Great Impressions Stamps | Glitter Pine Cone

Good morning! 

This week I'm sharing a project using a fantastic pine cone stamp from Great Impressions Stamps. It is a small stamp, only 1.5 x 1.25 inches, which is why I used it to create an adorable tag!

I did some selective inking to create the green sprig & the brown pine cone. The berries I colored with Copic markers, then added stickles on top. 

(Supplies - Stamp: (Great Impressions Stamps) Pine Cone Sprig. Cardstock: (PTI) Ripe Avocado, Scarlet Jewel, White. Ink: (PTI) Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate. Die: (PTI) Tag Sale #1, Limitless Layers 1.5" Circles. Ribbon: Ribbon Carousel. Other: Copics, Stickles.)

I will add a "to" and "from" stamp to the back so I can attach it to a present. 

I am also entering this card in this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge: Gift Tags!  

That's it for me this week! Thank you for stopping by & I will see you next week with another post for Great Impressions Stamps.

Fab Friday 07 + Make It Monday + Retro Sketches

Hey there! I am still trying to resolve my printer issues, but I was able to create three cards last night while I listened to Christmas music. Yay! 

First up is a card for the Fab Friday Stamping Challenge blog. I pulled out Papertrey Ink's Super Stripes & Party Poppers stamp sets, along with Mama Elephant's Midnight Letters stamp set. I created the plaid pattern on the bottom of the card with three different super stripes in Sweet Blush, Enchanted Evening, and Aqua Mist (all PTI). I added glitter to the party poppers using my Spica glitter pen:

Next I have a card for this week's Retro Sketches challenge: 

I just love the set by Mama Elephant, called On Target. Super trendy and easy to work with. The large bullseye image was heat embossed using Stampendous white embossing powder. The arrows are stamped with PTI's Pure Poppy and Aqua Mist ink.

My last card is for Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday challenge to use glitter as a detail on a card. I pulled out Party Poppers again for a fun birthday card. I used my Spica glitter pen to add glitter to the circles on the popper in the corner:

I will be back in a few hours with this week's Great Impressions project. Thanks for stopping by!

December Daily - Day Two

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I can't believe how little time I've had to post the past two weeks... we have had company for the past 15 days, plus I came down with a cold/flu that hung around for way too long. I spent all day last Tuesday in bed while my parents took care of Jack. I am so thankful they were in town to take over the household duties... I don't know how else we would have survived! 

I am working diligently on my December Daily album, but nothing is going as planned! My photo printer is out of ink, so I am uploading to Walgreens until I can get to Wal-Mart and buy replacement ink. I tried to print my journaling card with my other printer and the colors are coming out funny... maybe that one is out of ink, too? Mark is going to look at it when he gets home. I also pulled out my red StazOn ink pad to stamp on the cream album, but the ink pad has turned gloppy and chunky... definitely not what I was expecting! So I guess I need to make a trip to Michaels in the morning for a new red ink pad. 

Despite a few setbacks, the project has been a lot of fun to work on. I am using Studio Calico's December Daily kit & album, 4x6 overlays by Ali Edwards, silver super fine embossing powder by Ranger, snowflake dies (which match the stamp set Snowflake Medley), natural wafer board (awesome product!), and last month's Studio AE stamp set. 

I don't have full spreads ready yet (due to printer issues), but I can share my photo page from yesterday:

The "Merry & Bright" brush was added in Photoshop using an exclusive Ali Edwards brush from Studio Calico's 25 Days of Christmas class. The journaling font is Georgia (my go-to font for just about all my journaling). And the beautiful lazy susan the flowers are sitting on was hand made by a dear friend (hi Ray!) for Mark's college graduation. 

And a big thank you to all of you who participated in the Great Impressions + Ribbon Carousel Blog hop. Please visit the Ribbon Carousel Blog and the Great Impressions Blog to see if you are a winner! 

(Hopefully) I will be back tomorrow with completed pages and a card or two. Goodnight!

Great Impressions Stamps + Ribbon Carousel Blog Hop

Good morning! Great Impressions and Ribbon Carousel teamed up for a fantastic blog hop that will run from 6am today until Friday at 11:59pm. I hope you enjoy the hop and fantastic cards we have to share today!

I chose the stamp Peace & Joy for my card, pairing it with some gorgeous brown ribbon from The Ribbon Carousel. 

I created the background by cutting 1/4 & 1/2 inch strips of green cardstock, then adhering those strips 1/4 inch apart on my kraft card base. The sentiment is stamped with Papertrey Ink's Pure Poppy and Stampin' Up's Gumball Green.

Up next is Jak Heath! 

So Very Thankful

• I am so thankful for the friends Mark and I have made here. We were invited to four Thanksgiving celebrations this year by our wonderful friends (and were able to make it to three of them!). I am so grateful that these wonderful people thought to include us in their celebrations. 
• My wonderful husband, who has taken great care of me the past 5 days while I've battled a nasty cold/flu. My energy level is low and Mark has really stepped up with the kids and the house.
• I am thankful for Evan and Jack, who bring me such joy every single day. They are wild & crazy, loud, messy, active... but also loving, sweet, kind, and generous. They love me, Mark, and each other. I am very blessed to have them in my life. 
• My extended family who called, texted, and e-mailed me on Thanksgiving to wish us a happy holiday, and check to see how I was feeling.
• I am grateful for this wonderful hobby that I love... and the amazing people (and companies) I get to design for.
• I am so happy my parents are making the long trip from Washington State to Florida tonight so we can celebrate Thanksgiving here tomorrow. Evan insisted on having Thanksgiving with Grandma and Grandpa, and I am so happy we have the opportunity this year to include them in our holiday traditions.
• Finally, I am thankful that we are all healthy, happy, and settled together. The past few years have been crazy (new jobs, moving, new schools), but we are together and truly love each other. For that, I am blessed.

Great Impressions Stamps | CAS Poinsettia

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving Eve! The card I'm sharing today uses this gorgeous poinsettia stamp from Great Impressions Stamps. I colored the image with Copic markers, added some stickles, and that is it! The image is large and detailed, and I wanted it to be the focus of my card, so I limited my embellishments to some beautiful gold sheer ribbon. 

(Supplies - (Stamps) Great Impressions Stamps: Poinsettia and Berries. Cardstock: Papertrey Ink. Other: Sitckles, ribbon, Copic markers.)

Mark and I are blessed this year to spend Thanksgiving with two wonderful sets of people (and an out of town visitor, Dion). We are having a Thanksgiving lunch at a restaurant tomorrow around noon, then walking/running a 5k in the afternoon before having Thanksgiving dinner a little before 6pm. As Florida transplants I am grateful we have made wonderful friends that invite us over for the holidays! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Erin.

Be You | Digital Layout

Good afternoon, friends! Karla Dudley Designs is releasing several new kits, papers, and frame sets later this week and I had a chance to create a layout for her using several new products. I used my favorite Calipso alphabet, new rectangle frames, new bokeh brushes, textured cardstock, and letter-pressed card.

(Supplies (all supplies are Karla Dudley Designs) - Cardstock: Cardstock Essentials. Alphabet: Calipso. "son" card: I Am Letter Pressed card. White tag: Ashbee. Tab: Digi Essentials No. 2. Photo Turn: Ashbee. Brush: Bokeh.Luv Brushes.)

Jack has passed along his cold and I'm not feeling well... gotta love it when the three year old shares!  I am off to take some cold medicine and (hopefully) a nap. Thanks for stopping by!

A Very Merry Snowman

Hello, friends! Back in September I submitted several cards for publication that didn't get picked up, which means I can share them here. The first card I'm going to share uses Papertrey Ink's Shape Up Snowman die and mini stamp set. When this set was first released I completely fell in love with it! The snowman is beyond adorable, and I like the "mix and match" feel of the mini stamp set. 

I stamped the eyes, nose, and mouth onto the snowman, then ran him through my Big Shot using the Peace Be Still impression plate. The polka dot background paper is from Echo Park, which I accented with a small snowflake stamp inked with PTI's Pure Poppy. The "merry" die cut uses another piece of paper from the same Echo Park paper pack. His scarf was created by trimming a piece of PTI felt (it's about 1/4" wide x 6"), then wrapping it around the snowman and adhering in place. I snipped the ends of each side of the scarf to give it a more realistic look.

 (Supplies - Stamps: (PTI) Shape Up Snowman Accessories, Christmas Labels. Ink: (PTI) Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, True Black. Dies: (PTI) Shape Up Snowman, Double Ended Banners, Wonderful Words: Holiday. Cardstock: (PTI) Pure Poppy, Aqua Mist, White. Twine: (Stampin' Up!) Cherry Cobbler. Gems: Hero Arts. Felt: PTI. Other: thread, buttons, glitter.)

I can't believe Thanksgiving week is here... we have 4 Thanksgiving celebrations planned (two on Thursday, one Saturday, and one Sunday). Luckily I am only responsible for cooking one of them! I am thrilled to spend time with friends and my parents, who arrive on Saturday. It is going to be an amazing week!

10 Minute Craft Dash + Papertrey Ink Make It Monday + Paper Smooches Sparks

I am trying to sneak in a blog post while Evan does homework & Jack does everything in his power to distract Evan from doing his homework... and I have a feeling my plan is going to backfire on me! I have three cards to post today for three different challenges. First up is a card for the 10 minute craft dash sponsored by Avery Elle:

I used Avery Elle's Blossom's and Blooms and To The Point to create my card... in 9 minutes and 42 seconds! I sketched out the design first, which saved me a lot of time. And I use four different flower stamps with four different Fresh Inks, so I didn't have to clean my stamps until I was finished. The card matches the color swatch better in person... this picture makes it look pink, yellow, and green... but it's really more of a coral color.

Next I have a card for this week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge: faux pockets. I used three Christmas stamp sets, Background Basics: Christmas, Holiday Lights, and Stylish Sentiments: Holidays, plus Faux Ribbon on the bow die cut:  

And finally, a card for this week's Paper Smooches Sparks Designer Drafts challenge: 

I used one of my favorite Paper Smooches stamp sets, Space Cadet, to create a fun outer space themed card. And just like this card, I had to add the little alien to the inside of the space ship. :-)

Chaos is about to erupt in my house, which is a sign I need to wrap this up and tend to my clearly neglected children. Thanks for stopping by!

Retro Sketches | Challenge #37

I hope everyone is having a great week! Evan was home on Monday, and this short week is throwing me off... I am a day behind! Thank goodness for my google calendar or I would be completely lost. :-)

The Retro Sketches challenge this week is a fun one... a very versatile sketch that I used to create a festive (and sparkly) Christmas card.

I pulled out my Studio Calico December Daily kit for the red and text paper, and also the green glitter paper. The stamps are an older Stampin' Up! stamp set that hadn't seen ink until today.

 

The stack of Christmas cards on my desk is getting higher and higher... I should have them all made by December first. Yay! I don't think I've ever been this organized... usually I am making cards on December 23rd so they at least get in the mail by Christmas!

Have a great week!