One-Layer Simplicity #8: Shades of Summer

This month's OLS Challenge is Shades of Summer! Use one of the six color combinations from the challenge to make a summer-themed card!

The color combo that inspired my first card is this one:

And here's my card.

I tried to use as many of the colors as possible, and had to off-stamp to get the lighter pink...all my light pinks are just too light, but off-stamping the Hero Arts Ultra Pink got me a nice, mid-tone pink. The green ink is Memento New Sprout, and the gold and orange are Hero Arts Butter Bar and Orange Soda.

I hope you enjoy this challenge. There are LOTS of ways to vary it, and LOTS of different color combinations to make since you don't have to use all the colors in each combination. Pick and choose...like you would pick fruit at a summer fruit stand. Whatever works for your recipe!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (flower), Clean and Simple Stamps (sentiment)
ink: Hero Arts, Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: corner rounder, rhinestones, Sharpies to color some of the rhinestones to match

Life and Stuff

I have run out of cards to post.

The horror!

I had hoped to have more time between my trip to Maryland (finished) and my trip to Pittsburgh (pending) to make a bunch of cards to continue posting uninterrupted through Pittsburgh and beyond.

Bwaaa haaa haaaa! What an optimist I am!

Instead, I only found time to make four cards for August's One-Layer Simplicity #8, which I am hosting.

And no way am I posting one of those cards before August 1st. I don't want to spoil the surprise.

So this post is to give you a heads-up that my posting between now and whenever I can get into my craft room will be sporadic and perhaps nonexistent. There will be three posts on OLS#8 coming up, but beyond that, you'll hear crickets around Simplicity.

Nothing is wrong. I am fine. I will be back. In fact, I'm scared I'll lose all common sense in the next week or so and order a bunch of stuff I don't need just so I'll have fun stuff to play with when I do get back into my stamping nook!

If you want to keep up with what I'm doing next week in Pittsburgh, feel free to check out my other blog called Transforming Common Days.

In short, I'll be back soon. In the meantime, stuff is happening.

And life is good.

Stop the Presses!!!!!

LateBlossom used kraft!!!!

And she actually enjoyed it!!!!

Supplies
stamps: My Favorite Things First Class Friend
ink: Memento Luxe Danube blue, VersaMagic Rocket Red
paper: Papertrey Ink kraft
accessories: circle punch, dimensional

Another Thank-You Set and Some Words on Ink

As I've mentioned before, my sister-in-law Angela and her husband Mike are coming this weekend to watch my boys while I go to the Stephen Ministry Leadership Training Course. I made a set of thank-you cards for Angela and now it's her husband's turn.

He's an Ironman like George. He likes bikes. A lot. So I made a set of nine cards in three colors featuring...a bike.

Masculine colors, a road, and a bike. I think Mike will appreciate these!

And now, some unsolicited and unpaid words on ink....

I have covered inks on my Favorite Products page and stand by all I say there. Now, however, I have a new quick-drying pigment ink to add to the list of favorites: Impress Fresh Ink. This ink is a lovely, rich ink that works extremely well with clear stamps. It offers great coverage, a wide range of colors, and juicy pads that aren't over-inked (a problem I've noticed with some brands that leads to goopy images).

I only have three colors right now, but my birthday is coming up in a few months. My hubby will definitely be widening my color options for me.

If I can wait that long.

And that's all I have to say about that.

For now.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (bike, ribbon), Clearly Besotted (sentiment)
ink: VersaColor, VersaMagic
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: none

Seeing the Potential

Do you ever find yourself staring at a card you've made and thinking that something about it just isn't right?

Of course you do.

We all do.

That's all part of the process.

So today I found myself staring at this card. It uses a layout I've used before...found it in the book 1,000 Labels, Tags, and Bags, I think. But this particular card just isn't right. Instead of pitching it, I sat and stared at it, contemplating the problem and possible solutions.

A Not Right Card

What's not right? Well, there is simply no unity here, as if two cards were stuck together...the one on top and the one on bottom. The light blue was supposed to unify the two halves of the design, but it fails miserably.

As if two cards were stuck together...two cards...could I divide this into two cards?

Why not?

The bottom half got a sentiment and bling to give a visual triangle of dark ocean green that unifies and completes this design perfectly.

The top half needed nothing because lots of empty space reinforces the sentiment so well. I rounded the corners because those pointy right angles definitely didn't fit with the single image of circles. Sometimes curves love angles, and sometimes they don't. Plus, I like how the curves remind me of hugs, and people who miss each other need hugs.

So today's lesson is "Don't give up." I could have pitched this card into the recycling bin, but I relaxed, contemplated, proposed ideas to myself, and got there in the end, with two cards out of the process.

Go, me!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Grunge Me, Birthday Basics, Paper Tray; Clearly Besotted A Little Sentimental
ink: Hero Arts, Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: dimensionals, corner rounder, rhinestone

Holiday Sentiments, Part 5

I saved the card with the most white space for last. Just 'cause that's how I roll.

Up to this point, the cards in Parts 1-4 were made exclusively with stamps from Holiday Sentiments. No matter how fully functional a stamp set is on its own, however, don't forget to check your stash for other stamps to work with it.

As I stared at the smaller word stamps in the Clearly Besotted set, I realized that the "peace on earth" sentiment could benefit from an actual earth image.

Oh, yeah. I love how that font looks with the lines on the globe image. That's a very, very cool coincidence since the earth image is from Masculine Motifs by Papertrey Ink...different company, different theme altogether.

Think outside the set.

And that concludes this series on Clearly Besotted's Holiday Sentiments. As I said yesterday, this set is incredibly easy to work with. I came up with all five cards very quickly, with next to no hard thinking, and with shockingly few missteps. Pushing harder will no doubt yield a very good crop of creativity!!!

It's always exciting when a new purchase justifies itself in a first inking. I wish--sincerely, truly wish--that I could crack the code and make all my purchases so satisfying. I'm better than I used to be, but there are still those purchases that leave me wondering what in the name of little juicy ink pads I was thinking!

Do you have sets that "clicked" with your style easily? Do you have criteria by which you purchase new sets that minimize buyer's remorse? Please do share!

Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted Holiday Sentiments
ink: VersaColor/VersaMagic
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: corner rounder, circle punch, dimensionals

Holiday Sentiments, Part 4

In my quest to stack the stamps in Holiday Sentiments from Clearly Besotted, I felt compelled to push the bounds of my usual minimalist style.

I also wanted to play with my new inks from Impress:

The talented enabler Erin Taylor told me to buy these quick-drying pigment inks. She actually told me to buy a few more colors, and I plan to take her advice. Fresh Ink is fabulous. Where has it been all my life? Never mind.

I'm happy I don't know all the great products out there. That way, there's always something new to discover.

Thanks, Erin, for enabling a new ink passion!

I stacked in shades of wonderful green to give the effect of a Christmas tree. This shape is simply perfect, and the flourished tree stand makes me so happy.

This card is two layers because I was worried I'd mess up with so much stamping, so I stamped on a card back salvaged from a failed card. Turned out to be a good thing, because my stacked tree was slightly off-center. I trimmed it to line up better and mounted it on a white card base.

There's still enough white space to make me happy, plus the image is made with words. Words are good. I love words.

Bet you didn't know that about me.

Yeah. Right.

Just one more card to share in this series, but rest assured that Holiday Sentiments will continue to provide me with crisp, clean Christmas cards for years to come.

Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted Holiday Sentiments
ink: Impress Fresh Ink
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: rhinestones, dimensionals