Thursday, March 19, 2009

A gaggle of Springtime Cards!

Hero Arts Blog (http://www.heroarts.com/) is running a challenge this week to make a Spring or Easter project, and since I am anxiously awaiting Spring to get here and stay (that's the difficult part in our neck of the woods!), I couldn't help but make a few projects for the challenge.

But first, who said stamps can only be used for "fun" projects? My hubby needed a dry erase board to keep track of sales of a certain thing at his work, and I quickly volunteered to help him. So, after drawing all the lines, I grabbed my Inkadinkado "Be Yourself" alphabet set and some Staz-On black ink and went to work...and here's the finished project:





Isn't it cool?!?!?! I loved being able to help him with something for work and be able to use my stamps!

Now, onto my Spring projects. The first card I made with a sticker that my mom got me for Christmas. I used Icicle Stickles to accent the flower petals. I am in love with scalloped borders right now...and I just love to add a little bling to the scallops! The circle is stamped with one of the little flowers from the Hero Arts Elephant set, and the edges are inked (of course) with some purple chalk ink.




Stamps: Hero Arts Elephant Set (CL280)
Ink: ColorBox Chalk Ink Lavendar
Ribbon: Offray
Sticker: Penny Black
Other: Clear Rhinestones, Icicle Stickles

The next (Z-Fold) card was inspired by Cherry Blossom trees...which are super springy to me! To make my own version of the cherry blossoms, I tore a page out of an old book (one I've been using for projects just like this) and dabbed some lime chalk ink on it. Then I punched out the flowers with the Martha Stewart Cosmos Punch. I stamped the flower border, attached the little rectangle piece onto the Z Fold, and then glued down the flowers. To make the Japanese Doll's adorable little dress, I used some Basic Grey and did some paper piecing. I also used some waterfall Stickles on her belt.



Stamps: Hero Arts Japanese Dolls (CL297)
Ink: VersaFine Jet Black
Other: Basic Grey patterned paper, flower bling, Martha Stewart Cosmos Punch, clear rhinestones, and ribbon

My favorite card of these three is this next one...I just love the springtime feel! I want to go sit under the tree (it's not often that I fall in love with one of my cards, so I am enjoying the feeling!)



To make the tree, I took some cardboard and peeled the top layer off so the middle was exposed, then I dabbed a little Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink on it to give it depth. On the leafy part, I used the water splash from the elephants set, stamped the Happy Happy Day and the bird from a Hero Arts set I got a while ago (I can't remember which one! I'm sorry!).

I attached it to the circle that I made with BasicGrey patterned paper for grass and made some clouds using a masking technique. I put some Basic Grey paper behind the circle, glued it all down, added the stitches (doodled), and topped it off with a butterfly made from the Hero Arts Woodland Creatures set and some BasicGrey paper, a few rhinestones on the butterfly wings, and some Icicle Stickles on the background paper and on the cute little birdie's wings!

Stamps: Hero Arts Tweet, Tweet; Woodland Creatures (CL261) and Elephants (CL280)
Ink: VersaFine Jet Black, ColorBox Chalk Ink Olive Pastel, Blue Lagoon, VersaMagic Aegean Blue
Paper: BasicGrey
Other: Icicle Stickles, Pink Rhinestones

And, last but not least, my favorite project of all of these...my springtime checkbook cover!!!



A while back, I picked up some clear checkbook covers at a stamp store with my mom (which I found out today, sadly, that said stamp store is closed.) I almost forgot about them, then thought I lost them in our most recent move, but I was thrilled when I found them. And this Hero Arts Challenge motivated me to make a Springtime cover.

I used the same masking technique on this as I did the previous card, but this time I used glossy paper so I could blend it a little better. Then I used the tree stamp from the Hero Arts Elephant set to make those little shrubs, stamped a few flowers on the shrubs, and glued them down. I followed that with some BasicGrey grass :) and glue it down. I doodled the stitches in on the clouds, shrubs, and grass, and accented the shrubs with some Gelly Roll Shimmer pen. Next, I stamped that adorable racoon onto 3 pieces of paper: white, BasicGrey Urban Prairie Bluebird, and Basic Grey Urban Prairie Harvest. I cut the tail pieces out of the Harvest paper, and his little mask out of the Bluebird paper and glued them on. Then I colored him with a Close to my Heart Sorbet marker, and topped him off with a little bitty brown diamond nose. :) I put a flower bouqet in his hands, and voila! Super adorable springtime checkbook cover!
Stamps: Hero Arts Woodland Creatures (CL261) and Elephants (CL280)
Ink: VersaFine Jet Black, ColorBox Chalk Inks Blue Lagoon, Lipstick Red, Lime Pastel, Orchid Pastel, and Olive pastel, VersaMagic Aegean Blue
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey Urban Prairie Bluebird, Harvest, and Corn Husk

Thanks for looking at all these and have a great day!!!! Spring starts tomorrow!!!!!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome! I love your creativity.

bethchien said...

awesome cards girl and such a cute checkbook cover! :D
B

Anne said...

Hi, Amanda! I love the checkbook cover! What a super creative idea! And so cheerful and fun, too! :-)

Susan (peebsmama) said...

WOW! You were sure busy. What a fun idea to make a dry erase board and show your hubby how versatile your stamping is.

I like all your cards, but my fave is the tree scene. How very clever to use the corrugation of cardboard for the tree trunk. What great texture. And what fun your checkbook cover is. And you will get to enjoy it everytime you pay for something.

Great work!

Anne said...

Hi, Amanda! I've nominated you for an award on my blog. Click through my name to see it! :-)

Fika said...

Hello.. i really love your check book cover.. totally creative!!