Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Valentine Exchange

Valentine Exchange by judkajudy
I love exchanging cards with blogging friends! This time it was a Valentine exchange and those participating each made a Valentine to send and received a Valentine. This is the card I made for Lynn (Toomanycrayons).

I love the Sillyscape image by Hero Arts and I reached for it again to make this card. The background is the new Hero Arts Newspaper background stamp.

I am off to Minneapolis tomorrow! Thunderstorms are predicted and I will be going from temperatures in the 60's to temperatures in the 20's! Good thing I've hung onto my winter coat and mittens!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Thinking of You

Thinking of  You by judkajudy
This mysterious woman in the fashionable hat is from a ten-year old Hero Arts set called Women in Fancy Hats! I loved the images the first time I saw them and they are still some of my favorite stamps!

I'm entering this card in the CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week with the black and white theme (in honor of National Penguin Day!).


Hope you had a great weekend. It's been another rainy, dreary day here. I just had to go shopping to escape the gloom.

Only four days until I fly to Minneapolis! Hope it's warming up ...

Thanks for stopping by!!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Black and White

Big Eyes in Black & White

I love black and white!  The only thing better is black and white with a touch of red!  But the rules at
CAS-ual Fridays state absolutely not even a touch of any other color! 

I love this "Big Eyes" image from Hero Arts.  And I have fun with him by adding spectacles of clear buttons! 
If you are a fan of black and white, check out the CASual Fridays blog and take up the challenge!


It's a very stormy Saturday here in northern Alabama!  Cooper is at the groomer's, so there is no little cold nose nudging me to leave the computer and play with him!  I love how excited he is to see us when we return to the groomer's to bring him home!! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Vintage Valentine

Vintage Valentine by judkajudy
I'm having fun with my Vintage Car stamp from Hero Arts. The background of this card is the Watch Gears stamp from the 2012 Catalog. Lurking in the right hand background is one of the ladies from a ten year old Hero Arts set called Sleek Styles. Thought she would enjoy being around a car from her era!

I am in the masculine card mode, it seems! Since I have four sons, that works!!

I noticed the temperature in Minneapolis is 7 degrees today! That's up from a minus 7 degrees yesterday. Hope those numbers keep climbing until my trip there next weekend!

Besides the treat of spending time with my daughter, I will be meeting some blogger friends for lunch at the Mall of America. And a trip to Archiver's is in the plan, too!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Tiddly Inks Wryn

100_4091 by judkajudy
This is "Growing Love", a digi image of Wryn from Tiddly Inks. I first saw her on Donna Mikasa's blog and it was love at first sight!

I am happy that I cleaned out my craft closet and rediscovered my little heart punch. I think the little hearts help anchor the image.

I will be having my annual mammogram today and I am using this occasion to remind anyone reading this to schedule your mammogram NOW! Soon I will be celebrating sixteen (16!!) years of being in remission from breast cancer. I found it early and you can be sure I don't miss my annual mammogram!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Vintage Car Valentine

Vintage Car Valentine by judkajudy
I love my wood block stamps! I know they take up space and sometimes cost more, but I love the feel of a wood block stamp! Maybe it's because that's how I started stamping almost 15 years ago! I also feel the wood handled stamps are more collectible. And I do have a large collection!

This Vintage Car stamp from Hero Arts was a "must have" when I saw it in the 2012 Catalog! This afternoon I was thinking about making a card with a "love" theme for this month's challenge on the Hero Arts blog. My little heart punch was sitting on the desk and it was a "llight bulb" moment!

This is one of the few cards I've made that turned out as I pictured it in my head.

It's a beautiful day in northern Alabama. Took the dog for a run in the park (the dog ran, I didn't!).


Oh, and be sure to look at the first photo in the right hand column of my blog.  That's blog candy being given away by the incredible Kathy! Click on the photo and check out the details on her blog.


Thanks for stopping by!!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Penny Black Betsy Bluebell

Penny Black Betsy Bluebell by judkajudy
I love the Betsy Bluebell images from Penny Black! I stamped Ms. Betsy and embossed with clear embossing powder. I find with small images it helps my coloring to emboss! I paper-pieced the balloons. The diecut is Reverse Wonky Rectangles by Nestabilities. The label is a Nestie, too.

I'm going to enter the challenge at Penny Black Saturday with this card.

Hope you are all having a great Saturday, now that Friday the 13th is behind us. Did you remember that this is a leap year? For all of you in the frozen sections of our country, that's just what you need, right? Another day in February! Why couldn't it happen in June?

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Hero Arts 2012 Catalog Blog Hop


Welcome to the second day of the Hero Arts 2012 Catalog Blog Hop featuring the Hero Hostesses!  The blog lasts all week, so be sure to check out the inspiration every day.  If you arrived here from Tiffany's blog, It's the Stuff I Love, then you are in the right place!  If not, be sure to visit her blog first and then come back!

I am so happy to be a part of the Hero Arts new release blog hop with my Hero Hostess alumnae!  I had so much fun playing with the new stamps in the Hero Arts 2012 catalog that I had to share four cards I made.

  100_4068
This cling stamp is perfect for making quick cards for so many occasions!  I experimented with various inks and colors and every combination was lovely!  The reverse of this stamp looks like a photo engraving and provides the detail.  Yes, this entire image is just one stamp!


100_4065
This is a 5" x 7" card which gave me more room to showcase these wonderful masculine images!  The Flying Airship image was masked when I stamped the Watch Gears image, resulting in this collage.  The balloon and basket are paper-pieced.  Added a touch of Copic marker to the watch images and some spirally wire to the tag.  
100_4064
For some reason, I think of the movie "Back to the Future" when I see this card!  Love that Vintage Car!  I stamped the Watch Gear image twice on this 5x7 card and added the car that was stamped, embossed and cut out from separate black cardstock.  I'm ready for another masculine birthday!
100_4078
Finally, back to the feminine side!  In order to place the sentiment as it is, I had to cut the clear stamp apart!  Hard to do with a brand new stamp set!  The embossed background is a Cuttlebug folder which I think adds the right amount of texture.  This will be a great set to use for thank you's and "thinking of you" cards.

Hero Arts will be awarding prizes from randomly drawn comments.  For a chance to win, simply comment on any of the stops along the hop on any day, including each day's starting post at the Hero Club Blog.  The more comments you leave, the better your chance of winning!

If you find a broken link, you'll find a master list of the hop links at the
Hero Club Blog.  Also, please report broken links to Tami.

That's it from me!  Your next stop on the hop is Nancy's Happy Heart Studio, featuring Nacy Krueger, where you will be inspired by her talent and happy spirit!


Saturday, January 7, 2012

Big Eyes

Big Eyes by judkajudy
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This afternoon there was another 90 Minute Scramble on the Hero Arts blog. It's always a challenge to see if you can design, create and upload a card within the 90 minute time frame!

This weeks' challenge was to stamp an image on patterned paper. I had a great time stamping this big-eyed owl on many different papers, but this one by Cosmo Cricket was my favorite.

The fun part of this card is that the owl is wearing big clear buttons for eyeglasses! I know I will be using this stamp quite a bit. It's one of the new 2012 stamps from hero Arts.  My cabin mate from last summer's Stamp Camp sent me this stamp for Christmas!  This is the first time I've had a chance to ink it up!!  Love him to pieces!

It's a rainy, gloomy day in Huntsville; perfect for stamping. A pot roast is simmering in the oven; the chores are done for the day.

Hope you are all having a great weekend; thanks for stopping by!!

Monday, January 2, 2012

Clean and Simple

Clean and Simple by judkajudy
The theme for the past two weeks at CAS-ual Fridays has been "brown paper packages tied up in string". The challenge is sponsored by Market Street stamps and this image is from their set "Gone Campin'". I will enter this card in their challenge, too, which has the same theme!

Notice the gold shimmer; that's Perfect Pearls mixed with water and sprayed on the top half of the card.

Twelve from 2011!

I've noticed and enjoyed blogs that highlight the artist's favorite cards from the previous year.  I wandered through my Flickr photostream and chose the following 12 cards to feature today as "favorites" from 2011.  I notice they are about equally divided between "cute" and "pretty"!  I know that I enjoyed making them and that I didn't mind sharing them here ... there are some in my photostream that I wouldn't be so willing to share again.

Hero Arts

Hero Arts
Digital Images
Hero Arts
Jane's Doodles
Penny Black
Penny Black
Hero Arts
Penny Black
Tiffany Doodles
Hero Arts
Hero Arts

Happy New Year to all of you and thanks for stopping by!!