Friendship

Online Card Classes – Holiday Card Workshop 2022

Erika L Hayes1 Comment

Oh, HO HO HO!

Yep, it’s another holiday card class for this girl. I really love that K Werner and J McGuire take so much time and work to prepare such high-quality classes for crafters. I have taken many! This year I really did have a blast. (I have one more project to complete but, I finished the others. The final is on my desk.) It may take me a few days to finish the final assignment as I a preparing to teach a fun craft class at my church.

There were several assignments and here are my attempts. I have a few that I really like and some not as much. I did, however, try each technique taught and the ones that I don’t like, I am sure I can play with the technique a bit more and land on something I like. Without further delay, here they are.

I know you can still sign up for the class so I don’t want to reveal the content so I will just add the Class Title and the Project I completed.

Day One: Die Cutting. At first, I wanted to try the techniques with something, but it turned out to be not so Christmasy. Which is fine, it just shows that you can use the techniques all year round!

Day Two: Plaid. THIS class was so much fun. I really love the final card. I added a twist to mine, I used Easter colors on a holiday card, and loved it.

Day Three: Fast Backgrounds

This was an exciting one. I used a product that I really wanted to use. It was a struggle though. It’s proof that you must use the supplies to master them. I am pleased with the result and so happy I busted out a product I don’t use nearly enough.

Day Four: Ink Blend

Well, when my Simon Says Stamp Kit (First Night) came in, it was perfect timing. I was also trying to play with some color combos from my Color Cube and this fun happened.

Day Five: Using Scraps!

Yeah, we all have them. We all need ways to use them. Leave it to Jennifer McGuire to step up our scraps!

BONUS Day!! Using Leftovers!

Well, that worked out! I had this sitting in my garbage can, can you believe it? Yeah, this class saved this card’s life! Whew!

DAY SIX: Tiny Stamps… I have a lot of these. When the topic popped up in my inbox, I was very happy to watch the class AND use some of the techniques to create a fun little card.

DAY SEVEN: Embossing Folders – This is one that I will use again. Not my favorite final project from the class, but it is fun and I am excited to make more with the techniques taught.

DAY EIGHT: Foiling. It’s such a cool looking hot trend! (See what I did there haha) ANYWAY, this class kicked butt! Oh, with so so so many ideas and tips. The cost of this class is covered right here in this one day!

DAY NINE: Snowflakes – Well, here is the card that made me so happy I teared up a little. To say I had a rough day (few days) would be an understatement! Then I watched this class and had a moment of clarity. We need cardmaking. It is truly therapeutic. Card making (and this class) saves not only card lives (see Bonus day) but it saves our mental health. Also one of my favorite cardist (card making artist) taught this day.

DAY TEN: Interactive This is the final day of class. I have my project on my desk in progress. I just am so excited to get this done!!! I will post the final, but I wanted to be sure to get this post done before the class expires — the live version. It does continue live until the 18th. You can get in and join the fun and be in the running for the giveaways. After the 18th it will still be available, but the forum is closed. If you have a chance, DO sign up you can get 10 no 11 card ideas and techniques for 2022.

Color Play and a Happy Hello!

Erika L Hayes1 Comment

with an Ode to Sarah Renae Clark

To begin, with a “hello”! Today I am exploring some color fun with My Favorite Things & Sarah Renae Clark. (Seriously, I don’t work for MTF, I just love the product and the business practices of this company!) Now, I want to share with you about a product.

It is important to me that you know, it is a product I purchased, and I do not gain anything from sharing about it but the knowledge that I have passed on 1. a great product to like-minded peeps, 2. supported an artist! 3. a bit of fun

I am drawn to bright colors in pure forms (ROYGBIV) under many circumstances. I do, however, love all colors and recently I noticed my cards had been drawn to pure colors again and I stopped adventuring a bit into other color tones. I do love me some pastels, but they are not a go-to. Have you ever been like that? Well, with the release of the “color cube”(more on that in a minute) I was reminded to play more in the colors tones I love but aren’t my go-to colors. It’s a great way to get your mojo in a good mood. It’s all play. Play is important to creators. Mojo needs new ideas and new play often. Sometimes I forget about all the resources I have.

What is a color cube you speak of? First let me tell you about The Color Catalog. There is an artist I follow mostly because she is as silly about color as I am. I just love her. She is an Aussie and one day I really hope we meet for a coloring jam. She is remarkable and I recommend if you would like to learn a lot follow her on YouTube HERE.

She spent thousands of hours I am sure, creating a tool for people that like to color (adult coloring books and cards and what I would call fine artists) called the Color Catalog. When I purchased this product, it was for the color palettes as much as the conversions to Copic and various color pencils I owned. Let me tell you if you are stuck this is a remarkable tool to get you going! She even made a keyword search so if you are not sure what colors you want but you maybe know it’s a summer color you are going for you can find a color pallet that is keen for summer. ALSO, if you know you are using a say soft pink you can search by COLOR she really put a lot of thought into this product. I like the detail I like the detail!

Picture from sarahrenaeclark.com click for more information

I did use the Color Catalog to make the card from the Tall Hello Card I made with My Favorite Things Tall Hello Die and the Stitched Blooms.

She has now created a sibling to the Color Catalog. It is called the Color Cube (Vol 1 & Vol 2) I purchased them in a pre-order and don’t have my hands on them yet. but You can return here soon to see the review of what I think is to become a staple on my desk. As of this post, there is a special pre-order price which I think is going through October. So, if you are crazy about coloring like I am check it out.

Picture from sarahrenaeclark.com – click for more information

Hopefully, you can give Sarah Renae a peek and see what great things she is up to. DO yourself a favor and follow her on YouTube she puts out EXCELLENT content for artists!

Enjoy your weekend! It is World Card Making Day tomorrow so you know I will be back with more fun soon.

Keep Creating!

Blessings e

Great News!

Erika L Hayes1 Comment

It’s been a few since my last post. I have been working on something and think I can share the news. I have been able to get my camera and now have the video editing software. I am still learning all the how-to’s, but I think you will soon see the first video up on my youtube channel! Filming starts this weekend.

I don’t want to leave my blog unloved, so I am adding this fun card I made using Honey Bee Stamps Designs – Market Card Builder.

Honey Bee Stamp Designs

Now I have plenty of cardstock something in the crafter of me must not only use but save all the scraps that I could possibly find a future use. While I was making this card, I realized a couple of things. One that it is a fantastic scrap paper user. Second that if you use a large scrap, you can get impressions from the acrylic plates (they of course have cut hundreds of dies and do like to leave behind some lines and shapes on the paper usable portion of the remaining scrap. Usually, I just toss them if they are too bad. To counter those little impressions, I took a lesson from the hot foil tricks and tips. I found after placing my die on the scrap, that cutting it around the die before running it through my machine preserved the rest of the paper for future use. All the dies in this card with the exception of the actual cart are scraps.

This tip is really effective on foiled
and specialty papers

I’m excited about what is coming to my blog and I look forward to sharing, inspiring, and educating. If you have any questions just go to my contact page and send me a note!

Blessings to you all!

Please like, share, and follow!

Making Simple Scenes

Erika L Hayes1 Comment
Supplies: My Favorite things Hanging with my Gnomies, Copic Markers, Arteza White Gel Pen, Simon Says Stamps Woodsy Pawsitivly Saturated Ink, Dr Phil’s Opaque white

I always bookmark the cards on Instagram and save to Pintrest boards have hand-drawn backgrounds to set the stage for a stamp set. One of my favorite artists that does this is Sandy Allnock. I recently signed up for a few classes and downloaded her app. I always look and say, “I wish I could do that.” I tried last year for a coloring contest and was disappointed with how it came out. (see below).

Not my best scene drawing

This year, I decided I really wanted to work on my “drawing” let’s call them skills. After watching a few classes on Copics, I decided to give it a try. I also followed the KISS (Keep It Simple Silly) method to ensure I would feel at least a little success for my efforts.

I used a simple idea and made my card for this post. Taking classes is only one way you can learn to make these hand-drawn backgrounds, (though I HIGHLY recommend Sandy Allnock’s classes, as she often mixes hand-drawn and stamps and is a great teacher!)

Hope you enjoy this card!

Many Blessings,

e