Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

Greeting Card "Grab Bag" Special!

Greeting Card "Grab Bag" Special!

A Special Offer Just for YOU!

Have you ever wanted a variety of beautiful, homemade cards to pick from whenever an occasion for a card comes up? Do you you like your cards to have texture, dimension, special techniques, embellishments, etc. on them?

If this describes you, then..........

.....You'll LOVE my Greeting Card "Grab Bag" Special!

The Greeting Card "Grab Bag" Special includes...

• 10 handmade cards from my personal collection.....all made by ME!
• A variety of techniques, occasions, texture and embellishments.
• Envelopes for all of your cards.
• FREE Shipping!

These fantastic Greeting Card "Grab bags" are ready to ship AND......you get FREE Shipping!

- $24.95 (Greeting Card "Grab Bag" Special)

Get a second "Grab Bag" and SAVE!

Want even more variety? Buy a second "Grab Bag" and get a special deal!

- $44.95 (Greeting Card "Grab Bag" 2-Pack Special)

All orders will be shipped within 24 hours!

You can pay securely with either a MasterCard or Visa by using the "Add to Cart" buttons above. If you'd prefer to pay through PayPal, please email me at erikaerin2001@yahoo.com to request an invoice.

Have a wonderful day!

---

email: erikaerin2001@yahoo.com

phone: 802-877-2296 (home) * 401-391-6900 (cell)

New Online Course - "Creating with Canvas"

Be one of the first 10 people to register and receive a FREE craft tutorial!

Our papercrafting supplies can be used for so much more than just cards, scrapbooks and gift items.
There are countless ways that you can put your supplies to use to create decorative items
for your home. Working on canvases is a great way to start. It's like working on a huge scrapbook
page or an even bigger card!

The "Creating with Canvas" Online Course will walk you through techniques to create your own
amazing piece of artwork, whether it's on a small canvas or if you're creating one that takes
up a whole wall!

Creating beyond the card and outside of the scrapbook is a great way to
stretch your artistic muscles. It gives you a whole new outlet for your creativity
and gives you many reasons to think in terms of the "big picture." And since you're already here,
I know you're a papercrafter, which means that you probably have ALMOST everything to
create your canvas already in your craft stash!

The "Creating with Canvas Course" is the next of MANY online courses offered
right here on the Paper Craft Planet.

From July 27-31, a new "Creating with Canvas" PDF file will be loaded to the site, full of techniques.
And, you'll use these techniques over and over again!

The Class includes:

* 5 days of techniques (learn how to prime your canvas, create shapes using patchwork
techniques with patterned paper,
adding 3-D embellishments to your canvas, learn painting techniques and more!
* Full color, step-by-step photos
* Detailed instructional tutorials
* Supply lists for all techniques
* Extra sample photos of multiple projects
* PDF files so you can print out the tutorial to keep in a binder to go back to every time
you'd like to make these canvases again!

Because of the amazing creative flexibility of creating canvases, you can execute the techniques
in this course with most of the supplies you already have in your papercrafting stash! And even without some of the items, they're easily secured at a local craft store and very inexpensive.

Register early and get a discount!
Be one of the first 10 people to register and get a FREE Bonus Project Tutorial!

From now through July 16th, you can register for this course with an "Early Bird" discount!
Early bird registration: $24.95

(course will be $25.95 after July 17th.)

NEW CLASS OPTION: You now have the option to purchase this course as a Tutorial CD!
By choosing this option, you can have the convenience of having this entire class, plus the PDF files,
all loaded onto one CD!

Creating with Canvas Tutorial CD: $29.95

Price includes shipping.
Tutorial CDs will be ready to ship starting August 3rd.

The "Creating with Canvas" Course will rock your creative world......and the best thing about it is that you probably already have almost everything you need for these canvases......and you can make them over and over again!

If you have any questions, please email me at erikaerin2001@yahoo.com

Hope to see you in class!

GinaK Lucky Seven Stamp Special!

GinaK's having a sale!

Lucky Seven Sale Event: July 10-14, 2009 Buy any three of these seven stamp sets(regularly priced at $23.95 each) for $49.95 and you can choose from one of these normally priced $19.95 stamp sets for free! (A value of $91.80)

OR, for an even more amazing deal: Buy them all for $125! Purchase all of the Lucky Seven stamp sets and you will receive all 4 of the free stamp set choices for free! (A total value of $247.55)

Lucky Seven Stamp sets available for this sale event: Many Happy Returns

How Sweet it Is!

Jumping for Joy

Zoo Animals

Christmas Blessings

Whatever Floats Your Boat

Cuddles and Hugs

Stamp sets available for free with the purchase of 3 of the Lucky Seven Stamp Sets: WhooHoo! Rectangle Greetings Heartfelt Hits 1 Kindred Greetings for Kids

To take advantage of these sale prices, look for the Lucky Seven Button on GinaK's Online Store that will go live midnight tonight! Check out these GinaK Designs Senior Design Team blogs tonight for projects made with these seven Lucky Stamp sets! 

* Many Happy Returns: Joanne and Lynn
* How Sweet it Is: Gina and Carolyn
* Jumping for Joy: Cathy and Lee
* Zoo Animals: Asela and Donna
* Christmas Blessings: Kurtis and Emily
* Whatever Floats Your Boat: Erika and Jessica
* Cuddles and Hugs: Melanie and Theresa

The Lucky Seven Sale event will start at midnight July 10th and run thru midnight on Monday night, the 13th.

I created the card you see here with the "Whatever Floats your Boat" set. 

I started off with a base of Close to Cocoa cardstock. I added a layer of Baja Breeze on top.

For the waves, I cut some patterned paper in two different shades of blue. I used my scallop circle punch to create a sun from yellow patterned paper. I then used the same punch to cut partial circles off the edge of some blue patterned paper to create clouds. (Next time I do the cloud effect, I'm going to pop the top one up with a pop-dot. That would look really cool!)

I stamped the mouse on Pure Luxury white base weight cardstock. Some might think this is overkill, but I wanted the mouse to be really sturdy when I cut him out since there is a lot of precision cutting and detail, especially with the tail. I colored the mouse with my Copic Markers and then popped the mouse up off the card with some pop-dots.

The sentiment also comes from the "Whatever Floats your Boat" set.

Make sure to head over to GinaK's site ASAP and take advantage of this amazing Lucky Seven Sale! 

(The Lucky Seven Sale is ONLY on the 7 sets listed in the sale. Sets must be bought in sets of 3 for the sale price to apply. Use the special Lucky Seven Sale button on the home page of GinaK's site to recieve these sale prices.)

Create your own Pencil Toppers ("Bug Me Anytime" set - GinaK)

I've been having so much fun with these felt flowers I've been making and got a great idea for using them with one of the new GinaK Designs stamp set.

And this is something you can do with your kids this summer. My daughter is always looking for something to do (she even has an "I'm bored" song and dance that I'm subjected to on a constant basis daily. I'm going to sit her down tomorrow and hand her a big pile of felt and let her at it. 

So, I made these really cute pencil toppers and added stamped images to them. I'm thinking they would make really great birthday party favors....or even bridal shower favors. 

They're super easy to make and it's a great way to introduce your kids to a little bit of hand sewing, which seems to be quickly becoming a lost art.

You can check out the video tutorial I created to learn how easy it is to make these felt flowers. Have your kids watch it, too. They'll be itching to make them as soon as they see how easy it is. ---> Felt Flowers video tutorial

I created three different flowers by cutting the felt in different shapes. The purple flower is the one that I created in the video tutorial. I cut the purple felt with rounded peaks. I cut the yellow flower in straight-edge peaks. The pink flower was cut in a scalloped pattern.

I used some hot-glue to attach a green pipe cleaner to the backs of each of the flowers. I make sure to roll the pipe cleaner in the hot glue so that it encases it. You could add a felt leaf if you wanted to.

To continue decorating my flowers, I stamped a bunch of the bug images from the new "Bug Me Anytime" set (designed by Nina Brackett) on Pure Luxury base weight white cardstock (I wanted some extra sturdiness) and then colored them in with Copic markers. I cut them out with a pair of precision tip scissors.

I used a small bit of hot glue spread onto the back of the images and then adhered them to the flowers.

I took some pencils out of my daughter's pencil/marker/crayon basket and wound the pipe cleaners around them. They would certainly make schoolwork and homework much more fun for kids. And....why not wind them around some of your pens. It might make paying your bills a little more pleasant. *wink*

I was also thinking that these could easily be wound around chopsticks or small dowels and tucked into a flower pot with floral foam in it and used as a centerpiece. For Halloween, you could make orange and black flowers and hang stamped images of spiders from them (in fact,there's a hanging spider in the "Bug Me Anytime" set). There's also some images in the set that could be used as centers of the flowers if you didn't want to use the mini pom-poms. Make a bunch and put them in a vase with some glass marbles in the bottom. The possibilities are endless!

So....any other creative ideas to do with these cute flowers? Share your ideas here!

Happy Creating!

-Erika (Stampin' Mama)

Create your own Felt Flowers with my video tutorial!

Do you remember the felt flowers that I made for my brother's Box full of "flours?" I told you I would create a video tutorial to show you how to make those cute felt flowers and I have!

These felt flowers are super easy to make, they only require a few materials and chances are, you already have them in your crafting stash! They can be used for dressing up scrapbook pages, put on cards, for use on a little girl's barrette....or put a pin-back on the underside and create your own flower pins!

To see what I did with a bunch of these flowers...check out my Box full of "flours" post.

Bake it, Make it & Take it - Stamped Cupcake Toppers (GinaK Stamps)

I was in the baking mood yesterday and made a big cake for my brother-in-law's birthday. I had a little bit of cake batter left, so after I put a little aside to eat raw (yes, yes, I know...I shouldn't do that because of the raw eggs, but it's one of the best parts of making a cake), I took out these cute little Wilton silicone cupcake Silly Feet and filled them with batter and baked them. Yup, you can put these silicone cupcake molds right in the oven! Oh, the wonders of silicone!

I decorated both and made sure I didn't forget the sprinkles. I know my kids are going to want those later on when they eat them.

The new GinaK set by Rupa Shevde, "100% Sweet", is such a great set to use for making your own cupcake toppers. Remember those little cupcakes toppers that used to come on the store/bakery bought cupcakes? Making your own are so much more fun and you can personalize them! With some stamps, cardstock, scotch tape and a long toothpick or skewer, you can have homemade cupcake toppers that look WAY nicer than the plastic store bought toppers.

I realized AFTER I colored and put the toppers together that I had colored the cupcakes wrong on the bottom, but it's no biggie. The toppers are still cute and the cupcakes are still delicious!

I used a boxed cake mix for the cake and then made the frosting using my dad's recipe, which has always reminded me of eating "sparkles." I don't know how else to explain it but that recipe makes THE best buttercream frosting in the world! It's got the perfect taste, is so smooth and has the perfect texture. As a kid, I always felt like my mouth was full of sparkles when I was eating that frosting. Trust me! Check out the recipe here: My Dad's Buttercream Frosting (and check out that red, white and blue Flag Cake that I made, too - the one I made yesterday for my brother-in-law's birthday. Yes, it's my mom's post, but those are my baked goodies and pics!)

For the toppers, I cut out a couple ovals from Pure Luxury white cardstock and stamped them with images and sentiments from the "100% Sweet" stamp set and colored them in with  Copic markers. I added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the frosting on each (for that "sparkly" feeling) and mounted them on top of cardstock ovals that I puched with the Giga Scalloped Oval punch (I used Pumpkin Pie and Tempting Turquoise cardstock).

A piece of scotch tape over a skewer on the back of the toppers and you're all set to go. I cut long skewers in half to create my toppers, but you can buy smaller skewers in most grocery stores or kitchen stores. 

Typing this all up made me hungry.....I'm gonna go have a cupcake now!

Happy Creating!

-Erika (Stampin' Mama)

Bold flowers - bring on the bling! (GinaK stamps)

I recently did a review for Craft Critique on Shimmerz Blings, Paints and Spritzs and this is one of the projects that I created.

This card was done with one of the most versatile stamp sets that GinaK Designs has created - the  Bold Flowers stamp set. This set was part of a StampTV kit, but now you can purchase the set on its own. It's perfect to pair with some of GinaK's white paper flowers.

I started out with So Saffron cardstock, then layered with a piece of Really Rust, which I had distressed along the edges with my distressing tool.

I stamped the small flower on a piece of Pure Luxury white cardstock with So Saffron ink. I distressed around the edges of this cardstock, as well. The greeting was stamped with Garden Green ink and also comes in the Bold Flowers set.

The paper flowers were painted with Shimmerz paints and then layered together with a small brad. The leaves were done by folding a piece of ribbon in half into a "V" shape. The ribbon and the brads also came from the StampTV kit. I used pop-dots to mount the flowers on my card so that they sat flat against the brad backing the ribbon. I also love dimension!

Make sure to check out some of the video tutorials on StampTV to see what else you can do with this set (look in the right hand side bar for a complete listing of all the videos Gina has done).

Happy Creating!

-Erika (Stampin' Mama)

Stamping Around Vermont - Retreat weekend coming up in Sept!

What is better than a weekend in Vermont during the beautiful fall foliage??

A weekend STAMPING in Vermont during the beautiful fall foliage!

That's right.....the Stamping Around Retreat team is coming to southern Vermont for a weekend of fun, friendship and creativity and I've been asked to be one of the teachers!

I'm so excited about this event and meeting new stamping friends, finally meeting some of my fellow design team members and meeting up with old friends.

I'm going to be teaching a class that I super ecstatic about.....something different but also something new for most people to try and I can't wait to see what everyone creates when they try this. Yup, that's all the hints I'm giving for now. Well, except that it has nothing to do with a card, but with home decor. Trust me, you'll love it!

Julie Masse and Kim Schofield, the girls putting on these amazing weekend events (there's one in Philly and one in CT this year), have put together a great roster of teachers for this year's events. But.....because this is happening in Vermont during peak foliage, you'll need to register for your spot right away to make sure you're secure!

Check out the list of instructors and registration details here ---> Stamping Around Vermont

Hope to see some of you at this fun-filled and creative event!

GinaK Sneak Peeks Day 3 - 'Many Wishes' and 'The Journey' stamp sets

It's Day 3 of the GinaK Sneak Peeks and I'm so excited to share my projects with you!

This is the first time EVER that I've sewn on paper. I've sewn a lot of fabric in my years, but never have I sewn on paper. I bought a Janome Sew Mini a few years ago and until just last month, it has sat in the box, unopened. And wouldn't you know it...Gina just loaded her newest video tutorials to StampTV this morning and it's all about sewing with your Janome sew mini on cardstock! You can check these out on the Main Page of StampTV.

My first project is done with Gina's newest set, Many Wishes. This is the new One Free with Three set and you can get this for free when you order any three sets from the GinaK Designs website starting after the Release Party on the GinaK SCS forum tonight from 7-10 pm.

I stitched a zig zag border all around my Bashful Blue page and also twice along the left edge of my photo. I stamped the dandelions with white ink (there's 3 different sizes in this set - WOOHOO!) and then stamped some little blowing dandelion "kisses" in the air from the largest and the smallest. I also stitched a zig zag line above the lines of "kisses." 

The sentiment is from the Many Wishes set and I journaled underneath it with the same color of marker (Garden Green). Yes, this picture is from 2003 and I finally found the perfect set to scrapbook it with!

This next project was done with Asela Hopkin's new set, The Journey. This set has such a nostaglic feel about it and it's great for using muted colors and old-timey zig zag stiching and frayed calico fabric.

I frayed some fabric that I had left over from some aprons I recently made and attached it to my card, then added Mellow Moss cardstock on top. I swiped the cardstock with the same color ink pad and added some Old Olive grass (the grass stamp comes in The Journey stamp set).

For the base card, I used the new Soft Sand Pure Luxury cardstock that GinaK will be carrying in her online store starting Thursday night after the release.

The line of rocks, greeting and boy and girl all come Asela's set and I colorded them in using colored pencils. When I was done coloring the boy and girl, they seemed a bit to bright for the rest of the card, so I lightly swiped my Creamy Caramel ink pad over them to mute them down a bit and make them look "aged" like the rest of the card.

Want some more inspiration?
Check out what the senior design team has created for you! 
Asela, Carolyn, Cathy, Cindy, Donna, Emily, Gina, Jessica, Joanne, Kurtis, Lee, Lynn, Melanie, and Theresa.

Our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team members Selma Stevenson and Pam Imholz are joining us today with previews as well!

GinaK Sneak Peeks Day 1 - 'Happy Camper' and '100% Sweet' sets

All of us over at the GinaK Designs Senior Design Team really look forward to the new release every month. We're all anxious to get our hands on the new sets and accessories that come out and to get to work in our crafting spaces. Many of us stay up till midnight to check out each other's blogs and see what we've all created with the same sets. It's amazing how much diversity there is in our group of designers.

And yes, you guessed it....it's that time again! (And make sure you put the June Release Party on your calendar - it takes place in the GinaK Forum on SCS on Thursday night from 7-10 pm CST)

The Design Team is showcasing two of the new sets with Day 1 of the Sneak peeks. The first set is by Rupa Shevde and it's called, "100% Sweet." This is a fun new set full of ice cream cones, candy, donuts, cupcakes and more with plenty of sweet sayings to go along with the images. 

I created a scrapbook page with this set using a picture from 2 years ago....it's about time that picture got put on a page! It was a straggler and was all by itself, so it was perfect to use on an 8x8 page. I used Close to Cocoa cardstock and swiped around the edges with Chocolate Chip ink. I stamped the birthday candle from this set with Chocolate Chip ink randomly on the cardstock to create a tone on tone background. The patterned paper is from the Lucky n Love paper pack (from GinaK).

I stamped the two cupcakes on white cardstock and colored in with my Copic markers and Koh-i-noor pencils, then cut them out and applied glitter to the frosting for some extra sparkle. I mounted one flat on my page and the other one is mounted with a pop-dot for added dimension. 

The images in this set are extremely versatile and can be used on invitations, scrapbook pages, cupcake toppers, favor bags, thank you notes and more. 

Rupa's style is one that I always enjoy working with as her designs are easy to color and never go out of style. 

The second set that we're sneak peeking is the "Happy Camper" set designed by Theresa Momber. When I saw this set, I did a happy dance! Camping is one of my family's favorite things to do in the summer and early fall months. I have countless camping pictures that need to be scrapbooked and I'm not the only one in the family that scrapbooks. My hubby also scrapbooks our camping, hiking and vacation pictures. He was excited to see this set coming out! Theresa's illustration style is right up our alley! Details, details, details! So lifelike and pefect for what we like to use on our outdoorsy type of pages.

I started out with a piece of green cardstock that I swiped around the edges with Mellow Moss craft ink, then stamped along the bottom edge with the large fern from the Tropical Flowers set and also along the top with the large flower cluster (from the same set). I clustered the flowers together to make it look like leafy trees hanging over the photos like the large apple tree in the photos. I stamped off a few times with the ink to get the varying shades of green.

I used the new Pure Luxury Soft Sand cardstock (which you'll be able to purchase on Thursday night when the release goes live) to mount my photos and also for my journaling block.

I stamped the sign from the Happy Camper set onto the cardstock and then added the words, "Gone Fishing," to the sign. These words are separate so you can mix and match the words to fit what you want the sign to say.

I also stamped a couple fish from this set on Soft Sand cardstock, positioning them next to each other and then cut them out. I threaded a piece of linen thread through the middle of the tail fins and then punched a couple of small 1/16 inch holes above the sign and threaded the linen thread through to the back and secured it. This gives the illusion of the fish hanging from the sign.

I used my Koh-i-noor pencils to do the coloring on the sign and the fish, as well. 

Make sure to check out what the rest of the design team has done with these sets and check back in again tomorrow morning for Day 2!

Gina, Carolyn, Cathy, Cindy, Donna, Emily, Jessica, Joanne, Kurtis, Lee, Lynn, Melanie, and Theresa We are also thrilled to have a couple of our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team join us in our previews this morning: Carolina Butching and Jennie Harper

Class starts today - will you join us?

 

Class starts today and I'd love to have you join us! There's still time to register and take part!

CLICK HERE to register and join in on the fun and creativity! 

Father's Day Gift Card Holder (GinaK stamps)

Father's Day is right around the corner and if your father is one of those types that you don't know what to get and a gift card is the perfect answer....but you also want a nice way to present it, then this project is for you.

It's been ages since I played with my decorating chalks, so I pulled those out today to create a soft looking effect.

I used the Special Fathers set (created by Nina Brackett for GinaK Designs) for this card. I used Chocolate Chip cardstock for the card base (this card measures 3 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches when finished), then layered a piece of Baja Breeze on the front of the card. I stamped the image and greeting with black ink on a piece of white Pure Luxury cardstock, then lightly colored it in with my decorating chalks and some Q-tips. I find that the dollar store or store brand of Q-tips work best since the heads are woven really tight and can hold up to the rubbing on the cardstock.

To add some sparkle to the water and the sunrise, I applied some 2-way glue to the wave lines and then sprinkled them with Dazzling Diamonds glitter.

To create the gift card holder, I cut a piece of Baja Breeze cardstock for the inside of the card and used my slit punch on either end to create a place to slide a card into. Of course, I'm not going to be using my personal bank card as a gift to anyone - haha! I just used it as an example of where and how the card is inserted into the card. Then again, I could give this to my husband for Father's Day and it would be a good gag gift to get a card to our bank account as a gift. *wink* That would totally be our sense of humor to do that.

When creating a card using the slit punch, it's important to remember to punch the slits BEFORE attaching the cardstock to the inside of the card.

(And can you believe that I almost forgot to brush over my bank card number and expiration date before I posted this photo on my blog??? That would have made a great Father's Day gift to ALL of you! Guess that's what happens when you're a late night blogger working on just 5 hours of sleep!)

Happy Creating!

-Erika (Stampin' Mama)

"How beautiful a day" Scrapbook page - (GinaK)

 

I'm back with another StampTV Tuesday Scrapbook Sketch Challenge. Once again, I'm using the new Eclectic Summer StampTV kit for my page. I am totally digging the versatility and all the goodies that come in this kit. If you're looking for a kit that is worth WAY more than you paid for it and come with a ton of supplies, the StampTV kits are amazing! Plus....you get all kinds of video tutorials on StampTV to use alongside the kits.  

I used some Bazzill Basics textured cardstock for the base page and the photo mat. The green patterned paper is called Lime Rickety and is from the Eclectic Summer Kit. I love this paper! I cut around the designs on the paper to get the piece along the bottom of the page. It's all one piece, believe it or not. (Check out the page that I did with this technique here ---> "Quite a catch" scrapbook page)

The butterflies were stamped onto a piece of patterned pink paper - with a very dainty pattern - (Stampin' UP) and embossed in white. I cut the images out and mounted them on my page.

I used a piece of yellow patterned paper to stamp one of the sentiments from the Eclectic Summer Sayings set (also from the big kit). I used a fine point Slick Writer Marker for the journaling.

I've provided a sketch to work with for this challenge and the prize for the winner is a FREE GinaK stamp set! You can check out the challenge here: Tuesday 6/16 Scrapbook Sketch Challenge

Happy Creating!

- Erika (Stampin' Mama) 

A box full of "flours" - yes, you read that right!

My brother and I recently did some creative scheming on a gift that he brought on his visit to his girlfriend. I can finally show pictures now that he's delivered his gift in person and we don't have to worry about her discovering photos online before they were handed over.

My brother wanted to give his girlfriend something thoughtful and that she could display so real flowers weren't something that fit the latter qualification. Since he owns a wholesale bakery and has a quick wit, it was only natural that he was going to think outside the box.

If you've ever seen the movie, "Stranger Than Fiction," you might remember the scene where Will Ferrell's character brings the bakery owner "flours." (Check out the clip here ---> "I brought you flours") My brother asked if I could help him dress them up a bit since he didn't want to bring them in little paper bags like Will Ferrell did in the movie and my creative wheels started turning and I was imagining a box of "flours" that also looked like "flowers." 

I used an old cigar box that my brother had given to me years ago to use on a project (guess it came full circle, eh?) and covered it with patterned paper (I used the Delicate Dots from Stampin' UP). I adhered a length of So Saffron grograin ribbon around the box and added a bow to the front.

I filled 5 little half pint jars with 5 different flours that my brother had provided. I punched out a tag for each one and wrote the names of the flours on them, then tied them onto the jars with silver elastic cord. Since the lids of the jars were a hideous plaid pattern, I cut lengths of patterned paper so that they looked like grass and wrapped them around the lids.

I had thought about stamping some flowers to put on top of the jars, but I've been wanting to try this felt flower idea for a while, so I decided that this was a perfect time to do it. They're a little hard to describe, so I'm planning on doing a video tutorial to show you how easy they are to create.

I hot glued the flowers to some green pipe cleaners and added some felt leaves. I twisted the pipe cleaners so that they looked "springy" and hot glued them to the lids of the jars. I put some purple easter grass on top of the lids to further hide the horrid plaid pattern.

I had so much fun creating this gift and was looking forward to my brother coming to pick it up on his way to RI to go see his girlfriend. He loved it! I had to take a picture of him holding them because he was looking so happy to be making the trip and was looking forward to presenting his "flours" to his girlfriend.

He told me that when he gave them to her, she was confused, at first, as to what they were. When it finally clicked, she laughed. I was told that she really likes them and she's going to display them on a shelf and that she thinks I'm an artist. :) That totally made my day...as well as the fact that I could do something for my Big Little brother. :) (he's 19 months younger than I am, but definitely MUCH taller than I am).

Be on the lookout, next week, for a video tutorial to show you how to make those adorable felt flowers.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Creating!

-Erika (Stampin' Mama)

 

Early Bird Registraion ends today!

 

 EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION ENDS TODAY!

Do you remember being a kid and wanting to color or paint in your books, but your parents wouldn't let you? Have you ever wanted to help a book along and use it as your canvas? Do you have books on your shelf that you know you'll never read again, but would like to re-purpose them? Have you seen altered books in the crafting circles and wondered how to create them?

The "Altered Books 101" Online Course will walk you through techniques to get you started and giveyou a foundation to work on to let your creativity soar.

Altered books are wonderful for exploring your creative side, discovering creativity you may not be aware you have, give you an outlet for creative brainstorming and using old books to create a new piece of art is perfect for your budget, your valuable time and you probably have everything to create your altered books already in your craft stash!

CLICK HERE for registration and payment info.