel open so I can write my message....The backgrounds were made with THIS stamp set. I recently placed an order with Papertrey Ink. If you haven't shopped there yet, you must! Good people, good product, and good service. I already have a wish list going for my next order. ;)

Hope you're having a great day! Off to enjoy this beautiful weather. Be back soon...