Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

Hey Chickie, baby! Big shot scalloped circle die

At my Stamp Club last week, I showed my girls how to make an adorable chick using Big Shot dies.

One of the girls in my downline had gone to convention this year and brought back the swaps she got to show at a recent downline meeting. When I laid eyes on the die cut chick, I fell in love. I don't think that I created this the same exact way it was made because I didn't photograph it and tried to work with things I had in my crafting stash, but it's pretty darn close. I only wish I had the name of the demo that gave her the swap so that I could give credit.

I stared by cutting a So Saffron scalloped circle with the Big Shot die and sponged around the edge with the same color ink.

I cut one large So Saffron flowers using one of the dies from the Birds & Blooms Sizzlits dies. I then cut that directly in half and adhered the pieces to the side of the circle to create the chickie's wings.

I cut two large flowers (using the same die) out of Pumpkin Pie cardstock. I sponged around one of them and adhered that at the top of the chickie to make a crown (what ARE those things called on top of their heads, anywa? We used to have hundreds of chickens, you'd think I'd know!). I cut the other one in half and adhered those at the bottom of the chickie to create the feet.

 Here's a view of the back of the chickie so you can see how I adhered the pieces.

I used one of the square punches to punch out a Pumpkin Pie square and then scored it in the middle and folded it and sponged it with Pumpkin Pie ink. This became the cute beak. Doesn't it look like the chickie is smiling??

For the eyes, I punched two circles out of Whisper White using the 3/4 inch circle punch. I layered Basic Black circles on top, which were punched with the 1/2 inch circle punch.

I used the Signo White gel pen to give my chickie's eyes some expression.

To add the little bow, I tied a knot in a piece of Certainly Celery twill ribbon, trimmed the ends and then adhered it with a mini glue-dot.

Some of the girls at my Stamp Club wanted a boy chickie so they gave him a bow tie instead of a hair bow! They all came out so cute and everyone loved them!

Now I can't wait to see what else I can create out of this new scalloped circle die!

Happy Creating!

-Erika (Stampin' Mama)

Ghosting technique on vellum (Inspired by Nature)

This past Thursday, I had my awesome group of girls over for my Stamp Club. One of the projects that we did was the ghosting technique on vellum. This technique creates such a soft and beautiful effect that works especially well with silhouette type stamps.

I started with a base of Bordering Blue cardstock. I cut a piece of Bashful Blue for the next layer and stamped the grass image from the Inspired by Nature set on top of it using Bordering Blue ink.

For the ghosting technique, I cut a piece of vellum and brayered over it with Not Quite Navy ink and pressed the flower image from the Inspired by Nature set directly onto the inked vellum. I had NO ink on the stamp. By doing this, I pulled a layer of ink off the vellum. If you're doing this for mutiple cards, you'll need to make sure that you clean your stamp off each time so that you're not transferring more ink onto the vellum.

I let the ink dry and then adhered the piece of vellum on top of a piece of Whisper White cardstock. They helps the ghosted image pop. I like to adhere my vellum image with the inked side up onto my Whisper White cardstock. Play around with it to see which side you like best.

I adhered a piece of patterned paper from the Bella Blue Designer Series paper pack below the vellum (on the Whisper White cardstock) and then tied a piece of Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon in a double knot.

I stamped the sentiment from the True Friend set onto the vellum with Basic Brown ink.

I mounted the ghosted image onto my card with pop-dots.

Supplies:

* Inspired by Nature Set
* Cardstock: Bordering Blue, Whisper White, Bashful Blue
* Vellum
* Ink: Bordering Blue, Not Quite Navy, Basic Brown
* Bella Blue paper
* Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon
* Pop-dots
* Brayer

Happy Creating!
-Erika (Stampin' Mama)

Sneak Peeks Day 3 - GinaK Designs

Welcome to Day 3 of the GinaK Designs sneak peeks.

There are three new sets being peeked at the Design Team blogs today. I'm showing two of them here on my blog.

I combined two of the sets on my card. The first is the new "One Free with 3" set that you can get for free from GinaK when you purchase 3 sets from her online store starting tomorrow and through to the next release at the end of September. It's called "Tropical Blooms" and coordinates perfectly with last months with last month's free set, "Tropical Flowers".

I started off with a piece of glossy white cardstock and stamped the flowers, stems and leaves along the bottom with Versamark ink. The pieces are all separate, which is great for being able to customize how you want your images to look. I then stamped along the top with one of the leaf images (it comes as three leaves on a stem) to make it look like overhanging brush.

The sentiment on the card comes from Nina Brackett's new sentiment set, "Elegant Verses." I stamped that with Versamark, as well. I then embossed all the images with black embossing powder.

I brayered over the cardstock using my ink refill brayer technique (and my new video camera has arrived, so be on the lookout for that tutorial to come soon!) using Cranberry Crisp, Pumpkin Pie and Summer Sun ink refills. 

I layered the glossy cardstock on top of a piece of Black Onyx cardstock and then layered that on top of a cardbase of Green Apple cardstock.

To see more inspiration with the stamps previewed today, visit Gina's blog, the illustrator of Tropical Blooms as well as Theresa Momber, the illustrator of Autumn Beauty, and Nina Bracket , the illustrator of Elegant Verses.

For even more projects with tonight's two stamp sets, these Senior Design Team Members are participating in previews today: Asela, Carolyn, Cindy, Donna, Emily, Erika Jessica, Kurtis, Lee, Lynn, and Melanie as well as our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team members:Shelly Wilson and Charlene Merrick

Our Release Party starts Thursday night at 7 pm CST. Please join us for contests questions, challenges, lots of chatter as well as a ton more samples shared by the Senior Design team members and our CenterStage Spotlight team too. See you tomorrow night!

Sneak Peeks Day 2 - GinaK Designs

It's day 2 of the GinaK sneak peeks and the Design Team has two new sets to let you peek at.

Don't forget to put the Release Party on your calendar for Thursday night from 7-10 pm (CST). It'll all be happening over at the GinaK Forum over on SCS.

The first set that I'm sneak-peeking for you is a new set from Melanie Muenchinger, called "School, Sports, Spirit!" It's a great set if you've got special people in your life that are in school, on the sports team or have school spirit!

For my project, I created a package of locker room essentials to tuck into a gym or sports bag. I started off with one of GinaK's clear boxes (great for packaging cards in, as well). I tucked some mouthwash, shampoo, conditioner and a bar of massage soap (all in mini sizes) into the box. I then added a belly band with some patterned paper and a length of coordinating ribbon. 

I stamped the school jacket image on a piece of Pure Luxury white cardstock with black ink and then colored it in with Copic markers and a Copic blender.

I used a circle cutter to cut around the image and also to cut a larger circle from Bashful Blue cardstock to layer underneath. I mounted the image on top with some pop-dots.

I stamped the "back 2 school" image (also from the new set) with black ink on a scrap of white cardstock, then layered it on a scrap of Bashful Blue cardstock and trimmed around and mounted it on top of the jacket image. I let it hang off the image just a tad.

The MVP image also comes from Melanie's new set.

My second sneak peek comes from Rupa Shevde's newest set, "Back to School." This is a great time to think about scrapbooking those "first day of school" photos that you've just taken (or in my case, will be taking next week).

 I finally printed off some pictures that I took back in 2007 that have been waiting to be scrapbooked.

I used a piece of Pixie Pink for my 8x8 page. I mounted the picture on Pumpkin Pie cardstock. The border on top and bottom was done with the paper clip border stamp (all stamps are from Rupa's new set) with black ink.

I ucked a piece of coordinating ribbon behind the photo and around the back of the layout. I love how the colors go with everything else going on in the layout.

I stamped the backpack and book images on white cardstock and colored them in with Copic markers. I trimmed them out and then layered them on top of Pumpkin Pie cardstock and then trimmed again. I popped the book image up with some pop-dots.

For more inspiration with the stamps previewed today, visit Gina's blog as well as Melanie Muenchinger, the illustrator of Sports, School, Spirit.

 For even more projects with tonight's two stamp sets, these Senior Design Team Members are participating in previews today: Carolyn, Cindy, Donna, Emily, ErikaJessica, Lee, Lynn, and Theresa as well as our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team members: Tina Gilliland and Vicki Dutcher.

Don't forget about our Release Party on SCS starting at 7pm CST on Thursday, August 27th. There will be contests, challenges, lots of chatter as well as a ton more samples shared by the Senior Design team members and our CenterStage Spotlight team too. We'd love to have you join us!

Sneak Peeks Day 1 (Fruitful Harvest & Year of Leaves) GinaK Designs

 It's that time of month again....time for the GinaK Designs new stamp release sneak peeks!

The Design Team has all been working hard (well, not really "working," since we LOVE what we do, so it's more like "playing") since we got the new sets from Gina and we've been putting together a diverse group of samples that we'll be showcasing this week through Thursday. And if you're up for a great party (because we all LOVE parties, especially if they involve stamping), there's a Release Party going on over at GinaK's member forum on SCS.

I have two sneak peeks for you today. The first is from Asela Hopkin's newest set, called "Fruitful Harvest." The images in this set remind me so much of old Tuscany. Those grapes are my favorite image in the set. Just wait till you see what else comes in it!

For my card, I started out with a base of Green Apple cardstock and then put down a layer of black and white patterned paper on top of a piece of Black Onyx cardstock. I wrapped some twine (which came from the  Signs of Autumn StampTV kit) around the two top layers to criss cross. I wound some gold wire through the twine, as well.

The greeting comes from the same set and was stamped with White Craft ink on a piece of Black Onyx and then mounted on the card with some pop-dots.

 I stamped the grape image on a piece of Green Apple with Versamark ink and then embossed it with black embossing powder. I took a small paint brush and went over part of the image with bleach for some shading. I cut the image out with a pair of precision tip scissors.

I used some gold craft wire to create the tendrils and the stem. I twisted three strands of wire together to look like the twisted and gnarly stem of a grape vine. I twirled two other lengths of wire around a paint brush to get the curly look of the tendrils. I taped them on the back of the image and then mounted it all on my card with pop-dots.

Vineyards and grapes always remind me of romantic outings in the Tuscany region of Italy....not that I've ever been there before (well, not yet, at least, though we're planning a family vacation there for fall of 2010). My hubby and I used to go to Olive Garden for date nights and we spent a couple anniversary dinners there, as well, so I think this will make a nice anniversary card or a just because card for him.

The second sneak peek I have for you is using one of Melanie Muenchinger's sets (she has 2 sets debuting this month!), called "Year of Leaves." Much like her Year of Flowers set, her new leaf set is full of beautiful hand drawn leaves, as well as sentiments, that will work for any time of year.

Melanie's set came in handy for scrapbooking this page about the trip that my sister and I took our kids on last June to St. Johnsbury, Vermont. It's about a 2+ hour drive from where we live, but when we were growing up in northern NH, it was much closer to us. My grandparents used to take us to the Maple Grove Farms Maple Factory as kids and I used to save up my money for a big box of "rejects." Back then, it was $5 for a HUGE box and I would ration it out for months. Of course, I always ate one of the big maple leaves right down, but after that, it was rationed. Not much had changed from when I was there as a kid, except that they were all out of reject boxes that day. Not that I needed a whole box. ;)

I started off with a 12x12 piece of Really Rust cardstock and stamped the maple leaf all over it with the same color ink to create a background. I did the direct-to-paper technique around the edges of the cardstock. I tore a piece of Kraft cardstock and layered over it with a piece of fall colored patterned paper that I've had for AGES and finally found the perfect page for it.

I attached a couple pieces of stitched grosgrain ribbon and twine (which I anchored down with mini brads) to the patterned paper (all of which came from the Signs of Autumn kit).

 I stamped some maple leaves on Ivory Pure Luxury cardstock with Versamark and embossed them with gold powder. I scribbled over them with watercolor crayons (More Mustard and Really Rust) and then used a watercolor brush to blend the colors together. I love the way the gold glints against the watercolored look.

My journaling and title were done with a black journaling marker.

For more inspiration with the stamps previewed today, visit Gina's blog as well as Melanie Muenchinger, the illustrator of Year of Leaves and Asela Hopkins, the illustrator of Fruitful Harvest.

For even more projects with tonight's two stamp sets, these Senior Design Team Members are participating in previews today: Carolyn, Cindy, Donna, Emily, Erika, Kurtis, Jessica, Lee, Lynn, and Theresa as well as our CenterStage Spotlight Design Team members: Denise Kelemen and Geri Utterback

Our Release Party will be held once again over on SCS starting at 7pm CST on Thursday, August 27th. There will be contests, challenges, lots of chatter as well as a ton more samples shared by the Senior Design team members and our CenterStage Spotlight team too! You won't want to miss it!

Combing Embossing and Brayering (GinaK stamps)

I decided that my brayer has sat in its drawer for long enough. I've been having so much fun rediscovering the uses of the brayer and playing around with techniques. I've also taken out some ink pads that haven't seen the light of day in a LONG time. I forgot that I even had some of these!

For this card, I wanted to go bold and bright. I combined embossing and brayering to make this beauty.

I started out with a piece of Black Onyx base weight cardstock and then layered on a piece of  Pure Luxury white cardstock.

On a piece of glossy white cardstock, I brayered with a rainbow Kaleidacolor pad. I then stamped over the top of that with the large mosaic image from the Inspiration Mosaic set with black ink. I used a pair of scissors to trim around the mosaic grid and layered that on top of my card base.

Next, I stamped the two flower images from the Tropical Windows set (this is the "One Free with 3" set this month - purchase 3 GinaK sets and get this set free!) with Versamark ink on BlackOnyx cardstock and then embossed them with white powder.

I trimmed them out, leaving a little bit of a border around the embossed frames and mounted them on top of the card with pop-dots, over the tops of the smaller mosaic pieces that faced the same way.

The greeting came from the Tropical Windows set and I stamped that on the card with White Craft ink....I love how it took on a bit of the purple ink from underneath and turned a very light shade of lilac. 

Have a lovely weekend!
-Erika (Stampin' Mama)

Class starts Monday and the winners are......

Thank you to all that entered my Give-Away! I love all your ideas and plan on using many of them here on my blog to showcase how you can use your stamps in your scrapbook!

The "Stampbooking 101" Online Scrapbooking Course is coming up on Monday and I'm super excited about showing how to use Stampin' UP stamps in your scrapbooks in a whole new way!

So.....we have TWO winners for the class CD of their choice!

The first prize goes to:

jengd |August 14, 2009 at 11:13 PM

Truthfully, I'm not sure if you've covered this just coming across you in the blog tour but I've frequently wanted to "scrap me" for historical purposes if you will but I haven't seen many ways to scrap about scrapping/cardmaking. I'd be interested to see your take.

(Actually, Jen, I've done a few online classes aimed directly at scrapbooking about yourself for historical purposes and I'll be bringing that class back pretty soon, so be on the lookout - Erika)

The second prize goes to:

Karen Kurz | August 19, 2009 at 12:39 AM

I thought a page on your Dreadlocks would be fun. Why you have them or why you don't anymore (if you no longer have them) 

(I'll definitely have to do a page on my dreads sometime soon....I did a few a while back and haven't lately, so it's time for an updated page)

Congrats to you both! And thanks again to everyone for playing and for the great scrapbooking theme ideas!

There's still time to register for the "Stampbooking 101" Online Course....but register soon because class starts this coming Monday!

Don't forget....there's always the option to purchase this class on CD if you don't have the time to take it online!

If you'd like to check out other scrapbook pages that I've created, click here --->Erika's Scrapbook Pages

Superhero fly-boy card! (AiVault Challenge)

Our Supernova team on Paper Craft Planet was invited to host a challenge this week sponsored by AiVault.com.  The challenge is to make something... anything... using product from their store.  (Here is a link to some great freebies, so that you can play along!)

Our team all created projects using the Super Hero set.  How stinkin' cute is this set?!  Seriously, fun, right?!   These adorable images print in full color -- so unlike the new digi stamps, you just print and you're done :)

I decided to print mine without color so that I could color mine in using Koh-i-noor pencils.

I started off with a Brocade Blue card base and then added a layer of Bashful Blue. I punched some partial scalloped circles with a punch and used those for the clouds.

I added some fun red/blue/yellow ribbon and then mounted my Superhero title and super boy with the cape using pop-dots to give some added dimension. 

Now, it's your turn -- create something, anything, using product from the AiVault.com store. (They have a lot of freebies for you to try.)  Post your project in the Paper Craft Planet photo gallery, and use the tag "aivault" -- all lowercase, please. (Here is a tutorial on adding pictures to the gallery, if you need it.) AiVault has generously offered a gift certificate to their store to one of our lucky challenge players.

Check out what the other Super Novas came up with:

• Adela Rossol 
• Kim Burmeister
• Wendy Price
• Tammy Hershberger
  
• Erika Martin 
• Sankari Wegman
• Susanna Boyd

Check out our AiVault Challenge gallery so far!

(Elegant Post blog hop) - GinaK Designs

I am having so much fun with brayering lately and trying out new techniques and new colors together. I'm finding that, even more than using a rainbow pad to brayer with, I LOVE using ink refills to create my own color palette.

I just ordered a new video camera and it should be here next week so I'm going to plan on doing a video tutorial on how to brayer with ink refills, as well as other backgrounds done with ink refills.

For today's blog hop, I used Nina Brackett's new stamp set (created for GinaK Designs) called, Elegant Post.

The post, birds and greeting all come from this set and I love the look of the two lovebirds sitting on the little hanger with a beautiful sunset behind them. This scene makes a great anniversary card.

I also used the grass image from the Framed Flowers set with Kiwi Kiss ink to go along the bottom. I used one of the fern images from the Tropical flowers set along the edge with Kiwi Kiss and Garden Green ink to create the look of over-hanging trees.

To do my brayering, I used Cranberry Crisp, Summer Sun and Pumpkin Pie ink refills on top of glossy white white cardstock, then sponged around the cardstock with black ink to give the scene more depth. This was then layered on top of GinaK's new Pumpkin Spice cardstock (which comes in the new Signs of Autumn StampTV kit) and then on top of a piece of Black Onyx base weight cardstock.

Make sure to check back sometime next week for a video tutorial on creating this brayered effect!

For more inspiration with her Elegant Post stamp set tonight, please see Nina Brackett's blog. Nina has also designed two gorgeous digital paper pack that coordinate perfectly with her stamp set. They are called Grungy Elegance and Simple Elegance.

Nina has asked her friend Silke Ledlow to join in her blog hop tonight. We also have several of GinaK's Senior Design team members participating:

Cathy, Donna, Emily, Erika, Jessica, Melanie, Lee, Donna and Theresa

And finally, be sure to check out our CenterStage Spotlight Design team members' blogs: Brenda Turner, Shannon Bracken, and Sue Walsh for even more great projects!

New Online Course - "Stampbooking 101" & Give-Away!

Taught by Your Online Course Mentor: Erika Martin (Stampin' Mama)

If you've never scrapbooked before or if you've been scrapbooking for years, this class is for you!
This new class is all about "stampbooking," which is my take on scrapbooking with your stamps.
So many of us have countless stamps in our collection that can be put to so many more uses than
just cards. If you have pictures that you want to showcase in meaningful and creative albums,
big or small, and want to use what you already have on hand, this course is tailored for you.

The "Stampbooking 101" Online Course will walk you through techniques to create pages,
mini albums and your own embellishments, as well as tips on journaling and layout design.

When you start Stampbooking, a whole new creative world opens up to you. You'll find all
new ways to use your stamps and you'll also find a new way to scrapbook. One of the best things
about this course is that the only thing you'll need to think about for supplies is to make sure you have some photos printed.

The "Stampbooking 101 Online Course" is the next of MANY online courses offered
right here on the Paper Craft Planet.

From August 24-28, a new "Stampbooking 101" PDF file will be loaded to the site, full of
techniques & layout sketches. And, you'll use these over and over again!

(This class will be archived for 3 months so that you can do this at your own pace.)

The Class includes:

* 5 days of techniques and instruction (on journaling, layout concepts, using your stamps
and crafting supplies to create embellishments, creating miniature & pocket albums, etc.)
* Full color, step-by-step photos
* Detailed instructional tutorials
* Supply lists for all techniques
* Extra sample photos of multiple scrapbook pages
* 20 Scrapbook sketches for your layout inspiration
* PDF files so you can print out the tutorial to keep in a binder to go back to every time
you'd like to create pages and albums again!

* Video technique tutorials

Because you already have paper crafting & stamping supplies in your stash, all you need are some
photos and you're ready to get creating!

Class starts on Monday - register today!

Course registration: $25.95

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!

Stampbooking 101 Tutorial CD: $29.95

Price includes shipping.
Tutorial CDs will be ready to ship starting August 31st.

 

The "Stampbooking 101" Course will take your paper crafting to a whole new level and I look forward to having you in class!

If you have any questions, please email your Course Mentor (Erika Martin) at erikaerin2001@yahoo.com