Clean & Simple (CAS)

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.

MFT Superstar Contest!

Erika L Hayes3 Comments

This year I am entering the contest. They have three categories my first is the coloring category. In the past, I’ve gone overboard trying to guess what they are looking for and add my own art. This year I made a fun little scene and I didn’t think about it. I didn’t draw a ship or add anything but the stamps I put them center stage. So here is my color entry

Next up was the Out of the box challenge! I love the out of the box challenges. They are so fun to put together. I got the idea for my HoHoHo Santa is coming to town card while sitting in my studio sorting stamp sets! Here is my entry for the out of the box category

Finally, CAS (clean and simple). I’ve had this idea since last year. I struggled with which to make for the contest and went with my other idea last year. This little baby has been waiting 360+/- days to be created. I sketched it out but waited to make it. Now that I have made it I wish I would have made it last year. Here is my CAS entry

Now, I’m not expecting to win anything, but you never know. I really do this contest for the fun of it. I love MFT Stamps (just look through my blog, you’ll see lots of their product is my literal favorite things.

I hope you get joy or inspiration from these cards. Enjoy your night!

Blessings!

ErikaLee

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

Sometimes you just need to KISS

Erika L Hayes2 Comments

Hello my friends! I am so glad you are here today. I wanted to share some simple fast techniques you can use together or separate. These fun ideas can be used to create a card completely like I have here or to dress up a card that seems to be missing that one thing.

I first learned KISS to mean Keep it Simple Stupid, but quickly changed it to Keep It Simple Sexy because I don’t actually believe there is such a thing as a stupid person…. stupid actions maybe. Anyway, I digress.

Today we are going to head back down the AECP road as I am up and moving again. It was a hot minute there wasn’t it. I am sharing a card today that has some simple elements to it to create a card that is not only simple and fast to make, but also is beautifully hand made.

First, is creating a Letterpress image. All I did was stacked several thanks diecuts (6), and layered them to create the press (See Figure1). Just like dry embossing but the trick is to add a non-porus die cut at the bottom of your stack and allowing the stack to dry completely before moving on. Once your stack is dry, I . added some ink (pigment/hybrid work best.) to the bottom die cut as it should be slick because of the non-porus paper it will not absorb your ink but instead let it sit right on top (See Figure 2). Next, use a very low-tack tape to secure it in place Once you have that completed, you should head to your manual die cut machine. Now carefully flip your inked die cut stack and run it through your machine using the stack recommended with your machine that is for embossing folders. As simple as that you have a letterpress sentiment on your paper.

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3

Now the best part is your card has that lovely letterpress look and you can do this with any die cut you have. Do yourself a favor, slip that letter press into your stamp sleeve so you can use it again and again. Eventually, you will need a new one made but I like to keep them until I am ready for a new one. Sometimes I just replace the bottom paper.

You will get some seepage, depending on what ink you use, under the non-porus sheet but it won’t ruin your stack at all.

Once I had the image on the front, I used a very simple stamp and then a few drops of watercolor. Try a drop of a different color while the water is still wet. If you look closely, I added a blue drop of watercolor to the green in the leaves. Then splatter a little purple on the card face. I didn’t wory about it overlapping or mixing because I waited until the green was completely dry.

It is hard to see in the photo but if you look at the “h” and the “a” you can see the imprint that the letterpress created.

My final detail on this card is another fun simple way to add fun to your card keeping with the press feel is to run a few lines with your scoring tool. I just like how it adds a little visual interest. I flipped my paper to have the sentiment face down when I added score lines so they would emboss verses a deboss look.

I used my scor-pal to create these simple but fun textured detail.

I hope you are able to use a few of these ideas on your next card or project.

Keep It Simple Sexy!

Keep Crafting!

a pile of autumn leaves
xoxo – Erika

CAS – Clean And Simple

Erika L Hayes1 Comment

Another fun category that I can roll with is clean and simple. I love this look. For the MFT Superstar Card maker contest this year, I had to wait for the stamps to come in. I saw them and thought… Yes, what better set than these to use for this contest. The stamp set is called Iconic Christmas available at MFT here.

I don’t usually purchase stamps for contest. I had seen them in the sneak peek and thought, wow those would be awesome for some CAS cards. The contest was on my mind while coloring my other entry for Coloring Virtuoso and this card popped into my head. I had to stop what I was doing so I could sketch it out. I LOVE this card. I don’t care what or who wins I really like how it came out. Simple to make and you can change it up a little here and there with changing the trees, sentiment, or colors. Seriously, you could make all your Christmas card in one swoop. Anyway, here it is my 2021 CAS entry.

2021 Clean and Simple Entry

I should also mention, the dry embossed trees in the background, were a stack of MFT tree dies I used to make the embossed look. I didn’t use a folder. I simply layered several trees and ran through a machine with paper to get that letterpress look. It took a bunch of tries to get it straight and to get it to line up. I had to cut edges of the branches and what nots to get it too look clean. I also realized I cut it a little short in a few places but figured it works.