Eek! I joined Stampin' Up!

I don't normally do things like this but after several catalog flip throughs, I did it.

I really like their products and their ink pads are killer.  No really.  I finally found an ink pad I *want* to use.  No more streaky images.  No more bleeding.

So I did it.  I signed up under someone I met at a retreat that I kind of co-host here in the southland.  I started off slow but I'm gearing up now.  I've hit my groove and I'm ready to inspire.  Its also helped me creatively.  I don't always have time for the layouts and mini's but I can stamp a quick something when I have a few minutes.

I've started selling all of my other ink pads on Ebay because I just don't use them.  I have this habit of buying every color of an ink pad because I like the color on the lid.  I don't however, like the finished image.  So all of my Jenni Bowlin and Studio Calico pads are for sale.  So are some of my SC Stamps from old kits.  Seller name is rascal1004 on Ebay if you're interested.

I've been having a blast with the Stamping' Up! products though.  There are ideas everywhere and its fun to try new things before branching out.  I've used some of their items to make things for the retreat goers and they love them!  So much fun to hear them talk about the idea and want to know how it was done.

My personal site is:

Stampin' With Erica

I'll be posting weekly updates here on the blog as I create things, sales or specials come up etc.  They usually post Weekly Deals which are marked down items that you can get at a discounted price.  I picked up a few of the Halloween Wreath kits from last season for less than $11!

Grab your kit here.

The annual holiday catalog is already out and can be viewed on my site as well.  LOTS of fun ideas posted in there.  These items are limited so you don't want to wait for those.

I'll be posting some ideas from this catalog next Monday so look for that!

More layouts and a kit for sale

I recently taught a class at my LSS and I have a few kits left over.  Cost is $35 plus shipping.  You'll get the kit and some extras.  Contents are worth over $50 if purchased separately so this is a steal.  Instructions and full color photos of each page.  You get the following:

- Pink Paislee Mini Album
- Pink Paislee papers (12x12)
- Pink Paislee embellishments (full packs)
- Heidi Swapp Mist
- 3 yards of washi tape
- instructions and photos
- Misc items include flair buttons, gold sharpie, mini Glossy Accents and more.

Email me at ohmy17(at)yahoo.com to reserve or send Paypal payment to ohmy17(at)yahoo.com.  Cost for the kit +Shipping is $40.  Make sure your shipping address is correct in Paypal.  Kits ship next day.

Some pictures of the kit:

And a few more projects to share.

Using up some older Echo Park.  I have a lot of Echo Park in my stash.

 And another Studio Calico kit killed.  Feels good to start using up my stuff.  I've got so much and the new stuff is taking *forever* to ship.

Workspace Wednesday - 5/15

I'm ashamed to post this mess.  I've kept the room relatively clean since getting the new desk but since coming back from my retreat, this is the state its been in.  I need to spend some time in here this weekend getting it back to where it needs to be.

To play along see Julia's post every Wednesday.

Despite the calendar in the picture, it is May.  I really am bad about changing it.  There is a stack of unfinished cards, flowers from my anniversary and random other bits hanging out looking for a home.  In fact, a lot of spaces in my room have been getting a good cleaning out.

I recently cleaned out my Project Life bin for a fresh start.  That means I have two boxes of cards and random bits for sale.  Check out the Flickr page and see if you'd like to give anything a good home.

Stop, reverse that.......

I love that line from Willy Wonka.

To give myself a break from Christmas, I worked on the Halloween mini.  I had plans for the holidays. I had my cards ready early (before Thanksgiving), my holiday recipes planned, decorations ready to throw up.  I was ready.  I was going to get it all done early this year and then sit back and enjoy life a little.

Working OT, getting sick and having the holidays pretty much pass you by wasn't my intention.  I had kits made so I could pop out pages and projects.

This was one of them and it didn't get started until my day off last week.  N went back to school and I had two full days to myself to do whatever I wanted.  For the first time in over a month, I felt like being crafty.

And this is the result:

The album itself is one of the original mini's October Afternoon produced.  I've been holding on to them forever.  Paper line is all October Afternoon.  Ribbon is from The Stringery Shop.  Veneer stars are from Studio Calico.  I added black Stickles.

This book covers all of October.  Our first stop is always the Pumpkin Patch.  Each year, they put out a Groupon for a night of fun.  It includes rides, games and pumpkin discounts.  We usually hit the patch up at least twice every season but the first time is always the best!  I have a picture from the last five years with N in front of the 'How Tall This Fall?' sign.

We end the night by filling up a wagon with pumpkins.  All flair is from a {flair} for buttons.   Veneer leaves and apples are from Studio Calico.  I misted them and then added Glossy Accents.  

Our trip to Apple Country.

 Our second annual Halloween Party.

 The school party.

 My little 'gansta'.  Thats what he called himself.  When he talks, he sounds like he's from Boston.

I still have stuff for sale HERE.  Let me know if you're interested in anything.

December Daily Part 1

I split this up into multiple posts.  I didn't want to overwhelm you and its not finished yet.  I'm still adding in the last couple of days and the last bit of embellishments and journaling.  I start my DD in November when our elf arrives.  Its not really a true December Daily but more of an 'adventures of Ziggy the Elf'.

I started this back in December and then didn't touch it for the rest of the month.

The cover.  I used a Simple Stories Sn@p album in teal.  The felt snowflake is from Target.  The mini veneer letters are from the Studio Calico DD kit.  2012 flair is from a {flair} for buttons and the twine is from the Stringery Shop.  In fact any string/ribbon and any flair buttons you see are from these shops.

I love the divided pages.  I can add in as many or as little photos as I want for the day.  Ziggy arrived the morning after Thanksgiving bringing a Thomas the Train Christmas set for under the tree.  We also began decorating the house.

 This year N wanted to help hang the lights.  With careful supervision and someone holding the ladder and his legs, he got to hang the lights outside.   Ziggy brought two new ornaments for the tree too!

 Someone got a little excited to see the new ornaments and he may have touched the elf in order to get to said ornaments.  This causes your elf to lose his 'magic'.  So Ziggy was down for the count the next day.  Tag is from Chic Tags and the word 'elf' is cut from American Crafts POW glitter paper and my Silhouette.

 And then we have the *NEW* flair from the a {flair} for buttons shop.  The Elf of the Shelf flair.

 Most papers and embellishments are from the Studio Calico DD kit or the 25 Days class.  I have a TON left over from this kit and will be listing it for sale soon.  *See below*

 Stamps are from Elle's Studio.  Journaling tag is from the Studio Calico printables for the DD kit.

I love the printables from this kit so much that I printed out 3 copies of them!  All number tags are from Chic Tags.

Thats enough for now.  I'm so over the holidays at this point that I can barely look at this album anymore let alone finish it up.

I diverted my energy to cleaning my room out.  I have WAY too much stuff and I realized that I will never, ever be able to use it all.  I've put myself on a bit of a spending freeze for the first part of 2013 - don't worry, I'll never be able to stick to it.  I've been busy pinning my favorite new products and making my usual shopping list.  I will be more selective when shopping though.

Want a piece of the pie?  I've got all of my paper and embellishments up for sale HERE.  If you want them, the prices are all listed.  Paypal and contact email is BMW1367(at)gmail(dot) com.  Let me know what box you want and it will ship out as soon as payment is made.  Most boxes are $32.  Thats $20 for the product and $12 for the flat rate shipping.  I ship out USPS Priority.  Prices are all US.  If you are international its still $20 for the box but shipping will be higher.  I've got stamp sets and other things for sale as well.  I will be listing more items in January but I ran out of time to clean.  These boxes are full of products.  Paper, stickers, brads.... whatever you see in the photo and more!  Some boxes have over $100 in product in them.

Pending projects

I have several projects that are in the 'almost finished' stage.  Almost finished means they need a title, journaling, stitching.....

See?

Thats a pretty big stack.

And then there is this....

Thats my giveaway box.  Or the stuff I make goody boxes out of and sell.  I stuff a USPS Flat Rate box full of products I won't use, have duplicates of or only needed one thing from the pack and sell them for a flat rate of $32 (To US addresses only).  That price includes the shipping.  I try to get over $100 worth of stuff in each box.  That means a great stack of papers and embellishments.  I just cleaned out my Thickers box and added about 30 packs.

I have 5 boxes for sale right now and more on the way.  As I clean out, go through kits etc, I add things to the giveaway box.

Each box is different.  Different papers and embellishments.  I throw in exclusives from Studio Calico kits like sequin butterflies, mistable hexagons etc.

If you're interested in a box, shoot me an email at ohmy17(at)yahoo(dot)com.

Back to School

Its right around the corner for us and I'm a little excited.  I got my butt in gear this year and I made one of those chalkboard signs.

I've seen them everywhere.

I got the frame at Michaels for $2.50 and threw the glass away.  I painted the wood filler and used a chalk pen to write.  I used Martha Stewart pumpkin colored acrylic paint.

Hopefully it matches the new Simple Stories fall line that I'm (im)patiently waiting to arrive in stores.  His back to school outfit and this frame were carefully matched.  ;)


I've been busy working on layouts too!  I finished 3 in one day - it might be a record for me.  I used up a good chunk of the December 2011 Studio Calico kit in the process.  I don't feel so guilty eyeing their Sept 2012 kit right now.  I've been going back and sorting pictures on my Mac.  I'm one of those sporadic photo printers.  I used to use Scrapbookpictures.com until they closed this year and I'd have an open order going. I'd place one big order every couple of months.  Since they closed, I've been so bad about printing and honestly, I love my Selphy but the quality just isn't 'good'.  Its great for project life and projects like that but not everyday scrapping.

A trip to Costco was in order.  I picked up 369 prints and that was just from 2012.  I still need to go through past years and figure out what I still need printed.  The good news is that I've been in the mood to scrap that box of photos.  So expect an overload of layouts here in the next week.  It feels good to be sharing again.

ETA:  I have 3 boxes full of product for sale.  These are USPS Flat Rate boxes full of paper and embellishments.  Some items are exclusive Studio Calico items from kits that I will not use.  (ie butterflies, hexagons, papers, etc).  There is an assortment of items in each box.  Cost is $30 and that covers the shipping.  Value of contents is $100+.

If interested, please email me at ohmy17@yahoo.com

Organization breeds creativity

I wish I had time and the mojo each day to sit down and create something but I don't.  In a perfect world right?  So when I can't/don't want to create something, I find something to do.  Like troll Pinterest.  Or clean up my room.  There is always something that needs organizing right?

That was my mission last week.  In the middle of everything I lost my stack of layouts and cards to photograph.  Whoops!  But I found them.  I took pictures of everything and have enough pictures for 2 weeks of blog posts!  Yay!

Here is just the beginning of my creativity!

 I used the new Pink Paislee Prairie Hill line.

 Kraft folder is from Jillibean Soup.

 I was serious about the Studio Calico veneer.....  (Its going to be

one of those hidden Mickeys - for all you Disney fans out there.)

The lighting has been horrible here since the clouds rolled back in.  If I had

taken photos of my projects when the sun was out I might have better photos of

my projects.  Oh well!

I dug out my trusty Glossy Accents for this one and coated the kite and string

with it.  Just to make it pop off the page.

And if you're interested in anything I'm getting rid of, you can find images and prices here.

And the cleaning continues.....

Because I have WAY too much stuff that I won't use.  Because I keep finding boxes from the move and I'm shocked I kept certain things while packing.

So I listed a bunch of items on 2 Peas FSOT boards again.  Here's a link to the Flickr page with everything listed.  If you're interested, let me know.  The Goody Boxes are a great deal.  Lots of items in each box.  So if you know anyone that likes an assortment send them my way.  Or new scrappers.  They love getting boxes of product.

For Sale

Prices are all listed in the description.

Unpacking also means organizing the stuff I find into the current room setup.  In case you missed this post with pictures of my room, here's a link.....

That card catalog is my prized possession.  I got that for my birthday a couple of years ago before we moved and I never figured out what to put in it.  I use it now for my inks and stuff.  Each drawer is a different color.   I've added a few things to the drawers this week.

 I added the little cups of buttons, Martha Stewart flocking, micro beads

and anything else I came across.

I needed more space for my growing washi tape obsession.  I've have 4 more rolls come this week and it wasn't fitting in the slot I had for it in my big spinning rack.  Plus it wasn't in there by color and that was starting to annoy me.  So I pulled it out and reorganized it.  Then I added my 4 new colors that came on Saturday.