Grateful - Wall Hanging **Flamingo Scraps**

  

This month the Flamingo 4 were given paper, chipboard frames, a playing card, and a large MDF letter ((I got G).  When I saw the letter and the 3 chipboard picture frames I knew I needed to do something about my children.  I usually create off the page products for friends and family as gifts, but this one I am keeping.  

 I used the paper to cover the letter and also to create the two rosette flowers (spiral rolled) and leaves.

I used the picture frames as frames for my 4 children, boys in the middle and girls on the top on bottom, using gelatos to color them in.  I also used gelatos to color the sides of the large letter.  The playing card I was given had a little girl on it, so I cut the little girl out and just it with in my cluster of flowers, gems, and leaves.  I then played around with the idea of what the “G” stands for with my children, and “Grateful” is what I am for being able to be a mom.

Now head on over to Flamingo Scraps and check out the other amazing projects nade from these items by the other Flamingo 4 Team.

Enjoy!!

Erin Reed

for YOU - card **Flamingo Scraps**

On Nov 10th, 2012 my husband and I had out 11th anniversary.  It was bitter sweet as he was away in Afghanistan, our first time separated on that day.  So with that in mind I made him a card to fit our "time" apart and mailed it to him, he now says it is sitting by his computer at his "office" in Kabul.

I used a simple geometric design to keep the card masculine, but added the Prima flower for a feminine touch of our time together.  The 11 squares represent the 11 years married and the flower is one to grow on.  I used the clock papers from Teressa Collins to show our time, a great way to use clock paper or clock stamps like the Vintage Finds stamp from Teresa Collins and to show the time you spent doing something. 

Please stop by Flamingo Scraps to find all your scrapbooking wants and desires like those found on this card.

Products Used:
Cardstock
Patterened Paper - Teressa Collins
Flower - Prima
Stamp
Ink - Ranger

Enjoy!!

Erin Reed

Christmas Card 2012

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Here is my Christmas card to you and a recap of 2012 in the Reed Family.

Mike received a Company award and we got to attend an award ceremony in Austin in March, it was fun to dress up and see him in his dress uniform.  Mike joined the 136 MEB a unit based out of Round Rock, just outside of Austin, TX and began working there in April.  Since we still live in Houston a wonderful childhood friend, Joe Zaher, opened his house to let him live there during the week and some drill weekends until Mike deployed for Afghanistan.  Mike took some days of leave during the months of the summer to spend time with me and the kids before he left in September.  We traveled up to Dallas for a 3 night stay at Great Wolf Lodge (wonderful kids swimming resort), go to Legoland,  and to go to Stephanie and Robert's wedding (Mike's youngest sister).  Mike is now stationed in Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan.  He has been there since mid September and will return home mid June 2013.

Award Ceremony (NGAT)

Great Wolf Lodge

Legoland

Steph and Robert's wedding

I have been busy at home with the kids, new baby, and keeping everything running.  I was working at Michael's craft store until July as the scrapbook instructor, but I am now on leave until I am ready to go back. I still scrapbook a lot for various design teams, even with the baby, as it is my stress relief during this chaotic time.  We have a wonderful garden in our backyard (Mike built these great planting beds before he left) and we grew cucumbers, lima beans, cilantro, oregano, tomatoes, basil, bell peppers, oranges, parsley, carrots, lettuce, rosemary, broccoli, and potatoes.  I am involved with Mom's Next and MOPS (mother's of pre-schoolers) up at the church/school Brandon goes to and I am in my second year as the kids crafts leader with MOPS.  They are both wonderful groups of mothers to be around for support and friendship, even Elaine my mom had joined as a mentor mom for MOPS!  We have hired a wonderful nanny Madison to help out in Mike's absence, she has been great.  Both grandparents, Marty and Elaine, have been a huge help coming daily or every other weekend to help out with anything and everything around the house with Mike gone, 2 boys, and a new baby girl.

Cat at 2 months old

Cat at 1 week old

Our garden

Morgan turned 6 Jan 1, 2012 so he is now almost 7!  He got to snow ski for the first time during spring break in March at Wolf Creek since the whole family got to go to my parent's cabin in Colorado.  We even got Mike up on skis for the first time in his life!  Morgan finished kindergarten (a rocky year), but he finished tons better then he started with many thanks to his wonderful teacher Mrs. Engle.  Morgan joined a summer swim team this summer and had a blast.  He got to swim with the 6 and under group and swam the 25 freestyle and 100 free relay.  Morgan is now in grade 1 in Mrs. Gehring's class, there are 19 in his class and he is doing way better than we ever dreamed.  He comes home and the first thing he wants to do is his homework (of which Brandon wants to do homework now too), then play on the computer.  Morgan also joined Cub Scouts as a tiger cub and has already had his first camp out that Grandpa Ray went along on, got to do a FOX 26 news cast (it was broadcast on TV last week), a belt loop day activity, and got to do a tour of a fire station.

Erin, Mike, and Morgan skiing during spring break

Stingray Swim Team

Fire station with the Cub Scouts

Brandon will turn 3 on New Years Eve, and he is trying his best to hold up 3 fingers on one hand to show how big he is.  He attends a mother's day out program at Christ Church School m/w/f from 9:30am-2pm to go play and give mommy some time, he loves playing with his 'kids" at "class".  He is a really busy little guy who got to play in snow for the first time in March, got his first broken bone and therefore a cast on his arm in March, attended his first wedding, started to swim unassisted, is potty trained, love to play all kinds of sports, went to gymboree class, and became a big brother.  He took a little bit to adjust to having a new baby, still has some issues, but loves to show everyone his baby sister.

At the beginning of the year I found out that I was pregnant with our 4th child who turned out to be our little girl Catherine Anna Reed.  She was born August 20, 2012 at 7 lbs 14 oz, our smallest baby!  She is such a sweet baby, so calm and is all smiles.  She loves to watch her brothers and coo at them.  She grabs at everything, drools like crazy, and just today she rolled over onto her tummy from her back!  She just had her 4 month check up and is still our "little" girl at 13.5 lbs.  Daddy got to be there for the birth and he also got to see her at 2 weeks old before he deployed.  Cat and the boys now get to see and hear Daddy via Skype as often as possible.

We still miss Kristen so much, but know that she is with us in our hearts forever.  I can't believe you would be 4 years old, you are still my sweet little baby Kristen.

We wish everyone a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year!!

The Reed Family

Flamingo Scraps Coupon

Head on over to Flamingo Scraps to get a wonderful discount on Fab Scraps Products.  Just enter the coupon code below and get 40% off your Fab Scraps order!!

Enjoy!!

Erin Reed

Together **Momenta and Flamingo Scraps**

This past June my sister in law got married. After the wedding we all went out for the reception dinner and as I was waddling behind them (I was 32 weeks pregnant) I saw the cutest thing, my boys all holding hands.  I knew that their time together was limited as my husband is deployed to Afghanistan right now, so watching them at this moment was very bitter sweet.

I used a sketch from the Nov 2nd Frosted Design challenge seen below.

I took parts of the sketch, but as you can see I did alter from it quite a bit.  I flipped it mirror image and did not put any banners on it.  As I was playing around with my layers I liked how they all lined up to the right instead of being centered, this gave me room to play with different edges.  I used 3 different edge punches, Tattered Angels mist splatters, and paper distressing with a paper edge distressor from Prima.  You don't always have to use just one punch or technique for a page, playing with more than one is fun and gives your project more interest.

If you want to purchase most of the wonderful items on my page head on over to Flamingo Scraps - see below for list of supplies, and coming soon, a NEW store Flamingo Scraps.com

Products
Punches - EK and Martha Stewart
Paper - Teressa Collins and Heidi Swapp
Metal Flowers - Momenta (ST-5719 and ST-5707)
Acrylic word - Clear Scraps
Stickers - Heidi Swapp
Lace
Ink - Ranger and Prima
Pearls - Prima
Distressing tool - Prima


Enjoy!

Erin Reed 

for the journey of a lifetime **Flamingo Scraps**

For November, 4 Design Team members each received the following items for the Flamingo 4 Challenge

1. Glimmer Mist (Clam Bake)
2. assorted wood veneers  
3. lacy trim
4. an empty Maya Road tin

You can find Glimmer Mist, all sorts of veneers, beautiful trims and tins full of Maya Road goodies in the Flamingo Scraps store. Here is my take on the project.
 

When I saw the box size I knew it would be perfect as a standard size photo frame.  I found a fun picture of my hubby and I and glued it inside the box.  I then used the died ribbon and glued it all around the edge of the box, one to hold it together and second a pretty finish to the outside of the box.  I used the glimmer mist to die the ribbon and mixed the mist with various gelato colors to color the wood veneers.  I used two Prima flowers of complementary colors and the wood veneers to cover up the words Maya Road in the top left corner, hence why the cluster is there, and left the phrase “for the journey of a lifetime” as it fit the picture.  I then put magnets on the back and it became a magnetic photo frame to send my husband in Afghanistan.

Hop on over to Flamingo Scraps to see the other wonderful projects!

Enjoy!

Erin Reed

Quick and Easy Thanksgiving Cards **Momenta**

I like to give out cards to family and friends during all holidays, and even thought Thanksgiving is not a big card giving holiday I still feel it is all part of giving thanks.  So I want to give a huge thank you to everyone for looking at my boards, writing me comments, and just for looking at my work.  I truly am grateful for being able to share my work and my love for crafting with everyone!

THANK YOU!!

Above a just a few of the cards I passed out this year.  Thanks everyone!!

Products Used
Cardstock - Momenta - PA-2376
Patterned Paper - Momenta - PA-1991
Stickers
Adhesive

Enjoy!!

Erin Reed

My Pumpkin Catherine **Momenta and Flamingo Scraps**

This is my cute little pumpkin Catherine.  She is 2 months old in this picture as she is nestled in the pumpkins. We were at a local pumpkin patch and I just could not resist laying her in the crate and taking a few quick pics.

I used a neutral colored background with fun music notes and writing.  This is what I call a neutral patterned paper, it will transform into whatever you want it to be for colors and style, a step up from just textured cardstock.  I then added my own flair of paints and water for the circle and splatter drips effects.  You really can't go wrong here and below are the 3 steps I took to achieve these effects.

Paint drip, circle, and flick tutorial
1) I used a cheap plastic kids paint brush and "flicked" the smooch mist onto your paper for the paint splatters (yellow spots)
2) A plastic flower pot about 2.5 inches in diameter for the rings, just put paint of the rim of the pot and press onto your paper for a coffee mark stain effect (large circles in orange) - smooch glitz works great for this because it has a fine tip applicator
3) A child's medicine dropper filled with spray mists (like Smootch spritz) and drop it onto the paper and lift the paper up vertically to let the paint run down the page (orange dripping spot)
4) Make sure you let your page dry before adding anything else to it or it will smudge and distort your lovely work!!

After the paint dried I added layers of fall colored papers, flowers, leaves, and doilies for a beautiful autumn page for my little pumpkin.

Products Used:
Momenta metal Flowers and butterfly (ST-5722, 17535, ST-5697)
Prima Flowers
Petalo Flowers
Doilies
Glitz Papers
Bo Bunny Papers
Ranger and Clearsnap inks/paints/mists
Prima bling
Stickers
May Arts Trim
Webster's Flower Trim

So head on over to Flamingo Scraps and try out some of these products!

Enjoy!!

Erin Reed

http://blog.ribboncarousel.com/  - 11/30
http://glitzitnow.com/blog/
http://prima.typepad.com/
http://reasonableribbon.blogspot.com/ - 11/30
http://creativeinspirationspaint.blogspot.com/ 11/23

happiness is Love **Momenta and FD**

A couple of weeks ago at my mothers house my oldest son Morgan decided to lay down beside Catherine on her changing pad (it was on the floor) and asked for me to take a picture.  It was just too cute that i had to grab Brandon and get him in on the act.  I took about 15 shots just hoping that one would turn out, and viola the sweetest picture came out.

I decided to use the picture as a black and white since they were all wearing completely different colors of clothes and I also wanted to picture to work well on my layout of muted colors.

I played around a bit with my Faber-Castell Gelatos and crackle distress paint and look at the wonderful results I got.  I used to it to color my artisan elements and also to create the pink border and circle of pink on the background page.  I just applied the pigment to the paper, sprayed with water, and then blended it in with my finger.  Below is a tutorial for how I distress colored my frame corners like the one pictured below.

Add caption

Distressing with Gelatos

1) Supplies - surface to distress (chipboard, sticker, resin, artisan elements, etc)  I used artisan elements

                     gelatos in your choice of color

                     distress crackle paint

2) Paint your surface with crackle paint - let air dry, if you use a heating tool it will not crackle as much and make your paint bubble.  I used tattered rose as my color.

3) Cover the surface after the paint has dried with your choice of gelato colors, 2 to 3 is good.  Rub the pigments into your surface, trying to enhance the cracks giving it an aged look.  I used guava and metallic melon.

4) Play with the colors and how much pigment you apply until you achieve your desired look.

Layout made for Frosted Designs - had on over and play along!!

Momenta Products Used:
ST-4826 - black alpha letters
ST-4788 - black numbers

Enjoy!!

Erin Reed

Cute and Bright "Thank You" Cards **Momenta and Flamingo Scraps**

I always like to keep some thank you cards on hand for and every day thank you to someone. I find it better than just buying a stacking of thank you cards from the store, it means more if it is made from the heart. 

 

With that in mind I do not want to spend 2 hours making one card for one person, I want to spend my time wisely and make a batch at a time, using similar products, but with the same feel. I can change out flowers, embellishments, stickers, paper, and colors but make then faster if I use a similar layout.

For these cards I used the same paper and flowers, but different metal embellishments to change it up a bit, or lack of embellishments

Products Used are from Flamingo Scraps and Momenta
Momenta Metal Flowers - ST-5723, ST-5722, ST-5725, ST-5719
Momenta Patterned paper - PA-1991
Momenta Cardstock - PA-2390
Bazzil rubons
Prima Flowers
Ranger Distress Ink
Ranger Adhesive

Enjoy!!
Erin Reed

Halloween Cards **Momenta**

I wanted to make some cute fun cards for the kids teachers, our nanny, and grandparents for Halloween this year.  I found this really cute paper in the all season paper pack of Halloween ghosts, gravestones, and pumpkins.  It has so much character to it already that I figured I could just trim it up a bit into sections of about 4 x 5 inches, mat those section in black and they would make really cute cards!!

Using the Momenta paper above I made the following 5 cards, all I added was white and black cardstock and random Halloween stickers from my stash.

These top two cards were the easiest.  All I did was cut the bottom of the paper off to 5 inches wide and 3.75 inches tall, matted it in black and then glued it to a white pre-folded card.  The graphics on the paper were cute enough to stand alone.

These next two cards were cut from the bottom after the first two card were cut off, I cut these to the same dimension as the first two cards.  This left the cute little owl and ghost poking out of the bottom of the paper, so I added a large sticker from my stash to both, matted in black and glued to a white pre-folded card.

This last card is smaller than the rest, because the remainder of the purple paper is smaller.  I cut it to be around 3x4 inches and then just matted in black and added left over white cardstock to the back of the black mat for a writing space, so it is not an open card it is more of a postcard.  I cut the section that had the moon, added a couple of cute stickers from my stash, and viola! 

Cute cards do not have to be super complex or stressfull if you start with cute paper!!

Momenta Products used:

Enjoy!!

Erin Reed