Helmar Happy Fathers Day Hop

Welcome to the Helmar Happy Fathers Day Hop. Today we are so excited to share with you a variety of fantastic masculine projects. We've put our Helmar arsenal to good use and want to share with you some inspiration for those last minute Fathers Day gifts.

If you have been following along, you should have hopped here from Julie's blog. If not, hop on back to the Helmar Blog and enjoy. Make sure to leave comments along the way, because we will have prizes up for grabs. And if the Man in your life is super lucky, We may even send him a Helmar prize pack too.

Today I wanted to share with you an art project I created using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive and Liquid Scrap Dots. These arrowheads were picked up by my husbands grandfather who recently passed. My husbands family wanted a way to display them, so I thought some shadow boxes would be perfect.

I created the papers by using a leather looking paper and distressing it with a combination of Vanilla Breeze Glimmer Mist and Tea Dye Distress Ink. I then applied it to the backing of the shadowbox using 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.

 For adhering the arrowheads, Liquid Scrap Dots is perfect!!! Love how this turned out and I couldn't have done it without my Helmar Arsenal!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Now hop on back to the Helmar blog and leave one last comment. If you get lost along the way, below you will find the links for the order of the hop.

The Robins Nest, Helmar and Grandpas

When I was a little girl, I didn't get to know my grandparents very well for they lived across the ocean and that in itself made it difficult. Now with children of our own, I feel blessed that our children get to know their grandparents.

Hello everyone, I'm here today to share with you a layout I created using the Regency collection from The Robins Nest. As soon as I saw this collection in The Robin's Nest store, I knew I had to have it. The rich combinations of burgundies and golds are just magnificent. For this layout I used a few of the Regency papers including Glitter Gold on Cream Swirl, Glitter Vanilla Wedding and Red Lion.I added a little Aged Mahogany distress ink, which was a perfect match, to the layout as well.

I also used the Regency Mini Dew Drops and Helmar Gemstone glue to create a little dimension on the page. Here is a close up for you. I love how the Minis ended up very free form.

Next I fussy cut some of the Glitter Gold on Cream Swirl paper and used the oval Chipboard Shapes piece for one of my favorite rub-ons from The Robin's Nest in the Viva Rub-on Pack. I finished it up with 3 of the Regency Robin's Nest Paper Clips and a Glitter Gold Journaling piece.

And there you have it. A layout of my Dad and my daughter. Memories like these are special, so use some beautiful papers to preserve them. I'd love to know what your favorite Robin's Nest papers are. Take a moment and leave me a comment today.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Until next time

Toodles

A Vintage Noel Card

What can I say, I'm a Timmy fan and his 12 tags of Christmas always gets my attention. So when that first tag came out, I had the perfect piece of canvas goodness to create it with. Hi everyone, I'm here today to share with you my take on Tag 1 this year.

For this card I used the smallest canvas banner and first sprayed it with Vanilla Breeze Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist. Before it was completely dry, I stamped the banner with a postage stamp I have. The ink ran to really give a vintage feel. LOVE IT!!! Pretty Pretty Pretty I say

I love how easy it is to fold and manipulate these canvas pieces. To create the dimension, I used Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots. This helped lift the folds to give them that height I was looking for.

Isn't the color of that banner sweet? Against all that cool winter colors, it really gives the card a POP. Now take a look at those beautiful silver flower embellishments. The so reminded me of pointsettias, so out they came. They are from Creative Charms and went perfectly on this card. In the Antique Flower Medley pack, there are both gold and silver flowers. YUMMO!!!

One more picture hehe, showing the banner and flower a little closer. You can also see the Glimmer Mist on the foliage too.

The perfect additions to any Vintage card I'm positive. These canvas banners and Vintage Flower Medleys are so pretty to work with and I love how the end result always blows my mind.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. Let me know what you think. I adore your comments here on the blog, so don't be shy!!!

Until Next Time

Toodles

December Flurries

Oh how I'm beyond excited to be back on the Paper Temptress Design Team. Ever since I received my first order of Patricia's paper heaven goodness, I've been hooked!!! With all that sparkle, texture and color, how could I not be!!!???!!!

Hello everyone, I'm here today with my first project as a returning Design Team member for Paper Temptress. With the holiday season starting, there are cards to be made and today I created a card using a few of my absolute FAVORITE papers from Paper Temptress. For the card base, I've used this fantastic Violet Mica Metallic paper. The weight on this stuff is perfect for all the layering I do. It'll hold up for certain!!! I also used Canvas Silver Lustre Text weight and the stunning Vintage Silver Lustre. See the Aqua colored paper? That is the Silver Lustre painted with Faber Castell Gelatos. This is my first time using the Gelatos and I'm already hooked!!!

I embossed the Vintage Silver Lustre paper then applied Distress ink in Broken China, Dusty Concord and Chipped Sapphire, finishing it off with a sprinkle of Antiquities Frosted Crystal embossing powder. I also colored the 25(cut out of some Pink Paislee Daily Junque goodness) with a Faber Castell Blue Metallic Pitt Artist pen. You can really see the sparkle that these wonderful papers have in the next photos.

I used a bunch of my favorite adhesive on the card. First some Premium Craft Glue for the paper to paper, some 450 Quick dry for the Velvet ricrac and a dollop of Liquid Scrap Dots for that very pretty FabScraps star.

Holy Doodles, does that Violet Mica Metallic have a wonderful gold glitter to it. Can you see to pretty texture the Vintage Silver Lustre has? And that amazing color the Gelatos create?

Now you can for sure hehe. It is so wonderful to be back on Patricia's team and I hope that you are all going to love the projects that I share. Make sure you leave me a comment today, for I'd love to hear from you.

Until next time

Be the Change

I Love great sentiments and quotes. Sometimes a few words can make such an impact!

Hi everyone, I'm here today to share with you a card I created using one of the prettiest quotes out there. An I Brake for Stamps stamp called  Be the Change. This has been one of my favorite quotes for years and I absolutely love that I've finally found it. I Brake for Stamps has some of the prettiest quotes and sentiments out there, so make sure you take a look.

For this card I first stamped the sentiment with Versamark and used Sparkle N Sprinkle Copper Kettle embossing powder. I then used Distress Inks in Spiced Marmalade, Broken China, and Dusty Concord  to create the background colors. I added a little water so they would blend a bit too. All of the products on this card are from the November Kit available soon from Dixie Pieces.

Here is the end result. I hope that you like it and would love to hear your comments.

A simple card that really showcases the beauty of a simple sentiment. Thank you so much for stopping by today. Make sure you take a look at the specials available right now at the I Brake for Stamps shop. There are so many stunning flower stamps that are on sale. When you purchase, save a little cash by using my Design Team code SAVE10ERIKA. You will save yourself 10% on your purchase. Who doesn't like saving a little money right???

I hope that you all have had a great weekend. Until next time

Toodles

A little Urban Lily Goodness

I so love the bright colors of Urban Lily papers. The pairing with blacks and whites just makes them POP. I've got a couple of cards to share with you today using Urban Lily. If you are looking for somewhere to purchase these beautiful papers, take a look at Scrap-tastic. They carry a lot of Urban Lily goodness.

For this first card I added a Urban Lily Answer it Chipboard piece and glitzed up the heart with some Stickles.

 This next one has a distress ink stamped area where I used water to blend. I think it is one of my favorite ways to use Distress Inks. I then heat embossed the sentiment and added a little more Distress Ink, direct to paper.

Thank you to each and every one of you for stopping by this past weekend for the Helmar Halloween Howler Hop. We had so much fun and we are so happy that you did too.

Until Next time

Toodles

A tag for ya and some WINNERS!!!

A few days ago, I had a little candy for anyone that left a comment about the 80s and its fashion.

I'm feeling generous so I picked 3 winners

Karen Narelle
Kristin
and Penny Kitz.

Please send me your information via my email address and I'll send out a little package of goodies to you.

Next I've got a tag to share with you. There is a wonderfully talented lady out there, that inspires me on a daily basis with her artwork. If you have never hopped over the Jean Franks Beck's Blog Bluebird Paperie, you've just gotta check it out. Jean uses the most beautiful stamps and she is the queen of ink I think. I decided to try my hand at a vintage tag. (thanks so much Jean)

I got these great journaling tags to try out from Debby of HeArt of Scrapbooking, and I'm absolutely loving them.

Here is my tag. I used one of the transparency tags and adhered it by using V2 Vellum Adhesive from Helmar. If you love using transparencies and acrylic, this is the glue for you!!!

Hope you love it.

The paper on the tag, is from the new Parisian Anthology line from Pink Paislee. Can you say DELISH!!! I can't wait to ink this stuff up with some Glimmer Mist. Also, the ribbon is a pink wrinkle ribbon available at Really Reasonable Ribbon.

Really Reasonable Ribbon is having a blog hop on the 13th, and there are tonnes of candy prizes along the way, including a big one here. So make sure you mark you calendars and stop by.

Toodles

Twilight Twilight, Yup I am a Twihard

Happy Tuesday everyone. Only a few more days until the release of the new twilight saga and I'm going to try and get up to the theater to see this one. As some of you may know, I'm a bit of a vampire fan and I thought, what better way to ring in the Twilight premiere here, than to share a card I've created that is all about the Dark side.Oh to be tormented with a choice like Belle

I received a bunch of the Distressed Couture Line from Glitz Design in a box of goodies from Frantic Stamper. I took one look at this line, and knew I had to have it all. The colors PERFECT, the patterns STUNNING. I paired that up with some Maya Road chipboard wings that I inked up with distress ink, drew in feathers with a glaze pen, then finished them off with some yummy Rock Candy Distress Stickles. Isn't that medallion just AWESOME? Love Love LOVE it.

All of the supplies to create this card can be found at Frantic Stamper. The prices are great and the selection TO DIE FOR!!! {in good vampire humor}

This card is entered into these challenges
Drunken Stampers- Twilight
Tuesday Throwdown- Black/White splash of color
Crafty Card Makers- Inky Fingers




Take care everyone and
Happy Crafting
Toodles

A sweet day

Hello Everyone and welcome to Tuesday. Yesterday was our sons graduation from Kindergarten. He was so excited that his Nephew from Calgary was here for it that he could hardly stand it. I cried, my husband got a little emotional and our daughter loved the whole celebration. What a special day indeed.

Today I'm sharing with you a card I made this weekend using some great Magistical Memories Chipboard and Bombshell Stamps. I so love using the two of these manufacturers together because I find they really compliment one another.

For the stamps I used the Hawaiian Girl Stamp Set. These were stamped on the flower after it was inked up in Distress Ink. The Chipboard flower pieces are then drawn on with alcohol ink , bent into shape and set aside to dry. I attached them with a brad and there ya have it. A purdy Hibiscus Flower

Here is a close up of the flower so you can see it a bit better

Do you have a special moment in your children's early years that you hold dear? What is it and have you created a scrapbook page from it? If you have, I would love to see it.

Thanks again for stopping by and taking a peek at what I've been up to. Tomorrow is Weight Watchers and I think I've had a really great week. We shall see

Oh one last thing for you all. Today is a brand new challenge day over at Really Reasonable Ribbon and the top 3 and winner of our first challenge have been announced too. Hop on over to see the new challenge and take part.

Toodles

Jute ribbon card

Looking outside, I think there is a storm blowing in so I thought I'd share a real quick post with you. This card is an easy peasy one to create and uses 1.5" Jute ribbon available at Really Reasonable Ribbon.
Love pinks and greens together and I have a few projects over the next while using this color combination.

The tag is created using a Maya Road Chipboard tag that has been inked direct to paper with Worn Lipstick Distress ink. Then I stamped the sentiment on using memento ink and once that was dry applied Worn Lipstick Distress Stickles to the entire tag. A little more drying and then UTEE to the rescue. Love what a couple of coats of this stuff does to a piece of chipboard. Here you can see a closer look at the tag.

Thanks so much for stopping by today. On Thursday I've got a Jillibean Soup card that will be up on the Helmar blog, so make sure to stop by and say hello.

Queen Kat Designs Blog Hop

Hello Everyone and Happy Monday to you all. Today is another Queen Kat Blog Hop and I've got a super sweet card to share with you. If you have been following along, you should have hopped here from Terri's Blog. If not you can hop on back the the Queen Kat blog and start from the very beginning.

This weeks challenge was to create a monochromatic project and the May Royal Kit had just what I needed to make a sweet green card. The Material Girl line from Cosmo Cricket is so full of whimsy that I decided to make a card for a "wee one". This is what I came up with

Sweet and simple. The photo corner was inked with distress ink then covered with matching distress stickles.I love the layers with this card and look at that, it's a clean and simple design. I don't do those very often do I hehe.

Now hop on over the the store to take a look at the great May Kit and some of the new RUBBER stamps. They have great detail and are wonderful to ink up. Thanks for stopping by today and have an awesome Monday.

Toodles

A day in Paris

Happy Friday everyone. We made it to the weekend. How great is that??? Have any plans this saturday and sunday? Just a relaxing weekend at home for us. Oh I forgot to tell you all that I got my first medallion from Weight Watchers. I've lost more than 25 pounds wahooooooo. 26 and counting.

Today I'm sharing with you my second post over at Frantic Stamper. This image is such a great one to work with, and I really embraced something a little more clean and simple. Not easy for me to do, but I think it worked. The entire supply list and instructions can be found at THIS post over at the Frantic Stamper Blog. If you haven't become a follower over there, take a moment to check it out
The stamp is one of Frantic Stamper's own plates and there are a bunch of French inspired images that you really need to check out.

Here she is, colored in distress ink watercolor and stickles.

One last thing. I've got a girlfriend who has an absolutely amazing blog and if you haven't heard of her, stop on by her blog. Eva's creations are always so beautiful and she has the most infectious laugh that when you read hehehe, you just can't help but giggle too.

Have a wonderful Friday everyone
Toodles

Be a Good One

Happy Thursday everyone.
Many times when I'm trying to create a masculine card, things don't come as easily. I've heard it from so many people before "I have a hard time making cards for boys and men". Well let me tell you, there are SO many chipboard elements at Magistical Memories that will help you get over that masculine card slump.
The card I'm sharing with you today, uses the Football Player Silhouette, and I must say I love these sports silhouette pieces. They are great for making general crafts, but can also really kick it up a notch for those special projects too.

Here is the card that I created using distress ink and crackle paint.

What a great way to celebrate that big sports achievement, or a quick way to say hello to that special masculine someone. Hope you enjoyed todays card. I think I'm going to try and tackle a layout next. Be afraid, be very afraid!!!

Toodles

A Valentine tutorial for you

Hi Everyone and Happy Tuesday to you all. I just wanted to share with you a card that I made for Scrapbook Star. Every 1st and 15th (thereabouts) I do a tutorial over at Scrapbook Star on their Community message board and I'd love for you all to come on by and let me know what you think. Here is the project

Stop on by the Message board, go to Erika's Tutorials, and you will see all the tutorials I've done to date. Come on over and say Hello

A Happy New Year wish for you

Happy New Year to all of you. It was pretty low key here for New Years Eve. My Husband and I had a little celebration with the kids at 8:00 complete with sparkling pear cider and appetizers. Our 2 year old princess loves to say cheers and "clink" and our 5 year old boy tried shrimp and bacon wrapped scallops for the first time and liked them.

I thought I would share a little card I made that reminds me of fireworks. There really is something magical about the dandelion tuft isn't there.

I wish for each of you a year full of good friends, good health and blessings. Keep your eyes open for my Blogiversary which is coming up really really soon. It's gonna be HUGE

A new year approaches

hope you are all enjoying this wonderful Holiday Season. A new year is upon us and I wanted to take a moment and say thank you for being such a wonderful crowd. I love that you all come by and leave little notes and I hope that the upcoming year, I can really wow ya.

My blogaversary is coming up soon, so keep your eyes open for that.

For today I leave you with a little creative love. Thanks again

Bombshell Sketch Challenge

Hi Everyone and Happy Monday. Today i decided to do up a card for this months Bombshell Sketch challenge and I'm sticking with Christmas themes here. I absolutely love this image from Bombshell and this time she got fishnets wahoooooo. . Coloring images with Distress Ink and water is my absolute favorite thing these days and i hope you like how the images turn out. Now on with the show

A Great Day

Hi Everyone and happy Saturday. Today I was in my first craft fair with all my cards and altered art pieces and I'm so happy that everything went well. It can be nerve wrecking to take that first step to sell your wares, but I'm happy to report that 3/4's of my projects now have new homes YIPPEY!!!!!

I'm sharing with you today a card that just makes me PLUM happy. It is a card i created for the Lost Coast Rubber Stamp event over at SNR a while back and it was my first shot at using inchies for a project. I just love it.



Supplies:
Cardstock, Hardward: Stampin' Up;
Patterned Paper, Pearls: Basic Grey;
Chipboard: Maya Road;
Stamp: Lost Coast Designs;
Ink: Tim Holtz;
Paint: Shimmerz;
Punch: Fiskars, Marvy;
Tools: Scor-Pal, paper cutter, small tip paint brush, scissors;
Other: Ribbon