Simplicity

More Fun with Watercolor Crayons

2012-01-26T20:43:00.000-05:00

Hmmm, watercolor crayons are BOSS, as my 12-year-old would say.

It may not be deeply creative to make a sun of my big Hero Arts starburst stamp, but it makes me deeply happy anyway.

I used three different shades of yellow-to-yellow-orange crayons to make my sun and then plugged the hole in the middle with the biggest yellow bling I had. The sentiment (also Hero Arts) is stamped in SU's More Mustard because black and brown didn't seem sunny enough. The bottom corners are rounded to add a little extra something.

A little chit-chat...

The grab boxes are packed and almost ready to go. I'll post details on purchasing them on my For Sale tab page some time Friday, I hope...but it might not be until Monday. I'm sorry to limit sales to the United States, but filling out customs forms and such for boxes with so much different stuff in them makes my brain hurt.

On another note, we've been having medical issues (though fortunately not of the life-threatening kind!) with our eldest son, requiring all sorts of visits to the doctor and school and worry. I'm going to take a bit of a break from blogging over the weekend to rest my brain, and if you're the praying sort, we'd really appreciate the extra prayers!

When I come back on Monday, I'll have a tutorial on precise placement for those of you who asked for it!

Shabby or Chic?

2012-01-25T20:26:00.004-05:00

Using the large Hero Arts starburst flower...same layout, different looks!

First up, shabby. It's loose, it's organic, it's unpredictable!

To get this effect, I colored the stamp with light and dark blue watercolor crayons, spritzed with water, and stamped. I used a somewhat spiky sentiment (discontinued Hero Arts) with serifs and script combined.

Next up, chic. It's crisp, it's clean, it's fun!

The gray and four different shades of orange and yellow bling give this a fresh, modern feel, which is reinforced by the graphic sentiment.

You can probably guess which version I prefer, but the watercolor one made me happier than I thought it would. I just think it's unbearably cool that this stamp can look so different.
Which version do you prefer?

One-Layer Wednesday 76: Color in Winter

2012-01-24T20:43:00.000-05:00

Winter's dominant color scheme is gray and white (at least in Ohio), but every now and then, a pop of color reminds us that spring and summer WILL come. I've seen pops of red (cardinals) and blue (blue birds) out my windows this month.

This week's OLW is to make a one-layer card that uses white, gray, with a pop of one bright color of your choice. (If you must, you may use black for the sentiment.)

Think of the card's colors as a recipe: use a gallon of white (or gray), a quart of gray (or white), and an ounce of a bright color. Feel free to use gray paper and white embossing!

OLW76 Rules

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single layer of card stock folded in half. No other layers allowed.

2. Use white, gray, and a pop of bright color. (Black is allowed for sentiments if necessary.) Remember to keep embellishments to a minimum.

3. Upload your card somewhere online.

4. Link to your card on the sidebar of Simplicity. If you're linking to your blog, make sure you link to the post, not to your blog's main page.

5. The most important rule of all...have FUN!!!!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: Memento London Fog
paper: PTI white
accessories: rhinestones

A Colored Card Base and Starbursts

2012-01-23T21:01:00.002-05:00

The first card I made with my new Starbursts stamp from Hero Arts has a colored card base. Go figure!

I love the starburst flowers. Their graphic style and fun lines make me happy. You'll be seeing more of these. I feel like I've just scratched the surface of possibilities with them!

No chatting tonight. Too tired. There will be a new OLW on Wednesday. Y'all sure are getting jiggy with the last one! I hope to comment on them all soon.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (Starbursts), Papertrey (Birthday Basics)
ink: Brilliance lavender, Memento black
paper: almost amethyst, basic black (SU), white (PTI)
accessories: black gemstones (Hero Arts)

Orange and Turquoise

2012-01-22T21:21:00.003-05:00

Today's card uses the To/From Petals set from Hero Arts and a fun, retro color combination, courtesy of the fab turquoise button from Audrie!

I've made a lot more cards this weekend but haven't had a chance to photograph them yet. Donelda, you'll finally get to see what I've done with the starburst stamps this week!

Update on the Grab Boxes

The grab boxes will be ready to ship by the end of this week. Once I have them packed, I will post a list of them...how many, what sizes, cost, etc. I will accept payments through PayPal. Most will contain general stamping supplies (card stock, ink, stamps, embellishments), but a few will focus on scrapbooking (small albums, 12 x12 paper, stamps more suited to scrapping).

I've had so much fun culling supplies! Some of what I'm getting rid of is simply over-stock. When you buy a spool of 18 yards of ribbon, you might use 3 yards of it (if you're me). Getting rid of the 15 extra yards is very exciting. I still get some to use, but don't feel like "ohmygoshIhavetouse18yardsofribbon!" There's lots of StampinUp stuff, including stamps, ink, reinkers, markers, and paper. There are even a few Papertrey sets!

Bracket the Definitions

2012-01-21T21:39:00.001-05:00

We've framed the definition in words and embellished the definition, so now it's time to bracket the definition!

Black text, a bright color, fun shapes...I'm lovin' them!!!!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (definition), unknown (photo corner, brackets, quoations)
paper: PTI white
ink: Memento
accessories: none

Embellish the Definition

2012-01-20T20:36:00.004-05:00

Hero Arts' Greeting Definitions intrigued me. What can you do with a block of text on a card? Yesterday's card showed how you can create a word frame around the text block, and today's two cards offer up some options for embellishing.

First up, a vellum flower and fun button!

The black and white simplicity here makes me sooooo happy. And that fab button was in the stash of stuff Audrie gave me for Christmas. Woo-hoo!

Next, butterflies and bling...these sort of work pretty much everywhere.

The card stock I used for the butterflies is shimmery and so very lovely. If you click on the photo, you should see a larger image and can pick up the shimmer on the large butterfly. I positioned the large one to draw attention to the word happy, and then the three butterflies form a scalene triangle.

Aren't you impressed? I used isosceles the other day and scalene today. A scalene triangle has no equal sides and in this design provides a pleasingly organic contrast to all the regular parallel lines of the text block.

Didn't know stamping could be so geeky, did you?

Have a wonderful weekend. I sure am. My hubby is back from ten days on the other side of the world. Of course, he's crashed from jet lag, but still. We're glad he's home!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts Greeting Definitions
ink: Memento
paper: white PTI card stock; shimmer card stock; vellum
accessories: flower punch and button; Martha Stewart butterfly punches, rhinestones; glue dots

Words, Words, Words

2012-01-19T22:42:00.000-05:00

I'm a word nerd, so the Greeting Definition set from Hero Arts has been calling my name for a long time. I now own it, and maybe this card is a bit carried away with words, but I love it shamelessly!

To make this, I stamped the thank definition in black and then used a limited edition set from Clear and Simple Stamps called Thank You to create a thank you frame! This was so fun!

I am trying to make time to put together a quick tutorial on precision stamping, and will post it as soon as I can. Unfortunately, real life is intruding with some unwanted stress this week, which is slowing me down.

Now, I'll send a pack of bling to the first person who can correctly identify the Shakespearean character whom I quoted for the title of this post.

supplies
stamps: Hero Arts Greeting Definitions, Clear and Simple Stamps Thank You
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey Ink
accessories: that marvelous gridded acrylic block!

Heavy Hearts, Indeed

2012-01-19T11:26:00.001-05:00

Cole Dieckman, the little boy with leukemia, passed away on Tuesday night. He received more than 2,500 cards for his birthday, and his family appreciates the outpouring of love and support from strangers all over the world. I thank those of my readers who participated in showering him with cards. My heart hurts for this family.

If you are interested in sending cards to Cole's family or making a donation to a memorial fund in his name, please visit his aunt's blog post here for information.

On Good Intentions, Precise Placement, and Another Punchy Color Combo

2012-01-18T21:24:00.000-05:00

Fact #1: I have an obscene number of ink pads, so I decided to purge a bunch of them. I've pulled my two distress ink pads (bought in a moment of weakness when I thought, gee, you can distress!), almost all my Colorbox pigment inks (seven petal point packs, each with 8 pads...HELLO!), some SU pads (some discontinued, others just not my style, like plum), and a whole bunch of Memories and Ancient Page inks (why did I have 14 shades of brown waterproof dye ink pads?). Oh the joy of moderation! I still have plenty of inks to choose from, and yet I feel so much lighter and happier!

Fact #2: This morning, I received an email from Hero Arts announcing their new mid-tone ink pads.

Conclusion: Oh, bother.

************

Several people commented that my precise placement of the happy birthday sentiment on the OLW75 card is beyond their abilities. Pish posh. Unless you have a tremor, you just need a gridded acrylic block. Being obsessive compulsive helps, but it isn't necessary.

And yes, I occasionally ruin a card with a crooked sentiment via a hand slip or loss of concentration, but if you center the sentiment on the block and on a line, you'll get it right most of the time. I often pre-stamp on the edge of scrap paper to make sure the sentiment is perfectly straight on the block line. If you're feeling nervous, practice on copy paper cut to card size, but after a few successes, you'll seriously wonder how in the world you ever felt intimidated.

A gridded acrylic block is your best friend! Use it and be straight!

Well, you know what I mean.

If you don't believe me, I can do a tutorial. Just let me know.

And if you do have a tremor, use your computer and an ergonomic mouse pad with a hump to support your wrist. You can do it, too. It's all in the tools.

*************

And now for some more precise stamping, this time of a triangular nature.

Polka dots and triangles represent the Design Truth that angles love curves. Or curves love angles. Either way, the round dots and the isosceles triangles love each other. They're happy together.

And so are hot pink and orange.

I'm shivering right now, but looking at this card makes my heart all warm and cozy.

THAT'S a great color combo on this cold winter's night!

One-Layer Wednesday 75: Odd Birthday

2012-01-17T22:15:00.001-05:00

This week's One-Layer Wednesday is to make a birthday card for a guy. I figured since this week's challenge is an odd number (insert delicate shudder here), we might as well make cards for those odd humans with an aversion to flowers and a fondness for tractors and beer.

Guys are so hard to make cards for, and so I look for inspiration wherever I can find it. I found mine in a fab congratulations card by the amazing Carly Robertson. (I think it was published in Papercrafts but can't find it now!!!!) Her card repeats the congratulations sentiment five times in five colors, and then she tied a ribbon around the bottom. I immediately saw how versatile the repeated sentiment could be.

Here's my version:

Carly's card was on white card stock with bright colors, but I went for guy tones on a flax card base. The guy I made this card for isn't exactly a ribbon guy, so I went with the medallion from PTI's fall set from a few years ago.

And Carly's pretty idea becomes a card perfectly suitable for a guy!

You may take your own inspiration from wherever you wish, but definitely file away Carly's idea for future reference. Seriously versatile and easy, people!!!

OLW75 Rules

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single layer of card stock folded in half. No other layers allowed.

2. Make a one-layer birthday card for a guy. Remember to keep embellishments to a minimum.

3. Upload your card somewhere on the interwebs, and then link back to it using the InLinkz button on the sidebar of Simplicity.

4. The most important rule of all: HAVE FUN!

Re: OLW74

I tried to comment on every single entry in OLW74, but a few blogs simply weren't working. I tried several times, so if you didn't get a comment, I'm so sorry!!!!

And the Winner of the Cuttlebug Folders Is...

2012-01-17T19:23:00.002-05:00

Carol Lucas!!!!! Congratulations, Carol! Send me your snail mail address and I'll send out your Cuttlebug folders ASAP!

Thanks to everyone who commented!

The Power of Punchy Color Combinations

2012-01-17T06:43:00.002-05:00

Yesterday's Sharpie-colored banner cards showed the value of bright, punchy colors on a white card base. Bright, happy colors make bright, happy cards...color definitely affects the mood of a card, perhaps more powerfully than any other design element, and in these cold, gray days of Ohio winter, I find myself drawn to brighter colors more than usual!

Sharpies are extremely vivid, but so are some of the Memento inks...and it's certainly quicker to stamp in color than to color in stamped images. Hero Arts' banner set gives you options for coloring in (as yesterday's cards showed) or for stamping images in color.

To keep this high-contrast color combination from being too cluttered or visually confusing, I used one strongly-patterned banner stamp repeatedly. Mixing and matching patterns with these colors would have been jarring, indeed.

Also note that the banner is small enough that a repetition of five fits perfectly on the standard card base in a landscape orientation...where yesterday's portrait cards fit three. Odd numbers really do work best--generally speaking--especially with clean-and-simple designs.

Happy Tuesday!

Sharpie-Colored Banners and Crafty Chit-Chat

2012-01-16T09:46:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I colored anything, and I decided the Hero Arts banner set needed some bright color to pop off a white background. So I made this little set. So much fun!!!!

I'm a little late on the banner bandwagon, but these certainly are fun, not to mention easy to cut out! Obviously, I didn't bother with shading much (the orange happy birthday flag was a feeble attempt at using a colorless blender, with less than satisfying results).

To attach the string, I used 1/8" scor-tape. Then, I placed the dimensional close to the tape so the top edge wouldn't stick down to the card.

A Note on New Year's Resolutions and Purging and Grab Bags

My crafting resolution this year (and probably for next year, too) is to use all my image stamps again. This idea just wouldn't leave my brain, so there it is. Here are some of the advantages to using every image stamp in your ~~hoard~~ collection.

1. You get your money's worth out of stamps, and it alleviates the guilt of all that money you spent.
2. You stretch your creativity working with older images trying to make them fresh.
3. You find out what stamps work for you and your style...and what stamps don't. This makes future purchases wiser and allows you to purge the useless from your collection, freeing up space for those future purchases.

I've done this once (it took 2.5 years) and am so thrilled with the results that I want to do it again. Feel free to join me if you want!

Speaking of purging.... I was lamenting the possibility of ever getting my craft room satisfactorily organized out loud on Facebook when my online friend V-Grrrl told me what an artist friend of hers did when her art studio became oppressively overcrowded. She boxed up stuff and sold it on her website as grab-bags!

I am all over this and spent two hours yesterday sorting through stuff...and I'm not finished! These grab bags (or more properly boxes) will go on sale on Simplicity soon (probably next week). Among the items I'm including are ink pads and reinkers (SU, Memories, Ancient Page, Colorbox, VersaMagic), SU markers, cardstock (SU, Mark's Finest, DCWV, even a little Papertrey), punches, a 12-pack set of watercolor crayons, and embellishments like hardware (SU Hodgepodge Hardware, random brads, paper clips, photo turns, etc.), DMC and craft floss, ribbon, buttons, Perfect Pearls, flock, doilies, googlie eyes and such.

A lot of these are items I use but come packaged in absurd quantities.

Will I use 100 googlie eyes in my lifetime? No. Will I use 20? Certainly.

Others are perfectly lovely products that I have a huge selection or duplicates of...such as the watercolor crayons and ink pads. I have over 500 ink pads. This is a ridiculous quantity for a Clean-and-Simple Stamper, not to mention hard to store. Shedding some will give others a chance to try inks they haven't tried. Don't like it? Toss it. Love it? Go buy more!

Finally, each box will contain as many stamps as I can stuff in them. Almost all of these are high-quality brands such as Hero Arts, Northwoods, StampinUp, Memory Box, Papertrey, and such. Yes, I'm getting rid of a few Papertrey sets.

I'm thinking of pricing boxes at $30 (for medium priority flat-rate shipping box through USPS, domestic only) and $40 (includes large priority flat-rate shipping $14.95, domestic only), but each box will contain as much stuff as I can stick in it. You'll definitely get your money's worth!

Now, I know lots of you are like me...you have more stuff than you know what to do with and don't need someone else's excess stuff. BUT there are plenty of people who

a. are just starting out and would love a chance to get a lot of stuff at a huge bargain, or
b. are in a rut and want to jump-start their creativity with random stuff bought so cheap that if it doesn't work for them, they won't feel bad at all, or
c. are Ebay experts who want to repackage the stuff for profit.

I hope y'all have fun with these!

More With Hero Arts

2012-01-14T07:25:00.001-05:00

Here's another card with the Hero Arts set To/From Petals, and the fab button is another from Audrie. It has "stitches" around the edge of the button, which adds fun texture that works great with the stamped image.

I used a glue dot in the center of the cut flower, then used tiny dimensionals to pop up each of the petals...an easy way to add interest. I originally intended to add a sentiment, but there just wasn't room.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Don't forget about the Cuttlebug folder give-away on this post.

Email Hacked

2012-01-13T18:09:00.002-05:00

My email account got hacked. If you received a weird, forwarded email from me containing a link, please delete it!

New Stuff, a Card, an Excuse, and a Give-Away

2012-01-13T09:52:00.001-05:00

The new Hero Arts Catalog just arrived at my house, along with the following goodies:

Then, yesterday, I just HAD to go to Marco's Paper to pick up more white envelopes, and while I was there, the following items jumped into my basket.

When I got home, I deeply regretted not spending $15 on the ScorMat thingie. May go back next week and get it and the soft green Smooch I put back because buying five bottles of Smooch at once seemed undisciplined. Only buying four is sooooo much better....

On top of the above goodness, blogger Audrie sent me a package of goodness in December. Check out that adorable SU punch, the cherry cobbler ribbon and pompom trim, and the sheer quantity of perfectly tiny and wonderful embellishments!

As if a new house and new craft space weren't enough blessing. All this goodness to play with, too! I decided to try to use at least some of Audrie's package right away, and the gorgeously rustic wood buttons she sent seemed a natural first choice.

Now for the excuse. A surprising number of you have asked for pictures of my craft space. It's still a mess, although at least I can work in it. But showing it to you in its current state would feel like showing you my dirty laundry. Ewww. Soon, I will have it worked out and will share.

And now for the give-away. You may have noticed that Audrie sent me some Cuttlebug border folders. Since I am standing firm on my "no expensive machines that require lots of accessories" resolution, I can't use them. If you would like them, please leave a comment saying so. I will choose one random person who's commented by Sunday night, midnight EST to receive them.

Of course, you may still comment if you DON'T want the folders. I love comments. They are like a mug of hot chocolate on a cold, windy, snowy day, such as we're having right now. They make me feel all warm inside. Please know that I truly, deeply appreciate your comments, emails, and readership of my blogs.

Supply
stamps: Hero Arts To/From Petals
ink: various
paper: PTI natural
accessories: buttons, twine

Staggering Images in a Triangle

2012-01-12T06:48:00.000-05:00

If you've been reading Simplicity for a while, you know about the rule of threes and visual triangles. Three things are more interesting, generally, than two, and if you can arrange those three things in a triangle, boy howdy you've got something. But how do you balance the triangle?

Try something like this.

These heart stamps come from a very old Stampin'Up set. The tallest is in the middle (slightly to the left of center on the card) and was stamped first. Then, the left heart was stamped slightly below the midline of the background area so it spills outside the background slightly. Finally, the third smallest heart goes even lower down the background, which leaves the perfect space for the sentiment and adds some visual weight to the right to balance the fat heart on the left.

The leaves on the stems are arranged with the same placement, with the largest leaf in the middle and the two smaller leaves lower down. There is a LOT of pattern happening on this card, and the very stable arrangement of images surrounded by a crisp, white frame, keeps it from looking chaotic.

Yesterday, I received my first order of the year from Hero Arts. I used Creative Play, and let me tell you, my package arrived in record time after they called to confirm my address since it's new construction and their PO program didn't have the address listed. They even included a free Sakura stardust pen! I'll get a chance this afternoon to unwind in my craft room with the new goodies after two potentially stressful meetings today. New goodies!!! Yee-ha!!!!!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (background), SU (hearts, discontinued), Papertrey (sentiment Love Birds)
ink: Memento Angel Pink, Tuxedo Black; SU Real Red
paper: Papertrey
accessories: none

One-Layer Wednesday 74: Red and Pink

2012-01-10T23:30:00.000-05:00

This week's One-Layer Wednesday challenge is to use red and pink...and ONLY red and pink...on a white card base.

Like this:

Any shades of red and pink will do, so feel free to use Bravo Burgundy or another dark red as a substitute for black or brown (as I did on yesterday's card).

Also, your card need NOT be a Valentine's Day card. Some people don't like Valentine's Day. I get that.

OLW74 Rules

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single piece of card stock folded in half. No other layers allowed.

2. Use any shades of red and pink ink. No other colors allowed.

3. Wow. I sound like a dictator.

4. Upload your creation somewhere online, and then link back to it using the InLinkz button on the sidebar of Simplicity.

5. Most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!

Supplies
stamps: Inkadinkado (birds), Papertrey (Love Birds, hearts)
ink: SU real red, regal rose
paper: PTI white
accessories: half pearls, Corner Chomper

Using Stuff

2012-01-10T06:56:00.000-05:00

What is it about the new year that leads us to make resolutions to improve ourselves? I try to stick to choosing a Word for the Year, but resolutions sneak in, and one of mine is to start over again using every stamp I own (excluding sentiments, of course). This idea snuck into my brain as I was organizing my new craft room and won't go away. Guess I'm stuck with it.

At least it's a happier resolution than using all my colored card stock. GACK!

One storage drawer that's particularly full is my large background drawer. I love large backgrounds but don't use them enough at all. So here goes.

I first tried to use a StampinUp pretty in pink card base, but the pretty in pink ink looked so dark on it and the resulting base looked a mess. Does anyone else have this problem? I've noticed that bashful blue ink is also getting darker with the years. I remember when these pastels were, well, pastel. Now, they look mid-range to me. Is it just my eyes?

Anyway, I flexed to Memento Angel Pink and a white base, and got a nice, subtle pink woodgrain never found in nature but still quite light and lovely. I stamped the lovebirds in SU real red (the best red EVER) and the sentiment in Bravo Burgundy. I'd made another card with pink and red and a black sentiment, and the black looked harsh, for some reason. Bravo Burgundy is so dark it can easily substitute for black but softens the harshness with its monochromatic effect.

Now for an informal challenge...what do you have in your stash that you need to use? Do you have jars full of buttons or ribbon? Spindles of baker's twine? Drawers full of little-used stamps? Shelves stacked with card stock? Have you resolved to use stuff this year?

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (woodgrain background), Papertrey (sentiment, Love Birds), Inkadinkado (love birds)
ink: Memento, SU
paper: PTI white, SU real red
accessories: dimensionals

The New Normal

2012-01-09T07:27:00.002-05:00

I have no idea what the New Normal is, but at least I got to make a few cards this weekend, which feels normal to me. I will resume the One-Layer Wednesday this week, too, making one more step toward the New Normal.

Sadly, I had to make a sympathy card yesterday. Patrick Haikal, who was married to one of George's cousins, died this weekend of cancer. He was just 38 years old. I really hate cancer.

The first version of this card is simplicity itself. The background shadow stamp uses VersaColor Atlantic ink, and the flowers and sentiment use Ocean Depths (I think) from VersaMagic. Blues seem to fit the mood of a sympathy card, don't you think? I masked the bottom of the shadow stamp to stamp the flowers.

After photographing this, I decided to add a few pearls.

Can't decide which I prefer. I think I like them both equally. Which do you prefer?

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (shadow), SU
paper: PTI white
ink: Versamagic, Versacolor
accessories: pearls

A Special Birthday--Edited

2012-01-07T08:50:00.000-05:00

A few days ago, Vgrrrl posted a request on FB for people to send birthday cards to a very special little boy named Cole. Cole has A.L.L., the same aggressive cancer that took little Lincoln Hammett from my church family. Cole's family discontinued treatment in October, and doctors expected he would be in heaven by Christmas. Yet he is looking forward to his 5th birthday on January 9th. I love it when the doctors are wrong.

So I sent Cole this card, my first card made in my new, completely unorganized craft room. I was so happy to find anything at all as I worked! Minimalism has its advantages at times like this.

Kid cards always intimidate me. I originally planned to put the stamped panel on a brilliant blue card base but just couldn't bring myself to do it. Baker's twine, to me, is just so gosh-darn happy.

I hope Cole's birthday is the best ever. It's already given his parents a wonderful gift of time.

If you want to send a quick card, too, here's the address.

Cole Dieckman

PO Box 9
Joy, IL 61260

Edited to add...Here's a link to Cole's story.

Supplies
stamps: A Muse
ink: memento
paper: SU real red, PIT white
accessories: baker's twine, dimensionals, memento red marker

I'm Back!

2012-01-04T21:24:00.001-05:00

We had our cable/internet connected this evening, and I'm in heaven. It's been over a week since I indulged in Pinterest. Can you imagine the hardship?

My craft room got all moved today, and I hope, hope, hope to make something tomorrow. There's still some cleaning at the old house and phone calls to plumbers to make and rugs to buy. In the meantime, I give you my last card made with the Modern Basics set...for the time being, of course. This set is my new favorite. And that's saying something.

4.25" square

This bit of simplicity became an entire set in different colors...because it's just so darn cute and square!

Happy New Year, and thank you so much for your good wishes and patience. Y'all are the best!

Someone asked if moving ten minutes away was easier than moving far away. The answer is, in my experience, sort of. But my muscles are a LOT more sore than when the military moved us, that's for sure. When we moved cross country, the packers put everything in boxes and when we got to the new place, we had to unpack all that stuff. This time, we're moving whole drawers full of stuff. My craft room took four trips in my station wagon and about an hour to arrange. I just shifted whole drawer units without worrying about anything. That was WAY easier than having to unpack every bottle of reinker from its zip baggy, get all my punches unwrapped and reorganized, etc.

Oh, and I have too many books. Now I understand why the military movers always hated us. When we moved to our last house, we had 109 boxes of books. Now, we have more. Dang, those things are heavy. We've used about 50 banker's boxes to haul the first batch over, and will empty them and re-use them until all the books are moved. So glad we're not in a hurry!

"Why couldn't it be 'follow the butterflies'?"

2011-12-31T10:51:00.002-05:00

On these gray midwest winter days, some butterflies are desperately needed, just because.

And give yourself ten points if you read the title of this post in your head in Ron Weasley's voice.

The move is going well, but everything's taking longer than anticipated. My craft room hasn't been touched yet, but I hope to get it over to the new house on Monday. Internet won't be up and running at the new house until Wednesday afternoon...gack! Needless to say, my normal posting schedule will be resumed as soon as possible, but not as soon as I would like. Thank you for your patience!

Happy New Year, everyone!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Modern Basics, Paper Tray
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: none

Thinking of You

2011-12-28T09:01:00.003-05:00

Are you sick of Modern Basics yet? Or have you decided that you need this set because ohmygosh the possibilities!!!!!

Yeah.

No time for chit-chat today. If you want to know what's obsessing my brain, click over to my other blog HERE. Have a great day!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Modern Basics, SU Sincere Salutations
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey
accessories: none

Birthday Card Set with Modern Basics

2011-12-27T07:14:00.000-05:00

I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing Christmas holiday. We did. And today, we dive into moving. As I wrote last week, posting may be spotty as we may not have internet at the new house right away. Plus, well, we have a lot to do. Things should be back to normal on the blog by the middle of next week at the latest. Thank you for your patience!

As I promised last week, here are more cards using the most basic CAS layout imaginable. I love that Modern Basics from Papertrey provides so many variations on this centered-up layout, and I think just maybe these are my favorites with this layout so far.

All three cards use Memento inks. I love how the darker colors of the last card create a completely different feel from the two pastel versions.

How-To Tips: To get the flower perfectly centered, I measured using a quilting ruler and put a tiny pencil dot in the center. Then, using a gridded acrylic block, I stamped the petal four times around the dot and finally covered the dot with self-adhesive bling.
Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Modern Basics
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: self-adhesive rhinestones

Merry Christmas to You!

2011-12-23T07:35:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas a few days early! I hope that whatever holiday you celebrate this season, you are blessed with peace, love, and joy!

I will be taking a break from blogging over the weekend for obvious reasons. In addition, next week is a very big week for our family. We are supposed to close on the new house Wednesday, but we will begin moving on Tuesday. There will be a most unfortunate delay in getting cable/internet service at our new house, so postings will be iffy.

Blessings to you all, and many thanks for your support of Simplicity!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Modern Basics, Framed
ink: Memento bamboo, SU real red
paper: PTI white
accessories: red nail heads

Favorite Layout for Modern Basics

2011-12-22T08:27:00.001-05:00

I have decided that my favorite layout with Modern Basics is a fun, central image with LOTS of white space around it in a landscape orientation.

See? There are a million different variations that can be made with this ultimate clean-and-simple layout and Modern Basics, and I'll share more variations next week.

I want to take this chance to thank all of you who have sent me Christmas cards. They are so heartwarming and beautiful! Also, thank you, Audrie, for the incredible package of SU goodies you sent. Oh what fun I will have in my new craft room with them!

Speaking of the new craft room...thank you all for your input. You came up with things I hadn't considered and gave me much food for thought. At this point, I've pretty much decided to use the basement bedroom as my craft room. Guests will take one of the kids' bedrooms, and the kids will sleep in the basement. When we have house-guests, they are almost always people who either 1) put us up in their kids' bedrooms when we visit them or 2) are family and don't care where they sleep when they visit. We only have guests a couple times a year anyway (this past year, we only had one guest for two nights!), and it seems silly to me to dedicate a wonderful space to such limited use.

The main problem with the sliding door area is that when the boys have friends over, we want them to have the basement as a play area, but they won't like mom being in the same space. Plus, I rarely stamp when the family is at home until they are asleep, so as concerned as I am about being isolated from family, it's not really a huge problem.

We may or may not put the extra bed in the craft room. Still not decided. We may end up putting the bed in the tiny finished room (and put our kids down there when we have guests) and the futon furniture in the craft room, which I think would be a good compromise.

The main point George made is that whatever we decide, we can always change it down the road as we see fit. Whatever happens, I'm grateful for all your insights into the dilemma!

We had the final walk-through of the house last night. It's amazing, and we are giddy with excitement!

Note: I had only had one cup of coffee when I composed this post. Since then, I found that 1) I didn't put a title on it, 2) I used their incorrectly, 3) I got Audrie's name wrong (what the heck?!?!), and 4) who knows what else I'm missing or got wrong. My apologies. Please don't email me if you find something. I don't want to know.

Something Off? Try a Little Tweak

2011-12-21T06:41:00.000-05:00

When I first tried this card idea with Modern Basics, I wasn't really satisfied. The result seemed a little, I don't know, clunky? Awkward? Inelegant? Sturdy?

So I rotated the flower a quarter turn. HELLO, indeed!

Sometimes, what's wrong with a clean-and-simple design isn't much. It's just that there is no place to hide from the tiniest design flaw. Tweaking, rather than full-scale revising, is needed. Look through your recent cards and see if one you're dissatisfied with simply needs a little tweak to be stellar!

On another note, the OLW73 challenge cards ARE stellar, despite the fact that it's an odd numbered challenge. At least there was an even number of participants...what a relief! I will make time in the next few days to comment on all the entries. Thank you all for playing, and look for OLW74 in the new year!

Papercrafts Sketch Meets Modern Basics

2011-12-20T06:59:00.000-05:00

My new issue of Papercrafts Magazine arrived last week, and I just had to try this layout with Modern Basics. So fun to step out and try something a bit different!

Well, just a bit.

To make my colored strips, I masked half the small leaf border stamp to ink it up, then staggered the image as shown to get the look of the sketch. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Simple Little Things (the anniversary set from their first year, I think). LOVE those sentiments!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Modern Basics, Simple Little Things
ink: Memento
paper: PTI
accessories: Corner Chomper, dimensionals

I'm in Love

2011-12-19T06:52:00.001-05:00

Maile Belles has captivated me with her style ever since I stumbled across her blog forever ago. When she started designing for Papertrey, I knew my money and I would be parting frequently, and when she released Modern Basics, the set called to me...at just the moment I'd decided to trim my purchasing and resist new stuff while using old stuff.

Darn it all. Darn it all to heck.

When my fabulous SIL gave me a gift card to Papertrey for my birthday, Modern Basics was the first thing in my shopping cart.

And oh how I love it.

Because you can do things like this with it:

One day, I'm going to mask and ink this in two colors and draw crossbars with a ruler so the two strands look like a double helix. And give the card to my chemist aunt. But considering how much is going on in my life right now (so many good and blessed things!), I figured it was best to stick to one color. A double helix will result in mistakes and wasted paper, and I don't have the energy to face that with maturity and without bad words. But one day....

To make this, I used the open petal turned sideways, and stamped it repeatedly across the card, starting in the middle and working my way to the sides. I was amazed at how easy it was to line up with the gridded acrylic block, but the joints were not completely perfect, so they begged for bling. I stamped the Thanks before adding bling, though. I learned the hard way once that bigger bling can interfere with your stamp. So stamp first, bling last.

Y'all are going to get sick of this set in the coming week. I'm on fire with it. But I'm in love and beg your forgiveness for my enthusiasm. You might as well just go buy the set now if you haven't already.

You know you want it.

Supplies
stamps: Modern Basics (Papertrey)
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey
accessories: rhinestones

White on White Peace

2011-12-17T08:58:00.002-05:00

My mantra for today:

Forecast calls for snowflakes flurrying around, but in my head, they are butterflies flitting over spring grass. All that white makes sense, now, doesn't it?

Peace. Love. Joy.

To you.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Peaceful Garden
ink: Memento
paper: PTI white
accessories: rhinestones, dimensionals

Three Scoops of Cold

2011-12-16T10:47:00.001-05:00

I'm sitting at my computer freezing. Not sure why I'm so cold. Oh, wait. Yes, it's because my husband set the thermostat to 64 degrees F. That does explain the purple fingernails.

Here's a card to make you feel cold, although I used nice, warm colors to brighten it up.

Happy Friday, everyone! Hope you're warmer than I am.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey
ink: Memento
paper: PTI
accessories: dimensionals

Thinking of You...Graphically Enhanced

2011-12-15T07:44:00.000-05:00

The new Papertrey set Background Basics: Circles is a fabulous set to use when you really want to highlight a sentiment. You can use it to frame or bracket the sentiment in interesting, even playful ways. Like this:

The sentiment is from Botanical Silhouettes. It has a very strong horizontal component to it, so I decided to use the border stamp to emphasize the vertical. That looked a bit plain, so I blinged it up with some large rhinestones that have languished unused for far too long. Don't they look happy to be out of the package?

Since the you is in blue, the recipient is emphasized here. The line of circles creates a visual triangle of the blue, which forces your eye to the sweet spot of the card.

How easy? How clean and simple? How do you like it?

One-Layer Wednesday 73: Ohmmmmm

2011-12-13T21:01:00.000-05:00

First, let me warn you that I don't like odd numbers. I've always thought this was a dirty little secret until the lady at the fish counter at Kroger said, "Let's try four catfish fillets. I don't like odd numbers."

I AM NOT ALONE!

So when Jennifer joined me in offering the OLWs, I gave her the odd numbers because, well, they don't bother her. Or if they do, she's never felt compelled to share that with me. This week, however, she needed me to do the challenge. She's my friend, so I'll take the odd bullet for her.

But I get 74, too.

And 74 won't come until mid-January. The holidays and my move are going to necessitate a break.

Without further silliness, let's get to OLW73. *insert delicate shudder here*

This week, we could all use some peace. The rush and hustle of December and the pre-Christmas rush can take over and drive us crazy, so I thought it would be helpful to take a break and meditate on peace, tranquility, harmony...ohm, if you will.

Make a one-layer card that says peace to you.

This reminds me of my first time watching cable in California in 1988. I was young and Methodist and from the chicken-fried-steak-and-gravy South, and the television came on to a local Sacramento channel featuring a woman chanting and clanging together brass bowls. She seemed at peace, but I found the brass clangs grating on my nerves and changed the channel.

Guess this means peace is in the eyes and ears of the beholder. So have fun expressing your personal idea of peace.

For me, the PTI set Peaceful Garden (which just came to live with me...yippeeee!) says peace. And here's my peaceful card.

OLW73 Rules

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single layer of card stock folded in half. No other layers allowed.

2. Make a card that says peace in some way...something relaxing, tranquil, harmonious. Keep embellishments to a minimum.

3. Upload your card somewhere online and link back to it using the InLinkz button on the sidebar of Simplicity.

4. The most important rule of all: HAVE FUN! But make it peaceful fun this time. ;-)

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Peaceful Garden
ink: Memento new sprout and rich cocoa
paper: PTI white
accessories: pearls

Bunches of Thanks!

2011-12-12T21:33:00.003-05:00

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.

Dude Congratulations

2011-12-12T07:24:00.000-05:00

Before I share my card for today, let me thank you all for your comments so far on my crafting space post. Those comments make for fascinating reading! Y'all have given me lots of food for thought, and slowly, I'm achieving some clarity of vision for my craft space. If you haven't added your two cents to that post yet, please do. I just love having so many girlfriends give me advice!

Now for today's card, which is destined for my husband's nephew. Matt was graduated Saturday from an intensive, 18-month diesel mechanics school, and we are so very proud of him! Making a card for a not-quite-20-year-old man is tough, so I opted for a simple, natural feel. Kraft card stock, a fern stamp, and congratulations were all it took to create a card I think Matt will appreciate:

The fern growing up out of the corner of the card toward all that empty space seems a good visual metaphor for starting out in a new career, don't you think?

And here are a few things to think about regarding careers. There's a shocking shortage of skilled labor in this country, with over 200,000 thousand jobs unfilled because no one is qualified to do them. While young adults are protesting the lack of jobs and the burden of massive college loans, and while college presidents are including advice about accepting entry-level jobs at graduation ceremonies (oh, the horror!), Matt has smartly pursued studies that will yield him a tidy paycheck. His plan is to save as much as possible over the next five years so he can buy a house.

His momma did her job well, don't you think?

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Masculine Motifs
ink: Memento
paper: PTI kraft
accessories: none

Contemplating my New Craft Space

2011-12-11T08:17:00.001-05:00

There are times when OCD really stinks. For instance, let's say, just for the sake of argument, that you're about to move into a really cool new house and have several options for your craft space. Those options, if you have OCD, will drive you nuts as your mind runs around in circles trying to figure out the perfect solution before you move when, really, you just need to commit to one already and then change it if it doesn't work out.

It's not like you're getting married to a space and will have to petition the pope to annul the marriage if you decided you're not compatible.

Duh.

So, I need to pick a space for my crafting in our new finished basement and thought I'd ask for your insights. Please note that I'm fully aware of how blessed I am to have this OCD dilemma. I'm not whining in a "woe is me" way...just trying to figure out where to start carving my creative space in the new house!

Option 1
Here's the space for the basement walk-out, where the boy is.

I love this smallish, well-lit space for crafting. On the up side, that sliding glass door is eight feet tall and faces east, so the natural ambient light coming in even in the late afternoon is spectacular. I could use both side walls for tables and storage units, and it would be a VERY convenient space for how I work. It's handy to the sink in the wet bar, too. Plus, as the children and hubby use the basement, we'll all be sharing one big recreation space. I won't be secluded and feel like I'm being anti-social while crafting. That recreational advantage was a big part of our motive for buying this house in the first place.

On the down side, that's the basement exit and the first thing you see when you walk down the stairs to the basement. Do I really want my workspace to be the first thing anyone sees when they walk downstairs? Also, that early morning direct light could fade my card stock and damage my rubber stamps, unless I put titanium window film on them, as well as light-filtering curtains (both of which will likely happen whether I use the space as a craft space or not).

Other than using it as a craft space, I have no idea what we would do with this area. It's big enough that I want to do something with it but awkward with the pass-through to the outside.

Option 2
The basement bedroom (about 12' x 14') has a lovely window on the south side of the house, which means lots of natural light in this space as well. On the up side, I'd have privacy, and no one would see the nuttiness of my creativity without entering the room itself.

On the down side, I'd be isolated in my own little corner of the house.The room is pretty big to be a dedicated craft space and might not be that efficient to organize. George wants us to put a bed in that room, which will eat up floor space and doesn't really appeal to me much.

Alternatively, we could put the bed and a small side table in the bonus room in the basement. The bonus room is 8.5' x 9.5' and is essentially a closet: no window, one outlet, bare bulb, but finished. We could give guests one of the kids' rooms upstairs and put the kids in the closet downstairs. That would give me the whole bedroom, but like I said, it's pretty big for the craft space of a woman who professes to be "simple."

Option 3
We could turn the basement bedroom into a formal guest bedroom and use the bonus room as my craft room. On the up side, the size of the bonus room is perfect...cozy, and very workable and efficient. (There's a full bathroom between the basement bedroom and bonus room, by the way.) It would be easy enough to add a better light fixture to the room and a few electrical outlets. A second Ott light for my desk and an Ott floor lamp might take care of the lighting issues.

On the down side, no natural light. That's really the only insurmountable problem with the space, and even that has its positive side with no fading of paper or damage to rubber.

How do those of you who don't have natural light in your space feel?

If you were in my shoes, what would you do?

Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions.

Going Blingless

2011-12-10T08:11:00.001-05:00

Yesterday's cards made me so happy, but I realized that my bling stash is shockingly low, and if I wanted to make more copies of that card, they'd have to go blingless.

Whatever is a girl to do?!?!?

Well, I thought about Papertrey's Out on a Limb set, which contains a small three-berry cluster stamp, pulled it out, and gave it a try. While the results are not quite as pleasing as the bling (how would blingless ever be better than blinged?), I must admit to making ten of these in record time, smiling all the while!

Pear Tart and Ladybug Memento Inks

Cottage Ivy and Rhubarb Memento Inks

And now I'm finished showing you Christmas cards I have made for at least three months. Cross my heart.

Have a lovely weekend. We're going furniture shopping, washing the dog, and taking our Christmas picture (hopefully!).

My New Favorite Christmas Card

2011-12-09T08:46:00.001-05:00

Here are my new favorite Christmas cards this year. Oh. My. Goodness.

These use Papertrey Ink's Silent Night set (for the verse) and Turning a New Leaf (for the vine). The bling, of course, makes me even happier with the layout, adding interest and shine to really dress the cards up!

I have one more post of Christmas cards, and then, I'm done making holiday cards. Several boxes of store-bought cards will meet my quota, and I'm totally okay with that. I'm looking forward to making some general cards for my sister's Christmas present.

On a personal note, we've decided to take your advice (I think Susie mentioned it first, but can't find the comment now!) and snap our Christmas picture at the new house this weekend (it's supposed to be sunny) and let our Christmas letter double as a change-of-address notification. We'll don our Santa hats and take Daisy, too. Will share when it's done!

A Great Give-Away at The Simple Things

2011-12-09T08:43:00.001-05:00

The Simple Things is a blog by Carly Robertson, whose clean and simple style stands out in the magazines as huge inspiration to me. She's offering a really cool--and really big--give-away. The deadline is Saturday night, so click on over and enter if you wish!!! I did!!!!

Inpsired by Paula Whittaker: Evolution of a Layout

2011-12-08T06:52:00.001-05:00

After my previous failed attempt at CASification, I decided to try again, and this time, the results aren't hideous, although the original card is clean and simple enough that there's not much to CASify. Here's the fab inspiration card made by Paula Whittaker and published in the winter issue of Take Ten magazine:

The Stampington & Co. stamps are not exactly my style, but the layout absolutely intrigued me. I decided to see what sort of look I could get with Hero Arts stamps and white card stock. Not bad.

5" x 5"

The white card's photo actually looks better than the real-life card...how weird is that? Since my first attempt actually looks a little washed out and colorless, I wondered if putting the same pieces on colored card stock would look better. It does.

5" x 5"

Today's cards demonstrate a truth of card design that took me far too many years to figure out. If at first you don't succeed, one of two things is happening:

1. You're headed down a fruitless path and would do well to abandon hope and start over again.

2. You need to do some problem-solving and have confidence that you will get there in the end.

In my early years of stamping, I thought quitting was evidence of failure. Now, I recognize that, at times, quitting is just common sense and a natural part of learning. It's far better to try something new and then realize it's not working for you than not to try anything new at all.

But knowing when to quit takes experience. Earlier in the week, when I made the card that no one will see, I finished it and realized that, indeed, I was headed down a fruitless path. The next night, I let Paula's card inspire me, and I got there in the end.

Awesome!

When Failure Wins, and My Latest PTI Order

2011-12-06T21:05:00.001-05:00

After picking up the latest issue of Take Ten at my local Barnes and Noble (where they know me by name, by the way), I decided to take a break from my self-imposed 2-cards-per-set Christmas challenge and do a CASification (clean-and-simplification) of a published card.

I like getting out of my comfort zone every now and then...it adds zest to life, you know. So I found a great card that used elements I never would use on my own and made my CAS version of it, which was hideous beyond belief.

Seriously, folks.

HID-E-OUS.

I don't know who made my card because it wasn't me and if I posted it here, at least a few of you would email me about how totally disappointed you were that I would post such an un-Lateblossom card.

And I would agree with you.

Since I had my Rubber Stampede cardinal stamp out already, I flexed back to my Christmas card challenge and made not two but three cards that are DEFINITELY BY LATEBLOSSOM.

And all was right in my world.

Cherry cobbler isn't exactly a cardinal red, but I took creative license. It definitely wasn't because the cherry cobbler pad was out on my desk and I was too lazy to open a drawer and pull out real red. No, I'm not lazy like that. *stares at ceiling, whistling*

Simple cards need something vaguely unexpected but oh-so-right to keep them from being boring, and using a non-cardinal red certainly qualifies. Above, I used the Martha Stewart lattice border punch to create a lace-like border. That punch hints at pretty garden fencing, or perhaps a gazebo, for the landscape of our cardinal on a pine branch.

Works for me.

Y'all know how I feel about distressing. I'm a firstborn pleaser who doesn't want to distress anyone or anything, but occasionally, accidents happen. This stamped panel got roughed up by a pair of dull scissors (okay, not by accident), but by pairing it with wrapped fuzzy twine, the distressing makes sense and enhances the unity of the simple design.

Finally, I went uber-simple, because it was getting late and I was tired. Not sure I like this one as much as the other two, though. The cardinal is looking at the sentiment, which is a nice design touch, but he and the sentiment are just hanging in space, which generally isn't such good design. It needs something...maybe bling. But it's flat, easy to mail, and festive, nevertheless.

And now for an awkward segue to another topic...

Get ready for it. My sister-in-law gave me a $100 gift certificate to Papertrey Ink for my birthday.

*squeals of rapture!!!*

Have I mentioned lately how wonderful my sister-in-law is? No? Well, she is. Spectacularly wonderful.

Here's what I ordered yesterday:

Background Basics Circles
Candy Cane Christmas
Sweet As Can Be
Peaceful Garden
Modern Basics

Oh, yeah. I'm happy.

I'll be happier when the box arrives. What fun times we'll have with such goodness!

Holly Jolly Joy

2011-12-06T06:46:00.001-05:00

Papertrey's little set Holly Jolly is such a fun one...just $15 and very versatile!

First up, a one-layer card that makes me so very happy with all that cream-colored white space.

For the above card, I used the holly jolly sentiment from the holly set, but it looked a bit too small and lonely with the great big holly and bling, so I pulled out Sign Language (also from Papertrey), masked the Merry on the Merry Christmas sentiment, and stamped just Christmas below the first sentiment. That balanced the reds on the card nicely. I could make more of this one and use up some of my massive stash of large red bling!

How is it that I always end up with lots of left-over large bling and never enough small bling? It's a mystery.

Next, I just love how SU's ticket corner punch works so well with a holly theme.

The berries on this card were accented with red Smooch, which looked much better than my attempt to use Stickles. The berries are just too small for Stickles, and the results looked...globby. The Smooch definitely looks better in this instance, and the shimmer it adds (not clear in the photo) is so pretty in real life!

I hope to be able to comment on all the OLW cards today. From the thumbnails, I can tell y'all had fun with this rather tough challenge!

Finally, how are you coming with your Christmas cards? I'm behind. Way behind. I need a whole day of uninterrupted crafting and some serious production of multiples if I'm to finish and get mine mailed before New Year's Day, LOL! I'm seriously contemplating buying a few boxes of cards and calling it good for this very strange year. What are your feelings on the subject of store-bought cards in a pinch?

Peaceful Poinsettias, Punched

2011-12-05T06:39:00.001-05:00

Today's cards were made with Papertrey Ink's Peaceful Poinsettias, which is one of their most brilliant Christmas sets (at least in my opinion!). I'm loving the combo of SU's real red and cherry cobbler, so I stamped a bunch of the poinsettias on a piece of scrap PTI card stock, punched them out with circle punches, and then played around with them. Here are the results!

Random, bouncy poinsettias have lots of fun energry and movement...but keeping them touching and in a line prevents them from looking chaotic. To make this card, I placed all the circles first, rearranging until I felt they were fairly balanced and then gluing or popping on dimensionals one at a time.

And now for an AR-OC version, much more graphic and peaceful. The two shades of red kick the design up a notch without disturbing the static, graphic appeal.

I imagine many of you will have a clear favorite between these two, but I couldn't pick a favorite to save my life.

Okay, well, maybe to save my life, but stamping isn't really a life or death hobby.

Thank goodness for that.

On a personal note, if you're interested in the update on our new house and move, you can read about it on my other blog HERE.

We Have a Winner!

2011-12-05T06:23:00.001-05:00

The winner of our pearls give-away is Valerie, who wrote:

Both are fabulous but the pearls win for me:)

Val x

Congratulations, Val, and thanks so much for reading Simplicity. Send me your snail-mail address, and I'll send you a package of pearls!

And now a brief word for ALL of you who read Simplicity. You have no idea what your kindness in comments and emails means to me. It always seems when I am feeling down or frustrated or overwhelmed or just in a random funk, someone leaves a comment or sends me an email that touches me, encourages me, keeps me going. Some of you even reach out in other wonderful ways, too, and share something of yourselves with me so that we can become friends. What an incredible blessing! Thank you. Thank you, all!

Swirly Snowflakes

2011-12-03T07:47:00.001-05:00

The winner of this week's little give-away will be announced on Monday.

This Christmas card challenge has been fun, although I seriously need to pick up the pace. I've already received three cards (one from a fellow crafter...thanks, Sue C.!), and I vaguely recall having a contest that involved my sending some uber-simple cards to some of you readers. At the rate I'm going, you might get them in 2012. Or 2013. But I promise, you WILL get them.

Today's cards are from Snow Swirled and use the snowflakes from that set. I intended to make just two cards, but after I finished them, I craved something cleaner and simpler, and so I added the third. I like them all. Purple on Christmas cards isn't so radical (especially on snowflake cards) but it is different and interesting.

Besides, all these cards gave me an excuse to use my neglected purple bling, which is a good thing.

Random with a Ribbon Ground

Pure Random

Pure Simplicity

Personal Story: The middle card reminds me of a ski trip to Sun Valley. I am a terrible skier...I do mean terrible. (In fact, I resolved after my last ski trip to McCall, Idaho, on New Year's Day 1999, I would never ski again.) That day at Sun Valley, great puffy flakes were falling onto several feet of beautiful puffy powder. I was on a blue slope--where I had no business whatsoever being, seeing as green slopes kicked my butt--when I crashed spectacularly. Imagine a cartoon crash...limbs flailing, one ski flying yards away from me, a scream piercing the peace of the snowy afternoon. That was me.

After becoming completely airborn, I landed, conveniently enough, on my back in the puffy powder and sank into it so that foot-high walls of snow surrounded me. I lay there assessing the situation. Nothing hurt inordinantly, and I could still feel everything, including my right leg, ski still attached, twisted oddly but not painfully. I figured I hadn't broken my neck or back.

Once I assured myself that nothing terrible had happened, I lay there, watching the big, puffy flakes fall onto my goggles. It was so peaceful, and I was still warm from my exertions. I appreciated the beauty and tranquility of the situation for several minutes before it occurred to me that if I didn't move, someone might ski right over me because no way would they see me lying there with one ski God only knew where, the other flat on the ground, and my entire body under the surface of the snow. I sat up, found my ski, went to the lodge, ordered a hot chocolate, and thanked God I was still alive.

Lying there in the snow, with nothing in my sight but peaceful sky and gentle puffy flakes falling on my face....that's what the second card means to me.

On another note, as I've worked on this self-imposed Christmas Card Challenge, it occurred to me that it would be a great resource for future Christmases, so I'm going back and labeling all these posts with Christmas Card Challenge 2011. You'll be able to find them all quite easily in the future using the labels on the sidebar.

Have a lovely weekend!

A Swirly Sort of Tree

2011-12-02T07:19:00.001-05:00

Today's cards use the SU set Snow Swirled, which not only has a pretty, swirly, flourish-y Christmas tree but some lovely snowflakes that I will use on tomorrow's cards. Yep, this set is so versatile, I will make four cards from it instead of two!

First up, a clean and simple one-layer card in my favorite winter color scheme.

Memento London Fog and Rhubarb, with silver satin ribbon and lots of dark red bling added for fun, make a pretty, pretty card!

Next, a card that transforms the tree into a swirly, flourishy border that doesn't look like a tree at all.

To make the border, I masked the edges with large post-its, then used a stamp positioner to get stamp the tree repeatedly to fill the space.

The gold accents come from a Prisma metallic marker and gold lame Smooch. This is also a one-layer card, though if you had some pretty designer paper, you could edge it with a metallic marker and use that for the same layout.

My first instinct was to put the sentiment in the sweet spot (one-third of the way up from the bottom of the card), but when I laid the uninked stamp (from a Hero Arts clear set) on the card, it looked weird in the sweet spot. When I moved it to center, it looked so much better. That's one advantage of clear stamps...you can "test" them on your layout and move them around until you get a pleasing placement.

Please remember to make sure the stamp is totally clean before laying it on your card. Just sayin'.

Regarding Yesterday's PSX Tree Stamp...Kay asked if I added something to the third card to make it look like the tree was dusted with snow. No. That's just the way the stamp looks. Beautiful, no?

PSX Evergreen Tree, Three Ways

2011-12-01T13:20:00.001-05:00

To whomever asked about the chair in my craft room, I can't find any marks on it to help you, but I bought it at either Office Max or Office Depot years ago for not a lot of money. Most office supply stores stock office chairs, and you should be able to find something comparable very easily. My apologies for losing your email and taking so long to get back to you!

To everyone else, several of you commented that I must have a lot of Christmas stamps. You're darn tootin'. Today's featured stamp is a very old one from the long-out-of-business PSX. I love this large evergreen tree and had so much fun last night doing not two but THREE variations with it.

Actually, there was a fourth variation, but it was ugly.

To quote Pioneer Woman, I'm just keepin' it real.

Anyway, here are my three good cards with PSX's large evergree stamp.

This first one is LOTS prettier in real life but suffers from my meager photography skills. Vellum trimmed with a silver metallic marker overlays the tree, which is stamped on PTI white card stock with SU Garden Green and Chocolate Chip ink. The sentiment (from Papertrey's A Wreath for All Seasons set) is stamped on the vellum in Memento Rhubarb ink.

This soft and subtle card uses Memories Soft Leaf ink for the trees and Memories Hunter Green for the sentiment (which is from Papertrey's Signature Christmas). The vellum in the first two cards is attached with little pieces of ScorTape.

Finally, I stamped the tree off the edge of the card and drew a box using a Sharpie pen and cardboard template I made years ago for this purpose. If you make this design yourself, remember to wait to stamp the sentiment until you draw the box. That way, you can center the sentiment much more easily.

I had so much fun making these cards! It's good to be back in my craft room, even if I do have to keep it unnaturally clean between creative sessions and can't quite find everything I want.

One-Layer Wednesday 72: Variations on a Sentiment

2011-11-30T09:51:00.001-05:00

This is today's second post. Please scroll down to see the first.

This week's OLW expands on my strategy for making lots of Christmas cards fast without mass producing. There are three requirements in addition to the use of a single layer of card stock:

1) use ONLY a sentiment stamp on your card...no other stamps or embellishments allowed!

2) use a NON-STANDARD size for your card

3) make at least two cards using the same stamp that vary something (color, type of ink, technique, placement of the stamp, size of card)

NOTE: There are no limits to the theme for this challenge, so if you've finished your holiday cards, consider making thank-you cards (you know you're going to need them!) or whatever theme you find most useful.

I got a little carried away with this and love the results, especially because they make me cease regretting the purchase of this stamp from Hero Arts. It's beautiful, but too big for a standard size card. Giving it the extra space to breathe makes a huge difference.

All four of my cards are 4.25" x 7" and will fit into standard 5" x 7" envelopes.

StampinUp Cherry Cobbler

Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy

Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder

Fuzzy for a Reason: Red Doodlebug Flock and Essential Glue Pad

Some of you may find this challenge particularly difficult because a single sentiment looks so excruciatingly clean and simple. Look for really interesting sentiments in your stash, and then think how you could make it even more interesting with colors, placement, shape of card. If you must, consider embossing lines to frame your sentiment, masking and sponging, using resist techniques, etc. Just don't use any other stamps or embellishments.

If this kills you, remember you can always photograph the unembellished version for the challenge, then add whatever embellishment you feel necessary. ;-)
OLW72 Rules

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single piece of cardstock folded in half. No other layers allowed!

2. Use only one sentiment on a non-standard card size (or shape), and create at least two variations of the card. NO OTHER STAMPS OR EMBELLISHMENTS ALLOWED!

3. Upload your creations somewhere online and link back to them using the InLinkz button on the sidebar of Simplicity.

4. HAVE FUN!!!

StampinUp Tree Trimmings

2011-11-30T07:16:00.001-05:00

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

THE ONE-LAYER WEDNESDAY CHALLENGE WILL BE POSTED SHORTLY. SORRY FOR THE DELAY.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

I spent almost two hours last night making three cards with StampinUp's Tree Trimmings, one of which is unfit for public consumption. The problem is, I've already made perfect-for-me cards with this pretty set in years past, and I wanted to do something completely different...which is never, ever a good idea when you're tired.

Yesterday's cards showed how color alone can create different looks. Today, I use a technique and punches on one card to get a distinctly different feel.

The first card uses emboss resist and Twinkling H20s...a golden jade color. I couldn't find my watercolor paper in my "staged" craft room, and used PTI white card stock instead.

Here's a close-up that gives an idea of the sparkly shimmer of the Twinkling H20s.

The second card is more "me," with no technique at all and a tiny little bit of bling and plenty of white space.

Two cards, two very different looks. If you're playing along with me on my challenge to make variations on sets to meet my quota of Christmas cards, keep in mind you can use those techniques whose supplies have been languishing in your stash. What a fun way to mix things up and keep them interesting!

Christmas Card Strategy and A Muse and a Little Give-Away

2011-11-29T07:17:00.001-05:00

As I stamped on Sunday, I realized that I needed a strategy for making over 100 Christmas cards quickly and without going insane. I decided to try to make at least two cards using each Christmas set or stamp I own...two cards that look very different. Also, I'm trying to keep them all one layer, though if a design requires layers, I'll add them.

Here are the first two cards I made using this strategy and A Muse's Snow Crystals set.

The first card uses a speckled blue-gray cardstock and Marina Mist (SU) ink. Three sizes of pearls are a serene and interesting accent for these beautiful stamps.

The second card uses a little masking and is reminiscent of nordic sweaters with its cream card base and Cherry Cobbler ink.

Which do you like best and why? Just for fun, I'll send a random commenter a package of pearls! Give-away deadline is Thursday at midnight, East Coast time.

Felt Poinsettias and a Reminder

2011-11-28T06:21:00.001-05:00

Today's cards came out of yesterday's delightful make-out session with product.

I'm sorry. Was that too much information?

The product was a package of Hero Arts Felt Poinsettias I bought in a moment of weakness and have hoarded for several years. You don't have any fabulous unused products like that lying around, do you? Of course not. You're more sensible than I.

These felt die cuts are extremely high-quality, unlike the premade paper poinsettias I made out with first and whose end results shall remain unviewed by anyone in cyberspace or the real world. The paper poinsettias were poor quality; they looked like some small critter had nibbled their edges so the cards looked nibbled, too. When I moved on to the felt poinsettias, I managed to use practically the whole package on just two cards, which felt very efficient. (Did I just make a bad pun?)

Even better, I don't feel the need to buy more simply because the results are so lumpy and hard to mail. But they sure are pretty!

Hero Arts Felt Poinsettias come in packages of three colors (burgundy, red, and white) with two shades of green for the leaves. I layered two flowers together to get a richer, more dimensional look: the burgundy on the bottom and the red on top. The white poinsettias, of course, just got layered together.

Break out some unused product and give it some love this week!

Simplicity Tip: You can get a very similar look without the bulk of felt using a daisy punch and two shades of red card stock, a shade of green card stock, and a brad. White and cream might look lovely, too! The end result will be less textured but will carry the exact same punch for design that the felt poinsettias do. Of course if you own a die cut machine and daisy dies, you can create your own. But I don't die; I punch.

A Reminder: 52 Weeks of Mail is going strong! I hope you're sticking to your resolution of sending more snail mail. This is week seven, and I know I've sent out far more than seven cards, despite all the craziness in my life. With Christmas coming, this challenge will be LOTS easier, don't you think?

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Ink Signature Greetings (faux handwritten sentiment) and Silent Night (verse)
paper: Papertrey white
ink: cherry cobbler (SU)
accessories: Hero Arts Felt Poinsettias, small antique gold brads, glue dots

If You're Anything Like I Am...

2011-11-27T07:07:00.001-05:00

you probably have a lot of specialty papers lying around unused, unloved, uncut. "Oh, that's too pretty to cut!"

Hogwash.

Specialty papers are most often found in the art section of big box craft stores or in fine art supply stores. They generally come in very large sheets on tilted paper racks, although some scrapbook paper companies produce them in 12" x 12" sizes or smaller.

One thing I've learned since I started papercrafting is that specialty papers stick around a LOT longer than the latest Basic Gray collection. Art paper suppliers are less given to trends. You can buy the same velvet paper I bought ten years ago today at Hobby Lobby. Rice papers are always around, too.

So instead of hoarding specialty papers, use them to make pleated ornaments for the holidays!

It's hard to tell from my stellar photograph (not), but this is red velvet paper. In real life, it looks fabulous and feels even better. I scored it on the back to pleat so I didn't damage the pile of the velvet.

Green ornaments on trees don't show up well unless they are light green or very glittery/shiny. This is what I call rice paper (not sure it that's the real name, though). It has interesting, slightly shimmery fibers in it.

Finally, we have some silver faux-leather paper, which adds texture and shimmer to the ornament.

There are plenty of online tutorials on making these beauties, but here are a few additional tips to help you out.

1. Use a glue gun. It holds the best of any glue I tried.

2. Score the folds, then punch the edges (I used Fiskar's Threading Water edge punch), THEN fold the paper.

3. I used strips that were roughly 21"-22" long and 2" wide, which gave me lots of pleats. But this isn't a souffle recipe. Vary as needed for your own purposes.

4. The snowflake is a Martha Stewart punch, and the scalloped circle is from Marvy.

5. You could use these as gift tags, too, but definitely tell people they are ornaments. You don't want these beauties ending up in the trash. Instead, make a whole set for someone as a gift. That was my plan before the Great House Sale of 2011. Now, I'll cut myself some slack and just wait until next year.

That must be the sanest decision I've made in the past two months.

A Gift-Wrap Philosophy: Part Two

2011-11-26T07:10:00.001-05:00

As some of you may remember, I love the traditional colors of Christmas but sometimes feel the need to break out and try something different, something rad, something rebellious, something edgy.

Yeah, I'm such a bad girl.

*snort*

One thing I love about my new Gift-Wrap Philosophy is just how flexible it is, allowing for lots of variety in styles and colors. For those of you who tolerate mass-production well and can't stand non-traditional colors for Christmas, today's post may not be of much value, but for those of you who, like me, would rather bleed from your eyeballs than mass-produce, well, here's a fun way to put some variety into your Christmas packaging!

Tropical fruit-slice snowflake stamps and sentiment from Hero Arts

Note how the sentiment makes excuses for the tropical colors. And the bling makes this so sparkly and pretty!

Retro colors of Brilliance inks and Hero Arts Stamps

I love aqua and orange and make at least one card with them every Christmas. The Brilliance inks are shimmery and I added a spot of Stickles in the center of each snowflake to kick it up a notch. This is a less expensive option than rhinestones, but remember if you're sending packages to the troops overseas...no glitter allowed!

Stamp by PTI.

Memento's gray ink makes me swoon and fills me with joy. Paired with this shiny silver and shimmery white ribbon, it's a stunner. Who knew gray could be so fabulous! BTW, adding a bit of bling to the center of each snowflake would be even more fabulous.

Stamps by PTI. Orange baker's twine.

Using quintessential Christmas icons in totally fun colors keeps the theme clear while allowing for rebellious color choices.

Stamps by PTI. Glitter by Doodlebug.

Finally, blue isn't exactly a non-traditional color, but it is pretty. Very pretty!
And that's it for Christmas tags this year. I'm considering making angel cookies to give to neighbors this year, and if that happens, I'll share that packaging as well. Otherwise, it's time to get cracking on Christmas cards because oh holy sugar plums, I've only got about 30 and need 130.

It's time like this when Clean-and-Simple Design is sooooo my friend!

How many holiday cards have you made? How many do you need?

A Gift-Wrap Philosophy: Part One

2011-11-25T07:38:00.001-05:00

Simplicity takes a lot of work. Stripping something down to its essentials, making the essentials look interesting and pretty, and getting a design's balance just right take time, patience, and perseverance.

Sometimes, however, the design gods hand you an idea so simple and quick that you wonder what the heck took you so long to figure it out.

After years of fretting over gift wrap, I've hit upon a minimalist philosophy so simple and so perfect that I'm sure I can't be the first to hit upon it.

The philosophy can best be summed up by the equation T + R + WP = FABULOUS, where T is a simple, colorful tag, R is coordinating ribbon, and WP is white paper.

Papertrey Mendhi Medallion, Hero Arts sentiment

The first sample is a tag I made months ago and shared already, but I combined it with a red ribbon edged in gold...one I bought to use years ago and never did.

Papertrey Holiday Treats

This tag shows how those nugget label stamps can be used as borders on small tags. For this tag, I'll write the name of the recipient on the front, rather than the back. In brown ink to match the gingerbread man!

Hero Arts

Rick-rack or other interesting trim can add interest to a super-simple tag.

Papertrey Holly Jolly

For someone special, add bling to the tag. Yes, it will end up in the trash, but seriously, it's Christmas. That green satin ribbon is so soft and rich-feeling, it just demanded a blinged-up tag.

Papertrey Sign Language

Tags can be any shape or size you want. Here, I took left-over strips of cardstock and turned them into long, narrow tags using simple images and bling. The white ribbon with its red stitching was the perfect accompaniment!

What are the advantages of this philosophy? Well, let's count them.

1. You only ever need to buy white wrapping paper, although if you want some variety, kraft wrapping paper will work well, too.

2. You can express your creativity through the tag, getting as fancy or as personalized as you want. Plus, you can use odd scraps of cardstock for your tags.

3. Christmas tags can double as ornaments, too!

4. You can use up that massive stash of ribbon you have sitting there, being hoarded. Or you can buy spools of ribbon when they are discounted and let the ribbon inspire your tags.

5. No more searching for baby wrapping paper or kid birthday wrap or Mother's Day wrap or graduation wrap at the last minute. All you have to do is make sure you have stamps for every occasion, which, let's face it, is HUGELY more fun.

6. If you keep a stash of white gift bags in assorted sizes and tissue paper (either white or assorted color packs as you prefer), the ribbons and tags work equally well for awkwardly-sized or hard-to-wrap gifts.

7. This style of gift wrap lends itself to additional embellishment if time and inclination allow. Adding pine-cones, jingle bells, sprigs of holly or picks of artificial fruit, foliage, berries, etc., to Christmas packages, party favors to birthday gifts, and such work well. But only if you want to embellish.

What are the disadvantages of this philosophy? Well, there's only one I can think of, and that's finding good white wrapping paper that is opaque enough. Perhaps one of you has a suggestion, but the the white at HL and M's can be seen through, so when necessary, I've started wrapping a strip of it around the gift box first, then wrapping the gift.

But I'd much rather have truly opaque white paper to wrap gifts.

What do you think of this Clean and Simple Gift-Wrap Philosophy?

Happy Thanksgiving and a Super-Simple Christmas Tag Tutorial

2011-11-24T08:27:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers. Today is one of my favorite days of the year and I wish the spirit of gratitude and appreciation for blessings we feel today would live as strongly all year long. I'm so grateful to each and every one of you who takes the time to read my maunderings and special thanks to those of you who comment, either here on the site or in emails. Y'all keep me going.

For today, I wanted to share a super-simple tutorial for making a large number of small tags quickly. As I say every year, our family likes to acknowledge all the many people who help with our children...the aides, therapists, special education teachers, regular teachers, and others. When you have a child with special needs, you cannot raise them alone...all these professionals make a HUGE difference in your child's life.

Grateful doesn't begin to cover it.

The sheer numbers of these special people in our lives are overwhelming at the holidays, especially this year when our personal lives are so chaotic with the house sale. In years past, I've made card sets for them, but this year, I knew that would not be do-able. The kids enjoy making these sugar plums every year, so I decided we'd just acknowledge each special person with a sugar plum this Christmas and then do something extra-special at the end of the year, when we will be moved and have more time.

Our sugar plums this year will have white candy coating; red, white, and green sprinkles; and white candy sticks (rather than craft sticks shown on the Family Fun website). Over the years, I discovered that tying curly ribbon or such around about a hundred sugar plums is BORING, so last year, I used red pipe cleaners cut to size with a single jingle bell threaded onto them. (Pictures of ours this year will be forthcoming....)

I've never attached tags to the sugar plums before. We've always just handed them out to the boys' friends and to neighbors. But for the teachers and therapists, I wanted to have a simple tag to attach to the pipe cleaner. The boys can put their names on the backs of the tags for a bit of personalization.

These stickers, found on sale at Michael's a few weeks ago, are the perfect adornment for my mass-produced tags. They even already have a little spot of bling! Y'all know I hardly ever use stickers or other prepared embellishments on my projects, but these seemed too cute to pass up.

I used my tag punch to make 24 tags out of Papertrey Ink's stamper's select white cardstock (nice and thick).

After afixing the stickers to each tag, I used a 1/8" hole punch and craft floss to finish the tags.

Here's the finished product. So easy, so cute, so FAST. The pipe cleaner can be threaded through the floss loops for easy assembly when the sugar plums are packaged.

The lesson of today's tutorial is that if you use the right products, mass production of simple tags can be incredibly easy and so fast that it hardly gets boring at all.

She's Back!

2011-11-23T20:37:00.001-05:00

What a relief! The house is ready (mostly), the sign is up, and now we just have to wait for someone to buy it. We still have some work to do, but the urgency is past. That means crafting time!

Of course, it's hard to find anything in my craft room. It's "staged," which translates as rearranged for attractiveness and the appearance of spaciousness. It is not arranged for crafting convenience. See.

The room looks huge compared to its pre-staging arrangement, especially when the chair is lowered and pushed under the table. I took out my second table, so my paper trimmer is propped under the desk and my scor-pal is on the desk.

It looks fabulous, but because stuff got stuffed wherever I could stuff it, I'm having a hard time finding some, uh, stuff.

That's not getting in my way, though.

We'll start my return to Simplicity with photos of the mustard seed ornament.

The base is gold shimmer paper given to me by kind reader Lisa. That paper made about 50 ornaments, and I used assorted other colors of shimmer card stock for the remaining 50.

The star is from Silent Night and the sentiment is from Everyday Blessings, both by Papertrey Ink. The ink is Ancient Page Saffron, which ended up being a perfect match for the shimmer paper. The center of the star features a single mustard seed.

The back isn't fancy. I printed these on the computer. An easy tip for doing this in Word is to create a text box with a border. Put your text in, format and size the box to as needed, and copy it to fill the page. After you print, cut just inside the lines of the text box, and you've got the perfect size!

The finished size of my ornaments is 4.25" x 3".

I've not sent many cards in the past two weeks. Can't let all those Thanksgiving/Gratitude Challenge cards go to waste, so I'll be filling them out tomorrow and mailing them Friday. Better late than never.

In closing, I want to thank Janet R. and Nicole P. for sending me cards. The cards, emails, and comments y'all have sent my way these past two weeks have really helped me during the craziness. Thank you ALL, and have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Update and a Link

2011-11-21T07:49:00.001-05:00

Good morning on this dreary Monday. Well, it's dreary where we are. Hopefully, you're seeing sunshine and rainbows today.

The end is in sight for prepping the house to sell, so I HOPE to be in my craft room on Wednesday to take pictures of the mustard seed ornaments and make something new.

Some of you have asked about Stephen Ministry, so I posted some explanation on my other blog HERE. If you have further questions, please ask them in the comments of that post, and I will answer to the best of my ability.

Many Thanks and Group Crafting

2011-11-17T18:30:00.001-05:00

Many thanks to Sue C., Angela H., Karen C., and Linda E. for making my mail so much fun yesterday and today. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

I'm still alive but hanging on to my sanity by a thread. My house is finally starting to look close to showable (is that a word?), at least on the the two main floors. The basement is another matter entirely. My car broke on Monday (oy, vey!), and then I paid the staging company Tuesday, the drywall people and the appraiser today, and the inspector tomorrow. Fortunately, George's car's boo-boo is covered by insurance, and hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow because the rental company gave me a minivan and I don't like it. My car is at the airport because George left on Tuesday for New Jersey and left me alone in my cleaning frenzy, which probably is a good thing.

What else can I whine about?

Oh, yeah, the stock market tanked today.

Aren't y'all glad I'm not posting much during this time of traumatic obsession?

Seriously, though, I've actually done something crafty tonight. Our Stephen Ministry wanted to make Christmas ornaments to pass out to the congregation. It's all part of raising awareness of those who aren't happy during the holidays.

Aren't we a cheerful group?

Really, though, Stephen Ministry helps people who are in emotional pain (from loss of loved ones to loss of job to loss of marriage, whatever), and that pain can be made worse during the holidays when everyone expects people to be happy. Some people aren't feeling the joy, often for very good reasons. It's amazing how other people ignoring their pain makes it worse.

I'll give you an example. My friend Liz lost her mother to cancer last fall. Liz was out of work for weeks as her mother was in hospice and then after she died. When she returned to work, not one co-worker offered condolences or asked how she was doing. This hurt her so much and made her feel like no one cared about the pain she felt.

Truth is, most people just don't know what to say, so they say nothing.

Stephen Ministry wants to let people know that it's okay to talk to those who are in pain. Ask how they are doing. Listen to what they say. In all our joy of the season, it's important to acknowledge suffering and sadness, fear and pain. The story of Christ's birth is full of suffering and pain...Mary's unexpected pregnancy before marriage, the long journey to Bethlehem, sleeping in a stable, the flight from Herod.

Anyway, we're making mustard seed ornaments to remind those who aren't feeling the joy that God can take the tiniest bit of faith and turn it into a kingdom of hope. When we can't feel the joy, God can do it for us. We don't have to fake it or pretend. We just need to let His amazing grace do its work.

I designed some VERY simple ornaments that are more meaningful than craftily attractive (though they really aren't bad for something I whipped together in between spackling nail holes and steam cleaning carpet). I got the pieces together for us to assemble at our meeting, and here are the pictures of everyone working to get the ornaments made.

See. We really are a cheerful group!!!!

And yes, we drank coffee. That's how I'm still conscious at 10:42 this evening because my day began at 6:00 a.m. Tomorrow will, too. But getting crafty sure helped my mood. Getting crafty for a good cause was even better!

Thanks to Sarah and Vicki

2011-11-14T20:04:00.001-05:00

Kind reader Sarah sent me a lovely Thanksgiving card and some sheets of sticky canvas that I will have so much fun playing with once I can get back into my craft room.

Thanks, Sarah, for thinking of me!

Vicki sent me a fab one-layer Christmas card just because I asked for it. Thanks, Vicki!!!

I'm so sad not to be stamping right now. But my house is coming together slowly but surely, the staging company comes tomorrow, and the for sale sign goes up on Saturday.

And speaking of cleaning (well, sort of), consider the truth of this poster I found on Pinterest:

And wow, I have a lot.

Be happy.

I Found a Photo...

2011-11-10T19:22:00.001-05:00

that I haven't posted yet. No, I haven't had a chance to stamp, but my house is looking very bare and clean. We're having a staging company come next Tuesday to suggest ways to make our house more appealing to buyers. The marketing designer I spoke with today told me she was drooling as I described how I was de-personalizing our house. She can't wait to get in here to work her magic. We'll see if she feels the same way when she sees the four huge black laminate bookshelves and futon furniture in our library.

Maybe she's a miracle worker.

Anyway, today's card is the last I have on my hard-drive that hasn't been posted already, so hopefully I'll be able to get in the craft room soon. I sure love this one, though.

The strip of burlap is attached with Scor-Tape, and the little maple was the last left-over from my painting with Smooch experiment. LOVE how shimmery it is.

And now for a minute of seriousness. Thank you all for your support over the past week. The comments and emails have helped lift me up and encourage me and keep me from going crazy. We're putting the sign up on our house on the 19th, so it's going to be tight getting everything done...the cleaning, the painting, the fixing little problems. But it will get done. And I am, surprisingly, a long way from the mental breakdown I expected at this point. Because of you. So thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

Mwah!

A Non-Crafty Post: Where Has My Mind Gone?

2011-11-09T07:27:00.001-05:00

Nothing card related here yet. Sorry about that. I just posted this on my other blog, but thought I'd share it here, too.

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry discovers Dumbledore's pensieve, a device that allows the headmaster to siphon off thoughts and look at them outside his brain. He tells Harry that it's useful when he has too many thoughts.

I want a pensieve.

My head is so crammed with thoughts that my memory circuits and gross motor coordination are suffering burnout. I remember, years ago, a virtual stranger telling me to be extra careful as I prepared our second house for sale. She said that stressed and busy people are so preoccupied with their thoughts they forget important things and get careless with their bodies. She recommended lists and staying centered in my body as I worked.

Before I started my Crazy Cleaning Witch frenzy on Monday, I reminded myself of this woman's sage advice and then promptly did the following:

1. I found the kids' Halloween cards in a box in the craft room. Forgot to give them on Halloween as planned.

2. I forgot an entire conversation about financials George claims we had. Suspect he had the conversation with his imaginary wife Bambi, who runs marathons, and has red hair without a lick of gray and large ta-tas. I hate her.

3. I forgot Jack had fed Daisy and thus committed the grievous mommy crime of entering a child's bedroom after he's supposed to be asleep. Remembered just as his eager and very awake face lit up that yes, he did indeed feed Daisy that afternoon.

4. I dropped a small bookshelf on my toe. No damage done, but as I had told myself "Don't drop this bookshelf on your toe" before I picked it up in the first place, I felt pretty stupid.

5. I have a bruise on my thigh. No idea where it came from.

6. I scraped a knuckle and cut a finger and didn't notice either until sticky blood caught my attention.

7. I decided to wait until Friday to move heavy stuff to the basement so George, who has Friday off, could help. Wait. That's actually sane and sensible.

This morning, George came downstairs and asked, "Do you remember telling me you sewed the button back on my brown pants?"

"Sure," I said.

He laughed. "Well, you didn't."

I clearly remember sewing that darn button on months ago. My brain is now telling me I've accomplished things I haven't in an effort to whittle the to do list down to something manageable, which is a clear indication that I need professional help. Pretty soon, when my house is ready to go on the market and I win my gold medal for "Best Staged House of 2011" Award, I'm going to find a psychiatrist and demand valium with a whiskey chaser and sleep for a week.

Maybe my mind will come back to me.

I think I'm going to need it.

New House Pictures

2011-11-06T21:46:00.002-05:00

are on my other blog. Check them out if you want!

Papercrafty and Personal News

2011-11-05T21:22:00.002-04:00

There's a reason I haven't photographed my tag for the OLW this week. Do you want to know that reason?

Of course you do.

Here it is:

We signed a bunch of paperwork today to start the process of making this lovely new ranch home with a finished walk-out basement ALL MINE! And yes, the large basement bedroom with a lovely, south-facing window will be my craft room. We might also put a bed in there, but it won't matter. There's plenty of room.

And yes, that tiny little figure on the front walk is I. How silver my hair looks in the sun! At least I look skinny from that distance.

I'll be posting more pictures of the house on my other blog later, but frankly, I'm not going to have a whole lot of time for blogging in the next week. We have to get our current home staged for sale and on the market ASAP, which means massive obsessive-compulsive cleaning and de-cluttering. I've already warned my family that I will transform into the Cleaning Witch tomorrow.

Anyone who wants to come help me clean is welcome.

I did get into my craft room this morning before going to the builder's office, and I made about a dozen tags, the first of which will be posted before OLW71 ends, as God is my witness.

But cranking out all these tags got me thinking. With all I have to do in the coming months, I need to keep my Christmas simple, right? Well, the tags are simple, and I decided to do a series of ideas and tips for Clean and Simple Gift Packaging!

Doesn't that sound perfectly wonderful!!!??!?!?

This series will air on this blog toward the end of November.

In the meantime, I'll do my best to make stuff, take pictures of the stuff, and get the stuff posted.

But the Cleaning Witch obsesses.

Oh, my. Does she obsess.

Please pray for me.

Inspired by Amber Damien

2011-11-04T21:07:00.002-04:00

Amber Damien published a spread of cards in the fall issue of Take Ten...and here's a sample of her technique.

Cool, eh? Corrugated cardboard gives a card such wonderful texture. I love how Amber used squares in a grid (grids, YES!) and raffia. It had been my plan to stick more to her layout, but I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing (just keepin' it real) and punched squares out of the kraft card stock I'd crimped in my Fiskar's paper crimper instead of the Indian Summer paper I'd planned to use.

You know, it takes pretty phenomenal lack of situational awareness to put crimped card stock in a punch and not notice that something is wrong.

Since I had some punched leaves (wow, this maple leaf punch has gotten a huge workout lately!), I played around with them on the crimped squares. A 3 x 3 grid looked too busy, so as I moved just three squares around on a cream card, I thought the blessings sentiment might break up the predictability of the layout.

Bingo!

Version two pulls everything to the center rather than left justified. I honestly can't decide which layout I like best.

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend, full of fun, loved ones, and inky stamps!

The Return of Smooch Painting

2011-11-03T20:00:00.000-04:00

You might remember my cards from a while back that used Smooch just like a watercolor. If not, you can see them here.

Way back then (in September), I punched a bunch of leaves from the swatches of kiwi, pumpkin, and carrot Smooch-painted watercolor paper. Those leaves sat, unused, on my table until last weekend when the idea for this card popped to mind. Yes! I knew I'd think of something to do with them. Eventually.

4.25" square

Just goes to show if you sit on something pretty long enough, you'll figure out a pretty use for it at some random point in the future.

All it takes is a little faith and pixie dust.

Or, in this case, Smooch.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Falling Leaves
ink: Memento tangelo
paper: Papertrey vintage cream, Arches watercolor block (90lb hot press)
accessories: Smooch, watercolor brush, dimensionals, Martha Stewart leaf punch

Three Shades of Red

2011-11-02T18:52:00.001-04:00

First of all, don't forget to click on over to Jennifer's blog and check out the OLW71 challenge! Tag, You're It! Too fun and so timely.

My card for today uses three shades of red, all from StampinUp: rose red, real red, cherry cobbler. The sentiment is in Memento rich cocoa.

This idea just popped into my head, and I rather like how it turned out.

It's so...I don't know...tidy.

Who you callin' obsessive compulsive?

Supplies
stamps: PTI Falling Leaves (sentiment), Autumn Acorns (leaves)
ink: SU and Memento
paper: PTI vintage cream
accessories: corner rounder

Inspired by Chelsea Edwards: Day 3, or Lessons in Stamping a Little Collage

2011-11-01T19:11:00.000-04:00

Stamping a collage can be a little challenging. Getting the balance and colors right, and giving a sense of movement to the whole thing can be intimidating. But it's less so with a small 1 3/4" by 2 5/8" piece of card stock. If you ruin one or two or ten, you're not out much, so there's not much risk to playing around and trying to get it right.

My first effort was so-so (although the colors really do look more balanced in real life!). The red and dark brown elements form nice triangles that anchor the design. There are three elements of text, three fronds of leaves, five spots of light brown, one spot of green. The odd numbers work pretty well, but to my CAS-loving eye, there are just too many of them. Also, there are too many colors. The green is a bit too dark.

For better design, there needs to be either a third word or autumn and grace need to be closer together so they relate better because the triangle they make with the brown half pearls gets lost in the chaos of that green grunge splatter. Placing the collage in the dead center of the card makes the card look...odd.

As flawed as it is, I'm satisfied with it as a first effort and am not embarrassed to post it (you might feel differently, though!), but it's just too busy for my taste. So I tried again, this time with a Christmas theme. This one scores MUCH better!

The balance of color and design on the Christmas card works well. The strong focal point of the poinsettia grabs the eye, and the Grunge Me paint splatter stamp in very light green stays in the background where it belongs yet adds a fresh look to the bright red and green. The holly berries are accented with a red Sakura Stardust pen and match the red ink much better in real life, allowing the eye to move from the focal point to the sentiment to the border with ease.

Some tips for stamping mini collages:

1. It's a good idea to start with a strong focal point, then work from there. Put the focal point in a sweet spot. Draw imaginary lines to divide the piece into thirds; the two best sweet spots are the upper left and lower right intersections of the lines.

2. Use differently scaled shapes or images and vary the shapes. The Autumn card has too many elements that are roughly the same size and visual weight and a bit too much variety in the shapes. The Christmas card has repeat border of tiny holly and a nice, big poinsettia, and the round poinsettia works in contrast to the trinagles of holly and straight line of the sentiment. The grunge spatter relaxes the crisp images a bit.

3. The background needs to stay in the background with lighter colors as support.

4. Add a little extra something...bling, glitter pen accents, beads, buttons, ribbon, twine, etc.

5. Place the collage off-center as Chelsea did with her samples in Take Ten. This adds much more interest to the card and feels much more natural. Utilize either the sweet spots or the rule of thirds. On my Christmas card, the imaginary one-third horizontal line of the collage is lined up on the imaginary one-third horizontal line of the card base, leaving about twice as much white space below the collage than above...hope that makes sense!

Why not play around and see what sort of mini collage you can stamp!

Supplies
stamps: Autumn (Grunge Me, First Fruits, Turning a New Leaf, Text Style, Beautiful Blessings); Christmas (Peaceful Poinsettia, Holly Jolly, Grunge Me)
inks: Memento
paper: Papertrey
accessories: half pearls, Stardust red pen, sponge, gold half bead, dimensionals

Inspired by Chelsea Edwards: Day 2, or How to Cheat at Collage

2011-10-31T20:26:00.001-04:00

To see Chelsea's original card that inspired this series of cards with little collages surrounded by white space, please visit yesterday's post.

The Basic Gray Indian Summer paper has several sheets that are complex with layered images, bright colors, and fun shapes. . No work needed, other than to select an area of the designer paper that looks particularly appealing.

How much easier can it get? Not much. Yet it's pretty. Simple. Quick. Easy to mass produce, if you go in for that sort of thing.

Today's post was a cheat, but tomorrow's post will show a LOT more work.

Which, let's face it, isn't hard to do given how little work went into the above card.

Seriously.

Inspired by Chelsea Edwards: Day 1

2011-10-30T20:36:00.000-04:00

I thought it would be fun to share multiple card variations inspired by an idea from a published card, so I settled on this fab card from Chelsea Edwards in the fall issue of Take Ten.

Card by Chelsea Edwards, Take Ten, Fall 2011

Chelsea's card not only caught my eye because of all the lovely white space, but because the complex little collage of patterned paper looked so fresh framed by all that white space. I decided to experiment with multiple variations on that look, moving things around and changing colors and papers and such, and here's my first effort.

Notice that my white space is pink, but really it's still white space, no matter the color. The dark papers from Basic Gray's Indian Summer collection looked a tad odd against a white backdrop, but they still pop in a fresh way against this very soft pink. The sentiment, from PTI's Birthday Basics set, is stamped in SU pomegranate ink. The collage, which measures 1 3/4" x 3", is wrapped in PTI twine and attached to the base with dimensionals.

This card is going to a dear friend of mine who has a birthday this month...love how it's autumnal without being orange. How cool is it that you can mix and match all sorts of different patterned papers to change the look and feel of the little collage completely?

Pretty cool, I say!

52 Weeks of Mail Check-In

2011-10-29T12:38:00.001-04:00

So, how many of you are doing the 52 Weeks of Mail Challenge?

We're in week 3, and I've sent 13 cards.

I always was an over-achiever.

It's never too late to start. After all, what is the point of making all these cards if we're not going to send them to someone?

Besides, it's time for those of you who took on the Gratitude Challenge to start sending those Thanksgiving cards to your friends and family. Why not spread them out over the whole month of November?

And you know, if you live in Canada, we Americans won't mind at all if you do the Gratitude Challenge on our schedule. After all, your Thanksgiving is so very early (as it should be that far north!), and you may simply need more time to make cards for it.

Besides, if you so desire, you could send ME (and your other American friends, of course) a Thanksgiving card.

I love snail mail.

*hint, hint*

Today's card uses one of my new A Muse sets. I copied a layout I'd already copied from a card published by Ryann Salamon. These stamps really are scaled just a bit too big to work for this layout, but all those floaty images falling to the bottom of the card seem to echo my life at the moment. And like the card says, I'm trying to enjoy the harvest of blessings rather than completely freak out over it.

It's not working. *sigh*

Enough of my melodramatic whining. Please tell me about your progress in the 52 Weeks Challenge and/or Gratitude Challenge. I'd love to hear how you're doing!

Feeling Silly...

2011-10-28T14:04:00.002-04:00

I just received an email from Memory Box.

The title of the email is "New Video - Painted Pears!"

Oh. My. I'm helpless.

First, let me say that Dave Brethauer is my hero, and not just because his company turned one of my ideas into a penguin stamp. He's amazingly talented, and I own one of his books which is completely fabulous.

The new video is a bit long, and I didn't make it much past Dave's awesome line "We're going to be doing pears today" for the obvious reason that my mind is in the English-major gutter. But the technique he's demonstrating is beautiful anyway, despite the pears, so if you've never painted with Twinkling H2Os on a solid block stamp, I'm sure it's worth watching.

Just please don't do pears.

Or if you do, please don't tell me about it.

You really should keep that sort of thing to yourself.

BTW, if you're new to Simplicity and haven't been corrupted by my feelings about pears, please read this post.

One-Layer Wednesday 70: Red and White

2011-10-28T10:29:00.002-04:00

Thank you for your patience regarding this week's One-Layer Wednesday, which is actually being posted on Friday.

The challenge this week is a color challenge: use either red and white or red and cream on a one-layer card. My card is a holiday card, but that is NOT a requirement of the challenge. Whatever your theme, just use red and white/cream exclusively.

6.25" x 4.5" premade card

OLW70 Rules

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single layer of cardstock folded in half. No other layers allowed.

2. Make a card that uses only the colors red and white OR red and cream. The theme of the card is up to you, but it's certainly an excellent challenge to get started on your holiday cards if you haven't already. ;-)

3. Upload your card on the internet and then link to it using the InLinkz button on the sidebar of Simplicity. If you upload at SplitcoastStampers, please use the keyword OLW70.

4. The most important rule of all: HAVE FUN!

Supplies
stamps: A Muse
ink: SU real red
paper: Marco's Paper pre-made cards
accessories: red nail heads

Taking a Little Blogging Vacation

2011-10-24T17:31:00.000-04:00

Don't Panic!

Nothing is wrong, nothing is tragic, nothing is falling apart. I just need to breathe a bit. I'll be back when I can, hopefully with a One-Layer Wednesday challenge, but maybe not until Thursday or Friday. Have a lovely week!

Blessings to You and the Value of Cheap Copy Paper

2011-10-23T20:17:00.000-04:00

Do you have any sets with stamps that you're just not sure how to use? My stampin' friend Sue Berker recently posted about this very dilemma, and she solved it by checking out the PTI gallery (which I've done before myself.) The other day, however, I had First Fruits from Papertrey out on my desk and realized that the wheat flourish-bracket-y stamp intimidated me.

Well, it's just plain silly to let a lil' ol' stamp intimidate me, so I pulled out a piece of copy paper and played around a bit. This is a very easy way to cut loose and experiment with those stamps that are blocking your creativity. This simple one-layer card is what I came up with.

Keeping it simple, I used the stamp to frame a sentiment. Nothing cosmic, but I like the results. Unfortunately, I didn't get it vertically centered quite right, so I trimmed 1/4" of the bottom off the card, rounded the corners, and there you go. The "to you" stamp is from Gracious Vases, while the "blessings" is from First Fruits.

Have you ever just played with a stamp on cheap copy paper or cardstock to get a feel for what it can do?

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey
ink: SU more mustard, Memento rich cocoa
paper: PTI vintage cream
accessories: not a blessed one

One Set, Two Seasons

2011-10-22T20:00:00.000-04:00

Papertrey Ink's Falling Leaves set is a lovely set for fall. Here's a card using it as intended, with a nice, long sentiment from Beautiful Blessings.

But then, I thought it might look fun with snowflakes, too.

Lo and behold, it does.When I couldn't find a long sentiment with an appropriate font to fill the 5.5" width of the first card, I simply cut the card down to 4.25" square. Instant balance.

When stamps are a bit whimsical and/or stylized in design, it's fun to play around like this. If the tree trunk and branches were more realistic, however, this sort of playing around might look a bit odd.

Feel like putting on your thinking cap and breaking out of a rut with a set? Play around and see what you can do!

Don't forget about the OLW69 at Jennifer's Blog. It's stripes! I hope I'll have time to put something together for it this weekend. Lots of looking at houses planned and hopefully we'll make a firm decision on what we're going to do. This state of indeceision is really frustrating. If we do what I secretly hope we do, I'm gonna have an AWESOME craft room!

Of course, I already have an awesome craft room, so really, it's a win-win.

In the meantime, enjoy another funny picture from Pinterest in honor of the OLW69, this one slightly off-color and hopefully not offensive to anyone (especially to you, Jennifer!).

By the way, is anyone upset that I've not been labeling my posts? The new Blogger format makes labelling especially annoying, and since there is a search engine on the sidebar of Simplicity, you should still be able to find what you need. Let me know if my not labelling is rocking your world, though.

Fun Font for Christmas

2011-10-21T19:18:00.000-04:00

Today's Christmas card comes to us courtesy of Hampton Art Stamps' Da Vinci Alphabet. All the circles, curves and right angles make for interesting letters, no?

These letters are delightfully architectural and complex, so letting them stand unadorned on a clean white background makes sense. I flirted with the idea of adding bling, but really, it doesn't need bling. (Shhhh! Don't tell anyone I typed that!)

I really wish there were an architect on my Christmas list. Wouldn't this be the perfect card...remade, of course, in blueprint blue?

And since we're being font-y today, let's enjoy this picture from Pinterest.

But I did not shoot the descender.

*giggle*

OMG, I'm a geek.

Many thanks to those of you who offered your support and cyber-hugs on the issues in my personal life. I really do appreciate your encouragement and advice, especially about the cookies. I feel super silly for stressing so much over the possible new house...I mean, what a ridiculous "problem" to have, right? The meds for my son are, however, a very legitimate concern. So far, the doctor is very pleased.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!

Getting out of the Box

2011-10-20T18:10:00.001-04:00

For some reason, I've felt inspired to try to get really different looks from sets that are intended for fall/harvest/Thanksgiving. Today's card uses a fall set from Papertrey called First Fruits. The stamp is a background builder that mimics the design on the pineapple stamp in the set, but it always reminded me of a peacock. So I took it in that direction, alternating layers of SU's green galore and tempting turquoise.

This doesn't look autumnal at all, does it? Of course not. What do you think of this layout? I can't remember ever using it before, but it's nice for those longer sentiments. This sentiment is from Beautiful Blessings, also by Papertrey.

Please note that I used three layers of cardstock. All white. This isn't making any dent in my colored cardstock collection!

Personal Digression: Lately I've been very distracted. George and I have started our younger son (who has autism) on some medication...a very difficult and stressful decision. I'm watching the pook kid like a hawk for any scary symptoms and also signs that the medicine is working. Plus, George decided several weeks ago to look into buying/building a new home, which means that I have to get off my butt and get our current digs presentable in case they go on the market. The deep cleaning is certainly needed, regardless of our final decision about moving. Also, cleaning is helping me work out my stress...I don't handle drugging my child or big financial decisions well at all, and cleaning my kitchen cupboards with Murphy Oil Soap is rather therapeutic. Smells nice, too. Crafting is rather hit or miss right now, but I just photographed enough projects to finish out this week.

And let me say that if your over-the-stove microwave is looking sorta filmy, Formula 409 and a little elbow grease will make it shiny as new. Who knew?

OLW69 and a Shiny Christmas Card

2011-10-19T21:15:00.000-04:00

The One-Layer Wednesday this week is STRIPES! Click on over to Styles Ink for details. Hope I have time to play tomorrow!

Today's card is another Christmas card in non-traditional shimmery colors...hot pink, purple, and silver. It uses ornaments from Papertrey's Take a Bough set, one of the older sets. I edged the stamped panel with a silver metallic marker.

The inks are Brilliance, so there is a lovely shimmer to the card that steps it up a notch. Check out the close up.

I've had very little time in my craft room lately. Certain distractions in life have been extremely demanding lately, clamoring for my attention far too loudly and keeping my blogging to bare facts and pictures. I hope to get inky tomorrow and find my sense of humor again soon. (And don't worry...nothing life-threatening or disastrous is going on.)

Stepping It Up

2011-10-18T21:48:00.000-04:00

Correction: I incorrectly identified the alphabet stamps from yesterday's post as from Impression Obsession. It is the Art Warehouse Mini Monogram set.

When I made this card, I was so happy. Gray and red make such a striking combination, and their simplicity and contrast are so effective.

As happy as it made me, I decided to step it up a bit. I made another identical card and pulled out a Sakura Stardust clear pen. After outlining all the gray, this was the result.

The Stardust pen worked like magic and made an already fab card so sparkly and frosty!

Design Tips: The birds are from Through The Trees (Papertrey), and I arranged them so they are looking at each other. Also, the red of the sentiment forms a nice triangle, which is reinforced by the triangle of trees.

If you don't have a Stardust Clear pen, get one. Immediately.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Through the Trees, Masculine Motifs, Sign Language
ink: Memento gray and SU real red
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Stardust clear pen

Text-y Christmas

2011-10-17T22:20:00.000-04:00

I've always loved type, fonts, and printer-themed stuff. The writer in me gets all giddy. Text-y type projects seemed to jump out at me as I was looking through some magazines, so I pulled out my fonts and played around. This is one result.

Pretty cool, eh? This alpha is from Art Warehouse and I love how the letters are all distressed and interesting...perfect to stand alone (with a little bling, of course).

Edited to correct the stamp manufacturer.

Supplies
stamps: Art Warehouse
ink: SU old olive, cherry cobbler
paper: PTI white
accessories: dark red rhinestones

Thanksgiving Tags

2011-10-16T20:07:00.000-04:00

I originally made these tags for my Gratitude Trees, but they ended up being too big. I decided we would use them on Thanksgiving to write down what we are grateful for.

We'll fill them out after we eat our feast on Thanksgiving, and then I'll eventually put them in a scrapbook.

Sunday, we hiked one of the Metro Parks in our area and enjoyed a warm and breezy fall day. Then George cooked his orange chicken recipe, and I collapsed into a food coma.

I hope y'all had a lovely weekend full of fun and food, too.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey (various)
ink: Memento
paper: SU chocolate chip, cherry cobbler, more mustard, pumpkin pie; PTI natural
accessories: tab punch (Marvy), circle punches, corner punch (SU), burlap thread

Thankful Trees, Phase 3, and Egg on my Face

2011-10-15T20:53:00.001-04:00

I finally finished my Thankful Trees. I fuddled and fitzed with them for hours, making new pieces, fixing broken ones (yep, more on that later). Indecision may or may not be my problem, but in the end, I made two trees with different concepts rather than a mish-mash on both trees. Instead of putting them both on the mantle, my plan is to separate them in different rooms.

Here's the first one, which is monochromatic. As you might imagine it is my favorite. Shades of red. Yum.

The second tree uses a range of autumn colors. My bet is that plenty of you will prefer this tree for its variety.

By the way, I used the punched circles from the scallop ornaments to make a card I'll post later. How very thrifty of me. I made those ornaments by first punching the smaller, smooth circle, then the larger scallop circle. I glued two "flowers" onto either side of a medium circle to frame the leaf and acorn images.

Now, let's discuss the egg on my face. These pleated ornaments are gorgeous, are they not? I got the idea from a BH&G magazine.

When I first made the pleated ornaments, I used glue dots rather than the glue gun the instructions called for because I hate glue guns. Hate is a strong word, but I'd rather have my teeth cleaned, get a vaccine, and spend two hours locked in a small room full of sticky, loud toddlers than use a glue gun.

But this is what happens when you use the wrong adhesive: complete destruction.

So of course, I pulled this out of my basement storage.

And promptly gave myself burns. But the ornaments are holding together nicely now.

I guess we have to suffer for our hobby.

But at least my Thankful Trees are finished.

How is your Gratitude Challenge coming? Do share, please.

It's a Pink Christmas

2011-10-14T22:18:00.003-04:00

Pink and orange peacocks, pink Christmas cards....whatever is the world coming to?

This card makes me feel preppy and young. Like 10th grade young, when I wore pink and green wrap-around skirts with alligator shirts, and carried a wood-handle purse with a cloth cover that matched perfectly my skirt. And add-a-beads. And penny loafers. With pennies in them.

Those were the days.

That lone pink pearl on the ground? Yeah, that's covering a mis-matched border. Sometimes it's hard to line up even clear stamps perfectly. Mistakes are simply opportunities for embellishment. Right?

I hope to get a big Gratitude Challenge post up soon, but I'm too tired tonight. It's been a deeply weird week, and I need some beauty rest. Hope you are getting set for a lovely, restful weekend!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Masculine Motifs, Take a Bough
ink: Memento pear tart, SU real red, pretty in pink
paper: PTI
accessories: half pearls

Pink and Orange Peacock

2011-10-13T20:38:00.001-04:00

Blingity, bling, bling, bling.

Oh how I love bling.

I know Mother Nature prefers blues and greens for her peacocks, but I think a happy pink and orange peacock would be quite cheerful and pretty, don't you?

So here's today's question: How do you feel about unnatural colors for animals on cards? For me, it "don't make me no nevermind," as my grandmother used to say. Translation: I don't really care. Artistic license on color usage rarely offends me, but I can see how some people might think differently.

Grandma also used to call bras "zizzers." She was a hoot. If she were alive, I'd send this card to her. She enjoyed bling, too.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: Memento Black
paper: PTI white
accessories: rhinestones, ribbon, Memento orange and pink markers

Pink and Orange 'Possum

2011-10-12T21:11:00.001-04:00

Honestly, I had some point with this card when I made it two weeks ago, but I'll be et fer a 'possum if I can remember what it was.

It's pretty, though, no?

I suspect this may have been inspired by something I saw in a magazine, but the orange and pink color scheme always makes me think of Dawn McVey. So this one's for Dawn.

How-To Tips: The silhouette stem stamp was inked first with the pear tart ink pad, then tapped with the bamboo Memento marker. Then, the whole thing was spritzed with a few squirts of water and stamped. I held the stamp in place for a few seconds. Repeat with the flower stamp, tangelo pad, and hot pink marker.

No opossums were injured in the creation of this post.

Neither was I.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Botanical Silhouettes
ink: Memento
paper: Passion Pink (SU), white (PTI)
accessories: dimensionals, markers, rhinestones

One-Layer Wednesday 68: Get Triangular

2011-10-11T23:30:00.000-04:00

This week's One-Layer Wednesday Challenge is to use at least one triangle on a card. You may use a real triangle (stamped, sponged) or images that are have an overall triangular profile or embellishments arranged in triangles. You may even choose to make a triangular card base!

In my example, there are essentially two triangles: the trio of rhinestones and the overall shape of the stamped area.

Triangles are extremely versatile design elements. First, by arranging three elements in a triangle, you automatically relate all three items to each other, which gives a sense of unity within a design. Second, triangular designs can create a feeling of stability and harmony, especially when the bottom of the triangle is parallel to the bottom of the card, as above. Triangles can also create movement and energy on a card, especially when they are obtuse (with one angle greater than 90 degrees).

So give triangles a go this week!

OLW68 Rules

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single layer of card stock folded in half. No other layers allowed.

2. Use one or more triangles on your card. These can be definite triangle shapes or implied in the design by arrangement or the shape of the card.

3. Post your card somewhere on the Internet and link to it using the button in the sidebar of Simplicity.

4. Most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Holly Jolly
ink: SU real red, Memento cottage green
paper: PTI white
accessories: rhinestones

OLW67 Again

2011-10-10T20:00:00.000-04:00

Here are two more cards for the OLW67 challenge. The first will go to my friend Ragan, who just finished a brutal chemo treatment for breast cancer. He's doing well and will appreciate the masculine green and brown colors of this card, especially after the pink ribbon card I sent him last week as a joke. ;)

This one is for Janelle Hayes, who also finished radiation and a round of chemo recently. Cheery gold seems a good color choice for her.

Since both Ragan and Janelle are Christians, I've stamped a Bible verse inside, but general Thinking of You cards are appropriate for just about anyone battling cancer. It's a nice, neutral sentiment that lets people know they are in your thoughts without putting anything on them like get well or religious sentiments might do.

As one commenter said on yesterday's post, sometimes people worry that they'll do or say something inappropriate or hurtful to someone fighting cancer, so they do or say nothing.

Nothing is less than helpful.

If you're ever at a loss, remember that one of the best things you can do is listen, listen without judgment and without trying to fix away all their problems or worries or fears. One friend fighting cancer got mad at her mother for trying to force her to look on the bright side of her situation; my friend vented to me for ten minutes about how she just wanted her mom to acknowledge that her situation sucked. All she wanted--needed, really--was validation of her lousy feelings.

Pretending those lousy feelings aren't there just isn't healthy.

Just be there, whether it is on the phone or in email, through the snail mail, or in person. Don't be afraid to ask questions, ask what you can do to help, tell them you don't know what to say or do.

And if you're feeling too uncertain and are afraid to do anything, make a Thinking of You card and mail it. It's appropriate every time.

Supplies
stamps: PTI
paper: PTI
ink: Memento, SU mellow moss
accessories: ribbon scraps

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!!!!

2011-10-10T08:32:00.002-04:00

I hope all my blogland friends in Canada are enjoying the three-day weekend and eating to their hearts' content!

Miscellaneous FYI

2011-10-09T17:24:00.002-04:00

If you're using pages torn from a book on a card or other art project, make sure you read the content of the page before using it.

Just sayin'.

You could be inadvertently, um, inappropriate.

Of course, if you mean to be inappropriate, well, that's just fine.

I just don't want you to embarrass yourself.

You're welcome.

OLW67 Thoughtsgiving

2011-10-09T16:06:00.003-04:00

Making a card for someone fighting cancer can be a tricky thing. Some people like humorous cards, but for others, laughter seems very far away at times. Some people are religious and find comfort in religious cards, and some people are not religious or get very angry at God during their battle. I've known some people fighting breast cancer who got so sick and tired of seeing pink they wanted to scream.

Many people I know who are fighting cancer right now (Ragan, who's fighting breast cancer; Karen, who's fighting intestinal cancer; Mary, whose stage-4 colon cancer has been in remission four months; Janelle, who's fighting inoperable brain cancer) are people of strong Christian faith. The following cards are for Karen and Mary and will go out to them on Tuesday, following our postal holiday.

Ragan (who is one of the rare men fighting breast cancer) will also get a card this week, but I decided blingy asterisk flowers weren't quite his style. I'll post his and Janelle's cards tomorrow.

I encourage you to play along with the OLW67 challenge this week. Cancer touches all of our lives eventually, whether we fight the battle ourselves or help support friends and loved ones in their battles.

For the OLW67 Challenge, make a card and send it to someone fighting cancer. And if you are able and feel moved to do so, please take this opportunity to make a donation to the cancer organization of your choice. A donation is not required by the challenge, though.

I donated to the American Cancer Society.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (asterisk), Papertrey Ink (sentiment)
paper: PTI white
ink: Memento
accessories: corner chomper, rhinestones

Kicking It Up a Notch

2011-10-08T19:44:00.000-04:00

First, let's announce the winners of the super-minimalist card from my last post:

Angela
Marisa
Cassandra
Danielle Daws
Lorrinda

Please email me your snail-mail addresses so I can add you to my Christmas list. My email address is susanraihala at woh dot rr dot com. Oh, I'm so excited!!!!

And now for those of you who thought the last card was a bit too, um, plain, here are two cards I made immediately after finishing the first. As you can see, adding simple little elements does kick the original design up a notch.

Denise, great minds think alike. I had PTI's Holly Jolly set out on my desk and just had to add a little holly and bling, although your idea of red pearls would be just as lovely.

And I just love the clean and graphic elements in Faux Ribbon. Adding a little border of double lines gives a hint (just a hint, really) of movement on the card by guiding your eye.

It's interesting to pay attention to how your eye moves (or doesn't) on a card. The top card requires very little eye movement and as such has a more peaceful, traditional feel to it. The bottom card is more modern and fresh, with just a bit of eye movement added by the double line.

Neat, eh?

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Peaceful Poinsettias, Faux Ribbon, Holly Jolly
ink: Memento cottage ivy, SU real red
paper: Papertrey
accessories: red rhinestones

A Simple Rant

2011-10-07T20:00:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling hormonally hostile this week, and waking up this morning to notice that I used "roll" when I should have used "role" in the first paragraph of yesterday's Simplicity post did NOT help my mood. My apologies for the error, and many thanks to any of you who noticed but refrained from commenting on it. Who knows how ALL CAPS I might have gone on your butt in my current state.

My hostility is pervasive. This week's brief essay on my Questioning blog--generally such a happy, positive, upbeat place where puppies fart rainbows and there's a saccharine saying for every problem--contains a rant about our Screen Nation...screens everywhere! Oy! I also left a stern letter in a neighbor's mailbox which I concluded with the following two sentences: "Please stop leaving your dogs out to bark. It is cruel to the dogs to leave them chained and barking for any length of time, it is disrespectful of your neighbors, and it is against both HOA rules and the law."

Yep. I'm rhetorically hostile.

So it should come as no surprise that my most favoritest card I've made in a year got me thinking hostile thoughts. (And yes, Spell Check, I typed favoritest, and you can't stop me.)

Isn't it simple? Just about the simplest card you can imagine. It's not even embossed or anything. Just SU real red ink on white PTI card stock. The beautiful font stands alone. I might round the corners of the card ever so slightly with scallop scissors for a bit more finished look before sending it, but basically, it's perfect because I've been reading a lot about minimalism lately and while I have little desire to go radically minimalist in most areas of my life, I find the style for card making irresistible.

And then I thought, "To whom do I send this?" And then I thought, "Will the recipient feel like I don't think they are special because there's next to nothing to this card? Will they get what I've done here with minimalism? And furthermore, will they appreciate it or feel like I just didn't want to put much effort into their card? Should I send it to anyone at all?"

And then I got angry at myself for even having these thoughts. Clean-and-simple cards do not need apologies. They do not need excuses, justification, or validation. Minimalism and simplicity have their place in the world of paper crafts, and those of us who enjoy them should go boldly forth and proclaim our allegiance!

Of course, not everyone will jump onto the minimalist bandwagon or even understand what we who are on the wagon are trying to do, and that is just fine.

Variety is the spice of life. I'm so grateful there are all sorts of styles out there, from the above uber-simplicity to twenty-layer card confections. How boring and scary the world would be if we all had the same perspective, the same way of seeing beauty, the same self-expressive style!!!

So, who would like me to send them this card? Who will appreciate it for its minimalist message?

The first five readers to request it via the comments or email will receive a copy of this card for Christmas this year. I'll mail them anywhere, so don't be shy if you live outside the United States. Please don't post your snail-mail address in the comments...email it to me if you are selected.

And thank you all for reading my rant. I feel so much better now.

52 Weeks of Mail

2011-10-07T07:05:00.004-04:00

Blogger V-Grrrl tapped me on Facebook to let me know about 52 Weeks of Mail, a challenge to send at least one card a week for a year, starting October 9th (this Sunday). It's sponsored by Etsy Greetings Team. Here's the FB Info blurb from their page:

"52 Weeks of Mail, brought to you by Etsy Greetings Team, is designed to encourage people to be more intentional about relationships and keeping in touch with friends and family by sending out a card or letter each week, for the next year. I don't know about you, but I LOVE getting a personal, hand-written card or letter in the mail.

"Throughout 52 Weeks of Mail, we are asking everyone to commit ...to sending just ONE card or letter each week. You can send more than one, of course! 52 Weeks of Mail BEGINS on October 9th, 2011, and ends on October 7th, 2012. Please feel free to blog about this event, or share it on your Facebook page. Share it on Twitter, or any other social networking site too!"

What a wonderful idea! I'm totally on this like white on rice, like fur on a golden retriever, like a spine on a book, like ink on paper, like a stamp on an envelope, like...okay, I'll stop with the similes.

Are you on with me?

If you want to buy handmade cards or to encourage non-cardmaking friends to buy handmade cards on Etsy, here's the link.

But I expect most of you will, like me, make your own cards. What a fab incentive to use some stamps that have been gathering dust!

A Lesson on White Space and Surprises

2011-10-06T22:07:00.000-04:00

White space plays a key role in clean-and-simple cards. It might seem like "just empty space," but its purpose is to provide focus for a clearly defined central image. A tiny image, like an ornament, can sparkle all by itself on a card if it has a good balance of white space around it and a few unexpected touches.

Consider first the white space on the stamped panel: upper far left image, balanced with lower far right alignment of the sentiment in strong (and mildly surprising) colors. Remember how the "sweet" spots on a card design are the intersections of lines drawn that divide a card into thirds? The ornament and sentiment are NOT in the "sweet spots" of the stamped panel; they are too far to the left and lower right for that. But their positioning puts them in the sweet spots for the whole card...which makes the stamped panel visually relate to the gloriously empty white space of the base of the card, making the whole card seem more unified and balanced.

The detail of two rounded corners and two pointed ones somewhat echoes the shape of the ornament, which again creates unity in the design and also adds some fun interest as well. Combine those corners with the use of lime green on a Christmas card with traditional red, and you've got a fresh-looking creation.

Bling needs no reason. Before I put it on, the card was sweet. Now, it's fabulous.

If I do say so myself. ;-)

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Take a Bough (ornament), Peaceful Poinsettia (sentiment)
ink: Memento Pear Tart, SU REal Red
paper: PTI white, Mark's Finest Lime (LOVE this lime!!!)
accessories: dimensionals, corner chomper, rhinestones

Telling a Story

2011-10-05T19:36:00.002-04:00

Off-hand, I can't remember exactly where this sketch comes from, though it's probably a Papercrafts magazine sketch. When I randomly pulled this Hero Arts stamp set out of its drawer to play with it, I thought of this sentiment from Friend's 'Til the End (Papertrey Ink) and realized it would work perfectly with this sketch.

Those two little owls want to be together for a good chat on the stump, but they have to stay alone in their own squares. Poor little owls! I'm sending this to a friend I haven't seen since May 2000.

I just love a card that can tell a little story.

Update on Comments....

I've commented on all the OLW66 cards. If you don't have a comment on your blog post, I tried and couldn't do it. There's apparently a cookie problem with embedded comment forms.

I've changed my comment form on Simplicity to be a pop-up. These annoy me, but they are not prone to the cookie problem. If anyone is still having trouble commenting, please send me an email and let me know. Thanks so much!

Also, the OLW66 cards are amazing. Y'all did a great job honoring Janelle!

Our HERO!!!!

2011-10-05T11:01:00.000-04:00

Okay, Jennifer's husband is our hero!!! He kicked the hackers out in under ten minutes. Jennifer has a few things to clean up, and the challenge will be good to go.

OLW67 Is On Hold

2011-10-05T10:26:00.006-04:00

Jennifer's blog is being hacked, and until she gets the mess straightened out, the One-Layer Wednesday challenge is on hold.

Wouldn't this world be a wonderful place if the people who put their energy into hacking used their talents for good and not evil?

UPDATE: Jennifer's darling husband, whom we now all love and adore, defeated the hackers. The challenge should be up later this afternoon.

On Stamp Organization and Inventories

2011-10-04T11:13:00.001-04:00

This post is for those of you who want to whip your hoard of stamps into some semblance of order and system, with an inventory to match. The post is LONG, and there is LOTS of information here, as well as lots of food for thought. Every person's collection is a little different and requires a little different handling, but I hope my obsessive-compulsive blatherings help you!

Of course, you may just be sorry you asked.

First of all, let's ask two obvious questions: a) Why is it so hard to organize stamps? and b) Why is it so hard to create an inventory of the stamps we have?

1. Stamps come in essentially three formats: wood-mounted rubber, unmounted rubber, and clear. If you only have one format, you're in luck because a single storage system will usually work. CD cases fit nicely in standard CD storage, clamshell boxes on a shelf, loose wood-mounted stamps fit in shallow drawers or trays.

If you're like me and have all three, however, storage and inventory are extra complicated to accommodate sets, individual loose stamps, and both CD and DVD cases, as well as clear stamps that come in clear folders of different sizes and clam-shell boxes of SU stamps that also come in different sizes.

2. Stamp sets are mostly hard to categorize. Take Papertrey's Everyday Button Bits set. It has stamps for birds, topiary, hot air balloons, birthday balloons, even a bicycle. The sentiments are also incredibly diverse. How could you possibly put it in single, meaningful category? Do you break it up? If so, how? All these decisions make my brain hurt.

3. Storing by manufacturer makes sense sometimes, such as when you are on a design team and need to make specific projects using just one manufacturer or if you frequently submit work for publication and need an accurate supply list. When I was on MFP's design team, I kept all their stamps and supplies separate from my stash for convenience. Now, they are mixed in.

Neither way is fully satisfactory, though. Companies with distinct styles make stamps that go together across themes and from different releases, and when you mix them with other company's stamps, you lose the ability to link different sets together easily. But what if you're making an ocean-themed card and then have to look through five or six different manufacturer collections just to find your ocean stamps? Annoying.

4. We're constantly adding to and (for some of us) deleting from our collections. Creating a system of storage and inventory that accommodates these changes is a pain in the butt.

Basically, all these problems make me wish I were a devil-may-care, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants type stamper who doesn't give a rip how things are organized and relishes the serendipity of sifting through randomly arranged stamps to create to her heart's content. I want to embrace the chaos.

I cannot.

So here goes.

Organizing a Diverse Stamp Collection

My current stamp organization system consists of two parts: PTI sets (stored in CD cases in three bins from Target, sorted using tabbed dividers) and everything else (stored in plasic drawer units with labels on each drawer). There is minor cross-over between the two systems, in that a few Hero Arts' sentiment sets are with the PTI sentiments, and a few PTI sets are in the drawers. These accommodate how I actually use those sets. More on that later.

Part 1: PTI Sets

The PTI tabs are fairly basic.

1. Sentiments (just sentiments: Mixed Messages, Mega Mixed Messages, Signature Greetings, etc.)

2. Mixed Sets (sets with a mix of different themed images, plus lots of different sentiments: Everyday Classics, Simple Little Things, etc.)

3. Miscellaneous (single-theme sets that don't belong in the Nature category: Up, Up, and Away, All Booked Up, Quilter's Sampler, etc.)

4. Nature (plant and animal image sets: Turning a New Leaf, Friends 'til the End, Love Birds, Pond Life, etc.)

5. Background/Borders/Frames (Framed, Background Basics, Heart Prints, Text Style, Grunge Me, etc.)

6. Christmas

Click to see it bigger

I'm not always consistent with set placement into a particular category, and there are fuzzy sets that don't fit exactly anywhere. Heart Prints, for instance, lives in Backgrounds/Frames/Borders, when it might more properly fit in Miscellaneous. Faux Ribbon is in Sentiments when it should be either in Miscellaneous or Background/Borders/Frames. A Wreath for All Seasons is in Christmas, not Nature. I don't have reasons for these deviations from the plan, but I always know where to find those sets.

I keep most of the PTI sets separate for one reason: it's a pain to look through so many CD cases stored in plastic drawers with my other stamps. They slide around untidily and make a mess. Flipping through the CD bins is SO MUCH EASIER!

Part 2: Plastic Drawers

The plastic drawers hold everything else, including DVD cases of unmounted rubber from SU and A Muse, clamshell boxes from SU, and loose wood-mounted stamps. The drawers have many more specific categories for sorting. My categories are dictated by how many stamps I have of each and what will fit primarily in one layer in a drawer. Your categories will be different, depending on how many and what you have.

Home (furniture, food, drink)
Vintage/Asian
Americana
Baby/Child
Leaves
Trees
Flowers
SU Flora
Ocean/Beach
Animals
Bugs
Seasons (includes all 12 Hero Arts month-themed clear sets)
Backgrounds
Shadows
Circles/Squares
Ornamental
Office Supply
Journaling
Thank You/Birthday
Thinking of You (includes get well, sympathy, hello stamps)
Faith
Words
Quotations
Heart Occasions
Holiday (not Christmas)
Christmas
Hero Arts Christmas
Winter/Nature
SU Christmas

None of these categories is perfect, and my use of them is not always consistent, either. For instance, where would you put a pine tree stamp, in Trees or Winter/Nature? I put them in Winter/Nature because mostly, when I use a pine tree, I'm making Christmas cards.

In a few cases, I've put PTI sets in the drawers because they just belong there. Birthday Basics has only Happy Birthday sentiments for the outside and inside of a card, so it's in the Birthday drawer. A Day at the Beach is in the Ocean/Beach drawer. My tea and coffee sets are in the Home drawer. That way, I don't forget about them.

As you can see, the system isn't perfect. I make exceptions to rules all the time. For now, this works for me, though.

Other Storage Category Options

Pull out an SU, Hero Arts, or A Muse catalog and see how they organize in more general categories. These, or variations on them, might work better for you, depending on the size and depth of your stamp hoard.

A Muse Categories
Holidays
Flora and Fauna
Young at Heart
Everyday Celebrations
Just for Fun
Elements and Sentiments

SU Categories
Holidays
Occasions
Growing Up
All Natural
Elements
Greetings

Hero Arts Categories
Poly Clear
Clings
Woodblock

Inventory Ideas

My first inventory was organized by manufacturer, and then roughly organized by themes. I put no more than two sets per page, which made it really easy to eliminate or expand the inventory as I deleted or added stamps to my collection.

I had all my PTI sets inventoried in one binder, all my Hero Arts and loose wood-mounted stamps from all manufacturers in another, and all my MFP, A Muse, Memory Box, and Clear and Simple Stamps in another. Here's a page from that inventory.

Visually, it's pretty appealing and easy to look at, with plenty of white space. Problem was, these binders were getting really full of all that white space, and having three binders was awkward, although less so than using a 3" binder...those suckers are bulky!

So in the spring I decided to redo the whole inventory and gave myself wrist problems and golfer's elbow as a result.

For the new system, there were essentially two broad categories: sentiments and themes. The first section was just sentiments, stamped by set. The themes section combined all manufacturers' stamps for each theme (categories were basically the same as the plastic drawer categories).

Here are some standard pages from that inventory. As you can see, everything is jumbled...which makes it hard to look at. These pages were making me squirm with annoyance every time I looked at them.

The new inventory was about 80% finished before I abandoned it from excuciating pain and sheer boredom. It would have been more compact, though, fitting into a single binder.

Then, when I purged about a third of my stamps last month, the new, 80%-completed inventory was worse than useless. I look in it now, see a stamp and think to myself, "Did this get purged? Can't remember...."

What would I do now?

Well, as my elbow still isn't fully healed, I'm not going to create another inventory anytime soon. But if I were to do so, I would organize it by manufacturer again and use as much white space and as many binders as I needed. Why? Well, here's my reasoning:

1. My stamps are organized by category as much as possible. I can pull out a drawer or grab some CD cases by theme pretty easily. So a themed inventory seems redundant.

2. Unfortunately, I've lost the concept of a single manufacturer's stamps working together for the greater good. Other than the Papertrey, everything is wodged together. An inventory by manufacturer would be a nice complement to the collection.

The Special Case of Sentiments

Sentiments in sets drive me nuts. I've got far too many sets to keep straight which sentiments are where, and it's extraordinarily frustrating when I know I've got a sentiment to fit on a particular card but have to look through a bunch of drawers and CD cases to find it. I think having a few pages in an inventory dedicated to the most frequently used sentiments might be helpful, even if a stamper doesn't have a full inventory of images. I may actually do this one day when my elbow is fully healed.

Some Sentiment Categories
Birthday
Thank you
Get Well
Sympathy
Hello
Best Wishes
Friendship
Merry Christmas

The problem here is that you might have to label each sentiment so you know where it is in your stash.

And that's all I have to say about stamp organization and inventory.

For now.

Whew.

Feel free to ask more specific questions if you need. I'll try to answer them as best I can.