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Happy Thanksgiving

Erika L Hayes1 Comment

A day of thanksgiving. What are you thankful for?

I am thankful for my God, my family, my church and my friends. Today however on the eve of a traditional holiday for us in America I’d like to give thanks for something more.

The indigenous people of this land. Had it not been for them, there would be no celebration.

While the settlers came, the peoples that were already living in what we call the Americas were kind to help the new arrivals. They brought a peace that later would be exploited, but for a moment it was how it should be. It was kindness and thanksgiving, it was people living in harmony. It was how it should be.

This year along with a celebration of thanksgiving for all the blessings God has bestowed, I give thanks for the kindness, generosity, and blessings of that time. When we were harmonious, not seeking to tear each other apart with right and wrong. A moment in time when it was about people.

I am a first-generation offspring of an immigrant, I am thankful that my father was welcomed into this country. He was given the opportunity and was able to find and make it our home.

This year, as you sit and enjoy your family and some yummy food, remember that people that gave up so much so we could be a part of their land. Try to extend that thanksgiving the first settlers had toward those that aided them in an uncertain time. Extend your kindness to those living in uncertainty. Give more than you get and love each other.

May God bring you special blessings over the next year and try and live a life of ThanksLiving for all the people and seek harmony in all you do.

Have a good day of family and friends. IF you are local and don’t have someone to spend this time with or are just hungry and need a place to go, please consider our church, Desert Christian Fellowship. We have a Thanksgiving meal where all are welcome. If you need more information, please click here for location information.

Many blessings on you friends.

Erika Lee

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

It’s been busy but NEVER too busy

Erika L Hayes1 Comment

Oh boy, I have had a week. Lots happening in the last few days, but even in all the stresses of life and the craziness of having a family and pets and work and laundry and … I could do this all day. However, I must have downtime. In my downtime I read or create. The My Favorite Things Summer Camp 2021 session was a hoot. I got a late start, but I did manage to finish them all. I almost gave up because of all the extra duties I had to finish but the surest way to get me to finish something is to put it on a list…. so I did this in my creative journal.

DAY TWO: Watercoloring

For watercolor, I wanted to try something different. I got some of my black watercolor paper and

Day Two: Watercolor

embossed the Pretty Peony stamp in cream embossing powder then used my gem and opal water colors and I love how it came out.

I also finally had a place to use my fun dark gems.

DAY THREE: Emboss Resist

Day Three: Emboss Resist

I have emboss resist many things in my crafty life, and I love the way it looks. I really like that MFT video had us focus on the “elements” not just a background emboss resist. It was fun making these pumpkins with this method.

I also did the clouds just cause I was on a roll. The thing is, I discovered add texture on the pumpkins was really fun and easy. I just smaller blending brushes and pounced over the base colors to make each pumpkin unique

DAY FOUR: Background Bonanza

Day Four: Background Bonanza

I admit it didn’t come out as I expected but I really like it. I wanted to put a fun little teacher scene on this card, (this is for my sister, she’s a teacher and she is going back to the classroom to teach this year.) but it just didn’t show the fun alphabet. I cut them out three times and put them on the front of this card to give it some dimension.

A word to the wise: lay the letters out on the front of the card before you begin sticking them down. This helps to avoid running out of room or squishing the last few letters up.

I added the black over the “hi” as the sentiment. It really turned out fun. THe background was able to pop forward a bit and give support to the image I colored to look lke my cute sister.

This one was FUN! I knew just what I wanted to make. The wreath is actually from the Spring release with

DAY FIVE: Delightful Die Cutting

DAY FIVE: delightful Die Cut

This was a hoot to make because I knew just which die I wanted to use. It was from a spring release and the wreat was perfect. I used some white, sparlke blue and holographic papers to die cut the snowflakes and placed them all around then using some winter birds was a nice addition. The sentiment was too good to pass up. I did cut it to make it a stackable sentiment, but I really enjoyed making this one.

Now that Summer Camp 2021 is over I am so happy I took the time to complete all the projects. It was a wonderful relaxing time for me to sit back and remember there is so very much more to life than the busy crazy stuff. Making cards to send out to friends and family really is fulfilling for me.

Keep Crafting Friends!

Erika

Summer Camp at MFT!

Erika L Hayes1 Comment

It’s a beautiful day and I finished my first camp assignment! Shaker boxes. I am excited because I love how this assignment came out. Let’s not waste time, here is my first assignment

I made this fun “Out of the Box” and added a fun shaker on the front. I added the mermaid tail on the bottom to give a perception depth as well as the fish are secure in the shaker. I had to use two layers of foam tape so I stuck one fish between the layers and one on the top layer. The puffer fish is simply stuck down with adhesive. Also added a little kelp here and there for some fun. Of course the back drop has her friends frolocking in the waves behind her on a sunny day. I mean this is how I want to spend my birthday. How about you?!

Please leave comments and follow me on Instagram. Have a fantastic week. I am already on project two and hopefully will finish them all before the deadline!

Keep elevating your art!

Erika