Monday, February 14, 2011

Missing You for the Troops

After being a bit whiny about PTI's huge product line yesterday, I decided to show what I love about PTI: great stamp designs. Simple settings allow these gorgeously designed stamps to shine. This card started with the fish, from Masculine Motifs. I liked the Memento tangelo ink for it, but waffled about with the base color. White looked...eh. Orange looked too...orange. I had an already-cut piece of kraft lying on my desk and thought, "Nah, kraft will never work."

Oh how wrong I was.


A chocolate chip matte sets it off, and I really love the results. And the rounded corners were made with a pair of cheap scallop scissors.

Can't you just see a female soldier sending this card to her honey back in the States?

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the comments yesterday. They were brilliant! And like many of you, I totally agree with Super Jen's comment...

Do you remember that scene from Amadeus where (I can't remember who) someone says "Too many notes." It's not just PTI or this hobby, it's everything. I almost spit out my coffee the day PTI announced their radio show, facebook contest and daily tweets about additional challenges. I simply do not have time for that. CAS is not just for cards, it's for life too. I have two young children and work full time. It is absolutely essential to cut out the unnecessary layers and get down to the fundamentals. Maybe one day I'll have more time and energy or maybe I'll just realized that I don't really need them and and know that what I have is enough. More than enough.


I see cards on PTIs blog, think they are lovely, sum up the cost of the supplies I would need for one card, throw in the time it would take, pause and think "if only" and then move on to your blog. I love they way you are able to distill an idea into your CAS style and how you are able to take a design and mimic it using what you have on hand instead of shelling out big bucks on the newest trendy toys.

YES, I remember that scene in Amadeus!!!!! Too many notes. Perfect. Thanks, Jen, and I hope the use of $0.50 deco scissors purchased almost ten years ago to round corners on today's card makes you happy, 'cause it sure tickled me!

And any of you who missed my Craving White Space in a Carnival World post on Questioning my Intelligence might enjoy it in light of yesterday's discussion.

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for highlighting that terrific comment from Super Jen.
    And now I want to watch Amadeus again. I haven't seen in since um, high school.

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  2. That is one great comment! I love the idea of a CAS life! Oh, and Amadeus is a favorite in our house since way back. :)

    Love your card as well -- I'm pretty sure that "when in doubt, go kraft" could be one of my stamping mottoes.

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  3. thank you for getting me on a sane track with white space and pti and the comment from jen. i was going to stay up last nite and get in the frenzy of ordering the latest and after i read your blog and the zen blog i went to bed. now to get on to creating some white space in my life - i can't seem to do it as much as you in my cards, but then everyone has to have their own style and i think i'm settling into mine (and with less stuff!) again thank you!

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  4. Glad you picked up that kraft cardstock because this is an awesome card and, acutally, one of my all time favorite color combo's!!!

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  5. Yes, don't get me wrong, I love PTI's stamps and color palette (as evidenced by the fact that I tried to win some this release). I just never get around to buying any because there's so much it's hard to figure out what I "need" the most.

    Love this image in particular and am a kraft paper junkie so this card is perfect in my eyes.

    Oh, and I am not very successful in leading a CAS life. It's just something I yearn for. Loved the other post.

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  6. Lovely card. I like the idea of a CAS life, white space physically and mentally, sigh!
    Hope your feeling better.

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  7. That card is terrific. Love the kraft, LOVE the koi.

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  8. First of all - your card is just lovely!! So pretty.
    I'm SO in agreement with all your thoughts on this wonderful hobby! I've been feeling the "overload" too. Sometimes "less is more"!
    Lynn

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  9. I love that fish and on Kraft, even better, it would be great if sometimes they could do single stamps. Like the friendship jar, love what they came up with this month but I don't want the stuff that came with the original release of the jar - so won't get it which is a pity. Completely agree with Super Jen - I don't want to be on Facebook or Twitter and don't have time, just getting through my favourite blogs is hard enough.

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  10. Kraft = perfect for the base on this card!

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  11. double wow... super jen said it perfectly! i love pti's products, but all that other stuff is just... well too much! like super jen i enjoy your blog and challenge because of your ability to take everything down to the basic level, but still make it full of style and creativity! and your card today... STUNNING!

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  12. Reading all the comments above, I am rather confused. I have no idea what pti is nor what you mean by CAS. Not important though. What I really wanted to say is that I think your cards are beautiful, and just confirm my thoughts that so often less is more. You do not need to spend a fortune on embellishments, and cover a card with flowers and bling (bling in the right place is good). Good quality card and design do not need lots of stuff. Simple, clean and fresh, but simple does need a good understanding of design. Yours is excellent. Thank you for sharing with us.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!