A Blog Named Hero's 5th Anniversary Bash Celebration!

Aloha!  What an honor to be a part of this exciting 5th Anniversary celebration for
A Blog Named Hero!!  I'm Niki G. and I am a former A Blog Named Hero design team member from last year. A big shout out to Lisa and Jessica for continuing to bring crafty inspiration daily with A Blog Named Hero.

Even more exciting is there are prizes to be won just for hopping and commenting along the way! The hop is over two days and there are different giveaway prizes to be won each day. Check out the info at the end of the blog post!!

On to the celebration with my card...

Hero Arts came out with a beautiful Peacock Feather Stencil and I thought I'd used the emboss resist technique. Initially I used Distress Ink in Black Soot and Versarmark ink keeping the stencil in place. After removing the stencil I added Hero Arts Clear Embossing powder to set the black ink and allow me to use several Distress Ink colors (Peacock Feathers, Twisted Citron, Lucky Clover and Wilted Violet) in the negative space!

I completed the look with the sentiment from Hero Arts Cheers Messages by Lia embossed in Judikins Egyptian Gold embossing powder on black cardstock die cut with Lawn Fawn Fancy Scalloped Rectangle Stackables.

**GIVEAWAY INFO:

A Blog Named Hero is so thankful for our wonderful sponsors and collaborating companies!  Several companies decided to help us celebrate our fifth anniversary with giveaways and they were so generous that we decided to spread the love over both hop days with different prizes to be won each day!  Giveaway prizes total more than $500!  To win, leave a comment on each hop stop.  We will select winners randomly from different blogs so the more blogs you visit each day, the greater your chances of winning!  And be sure to visit the Saturday post from A Blog Named Hero for the list of Saturday hoppers and prizes!  Comments must be left before 11:59 PM EDT on Tuesday, March 28th and winners will be announced on March 30th.

Today's prizes include the following: 

• $50 gift card to Simon Says Stamp
• $50 gift card to Gina K Designs
• $25 gift card to Winnie & Walter
• $25 gift card to Lawn Fawn
• $20 gift card to Avery Elle
• prize pack from Mama Elephant
• gift card from Studio Katia
• one Online Card Class of your choice
• one set of distress oxide inks from Jennifer McGuire Ink

Good luck and happy hopping!!**

Next on the hop is Lin Brandyberry! Hop on by to check out how she's celebrating the 5th anniversary of A Blog Named Hero!!

Mahalo for stopping by!

Wish Big with Avery Elle and a GIVEAWAY!

As promised this is what I was working on...

Head towards the bottom for details on my giveaway!

I've had the Avery Elle Ellie stamp set sitting on my desk for a while.

Do you do that? 

 I find that if I put new purchases away I forget to use them!

So I end up with a pile on my desk which forces me to play, 

then I can put them away.

I took the dies from the Avery Elle Finished Frame Die set

to create a starry card panel...

See those stars? With my smaller dies I tend not to cut them a part.

I've always loved the look of those panel die cuts that have either falling hearts

or stars, but they can be a bit pricey.

I decided to use the stars on my card panel and die cut twice to create

my own starry background.  I used some distress inks in 

chipped sapphire, faded jeans, salty ocean and tumbled glass for an ombre look.

Behind the card panel I smooshed some Versamark and sprinkled with 

Judikins Egyptian Gold embossing powder, then heated for some sparkle.

That sweet elephant and stary balloon was watercolored with distress markers,

then die cut and adhered with foam tape.  For even more sparkle I splattered some

Wink of Stella in clear glitter...love how it reacts with distress inks!

I wanted to play along with the latest 

and 

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

As a little MAHALO to all who stop by,
I'm giving away a some crafty goodies I picked up during my shopping spree.

These cork stickers and felt clips were too darling not to pick up
and I would love to send them to one lucky winner!
Would love to hear from you.
You have until 4/20/15 at midnight to comment to win.

Mahalo for stopping by!!

A Silhouette Kinda Day

Today I've got a project using 

my Silhouette for the

I found this super cute file

called Thanks A Latte

and created a shaped card that holds

a gift card on the inside!

It came together pretty quick since I decided

to use cream colored cardstock and craft, 

then inked up with distress inks.

I played with the latest distress inks

Cracked pistachio on the background flower

and Abondoned Coral for the label!

and the inside...

and a closeup...

I think I'll be making more of these 

just to keep on hand!

I made another project using the Silhouette

so stay tuned and come back tomorrow!

MAHALO for stopping by!!

Big Mahalo Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine

With the heartbreaking news of the close of 

Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine

I'm glad we have this hop to mourn and 

CELEBRATE
 an amazing chapter of a crafty person's life!

You may have arrived from the talented and sweet
Heather Campbell's Blog
Parker and Molly
 If you're new to my blog...
ALOHA!
I hope you'll return and keep me company while I share my love of crafting!

Where my story begins...
I'm fairly new to the publishing world.
I started to submit my cards (randomly) in January of 2013
and after many months of "no happy mail"
really started to study the pages of PC&S.
The the day finally came, unexpectedly, when I got the mail to be a part of
Card Creations Vol. 12!!!
My next happy mail came after entering
Stamping Royalty this past year and being selected as an
Honorable Mention for the Friendship category.

PC&S has pushed my creativity to a whole new level.
Their expectation was not to just make a great card,
but to create with your whole heart and soul!

Craft Cardstock for card.  Lawn Fawn Stitched Journaling Card die.  Clear Scraps Spiral Dots stencil inked in Hero Arts shadow ink orange soda, then covered with clear embossing powder to create resist effect.  Using Distress inks in broken china, salty ocean and faded jeans for background color.  Inked up
Studio Calico's Mistables butterfly fabric sticker shapes and adhered to journaling card.  Die cut sentiment with Penny Black: Words of Gratitude die and distressed edges with vintage photo and adhered with multi matte medium adhesive.


I'm truly going to miss the inspiration and quirks of the Go-To Gals and
of course Moxie Fab World.  The good thing is that we still have our blogs
and maybe one day I'll be able to attend CHA!

Many thanks to the entire PC&S staff.

And now on to
Erin Schreiner's blog
Erin Lee Creative
I know you'll adore her work just as much as I do!


**ETA Entering this in Virigina View's Challenge 
All Things Distressed

Storybook Birthday

Hi there!  I made some time to make another card using the latest Avery Elle release!  This time I used the Storybook set with matching dies (I'm a sucker for stamps and matching dies!) and can I just say there are soooo many sweet possibilities.

Here's what I came up with...

using the latest AEIHeartUChallenge as inspiration

So a few techniques on this card...I first die cut the circle and white heat embossed the grass and duck.  I colored in the little beak and feet with a copic and then used a Versamark pen to color it in to add clear embossing powder and then heat set.  I did this in order to keep my duck white and be able to color my background with distress inks.  I wanted my balloons to stick out and white heat embossed, die cut and added glossy accents to them.  They were foam taped on.  I wanted them to appear more raised which is why I ended up making the duck more a part of the background scene and allowing the balloons to shine...literally...hehe

The sentiment was cut using the die from the Custom Panels die set and stamping the sentiment from Handwritten Notes (it has a cool font).  Added some twine and there ya have it!

I'm gonna slip this one into the next Simon Says Wednesday Challenge as well.

Mahalo for stopping by!

Watercolored Lunch Box Notes...Stenciled 3 ways!

Happy Wednesday everyone!  Today I've got some itty bitty's measuring at 3inx3in...perfect for the lunch box notes that I need to restock up on for the kiddos.

This is how it all started...but keep on going because I promise it got better by my third bitty card!

I was going for the bokeh look.  First I masked the edges with painter's tape, swiped some Distress Inks in Ripe Persimmon and Squeezed Lemonade and used Heidi Swapp's confetti stencil to create the dots using Hero Arts Orange Soda and a sponge dauber.  After allowing to dry (using a heating tool) I stamped out the sun (with the mask still on) and the sentiment.  Of course I was not fully satisfied and followed the sentiment "never give up."

Here's another go at it...

Now this one I liked!  Of course it's in my favorite color (like my hair highlights!) Again masking the edges, swiping Tumbled Glass and Peacock Feathers Distress Inks, and then taking a chevron stencil and spraying with water (tip...remove stencil right away otherwise the water pools and the pattern gets lost).  Allow to dry (using heating tool), remove mask, then stamp out the sentiment.  All my cards are using the fabulous Hero Arts Stamp Set "You're a Rainbow."

Finally...I had to do a rainbow of colors...

This time I took my Distress Markers and colored away and instead of spraying water over the stencil I used a waterbrush pen to trace within the stencil.  I kinda liked the effect...a little more imperfect, but still cool!


I was completely inspired by a new challenge by the fabulous Virginia...

and A Blog Named Hero Challenge

And another look at them...

Until next time...have a fabulous day!  Mahalo for stopping by!!!