2013 Hero Arts Catalog Blog Hop

Hi guys!  I'm so excited today because I get to be a part of the Hero Arts 2013 Catalog Blog Hop!  The 2013 Hero Arts Catalog makes its debut appearance today and to celebrate, we're hopping with the new goodies!  There's all kinds of festivities planned online and in stores, so check out the Hero Arts website for details! 

Now on to the good stuff, the stamps!  For my first card, I used the new set Clear Hexagons.  Such a fun mix of solid, patterned, and sentiment hexagons!  I chose a "bubbly" hexagon and heat embossed it in white onto vellum.  To color each hexagon, I masked off the edges and blended the *backs* of the each hexagon (the non-embossed side) with different color inks.  By blending the inks on the back side, the embossing stays nice and crisp.  I used a little clear foam (Kooltak, if you're wondering:) to attach each hexagon to my card base and finished it off with a great sentiment from the Many Birthday Messages set.  

My next card uses the new Tape Your Message set!  And when they say tape, I mean washi, of course!  This set includes a variety of washi tape stamps but I chose to work with the little tag stamp in the set.    

This little card is hiding a colorful secret!  It's a magic slider!  Just pull on the tab, and here comes the color!  This card just makes me happy, happy, happy!  I love the neon pink next to the mint green with just a little bit of sunny yellow.  {BTW, the fabulous flair is from the equally fabulous Bossy Joscie} The card base is stamped in Hero Arts Neon Pink with the Looped Flower stamp (love that this stamp will cover a card in one press:) 

If you're looking to try this technique on your own (and you SHOULD!), check out the fabulous Amy Wanford's site  or search "magic slider card" for directions.  Fun stuff!  

I couldn't resist making one more card with my Hero Arts goodies!  A rainbow holiday card!  This year, I seem to be all about the non-traditional holiday cards.  I started by heat embossing a piece of cardstock with this awesome "snowy" background stamp (ETA, the name of this stamp is Tiny Ink Spots) and blended inks over it.  I was going for an Aurora Borealis look.  Can you see it?  The sentiment is heat embossed in white onto a piece of vellum.  {The sentiment is one of my favorites and is from the set Joy to All.}  I just love how groovy (yes, I'm old;) and festive it turned out!   

That's it for me today!  Thanks so much Hero Arts for inviting me to play along:)  I really can't believe that I'm hopping with these unbelievably fantastic designers!  Somebody pinch me:)

Next stop on the hop is the wildly talented and fun Julie Ebersole!!  You know she's going to have something amazing to share:)  

Remember, if you find a link that doesn't work, you can always hop back to the Hero Arts Blog for a list of direct links to all the blogs in the hop!  You won't want to miss a stop!  Don't forget to leave some comments as you hop through.  Hero Arts is giving away several prize packs to random winners chosen from all the blog hop comments left by Monday, December 17th (midnight PST).  Thank you so much for stopping by!  

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Links to Hero Arts Stamps & Product used:

Hexagons (new)
Many Birthday Messages
Tape Your Message (new)
Looped Flower (new)
Tiny Ink Spots (new)
Joy to All 
Neon Pink Ink
Neon Yellow Ink

Becky and Melanie's Holiday Hop

Happy Holiday Hop!  Becky and Melanie thought it would be great fun to team up for a little Holiday Hop today.  We are showcasing Becky's new set, Warm Woolen Mittens along with Becky's new cut file Grand Banners and Grand Banners - Winter Sentiments and Melanie's new set, Lots of Letters today.  Joining us are some dynamic designers that will knock your socks off with their beautiful work!  Make sure you visit everyone's blog to leave a comment and be entered to win a clear I do! and Beyond Baskets stamp set!  Now onto today's projects!

My project is a banner made with Becky's cut file of  a banner pennant in the shield design (the cut file also includes a triangle pennant).  I stamped each flag with one of the fabulous background stamps from Warm Woolen Mittens and added my die cut letters over it.  I seem to be in a non-traditional color mood this year, so I used a cherry red and bright blue:) 

Here's a closer look at the fun nordic patterned background stamp!  To hang up my banner, I made two little mittens on clothespins:)  So cute!  I love that the pattern on the wrist of the mittens matches the background stamp.  

Thanks so much for stopping by and have fun visiting all the stops in the hop!  And I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season!

Melanie Muenchinger (Illustrator of Lot of Letters)

Becky Oehlers (Illustrator of Warm Woolen Mittens)  

Beate Johns

JJ Bolton (you are here)

Laurie Schmidlin

Latisha Yoast

Michelle Woerner

Richard Breaks

Vera Yates

Tosh Leyendekker

Mahalo and aloha,
jj

Saturday with The Alley Way Stamps

Hi everyone!  I have another pair of cards made with the new The Alley Way Stamps:)  My first card today features stamps from Petal Pushers and Trees Company.  I was trying to achieve a look similar to the bokeh effect in photography.  {Bokeh refers to a photography technique where the lights in the background are out of focus and look like glowing orbs.  Take a look at these pics on Google for examples.}  To get a more layered look, I did some generational stamping (stamping off and restamping) as well as light pressure stamping.  Fun and easy!

This second card is something totally different!  I used stamps from the holiday set No Peeking to make a Santa going down the chimney:)  

Going, going, gone!  The chimney was embossed with an distressed brick embossing folder.

Here's a picture of the back side of the Santa to show you how the moving Santa was put together.  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  And go check out the The Alley Ways Stamps blog!  They're always hosting all kinds of fun over there!

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Avery Elle December Release ~ Group Post Day!

Are you ready?  It's Avery Elle RELEASE and GROUP POST day!  That means all the December sets are available for purchase on the Avery Elle site and each team member is showcasing their remaining projects:)  For me, that means I'm posting my Fun With Letters projects!  Before I jump into my cards, let's recap all the yummy stuff highlighted this week!

Lots of Love

Fun With Letters

Knotty

All Occasion Tags

I had so much fun making this card!  As I was looking at the grid pattern stamp from the Fun With Letters set, I thought that it would make a fantastic frame!  So I gathered up all kinds of bits and baubles and just started playing.  

The final mix are a made from buttons, twine, enamel dots, and gems.  I even managed to sneak in some patterned paper on this card too!   

For the next card, I used the grid stamp as a frame again, but this time I used the tiny heart stamp from the Framed Fonts set!  Dressed it up with a little ribbon and a veneer word and that was it:)

Thank you so much for stopping by all week long!  Your kindness is amazing!  I hope you click on over to see the fantastic projects Jamie, Kasia, Heather, and Chunyuan have for you today!

Jamie Gracz (Avery Elle blog)

Kasia Curry

Heather Campbell

Chunyuan Wu

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Avery Elle Supplies:

Fun With Letters stamp set 

Framed Fonts stamp set  

Ultra Pure Smooth White card stock

Aquamarine card stock

Avery Elle Release Day #4 ~ All Occasion Tags

Hi everyone!  Today is Avery Elle's release Day #4 and today's set is All Occasion Tags!  Trust me when I say you don't have anything like this in your stash:)  

This set has a ton of great sentiments, but the stamps you NEED are the fantastic tag topper images!  These toppers make it easy to make custom-sized tags to match your sentiments.  For this card, I paired the variety of tag toppers with sentiments and images from Lots of Love:)  So much fun!

I have one more quickie project to share with you today!  This one is perfect for that last minute gift.  I love the look of a double sided tag!  Quick and easy wrapping with supplies you already have around the house:) 

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you click on over to see the fantastic projects Jamie, Kasia, and Heather have in store today:)

Jamie Gracz (Avery Elle blog)

Kasia Curry

Heather Campbell

I'll be back tomorrow with the Group Post!  Don't forget that Jamie is offering the chance to win a $25 store credit!  All the details are on the Avery Elle blog!   The new release items will be available to purchase on December 5th on the Avery Elle site!

Mahalo and Aloha,

jj

Avery Elle Supplies:

All Occasion Tags stamp set (will be available December 5th)

Lots of Love stamp set (will be available December 5th)

Ultra Pure Smooth White card stock

Fog gray card stock