Quick gift tag / bookmark idea! Mixed Medley

I put together thank yous for my latest workshop orders, and decided I couldn't live another moment without making something from the new Hostess Set, Mixed Medley - it's a fabulous variety of circles and scalloped circles, that you can layer and punch!

I made a bunch of gift tags / bookmarks / package toppers with the Merry Christmas sentiment and the snowflake image...

 Really cute, and oh, so easy!

 Two Tags Die
*NEW* Lacy Brocade Embossing Folder
Champagne Glimmer paper 1-3/8" circle punched
Snowflake image from Mixed Medley punched with *NEW* 1-1/4" scallop circle punch
Merry Christmas image stamped with 3/4" circle punch, sponged edges. Cherry Cobbler ink.
Tiny Champagne Glimmer punched circles using Owl Builder Punch.
Hole punch at the top and add choice of ribbon.

I used Always Artichoke, Cherry Cobbler, and Soft Suede. I think I like the Soft Suede best, surprisingly enough.  Very soft and chic :)

Here are all the images included in this set, Mixed Medley #128057.

I can't wait to make some Halloween treats with this!

Interested in this set? You can shop online anytime! www.erikaclark.stampinup.net.

Elegant Party Hat Gift Card Holder

Party Time!  A very sweet and talented friend of mine recently had a "milestone" birthday.  LOLOLOL!  I can laugh because I hit that milestone last year...it only hurts for a minute!  I made her a little something fun, but cute enough to suit her style...a party hat, in her favorite shade of wine, that holds a gift card, which supports her favorite sport (shopping).

The hat starts out just simply, a hat...but tucked underneath is a pull tab that reveals a free standing gift card. Fun and funner (my word). 

A BIG ol' tulle pom pom sits atop the hat, which is what we're challenging you to try at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week - anything goes pom pom week!  The tulle makes a fun trim for the top & bottom. 

The hat is embellished with some new items...Affection Collection stamp set and Flourish Designer Frames, with more tulle behind the silver frame (bent to curve along the front) and some crochet ribbon trim.  Sponged in Crumb Cake and Real Red.

 The big reveal!

 Inside is a little gift card stand.  The sentiment is from Layered Labels, layered with Champagne Glimmer Paper and another stamp from Affection Collection.  The red flocked transparency is backed with Very Vanilla, and is used inside and outside.  I love the velvety texture of this Christmas paper from the Candlelight Christmas suite, and I love using Christmas paper for non-Christmas projects!

 A couple of closer looks at the details...

 I hope she enjoys it!  I wish I'd made more than one.

Won't you join us at HSS this week, and sport your pom poms?!

SUPPLIES:
STAMPS:  Affection Collection, Layered Labels
INK:  Real Red, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake
PAPER: Candlelight Christmas DSP, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler
ACCESSORIES:  Scalloped Tulle Ribbon, Crochet Ribbon, Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, Flourish Designer Frames, Scallop Border Punch, Basic Rhinestones.

Have a blessed and creative day! Erika

Christmas Workshop Samples!

It's Christmas in August this week at my house!  I know, Christmas in July has a much nicer ring, but who has the time when the swimming pool is still open, you have a vacation to execute, not to mention canning seasonal veggies and fruits?  It's August by the time you blink.  

I finally threw a little Christmas party for my ladies - cookies, Christmas music, cards, and giveaways! Mmm, gingerbread cookies are a fine choice any day of the year.  My house smelled wonderful. 

Here are a couple of cards from the workshop. Nice, Christmasy cards from the new Holiday Catalog.

This one is a CASE of Kimberly VanDiepen's gorgeous card using the new scalloped tulle...

Hers is even prettier than this one! I turned it into a Christmas card using the new single stamp, Heart Of Christmas #128129.

The tulle is so luscious and easy to work with.  It's stretchy, sheer, but won't tear or lose shape. I made a sewn flower from it this week and had to pull stitches from it twice and it never tore! Amazing!  The little bow is embellished with a vintage safety pin trinket and Vintage Faceted Button.  The Cherry Cobbler CS is distressed and brayered with Cherry Cobbler ink.

 A simple sentiment from Greetings Of The Season #128033.  You can't have enough inside card sentiments!

The next card is embossed using the NEW Sugar and Spice Embossing Powder!  Oh, heavens, does this stuff smell outrageously good!  My SU ladies all make fun of me because I hung around the embossing station WAY too much!

 The sentiment was stamped with Early Espresso, then the tree was stamped in Versamark and embossed with the fabulous smelling powder.  Ahhhhhh.  Then there were multiple layers of sponging with Old Olive.  I cut a mask of cardstock for the snowy hills and moved them around 3 or 4 times to create drifts.  A simple little knot of ribbon at the bottom.  Same stamp set for the sentiment, Greetings Of The Season.

The star at the top was stamped with 2-Way Glue, then sprinkled with Galaxy Glitter and a paintbrush. 

I liked that this card was a little more technique-y. Embossing, masking, sponging, 2 step stamping, and ribbon work.  Everyone did a great job making them!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!  :)  Have a great weekend!  Erika

Hello There, Herringbone!

Well, I am not a particularly technique-y papercrafter.  I love my Big Shot, layers, and bling.  So when I read the HSS challenge for this week - Herringbone - I thought, "Yes, you mean Chevron". So out came the big shot, chevron embossing folder, and a card was born :)  What I didn't realize til I was going to post the card to the HSS blog is that Herringbone is a PAPER PIECING TECHNIQUE!  Hahaa.  So I'm up at 5:00 am this morning to show you the difference between Chevron and Herringbone.  If you're interested.  Where's my coffee?

So, the diagonal strips are herringbone. This is an adorable technique that I quickly picked up by checking out this tutorial over at Splitcoast Stampers.  At first glance, I didn't much care for the wild patterns in the gallery going here and there.  But I picked a smaller block to work with, and as I was placing the strips, I was so delighted with the result! I loved it!

Here's a closer look.  Don't look too close, it's far from perfect.  But it was FUN to do. You have to try it.  

The little rain boot is from a new hostess set, Happy You.  It has a wide assortment of stinkin' cute images, including a wreath for Christmas, baby, birthday cake, and a pinwheel.  The doily it's sitting on is the Delicate Doilies Sizzlit #126999, and has a set of 3 doilies - super border patterns, zero space in your craft room.  

Here's my original card - Chevron!  Yes...  Not herringbone!
We actually made this particular card at my workshop last week, and it was a CASE of this Christmas card by Maureen Merritt.  I really liked this card, but once I was done with the herringbone technique, I am really pleased with the cheerful splash of color.

Won't you play along with HSS this week?  Click here to see all of the inspiration the DT has to offer!

I'm also playing along with The Paper Players, for their paper piecing challenge this week.  Cute ideas over there, too! Check them out...

Have a blessed and creative day! Erika

Vintage Christmas Ornament Mini Album HSS131

Ahh, finally I'm home and have full access to stampin' supplies!  I have a box load of new goodies from the Holiday Catalog, and had time to just tinker around - my favorite way to unwind :)

The challenge theme at Hand Stamped Sentiments this week is Vintage. So I created a mini album Christmas ornament from an empty Dahlias container; it's a bit slimmer than the normal embellishment containers.

You can see here the plastic container that holds the pages.  The tulle flower was CASEd from pg 13 of the July Stampin' Success magazine.  I have a friend that wants to make these, so I set out to figure out the DIY.

The tulle flower is layered on loops of Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, and then on layers of Fancy Flower punches from the new Candlelight Christmas DSP.

Inside the case is a very tiny mini album of our memorable moments from last Christmas.  They are 2-1/2" punched circles of 4 different patterns, including the flocked window sheet (luscious!).  They're adhered with Sticky Strip to make a micro accordion album. 

The album cover is a pic from one of our many trips to Panera...I'm sure this was a Peppermint Mocha or something equally delish.  Anyway, I converted all of the photos to black & white so they didn't compete with the DSP, and sized them to punch with the 1-3/8" circle punch.  I made tiny ornament hangers by punching the new Champagne Glimmer Paper with the Scallop Ribbon Punch and cutting one scallop for each ornament top.  The cover is rimmed with Champagne Glitter Glass (love that stuff - very vintage!). BTW, I realized after the fact that the album should be dated "2011". Ah, well.  Fifty years from now who will know?!

 Here are the pages.  I kept the journal strips to one or two words each, but I know the inside story to each one.

 The hanger loop is the 7/8" cotton ribbon, stamped with the Good Cheer wheel stamp.  (Wheel stamps are my all time fave :)

 There are a few leaves punched with the Bird Builder Punch from Champagne Glimmer paper.

 The backside, covered with more DSP.

Vintage Christmas is my favorite Christmas style.  What does Vintage mean to you?  Join us at HSS and go all out this week with the vintage / retro / shabby chic, whatever you envision!

Storytime Friends HSS130

I have to confess, I am on my 3rd week being away (like 500 miles away) from my craft room. My heavenly personal space, my refuge, and 98% of my craft supplies!  This is my 4th card since I left home with a small box of stampin' stash, and it was a bit of a challenge!  The HSS challenge this week is ALL of the new In-Colors, and I found myself really wanting to scrounge through my stuff for support, as I'm not much into super duper color combos.  And since I did this card a few weeks ago already, I had to come up with a fresh multi-colored idea!

So I thought I'd go for minimalist stamping, and these super cute Storybook Friends are purrfect!

The new 7/8" Cotton Ribbon is torn and frayed for a textural layer, and our little friends are tethered together with Hat Pins and little bits of Stitched Satin ribbon to form a little banner.  

Are you feeling colorful this week?  Join the challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments and show what you got!

Another challenge that helped me with my color-full card was Friday Mashup!  They challenge you to use a stick pin / vintage / or combo thereof.  Here's my non-professional screen shot of the challenge post! LOL

Thanks A Bunch! {Have Stash, Will Travel}

I love, love, love this new stamp set from the Holiday SU catalog, Friendship Preserves.  It's perfection in shape, cool lettering, and can be used in so many ways.  I plan to use it for homemade Christmas gifts in mason jars.  Who doesn't think mason jars are cool?!  Have you checked out Pinterest?  Here's my board, Mason Jar Makeover.  Can you not see this stamp set all over these jars?!

Ok, back to the subject at hand.  Here's a thank you card using Friendship Preserves...

There is a layered Framelits set that goes with this stamp set, but since I'm traveling, I'm limited to what I can fit into this box.  A small paper stack, random ribbon, and a few choice embellishments.  No Big Shot, no Framelits :) So I hand cut a couple layers around the stamped image, which was colored with Stampin' Write Markers.

A few of those awesome new Vintage Faceted Buttons and some Baker's Twine are all I added.  I curled the Baker's Twine to mimic the grapevines on the stamp.  Here's how I did mine...

Just rub a little Crystal Effects along the twine, wipe most of it off, and loosely wind it around a pencil.  I let mine sit overnight, but it takes a good 1/2 hour. Or you can use a hair dryer to speed it up!

I'm playing along with 2 awesome challenges for this card!  

Stamping 411 for the sketch - click on the sketch to visit their post...

...And Create With Connie & Mary for the color combo, although I may be disqualified for the pop of Gumball Green in there!  Still, the challenge was great, I think the colors are Fab-U-Lous!

Again, click on the pic to visit their site and join in the fun!

So glad you visited today!  "Thanks a bunch!"

SUPPLY LIST:

STAMPS: Friendship Preserves

INK: Basic Black, Real Red, Gumball Green

PAPER: Polka Dot Parade DSP, Whisper White, Basic Black, Sahara Sand

ACCESSORIES: Black 5/8" Satin Ribbon, 1/4" Taffeta Ribbon Real Red, White Baker's Twine, Vintage Faceted Buttons