Earrings with the NEW Labels Four Die Template From Spellbinders!

Do you remember making Shrinky Dinks when you were little? Or maybe your kids made them when they were little. But now shrink art is at a whole new level! I love being able to use shrink plastic from Lucky Squirrel along with my Spellbinders die templates. You can make so many fun things from jewelry to charms that will match your cards of LO's.

The Spellbinders die template that I used to make the earrings is the NEW Labels Four die template, SKU #S4-190. This is the same one that Debbie Olson did her Sneak Peek with on Monday. Click HERE to see the beautiful designs that Debbie made.To make the earrings first I used the Lucky Squirrel (white) shrink plastic with the Labels Four die template to make two diecuts. Then I left them white, punched holes on each end and baked them following the directions on the package. Once the diecuts were completely cooled off then I used AI's to achieve the desired color. I used two different colors of the AI's, Currant and Latte and then I also used the Gold Mixatives from Ranger. I also edged the sides using a Gold Leafing Pen from Krylon. After the AI's were dry then I applied Crackle Accents from Ranger. I waited for that to dry and then I added Pitch Black Pigment ink from Ranger. I used a soft sponge to add the ink and then I buffed off most of it revealing all the beautiful tiny little cracks. To finish the pieces I added a layer of Glossy Accents from Ranger and then I added some beads along with the jewelry findings and made some earrings.

Here is a picture of the earrings next to the Labels Four die template that I used to make the earrings.Supplies~
Spellbinders-Wizard, Labels Four die template, SKU #S4-190
Lucky Squirrel-White Shrink Plastic
Ranger-AI's-Currant and Latte, Gold Mixatives, Crackle Accents, Pitch Black Pigment Ink, Glossy Accents
Krylon-Gold Leafing Pen
Jewelry Findings and Beads

Thanks so much for stopping by today!! I hope you are enjoying all of the sneak peeks from the Spellbinders' Designers! If you haven't already visited Holly Craft's blog to see her sneak peek from yesterday be sure to check it out, she has several Amazing creations to share with you and Sherry Cheever is doing today's sneak peek and believe me you don't want to miss it!!

Tomorrow is my sneak peek and I have some fun creations to share with all of you! Hope to see you tomorrow!! ;)

Smiles!
Heidi

Today is the BIG Day!!

Today is the beginning of the celebration!! Spellbinders is celebrating the Fifth Anniversary in a very HUGE way with 16 days of Sneak Peeks on the Spellbinders' Designer's Blogs!! The Design Team has so many amazing and inspiring projects you won't want to miss a single one!!

Once again here is the schedule for the next 16 days of the Spellbinders Sneak Peeks, so come on and join in the fun & excitement!!

• JANUARY 5: Thinking Inking by Debbie Olson **TODAY**
• JANUARY 6: Mish Mash by Michelle Wooderson
• JANUARY 7: Today’s Creations by Holly Craft
• JANUARY 8: Walkin’ on the BAD side by Sherry Cheever
• JANUARY 9: Embellished Dreams by Heidi Blankenship
• JANUARY 10: Amazing Paper Grace by Becca Feeken
• JANUARY 11: Created from Paper by Jennifer Ellefson
• JANUARY 12: PaperFection by Sharon Harnist
• JANUARY 13: Mixed Media Madness by Jeni Calkins
• JANUARY 14: Wickedly Wonderful Creations by Wendy Weixler
• JANUARY 15: Cookies for Breakfast by Beth Pingry
• JANUARY 16: Pink Lemonade by Keri Lee Sereika
  
• JANUARY 17: Inky Heart by Sally Lynn MacDonald
• JANUARY 18: Donya Schroeder by Donya Schroeder
• JANUARY 19: Linda’s Works of Heart by Linda Duke
• JANUARY 20: Follow Your Bliss by Trudee Sauer

Now don't forget in order to be entered into the contest here are the three key things to remember:

• You have 48 hours to send an email from the link in each blog (12:00 am on the day of post through 11:59 pm on the day after the post).
• You must send your daily email entry from the same e-mail address, no exceptions, to be entered into the grand prize. (If you can’t access your work e-mail address every day, for example, you’ll want to use another choice that you can access for 16 days.)
• When you send in your entry email, please use the die name in the subject line.

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I hope to have some new art for you very soon!! I know it's been a little while...

Hope you are having a Fantastic Day!!

Smiles!
Heidi

Spellbinders 5th Anniversary Blog Party!!!

Spellbinders is celebrating their Fifth Anniversary with a World Wide Blog Party and your invited to join in the fun!!

Starting Monday, January 5th you will be able to see Sneak Peeks of the NEW SPELLBINDERS DIE TEMPLATES THAT WILL DEBUT AT WINTER CHA!!!

From January 5th and continuing through January 20th, a different Spellbinders’ Designer will be showing a NEW SNEAK PEEK EACH DAY!!! These EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEKS will be available ONLY through Spellbinders’ Designers’ Blogs! For a schedule of the two week celebration please visit the Spellbinders’ Blog. **EDIT** Or you can look at the list below. ;)

• JANUARY 5: Thinking Inking by Debbie Olson
• JANUARY 6: Mish Mash by Michelle Wooderson
• JANUARY 7: Today’s Creations by Holly Craft
• JANUARY 8: Walkin’ on the BAD side by Sherry Cheever
• JANUARY 9: Embellished Dreams by Heidi Blankenship
• JANUARY 10: Amazing Paper Grace by Becca Feeken
• JANUARY 11: Created from Paper by Jennifer Ellefson
• JANUARY 12: PaperFection by Sharon Harnist
  
• JANUARY 13: Mixed Media Madness by Jeni Calkins
• JANUARY 14: Wickedly Wonderful Creations by Wendy Weixler
• JANUARY 15: Cookies for Breakfast by Beth Pingry
• JANUARY 16: Pink Lemonade by Keri Lee Sereika
  
• JANUARY 17: Inky Heart by Sally Lynn MacDonald
• JANUARY 18: Donya Schroeder by Donya Schroeder
• JANUARY 19: Linda’s Works of Heart by Linda Duke
• JANUARY 20: Follow Your Bliss by Trudee Sauer

Oh yeah one more thing--they are going to have some Amazing, I mean AMAZING PRIZES!!!!

Spellbinders~Beautiful Details Inspiring Creativity

Believe me you won't want to miss this!!!

Smiles!
Heidi

Happy New Year!!! 2009

Happy New Year and Best Wishes to you all in 2009!!

I just had to share this little video that a dear friend sent to me in am email--I thought it was so cute & funny too!! *wink*

Once the little video is done you can click on it to find out how you can send one.



Once again HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Smiles!
Heidi

Our Christmas

Ok, I'm back with a few pictures to share of our Christmas. The pictures include all three Christmas celebrations, our house, my parent's home and my aunt and uncle's home.

Getting a plate of cookies and carrots ready for Santa and Rudolph.Look at this!! I note from Santa!!!
Christmas morning.Lots of LEGOS for Christmas!Over at mom and dad's.I Love my parent's home and I think it looks even more beautiful during Christmas.A little nap time.The next few pictures are from my aunt and uncle's house.From L-->R Uncle, Aunt, my Mom, Grandma, Grandpa and my Dad.Last year one of my aunts wrapped up a rooster head as a gag gift and guess who got it--ME!! So I thought it was time for Mr. Rooster to reappear. DH wrote a cute little poem to go with Mr. Rooster and I made the tag.One of my cousin's was the lucky one this year!! LOL!!Thank you for stopping by and I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Smiles!
Heidi

JustRite Thank You Notes

I decided to take a little break from blogging over the holidays and now I am trying to get back into the groove. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday and Santa was good to you!! We had three different Christmas celebrations, I will be back after a little while and post some pictures from our Christmas.

I know after the holidays many people like to send Thank You notes maybe for a gift that was given or for time spent together. Living in MN I know it will be a LONG time before I see any signs of Spring so I thought why not make some thank you notes in spring colors. I made a set of six thank you notes in pretty pastel colors with CS from CTMH and some designer paper from Basic Grey. I also used a CB embossing folder and sanded the paper to show the white core. I sanded all of the paper for these note cards including the DP from Basic Grey. Then I added some pink Prima flowers with a button in the center of each. The Thank You sentiment is one of the 2x Stampers from JustRite Stampers. The 2x Stampers are double sided and pre-inked. No stamp pad needed and they are very easy to use. One end has a sentiment and the other end has an image that can be used alone, as a border or a background. Another thing that I really like about the 2x Stampers is that on the sides they have little grooves to help you easily line up the stamp.
You just line up the stamp and gently push down for a perfectly inked sentiment or image every time!What could be better than that!? How about a Fabulous SALE on these and other stamps from JustRite Stampers!! That's right, it's time to make room for all of the new 2009 products and JustRite Stampers is having a HUGE SALE!!! BONUS BUYS AND DOLLAR DEALS--all of the details can be found by clicking HERE. Be sure to check it out!!

Supplies~
Paper~CTMH--Spring Harmony, Basic Grey--Euphoria
Stamps~JustRite Stampers--2x Stamper-Thank You
Other~Prima--Fruit Punch Hydrangea, Sanding Block, Beacon--Zip Dry Adhesive, Buttons, White Thread

Thanks so much for stopping by today!! Happy Holidays and I hope you are staying nice and toasty warm!

Smiles!
Heidi

JustRite Baby's 1st Christmas

Here is a little something that is sweet and quick for a last minute baby gift. Who wouldn't love a personalized baby's 1st Christmas ornament? I used three different stamp sets from JustRite Stampers to create this little Christmas ornament, Small Letter Set for Round Monogram Stampers, Baby Stamp Ensemble and Curlz Paper Crafting Font Ensemble. With JustRite Stampers the font sets come in three different sizes, 94pt. 50pt. 25pt which make them perfect for personalizing an item of any size. The Curlz Paper Crafting Font Ensemble also comes with numbers and symbols in the three different sizes for a TOTAL of 237 characters!!

To make these ornaments you will need stamps, clear glass Christmas ornaments, acetate, Black Stazon Ink, and some Sharpie markers. I started out by tracing the pattern for the ornaments and then to do the stamping I inked the stamps with them facing up and then very carefully applied the acetate to the stamp. When you are doing this you have to be careful not to move your hand. Unfortunately acetate is not very forgiving if you move!I started with the baby's first Christmas at the top and then worked my way down.Once I had everything stamped I colored in the backside using Sharpie markers. Then I applied crystal effects to the back and added some ultra fine glitter and set aside to dry. I filled up the glass ornament about half way with a mixture of snow and glitter. When the acetate was dry I rolled it up and put inside the ornament, leaving most of the snow on the backside. To finish off the ornament I added a pink bow, some little pine sprigs (Martha punch) with glitter and some pink rhinestones.Supplies~
Stamps~JustRite Stampers--Small Letter Set for Round Monogram Stampers, Baby Stamp Ensemble, Curlz Paper Crafting Font Ensemble**I also used these wooden stamp mounts From JustRite Stampers along with the stamp sets--Harmony Classic Circle I 1-5/8", Harmony Classic Circle II 2-5/16", Harmony Classic Oval Stamper II 2-1/4" x 3-1/16"
Ink~Black Stazon
Other~Clear Glass Christmas Ornaments, Acetate, Sharpie Markers, Crystal Effects, Ultra Fine Glitter, Snow, Martha Stewart Punch, Pink Rhinestones.

Don't forget to check out the JustRite Stampers website for some amazing deals!! JustRite Stampers is offering DOLLAR DEALS while supplies last and also some wonderful BONUS BUYS!!!

So, are you all ready for Christmas? I know we still have a ton of presents to wrap and even some to buy!! I have been sick for a while now and every time I start to think I'm feeling better it zaps me again! I am feeling the stress!!

I don't know if I will get a chance over the next couple of days to do another post so I want to wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Thank you so much for all of your friendship, wonderful comments and support over this last year!! I really appreciate all of you--more than you know!! I hope Santa is good to you but more then anything I hope we can all remember the true meaning of Christmas. I hope that during this fun but stressful time of the year we can each take a little time to reflect on the important things in life and all of the things we are grateful for!!

I hope you all have a BLESSED CHRISTMAS!!!!

Hugs & Smiles!
Heidi

Crafty Secrets NEW RELEASE Home Sweet Home

Today is the day for Crafty Secrets NEW RELEASE Home Sweet Home Stamp Set!! I know you are going to LOVE this set!! This stamp set contains 22 stamps! It has sweet little cottages with trees and flowers all around, tiny little flourishes and flowers on a vine along with 12 different greetings and sentiments. Please be sure to check out the Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Blog to see several Beautiful samples from the Design Team and to find out all of the details about the PRIZE PACK and FREE GIFTS!!!Here is one of the projects that I made using the Home Sweet Home stamp set.Now I know this isn't the typical color for me, I'm not much of a yellow person. But when I was starting to make this I wanted to make something that could possibly be hanging up in someones kitchen and then I remembered a dear sweet friend of mine who lives in an old victorian home and her kitchen is done in pink and yellow. So as I was looking through the Crafty Secrets Designer Paper Pads I came across this beautiful soft yellow with a pink and rose colored floral print and knew this was the one! It reminds me of her kitchen.

For the base of the heart shape I used one of the pieces from the Sweet Chips Heart Album & Frames. I covered the heart using paper from the Radiant Paper Designs Pad. Before I attached the paper to the heart I used a distressing tool for the edges and then I inked the edged with Vintage Photo Distress Ink from Ranger. I also added the pink lace and the yellow ribbon with the brads and then adhered the paper. Next I used hot glue and added the ivory lace to the back of the heart and two gold tone eyelets to the front with a piece of ivory ribbon for hanging. Then I colored in the Cottage image from the Home Sweet Home stamp set using Copic markers. After the image was colored in I cut it out and distressed the edges and then inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink from Ranger. I used the Wizard and the Labels One (S4-161) die from Spellbinders to make a mat for the background of the image. I also put pop dots behind the image to give it a little dimension. For the words Home Sweet Home I used the Wizard and the same Labels dies from Spellbinders as mentioned above. This die is the smallest in the Labels set. I stamped the words using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and then colored them in with Copic markers and used pop dots to adhere them.Supplies~
Paper~Crafty Secrets--Radiant Paper Designs Pad, WorldWin--ColorMates, Dark Racy Raspberry, Georgia-Pacific--White
Stamps~Crafty Secrets--Home Sweet Home
Ink~Memento--Tuxedo Black, Ranger--Distressed Ink Vintage Photo, Cranberry
Other~Spellbinders--Wizard, Labels One (S4-161), Copic Markers, Ivory & Yellow Ribbon, Pink & Ivory Lace, Eyelets, Brads, Pop Dots

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! Don't forget to hop on over the the Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Blog!!

Smiles!
Heidi

2009 Spellbinders Paper Arts Design Team Contest!!!

So did the title grab your attention!?? LOL!! It's that time of the year again, Spellbinders Paper Arts is doing a nation-wide search for talented scrapbookers, rubber stampers, card makers and papercrafters. If you would like to find out all of the details (and see a really great picture from the retreat last year!!) about the contest click HERE!! Maybe YOU will be one of the next Spellbinders Designers!! Have fun & Good Luck to all who enter!!

I absolutely love how this card turned out! It makes me smile. I love the softness of the white and ivory together with a little lace and the sparkle of the glitter, rhinestones and some gold embossing powder. The stamped images are from the Inkadinkado, Winter Birds stamp set and both the bird and snowflake punch are from Martha Stewart. The winter holly flourish was stamped and embossed with gold EP onto the ivory mat with a piece of lace added to the bottom. I used the Wizard and the Labels Large dies (S4-168) from Spellbinders to cut and emboss the label shape from Poison Ivory CS. The bird image was stamped and then embossed with gold EP. I also added a white label to the back for a mat. Then I added the birds, with a little foam tape on the backside to give them some dimension and then the snowflakes were added. For a sparkling final touch I added some glitter and rhinestones.
Supplies~
Stamps~Inkadinkado--Winter Birds
Ink~VersaMark
Paper~Poison Ivory, GP--White
Other~Spellbinders--Wizard, Labels Large dies (S4-168), Martha Stewart--Punches, Glitter, My Stash--Gold EP, Rhinestones, Lace, Foam Tape

A couple of days ago a sweet friend of my, Mardene (*waving hi*) sent me a link to the most beautiful video and I wanted to share it with all of you. In the email Mardene said, what a beautiful way to start the Christmas season--this will knock your socks off & I have to agree!! Thanks Mardene!! Click HERE to see the video of Josh Groban singing O Holy Night (The Nativity Story).

Thank you so much for stopping by today!! I hope you have a wonderful week and don't forget to check out all of the detail about the 2009 Spellbinders Paper Arts Design Team Contest!!

Smiles!
Heidi

Spellbinders Rose Love Heart Ornament

The project I am going to share with you today is one of the monthly design team gallery projects I made for Spellbinders Paper Arts. For my project I altered a heart shaped ornament. The wonderful thing about this project is that you could use it on a Christmas tree or use it for a fun Valentine's decoration. I used two of the Spellbinders dies for creating this design, Rose Borderability Grand (S7-001) and Ribbon Tags Trio (S3-150). The Rose Borderability Grand is a 12" border die that can be used for scrapbook LO's but you can also use just a small portion of it for your smaller projects. The Ribbon Tags Trio is also a wonderful set of dies, three different tag dies come in the set.To start out I painted the heart shaped ornament with a white acrylic paint and then once that was dry I painted over it with a pearl paint. Then I cut and embossed the rose border die using the Wizard and then I colored in the roses and leaves with pastels from The Stencil Collection. I love using these pastels! They are so simple to work with and you can apply them with your finger tips. Then I cut and embossed the tag and stamped the word LOVE in the center. To stamp the word LOVE I used Special Occasions Deluxe Kit from JustRite Stampers along with Orchid Pastel Ink from ClearSnap. After I had both of the die cuts done then I inked the edges using a combination of Ranger Antique Linen Distress Ink and Creamy Brown Ink from ClearSnap. To apply the roses I used Zip-Dry adhesive from Beacon. I also added some ribbon, lace, pretty pink trim, a few buttons and a tiny bit of glitter. For a finishing touch I edged the heart with little dots of White Opal, Liquid Pearls from Ranger.

The heart shaped ornament came from Joann's but I am sure you could find them in several craft stores. It's a great way to take something simple and turn it into something beautiful!

Supplies~
Paper~Cryogen White Shimmer CS
Ink~ClearSnap-Creamy Brown, Orchid Pastel, Ranger-Antique Linen Distress Ink
Stamps~JustRite Stampers-Special Occasions Deluxe Kit
Other~Spellbinders-Wizard, Rose Borderability Grand (S7-001) and Ribbon Tags Trio (S3-150), White Acrylic and Pearl Paint, The Stencil Collection-Pastels, Beacon-ZipDry, Ribbon, Lace, Pink Trim, Buttons, Glitter, Ranger-Liquid Pearls.

Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope you are having a Terrific Week!!

Smiles!
Heidi

Crafty Secrets Anniversary Card for Mom & Dad

Running with a late night post but here is the anniversary card as promised from the previous post. Yesterday was my Mom & Dad's wedding anniversary--Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!! I absolutely LOVE how this card turned out!! Both my mom & dad are really big into gardening and they love birds so I knew this combination of flowers and birds would be perfect! They also have tons of lilacs--one of my personal favorite flowers. The DP, Vintage Image and the Flourishes stamp are all from Crafty Secrets. The DP with the beautiful lilacs is from the Radiant Paper Pad. I inked the edges with black ink and then stamped the flourishes from the Cherubs stamp set with the same black ink. I also added Diamond Stickles from ranger to the flourishes.I used the Martha Stewart Bird Punch to punch out two birds with Heritage Black CS from WolrdWin and added foam tape to the back to give them some dimension. The vintage image with the sentiment is from the Joys of Life Heartwarming Vintage Booklets. I inked the edges with black ink and added a little Diamond Stickles from Ranger on the lilacs. All of the CS is from WorldWin, I used Dark Perfect Plum and Heritage Black. To finish off the card I added a sheer light plum ribbon and some rhinestones.

Supplies~
Paper~Crafty Secrets-Radiant Paper Pad, WorldWin-Dark Perfect Plum, Heritage Black
Ink~Memento-Tuxedo Black
Stamps~Crafty Secrets-Cherubs
Other~Crafty Secrets-Joys of Life Heartwarming Vintage Booklets, Martha Stewart-Bird Punch, Ranger-Diamond Stickles, Found Items-Ribbon, Rhinestones, Foam Tape

Thanks so much for stopping by! It's *+*snowing*+*snowing*+*snowing *+* here!!! Hope you are staying nice and toasty warm!

Smiles!
Heidi

JustRite Happy Holidays Christmas Ornament

Have you been having a good weekend and are you staying warm? There is snow on the ground and it's cold here--brrrr. I was inside this weekend and thought it would be the perfect time for some fun holiday crafting. I have a few different projects I have been working on and today I want to share a Christmas ornament with you.

Before I get to the Christmas Ornament I have to ask, how many of you are fans of the Extreme Home Makeover Show? Guess what?? Tonight's show was in my home town and we were there the day that the Devries family came home. I have to say their new home is so BEAUTIFUL!!!

I also want to say Happy Anniversary to my Parents!! Today is their wedding anniversary.
I LOVE you Mom & Dad!! I will post the card I made for them tomorrow. ;)

Ok, on to the Christmas Ornament. ;) Here is a picture of the finished Christmas Ornament.The base for the ornament is a doily (there is a different doily shown in the first picture). I wanted to stiffen the doily up a bit so it would hold it's shape while hanging up and I also wanted to add some glitter to it so I mixed equal parts of Gem-Tac (Embellishing Glue) from Beacon and Pearl Create-a-Shade Paint from CTMH and applied it to the doily with a sponge brush. After I had the doily coated with the glue and paint mixture I added the glitter and let it dry overnight. Once it was completely dry then I took a piece of chipboard and inked it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink from Ranger and glued it to the center of the doily.Next I used the Happy Holidays Center and the Snowflake Border from the JustRite Stampers Christmas Stamp Ensemble. For using this stamp set you will also need the 3-1/4" Harmony Classic Stamper III, all of the borders and centers fit into this wood stamper. I stamped the sentiment and images using VersaMark Ink onto Medium Coffee Brown and Light Heritage White CS from WorldWin and embossed it with gold embossing powder. I wanted to be able to layer the border and center piece so I cut out the two pieces using the Wizard and Classic Circle Nestabilities (S4-114) from Spellbinders Paper Arts. I also cut out a scalloped circle from the Dark Racy Raspberry CS from WorldWin with the Petite Scalloped Circles (S4-115) die from Spellbinder Paper Arts to use as a mat. The scalloped circle was glued to the chipboard and then the piece with the border was added on top of that. For the center piece I inked the edged with Cranberry Adirondack Ink from Ranger and then added foam tape to the back to give it some dimension. Then I punched out a few snowflakes from the Dark Racy Raspberry and Light Heritage White CS from WorldWin using the Martha snowflake punch. I inked the white snowflakes with the Vintage Photo Ink and then glued them into place.For the snowflake image from the Happy Holidays stamp I added liquid applique'.Then I added rhinestones, glitter and pearls along with some gold and raspberry cord to finish off the Christmas Ornament.I wish you could see this in real life--it is soooo sparkly!! Supplies~
Paper~WorldWin ColorMates--Dark Racy Raspberry, Medium Coffee Brown, Light Heritage White
Ink~VersaMark, Ranger--Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Cranberry Adirondack Ink
Stamps~JustRite Stampers--Christmas Stamp Ensemble, 3-1/4" Harmony Classic Stamper III
Other~Spellbinder Paper Arts--Classic Circle Nestabilities (S4-114 ), Petite Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (S4-115), Beacon--Gem-Tac, Fabri-Tac, Martha Stewart--Snowflake Punch, Joann's--Glitter, CTMH-Pearl Create a Shade Paint, Marvy--Liquid Applique', Rhinestones, Gold and Raspberry Cord, Gold EP, Doily, Sponge Brush & Foam Tape
Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you had a Wonderful Weekend!! Don't forget to check out the JustRite Stampers Gallery and Blog for beautiful inspiration!

Smiles!
Heidi