Lots of cool links this week: Freebies, CHA, and more!

Good morning to everyone, it is cold here (for us anyway), 30 degrees this morning (which is not something we see regularly).  Hope you had a great first week of the year, we have not finished doing all of the Christmas clean up, but will this week (funny how the clean up always takes longer then the set up).

Please stop by and like the "AfterHoursStamper" page on Facebook.  I am posting there almost every day, usually a link to a cool blog you might like, but also links to things that are time sensitive, like sales and other things.  There are so many great links out there, and I just can't list them all here on the blog, so the Facebook page is a way for me to post things on a daily basis.

I have been working on some cards, here are three that I did this last week:

From 2011-01-04

The card above actually has a "boo-boo" in it, on the background, but I think that it ended up looking pretty good!  When I was stamping with my background stamp from Impression Obsession I moved the stamp and got a double image, however I just kept going and think that it still looks ok.  In other words, even if you mess up try to work with what you have left, you might be surprised : )

I cut out the note shapes with my Slice, then used my cuttle bug to emboss the red and the black, the color on the edge of the "thank you" was done with chalk (actually am trying to use all my supplies this year.)

From 2011-01-04

I did finally try the "medallion" technique that I posted a few weeks ago, and yes, it does work, you just have to play around with the size of your circle.  The card above had a five inch circle and then a three and a half inch circle.  If you can't completely "finish" the circle try putting a button, flower, bow or some other embellishment in the area that doesn't quite line up, like I did with my bow.

The background paper was made with yet another background stamp from Impression Obsession, I stamped in embossing ink, embossed with clear powder (to keep the white), and then colored the paper with a "stain" (which comes in a dauber bottle) from Lindys Stamp Gang (I love their products, if you haven't tried them before, check out these "try me kits," a great value and a nice way to get a chance to use their products).  I also added some of the Viva Decor Pearl pen to the card (the Pearl Pens are another product that you really need to try if you haven't yet, once you try them you will be hooked!).

From 2011-01-04

The card above uses a Hero Arts stamp, I inked up the stamp with distress ink and then sprayed the stamp with glimmer mist (the pearl which is the one I use almost all the time and now need a refill of).  The shape at the bottom was cut out using my Slice (the original one as the Elite was sent back.)

Now onto our links for this week.  Again, no theme just a collection of things I thought you might like.

2011 Winter CHA:  Lots and lots of buzz about what is coming up in a few weeks, so far there have been a ton of new papers, I am looking forward to seeing some of the new tools and other goodies.

The Hybrid Chick:  Tons of stuff here, tips, freebies, techniques, great projects, just a wealth of fantastic paper crafting goodness!

Craft Crave:  The link goes to their freebies page (they have a search that pulls up freebies that are online), but make sure to check out their "printable" page as well.

Recipe Card Maker:  LOVED this link, you can make your own recipe cards, and then you can decorate them up with stamping and what not.  And make sure you check out the rest of this blog, I can't wait to try to make this and these.

DecoArt Glamour Dust Paint:  If you love the Glamour Dust Glitter (which is great), then you are sure to love this new paint.  I am going to try some of this, the set of 12 is a good price, am thinking of ordering these to play with.

Ranger Ink Blog:  I had no idea that this blog existed, fantastic information, tips, techniques and projects here, as well as updates on new products.

Tombow USA Blog:  Another good blog from a manufacturer, make sure to check out all the links to the right under "categories," which include a whole lot of free downloads!

Fantastic New 6x6 Paper Pads:  Wow, you are going to LOVE these, run, don't walk, to Susana's Custom Art and Card Design to grab hold of some of these papers (I need to order some when I get paid later this week.) Really loved the "Let's Party" paper, as well as all the other ones : )

Paper in the Works:  You will need to spend some time on this blog as the work here is simply amazing, and it is done mostly using Tombow markers!  Just a real treat and filled with all sorts of inspiration.

Ok, that is it for today, please remember to stop by and "like" the AfterHoursStamper page on Facebook, I have a new link up for today, and will be posting a new link everyday : )

Have a fantastic week, stay warm and see you soon.  Thanks so much for visiting the blog and sharing your love of paper crafting : )

Happy 2011! Freebies, news, links and lots more for you.

A most happy new year to everyone!  Here is to the best year ever, filled with all sorts of paper crafting goodness.  Given that this is a new year, I wanted to make some modifications to the blog, not big changes, but hopefully changes you will find useful. One change you will notice right away is that I am going back to posting on Monday which just seems to work best for my schedule.

Given that I am working full time I have had to resign from my DT position on Susana's Custom Art and Card Design.  This year I think that instead of being on any DT's I am going to try to submit some of my work to magazines, as well as work on my scrapbooking a bit more.  Don't forget that I will be teaching scrapbook classes in San Jose, and should also be getting some Copic Coloring classes together soon, stay tuned.

First of all, if you can please take a moment to visit my new Facebook page, click here and "like" the page.  I will be trying to post there more then once a week, mainly featuring inspiring blogs/work from paper crafters. The facebook page will also be the place where I post sales and special deals that come up in between my postings here on the blog.  Right now you will find links to two blogs that had some amazing work.

Please feel free to share the page with any of your friends.  Also:  I will be getting rid of the other facebook account for AfterHoursStamper, just never had enough time to sign in under that account, and why I created the page for AfterHoursStamper, just much easier to update and manage.

Over the holidays we visited my husband's Uncle who lives in Calistoga, CA (wine country, near Napa), and I took some pictures of some carvings that his wife had done (she is no longer carving, which is too bad because her work is amazing):

From 2011-01-02

From 2011-01-02

From 2011-01-02

And here is Mimi, the artist:

From 2011-01-02

And now, onto the first links for 2011!  After almost three years one would think that everything possible has been linked to, but as I found out yesterday, there is so much out there to find, see, enjoy, learn from, be inspired by and just have fun with.

The links today have no special theme, just what I was finding as I surfed around yesterday, hope you enjoy them.

Winter CHA 2011 Sneak Peaks:  The page is finally up, and more companies will be putting their information on the linked page so make sure to visit there often.  I will also feature some of the more interesting products/information when more links are added to the page.

Kindred Creations:  Good deals here on the Daily Deals page, (this is a store in Idaho Falls, ID).  There are also a number of pages for "freebies," here is the link to the digital freebies, click around the site for more freebies : )

Masterful Scrapbook Design: This is a site that you can subscribe to for $10 a month, you can join at any time as well as cancel at any time.  There are lots and lots of great designers who provide fantastic inspiration and scrapbook design elements.  If you are a scrapbooker, or if you have a friend who is one, this might be a nice gift (to yourself or a friend).

Colour Lovers:  WOW!  There is just an amazing amount of information here, and tools.  You can go to "trends" and pick "craft" to see some of the latest color trends for crafting (and all sorts of other categories as well.)  There is also a nice color tool to help you pick colors for your projects.

PaperCraft Connection:  The blog that goes with the PaperCraft magazine.  Very nice layout and some fantastic inspiration here, as well as information on sending your projects in for publication and lots more.

A Little Hut:  Wonderful blog from a graphic designer, the link to the left takes you to some free downloads, here is the link to her home page, be ready for some major inspiration.

Five Free Digital Magazines:  From Cards magazine to Scrapbook Trends, something for everyone!  You will be asked to enter your email, and then you have full access to the digital versions of the magazines.

Craft Gossip:  I have linked to them before, but you can never have too much of a good thing.  If you haven't bookmarked their site, do so for 2011.  The blog always has links to sales, new tutorials, freebies (where I found the link for the magazines) and more.

Hope that you enjoyed the links today, next week perhaps a bit of what you plan on doing this year with your crafting (my resolution is to try to craft each day, which means I need to move away from the computer : )

Thanks for visiting, and don't forget to "like" the AfterHoursStamper page on Facebook.