Hi everyone!  It’s Lisa + Tami here, your hostesses for World Cardmaking Day!  What’s this you ask?  It’s a day for cardmakers all around the world to come together and celebrate the joy of cardmaking!  It’s also a time to get a head start on cards for the holidays.  We have bunches of ideas to share with you today and tomorrow,  plus a super giveaway and a very special surprise!  Let’s get started…

We thought we’d start with this fun “Joy, World Peace + Love” card by Lisa, since it suits the occasion!

Featuring:

• Pattern Joy
• Special Edition Travel
• DesignBlock Stunning Snowflakes
• Clear Design Jolly Christmas
• Red, Crystal, Black and Clear Mixed Gemstones
• Other: glitter glue (Ranger), circle punch (EK Success), permanent teal marker (Bic)

Quick Instructions:

This is a simple card with BIG impact!  We have a template for you HERE to make it easy to create you own message bubble.  Just print, cut and trace it onto white cardstock.  After you’ve created your message bubble, add glitter glue along the edge.  Stamp the DesignBlock Stunning Snowfalkes with VersaMark ink on an Apple Green notecard and emboss with clear sparkle powder. The rest of the card is pretty straightforward.  Don’t forget to add bling:  Black gems for owl’s eyes, red gems on the “J”, a heart on the world and crystal gems on the “Y”.

Tip: Sparkle clear embossing powder is a great way to add that little “extra something” to your cards without taking away from a main image.

Another tip: You can use a permanent marker to change the color of a clear gemstone!  A teal marker was used here.

Now for some Halloween fun from Lisa!

Featuring:

• Clear Design Owl-oween
• Fall Mixed Notecards
• Fall Queue
• Black, Crystal Gemstones
• Other: black striped/glittered paper (DCWV), plaid shimmery paper (Reminisce), ribbon (orange - American Crafts, black velvet - May Arts)

Quick Instructions:

Stamp the ghost owl with black on a white scrap.  Then,  using a VersaMark ink pad  as you would a stamp, “stamp” all over the ghost to coat it with ink.  Sprinkle with clear sparkle embossing powder, tap off excess and emboss.  The rest of the card is just plain stamping.

The “cat owl” card is also simple stamping.  Two fun additions to this card are a large black gem on the spider body and two small black gems for the owl’s eyes.

Tip:  Try cutting a notecard in half, then hanging things off  the edge like the ghost + ribbon.  Since the card is half-size it will still fit in an envelope!

Next up is a seasonal card from Tami, who has been feeling very grateful for the beautiful autumn weather in her corner of the world.   This card could be sent as a thank you note, a general fall greeting, or next month as a Thanksgiving card.

Featuring:

• Clear Design Happy Thanksgiving
• Card Buttons - Neutral
• Fall Mixed, Neutral Mixed & Kraft Notecards
• Memories Artprint Brown Dye Ink
• Other: ribbon, colored pencil, sewing machine, pop dots

Quick Instructions:

Stamp the pumpkin twice — first on a piece of okra notecard (from the Neutral Mixed Notecards) and then on a scrap of orange notecard (from the Fall Mixed Notecards.)  Cut out the orange pumpkin, omitting the stem and curly vines.  Adhere the orange pumpkin directly on top of the pumpkin stamp on the okra.  This saves you from a lot of detailed cutting and ends up looking great!  Stamp the little bird on top of the pumpkin for a fun touch.

Tip:  Use a light brown colored pencil to shade the pumpkin.

Tip:  Real machine stitching around the edges of the main image panel mimics the stitched look of the pumpkin image.

In addition to World Cardmaking Day, we’re also celebrating reaching over 5,000 entries in the Hero Arts Flickr Photo Pool!  WOO HOO!  This calls for CAKE!  LOTS of CAKE! See this yummy Sparkle Clear Cupcakes set:

It’s FREE with any order this weekend in the Hero Arts Online Store! Just add it to your cart — click HERE to go right to it!  HOO-RAY! 

Tami “baked” this cute calorie-free cupcake card to celebrate…

Featuring:

• Sparkle Clear Cupcakes
• Blossom & Kraft Notecards
• Rose Petals Queue
• Memories Artprint Brown Dye Ink
• Prisma Glitter
• Other: patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye), scalloped circle punch, circle punch, ribbon (American Crafts), sewing machine

Quick Instructions:

Stamp the small flower from the Sparkle Clear Cupcake set repeatedly on a blossom notecard.  Adhere this piece to a square white card and then add a strip of patterned paper which has been layered and stitched to a kraft strip.  Stamp the cupcake liner in brown ink on a blossom scrap and stamp the frosting on a cream scrap; piece together and adhere to a kraft circle.  Stitch the kraft circle onto a white scalloped circle and add it to the card with pop dots.  Repeatedly stamp the words along the bottom.

Tip:  Use a standard A2 Hero Arts white notecard for the base of this card, but cut off 1.25″ from the bottom of the notecard to make it square.  Use the standard envelope to avoid extra postage charges.

Tip:  Bring attention to the cupcake with a sprinkling of Prisma glitter and a flower gem.

If you haven’t seen the Hero Arts Flickr Group before, you really should click on over and check it out!  There are so many great ideas — over 5,000! — and a  truly wonderful community of stampers.   Join the group, join the fun!  (Check the FAQ for help with Flickr.)

Now, how about a giveaway?  Feast your eyes on all these goodies to help you get started on your holiday cardmaking:

• Special Edition Travel Tag
• Sparkle Clear Happy Haunting
• Clear Design Happy Thanksgiving
• Clear Design Jolly Christmas
• Mixed Fall Notecards
• Mixed Holiday Notecards
• Christmas Queue
• Felt Poinsettias
• Summer Art Buttons
• Small Sparkle Gem Blossoms

To enter,  just leave a comment here on this post and share what you like most about making cards.  The random winner will be announced on Monday.  [Update: The random winner has been announced HERE!]

Tami says: Is shopping for supplies an acceptable answer?  Kidding! (Partially.)  I really enjoy the entire process…from gathering ideas to shopping to actually stamping and pushing little scraps of paper around. :)  Something about the act of creating just makes me immensely happy, and I’ve found my favorite medium in stamps, inks, and paper.  I must say that nothing really compares to the moment when you give your card to the recipient…that’s the best!

Lisa says:  My favorite thing about making cards is seeing someone’s eyes light up and a big smile cross their face when they receive a card that I made.  I like to make specially designed cards tailored just for the recipient.   Sometimes I have a card planned out months ahead of time — then  I usually giggle when I’m making it, ha ha!  I’ve also been known to give people a card early because I can’t stand to wait to see what they’ll do.  Oh, and confetti is always a favorite, too (just ask my sister)!  For example, you could stamp some extra owl-ghosts to tuck inside a card for a Halloween “trick”!  HA!

See you tomorrow when we’ll be back with even more card ideas,

+

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