Naughty me,..but His Grace

I am been super busy creating 40 all occasion cards for one of my sweet neices. She had come for a visit when my family and I were stuck in a hotel for a month. It definitely wasn't the reception we had hoped to give her, but she travels a lot and so it was not a big deal. Those cards kept me so busy that I didn't post a post to match my submission for the mid-week challenge at http://simplycreatetoo.blogspot.com/.

This card is about as vintagy (sp?) as I can get. We have SU cs for base and mats and an old piece of ds paper from my stash. Then some punches, including EK Success, SU, and Sizzix, as well as Nesties and a white embossed sentiment from Our Daily Bread Designs. The flower is hand-made with scallops diecuts, sprayed with glimmer mist. But I wanted to make sure it stayed nice and firm, so after spraying with the mist, I sprayed with a non-aerosol spray starch and let dry. The flower center is an SU brad and the pearls and lace are from my stash. BTW, my dd dislikes vintage, but she liked this card enough to snatch it for her stash.

Off to CA for a few weeks, so blogging will be sketchy (pun intended) at best. I will be taking some stamping things though. I hope to get 40 Christmas cards done. They will be simplicity personified and, of course, I'll be blog-hopping galore.

Blessings,
Erica (who might get in an LIM challenge if the mojo is working)

Simply Create Too Challenge No. 16

At long last...a full month to be exact, my family and I are home. Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. I am so tired of eating out, that I have opted not to have my traditional restaurant dinner for my birthday this year. We had a nice room and the hotel staff was wonderful. I was able to bring my little dog and we were directly across the street from the church we attend. So, I kept these things close to my heart and that is how God continually reminded me of how blessed we actually were.

However, I was super excited to get back into my craftroom, especially since I'd done a bit of retail therapy shopping  and

 I had several goodies waiting for me. They are all organized and put away ready for me to get my mojo up to par.

So, I'm happily creating cards for my design team who have been encouraging to me during this ordeal. I needed a bit of a jumpstart for this card. I had some simpler ideas in my head, but a visit to Belle Papier and Julia Stainton,  got my juices flowing and I came up with this. I stamped a BG stamp from Impressions Obsessions called Cover-a-Card, Newsprint. I have been looking for a stamp image like this for almost a year. This stamp gives great coverage over the entire A2 card, and then some. I cut it down and matted it on a piece of SU real red cs. Then using a home-made template, I sponged the red stripes on using SU real red ink. For the stars, I used a retired SU set called The Free and the Brave. I liked the distressed look of them. I used Broken China Ranger distress ink. It may appear that the word "Free" is stamped, but it is actually Cuttlebug alphabet letters  diecut in a blue cs from my stash and then glued on with my Quickie Glue pen. The corners are punched with an SU corner punch which has just retired. The card base is Gina K's heavy base weight white cs.

I have another simple card up for the challenge at SCT  too. It's not as detailed as this, so I won't bother to give the deets.

 If you have some time this weekend, please go play in our latest challenge at Simply Create Too.  Our design team leader has a design team call post this week. We're a small tight-knit group who understand the demands that family life often puts on us, so our group is low pressure. Give us a try.

Have a super safe 4th of July in whatever country you call home.

There's just no place like it...take it from me.

Blessings,

Erica

Challenge at Simply Create Too

Well good afternoon stampers. I had hoped not to have to share this with you...but alas, I may as well. I and my family have been living out of a local area hotel. Last Wednesday, my SIL rapidly strode through the house at 7AM advising us to get out of the house NOW! After taking one look at his face, I grabbed the dog & cat and my robe...I was lounging around deciding just what time I would be in my craftroom and also how I would be fixing the chicken in the frig for dinner. Within five minutes, fire trucks from two towns and EMS trucks were in front of the house (Neighbors on their way to work stopped to see too). Well, the short of it is we had a total electrical fire in the control panel box and it will have to be re-built...no easy matter in a custom-built house for which there is no electrical schematic available when there should be. But that's another matter. Sooo, if all the plans work out, we are hoping to be back in our home by next Friday. Please say a quickie prayer for just that. And, it goes without saying that we are so very thankful to God that no one was hurt and damage is minimal and that there is such a thing as home insurance.

Nuff said...on to my card...which I  made in the wee AM hours when the house was cool by natural sunlight, I might add.
So, I don't have my stuff to give you every detail, but here's the basics. The card is 5 1/4 x 5 1/4, stamped in Memento tuxedo black. It may appear that it is one BG stamp, but actually it is Just-Rite border stamps that are then die cut with a Nestibilitie Bordabilities die and adhered to the card in four rows. I added a 1 3/8 ribbon and a double bow, which I somehow managed to tie with my bowmaker...but please don't ask me how I did it, since I can barely make a single bow with that thinga-ma-jig.

So readers, I hope you are having an excellent weekend in your very own homes or if you are in a hotel, it is by choice and you are in the midst of a fab vacation.

Blessings,
Erica

Simply Create Too Challenge No. 3

Good mornin' stamper friends. It's coming down to the wire. I had finished all of my cards, but needed some gift card holders. Stamp TV to the rescue. Gina K., has a tute this week in two easy to understand episodes...love these freebies... for a cute holder and I totally took advantage of it. I used dsp from a forgotten CTMH package and SU for the base. Instead of a bow, I opted for a belly band..easier to get on and off than to fumble with a ribbon. Som ric rac, a little Santa had with stickles and a blob of glossy accents...woulda' put on a pom pom, except I need to mail this. And I am off to make several more of these. BTW, this sample used a gift card I had sitting around the house. I've purchased the Merry Christmas themed cards since then. So go check out Stamp TV to learn how to make one of these. More importantly, take some time out for yourselves and visit Simply Create Too where you can get some inspiration to join us for this challenge.

Hugs & Blessings,
Erica