S.T.A.R.S.--Sharing The Art of Rubber Stamping

Tour de Freaks is Happening RIGHT NOW!!!

 

I am so excited to be participating in this month's Tour de Freaks!  If you've just arrived from Mary Brown's AWESOME blog, thank you so much for taking the time to pop on over!  If you are a regular here, you are in for a real treat.    You are about to embarque on a 15 stop journey to some of the best blogs in the stampin' & scrappin' world!!  Our focus this month is Christmas Cards!! At the end of this post click on the Tour de Freaks logo & you'll go straight over to Dawn Olchefske FANTASTIC blog.  You will be able to go from blog to blog until you get back to mine!  We will keep the links up so even if you are getting here after the 20th, you can still enjoy the tour! 

The "official" tour starts tomorrow morning, October 20th, so please be patient if all the links are not up just yet.

I wanted to keep a coordinated look to the cards I'm showing you, so I used the Merry Moments Designer Series Paper from the main Idea Book & Catalog on all three cards.

On the above card, I wanted to show you that simplicity does not equate to boring!!  The Merry Christmas from the "Christmas Greetings" set was stamped in Craft White & embossed with Irridescent Ice Embossing Powder.

 

I used the NEW Sweet Centers Stamp Set & Sweet Centers Treat Cups from the Holiday Mini Catalog & filled them with "Christmas" colored M&Ms.  I don't know about you, but I know I would be so pumped to receive a handmade card that included CHOCOLATE!!

I've had this idea floating around in my brain for awhile, but I held off creating it because I knew I wanted to share it with all of you on the Tour de Freaks!!  The "joy" ornament coordinates with the Holiday Mini Set "Delightful Decorations" & was available to purchase at Convention this past summer and is on the Demonstrator Only Section of the Stampin' Up! Website.  This little perk is just one of the many things I love about being a demonstrator!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope to see you again real soon!!

Please feel free to leave a comment & I'll get back to you ASAP!!

You do not want to miss out on Dawn's AMAZING "My Digital Studio" cards, so please click on the link!!
  
 
 PLEASE CLICK ON THE BELOW TOUR DE FREAKS LOGO BUTTON TO TAKE YOU TO THE NEXT STOP!  
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PLEASE CLICK ON THE ABOVE TOUR DE FREAKS LOGO BUTTONTO TAKE YOU TO THE NEXT STOP!
  

The Coolest Swap Card....EVER!!

What you are about to see has to be the coolest swap card I have ever received...no offense meant to any of you with whom I have swapped cards with!!  It was created by Control Freak Extrordinaire Kimberley Morris!

WARNING:  Please put down all drinks & food at this time.  I don't want you to choke as you gasp at the awesomeness of this card!  You have been warned!!

It starts off very unassuming...

 
  

You slide the belly band over....

....and then....BAM!!!

TAH-DAH!!!

 
Isn't this just FABULOUS??

Here are a couple of "glamour shots" of just the tree...breath-taking!!

Kimberley used the new Stampin' Up! Bigz XL "O Christmas Tree Pop-Up" designed by Karen Burniston featured in the Holiday Mini Catalog!  Thank You Kimberley for this fantastic, fabulous, amazing card!!

Have a super Sunday!  Erin
 
 

 

Holiday Mini Catalog--Control Freak Style--Part 6

Wow...can you believe I still have MORE swaps to share with you from the Control Freak Holiday Mini Catalog Swap??  I do!

Made by Pam Findlay

  
 
  These are still made by Pam Findlay.  I just thought you might want to see more detail shots.  Just click on each picture to see it larger.

Made by Sharon Howard

 Made by Shona Watson

Still Made by Shona Watson...isn't this clever!!

Made by Stephanie Leider

Made by Wendy Weixler

Made by ????  If this is your card, please let me know...there wasn't a name on the back!  I want to give credit where credit is due!

I have one more card that I will show you tomorrow!  It deserves a post all by itself...in fact, it is quite possibly the COOLEST swap I have EVER received, and you all know that I have received some pretty cool swaps!  

Have a SWEET day!!  Erin

PS...Did you know that TODAY was the FIRST DAY that you could order the My Digital Studio???  I have been working on a MDS project that I can't wait to show you soon! 

***Starting today & through the month of October Stampin' Up! is running a Deal of the Week and a special My Digital Studio New Demonstrator Kit.  Click here to find out more information!

***I know you guys like getting great deals...are you sitting down??  Stampin' Up! has just started a "Clearance Rack" where you can get deeply discounted retired merchandise.  It will pretty much be a first come, first served type of thing!

To place your order for you My Digital Studio, to check out the Deal of the Week, to shop the Clearance Rack or any other Stampin' Up! products, just click on this link & then click on the "SHOP NOW" button in the top right hand corner under my name!
 
 

Holiday Mini Catalog--Control Freak Style--Part 5

Let's continue the parade of Holiday Mini Catalog Cards I received from the most recent Control Freaks' Swap:

Made by Julie R. Buhler

Made by Kathy Strubel

Made by Katy Clark

Made by Lisa Martz

Made by Mary Beth Brown

Made by Melanie Schulenberg

I just LOVE these cards!  It gets my creative juices pumpin'!!   Erin

PS...If you live in the Oklahoma City Metro Area, I'd love for you to come to my Open House on Tuesday, September 29th at 7:00pm.  Club members can come early at 6:30pm to have first look at the retired Stampin' Up! Stamp Sets & Accessories that I am selling!  We will make a couple of FREE projects, eat some yummy snacks, visit over the Idea Book & Catalog & the Holiday Mini Catalog, look at Halloween, Thanksgiving, & Christmas samples & more!  Please contact me ASAP to RSVP!!

To place an order please click here and then click on "SHOP NOW"!

 

Holiday Mini Catalog--Control Freak Style--Part 4

 Made by Jan Tinklenberg

Inside of Jan Tinklenberg's fantastic card!

Made by Joey Hartman

Made by Judy Di Scipio

Made by Julie Dinn

Made by Julie Dinn (No, this isn't a type...Julie made 2 sets of swaps.  One was for her & the other was for her very good friend & fellow Control Freak, Liz Shultz, who couldn't participate this round because she was moving.  Julie didn't want her to miss out on the swaps...what a great friend!)

These Holiday Mini Swaps just make me want to buy EVERYTHING!!  How about you??   Erin

PS...If you'd like to place an order, please click HERE, and then click on SHOP NOW!!

Holiday Mini Catalog--Control Freak Style Part 3

Are you ready for some more STUNNING cards??  Well, wait no longer, here they are:

Made by Cindy Major

 

Made by Connie Babbert

Made by Dawn Olchefske

Made by Erin Blair

Made by Gretchen Barron

I hope these wonderful swaps I received from the Control Freaks will inspire you to pull out some of your stamps, ink, & paper and make a card or two!  Have a super day...Erin

Click here if you would like to place a Stampin' Up! order & then click on "SHOP NOW" near the top right corner!

Holiday Mini Catalog--Control Freak Style Part 2

  Let's continue the fun with more FABULOUS swaps from the Control Freaks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made by Adele Heffern

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made by Ann Walker

 

Made by Annette Jensen

Made by Barb Mullikin

Made by Cindee Wilkinson

Stay tuned for more Holiday Mini Catalog swaps tomorrow!!  Erin

To place an order, click HERE!

Holiday Mini Catalog---Control Freak Style

This week I'll be sharing with you the FANTASTIC swap cards I received from my Control Freaks!  Today I'll show you mine & all the versions that I made.  Enjoy!

I used the new Pumpkin Patch stamp set from the Holiday Mini Catalog.  I am proud to say that I used EVERY single stamp in the set on each card.  There are 2 greetings, I used one on the outside & the other one on the inside.  I stamped the grass stamp multiple times to make the nice soft cushy grass you see above.  The colors I used were Pumpkin Pie, Eggplant Envy, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, and Shimmery White.  I stamped the pumpkin faces & the greetings in Basic Black Craft Ink Pad & embossed them with Irridescent Ice Embossing Powder.  I used the Scallop Square Clear Bigz Die for the card front & back.  For the back of the card, I scored across the top where the first scallop goes in and then I attached Sticky Strip just above the scored line & then attached the front to it.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Stay tuned this week for a delightful feast for your eyes!  Erin

PS...Yesterday, the Tour de Freaks started.  Go HERE to Julie Dinn's Beautiful Blog to start the tour and to see all the beautiful fall creations.  I am so excited & honored to be able to join the Tour for October & November.

My Valentine's Cards

Here are the Valentine's I made for my kiddos!  I had lots of fun playing with the Candy Lane DSP!  All the cards are 6x6.

Here's Maddy's Card (She's 3.):

 

 

Looking at it now I probably should have sponged the edges of the hearts & popped up some of the hearts on Stampin'  Dimensionals.

Here's Alex's Card (He's 5.):

   

I made this one based on a swap card I had received last fall & then I had also made one similar for my nephew, Andrew's 1st Birthday.  You can see it HERE.

Here's Emma's Card (She's 8.):

   

I was inspired to make this from a swap I received from Pam Downs.  You can see it HERE. Just scroll through to the end of the post.

Tomorrow I'll show you the Valentine I made for MY Valentine! Enjoy....Erin

Christmas Catch Up!!

I'm so sorry that my postings have been so few & far between this year.  I had a medical issue at the beginning of January that got me out of the stamping & scrapping mode for a little while.  I'm back in action, so I am hoping to make up for lost time.

Today I'm posting some things that I completely forgot to show you back in December, so please bear with me for doing Christmas in February!  I got these tin boxes at Archiver's a couple of years ago & kept meaning to do "something" with them.  I gave one to my mom & I kept one to put my Christmas Countdown Numbers in.  See THIS POST to see my Christmas Countdown Calendar.

       

And here's my "Christmas" Bag! Besides changing out the papers & ribbons, I added the Decor Elements "E" and "B" (my initials...Erin Blair) to one side.  I finally changed this out 2 weeks ago to some new Raspberry Tart DSP...YIKES!  I'll post the new bag later this week...it's very fun & Spring-y.  To see my original version, CLICK HERE!

   

Here's one more little goodie that I made for Chrismtas Decor in December.  I was inspired to make mine after seeing Fontella Henderson's beautiful framed art on Becky Robert's Inking Idaho Blog .

So, now that I've gotten caught up with Christmas, I think I have a few Valentine's things to show you tomorrow!  Enjoy!  Erin