During my little break from blogging, I've thought a lot about why I craft with paper, ink, and stamps, and why I blog about it. It's important, I think, to be intentional in what we do. That means periodically taking stock of our time and activities and determining if we are spending our time wisely and happily.
Clean-and-simple stamping makes me happy.
Blogging about clean-and-simple stamping makes me happy.
Yep. I'm doing what I want to do.
I hope reading Simplicity makes you happy, even if you're not a clean-and-simple stamper. I hope there's value here for you. Thank you for reading.
Here's a card I made in June that needs to be shared. It represents everything I love about CAS style. It's just paper and ink...not even any bling. But the fresh color scheme and layout make it work for me.
CAS ROCKS!
Do you take stock of your crafting periodically? Do you intentionally move forward in your hobbies, or are you looser, more free and relaxed in your approach?
Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: Hero Arts
paper: Papertrey
accessories: not a blessed one
I know what you mean. cas makes me happy too. it's like, there's so ,much mess around with life, the clean and simple pages helps cleanse the mind. or is that too deep? I regularly take stock of my crafting. sometimes that means taking a break. but I always come back from a break truer to ,myself
ReplyDeleteI agree CAS always rocks at least for me :) I too create n blog about it because it makes me happy and relaxes me from the routine. I intentionally move forward in my crafts because I enjoy coming up with new ideas :) and yes your CAS cards always rock
ReplyDeleteSometimes I will take a break or change things up. Shift among knitting, drawing, and card making, for example. I do ask myself at times, is this still fun? am I in a rut? It helps me be sure I'm getting enjoyment and refreshment from my "art therapy" time.
ReplyDeleteI love the CAS style. It's what I do. I don't always post what I make, but I'm always making cards and layouts. I want to learn more about design which is why I love your blog, Susan. My goal is to get better at creating, and to continue to enjoy doing it.
ReplyDeletei love this card, susan!
ReplyDeleteperfect colors.
perfect balance between sentiment and flowers.
thanks for always inspiring me!
marty ferraro
I am glad your break from blogging is over. I really enjoy reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteCAS is definitely what I seem to gravitate toward, and I love visiting your blog. Your pearls of crafting wisdom and wonderful style are so very encouraging :)
ReplyDeleteI frequently take stock of what I'm doing. And my crafting seems to go in waves - I'll have a knitting period, a gardening period, a card-making period. But I always come back to those 3 main hobbies. My card-making style has settled into what seems to suit me - basically CAS, always quite balanced in layout, but not as CAS as you (though I admire what you do tremendously - I just learned to realized that it wasn't me). Occasionally I branch out a bit and add a bit of mixed media or collage but it still stays pretty CAS.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy reading your blog. I have subscribed so I don't miss a one. I make all kinds of cards - clean and simple, fussy cards, and way over the top cards. I enjoy trying them all. Your blog uses humour, teaching moments and even some insights into life, to help us understand the clean and simple techniques.Thank you.
ReplyDeleteOn this Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, I would just like to thank you for sharing your cards and thoughts here. Your posts always make me stop and think about this hobby of ours. Thanks! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI intentionally scaled back over the summer for outdoor pursuits, but am now getting back into the swing of things with the cooler weather. I have taken stock of my intentions for my blog, and still enjoy doing challenges as a way to ensure I'm actually using the supplies I buy, not just hoarding them! So, the anti-hoarding crusade will continue for at least another year, and I will re-ealuate again in the fall.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes. I do thoroughly enjoy reading your blog even though I don't make very many one layer cards. The same design concepts can be applied to any format. Thanks for the inspiration!
I'm reading back and wanted to let you know that reading your blog always makes me happy. I love how you talk about why a design works and why it doesn't and I love reading how you make crafting work for you. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading back and have to say that I always enjoy reading your blog! I learn so much from your design discussions. Thank you!
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