New Card Creations

 Busy working on Making Pretty Things (MPT)  here are a few examples of some new cards I have made.  I hope you like them.  I hope to have more and more up soon!

A card that can be made in less than 10 minutes!  

Mix and match stamp sets for fun results

Made with a simple stamp and Inktense Color Pencils

Copic Markers. I just love them. I hope to be presenting many more with my Copics

A little fussy cutting with some Copic markers added up to a fun pretty card.

I hope you have enjoyed this sampling of cards.  I will be putting up some how-to PDFs in future postings.  Please introduce your friends to my blog!  I am going to be working hard to bring you a lot of projects for you to MPT!  

Blessings

just e.

Loving Lettering

I have always loved to "make" fonts. As a kid, when I was in class I was forever doodling and changing my "signature".  I was excellent at forging my parents signatures-- Uh wait, no that wasn't me, they really signed that permission slip that I forgot to give them for the last two weeks.

 It was not until I grew up that I learned that writing in different styles was a thing AKA "lettering" . As you know I love to zenthangle/doodle. Well I was on Pinterest (which I have now made a lettering board) the other day and I noticed a few beautiful quotes and I said, hey I can do that. So I tried.  I made this, and realized how helpful a rule might be.

Never really thought about how much I like letters! 

 So I got a ruler.. and it helped a lot!  :)

RULERS are good!  Nice to see some straight lines!  

While cruzin' the net I ran across Fun Stamper's Journey post about giving away stamps at the Scrapbook EXPO so then made another one inspired by the Fun Stamper's Journey post about blooms.  I really enjoy the lettering with color.  I then had a moment of AH-HA...This inspires me. I love to make pretty things, so be prepared, I have yet ANOTHER thing I really like doing.  Lettering.  If you have any ideas or great resources please share them in the comments!  Oh hey, Go Make Something!

Inspired by Fun Stamper's Journey Blooms

Simple Sunday

This weekend I wanted to practice what I preach.  I have been working hard on some fun sketches for some stuff.. anyway more on that later.  ANYWAY, I have these pencils that have been in a plastic pouch that needed a quick pretty home.  I ran into Michael's grabbed a little glass vase brought it home and covered it in my favorite thing--Washi Tape!

Simply Sunday said do not go home and mask and paint that like my brain in Mike's was telling me to do. I had an elaborate project all planned.  I gave into simple and I am glad that I did!  I really like that a little tape can go such a long way.  I also like that if I grow tired of this I can change it by adding more or starting over. It is a great new home for some of my pencils.  These are my sketching pencils, not my art pencils so this is perfect home easy to grab and off I go-- Anyway hope you like Simply Sunday

NOW, Go out there and MAKE SOMETHING PRETTY!

Blessings
e

Cascading Cards

So I found a photo folder with a ton of cards so I wanted to share a few with you.

Inside

So much more to come... I will post more on Monday.. Hey get out there and MAKE something pretty! 

Blessings

e

Washi Tape Woes

Who doesn't love it?  Washi Tape.  That fun roll of bright happiness?  That little somthin' somthin' that completes a project. That little umpf to a boring sheet of white paper, or to code and happify your calender.  Oh I love washi tape.. but the tape woe is storage. They are round like ribbon so I've tried hanging them.  I liked it until I had to get it off the ribbon bar every time. Can you see it right there in the window?  That was fun because it was ROYGBV  but is was a pain to get them off to play.  If I knew just which I was going to use I would just pull some off, but I couldn't really grab them off and play.... so I went to the next (well truthfully I had previously used this method) Sorry I don't have a better photo... but you get the idea

METHOD: Ribbon Rack (Michael's Ribbon Rack)

OHH I was looking through some photos this morning and found a better photo of this rack system for you.  Here it is

METHOD: Ribbon holder - This photo was the first rack I bought, then I got a few more 

Then when I moved my room downstairs into the office, I returned to the THREAD ORGANIZER method.  I used this for a while but lets be real.  This photo was taken long before I realized how awesome washi tape truly is and the doubling up on a peg was not working so well... so then I went to the tried and true....

METHOD: Thread Organizer - Purchased this one at 35th Ave Sew & Vac

Throw it all in a basket and have fun digging method.  This lasted about 2 weeks.  I almost went stark raving mad.  I just need to be able to organize.  Today ended this madness.  Proof that God does answer prayers... in Target even!

METHOD: Throw it in a basket and watch Erika go slowly insane... 

So our newest attempt at Washi Tape Organization.. I am very happy with it. SO lets hope it sticks... it seems to have all the elements I liked about previous methods wrapped into one. Here is how it happened,  I was walking to the front of the store and happened to be in the organization section. *weird right*  I looked over and there it sat, almost mocking me. A FLATWARE TRAY!   The perfect "tray" for washi tape.  To be sure I grabbed it up and ran to the scrapbook section *which sadly is getting very small* and grabbed a roll and plopped it in.. and I actually gave out a little WHOOP!  

Here it is.. the Lets see if it sticks method!

This was my test run when I got home to see if all the different sizes would fit and they do... so I grabbed the cover and ran back to a different Target (cause they only had one at the Target I was at)  and bought out the rest from that store...

METHOD: Keep Erika Sane with a FLATWARE TRAY

I love how they think it is for cutlery and utensils when clearly it was made for Washi Tape... so cute!

So go out there and confuse the check-out person at Target when you have a large amount of these in your arms. When she asks you what are you usin' these for.. smile and say." I have a lot of knives that need a home."  

Q&A 

Q "Do they stack?"

A Yes.  Some of my tapes are new and have more tape so they are thicker, they can make it wobbly but I just have a tray for my "fatty tapes"

Q:  How many do they hold

A: Depends greatly on the size of your tapes, but as you can see I got a LOT of in one tray

Q How much did they cost?

A: Here in sunny did I mention sunny and 77*  Arizona they were $12.99

Have another question? Post them in the comments and I will try to put your answers up asap! 

Blessings and HEY go make something... 

Candy Dots

Here I am getting my mojo back!  I love when I am able to spend time doing all things crafty.  I was going through some of my stuff and I realized I have a lot of enamel dots.  I have paid a lot of monies for those dots.  Then I had a thought how hard can they be to make?  Well the answer is NOT HARD AT ALL!  I found these great little beads at Michael's and imagine my surprise when I discovered that these little beads that my kids played with when they were small were going to work so well, and they were made my EK Success. *if you don't know this EK has been around forever, and make many products for scrapbookers!*

Here is what I did.  

Pre-Heat your oven to 400 degrees. NOTE be sure it is preheated!

Collect these items: 

Perler beads (buy at Michaels or other craft store or even AMAZON.  (<-- The link will take you to 11,000 perler beads for $10) Pony beads work but they are much bigger.  

Parchment paper and a baking sheet

NOW  simply set them up on the parchment lined baking sheet.  (Don't lay them on the side-- well you can, but they don't come out round but more like a tic-tac) 

TIP: Be sure to leave space so the beads are not too close together, if they are, they will of course melt together and that's a bummer.   

Carefully place them in the oven for about 12-15 minutes.  

Now a fun thing is to buy the striped beads... look how cool they come out

   

Here is the size they are, if you use pony beads they will be larger but these little gems are perfect for my paper art! 

Attach these with a mini glue dot.

Well I hope you get a chance to try this little idea, I have been very happy with the results! 

Its a Zen-Thang

Again!  I admit it!  School absorbs me.  Finally I am off class and will not be back in the classroom next semester.  I am going to try and spend more time on my blog and my creativity. The last semester in school taught me something very valuable.  I need to create.  I hate getting lost.  That is how it felt.  Sixteen weeks of NO and I mean NO creativity. It almost killed me.  I was sad, depressed angry and just not happy. I began to obsess over my grades and overall became consumed.  I don't like that side of me.  

Tonight I am awake. It is 1:35am and I am writing this post and not sleeping.  I started zenthangling a few hours ago and I had some realizations.  I need to create. It really is a part of my make-up. Some kind of creativity... scrapbooking, writing,  quilting, crocheting (which I am still terrible at), drawing, painting, zenthangling or something else I must create to be happy. It is a nice place when one discovers and admits the importance of creating.  I did tonight. I long for it. 

 For weeks I studied and suffered. I love school. I love learning, but I need to create.  Did I say that already?  Hear me my fellow creative souls, don't stop.  It will eat away at you.  It is okay to want to create something beautiful.  A pretty scrapbook layout, a lovely story, a carefully planned quilt.. it is a part of you. I for one appreciate the beauty that you make.  Don't stop, life will forever attempt to get in the way of the creative process, promise yourself heck promise me you will find balance and continue to make the whispering of your spirit!  Your talents are valuable and perfect!  

This is what I love about Zenthangling, it allows you to just create and think. 

Keep creating friends!  

xoxo 

e