Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

Groovy Give-Away Friday!

It's a holiday weekend and I'm always looking for an excuse to have a celebration of some sorts. So......while we're enjoying the weekend and you're enjoying yours, I thought I would have a give-away. It's been a little while since my last one. I know this says Friday and today's Thursday......but we're headed out to go camping so I'm getting a head start on the weekend.

For this give-away, I'm offering up a mini scrapbook kit with a wedding theme, as well as small set of clear stamps that would work well with the scrapbook kit!

*** This Give-Away is NOT limited to where you live.....so even if you are outside of the US or Canada, you can still participate.***

So......what do you need to do to enter this Groovy Give-Away?

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post - about whatever you'd like to say.....it's YOUR turn to talk! :)

I'll pick the winner with the random number generator on Monday (7/7) at 11 pm Eastern Time and announce the winner here!

Spread the groovy love and send your friends over to enter, too! And while you're at it, if you haven't already signed up for my mailing list (which is that little box ALL THE WAY at the top of my blog, right under my picture), pop your email address into that box so that you don't miss out on any of the fun stuff I have going on outside of this blog, along with newsletters and more!

Thanks for reading!
-Erika

Scrapbook Page - I just showed up

Have you ever listened to a song and had the words speak so clearly to your sou? Not the music, but the actual words? Almost as if you could have written the words yourself?

As I scrapbook about myself, I find that sometimes the words of a song speak perfectly the words that I would have written if I hadn't heard the song in the first place. The words are the perfect journaling for me. This song said just what I would have said, so why not use it for the journaling on my page?

Scrapbooking about ourselves can be very difficult but I promise that it can also be very therapeutic and eye opening. The more you do it, the more comfortable you become with sharing yourself both artistically and personally. And just think of the pages you'll some day leave behind.....a legacy of who you really are. Speaking of which.....scrapbooking about yourself is what the whole Soulology Project Weekend Scrapbooking Course is all about. It will get you started on searching deeper and not being afraid to put the real YOU on your pages. There is still space left at this amazing weekend course and I'd LOVE to have you join us! Make sure to check out the details ---> HERE.

Butterflies have always been something I love. (I even have a Stampin' UP butterfly from the retired Wonderful Wings set tattooed on my back.) To start from a caterpillar and to transform into a beautiful and mysterious creature so completely different from what it started out as has always transfixed me. I wanted to add them to this page because they're symbolic for me.  Over the years, I've had my own metamorphosis of sorts. Changing so completely from who I used to be. It wasn't until after I made this page and looked at it on the computer after editing it that I realized the butterflies fit so perfectly with the last few lines of the song that I used for my journaling.

It's been a while since I've used stickers on my scrapbook pages other than alphabet stickers. I found these butterfly stickers, believe it or not, at the dollar store. I knew they'd come in handy for one of my pages. I bought 5 packs and they had all different kinds of stickers in each pack. They are a little bit translucent so you can see some of the patterned paper showing through underneath them, which is really cool.

My base page is Kraft cardstock. I used a piece of patterned paper from the Urban Couture line from Basic Grey and tore two of the corners off. I adhered them to the Kraft cardstock and then painted around the edges of the cardstock and paper with white acrylic paint and a rough bristle brush. I sanded the edges of the torn paper and some of the color transferred to the Kraft cardstock. It gave a really cool shadowed look.

I also sanded the edges and corners of my photo and the patterened paper that I matted the photo on (from the Basic Grey Motifica line). It's amazing what a small piece of fine-grade sandpaper can do to enhance a page.

The journaling was done by stamping the lyrics on strips Mellow Moss and River Rock cardstock. I used a Hero Arts mini alphabet set that I've had for years and used Close to Cocoa ink. The longest process of this page was the stamping and once I had my stamps lined out on my desk, it really didn't take that long at all. This was a rather quick page to put together, even though it looks like it took a long time to make.

The journaling is from a Sara Groves song called, "Just Showed up for My Own Life." I didn't use the whole song, just the part that really spoke to me (okay, the whole song spoke to me, but especially these words).

The journaling reads:

I'm going to live my life inspired
Look for the holy in the common place
Open the windows and feel all that's
honest and real until I'm truly amazed
I'm going to feel all my emotions
I'm going to look you in the eyes
I'm going to listen and hear until it's
finally clear and it changes our lives

And I just showed up for my own life
And I'm standing here taking it in and it sure looks bright

Have a lovely evening and a creative rest of your week!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

May Freedom Ring.....Kitchen Sink Stamps style

I'm on a patriotic kick this week! Of course, with stamp sets like the new Playful Stars set, it's easy to come up with great ideas!

I'm also really digging the Real Red and Bashful Blue combo for patriotic cards. It's a little softer than the Real Red and Brilliant Blue combo that most people choose to work with.

I also don't have any Brilliant Blue cardstock big enough to work with for a layer on the Real Red cardstock.....so the next color to go for was Bashful Blue. I did that with yesterday's Star Spangled Card post and thought, "hey, this looks really good with Bashful Blue!" So, here I go again....using it today on this card.

I created the starry background on the Whisper White cardstock using the 4 smallest stars that come in the Playful Stars set. To make this really easy, I stuck all 4 stars on my acrylic block in a diamond pattern and then inked it up with Real Red ink and stamped it onto my carstock. I reinked and stamped a few times to get my entire background. I didn't have to worry about even placement of the stars because I had them all mounted on the block at once. It was like having my own custom background stamp.

I like my stars to have lots of bling and sparkle. At first, I was just going to emboss the images with clear embossing powder and then realized I had an almost new container of Iridescent Ice embossing powder in my drawer. It's not that I don't like using it, it's just that for quite a few years, I didn't have any and kept forgetting that SU carried it. Now that I have it, I forget that it's there and that I can actually use it! I stamped my star images on Real Red and Bashful Blue cardstock with Versamark ink and then embossed them with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. I cut the images out and popped them up on the Whisper White cardstock with pop-dots.

The greeting is from the new Ready 4 Any Holiday set. I stamped this on a scrap piece of Real Red cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed it with Black embossing powder. I cut above and below the greeting with a pair of pinking edge scissors. This got popped up on the Whisper White cardstock with pop-dots, as well.

Have a lovely evening and a wonderful week!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

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 star spangled day - Emboss Resist

I keep forgetting that July starts on Tuesday! Is it just me or did June go by really fast for the rest of you?

This is the first year in a VERY long time that we'll be gone for the 4th of July weekend. My kids were disappointed when they heard we weren't going to be in town for the town fireworks. I explained to them that we'll be camping and, while they were excited about it, they were STILL disappointed about the camping. I asked them, "What would you rather do? Spend 4 days at Taylor Pond or spend the whole weekend at home just to see an hour of fireworks?" Girly voted for camping, Zach voted for fireworks. I had to laugh at them because they were totally typical answers and I fully predicted them. Girly can see the value in spending a whole weekend camping while Zach just looks at the hear and now....he sometimes can't see the big picture. I struck a compromise with them. I told them we'd bring sparklers along so they can have their own little version of fireworks. Zach wasn't convinced at the time, but I'm sure once he's out there, he'll forget all about the fireworks happening without him. ;)

Anyway..........I finally got a chance to ink up these new stamps from Kitchen Sink Stamps. The three stamp sets that I used on this card are perfect for the patriotic holiday coming up. They're also great for scrapbook pages that show off the pictures you take this 4th of July holiday (or Canada Day pictures for those of our friends living north of the border).

Sometimes I get so caught up in trying new techniques and creating my own techniques that I forget all the "oldies but goodies" out there. When I first started stamping 7 years ago, one of the techniques that I fell head over heels with was the Emboss Resist technique. It's such a simple technique, but when you play around with it, the effects you can get are stunning!

It's refreshing to go back to the things I first learned while stamping and enjoy playing with those techniques all over again. It gives me a renewed passion for why I love this art form in the first place!

I used the Playful Stars set for the large star in the middle of the cardstock (Whisper White). I then stamped one of the swirls from the Swirly Hearts & Stars set in between each of the points of the star. I stamped these in Versamark ink and then embossed the images with Clear embossing powder.

After the embossed images cooled down, I inked up a sponge with Real Red ink and rubbed it in a circle around the large star. I then inked up another sponge with Bashful Blue ink and rubbed it in a circle around the red ink. The harder you rub into the cardstock, the more ink you're going to transfer onto the cardstock and the more your image is going to pop out.

I inked up a third sponge with Blue Bayou ink and sponged that around the top and bottom edges. I didn't plan to use the Blue Bayou ink when I first started with this card but I felt like the card needed a darker blue and when I was done with it, it really looked like fireworks going off in the night sky. The Blue Bayou gives you the feeling of the night sky.

I wanted to add a little fireworks sort of sparkle, so I applied some dots of 2-Way glue around the outside of the swirly image and sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds glitter on them. The glitter took it to a whole new level. LOVE IT!

I mounted all of this on top of Bashful Blue cardstock and then on top of a Real Red card base.

The greeting was done with Basic Black ink using one of the images from the new Ready 4 Any Holiday set. This set fills in with the holidays that you don't often find greetings for.

Enjoy your last day of June!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Scrapbook Page - Girly

I always find it funny when people ask what Girly's real name is. I've actually had a few people that thought we we really DID name our daughter, "Girly." I forget how it comes across when I introduce my kids to new people as, "Zach and Girly." I get this weird look from them and then they just smile and nod...like they're humoring me for naming my child, "Girly."

She really DOES have a real name. Her real name is Elise (pronounced Ee-LEE-za, which is the German pronunciation and also my grandmother's name). We haven't called her Elise or Leezy since she was about 6 months old. She's been Girly to us for so long. In fact, she didn't even realize she had a real name until she was about 4 years old.

When people meet her and hear what we call her, they just assume that she's the most girly of girls. She may look dainty and tiny and like a china doll, but she's so much more than that. I created this page to show her two very different sides.

I used a piece of light blue textured cardstock and swiped my Close to Cocoa ink pad around the outside edge.

The flowers were cut out from a piece of patterned paper from the Pocketful of Posies paper stack from DCWV. The flowers have little bits of glitter accents on them. I swiped those with the Close to Cocoa ink, as well, so that they were dirtied-up like the cardstock. For a little bit of bling, I secured the flowers to the cardstock with silver mini brads.

I stamped around the edges of the cardstock with the flourish image from the Doodle This set (from Stampin' Up) in Rose Red ink. (I adore that set!)

Because of the two pictures that I chose for this page, I wanted to add some bling and some dirt to my page. Girly loves girly things but she also loves to get dirty. I wanted a mixture of grunge and bling so for the title, I chose to alter some naked chipboard letters. I started out by painting them with some green acrylic paint and let them dry. Then I applied some glue from my 2-Way Glue Pen to completely cover each of the letters. I sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds glitter on each of the letters and let them dry. This is why I LOVE to use the 2-Way Glue pen.....it dries flat and QUICK! After the letters dried, I laid a piece of scrap paper over them and then pressed the glitter down to finish setting it. I attached my letters using mini glue dots. These are super sticky and work awesome for attaching chipboard pieces.

I popped a few large red brads next to the title as some filler and more dimension.

I did my journaling by hand with a Rose Red Stampin' Write Marker. I punched little stars out from the same patterned paper that I used for the flowers and used them as bullet points for the journaling at the bottom.

It reads:

She's been called Girly since she was a baby. Her real name seems so foreign to me. But sometimes she's a contradiction.

* She paints her nails but covers herself in mud.

* She loves her CareBears but Lighting McQueen is her idol.

* She loves new shoes but hates to have her hair brushed.

* She's a girl with the heart of a tom-boy.

* She can be sweet but can turn on a dime.

Maybe she's a girl after all.

Enjoy your weekend!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Kindred Kids......Summer Fun card

If you loved the Kindred Spirits and Kindred Dads lines, then you're going to LOVE the Kindred Kids line that GinaK Designs just came out with!

Gina designed 7 new kids images along with a stamp set that has greetings for all kinds of fun cards to make for kids - the Kindred Greetings for Kids set.

One of my fond memories from childhood was having my dad or mom hook up the sprinkler to the hose on a hot day and letting us spend however long we wanted under it. We always looked forward to it and, growing up as the second oldest of 4 children, there was no shortage of games that we made up while we were playing in the water. We used to have a round sprinkler that worked as a tube. The water would arch out like a fountain. I personally loved to wear the sprinkler on my head like a halo. Fast forward 20 years and my kids have the same kind of sprinkler!

This image reminds me so much of my kids and of my siblings and I so it was only natural that I reached for this image to work with first out of the new Kindred Kids line. This image is called, "Summer Fun." 

I started out with a Soft Sky cardstock base and layered a couple pieces of Apricot Appeal and Pretty in Pink patterned papers from the Prints Pack Designer paper (Stampin' Up).

I stamped the image on Whisper White cardstock and then colored with my Copic markers. I added a little bit more length to the hose so that it would reach the edge of the cardstock. This got mounted on a piece of Wild Wasabi cardstock.

Before I mounted it to the main card base, I felt like it needed something more. I took out the Dazzling Diamonds glitter and my 2-Way glue pen to finish it off. I applied my 2-way glue to the lines and drops of the water and then sprinkled the glitter over it. I love the watery sparkle it gives the image.

I mounted all of this onto the cardbase with pop-dots so that it popped up from the card.

The little greeting image that I added came from the Kindred Greetings for Kids that coordinates with the images in the Kindred Kids line.
I stamped this with Basic Black ink.

After I finished this card, I realized that this card could easily be given to an adult just as much as it could be given to a child. I'm always needing the reminder to embrace my "inner child." I'm sure others could use the reminder to find time to play and enjoy life.

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Countdown to Christmas SALE!

Kitchen Sink Stamps is having a Countdown to Christmas sale!

From June 25-28th, you can get 15% off of the following 3 sets when you use the coupon code: SNOW

Playful Christmas
3-Step Holly & Mistletoe
Snow Flurry

The card at left was made using the Snow Flurry set.

And don't forget to check out the great contest that's going on over at the KSS Blog!

Retro Boutique....a clean and simple card

Here's a couple of confessions. I am SO not a purse girl....but I have plenty of friends that are. I think they're super cute when they're all dolled up, but I'm not the type to have a million purses in my closet. In fact, I only have one. It goes with me everywhere and it was knitted for me by my sister. It's rainbow striped and full of textures and different kinds of fibers. The lining on the shoulder strap is starting to fall off, it needs a good washing and the cat even peed on it once. I just can't bring myself to part with it, though, because I absolutely love it. I get tons of compliments on it and people ask me all the time if I made it. I proudly tell them that my sister made it (and then hand them a business card for her Etsy shop).

I do like to look at other people's purses, but I'm just not a purse-shopper. In fact, I'm not really a shopper much at all. The only time I go into the mall is to buy a new bra every now and then at Victoria's Secret. Let's face it, when you're hauling around a pair of 38DDs, you DO want the very best. *wink*

The new Retro Boutique set from GinaK Designs (by illustrator Rupa Shevde) is going to work out so well for making cards for all my girly-girl friends. And here's another confession. My daughter is a total Girly-girl when it comes to shopping. She loves it. I'm going to be such a shopping kill-joy when she gets older. But by golly, I'll have lots of stamps to make her cards that coordinate well with her love of shopping. :)

This set has such clean and simple lines so I wanted to create something that went along with that style. The card you see here is what I came up with.

I went with a Real Red cardbase and added a sharp looking Basic Black layer on top. I stamped the image with Basic Black ink on a piece of white cardstock (along with the greeting, which comes in the same set).

I colored the images with the new Koh-i-noor pencils, blending stumps and odorless mineral spirits.....I am SO in love with those pencils and the effect that the blending gives.

I simply ran some color lines around the inside edges of the images and then took my blending stumps dipped with odorless mineral spirits and blending inwards. I love the soft blending and dimension it gives the images.

For a little extra bling and some dimension, I added a tiny self-adhesive rhinestone accent to each of the purses. It gives them the sparkle they so deserve.

I made this card so that it would fit in a regular sized letter envelope.

Enjoy!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Cuddles & Hugs.....awwww....such cute stamped kitties!

If you weren't at the June release party over at GinaK's forum, then you missed out on a ton of fun and a lot of great sneak peeks. But.....you can check out many of the sneak peeks and other great cards done for the two challenges we have up and running at the GinaK Gallery on SCS.

This cute kitty card was one of the sneak peeks that I showed Friday night at the release party and it's also the card that I used for my sketch challenge for the party.

If you'd like to take part in the challenge, there's still time. You have until 7 pm on Tuesday night to take part and you can check out all the details, including a sketch, here ---> June Release Party Sketch Challenge 

I used Wild Wasabi for the card base and adhered a piece of Bashful Blue patterned paper to it. The stamp set that I used for this card is the new set by Melanie Muenchinger. It's called Cuddles & Hugs. This was the first card I made using this set. I couldn't help going for the kitties first. We have always had cats, both of us. We love our kitties and love meeting other people's kitties, too. It almost seemed wrong for me to pick something other than the kitties first.

I wanted the kitties to be sitting ON something, rather than just "floating" on a piece of cardstock. I stamped the grass image (that also comes in the Cuddles & Hugs set) along the edge of a piece of Wild Wasabi patterned paper, varying the heights. I cut the grass out and adhered it to the bottom edge of the blue patterned paper.

I stamped my kitties on white cardstock and then used my new Koh-i-noor pencils, Odorless Mineral Spirits and blending stumps to color them in. I'm really loving how awesome these pencils are. I cut the kitties out and popped it up on my card using pop-dots.

Every time I see someone leaning on each other like this, I always envision floating hearts coming up between them. Yes, I really see it in my head. :) So, of course I had to put a floating heart in between the kitties. I used one of the pink Raindot Hearts. Isn't that just SO stinkin' cute??

The greeting came from the same set and I stamped that in Basic Black ink.

I tied some white grosgrain ribbon with a double knot around the card to finish it off.

I wanna hug this card! Seriously!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Let's get together.....Molly Stamps

One of these days soon, I'm planning to have an informal scrapbooking day at my house. When that happens, I am SO using the Let's Get Together stamp set from Molly Stamps. This is such an awesome set for scrapbooking and stamping get-together invitations.

If you're putting together a girl's night or even a full day of crafting, what's better than a zany and fun invitation with a crazy scrap and stamp-a-holic like Molly to liven it up! And the greetings in this set go perfectly for invitations of this sort.

I used some of the glittered patterned paper from the Pocket Full of Posies Stack from DCWV. It's busy but fun, just like Molly. I adhered that to a Regal Rose cardbase and added some silver mini brads in the corners.

I stamped the Molly image on Whisper White and colored her in with my watercolor pencils (using them like regular colored pencils). I carefully cut the image out with my Paper Snips (best EVER precision tip scissors....gets in all those tight spaces without making a mess of the image) and adhered it on top of a piece of Soft Sky cardstock with pop-dots.

I kinda got ahead of myself there a little...I first cut the Soft Sky out with my Coluzzle Oval template and mounted that on top of an oval that I cut out of Regal Rose and trimmed with my scalloped edged scissors (which I also mounted on the card with pop-dots......you know I LOVE dimension!). Molly just seems to jump right off the card.

I stamped out the words on Whisper White cardstock and then cut them out and adhered them to the card in a scattered sort of way. I love this effect!

So.....who wants to come to a scrapping day at my house??? *wink*

Oh....and right now, this set is on sale! Make sure you check out the other images that come in this set. You can find it here:
Molly Stamps

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

3-Step Hibiscus card

When Maria showed us the new 3-step Hibiscus set, I about fell off my chair. Oh, so beautiful! There are so many color combinations that you can come up with. I've had so many things going on lately that I haven't been able to get around to playing with it yet. I finally had some time today and couldn't wait to break it out and ink it up!

Actually......I forced myself to have some time tonight. I needed my creative fix. My kids' last day of school was yesterday and I've had my sister's kids here a couple days this week (and I'll have them again tomorrow). I spent part of the day at the bowling alley today for Zach's end of school party with the autism program. I had 4 kids with me (my 2 and my sister's 2) and that's always an adventure. Needless to say, I needed to get some time with my stamps and ink.

And needless to say, I'm head over heels with this set. Look at how PURTY that is!

This large flower is actually 5 steps but they're so easy to line up, especially because the image sheet that comes with the stamps has a position guide.

Here are the colors that I used for each of the steps:

1) Apricot Appeal
2) Regal Rose
3) Rose Red
4) Baroque Burgandy (stamping off the top layer of ink once)
5) Baroque Burgandy (fully inked)

If you've never heard of "stamping off" before, it's a really simple concept and comes in really handy for multiple step sets when you're trying to achieve a balance of coordinating colors.

To "stamp off," I inked up the stamp with ink and stamped it once onto scrap paper and then onto my cardstock. The next image was done on top with a full layer of ink. I got two images with one ink pad, but a lighter and a darker shade. They both coordinated because they came from the same original color.
I used the same "stamping off" technique with the leaves. The leaves were 3 steps and I used one color of ink. For the first inking, I stamped off twice onto scrap paper with the first image.  For the second image, I stamped off only once. With the third image, I stamped with a full coverage of ink on my stamp. I used Wild Wasabi ink for the leaves.

For a little bit of depth, I sponged around my cardbase with Regal Rose ink (the same color as the cardstock).

The patterned paper I used is from the hostess prints pack of paper. The pattern is done in Pretty in Pink.

The greeting images come from the same Hibiscus set and I used Baroque Burgandy ink to stamp them. I felt like my card need a little bit more to balance it all off, so I used some little pink dots from the Hydrangea colored Dew Drops above the greeting. I adhered those with some mini glue dots.

I don't often find a use for REALLY wide grosgrain ribbon but it looks so pretty and elegant on this card.

And now....I'm off to be before I turn into a pumpkin. It is WAY past my bedtime!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Contest answers and winners.....and pictures!

Thank you to everyone that commented with congratulations on our anniversary!

Davy and I had a lot of fun reading all of your comments and seeing your guesses on our ages when we got married. Most all of them made us feel REALLY good!

Someone guessed that Davy was 26.......nope, that wasn't right. He sat here laughing and said, "So, they think I look 37??" I'm always telling him he looks so young and he started to doubt it. I told him that he's not far off from 37 and he'll STILL look young at 37. Silly man. *wink*

So......what ages WERE we when got married? There were many of you that were very close and a few of you even got it right.

I was 20 and Davy had JUST turned 22 a few weeks before (yes, that makes me 31 and Davy 33 now). Here's another picture for you all. My sister made my dress for all of $50 (and all the dresses for the girls) and I picked the flowers for my bouquet. I got my veil at GoodWill for $10 and my little lace covered tennis shoes at PayLess for under $10. Yup, we paid for the wedding ourselves so we had to go "budget." We got married outside on the farm where I lived (a friend's family owned the farm) and had our horses boarded. Davy moved in after we got married. Ah.....such fun memories to think back on.

There were 49 comments left and I ran the number through the Random Number generator and the winner is #9.

Happy anniversary to you both! My guess... 20 and 22 :) Have a wonderful day!
Posted by: pesc | June 15, 2008 at 10:46 AM

I thought it was pretty wild that the winner actually picked the right ages! Congratulations Pesc! I'll email you to get your address to send you a copy of my Stampin' Mama Artwork Inspiration CD !

Oh......and some of you asked to see a before picture of Davy's long hair before he cut it all off. You can see the picture of him after it was cut off on the scrapbook page I showed in THIS POST.

This picture makes me laugh every time I look at it. It was taken when we were in Norway in October of 2006. By the time he cut his hair last May, it had reached shoulder length. I jokingly refer to this picture as the "Cousin Itt" picture. Remember the hairy creature from The Addam's Family? Of course, he didn't quite wear it like this all the time. haha!

I really miss his long hair and he's promised to grow it out once I lose the 20 lbs I've been wanting to take off. Some people laugh when I tell them about this deal, but hey, it works for us.

Also......I got the answer that I was looking for on the paper that I used on the cards in THIS POST. The papers were from the Copper Kiss and Silver Bliss paper packs. The winner for that contest is Tanya!

Yep, it was Copper Kiss and Silver Bliss. I didn't get them but they were on my wish list for a while! I have other paper from that same catalog still tho, so its ok!
These cards are really nice btw!
Posted by: Tanya | June 15, 2008 at 06:09 PM

Thanks for playing along and telling me we're so cute! That made our WEEK!

-Erika

Sneak Peek release - Botanical Dreams

Today is day two of the new GinaK release. This card uses a new set by a new designer to GinaK Designs, although many of you probably already know her and have seen her amazing work over at her blog. She's the talented Asela Hopkins!

I've always loved Asela's creativity and the images she has created for other companies in the past, though I had never gotten a chance to use them. I can no longer say that anymore because she's GinaK Design's newest illustrator and I finally got my hands on some of her images.

Asela has a very earthy and organic feel to her images. If you've been here long enough and know me well enough, you know that this kind of art is totally right up my alley. I love my browns and greens and anything to do with nature. I am LOVING this set!

This card is made with Asela's first set with GinaK, called "Botanical Dreams." Make sure you hop on over to Gina's blog to see another project made with this set.....along with links to other girls on the design team that have created with this set.

Besides getting my hands on this new set (along with all the other new sets and accessories that are debuting with the release party in Gina's forum on Friday night), I also got my hands on a set of the new  Koh-i-noor Woodless Color pencils that Gina is now carrying in her store. I used them for this card and I can confidently say that I'm absolutely IN LOVE!

Here's a quick view of what these babies can do! The leaves on the left are how the leaves on the right started out before I took the blending stumps and Odorless Mineral Spirits to them. Isn't the effect just stunning?

I couldn't believe how affordable the pencils are! There's 24 pencils in the set but when you combine them like shown here in this picture, then blend them, you can get some very nice effects with them. You don't even HAVE to use blenders and odorless mineral spirits with them.....you can use them just as colored pencils if you want to.

The colors are so vivid and bright! I have a feeling that these pencils are going to be used A LOT! Girly has already eyed them when I opened them from the package, but I've told her that they're off limits. They're for "Mom's work only." Besides, she's been using my Pure Color pencils quite a bit, so it's about time I get to claim a set of pencils for my own again. :)

I stamped the leaf image on the Chocolate Chip cardstock with the same color ink and swiped the edges of the cardstock for a more rustic look. The leaves were stamped on Very Vanilla and then mounted on a piece of Creamy Caramel cardstock and again on More Mustard cardstock. I tied a piece of More Mustard grosgrain ribbon around the stamped image and secured it with a double knot and trimmed the ends.

I used my paper piercing template and piercing tool to pierce the upper and lower right corners of the cardstock. It just felt like it needed a little extra something.

The word, "Friend," comes from the same Botanical Dreams set. I stamped this on Old Olive cardstock with Chocolate Chip ink and swiped the Old Olive ink over the cardstock to rough it up a bit. The silver finish frame came from a silver-edge vellum tag that I've hanging around for a while. I had written on the tag a while ago, but never really found anything that I could use it for but didn't want to throw it away. I used my X-acto knife to cut the vellum out and then adhered it over the top of the Old Olive cardstock.

I used my paper piercing template to pierce three holes underneath the frame and secured silver mini brads in them. it gave the card the balance it seemed to be missing. It's amazing what such a small embellishment can do for a card.

Have a great Wednesday! My kids are super excited because it's their last day of school and summer vacation begins. That means camping and time at the beach!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

Scrapbook Page - You make me love you

I think most of you know by now that I'm not one to sugar-coat anything in my scrapbooks. I don't hide much at all. I show it like it is.
This page is no exception.

If you're realistic about relationships, you know that it has its highs and lows. You know that there are times when things are great and time when things are not. Being in a committed relationship takes work, whether its a best friend, a husband, a partner, etc.

We just celebrated 11 years of marriage. Earlier this year, I wanted to make a page that reflected the last 12 years (we met in January of 1996 and married the next year). It may not be the most flawless relationship, but it's definitely the most imperfectly perfect one for the two of us. This page shows the inner workings of our relationship (and I'm sure he could make a page that brings out my flaws, as well - haha). Flaws and all.....I wouldn't have it any other way.

I adore this picture of my Davycakes. It's one of my favorites. It was taken last spring, but not much has changed. He's still just as handsome and always will be. It's kind of ironic that this is one of my favorites, considering that when this picture was taken, he had just cut off the shoulder length hair that I loved so much. I was so sad when he made the decision to get it cut but LOVED the result. I felt that the picture needed a page of its own. And the reason behind the picture has a hidden meaning in the journaling, as well.

You can click on any of the pictures in this post for a much larger and detailed view.

I can't help myself but I'm in love with the Old World stack of papers from DCWV. The colors are so rich, but muted at the same time. Every time I look at one of the papers, I think that it would make the most glorious wallpaper. Perhaps what I need to do is just wallpaper my house with my scrapbook pages instead.

I mounted my 5 x 7 inch photo with brushed silver finish photo corners on top of a piece of patterned paper that I tore along the edge. I found the baroque style ribbon in the dollar bin at a craft store and ran it through a resin charm that I found (in a pack of 6) at my dollar store. It's amazing what you can find in your dollar store or the sale/dollar/clearance bills that can work on your scrapbook pages. This just goes to show that you can create beautiful pages for reasonable amounts of money. Who said scrapbooking has to put you in the poor house?

I used a lot of different fonts and embellishments to spell out my journaling. The word, "You," started out as naked chipboard. I covered it with a scrap of patterned paper that I had from the Old World stack. You can check out a tutorial that I did on this technique.....it's really easy to cover chipboard ---> Covering Chipboard Tutorial (this tutorial shows you two different options....solid pieces of chipboard and pieces that needed to be trimmed). The words, "make me," were done with mosaic tiles. The six descriptive words on the left side of the photo were done with the "Simple Type" alphabet set (Stampin' Up - now retired) and stamped on Barely Banana cardstock. I mounted those on top of some scrap patterned paper. I added pewter finished brads next to each word (from Creative Impressions).

I hand wrote the words, "but most of all...," with a black Slick Writer. The words, "you," in the last part of the journaling, were done with the Simple Type alphabet and embossed with gold powder. The word, "make," was done with tiny bottle caps (Li'l Davis Designs) and the "me" was done with mosaic tiles.

The word, "love," was done with patterned chipboard pieces that I got from K & Company. The little heart is a glass heart that I found in the mosaic section of a craft store years ago. I've finally used up all of these cute little hearts and haven't been able to find any since. I love them and wish I had more but I'm glad that I stopped hoarding them and started showcasing them on my albums.

If you look closely, you can see some white swirly details in the upper right and lower left corners of this layout. These were done with some of Stampin' Up's awesome rub-ons. These are so easy to apply and they look like they're a part of the paper.

So, my challenge to you? If you're a scrapbooker, I challenge you to create a layout that focuses on one of your relationships. And if you don't scrapbook, why not have this be your first scrapbook page that you create? I can pretty much guarantee that you'll be hooked!

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama