This card required a bit of surgery. I sliced off about a half inch from the bottom when the proportions looked off. The design looks much better on a shorter, longer-looking card.
I love large pearls, but they are hard to use on cards because of the, um, big-ness of them. Talk about lumpy-bumpy! But the graduated colors here are too cool, and besides, I can hand-deliver this one to its recipient, thus making the thickness irrelevant.
Don't forget to get started on your Gratitude Campaign cards! Your friends and family aren't going to thank themselves, you know!
And now for the dilemma. While I've had no problem pulling out my Thanksgiving/Fall sets and playing happily, I'm finding that my Christmas stamp collection just isn't inspiring me at all. Even the new sets I bought last year are falling flat for me. I made four of the ugliest Christmas cards ever this morning. It's a drag.
I suspect in the next few months, I might find some really fun sets to buy (Hero Arts has a few coming out that are calling my name), but I'm almost wondering if a major purge of my holiday collection is necessary. I'm thinking about taking most of them and putting them in storage for a while.
What do YOU do to keep inspired year after year for Christmas? Please share!!!!
Supplies
stamps: Papertrey First Fruits
ink: Versacolor pinecone
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Hero Arts half pearls
Maybe try stamping in white, gold or silver on (gasp) coloured cardstock.
ReplyDeleteOr unusual colour combinations on white cardstock.
Or inking your stamps from mixtures of inks on a craft worksheet.
Or putting together some colours and ideas in a 3 x 3 grid for tic-tac-toe challenges.
Or have your kids draw 2 or 3 ideas out of a hat for you to try together.
Anythng that might have you excited about those stamps.
(I'm listing some ideas here for self-motivstion as well. LOL)
I love your cards, Susan. Our family sends out photo cards every year so I only stamp thank notes at Christmas. I do enjoy seeing the efforts of those bloggers who participate in the Merry Monday challenge. When I'm stuck on an idea or if I'm looking at a stamp and trying to figure out how to use it, looking at a sketch idea sometimes helps.
ReplyDeleteI try to use the summer to make the year's worth of cards before the new school year starts up again and this year I'm behind. I love your use-your-stamps challenge and really appreciate the Gratitude Campaign. I send out Thanksgiving cards every year but plan to widen the receiver-ship this year. :) Thanks for your inspiration!
I always go back and look at the past releases from PTI. Maile Belles always has wonderful CAS Christmas cards using a few basic Christmas sets. But there is nothing wrong with purging your old (and well loves!) sets and starting fresh with a few new ones.
ReplyDeleteI have been busy making cards along with Christmas cards for the OWH and when I get started on my Christmas cards I put on some nice Christmas music so that I get my motivation flowing.
ReplyDeleteChristmas music helps me too - drives the rest of the family nuts, though, so I try to do that when I'm home alone ;) I also find that getting new Christmas paper helps breathe life into the stamps - even though I'm using less & less paper lately, the patterns still get my mojo going.
ReplyDeletePutting stamps in storage is always a good idea - sometimes just not seeing them for a while helps. (And other times, I find myself going & digging them out since suddenly I NEED that one stamp...lol)
Your cards are my favorite! As for your disappointment with your current Christmas stamp stash: you could lend them to me for the season to see what I might create. *hair flip*
ReplyDeleteI love the fix you did for your card - the unusual proportions are so refreshing and remind me that I need to make some other sized cards once in a while, instead of just A2 cards.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had your problem with my Christmas stamps (or maybe I just have so many that there are always some that inspire me whatever my mood!). Having said that, I do buy a few new ones each year, so really need to weed out some of the older ones if for no other reason than storage space limits!!!
You always come up with great cards. I am looking forward to seeing what you come up with for this Christmas. Dare 2B Artzy has some sets you might like. https://www.dare2bartzy.com/pages/blog-article?r=UTMR46O5XO&send_to=%2Fpages%2Fblog
ReplyDeleteHi Susan. I'm finding lots of inspiration on Pinterest. I start by CASEing a card fairly closely, then by the time I've substituted the stamp, the ink colour and the orientation of the card, it's quite different and got me thinking of new ideas.
ReplyDeleteSometimes a new technique with an old stamp gets me going again. I recently posted a card using last year's angel and the embossed resist technique with a different color combo.
ReplyDeleteI must tell you my secret to starting Christmas cards. Step One: buy a Christmas card kit that has the pre-cut cards, layers and stamps along with a sample. Step Two: Make cards using anything but that.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why but it works for me.