Oh boy! Our orders from Elizabeth Craft Designs, Product and Gary Burlin arrived yesterday. That means lots of Glitter Ritz! (including the warm and cool highlight transparent glitter), Peel-Off's (including the new designs and sticky paper), Pearl Pens (including the glitter ones that disappear in nano-seconds!), Candi's (including the new colors!).


The Shimmer Sheetz! should be arriving this week; they shipped one day after the Glitter Ritz! and Peel-Offs. And we think the little brown truck will be delivering the Hero Arts order any day.




From the Memory Box blog . . .

Heart Collage

Print this card

Stamps:
G1857 - Chrysanthemum Frame
E1329 - Vintage Notes

Paper:
MO-Bubblegum
DS-Licorice
DOT-Bubblegum
SH-TAFFY
SH-DOVE GRAY

Other Supplies
ColorBox Pink Pastel, Rose Coral, Lime Pastel and Gray Whale Inkpads
ColorBox Antique Pewter Inkpad
Detail Clear Embossing Powder
Post-It Notes
Damp Washcloth
Screw Punch
1/8" Scor-Tape
7/8" Circle Punch
Diecut Machine and Plates
Memory Box Blank Ticket Die 98213
Memory Box Quinn Flourish Die 98267
Memory Box Heart Chain Border Die 98277


Heart Collage

"Stamp Chrysanthemum Collage on Bubblegum Moroccan with Antique Pewter. Ink the the Vintage Notes stamp with Antique Pewter, then quickly remove the ink from the bottom left section (just above the little circle, down past the scrolls) with a damp washcloth. Stamp it over the Chrysanthemum Collage - then emboss both images with detail clear powder. Diecut Blank Ticket from scrap paper, place the negative "frame" over the stamped image and mark the two registration dots. Place the die over the stamped image, align the dots and diecut it. Ink the edges with Gray Whale. Mask the edges of the ticket with Post-It Notes and lightly daub the image with Pink Pastel, Rose Coral and Lime Pastel. Diecut Quinn Flourish and Heart Chain Border from Taffy Cardstock. Cut a row of five hearts from the border and punch a hole in each heart. Place a 1/8" strip of Scor-Tape behind the hearts and press Sparkling Amethyst Glitter onto the adhesive through the holes. Cut a 1-1/2" x 4-1/2" strip of Licorice Distressed Dots. Punch a 3/4" circle of Bubblegum Dots and attach it to the Quinn Flourish diecut. Cut, score and fold a 5-1/2" square card of Dove Gray Cardstock. Assemble the card, attaching just center circle portion of the Quinn Flourish die cut."

Ombre Glitter Heart Card Video

"I've been anxious to use a bunch of glitter on one of the Valentine projects and came up with a fun (and quick!) card project here in the studio! I am using the La Rue Heart die, packing tape and some Martha Stewart Glitter to create a beautiful ombre effect. Watch the video to see how! (Bonus - my kids, Emma and Cooper, created a new opening soundtrack for my videos this week! Look what can happen when school is cancelled for a week in Seattle because of a snowstorm!):

  

I mention in the video that you could use double stick adhesive sheets instead of packing tape (they are more sticky and the glitter will adhere a little better) - but as you can see the tape will work! I used the popular 98255 La Rue Heart die:

...all of the swirls and loops create a delicate pattern, and surrounding it with some beautiful glitter...

...will create an amazing look. I used a deep pink Tourmaline color with a Sterling Silver - I love how they look with each other!

By slightly overlapping the Tourmaline and Sterling Silver colors, you can create an ombre effect - it's so eyecatching! I used two colors - but try 3 or more colors!

Here's a close up of the overlap - all of the glitter crystals run together beautifully. And the sparkle is amazing!"

Spring Card!

Hello!

"Today, I am sharing with you a card I will be teaching on Tuesday February 14th at The Stamp Addict in San Diego. 

It uses Memory Box Stamp - D1831 Oak Leaf and

Memory Box Dies: Oak Leaf (98243), Small Pinwheel Posie (98271), Scalloped Posie (98269), Pinwheel Posie (98270) plus several different Memory Box papers.

I hope you enjoy and if you would like to make it with us on Valentine's Day call us at 619-667-5060 to reserve your spot!"

Cupid & Seraphina Heart Dies Wishing You the Warmest Valentine's Day

Hi, everyone!

"Today's card features some of the fantastic new dies from the Love & Kindness collection!

S U P P L I E S:

Memory Box patterned paper: Pixie, Bubblegum Gingham,Bubblegum Distressed Dots; Inks: VersaFine (Onyx Black); Memory Box stamps: Valentine's Duo (B1424); Memory Box dies: Cupid Heart (98281), Serafina Heart (98278); Memory Box Jewel Stickers; Fibers: Offray Straight'n'Narrow ribbon: Other: pop-dots

Thanks for looking and have a blessed day!"

Sweet and Sophisticated Valentine

"As much as I love to dress up my Valentine cards with ribbons, gems and glitter sometimes a "no frills" card is needed.  I had to pratically sit on my hands to stop adding embellishments and just keep it simple.

The heart has a "faux letterpress" treatment that is easy and fun to play with.

•  Start with a 4x4" panel of watercolor paper (it's thick and relatively soft), an embossing folder  and pigment ink. 
•  Apply pigment ink directly onto the interior surface of the embossing folder. On this card I used  the "debossed" side of the folder--that way the background has color and the foreground remains  uninked.
•  Carefully position the watercolor panel in the inked embossing folder.
•  Run the folder through your die cutting machine using the manufacturers recommended recipe  for embossing.  Let dry.
•  Run the embossed panel though the machine using the heart die cut and the cutting recipe.

This effect mimics the beautiful printing technique called Letterpress or "relief printing" dating back to the mid 15th century.  No heavy printing press or special training required here!

• Die cut 2 branches (one adhered beneath the heart and one on top of the elevated heart.
• Add a die cut bird in black card stock.
• add stair-stepped strip with Happy Valentines Day sentiment.
• Sit on your hands if you're tempted to add anything else. Enjoy the simplicity.

Supplies:

Watercolor paper -I used 140# cold press

Colorbox Cranberry pigment ink

Sizzix embossing folder (tight patterns work best for this technique)

#98254 Grand Heart Die

98187 Woodland Branch Die

98160 Perched Reedbird Die

B971 Happy Valentines Day Stamp

Once you try this "faux letterpress" technique you'll find yourself playing with different patterns and colors.  Light opaque pigment ink on dark paper looks stunning too.  Give it a try!

Let me know how your cards turn out---post them on our Memory Box Flickr Gallery.

Also, find a Memory Box class near you for this and other Valentine Cards.

Happy Friday!"

  

Love

"How about an all white wedding card?  I was inspired by the lovely Cupid Heart and Serafina Heart. After I had cut them out and saw how beautiful the white overlay on the white heart looked I decided to create an all white card.

The next step was to nestle to of the Poppy Stamps Nested birds into the flowers on the heart as my love birds.  After that it was a very simple stamping of the Love sentiment using versamark and heat embossing with white embossing powder.

The remainder of the layers are embossed using an embossing folder. I added a few accents with ribbon, lace, flowers, and pearls.

The hardest part of the card was getting a photograph. I had to put a piece of blue cardstock behind it and take it outside for a picture.

Happy Thursday!"

Suzz

From Hero Arts' blog . . .

"Now on to the card! Punched hearts tucked inside an itty bitty envelope sends such a sweet message, don’t you think?! Check this out…

Card by Julie Ebersole. Find complete supplies and instructions here.

I stamped the Friends Definition background stamp with a soft tan ink onto some cream colored stock and then trimmed it down just ¼” smaller than the A-2 card. I added some twine, and stamped a tiny heart from the XO stamp set—I inked it with Barn Door Red Distress Ink then stamped it off onto scratch paper before stamping it onto the background to look like little hearts floating up into the air. A little banner with the “sending hugs” sentiment across the top completes the look. How could you not feel loved when you got this in the snail mail?

Thanks for joining me all this week during my time here on the Hero Arts blog. I hope you got some great ideas for letting the people you love know just how special they are!"

Images from our dinner at The Mikado last night. Unfortunately, images of the actual food preparation have gone missing somewhere in the cyberspace of my laptop.