Life's Up's and Down's

You know those times when it seems like there has been a series of bad events, one right after another? When you just wanna say "What else can go wrong?". That is where I am right now. For the past several months things just want to go wrong, one right after another. I know what you might be thinking, that this post is going to be a big whoa as me story. Well, guess again. I wanted to share with you what I do when I start feeling 'poor me'. 

People get through tough things differently. I pray and talk to God and He gives me peace. Also I talk with friends and get advice and just plain ole' vent. One of the quick pick me ups that I use most, other than relying on God, is crafts! Specifically, paper crafts. I really enjoy paper crafts!!!!!!!!!

Today was a rough day. It was full of tough situations and decisions. So this evening I set down to create a paper craft. Not only did I want it to be pretty, I wanted it to be inspiring. Truly, I feel that I accomplished that. Here is the finished product.

I created this from a page out of an old photography book. That inspired me to create a scene with two different stamps that I own. A camera and a film strip/negative strip. Before I created my little painting, I drew and stamped it out just like I would on the final paper, only on scrap paper. Once I was satisfied with that, on to making the actual artwork.

The first step was to stamp on my images with Stazon ink. This is great! You can stamp on just about anything and once it is dry, it is really hard to remove. After that dried, my pencil and I drew out the camera strap. The white/opaque background was created with white acrylic paint. Starting with a thin layer and then adding more as you need, you can recreate this too. Last but not least was the lettering.

From searching on Google, this quote was found. I don't know who originally wrote it, but I felt that it really fit my project and my current events in my life. So I grabbed a sharpie and got to work. 

Do you do any mixed media art? What do you usually use? Is it simple or intricate?

Please leave me a comment below. Share and subscribe!!

Later,

Erin 

Read More

Our Advent Calender!

Hi there! I have been so busy!! I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was wonderful! We had lots to eat and great company.

The boys and I made an Advent Calender and I wanted to share it with you. While searching around Pinterest, I found this great  DIY Advent Calender.
Nicolette Roux with Powerful Mothering shared this wonderful Advent Calender with FREE printable! So we printed it out and colored it! It is already colored, but we don't have color ink. So we gave it our own special touch. Here it is!

I then made my own list of activities to go in each box. I wanted to also share with you my little cards. You can download them here: Advent Activity Cards. 

As well as us doing an Advent Calender, we are going to be doing a Bible Devotion every night. The one we are going to use is Let's Go Straight to Bethlehem by Dr. Ray Pritchard. 

It was published back in 2012. It is an E-book. I have it downloaded on my Kindle Fire. You can find it on Amazon or just Google it. I look forward to going through this walk with my little family! I pray that you find a devotion that is right for your family this year. 

Please leave me a comment down below and don't forget to subscribe!

Later,
Erin

Read More

2 Unique Activities to do with your kids this Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving less then a week away, I thought I would share a few unique activities with you, that I have created. Not only will you leave the post with instructions and printouts. But you will also leave feeling more thankful than when you came.

Thankful Leaves

Last year I came up with a great idea. I made 2 leaf templates and had the kids help me trace them onto construction paper. Here is the free printable template for the Thankful Leaves. We then cut them out and laid them in a basket with a roll of tape and a few pens. Each time we felt thankful for something we have, we took a leaf, wrote what we were thankful for and taped it on the front door. We will be doing this again this year. I didn't have construction paper, so I used decorative paper. I think they came out so pretty!

Thankful Leaves are a wonderful way to remind your children and yourself of all the little things we have to be thankful for. So many of us take for granted the little things. These leaves help bring thankfulness back to our hearts.

 Psalms 105:1 O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name: make known his deeds among the people.

Helping Hand Bag

My children and I like to make these bags whenever we can and keep them in the car. Part of being thankful for what you have is also sharing with others. We take just brown paper lunch bags and decorate them. Just sit down with some crayons or markers and draw away. Put a bible verse on the front or something simple like a smiley face. Then we like to fill them with a few goodies. Usually we put a bottle of water, a granola bar, maybe a piece of candy and then a handwritten note. We want the people that we give these bags to, to know that they are special and loved. We hope our little Helping Hands Bags lift the receivers spirit and spread the love of Jesus Christ. 

Here is a poem that I wrote that you can print and put inside your bags if you would like.

1 John 3:17-18 ESV 

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Read More

~~~Watercolor Beauties~~~

I recently bought a really awesome tool! A Water Brush! The one I bought is made by Tim Holtz. I purchased it from Hobby Lobby. Here is what the packaging looks like. I got if for only $10. If you print out a coupon from Hobby Lobby, you can save up to 50% !! Everybody likes to save money!

One of my most recent cards was made using this. It's a real beauty! I am really happy how it came out. So I thought I would share how I made it with you guys. First things first, you need to get all your supplies together. 

Here is a list of all the things I used:

Creme cardstock cut to 11" X 4 1/2\4" (card base)

Creme cardstock cut to 4 1/8" X 5 1/4" (card mat)

Pencil and eraser

Paper towel

Acrylic block

Washi tape (you can use masking tape)

Buttercup colored ink (it doesn't say the name of the company on the case)

Tim Holtz - Water Brush

Crayola Washable Markers

I used markers for my 'watercolor'. You can use ink pads, re-inkers or even watercolor. I didn't use watercolor paper. So my paper warped a little. But once I dried it all the way and glued it down to my card, it was just fine. So on to the pictures!

Draw out what you want as your image. Don't worry about being perfect or even overlapping lines. Once you have colored it in, it won't matter. 

Now take some Washi tape or masking tape and create a border around your card mat.

Pick a light coordinating color to sponge around the edges of your masked area. I used a yellow, so that is was almost like sunshine! Using a light color is the best because you can still paint your water color over it if you need to. I tried to not sponge my ink over the flower areas. 

Here is what the frame looks like. I really like this effect.

This is my set up for my water coloring. I only used 3 colors!! It's amazing what water can do!

Take an acrylic block of any size and scribble on it. Yes, scribble on it. It will come off. It's ok! LOL

I started with my magenta color for my flowers. I just dabbed my water brush on the acrylic block to pick up color. My paper towel was kept near by so I could blot. Make sure to THOROUGHLY dry in between colors. I used my heat gun to speed things up. If you don't wait until it's fully dry, you will get 'muddy spots'. I don't mind a little muddling. I like how it looks. :)

Here is my finished picture. Once it was dry again, I used my eraser to erase the pencil lines. Not all of them came off, but it didn't really need it. 

My last little touch was to add a sentiment. I really like to use pigment inks and clear embossing powder. I used Color Box - Paintbox for my ink and Zing - Clear embossing powder. It is just easier to use colored ink and clear powder, instead of owning lots of different powders.

Here is the final product! What a beautiful card! What do you think? 

By the way, the inside of the card says "...That God will keep you in his care."

I hope you have enjoyed this DIY. Please leave me a comment below and feel free to ask any questions. Share with your friends and let the beauty free!

Read More

***How to subscribe to Lil' Paper Crumbs*** ###UPDATE###

###UPDATE###
So I apparently didn't think about the mobile view of my website. I'm so sorry for those who have looked at it on their smart phones and was like "What?". I will figure out how to tell you how to subscribe via mobile site soon!
###UPDATE###



Hi everybody! It has come to my realization that some of you may not know how to subscribe to my blog. Well, I am going to tell you how!!
First things first look to the right. See that little black bar with icons on it? Ok? Good.
It looks like this only in black and white.


Next click the very first icon. 


There you will see Subscribe via email. Type in your email and then hit submit, It's that easy!!
Now you will get email notifications whenever I make one of my fun and awesome posts!

Now get to subscribing!

Later,
Erin

Read More

Fall beauties!

Today I got a few new stamps and I couldn't wait to try them out! I need to make some cards for my pastors at church. So I thought I would use my new stamps and paper.

I am going to make 4 of the same card. Here is the finished project.

I started with a A2 base of Creme card stock. I then added Doubledots Designs -burnt orange vintage as my main background. The strip of stripped paper is by Paradise - earth tones. My stamps are made by a company called Mostly Animals. They are now out of business. But I found these on sale at a local scrapbooking shop. The stamps are simply named Scarecrow and Corn Stalks.

To create the look with the scarecrow, I used a paper mask. That is where you stamp the image onto thin paper. Then cut as close as you can all the way around. This is your mask. I stamped the scarecrow then covered him with the mask. I then inked up my stalks and lightly stamped them once on scrap paper. After I stamped the stalks onto my card paper, it gave me this great faded look. Also the mask made them appear to be behind the scarecrow. 

To finish him and the stalks off, I just got out my trusty Crayola colored pencils! I really like colored pencils! I have a large bucket of them. Most of which I have had since I was a girl. 

I inked the edges of my image and my card. The inks used were Stampabilities pigment ink in Sable and Stampin' Up in Hello Honey. 

If you have any questions or comments please leave them below!! 

Later,

Erin

Read More

DIY Butterfly Embellishment...Finally

I promised a DIY Butterfly Embellishment video. 
So here it is.

Please leave me a comment below on what you thought of this video. 

 It was my first DIY video.

I am looking forward to making more DIY videos for you guys.

Later,

Erin

Read More