Hi everyone!  Nancy here, welcoming you to another day on the blog.  Today we are featuring the fourth winner of our Win-a-Day on the Hero Club Blog Contest.  Stampers, it’s my pleasure to introduce you to Lisa Carroll.

Let’s get to know Lisa a little better with a question and answer session.

Q1: What is your favorite stamping technique? (Simple stamping, embossing, collage, etc.)

Lisa:  I’d have to say it’s a tie between heat embossing and cutting out/around my stamped images. There are so many great effects you can achieve with heat embossing, and cutting out your stamped images can really spotlight them.

Q2: What is your “go-to” color combination?

Lisa:  Green, black, and white. It’s a very crisp, easy combination that lends itself well to just about any image or style of card.

Q3: What are your favorite Hero Arts embellishments? (Gems, pearls, buttons, etc.)

Lisa:  Definitely the Gemstones and Accent Pearls. Although, I am really loving the new Felt Snowflakes lately, too…I’m on my third baggie so far!

Q4: What inspires you?

Lisa:  Just about anything! From print ads and catalogs, to fabrics, and even retail store displays. However, it’s usually other stampers and their creations that really make me want to stamp. ;)  My favorites are classic designs that have some sort of fresh, unique twist to them, or that use a stamp in a new and unexpected way.

Q5: What is your favorite dessert? (Yum!)

Lisa:  Crème Brûlée with lots of fresh berries…OH. MY.

As part of her prize, Lisa selected some stamps and came up with the idea of demonstrating how NON-holiday stamps can be used in holiday ways, and vice versa.  Great idea! You will see these ideas in action in all three of the cards she created for the blog today.

Lisa’s first card features a poinsettia stamp, which of course is traditionally associated with the holidays. However, when lavender ink is used,  it instantly becomes a beautiful all-occasion floral.

I was inspired by the layout of Lisa’s card — it’s a great one to showcase the background stamp’s pretty pattern.

Featured Supplies:

• DesignBlock Poinsettia and Birds
• Poinsettia Bloom
• Amazing
• Black Gemstones
• Accent Pearls
• Felt Poinsettia and Leaves
• Other:  pop dots

Tips for Lisa’s “Amazing” Card: Try cutting (or partially cutting) out your stamped images to add dimension and interest!  Small-tipped scissors are the best for really getting into those tight places, and always remember to turn your paper and not the scissors while cutting to get smooth, controlled curves.

Tips for Nancy’s Christmas Card: The white StazOn ink takes a while to dry. To determine if the ink is dry use a piece of dark scratch paper to see if you can blot any ink from the background before trimming or adding details.

Now feast your eyes on Lisa’s elegant card with shimmering touches of gold:

I created a similar look with the flower stamp and added a yellow blossom Sparkle Gem in the center of the flower.

Featured Supplies:

• Clear Design Flower Blossom Borders
• Clear Design Winter Messages
• Sparkle Gems
• Other:  colored pencils, Stickles (Goldenrod), gold specialty paper, gold ribbon (American Crafts)

Tips for Lisa’s Poinsettia Card:  Get more out of your stamps by seeing an image not for what it is, but for what it could be.  This floral image from the Flower Border set wouldn’t traditionally be considered a poinsettia, but with the right color palette and a few glitzy, holiday touches, it can be!  It’s a great way to make your stamps go a lot further and really get the most out of them.

Tips for Nancy’s Poinsettia Card:  All the brightly colored pieces of this card can be cut out while watching football, waiting for doctor or school to let out, or while talking on the phone. The flower and message are stamped in black while additional flowers and leaves are stamped on the colored papers. This card is just waiting for your very own personal touches…time permitting; or it can stand alone as an element in creating a more simple celebration of the season.

Finally, Lisa created this pretty seasonal greeting using a monochromatic green color scheme and of course some of her favorite pearls.

Using the same images, I made an invitation for a holiday open house. Accented with red gemstones, this card is easily created with just two stamps but is full of style.

Featured Supplies:

• Clear Design Branch and Long Leaf Borders
• Clear Design Winter Messages
• Delicate Leaves
• Accent Pearls
• Red Gemstones
• White Embossing Powder
• Other:  white ribbon, pop dots, silver cording, red ribbon

Tips for Lisa’s Mistletoe Card:  When making a large number of cards at once, say, for the holidays, stick to just a couple of images and a monochromatic color scheme.  This makes for fast and easy reproduction!  Make the cards extra special with embellishments like pearls, gemstones, and ribbon.

Tips for Nancy’s Holiday Open House Invitation:: Sometimes last minute get-togethers can be the most fun. The party information is created on your computer, printed on vellum and slipped inside the card. I am still trying to use up my little pieces of ribbon before the end of the year, so each card can include a different ribbon knot.

Giveaway time!  Did you notice the Delicate Leaves stamp we used on our mistletoe cards above?  Well, three randomly selected winners will be receiving it, along with two of Lisa’s favorite embellishments — Felt Snowflakes and Accent Pearls!

Simply leave a comment for Lisa here on this post and you will be entered in the drawing.  I will announce the three winners on Friday morning.

Enabler alert!  All of the stamps used on today’s cards are available HERE in the Hero Arts Online Store.

Lisa, I love your idea of using non-traditional images for holiday greetings. Your talent for creating timeless designs with subtle but elegant accents is a real gift. Thank you for a fun day of stamping — if you lived closer we would probably spend endless days in the wee hours of the night at each other’s house stamping the night away. You can find more of Lisa’s wonderful creations on her blog.

And here’s a little note from Lisa:

My deepest gratitude to Nancy and Hero Arts for giving me this incredible opportunity.  It has been so much fun!  Working with a Hero Artist is every stamper’s dream come true, and an experience I will certainly always treasure. Thank you, Nancy - you are the BEST! 

Have you created a card for this week’s contest yet?  The challenge is to create a card inspired by one of the five Win-a-Day Contest Winners. Complete details and links to the winners’ flickr photostreams and can be found HERE.

I’d like to point out that the winners of last week’s mini challenge have been announced below — didn’t want anyone to miss the news!

Thanks for joining us,

Filed under: inspiredby

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 4:09 am and is filed under You're Talented Thursdays. 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.