A year in review

A bunch of bloggers are doing a year in review type posts and posting their favourite cards for each month in 2011 I thought it would be fun to do the same. Here are a few of my favourite projects over the past year:

January this month was actually fairly hard. I did a few really nice cards this month!


I picked this card because I love the colors and it was the start of my orange phase in 2011!

February card. Loved this image and loved how this card turned out. I was very sad when the image was discontinued by Just Rite. I mailed this card to my Great Aunt because I could not bear to throw out the card.








March Liked the colors on this card and it turned out nice and sparkly!

April

Its a Penny Black stamp what more can I say??











May

An orange Stampscapes scene. Love it!

June

Used my new Sizzix butterfly die to make this easel card. Loved that it was different from the usual square shape.

July

Love this elegant tree image by Penny Black.











August

Love the coloring on this card! I won't mention the dominant color...

September

Love the monocromatic look of this card.










October

Made this for a Hero Arts contest. I did not win but sure got lots of compliments on this card.










November

I made this for a private class I taught in November. I was very pleased with myself that I managed to use summer Basic Grey paper for a Christmas card.









December

Had a lot of fun coloring on glitter for this card. I need to do more of this in the new year.
Hope everyone enjoyed the quick card summery of 2011. Here's hoping everyone has a creative 2012!

Thanks everyone for stopping by!

New Blog to check out!

Sheree and Nancy, two Crafty customers have started a scenic stamping blog. They will be having regular challenges not to mention lots of inspiration! The first challenge will be up Jan 1. Check it out! http://www.craftascene.blogspot.com/

More New Hero Arts

Just a quick card using another new image from Hero Arts. As soon as the new stamps came in I knew I had to buy the new cling set Enchante. Totally not my usual style and in fact I believe this set is my first ever set of "people" but I love them! I stamped the gal image on a peice of watercolor paper then colored her with my Tombow makers she does not have too much to color so it was quick. I cut out the shape (Hero Arts will have Sizzix dies to match this shape out later in January) by hand then cut another one slightly larger as a mat. I mounted her onto a piece of Hero Arts Designer paper. I found a Hero Arts clear saying that originally said "just wanted to let you know you're fabulous" and cut it apart and just stamped the You're Fabulous part on a Spellbinder Circle and mounted that onto a tag from the Spellbinder Fleur di Lis Accents set. I added some Glossy Accents to the gal's purse, some Offry ribbon and some Hero Arts gems and voila card done!

Hero Arts Peacock & Stamp sale

This peacock image is an older Hero Arts stamp that I have not played with for a while so thought I would pull it out. I began by randomly applying Hero Arts inks over a tag in my stash (soft sand, soft pink and pool) then let the ink dry for a little while. The drying step is quite important because I wrecked my first tag by not letting it dry! Once the ink is dry I stamped the peack stamp on the tag with Versamark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. The peacock stamp is a fairly solid stamp so I then rubbed Adirondack Pool ink over the entire piece the clear embossed area kept their original colors and the darker Pool color went into the unembossed areas which makes the peacock pop!
I then finished the card off by embossing a piece of cardstock with a Cuttlebug embossing folder "Victoria" then rubbed Perfect Medium ink over the raised areas and dusted the piece with Perfect Pearls Pearl powder. I used my Tim Holtz medallion die to matte a Stampendous sentiment.
Don't forget this week only all winter/holiday stamps and stickers are 20% off also all the clearance items are now 60% off at the store.
Thanks for stopping by!

Guest Artist

I dragged "Mr. Crafty Capers" with me to work on Christmas eve and we spent the morning working on sample cards. He really is a good sport! :) Here is the card Phil designed for his Mom's birthday in April. He used all new Hero Arts stamps and all are in stock at Crafty Capers. It's a fairly straight forward card. I have not had a chance to play with the key background but love how it stamps up. Phil's Mom will be so proud of him!

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Hero Arts Wish Big clear set, Fancy Keys cling stamp & Happy Birthday Cupcakes (Hero Arts and Sizzix Stamp and Die cut set), Cupcakes clear set.
Inks: Versafine Onyx Black and Deep Lagoon, Memento Bamboo Leaves
Cardstock: Upsy Daisy designer paper and Bazzill

A Beautiful Christmas

Here is hoping everyone will have a wonderful day. Thought I would post this Stampscapes scene since it looks so peaceful and, to me, this time of year is about peace. I stamped all the all the stamps with Memories Art Print brown ink on glossy cardstock except the mountains they were stamped with Adirondack (dye) slate. I applied color with Colorbox stylus wands and foam tips. 

Card Recipe:
All Stamps by Stampscapes: buck, rocky peaks, reeds, babbling brook, pine row, boulders with lichen and water pattern sm. Sentiment from Sentiment Sheet #7
Inks used: Ranger (dye) Espresso, Pesto, Slate, Pool, Denim, Latte, Aqua, Pebble. Memories Art Print Brown
Other: Ranger Inkessential white gel pen, twine (from my Grandma's stash), Hero Silver Decor, Spellbinder Label 8

Merry Christmas to all!

A super quick card to share today. I demoed a Crafts Too You "sleigh" embossing folder for someone and she left the piece at the store so figured I'd make it into a card. I embossed a piece of white cardstock then carefully rubbed a Hero Arts Soft Pool ink pad over the entire piece it highlighted the raised areas nicely. I stamped a Hero Arts sentiment in Adirondack Denim ink. I added 3 Fiskar's snowflakes with Hero Arts gems in the middle to finish them off. I used my new Spellbinder Classic Scallop Edgeabilities for the bottom border. I used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder on my main cardstock.
Just a reminder Crafty Capers will be closed at noon today (Dec 24) and closed all day Dec 25 and 26. We will reopen Tuesday Dec 27 at 10 am and will be closing early Tuesday to Friday at 4 pm. Saturday Dec 31 we are open 10 am - 3 pm.
Thanks for stopping by!

Time for a Challenge!

Lesley from the blog Freshly Made Sketches popped by the store the other day and challenged/hassled me to participate in some of the challenges since this week has been a bit slower than usual I found a bit of time to participate! I LOVE how this card turned out and I got to color as well! I colored my flowers with my Tombow markers on watercolor paper then cut them out. I used matted them on rectangles of designer paper. I stamped the sentiment with Versafine Vintage Sepia ink in a shape in the Spellbinder Twisted Metal tags set. I stamped the main cardstock with a script stamp to jazz it up a bit. I finished the card with some Lemon Liquid Pearls.
Card Recipe:
Stamps: Script & Moments - Penny Black, Narcissus clear set - Stampendous
Coloring: Tombow markers 020, 062, 933, 946, N00 Blender on Strathcona watercolor paper
Paper: Kaisercraft, BoBunny & Bazzill
Other: Versafine Vintage Sepia, Spellbinder Twisted Metal tags, Lemon Liquid Pearls

Speedy Recovery

Just a quick card tonight I am happy with how the card turned out and it was easy peasy! I embossed a Hero Arts cling stamp "cars" twice on red cardstock with Ranger Seafoam white embossing powder. I used a label from the Spellbinder Twisted Tags set and stamped a Hero Arts sentiment. I thought the sentiment was perfect for the background! Luckily, I don't have anyone at the moment to give this card to but it will be ready to go when I do need a get well card.
Thanks everyone for stopping by.

Gift Card holder

Sorry for the lack of posts recently but with all the holiday hussle and bussle I have not had much time for crafting however I am happy to report my Christmas cards are all finally made and sent out!  Just a reminder that Crafty Capers last make and take of 2011 is tomorrow! Cost is $2.00 including taxes and runs 10:30 am - 1:00 pm. You will be making a Hero Arts Happy Birthday card. It's quick and easy a perfect 10 minute get away then you can get back to your busy schedules this week. Please bring your scissors and adhesive with you to the make and take. I have been busy working on gift card holders over the past few days since I have had NO gift inspiration for quite a few people on my list so gift cards it is!

This card measures 5" wide and 8 1/2" wide. I scored at 2 1/4" and then 5 1/2" I folded up the bottom and used one of my Scalloped Circle Spellbinder dies to cut a little finger hole and so people can see the card. I embossed the top flap with my Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder and added 2 Spellbinder circles to the front along with a partial circle to put the to/from stuff on. The patern paper is by Kaisercraft called Silly Season. The paper comes with a decorative strip along the bottom so I cut that off and used it to embellish the holder. I used some ancient Queen & Co "turnettes" to keep the card closed along with some old rhinestones for some extra bling. Thanks for stopping by!

Coloring on Glitter

Just a reminder the Crafty Capers Hero Arts 2012 Debut party is tomorrow! The party lasts all day however we will have a $2.00 card make and take tomorrow between 10:30 - 2:00 if you would like to participate please bring your adhesive and scissors with you. We will also have the new 2012 Hero Arts catalogue for you to view, new stamps and tasty treats! To make the party even better ALL Hero Arts products will be on sale 15% off tomorrow only! Whoo Hoo. For a sneak peak of some of the new stamps Hero Arts is having a blog hop tonight. I've just finished all the hopping and am feeling a bit cross eyed but there lots of great cards done with the new stamps!
My card tonight has nothing to do with Hero Arts but thought I would post it anyway. :) It's fairly simple but I am really happy with how it turned out. I began with a Peel Off sticker (black) which I put on a piece of Be Creative tape along with some Glitter Ritz Warm Highlight glitter then I colored on top of the glitter with my Sakura Glaze pens. I waited to make sure the Glaze pens had dried before I cut out the dove image. I learned that hard way that Glaze pens take a few minutes to dry on glitter when I smudged the red holly berries on another dove and ended up having to color the entire dove pink to correct my mistake! Everyone who saw it assured me no one would notice the smudge however I have never seen a pink dove in my life so that might be a bit of a giveaway or people will just assume I was drunk while coloring! I matted my doves with Kaisercraft designer paper "silly season". I embellished the designer paper with some of the black dots and border from the sheet of dove stickers. I added Glossy Accents to the holly part of the dove for some extra interest.
Thanks for stopping by and perhaps see some of you tomorrow at the party!

Flowery Thank You

A friend needed some thank you cards done up in a hurry so I volunteered - anything to get me out of doing my own Christmas cards! LOL
I wanted to keep the cards fairly simple and opted to use all Hero Arts stamps. I began the card by cutting out a Spellbinder Labels 8 shape out of glossy cardstock then I misted it with some Broken China Distress reinker mixed with water and Pearl Perfect Pearls. I used my Tombow markers directly on my flower stamp then misted with water and stamped onto my cardstock. I stamped my main cardstock with Hero Arts dictionary greetings using Old Paper Distress Ink. I stamped the sentiment, also from Hero Arts, with Memento Bamboo Leaves then cut it out using a shape from the Spellbinder Twisted Metal tags set. I added a bit of ribbon and a bow and the card was done.
Don't forget Crafty Capers will be debuting the new 2012 Hero Arts stamps beginning Saturday Dec 10. We will have a $2.00 make and take using some of the new stamps (please bring your own adhesive and scissors with you). We will be repeating the same make and take on Monday Dec 12 between 10:30 - 1:00 for those who can't make it on Saturday.
Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet Snowman

A quick card today. The main image (sweet snowman) is by Penny Black as is the sentiment (snowflakes). I colored the snowman with my Tombow markers on watercolor cardstock.
I cut him out and added regular and Distress Stickles. I mounted the snowman with foam mounting tape on a scrap of red cardstock which I had embossed with a Craft Concept embossing folder called Candy Cane. The snowflakes are part of a Sizzix/Hero Arts Stamp and die cut set. Ribbon by Offray and is 10+ years old. I hope to get rid of the roll of ribbon this Christmas.
Don't forget Big Hero Arts party next Saturday at Crafty Capers.
Thanks for stopping by!

Holly Folder

I think I have mentioned that I love the Hero Arts (stamps) and Sizzix sets. This card was done with the Holly stamp and emboss set by Hero Arts and Sizzix. Hero Arts makes a stamp (or stamps) and Sizzix makes a matching die or embossing folder, they come in 1 set so you know everything matches.
The background of this card was first stamped with Penny Black's script with Brillance pearlescent thyme ink then I inked the Hero Arts Holly stamp and stamped over the script. I embossed with the matching holly folder. I used my glue pen on the holly berries and applied Glitter Ritz Warm Highlight and voila my background was done! I stamped a Merry Christmas sentiment by In the Making with Brillance Rocket Red ink. I finished the card off with a Holly cut out done by my Slice machine, I added some Candy Cane Stickles to the holly and added a ribbon at the bottom.
This card is a case of ones found on Hero Arts.
Thanks for stopping by!

Must be Christmas!

It must be getting close to Christmas I'm listening to Christmas carols as I blog! I really love Faber Drive's Sing in Celebration song this year so beautiful although I have a bit of Brad Paisley mixed in my play list as well. Oh and can't forget the song I want a hippopotamus for Christmas. I'd rather have a (small) potbelly pig if truth be told! :) Anyway, onto the card. This is another ornament card I was playing with for my class today. I like how it turned out but it did not make the cut for class. Pretty simple card. The ornament is good 'ol Spellbinder Ornaments 2011 cut 3 times with Gold Leaf Stardream cardstock and embossed with a Craft Concepts embossing folder and embellished with Red Liquid Pearls. The holly paper is by Graphic 45 and I made the frame with a Spellbinder Big Scallop rectangle (love the big scallopes!). The Joy was cut out with my Slice machine and glittered with Fire Red Glitter Ritz (Microfine). I scored the ornaments in the middle and popped them on the edges as seen in the second picture for some extra dimension. Hope this provides you with inspiration.