Stampin' Mama: A mama that stamps

New albums on my Etsy Shop!

New Albums on my Etsy Shop!!

I just finished making and uploading 6 new mini albums to my Etsy Shop

And I now ship ANYWHERE in the world, so even if you're not in the US and Canada, you can still order!

Enjoy!!!

-Erika

Handmade Albums for sale on my Etsy Shop!

I just updated my Etsy Shop with six handmade albums for sale! These are one of a kind and designed by yours truly. I'll be updating soon with even more handmade creations so be sure to check in regularly!

Go, See, Do.....a scrapbook page

I've had projects that I've been working on for a couple of weeks now and needed to finish them. This scrapbook page is one of those projects. (click on picture for larger view)

I took this photo for another purpose but then that purpose ended up being invalid. I still wanted to use it, so I changed tactics and came up with this 12 x 12 page. 

This page is going into my "Me" album. It's basically on what my mind wanders to ALL THE TIME. What I want to do.....Go, See, Do.

A little background on the items in this photo....

Zach loves maps and is fascinated by globes. Actually, Davy and I are, too. In fact, my grandfather was a map maker for the government. My mom used to play a game called, "Where are we going to live tomorrow?" It was game in the midst of moving 6 times in the course of 3 years. She would jokingly take out an atlas, flip through the pages with her eyes closed and pick a page blind. Then she'd open her eyes and we'd look to see where we thought God was going to drop us next.

We'd been thinking that we'd like to get Zach a globe, but they were a bit on the pricey side. We found a small one at the dollar store, but it was actually a pencil sharpener (and did I mention that it was small???). Considering that it was a dollar store find, it didn't hold up well. My parents were here last fall and my dad went out to the dumpster to put the trash out and came back in the house with a globe. Our neighbor out front was moving and cleaning out and dumped a perfectly good globe in the trash. It's one of those gloves that tries to look antiquish. My dad washed it up and it's been sitting on the organ in our living room ever since. It really compliments the travel decor in our living room.

There's actually two passports in this photo. I have one opened up. This passport was the one I got when I was 14. I spent my summer in Uganda, East Africa (along with a week in Switzerland) in 1991 on a missions/work trip when I was 14. I was gone for a little over 2 months. I have some pretty nifty stamps in that passport. The other passport (the closed one) is the one that I got in December of 1999 so that Davy and I could take a 2 1/2 week trip to Ecuador for a missions/work trip in January/Feb. of 2000. We've since put the passports we got that time around to VERY good use.

That first trip to Africa was what started the passion I have to go, see and do and because of this, I wanted both passports in this picture. I turned the globe so that it showed the continent of Africa, for the very same reason.

For this page, I used the new Flourishes stamps from Tuscan Rose with White Craft ink.  I absolutely adore the look of white craft ink on darker cardstock. And as most of you know by now, one of my favorite colors is Mellow Moss. I used the Mellow Moss craft pad to swipe around the edges of the cardstock to darken them up a bit.

My friend, Jen, tweaked up the photo that I used on this page. She went black and white and then added some muted color in for the globe and even more muted color on me. This made for a great antique look.

The torn patterned paper corners (and the green paper mat under the photo) are from the Old World Stack (from Die Cuts with a View). The brads were something I picked up from a scrapbooking store up north and split with a friend (I'm not sure what brand they were, but I'm thinking they may have been Karen Foster). I "grunged" them up with White and Mellow craft ink. I also used the White craft ink to swipe around the edges of my photo to soften the edge up a bit.

I covered chipboard letters (from Making Memories) with patterned paper from the same Old World Stack and sanded the edges. I used the LetterPress Alphabet set with White Craft ink for the other letters. The brown patterned paper that I used for both the bottom mat for the photo and the little journaling blocks (which I swiped around the edges with White craft ink) is from Hot off the Press. I used the retired Euphoria Alphabet (from Stampin' Up) with Chocolate Chip ink to do the journaling.

Now that I think about it, I might just make this the first page in the "Dreams & Destinations" album that I've been thinking about starting for almost 5 years now. It seems to fit that theme so well.

One of my favorite quotes: " We wander for distraction, but we travel for fulfillment."  ~Hilaire Belloc

And what were the other projects I've been working on? Well, you can get a sneak peek here and then click on over to my Etsy Shop to see more of them. :)

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama

 

 

My Dread-Full Journey Scrapbook page

I recently submitted this page to a design team call, but didn't get picked. I'm thrilled with the page I made, though. It's one of my favorite pages right now and will fit perfectly in the album that I'm making about my dreadlocks. (and nope, I don't wear contact lenses....I've already been asked that question when it comes to my eyes.) :)

I did some free-hand doodling on this page in the journaling - the number "6" at the beginning of my journaling, the "I" on the olive looking cardstock, etc.

The doodles on the upper right and lower left corners are the corner doodle stamp from the new Doodle This stamp set in the Spring Mini Catalog. I embossed the doodles with Puffs White embossing powder (by Ranger), which gives more of a fuzzy raised look than a shiny one. I really like this effect. :)

I swiped my White Craft pad around the edges of the cardstock, as well as swiped some Creamy Caramel ink around the edges, going heavy on the corners. I did a lot of sanding and aging on the photos and the patterned paper.

I really, really, REALLY love how this page came out. I have been saving some of the stuff on this page for YEARS. Yes, I'm a hoarder. I find things, buy them and tell myself they're going away in my bins for a VERY special project. Then, nothing ever seems special enough to use them. I'm always waiting for that perfect project to come along. I told myself about a year ago that I would stop purchasing little things here and there and start using what I had. So.....the word, "Journey," in the title, is one of them....from a sticker sheet of travel words that look like they were made by a label maker. The big "M" in in the title? From a box of alphabet rub-ons. The box only has one of each letter. I've been hoarding them and this layout made me break open that box. I've also been hoarding those metal photo corners since July of 2004. Yes, I actually know when I bought them.

One of the things that I was excited to use is something I got from a dear fellow blogger: Mary Anderson. A little while ago, Mary sent me a beautiful card, along with a few packages of embellishments that she had extras of. The word "see" in my journaling is one of the embellishments that Mary sent to me (THANKS, Mary!).

Here's the journaling I did on the page:

"6 months into my journey and it feels like my dreads have always been a part of me. People ask me how long I intend to keep them. "Forever," I tell them.

I became stronger as a person the moment I let go of all my inhibitions. I'm more sure of myself than I've ever been.

I am who I am. What you see is what you get. I'm happy with me! Me is the best person to be."

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And here's something else I've been working on.....

I have my own Etsy shop now! You can check it out by clicking here -----> Erika Martin Designs Etsy Shop

And what's in this Etsy shop, you ask? Handmade things by ME, of course. :) Here's a sneak peek (you can see more detailed photos by going to my shop and clicking on all of the pictures).

These are just small views of the albums, but you can click on them to see a larger view. Of course, there's inside views of the albums on my Etsy shop.

I'll be adding more items to my Etsy shop, so make sure to check back to see what's new. :)

***Edited to add:*** Some have asked questions about the albums.....these albums are completely hand made. Even the covers. They are not pre-bought and decorated. Rather, they are completely made and assembled from raw materials. :)

Happy Creating!

-Stampin' Mama