Hero Arts 2016 Planner Release Blog Hop

I'm so happy to be participating today in the 2016 Hero Arts Planner Release Blog Hop! This hop is all about celebrating the launch of the 2016 Planner Product Catalog items arriving in the Hero Arts Store. If you are new here, I welcome you. If you don't know me I am part of Kelly Perkey's Design Team so I already love working with her products and stamps. I love all of her collaborations with Hero Arts and her planner stamps always have just what I need to help plan my days, weeks and even months.

I don't always decorate my planner each week but when I have some down time I love to spice things up a bit. For extra special months I even like to decorate my wall calendar that hangs above my desk. Its always there and it really helps get me in the seasonal mood. As you can see below I did just that for the month of October.

When planning out my month, the first and foremost thing that I need to make sure I'm on the ball about is all of my daughters soccer games. She plays at the competitive level so its a lot of games for sure. I don't bother putting all of the practice days on the calendar because lets be real, I wouldn't have any room for anything else. Her life is definitely way busier than mine. Luckily for me, Kelly's Sports Planner set is perfect for all the sports moms out there.

Once those key dates are listed I love adding in little touches from all of her stamp sets to help draw attention and have some fun with some of my appointments and tasks for the month. For this calendar page I added in little bits from the Doing my Best, Adventure, Shopping, Appointment, Occasions, Food, School and especially the Fall Planner set because its so perfect for October. The Holiday Wood Icons also helped add some extra Halloween touches to my calendar.

I also used a few of Kelly's sticky notes from the Everyday Sticky note set to help dress up my flags and cover a stamping boo boo. It happens to everyone, thankfully a good sticky note can help save the day!

One of my favorite things to add to my calendar are all the fun National Days. I added three to my calendar page this month, of course I picked the ones that really speak to me. The Doing my Best, Food and Fall planner sets really helped with that because lets be real, its all about the food and pumpkins!

I'm also a huge fan of the stamp and cut sets and I love using them whenever I can. I cut two banners from the Flags Stamp & Cut set as well as pieces from the Tape Stamp & Cut set and the Labels Stamp & Cut set.

The inks I used to stamp with were all Kelly's stamp cubes. I used colors from the new Palm Springs, Miami and Charleston sets as well as the Outdoor set. These inks give the best color payoff and are so easy to work with. I love the new additions to the color range for these ink cubes, Kelly really gave me just the colors I needed.

I hope that this project has inspired you to dress up your family's wall calendar like you would your planner. It definitely makes the month feel way more festive this way.

I hope that you also continue on the blog hop so you can see all of the other amazing projects. I've listed all of the blog contributors with links below.

Hero Arts

Kelly Purkey

Jennifer McGuire

Yana Smakula

May Sukyong Park

Mariana Grigsby

Amy Tsuruta

Amy Tan

Wanda Guess

Lydia Fiedler

Jen Carlson

Barbara Picinich -- This is me

Brooke Takara

Krista Wells

Jamie Waters

Nadia Azni

Kari Stiles

Libby Hickson

And don't forget to leave a comment here on my blog as well as the other contributors because Hero Arts will be giving away three $25 shopping sprees, drawn from comments left across all blogs in the hop. Please comment by Wednesday, October 19 at 11:59pm PT and Hero Arts will be announcing the winners next week. Keep an eye on their blog for the announcement.

Thanks for stopping by!

Featuring Kelly Purkey │ September release

It was the first day of Autumn last week, did you celebrate it? I sure did, even though it's still firmly in the 90's around here nothing will stop me from sipping the PSL's and buying all the pumpkin foods I can find. As soon as the temps drop, I'll be all set. Luckily the latest September releases from Kelly Purkey Shop are giving all the fall vibes.

The Gather the Goods mini kit designed by the lovely and talented Brandi Kincaid is a must for the true fall lovers out there. The stamps are so cute and so versatile too. I'm seriously loving the leaves, especially when stamped with some ombre inks.

I stamped some of my fall favorites using the new Miranda alpha, its designed to work with both the Walter alpha and the Dalton alpha stamp sets. I used the Dalton here for the outline. The vibrant colors one the cards are so divine. I adore that blue shade on the background of the fall leaves card. Perfection!

The main September kit is called Around Town and I was completely drawn to all of the amazing shades of blue in the kit. Not to mention the super cool locals stamps in the stamp set.

I also added in a few stamps from the Happy Things stamp set and the little phone stamp from the Singleton stamp set because they paired so well with the kit and my photos.

Love that Local stamp from the kit and the stacked words on the card that I fussy cut for my date card.

There are also a whole new batch of Clearly Kelly Products with Hero Arts. There are six new planner stamp sets, two new stamp and cut sets, and four new ink cubes.

For this planner spread I used a little bit of each of the new stamp sets; Arts & Crafts, Adventure, College Life, Doing my Best, Goal Plan, and the Garden Set. I especially loved the weather icons on this set. I also added in some banners from the Flags Stamp & Cut and one of the washi stamps from the Tape Stamp & Cut set. How cute is that die to cut little washi strips! Adorable!

Something you definitely don't want to miss out on are the four new stamp cube sets. I mixed them all up on this image below so you could see how amazing the new color range is. These stamp pads are amazing. They are juicy, they are pigmented and they make stamping effortless. Seriously love these new inks. The Make Note stamp is from the Gather the Goods stamp set.

There is a bundle available of all four sets or you can purchase each one individually; Palm Springs, Paris, Miami, and Charleston.

I hope you love this months release! Happy shopping!

See you soon,

Featuring Kelly Purkey │ July Release

Hello everyone! At the end of last month Kelly released her July products and because I was traveling with my family during the release I wasn't able to post any sneaks or share any projects until I got back. The release was full of awesome items that you can see here but before you head over to shop, I'd love to share what I made.

The first project focused on the I Love Big Books mini kit. This kit was so much fun to work with and if you are an avid reader, its perfect for you. 

I really loved the ombre library cards and used them for the background for this spread in my summer mini. I then printed off cover images of all of the books I have read so far this summer and layered them on top.

I added in some of the stamps and then stamped part of my title using the new Walter alpha stamp set. I did outline the stamps using the Dalton alpha set because it coordinates perfectly. The ink I used on the Summer title was an ombre ink from the Recollections brand and I love how that ombre ties in with the cards.

My second project focused on the Tastes Like Summer stamp set. I loved this stamp set because it covered so many tasty parts of summer. If you love to hit up the fruit stand or the farmers markets this stamp set is for you.

I knew I wanted a really big bold title for this spread so I cut out the word sweet using my Silhouette Cameo and stamped it with the cherry and strawberry stamps using the green ink in the Fashion ink set. I love how the color paired so well with my cardstock. It gave it just enough oomph to keep it from being too boring.

To finish off the spread I added in some more of the phrases that came in the stamp set, I mean Live Juicy, so cute! I then layered some cards that came in the Studio Calico Pool Party Documenter kit with my photo of our farm stand purchase. The strawberry card as well as the rubber strawberry were the perfect accents for this story.

There was also another really cool alpha set called Everett and I cannot wait to use this one. I have never seen anything like it and can't wait to find the perfect layout or project to use it on.

I have also heard that the pre-orders of all of the new Holiday sets should be shipping at the end of next week so if you haven't checked them out, now is the time. I'm so in love with all of these cute holiday city stamps and of course the Thanksgiving planner stamps because Thanksgiving is my favorite meal, I mean who doesn't love stuffing.

I hope you have a great week and I'll see you soon!

Featuring Kelly Purkey │ June Release

Happy Friday everyone! I'm here to share the projects that I made using Kelly Purkey's June kits and stamp set releases. The launch was really awesome this month and I hope you find some inspiration in what I'm about to share.

The first project is a pocket page spread. It's been ages since I have done one, which means that yes, I've very behind as we start the last half of the year but that's okay. This definitely helped get my inspo flowing and it certainly made me want to do some more.

I used a bunch of different items on this spread; cards and stamps from the My Day kit, stamps from the Best Friends stamp set, the Burnside alpha stamp set, and even a few stamps from the Get It mini kit by Jamaica.

I really loved the circle stamps from the My Day kit and the Burnside Alpha is a new fave.

One of my favorite stamp sets this month was The Great Outdoors stamp set. This one is sadly already sold out but if you love to camp and hike it's a great set. To those that snagged it, good call.

I made a few journaling cards to include in an album that I started last year as you can see below.

I also used them on a spread that I made for my notebook scrapbook or travelers notebooks as they are called. What's not to love about a camper stamp, I mean, hello how cute is that.

The post its from Kelly's shop were the perfect green accent to add in some pops of color on my spread.

I also have a little surprise to share with you. Kelly's holiday stamps in partnership with Hero Arts will be up for pre-order this month with the next shop update on July 28th. Below is a little sneak peek of some of the stamp sets. There are sets for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some 3x4 sets, some planner sets and some wood mounted sets. Everything you could want for all of your holiday stamping needs. I hope you love this little sneak peek.

Make sure you sign up for Kelly's newsletter if you haven't already, you don't miss out all of the new item announcements and sale notices. You can sign up right at the bottom of her website right here.

Have a great weekend!

Featuring Kelly Purkey │ January Release

Hello everyone, its release day over at Kelly Purkey's Shop today and I wanted to share with you what I've made so far with this months latest stamps and kits.

The first thing I made was a Project Life® spread for week three. I used the a mixture of cards and stamps from the main subscription kit, High Five and the Mini in Minutes kit, Life Happens. I also mixed in some of the stamps from the You're A Life Saver stamp set.

Working with the 9x12 size is really working for me. I am loving having the 6x4 slots to fill with larger photos and I've even started taking some in that orientation now that I know I need them. Typically I take all of my photos in the vertical orientation, I know its not 'normal' but its what I like the best so there you go.

I really loved mixing the mini in minutes cards with the kit cards and of course all of the stamps. I especially love the bright red and pink cards in mini kit that was designed by Anne Marie Espinoza this month. That little dotted curvy arrow stamp is just the cutest!

I also really loved adding the alpha stickers that Kelly is including with the kits to my spreads. I have been a fan for awhile from way back in the day when Kelly had released these before. They really are the perfect size and font to add to pocket pages. 

Oh and if you haven't yet watched Adele's Carpool Karaoke, stop what you are doing right now and watch it. I've watched it several times already and when I saw the article online that I added to my album saying they had enough for a full hour episode I died, I would totally be up for that, just sayin'.

My second project was adding some of the stamps and cards to my planner. I have several planners that I like to play around in just for fun but for my day to day planning this year is being done in a Get to Work Book. Because some of the stamps this release were so appropriate for Valentine's day I decided to decorate my February monthly calendar. I used stamps from the You're a Lifesaver set, the Life Happens set, and the High Five set. I also mixed in some of the Clearly Kelly Planner stamp sets; Special Occasion, Travel, Food, TV, Sports and Appointment. I also used Kelly's inks which are amazing for stamping in your planner. The sets I used are; Coffee and Donuts, Urban and Fashion. I love the grey ink in the Urban set. Its nice to have a dark color that's not black. Its like a soft black and I love it, its not to dark but just dark enough.

A few people asked on Instagram when I posted a sneak image how I added the pink and red heart card to my planner. I saw someone post this idea on Instagram awhile back and I'm sorry I don't remember who that was but they used an old Bind It All Machine and punched the holes. I happened to have one too so I used it the same way. After I punched the holes I clipped little notches so that I could add it and remove it from my planner. Here is a better look at that so you can see what I mean.

I love the pop of orange when the card is flipped over. Here you can see that I layered the alpha stickers to create a shadow effect, I just laid down the black stickers first and then added the white on top just a bit off center so the black showed.

I used one of the cards from the main High Five kit to make a list that I can clip into my planner. That little dotted arrow stamp, I tell you its super cute!

There was also a alpha stamp set, Williamsburg that is perfect layered underneath the Greenpoint alpha set that I haven't had a chance to use yet, but its super cute so make sure you check it out.

I hope you enjoy the release, its another great month for sure!

Featuring Clearly Kelly │ New Planner Stamps

Hello everyone, today I wanted to share with you some of the new planner stamps from Kelly Purkey and Hero Arts. This new launch of planner stamps was featured recently at CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) trade show in Anaheim, CA. There are seven new planner stamp sets, three wood mounted stamps two of which are sized to stamp on post its, an alpha and die set, a 2016 stamp and cut set and a label and die set. You can see all of the new items up for pre-order right here.

Here are some samples of ways that I used the stamps. The first is by dressing up the wall calendar that hangs over my desk. While they are perfect for stamping inside your planner, they also work great for stamping on any calendar you might have.

I love that this release has a sports set, its going to get a lot of use around here with a little one that plays soccer and is about to start up basketball. I also love the 2016 set of stamp and cuts, I especially love the twenty sixteen stamp and the today stamp.

My next project was using the super fun stamps sized to fit onto 3x3 post its. How cute are these stamps! I thought it would be cute to make up a little chore chart for my daughter so I stamped the grid stamp in a light gray ink not worrying to much if it overlapped to create a place to put the post its. My intent is to just re-stamp the post its each week using the Don't Forget stamp and fill them in with the tasks. My daughter is actually very excited about this, I think the bright happy colors help for sure.

I can't wait to get stamping these into my planner this year, here you can see all of the new planner sets.

I really love that travel set, it totally makes we want to jet off somewhere fun.

Kelly's next release of stamps and kits will hit her shop later this month, I have seen the stamps and I'm super excited to get busy with them. Make sure to sign up for her newsletter, she will provide the exact date of the launch there and of course on IG too. You can sign up for the newsletter at the bottom of her website right here.

See you soon,

Hello November

OMG, its November!! There is so much good stuff to look forward to this month like Starbucks Red cups and Holiday Drinks showing up, going to see Elf the Musical, my husbands birthday, my Mom and Step dad coming for a visit and of course STUFFING! All of these things were added to my November planner yesterday and I'm so excited to see that this month is filling up already.

All of the stamps I used to create this calendar in this May Designs planner are from Kelly Purkey. I love the new wood set that just came out, especially the Santa, the turkey, and of course the pie slice! Here are links to the specific sets that I used and that are shown here so you can find them easily. 

Holiday Planner Icons // Holiday Planner Clips // Food Planner // School Planner // TV Planner // Travel Planner // Work Planner // Special Occasion Planner

One other thing I wanted to mention to those of you that participate in Ali Edward's December Daily® is that Kelly Purkey has put together an E Course for creating foundation pages for your album. I was thrilled when she asked me to share some foundation pages too and between her, myself and my friend Nicole Reaves the E Course is filled with amazing inspiration. The cool thing about the E Course is we all ended up doing different sized albums so there is a lot of variety shared and we all used Kelly's Mini Kit that she designed for Ali Edwards. Its a super fun and vibrant kit filled with lots of yummy colors. Here's a little sneak of my pages so you can get an idea.

Here is a link to the E Course so you can read more about it and sign up to receive it.

I hope you all have a wonderful month, I'm sure I'll be back sharing something very soon.