RetroSketches Challenge#70 | DT Announcement

Hey guys!

First up I have some very exciting news... I have been selected to be on the Fresh Squeezed Stamps Design Team! You can check out the announcement here. I will be working for this fabulous company for the next four months. Come back Thursday for my first Fresh Squeezed Stamps post!

This week is my final challenge as a guest for the RetroSketches challenge blog. I am so sad to see the month come to an end... The RetroSketches team is amazing!

This week's challenge:

Here is my take:

(Supplies - Stamps: Stampin' Up!, Simon Says Stamps. Cardstock: Stampin' Up!. Dies: (Papertrey Ink) Turning a New Leaf. Other: Candy dots, Buttons, Ribbon, Twine.)

I hope everyone has a great week! Thanks for stopping by. :)

ColourQ | Challenge #195

Hey guys! After a very l-o-n-g travel day yesterday the kids and I are safely in Washington. I got to spend little time in my Mom's studio this afternoon, playing with her stamps. She has a lot of beautiful images that I don't have, which was great fun to use this afternoon.

This week's ColourQ challenge was so much fun to work with. I LOVE the colors & luckily my Mom had everything "in stock" in her studio. I pulled our her new Mosaic Madness stamp set from Stampin' Up!, Rosie Posie (a classic!), and a beautiful sentiment set from Simon Says Stamps.

I'll pop in and add a complete supply list tomorrow... I need to get to bed! The time change is killing me. Hopefully the boys will sleep late tomorrow. We have a busy weekend planned!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Great Impressions Stamps | Welcome to the Neighborhood!

Good morning!

A couple of new stamps from Great Impressions caught my eye this month and I pulled one of them out for today's card: Homes. I did some paper piecing with 6x6 paper pads by Echo Park (also available in the Great Impressions shop!) for the houses for something different. I die cut the clouds and sun from a couple of PTI dies and adhered them to the top of my card. The sentiment was added last with letter stickers and my typewriter.

(Supplies - Stamps: (Great Impressions) Homes. Ink: (Memento) Tuxedo Black. Cardstock: (PTI) Rustic white, Limeade Ice, Soft Sky, Harvest Gold. Dies: Papertrey Ink. Patterned Paper: Echo Park. Other: Buttons, twine.)

 

 

Have you tried paper piecing on a card? Line art stamps are perfect for this technique! And 6x6 paper pads make it really easy to coordinate patterns.

 

Don't forget to check out this month's challenge! You can find all the info here.

 

Have a great week!  

RetroSketches | Challenge #69

Good morning! I am hoping to get this post finished before we lose power... we have a nasty storm brewing outside right now. Gotta love Florida in the summer... hot, humid, with some thunder and lightening thrown in for good measure!

This week's sketch is another good one, and perfect for quick cards! I whipped this one up after Mark's company picnic on Friday and it took no time at all. I followed the sketch closely & used a (somewhat neglected) Papertrey Ink stamp set (Over Under Easy), some paper from Crate Paper, and a few gems. A cute bow and I was finished!

Here's my take: 

(Supplies - Stamps: (Papertrey Ink) Over Under Easy. Ink: (PTI) Hawaiian Shores, Berry Sorbet. Cardstock: (PTI) Hawaiian Shores, White. (Stampin' Up!) Marina Mist. Patterned Paper: (Crate) The Pier. Border punch: Fiskars. Ribbon: (Stampin' Up!) from the Sale-a-Bration set. Other: Gems.)

That's it from me today! Have a great week. :)

Digital Layouts | June Edition

Hey there! I have quite a few layouts to share today that I've created for Karla Dudley Designs, Scotty Girl Designs, and Pixels & Co. 

The new kit, Walt's Park, from Scotty Girl Designs is the perfect kit for scrapping Disney photos! And it has the same color combo as Started by a Mouse, so the kits coordinate well. I used several elements from each kit for my layout: 

I was thrilled when Wild Blueberry Ink released Dad's Day Flair last week! I don't use real flair on my paper layouts often (they are so bulky!), but digital flair is fair game! Here I used My Dad flair and My Dad Arrows (digital wood words & shapes? Yes, please!). The digital template is from Simply Tiffany Studios:

Robin Meierotto released a fantastic set of boy-friendly papers last week called Fatherhood. I used several from her her collection on my layout below:

This one's from a couple of weeks ago using Karla's Peachy kit and a different Simply Tiffany Studios template (I love templates...):

The last layout I have uses Scotty Girl Designs' new Ship Shape kit:

After creating the Disney page I realized I have done nothing with my Disney photos. I plan on printing them out this weekend and start working on an album with them.... possibly an old two-up photo album that I've had in my stash forever. I think it would work. 

... and a huge "thank you" to CAS-ual Fridays. My card was chosen as this week's CAS-ual Fridays winner & I am honored! 

That's it for me tonight! I need to spend some time in my office & work on a card for next week's Retro Sketches challenge. Have a good night!

Monday Mood Board #14 + CAS-ual Fridays | Mapquest

Hey there! I have quite a few behind-the-scenes projects in the works, which is why my poor blog has been neglected the past few days. But all good things! And I'm preparing for our trip to Washington next week... flying 3,000 miles with the kids (and no husband!). I'm already having a panic attack just thinking about it!

I have a few cards to share today. First up is a card for this week's Wplus9 Monday Mood Board:

I used Wplus9's cute new Sweets & Treats stamp set for the pedestal, cupcake, and cake topper. The sentiment is also from Wplus9 (Strictly Sentiments 2). 

(Supplies - Stamps: (Wplus9) Strictly Sentiments 2, Sweets and Treats. Ink: (Memento) Tuxedo Black. (Fresh Ink) Slate, Pink Lemonade, Chamomile. Markers: Copic. Doily: Stampin' Up! Patterned Paper: Echo Park 6x6 pad, (PTI) Harvest Gold Patterns Pack.. Cardstock: (PTI) Sweet Blush, Blush. Dies: (PTI) Doily Details Die. (Wplus9) Sweets and Treats. Other: Ribbon, buttons.)

This week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge is right up my alley: MapQuest! We live so far from our family (and a lot of friends), and I like making "wish you were here" cards for them.  

(Supplies - Stamps: (Mama Elephant) Geotagged. (Stampin' Up!). Ink: (Fresh Ink) Slate. (PTI) Pure Poppy, True Black. Die: (Simon Says) small heart. Cardstock: (PTI) white, Smokey Shadow. Other: gems.)





I LOVE the map from Mama Elephant's Geotagged set. It is the perfect size and the distressed look works for a lot of different projects.

My final card combines several different stamp sets and manufacturers... and I created it "just because". No challenges! The milk jug stamps from Wplus9's Milk & Cookies set also doubles as a lemonade bottle, and I really wanted to create a picnic scene with it. I used PTI's Honey Bees, Little Lady (polka dots) & Comfort Food sets, and a sentiment from Wplus9's Strictly Sentiments 1.

(Supplies - Stamps: (PTI) Honey Bees, Little Lady, Comfort Food. (Wplus9) Milk & Cookies, Strictly Sentiments 1, Sweets and Treats. Ink: (Fresh) Chamomile, Celery. (PTI) Enchanted Evening. (Memento) Tuxedo Black. (Ranger) Archival Jet Black. Markers: Copic. Patterned Paper: (Crate Paper) The Pier. (PTI) Pre Poppy Patterns Pack. Dies: (PIT) Sketches Shapes, Comfort Food. (Wplus9) Milk & Cookies. Impression plate: (PTI) Linen and Canvas.)

This card makes me ridiculously happy. I love how all the elements combine to make a cute scene.

The flower on the green bowl is from Sweets and Treats. I did some masking using a sticky note so the flower appeared to be a decoration on the bowl, and after a couple of (poor) attempts, I finally got a look I like. After I stamped the flower with Memento ink, I colored it in with Copic markers.

That's it from me tonight! I'll be back tomorrow with quite a few new layouts I've completed for Pixels & Co., Karla Dudley Designs, and Scotty Girl Designs. Have a great night!

Erin.





Great Impressions Stamps | Enjoy the Day

Good morning!

I hope everyone is having a good week. Last night I whipped up a fun birthday card using three Great Impressions stamps: Polka Dots, Wildflower Silhouette, and Tags. I love layering stamps, which is what I did on the white die cut. I stamped the Polka Dot stamp with Stampin' Up's Pink Pirouette ink, then layered Wildflower Silhouette on top with Pink Lemonade ink by Impress. I carefully inked the Enjoy the Day sentiment with black ink before stamping it onto my tag.





(Supplies - Stamps: (Great Impressions) Wildflower Silhouette, Polka Dots, Tags. Ink: (Ranger) Archival Black. (Impress) Pink Lemonade. (Stampin' Up!) Pink Pirouette. Dies: (Papertrey Ink) Small banner, Mat Stack Number 6. Cardstock: (Stampin' Up!) Aqua Mist, White. Patterned Paper: Studio Calico. Other: Buttons, twine, enamel dots, ribbon.)

 

(In person the pink flowers match the light pink polka dots on the paper. I photographed the card over and over, but my flash distorted the colors a bit.)

 

What about you? Do you like layering stamps? I usually start with a piece of scratch paper and try out different stamps & inks until I get the result I want. It's all about experimenting, right? :)

 

Have a wonderful day!

RetroSketches | Challenges #68

Hey guys! I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. We hosted a Nerf Super Soaker party for our kids and their friends. It was a huge success and I really enjoyed catching up with our friends... but I am completely exhausted!

On to this week's sketch! I was thrilled when Arielle posted our challenge for this week... the sketch is based on one of my cards!

 

I flipped the sketch to make it a vertical card, then used patterned paper for the top of the card and hand stamped the bottom of the card:

 (Supplies - Stamps: (Papertrey Ink) Ruby Rose. (Wplus9) Folk Art Florals. (Avery Elle) Petals and Stems. Ink: Memento. Dies: (PTI) Ruby Rose, Double Ended Banner, Doily, Scallop edge. Cardstock: (PTI) White, Spring Rain. Other: Enamel dots, buttons, twine.)

 

I hope you can join us this week! And thanks for stopping by. :)



Cloud9 Blog Hop | Anything Goes

Welcome to the Cloud9 Blog Hop! I am sad to say this will be our last hop... it's been amazing to be on the Cloud9 design team and I am sad to see it end!

This month's challenge is Anything Goes (as long as you use some Wplus9 stamps on your project!). I pulled out Fresh Cut Florals for my card... one of my favorite new stamp sets. I created the background using the large blooms (two layers) and a smaller flower cluster (three layers). I used Fresh ink for all my stamping (except the sentiment). And the lovely gold & white tag is from Crate Paper's The Pier collection.

 

 (Supplies - Stamps: (Wplus9) Fresh Cut Florals. Ink: (Fresh Ink) Chamomile, Celery, Melon, Pink Lemonade, and Merlot). Cardstock: (Papertrey Ink) Lemon Tart, White. Doily: Stampin' Up!. Label: (Crate Paper) The Pier. Dies: (Wplus9) Fresh Cut Florals. Other: gems.)

 

 

You can view the other DT samples here. I hope you join us this month!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Great Impressions Stamps | Using a Sketch

Good morning!

On Sunday I posted a card I created based on a this week's RetroSketches challenge. I LOVE this week's challenge, so I challenged myself to create another card using the same sketch. This time I pulled out two fantastic Great Impressions Stamps: Watering Can of Flowers and A Little Hello. I paired the stamped images with paper and a chipboard photo frame from Crate Paper's The Pier collection (what a cute line!) for a clean and simple card:

 (Supplies - Stamps: (Greta Impressions) Watering Can of Flower and A Little Hello. Ink: (Memento) Black. Cardstock: Bazzill. Patterned Paper: (Crate Paper) The Pier. Slide Frame: (Crate Paper) The Pier. Other: Copic Markers, Enamel Dot.)

 

 



As you know, Great Impressions Stamps is the sponsor this week at The Play Date Cafe! We thought it would be fun to do a little give away of our own.  Karon Hughes will be finding some delightful Twinery Twine in her mailbox soon.  Congrats Karon! 

 

 

That's it for me this week! Thanks for stopping by. :)

RetroSketches | Challenge #67

Hi there! I had so much fun playing along with this week's RetroSketches challenge. I ordered a couple of new stamp sets from Wplus9, and I used Fresh Cut Florals for my card.

The kraft chevron paper is by Crate Paper's new collection: The Pier. Isn't it awesome?!? I also picked up the chipboard frames from the same collection and I can't wait to use them on a scrapbook page & project life.

(Supplies - Stamps: (Wplus9) Fresh Cut Florals. Ink: Fresh Ink, Papertrey. Cardstock: Becky Higgins/Project Life. (Papertrey In) White. Patterned Paper: (Crate Paper) The Pier. (Papertrey Ink) Melon Berry Patterns Pack. Dies: (Wplus9) Fresh Cut Florals. Other: Twine.)

 

Isn't Fresh Cut Florals lovely? I had so much fun creating my little cluster of stamped flowers. And the font is super cute, too. :)

 

Thanks for stopping by!



ColourQ | Challenge #192

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great week.

I received a couple of stamp orders this week.... one from Avery Elle, and another from Wplus9. I used a new (and super inexpensive!) set from Avery Elle for today's card. Tomorrow's card, for RetroSketches, uses a new set from Wplus9. I love getting new stamps in the mail. :)

This card was inspired by this week's ColourQ challenge:

 

I used Avery Elle's Ikat Additions set for my card, creating a diagonal pattern with the four colors from the inspiration piece: Going Gray, Island Indigo, Certainly Celery, and Soft Sky:



(Supplies - Stamps: (Avery Elle) Ikat Additions, Petals and Stems. Ink: (Stampin' Up!) Island Indigo, Going Gray, Certainly Celery, Soft Sky. (Ranger) Archival Jet Black. Cardstock: (Stampin' Up!) White, Island Indigo, Soft Sky. Other: Enamel Dots.)

 



I love, love, love this little $4 set!

I'll be back tomorrow with a card for next week's RetroSketches challenge. Have a wonderful weekend!

The Playdate Cafe | Challenge #185

I am super excited to be a guest designer (along with the other design team members for Great Impressions Stamps!) for this week's Playdate Cafe color challenge:

I pulled out a couple of Hero Arts ink pads that match the color palette nicely: Raspberry Jam & Pool. I also used three Great Impressions stamps: Blowing Seeds, Seeded Dandelions, and A Little Hello.

I hope you will join the challenge this week! 

Thanks for stopping by. :)

Papertrey Ink | Make It Monday #119 Flagged Borders

Hi there! This week's Make It Monday challenge is a really fun one... Flagged Borders! I used several of PTI's flag/banner dies + one of my favorite new stamp sets (Ruby Rose) to create my card:

(Supplies - Stamps: (Papertrey Ink) Stylish Sentiments Birthday, Background Basics Twinkle, Ruby Rose. Ink: (PTI) Pure Poppy, Simply Chartreuse, Aqua Mist, Hawaiian Shores. (Memento) Black. Cardstock: (PTI) Pure Poppy, White. (Bazzill) Swiss Dot Aqua. Patterned Paper: (PTI) Aqua Mist Patterns Pack, Beautiful Blooms Paper Pack, Damask Designs Paper Pack. Dies: (PTI) Sketched Shapes, Double Ended Banner, Fabulous Frames, Ruby Rose. Impression Plate: Guide Lines. Other: Button, twine.)

I pulled out PTI's Beautiful Blooms paper pack and used the colors to guide the rest of my design. The background stamp behind the flower is Background Basics: Twinkle, and I repeated the pattern by using PTI's Guide Lines impression plate on Pure Poppy cardstock. And who doesn't love banners? They look great peeking out from behind the frame. 

I'll be back tomorrow with a card for this week's Playdate Cafe challenge... the Great Impressions Stamps design team is hosting this week! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Great Impressions Stamps | Floral Thanks

Hi there!

I love making my own backgrounds with stamps, and the new scalloped flower stamp is perfect for this technique! I used a light pink ink, so the background is subtle, but it matches the patterned paper perfectly.

 (Supplies - Stamps: (Great Impressions Stamps) Scalloped Flower. Ink: (PTI) Sweet Blush. Cardstock: (PTI) Hibiscus Burst, Ocean Tides, Spring Moss, White. Dies: Papertrey Ink. Other: Gems, buttons.)

I also used a couple of different Silhouette shapes to accent the card (the "thanks" sentiment" and flowers). I love mixing and matching different stamps, papers, and die cuts. So many possibilities!

And don't forget, our June Challenge started on Sunday! 

Have a great week & thanks for stopping by. 

Great Impressions Stamps | June Challenge

Good morning!

This month's challenge on the Great Impressions Stamps blog is to use some sparkle on your card! I love adding bling... glitter, sequins, gems... so this was an easy challenge for me. :)

Great Impressions Stamp: Bicycle with Flowers

After photographing this card I am seriously considering buying an Ott Light (or something similar). When I was coloring this card I matched the Copic marker to the pink flowers in the patterned paper. In my dim office (at night) the colors matched. Now? Not so much. The color is way off. At least the bike matches the aqua paper ! 

I hope you will join us this month and create a card with some sparkle!

Have a great week & thanks for stopping by.

RetroSketches | Challenge #66

I am so excited to be the guest designer for RetroSketches this month! I have participated in the RetroSketches challenges for the last year and they are so much fun... and definitely a challenge each week! 

Here is this week's sketch:

And my take:

(Supplies- Stamps: (Paper Smooches) Daisies and Paisleys. Ink: (Memento) Tuxedo Black. Cardstock: (PTI) White, Aqua Mist. Patterned Paper: (PTI) Limeade Ice Patterns Pack. (Dear Lizzy) 5th & Frolic. Impression Plate: (PTI) Diamonds. Dies: (PTI) Sketched Shapes. Other: Copic markers, twine, buttons.)

(This kinked twine is driving me bonkers... I need to pull out my mini iron and flatten it!). 

I wanted to create three chevron stripes/notched triangles for the bottom of my card, but I don't have a die to match that shape. I pulled out Papertrey Ink's Sketched Shapes triangle die and ran it through my big shot. Then I used the same triangle die to die cut a small triangle out of the bottom of the larger triangle. They aren't perfect, but darn close. :)

That's it for me today! I'll be back next week with another card for RetroSketches! And check back tomorrow for this month's Great Impressions Stamps challenge card... sparkle!