Jennifer McGuire, ink.

Merry Christmas...

2009-12-24T22:14:20-05:00

... to you.

And Happy Birthday to my mom, my mother-in-law and sweet baby Jesus. I love you all more than you know.

Since you are all my dear to me, I wanted to share my family Christmas greeting with you...

Supplies: Incredible photos by Lisa Russo Photography, snowflake digi elements by Hero Arts, Hero Arts metallic decor, twine and a lot of time assembling.

I created the card in Photoshop and printed them at 5x7. I matted with cardstock, added a twine bow and metallic decor gems. For me, this didn't save time, as I am a slow mover. But I had fun doing them anyway.

Merry Christmas, everyone. I pray your day is filled with lots of joy.

Baby boys...

2009-12-23T21:52:56-05:00

Before sharing, I have a quick confession: I am extremely behind on email. Extremely. (Unread emails in my inbox? 1416. Yikes.) I will be catching up on them after the holidays when I am at my in-laws. But, in the meantime, if you need something, please email me again. Sorry and thanks! Oh, and I will be sharing more Cards for Kids prizes next week, too.

Thought I would pop in to share a quick couple of cards. I have two friends who recently had baby boys and I wanted to take a different spin on their baby cards with these cute whales. The background is Cuttlebugged, sanded and then I made some of the white resulting dots blue with a marker. Fun.

Supplies: Hero Arts greeting, Martha Stewart felt sticker, Cuttlebug, Hero Arts notecard and pearl, Copic Makers, corner rounder.

Off to make more cards. Will be back tomorrow with a holiday giveaway. Night!

2009-12-22T22:01:40-05:00

I am totally exhausted from making so many cards yesterday and today... but I wanted to stop by before heading up to bed. I have about 60 more cards to do tomorrow for gifts - oh my!

Anyway, I have a winner from the Blog Hop on Friday. The lucky one is Cariena Basson! I emailed ya. Thanks!

I thought I would share something quickly. This was a reject unused piece from a project I did a few weeks ago so I decided to turn it into a card for my hubby. The flower was fun to create. I first covered watercolor paper with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and then sprayed it with a Perfect Pearl and water mix. After drying, I punched a bunch of hearts from the paper and inked the edges. Finally, I assembled them into a flower... I so wish you could see the shine on it. The rub-on is a favorite of mine from Lily Bee.

Supplies: Tim Holtz Stamp, Lily Bee rub-on, Distress Inks, Perfect Pearl Perfect Pearls, Stampin' Up Punch, sewing machine

So... I hope you are all ready for the holidays. Anyone else done with their shopping but still have things to make? I love it, though... I gotta admit. What gets me every year: my mom and my mother-in-law both have birthdays on Christmas Eve. (Cool, huh?) And they are two I like to make gifts for... thus the many I have to do tomorrow. :)

Hugs.

Stamp, stamp and stamp some more.

2009-12-21T23:22:16-05:00

Hey, there.

I am in over my head with stamping right now. I am making an insane number of cards as teachers gifts... all have to be done and given tomorrow. Eek! But I gotta say - I love it.

So, I don't have much time to share right now, but will be back soon with lots. Sharing all the cards I made... my Christmas card... and more. Oh, and prizes. :)

In the mean time, be sure to check out the 2010 Hero Arts catalog. It is online now - you can flip through it HERE.

See you tomorrow... after I wrap up these cards. :)

Night!

Hero Arts Blog Hop + Video + Prize!

2009-12-18T10:12:01-05:00

I am so excited! It is the first Hero Arts blog hop, in celebration of our new 2010 catalog! I have a few things to share with you today, including a video and a prize. Talk about celebrating! (Oh, and if you want to do some spending, click HERE for all the stamps at 2Peas :)

First up, here is the video showing how to do Pearlized Stamping with new Hero Arts stamps, Distress Inks and Perfect Pearls. Lovin' this technique. Unfortunately, you have to see this card in real life to really capture the shine - photos just don't do it.

Supplies: Hero Arts Silhouette Grass (new), Antique Engravings (new), Essential Messages (new) and Friend Definition, Pearls and cards. Scattered Straw, Broken China, Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint Distress Inks. Perfect Pearls and Mini Mister. Tim Holtz Paper Distressed. Also silk ribbon and Creative Impressions twine. Craft Sheet from Ranger.

Next up, I did a super quick candle with this Silhouette Grass stamp. You can see on the bottom of it that I dropped it and put a dent in it. Nice, huh? So I will put it on a candle stand with some rocks around it. Quick and easy. Just stamp the image with Distress Ink on tissue paper (for wrapping) and lay on the side of a candle. Heat it gently with a heat gun and the tissue paper gets surrounded by wax and looks great.

Supplies: Hero Arts Silhouette Grass (new), Target Candle, Peeled Paint Distress Ink and tissue paper.

Next, I thought I would use this fun Row of Houses stamp to make a little onesie for a friend who is having a little boy soon. Keep in mind - Colin helped me stamp the houses, so they are a bit smudgy, but the gift is from him so I wanted him to make it. :) So fast and easy!

Supplies: Hero Arts Row of Houses (new) and alphabet. Staz-On ink (for letters). Versacraft Ink (for houses).

Next up, I just had to use the gorgeous butterflies from the Antique Engravings set. I am in love! These butterflies will be part of a set of cards I am making as a Christmas gift for my mother-in-law. (I told her not to visit here for a few days so she doesn't see them.) I haven't decided what the cards will look like, but I went ahead and colored and cut out a bunch for now. I will share the completed cards when they are done. Aren't these delicious? I just stamped a ton on paper and colored in very sloppily and quickly with Copics. Yummmm...

Supplies: Hero Arts Antique Engravings butterflies (new) and Copic Markers. And a good movie to keep me entertained during coloring and cutting. Four Christmases - it is a good one!

I can't tell you how excited I am about all these new products. Can't wait to show you them all!

In the meantime, as a thank you for joining us in this blog hop, I have a $35 gift certificate to 2Peas to give away... so that you can buy some new Hero Arts stamps. Woohoo!

For a chance to win, just leave me a comment on this post telling me what your favorite new 2010 stamp is from the hop today. Do so by 11:50pmEDT on Sunday when I will pick a winner of the gift certificate.

NEXT UP ON THE HOP... I have the honor of linking to the fabulously fabulous Deborah Nolan. I highly recommend bookmarking her blog. Not only is she talented, but she is incredibly funny.

So... click HERE to continue on our hop!

(Oh, and if you are new to my blog, please check out the Cards for Kids Card Drive HERE. You may be interested in participating. Thanks!)

Tomorrow's the big day!

2009-12-17T21:45:01-05:00

Tomorrow is an exciting day for my Hero Arts family. We launch our new catalog! We work so hard on this - projects, class development, ideas and keeping it secret - such hard work. But we love it... and love sharing it with you all.

So, tomorrow, we have our first blog hop... and it is going to be big. Lots of great artists, guests and prizes. I hope you can join. Just watch HERE tomorrow for information.

I have to go put together my post for the hop, so I am wrapping this up. See you tomorrow...

The new Creating Keepsakes

2009-12-15T22:24:00-05:00

Hello!

I know people were a bit uneasy/sad/unsure about some of the changes happening in the new year with Creating Keepsakes magazine. I, too, will miss Ali and Becky's columns. However, CK has many other great things up their sleeves that I think will be wonderful. January's issue just arrived here and I love it. I love seeing goodies from Maggie Holmes and other rockin' artists. Really - very inspiring. If you don't get the magazine, be sure to check it out when you go to the grocery store or book store. It has great stuff.

Here is one of my projects from the issue. My article is still there and now has step photos for some of the projects. I like that. This layout shows making a dimensional border with punches...

(c) Creating Keepsakes. Photos by Lisa Russo.

This shows creating patterns with score lines on punched shapes...

(c) Creating Keepsakes.

Next... some fun links for today:

Fabulous card HERE by Mariana - one of my new favorite stampers.
Check THIS out. Sweet Elisa Ingram shared some fun photos from her church group making cards for Kate. What a great way to get kids to send cards to kids. So giving. Thanks, Elisa.
AMAZING cookie idea HERE by Erin Lincoln. I am so doing this for Colin's school holiday program next week!!
Sweet Kristina has an adorable blog. She can now help people with making over their blog. Check out her post on 11/29. She also has a lot of fun crafting inspiration often.
Sweet Kathy was the one who told me about Eric, the boy from our last card drive that passed away in October. On her blog HERE, she shares about the great impact the cards had on their family. Wow. Thank you, Kathy.

Off to blog surf. More tomorrow! Night. :)

Blogging...

2009-12-14T22:51:34-05:00

Hey there!

Quickly - if you are a Cards for Kids person, please scroll down to the end of this post.

So... I am the host over on the Hero Arts blog this week. I am doing some ideas for "cards that give" - cards that hold or incorporate gifts such as cash, gift cards, etc. Be sure to click HERE to see today's post. This is very similar to the card I posted over there... I taught this one at a class here in town.

Click HERE for supplies and how-to.

A quick update on the Cards for Kids card drive. I have done a lot of thinking about this and decided to extend the prize sessions from one month to two. There are many reasons. First, the holidays. I know we are all busy. Second, pulling the prizes together takes a ton of time - time I would love to spend making cards for the kids instead. So. Here is the thing: The prizes I am announcing will be given on 1/31. So anyone who sends in cards by then is eligible. And for those of you who rushed to get cards to me this month, I am sorry. However! This gives you more time to make more and get them in. I hope you all understand, and that this will result in more cards for these kids. So - in summary - the first set of prizes will now be given on 1/31 instead of 12/31. Thanks!

Next, two of our kids could use our prayers. First, Kate starts her 5th round of chemo tonight - a really tough round. Please keep her in your thoughts. (Click HERE for more info.) Also, sweet Sami has hit a pretty scary bump in the road. I pray she gets home quickly.

OK... off to get some more work done. Night!

Quick Post

2009-12-12T23:00:37-05:00

Hi! Just got home from a Cincinnati Pops concert. The African Childrens Choir sang. Wow. That is all I can say. Wow.

Wanted to post quickly to ask anyone who sent in cards for the last card drive - please click HERE. There are a few winners we need to contact. Thanks!

I will be back with more tomorrow. Night.

More Cards for Kids Prizes... and links...

2009-12-11T22:08:12-05:00

Hi!

Boy, it felt good to open my PO box and have lots of packages of cards falling out. Thank you! Love that so many people took the special effort and time to make cards for each child. You rock. (Oh, and someone sent some amazing handdrawn cards from Illinois, but I missed your name. Can you email me so I can give you credit? Thanks!) We will start a list of who we have received cards from soon.

Next up, I thought I would tell you about one of our kids for the Cards for Kids card drive - Meg.

Meg is a 4-yr-old darling battling Leukemia. At age 3, she was diagnosed with high-risk Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia. She is currently doing well, but still has to be cautious due to her diminished infection-fighting ability. She still has two years of treatment left and is currently taking oral chemotherapy. On November 23, 2009, she will go in for a lumbar chemotherapy procedure. She has such a sweet spirit and doesn't complain about all the procedures she has to endure. Her parents draw their strength from her and from their faith. Meg loves to dress up like a princess and when she wears her princess dresses and high heels to Cook Children’s Hospital, she’s pretty much known as Princess Meg, said her mom, Sheri. Meg is proud of the fact that she has "no peeps" (as in, she doesn't utter a peep!) when she gets her shots. Her sister, Jenna, is 7 years old and is a wonderful sister to Meg, playing dress-up and "pajama party" with Meg when she has to stay inside. They are a wonderful, loving family who strive every day to keep a smile on their faces and hope in their hearts!

The family includes:

Meg, age 4.
Sister - Jenna, age 7.
Dad - Steve.
Mom - Sheri.

You can find out more and get updates about Meg HERE.

And, for sending cards in for Meg and her family, you may win...

What a fab prize. First, we have lots of great tools from Tim Holtz. I highly recommend all of these, especially the craft knife and scissors. Great tools. Next, we have a $25 gift certificate to Hero Arts! This was donated by the fabulous Sue Czosek (aka Stampersuzz). She won the prize over at the Hero Arts blog for an amazing project she did. She then asked that her prize be donated to this drive. Isn't she the best!? (Thanks, Sue.)

Oh, and a HUGE thank you to Making Memories. They mentioned the card drive on their blog, Twitter and Facebook. They had approached me to ask if they could, and of course, I said yes. I so appreciate that and totally love MM even more for helping to spread the word. Thank you!

Here are some links for you...

Great sneak peeks are happening over on Hero Arts Blog this week. Giveaways, too.
A few weeks ago, I was looking for a microwave-safe, dishwasher-safe, BPA-free travel coffee mug. I found one! HERE it is. LOVE it. Now I am free of plastic bottles, disposable coffee cups, etc. Woohoo!
There have been some great hybrid cards this week over on Caardvarks. Be sure to check it out.
Wonderful holiday ideas and a great giveaway over on the fabulous blog of Loni Stevens HERE.
I love Lucy... always. :)
My oh my. 19? Sigh. But praying little Josie grows big and strong.

Hey - if you are close to Cincinnati, you must come to the Hero Arts Catalog Debut Party over at Stamp Your Art Out. I will be doing an exclusive free make and take from 10:30am-12:30pm on December 19. If you plan to come, please call the store at 513.703.4558 so we know how many to kit for. Hope to see you there! Oh, and if you aren't close to Cincinnati but want to be part of a fun Hero Arts Catalog Debut Party (they are SUCH fun), click HERE to find one near you.

Off to do some mindless web surfing. (Yes, it is Friday night. I am a loser - ha. My brother and Ken are hanging out, so it is computer time for me. Night!