Last of the Valentines Day cards

So legionnaires, I like using doilies, on cards, but I usually find that most cards (including a birthday card I posted a few days ago) using them do so with too much going on and I barely catch a glimpse of the actual doiley. I want that baby to stand out. I think I've achieved just that with my card here. Not sure if I should have stamped the sentiment in gray, but I wanted it subtle and I knew I was adding those flowers. Now about those flowers...they're pricy Primas from Michaels and I don't think they carry them anymore. The size works well, but the leaves are awful. I must figure out a way to use a small leaf punch to sub for these dreary things in the future. The doiley is Wilton, but here's a little story for you. Hubby & I eat at a restaurant called Mimi's. They use doilies beneath cups of decafe coffee so when they do refills, they won't make a mistake and give you the regular. I know I'm a real stamper now, 'cause I looked them over and decided to ask the waitress if she would be kind enough to give me a few. She did (and her tip increased by $1.00...hee hee). Back to the card. The tag is a Nestie and the pink circle is dry-embossed with a CB folder. It's all adhered to SU's red riding hood. The more I look at this card, the more I feel I could have done better. So if there's a remake, I'll post it and link the two together. I've never attempted a do-over on my cards, so it will be a first.

Edited to Add:
My good cyber-friend told me about a challenge at Shannon's Sentiments here, so I've done just that. Thanks Janice.


Hugs & Blessings,
Erica

Hearts Challenge

Well legionnaires, it just so happens that I am posting Valentine cards through the weekend and so when I saw this challenge Give Your Heart Away, via Janice's card here, I just had to include mine. What an easy peasy challenge, right? I used a retired SU stamp set and a retired CTMH sentiment, some pearls, teeny crystal hearts I found in my travels and a flower from the new SU Vintage Flower adornments. I didn't think I'd care for these, but I actually do. They are made from some sort of resin, a bit of a change from the Prima style flower. The white mat is punched at the bottom with an EK Success border punch. The bottom of the SU retired promegranite cs is an MS punched border. The rest of the stuff is pretty basic.

Well, not much to say tonite, as I am totally absorbed by the Egyptian crisis taking place.

Hugs & Blessings,
Erica

St. Valentine's Day peeks begin

Hey legionnaires. I've been having to make some tough decisions these past few days concerning my senior mutt. She grew a tumor practically from out of nowhere that was distended from her vagina...sorry to be blunt. I knew it was gonna cost big bucks to get it taken care of and even more if it was cancerous, but gee whiz, what do you do, when you've had an animal who has never been a worry and seen you through so much in your own life and never asked for one single thing. Yup, you fix 'em, that's what. And so, to the tune of $850, for surgery, meds, and follow-up in 10 days, we just went for it. Yes, it means hubby and I will have to put a few items we planned to purchase on hold while we pay off the credit card which still has $1,000 on it from car repairs done in the fall, but ya' know, that's life, right? Zoe came through with flying colors and is expected to give us 2 to 3 years of more fuzzy happiness. I will try to get a pic when she feels more like herself.

So, here's my card. I picked up this lovely dsp by Bo Bunny during my gal-pal trip earlier this month. I snatched the sketch from somewhere recently, but alas, didn't do the save thing. The bird with branch is an SU punch and I stamped an SU sentiment on a Nestie shape. The die was left on while I sponged on ink so that it appears to be a frame...love that technique for when you don't have enough space to do lots of matting. Stamp TV has a great tute on it. Papers are your basic colors. A bit of bling here and there and there you have it.

Hugs & Blessings,
Erica

I was challenged

So legionnaires, Janet at Scrappin To Stay Sane (see my left sidebar to link directly), sent me a challenge a month or so ago. I couldn't figure out how to get the questions on my blog....after deciding there is no magic way, I copied and pasted  from my clipboard and eliminated her answers subbing mine. Some questions required a bit of brain-power unrelated to card-making. I've been on auto-pilot with cards this month. Unfortunately, I don't have many readers...I think maybe 4 in my reader. I just didn't feel comfortable forwarding these on. So I hope Janet will read my answers and will be OK with this. I noticed the other gals she passed the questions on to didn't respond. If anyone knows how busy life can be, it's me. I can barely blog with any consistency.

1. Four shows that you watch:


The Biggest Loser, "V", Hell's Kitchen, American Idol
(Yikes...3 reality shows...wonder what the heck that means).

2. Four things you are passionate about:

My faith, card-making, baking, my grandchildren.
(I almost wanted to put card-making first, but that would make it an idol and I don't think the good Lord would be too happy about that one.)

3. Four words/phrases you say a lot:

Oh heavens, Not again, Absolutely, Ya' gotta' be kiddin' me!
(I adored Janet's)
4. Four things you have learned from the past:

I am forgiven. There are consequences for every action. Wisdom comes with age. How to recognize a do-over.
(These answers required some thought and I've written them down in my "little black book.")
5. Four places you would like to go:

San Francisco, Hong Kong, Spain, anywhere in Vermont in the spring.
(All of these places have fabulous places to eat....right up my alley)

6. Four things you did yesterday:

Made dinner for the family, made cards, encouraged a friend, read a book on my e-reader.
(Still getting used to making dinner for 7 instead of 2....lovin' my Sony e-reader and hoping they're here to stay)

7. Four things you are looking foward to:

62 this year. Finishing building out my craftroom. Reading more. More peace in my life.
(WHOOPIE...applying for social security this year...the $$$ drought is almost over).

8. Four things you love about winter:

You're kiddin' me right? I left New York and moved to Arizona. I absolutely love it here and don't miss the winter EVER!

9. Tag four people to play along:
Maybe when I get more readers, I'll do just that.

That's all there is. Be back with some Valentine cards tomorrow.

Hugs & Blessings
Erica

I Just like this sketch

So legionnaires, the weekend is here. We're gonna have nice weather, I plan to be a weekend warrior (wimp?) and get some exercies in. Don't forget those 2011 goals.

Speaking of...I am loving the last three sets of stamps I purchased...all clear polymer I might add. I just have so little space left to store in. Unmounting my hundreds of SU stamps is going slower than I'd like. One of my goals has been to only buy a stamp or set if I can envision 5 to 10 ways to use them. I have been very careful taking lots of time to choose and often going away from it and coming back later. This has resulted in less spending and more creative thinking for me. I've also had a rather quiet and peaceful month so far, so I've been productive. I have made 20 cards so far. If this keeps up, I'll have to find an organization to send them to. I've been thinking of Operation Write Home.

So my card uses the same Gina K. sketch of yesterday and the same paper, except I changed the format of it and paper pieced the mug. This set is Flourishes Mix 'n' Mugs. It's so versatile. You can expect to see it  here many times. And the sketch is going to be my go-to one for a while too.

Stay tuned...I'm on a roll. Valentine card posting will begin on Monday after I show a few more others on the weekend...and that reminded me to tell you all to have a great one.

Blessings,
Erica

Stamp TV sketch

 
Evenin' legionnaires. How's your week been? Stamp TV posted this awesome easy peasy sketch for this week. Like Mojo Monday, I was able to put it together quicky and it's gonna go in my sketch file. I used another clock face from the Sandylion set I used yesterday. I have never come across a square clock image and I'm lovin' it. The sentiment is also from the set. The base is SU chocolate chip with an SU pear pizzaz mat. The dsp is retired CTMH on one side and the other side is from my stash. It's faux-stitched for some character and one tiny blue pearl to hold the "clockhands" finishes the design.

There will be another card using this same sketch tomorrow on my blog.

Hugs & Blessings,
Erica

Mojo Monday Challenge

 
Hi legionnaires. I was determined to get a sketch challenge done this week. And it helped that my friend who stamped with me on Saturday, "found" some fab SU ds paper in my stash I didn't even realize was sooo pretty and versatile. It was perfect to match up with a new-to-me stamp set by Sandylion Clear Stamps. The set doesn't appear to have a name. But I love it. Here is the Mojo sketch.

I did take a teeny bit of liberty with the location of the bugs. The colors are all SU...concord crush which matches with the in color pattern stack, and pear pizzaz. I used Copics to color the butterfly and bee and the ribbon is from my stash.
So, have a great rest of the week. I will have 2 cards for Stamp TVs weekly sketch challenge to show you tomorrow.

Cyber Hugs,
Erica

Check out my "Becca" style card

 
Well legionnaires, who doesn't know Becca Feeken of Amazing Grace? When this talented woman offers blog candy, there are upwards of 400 comments to her post. Can you imagine? Well, her style is not exactly my style. But I certainly do know talent when I see it and her stuff is truly amazing. So, here I have come as close as I'll ever get to her work with this birthday card I made for my dear friend El. Hope you see your cards in lights friend. She now has the real deal in her hands and I think she really liked it. She's also one of Becca's fans, and is quite the artistic cardmaker in her own right. I have posted a bit of her work, as she is too busy to start a blog. But when she does....look out Becca. In order to incorporate everything I wanted in this card, I had to make it quite large. I was hoping for a shabby chic look bordering on Victorian. Hopefully, this falls somewhere in between. Deets will be given on request.
Hope you are having a grand weekend. I will be stamping with the aforementioned friend and one other. We will be eating lunch, chatting and making some Valentine cards.

Cyber Hugs & Blessings,
Erica

New Style Weathered Wood

 
Well legionnaires, here's a new style of weathered wood that was super easy to do and can be found at Gina K's Stamp TV. See my sidebar for a link. I love Stamp TV. Gina is such an excellent instructor and her projects aren't too difficult for me to do. You either, :D This tute is this week's feature. The bike is from Hero Arts, It's a clear set called Joy Ride. I read on SCS that one of the trends for 2011 is going to be bicycles, so I had to have it. I can't keep up with all the trends, but I do try for two or three. The base is SU's retired brocade blue. I really liked that color. So saffron is what I used to ink up the weatehred wood. Gina uses her own paper. The sentiment is a part of SU's "A Word for You". I inked only the Happy Birthday part and then diecut it with a Nestie. I added a little bakers twine....loving this stuff, but honestly who'd a thunk it would be used on cards? A little bling in the corners and I was done. I'll have one more card tomorrow to show using this technique.

Sympathy Card

 
Hi legionnaires. Here's another sympathy card. I was asked to make this one by a friend and send it out...sight unseen, on her behalf. YIKES, she has a lot of faith in me, huh? Well, it turns out I actually like this one better than the one I made and sent out. Yes, it's a bit bright where the previous one is subtle but I am loving the sketch and my new Hero Arts stamp that is the focal image. The rest is basic and will be released upon request.
I just got a TV with cable hooked up in my craft room by my sweet electronically inclined SIL. I had to do some rearranging in my room to make it work and it does. So now, I can have all kinds of background noise while I'm stamping. Fun..fun..fun.

Tomorrow, I meet up with my stamping pals and we make our semi-annual trip to a scrapbook store we love splurging in. I snuck in a visit several months earlier and found some major changes. I'm curious to see what my friends think of them.

Have a great weekend and get some stampin' done.
Erica

Happy New Year

 
Hi legionnaires, how are ya'? Hope you are having a good start to 2011. I'm going to keep my post brief for the next few days. I've been tagged by Janet at , but those questions actually require me to use my brain and I need to print them out first. This month, I've been faced with making a decision. Buy printer ink, a new batter for my laptop, or go on a spending spree at my local scrapbook store where some friends can get a 20% discount this month. Well, can you guess which one I will be taking...hee hee.

Here is a simple (so that I could mail it easily) sympathy card for a Bible study friend who lost her father-in-law during the holidays. There isn't anything special about it and it's a commonly used sketch, so no deets are being given.

Oh, one last thing. Saw "True Grit" today with hubby. Great movie to start the year off. The cast and acting were excellent and it was one of the few movie re-makes I can honestly recommend. Go see it. You can take kids over 10 yrs. old(Rating PG13). There's no sex, just plenty of violence. However, the dialogue and use of 19th century speech style keep you on your toes.

Hugs & Blessings,
Erica