My Best Clean & Simple card to Date

 I'd love to say that I designed this card all by my itty bitty self, but then I'd be telling you a double whopper (pun intended), since I'm not little and I had lots of help from Joan at Paperlicious here. I have always enjoyed her cards, but Joan has grown (pun unintended). Her cards are better than ever and she's found her true style...just IMO. So I case her frequently. And I am so loving the way this one came out. I had the EK Success cupcake punch for a while (snagged on clearance), and finally, Joan made it so I could use it. Thanks Joan. The sentiment is SU's On Your Birthday and the paper...do you believe this is one layer!!, is Papertrey's Luxery White and mostly the new SU colors like pear and tangerine tango. Even my dd (the critical one) likes this one and said I should keep several on hand. And before I sign-off, Joan is quite the fun writer too with very witty conversations with her husband and life itself. And, we share the challenges of being caretakers to loved ones. Can you tell she's kinda my idol?

Enjoy your Sunday ladies.
Be blessed,
Erica

Square Biz

 

So I tried editing my photo in Picnik which I think is affiliated with Picassa. It’s fairly basic and I don’t know if I like it, but here it is then I tried to post via Windows….don’t mind me, I may not have that correct. Anywho, here is my card for a  challenge on Sharon's blog. She is asking for clean &  simple. I think I’ve succeeded but I need to tell ya it is a CASE, but I've forgotten from where, 'cause as soon as I saw the sketch, I made the card and then it was quite late, well you get my drift. The tiny sunflower stamp has been around my craftroom forever and the paper is…Papertrey’s luxery white, the ds square is CTMH and the rectangle is DCWV. The sentiment is from a clear set that I can’t find now….gosh, is it really 3 AM?

Goodnight legionnaires.

Hugs, Erica (who if she doesn't stay up, doesn't learn anything)

Butterflies

Hi legionnaires....so, these little creatures are among the most beloved on earth I believe. I don't think anybody fears them.
This is a $1 Studio G stamp from Michaels. Did you know that the Studio G line is from Hampton Arts? Who'd a thunk it? I'll bet they've made more money from them than their upscale line. I have read some bloggers just enjoy collecting them. I myself have at least 50 and I probably only use about 10 regularly. This is one of my faves.

Card recipe: Papertrey luxery white for the base; a non-descript yellow cs for the MS punched trellis which holds the butterfies; sentiment is SU's well-scripted; flowers from Recollections; and a little MS bling too. The butterflies are stamped in Memento tuxedo black and colored with Copics. I punched the sentiment out and popped it up a bit.Enjoy the weekend fellow stampers.

Hugs & Blessings,

Erica

Have You Heard of A la Mode?

Good evening legionnaires. Had a lovely day today....except I've been on a buying binge and have purchased a stamping something or other every day this week. It's wrecking my budget which I need to be careful with as Christmas approaches. Must stay home for the rest of the month. That brings me to my post title. For about 4 years, I've been searching for the perfect white ink. I think I've finally found the ultimate pigment white. It's by Hampton Arts and is called A la mode. As you can see...even with my awful photo editing skills,...it really shows up on the very dark green base of this card. I used the new SU French Foilage stamp set as the BG. I love the way this is showing up. I have heard that SU has recently re-developed its white pigment ink and it is substantially better than before. I will give it a try. In the meantime, this one is my go-to white. Now I gotta find a refill for it. One of the things that irks me about the big box craft stores, is rarely do they carry refills for the the stamp pads they sell.

For the rest of my card, I've used SU's tangerine tango as mat and distressed it, along with Papertrey's white which I stamped on with single stamps; the pumpkin from Rubber Stampede and the sentiment from Stampabilities. I did the coloring with Copics and added a little orange bling.

I finally located one of these "card holders" for setting up my cards. I didn't know what they were called. Do you? Hmmm, they're frogs and are in the floral sections. I can't imagine how you set flowers into this thing. But it sure works for cards. I would like to "pretty it up" in some way though. I'll be on the lookout for ideas.

Be well stampers and blessed.
Hugs,
Erica (who has more cards comin' your way)

My first Zva (pseudo) embellished card

Hi Legionnaires. I have been making cards and visiting blogs galore....I've also been just enjoying the cooler AZ temps of late too. We had a rather long summer and broke a record or two...something like most consecutive days with temps in the 100s. My dd's house (with whom hubby & I now live), is not far from where we were, but somehow, this is more desert than ever, and therefore hotter. On to my card.
Had to make a BD card for a Halloween birthday. I believe my friend is turning 68, so a mature theme was important, yet I wanted to use some fall colors. I finally bit the bullit and included some Zva-like rhinestones from Recollections. The ribbon is so pretty IRL. My photography doesn't capture its rich green color and the satin finish. The ds paper is DCWV's Amber Autumn matstack. I love all the papers it has. And I used SU's pumpkin pie cs for the MS trellis(?) and punched it on one side, then did a little measuring and cut the strip on the other side to get this wider look. I got that idea from the AMAZING Becca Feeken, who I believe must have been a designer for just about every stamp company in the USA. If you've never feasted your eyes on her work, you must go here now. My trusted newest Nestie die forms a layer for the SU punched out sentiment from SU's "On Your Birthday". The card's base is one of the last pieces of my SU Kraft. I haven't bought the crumb cake which takes it place yet. But I'm sure hoping it's the same. In the last few months, I've fallen hard for Kraft.

That's it for today. I promise to give you more to check out every day this week.

So, I have this fun little one....

...who keeps us all laughing and that's why I'm not here as often as I'd like to be. This is her big brothers' Kung Fu sparring gear. When no one was watching...not a good idea we know...she snuck into his room and dressed herself. Now mind you, she can't dress in her everyday clothes, but somehow, she knew how to get into all of this stuff. She is so full of life, it's scary and there is never a dull moment when Melea is in the house. Beginning Nov. 3rd through the 11th, I wlll be babysitting full-time while her parents take a much needed vacation. Arrangements have been made for me to have a few days without her, but mostly she's all mine. She's almost 3 1/2, so when she's 4, we'll be doing the Kung Fu thing for real. Have you ever seen the 4 yr olds in martial arts classes. They are such a hoot.

I'll be back in an hour or so with a card. I have been quite busy. But taking the photos is not one of my best talents.

Hugs & Blessings,
Erica

Is Black & White only for weddings?

I think not legionnaires, but my youngest dd said all she sees is wedding. Maybe it's because her anniversary is this weekend and she's hinting I should change the sentiment. Anywho, I like it. It uses one of the newer CB folders....love that middle space....a sorta new bestie Nestie....love that you can turn these puppies and that they invite bling. A simple ribbon and pearls round it out and that sentiment is from the SU "Ever" Elegant Greetings. Now that I look, there is no Happy Anniversary in that set, so I shall have to look elsewhere for that sentiment.

And so, the weekend fast approaches. Hope you are going to enjoy a bit of the great outdoors. It is finally cooling off here in sunny AZ...only 87 degrees today.

Blessings,
Erica

World Card Making Day

Well legionnaires, it wasn't like I didn't try, but I didn't get to make cards until today. I babysat my 3 yr. old grandchild and she didn't give me one single minute of time to play....except with her of course. She didn't even take her nap, and pushover grandparent that I am, I didn't push her. So I had to make a birthday card with a Christian theme for my dd to use anyway, so I found this scripture and I think it works. I used 'no longer with us' SU rust (?) for the base and Papertrey white cs which I dry embossed with the Victorian CB folder. I used a bestie Nestie and leaving it in the die, sponged it with Memento Potters' Clay.....love this color, so that it looks framed. A few rosettes and ribbon from my stash finished it up. I'm pleased as punch with it and may make another to keep on hand.

It looks like many stampers had the opportunity to play today. In my blurffing, I've see some lovely cards. I will have two more to show. One I like, the other only sorta.

So, we're off and running onto the week. Hope you have a blessed one.

Erica