Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

Winter Friends & Signed with Love sneak peeks

 Yes, yes, I know.....I'm on a jewelry-making kick. I think it's long past addictive. Now, when I look at my stamps, I start thinking about how I can incorporate the images into wearable art. I condensed some of my stamping stuff into another drawer so that I could make room for beads and jewelry findings. It's quickly becoming an obsession!

Today is Day 3 of the GinaK sneak peeks and all of us on the Design Team (and special guests) are showing two new sets. I've used both on my project.

I started off by making a cute little pair of penguin earrings using the new set by Rupa Shevde called, "Winter Friends."

I stamped the penguin image twice on shrink plastic (of which I've discovered the joys of all over again) with Staz-On ink (it's really important to use a solvent based ink so that the ink doesn't rub off after it's shrunk). Using a pair of precision tip scissors, I trimmed around the image and then punched a hole at the top of each image using a 1/8 inch hole punch. Instead of heating up the oven to shrink my images, I used my embossing gun. I like to use an acrylic block to press down the plastic after it shrinks so that it's flat.

To color the penguins in, I found it best to use Souffle pens by Sakura. They work really well on non-porous surfaces. The Glaze pens are also for plastic, so I'm going to try those next for a different look.

I added the beads and jewelry pieces after the Souffle pen ink dried and VOILA! That was all there was to it!

I created a little gift box to put them in by making an oragami box from patterned paper and a clear acetate top to put on top so that you can peek in at the gift inside. I adhered a length of stitched red grosgrain ribbon around the edge of the acetate box. I put some crumpled tissue paper on the bottom of the box and then a piece of foam on top, which I hooked the earrings onto so they wouldn't jiggle around the box.

I wrapped it up with a piece of gold edged organdy ribbon (both ribbons are from the Holiday Ribbon Assortment) and attached a quick flag tag that I made using the other new set we're debuting called, "Signed with Love." This is the new One Free with Three set for this month. I stamped on Bashful Blue with black in and layered it onto Real Red. I used a piece of jemp twine to thread through a button and through the tag and tied it around the organdy ribbon and secured the tag to the box top with a pop-dot.

We have a couple of our Center Stage Spotlight  Designers joining in the previews tonight. Here are their blog links:

Karen Knegten

Sue VanDeVusse

Then, stop by these GinaK Designers' blog for even more projects with tonight's stamp sets:

Gina Krupksy Carolyn King Cathy Tidwell Cindy Lawrence Donna Baker Erika Martin Emily Giovanni Jessica Fick Kurtis Amundson Lee Murphy Lynn Mercurio Nina Brackett Melanie Muenchinger Theresa Momber Asela Hopkins

Our Release party will be held tomorrow night over on SCS in GinaK's Forum from 7-10 pm CST. We'd love to have you join in the fun! There will be contest questions, challenges, chatter, and lots more samples from our designers throughout the party! See you then!

First Christmas & Vintage Borders sneak peeks - clay jewelry

Ever since I was bitten by the" jewelry making bug," I can't help but see the possibilities when it comes to stamps, especially the new sets coming out in this month's release from GinaK Designs.

I've created two new pieces for tonight's sneak peek. The first is a pendant I made from Asela Hopkins. It's called, "First Christmas." With the holiday season coming up, that gingerbread man was calling to me to bring him to life. He's actually part of a bigger stamp which has him layered a bit on another gingerbread cookie.

I used Hazelnut Sculpey 3 Clay and softened it with my hands. I rolled it out and then stamped into it with the gingerbread stamp with black ink. I used my X-acto knife to trim the gingerbread cookie away from the other one. I used gold clay for the buttons, red clay for the smile and white clay for the eyes. I made sure to add an eye pin in the gingerbread man's head (that sounds so odd to say it that way) so that I could string it from the chain when it was done. I baked the clay "cookie" in the oven according to the directions on the clay package and then let it cool. 

After the gingerbread man cooled, I used a black Sakura Glaze pen to add the dots on the white clay eyeballs. I mixed some glitter with liquid lacquer and coated the front and back of him. I love the effect this gives to him. It makes him look like a yummy sugar-coated cookie right out of the oven.

I added some jump rings and beads to a chain (I'm really getting the hang of adding the clasps and turning loops to hang my own beads....it's addictive!) to finish him off.

Speaking of clay and stamping, I also used Nina Brackett's new set, "Vintage Borders," to create another piece of jewelry. Well, technically, it's a barrette....does that qualify as jewelry or an accessory? Either way, it was a lot of fun to create.

As soon as I saw the snowflake border in Nina's new set, I immediately thought of making a barrette. The hardest part was deciding on the color scheme!

Even if you've never worked with clay before, barrettes are one of the easiest things to make. All it takes is getting the clay soft in your hands, then rolling it out (I used a pastry roller from Pampered Chef), inking up a stamp and then stamping onto the clay. You don't even have to double layer the clay if you don't want to. Use an X-acto knife to trim around the image and then bake it off. You can leave it as it is, or you can paint, add glitter, lacquer it and more if you like. A simple hot glue gun and a barrette piece is all it takes to finish your project.

They make great gifts and you can even get your kids in on the creativity if they need to make holiday or birthday gifts....or even something fun for themselves. If you have a group of girls hanging out at your house and you need to keep them busy, give them some clay and stamps to work with and they can each go home with a handmade accessory that they can show off at school and that they're proud of.

For my barrette, I chose to stamp on silver clay and stamped with black ink. I trimmed with the X-acto knife and then baked the clay. When the clay cooled, I rolled out a piece of white clay and then laid the silver piece on top so that I could trim a larger piece of white clay for the silver clay to sit on. I baked the white clay and when it cooled off, I painted it with some light blue acrylic paint. I didn't have blue clay, so painting with acrylic paint is a great way to get the color you want for projects like this. Since the clay is non-porous, I had to give it a second coat after the first completely dry, but on a small piece like this, it doesn't take too long.

After the paint was dry, I used a hot glue gun to adhere the pieces together. I wanted to add some sparkle so I colored over both pieces with a Stardust Pure Glitter pen. Because it's a non-porous surface, I had to allow some time to let the ink from the pen dry. I wish you could see the sparkle better.....this picture shows a lot, but it really does shine so much more than what's shown here.

I know some of you are probably wondering how I kept the glitter ink from going into the stamped areas. Well, it really wasn't a problem. Since it's a ball point pen, it wasn't going to put ink where it couldn't come into contact with a surface. The only area I had to pay close attention to was the large snowflake in the middle. Other than that, it was pretty easy to stay on the silver surface rather than in the stamped indentations.

For even more inspiration, please visit the Illustrators of the stamp sets featured tonight:

Asela Hopkins: First Christmas Nina Brackett: Vintage Borders

Tonight, we have several of our Center Stage Spotlight Designers joining in the previews. Here are their blog links:

Deb Felts Sharri Seffens Melissa Cash

Finally, stop by these GinaK Designers' blog for even more projects with tonight's stamp sets:

Gina Krupksy Carolyn King Cathy Tidwell Cindy Lawrence Erika Martin Emily Giovanni Jessica Fick Kurtis Amundson Lee Murphy Lynn Mercurio Melanie Muenchinger Tami Mayberry Theresa Momber Donna Baker

Our Release party will be held Thursday night over on SCS in GinaK's Forum from 7-10 pm CST. We'd love to have you join in the fun! There will be contest questions, challenges, chatter, and lots more samples from our designers throughout the party! See you then!

Festive Frame sneak peek - GinaK

 Time for another round of new sneak peeks for the upcoming October release of GinaK Designs stamp sets. 

The first sneak peek is from Melanie Muenchinger's new set called, Festive Frame. It's her newest set in her frame series. These sets work so well to cover the area of a card front. They're incredibly easy to color in and decorate. 

I chose to go with a vintage holiday look and stamped the image with Basic Brown on top of the new leather-look cardstock that Gina is debuting with this release. The color and texture are so rich and it's great to go over with a Creamy Caramel cardstock to give it an aged appearance.

I free cut the edges and then cut little nicks into them to give the look of a worn parchment and then sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink.

To color in my images, I used Copic markers and then added some gold marker to the insides of the flowers. I also filled in the frames with the gold marker. The swirls on the inside of the oval frame were hand-drawn.

I stamped the greeting (from the Festive Frame set) on a piece of Cranberry Tart cardstock with Versamark ink and embossed it in fold. I free cut the edges just like I did with the leather-look cardstock and sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip ink. I mounted that in the middle of the frame with pop-dots.

The frame was adhered on top of All Spruced Up cardstock and then on top of a card base of Cranberry Tart cardstock. 

For even more inspiration tonight, please visit the Illustrator of the Festive Frame stamp set Melanie Muenchinger's blog. Then, check in on our CenterStage Spotlight Designer, Diana Queen who has prepared a project for us tonight too. After that, check out these GinaK Designer's joining in on the Preview blog hop tonight: Gina Krupsky Cathy Tidwell Cindy Lawrence Erika Martin Emily GiovanniJessica Fick Kurtis Amundson Lee Murphy Lynn Mercurio Nina Brackett Theresa Momber

And the winners are.....

Thanks for all the great responses and to all of you that wanted to win this course! I'm getting the tutorials ready to go up this week and Day 1 is all ready to go for tomorrow morning.

I know I said I was going to give away free tuition to this course to ONE lucky winner, but instead, I decided to give away TWO prizes!

The two winners are:

Cheryl Sims:

Oh my Erika, I sure would love to win this course. Your tutorials are so fantastic. Thanks for considering me.
Cheryl Sims
Posted by: Cheryl Sims | October 23, 2009 at 02:18 PM

and Melissa Riker:

I'd love to win this course I just found your blog and love it! Thanks! Melissa
Posted by: Melissa Riker | October 24, 2009 at 10:15 AM 

There's still time to sign up for this course if you're interested in taking it! The projects are amazing and they're just in time for holiday gift-giving, but a simple change in color and stamp set will make these projects great for giving gifts year round!

Check out the course description and registration info here:

"Packaging Extravaganza" Online Course

Groovy Give-Away Friday! "Packaging Extravaganza" Online Course

Groovy Give-Away Friday is BACK!

With the new "Packaging Extravaganza" Online Course starting this coming Monday, I thought that would make a great prize for this Give-Away!

One lucky winner will receive FREE tuition to course....starting on Monday!

*** 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.***

Leave a comment on this post for your chance at getting one of my Class Tutorial CDs for FREE!

I'll pick the winners with the random number generator on Sunday (10/25) at 11 am Eastern Time and announce them 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, on the left side of my side bar), 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!

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If you'd like to take part in the course, there's still time to register...check out the information below!

We all know that oftentimes, the packaging is just as much of a gift as the gift itself.With the holidays coming just around the corner, as well as needing unique and beautiful packaging any time of the year, this new class is sure to ignite your imagination and give you new ideas to present your special gifts.

The "Packaging Extravaganza" Online Course will walk you through techniques to create packaging that is truly unique yet not overwhelming to make. Creating your own packaging not only shows you took the time to create something special for someone, but it also gives you a reason to get creative during the holiday season and it's also very cost effective.
The "Packaging Extravaganza Course" is the next of MANY online courses offered
right here on the Paper Craft Planet.

From October 26-30, a new "Packaging Extravaganza" PDF file will be loaded to the site. You'll use these over and over again!

The Class includes:

* 5 days of techniques and instruction encompassing a total of 7 projects
* 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 create pages and albums again!
* Video tutorials showcasing techniques you can use on your cards.

This course was created to use things that you most likely already have in your crafting stash
so you're probably all ready to get creating!

(This course will be archived for 3 months so you'll have access to it during and after the course so you can create at your own pace)

Class starts 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!

Packaging Extravaganza Course Tutorial CD: $29.95

Price includes shipping.
Tutorial CDs will be ready to ship starting November 1st.


The "Packaging Extravaganza" Online 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 me at erikaerin2001@yahoo.com

"Warm Winter Wishes" Blog Hop - stamped clay earrings

I've gotten bitten by the jewelry making bug and I've been finding all new ways to use my stamps. It's quite addictive once you get started. Working with clay seems to be my favorite technique right now. It's so therapeutic for my hands. I sometimes feel like my fingers get stiff from typing so much so being able to work the clay around loosens up my hand joints and just feels so good!

With the Warm Winter Wishes blog hop coming up, I thought it would be fun to try out some snowflake earrings made with Sculpey Clay. Of course, I couldn't JUST do clay....my snowflakes needed glitter and some extra bling.

I started out with white clay and worked it in my hands till it became soft and pliable. This doesn't take much if you're working with a small piece. It softens and warms up in your hands pretty quick. I rolled it out on a piece of aluminum foil with a rolling pin and then stamped my design into it with a little bit more pressure than if I were stamping on cardstock. I then cut around the snowflake very carefully with an X-acto knife (using a new blade is very handy when it comes to cutting clay with intricate designs). I had thought about doing a circle and stamping into it, but I wanted to try my hand at precision cutting in clay. I think it turned out pretty good.

I baked the clay according to the directions on the package and then let it cool. I painted the snowflakes with a quick wash of light blue acrylic paint, hit it with the heat gun to dry it and then coated them with a bit of Crystal Effects lacquer mixed with some glitter. I hit them again with the heat gun and then added the jump rings, beads and earring loops. To finish them off, I used some Mono-Multi glue to add some rhinestones to the middle. Ta-da! All done! Now I just need to create a cute stamped gift box (complete with matching snowflakes) to put them in for gift giving!

For even more inspiration visit Carolyn King - the Illustrator of Warm Winter Wishes and the Idea Center gallery HERE.

Then, check in with Carolyn's special guest designers:

Charlene Merrick

Tina Gilliland

Deb Anton

And, finally stop by these GinaK Designer's blog participating in the hop tonight:

Cathy Tidwell Cindy Lawrence Emily Giovanni Erika Martin Jessica Fick Kurtis Amundson Lee Murphy Nina Brackett Melanie Muenchinger Tami Mayberry Theresa Momber

and our CenterStage Spotlight Team: Joy Hadden Kay Simmons Linda Payne Lori McAree

GinaK will be giving away a copy of Warm Winter Wishes on her blog tonight - so pop over there to leave your comment on her blog for your chance to win the set for free! (If you've already purchased the stamp set, we can swap it out for another GinaK stamp set valued at $19.95 or less.)

Special Delivery Blog Hop

There's just something about postage stamps that says "vintage" to me. I was thrilled when Tami Mayberry came out with her Special Delivery and Special Delivery Add-ons sets came out. I've been looking for a postage grid stamp set for a while and this one is just perfect.

I chose to go with a vintage theme, right down to the decrease in postage cost! *wink*

I started out with a card base of Fresh Asparagus and swiped around the edges with Always Artichoke ink. I stamped a random pattern of snowflakes with White craft ink, which I had first stamped onto a piece of scrap paper and then onto the card base. I wanted a muted white design so that the greeting would later pop off the card and the snowflakes wouldn't drown it out. The sentiment was stamped with a full inking of White craft ink. It's from the One Free with Three set called Holiday Hospitality.

I tied a piece of burgandy ribbon around the bottom of the card and knotted a couple snips of green and brown stitched grosgrain in the knot. All of these ribbons come from the new Holiday Ribbon Assortment.

I stamped the postage grid on Ivory Pure Luxury cardstock with black ink and then stamped the ornaments in some and the snowflake with Not Quite Navy ink in the others. I added the postage cost and colored in the ornaments with Copic markers. I then swiped over the entire piece of cardstock with Creamy Caramel ink. I swiped around the edges with Close to Cocoa ink. I mounted this on a piece of Kraft cardstock that I had swiped with Close to Cocoa ink around the edges. I added some glitter highlights to each of the image and then adhered it all to my card base with pop-dots.

Tami Mayberry, the Illustrator of these two stamp sets has invited a couple of her friends to join in on the blog hop tonight, so click on their blog links to see the projects they've created for us tonight:

Keri Sereika

Jeanne Streiff

Then, check in on these GinaK Designer's participating in the Blog Hop tonight:

Tami Mayberry (Illustrator) Carolyn King  Donna Baker Erika Martin Jessica Fick Lee Murphy Melanie Muenchinger Theresa Momber Kay Simmons Kurtis Amundson

After you're done hopping to all the Designer's blogs stop by GinaK's Idea Center here: Special Delivery & Special Delivery Addition for lots more ideas on how to use Tami's stamp sets. And, don't forget to check in on GinaK's blog so you can leave your comment to be entered as a chance to win these two stamp sets too!

Dasher Earrings & Pendant - and sign up for my "8 Weeks of Christmas"

I have been making jewelry with my stamping and scrapbooking supplies. Who knew you could use chipboard for a matching set of earrings and a necklace pendant??? I'm totally hooked on this new hobby and spent some extra dollars at the craft store on jewelry making supplies so that I can keep going with these. I'm having to much fun with all these new ideas spinning around in my head.

I got the idea to create these earrings and necklace from a new book that I just reviewed on Craft Critique. You can check out the full review here:  "Beyond the Bead" book review. There are quite a few more samples of other jewelry that I made on the review.

I used embossing techniques, ink sponging and Crystal Effects as a lacquered finish on my chipboard circles. The Dasher stamp was used on all 3...I used it for the pendant, but also used the antlers to get the design on my earrings. They were so incredibly easy to make and this is the first project I'll be showcasing as part of my "8 Weeks of Christmas" emails to my mailing list.

If you'd like to be included on my mailing list to get fantastic ideas for cards, gifts and packaging for the holidays, make sure to sign up for my list in the box all the way at the top of my blog on the right hand side of my side bar. I'll be sharing the steps in these emails, rather than including them on my blog, so make sure to sign up so you don't miss out. These emails will be coming out each Wednesday for the next 8 weeks, starting this Wednesday!

Or....you can use this box right here:

Get my Newsletter

enter your e-mail:

Have a happy Monday!

-Erika (Stampin' Mama)

Lord of the Season Blog Hop

The Design Team and special guests from GinaK Designs are having a blog hop and it's all about Nina Brackett's new set, Lord of the Season. This set includes 4 topiaries for different seasons, as well as two beautiful sentiments.

I chose to work with the spring topiary and went with two of my favorite colors of cardstock right now. Kraft and Pumpkin Spice cardstocks. They're so perfect for the fall season, and I even paired them with a spring themed topiary and they look great!

I used Pumpkin Spice for my card base and swiped around the edges with Close to Cocoa ink. I stamped one of the sentiments from the Lord of the Season set at the bottom with black ink. I adhered a strip of the rust colored digital paper from the Floral Elegance digi paper pack on a piece of Kraft cardstock swiped with the Close to Cocoa ink. I wrapped a piece of striped ribbon around it and then tied a smaller snip of ribbon around it and tied it with a single knot. Both ribbons are from a past StampTV kit).

I stamped the topiary with black ink on a piece of Kraft cardstock, swiped the edges with Close to Cocoa ink (I love this technique and the effect it gives, yet it's SO easy) and then colored the image with Koh-noor pencils. I normally blend the pencils together using Odorless Mineral Spirits but this time, I decided not to. Even still, I have a nicely colored image that LOOKS blended. I mounted the image on a piece of the new Fresh Asparagus cardstock and then adhered it to my card using pop-dots.

For even more ideas with Nina Brackett's Lord of the Season stamp set, visit her blog link below as well as the GinaK Idea Center here: Lord of the Season GinaK Designer's joining in on the hop tonight:

Nina Brackett Carolyn King Cathy Tidwell Donna Baker Erika Martin Jessica Fick Lee Murphy Melanie Muenchinger Kurtis Amundson

Theresa Momber

September's Center Stage Spotlight Team:

Janice Melton Joy Hadden Kay Simmons Lori McAree

And special guest: Crystal Bernsdorf

And the winners are.....

Wow! 77 comments on my Give-Away post! So many of you wanted to win the Packaging Extravaganza Online Course. I'm really excited about this upcoming class....so many great gift packaging ideas and just in time for the holiday season....but the cool thing about these projects is that you can use them any time of the year, not just the holidays! This is one of those classes that will get you all through the year, so it's well worth what you put into it! And if you're a fellow demo, this will give you lots of new ideas to use at your upcoming classes!

There's still time to sign up for this course and the Early Bird Special runs out today. Check out the registration info here: Packaging Extravaganza Online Course

So.....on to the winners. The two winners picked out of the hat are........

Chris Anderson

What a fantastic idea and a great online class!! I'm sure I will be able to use these ideas over and over for many occasions! I would love to win this and will put it to lots of use!! Thanks for the opportunity!
Chris Anderson

Posted by: Chris Anderson | October 12, 2009 at 10:56 PM

Theresa Leonard

Oh Erika! Thanks for this opportunity once again. I hope you are well and I'd love to be one of your winners. Thanks again for all your work that you have shared with us and especially your Scrapbook Class I participated in last year. Great Class.

Posted by: Theresa Leonard | October 13, 2009 at 07:03 PM

Hope to see many of you in class on October 26th!