Vintage Chic Embellished Kraft Grid Journal HSS210

Pin It Now! The sketch from Hand Stamped Sentments this week really intrigued me!  I love the scattered flowers across the front. I used this sketch to embellish a kraft grid journal with butterflies, buttons, and bling.

If I don't end up passing this along to a friend as a gift, I'll probably use it to copy my daily scriptures.  Have you seen the Bible journaling trend?  I thought I could use this on the run to help make my Bible quotes stick, all pretty like. 

Here's a pic of my mess :D 

Head on over to HSS and play along this week!  I'd love to see ya.

SUPPLIES: 

STAMPS: Papillon Potpourri, Feels Goods

INK: Versamark, White Stampin Emboss, Crumb Cake

PAPER: Kraft Grid Journal

EMBELLISHMENTS:  Artisan Embellishment Kit Spring 2015 Mini, Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, Pink Pirouette Seam Binding Ribbon, Sahara Sand Lace Trim, Bsic Rhinestones

Hello Again, Pink & Green!

Pin It Now! The winter doldrums might be setting in, as much as I hate to admit it!  I love snow, and the warmth of the woodstove, but I have found myself gazing out the kitchen window at what was once my flourishing garden, that's now a brown pile of compost.

So in the craft room, we're back to butterflies & blossoms, to brighten someone's day!

The sketch is the latest from Hand Stamped Sentiments, and it's all about circles. Which I love. 

The first thing I did was cut the card base a little narrow, 3-3/4" wide, so the elements on the card could hang over and still fit in a standard envelope.  Although I'll likely make a box for this one!

I used Strawberry Slush & Wild Wasabi on a Sahara Sand base. Papillon Potpourri for the butterfly & Simply  Celebrate for the "hello".   

The flower is punched from crepe paper with the Blossom Punch. Three layers of the crepe flowers, sponged, stacked, and fluffed with my scoring stylus. The glittery center is a jumbo pearl, of all things, with the sticky backside dipped in glitter. I used silver & some pink seashell glass glitter that I have in my stash. Then I simply stuck a couple of glue dots to the back and nestled it in the center.  

I thought the paper doily die cut needed a little something, so I sewed a couple of circles onto it. Better!

So what do you see in this snazzy sketch?  Will you go bold and trendy? Or change the shapes to suit your need?  I'd love to see what you do, so hop on over and play along!  

SUPPLY LIST:

STAMPS:  Papillon Potpourri, En Francais, Simply Celebrate

INK:  Strawberry Slush, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake

PAPER:  Sahara Sand, Sweet Sorbet DSP (Sahara Sand pattern), and In-Color Stack (polka dot)

EMBELLISHMENTS: Jumbo pearl, twine (Sale-A-Bration), Crepe Paper, vintage button (my stash)

PUNCHES: Blossom, 2-1/2" circle

BIG SHOT: Delicate Doilies Sizzlits Die

Big Top Party Hat!

Pin It Now! I'm so excited about my latest project for Ustamp With Dawn and Friends.  I've seen some cute party hats around, so I set out to make my own, with a twist...this one is a standing gift card holder in disguise!

There's a full color, 7 page tutorial available for download.  My tutorial includes a party hat template, instructions for the hat, gift card holder, matching card and envelope!

 A closer view of the party hat when opened.  It even has elastic on the inside so the birthday person can wear it!

When complete, you have a closed "gift box", and you just pull the tab on the bottom to reveal the contents!  You can even put a small gift inside, confetti, etc. instead of a gift card.

If you'd like access to this project or more than 40 others, visit Ustamp With Dawn & Friends!! Keep Calm & Ustamp On!  A one time membership of $24.99 gets you forever access to all pdf projects from this event. Click the blinkie below to visit....

Below are three other versions of this hat I whipped up for friends while making this tutorial!  From start to finish you can make the hat project in less than an hour. I've had HUGE fun making these.

Here's the same project in So Saffron...

And Angry Birds!!!!

And, finally, a little non-SU stash, paired with Papillon Potpourri and Papaya Collage.  Some of that thick, luscious ribbon that SU shouldn't have retired makes it look so pretty!  This is actually my personal favorite, i guess because it's girly :)

Can'ts Into Cans Hybrid {CAS Summer}

Pin It Now! Hi crafty friends!  Today's card has several purposes.  It's a hybrid card, using a really pretty word art download from My Digital Studio.  Makes for a quick and simple card, but the fonts really give it style!

My reason for creating this particular card is to give a shout out and a hug to two of my fellow design team members on HSS, Mindy Backes and Erica Cerwin.  They are FINALISTS for the Stampin' Up! Artisan Award 2012, which is SO prestigious and sought after. I'm so blessed to work with such talent, and I pray that they both win!  We'll find out later this week, so fingers crossed for these lovely friends!!!

I wanted it to look like framed art, so I used the Tulip Embossing Folder.  This week's challenge at my favorite hangout, Hand Stamped Sentiments, is the Dazzling Diamond Dust technique. How easy is this technique, and it's so simple to incorporate it in a card to give it GLITTER POWER!  Woohoo!  The butterfly is adorned with the glittered embossing powder, and that was all it needed. The heat setting really brought out the colors, too.

I'm also joining in The Paper Players challenge this week, using words as the main element of my card.  Perfect!

Hope you have a lovely week, and make some time to do something pretty!

erika

Papillon Potpourri with Paper Pleating for HSS123

Pin It Now!

It's Tuesday, and that means another fun challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments! This week's challenge is to use paper pleating on any project.  I made a card using a new favorite set of mine, Papillon Potpourri.  I just never get tired of banners and butterflies!

 I was crunched for time today, so I went fairly clean and simple. Just a couple colors, adding a few shapes and a pop out here and there.

My pleats are inverted with a little paper piercing down each square. These are so easy, just cut a length of cardstock and score continuously at 1/4" and 1/2", then it's just a matter of folding behind then forward. Play with a scrap piece first and you'll see how easy it is to jazz up your card.

 Each butterfly is punched with the new SU Elegant Butterfly Punch. The center butterfly is stamped with Melon Mambo (stamped off on scrap once to lighten up), edges are curled with the paper piercing tool, and it's resting on a cutout center of the Paper Doily Sizzlits Die. A Vintage Faceted Button finishes it off.

Come on over to Hand Stamped Sentiments and play along this week! I know you'll find a way to incorporate this challenge into your crafting this week!

I'm also joining in the 100th Anniversary fun at The Paper Players!  They challenge us to use ANY previous challenge. So I chose PP16, a lovely sketch, because I love repetitive shapes on my projects. 

On a personal note, I'm a little rushed in my posts this week because I'm in the hospital, sitting by my precious son's bedside as he fights a nasty infection as a result of some stitches received on Friday. Please say a little prayer for him! I believe in the power of prayer for healing and know there are so many of you out there that do, too!  Here's my feisty little Ryan...

UPDATE! Ryan is doing much better, and was released from the hospital to rest at home on oral antibiotics.  His infection was not the dreaded MRSA that is so dangerous, but a lesser but aggressive strep infection. I know it was prayer that's healing him, because the Dr. was so sure of the infection that they continued to grow it in the lab for an extra 2 days!  Every time they came into our room (in isolation), right up until we were released, they all still wore total body cover (?!?).  But Ryan seems to be healing quite well, and the hardest part right now is keeping him still enough for his leg to heal without those stitches that he needed in the first place! 

Thanks everyone, for your well wishes and prayers! 

Thank you! Have a blessed and creative day! Erika

CAS Stressbuster Card {Papillon Potpourri}

Pin It Now! So, I was up at 5:00 am, in my craft room like I usually am, and I was letting my recent project tutorial prep kick my butt.  Do you ever have a project that is perfect in your mind, but you have trouble translating that to real life?  What I do is walk away, so to speak, and do something completely different.  So I allowed myself the last 15 minutes of my morning to make a clean and simple, partially CASEd card.


It was such a relief to produce a finished card, simple as it may be!
My morning was saved, just like that!


The sentiment is from Blessings From Heaven, and is layered tone on tone with new Framelits Apothecary Accents.


The butterfly! Isn't it sweet?! It's a new stamp set called Papillon Potpourri. I simply stamped it in Black Staz On and colored with an Aqua Painter using Midnite Muse and Daffodil Delight ink. I was pleasantly surprised when the blue and yellow blended together in the center to make a lovely green :)


A little spritzing on the corners with a Crumb Cake marker.

My first version had no bling. I was trying so hard not to make it too fancy, but I just. can't. help it. Which do you like better? Bling or no bling?!

Have a blessed & creative day! Erika. www.erikaclark.stampinup.net