Terrific Trendy Sketch - 2 Ways! HSS197

Pin It Now! I was thrilled to be able to work with this lovely sketch at Handstamped Sentiments, courtesy of the talented Elizabeth Price!  Very fun.

I love the offset panel trend.  It lends an unexpected element to the typical rectangular greeting card.

The cut background is a nice way to break up a pattern.  I added gold embossing to an Autumn Wooden Element.  I hugged the tiny package of these when they arrived in my Stampin' Up! order. They are endlessly cute.  Much thinner than the big box craft stores' wood embellishments, so they're much better to use on a card that you're going to send.

I originally created the stamped strip panel at 4" x 5-1/4" out of habit, and realized the sketch called for a shorter one.  So I used the extra to decorate the inside.  

I was so crazy about this sketch, that I made a second card. While cleaning up from the first, I noticed my washi tape stack, and thought it would work great for a quick, clean card.  This was easy!  I cut the angled panel twice, stamped the greeting on the bottom piece, and used the large oval punch on the top panel to make a window.   A little sequin trim and linen thread bow, and it's simple, sweet, and ready to send. 

Head on over to Hand Stamped Sentiments for more inspiration on this fabulous sketch!  I'd love to see what you're inspired to create!

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS:  For All Things, Petite Pairs,Hardwood 

INK: Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow, Hello Honey, Always Artichoke, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Gold Embossing, Early Espresso

PAPER:  Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow, Very Vanilla

EMBELLISHMENTS:  Gold Sequin Trim, Autumn Wooden Elements, Linen Thread, Gold 5/8" Satin Ribbon, Gold Washi Tape

PUNCHES: Large Oval

For All Things

Pin It Now! Today, I'm giving thanks for this sweet new stamp set, and an hour to play with it.

I love stamping scattered leaves!  I never get tired of a nice autumn set.

The sentiment is die cut with Chalk Talk Framelits, and backed with a couple of punches cut in half. 

And check out that acorn wooden embellishment! I painted it with some old Smooches I keep close by. It's super sweet plain, too. 

Inside, a little extra stampiness.

I was inspired by the color combo of this beautiful dish from the VIETRI site, found on the Saturday inspiration challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. Cute!  

Have a blessed and creative day! 

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS: For All Things

INK: Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Hello Honey

PAPER:  Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla

EMBELLISHMENTS:   Autumn Wooden Elements, Filigree Frames embossing folder, Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, Baked Brown Sugar thick twine, Chalk Talk Framelits

OTHER: Gold Lame' Smooches paint

Holiday Home Treat Wraps for Autumn

Pin It Now! Welcome to September! My favorite time of year. Chilly breezes, crisp falling leaves, and home baked apple crisp make my world go 'round!

Here's a fun little treat wrap featuring a blustery autumn scene, featuring the fabulous new bundle Holiday Home. 

Wrapped inside is a pack of Mentos gum, and the ribbon is wrapped horizontally so that it pulls the gum out from the top. I created the little scene with stamps from the kit, then stamped, water colored, and die cut the home with the matching Framelit. 

Have some cider today, celebrate!

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS: Holiday Home (Holiday 2014 mini)

INK:  Hello Honey, Baked Brown Sugar, Cherry Cobbler, Tangerine Tango, Always Artichoke, Smoky Slate, Old Olive

PAPER: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Watercolor Paper

EMBELLISHMENTS/OTHER:  Cherry Cobbler Linen ribbon, Baked Brown Sugar Thick Twine, Holiday Home Framelits set

Autumn Leaves Ornament / Wreath {Fall Home Decor}

Pin It Now! Are you getting ready for Thanksgiving?  I already have guests here at the house, and am starting my side dishes...pineapple casserole, marinated carrots, and cakes and cookies.  We have a winter storm due to arrive tonight, so we all may  be snowed in!

After all the food prep today, I finished a project that I've been trying to do since LAST year!!!

Remember the gorgeous Christmas ornaments from last year?  I wanted an autumn one.  Finally, here it is...

I've updated it to use current product, including the 1-1/4" Burlap ribbon, crepe paper, and woodgrain embossing folder.  

Here's my process:

First of all, I consulted Margaret Murray's tutorial here, and tweaked it as I went along.

Cut 20 of the maple leaf (More Mustard), and 20 of the smaller leaf (Old Olive) from Autumn Accents Bigz Die.

Stamp the maple leaves with En Francais using Crumb Cake ink, then sponge edges with Cherry Cobbler.

Emboss the smaller leaves with Woodgrain TIEF and sponge with Always Artichoke.

Fold 15 of each leaf in half lengthwise, leave 5 of each for backing.

Glue 3 folded leaves back to back and glue them to a flat leaf as shown.  Repeat for 5 sets.

Same process with the smaller leaves.  

Okay, for my base I punch a 5-petal flower punch and a 2-1/2" circle punch, so you know where each leaf set will get hot glued.  

Hot glue one set of maple leaves to each "flower petal". Nestle the smaller leaves between the maple leaf sets and hot glue. 

Make a burlap rose with your 1-1/4" Burlap ribbon.  Just roll the ribbon in half lengthwise and hot glue a tight roll in the center.  Then roll and twist the burlap loosely to create a flower. I didn't glue as I went along, but waited until I was satisfied with the flower and hot glued it to a silicone sheet.  Add a Vintage Faceted Button in the center with a basic rhinestone (large) with Crystal Effects.

I thought the burlap rose needed a little softening look to it, so I traced the smaller leaf onto Crepe Paper, folding the paper into 5 layers to get all my leaves at once.

I don't know who chewed this pencil, it wasn't me :D

Sponge with Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler.  They are lookin' pretty!

Gently hot glue them down, tucking them in with a pencil tip.

The hot glued mess is coming together!

Add the finished burlap rose and a little ribbon to hang it with!

Time to celebrate!  Know what I'm thankful for?  My sweet boys.  My precious pup, Lizzy.  Crunchy leaves. Those smiles.  A happy home with my hardworking husband.  

Have a blessed and creative day!  ~ Erika

Golden Autumn Wedding Card

Pin It Now! I recently attended a wedding of a really beautiful couple.  They had an autumn wedding, so what better stamp set than French Foliage for a card to congratulate them? Lots of leaves and gold details.

The seam binding ribbon was rubbed with gold ink to give it a little shine.  "Mr. & Mrs." from SU's Label Love is heat embossed in gold and sponged in Cherry Cobbler, More Mustard, and Always Artichoke.

French Foliage is the queen of all leaf stamps!  It's recently retired from SU's catalog, but is still available as a digital download, making it forever current :)

The little hand cut pile of leaves is anchored with a Vintage Faceted button, and the entire card is sprayed with a glimmery hand made shimmer mist, and edged with an 18k gold marker.

Inside and envelope.

I'm joining in Cupcake Inspirations card challenge using "Fall Leaves". Autumn is blowing all 'round over there, be sure to check out their adorable creations!

Thanks for stopping by!  ~Erika

Happy Halloween! Hand Sanitizer Holders for all ages.

Pin It Now! Happy Halloween, crafty people!  I hope you plan to have fun today, however you celebrate.  I have made up a whole bunch of hand sanitizer / anti- bac holders for friends, family, and to sell at a local salon.  Truly, you can't go wrong with Bath & Body Works mini hand sanitizers, they're adorable!

 Close up of the Halloween themed:

 And the autumn themed:

 Lots of Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the leaves, thanks to Stampin' Up! Heat & Stick Powder:

These holders were adapted from Erica Cerwin's blog.

We're a homeschool family, so I've incorporated a little history of Halloween. Here's a fun video I shared with the kids about the history of Halloween:


And a little fun!  Monster Mash!
http://youtu.be/AxcM3nCsglA

Gently Falling Autumn Splendor - HSSTC141

Pin It Now! The days here in the Appalachians are getting shorter, but each day is brimming with all the glory that crisp autumn weather and bright sunshine combined have to offer.  The leaves are different every day; yellow last week, changing to deep reds this week.  I love these days the most. They're few but stunning!

Here's a card that was created with that vision in mind...

Layers of regals and subtles!  The card base is Soft Suede stamped with En Francais and sponged around the edges.  Then a layer of Cherry Cobbler embossed with Square Lattice, and Always Artichoke stamped with tone on tone Gently Falling stamps.  A little Cherry Cobbler tulle and Victoria lace, then a layer of Naturals DSP in the notebook paper print, sponged and stamped with "Friend" from Affection Collection.  A little Champagne glimmer paper is peeking out from the left side, and a wrap of Crumb Cake tulle knotted.  Finally, a trio of colorful leaves and an acorn with pearl trim.  To get the changing colors, I first stamped the leaves in Chocolate Chip onto Very Vanilla CS, then sponged in several colors...Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Always Artichoke, and Soft Suede.  I cut them out and adhered with Dimensionals, then finished with a touch of Dazzling Details.

If you're feeling like making up a little autumn splendor of your own, stop on by Hand Stamped Sentiments and join in the challenge!  I'd love to swing by and check out your project!

Click here to join the Inspiration Challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!  I'll leave you with a little shot of my baby Ry (3rd grader, actually ;) clutching a fistful of leaves and seed pods that we hunted for homeschool science class this week.  We are really enjoying studying in our own backyard. 

Polka Dots & Pumpkins

Pin It Now! Hi friends!  I am loving this chill in the air.  As I write, I'm enjoying the smell of a fresh apple pie baking, and am looking forward to curling up with the fam to watch TV and enjoying a slice with vanilla ice cream...yumm, comfort food!

Speaking of fall and cool air, this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments, the challenge is all about pumpkins!  Any way that pumpkins inspire you.  I used an old favorite, Greeting Card Kids...

I just love her! I'll never get tired of these cuties.
I created my own background paper by punching 1" circles of Whisper White and adhering them on Basic Black, and stitched around them to pull the look together.

The pumpkin is paper pieced from the reverse side of the small polka dotted DSP (Polka Dot Parade).

I made a big loopy bow and added a strand of burlap, a Vintage Faceted Button and glimmer brad, as well as a knot of Sweater Trim at the fold. The texture of this trim is so cozy!

So come and check out HSS this week, I just know you have a little pumpkin project up your sleeve!

 I'm also playing along at SUO Challenges, they are looking for projects with texture.  Lots of great cards and 3D over there too!  Click here to visit them. 

And finally, here are my two red-headed pumpkins, painting jack o'lanterns at a campground!

Mini Tea Bag Holders - Fall, Friendship Themes

Pin It Now! Hey Crafty Friends!  Today I'm sharing some sweet tea bag holders.  They're a cute little square bifold that holds a note and a tea bag.

The first one is done with Hand Stamped Sentiments' color challenge for this week - Use the colors Island Indigo, Early Espresso, and Tangerine Tango.  Talk about a WOW combo!  

The Four Seasons Hostess set was perfect for the autumny theme I had in mind, inspired by Friday Mashup.  Layered with Champagne Glimmer Paper, and set against a piece of Early Espresso DSP from Candlelight Christmas (not just for Christmas, apparently!).

Inside are two little pockets, one holds a mini card, and the other holds a yummy Vanilla Chai tea bag.  This brilliant little pocket card was taught by Dawn Griffith on her website last week.  Click here to see the video - easy and cute!

A close up of the mini card. The backside is also done in Very Vanilla for writing on.  

You can also see my little glittered acorns I picked up on my bike ride this morning with the boys :) 

I thought they were so neat, I didn't stop there!  My crafty buddy JoAnn came over and we made this one, too - 

 These are even more tea-appropriate, using From My Heart stamp set.

 The paper and borders are from the Merry Moments Simply Scrappin' kit.  I looooove this kit, it uses Basic Grey as the neutral, and two classic favorites, Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive.  I practiced my watercoloring - it's improving, but I still have a way to go!

 Here are the two inserts. Again, all of the embellishments are already made into die cut stickers in the scrappin' kit.  Too easy.

Won't you play along this week at HSS?  See where it takes you!

And how about some Friday Mashup?  Autumn leaves and/or twine.  Perfect for getting you in a Fall state of mind!