2016 Goals

Just coming off a very busy December and I spent some time reflecting on the last 2 years.  I realize its time for me.  For my family.  My job will be taking a back seat to the rest of my world.  That means I plan on crafting more in 2016.

I've been slowing ordering and hoarding Stampin' Up product for the past 6 months since joining and now its time to really use it.  I want to build up my stash of cards so I can send one whenever I'm ready and not have to worry about making one.  I want to spend some time catching up on scrapbook pages I've been meaning to make.

I threw these together based on an idea I saw on Pinterest for November.  I sent out 'fall' themed cards to family and friends.  I dressed them up a little using a Wink of Stella pen and Glossy Accents.

I used some products from the Seasonal catalog:

These are still available, unfortunately the paper line is no longer available but there are some other great lines in the shop - OR - use your favorite from another manufacturer.  I stuck with the suggested colors for this line as far as the ink goes which were:

BlackBerry Bliss

Chocolate Chip:

Daffodil Delight:

Pumpkin Pie:

You can pick up any of these items or the new 2016 Occasions Catalog items in my shop now:

Stamp with Erica

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!

Travel Layouts

One of the things I've been meaning to work on and always push to the side are layouts from our 2006 trip to the Baltic region.

I've collected papers and embellishments for years thinking 'this paper is perfect for that picture of....'.   You'd think with all this perfect material, I'd scrap something right?

Nah.  My focus has always been on the new.  As I go through everything I'm re-finding the stuff I purchased and its like new again.  I'm still putting stuff aside that I will never use.

Here are 3 quick layouts I did at the retreat to document some of my favorite stops on the cruise.

All over Denmark you find bikes.  They're on every corner.  I just found it fascinating that people can get around a city like this when everything is so far away where I live.  We're so used to cars and freeways.

 Studio Calico bike stamp.

 A Flair for Buttons bike flair and Studio Calico stamp.

 Nyhavn in Copenhagen.  My favorite place.  I liked to sit and people watch here.  All those colorful buildings are fun to look at too.  I pulled out those Heidi Swapp clear acetate letters too.

 More AFFB flair, stamp is from Cocoa Daisy.

 I tried to get a straight shot of this one but it just wouldn't work.  This is not my favorite layout but its done.   Papers are from Carta Bella.

 Flair from a Flair for Buttons Etsy shop.

Got a few more to share but I still need to photograph them.  And shocker of all shockers, I started working on my December Daily.  I have all the stuff to get it done but I lost that drive.  I printed the pictures last night so we'll see what all I can get done before I go back to work.

Adorkable You!

You read that title right.  Adorkable.  I received some new flair in the mail and this one caught my eye. I really could use it for 50% of the photos I take of my son because, well, he does adorkable things.  He's always making a face or doing something silly.

So when I started sorting through photos to scrap and saw these, I knew they were perfect.  I take him to a place called Sports Clips.  This is kind of a guys only haircut place.  They do cut womens' hair but they specialize in men.  The cut, hot towel and massage package is my son's favorite.  The first time we went in, he hopped up in the chair and told the girl what he wanted.  Previously, we'd been going to Fantastic Sams and they were always shocked he liked getting his hair cut.  Most kids cried and fought their way out of the chair.  Not my son!

Plus, he's a bit of a charmer, so he's charmed the girls in this shop.

Anyway, this was the perfect flair to go with this photo AND it became my title too.

I mixed in all kinds of fun stuff from my stash.  MME papers to start.

 Freckled Fawn paper clips.  Oh how I LOVE these.  I'm also testing a Wink of Stella brush tip pen that I love.  I 'colored' in the space of the word 'love' with the glitter pen making it stand out just a little.

 And on this Dear Lizzy wood veneer heart.

 And on the stamped letters on my title.

 Since the move, I've uncovered a bunch of older supplies.  This 'I love this boy' stamp is from Cat's Life Press.  They make a bunch of really cute stamps.  This is a tiny one and I will be using it more often.  Of course, there are enamel dots.  No, I didn't make my own by melting down perler beads.  I don't have the time or patience for that.

 My little cluster of embellishments.  The 'cool' stamp is also from Cat's Life Press, the tag is from Chic Tags and the stamped 'YOU' is a stamp set from Simon Says Stamp.  Flair is from A {Flair} for Buttons Etsy Shop.

Second flair is from the same shop and the tags are from Chic Tags.  I really dug around in my stash for the supplies and tried to use some older items.

{Project Life} Stamp Storage

I love the way some of the stamped 3x4 cards are looking in a lot of the Project Life posts I see out there.  I'm usually rushing through the week when I get a chance to work on them and don't bother to reach for my stamps.

While I was working on weeks 7 and 8 this weekend I pushed myself to dig out the big binder of stamps.

I went through and pulled out some that I know I could use.  I had them in a pile while I used them and then decided I needed a better way to store them.

I'm addicted to the new Martha Stewart line at Staples.  So much so that I stop in once a week to pick up a pack of labels or something small.

This week, I had some major Staples Rewards and spent them on one of her blue binders.

She has a few different page protector types and I bought one pack of each.  This was my retail therapy since I didn't get to go to the Scrapbook Expo this weekend. 

 I took these at night so there is a glare but you get the idea.

And I picked up one of her cute metal labels.

Quick and easy.  I get little stamps in my Studio Calico kits every month that are perfect for PL so once I'm done with the kit, I'll be storing them in here.

And here is a quickie card I threw together as part of my Simple Stories DT application.

Stamp Storage

Finally found a solution I like.  I'm sorry I wasted my time and money on the CD cases.  That was not a good storage solution.

This is.  But then again, this girl is the Queen of organization.

I copied her idea and bought photo sleeves in various sizes to fit the kinds of stamps I have.  All of my single image stamps are in little baseball card sleeves, the larger ones are in 3x5 and 4x6 sleeves and then I have 5x7 sleeves for the larger sets like alphas.

For border stamps, I have negative sleeves.  I found a local stationary store that sells them by the sheet.