In fact, I did this video almost two months ago! But I didn’t want to share any love for this product until they were back in stock at stores. There was a storage on them for awhile, but now you can get your paws on them again.

I am thrilled to be able to play with them all I want now! Here is a video showing one of the many ways you can use them – to create a fun background with the Hero Arts and Studio Calico Lattice background…

I love that you can get little spots of color with the marker tip, and then can spray them like mad to get blending like watercolor…

When I showed this card to Tim awhile back, he asked me how long it took to color all those shapes. Honestly? 5 or so minutes. And that is nothing compared to what I normally spend on a card – ha. (I am slow.) So I think it is worth it.

Here you can see the pearlized look you get since I used water with Perfect Pearls mixed in. (If you don’t want that shine, you can just use regular water. Both are lovely.)

So many people have asked me if I really love these markers. The answer is yes. They take all the things I love about Distress Inks and puts them in a marker form – so I can get detailed spots of color. What could be better? And this background is just one of many ways to use them. (The best of which is for multi-color stamping – more on that another day.)

You can get the Distress Markers individually (get the colors you like best and just try them out) or go ahead and take the plunge to get the whole set…

I love new toys. Almost as I love giving them away…

And I have a set of Distress Markers to give away! YAY! (Thanks, of course, to the fabulous Heidi at Simon Says Stamp.) Just leave a comment here by Sunday at 11:59pmEST for your chance to win. Good luck – this is a great giveaway!

Distress Markers	Hero Arts Studio Calico Lattice Stamp	Hero Arts Studio Calico Wonderful World	Memory Box Heart Delights Die
Sizzix Big Shot	Perfect Pearl Pigment Powder	B&W Enamel	Versamark
Hero Arts Black Dye Ink	White Embossing Powder	Mister	Heat Gun
Hero Arts Snow Notecards	Best Watercolor Paper	Neenah White Cardstock 25 Sheets	Neenah White Cardstock 250 Sheets
Craft Sheet	Small Fiskars Trimmer	EK 1/16 Thin Foam Dots

But it is nice to have tags on hand for gifts, right?

So those squares were stamped with THESE Hero Arts stamps in Versamark and white heat embossed. I then colored over them with Memento Markers. Easy and fun.

I love reverse stamps like these where you can white emboss and add color with markers. Results in some great texture. I also used this set on THIS card.

See you soon. Hopefully with a smaller belly and a baby in my arms. Night!

Below are the supplies used for this card. To find them at Simon Says Stamp, click on the SSS below the thumbnails. For Ellen Hutson, click on EH…

Hero Arts Untitled Love Stamps (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Dot Flower Pattern Stamp (SSS|EH)	White Embossing Powder (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Pool Shadow Ink (EH|SSS)
Memento Markers	Green Memento Markers	Yellow Memento Markers	Versamark (SSS|EH)
Hero Hues Cards etc

So my world is filled with all things die cutting right now. (Oh, and babies and remodel dust and baseball games, etc. Ha.) Why? Because we have the A Cut Above die cutting class going on. (Yes – you can still join and be eligible for the prizes, discounts and lifetime class access.) We have been having lots of fun and sharing many great techniques!

While creating for the class, I decided to do a 5-minute card challenge using a die. Super quick. Super simple. Super perfect for a kind and thoughtful neighbor…

This card is super smooth. Why? Because I first die cut the flowers from the kraft paper and glued the negative space panel to the card. I then die cut the pink and green pieces and fit them in the “holes” on the kraft piece, making it smooth. There is something about this look in real life that is classy. And so very easy to do…

I could so see doing a set of notecards with different flower colors as a gift.

Oh – that gorgeous kraft paper is THIS from Neenah (who makes my favorite white cardstock) and is called Desert Storm. I love it. I am late to the game trying it but am happy I did.

That die is THIS gorgeous guy from Memory Box. They have the most gorgeous intricate dies. This type of card could be done with any die, but intricate ones really wow.

And the greeting? That is from THIS Hero Arts stamp sets – one of my all time faves.

Off to bed. Yes, it is 9:16pm on a Friday night and this extremely pregnant lady is going night-night. Sleep well!

Below are the supplies used for this card. To find them at Simon Says Stamp, click on the SSS below the thumbnails. For Ellen Hutson, click on EH…

Memory Box Prim Poppy Die (SSS|EH)	Hero Arts Truly Appreciated (SSS|EH)	Vagabond Die Cut Machine	Sizzix Thin Die Plate
White Embossing Powder (SSS|EH)	Versamark (SSS|EH)	Neenah White Cardstock 25 Sheets (EH|SSS)	Neenah White Cardstock 250 Sheets (SSS|EH)
Tombow Stamp Runner Adhesive (SSS|EH)	Neenah Desert Storm Kraft Cardstock

Grab your sunglasses. This is a bright one.

Wow. Very bright. But I think it will cheer up a friend. I did this for the new theme over on the Hero Arts blog today. Used lots of happy stuff here – all listed below in the thumbnails.

This was a great way to use up some orange scraps from my stash! I love the look of a bold white greeting on color, too. (That greeting is from a soon-to-be released Hero Arts + BasicGrey set.)

By the way, those rays were done with THIS stamp. It is on sale over at Hero Arts HERE, or you can get it at Simon Says Stamp HERE. It is a good one – lots of great uses. And by simply covering up the banner part, I gave it a completely different look. You will be seeing me use this one more…

Enjoy! Oh, and the winner of the Sketchbook 4 class is Barbara Albrecht. See you soon.

Hero Arts Radiant Banner	Hero Arts Butter Bar Ink	HA Sunshine Mixed Accents	HA Daffodil Notecard
Versamark	Versamark	EK 1/16 Thin Foam Dots	White Embossing Powder
Heat Gun	Favorite Fiskars Trimmer	Corner Chomper

Today I am part of a Go To Gals Product Challenge Blog Hop and we will all be using goodies from Bazzill.

My favorite product from Bazzill is their Dotted Swiss Cardstock. This cardstock has a subtle raised dot pattern. Unlike do-it-yourself-with-embossing-folders embossed papers, you can stamp on this cardstock. And their pack of Dotted Swiss has three shades for each color – lovely!

Here is a card I created with some of this cardstock, along with a clear embossed background. I just love how well Bazzill cardstock works with clear embossing – makes such a striking image.

I also stamped a Technique Tuesday greeting from Ali Edwards…

Here is another one I did with these Dotted Swiss cardstocks. This time I used white embossing powder with the Hero Arts Newsprint Tulips… (This stamp is a new fave of mine!)

To be able to stamp with black over the white embossing, I used black Staz-On ink. Works well!

So next be sure to check out the other Go To Gal blogs, and the Paper Crafts Connections blog…

• Teri Anderson
• Julie Campbell
• Kim Kesti
• Windy Robinson
• Betsy Veldman
• Paper Crafts Connection

Over on the Paper Crafts Connection blog, I am sharing several more card ideas using these products. Be sure to check it out – we are also giving away a set of these cardstocks and the fun stamp. Here’s a peek…

See you soon!

Just have a simple card to share using a Hero Arts stamp and die along with some Hero Arts acetate…

This went together so fast. (Gotta love that.) I layered and adhered all the papers that would end up on the front of the card together. I then temporarily stuck them to the front of the card and ran them through my die cut machine with the Edge label die. (Adore this die – I used it HERE, too, without the stamps. So versatile.) Next I stamped the owl label image with White Staz-On Ink on a piece of acetate. Once it dried, I sandwiched the image between the die cut layered piece and the die cut card. The perfect window with a “floating” white image.

I added some paper to the inside to show through, too. Finally, I jazzed up the acetate with a few “floating” pearls.

BTW, this is the label die I used. It matches up with this owl stamp along with several other Hero Arts stamps. But I like to use it alone, too. I like that is has a little more interest on the tips of the label than most label dies do.

All the supplies are listed below in the thumbnails.

I usually don’t share a lot of personal/boring/non-crafting life stuff here. But I just had to say this – Happy 6th birthday, little man. Thanks for making this life of ours so amazing.

Have a great day!

Just sharing a video I did awhile go for Hero Arts. In it, I show how to get more from your dies by letting the edge of the die hang off the cutting plates. Sounds confusing but it is simple…

Now you may be saying, “Use a longer die!” Well, I didn’t have one! And there are many ways you can do this “hang off the edge” technique to get more from your dies. Shaped cards, etc. Start playing – you will have fun with it. (If you took Holiday Card Boot Camp, you saw on Day 1 another use for this technique.)

Simple is sometimes the best way to go…

Here is the die I used…

Here is another option for creating a zig zag border – a fun EK Success punch. (Mine is currently MIA. Need to find it!)

Off to rest. Had Colin’s 6th birthday party today. I am wiped out. Night!

Oh, and I decided to do a random giveaway to a random comment left last week on my blog. The lucky winner is Betty M and she won this great stamp set from Hero Arts and Studio Calico…

Quick share tonight. Baby is performing a circus act in my belly, making it hard to sit. Yikes!

Found this card I did in the fall and thought I would share it here. The image is from THIS set, which I love oh so very much. Lots of cool techniques you can do with it. Here, I white heat embossed it on white cardstock and then colored over it with markers, allowing the embossing to resist the marker.

I am not much of a pastel person (except pool and daffodil) so this looks so odd to me – can’t believe I made it. Ha…

And that pleated ribbon? I have a video I will be showing soon on how to do that. Stay tuned.

Today I am part of a Go To Gals Product Challenge Blog Hop and we will all be using goodies from SRM Stickers.

Being a stamper, I rarely use stickers. The reason? I am not a fan of the halo they leave. But these clear and smooth SRM Stickers go on like butter and “disappear.” Just a good as stamps and so much easier. I am happy.

I was running low on time today so I made a card inspired by one I did awhile ago. Simple. And I added party hats to the stamped birds…

Used an awesome 6×6 paper from Lawn Fawn for the background. LOVE how subtle it is.

And aren’t the party hats fun? Goes well with that SRM greeting sticker.

So next be sure to check out the other Go To Gal blogs, and the Paper Crafts Connections blog…

• Teri Anderson
• Julie Campbell
• Kim Kesti
• Windy Robinson
• Betsy Veldman
• Paper Crafts Connection

If you want to see more SRM products, visit HERE. And the best part? They are super nice there.

Supplies below. See you later!

I just wanted to share a video I did for Studio Calico. I used their awesome March kits, along with Hero Arts Soft Shadow Inks and Mid-Tone Shadow Inks. Here is the video…

Here is the layout. A giant photo of pregnant me in the water. Boy do I wish I was there now.

The Shadow Inks work great with lots of SC kits. Similar colors.

And, of course, this cardmaker needed to make a card…

Lovely products in those kits, I tell ya!

And as often happens, most of these kits are all sold out already. You gotta move fast! But sweet Kelly Purkey said that I could give away one of the kits for Maggie Holme’s upcoming class, Happy Little Moments. (Sign up quick for the class – the last day you can do so is tomorrow.) Here is a bit about the class…

Join Maggie Holmes in our Calico Classroom March self-paced class. Life is full of happy little moments that we often don’t scrapbook. This altered book is the perfect place to tuck them in along with a few sentiments and beautiful hand picked embellishments. Maggie will walk you through the creation process and show you some fun techniques for making a magical and unique album.

Just leave a comment here for a chance to win a sold out Happy Little Moments Class Kit. Do so by Wednesday at 11:59pmEST.

Good luck. See you tomorrow!