Happily Haunted House!

Pin It Now! Here's a cute little haunted house, complete with batty chimney and a ghost coming through the walls!

The color combo is a fun one from Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I used coordinating strips of patterned paper at 3/4" and 1/2" by 1-1/2" and pulled them all together with a black satin ribbon.  The house is colored with the same combo.  I love this stamp set!  There are so many little details you can add to the house.  Here, I've spooked it out with the Halloween stamps - ghost, tree, bats, and that tiny spider web in the corner of the door.  Such fun to build a scene! 

A little close up of the house. I keep a curved mask of paper in the stamp box to make grassy hills out of with a sponge wedge.  I outlined the house lightly with pencil after die cutting it with the matching framelit to place the bats, ghost, and tree correctly.  Then simply erased the lines and popped the house up with Dimensionals!  

Check out this sweet stamp set for all the wonderful ways you can dress up the houses!

Click the pic to visit SU's site -
pick me as your demonstrator to order!

Head on over to Hand Stamped Sentiments and join in the fun!  The challenge goes on for two weeks, and I would love to see what you do! 

Have a spooky cool day! ~ Erika

SUPPLIES:
STAMPS: Holiday Home
INK:  Pear Pizzazz, Blackberry Bliss, Jet Black Staz On, Basic Grey, Smoky Slate, Hello Honey
PAPER:  Typeset Specialty DSP, Subtles DSP Stack, Basic Black, Very Vanilla
EMBELLISHMENTS:  Black Satin ribbon
BIG SHOT:  Holiday Home Framelits

OH HAPPY DAY! Adoption Congratulations

Pin It Now! For the first time in a good, long while, a color challenge hasn't been a stress to me!  Here's a card I made for a friend's recent adoption finalization. They are a super sweet family and I am SO happy for them!

The colors from our latest challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments. Super juicy and summery, right?

I created a large shaker window and used Fringe Scissors to make this great confetti!  I was able to snip up little squares of all the challenge colors, plus Silver Glimmer Paper!  The little one is 2-1/2, and he's going to love it.  He'll probably rip it up to get to the confetti, but that's okay :D

Here's an inside look at the making of the shaker.  I cut several Shaker Frames into quarters and ran them around the outer edge of my shaker area.  Then, make the confetti by criss crossing  the fringe scissors to make squares. Placed a square of Window Sheet over it (acutally I attached it to the opening of the Lost Lagoon layer for the card front with Sticky Strip).  Added a double layer of Dimensionals, since the Shaker Frames are 2 Dimensionals high. 

Inside, I made him a little name tag.  (His first name was left off til after the photos were taken)

And there you go!  Won't you stop by Hand Stamped Sentiments and play along this week?  I'd love to see how you use these fabulous colors!

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS:  Starburst Sayings, Hip Notes

INK: Tangelo Twist, Lost Lagoon, Hello Honey

PAPER:  Lost Lagoon, Whisper White, Window Sheet

EMBELLISHMENTS:  InColor Sequin Assortment, 3/8" Stitched Stain Ribbon in Hello Honey, Essentials Wooden Elements, Shaker Frames, 

TOOLS:  Fringe Scissors, Big Shot, Starburst Framelits, Decorative Dots Embossing Folder, Diagonal Stripes embossing folder

OTHER: Dymo label maker

Look Up to Father - Father's Day Card

Pin It Now! Here's the Father's Day card I made for my husband this year.  

I love this tree stamp!  The trunk is amazing - look at the detail!  I used Stampin' Write Markers in several colors to hand paint the stamp, then die cut with a Window Frames Framelit, and sponged the sky above and the grass below with Soft Sky and Certainly Celery. I dabbed a little gold in flecks around the edges, too, and tied a bunch of linen thread around the bottom.  A little piercing and two mini brads to finish it. 

I love the way it turned out!  I was inspired by a similar card by Amanda Corbet and changed it up to use the stamps I wanted.  Look Up to Father was a limited edition stamp and is now retired, but it's still available as a digital download.  So you can purchase, recolor in MDS, and print perfectly every time!

Here's the inside.  I "huffed" on the stamp once I used it for the front image and restamped it over my sentiment.  It gives a nice lighter image that echoes the front.  

Thanks for stopping by!

SUPPLIES:  

STAMPS:  Look Up to Father, Teeny Tiny Wishes

INK:  Mossy Meadow, Blackberry Bliss, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Gold Metallic

PAPER:  Moonlight DSP Paper Stack, Blackberry Bliss, Basic Grey, Whisper White

EMBELLISHMENTS:  Linen Thread, Mini Brads, Piercing Tool

BIG SHOT: Window Frames Framelits

PUNCHES:  Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch

Wonderful Mother - Mother's Day Card with Spiral Flower Die

Pin It Now! Spring is finally in swing!  I'm thinking ahead to Mother's Day, and bringing the sunshine indoors with this fresh color combo at Hand Stamped Sentiments...Coastal Cabana, Gumball Green, and Crushed Curry.

Do you ever make a card that requires you to tear into every corner of your craft room?  This is one of those!  I loved making it, but it took me 'round the crafty world, so to speak. Big Shot - Glue Gun (blistered thumb) - sewing machine in the far corner - heat embossing drawer - the punches - oh, and the box of SU goodies that was laying on the floor waiting to be unpacked!

The Originals Spiral Flower Die makes every card it sits on EXTRA special.  And that's what my mother-in-law is, so this will be headed her way next month.  Core'dinations makes these flowers so much easier to work with.  You can really grubby this cardstock up and it doesn't tear!  

Inside, a cluster of flowers from Simple Stems.  I have made a habit of adding a layer to the inside of my cards to strengthen it  and give a little more depth.  

I'm using our color combo at HSS, but also I'm playing along with Pal's Paper Arts.  Click the pics below to visit the sites for plenty of inspiration!

By the way, the sketch for this card is something I grabbed from page 99 of the Idea Book.  Different elements, but great looking layout!

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS:  Chalk Talk, Delightful Dozen, Simple Stems, Blessings From Heaven

INK:  Versamark with clear Stampin' Emboss, Coastal Cabana, Gumball Green, Black Staz On

PAPER:  Afternoon Picnic DSP, Gumball Green, Coastal Cabana Core'dinations, Whisper White, Crushed Curry

EMBELLISHMENTS:  Basic Pearls, stitching

BIG SHOT:  Originals Spiral Flower die, Secret Garden Framelits, Chalk Talk Framelits, Tasteful Trim

PUNCHES:  Scallop Oval

Bunch O' Banners Thank You - HSS 181

Pin It Now!

This card features an abundance of banner pieces, from several different sources. 

The focal point is a burlap banner piece from the Sale-A-Bration FREEbie, Heartfelt Banner Designer Kit. So many pieces in this kit can be used on a card or scrapbook layout!  

Then we have the strip of banners across the top from Banner Blast (Sale-A-Bration 2014 also).  They're zig-zag stitched together to give them a little cohesion. 

Finally, the sentiment is from the Bitty Banners Bundle, these are a snap to die cut with this coordinating Framelits. 

And I finally have found an opportunity to ink up my new Dictionary stamp. I love this because you can have a vintage book page look, but it will match anything when you change out the color!

The colors were inspired by our latest color challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments:

-Midnight Muse

- So Saffron

- Tangerine Tango

An unusual combo, if I may say, but I like they way it turned out!

Thanks for stopping by!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps:  Banner Blast, Itty Bitty Banners, Dictionary, circle stamps from My Paper Pumpkin kit Feb 2014

Ink: Midnight Muse, So Saffron, Tangerine Tango, Crumb Cake

Paper:  Midnight Muse, Gold Glimmer, Whisper White

Embellishments:  Gold Sequins, Banner Piece from Heartfelt Banner kit, Basic Metal button, Midnight Muse Stitched Satin ribbon 

Big Shot: Bitty Banner Framelits Die

Who Doesn't LOVE a Chocolate Bunny?! Hybrid Muslin Sack & Card ForEaster

Pin It Now! Surely I'm not the only one who adores Stampin' Up!'s retired Chocolate Bunny stamp!  Did you know it's available as a digital download?  Yes!  You can color them any color you want, including any of SU's colors that have ever existed, and print them any size, any quantity, forever!  For only $1.95.  Seriously!

Today, I want to share with you my Chocolate Bunny project!  I've put the bunny on a card, and printed her onto fabric and stitched her to a muslin bag.

The hexagon embossing folder is used, but I only cranked it about 2/3 through the Big Shot to give it a subtle fade.

The bunny is nestled inside the photo strip Framelit from On Film Framelits set.  The chevron behind her is just the reverse of the cutout from the die.  I backed the square holes with Coastal Cabana for contrast.

The Happy Easter sentiment is from Delightful Dozen, stamped onto vellum with Staz On.

See the circle garland?  I stitched it myself from Subtles DSP (pink) and stamps from the latest Paper Pumpkin kit (February 2014).  It was easier than I'd imagined!  And I'm just smitten with it, I want to make loads of garland now!  

Three different circles make up the garland: 1" circle punch, smallest Starburst Framelits, and a 1" Martha Stewart punch.  

Here's a close up of my fine (JOKING) sewing workmanship!

I used printable fabric (you can find in on Amazon), printed bunnies, cut them out, and stitched them onto a scrap of Beau Chateau fabric (this is on CLEARANCE for $1.99!!!)

Before stitching all the way, I stuffed a little cotton batting inside to give her some dimension.  The pink fabric has a zigzag stitch around the edge, but I did that before attaching it to the muslin bag...I adhered the pink panel with Sticky Strip!  Easy enough!

I thoroughly enjoyed getting crafty with this project.  So often, I get pigeonholed into using paper only, but today was all good!  

The card was inspired by our latest sketch at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  I turned the sketch clockwise 1/4 turn.  Head over to play!  I'd love to see what you are up to!

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Chocolate Bunny (digital), Delightful Dozen

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Coastal Cabana, Jet Black Staz On, Baked Brown Sugar
Paper: Very vanilla, Subtles DSP stack, Vellum, Coastal Cabana

Embellishments: Very Vintage Deigner Button, Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon, basic rhinestone

Big Shot:  Hexagon embossing folder, On Film Framelits, Starburst Framelits

Punches:  1" Circle, 1" Scallop Circle (Martha Stewart)

File Folder Valentine, Hearts A Flutter

Pin It Now! Hello, crafty friend!  I have another Valentine card to share today.  I'm making LOTS of Valentines this year, because I'm determined to send them out all over the place this year!

Here's a file folder card made with the Envelope Punch Board.  These are SO fun to make, and only take a minute more than a standard card to make.  I used these instructions from a printable I found on Pinterest.

I love the color combo from the current challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments:

Strawberry Slush

Coastal Cabana

Wisteria Wonder

What a fresh color pallette!  

Closer up, you can see I've used the heart framelit from Hearts A Flutter for the cute doily heart stamped in Wisteria Wonder, heat embossed  "sweet little you" from Perfectly You, punched a chevron banner with the Chevron punch, and sprinkled hearts about with SU's heart punch (retired, why do they do that?!). The little floral strip that you see under the chevron banner is DSP from the Mini Memories Simply Created Mini Album (Spring 2014). 

Inside, from Perfectly You and colored with Stampin' Write markers and Aqua painter. 

I've used the sketch from Create with Connie & Mary, turning it on its side. Super cool sketch, I wouldn't have added the glitter hearts if they hadn't suggested it in the sketch!  Love it!

SUPPLIES:

STAMPS:  Perfectly You, Hearts A flutter, Delightful Dozen (retired)

INK: Wisteria Wonder, Jet Black Staz On, Coastal Cabana, Strawberry Slush

PAPER:  Strawberry Slush CS, Whisper White CS, In Color 13-15 DSP Stack, Coastal Cabana CS, Silver Glimmer, DSP floral print from Mini Memories Simply Created Mini Album (Spring 2014)

EMBELLISHMENTS:  Pool Party Twine (SAB 2014), 

PUNCHES: chevron punch, hearts punch

BIG SHOT:  Hearts a Flutter Framelits

ENVELOPE PUNCH BOARD, CROP A DILE

Perfectly You HSS166

Pin It Now! There's a great color challenge this week at Hand Stamped Sentiments that'll get you in the mood for autumn. This warm color palette of Crushed Curry, Pear Pizzazz, and Early Espresso is perfect for masculine cards, too, but mine - while I had planned on going a bit manly - turned out to be for a girl friend.

This card is pretty much CASEd from page 38 of the Holiday SU Catalog.  Lesson here is that even if you're pressed for time, you can knock out a cute card in no time, because Stampin' Up! is so full of great inspiration that you do NOT have to reinvent the wheel every time you want to get crafty.  I've changed colors and embellishments, but the layout of the card caught my eye, so I went for it!  It took me about 20 minutes to make this.

Some details:

- The little "friend" banner is popped up from the original image (Perfectly You hostess set #131877).  I trimmed it nice and narrow, and used the 1" square punch to flag the ends.  

- The Crushed Curry patterned paper (Afternoon Picnic DSP #131390) was a little too bright for my taste when I cut the strip, so I sponged it evenly all over with Classic Ink. Not so much to make it look distressed, but to just warm it up.  

- The gold splatters are created with Gold Lame' Smooch, which is still available on the clearance rack.  I have a big stockpile of this stuff, it's so pretty, and I think it really complements Crushed Curry.

- Layer EVERYTHING possible with Stampin' Dimensionals.  I think pop ups make a simple card look more complex and interesting.  Yes, it might cost you 20 cents extra to mail, but what cost is fabulous, anyway?! Haha.

So head on over to Hand Stamped Sentiments - this challenge is good for 2 weeks.  I'd love to see what you're inspired to create!

SUPPLY LIST:

STAMPS:  Perfectly You

INK: Crushed Curry, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso, Strawberry Slush

PAPER: Pear Pizzazz, Whisper White, Afternoon Picnic DSP

EMBELLISHMENTS:  Button-Designer Neutrals Collection, Gold Lame' Smooch, Sponge, Pear Pizzazz Chevron Ribbon

Clean, Simple, Merry, and Bright Stripes!

Pin It Now! Hi crafty friends!  Did you do any Black Friday shopping?  I swore I wouldn't, but I did a bit.  Just for fun stuff.  It's a family tradition :)

Today I'm sharing a brainstorm of a combination of cards I love on Pinterest with this week's challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  The challenge is an inspiration photo of colorful, glittered ornaments.  I love the bright colors, and decided to highlight just one pretty ornament on each of two cards...

 I was inspired by the glitter, the bright colors, and particularly the stripes on the two largest ornaments.  I also loved this card I pinned to my Card Love board on Pinterest.

My first card was done with the round ornaments Framelit.  I wanted to duplicate the glittery look and keep it neat, so I headed down to the basement for a little happy messmaking!  I applied spray adhesive to one side of Window Sheet, sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds over it, and flicked off the excess.  While that dried, I cut several 3/4" strips of DSP from Festival of Prints, and one strip of So Saffron from the Subtles paper pack.  I lined them up and adhered them across a piece of paper.  Cut a scrap of red Glimmer paper.  I taped the glittered Window Sheet (glitter side down!) behind the ornament die cut, then lined up the strips of DSP and taped them as well.  Tied the ribbon around the popped up card front.  The letters are cut from my dusty Cricut Expression...it still comes in handy sometimes!  I used Shimmery White CS, and it adds a beautiful sheen to this simple card.

 Here's a close up of the glittered window sheet ornament.  The letters are cut twice, once as a shadow.

The Joy card was done much the same, but no glitter window. I wasn't sure I liked the shiny, so I left the strips alone, but added Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds just around the edge of the ornament once the card was assembled.

 Super simple, and flat enough to mail!

Inside, from More Merry Messages...

So are you inspired to make a project featuring beautiful, colorful ornaments?  Head over to Hand Stamped Sentiments and show what you got!  

Fabulous You, Fabulous Shoe!

Pin It Now! When I saw this stamp set in the new SU catalog, I fell in love! This delicate little shoe stole my heart, as shoes often do.  So it was the first set I opened when my new stash arrived yesterday.


I experimented with lots of new supplies for this card...
The gorgeous background paper is Natural Composition Specialty DSP, and comes pre-embossed with these lush designs; patterns, woodgrain, music lines, floral. It has a really interesting fiber.
The cutout shape is Framelits Apothecary Accents, the largest size. The border edge is the same die turned on its side.


How do you like that sweet Vintage Faceted button? I'll be using lots of those!
The tiny tag is punched from the same pattern of the shoe.

Inside is the sentiment included with the set, and another Framelit from the same set. It fits nicely, I like the easy detail it provides. 
Loving the new stuff!  More to come soon!
Have a blessed & creative day! Erika. www.erikaclark.stampinup.net

Cards with COOL MOVES! Spring Shadowbox!

Pin It Now! I'm SO thrilled about this round of UStamp with Dawn and Friends! 

We're doing all gorgeous card sets, and ALL of them have a card with a Cool Move...shaking, popping, sliding, exploding....you know what I'm talking about! 

This is my first project, and it's a BONUS early bird project, as the official every day posting will begin March 23rd.  It's called Springtime Shadowbox and Occasion Cards.  I love the colors!  So fresh and springy!  And do you recognize the DSP?  You probably have it in your stash right now, it's Pocketful of Posies, a release from last year's Idea Book & Catalog. 

My Cool Move card is a Mother's Day card with a pop-up windowbox inside.  The lower shots show this card opened and closed.  I LOVE fancy folds and origami of all kinds, so this was a fun challenge for me!

The second card is a St. Patrick's Day banner card! A punched shamrock, set on a scalloped centerpiece, and the inside is just as pretty. ...and the tutorial contains an alternate non-St. Patrick's version. Here's a hint....it used lots of luscious golden glitter :)

The third is a punched bird card, alternating and repeating papers for a cool graphic look.  Pretty details and easy to do!

I hope I've enticed you to give Ustamp With Dawn and Friends a try!  If you'd like to check out my tutorial and more than 50 others for only $24.99, plus prizes, chats, and galleries just for you, click here to visit the site.

Tickled Pink Party!

Pin It Now!

A couple of weeks ago I hosted a workshop & swap with a PINK THEME!  Every little detail had some pink infused in it.  I wanted to share a few of the pics and ideas with you, incase you have a little princess or queenies that would like to party pink with you...

Here's my table all set for my workshop ladies. 

I made about a dozen tissue paper pom-poms, you can view a YouTube video how-to here.

They really added a fun flair!

 Here is my CANDY BUFFET! I created a tutorial for the apothecary jars, there's a link to the membership site here, I highly recommend this fun site!  There are some other fun items, a glittered wood block "Be Mine", pink bottlebrush tree that I'm so in love with, and a pretty embellished pillar candle.

 These were my party favors, they're handmade little muslin bags, I posted a tutorial for those here.

 What would a PINK PARTY be without PINK YUMMY FOOD?
Here are my Pink Lemonade Cupcakes.  They're easy and awesome!  My recipe is this:  White box cake cupcakes.  Make fresh buttercream icing (3C confectioner's sugar, 1 stick softened butter, 2T milk), but replace the milk in the recipe for frozen pink lemonade concentrate.  Needs no additional color or flavoring!  Amazingly pretty and yummy!

 Below are bottled water wrapped in patterned paper (Beau Chateau SU!), and sugar cookies topped with M&M's.  The sugar cookies were melt-in-your-mouth.  The recipe is from Allrecipes.com and you can find it here.

 Finally, here's a pic of my lovely friends enjoying themselves at the party.  Make and takes, Sale-A-Bration shopping, and card swaps.  And all the wonderful sweets :)