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Lauren's Template Challenge

So, I've been a big fan of Lauren Meader's for quite some time now, so when I found out she was opening up her own store I was beyond thrilled for her! And I was so excited because I knew she'd have amazing stuff for us too! Her store, My Time Made Easy, has now been open for 3 months, and so far each month has been more amazing then the last...and all of her templates and other items have been amazing! I've been playing with just about all the templates released to date, as well as a few of the stamp sets (So Sentimental and the Fanciful Flourishes sets are both my new favorite sets I own!).
I have decided lately to really start pursuing my passion and try to become published so that maybe one day I can be a designer! I don't know if it will ever happen, but I'm certainly trying to get myself out there and see what happens! I just so love making all sorts of cards, packaging, etc that not only gives me an outlet for my creativity, but it allows me to give really special gifts to my family and friends! Which I just love doing! So, thanks Lauren for helping us all to do this!!!

Anyway, Lauren has put out a challenge for this month and will feature a guest designer for April! WOW! Who wouldn't love to be choosen for that?!
I have another entry today...one of my favorite projects I've made to date!

I used the Card Catch All template for....cards! :-) I made this elegant card set for someone as a thank you gift. I love the black and white with just a few little touches of purple! It turned out really pretty together!

Here is the template by itself! I made the whole box and inserts in solid black and then added a purple satin ribbon to the bottom. I punched out a few small butterflies in purple and added the flowers with a rhinestone brad.


I then stamped the "Live well, laugh often, love much" sentiment from So Sentimental in purple and stamped the fram in black, also from So Sentimental (LOVE it!). I cut it out and added a purple frame under it - although there is a cut file for this (Thanks Lauren!) I totally forgot I had it so these were cut by hand! :)
I added another frame at the top that says For Your Kindness...and you guessed it! It's from So Sentimental as well! I'm telling you, this is a great set!

I made a set of 8 cards which all fit right inside the card carry all tote. I did make the divider, so I could divide up between Birthday and Thank You cards. I made 4 different designs for my cards, trying to keep them all simple and elegant...but I made 2 of each design (flipping the colors, to give a little more variety)


For the first card design, I decided to use the large flourish from the Fanicful Flourishes set and added just a few small butterflies. That fourish is so beautiful on its own that I didn't think it needed much else! I folded up the wings and attached the butterflies with mini pop dots to give it some dimension! I really like how these turned out!


For the second design, I cut out a few of the butterflies from Lauren's Flutters and Flowers Cut files! SO quick and easy with the Cricut machine! LOVE that feature that she offers!!! On each butterfly I added a small rhinestone to give a little something extra! Again, folded up the wings and added with a mini pop dot!
The sentiments were all from the So Sentimental set...such a versatile set! I know I'll be turning to that one again and again and again!

For this design, I decided to use the flowers I used to decorate the box! I just used a large purple prima flower and topped it with a plain white prima and added a clear rhinestone brad for a little sparkle! A few tiny butterflies (martha stewart punch), folded and pop-dotted on :) and they were done!

I decided for my last design to incorporate one of the medium sized flourishes and 2 of the large butterflies to pull all the designs together. I added the rhinestones again to the butterflies for that little sparkle and they were ready to go!

And, here it is all together!
Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear what you think!!!
Good luck to everyone!

Supplies:
Carstock - black, white, purple (from Walmart - bright textured cardstock pack)
Template - Card Catch All, Flutters and Flowers
Stamps - So Sentimental, Fanciful Flourishes
Other - prima flowers, medium clear rhinestone brads, 5/8" satin purple ribbon, martha stewart butterfly punch, rhinestone stickers

First Baby Carriage - Lauren Meader's template challenge

So I just got this new template this week and it's super cute! My pics didn't turn out great, so I'll try and reshoot them tomorrow...but the carriage is adorable! Another fabulous template! (Thanks Lauren!)

I used Lauren's new flourishes stamp set (my new FAVORITE set of stamps!) along with just a little bit of ribbon and a few buttons! I didn't want it to be too much, just sweet and simple.

Supplies:
template - Baby Buggy from Lauren Meader
cardstock - textured cardstock from AC Moore
buttons - michaels
stamps - Fanciful Flourishes
rhinestone brad
punch - martha stewart

Pink Violet Journal

This is one of many journals to come...I want to sell them at our church's upcoming Girls Weekend Out this coming June to raise money for our New Life for Girls Craft Nights!

I found these ADORABLE journals at Michaels for very cheap and altered them. I added the black and white mats, and ribbon. Then, I used my Big Shot and Nestabilities to cut out the rectangles and added the sentiment...which I LOVE - "Don't tell God how big your problems are, tell your problems how big God is!" AMEN!

I pulled out my brand spankin' new copic markers...yes, I know...I'm very far behind everyone! :) I've never really tried to color large images like this before, so this was literally my first attempt at shading, etc...what do you think?! I think it turned out pretty good, especially for my first attempt! I'd love to learn how to do it better!

I cut out all the individual leaves and flower and assembled together directly onto the front of the card.

The image is new from Papertrey Ink - Year of Flowers Violets. I am totally loving this set because the images are so elegant! Just beautiful!

Oh, and you can't tell, but the three tiny circles in the middle of the flower are covered with stickles for a touch of sparkle!

Supplies:
Cardstock - black/white
Stamps - Year of Flowers - Violets (PTI)
Ink - Copic Markers

JUGS Critter Template Challenge & Katie Cotton Challenge- post #4

Here's the last of the bunch! Isn't he adorable?!

I made him the same was as the pink one, only this one will be for my son, so I had to make him blue! I added some dark blue cardstock to give him a little something on his ears...oh, and he has a bushy tail!

Now, how cute will they look as a bunny family?! Totally cute! Can't wait til Easter morning!

JUGS Critter Template Challenge - post #3

Here we go again! My little pink bunny turned out so cute, that I went ahead and made another girly bunny...this one purple :)
See my last post for details!

JUGS Critter Template Challenge - post #2

This is my second entry for this week's JUGS challenge. I actually started making this little bunny today before I realized it was the challenge for this week!

It was so fun to make! SUPER easy and quick, and totally adorable!

I cut the basket out with my Cricut (OF COURSE!) onto a medium pink cardstock. Once the base was assembled, I cut her out of a light pink textured cardstock and adhered into place. I added a little color to her cheeks, eyelids, and nose...then popped on a pink flower with a rhinestone brad to give her a little sparkle!
Then, I made the basket by following Erin Lincoln's tutorial (although, I made a quick and easy template of all the pieces in Illustrator and cut with my cricut!!!). I added a little basket "weave" with a marker and even a few little eggs into the basket!
Finally, I added a strip of score-tape across the top of the basket and sprinkled some pink glitter on top!

LOVE how this turned out! I'm going to give this one to my oldest daughter (5)...and now I'll have to make one for each of my other two...to be continued!

Supplies:
Paper - cardstock from Michaels/AC Moore
Template - MTME Bouncing Baby Buggy, MTME Bouncing Bunny
Ink - Copic Markers
Other - glitter, score-tape, prima flowers, rhinestone brad, sponge dauber

Papertrey Ink Challenge

Today's Papertrey Ink Challenge:
- To Make a project using your chosen color palette(s).

I chose Dawn McVey's colors:

And, here's what I came up with!



I just received this stamp set today and couldn't wait to use it! :)

I decided to add some cute flower soft (spring colors) to the flowers in the vase to give it a little extra something...and I added little dimensionals under the pillows to make them pop right off the surface of the couch!

Super simple, but I think it turned out pretty cute!

Supplies -
Stamps: PTI On My Couch
Paper: whatever I could grab...not sure if any brands here
Other: Flower Soft, flower soft glue, foam dimensional stickers, Coluzzle scalloped border template and coluzzle craft knife

Poppy Seed Challenge #1

This is my first challenge EVER, so I'm pretty excited! :)

I just received my PTI Violets stamp set the other day and hadn't had a chance to play with it yet, so I figured this would be a great time to start!

I also just bought my first Copic markers, so I thought I'd pull them out too!!! LOVE them!

The challenge:
"For the first week I chose these three seeds... Crystals (which could be a Rhinestone too or even a gem brad!), a flower image and the use of light yellow."

I decided to incorporate all 3 seeds for this first challenge, and I am really happy with the results!

First, I stamped two separate large violet images onto white cardstock. Using my copics, I colored them in with two shades of purple (violet and lavender) and cut out.

I adhered the right one directly onto my light yellow cardstock, and then adhered the left one with a glue dot to give it some dimension (note the shadow...although it's a little greenish in the pics!??). I stamped, colored, and cut out a few leaves and adhered them under the flower petals. I decided to add 3 rhinestones to the center of each flower for a little sparkle.

To finish up the card I drew a simple border around the card with a very fine point marker and stamped my sentiment.




Supplies:

Cardstock - light yellow textured cardstock (from Walmart)
Stamps - PTI Signature Sentiments, PTI Year of Flowers: Violets
Ink - SU Basic Black
Copics - Lavender, Violet, Olive, Grayish Olive
Other - Rhinestones, glue dots

My FIRST EVER PTI blog hop and FIRST EVER JUGS Challenge

I'm so excited to share this project tonight!

Both of these templates come from Papertrey Ink, but the one on the left was a Lauren Meader design (before she left to start her own business!)...

I was so inspired by Nichole's back to basics project that I knew I had to try it soon! It was so simple yet beautiful!!

I found this adorable jewelry set for my sister-in-law's birthday and when I saw the blue and gray circles, it made me think of some patterned paper I had picked up back in December...and so I set to work!


Once I had all the boxes made up (one box per piece of jewelry), the circle paper tacked on, and the jewelry tucked inside, I added the beautiful two toned ribbon (again, just picked this up on one of my many trips to the local AC Moore shop!). But, I felt it was missing just a little something. So I decided to add a few tiny butterflies. I used one of the butterflies from Butterfly Dreams. I LOVED the lines on the stamp, but thought the butterflies were too big, so I used my small butterfly punch (martha stewart) to cut them down to size, and luckily they still looked complete! I then punched solid butterflies (same colors) and layered the solid ones with the stamped ones. I think it completed the project with a little touch of elegance!


One thing that's hard to tell from the picture is that the paper has a cool texture/shimmer to it. The blue circles are shimmery and the white ones are soft and felty! SO COOL!

Luckily I bought a set for myself, so you can see how the packaging goes nicely with the jewelry!!!

We also got her some of these little candies while on a recent trip to San Francisco. She LOVES these things!


I wanted to include them with the set, so I decided to make an Around Town tote to match! I used the same paper, and my Nestabilities scalloped ovals to add the sentiment...which was from the Signature Greetings Stamp Set.

Finally, I wanted to make her a special card to tie it all together...and I found a simple sketch and decided to give it a try. Again, I used the same papers, nestabilities, and butterfly stamp/punch. I think it worked together nicely! I can't wait to give it to her!!!

I hope you all enjoy! Let me know what you think! :-)
Can't wait to see what everyone else has been working on!


Supplies:
- Textured Cardstock from AC Moore (light gray, medium gray, light blue, medium blue)
- patterned paper from AC Moore's Christmas collection
- score tape
- templates: PTI Back to Basics box, PTI Around Town Tote
- nestabilities - scalloped ovals
- stamps: PTI Butterfly Dreams, PTI Signature Greetings
- punch: small butterfly - Martha Stewart
- ink: SU Going Gray
- ribbon: two toned ribbon from AC Moore (blue and gray)

Elegant Happy Birthday Cupcake Card

OK, so I'm in love with this card!

I cased one that I saw on Nichole Heady's blog and I love the results!

I used PTI's Cupcake Creation stamps for this one. On the pink mat later, I stamped the sprinkles over and over with VersaMark. A few scattered ones I stamped with a light pink to give them a little pop. Then, I used stickles glitter glue to add a few sparkles here and there.

I then stamped the cupcake images (there are lots of choices here!) and added some more stickles glitter glue to make the icing pop!

I stamped the sentiment directly on the light brown card stock with white ink, and then drew the lines to border the picture with a white gel pen!

Super easy and an elegant card!

HAPPY Birthday

Made another simple layout today!

You can't tell, but I scored some lines down the right side of the card and then placed the strips between them. I added some flowers, a butterfly and another thicker stip of the blue cardstock at the bottom...and I found these cute stamps on clearance at ac moore and couldn't wait to use them! How cute are they? There's a whole set of words to go with the big Happy one...super cute!

Supplies:

white cardstock, happy everything stamps (not su), SU ink, flowers, eyelet, martha stewart butterfly punch, scor-pal

I was inspired by Nichole Heady's card, and wanted to try the technique out. I LOVE how this turned out!

See her post for directions!

Clearly Stated

Another quick one today!

Just made my card base out of clear transparency film, stamped the heart and sentiment in Staz-On ink and adhered the pink and black paper BEHIND the acetate to make the heart pop! I added another layer of black and pink directly behind the set you see (on the other side of the acetate), so I could add a message without it showing up on the front!

Supplies:

Paper: Clear transparency film, cardstock from AC Moore

Ink: Staz-on

Clean, Simple, Elegant

This was super quick and easy! But I think it turned out so pretty!

I simply stamped the sentiments on white card stock, matted them with green, then adhered onto a white card base. I cut out two butterflies to match from Lauren Meader's My Time Made Easy store and it was complete!

Easy, right?!

Bath Gift Set

My friend's birthday is in just a few days, so I wanted to make a nice gift package for some lotion and shower gel I found for her.

You can't tell by the picture very well, but the striped paper also has glitter and shimmer on it...it's very pretty (bought at ac moore)! So, I used the colors from the paper and pulled out my PTI stamps and glitter and made some cute little cupcakes for the bag and card.

I LOVE how this turned out! I can't wait to give it to her!!!

Supplies:

Stamps - PTI - Cupcake Collection

Ink - Stampin Up

other - score tape, stickles glitter glue

Lotion gift set

SHORT post today!

Another gift set I made for a friend!

I used Lauren Meader's flower and butterfly .svg files, cut out some yellow hearts (3 for card, 3 for bag), and lots of little butterflies.

The bag is the Around Town Tote from Papertreyink.

Bath Salts and Chocolate Set

I made this for a dear friend's birthday.

The white tin is filled with bath salts, and the silver one has chocolate inside!

Stamps: Babs in Bath, Papertrey Ink Signature Greetings

Paper: all cardstock and patterned paper was bought at walmart

Other: white canister - bought at michaels, silver canister - my flower embelishments came in there, flowers, rhinestone brads, martha stewart small butterfly punch

Papertrey Ink Contest - Embellishments

For today's contest I cut out a few flowers, added some store-bought flowers and a few buttons. For the card, I found a really cute saying "Dare to be Fabulous" and thought that would be super cute if I put a bunch of small solid butterflies with the one larger, sparkly one! It's good to stand out and be fabulous!

Papertrey Ink Contest - Oragami

So, I tried several different oragami projects, but my paper was just too thick to work. And of course, after all that I didn't have much time left to complete this project, but here goes anyway!

I did at least finally get to try out my new Spellbinders dies! Got a bunch for Christmas but haven't had 2 seconds to use any of them!

Papertrey Ink Contest

Here's my submission for the papertrey Ink contest! Since my username is erinallport, I had to use colors similar to Papertrey Ink's Kraft, Ocean Tides, Spring Moss, Lemon tart, and Vintage Cream (I don't have any of PTI's paper...yet! Maybe I could buy some with a gift card!!!).

I added a little sparkle (don't think it showed up in the pics) on the star dots and the dots above the "Wish Big" sentiment!

I hope I win!!! I love papertrey ink already, and now with all their new lines coming out, I can't wait to place an order!!!!

~E