HSS160 Sketch - Circles & Stitches

Pin It Now! Hello crafty friends!  For this week's Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch, I knew I wanted to get away from what I normally do.  "Normal" for me being DOILIES. GREEN&PINK. and RIBBON.  So I double challenged myself to create a card with the sketch, and not use those elements :)

I actually made two cards.  The first one took several hours, walking away, strolling back over, and thinking about it while I should have been concentrating on third grade homeschool (fractions, George Washington, and helping verbs. still got it done).

So, here it is :) The background paper was ripped out of the Epic Day Journal.  I love the journal, and I love the papers even more!  I like the holes on the side, with the rips and all.  The circle was originally punched and pieced with the 2-1/2" circle punch, but I ended up reducing it to 2-1/4" with my ancient Creative Memories circle cutter.  It was a huge ordeal, with the stitching already being done!  However, I used the discarded portion on the next card ;) Waste not, blah blah!

The black "hello" is stamped onto Window Sheet with Staz-On.  Another experimental exercise!  It's hand trimmed and adhered with a couple of stealth glue dots.  The Stamp-A-Majig came in handy for the Daffodil, Pool Party, and Calypso "hellos", and it finally came together!

 Inside, a few circle stamps.

The second card was purely accidental.  The outer circle that was trimmed away from the original circle laid against the practice sheet I was using - did you notice the background paper is upside down?!  I used the wrong side of the page!  Anyway, I was stamping the hellos to see how I'd like to space them and thought it would be thrown away.  Turns out, the circle over the writing was cute! I added a flower from the Pop Up Posies Designer Kit and there she is!

I love how the Daffodil and Pool Party blend together to make a gorgeous green in the sentiment.

So will you take a little time out for yourself this week and play with paper?  Head on over to the Hand Stamped Sentiments blog and give it a whirl!  I'd love to see your creation!

Have a blessed and creative day!   Erika

First Christmas - Merry Monday 62 Sketch Challenge

Pin It Now! Hi crafty friends!  An interesting sketch from Merry Monday this week!  Classic shapes and lines, but it's a little off center, giving it an interesting look.  Here's the sketch:

I turned the sketch on its side and used one of my favorites, First Christmas, for the focal point.

The sentiment was first heat embossed in white, then Baby Jesus was stamped in Versamark and sprinkled first with clear, then with polysparkle. All the edges were sponged with Early Espresso, and the brads at the top are coordinating glimmer brads.

Are you in the mood for Christmas cards among all the sunshine?  Head over to Lesley's blog and play along!

Butterfly Thank You Card & Tags {SUO70}

Pin It Now! I see I'm not the only one who's SO happy that all of Stampin' Up's butterflies are here to stay for another year!  SUO Challenges has noticed too, and is posting a challenge using butterflies.  I need to make thank yous for customers to tuck in orders, so I made these embossed butterflies, and used one to finish a card...

My first attempt at a tag was using Fine Feathers, and I didn't like the way it looked late last night.  Looking again this morning, it's not bad, really!  I'll have to revisit that idea another day ;)

The second largest Beautiful Bigz butterfly is embossed with the soon-retiring Lacy Brocade folder, which is rubbed with the Melon Mambo ink pad.  Epic Day This & That DSP, cardstock, and ribbon are layered on Sahara Sand, with a little spritzing to pull the colors together.  "Thanks" from Kindness Matters is glittered around the edges with Dazzling Details.  

The Melon Mambo strip has a stamped strip using the Chamomile wheel. 

Hope you're having a great week!  Glad you stopped by :)

 STAMPS: Kindness Matters, Chamomile wheel

INK: Melon Mambo, Pool Party, Crumb Cake
PAPER: This & That Epic Day DSP, Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla, Melon Mambo, Pool Party DSP stack
EMBELLISHMENTS: 5/8" Flower Trim, Pool Party Seam BindingRibbon, Rhinestone Brad, Dazzling Diamonds glitter
BIG SHOT: Lacy Brocade embossing folder, Beautiful Butterflies Bigz die
OTHER: Spritzing tool

Flowers for Mother, the kind that last!

Pin It Now! I always tell my husband, please not to buy me flowers for holidays.  They are overpriced and are gone in a flash.  Pretty, but not for long!  He asked what I want...I said MONEY, of course!  Or a foot rub.  He asked how much money :-O Haha.  Enough for my first SU order from the new catalog will do!  But I digress...

I made this little paper flower bouquet to send to my MIL in Florida.  It will pack easily, won't be a bunch of money to send, and will last for a long time.  She is wonderful to us, and she always brags about my papercrafts!  Awww!

A combination of flowers, butterflies, and elegant backgrounds create this little gift set.  I'm using the color combo in the current Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge #159 - Use colors Real Red, Summer Starfruit, Bashful Blue, and Basic Black.

The card is stamped in Summer Starfruit with the big background Ex Libris stamp.  What an elegant stamp!  The top window portion is a separate piece of Vanilla, stamped with En Francais, hand cut and adhered.  The butterfly is layered with a Boho Blossoms flower in Real Red and embellished with a Bashful Blue glimmer brad.  "Mother" from Delightful Dozen, is punched and finished with tiny brads.

The mini milk carton is also stamped with En Francais in black, and a bunch of paper flowers are formed with the Boho Blossoms punch and 2-3/8" scallop circle punch.  They're hot glued to unfolded paper clips, and floral tape is wrapped around the base of the flower and the metal stems. A little more decorating with the Elegant Butterfly punch and Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon, and it's ready to ship!  

What do you think of the color combo?  It's another grouping of colors that I would never, ever have chosen on my own, but I think its fabulous!  LOVE the challenges for breaking out of my bubble.  Won't you join in?  Click the pic below...

I was inspired by The Paper Players challenge for my project theme, too.  Give them a visit, their design team samples are just beautiful!

A blessed Mother's Day to all mothers, those who care for others like mothers, those who love their mothers, and to those who miss theirs as well.

SUPPLY LIST:

STAMPS: Ex Libris, En Francais, Delightful Dozen, Petite Pairs, Papillon Potpourri

INK: Summer Starfruit, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Basic Black

PAPER: Very Vanilla, Real Red, Summer Starfruit, Bashful Blue

EMBELLISHMENTS: Tiny Brads, Sponges, Summer Starfruit stitched satin ribbon, Real Red Stitched grosgrain ribbon, Glimmer Brad in Bashful Blue, Mini clothespin

PUNCHES / BIG SHOT: Boho Blossoms punch, Elegant Butterfly punch, Bigz Mini Milk Carton die, 2-3/8" scallop circle punch

Happy National Scrapbook Day! {Glassine Sack Tag Album, 50th Birthday Party Decor}

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Hi friends, and Happy (inter)National Scrapbook Day to you!  Today I'm sharing with you a good reason to scrapbook - to honor someone you love.  I put together this mini album for my husband's recent HUGE milestone birthday!  It was really easy and the result was worth a million bucks.

 Simply gather a bunch of glassine bags or whatever bags you have on hand.  Need some?  Check here in my Etsy shop.
Staple them together at the bottom.
Wrap the stapled end with a piece of cardstock.  Mine is Marina Mist, embossed, and embellished with an Antique Brad & circle punch of Champagne Glimmer paper.
Wrap each bag with coordinating pattern papers.  Mine is Nautical Expedition (retired SU).  This gives the album a little body and color.
Add a little stamped embellishment to the front.  I used The Open Sea.
Now your base is done, time to fill it with memories!
I used the Two Tags die, measured the usable space, and typed up the replies on the computer. Then I cut them out and die cut each with the Big Shot.

Since it was my hubby's big giant birthday (I happen to be a LOT younger than him LOL, but I'm catching up fast), I wanted to fill it with messages of appreciation from people all throughout his life.  FACEBOOK, here I came!  I sent a group message to everyone that I thought has been touched in some way by his being around.  Childhood best friend, coworkers from 25 years ago, family, neighbors, church friends.  It was really easy once I got started.  Then the messages started rolling in, by Facebook message, text, and phone.  And it was WONDERFUL!   I was so blessed by the memories I received on his behalf.  It was very sweet to read what others had to share, and I was surprised by the heartfelt responses, especially from the guys in our lives.  But the real impact was when he read the messages.  I gave him the book the night before his birthday, and he took it to bed to read.  He laughed.  He got quiet.  And he smiled.

And this is why you have to scrapbook.

I also threw him a surprise party, and I wanted to share some of the decorations with you.  I scoured the web and Pinterest when planning his party and ended up coming up with all the ideas on my own.  First up was the banner for the cake table...

It's made of hand cut banner pieces, and LOTS of squares of Silver Glimmer Paper.  I scanned snapshots of many of the big moments in his life - childhood, grandparents, high school, our wedding, our first son, second son, and our business grand opening were some of the big ones.

Here's the hall, all gussied up!  I didn't want to do all black, I'm just very much not into the over the hill stuff :)

C. is a collector of antique clocks, so I started swiping clocks from the house earlier in the week. I set one as a centerpiece on each table, added confetti & balloons, and glue dotted a "time" quote to the face of each clock.  Lines like, "time flies when you're having fun",  "everything is better with time", etc.  It was so very HIM, and he loved it too.

  

Finally, some quickie decorations for the food table.  Jars of candy with coffee stirrers embellished with banners, pinwheels, and big fat rhinestones.  

I hope you enjoyed my birthday ideas, and hopefully you'll be able to bless somebody's life with a scrapbook, or honor them in some way with your crafty skills.  I'm going to try to pop back in later with a layout for NSD :)  Till then, have a blessed and creative day!  ~ Erika

Vintage Birthday with Pop Up Posies {HSS158 Sketch}

Pin It Now! This morning the air is so crisp, and the sky is so blue, that when I stepped outside it felt like I was taking my first breath!  Amazingly beautiful April morning, even though it's only in the 40s. 

I'm enjoying a little Hand Stamped Sentiments sketch and some new-to-me stash that arrived this week.  The Pop Up Posies kit which makes layered & embellished flowers in a snap, and the This & That collection with the fabulous Epic Day papers. I divvied up some of the supplies in tins, so I can see it all. I find that I'm wayyy more likely to use my goodies liberally if I can see them in an orderly fashion. 

Here's the sketch.

And my card ~

 I used a doily for the strip across the card, and otherwise followed the sketch exactly.  As you can see from peeking into my tin, I used the Pop Up Poses kraft tag, three Pool Party flowers, and a tiny muffin liner behind the resin flower.

A few Primrose Petals details are added...a bit of ribbon, a mat of cardstock, and spritzing all over the flower and the left side of the card.   A little vintage trinket safety pin holds a tiny tag with a sweet message ;)

By the way, I turned a near mistake around when I heat embossed the "Happy Birthday" onto the kraft tag.  Glancing into my embossing bin, I saw the Sugar & Spice scented powder and it's this glorious vanilla color!  I thought, "Yes! This will be great!" Well, it embossed clear!!!  So instead of throwing it away or flipping it over, I sponged White Craft ink over and over on the embossing to produce this resist image.  I love it ~ it's delicate, and it smells SOOooooOOO good. Lastly was a little spritzing with my homemade shimmer mist, you may be able to see it on the tag.

So won't you join in the fun at HSS?  You have two weeks to play around.  I'd love to see what you do.

Have a blessed and creative day!  ~E.

Some 4 leaf clovers the boys and I found walking around in our backyard yesterday.  We should be running into all kinds of luck!

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS: Beautiful Birthday Single Stamp, Lovely Little Labels

INK: Craft White, Primrose Petals

PAPER: This & That Epic Day DSP, Primrose Petals, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla

EMBELLISHMENTS: Pop Up Posies Designer Kit, Artisan Embellishments kit, Pool Party Seam Binding ribbon, Vintage Trinkets, Little Labels Punch Pack

Happy in '72 Layout {Mother's Day}

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I'm sharing a layout today of a photo that was saved from the trash bin. This was one of those instamatic '70s shots that are hard, like shiny posterboard. It was somehow split in half, and then tucked in a box for 30-some years! I found it and scanned it and it's been sitting in my folder for two years now. 

With Mother's Day coming up, it was serendipitous that it reappeared. This is me and my mother. I love the glow of her skin, and the way she's looking at me. Many of the pictures of when I was young are like this. It occurred to me that it is such a blessing to even have a photo taken of you, and then to capture a moment that shows love! Priceless. I am loved.

I'm playing along with the Jenni BowlinCentipede Challenge again, and this time I'm covering more than one challenge.

• I scraplifted a Design Team member's layout. I was inspired by Amanda's layout, shown here.
• Using text on a page. The “happy” heart was punched from a vintage Little Golden Book.

Paper punches from an old baby book from Goodwill. 

Here are some details on creating my layout:

• Since the picture was practically split in half, I printed a scanned copy and tied the blue ribbon vertically down the split.
• Two little vintage buttons and the clock charm (Stampin' Up) represent me, my mother, and the passing of time.
• The edges and music lines are stamped with my Annie Sloan Old White Chalk Paint. Many people are using Gesso in crafting now, and I use this as a substitute. I can stencil, paint, colorwash, and stamp with it, and the drying time is almost nothing!

Do you have a photo to scrap that keeps calling your name? Go! Do it! I've waited so long to start scrapbooking again, and I can tell you, any time and any photo is perfect to get started with.

I'm also participating in a blogging event at Notes on Paper by Julie Kirk. I want to share the foremost good thing that blogging has done for me. I've been blogging now for going on three years, and here's my favorite thing about it...

Validation. The fact that I'm not alone, and someone, somewhere poked her head into my craft room and said, “ I like what you've done here, and I understand you.” Moving 500 miles away from all the crafty people I know last year, this is a tremendous blessing, my online bloggers. So many days, I'll finish a post, and a friendly comment will make my phone chime, and from wherever in the world, I got a high five! So thank you, to every one who takes the time to visit, for being a support to those you like, and not just me. You are a blessing.

Have a great week, my friend!

SUPPLY LIST:

Sahara Sand cardstock base, clock charm, and Pool Party seam binding ribbon, doily, vintage trinket safety pin, linen thread: Stampin' Up!

Jenni Bowlin April minibook kit: tag, patterned paper, ribbons, die cut tags, music stamp.

My stash: vintage buttons, heart from vintage paper. You can buy some here in my shop.