We’ve got a special week in store, stampers — it’s time to shine the spotlight on our Win-a-Day on the Blog Contest winners! Each of the five Hero Artists announced their selections in May, so now we’ll be showcasing the amazing work of these five talented gals! We cannot wait to show you what they’ve been up to.  Let’s begin!

I am so happy to introduce the first artist, Lucy Abrams. Lucy’s cards aren’t just cards.  They are like miniature storybooks.  Every little detail adds so much.  When I see a card by her, I never just quickly glance.  I always stare in awe, taking in each and every detail, for they together tell a story.  To me, this is an amazing talent.  Lucy’s cards always make me smile.  (And, of course, as I got to know her through this assignment, I realized she is just as amazing as her cards!)

Here is a bit more about Lucy…

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

Lucy: Stamping, cutting out and pop-dotting!

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

Lucy: Baby blue and white, often with kraft or leaf green (and polka dots of some sort).

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

Lucy: I Love HA buttons. They are the best available as they have a flat back for stamping on. And the colours are just so perfect.  And I love the pearls too.

Q4: What inspires you?

Lucy: The HA challenges and all the other amazing cardmakers out there.

Q5: What is your favorite dessert?

Lucy: Strawberries with meringue.

Let’s get started sharing Lucy’s fabulous creations, and those she inspired me to do!

First up is a wonderful card from Lucy.  Can you imagine getting this card in the mail?  A little masterpiece in an envelope!

Card by Lucy Abrams
Supplies:

• Birthday Frame and Messages (for cake and sentiment; the stand is hand drawn)
• Accent Pearls
• Other: Paper (Bazzill Swiss Dot cardstock, Papertrey Ink Bitty Dot Basics, My Mind’s Eye Wild Asparagus), Glossy Accents, crystal stickers, silver thread, colored pencils, glitter, white twine
  

Her detail encouraged me to cut little candles for a simple card.  I have had this card in my mind for awhile, but never wanted to take the time to cut them. But after seeing hers, I knew I had to take the time, and I am glad I did.

Card by Jennifer McGuire
Supplies:

• Celebrate All Day
• Birthday Sayings
• Black Memories Ink
• White Notecard
• Other: Colored pencils, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, foam dots

Next up is an adorable elephant card from Lucy.  Isn’t it fun? I quickly was drawn to it because of the colorful images on the kraft background.  Everything just pops and makes me smile.

Card by Lucy Abrams
Supplies:

• Elephants
• Precious Baby Boy
• Adorable Baby Girl
• Two Bird Birthday
• Birthday Frame and Messages
• Long Notecards Light Kraft
• VersaMark
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Other: Paper (K & Company, Papertrey Ink), ink (Versafine), googly eyes, pop-dots, acetate and Staz-on (for the big wrong way round elephant)

Being inspired by Lucy, I decided to do bold colors on kraft, too.  But, to save time, I stamped directly on the notecard and colored firmly with colored pencils.  A bit of white pencil adds some highlighting.

Card by Jennifer McGuire
Supplies:

• Scroll Frame and Messages
• Artistic Borders
• Kraft Notecards
• Black Memories Ink
• Other: Colored pencils, corner rounder

Now we have a marvelous baby card by Lucy.  This card fascinated me with the beading and dimension.  Talk about inspiring!

Card by Lucy Abrams
Supplies:

• Swirly Frame
• Adorable Baby Girl
• Other: Polka dot patterned paper (Papertrey Ink), embossed cardstock (Doodlebug Designs), Versafine Onyx black ink, Versamagic Dew Drop Pixie Dust ink, silk ribbon (Creative Impressions), various seed beads, silver thread

I decided to take the ideas of beading and dimension and create a card with a window of acetate.  On the front, is a cloud with “rain beads” falling.  On the inside is a hidden glittered sun and a happy message.

Card by Jennifer McGuire
Supplies:

• Cloud Background
• Sky’s The Limit
• Soft Pool Shadow and Black Memories Ink
• Diamond Stickles
• Baby Blue and Acetate Notecard
• Other: Copic Markers, beads, wire, Marvy punches, Glossy Accents (on cloud dots)

And, last but not least, is this remarkable ladybug card from Lucy.  I love how she pieced together different images to create this sweet scene – a ladybug on a branch.

Card by Lucy Abrams
Supplies:

• Scattered Leaves
• Precious Baby Boy
• Everyday Sayings
• Dots and Flowers
• VersaMark
• Baby Blue Notecards
• Other: dot patterned paper (Bo Bunny),  Nestabilities Labels One dies (Spellbinders), white twine, clear detail and glitter embossing powder, Glossy Accents, gemstones (Papermania), Versafine ink, pop dots

I decided to do a card with a “scene”, too, and use some of my favorite images together on one card.

Card by Jennifer McGuire
Supplies:

• Birds and Branches
• Sky’s The Limit
• Mini Messages
• White Staz-On Ink and ArtPrint Brown Memories Ink
• Acetate Notecard
• Clear Gemstones
• Other: Colored pencils

Lucy, I am so very honored to have done this project with you.  You are truly a gem in each and every way.  And, you are surely one of my favorite cardmakers!  Thanks for inspiring so often and showing the many wonderful ways to use Hero Arts stamps.

A note from Lucy:

“I am a MASSIVE Jennifer McGuire fan - I adore everything she creates. So to be chosen by her, and have the opportunity to work with her, was the best prize I could have wished for.  Thank you SO much for your kindness, Jennifer, the last few weeks have really been a dream come true for me.  And thank you Hero Arts, not only for creating the most inspiring blog on the web, but for uniting a whole community of stampers from across the world - your creativity and generosity overwhelm me day after day.”

You can view more of Lucy’s work on her blog or in the Hero Arts Flickr Group.

Now for this week’s challenge!  Using at least one Hero Arts stamp, create a new card or scrapbook page inspired by one of the Win-a-Day Contest winners. Upload it to the Hero Arts Flickr Group by 11:59 PM PST on Sunday, June 21, and include the tag “beinspired” (the words “be” and “inspired” with no space between them). Please indicate in the description which winner inspired you and how.  So that you can get started early on the challenge, here are links to each of the winner’s photostreams:

• Lucy Abrams
• Tiffany Ervin
• Susanne Nilsson
• Linda Brandyberry
• Jacqueline de Groot

Thanks for stopping by for this fun week.  See you tomorrow!

Filed under: beinspired

This entry was posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 5:00 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.