Butterfly & Blooms Birthday Card

Pin It Now! Hey crafty friend!  Today I'm sharing the birthday card I'll be making for my church ladies' July birthdays.

The fresh new patterned paper pack, All Abloom, is full of pretty patterns.  I layered two of them for the card base, and punched 4 different patterns with the butterfly punch and layered them, securing with a linen thread wrap.  

The vintage newsprint is awesome! It's Typeset Specialty DSP, and I used it for the "Happy Birthday" strip as well. 

I scrunched and bunched a knot full of Pink Pirouette seam binding ribbon for a bit of a shabby look because none of the fancy bows I made seemed to complement the card. 

The burlap ribbon did a nice job of warming up an otherwise sherbet-y card.  I like the way the butterfly stack turned out!

Inside:

I'm playing with these two fun card challenges.   Click on the pictures to visit them and join in the fun!

Who doesn't love choices in a challenge??  I picked a diagonal tic-tac-toe of BIRTHDAY, PATTERNED PAPER, & ANY SHADE OF PINK. Fun!

And this sketch is going into my permanent go-to file.  I flipped it upside down.  

Have a blessed and creative day! ~ Erika

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS:  From My Heart

INK:  Mossy Meadow

PAPER:  All Abloom DSP, Typeset Specialty DSP, Strawberry Slush, Whisper White

EMBELLISHMENTS:  Pink Pirouette seam binding ribbon, In Color Sequin Assortment, Linen Thread, Burlap ribbon 1-1/4"

Hip Notes Thank You

Pin It Now! Just dropping by with a quick thank you note, using Retro Sketches current sketch.  I kept it super clean and simple, as I was trying to do a card and run out the door to deliver it in 10 minutes!

It's embellished with a few tiny circle punches from the Owl Builder punch (eyes) and some star sequins from the In Color Sequin assortment.  

As you can see, I flipped the sketch to suit my need!  

Have a blessed and creative day!  ~ Erika

SUPPLIES:  All from Stampin Up unless otherwise noted.
STAMPS:  Hip Notes
INK:  Memento Tuxedo Black
PAPER:  Island Indigo CS, All Abloom DSP, Whisper White, Champagne Glimmer
EMBELLISHMENTS:  1/4" Stitched grosgrain in Basic Black, In Color Sequin Assortment

Father's Day - Something Old, Something New...

Pin It Now! Does Father's Day cardmaking always sneak up on you like it does me? Thankfully I had all morning yesterday to devote to dad cards.

I used RetroSketches for my first card, and it's vintage in more ways than one!

Look here! The supplies I used are from a scrap kit from August 2008! LOL. How's that for using the stash? This kit reminds me of my dad, so I've made him cards from this more than once. He is the parent that gave me my love of old cars, '50s and '60s music, and generally upped my "cool factor" by setting an example of awesome dry humor.

My boys love this card, especially the big dial on the gauge! I like the lettering...the Thickers were raw cardboard, and I embossed them with silver, then grunged them up with black sponging, so they look more pewter.

Inside...

Check out Retrosketches here!

My Father-In-Law's card was decidedly more subtle. He loves golf, and their great room is all golf. I made this so it'll look good on display :)

This is my first attempt at BRAYERING! So it may look a little amateur. But I love the effect. I followed a tutorial by the great Michelle Zindorf HERE, and it really was pretty easy.

Inside is an oldie-but-goodie golf stamp, long retired, but a staple for golf lovers!

So I have one more dad card to do, for hubby. I will give that one a little thought and make it later this week, since it doesn't have to be mailed :)

Have a blessed and creative day! ~ E.

Have Yourself a Merry Little Snowman

Pin It Now! I have so, so much to do this week. A huge party to plan, tax prep, homeschool as usual, and card orders to fill. All awesome stuff, except for the taxes! But here I am on Monday, and Merry Monday's challenge stops me in my tracks again!

Snowmen are the theme, and I punched this little guy from an oval and circle punch. I love his little polka dot pom pom hat!

Gumball Green Core'dinations is the card base, scrubbied up and embossed with Delicate Details snowflake folder. Snow Festival patterned paper for the trim. I hand cut a tag from First Edition, and cut layers for snow drifts which are painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (awesome stuff).

The whole card is sprinkled with bits of vintage trim...star, flower, and blue circle sequins, and glitter glass.

I was going for a nice, simple look, but just kept adding things til it felt done. Once the rhinestones went on the tag for snowflakes, I sat back and said, Yep. Done!

I used the sketch from RetroSketches for the layout, you can check them out here.

 And of course, you should join in all the Merriness at Always Playing With Paper!

Hope you're having a great week! Are you ready for Easter yet? Some Easter fun coming soon!

Erika

SUPPLIES: All supplies Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted.
STAMPS:  Happy You
INK: Basic Black
PAPER: Snow Festival patterned paper,  First Edition, Gumball Green Core'dinations,
EMBELLISHMENTS: baker's twine, lace tape, basic rhinestones, 7/8" naturals ribbon, circle 1-3/8" punch, 2" oval punch, Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon
OTHER: Vintage trim, Hallmark pom pom trim, standard hole punch

 

Kindness Matters Garden Theme Thank You!

Pin It Now! This card was inspired by a sample I saw in this month's Stampin' Success magazine, a publication dedicated to SU demonstrators and hobbyists.  It was a pretty card, but with the woodgrain background stamp, turned on its side, and featuring a rosette in the middle.  Not sure if you'd see much of a resemblance, but that's how I like my CASEs to turn out!

I like that the Blossom punch nestles right in the 2-1/2" Circle punch window.

I added a little Crystal Effects to the Mixed Bunch petals here and there.
Love those new Vintage Faceted buttons, they are now my go-to embellishment!
The ribbon is a little Stitched Satin Raspberry Ripple, cut lengthwise and frayed.

Playing with RetroSketches #20, love this sketch!

SUPPLIES:
STAMPS:  En Francais, Mixed Bunch, Kindness Matters
INK: Versamark, Bashful Blue, Midnight Muse
PAPER: Crumb Cake, Midnight Muse, Whisper White, First Edition, Raspberry Ripple, Bashful Blue
ACCESSORIES: Beautiful Wings embosslits, 2-1/2" circle punch, Blossom punch, 1-3/8" Circle punch, Vintage Faceted buttons, Raspberry Ripple Seam Binding ribbon, Crystal Effects, Basic Rhinestones

Clean & Simple Summer {Part 1}

Pin It Now! Hey crafty friends!  It's Tuesday, and time for our next challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments!

We're in the thick of Summer here in St. Michaels!  Everyone is busy, hot, at the pool, cookouts, staying out later, and generally stretching our days farther than they're supposed to go.  So, I'm starting a series of Clean & Simple posts.  Cards, layouts, and gifts you can make with limited time & supplies.

My first CAS Summer post is a color challenge at HSS, and a sketch challenge at Retro Sketches.


The color challenge is to use Baja Breeze, Daffodil Delight, and Calypso Coral in a project.  I cut strips of 1" x 3.5" DSP, rounded the edges, and adhered.  I added a few punched hearts from the leftover scraps, popped up portions of the card here and there, and glittered just the middle heart.


Lots of threes here...3 strips, 3 hearts, 3 wraps of baker's twine.  I scallop cut the bottom of the card for a little more pizzazz :)

Here are the challenges...  Click on the pictures to visit the sites!  I hope you'll join in!

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

Rockin' Retro Birthday RS11 AND A WINNER!!! :D

Pin It Now! Hey crafty friends!  Today is my local card swap, and today is also the day I started my cards.  Yah, I work well on a deadline :)  The theme is Masculine, so I whipped out my Grunge Rock which is retiring at the end of the month.  I tend to keep masculine retired stamps because guys don't care about current/trendy stamps!


I used this week's RetroSketches template, which is fab and fun!  And if you don't recognize that patterned paper, Stampin' Up! enthusiasts, that is because its (SNEAK PEEK ALERT!!!) NEW!!! Christmas DSP called Be Of Good Cheer.  The cool 50's-esque stars caught my eye when flipping through my paper stack, and it was perfect for the design I had in mind.  This paper is awesome...some are very Christmasy, others can be used year 'round.

Here's the sketch:


And here are the details:
Paper layers: Be of Good Cheer, First Edition, Crumb Cake, stamped & run thru Big Shot with Stripes embosisng folder, Very Vanilla banner
Embellishments: Mini brads, Cherry Cobbler quilted ribbon


The inside...


I think my 'tween dudes will like this one!

And last, but not least, the winner of the BLOG CANDY FROM THIS POST. Drumroll please....The winner of the crystal drawer pull card holder and Thank You card is:

List Randomizer

There were 8 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. queeniejeannie
2. augustins
3. linda l
4. jennifer
5. donna
6. aunt megan
7. margieslyck
8. heidi

Timestamp: 2012-05-15 18:09:56 UTC

Woohoo, Queenie!  You are a winner!

Since I'm a couple of days late on the draw, I'm going to offer a little second prize win for my #2 in line, All About the Augustins.  It'll be a Thank You card and a little sneak peek blog candy.  

Please send your mailing addresses to me at erika dot stmichaelsrv at gmail dot com

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