The Wood-Mounted Convention haul

The Popcorn Stamp

It Could be Worse

I make stamp promises I can't keep, especially when conventions come to town. I wisely limit myself to one per year and try not to buy many wood-mounted stamps, but rarely succeed. This show was no exception. At least what I bought is only enough to fill the top of a rather large shoebox top.  The empty space in the middle is where the popcorn stamp was located. That is the stamp used in the card on my previous post. I'll share more haul this weekend.
Blessings,
Erica

Anyone for Popcorn?

Today is my youngest daughter's 41st birthday. She can't believe it and neither can I.  We were going to get her a dog, but she prayed long and hard and wisely made the decision that she simply didn't have the time and energy to devote to raising a puppy. So she's put it off for a few years. Having a rambunctious (as in ADHD) 6 yr. old probably was a major factor. And there's a full-time quite intensive job. GROAN! I'm not sure just how young women make it these days.

Onto to my card. I bought this adorable Judith popcorn stamp from the weekend stamp convention. I had her in mind. My daughter adores popcorn...will eat it every day if she has the time. Air-popped, loaded with salt and butter and she doesn't gain a pound or have high blood pressure, unlike her mom. GROAN! She also loves movies. She's a Twi-girl especially, but anything romantic will do. The tickets are from Tim Holtz and the sentiment is from SU. The popped corn has crystal effects on it and is actually quite bright yellow IRL. Everything is stamped in Memento tuxedo black and the sentiment is on a vellum pennant shape with a couple of SU yellow candy dots for a little umph.
The embossed mat is one of Cuttlebug's first issues.

And finally, my dd loved the card. Especially since there was a movie gift card inside.

Coming soon, a photo of all the mounted stamps purchased from the convention.

Blessings,
Erica

Simply Create Too Challenge 56...Use Your Stash

And my of my, have I ever got a stash. I had the audacity to add to it today. It was Stamp Convention Day in Mesa, Arizona, and despite much-needed  rain and a well-known Marathon Day that snarled traffic, I braved it to increase my hoard. Actually, I was quite selective in my choices, but still managed to spend more than planned. My excuse, prices have gone up. And of course, the usual  plea...quite valid in my opinion, I don't drink, smoke, cuss, and rarely eat out. A girl has to have some sort of addiction.

On to my entry for the Simply Create Too design team.

There's not much to this. The card base is a pre-made card from a Recollections Assorted Box of Cards n Black & Creme. Michaels will now run a sale of 40% off these collections. They come in super handy when you are stressed for time. If you don't like the majority of the cards, consider buying them for the envelopes. There are 40 envies and cards. At 40% of the $9.99 regular price, it's not bad. You can also cut up the cards to use as mats. Sure works for me.

The only other addition is a mat with the sentiment from InkADinkADoo, stamped in ColorBox charcoal chalk ink. I love the boldness of it.  Whenever I won't be coloring, I use this ink. It's spot-on black.

You have two weeks to submit. I know you want to use your stash. No worries about having "just the right stamp or die cuts, or flowers...etc. Head on over to Simply Create Too and link up.

Blessings & Hugs.

P.S. I'll be sharing some of my goodies all this week right here.

Simply Create Too challenge no. 54

Hi Stamping Community,

At Simply Create Too, we are in full swing with our challenges. For our 54th, we've chosen Mothers Day/For a Female. And without further ado, here's mine. It's a 5x7 card. I'm learning to feel more comfortable with these now that I have purchased an envelope punch board. It's easy peasy to make perfect envelopes for any size card with these. If you don't have one yet, I'm letting you know it's one tool you will learn to love fast. Check out the Pinterest boards for lots of pins on how to make more than just envelopes.

I went all out and created the inside with lace, dies from Papertrey,  Nestabilities and Cheery Lynn. A pearl swirly, as well as rhinestone bling, Wild Orchid flowers, leaves punched with a Martha Stewart punch and two embossing folders in 5x7 card size so there's no trouble with creating a mat for a larger card. To my knowledge, there aren't too many to choose from. I'm hoping they'll be more, as I'm planning on making larger cards more now.

I've also found a delicious new heavy weight card stock (110 lb.) at an unheard of price. It's in Michaels' Recollections line at less than $.13 per sheet and it comes in packages of 100, in both white and cream. My card uses the cream color. The paper is smooth and easy to work with using most commonly used colored mediums. Needless to say, I'm stocking up. I'm basically getting three to four times as much paper as if I ordered a "select/premium" heavy weight card stock from SU....I can say that now, as once again, I'm leaving the fold. There are just too many companies I love to stay tied to one. 

Happy Weekend. Have fun stamping and do make a card for the Simply Create Too This is our mid-post time, so you have one full week.

Blessings,

Erica

Hero Arts Framelits

Did you know Hero Arts, in conjunctions with Sizzix, makes framelits to go with some of their stamp sets now. Well, I didn't and I caught a sale at JoAnn's and got 'em for half price. Oh Dear, I put a real hurting on my budget there last week. First I purchased $50 worth of sale items and they gave me a 30% coupon on my next purchase...sale items included, so I went back two days later and...well you know. Suffice it to say, no more buying power and $$ in my budget until March.

This flower was fun to color and the sentiment plus the embossing folder which is mounted inside of a card cut with a Nestie to make a window, matched perfectly. My coloring was done with Faber-Castell Aquarelle pencils.  I will be using this set frequently, I'm sure.

Happy Weekend
Erica

A Card for Lots of Reasons

Hi Stampers.
My daughter needed a housewarming card to go with a gift card for a friend. I had some whimsical images available, but she said this was not that type of couple. Just prior to Christmas, I had placed an order from Papertrey. I own very few of their products, because I'd read some very negative emails about customer service. I actually did end up having some slight delivery issues due to an address change that they didn't correct, but since I wasn't in a hurry, I was able to wait for it.
I don't exactly love the quality of the stamps. They're polymer and kinda wimpy, and you have to affix the label onto the stamp yourself. For the price of the stamp sets, I think they should come with it on. But I do like is their designs and the matching dies.

This die set is called One-Liners, and there are stamps to go along with them. A ton of versatility waiting to happen. Inside I used one of the few other sets by Papertrey that I own for the sofa and pillows. The sentiment is from an old CTMH set. I die cut a heart and made a quick gift card envelope using my Envelope Punch board. I fit it right onto to the top of the inside. My dd loved it and hopefully, so will the happy couple.

Back soon with more of this Happy One-Liner set soon.
Blessings,
Erica

Simply Create Too Is Calling with Challenge no. 52

Hi Stampers....
Happy New Year, and that's just what this card for Simply Create Too is called. We were given a great challenge to start the new year of 2014...you guessed it, "Anything Goes". Super Easy, right, so join us. We'll have a mid-post opportunity too.

I used simple ingredients. Each of the stamps is from a different set. The glasses (and the sparkle) are Stampin' Up. The "life" sentiment is from Tim Holtz and the Happy New Year is from the PrintWorks Collection...luv the font. It's so uplifting. Most happy new year fonts are so straight-forward. I used a Life Style embossing folder and Nestie dies along with a little Copic coloring for the champagne.

Well, I hope you have made stamping goals. My main two are to keep my room neat and organized (when not stamping), as it's the first room seen as you come in from the garage and it has double doors, and finish the two mini books I started. Next year, I hope to be gifted with a web-cam, so I can begin to do tutorials on YouTube. I'm putting that one out there for the family to see nice and early.

Blessings,
Erica