Monday, December 12, 2011

Bunches of Thanks!


Wow. Thanks to all of you who commented on my crafting space post! Y'all are so sweet to take time to help me out with that earth-shatteringly important problem, and your suggestions have me thinking in some very constructive directions. I find it very interesting how there's no real consensus with the choices...which confirms for me that there really isn't a "bad" choice...which makes the choosing so much harder! Will keep you updated on the situation as it develops.

Another huge shout out to Regina B. Regina decided to help me out with my Christmas card shortage and sent me a mailing envelope full of her beautiful stamped creations. Oh, my gosh! They are so very lovely, and I'm going to photograph them and post them before I send them out. Thank you, Regina. Your kindness has saved a bunch of people from store-bought cards!

My third thanks is to Papertrey Ink for making such fun stamps. I've been playing with my latest order and having so much fun NOT making Christmas cards. My sister wants a bunch of multi-purpose cards for her Christmas present, so most of the cards I'll be showing for the next few weeks will go to her.

Up first are two cards made with the same stamp sets and layout, both of which show the problems with lining up border stamps like those in PTI's Background Basics: Circles set. The stamp I used has three rows of small, open circles. For this design, a single image of the stamp is just too thin to balance nicely on the card, so I tried lining it up and stamping twice.

On the first card, the two images were stamped a little too close together, so there's an unattractive line down the center.



The second card shows what happens when the second image is just the tiniest bit little crooked.




I loved the idea of the two cards above...coloring random dots in a monochromatic scheme gives the cards so much movement and graphic whimsy. But the difficulty getting a smooth seam between the two images got frustrating, so I changed stamps and went with a single border image of larger circles. The larger circles are cleaner, less busy, and infinitely easier to stamp.





Then, I decided to see if aligning a different stamp from the set would be easier. This stamp is much easier to work with than the rows of small circles, and the spectrum shades of blue look so fresh and fun!




This whole stamp set simple screams graphic design, and tomorrow's card continues using it in that way. But I want to put my creative cap on and play around with these as elements in scenes. Circles...bubbles...underwater elements...stones...ground...strips used to make flowers...punched elements...hmmm. Lots of possibilities.

19 comments:

  1. The top two cards are really touching my heart. I LOVE the clean graphic design and I think they do have unity with the sentiment stamp. I like all 4, but the top two are super amazing for me.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Wonderful post. Love all your creations and explanations too. TFS

    ReplyDelete
  3. Super cards and very versatile stamps, mmmm might just need them, Gay xxx

    ReplyDelete
  4. I like the top two cards best. I would not have noticed the line or space if you had not told me, but it might be more obvious in person. Or not! Love the way you randomly colored in some of the circles.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I couldn't see the line either. Is it vertical or horizontal? Whichever it is, I'm sure it's more noticeable to you than it would be to anyone else. And wouldn't you know, the cards I like best (1st & 2nd) are the ones hardest to work with! But they are all lovely, Susan. And once more, thank you for continuing to pay attention to us your fans, in spite of all you have going on in your life!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You make it look so easy! These are all gorgeous, Susan! What great cards! I can see I'm going to have to do some PaperTrey shopping, and very soon :) I'm certainly looking forward to seeing your finished craft space. I'm sure it's going to be fabulous.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fab cards - would be hard pushed to choose a fave ...... wonder how they'd look in purple!

    Kathyk

    ReplyDelete
  8. Remember that we are our own worst critic! I don't mind the line where the circles ended up touching in your first card and since it is evenly distributed (in the middle and goes the whole length of the card) it wouldn't pester me at all. The green one might bother me a bit since it only on one part of the card but I love the colors so much that might make up for it so much I wouldn't notice.

    ReplyDelete
  9. These look amazing and I really like the using and placements of the colors. Very graphic and bold. This is a stamp set I would love to own myself and is on my wishlist :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. What fun cards! I do like the circles - just love the shades of blue in that last card!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love these cards. So simple (apart from the allignment issues lol) but effective. Another set of stamps that I 'NEED'.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a brilliant idea - and great for male cards! M x

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well, I was on the fence about that set, so I am thrilled to see that you have it. I'll stay tuned to see what you do with it, before deciding if I should take the plunge. So far, you are sending me towards 'yes' with your creations today. Love them all. And, I appreciate your comments on how the stamps are to use. You are my newest favorite 'muse' If you have a minute, click here: http://cards-by-the-sea.blogspot.com/2011/12/wplus9-holiday-season-wrap-up.html to see my latest case of one of your beautiful creations.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you so much for the informative and honest description of working with these kinds of border stamps. I've looked at them and wondered about them. I love the look of them, but I'm visually impaired and didn't figure lining them up would be easy for me. And being the perfectionist that I am, I'm thinking now that I'd better not give in to my urge to buy them. I don't want to drive myself crazy. I want my stamping to be fun and not any more stressful than necessary! LOL!! My perfectionism already provides stress enough on most cards.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I looked for a few minutes; and really can't see the alignment problems in the first two cards. I do understand that in person; as the maker of the card it seems a glaring mistake to you. I have the same issues. I've learned to show them to my neighbor and ask, "do you see anything wrong with this card"? before throwing them in the trash! :-)
    All of these are beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I like your circle border stamped cards. I love PTI stamps, dies and accessories. I very much like their selection of border stamps. It does take lots of practice, trial and error and some days luck, to stack them perfectly spaced. The result, to me, is worth the time. By the way, what do you do with your imperfectly stamped cards? I sometimes add jute or twine. I'm really not too much of a user of ribbon, but I do like natural jute (which now comes in "fuzzy," smooth, thin, not as thin, and even subtle to bright colors. I do like some colors of twine made by the Twinery, as well. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Wow, I love these! Such a crisp design and very versatile just in changing colors of ink and pens. Great design, thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking time to comment!