Use It Two Times (At Least): Splat! at Simply Create Too

 Forgive me dear readers. I've been incredibly busy. My card appears on the Simply Create Too and alas, it's been there for almost a week and I haven't done a post about it. My life is just moving along so fast.
Tomorrow, I leave with family for NY to celebrate the birthday of my 90 yr. old ex-FIL. It will be a short trip and when I return, the grands will be ready to return to school. My plan then, is to get back to normal and post regularly. I hope to make-up in the last five months of the year for what I was unable to get done in the first seven months.
Soooo, at Simply Create Too, the challenge no. 18, is to use it twice.  I love this Inkadinkadoo splat. Don't know what else to call to call it, and I don't know why I like it either. I do believe it will work on several card occasions. So it's "splated"  on an A2 Gina K luxury weight white base, in Memento bahama blue and tangelo. The sentiment is from a Recollections set and is stamped in Memento sahara sand. It's one layer, so what could be simpler.

Come back for my mid-post and mid-week challenge card for SCT # on August 5th. In the meantime, my IPad is my faithful companion, so I'll be lurking on lots of blogs. See you then. Enjoy the last month of summer...well, here in AZ, it's really the second month.

Blessings,
Erica

Less Is More Challenge Week 76

Hello stamping community.
How was your Saturday? Mine was spent running about doing errands helping to get my grandson ready for church camp. He is excited because he is going to Cali., and will be with an awesome youth pastor as well as friends he has made at church...so fun to see an excited 14 yr. old talking non-stop...and a bit exhausting.

So I needed the calm relaxation of making a card for Less Is More Challenge Week 76,
where it's one layer week.  Mandi and Chrissie have given us an easy peasy theme of "just use 3 of anything." Not too tough, right? I have been having fun with this Hero Arts image I picked up a few weeeks ago. Many stampers are making a trio of cards as the divas did. For now, I'm sharing two..not sure if I'll have time to make a third. For the first  I stamped on an A2 white cs base with Memento tuxedo black and colored with a copic. The two twirly thingies are from an Inkadinkadoo set called Inspirational Lift. I didn't think I'd ever use these two images, as I really purchased the set for the fun air balloons, so popular right now, and a few sentiments, but I thought these two images were 'artsy' enough to stand with the Artsy Lady.  For the second, I just stamped the image three times, using the masking technique. Then using Derwent Coloursoft Skintone pencils..a surprising and welcome find at my a big box craft store, I gave the ladies some ethnicity. After all, artsy ladies come in all colors, right?

So, there you have it. Now go play along with LIM.


Blessings,
Erica

Simply Create Challenge no. 17

Are you planning a vacation this summer? Mine has been mostly eaten away at as a result of a visit to the design center of the builder with whom we have purchased our new home. But I'm pleased as punch with the upgrades we chose. They make my heart smile and they will be great for re-sale incentives. Mind you, I'm praying that "I" will never have to make a move again, unless it is to senior assisted living. But it will be good for my dd and sil, who will someday become empty-nesters with no need for a large house.

I will be going back to NY for a quick visit to celebrate my ex-FIL (you read it right...he said his son (my first husband), may have fallen out of love with me, but he didn't. He's a sweet old guy turning 90 this month. So a big surprise family and friends get-together is planned. I haven't been back since I moved 15 yrs. ago. Hopefully, before the end of the year a dear friend of mine and I will be able to get our schedules together for a Hawaii vacation. So I have plans. I just gotta execute 'em.

So, here's my submission for Simply Create Too.
We are going on summer vacation and anything you use in our challenge should speak summery to us.
I used a Michaels $1Studio "G"  stamp, along with Nesties circles. The flower is an old Prima with a SU 'adornment vintage flower'. I believe they're retired.
I used a Sizzix flower die for the leaves. The papers are all SU with brand new SU dsp. Then, because I can barely sew a button on, I used a stamp that is faux stitching from the Paper Studio. The flip flops have  bling flowers, which doesn't show up well, but it's nice and sparkly. The butterflies are MS punched.

OK, drum roll please.........I have a few photos to show you of my newest, and I promise, last piece of stamping equipment. I have a few toys, but I have managed not to purchase a Cricuit (of any type), a Spellbinders machine, or a Big Shot. Therefore, the fact that I do own a Cuttlebug (had to replace my broken one), a Silhouette Cameo (a bit overwhelmed by it) and now a Fiskar's Fuse, means.....well, what does it mean? It means, "I had to have it".

I have done a little playing with it, so I'll do a review at the beginning of the week. I got mine from on-line from HSN when it was a special value of the day a few weeks ago.

Blessings,
Erica (gonna check out LIM for the weekend and see if I can incorporate using my new toy in some way.)

Text, Newsprint, Writing

Hi Stamping Friends,

Hope you had a fun-filled and safe 4th of July. It did something quite unusal in my part of Arizona....rain and it was only the 8th time in AZ weather history (recorded), that it happened. Fortunately, we didn't have any plans and I wasn't feeling all that well, so the family, minus me, ate leftovers and went to a fireworks display in the evening. After a good rub-down with Ben-Gay for a sore back muscle, which was the culprit of my blues, I was able to check out a few challenges and decided to take the one at  Casual Fridays. I love text and searched high & low for some time to get a BG text image. I used it on my card in the previous post. For this card, I had received this image from Hero Arts called Wish Big, in a stamp store's extravaganza when I was in CA. I think it fits the bill for the challenge.I used Memento tuxedo black to stamp and colored with my Copics. A little bow made of bakers twine finishes it off. Later, I went back and colored the two top balloons. I wasn't sure they'd be seen in the photo, so that's why I waited. The text is quite tight, so you hav to be up close to the color. Sadly, my photo skills wouldn't have captured it. I am so not wanting to spend the big bucks on a light tent and lights. Nor do I feel like rigging up a homemade one.

There are so many challenges out there these days. When I first started stamping, I barely came across 10 or so, now there are blogs devoted to putting together listings of challenges each week.

On a personal front, the house is bought and we now have the fun and stress and expense of going to the design center to pick out all of the flooring, appliances, etc. My darling daughter has already picked out a "gourmet kitchen" for me. After 15 years, I am going to be able to cook on a gas stove. I am elated. I dislike electric stoves immensely. We are hoping to come away from this experience with mostly the standard items for the house and hope to upgrade over the course of the next 5 years I am very pleased with my bedroom (smaller than my current) and craftroom (larger than my current one).

Blessings, Erica

I'll keep you posted.