Hello, stampers!

It’s Jennifer McGuire here to host this week’s blog.  I thought we would make it a mini week - a week full of mini cards, pages with mini photos, etc.  It is fun to create when your “canvas size” is a bit smaller - gets those creative juices going!  Along with ideas, we will have videos, giveaways and special guests.  Let’s get started.  (And keep reading, I will announce this week’s challenge and be doing a giveaway!)

First, I thought I would share some ideas for the upcoming fall holidays.  My favorite “mini card” size is approximately 2″ x 4 1/4″.  Why this size?  It is simple - it is a Hero Arts notecard cut in half.  Very fun.

To make this card, I cut a Hero Arts acetate card and a Hero Arts orange notecard in half.  On the acetate card, I stamped the tree and greeting with Black Staz-On ink.  Once it dried, I colored in the leaves with permanent pens.  On the orange card, I used the Cuttlebug to emboss it and added a large scallop circle and torn green edge.  The two are then tied together with string.  And, of course, I finished it off with some orange gems. To jazz up the envelope, I covered the flap with some BasicGrey paper.

Size: 2″ x 4 1/4″
Supplies:

• Birds and Branches
• Happy Winter Messages
• Jet Black Staz-On Ink
• Fall Mixed & Green Notecards
• Acetate Cards
• Orange Gems
• Other: BasicGrey paper (on envelope), Bo Bunny paper (scallop circle), Paper Shaper scallop punch, permanent color pens, Cuttlebug embossing, string

Oh - and a great tip: That tree stamp I used is from a non-holiday stamp set.  But by using fall colors and a thanksgiving greeting, it easily becomes “holiday-like!”  Another tip?  If you stamp with Staz-On on an acetate card and aren’t happy with the results, no worries!  A little bit of Hero Arts UltraClean will take it right off so you can try again.

Here is another card idea.  Kandis Smith made this wonderful card that is a 4″ circle.  Isn’t it delightful?

Size: 4″ circle
Supplies:

• Halloween Seal
• Owl-oween
• Fall Notecards
• Card Buttons Summer
  
• Other: BasicGrey patterned paper, Coredinations cardstock, ribbon, machine stitching, linen string, Cuttlebug embossing, colored pencils 

Next, I have a great Halloween card from a great guest artist, Kelly Goree.  I simply love how she combines BasicGrey patterned paper and Hero Arts stamps for this mini 4″ x 5″ card.  Thanks, Kelly!  (Oh, and for a chance to win the stamp set she used, click HERE to visit her blog.)

Size: 4″ x 5″
Supplies:

• Owl-oween
• Dots and Lines
• Spider Border
• BasicGrey Ambrosia 6×6 pad (Pome, Fresh Squeezed, Citrus, Ebony, Rind)
• Other: embossing powder, Uni-ball Signo pen, ribbon, Marvy Uchida circle punch

Many often ask what envelopes I use for my mini cards. I normally just use a regular envelope since the USPS minimum letter size is 3.5″ x 5″. (For you non-US folks, I recommend checking with your postal service.)  I also like to go to dollar stores once in awhile and look for mini card packs that are discounted.  I just pitch the cards and keep the envelopes to use with my own creations.

Now…time for this week’s challenge. Create something “mini” using at least one Hero Arts stamp. This can be a mini card, mini book, page with mini photos - anything “mini.”  Submit it to the Hero Arts Flickr Group by Sunday, November 2nd at 11:59pm PST. Be sure to tag it with the code word “mini.”  Here are the prizes…

• 1st place: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• 2nd place: $25 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog
• 3rd place: $10 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2008 catalog

We can’t wait to see your entries.

BUT!  In the meantime, how about a fun giveaway? Just leave a comment here by Tuesday, October 28th at 11:59pm PST.  And in celebration of “the little things”… please share with us a simple little something you are grateful for today.  I will randomly pick a winner of a 6×6 pad of BasicGrey paper, a pack of Hero Arts notecards and some Hero Arts gems:

And I do believe our guest artist, Kelly, will have a giveaway on her blog today, too!

Hope you’ll come back tomorrow for some more “mini” fun.

Filed under: mini

This entry was posted on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 5:15 am and is filed under Motivation Mondays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.