Wow! Another week of great cards. You have no idea how hard it is to make these decisions…I started seeing dots!! Now, here here are the lucky winners for the DOTS challenge…

First, congratulations to Sanne - Denmark for winning the Fresh Face prize! Her adorable owl card has TONS of dots…even the great google eyes!  I love the soft colors.

The Scrapbooking prize this week goes to meghan-solo for her family tree page.  Very creative use of dots! The wood grain and bird are great added touches.

Our 1st Place winner this week is Vera Rhuhay!  Her oh-so-cheery card just puts a big smile on my face.  Dots everywhere! I love the addition of the pom poms on the umbrella.

In 2nd Place we have tomoh08 with a wonderfully colorful dotted ensemble complete with card, box, and bag. “Imagine..Play…Create”... it’s just what she did here with her gift set! The scalloped edge adds another “dot” dimension.

And 3rd Place goes to krolski (Kathy) for her dot-happy flower pot card. Who wouldn’t “be happy” receiving this? The bright colors on the tone-on-tone white just pop!

Now for two more Honorable Mention dotted creations that caught my eye…

I love this great “Dad” card from shannavineyard. The dotted stars are universal and the hues used really say masculine.

And take a look at phiyandame’s fun polka dot shoe card!  Shoes are a fave of mine…Cinderella isn’t the only one who would love these blinged heels!

Congratulations to all!  Winners and honorable mentions, please send your information to the blog email address so we can send your prizes.

The Hero Hostesses also dazzled us with dots this week — here are just a few of their fabulous creations! (For a full view, click on each thumbnail.)

Projects by Judy Jung, Jenn Biederman, Kelly Booth, Karen Piskor, Lisa Carroll, Donna Mikasa and Deborah Nolan.

Thanks so much for entering and playing dots with us. Keep those great cards coming and I will see you again in a few weeks. As always, happy stamping, and live a colorful life!

Good Saturday Morning! I am here to wrap up the week and announce the lucky grab bag winners from yesterday! Congratulations to:

• #110 - Celina (May 15th, 2009 at 7:55 am)
• #157 - Amie H (May 15th, 2009 at 9:27 am)
• #284 - Angela B (May 15th, 2009 at 11:11 pm)

Winners, please email us with your mailing addresses. Our blog email is located over in the sidebar.

If you haven’t entered our weekly challenge yet, please take a look at some of this week’s posts to get inspired.

• Monday
• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Friday

DOTS are so easy…and you still have some time to enter. (Deadline is Sunday May 17 at 11:59pm PST.)

I hope you enjoyed my week of dots. Get out there and play and enjoy some color!!

As you can see from this week’s blog, dots provide unlimited ideas for card making. I will end this week by showing you four more all occasion cards.

The first is a “friends” card, made by punching stamped images and arranging the circles in a pleasing manner. I LOVE making these cards since arranging shapes is not rocket science. It’s a good place to use leftover ribbons and gems or anything that can “decorate the dots.”

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Mix & Match Elements
• Memories Black Ink
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Soft Pool Shadow Ink
• Summer & Spring Art Flowers
• Spring Card Buttons
• Sparkle Gems Blossoms
• 2mm & 3mm Assorted Gemstones
• Lime & White Notecards
• Other: hole punch, heart buttons, bows, brads, embroidery floss

Next up is a feel better soon card. I used the line of dots to grid off the areas and stamped the back of the spiral stamp for a “shadow”, then stamped the spiral on top. Add a strip of words and some pretty floss and you have a cheery get well card.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Big All Time Greetings
• Clear Design: Birds and Branches
• Clear Design: Everyday Sayings
• Citron, Lavender & Teal Gemstones
• Memories Black Ink
• White & Wisteria Notecards
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Just For Kids Turquoise Ink
• Just For Kids Hot Pink Ink
• Other: embroidery floss

I couldn’t wait to use my new wavy dot border punch, so on this card I used it three times. I started with a lemon notecard turned inside out. The dots stamp gives a subtle background. A few more punches later we have a layered “flower”. I used just because and mounted it on a curve to match the flower’s edge.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Everyday Sayings
• Clear Design: Mix & Match Elements
• Memories Black Ink
• Scattered Straw Distress Ink
• Lemon Notecards
• Neutral Card Buttons
• Other: scraps of yellow, black & white paper, ribbon, hole punch, scallop punch, wavy edge punch (EK Success)

Lastly, I made a “Gracias” card to thank you all for blogging with me this week. Simple but effective. The machine stitching adds a finished touch.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Thank You Sayings
• Clear Design: Flower Borders
• Clear Design: Whimsical Frames
• Memories Black Ink
• Just For Kids Turquoise Ink
• White & Pool Notecards
• Teal Gemstones
• Other: circle punch, ribbon, sewing machine

I found some grab bag giveaway prizes, so please leave a comment on today’s post about how long you have been using Hero Arts stamps. We will pick 3 winners and announce them Saturday morning. Good luck!!

AND, to show you how much I love DOTS, check out my toes. I had them done like that when I was visiting my grand girls! My bathing suit is black and white polka dots, but I will spare you THAT picture!!

Reminder: You have until this Sunday (May 17) at 11:59pm PST to submit your dotted cards to the Flickr group. Check HERE for complete challenge details.

Hope you enjoyed connecting the dots with me this week. Happy weekend…dot, dot, dot!!!

When I looked up polka dots on Wikipedia, they mentioned dots being worn while polka dances were popular…hence the name polka dots. Well, like I said, they make ME happy and festive, so I thought we would show some dotted birthday cards today. If you are like me, you always need a last minute birthday card.

Nothing is easier than randomly stamping dots and circles everywhere and anywhere. The first card uses the Curly Alphabet to spell out the word “happy”. I stitched on some curling ribbon for added vibrancy.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Curly Alphabet
• Clear Design: Birthday Sayings
• Clear Design: Whimsical Frames
• Clear Design: Circular Designs
• Ink ‘n’ Stamp: Design Elements
• White Notecards
• Memories Black Ink
• Yellow Gemstones
• Other: scraps of Wisteria, Lemon, Cantaloupe, Green Apple, Pool & Peony notecards, curling ribbon, sewing machine, circle and scallop punch (EK Success)

This colorful card repeats circles over and over and has plenty of dots. I added sequins for some pizazz. Solid circles are from stamping the backs of the circular stamps. Add extra dots with a black pen.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Circular Designs
• Clear Design: Birthday Sayings
• Memories Black Ink
• White Notecards
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Soft Pool Shadow Ink
• Sequins

The next card uses the Artsy Circles and our new Birthday Sayings set. Splashes of watercolor and gems make this one sparkle.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Birthday Sayings
• Large Artsy Circles
• Lavender Memories Ink
• Memories Black Ink
• Hyacinth, Pool & White Notecards
• Summer Card Buttons
• Teal Gemstones
• Spring Art Flowers
• Other: watercolors, border punch, large gems, circle punch

And of course a signature pink and orange ENJOY card with MORE circles and dots.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Big All Time Greetings
• Clear Design: Circular Designs
• White & Cantaloupe Notecards
• Memories Black Ink
• Just For Kids Hot Pink Ink
• Mango Memories Ink
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Other: ribbon, pink dots paper (Bazzill)

I recently received a store bought card that had originally been designed with crayons…bright, wonderful CRAYONS. I decided to experiment and thought I would show you how to make a card like this on today’s video.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Circular Designs
• Clear Design: Everyday Sayings
• Memories Black Ink
• White Notecards
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Just For Kids Hot Pink Ink
• Other: crayons, iron

Tomorrow we’ll be announcing the winners of last week’s inspiration challenge. See you on Friday!

First let’s talk trivia…did you ever know that when something is commercially printed (like a magazine) only four colors are used to make all the colors? There are a zillion little DOTS that blend together to make the printed image. They are called Benday dots.

So now, let’s show you some more *dots are everywhere* cards!

This dotted owl is jazzed up with gems and glitter glue on his little tummy. And notice the subtle circle background, dotted ribbon, dotted pink paper and  circle buttons. I stamped him in brown first, embossed in clear, and sanded the edges to give the shabby chic look.

Supplies:

• Four Stylish Owls
• Kraft Notecards
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Top Boss Embossing Ink Pad
• Embossing Gun
• Chocolates & Blueberries Chalk Ink Queue
• Pale Pink & Pink Gemstones
• Midnight Black Accent Pearls
• Neutral Card Buttons
• Other: dot textured paper (Bazzill), scrap of printed pink paper, scrap of mocha notecard, dot ribbon (Creative Impressions), abalone shell type buttons, circles embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

Next I punched the heads of the Asian dolls for dots and added the Dots stamp on the inside of the card. Of course I added dotted ribbon and a touch of Washi paper at the edge. The scallop punch adds a slight colored rim around their heads.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Four Dolls
• Clear Design: Everyday Sayings
• Memories Black Ink
• White Notecards
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Spring Blossom Papers
• Other: pink, yellow, aqua cardstock scraps, circle and scallop punch (EK Success),

Lisa wanted to play with dots this week too, so here are a few of her cards!

Hi everyone, Lisa here!  When Sally invited me to join her today I  just HAD to make a card in her favorite color combo: pink + orange!

Can you spot all the dots here?  I tried to fit as many in as possible, including the dots on the bird, the stamped dot strip, and the  punched out circles on the background!  This is a fun way to add subtle dots + dimension to your card — just punch out circles and adhere in place.

Supplies:

• Raindrop Background
• Clear Design: Be Yourself
• Clear Design: Thank You Messages
• Sunshine Notecards
• Memories Black Ink
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Other: ribbon (American Crafts), 1″ circle punch (EK Success)

Next up is another friendship card that I made for a “dear” friend — Sally!

For this one, I used the Raindrop Background to create the grass, plus added a dot border with a pen and dotted ribbon!  And I had to add a heart — Sally loves hearts, it’s her trademark!

Supplies:

• Design Block Clouds
• Young Deer
• Raindrop Background
• Design Accents: A Little Note
• Summer Art Flowers
• Summer Card Buttons
• Clear Embossing Powder (for the clouds + the dots)
• VersaMark
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Other: ribbon (American Crafts), Labels One die (Spellbinders, Nestabilities), white pen (Ranger, Inkssentials), red felt heart (die cut, Cuttlebug)

Thanks again for being such a dear friend Sally!  BIG hugs! And, thanks for having me as a guest, that was FUN!

You are a “deer” friend too…ha ha ha. “Dots” a wrap for today…join me tomorrow for a festive, colorful, dot-filled Wednesday!

Congratulations to the following random winners of the stamps from Monday’s post!!

• The Pop Stems stamp goes to #151 - Carolyn (May 11th, 2009 at 8:00 am) - “Dots make me happy! I love to use dot stamps with printed dot Paper. They coordinate so well. When I go to my favorite Hero Arts retailer, I always go to the paper section with dots. i AM KEEPING MY FINGERS CROSSED . Maybe this week is my lucky week to win! I love all these IDEAS!!!!!!!!!!!”
• The Happiness Grows Design Block goes to #230 - Peyton B (May 11th, 2009 at 9:24 am) - “I love dots! When I’m using my Cuttlebug I have a hard time not using Swiss Dots or anything with dots for that matter!”
• And the Pom Poms set goes to #502 - Becky Horvath (May 11th, 2009 at 8:16 pm) - “I have a set of four Hero Arts circles and dots stamps from a couple of years ago and I just LOVE them. They are so versatile and dots are so much fun! The giveaway stamps would be a perfect complement to my growing collection!”

Please email us at the address in the sidebar so we can send your dot stamps out to you.  Enjoy!

I love dots…especially COLORFUL ones. They make me HAPPY! When you start looking around, dots are everywhere. After all, circles are one of our basic design elements.

I was sorting some cards and came across this one from a while back. It made me decide to make DOTS the challenge. I added a punched out circle to the front and put words inside. Just by randomly stamping circles within circles, you can create a nice overall design. And if you don’t have THESE circle stamps, sub other ones in your collection! The solid dots are the “wrong side of any circular stamp…or a “shadow” stamp.

Supplies:

• Stitched Circles
• Pinwheels
• Asterisks
• Clear Design: Mix & Match Elements
• Clear Design: Circular Designs
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Rose Petals Chalk Ink Queue
• Memories Black Ink
• Cream Notecards
• Other: pink ribbon, scallop punch (Paper Source)

I love the new dotted leafy vine stamp from the new Clear Design: Be Yourself set.  On this card the flower is made from punched out circles. I always have extra envelopes, so I punched six circles out of a pink one and scrunched them up to make the flower. I stamped the vine again in a deeper green and cut a few leaves out to add on top for depth. The Raindrop Background is a fave of mine, especially tone on tone.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Be Yourself
• Modern Lines
• Raindrop Background
• Ink ‘n’ Stamp Design Elements
• Blossom Notecards
• Garden Notecards
• Lemon Notecards
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Peeled Paint Distress Ink
• Memories Black Ink

Here’s the same vine I love turned the other way. You know me, simple stamping!! I stamped an extra leaf, added a tiny greeting, and mounted it for depth. I used the little circle and dots from the birthday set, but you can just add pink gems to a yellow circle if you want.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Be Yourself
• Clear Design: Happy Birthday to You
• Clear Design: Mix & Match Elements
• Lime Notecards
• White Notecards
• Pink Notecards
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Pink Gemstones
• Other: scallop border punch, flower punch, Bazzill pink dotted paper, Cuttlebug dot embossing folder

Scraps and scissors needed for this card! I stamped the circles and dots, hand cut the imperfect circles and inked the edges for shading. Leaves were cut down from a bigger leaf stamp.

Supplies:

• Clear Design: Circular Designs
• Clear Design: Scattered Leaves
• Clear Design: Everyday Sayings
• Clear Design: Birds and Branches
• Memories Black Ink
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• White Notecards
• scraps for flowers and leaves

Here’s one more simple card using our new Artsy Circles stamp and Spring Blossom Papers. Mount it on printed dot paper for a quick card. Fold the blossom paper into strips and gently tie into knots. Add glitter glue or gems.

Supplies:

• Large Artsy Circles
• Clear Design: Mix & Match Elements
• Primary Elements Chalk Ink Queue
• Lime Notecards
• Spring Blossom Papers
• Other: lime, pink, blossom paper scraps, dot patterned paper, circle punch, green glitter glue

So…for the challenge this week, get those circle and dot stamps out of the drawer and start stamping! Post your dotted creations (cards, scrapbook pages, or other) to our Flickr group and be sure to tag them “dots”.  Please include at least one Hero Arts stamp on your project (doesn’t have to be a dot or circle, it can be anything that incorporates dots or circles.)  The deadline for entering is Sunday, May 17 at 11:59pm PST.  Here are the prizes:

• Fresh Face Winner (someone who has not yet won a contest): $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• Scrapbook Page Winner: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 1st Place: $50 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 2nd Place: $25 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog
• 3rd Place: $15 of new Hero Arts stamps + a 2009 catalog

Now it’s giveaway time!  Just leave any DOT comment before 12:00 PM (PST) tonight and you might be one of three giveaway winners. See below for the prizes…of course they all have DOTS on them!

I will announce the winners tomorrow morning.