My granddaughter Jasmine, who is 6, has been cooking up a storm with her parents this summer. She makes pizzas, cupcakes, and all things food. Maybe a future Top Chef!?

So I decided to make her a potholder using our set of a-peeling apples to keep with our Back to School theme. I started with unbleached muslin, red and green dye ink pads, and our LP125 Four Apples stamp set. I randomly stamped the apples and let them dry. Then I heat set them with a hot iron. Next I cut Insul-bright (mylar batting for potholders, etc) and the backing. I “quilted” each apple by hand stitching around them.  Lastly, I attached some red seam binding to finish it off. Pretty hot (as in potholder!), huh?? LOL!

I added a little tag using the CL408 Cute Uppercase Letters alphabet set… love kraft paper with red and green!

Project by Sally Traidman. See the complete materials and instructions.

Of course it wouldn’t be Friday without including a few more bonus ideas for you! All of these stamps and supplies are from the new Holiday Catalog. You can flip the pages of the digital catalog here and pre-order the new stamps and accessories in the Hero Arts Online Store.  Pre-orders will begin shipping September 1.

• Season’s Greetings
• Very Merry Christmas
• Merry & Bright
• Holiday Greetings
• Merry Christmas Card
• Season’s Greetings Tree Card

And finally before we go, a couple of fun announcements!  First, a prize pack of new holiday goodies will go to Linda Trace, who displayed our holiday blinkie on her blog!  You can grab a blinkie (or badge) for your own blog over on the right sidebar. You never know when we’ll be out looking for blinkies so be sure to let us know you added one by posting a link here in the comments, on our Facebook page, or even send us a message on Twitter!

And the lucky winner of a fabric flower pin handmade by me, who left a comment on Wednesday’s post, is #42 SLachan, who said:

What a great project, can’t wait to make one myself - thanks for sharing! I love to sew pillow cases. I know it’s simple but it comes in handy when you have just a few yards of fabric left over from other projects.

Congratulations ladies! Send an email to winner@heroarts.com with your address and we’ll get your goodies right out to you.

So, I hope I have inspired you this week to delve into your fabric stash and play and experiment! I’d love to see what goodies you come up with!

I chose this Thank You So Much set from the summer 2010 Arts and Crafts Catalog to show you another version of “Marker Make Over”. On this card I blended the flowers with a Copic gray pen, using the brush end to allow a bit of the gray color to outline the images with a light shadow. Hero Arts new woven Lace Ribbon adds just the right amount of fancy detail. The decorative lace is easy to trim to size and lies perfectly flat.

Card by Nancy Taylor. See the card materials and detailed instructions.

And since today is Friday, here are six more “Idea Friday” bonus cards to inspire your weekend stamping! All of these cards feature stamps from the new Holiday Catalog. You can flip the pages of the digital catalog here and pre-order the new stamps and accessories in the Hero Arts Online Store. Pre-orders will begin shipping September 1.

Click any of the links below for larger views, supplies, and instructions:

• Holiday Wishes
• Joy of the Season
• Three Trees
• Joy
• Merry Christmas
• Season’s Greetings

Last but not least I wanted to thank everyone that commented on Tuesday’s blog post for a chance to win a  Jingle All The Way Holiday 2010 Catalog. The random generator chose these posts…

#31 Jacqueline
#56 Leni
#119 Deb Lorence
#124 Lauri
#136 Alice W.

The winner from the catalog blog post is…

#80 Natalie

Congratulations! Please email winner@heroarts.com with your address.

Thanks for spending the week with me on the blog. Sally will be here next week with some more stamping inspiration.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Today’s back to school project is such fun! I loved making these stamped book labels created using 2″x4″ shipping labels from the office supply store. So easy and colorful. (And I love that my daughter signed hers “Awesome Audrey” as she always does…

Project by Jennifer McGuire. For detailed instructions and supplies, click HERE.

Carrying on with the back to school theme, the talented Nichol Magouirk created a back to school scrapbook page using stamped apples and banner for accents.

Scrapbook page by Nichol Magouirk. For detailed instructions and supplies, click HERE.

What a FABULOUS page, isn’t it? Love it.

Now it’s time for some Idea Friday inspiration! Check out these six fabulous cards that feature new stamps from our Jingle All The Way Holiday 2010 Catalog.

• Colorful Ornaments
• Baby Reindeer
• Holiday Homes
• Christmas Wreath
• Wishing You…
• Peace on Earth

Last but not least I wanted to thank everyone that commented on Tuesday’s blog post for a chance to win a  Jingle All The Way Holiday 2010 Catalog. The random generator chose these posts…

#24 Heidi
#101 Linda Duensing
#150 tencraftyfingers
#230 Linda van Vliet
#299 Simone Naoum

Congratulations! Please email winner@heroarts.com with your address.

Thanks for joining me this week on the blog! Check back next week for some more inspiration.

Happy Friday to all of you!  Today I’m excited to share some DIY embellishments that I made using some stamped handmade buttons.  To make the buttons, I rolled out some polymer clay, cut out the circle/flower shapes and then used some stamps to create the fun patterns.  After the buttons were complete, I combined them with canvas, felt, paper and dies to create these colorful embellishments:

And then, of course, I couldn’t wait to add them to some cards! :)  I created a set of three coordinating cards…all perfect for keeping in touch with those special people in your life.

On the inside of the cards I added a piece of lined paper to allow for a little more text to be written.

Created by Kelly Rasmussen.  Click here for complete supplies and instructions.

Now it’s time for some Idea Friday inspiration!  Check out these six fabulous cards that feature new stamps from our Jingle All The Way Holiday 2010 Catalog.

Thank you so much for joining me this week!  I just love reading all of your comments each day and I look forward to seeing all of your DIY embellishment creations in the Flickr Gallery!

Have a great weekend!

So here it is…Friday… already!!!  Where did the week go?  Even more… today is my husband Tom’s birthday!  Poor guy has to work out of town for a couple days and will miss his birthday dinner. I was able to put this special card by the coffee pot so he could see it first thing this morning.  I hope it gave him a little cheer.  Okay, enough of that, I’ve got so much to share today so let’s get to it.

My last style of pocket card is your standard library type, where the goodies slide out from the top. I got my hands on some great Basic Grey papers and chip board letters then went to town layering all my notes!

I folded the bottom of a tag (kinda like a second pocket) to hold the mini card. When you pull the tag up, out comes the card. The Big Hugs set had so many messages for me to use, I just scattered them throughout the card.

Card by Shari Carroll.  Click HERE for the complete supply list and instructions.

Now it’s time for the final sneak peek of the week. Check out this scrumptious set of Cling Trees!!  Think of how easy it would be to make a batch of Holiday cards with this design.

As we do every week we feature a bunch more cards for our Idea Friday.  Look at the variety of these beauties below!

• Thank You
• Tokyo Metro
• Travel Card
• Asian Floral
• Made with Love
• Journey

Thanks for joining me for a week of pocket cards.  I love reading your comments each and every time I’m hosting here on the blog.  All of us are heading out this Sunday for the CHA trade show.  If you’re able to attend, please stop by our booth and say howdy!  Next week we have some special treats planned so it’s a MUST for you to come by and see what we’re up to.

Until next time, Enjoy!

Happy Friday all! I hope you’re not tired of fruit. Today I’ve got a fun non-card project featuring yet another fruit image from the Simply the Best set. Apples!

Inspired by this totally fabulous fabric fruit card by Latrice Murphy (so creative!), I decided to create some stamped fabric magnets. These little apples are stuffed with quilt batting, stitched, and then plopped onto the front of a mini composition notebook with removable adhesive so that the recipient can take the magnet off and use it. I dressed up the book with some background stamps and a message from the Big Hugs set — just love this saying!

Project by Tami Hartley. Click HERE for materials and instructions.

These little notebooks are so much fun to decorate, and they can be found for pennies during back-to-school sales! This photo shows how the spine of the notebook is wrapped with contrasting kraft paper that’s been stamped with the Large Canvas Stripes background. Score the kraft paper with a bone folder so that it looks nice and crisp.

And here’s how the magnets look on the fridge. As you can see, I made another apple using the same two fabrics. Not sure which one I like best, but I think they make a pretty sweet pair!

I’ve got plans for more fabric magnets using the other fruits from the Simply the Best set — cherries, pears, strawberries. watermelon. Sounds like a good excuse to go fabric shopping, heehee!  By the time my girls start back to school I’ll have a fridge full of brand new magnets for hanging up their special projects.

Today is Friday so you know what that means…lots of bonus projects for Idea Friday! Since we’re in the midst of wedding season, we thought you might enjoy some wedding card ideas today. Shari Carroll created these beauties, and you can find complete supplies and instructions for each of them by clicking the links below the cards.

• Bubbly
• Cherish
• Wedding Cake
• Wedding Flowers
• Happily Ever After
• Wedding Toast

Thanks so much to each of you for visiting during this “tutti frutti” week! I hope you get to enjoy some stamping time this weekend. No matter what your plans are, remember it’s the little things that matter most!

Happy weekend,

Hi everyone! Can you believe it’s the last day of traveling food week?  I sure can’t!  Today we’re heading to the Bay Area — home of Hero Arts headquarters and Dynamo Donuts in San Francisco! They have some of the most scrumptious flavors, like caramel de sel, chocolate rosemary almond, and candied orange blossom. I had tons of fun cooking up the donuts, ha ha! Check ‘em out:

Card by Lisa Spangler. Full supplies and recipe for each donut HERE. That’s Mon — who made the mustache + beret template from Tuesday’s post — on the left and me on the right eating Dynamo donuts!  Yum.

Okay, wipe the drool off your keyboard because we’re not done yet — today is Idea Friday and I have more donut-y goodness to share!

Cards by Lisa Spangler.  Click HERE for more.

I had so much fun making cards with the Poly Clear Have a Donut set that I just couldn’t stop!  I even used my Silhouette to create a little box to hold a half dozen donuts.  It’s actually a pizza box, but who would know? YUM.

What’s your favorite donut shop?  And flavor?  I’d love to hear!

Thanks so much for joining me this week, and have a delicious weekend!

Hello July!  Welcome to a new month and new challenge theme!  This month we have Travel, Food and the Bookmaking Technique.  How appropriate that I am traveling this week and needed a journal!

Let me show you how to make the fastest little book on the planet with the ClearDesign: Travel Journal set.  Using this one set and one ink pad, randomly stamp images all over the cover (and back if you’d like!), add a few pages and fasten it with brads.  OH!  I threw in the Ledger cling stamp too! Use a few colored pencils to add hints of color, a piece of twine for texture, and some canceled postage stamps for kicks.  That tape was staring at me too, so I added pieces of it stamped with airport codes using our Printer’s Type alphabet.

Project by Sally Traidman.  Click here for complete supplies and instructions.

I went one step further and stamped the lightweight papers inside with my favorite Canvas Stripes and Palm Tree stamps.  It just gives the book a more finished look.

It’s also IDEA FRIDAY, and today we have a fun assortment of ideas from Richele Christensen to get your travel-themed ideas flowing!  Won’t you join me for a little trip to Asia?

Created by Richele Christensen. Click here for complete supplies and instructions.

And finally, how about some happy news to round out this post?  We have the winner of our July $100 Wish List Shopping Spree! Congratulations to Lillian Child! She won with her June 24th comment, which was picked randomly from all of June’s blog comments. For a chance to win next month’s $100 shopping spree, simply comment here on the blog throughout the month of July. Each comment you leave gives you a chance at the prize!

That wraps another blog week, but just the beginning of a new challenge.  Dust off those stamps and enter our latest contest!

Have a wonderful weekend,

Summer is always celebrated by trips to the beach, lake, or mountains, why not send a souvenir of your summer fun.

Sand (the real thing from a southern California beach) is the perfect home for this wayward crab that will move around as you shake the sand. Although the inside is blank for plenty of vacation stories, messages can be added to the brown card inside the cellophane envelope and the blue punched circle. Sending your message in different pieces of a card makes reading the card an interactive event.

Card by Nancy Taylor. Click HERE for complete supplies and instructions.

Time for another Idea Friday! Here are six cards to inspire your weekend creativity, all featuring stamps from the “Arts & Crafts” 2010 Summer Catalog.

Click on any of the card titles to see them up close and view the materials and instructions.

• Sew Artsy
• Floral Purse Card
• Magnolia & Stripes
• Yellow Floral Card
• Stencil Flower Background
• Live Richly

Thank you all for joining me this week. I know I will see lots of your creative card making in Flickr. Have fun using these tiny smile making accents.

Hi, stampers!

I am back for one more fun resist technique.  One of my favorite things about embossed resist (inking over a heat embossed image) is that you can also use markers for adding color!  Here, I stamped a reverse stamp with Versamark on white paper and heat embossed with white powder.  I then colored in the non-embossed areas with Memento Markers.  It is so easy, since the embossing resists the marker.  Therefore, you don’t have to worry about staying in the lines.  As I was coloring, I just dabbed the image with a dry cloth to remove the excess marker that gets on the embossing.  So easy and fun!

Card by Jennifer McGuire. Click HERE for instructions and materials.

I hope you have fun with these resist techniques!  They are addictive.

And… it is Idea Friday!

Click on any of the card titles to see them up close and view the materials and instructions.

• Shades of Blue Card
• Sending Good Thoughts
• Kraft Floral Card
• Floral Scallop Card
• Simply the Best - Note that this card uses embossed resist!
  
• Graphic Flower & Butterfly Card

I hope you have a fantastic weekend and find a bit of time to stamp…