Fall Cards Using Echo Park and Stampin Up Products

Hello Crafty Friends.  I have 2 cards to share today.  Both cards I used Echo Park Collection kits for the focal images and scrapbook paper to design my card.  I order a lot of their collection kits for my mini scrapbook albums so I do end up with a lot of small scrapbook pieces.  I love their scrapbook papers because they are quite thick and have a bit of texture to them.  They make for great mini scrapbook albums where you can use both sides of the paper for the inner pages.  The collection kits also come with coordinating stickers and ephemera.  

I embossed the base card stock and rubbed a bit of ink over it to create a pretty textured background.  It works fabulously with white card stock because you can color the background any color you want.  I use Stampin Up ink pads and use a dauber to rub the ink on the embossed part of the card stock.  

I used a  seam binding that I dyed my self using Stampin Up re-inker so the color coordinates with my back ground color and I combined the seam binding with a grosgrain ribbon.

With this card, the teal back ground was colored using alcohol ink on to glossy card stock then I embossed it to give it a little texture.  I also embossed the base card stock and like my other card rubbed Stampin Up ink using a dauber.

I stamped the Autumn leaves using a Stampin Up stamp set.  It's an older retired stamp set that I've had for a while and this is actually the first time using it.  I just stamped a variety of colors on to the image.  I also dyed the seam binding using a Stampin Up re-inker.  I can't remember which color ink I used to dye it.  

Looks like my photos are uploading to my Google drive faster now.   It uploaded within a day.  I had deleted a few older photos from the drive.  I think it delayed uploading to the drive because I may have ran out of storage space.  Well thank you for stopping by my blog.  Hope you are having a wonderful week so far.  Until next time 💓

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Glittery Autumn Thank You Card

Hello Crafty Friends.  I created this card about a week ago.  I found that I had a stack of Sizzix glitter card stock.  I decided to use it for this card.  The Sizzix pack comes with regular glitter and holographic glitter card stock.  With this card I used the holographic one.  It has a clear glaze over the glitter so the texture is really smooth and glassy but glittery underneath.  You can't really see it in the picture.

I also used a glue pad and sprinkled glitter over a white card stock to create a glitter card effect for the background underneath the sentiment.  The autumn leaves were stamped using a retired Stampin Up stamp set.  All of the Stampin Up sets I own are retired.  I haven't purchased any new Stampin Up stamp set in recent years.  I haven't even used a lot of what I already have.

I really like the idea of making simple but elegant cards.  I have difficulties creating simple cards without all the bells and whistles but I really do love them when I see other card makers make them.  I just find some of them so elegant looking.  I just have too many stuff that I have this need to use as much of them as possible.  I think once in a while I'll make simple looking cards.  It takes a bit of creativity to make a simple designed card to look elegant.  I have not been able to master that.  It's something I need to work on.

Thank you again for stopping by my blog.  Hope you all are having a wonderful week 💓

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Halloween Cards, Tags and Boxes

Hello Crafty Friends!  I'm posting more Halloween cards and projects I created.  I am still having issues uploading photos to Blogger.  I spent 2 hours today trying to figure out why Blogger was not allowing me to upload photos from my phone when it was previously allowing me to do so. I deleted all of my cookies and history hoping that was the fix but it still won't allow me to upload my photos to my blog.  I thought uploading from my phone was the fix because Google was taking over a week for my photos to show up in my Google Drive.  Now it won't allow me to upload from my phone.  The photos finally did upload on to my Google Drive and allow me to upload to Blogger from my computer but well, now I'm  behind on posting the cards and projects.  It's frustrating because I can't post daily on to my blog until the photos I've taken are uploaded to Google drive.  I'm not sure how to fix the issue.

I'm currently working on Thanksgiving/Fall and Christmas projects now that Halloween is over.  Most of the images on my Halloween cards and boxes are from my Echo Park Collection kits because I don't have too many Halloween stamps for some odd reason.  I have a million Christmas stamps but very little of Halloween and Fall/Thanksgiving.  I primarily purchase the Echo Park papers and stickers for my scrapbook albums but have had to use them on my cards.  I guess I will have to buy more Halloween and Fall stamps.

For the boxes, I actually traced  existing boxes I have and used them as templates.  I have a lot of box dies but I really liked the size and shape of these boxes.  I saved the templates for future use.

I had dyed a roll of seam binding in various colors.  It's become very handy to use as ribbons on my projects.  

I have so many ribbons, it's not funny.  I'm so glad I'm now able to use them up.  It adds another level of dimension to my projects and they are so pretty on cards.

As I was going through my craft containers today, I found another container full of wood mounted Stampin Up.  I could not believe it.  I thought I had already unmounted all of my Stampin Up stamp sets.  I now have another container to work on.  

I'm also making it a point to use my dies to add different elements to my cards.  In the past, I neglected to use them.  They literally sat in containers never being used.  I've decided that this time around I'll use them more often.  It makes me wonder why I buy them but don't use them.  I'm beginning to think I enjoy buying them as much or more so than actually making something with them.

Anyway, I really hope I can figure out how to fix my Blogger issue so I can post on my blog more often.  If you have any questions regarding the projects I post on my cards, feel free to message me.  The comment button is located below each of my posts.  Just to let you know, I am unable to provide information on some of the tutorials I've posted in the past.  I had saved them on the Scribd website but for some reason some of them have been removed.  Some of my tutorials are still there so just click on the links I provided to the left of my blog.  For the ones that have been removed, I am unable to provide the instructions to them.  For any future tutorials, I'll post the instructions directly on to Blogger so it'll always remain on my blog.

That's it for today.  Until next time. . .hope you have a wonderful week 💓

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Echo Park Halloween Cards

Hello my crafty friends.  I've been focusing on Halloween projects since Halloween is in a few days.  I don't have too many Halloween stamps so I've been primarily using my Echo Park stickers and papers.  I don't know why I don't have that many stamps considering how many stamps I have.  I need to purchase some so I have more variety of images to use for my projects.

I used my crinkly seam binding ribbon that I dyed with Stampin Up reinkers.  I need to buy another roll so I can dye the ribbons with Christmas and Fall colors.  I had primarily dyed them with pastel colors. I'm no sure why I didn't think to dye them with Christmas and Fall colors.  I had watched a video on You Tube on how to dye them with reinkers.

After being absent from the crafting world for almost a decade, I've come to notice a shift in many card makers using "cut outs" or ephemera for their cards.  Stamping is still popular but I do see a lot more of the digital images compared to back in the day.

I am using an old retired Stampin Up designer paper for the background.  I have always loved Stampin Up products.  They are still my favorites.  Honestly, I do miss the days when rubber stamping was so popular and blogging was a thing.  Many of the talented crafters have moved away from paper crafting and I miss them.  They were so talented.  It was so fun back then.  I notice Instagram is where most crafters share their work.  I do see some bloggers still out there but not as many as before.  I'm feeling a bit nostalgic about those days when everyone was blogging and sharing ideas in that format.

Anyway, this week is my last week of "going with the flow".  Starting next week, I'm going back on a life schedule and start using my planner again.  I actually stopped using my planner because I didn't want to focus on regimented life style but I feel it will benefit me more to do so.  Just feeling my way through this retirement.  It's new to me.😊  Have a wonderful day.  Until next time. 💓

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Halloween Cards and Tag Holder

Hello.  I had to repost my previous post because I realized it did not post with the full post on the blog interface so I had to repost it.  Blogger is being difficult.  I'm sorry that I had to repost it. I worked on these card and tag holders to store my cards and tags.  I used Echo Park papers and stickers to decorate the box.  I also made a Thanksgiving and Christmas holder but I'll share it once I am to fill them up with projects.

I am thinking maybe doing a craft fair next year just so I can sell my cards and projects that I created.  I used to sell them on Etsy back a decade ago and I did really well there but I didn't like the process of having to ship the packages.  After a while it really felt like a job, a job I no longer had time for because I already had a full time job.  Besides, I read that Etsy is no longer a  good site for handmade items.  AI has taken over as well as drop shippers.   I'm thinking a craft fair may be easier but nowadays, handmade cards are not as popular as it used to be.  Sending cards through the mail has gotten expensive which is unfortunate.  

I'm not sure . . .maybe I'll give them out as gifts to family and friends.  I enjoy making them and it keeps me busy so I'll continue to make them as a creative outlet.  My retirement has been going well so far.  In a week, it'll be 3 months of retirement.  I'm still figuring my way through it.  Initially, I had a set schedule that I wanted to follow and that is how I started but then I decided to try just going with the flow.  I think I'm going back on a schedule.  I felt more productive and I accomplished more things.

I have a few more Halloween projects that I'll be sharing in the next few days then I'll move on to Thanksgiving and Christmas projects.  Anyway, hope you are all having a great week.  Until next time.  💓

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Halloween Mixed Media Tag and Maremi Small Art Collage Images

Hello Friends.  As I stated on my last post, I am experimenting with mixed media.  With this Halloween tag, I used alcohol ink on glossy card stock, then I used pearlescent acrylic paint to give the background a bit of shimmers and distress ink.  The image is by Maremi Small Art Books that are sold on Amazon.  She also has a YouTube Channel where she shares her techniques for collage art and junk journaling.  Just search Maremi.  She has a lot of cool technique and she gives you a peak of the images in her books. 

I am new to mixed media so I've been watching a lot of reels on Instagram that shows all the different techniques.  I love it because the goal is not perfection.  It's just playing around with different mediums and creating a colorful background using rubber stamps, stencils, inks, paints and images.  It's been fun experimenting.

My plan is to create a journaling book/scrapbook with these projects.  I need to work on a bunch of them so I can start adhering them to my journaling book.  I noticed that some artist add them to their journal as they complete a tag or directly create the art directly in their book.  I guess it's similar to journaling but with art work that you created.  I don't want a journaling book of only my creations, I actually want to use them to supplement my written journals and scrapbooks.  

You can find the Maremi small art books on Amazon as I stated earlier.  This image came from the Spooky Persona book.   Maremi Small Art Books

I actually created a few of these cards but Google is still slow in uploading the pictures so I could not include them in this post.  I'll share the others next time.  Thank you visiting my blog.  Until next time, hope you all have a wonderful weekend. 💓

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Whimsy Mouse Christmas Card and California Coastal Drive San Simeon and Cambria

Hello Friends!  I'm sorry I haven't posted regularly like I said I would.  I have had a bit of issue with Google saving my photos that I took with my phone in a timely manner so I couldn't upload photos to my blog.  I, finally, figured out that if I upload photos to my blog through my phone instead of my computer I can post the photos and use my computer to type the narrative.  It's a little cumbersome but it's okay.  

I've been playing around with using my embossing folders and coloring the embossed background with ink.  It's been really fun to experiment.  I also started working with mixed media using watercolor, distress ink, acrylic pain, collages and stencils.  I'll share my creations with the mixed media next time.

The image on this card is by Whimsy Stamps.  This stamp is an old one but it has always been one of my favorites.  The image was colored using Copic Markers.

 

I just want to share more photos of my drive along the California Coast through the Pacific Coast Highway.  Sadly due to a hurricane and high waves the last 2 weeks, some of the coast along the highway are eroding and the cliffs are falling into the ocean.  Part of PCH may need to close down along the Laguna coast.  Luckily, I've driven that part of the coast many times but I hope it doesn't fall into the ocean.  It's a beautiful drive through there.

These photos were taken in San Simeon and Cambria, towns near the Hearst Castle.  

Vista point in San Simeon where the elephant seals like to sunbath.

These photos were taken in Cambria overlooking the  coastal homes located on the cliffs.

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Christmas Card Set and Hearst Castle

Hello Friends! I went on a little California adventure last weekend.  Drove down the Pacific Coast Highway and made several stops along the way.  Our first stop was the Hearst Castle off PCH in the town of San Simeon.  I've lived in California for over 20 years and have not once visited the Hearst Castle.  One of my retirement bucket list is to go on a California adventure visiting places I've never been to as well as those I'vpreviously visited but have not done so in a long time.  California is such a large State that there are so many places to visit and lots of things to do.  I'm going to do a monthly California adventure maybe once a month or maybe once a week or once every 2 weeks.  I guess it depends how busy I'll be.

Last week I mentioned decorating for Halloween.  I've been slacking in that department.  I did put up a few decorations in the house but I guess I'll try to finish decorating the house by tomorrow.  I decided not to decorate the outside too much because of El Nino and it's expected to be rainy this fall and winter season in California.  Next weekend it's forecasted to rain so I don't want to deal with the decorations getting wet and having to take them down when there is heavy rain.  I'll probably only decorate my porch this year.

I've worked on quite a few cards but I just haven't had the time to post them.  I even started working on Christmas cards.  With this set of Christmas cards, I rubbed ink to white card stock using a sponge dauber/brush then splattered a bit of white pastel paint to create the snow.  I used various brands on this set of cards.  I colored the images with Copic Markers.  

I'll try to fit more time to posting the cards and tags I made before the pictures I've taken of them gets lost in all the photos I have on my phone.  Hope you all have a great weekend 💓

Just a few pictures of the Hearst Castle.

Visit me on Instagram: Stampin Inspirations