The Heat is On...........

    .....if you Love hot and humid weather than you will be a very happy camper to be here this week.   But, if you are like me and basically 'melt' in the humidity, then you'll be spending lots of time inside any place that has air conditioning and I'm very thankful that for me, that's right at home.

     Although having a heatwave or two is not unusual in the Summer, we are now on our third or fourth? already this season and this one is expected to last a least another few days, which will likely start to break records for us in Coastal Massachusetts.  And as much as I LOVE Summer, the humidity this time if a bit oo much and today I'm not even thinking about taking the dogs out for our daily walks.  Although Skye doesn't seem to mind the heat, Scout does and he's rather nap away the day in a nice cool place, which is what he's doing right now.    We've been out in the yard on and off all day, but right now even the deck is brutally hot, so I have to hose it down, for the dogs to walk on it.  It's much too hot for them to be out and hopefully it will cool down soon!

    On the upside for me, having an air conditioned craft room has also been perfect and it's given me lots of extra time this week to create and it's been fun.  As you'll see I've very much been into creating with vibrant colors and also very graphic designs, which are really "in" right now.

    I am loving many of the new "Graphic" style designs that Hero Arts has come out with this summer and one of my favorite sets is this cling set, called "Brush Strokes", which I played around with a lot the past couple of days.  I also love this set "Notebook Essentials" and their new cool and bright "Ink Daubers"!!  Fun Fun Fun!

   My first card today was created with these fun new Hero Products and was inspired by the current "Playing Favorites" challenge at "A Blog Named Hero", as well as the new "Case This Sketch" challenge.   I made a few different cards, all based on this fun new sketch and think that my favorite is first card shared below the CTS Sketch!

CTS # 31

My Cards

 As you can see I focused on using my favorite colors and had a lot of fun playing with my new stamps and the very cool new Daubers from Hero. 

 Next, are two more cards, both again creating using the same sketch, as well as more of the fabulous new Hero Arts products, all from the newest "Stamp Your Story" collection.

  And then I had a "bust" when I created this card, which I had planned to submit to Hero's One Layer Card Challenge, currently hosted over on their blog.  However, I just do NOT love this card, not even a little and I consider it my "fail" card, so it will like be recycled and I hope to come up with something MUCH better for the challenge.

  After that I knew it was time to move on to something else, so I decided to work on the card that I'll be using for the July Card Chain, which you can find HERE!!  I have been taking part in this fun "International Card Swap" for the past three months and totally LOVE it and now actually look forward to it.  As you can see I combined two of the themes for my card (The Sketch and the Color Combo), to create this fun card.  Hopefully, the recipient does NOT follow my blog, and will not see it quite yet, but if so, I also hope they'll like it too!!

Sketch Inspiration

Color Inspiration

My Card

    This was really a fun card to create and I started by cutting all my circles with a variety of punches and Nestie Dies.  I then decided to add some texture to the Neon Green circles and embossed them in my Cuttlebug.   My "Hello Friend" is from the "All Occassions Messages' set by Hero Arts.  To make it Pop on this card, I first stamped it in Versamark and then heat embossed it in Silver.  I wish I showed better in the photograph.  I then used a nestie die to cut it add and added it to my card with Pop Dots.  I also used Yellow Ink and a "Paint Splatter" stamp to add extra to the yellow circle.  I do hope that the recipient will enjoy it!   If YOU would like to join this fun swap you still have time and can sign up HERE!!   

  And while cleaning up, I picked up a bunch of extra circles and cardstock and found I had enough to quickly make this cute little card, which is basically a "Scrap Creation".  My little "Yo" sentiment is from Paper Smooches and I think it's a fun card that I'll likely send out to Brian (my son), in San Diego.  I still miss him and Meghan (his wife), so much and although I've been out to visit one, that's not enough.  I do hope they will be home in the Fall and then I can plan another trip out, next winter!   I loved San Diego and wish I could pick up and move there too.....Someday that would be something I would LOVE, as that gorgeous weather is so much better for me!!

 Now I am heading to take the dogs out for a little bit and then will be back up in my craft room trying to make an 'improved" One Layer Card for Hero's Challenge!  I also still need to create an Anniversary card for Hubby, as we will be celebrating 23 years on Monday!

  Hope you are all enjoying your weekend, hopefully staying cool and spending time in your craft room too!   As always, Happy Crafting !