Saturday, March 26, 2016

Quick Post

With the black and white with color pop being so trendy I couldn't help but give it a try with this fun "Sweet Succulents" Set from MFT.

The real secret to this style of card making (Pop with B&W)  is to chose a card base that gives the feeling of the item you are not coloring.  Here I used a "cactus" color as the base which gives even more pop when you see the images are not colored.  Note also that while the image is not colored, I did shade around the cactus.

Fun and trendy.  I hope you give it a try.

Happy Easter Weekend!

Blessings
Erika

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Fun Day

Well the move is pretty much over. We still have sorting to do in the garage, but I am tired of boxes and all the junk in them.  Downsizing is good and bad.  You know you spend years collecting stuff only to get rid of it!  I have decided that I need to use the stuff I have,the MFT (My Favorite Things) comes out with the new card kit and BOOM I am pulling out my card.  I AM SO GLAD I DID.  I love the Warm and Fuzzy kit.  It is AHHH DOOR AHH BULL (haha)  It was totally worth every penny and MAN is is packed with goodness!  So here is the card I made quickie last night with it.

I just want to tell you the product in this kit-- I have never owned one sheet of the MFT cardstock because you all know there are really only three brands of cardstock that I will purchase in order of loving, Stampin'Up! and Fun Stampers Journey (tied really) and Bazzill -- and now I can say Bazzill has been knocked to fourth place!  I love the MFT paper.  It was a nice texture and easy to work with.  I also got my first 6x6 paper pad of MFT also a thumbs up.  Buying the kit really did help me get exposed to many of their products I normally would not have purchased.  The ink was a nice hybrid too. I think I need to get some of the color ink pads before I render a judgement on them.

Of course when I ordered the kit there was a set with Cactus stamps AND dies (but they were sadly out of stock on the dies)  but I had to have the stamps. I mean I do live in Arizona.  Well-- they are so dang cute I almost didn't know what to do with them.  THEN I went on Pintrest and was browsing some color combos I had saved and BOOM this here card was born. I actually used the watercolors in the kit to make the "fuchsia" color of the back strip.  I dropped a little salt on the wet paint and it puckered up some and made a nice pattern.  Then I covered it with the Mint cardstock  but still you get the idea. OH both of these are colored with Copic Markers.

HERE IS A LINK TO My Favorite Things so you too can get started collecting the amazing products they sell.

Finally, I started this card several days ago, but since my move I share a space with my son (when he is home from college) for my crafts.  It was spring break so making stuff was limited to after 11 a.m.  -- Which is fine.  I would rather have him around then making stuff earlier than 11a.m.  OK back on the subject.  This card took a few days only due to access. I sketched it and it for the most part came out just the way I planned it.  I had fun playing with the Coral and Aquamarine. I usually shy away from those because they are SOOOOO southwest and I don't really like those colors.. but I am super happy with how the card came out.  All these products are Stampin'Up!

Please feel free to leave comments!  I love reading them.

Blessings
Erika

Friday, March 18, 2016

They can't all be your favorites!

Of course they can't! This card is for sure not one of my favorites, but I finished it and am glad I did!  This is a clear case of taste.  I had sketched out a vision of this card and while I felt it was plummeting to the earth in a blaze of ugly I went ahead and tried to salvage the wreckage.  I finished it and while it is still not my favorite, it is for sure loved by another.  I showed it to my husband and he really liked it.  I was making faces at him and he reminded me that I often am too hard on  myself.  I am posting my photo of this card not because I love it, but because it made me grow.  As my hubby reminded me "They can't all be your favorites, but they will bless someone else."  Such a sage man I married.  If you love or even like this card please do give me a shout out.

Here we go OH and instead of linking all of them (that makes the internet think I am a bad person that would give you a virus-- I just have lots of links  I will just link HERE to my website if you want to order something!

Supply List.
Whisper White Thick Cardstock
Delightful Daffodil Cardstock
Basic Black Cardstock
Softly Falling Texture Embossing Folder
Big Shot with platform
Going Global Stamp Set
Be The Star Bundle Stamp Set & Dies
Circle Collection Framelits
Stampin' Dimension
Rhinestone Jewels
Craft Whisper White Craft ink
Delightful Daffodil Ink Pad
Night of Navy Ink Pad

If you gather it all up it will look like this:

 

  

 


Thursday, March 17, 2016

A Birthday Bloom of thanks!

I love mixing up sets.  Don't get me wrong, SU stamps are great in mixing up the sentiments and giving you lots of options with just one set.  I however, find that there are some sets that really just resonate with me.  One such set for me is the sentiment set from the Watercolor Wishes Kit . This kit was fun to put together but I simply adore the script. With that said, I also am really loving all the new sets from the Occasions Catalog, and one of the ones that I really like is the Birthday Bloom.

When I was setting stamps on my table these two were right next to each other, and I thought.. ohh I like this.  I think sometimes we get caught it the "style" of a set like the sentiments in Birthday Bloom is a bit more chalkboardy  (not a word until today!)  and that may hinder taking out something a bit more elegant and pairing them.  I say we give it all a try, so I did and I was very happy with the results.  I also threw in some Butterfly Basics to create a little background. (See those little ferns poking out?)

This card was really easy to make.  I used only SU inks to color the image with a SU blender pen.  Learning to shade with inks and a blender is really not too difficult.  I wanted to not color with Copics and show you can get great coloring results with just your ink pads and a blender pen.

 On this card I actually began with really light coat of Calypso Coral then brought in Cherry Cobbler. Those are the only colors I used in this coloring. It is was about taking light coats until I could shade the darker coral then finally tipped the edges with Cherry and added that pop. I hope that is not confusing.  If it is ask a question. I love questions.

The stamping was straight on a Whisper White Thick cardstock with post-it notes creating the stamp area.  (Masking where I wanted the images)  Then using a black pen I drew a line creating a clean look.  Then stamped the inside and outside sentiments, the Better than Email on the back and then added the Rhinestone Basic Jewels

If you are in need of more instruction on how to blend with Pen and Ink let me know. I am happy to help you!

Blessings
Erika

Here is the supply list:

Whisper White Thick Cardstock
Crushed Curry Ink Pad
Pear Pizzazz Ink Pad
Calypso Coral Ink Pad
Cherry Cobbler Ink Pad
Memento Ink Pad
Birthday Bloom Stamp Set
Butterfly Basic Stamp Set
Watercolor Wishes Kit Stamp Set
Rhinestone Basic Jewels
Blender Pen
Blocks E, C, I
Stampin' Up Trimmer
Stampin' Write Marker - Basic Black
Better Than Email Stamp Set
Sticky Notes

Here is how that will look :


















  





Thursday, March 10, 2016

I have not been MIA-- I have been MOVING!

 Rose Wonder Sympathy Card
 the image wraps around over the top of the card to the back.  
Yup! moving-- AGAIN!  We have found a little place that is perfect for us now that the last of our kiddos are moving on to college. This move is to a much smaller place.  I really had to downsize and at one point said, "I think I am gonna give it all up."  Then my husband reminded me, that there is no way I can be happy if I totally give up my crafting.  I agreed that my creating while not the world best is part of me.  I love it so, after much turmoil, I decided that I am enjoying my card making more than my scrapping (as I do a lot more Project Life style now). I am keeping a lot of the card making stuff -- stamps and what not, and NOT giving up my Stampin' Up demoship... (so if you wanna order be sure to pop over to my website Oh and we are in the final count down for Sale-A-Bration-- also an ideal time to join my team.)

I am still moving so please bare with me as I am trying to find all my stuff still, so I can only use what is found and put away.

All this to say I finally had a chance to create something for the first time in literally weeks last night.  Unfortunately is was for a friend who has lost her hubby.  It's not the best, but it was a get back in the saddle card.


  • I used the Rose Wonder Photopolymer bundle from the Occasions Catalog.  You can find it here.
  • Memento Ink. Works great with Copic Markers. You can find it here
  • My Big Shot. You can find it here.
  • OH and the new Big Shot Die Brush.  You can find it here
  • Copic Markers to color.  
  • Fine Tip Glue Pen to adhere the die cut of the small rose I put on the inside.  You can find it here.
  • I used Pacific Point Ink on the sentiment inside and out of the card. You can find it here




Here is what all those products look like.
Rose Wonder Photopolymer Bundle140804
Price$49.25
Big Shot113439
Price$110.00

Big Shot Die Brush140603
Price$11.00
Fine-Tip Glue Pen138309
Price$7.00

Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad126951
Price$6.50

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad132708
Price$6.00