Dreaming Out Loud: Laura Griffin's Blog

My first Hero Arts video!

Laura — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:14:16 +0000

Yea! I can finally share with you my first Hero Arts “Watch It Wednesday” video where I show you how to use punches to mass create children’s birthday cards. You can check it out on the blog HERE along with a wonderful layout by Kandis Smith. Hope you like it!

For the birthday boy…

Laura — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:15:00 +0000

My lil’ nephew’s birthday is this week, and although I already made him one Hero Arts card, I couldn’t help but make him one with this darling Monkey image from CC Designs. I made the sky background by cutting a rough template of a cloud shape from a scrap, laying it down on the stamped panel, and chalking the edge of the template multiple times as I moved it around the image.

Here is the inside (I just used another birthday sentiment since I like the style of the font on this one for a children’s card).

Supply List - Stamps: Basic Alphabet (Hero Arts), Monkey & inside sentiment (CC Designs), Front sentiment (Papertrey Ink), Polka Dot Background/Cardstock/Wild Wasabi & Black Ink/Blue Chalk (Stampin’ Up!), Orange polka dot ribbon (Crafts Etc); Markers (Copic); Sewing Machine.

Web Artist Week on the Hero Arts blog!

Laura — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 16:17:13 +0000

It’s web artist week on the HA blog. Tami H. & Sheri R. have it off to a great start with some wonderful cards & projects that you can see here. I’ll have some special creations for you on Wednesday & Saturday along with a special bonus on Wednesday. Can hardly wait to share it with you!

Hope you’re having a great Monday,

Let Go…

Laura — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:35:21 +0000

I’ve been on a music kick lately & wanted to share one of my fav artists with you. I first discovered Imogen Heap about 2 years ago. She has an incredibly unique voice, can play the piano brilliantly, & is one of the most talented producers I’ve ever seen (actually performing hundreds of performances live as a one-woman band with just her & her studio equipment). She is currently recording her 4th major album in the basement of her childhood home (in England) and is doing a video blog on You Tube showing her progress each week. Really fun to see her creative process.

Years ago, she was part of a 2-person band called “FrouFrou” whose claim to fame was a song called “Let Go” that was featured in the movie Garden State. Here’s an acoustic version of the song with just Imogen & her piano. It is so beautiful & raw that I had to share…. “There’s beauty in the breakdown.”

New “Almost Lover” recording

Laura — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 18:31:54 +0000

Every once in a while, I hear a song that blows me away…that stops me dead in my tracks. Almost Lover is one of those songs. I first heard the song (written by A Fine Frenzy ) a few months ago and I just couldn’t get the sad, haunting melody out of my mind. During my recent trip to Europe, I played it on repeat as I sat staring at the Irish ocean on Killiney Bay. I decided I wanted to do my own interpretation and share it with you here. I arranged the piece on my Clavinova piano with some basic string instrumentation. Hope you like it! Just click on the image below to listen to the mp3. FYI - you may need to increase the volume a bit on your headphones or speakers since the recording is not mastered. Hope you’re having a great weekend!

Dublin

Laura — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:08:51 +0000

I’ve finally begun sorting through photos from the Europe trip, and I thought I’d share a few with you. This first set of images are all from the Dublin city centre. I’ll follow up later this week with the place that is nearest & dearest to my heart, Killiney Bay (one of the reasons I get drawn to Ireland again & again).

There are a number of fabulous hotels in Dublin’s city centre (The Clarence, The Merrion, & The Shelbourne to name a few). But for this trip, I decided to venture out & stay in a boutique hotel called The Fitzwilliam. It’s location is perfect…right on St. Stephen’s Green (the main park in the city centre). It is also located right at the top of the primary shopping street, Grafton.

The Fitzwilliam’s lobby has eclectic decor & I love the purple & green color combo. In fact the purple theme went through the entire hotel. Even the doormen wear purple coats with tails & there are purple umbrellas hanging in each room! *LOL*

When I arrived in my room, I was greeted with this fresh plate of fruit & a box of chocolates.

Orchids were sitting on a table near a window overlooking the Green.

I decided to head outdoors with my camera & get some shots of the area. (more…)

How to transform a package insert into a greeting card…

Laura — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:43:37 +0000

I recently received a pretty “thank you” insert in a craft order from a company called Papertrey Ink. When I saw it, I knew that I had to turn it into a card! I cut out the center text section with a craft knife & adhered the polka dot frame to a Soft Sky card base with dimensional foam dots.

The debossed border was made with my classic square Nestabilities dies & the pink Prima flowers were stickled with Star Dust to add some bling. Here is a closeup:

Given I don’t have the “greenest” of hobbies (yes, I have a small forest of paper in my craft area!), it is nice to recycle something every once in a while. Have any of you made cards or recent craft projects with recycled supplies? If so, I’d love to see them!

Thanks for dropping by!

Travel Journal & More

Laura — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 23:37:32 +0000

Hi everyone! Still haven’t had a chance to sort through the Dublin/London pics yet - but will hopefully have more to share over the weekend. In the meantime, I thought I’d share a sneak peak of a project I designed with some of Hero Arts’ new summer stamps.

I just LOVE the postage background & travel border stamps (not to mention their art flowers & buttons!) You can see more of this project as well as two other projects I designed on Hero’s blog here. Thanks for dropping by!

Back in town!

Laura — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:11:15 +0000

Hi everyone! Have been absent from the blog for a while as I was visiting Ireland & the UK for the last 10 days. Will blog some pics when I have a chance to sort through them. Hope you all are having a great week!

Color challenge #12

Laura — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 18:54:21 +0000

I made the below card for Kristina Werner’s 12th color challenge:

All stamps & gemstones (including heart flower, butterfly trail, & thank you sentiment) are Hero Arts. Lace & ric-rac are from Making Memories. Classic butterfly punch is from Martha Stewart. Tonic paper distresser was used on edges of squares.

Here’s a closeup of the butterfly detail:

Helpful hint: If you fold the wings up on your butterfly, it adds some nice dimension to your card and you can attach to the card front with a small glue dot.