Simply Create Challenge #42

Hi Legionnaires,
Welcome to the Simply Create challenge which is metal for the dudes. A manly card...in my case, a teen, and something metal. I had fun with this, but not at first. It took me a while to get into it, but when I did, it came together nicely. My image is Karate Boy from Stampabilities. I use him often for teen/boy cards. But never before with metal.
I had some copper and silver papers from Stampin' Up (retired) and I ran them through Cuttlebug folders. A little twine caught up with a tiny button band-aid and copics for coloring, with some brads that look like nailheads. The sentiment is computer generated and punched out... and voila.

Hope you enjoy my card. Now get into your craft space and create for the weekend.

Happy Easter
Erica

Good evening legionnaires. Are you ready for Easter? I know most of what I'll be making....gonna leave it to eldest dd to decide veggies. My family loves roast lamb, but did I ever get a shock when I saw the price. And I didn't even buy a whole leg. And you can't get domestic lamb anymore...at least not without going on a search. And who has the money for the gas to do that? Ah well, life just keeps rolling along, right. I figure, as long as I have the $$ to shop for stamps here and there, then all is well.

My card today is a fussy one. HL has a 50% sale going on loose dsp and pads. Well, I couldn't resist...I did try to stay out of that aisle. Most stamps were 50% off too...groan! I am not a addicted, I am not addicted, I am not addicted. I have decided that small 6.5 x 4.5 pads give me more value than larger pads. This beautiful dsp is from DCWV's Mariposa Matstack. At half the price of $8.99, I really did get a bargain....soo, I bought 4 other pads...totally taking care of my dsp addiction for a while.  Sooo, I learned, if you design your card with care, you can get two good-sized mats for A2 cards from one sheet. Here's one of two I made. Isn't it pretty? I used a small strip of a pink dsp at the bottom and I'll use the larger leftover piece for another card. The lovely sentiment stamped on a Nestie is from Stampabilities. I was happy to find out this company manufacturers its'stamps in OK, USA. I want to use as many products as I possibly can that are made in the USA. It is not easy these days. I added some pre-made flowers and MS punched leaves. A black ribbon/bow from my stash and a bit of gold bling finished it off. I did lots of sponging with Ranger's Distressed tea dye ink.
I will post the "partner" to this card tomorrow. And, coming soon is a card for the upcoming Simply Create blog challenge, where I'm privileged to submit my designs for inspiration.

Hugs & Blessings,
Erica

Did They Say Acetate?

Good afternoon legionnaires. I'm here this afternoon with my challenge for the LIMeettes. If you read the challenge  here you will see that Mandi and Chrissie expected there to be groans. And that's just what I did as soon as I read the word "acetate". Don't quite why I'm scared of acetate, but I've never used it on cards. But knowing full well how this acetate might agitate more than a few of the LIMettes, they made it easier by allowing us to use acetate somehow with no fixed plan. Flowers came to my mind first and they gave us a sample using them, but since I was making some Easter treat boxes for my DD, I decided to incorporate a piece of acetate into it.

I used SU's window sheets. This is strong acetate that makes excellent strong windows. I had just purchased them recently, not really knowing what I'd do with them, but planning to search U-Tube.  Using it for this challenge was easy peasy. Just use a die to cut a scallop (could use a scallop punch, as the box is small), and adhere a piece of acetate over it. I stamped an image of a decorated egg onto the acetate with Stazon royal purple ink, but it is not showing up. I chose to photo outside and I have shadows going on too unfortunately, but you get the idea, right.

I really need to get brave and make a card with acetate too. After all, it's nothing to be frightened of, huh?

Blessings,
Erica

Fussy card

Hi legionnaires. I mentioned that once in a while I'd be making a fussy card...you know, a Becca Feeken style....though. as also mentioned before, I will never come close to her works of pure art. Anyway, here is my fussy card for the month. I needed a card for a friend who's elderly family friend and neighbor had passed away suddenly. Anytime, I put a silk bow, flower, hemp, and stickpins all on one card, you better believe I classify it as "fussy". I didn't know how else to use this birdcage, and I desperately wanted to use it. I have a ton of doilies now...collected from tables following a luncheon. Wanna laugh. My friend's handsome City of Phoenix husband actually assisted me in collecting. I was so shocked to see this quite sweet soft side of him. He got more than I did. Stickpins kinda' freak me out...I'm so scared that they will poke someone looking at the card. So I was very careful to push its point well into the bow. I'm too lazy to give all the deets, so I will only do it if someone makes a request in my comments. Are you all ready for Easter. I am making baskets for my two granddaughters. I never made them for my children. Gee, being a grandparent sure is different. Have a great weekend and don't forget to stamp....Less Is More will post their challenge early Saturday. Go check it out and don't forget my Simply Create....still time to get your project with eggs posted. Blessings and Hugs, Erica

Masculine Birthday

How was your Monday? I ran errands most of the day and it was a beautiful 70s day here in sunny AZ. It won't be long before we say goodbye to this kind of weather.

One of my errands was a quick trip to HL to use a 40% coupon. I bought a storage binder for my clear stamps. I was shocked to discover that I have 32 sets. How did that happen? It is definitely time to get them in tidy order of some kind. I took a quick looksie at the clearance section and found three stamps, a silhouette (these are getting popular), a House Mouse (I'm building a small collection), and a nice leafly pattern BG stamp (can we ever have enough BGs?). It's rare that I have a stash of masculine cards, so for this month, in between making mini Easter baskets for my dd's co-workers, I've decided to try to add about 10 to the pile. I started off with this one. On Papertrey's basic white, I stamped a BG stamp in Colorbox chalk green and added a strip of beige from my scrap pile. The sentiment is from SU, also stamped in chalk green. A few gold brads just to pop it a bit and I have a non-descript masc. card. I may make another one of these, maybe in chocolate chip?

Have a happy and safe week. Hugs & Blessings, Erica

The Limettes Challenge No. 10

I just love the title for all who participate in the Less Is More challenges each week. Gotta admit though, it does sound a bit like a girl group from the 60s. Hmmm, if you are 50/60, you do remember the Ronettes, right. Now don't go asking me to post the words for any songs they sang. But let me tell ya' when they do come on the oldie station, I am blasting it and singing at the top of my lungs. So, here is my submission for Less Is More. where we were to make a one layer card with the sentiment the main focus. As usual, not too much bling. I used all Stampin' Up images. The bird is from Notably Ornate. Would you believe, I actually bought this set because I loved the bird more than anything else. The sentiment is from a large set (love the height of it), called Word Play. I feel like these two images are perfect for each other. I stamped on Papertrey Basic white...my fave white base cs and used Versifine Ink's midnight blue. There are three score lines spaced 1/4 inches apart under the sentiment and then 2 spaced the same running vertically. Pity I wasn't able to get them photographed properly, because, they do lend character to the card which did need a little something else. I added the crystal star in hopes this would help, but, as luck would have it, it is prettier IRL. LIM almost reached 300 last challenges last week. I think Mandi and Chrissie should have a bit of a celebration when they do....hint, hint.

It's an Eggstra Special Challenge from Simply Create

At Simply Create, where I am a design team member, our leader has challenged us to make somethng with eggs on them. I coulda' just attempted to sketch a self-portrait, since I often do suffer from eggstritis, but instead I've opted to have fun with a card, since Easter is almost here and I do send out cards. I chose to use a digi image. These are becoming available quite frequently now. I still must learn how to better manipulate them. I am copying them all out on one page and then cutting what I need, which I know results in huge waste if I don't use the rest of the images. Gotta study up on it. I have You-Tubed plenty of instructions, so I just gotta find time.  

So, here are the deets.

Recipe:  Base is SU's garden green, the scalloped oval and MS punched border mat inside are SU's so saffron. White cs is good ole' WAMA Georgia Pacific.

The dsp was bought loose and is from the Paper Studio.

The bunny image, basket with eggs, eggs in the grass and sentiment, are all from Regina Easter at The Cutting Cafe. Regina has lots of digital images for Easter. In fact, she has lots of images period and she is the first digi on-line vendor I worked with. I'm always pleased with everything I get from her store.

Sorry, sounding like an ad, huh?

So, the flowers are from my stash, but the leaves, and fence are surely recognizable by Martha Stewart. I stamped the grass repeatedly with a tiny grass stamp, I've had in my stash forever. Then, I just cut around it to form blades. An oval punch for the sentiment and Nesties for the image, where I used the bunny and the "out of the box" technique for his ears. His little outfit is paper-pieced with dsp. The eggs in his basket are colored with "at you Spicas." The bunny is colored with Copics as is the basket. And there is sponging all over the card with Memento new sprout. The so saffron oval was dry embossed with a CB dots folder. I bought the ribbon at my LSS.  Inside, the sentiment is done with a Nestie label shape and I cut out another egg to accent it. The shape of the card is called a criss cross card and instructions can be found in many places on You Tube. I got mine from Splitcoaststampers. What a weath of information they are. I had a ball designing and putting this card together. It's not my usual style, but I like how it turned out.

Hope all my readers have a great weekend and do try this challenge. You have two weeks to come up with a card. Also, please check out the my fellow DT's creations. I'm not the only newbie who has joined in on the fun. Blessings, Erica

Just Use Ink Challenge

Hi legionnaires, I love 3D boxes. I enjoy making them and looking at other designers' work. This cute box had a template whose maker is not clearly identified. I copied the template out a while ago, so I can't give proper credit, but you see this style frequently. It can hold a little cello bag of Easter candies perfectly. I used Bazzil textured purple/blue cs. Used my Nestie for the squares. A little SU retired dsp and some lace from my stash. The cute image is from Penny Black's Garden Friends. On the lid are Michael's wedding flowers which I colored in Easter colors and added some liquid pearls to the center. I know it's difficult to see the top. I am too lazy to re-photo. I'm submitting this for the challenge at Just Use Ink to make a box or bag. Well, I hope your week gets off to a great start tomorrow. Hugs & Blessings, Erica

Early Bird for the Less Is More Challenge 9

No way I'm gonna be late for the LIM challenge this time. Fortunately, my Saturday wasn't filled with stuff to do.

Here, I went with my usual white base. I've noticed that good quality really white cs is important when making cards requiring lots of white space to show. My Walmart Georgia Pacific won't do, so I use Papertrey's basic white. I love the weight and pure no-color. Various brands of ink I use all stamp true. That brings me to the ink used here, Marvy Matchables crimson for the CTMH Spot on Backgrounds, and for the sentiment, a Dollar stamp from Studio "G" stamped in Su's early espresso. This dye ink shows black IMO, which was not my intention, as I wanted a very dark brown as the name suggested. Oh, well, now I know, and so do you. I added one tiny red crystal in the flouish and what you probably can't see is the red Sakura gel pen I added to the center of each starburst.

This is such a fun challenge and I have some other ideas floating in my head. I'll bet there will be 2nd subsmissions from lots of other stampers.

Hugs & Blessings,
Erica

Less Is More Challenge 8

I've been trying to get this post done since early this morning with no success. Could Blogger be getting an early start on the weekend? So LIM wants a longish card this week. Mine is 8 1/2 x 4 inches. I have incorporated several stamp companies here. The chair is from SU's Timeless Treasures, the oval acting as a rug, is from A Muse' Essential Ovals, the "faux lace" is from a bunch of stamps that I bought on-line and for cheap. Have you ever done that? It's kinda a grab bag. You can usually count on about 25% of them being usable. The rest you can give to the kiddos to play with. And finally, the saying is from Papertrey's On the Couch. I used a Nestie and did the out of the box technique to hang a bit of the rug out of the circle. My inks were Memento Potters Clay and Versafine Sepia vintage. I like this longish card, but you do have to think it thru and follow some basic rules, such as the rule of thirds. Ask me what it is and I'll link you to someone who can explain it far better than me. So have a good weekend and see you with my #2 weekend challenge submission. Hugs & Blessings, Erica

Edited to Add:  I didn't make the deadline for submission. And, I still have my dog-gone UTI. I am considered, "older female with recurring UTIs...", for which very little can be done! I am not rushing to finish my other deadlines I gave myself. I will instead begin my DT work on my next Create Simply submission. I was rather disappointed with my first.

Mojo on a break

 Hi legionnaires, my mojo is not working well and I have several things on my mind that may be hampering me from doing the challenges I commited to. So, in the interest of not leaving you without something to critique, I am posting this card done with a Martha Stewart stencil I found. It's a lovely piece and when I finished embossing and then chalking, it was unfinished. I added my dollar Studio G butterfly to it and a simple sentiment. Colored the butterfly with Copics and used the same chalk on a Nestie square around the butterfly. I popped that up on a blue punched out label edged in white. Something was missing, so I added blue cs stamped in white dots. Still something missing, so on went some wide lace that I threaded some ribbon through. Finally, some three little dots of bling in the left corner. The end result...well, I can't say I'm in love with it, but it's a card I will add to my freebies pile. My dd goes through them periodically whenever she forgot to tell me to make something special for her. Hugs & Blessings, Erica