Uniting Against Racism

Hello friends. I've come out of hiding for a very good cause. I am honored to participate in a blog, Instagram and YouTube hop in support of social justice. Fellow paper crafter, Justine Hovey, created this hop so crafters around the world can come together to stand behind our crafty sisters and brothers of color not just in the art industry, but also to show our support in the never-ending fight for equality all over the world. If you're participating in the hop, then you should have come from Kathya Kalanine's blog.

A blog hop may seem like a little thing, but I decided I am going to do everything I possibly can to stand up against racism and social injustice. If I have an opportunity to use my talents to speak out, then I'm going to do it. I can't stay silent any longer and neither should you. It's time for everyone to use whatever voice they have - whether it's making cards, singing beautiful music, creating moving poetry, teaching students, or building a web site-  to stand up against racism because BLACK LIVES MATTER!

Here is my card:

Products used:
Simon Says Stamp You Matter Stamp Set
Simon Says Stamp Stitched Slopes and Hills Die
Ranger Black Embossing Powder
Ranger White Embossing Powder
Wagner Precision Heat Tool

Thanks for stopping by. The next stop on the hop is Mona Toth.  I'm also including a link to Instagram Accounts of Black Crafters on Kristina Werner's blog. In addition, if you’re looking for additional ways to help, please consider donating to one of the following charities:

• Black Table Arts - organizes and brings in black artists into communities and provides creative spaces for leadership 
• The Loveland Project - helps provide therapy for black women and girls 
• Fair Fight - a movement to ensure free and fair elections 
• Black Girls Code - a movement to increase women of colour in STEM fields and exposes girls to computer science and technology 
• The Bail Project - mission to combat mass incarceration and reshape the pretrial system in the United States and helps reunite families.

Paper Sweeties Sixth Anniversary!

It's hard to believe Paper Sweeties is turning six! I had the honor of designing for them when it was a relatively new company. I'm so honored that Debbie invited me back to participate in the celebration with a Designer Spotlight post!

I've pretty much retired from designing these days because I am now working as a publicist for an entertainment company. I get to work with tv, radio and newspaper reporters all over Ohio to promote their shows. However, I occasionally come out of hiding for special occasions such as this! Happy Birthday, Paper Sweeties! I hope you have many more to come!

Paper Sweeties products include:

Party Time - stamps and dies

Be Happy sweet cuts

Hello Friend stamp set

Cupcake Sprinkles sequins

Please visit the Paper Sweeties blog. They're celebrating all month long!

Stamping For Families Blog Hop

When I was an active card blogger, it usually took me much longer to make the card than to write the post. That's because I'm a writer by trade. Writing comes easy to me most days. Today is NOT one of them.

Today, I am writing about a topic that is sensitive. It's a topic that we've all been hearing about in the news over the last couple of weeks. Some consider this topic political. Some consider it religious. And some consider it moral. I consider it just being a decent human being. 

I can't even begin to tell you how upset I've been to live in a country that tears young, innocent children from their parents and puts them in "camps" where they have no family, no friends and no love. 

Please don't engage in a debate about the "zero tolerance" policy because that is not the purpose of this post. My blog is not a forum for political, religious or moral deliberations. My blog is a place where I share cards I make to uplift people. To show compassion and kindness. Simply put, it's a place to show love.

 

So today, I'm sharing a card I made for the Stamping for Families blog hop. I want these children to know they are loved. Yes, I am fully aware that they will probably never read this post, but someone out there will read it and hopefully be inspired by it, and maybe - just maybe - they will express their love. And maybe - just maybe - enough of us will be inspired to share our compassion, kindness and love for others. And then maybe - just maybe - someone who really needs to feel loved will actually feel loved. 

Today's card features hearts stamped in a circle. The hearts are all of the colors in the rainbow to represent every person of every color, race, religion, etc. because EVERYONE deserves to be loved.

Please join the hop and visit my friends' blogs. If you feel like it, give them a little love. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Stamping for Autism Awareness Blog Hop

 I am honored to participate in the Stamping for Autism blog hop. I believe this is the third year of the hop and I've been in it since year one.

 

Neither of my two kids have autism, but they do have other special needs. Because of this, I know how challenging life can be. I have nothing but admiration for Veronica, Tenia and all the other parents who have to go the extra mile to meet the needs of these children.

 My card celebrates these awesome children and their parents. I used microfine glitter from Elizabeth Crafts to create the sparkly circles in the ring wreath, which is a die from Simon Says Stamp. It took a while to create the wreath, but boy was it fun!  I'm happy with the results so it was well worth my time. One of these days I'd like to do a tutorial on how I created this card.

 I want to apologize for being a day late with my post. I am now working and my job entails traveling to different cities around Ohio. Last week I was in Cincinnati promoting Monster Jam!

There are several talented cardmakers participating in this hop. Click on the link below to  see more beautiful creations.

An InLinkz Link-up

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Week Four

It's my very last post for the February Designer Spotlight. :-( I really enjoyed being a part of the Wednesday Challenge team this month. Challenges are a great way to grow your crafting skills. They push you to try techniques and designs you may not have done otherwise. They also push you to do your best and continually strive to improve. You probably already know this if you're on this page because you came to it from the Simon Says Stamp blog!




This week's challenge is Anything Goes featuring Simon Says Stamp products. I know Valentine's Day has passed, but a love-themed card never goes out of style. My card features the new Simon Says Stamp Love and Quotes set.

Simon Says Stamp Love and Quotes	Altenew Red Cosmos Crisp Ink Pads Pack	Simon Says Stamp Bundle of Stitched Shapes	Pretty Pink Posh METALLIC SILVER Flat 6mm Sequins	Sizzix Big Shot Die Cutting Machine
Ranger Multi Medium Gloss 1/2 oz.	Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING TOOL Applicator Foam IBT23616	Neenah Solar White Cardstock

To create this card, I first stamped two rows of the smallest heart in the set on the top of the card with the lightest ink color. I then stamped two rows of the second smallest heart in a little darker shade and so on until I got to the bottom of the card. Each time, I used a bigger heart with a darker shade of ink. Then I took the same ink and covered the hearts using my ink blending tool.

Next, I stamped the sentiment onto cardstock and cut it out with the large banner in the Simon Says Stamp Stitched Bundle of Shapes. Here is a trick: The banner was not long enough for the sentiment. To get the banner the right size, I left the top edge of the banner hanging outside of my cutting plates, allowing only the bottom part of the banner to be cut. Then, I re positioned the banner to align with the top half of my sentiment, turned the paper around and left the bottom part of the banner hanging outside of the cutting plate and cutting the top half.

I adhered the banner with dimensional stickers and finished it off with some silver sequins! Bam! Done!!

As I mentioned earlier, challenges are a great way to grow your crafting abilities because they encourage you to try new techniques or designs that you may not have tried otherwise. Sometimes it's good to step outside your comfort zone and grow as a crafter. I encourage you to give it a try. Who knows? You may actually win a prize like a $50 Gift Voucher to Simon Says Stamp!!!

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Week 3

Hi everyone! It's time for another Wednesday Challenge! I'm in my third week as the guest designer for the Wednesday Challenge!!





This week's theme is Fantastic Florals and we are featuring Altenew. Can I just say how excited I was when found out I got to play with Altenew products!?! They are my absolute favorite stamp company. I love their floral images. I really like their inks, too. They're crisp and they dry relatively fast, which prevents smudging. My card features a whimsical floral set called Hello Sunshine. Check it out!

If you're thinking "Her watercoloring is terrible. It's not even inside the lines!" let me stop you right there because it was intentional.

 I very, very loosely watercolored the flowers after stamping them onto watercolor paper. I used Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers and a water brush to fill in the images. Let me add that letting go of control and allowing myself to be more free with the coloring was not easy. I am usually very meticulous.

However, I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone because I like the end result. I would be remiss if I didn't give credit to Margaret Berg, who designed this gorgeous illustration called Pastel Florals.

Inspiration: Pastel Florals by Margaret Berg

I'd like to challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. Then enter it into the challenge for the chance to win a $50 gift card to Simon Says Stamp.

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Week 2

I'm back again with another card for the Wednesday challenge this month. Before I get started, I'd like to share the story of how this guest design spot came to be. Back in November, I attended a palette-making party Heidi hosted at the Simon Says Stamp office. (I am fortunate enough to live a couple miles away from SSS!) The very lovely Lorraine Aquilina (Lols) was there also. We started chatting and really hit it off!  Here is a picture of us with our handmade palettes!

And now ...

The theme is "cute" and we are featuring Wild Rose Studio. Here is my card:

I stamped the Bear Hugs stamp with Memento Ink onto some Copic Blending X Press It paper that I had die cut using Simon Says Stamp Stitched Rectangles.  I colored the image with Copic Markers and then blended some Tumbled Glass and Bundled Sage Distress Inks onto the top and bottom of the panel. I adhered it onto my card base, which I had covered in colorful patterned by from the Amy Tangerine Sketchbook 6 collection. Here are links to the products I used:

American Crafts Amy Tangerine SKETCHBOOK 6 X 6	Wild Rose Studio Bear Hugs	Copic Blending X Press It Paper	Copic Sketch Markers	Melissa Frances PAPER LACE DOILY
Tsukineko MEMENTO Full Size Ink Pad TUXEDO BLACK	simon says stamp stitched rectangles dies	Doodlebug Designs Bumblebee Doodle Twine	tim holtz distress tumbled glass ink pad	Bundled Sage - Distress ink
Neenah Solar White Cardstock

Now it's your turn to create a "cute" card and enter it into this week's challenge for a chance to win a