Erin Taylor Designs

My next card uses the Bike Ride stamp set and the Build a Bike die set. My parents bought me a cute cruiser style bike for my birthday a few years ago and it's lime green with yellow accents, so I made this bike to match. So, so cute!! My personal bike doesn't have a basket but I had to add a basket of beautiful flowers to this bike. After I colored the flowers with Copics I added clear Wink of Stella over the top. You can find the stamps + dies bundle here. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like my cards! If you have any questions or need more information, please leave a comment below.

I love matching stamp and die sets, but using dies alone can also make a huge impact. I pulled out my Stampin' Up! Succulent Framelits Dies, a few distress ink pads, and my favorite polka dot patterned paper and created a dimensional thank you card.


I die cut the three large flowers from white cardstock, then used my mini distress tool to rub on two colors of ink per flower. I overlapped the colors slightly, making sure to blend them together well.


I used glue dots to adhere the three flowers together, then added a button and twine to the center. How cute is that?! I love how my big, colorful flower turned out. I added a die cut "thank you", also from white cardstock + colored with my mini distress tool, under the flower. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's Thoughtful Branches stamp set. 


The Oh So Succulent stamp + die set is a must have! I have two more cards to share later this week using the stamps and dies. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

The new Stampin' Up! occasions catalog is full of beautiful stamps and dies. I received some new goodies to play with last month and I finally had a chance to sit down and play! The Beetles & Bugs stamp set is adorable and the first set I used to create a card. Something about the perfectly symmetrical little bugs that I just love. I am not a bug person (at all!) but I love them as stamps! 

Here are step-by-step instructions for completing this card:

1. Create the stamped background using four cute little bugs (outlines only... no solid stamps or detail images). I used four ink colors (navy, lime green, aqua, and orange) and used one stamp per ink color. I started at the bottom right and stamped my way up to the top left. 

2. After the background is finished, ink the edges using a mini distress tool or makeup sponge and lime green ink. I used small, sweeping circular movements to keep the ink light and avoid swirl marks. 

3. Die cut aqua cardstock from the middle Framelits - Labels Collection die. The Labels set is currently unavailable, but this set is similar! Trim the edge off the aqua cardstock and adhere it to the card front. 

4. Trim a piece of vellum to 1 1/4 inches by 6 inches. Stamp sentiment with VersaMark and sprinkle on embossing powder. Heat set, then wrap around card front (centering sentiment on aqua label) and adhere. 

5. Wrap black and white twine around card. Adhere enamel dots above and below sentiment.




The products in the Occasions catalog are available until May 31, 2017. I'll be back with more projects using this stamp set and several more cute stamp and die sets. Thanks for stopping by!

This week's Retro Sketches Challenge is up and it's a good one! The sketch is based on one of my previous cards: 

To create a new version of this card I pulled out one of my favorite Stampin' Up! stamp sets: Secret Garden. Oh, how I love this set. It has both solid and outline images, and I have made several lovely cards with it. 

I started by choosing my color scheme. I used two pieces of retired Stampin' Up! designer series paper and matched cardstock and ink colors to those patterns. The light pink flower is stamped with Melon Mambo, the dark purple is Rich Razzleberry, and the leaves were stamped with Crushed Curry. 

I found matching buttons from an old (old, old) bag of Autumn Leaves buttons, and the enamel dots are from My Mind's Eye. The sequins are from my stash. 

The Christmas Pines stamp and die set from Stampin' Up! is so much fun to work with! I love the fern dies and how they look layered on a card front. So pretty! 

For this card, I used the Christmas Pines stamp and die set, along with the Presents and Pinecones designer series paper. 

I started by stamping the frame and sentiment onto white cardstock. I stamped the red frame with Stampin' Up's Cherry Cobbler ink pad and the sentiment with black ink. Then, I trimmed a piece of Presents and Pinecones patterned paper for the top of the card, and a piece of silver glitter paper for the bottom.

For the cluster of elements on the left, I die cut the leaves from Emerald Envy cardstock and a pinecone from white cardstock. I die cut the bow from Cherry Cobbler cardstock, then adhered them with foam adhesive. I die cut Cherry Cobbler cardstock with a scalloped border die from Papertrey Ink. Then I added enamel dots (from My Mind's Eye).  

You can check out all the Stampin' Up! products on the Stampin' Up! website: www.stampinup.com

 Check back soon for a card using the new Stitched Shapes Framelits Dies! Have a good week.

I received another box of awesome new supplies from Stampin' Up! earlier this month and I am finally getting around to blogging about them! For those of you who follow me on Instagram, these cards were posted a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty good about creating cards and photographing them, but I've been slacking in the blogging department. Sigh. One of these days I'll have more time for this wonderful crafty hobby of mine!

Until then, here are the first three cards I created with my new box of supplies. 

First up is a fall card using the gorgeous new Paisleys and Posies stamp and die set. I love how this turned out. I used the matching designer series paper (the specialty paper is gorgeous!) plus an older cream colored flower cabochon from my stash. It is made by Stampin' Up!... from 2012 or 2013, maybe? I also used matching twine and pearls. 

I created the stamped background first by stamping some of the paisley images with Delightful Dijon ink. The sentiment was stamped with Rich Razzleberry ink.


Up next I have a card using the Christmas Pines stamp set and matching dies. Yes, I even inked the edges of my card! I usually shy away from the grungy/distressed look, but the vanilla background needed a little something. I used a Time Holtz distress ink and my ink blending tool. I think the distress ink I used was antique linen. 

I die cut the pine-cones from metallic gold paper and used gold glitter paper (another older Stampin' Up! product) as a border between the red and cream papers.  


The last card I made uses the adorable Hang Your Stocking stamp and die set. This striped paper might be my favorite holiday patterned paper ever. The red/green/mint colors are perfect for holiday cards! 

I stamped the stocking with Stampin' Up! Emerald Envy ink and added a die cut bow from Cherry Cobbler. The silver glitter tape and twine are both from my stash.  


Have you gotten a jump on your Christmas/holiday cards yet? I'm making progress! 

I hope you're having a great weekend and check back soon for more card inspiration!

Hello there! Once again I fell off the blogging bandwagon when summer hit. Those ten weeks flew by in a flurry of trips to the pool, camps, cross country vacations, and a certain new man in my life. Yes, life has been crazy hectic but I have made cardmaking/scrapbooking a priority during the month of August. I recently received a box of Stampin' Up! products to play with and I must say I love what I came up with. 

First up is a card I created with the lovely Jar of Love stamp set. I have several mason jar stamp sets but this one is unique because it comes with three sizes of jars, jar lids, plus a ton of cute flowers, fish, and other items to stamp inside (and outside) of the jars. It really is a complete stamp set and makes creating fast cards a breeze.  



My collection of woodland creature stamp sets is embarrassingly large, but who can resist a cute little fox sitting on a tree stump? Definitely not me. The Foxy Friends stamp and punch set is a must have for animal lovers like me. 

I used a grad background for my card, breaking the card into three quadrants. I used white cardstock and two pieces of patterned paper, then used foam adhesive to adhere the tag. I used dimensional adhesive to add the cardstock fox on top.  


I'll have another card or two to post in the coming week. Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

I haven't played along with the ColourQ challenge in awhile, but this week's inspiration photo and coordinating color challenge is so pretty! Navy, pink, gold, and white. I love it. 


I used this beautiful butterfly stamp, Swallowtail, from Stampin' Up! in the middle of my card. I stamped it with Versamark, then used gold embossing powder (from PSX) to heat emboss the image. 

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but I die cut a banner from vellum, then stamped "you're the best" (from Papertrey Ink's Sunflower Bouquet) with VersaMark, then used Blush Zing embossing powder to heat emboss it. The gems and pearls are from Hero Arts.

Happy Friday, friends! It's been a busy week here (hence the crickets on the blog), but I have quite a few things planned this weekend! I have a card for ColourQ tonight, the Gossamer Blue Inspiration blog hop tomorrow + RetroSketches weekly sketch, and a card for Paper Smooches Sparks on Sunday. The blog has been neglected, but I have been busy creating!

Hell there! My Retro Sketches card is a wee bit late this week because of a screw up on my part... I'm participating in a super fun blog hop tomorrow and I didn't read the directions thoroughly, causing me to combine two challenges that I shouldn't have. Whoops! But it's done and I'm sure happy with the results. :)


My plan when I created this card was to flip the sketch from horizontal to vertical, and try a black/white/light blue color combo. This flower stamp, from Stampin' Up!, is so gorgeous and I didn't want a bunch of color & patterns distracting from it.

I used Memento Luxe Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the flower. I practice 4 or 5 times to get it just right, but the result is a striking stamped image. I masked off the sentiment from the stamp and used a small sentiment from Papertrey Ink instead. 



Make sure to check back tomorrow for another project that I created using this sketch. I'm participating in a fun blog hop (with prizes!) that you won't want to miss! 

Happy Halloween, crafty friends! The boys just got home from school and I have a few minutes to post before we head to Publix to trick-or-treat. Evan and Jack are going as a Creeper and a Steve from Minecraft and the excitement is pretty high around here. I think they both consumed ridiculous amounts of sugar at school and they are bouncing off the walls. Hopefully no one melts down before the trick-or-treating actually starts!


For today's CAS(E) this Sketch! card I pulled out Stampin' Up's Into the Forest stamp set and my Copic markers. The little animals are so cute, and I created a mini scene on my card front. I used Papertrey Ink's Double Ended Banner die and stamped Paper Smooches' Sentiment Sampler for the sentiment.

One of my favorite blogs is Susan Raihala's Simplicity by Late Blossom blog. I love her CAS style and her "use what you have" mentality. One of her personal goals is to use every image stamp she owns at least once. I love this idea, but I have a l-o-n-g way to go to use every single stamp image that I own! 

I don't know if it's realistic for me to have the same goal, but I've started by using some of my Stampin' Up! stamp sets. Field Flowers is one of those beautiful but unloved sets sitting on my shelf, and the big flowers worked perfectly for today's card. I know I'm not using my Stampin' Up! stamps as much because most don't have matching dies... but I remember the days before matching dies, and I was darn good at fussy cutting my stamped images. I wanted the flowers to have dimension, so I stamped the stems and leaves onto white cardstock, then stamped the flowers onto another sheet of white cardstock before fussy cutting them and adhering them with dimensional adhesive. 




Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.

Do you ever buy products thinking you will love them, then have them sit in a bin for, well, a really long time, completely unused? 

When I first started scrapbooking, I was a major hoarder. Heidi Swapp mega flower pack from QVC for $16? Sold. 5,000 piece chipboard set? I'll take 2. Every sticker sheet that Scenic Route ever created? I have multiples. Over the years I have purged a lot of the crazier purchases (mini Heidi Swapp iron, anyone?), but every now and then I get caught up in the hype of trends and new products. A few months ago I went a little crazy with stencils and mists. I know, I know. Most people love them. And I love them too, in theory. But I have a really hard time using them. I don't like the "messy look", which is the whole point of using mists with stencils! 

My solution is to use my stencils with dye (or distress) ink and a blending tool, then lightly "flick" mist over the stenciled image. The result is a much cleaner look that doesn't make me break out in hives. 

For this card, I used one of Heidi Swapp's beautiful stencils and two inks from Papertrey Ink: Aqua Mist and Hawaiian shores. I used my Tim Holtz blending tool to apply Aqua Mist ink over the whole stencil, then added Hawaiian Shores ink to the edges. After I removed the stencil I added drops of Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Seafoam and Mint Green. 

I am submitting my card to this week's Simon Says Stamp Stencil challenge, and Anything Goes challenge.  

I have a weakness for fall stamps (especially leaves and trees!), and I picked up this great leaf stamp set from Stampin' Up! last week. It's called Wonderfall and has several large leaf images and an adorable acorn, too. I used the maple leaf for my CAS-ual Fridays card, stamping it with Papertrey Ink's Orange Zest ink, then I inked the edges with Terracotta Tile.

Hi there! This week's ColourQ challenge features a bright and colorful color combo:


 My shelf of Stampin' Up! stamps has been terribly neglected lately... so many beautiful sets that haven't seen ink, and with this challenge I wanted to ink up Blue Ribbon. I love the distressed look of the blue ribbon badge, and it worked beautifully with the pink/yellow/aqua color combo.

Today was the first day of school for my little ones, so I am writing this post sans children... and I must say, it's nice to have a quiet house! Both boys will be in school Monday-Friday this year, and I will have three whole hours of peace and quiet everyday, for the first time in 7+ years. I cleaned up the kitchen today and I was amazed... it stayed clean for three whole hours. A record in the Taylor house, for sure.

I also finished up a card this morning for this week's Monday Mood Board challenge. I am a wee bit obsessed with all things nautical at the moment and my Wplus9 release order arrived on Monday (yay!), so I created a nauti-cool (sorry, couldn't help myself) "Thanks" card:


The gold ink is a little hard to see in these photos, but the anchors at the top of the card & the flags at the bottom are stamped with Tsukineko's Brilliance Galaxy Gold Dew Drop ink. This ink adds a fabulous shine and really sparkles in person. The background cardstock is Wplus9's new Nautical Navy cardstock, and the little banners are from Stampin' Up's clear set called Settin' Sail.


I did a quick search on Google Images for "sailboats" to get some inspiration for my card. I was instantly drawn to the swooping sails in varying colors and the beautiful curves of the boats. I wanted to create something similar for my card and I tried (unsuccessfully) to execute my vision using various bowls and plates and Pure Poppy cardstock, but I wasn't happy with the results. I had a "light bulb" moment when I glanced at my Silhouette Cameo and realized I have this amazing machine that will have no problem cutting out what I want. A few clicks in Silhouette Studio and I had a perfect shape for my card:



And I have to share a couple of back to school pictures of my kids. Evan started 2nd grade today, and Jack is in VPK. We had a relatively smooth morning and Jack was all smiles when I picked him up at noon. Ev will be home in a bit and I'm sure I'll get one word answers and a nod or two, but I hope he shares about his first day. 

Hey guys!

First up I have some very exciting news... I have been selected to be on the Fresh Squeezed Stamps Design Team! You can check out the announcement here. I will be working for this fabulous company for the next four months. Come back Thursday for my first Fresh Squeezed Stamps post!

This week is my final challenge as a guest for the RetroSketches challenge blog. I am so sad to see the month come to an end... The RetroSketches team is amazing!

This week's challenge:


Here is my take:

Hey guys! After a very l-o-n-g travel day yesterday the kids and I are safely in Washington. I got to spend little time in my Mom's studio this afternoon, playing with her stamps. She has a lot of beautiful images that I don't have, which was great fun to use this afternoon.

This week's ColourQ challenge was so much fun to work with. I LOVE the colors & luckily my Mom had everything "in stock" in her studio. I pulled our her new Mosaic Madness stamp set from Stampin' Up!, Rosie Posie (a classic!), and a beautiful sentiment set from Simon Says Stamps.