For those who wish to shop for their own present stamp, it's a Janet Dunn Design for Hampton Art, PS0667. But I can't find it online anywhere. It's relatively new, but may just be available at Michael's.
Now, large stamps like this one--composed of many parts--are incredibly useful. You can, of course, use the entire stamp as I did yesterday, or you can isolate individual elements of the stamp and use them separately, as I will demonstate today and tomorrow.
I also love that I can play a bit with the whole chevron trend without buying into it completely because, as my younger son would say, "It's not my favorite." One present out of the five has chevrons. In a small dose like that, I can enjoy it without having my eyes water. (My apologies to the chevron fanatics out there!)
To make this, I isolated each present with post-it notes, inked each separately with VersaColor ink, and stamped each separately on scrap paper with plenty of white space around the image. Then I punched each out with a 1 3/4" circle punch, artfully having each present slide out of its circle to make the whole thing more interesting.
It worked. Squeeee!!!!
The design is playful and dynamic, in contrast to the static design of the straight line of presents, and very in keeping with the sentiment and theme. I just love how completely different the feel of this card is from yesterday's black-and-white birthday card.
Versatility is GOOD!
And speaking of presents, when I was little, my grandmother referred to presents given for no good reason as "sur-sees." Grandma made up a lot of words just for fun, but that one really stuck in our family. Sur-sees are supposed to be small little surprises, so I'm going to pick a random comment from today's post and send its author a packet of bling. I'll pick a comment around 6:00 tomorrow evening. [It's Monday evening now...or prevening, if you are a Sheldon Cooper fan!]
Has anyone heard the term sur-see before? I'm spelling it phonetically, so it may be a play on a real word, exaggerated by my silly grandma. Oh how I miss her!
Supplies:
stamps: Hampton Arts, Papertrey (Signature Greetings)
ink: VersaColor
paper: PTI white
accessories: dimensionals, circle punch (1 3/4"), rhinestones
This is very pretty, what a versatile stamp! Love how you stamped them slightly off the circle.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you've inspired me a lot lately - here's some cards where I tried to mimic your simplicity style, hope you enjoy :-)
http://www.pearlgateway.com/2012/09/simple-christmas.html
Kind thoughts, Kristen
I'm SO glad to see you "back in the saddle" - you've been missed!
ReplyDeleteI liked the cards from yesterday's post, but I like this one better - it's more playful, less rigid... Having each of the gifts and bling a different colour probably has something to do with that.
I like your grandmother's playfulness too - making up fun words. I've never heard of sur-sees before, but I like the concept! (P.S. I miss my grandma too - she was a pretty special lady!)
First of a all... LOVE the design of this card. I'm with you on the chevron trend. Would enjoy hearing your take on the whole "ombre" thing.
ReplyDeleteAs for sur-sees... I read it as a cute diminutive for the word "surprise". It would be cool to see if there is, in fact, a cultural background to your grandmother's word!
love what you did with this large stamp. i really have trouble seeing things like this....on my own. i must take a peak at some of my larger stamps to see how i might split them up into smaller pieces. i LOVE your circles!
ReplyDeletethanks again for your inspiration. glad you are feeling better.
marty ferraro
Grandmothers are the greatest (and I'm not just saying that because I am now one). Seems like you maybe got some of your playful spirit--and perhaps your love and ease of words--from her. Creativity, too??
ReplyDeleteLove this card. So fun to see how you used this stamp yesterday and then today. Gives me ideas about some of my stamps. So glad you are feeling better--and sounds like you had one awesome Grandmother.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! I've been checking every day to see if you are feeling well enough to post.
ReplyDeleteSweet card today. Love the colors.
I haven't heard of your grandma's word, but my mumma and our whole family referred to the sweets you eat with coffee as "dunks." I don't know if that's a Finnish thing or just a Fairport thing. Fairport is where I live. Anyway, my favorite thing to dunk is nisu. Glad to have you back.
ReplyDeleteThis is a "playful" card! I do so like it. I miss my grandmothers, too. My maternal grandmother called the little unexpected gifts she gave my brother and me "sprizes." She pronounced it as one word but I believe that was her contraction of the word surprises w/o the apostrophe :)
ReplyDeleteGood to hear you are feeling well again - I love your card today,but yesterdays was lovely as well. It is a very versatile set
ReplyDeleteLove seeing yet another FAB use of this PTI set...I just got it and am so excited to put it to use...love the scattered gifts...so many ideas swirling - incl Christmas themes! LOVE your creative spirit, Susan. Than you for sharing it with all of us! - Kim in IN
ReplyDeletelove love love all three......i would not have thought to ink one image at a time....i have several long stamps and use them on occasion, but their size just doesn't fit sometimes.....and they were hard to isolate with punches. duh. brilliant.
ReplyDeleteso thanks for that suggestion.....
Glad you're back. LOVE this stamp. And I love the ways you are using it. I am not on the chevron bandwagon either.
ReplyDeleteI was out sick yesterday with a throbbing sinus headache. I usually find some time to be creative when I'm home; but the brain just was not functioning yesterday. I truly sympathize with your time out. : (
Never heard of sur-sees before!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chance to win, and so glad you are feeling better.
It's wonderful that you're feeling better .... have missed your fun chatter!
ReplyDeleteI'm really loving the cards you're designing from your new stamp! You certainly get a lot out of just one stamp image. I seem to jump from one stamp or stamp set to another and never fully explore the creative possibilities from those images. But, I'm not too old to learn near tricks! ha!
Thanks for the wonderful inspiration!
What a cute card-and a way to be moe versatile with your stamps. I am looking through my collection to see how I can extend this!
ReplyDeleteDon't know the word sursee, but our family reinvents words all the time, so maybe it was a case of kid speak or couple speak?
Glad to see you are feeling better!
I'm glad you are feeling better. The gift stamp seems very useful, fitting with many occasions, and you have given us good suggestions about how to use it. Might have to make a trip to Michaels this weekend!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are feeling better. Love all the cards you made so far with this present stamp.
ReplyDeleteI have not heard the word "sur-see" before but like a few others I assume it's a diminutive of the word "surprise".
In my family we didn't so much make up words as my father had the habit of pronouncing some words phonetically just for giggles.
p.s. I'M a Sheldon Cooper fan!! My DH enjoy that show so much; mostly I'm the "leonard' to his "sheldon".
The wonderful cards you have made with the presents stamp have inspired me! This stamp is on my wish list for my next shopping spree!
ReplyDeleteREALLY like what you did with this stamp! Love all the circles! No, have never heard of sur-see...but, what a fun family tradition! And, yes! another Sheldon fan here....Bazinga!
ReplyDeleteVery clever :) Three cheers for your recovery progress too :)
ReplyDeleteSo glad you're better. And I really like that card and those stamps! Great job...as always!
ReplyDeleteLove the cards ... this stamp is so versitile! Unfortunately I was at Michael's last night and did not see it :( Thank you for all of your inspiration!!!
ReplyDeleteHow clever! I really like what you are doing with this image. It's been a very thought provoking couple of days from your blog.
ReplyDeleteI haven't heard of sur-sees before and felt compelled to read the comments before leaving my own. At first I wondered if it was a word from another language, but I think the other reader ideas about a variation on surprise is probably correct. While not as mysterious as your grandmother's term, my mother calls presents "prezzies".
I've never heard of sur-sees before, but that doean't mean anything. I really love your treatment of the presents here. It's so fun.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun way to mount the images - your circles go great with Dawn's handwriting~ :)
ReplyDeleteSusan, so glad you are up & about again. Amazing what you do with a stamp! I may use part of a stamp usually by just inking it with a marker rather than with post it notes. I am so clumsy the 'notes' would probably fall off by the time I stamped! I am never playful enough to make up a word...but what fun so will need to work on that! Thanks for all your inspiration.
ReplyDeleteI like this card very much. Your blog consistently delivers lovely cards that are dripping with unnecessary stuff. The way you take one stamp and make a variety of cards really helps me expand my thinking when looking at my own selection of stamps. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI love the circles on this card! Perfect contrast for the square-ness of the sur-sees! Glad you are feeling better, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking that I should try to find this stamp...it looks pretty versatile. Love the circles in white with the white background. Glad you're feeling better.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this stamp yesterday. Now I MUST HAVE IT for my collection. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteSuper cute card and love the layout - very versatile. I am a circle fan as well. Thanks for the chance.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are feeling better, Susan! I missed you! Love this card with the punched circles--so creative. I haven't heard of sur-sees before, but I would guess, as others have, that it's a version of "surprises," or perhaps related to a French word?
ReplyDeleteLove the circles, love the placement, and love the touch of bling. I've learned so much from you! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are back! Great example of "thinking outside the box". I'm not a fan of chevron either, but have seen Maille do some great guy cards with a chevron background, so i guess it's useful that way.
ReplyDeleteI love how you made this card, Susan. I never would have thought to use a circle punch on the boxes!
ReplyDeleteWho knew Michael's had such good stamps - sorry M fans, I have not been one. I knew Hampton Art has artist-type images, though. Thanks for the info Susan & glad to hear you are feeling better.
ReplyDeleteThere's a little teeny store in downtown Apex, NC called Surcee: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Surcee/131174613570477
ReplyDeleteEarrings, other jewelry, and tiny gifts. :-)