Ronald McDonald House Charities Blog Hop

Welcome to the Ronald McDonald House Charity Hop sponsored by Great Impressions Stamps!  You should have arrived here from Katy.  If not, you will want to start at the Great Impressions Stamps Blog  or check where you are on the list below.  We don't want you to miss a thing!  Remember, stamping prizes are secretly hiding in several of the blogs, so be sure to leave everyone a little comment love!  Winners will be announced on the Great Impressions Stamps blog on Tuesday, October 2nd.

(Supplies - Stamps: (Great Impressions Stamps) Watering Can Bouquet G302. Ink: Memento Black. Cardstock: Hero Arts, Avery Elle, Papertrey ink. Impression Plate: Papertrey Ink Linen and Canvas. Markers: Copic. Other: gems, pearls, typewriter.)

I hope you enjoyed my card! I love using my old typewriter to create sentiments on my cards (and scrapbook layouts). 

Next on the hop is Barbara. Thanks for stopping by! 

1. Great Impressions Stamps Blog

 2.  Dawn

 3.  Angi

 4.  Patti

 5.  Mary

 6. Teresa

 7.  Mia

 8.  Jenny

 9.  Mynnette

 10.  Shanna

 11.  Ellen

 12.  Katy

 13.  Erin <<< You are here! 

 14.  Barbara

 15.  Peggy

 16.  Sue

 17.  Elizabeth

 18.  Tamra

 19.   Sue C.

 20.  Caroline

 21.  Great Impressions Stamps Blog

Paper Smooches Sparks | Picture Perfect Challenge

Hey there! I have a card to this week's Paper Smooches Sparks challenge: Picture Perfect. Here is our inspiration piece:

I was drawn to the lime green/blue/white/black color scheme, so that's what I went with. I used My Peeps to stamp three birds, then I punched them out with varying sizes of circle punches. I popped up the owl using dimensional adhesive. 

(Supplies - Stamps: (Paper Smooches) My Peeps. Cardstock: Papertrey Ink. Ink: Memento. Baker's twine: Stampin' Up!)

I am so happy tomorrow is Friday... Jack has been home sick this week and I am looking forward to the weekend! Whining three-year-olds are exhausting! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Great Impressions Stamps | Elegant Motif

Good morning! I am back with another card for Great Impressions Stamps. This week I wanted to use a very versatile, and elegant, little stamp to show how repeating an element can really finish off a card. 

(Supplies - Stamp: (Great Impressions Stamps) Elegant Motif. Ink: (Fresh Ink) Capri Blue. Cardstock: (PTI) Soft Stone, New Leaf, Enchanted Evening, White. Letter Stickers: BasicGrey. Ribbon: May Arts. Gems: Hero Arts. Impression Plate: (PTI) Linen and Canvas. Border die: (PTI) Small scalloped border.)

I used an acrylic block with a grid to line up my image. I stamped it 5 times, alternating sides, then trimmed the panel to 4.25 x 1.5 inches. The result is a fun focal point that I embellished with a few gems. To make the  stamped panel stand out even more, I die cut two scalloped borders from white cardstock and adhered them behind the soft stone cardstock. The white also created a visual triangle between the white crinkle ribbon, white scalloped border, and white letter stickers.

And don't forget to stop by the Great Impressions Stamps blog on Friday for our Ronald McDonald House Charities blog hop. Hope to see you there! 

Retro Sketches | Challenge #30

Retro Sketches has a great sketch for us this week! 

I pulled out my un-inked Natural Beauties stamp set last night and played around until I came up with a color combination I was happy with: Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores, Harvest Gold, and Winter Wisteria:

(Supplies - Stamps: (PTI) Natural Beauties. Ink: (PTI) Aqua Mist, Harvest Gold, Hawaiian Shores, Winter Wisteria, Smokey Shadow. Cardstock: (PTI) White, Winter Wisteria. (Avery Elle) Aquamarine. (Hero Arts) Pool Layering Paper. Other: Gems, glitter, button, white string.)

Now that I've used Natural Beauties, I can't wait to use it again! A really versatile & elegant stamp set. 

Have a great week! 

Fab Friday | Challenge #2

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. We were busy Friday and Saturday, but stayed in Sunday so Jack could recover from a 24 hour flu. Our schedule is packed this week with soccer, a music performance, cub scouts, and (hopefully) a date this weekend. Fall is definitely our busiest season!

This week's Fab Friday challenge is a color challenge: So Saffron, Sahara Sand, and Basic Gray. I LOVE this combination... yellow and gray are so soft and pretty together. I used Stampin' Up's Summer Silhouettes stamp set & Papertrey Ink's Quatrefoil cover plate: 

(Supplies - Stamps: (Stampin' Up!) Summer Silhouettes. Papertrey Ink: Bitty Background Blocks, Floral Foliage. Ink: (Stampin' Up!) Basic Gray, Sahara Sand, So Saffron. (PTI) Smokey Shadow. Cardstock: (Papertrey Ink) Harvest Gold, white. (Stampin' Up!) Basic Gray. Dies: (PTI) Quatrefoil cover plate, pinking edger die. Other: Buttons.)

The quatrefoil image from Summer Silhouettes matches perfectly with PTI's quatrefoil cover plate. I couldn't find my stamp-a-ma-jig for the quatrefoil stamp, so I eyeballed it using an acrylic block with a grid. After stamping the entire background with the quatrefoil stamp, I stamped the leaves & flowers. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

CAS-ual Fridays | Challenge #71

Great Impressions Stamps is sponsoring this week's challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays, and I'm thrilled to present my card. 

I used two Great Impressions stamps to create a fun Halloween card. I still had silver embossing powder on my desk from making this card and I thought silver spiders webs would be a fun twist. Anything to make spider webs look less... spider-webby, right? And the buttons are actually orange (and match the cardstock), but they photographed red. 

(Supplies - Stamps: (Great Impressions) Boo To You, Mummified. Cardstock: Papertrey Ink. Ink: Papertrey Ink. Silk Ribbon: Papertrey Ink. Other: Buttons, silver embossing powder.)

I close up of the embossed webs and the silk ribbon: 

Jenny has posted the other DT members' projects on the Great Impressions Stamps blog. We would love for you to stop by and say hi. :-)

ColourQ | Challenge #155

ColourQ has once again provided us with an awesome color combination this week.

I pulled out Papertrey Ink's Wreath for All Seasons and Inside and Out: Birthday for my card:

(Supplies - Stamps: (PTI) Inside and Out: Birthday, Wreath for All Seasons. Ink: (Stampin' Up!) Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, So Safron. (Memento) Lulu Lavender. Cardstock: (PTI) Lavender Moon, White. (Stampin' Up!) So Safron, Kraft. Dies: (PTI) Mat Stack #3, scalloped border. Other: Button, silk ribbon.)

Tomorrow the entire Great Impressions Stamps design team will be participating in this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge. I hope you will join us! The challenge is perfect for this time of year. :-)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Great Impressions Stamps | Watering Can Bouquet

Hi everyone! 

Does anyone else have a type of stamp or stamps they gravitate toward, time and time again? For me, its flowers. I adore them. Sunflowers, peonies, lilacs, daisies, roses... I must have them all! I like line images that I can color (like today's stamp), and solid images that make an impact. When I saw this stamp in the Great Impressions catalog, I knew I had to have it! The image is very detailed, so I kept the papers and embellishments to a minimum. Just a few pieces of patterned paper, ribbon, and some buttons.

(Supplies - Stamp: (Great Impressions Stamps) Watering Can Bouquet, With Sympathy. Cardstock, Patterned Paper, Ribbon: Papertrey Ink. Other: Buttons, Stickles, Copics.)

After I colored each of the flowers, I used stickles to add glitter to the centers. Another one of my favorite products. :-) 

Have a great week!

Erin.

Papertrey Ink | Make It Monday #83

Hi there! This week's Make It Monday challenge is Card Aisle Inspiration. I did not have time to run to Walgreens yesterday and look for an inspiration card, so I shopped the closet in my office for a card I have received and saved. Luckily, I had several to choose from. :-)

My sister sent me this beautiful card for my birthday this year (or maybe last year) and I just love it:

It's hard to tell in the picture, but the flowers are embossed in silver and speckled in glitter. The color reminded me of Raspberry Fizz, and while I don't have an exact match to the flowers, the peonies from Pretty Peonies worked well as a replacement:

I stamped and embossed each flower individually, then used my scissors to trim around the each flower segment. After I cut the flower pieces out, I smeared Perfect Pearls over the entire card to give it the same shimmer the inspiration card has. Unfortunately the perfect pearls does not show up in the photo. (Seriously... a light box is in my very near future!). 

What do you think? Without the inspiration card I would not have created this... but I love it. The pink, white, and silver color combo is really striking. I'm tempted to re-make the card and include a sentiment for a bride and groom. I think the elegant flowers and silver embossing powder would make a fantastic wedding card.

That's it from me today! I'll be back tomorrow with a card for Great Impressions Stamps. I can't wait to share! :-)

CAS-ual Fridays | Challenge #70

Hello! I have one more card to share today; this one is for CAS-ual Friday's Black & White + 1 color challenge. 

I had so much fun making this card... and it is officially my first Christmas card of the season! I am a little disappointed with how it photographed (because the ink color is so light). Hopefully the colors show up well on my blog and you can see how soft and pretty it is.

(Supplies - Stamps: (PTI) Take Three: Winter, Mixed Messages, Tag-It's #8. Dies: (PTI) Take Three, Tiny Tags. Ribbon: (Stampin' Up!) Baja Breeze silk ribbon. Ink: (Colorbok) Soft Breeze, (PTI) Smokey Shadow. Patterned Paper: Echo Park. Cardstock: (PTI) White, True Black. Other: Pearls.)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Thanks for stopping by! 

ColourQ | Challenge #154

Hi everyone! I have two cards to share today. The first is for ColourQ's newest challenge: 

I haven't pulled out my Bravo Burgundy or Cameo Coral ink pads in a long time... but I'm so glad I did! I also used Papertrey Ink's Daydreamer & Modern Wood Mats stamp sets.

(Supplies - Stamps: (PTI) Modern Wood Mats, Daydreamer, and Sunflower Bouquet. Ink: (PTI) Simply Chartreuse and Harvest Gold. (Stampin' Up!) Cameo Coral and Bravo Burgundy. Dies: (PTI) Mat Stack #4 and Double Ended Banner.  Impression Plate: (PTI) Cane. Other: Buttons.)

Daydreamer is one of my favorite sets... I love the flower images & the different layering possibilities. Cutting out the flower is tedious, but definitely worth it!

Great Impressions Stamps is hosting a fantastic blog hop to support the Ronald McDonald House charities. If you are interested in participating, please click on the badge on the right of my blog, or click here. I will be participating, and I can't wait to see what everyone creates and support this fantastic charity. 

And I also want to thank ColourQ for choosing this card as the winner for challenge #152. I will post my ColourQ Queen badge on my blog soon! I am working on a blog re-do, including new tabs and a more streamlined look. Hopefully that will happen soon! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Paper Smooches Sparks | Designer Drafts Challenge

Happy Friday, friends! I have a fabulous fall card to share today for Paper Smooches' Designer Drafts Challenge:

Once again I pulled out Gently Seasoned and PTI inks in Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, and Terracotta Tile. 

(Supplies - Stamps (Paper Smooches) Gently Seasoned. Cardstock: (PTI) Kraft, Summer Sunrise, White, Terracotta Tile. Patterned Paper: (PTI) Distressed Dots in Summer Sunrise. Ink: (PTI) Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, and Terracotta Tile. Impression Plate: (PTI) Linen and Canvas. Other: Buttons, white thread.)

I was busy stamping/cleaning/stamping my leaves and I was almost done... and one leaf smudged. Just a little bit, but it bugged me enough to either a.) throw it away and start over, or b.) find a way to work around it. The result: popped up Terracotta Tile leaves! By stamping extra leaves onto white cardstock, then trimming them and using pop dots, I was able to save my stamped tree & add extra dimension. Gotta love it when mistakes actually make a card better. :-) 

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. We have soccer tomorrow & a Cub Scouts meeting on Sunday. No rest for the weary!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Soccer

A few months ago I asked Evan what he wanted to choose for his fall activity. He immediately said "I want to play soccer again!". Jack was listening to our conversation and said "I want to play soccer, too!". So we signed them up! Evan is playing on a combined U7/U8 co-ed team, and Jack is playing for the Super Stars. 

Evan had practice last week leading up to his first game, and it practically killed Jack to have to sit and watch. He wanted to be out there playing so badly. I kept telling him "you get to play on Saturday!". Saturday morning he was up super early and insisted on wearing his shin guards for an hour or two before we left for the field. Because he was so anxious, I took him out front for a few photos before his practice:

He was wearing: his favorite Mickey Mouse hat, t-shirt, shorts, shin guards, soccer socks, and shoes. And sitting on his new ball.

He was also looking forward to getting a "super new cool soccer shirt" that I had promised him. Unfortunately, the shirts were not available when we got to the field. We improvised and he asked one of the coaches if he could wear a bright orange penny for the duration of practice. He was happy (and I was happy we avoided a melt down).

"BUG!!!!!"

Taking a water break. 

After 45 minutes the coaches took all the players' balls away so the teams could play a 3 on 3 game. Jack was so mad they took his ball and just lost it. He was overheated, tired, and really cranky by this point. We quickly packed up to get to Evan's game. Jack had a very successful experience and he is already excited about next Saturday.

After Jack's practice we walked across the park to Evan's first game. I helped find Evan's coach and get his uniform, then Jack and I drove home. Mark stayed to cheer for Ev, and take a few pictures. Due to the hot, hot, hot weather, we plan on taking turns with each of the kids (at least until it cools down). 3+ hours on the field in 90 degree weather is not my idea of a good time!

Evan's team struggled a bit to score, but he was all smiles when he got home. I think soccer is his sport!

On Saturday I will be taking Evan to his game, and I can't wait to see him play. He has grown a ton since last season, and he is definitely more focused this year.

I am off to a Cub Scout meeting tonight... because we don't have enough going on! Ha!

Have a great week.

Cheerful Mushrooms

Hi everybody! I am sharing another new release stamp today. It is super cute & really fun to color. 

I used Copic markers to color the mushrooms, and accented them with stickles (which is hard to see in the photo; sorry about that). Before I adhered the buttons to my card, I threaded them with brown and white bakers twine. I tied a knot on the back, then adhered them using glue dots. I love the look of threaded buttons, but i am way too lazy to actually sow them onto my card. :-)

The girls over at the Great Impressions blog will be sharing new stamps all week. Check it out if you get a chance! 

See you next week,

Erin.

Papertrey Ink | Make It Monday #82

This week's Make It Monday challenge is to cut apart your clear stamps (for versatility). 

To be honest, this challenge scares the crap out of me. 

I like my stamps just the way they are, thankyouverymuch, and just the thought of cutting them apart gives me hives.

I was very close to not participating in this particular challenge, but I decided that if Erin Lincoln can cut apart her stamps, then I can, too. 

I wanted to make a Halloween card for my nephew, so I chose to work with Been Boo'd, Tremendous Treats: Halloween, and Halloween Treats and Sweets.

The actual stamp that I cut apart is the sentiment "You've Been Boo'd". So cute. And perfect for my 10 year old nephew, Zach. 

(All Supplies are PTI - Stamps: Halloween Sweets and Treats, Been Boo'd, Tremendous Treats Halloween, Fillable Frames #8. Cardstock: True Black, Orange Zest, white. Ink: True Black, Fresh Snow. Dies: Halloween Sweets and Treats, Mat Stack #5, Fillable Frames #8. Patterned Paper: Halloween Prints. Impression Plate: Cane. Other: Copic Markers, Stickles.)

I think I squealed when I lined up the vellum ghost (adhered using my xyron machine), pumpkin, and vampire spider. I love Halloween, and I loved creating this card! And like Erin said in her video, don't be afraid to cut apart your stamps... it might cause a minor panic attach at first, but once you get over the fear of screwing up, it's really not that bad. And look at the results! My sentiment was a breeze to line up because I was working with two different stamp, rather than trying selective inking, which can be hit or miss for me. 

Tomorrow I will be showcasing a new stamp from Great Impressions Stamps... it's release week! Which means news stamps are being introduced all week on the Great Impressions Stamps blog. Go check it out if you have a few minutes!

Have a great night. :-)

Wplus9 | Cloud 9 September Blog Hop

Hi everyone! I finally got myself organized enough to participate in the Cloud 9 blog hop, using Wplus9 stamps. I am a huge Wplus9 fan, and this card uses two of my favorite Wplus9 stamp sets: Fold Art Florals and Spring Tags. I must admit, this card is really busy. A lot busier than I usually create... but I really like all the different elements and how they compliment each other. I wanted to the die cut pieces to stand out against the stamped circles, so I covered them in 3 or 4 coats of clear embossing powder. The colors I used are Papertrey Ink's Simply Chartreuse, Lemon Tart, Kraft, and Sweet Blush. 

Our inspiration for this blog hop came from this photo:

And my card:

 

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope everyone has a wonderful week. 

Simon Says Stamp | September Card Kit

Hi friends! I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend. We have had a wonderful two days... date night Friday night, soccer games, and potty training Jack (which is going surprisingly well). After running around for most of yesterday, we did absolutely nothing today, which was great. 

The September card kit was so much fun to work with... the stamp set is fantastic! And I really like the bright colors and cool pillow box (which I altered). I made two cards, both for Evan's lunch box.

How cute is that sentiment?!? And I love the black washi tape.

Evan's school has a teacher in-service day tomorrow, he he gets to stay home with Jack and me. Lucky duck is my helper while we potty train Jack. I'm sure he is thrilled. ;-)

Have a great week!

ColourQ | Challenge #153

I have ten minutes to get this posted before we rush off to soccer practice... poor Evan is going to be practicing in 90 degree heat today! But he is having a blast with his new team and he is anxious for his first game on Saturday. I am embracing my role as Soccer Mom... both boys are on teams this year and we are running back and forth to the soccer field four times per week. It's exhausting! 

I pulled out Papertrey Ink's Heart-2-Heart #7 for my ColourQ card this week. I love the layered and die cut look & the color combination is really striking:

Have a great night! Thanks for stopping by. :-)

Retro Sketches | Challenge #27

For the Retro Sketches challenge, I pulled out Autumn Hills for my main rectangular panel. When I received this stamp set, I was surprised by how small the main image is... and it is a challenge to color! But the results are stunning:

I just love the tiny house & rolling hills... a really beautiful stamp. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Great Impressions Stamps - Purple Dandelions

Hello everyone! Today is my very first Great Impressions Stamps blog post, and I'm super excited to share my card with you. I used one of my favorite techniques: emboss resist on canvas. 

To create the embossed panel, I stamped the dandelion image onto sticky back canvas using VersaMark ink, then poured white embossing powder onto the image. I heat set the embossing powder, then used distress inks and a blending tool to ink the canvas. At this point the canvas looks really blotchy and uneven, but don't worry! After I applied the ink, I sprayed the canvas with pearlized water (perfect pearls + water) liberally, then let it dry. When the ink/water has dried, it is a gorgeous shimmery purple! The shimmer is hard to see in the photo, but in real life it is beautiful. I frayed the edges of the canvas before adhering it to a piece of patterned paper. The stamps I used are Seeded Dandelions G298 and With Sympathy B178. 

I hope you like the card and the mini tutorial! If you haven't had a chance to play with sticky back canvas, I encourage you to try it... you won't regret it! So many of the Great Impressions stamps will work with this technique. The key is definitely spray the distress inks with a ton of water so the ink blends well.

I also have a few photos of Evan's first soccer practice to post... hopefully tonight or tomorrow. Evan is on a U8 soccer team and he is having a blast. If we don't melt from the heat and humidity, this season should be awesome. :-)

Have a fantastic Wednesday!

Erin. 

CAS-ual Fridays | Top of the Class

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful three day weekend. Ours was delightful. A date night, home with the kids, BBQ with friends... just perfect. 

My studio was starting to look like an episode of Hoarders, so I spent a few hours over the weekend cleaning & organizing. It looks sooooo much better now! And I was able to create a card last night for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge: Top of the Class.

I had such a hard time with this challenge! I don't have many "back to school" stamps, so I ended up making a Thank You card for Evan's teacher using Papertrey Ink's Teach & Inspire stamp set. 

(Supplies - Stamps: (PTI) Teach and Inspire. Cardstock: (PTI) Dark Chocolate, Rustic White. Patterned Paper: Summer Sunrise Patterns Pack. Ink: Dark Chocolate, Summer Sunrise, Canyon Clay, Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy. Impression Plate: (PTI) Book Print. Other: Twine.)

I will be back tomorrow with my first ever Great Impressions Stamps blog post! Thanks for stopping by.

Fab Friday | Challenge #01

Hey there! I am starting off the three day weekend with a card for a brand new challenge blog I discovered yesterday: Fab Friday! This week's challenge is a sketch challenge:

I paired the flower image from Stampin' Up's Perfectly Preserved with three new In-Colors: Primrose Petals, Raspberry Ripple, and Gumball Green. After I created the flower panel, I used PTI's Cane Impression plate before adding stickles to the center of each flower. The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

Well, that's it from me today. I need to get ready for tonight... Mark and I have a babysitter & we are going on a date! A nice Italian restaurant and a long island iced tea are calling my name. Have a great weekend!