We have family visiting, so I only have time for a quick description. Luckily I have been able to squeeze in a little bit of crafting time!

F5158 Heart Winged Butterfly (stamped with glue and added Variegated Gold Leaf)
S5213 Dots and Flowers (Gold Embossing Powder)
Gold Paper (Cuttlebug)
Gold Ribbon

We have family visiting, so I only have time for a quick description. Luckily I have been able to squeeze in a little bit of crafting time!

K5133 Swirl With Flowers
Alcohol Inks
Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch
Black Pearls
Black Ribbon

Created for the Hero Arts tags challenge.

The tulips background paper is from the new Hero Arts "Sketch Tulips" DigiKit. I printed it out, cut it into a oval, and added clear glitter pen. The green tag is from a Sizzix die.

S5101 Raindrop Background (white embossed)
Hero Arts button

Created a "manly" thank you card for the Hero Arts tags challenge and Thinking Inking. I painted the fabric remnant with blue acrylic paint then white embossed the sentiment. I added eyelets to create the tag and added twine.

S5208 Designer Woodgrain
CL184 ClearDesign: Thoughtful Messages

Created for the Hero Arts tags challenge and Thinking Inking.

I stamped the H4918 Windy Tree image on a piece of tissue paper with black archival ink (Ranger).

I painted the fabric remnant with blue acrylic paint, then put the tissue paper on top and added more paint. After drying, I sewed around the edges and added color to the image with markers and glitter pens.

The friend background paper is from the new Hero Arts "Friendship Definition" DigiKit. I printed it out really big and aged it with Tea Dye distress ink. I added the paper and fabric to the kraft card, distressed the edges, punched a hole and added ribbon for the tie. The "many thanks" sentiment is also Hero Arts, but I don't have the number handy.

I need more practice on the tissue paper and sewing, but at least Jennifer's class inspired me to break out two things that don't get much use -- my acrylic paints and my sewing machine!

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts tags challenge and Thinking Inking.

I stamped the K4887 CardArt Thanks Phrase image on a fabric remnant with StazOn. I added color to the image with colored pencils then I went over the fabric with Antique Linen distress ink. I added the fabric to the kraft card, distressed the edges, and added raffia for the tie.

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts tags challenge and Thinking Inking.

I stamped the K4952 Sketchbook Flowers image on a fabric remnant with StazOn. I mixed pink acrylic paint with water and painted the entire piece, then I added color to the image with markers (came out a little brighter than I would have liked). Then I went over the fabric and the pink scalloped base with Antique Linen distress ink and added raffia for the tie.

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts monochomatic challenge with the two prizes I received for my honorable mention on the vacation challenge:

K5126 Around the World
CH167 Art Flowers Vintage Collage

I added a Hero Arts button and some twine to the gorgeous collage flower. Thanks again, Hero Arts! I love them!

Created for the Hero Arts monochomatic challenge and Thinking Inking.

D5005 Baby Tee (a freebie from Hero Arts!)
CL332 Friendship (sentiment)
Stickles: Cotton Candy, Worn Lipstick
Lace Ribbon
Hero Arts Gemstones (pink)
Martha Stewart Polka Dot Paper

Thanks for looking!

Created a simple card using a green paint chip for the Hero Arts monochomatic challenge.

S5025 DesignBlock Flowers
Green Glitter Pens
Gingham Ribbon
Hero Arts Felt Flower and Gemstone

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts monochomatic challenge and Thinking Inking.

D5005 Baby Tee (a freebie from Hero Arts!)
Stickles: Frosted Lace, Cotton Candy, Worn Lipstick
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Hero Arts Shadow Ink (Soft Blossom)
Pink Gingham Ribbon (knotted)

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts monochomatic challenge and Thinking Inking.

D5005 Baby Tee (a freebie from Hero Arts!)
Stickles: Frosted Lace, Baby Blue, Broken China
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Blue Gingham Ribbon (knotted)

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts monochomatic challenge.

CL280 Elephants (on gray paper)
Bazill Basics Paper Magnetic Mini Frame
Lace Ribbon
Hero Arts gemstones

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts monochomatic challenge.

CL338 One of a Kind (green ink)
Bazill Basics Paper Magnetic Mini Frame
Green glitter pen

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts monochomatic challenge.

K5192 Dots (white embossed)
Bazill Basics Paper Magnetic Mini Frame
Prima Flowers
Hero Arts gemstones

Thanks for looking!

Created 12 x 12" scrapbook page for the Hero Arts monochomatic challenge.

Dusty loves to come in my craft room and make mischief. Here he is sitting in my basket of ribbons. Isn't he handsome, though?

CL135 ClearDesign: I Love My Cat
CL183 Sparkle Clear: Cute Letters

Thanks for looking!

Beverly is feeling generous at her Little Shop of Crafts blog! Go leave a comment for a chance to win some great blog candy!

More fun blog candy from Melissa at her Creating from the Heart blog! Happy blogosphere Anniversary, Melissa!

Created 12 x 12" scrapbook page for the Hero Arts monochomatic challenge.

I toyed with the idea of putting Penny in black and white, but I really wanted to include her cute pink collar, pink nose, and pink ears! I think she can count as a neutral. Do you agree?

The frames are handstitched with two different pink craft threads. The papers are stamped with Hero Arts stamps and white embossed. The middle square is plain but embellished with a pink gingham bow.

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts blog monochromatic challenge.

A simple card using a purple paint chip sample. I stamped the Outline Flowers then added lots of bling with Hero Arts buttons, felt flowers, and gemstones.

The paint chip was courtesy of Lowe's.

Created for the Hero Arts blog monochromatic challenge.

Simple card. The white label shape is cut from Cricut Accent Essentials. I used crackle paint on the dark green butterflies (Martha Stewart punch).

Created for the Hero Arts blog monochromatic challenge. A simple card using a blue paint chip sample. I stamped the DesignBlock Silhouette with Versamark Dazzle Champagne (it shows up better in person). I added the sentiment and a Hero Arts felt flower and gemstone.

This is my last entry for the Hero Arts website challenge. What a fun week!

Jennifer McGuire's great "Playful Buddies" page at: http://www.heroarts.com/cardmaking/cardIdea.cfm?cardID=3852 inspired me to take a raw picture frame from Michael's ($1.99, I think) and dress it up with paper and fun Hero Arts stamped images!

Penny (left) and Dusty (right) are best friends and my two favorite critters. This photo shows them sitting on our dining room chair looking out the window at birds. This is one of their favorite pasttimes!

The birds, kitties and letters are embellished with glitter pens and cut out. The birds and letters are attached with pop dots for dimension. The kitties are just attached with glue dots. The birds also have fun google eyes (self-adhesive which I love).

I promised my husband I would make him something pretty since he drove me around town yesterday in my quest to find more glossy paper for alcohol inks. Side note to stores: If you are going to sell alcohol inks, please sell the glossy paper to use with them!

Thanks for looking!

This card is inspired by Laura Griffin's cute card at: www.heroarts.com/cardmaking/cardIdea.cfm?cardID=3994&.... I liked her Cuttlebug Swiss Dots background, how she added the ribbon, and the flower and pearl.

I used one of my alcohol inked backgrounds and ran it through my Cuttlebug. The white ribbon and Hero Arts flowers were sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists in Black Cherry and Sea Glass. The butterfly with ferns is stamped on acetate and then backed in a pearly vellum so the background just peeks through.

This card is inspired by Jennifer McGuire's lovely "Vintage Tree" card at:
heroarts.com/cardmaking/cardIdea.cfm?cardID=1532&catID=3

I have always loved that card. I made a colorful version since I now have a ton of alcohol ink backgrounds from Thinking Inking. I also swapped Jennifer's buttons for Hero Arts flowers and black pearls. I used colored pencils to get the stamped tree to match my background and I used a page from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

Just sharing for those of you who are playing along with alcohol inks this week for Thinking Inking. These are Tim Holtz Fragments that I alcohol inked and then backed with leftover packaging!

One is from a package of newly aquired Ranger Alcohol inks (left) and one is from a Hero Arts Sparkle Clear set. The sentiment in the middle is from the Hero Arts Special Edition: Just a Note Bird set.

I thought these mini note cards would make a great little gift for a crafty friend, if I can bear to part with them.

Just sharing for those of you who are playing along with alcohol inks this week for Thinking Inking. These are Tim Holtz Fragments that I alcohol inked and then backed with the Hero Arts Manuscript Background. I really like how these turned out but I haven't decided how to use them yet!

Just sharing for those of you who are playing along with alcohol inks this week for Thinking Inking. This was a clear vase that cost $1.49. I dressed it up a little with alcohol inks -- Denim and Bottle. This could be a cute and cheap gift to go along with a special Hero Arts card! The flowers are courtesy of my darling husband who brought a bouquet home from the store today.

Just sharing for those of you who are playing along with alcohol inks this week for Thinking Inking. This was a clear votive glass that cost $0.99. I dressed it up a little with alcohol inks -- Denim, Bottle, and Terra Cotta). Some of the felt fibers came off and got stuck to the glass, but overall it is a fun idea to dress up a cheap item.

I checked the Hero Arts Blog this morning as usual (always my first stop). Imagine my surprise when I saw MY card listed as an Honorable Mention for the Vacation Challenge!

Thanks so much, Hero Arts! Here's what they said about my vacation card:

With so many wonderful creations, we also wanted to hand out some Honorable Mentions.

The first one goes to dustypenny (aka Joy) for her wonderful “postcard” type card. This would be great to send back to your friends while vacationing. Love the simple elegance.

I also want to thank all the wonderfully talented and kind people on the Hero Arts Flickr Group! I'm so glad I found you!

BIG congrats to all the other winners, too! I'm honored to be in your company.

You made my day, Hero Arts! Thanks again!

Created for the Hero Arts Blog website challenge.

This simple card is inspired by Jennifer McGuire's Thinking Inking class at www.twopeasinabucket.com and loosely based on all the lovely butterfly cards on www.heroarts.com (too many to list!).

It is hard to tell in the photo, but I bent the butterly wings up for dimension. I just love how the manuscript stamp looks stamped on the alcohol ink backgrounds. The punch is Martha Stewart.

The alcohol inks I used are from the Tim Holtz Adirondak "Nature Walk" and "Cottage Path" collections. Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts Blog website challenge.

This card is inspired by Jennifer McGuire's Thinking Inking class at www.twopeasinabucket.com (love it!) and loosely based on the lovely "Silhouette Flowers" card by Shari Carrol at heroarts.com/cardmaking/cardIdea.cfm?cardID=3270.

I did the background with alcohol inks (first time ever!) and like Shari, stamped the DesignBlock on acetate with black StazOn.

The alcohol inks I used are from the Tim Holtz Adirondak "Nature Walk" and "Cottage Path" collections. Lots of fun!

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts Blog website challenge.

This tag is inspired by Sally Traidman's lovely "Together"; tag at:
heroarts.com/cardmaking/cardIdea.cfm?cardID=3855&catID=5

I just love how Sally colored her stamped image with colored pencils. I did my best to recreate the look with the "celebrate today" butterfly stamp.

Thanks for looking!

Can't wait to see the new and improved Hero Arts website tomorrow! Hmm, if I stay up late enough maybe I can see it sooner!?!?

Created for the Hero Arts Blog website challenge.

This card is inspired by Jennifer McGuire's perfect "Chalked Bird & Branches" card at:
heroarts.com/cardmaking/cardIdea.cfm?cardID=3935&catID=3

Jennifer is just pure genius. I love every single card and page she creates. I would love to be able to attend one of her classes in Cincinnati! It would be well worth the drive from Indianapolis!

Check out Jennifer's Thinking Inking Class at http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ and blog at http://jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/my_weblog/!

Created for the Hero Arts Blog website challenge.

This card is inspired by the "Stunning Snowflakes" card by Jacki Jones at:
heroarts.com/cardmaking/cardIdea.cfm?cardID=3639&catID=7

This card did not want to cooperate with me! It seems like everything that could go wrong did go wrong. I think it eventually turned out ok, though.

I wanted to make a summer version of Jacki's winter card so I used flowers. They are stamped with two colors of ink, one is a purple and one is a purple shimmer. The ribbon is purple and green even though it looks kind of blue in the photo.

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts Blog website challenge.

This card is inspired by Kelly Rasmussen's lovely "Cute Girl" card at:
heroarts.com/cardmaking/cardIdea.cfm?cardID=4071&catID=6

I really liked her pink background and white embossed circles on kraft. I decided to mix it up a bit and made mine pink and green with embossed flowers.

The Hero Arts gemstones don't show up great in my photo, but they are pink and green. The button is Hero Arts. The pink gingham bow is Martha Stewart and I love that it is already tied for me and ready to go.

Kelly's card had string and a bow at the top. I added pink sting to the top and bottom of my card. I secured it on the inside with tape then used a glue pen to get it to stay in place on the front.

Thanks for looking!

Created for the Hero Arts Blog website challenge.

Inspired by Shari Carroll's beautiful Cutout Flower at: http://heroarts.com/cardmaking/cardIdea.cfm?cardID=3880&catID=4

I added white gel pen dots instead of machine stitching.

Created for the Hero Arts Blog website challenge.

Inspired by Shari Carroll's beautiful Flower Collage at: http://heroarts.com/cardmaking/cardIdea.cfm?cardID=3936&catID=2

I cut the green flourish with my Cricut and added Hero Arts buttons to the flowers.

Created for the Hero Arts Blog vacation challenge.

This photo is from a "staycation" rather than a vacation. It was taken at the Indianapolis Zoo. I colored the Hero Arts giraffe with colored pencils and cut it out. I added a Hero Arts heart gemstone to go with the sentiment.

Created for the Hero Arts Blog vacation challenge.

I am so glad that I saved the actual visitor's guide and entry ticket (love the date stamp on it) from our visit to the North Carolina Zoo last year. I love how the elephant in the photo is spraying water, so I made the Hero Arts elephant do the same thing!

Created for the Hero Arts Blog vacation challenge.

I used the Archiver's Fun in the Sun set for most of this page, including the flip-flops, sunglasses, sentiments, etc. The "remember this" circle is from the Clear Design Travel Journal set. I added the handstitched "waves" at the bottom of the page with variegated blue craft thread.

Unfortunately I had to sit out on this snorkeling adventure because of a foot injury. However, I was still thrilled to be at Castway Cay for our 10th wedding anniversary. It is just beautiful!

Created for the Hero Arts Blog vacation challenge.

These are a couple of our photos from our visit to the Grand Canyon.

I used the Archiver's Take A Trip set for "my Journey". I stamped the Clear Design Travel Journal sentiments repeatedly to make my own background paper, then added some handstitching to break it up a bit.

If you look very closely (and if you can read my writing) I wrote No. "715" on the Going Places tag as a tribute to the new Hero Arts website coming on 7/15. I can't wait to see it!

I was inspired to use the Misty Flower N Dot Pattern stamp by Jacqueline’s beautiful cards at: www.flickr.com/photos/25616484@N08/3708878459/ and www.flickr.com/photos/25616484@N08/3646046467/

I stamped the image with Hero Arts Soft Lilac Shadow Ink then cut it out. Then I distressed the edges with scissors and Distress Ink in Antique Linen. I did the same on a lilac frame. I also cut a piece of lilac gingham paper and used a border punch on it to mimic the border on Jacqueline’s first card above.

I embellished the stamped image with a flower (touched with same ink), button, and purple gemstones (all items from Hero Arts). The butterflies are from the Martha Stewart punch.

I saw the tied ribbon idea in a Stampin’ Up catalog that my sister-in-law sent me. Hero Arts stamps are my favorite, though!

A piece of trivia for you -- the text is a page from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain.

Created for the Hero Arts Blog vacation challenge.

This is a photo of me and my husband in Hollywood. We were on a Starline Tour and the bus driver snapped this photo of us with our camera.

I used the Manuscript Background and the Going Places globe is from an Archiver's set called Take a Trip. The papers are Little Yellow Bicycle's Traveler collection leftovers from the Archiver's Bon Voyage Travel Album Workshop.

Created for the Hero Arts Blog vacation challenge.

This is beautiful origami paper made in Japan. It has a very luxurious look and feel (including gold accents) and I wanted it to be the star of these cards.

I used the Sparkle Clear Arigato set for the doll / sentiment on the green and pink cards and the Japanese lanterns on the blue card. I added Hero Arts gemstones to the lanterns after carefully cutting them out. Then I strung them up with a piece of gold elastic to match the paper. The sentiment is from Clear Design Travel Journal.

I took the Bon Voyage Travel Album Workshop at Archiver's today. We decorated a 6x12" chipboard album (with an acrylic cover) using Little Yellow Bicycle's Traveler collection. The papers and embellishments have a cool vintage travel flair. They include US maps and license plates, travel sentiments, and more.

We had to do a lot of cutting and trimming, but the end result is a pretty cool travel album for only $20. Plus we had tons of stickers and a good amount of paper leftover for other projects.

The great thing about Archiver's classes is that you get to use their tools, adhesives, etc. and someone is there to answer any questions that come up. There is also no mess to clean up at home.

The best part is you leave with an almost finished project! Now I just have to add photos and I think I might ink the edges of the album while I'm at it. This will be a great album for a trip we took a couple years ago to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

If you have an Archiver's near you, be sure to check out their classes!

For Thinking Inking.