Sunflowers and Dragonflies and Paper Works

I just got a brand new stamp from Paper Works.

Isn't he CUTE??

I wanted to play with the sketch challange by Sunflowers and Dragonflies, so here's my card:

ALFALC swap

I was in a swap recently on Flickr. A little fabric, a little chocolate. So I was to buy some fabrics and goodies for my partner. Also some chocolate.

Well first my partner let me know that she's also a Heather Ross fan! THEN she complimented me on my sewn bags! So you KNOW I had to sew her a Heather Ross bag! Here it is.

And here is all her other goodies all packaged up. I was in love with her, due to the Heather Ross and my bag love, so I sent her plenty. Also I just really love wrapping little gifts! :)

My partner Susi is all the way in Germany so I might not get mine for a bit of more time. It took forever for poor Susi to get hers from me. But how fun to be expecting a package from Germany!

Aprons for Sale!

Several of the aprons I made a few weeks back are for sale in my Etsy shop. They are all just $12 so a steal. I decided apron making is just a stashbusting thing for me. I have way too much fabric! So whenever I'm bored I'm going to make an apron and sell it for $12.

HERE is a link to the sale.

Doll Quilt Swap 7

Here is what I made for my partner in Doll Quilt swap 7. This is just the quilt top of course.

Gothic Mommy

Remember when you were a preteen girl and playing with makeup was super fun. That never stopped being super fun for me.

Swap and teenage sewing

Here are some of the goodies for a swap I'm in. This is mostly fabric, a few other things. (Can't tell you of course) There is also one other large thing, but I didn't have any wrapping paper (this is all patern paper) so I can't show you that thing wrapped. I hope my partner, all the way in Germany, likes all this stuff. :) And look at this painfully adorable bag!

I didn't make it. I helped my good friend Annette's daughter Emma Lucy make it. Emma Lucy is a teenager and wanted a cool bag for her stuff. I think this fits the bill. She had this fabric, she went through my HUGE button and ribbon collection for the button and ribbon. It's the Tiny Happy bag. This bag is so easy and quick that I think I've made almost ten or more even of these bags now. It's basicly my go to gift. I tell people it's a "Library tote" but of course you can tote anything at all in it. In my own one I tote my supplies for church. Stephen is using his for back to school bag, Ethan uses his for the library. Kim has one, not sure what she uses it for (I've made Kim several bags, she probably has to rotate them). Marcia has one for the library...

Mom, have I made you one? I need to if not. Anyone else need one? They are the most fun to sew.

quit a long

I'm probably kicked out of the quilt a long for not participating. But that's not going to stop me. My personal deadline is "before it gets cold" which here in FL is not going to be until November probably. I did do these. I also wanted to show you, I'm not going to use white sashing afterall. I'm going to use this beige. I love this idea. I already have a beige bedskirt and curtains. Also I saw a quilt made with beige sashing (sorry i can't remember who did it.) and LOVED it. So beige it is!

Erin Comments on the SU catalog

Well the new Stampin' Up! catalog is here and I'm ready to comment on it. I don't mind if you skip this whole wordy post.

Cover, it does feel weird. I think it's kinda cool. Brian thinks it feels like wax is on it. I think it's pretty.

Family pic, cute as usual, poor Shanna couldn't make it apparently. (she's an inset, this inset circle theme carries throughout the catalog, making me wonder if they did that just so Shanna looked like part of the design)

I really like the color family swatches on pages 6 and 7. Actually I'd like a set of those. Can someone make me one? I'll make you an apron or a tote bag.

Hostess sets by level:
I love Of the Earth for level 1, the others are ok just not for me.
For Level 2 I would probably get Asian Artistry, but I also like Christmas punch (and love the sample for it) and Wings of Friendship.
OHMYHECK. I have never wanted a single stamp set as much as I want Kind and Caring Thoughts Level 3. I've never had a $500 order. I don't know what to do about that. I dont' like the other Level 3 stuff.

The section opening pages are like a sheet of one of the DP they sell. Is anyone else tempted to use them on cards?

I love Halloween, but even I think there are a bit too many Halloween stamps.

I've wanted Autum Harvest for a while. My BCBW friends tell me it's horridly ugly though. Maybe I'll get the Fall Harvest wheel instead?

Page 29, the Merry Christmas card with the dot stamping on just the edge? I'm going to use that idea for a card soon.

Page 35 Scenic Season is the most lovely Christmas set ever.

My friend Roniece freaked when she saw the Monogram Sweet set. She uses the snot out of the Together Forever so it will be great for her. She's also ON BOARD with the personalized stamps that they have there.

I will PERISH without Look Who's Turning. I mean that octopus is CUTE.

Don't surf but must have Extreme Surfboard. I like that that one and also Extreme Dirt Bike you can stamp in a variety of positions and it will still work. FUN.

I'm totally torn on Lots of Bots and Greetings Earthlings. I think I have enough similar, but I do love them. Samples for those rock too.

Ronnie is also gaga over Pony Party. It's way cute. I don't need it.

I was gungho for Animal Stories until I read online that the giraffe looks like it's pooping. I guess I have enough cute animals anyhow.

I still want Upsy Daisy and don't have it yet.

I have Pocket Silhouettes and I'm glad I do because the sample for it rocks.

I'm sure Flight of the Butterfly will be really hot. I can't spend that much, $32 for the stamp plus $16 for the punch... Not for me.

Will this be the year I buy Lovely as a Tree? Only time will tell.

I WILL buy the MOdern Label punch.

Pendant Park rocks. I have so many tree sets though...

Love Seeing Stars. Do I need it? Not sure.

That huge Medallion background stamp is going to be HOT.

Not sure on Hard to Say. Like to think I wouldn't need to say any of that enough to buy a stamp set of it...

Just Perfect Alphabet really is perfect. I'm getting it!

LOVE the In Colors. I always do.

Love the Thoroughly Modern papers.

Might get the ones that look like graphic line drawings.. Storybook Speciality.

If I get the Seeing Stars I might get the star punches. I need to decide if stars are a fad for me or if I really love them forever.

Ok kids want me to help them clean and Ronnie will be here soon.

Fun with stickers.

I got a sheet of stickers on clearance at a LSS here in town. I have made two really fun cards with them:

You are seeing the outside and inside views. The one with orange has an image by Gina K Designs and a phrase by Cornish Heritage Farms.

And this green one has a phrase by Stampin' Up!

I really enjoyed working with the black/white/gray plus one color palette. I think I'll make some more of these.

Also Ethan, my youngest is potty trained! I need to take some pictures of him so I can make this scrapbook page. I won't do him ON the potty, but him just being proud near the potty. :) His little overnight pullups he uses have robots and robot dogs, so of course this paper was perfect to make a theme. I hate that all potty training paper products are so baby-ish. Kids who are potty training are not baby-ish anymore! It's like the great begining of kid-hood. At least my kids feel that way! :) So this is a nice "big boy" theme.

Cover inspiration and eastern influence

I'm going to go ahead and finsih up my Color and Design Trends book inspiration today. I've had a few questions. The book is one of those little free booklets you get in the paint section. This one is by Beher. Of course any paint company would have some. I actually got a few. I am seriously looking at paint for my bedroom so I was getting ideas. This particular one was the most inspiring on a card design level.

On the cover see the room with the red wall? It has this rose artwork done on the wall that is just black on white. I loved that and decided to make a card inspired by it. My roses are stamped on glossy and then mounted with foam tape. I sorta love this VERY simple card. Stamps by Stampin' Up!

The final page of ideas was this one called "eastern influence". This one gave me troubles. The purple color is "deep aubergine". I didn't have anything very close to that. I settled for plum.

The card turned out fun though. It's probably my least favorite of the ones I did for this challange, but it still works.

And there you have it. The full color inspirations challange collection. Overall I'm happy with them.

graphic elements

Today I'm sharing the card I made inspired by the "graphic elements" section of my paint sample booklet. This is my number ONE favorite card I've made in a long time! As you may notice it's directly inspired by the little section of the idea page that is in the top left of my photo. And here is a closeup. The color on the left is sahara sand. My photo doesn't show the color so well.

And the inside.

I'm not sure exactly why, but this simple style is REALLY pleasing to me. It doesn't hurt that I LOVE that Pocket Notes SU set.

The Pocket Notes is by SU and the Open Circles is by Cornish Heritage Farms.

In other news:

I decided I'm not going to join SU. I'm going to place a rocking HUGE order of course, but I don't need to be a demonstrator. I really like using the handful of other companies that I love, I don't want to have parties or worry about quotas. I feel good about this. I also cut down my wishlist a ton. Wanna know it? Of course you do!

Scenic Season - although I'm considering not making Christmas cards. I really enjoyed doing the photo cards last year and I generally don't like making the same card 50 times. So I think I'll not get this one and not make Christmas cards at all.

Wellness Wishes - I've read that people hate this set. I LOVE it. It doesn't hurt that I don't have ANY get well stamps! I'm not sure how that happened. But I guess I need this stamp set!

Look Who's Turning - Hello, it has an octopus! Done!

Extreme Surfboard - I don't surf. But I cannot resist this lovely stamp. It's a must have for me.

Upsy Daisy - not new, still wanting it

Lovely as a Tree - not new, still wanting it

Seeing Stars - I'm a bit obsessed with stars as of late.

Just Perfect Alphabet - I'm not a huge alphabet person, but this particular one really is "just perfect"

All the in color paper. I don't like SU's inks. So just the paper, maybe some of the ribbon. I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the new In Colors. OHMYHECK I love them. Even that purple one.

Holiday Lounge paper. (although not if I'm not going to make Christmas cards)

Thoroughly Modern Papre. - Heck I might get two packs of this. I love it.

Thoroughly Modern gusseted envelopes - I recently took over bills here at the house and I need these to help me stay organized and also they are SO lovely.

Dots and designs rub ons.

Modern Label punch

I may be low on black cardstock, I'll have to check.

Vintage Chic

The next color combo has a rust color, brown, tan and cream. This combo is lovely but didn't WOW me. Here is the card I made with this combo.

And the inside. I stamped the background stamp then added a million tiny dots of brown to it. I like how it brings it to life.

The background stamp is by Cornish Heritage Farms, the flower and prase is by Stampin' Up!

In other news:

OHMYHECK I saw the new SU catalog. I've heard some folks are not loving it. I tell you I love it SO much. I cannot stand it. I seriously may be signing up to be a demo in the next few months. I want about twenty of those stamp sets. Sheesh!

Modern elegance

The first color combo in the paint book was this one they call "modern elegance". I actually LOVE it even though there was a lot of purple. Here is a shot of just the card. I did the black embossing on the purple in a really roundabout way. I inked a white glossy sheet with orchid ink, then stamped the backgrounder stamp with versamark and clear embossed. Then I ran a black inkpad over the raised area. I really like the look it gave. And I did a little detail on the inside too:

I'm sure you all already knowbut the gray is HOT right now. I don't think much about orchid/purple at all, but turns out it looks fab with gray. I actually love this purple card.

All these stamps are by Cornish Heritage Farms.