White Makes Bright Colors Pop!

Whew. All that colored cardstock on yesterday's post made me crave some white. Here's one of the many white-based cards I made after challenging myself (and wow what a challenge!) to use colored cardstock. It was like coming home. It feels so right. Ahhhhh.


How-To Tips: The best way to line up clear border stamps is to use a gridded acrylic block. After stamping all the borders, I realized I'd left a bit too much white on the bottom (it looked a tad unbalanced) so I trimmed about 5/8" off the bottom of a standard 5.5" x 4.25" card. Otherwise, this card is simplicity itself!

Design Thoughts: The awesome thing about white cardstock is that you can use spots of very bright color without making your eyes water. (Just try looking at a piece of yo-yo yellow cardstock by itself and you'll see what I mean.) Bright colors, used sparingly, pop right off of white cardstock.

Also, sprinkling bling is a fun way to liven-up a rather static design. I added three bits of each color of bling, trying to space them out randomly without leaving bare patches or creating unsightly clusters. The result is much more interesting and cheerful. I rounded the bottom corners because they asked me nicely.

Doesn't your cardstock talk to you? No? Well, you must not be talking to it. Open up a dialog, listen carefully, and great things will happen.

Yes, I live in my rubber room. Why do you ask?

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey
ink: Memento
paper: PTI
accessories: corner rounder, bling

Trying to Use Some Colored Cardstock

As part of my "you have too much colored cardstock to order more from SU's new colors" guilt-fest, I decided to make some cards with colored cardstock. The idea was to use up some of my stash so I can order more without guilt.

It didn't work. My effort made no noticeable difference in my stash and involved working WAY outside my comfort zone. All three cards I'm posting today are basically CASE'd from Ashley C. Newell's card on page 36 of Stamp It! (the Display until April 2010 issue). Her version is prettier than any of mine turned out, but then, she used prettier stamps and some yummy satin ribbon.

First up is Hero Arts in turquoise and kraft paper. It's amazing how wrong this feels to me. WHERE IS THE WHITE CARDSTOCK?!?!?! Sigh. I miss it.


Next up is Papertrey in celery and wasabi and kraft. I'm thrilled wasabi is now a permanent color in SU's revamped color families. I love it paired with, you guessed it, white. Heavy sigh.


Last up is another card with Hero Arts on apricot appeal and pumpkin pie and kraft. Of the three, this one is my favorite, even if I do think it would look way better on white cardstock. Those butterflies can do no wrong and begged, absolutely BEGGED, for bling. Who am I to refuse them?


So, I used some colored cardstock, and then immediately made about twenty one-layer cards with white cardstock to cleanse my palate. For those of you who have asked me to use more colored card bases, now you know why I don't do it more often.

LateBlossom likes white. Sometimes I get completely crazy and use ivory or kraft. But colored cardstock? It's like trying to speak a foreign language I never learned. Something gets lost in translation.

Check out Ashley's original in Stamp It! It's totally lovely. She speaks colored cardstock fluently.

Where Am I?

Do you ever have that feeling that you're headed in twenty different directions all at one time, wondering what your name is and how in the world you'll ever find out because there's JUST TOO MUCH OTHER STUFF TO THINK ABOUT? Add to that the fact your dog died, and you'll understand how I feel right now.

Weird, huh? I need to push the STOP button, rewind and regroup. Fortunately, for this blog, at least, I have a bazillion cards already photographed and ready to post. But as for getting organized enough to do the two tutorials I want to post, well...let's just say my directions at the moment would read something like instructions translated from Chinese to English by a ten-year-old whose native language is Swahili.

This, too, shall pass. I thank you for your patience in the meantime.

One cause for my distraction and confusion is all the new product doing a Chippendale strip-tease before my eyes. Papertrey's newest release (OH MY GOSH!), the new StampinUp catalog (which I am still drooling over daily and have yet to order from because I can't make up my mind about anything right now), all the Mark's Finest Papers goodness that is already in my possession just waiting to be played with. Memory Box, A Muse, and Clear and Simple Stamps joined those first three on stage as well. Life is too short to do them all.

Do them all. Egads, I'm such a stampin' slut!

Anyway, to calm myself during the sneak peeks from Papertrey, I pulled out stamps of the office supply/school/book themes that I already have and played. Today's cards are two of the results. Please note the use of paper clips. I want extra credit for using supplies that have languished in my collection for far too long.


I didn't like the sentiment on the first card when I made it...it seemed a bit too busy for me at the time. So I went simpler with the second, and changed the color scheme to something happy and upbeat and friendly. Plus, I used a big brad: extra-extra credit, don't you think?


In retrospect, I like them both and wonder why I ever felt that first sentiment was too busy. Whatever.

I hope y'all enjoyed the MFP blog hop as much as I did! I've had a few people say they really don't like sneak peeks and find it frustrating to see stamps used long before there's a chance to buy them. I'd love to hear more opinions on this issue. My plan for now is to wait until about ten days before the August release to post peeks of the August stamps. That way, it won't be too long a wait until you can purchase them. But what are your feelings on this?

Supplies
stamps: SU Office Accoutrement, Hero Arts sentiments
ink: Memento (except the SU real red)
paper: PTI
accessories: flower and heart punches, brad, paper clips, dimensionals

One-Layer Wednesday 12: Watercolor

This week's One-Layer Wednesday challenge is to use some form of watercolor on your card. You may use watercolor crayons, pencils, paints, or inks painted with watercolor, or water-based markers colored onto a stamp and spritzed with water.

My samples were made using Hero Arts Three Ferns stamp and a clear set of large sentiments, also from Hero Arts. The cards are Strathmore Watercolor cards that have languished in my hoard collection for many years. They are cut down a bit to 6.25" x 4.5" to fit the design.


The orange card is so cheerful, and the green card is so serene. Amazing how a change of color affects the mood of a card so dramatically!


I experimented with lots of color combinations.



How-To Tips: I colored the Three Ferns stamp with watercolor crayon using two shades (one light, one dark) of the same color. After laying a bunch of color onto the rubber, I spritzed the stamp with water and let it sit for about thirty seconds while the pigments dissolved. Then I stamped, spritzed, and stamped again on a second card. Often, you can push stamps prepared this way for a third impression, but I liked the more intense colors.

Rules for OLW12

1. A one-layer card is defined as a single piece of cardstock folded in half.

2. Use watercolor in some way to make the card. Embellishments must be kept to a minimum.

3. Remember to share your creations by posting your card online and then using the InLinkz button in the sidebar of Simplicity to link to it.

4. Most important of all...HAVE FUN!

Miss You Sailboat and Lustful Thoughts on Cardstock

Today's card came out of a desire to use every image stamp in Masculine Motifs before I buy another PTI set. The sailboat was the last image I used. (You'll see some of the other cards next week.) And yes, the waterline was made with deckled scissors...you know, those totally uncool and much maligned cheap scissors. Score one for old-school tools.


Design Thoughts: I wanted to challenge myself to make a card using dark cardstock, the reasons for which I will discuss below. This scrap of SU's night of navy works beautifully with the Memento London Fog ink, but it was a tad dark. So I wrapped the silver cord around to break up the dark space, popped the whole stamped piece on a white card that I cut down to give an even matte for the stamped panel; the panel is 3.25" x 3", the card is 4.5" x 4.25", giving a 5/8" matte all around. The boat is moving away from the miss you sentiment to reinforce the idea of someone having sailed away.

Not sure why I knotted the cord under the sailboat. I actually think the knot would look better under the sentiment. But I still like this card a lot and am pretty proud of myself for using that scrap of really dark cardstock.

Lustful Thoughts about Cardstock: I have tons of the stuff. Most of SU's old colors that I bought in the 24-sheet packs. A huge selection of 12" x 12" cardstock for scrapbooking. A couple packs of PTI's colored cardstock assortment. A two-inch thick pile of various cardstock from Mark's Finest Papers.

But mostly, I use PTI's neutrals, mainly white, because my style doesn't gravitate toward colored card bases. It's going to take me FOREVER to use all that colored cardstock if today's card is any measure of my happiness with using it.

Colored cardstock does, however, come in handly as backdrops for photos.

So why do I want to buy six of the new colors from SU? Ink and paper. My life will be incomplete without them!

I only want maybe five sheets of each, not an entire pack. My demo will likely sell them to me by the sheet because she totally rocks. But really, I don't need more colors of ink or cardstock. I am amply blessed with a huge collection of both.

Sigh. Common sense tells me one thing. My paper lust tells me another. Which will win?

Only time will tell.

Coming Up Tomorrow: The first day of Mark's Finest Papers Blog Hop! Yeah! My first blog hop! I can't wait to show you the fun stuff I did with this month's release sets. They will be available TOMORROW for purchase PLUS if you participate in the hop, you could win a FREE SET from next month's release (which I have seen and it's fantastic)! How totally cool is that?!?!

Happy day, everyone. Make it a great Monday. The Spirit of Furry Golden Sunshine commands it, so who am I to argue?

Label Maintenance

FYI...

I'm updating and reorganizing the labels for posts to make it easier to find things. This will take a few days (494 posts...ohmygosh!), so please be patient. Hopefully, the new system is more consistent and will be easier to use.

Signature Blessings

Just a quick card I made for ALL OF YOU who have been so nice this past week with your comments, cyber-hugs, and emails. Special thanks to Susan F. who sent me a really sweet sympathy card that arrived today.



Design Thoughts: Well, I didn't think much on this one, actually. These two sets work so beautifully together. Placement of the half-pearls was trickiest. I wanted them to be balanced and harmonious to fit the theme of the card, so they are spaced pretty evenly with a bit of white space around each one. There are five because three looked lonely and an odd number usually looks better than an even number. I love these shades of blue and green together. They are so peaceful. Not sure why I rounded the two corners except that four pointy corners looked odd.

How-To Tips: The easiest way to place pearls is with a craft knife. I cut the glue strip holding the pearl down, then lift the pearl with the tip of the knife and place it where I want it.

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I picked up Hoover's remains today (we had him cremated like his big sister Shemya, but I simply refuse to use the term "cremains" which just sounds wrong to me). It was so hard! The boys were with me, and Jack just couldn't understand where Hoover was, even though I explained several times what happened to his body. When he saw the box we bought to hold the remains, he said, "That's too small for Hoover!" He just can't understand yet.

Nick did understand and was very helpful picking out a box and answering the very chatty lady's questions with lovely poise. If I'd had to answer her, I would have completely fallen apart and blubbered. He even joked as we pulled away from the pet cemetery that he'd be taking Hoover with him to college...his fur will be with us for a very long time.

I think a huge part of grieving for a pet is how everything you see in your house or do reminds you that the pet is gone. Hoover always "prewashed" the dishes as I loaded the dishwasher. Now I load alone. He always licked our ice cream bowls. Now the ice cream goes to waste. He slept by the side of our bed, so we'd have to step over him in the middle of the night. Now we step over him and then remember he isn't there.

Oh, how we miss him.

Supplies
stamps: PTI Turning a New Leaf and Signature Greetings
ink: Versacolor bamboo and atlantic
paper: PTI (of course)
accessories: half-pearls, corner rounder
size: 4.25" square