Posts filed under 'My Creations'
Hi all – I’ve arrived home and am very slowly acclimating to life back in the States. So strange not to hear shouts of “Mzungu!” in the streets or hear the sounds of bush babies, howling dogs, and roosters at night. 
So much to share from the trip. I’ll get started on day-by-day entries this week (similar to my journal from my trip to China). It’s hard to really put the experience in words… but I can say that it really gave me an appreciation for what we take for granted each day, as well as an appreciation for the spirit and joy of the African people.
In the meantime, I thought I’d share a card I made before my departure that uses new Hero Arts stamp sets for 2010. For those that have requested a video tutorial of my HA blog hop cards – I’ll be putting something together for you soon!
Big hugs,
January 16th, 2010
Welcome to the Hero Arts blog hop! I’m so excited to have the opportunity to share some of the latest and greatest 2010 catalog stamps with you.
To get us started… take a look at this fab Poppy Background. I have to admit, poppies are my favorite flowers, and so I couldn’t wait to create with this one! It’s also a cling stamp which makes it really easy to stamp and super easy to store. Click on below to see a larger image.
I stamped the negative-space image using brown ink on white cardstock, and then colored it in with a variety of Copic markers (see supply list below). I added small dots of Diamond Stickles to the flower centers for extra shimmer. The sentiment comes from a new 2010 PolyClear set called “Essential Messages”. Don’t you just love the classic font?
Supplies:
* CG140 Poppy Background
* CL371 Essential Messages
* Memento Rich Cocoa Ink
* Diamond Stickles
* White and black cardstock
* Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder
* Copic Markers: Y11, R22, R08, R29, YG03, G24
Next up are two birthday cards featuring a butterfly from the new Antique Engravings set. I pulled out my Copics again to color each butterfly. Next, I trimmed them out and added some thin black wire to create antennae. By adding glue dots to the center of each butterfly, you can pop up the wings for dimension. The card base was made from two Nestabilities scalloped circles (with the back one creased so the card will open easily), and the sentiment comes from the Essential Messages set again. (I know I’m going to use this one again and again!) Add some bling to your card using small 2mm gemstones for a butterfly trail…
Supplies:
* CL383 Antique Engravings
* CL371 Essential Messages
* Memento Bamboo Leaves Ink
* White & green cardstock
* Green Patterned Paper (Marcella & Basic Grey)
* Black wire (Making Memories)
* Nestabilities Scallop Circle and Classic Circle Dies
* Copic Markers: Y11, Y21, V17, V04, V15, B24, B21, W3
* CH112 2mm Gemstones
Want to see more? Well hop on over to TIFFANY ERVIN’S BLOG next for more creative inspiration! Thanks for dropping by and happy stamping!
December 18th, 2009
I’ve been a busy stamper! Here’s a sneak peak of some of the cards that will be shared here on the blog after the New Year!
December 17th, 2009
Here’s a happy birthday card I threw together with my Silhouette die-cut machine. I LOVE that thing (totally worth every penny I spent!). The possibilities are really endless with what you can create. In this example… the frame, dotted line, and sentiment were cut out with it and I added Prima flower accents, a rub-on, and some Hero Arts pearls to embellish. The embossed background texture is Swiss dots (Cuttlebug). TFL!
December 13th, 2009
Can’t wait to share some of the wonderful new catalog goodness with you! Hop on by Dec 18th for some sample projects. You’re going to love these images!
In the meantime, I’ll be posting some fun new cards over the coming days. (Have saved up dozens of cards to share with you from the last couple of months.)
Hugs,
Laura
December 10th, 2009
Last weekend, I baked and decorated holiday “stained glass” cookies with two friends. The stained glass comes from crushed & melted lifesavers in each cookie window. (Thanks to William-Sonoma for the recipe!)
Of course half the fun of making cookies is eating all the broken ones. I wasn’t too careful at my decorating station. *lol*
It was hard to believe we made so many in such a short amount of time! Here are even more…Man – just looking at these gets my tummy rumbling. heehee
December 10th, 2009
After our adventures in buttercream, my friend Mimi & I decided to give fondant & royal icing a try.
Believe it or not, this cake is only 3.5″ around!
We baked chocolate sheet cakes and then used large biscuit cutters to cut out the tiers. We torted them and then added the fondant along with some piped royal icing. The small flowers were made with fondant cutters, and the rose petals were individually shaped & put together like you’d do with polymer clay. We added a little bit of edible shimmer with Wilton pearlescent dust. I gave this one to my new neighbor as a “welcome to the neighborhood” gift!
Am loving the mini-desserts right now…all the fun without all the calorie guilt. (well maybe a lil’ calorie guilt – but that’s what elliptical machines are for!) *lol*
October 17th, 2009
My friend, Mimi, and I recently took a Wilton 101 cake decorating class at our local craft store. We learned basic piping skills, how to make buttercream icing and how to turn it into a festive celebration of sugar…or so we thought.
I decided to test out my skills on my co-workers, and learned a few important things:
Lesson #1: When the package says the icing colors are highly concentrated…you should believe it. Otherwise, you just might end up with alien green & florescent pink. *lol*
Lesson #2: Cake decorating is just like papercrafting…when you have an accident, you cover it up with an embellishment or decide it was a “design decision” and turn it into something else entirely.
After baking my first 8″ cake, I was attempting to frost it with thick icing & it quickly began to crumble away. Left with a divet the size of a baseball, I decided it was time to get creative. So I lopped off a fourth of the cake and turned it into this…
Any guess as to what it is? One of my co-workers said…”oh, it’s the Eiffel tower, right?”. Hmmm…not exactly what I was going for, unless you consider it in a Picasso-esque modern art kinda way. *lol*
So what was it supposed to be? Did you guess?
Yes – a purse. See the buckle & knobs on bottom? Though you can’t see it in this pic, there was a handle on top too. The HB2U is a happy birthday sentiment tag message. I mean you see purses like this in bright green & pink on the street, right? 
Lesson #3: Tiered cakes are really hard to transport already assembled. I made a second mini-tiered cake in addition to the purse one using 6″, 4″ & 3″ rounds. The good news is – it didn’t crash & burn in the car…but I had it carefully perched in a cardboard box with several wood dowels supporting the insides. I used up the rest of my nuclear icing and added my co-workers’ name to the front (professional, eh?) *lol* Though it may look a little frightful, they were both pretty tasty in the end!
October 12th, 2009
Just thought I’d share a card that is featured on the Hero Arts blog this week. I absolutely adore these new Halloween images. How cute is that Frankenstein?!?! You can get tips & tricks for making this card and several others over on the Hero Arts blog HERE.
There were also several other fabulous color schemes to inspire on the blog this week. Be sure to check them out & thanks for dropping by!
September 12th, 2009
A couple of years ago, during one of my trips to London, I snapped some photos of a graffiti filled haven for skateboarders…
Here’s another shot…
While scraping down the layers of an encaustic painting last week, I realized that my piece had suddenly morphed into a graffiti wall!
I carved letters into the layers of wax & added orange sea glass to finish.
Hope you’re having a great weekend,
August 29th, 2009
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