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!