I made this Shabby Chic card for the Hero Arts Blog Friendship and Valentine's Challenge challenge:

CG119 Flourish Background
CG125 Friend Definition
AF147 Soft Blossom Ink Pad

The 3d flower is a Silhouette die cut that gets rolled up to form the flower. Mine came out kind of wonky, so I asked hubby to try one and it was much better. Thanks, Stephen. Love you. My Mom gave me the leaves. Thanks, Mom. Love you, too.

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

One more quick post. I can't believe how fast tonight went!

I made this Butterfly card for the Hero Arts Blog Friendship and Valentine's Challenge challenge and the Caardvarks Red Heart challenge. The famous Hero Arts heart winged butterfly stamp is also available as a Silhouette die cut - so cool! I handstitched the black border.



CG119 Flourish Background
CG125 Friend Definition
K5153 Heart Flourish
Silhouette butterfly_heart_winged_C20091115193057_23067

I also made a set of ATCs for the Amore-themed swap at Wishful Thinking. The background is a Tim Holtz stamp and the couple is another Silhouette die cut.



And I saved my favorite picture with Dusty for last:



Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

This lovely card from Nancy in CA arrived in my mailbox today for Deborah's January Card Chain Challenge!

There is so much I love about this card: the vintage girl image, the white Hero Arts CG146 Flowing Flowers And Leaves stamped image on kraft (on the outside and the inside plus the envelope), the luxurious brown embossed velvet, the shiny Hero Arts collage flower, the buttons.

And if all that was not enough, the delicate pink heart border (on the outside and the inside) and the white lace add so much to the card. Thanks so much, Nancy!



Here is the card I sent to Judy, which arrived in AL today:



CG119 Flourish Background
CG125 Friend Definition


Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

Hooray, it is finally the weekend! Are you as glad as I am? Whew.

A few days ago I promised to tell you where I had been... well, I was busy making all the cards below at my first ever scrapbook / stamp retreat! I sure hope my Hero Arts Flickr friends are sitting down, because someone very near and dear to our hearts was there as a guest, too! Are you guessing? More on that in a moment...

Here are some of the cards I made while I was gone; I will try to add more details later but there is currently a line for this computer. Many of these cards will be going to the Cards for Kids Card Drive (a possible clue?). I sure hope you will send in some cards as well. I heard there is a need for more boy cards, so please keep that in mind.







Ok, I guess that is enough suspense. It was the lovely, talented, and generous Jennifer McGuire! She was busy making projects for the Craft & Hobby Association show. During the weekend Jennifer told some funny (odd?) stories from her former life as an engineer. I also met other sweet and talented ladies there including Jana and Sandi. Jana posted a few pictures on one of her blogs here (if you look closely you can see the back of my head -- lovely), here, and here (my favorite, but I wasn't there in time for that!).

Fun weekend. I packed WAY too much stuff and I don't think I will ever outgrow feeling like a shy (reserved?) little kid in social situations, but I am so glad I went. I was also very glad to come home to my hubby and two kitties on Sunday. :)

In other news, I was the lucky winner of Anne's Horder's Challenge! Anne is sending me a perfectly distressed ATC and generously donating $25 in my name to Doctors Without Borders, USA to benefit Haiti. Thanks so much, Anne!

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

P.S. Have a wonderful weekend!

I hope to blog lots of cards later this week and tell you where I've been the last few days. But first, here is a set of ATCs I made for the Hero Arts Blog Friendship and Valentine's Challenge and for the It's Raining Men ATC Swap on ATCsforAll:



Here is a close-up:



CG125 Friend Definition
CL276 ClearDesign: So Sweet
Vintage Photo courtesy of Lynn (Thanks, Lynn!)

And, of course, here is Dusty checking my work:



Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

Just a quick post tonight. Hubby is forcing me to watch American Idol again. Not too keen on it, but it is on so much maybe I can finally play Pogo again and catch up with my blogging friends on my Google Reader! Mom, if you are reading this -- Hi!

I made this set of ATCs for the Hero Arts Blog Friendship and Valentine's Challenge and for the Ice Cream ATC Swap on ATCsforAll:



The sentiment is clear embossed on white paper. The background is Fired Brick Distress Ink plus Pearl Glimmer Mist. It is very shiny in person. The ice cream sundae is colored with a mix of colored pencils and markers, then the glass dish was covered with Glossy Accents to add some shine.

Here is a close-up:



CL331 Birthday
CL217 Sparkle Clear: Sweet Moments (sorry, couldn't find a link on the Hero Arts site)

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

I made this set of ATCs for the Hero Arts Blog Friendship and Valentine's Challenge and for the Monkey Business ATC Swap on ATCsforAll:



The stamped Hero Arts images were colored with Copic Markers. I am still trying to figure out blending and shading, but I think I am slowly getting better. The coffee cup (shortened to fit in my space) and the sweet treat were stamped on kraft and cut out. I added a little glitter pen on them for some shine.

Here is a close-up:



CL187 Sparkle Clear: Coffee
CL217 Sparkle Clear: Sweet Moments (sorry, couldn't find a link on the Hero Arts site)
CL155 ClearDesign: Playful Animals

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

Whew, I'm finally back to bring you Part 2 (see Part 1 here if you'd like) of the cards I made yesterday for the Hero Arts Blog Friendship and Valentine's Challenge. Almost didn't make it. I think everyone in the greater metro area was at the grocery store at the same time! Pure chaos. So glad that is done.

I really like this purple circle card that I made with Lucy's Monochomatic Challenge in mind. I have my scraps organized by color and there are a lot of them! But I am definitely working on reducing them. In fact, all the purple papers on this card were scaps! The craft thread for the handstitched circle, some of the gems on the flowers, and the purple embossing powder were also things I had been "hoarding" in my stash so this works for Anne's Hoarders Challenge, too! Speaking of hoarding, I wish I hadn't bought into the idea that I needed lots of colors of embossing powder. I tend to use white, clear, and black the most, so once my colors are gone, I don't think I'll be replacing them. That could take years, though!



CG158 Hugs And Kisses

I really like this Crossword Valentine, too. This new background stamp is just so versatile! I really like it stamped in white on kraft. I have had some questions about my handstitching (see the "xo" on the punched heart), so here is the secret: Bazzill In Stitch'z! I have their piercing tool and mat plus some templates (wish they would make more). I just pierce the paper, then handstitch it. Pretty simple, but it does add some time when doing more intricate designs (example 1, example 2) or multiples of the same card. Even a little bit of handstitching adds a really a nice touch to a card. You can always just trace or draw a design of your own, pierce it, and add stitching that way, too.



S5290 Crossword Background
CL141 ClearDesign: Fanciful Swirl Alphabet
The stamped hearts came from two other Hero Arts clear sets -- too lazy to go check which ones right now.

This last set is super-simple. Jennifer McGuire had mentioned cutting notecards in half recently, so I did just that. I paired them with the new chalk inks and a few stamps for some cute but quick Valentine's.



Guess that is it for now. I still have a lot of non-card making things to do before Monday. Hope you are having a great weekend!

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

Here are two more Valentine's Day Cards for the Hero Arts Blog Friendship and Valentine's Challenge and the Embellish Color Challenge with Hearts. All stamps are Hero Arts, of course.  :)

This cupcake stamp is so sweet (pun intended, LOL). I covered the stamped hearts with flowers and little button brads that have been sitting in my stash forever and the cupcake itself was stamped on scraps of paper. I'm trying to make an effort to consolidate and use up old stuff before my craft room bursts at the seams. That reminds me, go check out Anne's Hoarders Challenge. I am sure you can participate!



CL270 ClearDesign: Sky's the Limit
CG157 Large Cupcake

This next one is a play on words. Isn't the ewe stamp cute? Oh, and Mr. Postman finally delivered my Christmas Nesties! Yay!



CL270 ClearDesign: Sky's the Limit
CL141 ClearDesign: Fanciful Swirl Alphabet
S5290 Crossword Background

I will be back later with More Valentines Part 2. Yesterday was a "cave day" meaning I didn't leave the house once! It also means I made a lot of cards (four of each set, actually)!

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

Here is another Hero Arts Valentine in red, pink, black, and just a little bit of white on the hearts:



S5101 DesignBlock: Raindrop Background
CG161 Happy Valentine's Day (might be an Archiver's Exclusive)

I forgot to mention yesterday that I sent a big box of 230 cards to OperationWriteHome earlier this week. Hubby offered to help me pack them up one night after work so I jumped at his offer. I didn't realize until about 3/4 of the way through that I hadn't taken any photos of the approx. 100 Valentine's cards I had made, though! By that time we were on a roll and I just said we'd skip photos. Oops!

I thought I would try something new today and share a few links for you to check out:

1) Deborah's January Card Chain Challenge here.
2) Kathy's Blog Candy here.
3) Marian's lovely blog here.

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

P.S. Happy Birthday, Little Brother! I doubt you read my blog, but just in case, love you!

Be sure to visit Kathy's blog, The Daily Marker, and enter her generous Blog Candy Giveaway! Look at all the fabulous Hero Arts goodies that she has up for grabs:


Kathy is an extremely talented cardmaker, so don't forget to look at all of her stunning creations!

Hugs,

dustypenny (aka Joy)

Whew, it has already been a  l--o--n--g  week here. I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. How about you?

The new Monthly Theme on the Hero Arts Blog is Friendship & Valentine's. You can find more info here and there is still plenty of time for you to enter the challenge. This is the perfect theme for me because I am signed up for several Valentine's Day card swaps on Swap-Bot.com plus I have some fun new stamps from the 2010 catalog to try out!

I made four of this first set of cards. The cupcake is perfect for Valentine's Day or any day. I especially like that it is big and bold and easy to cut out! My Copic Markers didn't agree with the pink paper for some reason. Since I had already cut out the cupcakes I covered the boo-boos with little punched hearts. It doesn't show up well in the photo, but there is also some glitter pen on the little sprinkles and swirls plus some Signo Uni-Ball White Gel Pen.



CG157 Large Cupcake
CL182 Poly CLEAR: Tree, Birds And Messages

I made four of this second set, too. This time the top (and bottom on both sets of cards) of the cupcakes were colored with Prismacolor Pencils. I also applied Pearl Glimmer Mist to the hearts with a little paintbrush for some shine.



CG157 Large Cupcake
CG119 Flourish Background
CL129 Poly CLEAR: Anytime Messages

Plus I made 10 ATCs for a "Hearts Galore" ATC Swap at Stamp Your Art Out. The large heart is handstitched. I also added punched corners and lots of little pearls.



S5290 Crossword Background
CL406 Buttons

Well, I guess that is it for now. I hope you are having a better week wherever you are!

Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!


Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

P.S. Oh yeah, do you like the new look on my blog?

Created for the Strings Attached ATC swap on ATCsforAll.com:



Here is Dusty taking violin lessons. Apparently hubby thought it was a good idea since he was the one taking the pictures...



Thanks for looking! Comments are appreciated!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)

Happy New Year!

Hugs,
dustypenny (aka Joy)