Wednesday, July 11, 2012

News on the OLW...and a Mess of My Own Making

First the news. Sadly, Jennifer Styles has to step down as a host of the OLW challenges. I am going to miss her enormously as her support and encouragement kept the OLW going when I was ready to give up on it. But she has a job that is taking her time away from stamping, and so I will post her last challenge here on Simplicity tomorrow (Thursday).

Second, I made a mess in my stamp area. Perhaps you can relate.


We'll be dealing with the rather appalling collage card in the center of the picture tomorrow, when I make it over into something that looks like I actually made it. (You can see even in this picture how crooked the vellum piece is on the card. Egads.)

But first of all notice the stained washcloth in the front center of the photo. That's freshly laundered and waiting to be put in a drawer where I keep my stamp-cleaning cloths.

I clean my inky stamps (as I work) with a dampened washcloth kept in a travel case for baby wipes (on the right of the photo). Behind that is my official Stamp Cleaning pad that I spritz with Ultra Clean (or whatever the stamp cleaner that PTI sells is called). That doesn't get used often because mostly the cheapo Target washcloths and water do a fine job.

Just don't close the travel case completely when a wet washcloth is in it. The sour smell makes me sick. If the case is left as it is in photo (the washcloth holds the lid up ever so slightly), the cloth will just slowly dry out over a couple of days with no unpleasant smell.

Before I embarked on the ill-fated collage card, I pulled out a gorgeous piece of printed vellum that I have owned--and I'm not kidding--for ten years. It's my last piece of this particular paper. How SAD! Every now and then, I pull it out just to look at it and decide it's too pretty to cut. Last year, I actually punched some butterflies out of it, and it hurt me to do so.

On this occasion, I decided I was being perfectly silly and resolved to use the pretty thing. So I made these, which you can see shoved to the left side in the picture of the mess.







I love the luminous quality of the yellowish, antiqued vellum on crisp white. Buried in the detritus of the picture are two L-shaped pieces of card stock that I used to find attractive sections of the vellum. Put the Ls at opposite corners to form a rectangle, and slide them around until you get something that looks interesting. It's a trick I picked up cropping photos back in my scrapping days.

Once the Ls were positioned, I used my quilting ruler to measure and then cut a slightly larger piece of the vellum so I could tape the extra to the underside of the window.

I cut the windows using my quilting ruler (in the forward left section of the photo) and a craft knife.

The paper is so appealing and contains words so that any stamping on the frames would just distract. I've now used up almost all the vellum and feel VERY happy that it's been put to good use.

What can you find in your stash that you've been unhealthily hoarding? Pull it out and use it!!!!!

It feels good!

25 comments:

  1. Oh, wow! These are STUNNING! LOVE that vellum--I understand your reluctance to use it! I used to have a problem with hoarding. I would buy pretty things to craft with and literally NEVER use them...because the occasion had to be PERFECT. It never is! I just use it all up as I go now. I have enough patterned paper to last through 1,000 years, I'm sure, and so I won't buy any unless I have a very specific and very important project for it. Also, THANK YOU for the fabulous tip about cleaning stamps--totally gonna do this instead of buying baby wipes! :)

    Sorry about your crooked card and I hope your Blogger issues have been resolved! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Susan,

    these cards are so wonderful. I hope for you, that sometimes will find velum again like the one you used.

    xxx
    Anja
    ooo

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gorgeous cards Susan, nothing like using some vintage paper. Sorry that Jennifer can't continue in her OLW role - it's a pain when work gets in the way of something you love (I know it funds what we love).

    By the way love the new photo of you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are really stunning. I have a couple pieces of vellum that are probably 7 years old. Just never sure how to use them.

    I haven't stamped for weeks. No motivation. Possibly today.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Totally stunning Susan, I think you've been hiding your beautiful layers under a bushell, if you get my meaning LOL Gay xxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. What gorgeous paper! I would have hoarded that, myself! Terrific way to use it in a beautiful manner.

    ReplyDelete
  7. WONDERFUL vellum cards! Love the vellum, and how you've matted and framed them. Very nice1 You've inspired me to get out some specialty papers I used earlier this year so that I can case your matting and framing. Thank you! :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. What lovely pieces of vellum! I can understand your wanting to "save them for good," something we do with a lot of stuff. Well, you certainly used it for good. These are spectacular. The differently cut frames really focus on the lovely paper, and not having a sentiment is perfect for these --- it would only detract. Love reading your thought processes! Thanks for the hint on keeping a wet washcloth in a baby wipes case. I've quit using stamp cleaner 95% of the time (except for Staz-on ink), and your idea is better than my wet sponge. Thanks for a great read today!

    ReplyDelete
  9. HA! Even your "messy" desk is simplified [compared to mine] :) Awesome looking card~

    ReplyDelete
  10. Have you been peeking into my stash and into my brain?? I have some beautiful vellum sheets I've been hoarding for about as long as yours with no idea of how to incorporate it into my crafting. Thanks for these beautiful cards....I have a great mind of how to use my paper now!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Those vellum cards are so lovely. It's easy to see why you kept the paper for so long. I have been afraid to use baby wipes for fear of ruining my stamps. Thanks for sharing that you use them and that you use water and old cloths, too.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Beautiful cards! Hmmm---- I guess since I shop more than I craft, I pretty much hoard everything. LOL!! But, one thing that comes to mind is the Stampin' Up paper I own. I had never bought any SU products other than a few stamp sets on eBay until a little over a year ago when I bought quite a bit of paper and the matching ink colors. So, I've had all this SU paper for over a year now and whenever I go to make a card, I pull from any of my other paper but never from the SU stuff. It's like I'm afraid to cut into it. I'm sure one of these days I'll enjoy using it---- probably after they change their color palette! LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gorgeous vellum! I never buy vellum because I can't figure out how to use it, but I love what you've done with it.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That vellum is gorgeous, Susan. Well worth keeping for 10 years. It was very brave of you to use it.

    I've just moved from using stamp cleaner and a damp sponge in a plastic container (with resultant swampy smell if I closed the lid) to stamp cleaner and baby wipes followed by a quick scrub on the scrub mat to dry off. The stamps, not me.

    ReplyDelete
  15. These are beautiful!!! thanks for challenging me to quit hoarding... I really have been trying to work on that...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Sorry to hear about Jennifer, but it is understandable. Looking forward to what you come up with tomorrow.

    I love your beautiful vellum window cards! I hoard vellum patterned paper, too. Part of it is not knowing what layout to use to show it off in the best way, and to let it be the star.

    Well, guess what, now I know what to do, thanks to you! Thank you!

    I've hoarded stuff for over ten years, too. I'm trying to make this year the start of Stop It. With your ideas, I nominate you as President of our support group!

    ReplyDelete
  17. These are so beautiful Susan!

    If I were you, I'd frame at least one of them so you've never really "lost" the last of that lovely paper.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Forgot to add that I often use a damp chamois (sometimes with cleaner sprayed on it) that I keep in a plastic bag to clean my stamps - when it gets really messy, just rinse it out and put it back damp. Never smells bad. Can't remember where I found this tip.

    I'll still use my scrubbers sometimes for stubborn ink in the deepest crevices, but it's usually the second step if necessary after the chamois. Sometimes the scrubber is still better for deeply etched detailed rubber, but the pads get so dirty so fast if I use them alone that it seems I'm always cleaning them out.

    ReplyDelete
  19. These cards are lovely they remind me of old nature photos with their warm yellow hue. I am currently working on a collage video tutorial and have videoed it twice and each time there was something wrong. The second time I was using fluorescent light and my hands ended up looking red and green-not very appealing; I think I will go and try again!

    ReplyDelete
  20. These are so beautiful!! Now you can hoard the cards, right? Well, you have made me want some pretty vellum now...and to clean up my table so that it is as neat as your 'messy' one. I will look for OLW a bit later, after cleaning and look through some hoarded goods. Thank you for your post - reading your words always makes me feel better.

    ReplyDelete
  21. What beautiful cards!! I love the vellum - I'd have hoarded it too! I hoard lovely cardstock and dp (even though I rarely use dp!). I really need to use it up.

    And thanks for showing the photo of your messy workspace - it makes me feel better to know that you can let your space get messy too!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Susan these are stunning, I love them!
    Yes... I too have a stash that has sat for a long time — papers that seem too beautiful to cut. I might have to try your technique since it worked so well :D

    ReplyDelete
  23. You call that a messy desk? Oh, puh-leeze! How dare you! That's closer to what I consider a cleaned up space for me. ;-) I can relate with the vellum. There's something about it that just makes me want to save it for extra special situations. As you mentioned, it's luminous and has a life of its own beyond any I may imbue it with. I bought a couple of pieces of similar vellum probably 18 years ago that is a mixture of olive-y greens and has a subtle nature theme (there are even leaves reminiscent of your skeleton leaf in your failed/crooked card). The first card I made from it was a sympathy card for a special relative and it was then that I decided that it would only be used in that capacity. My windows have gotten smaller as I use it up. I am disappointed that I didn't have the foresight to buy more of it, but vellum was "really" expensive compared to regular cardstock way back then when I was starting to papercraft. I don't consider it an unhealthy hoarding behavior for this particular vellum, but I do tend to hoard favorite cardstocks. I'm working on it and have been looking for a 12-step program that might help....

    ReplyDelete
  24. PS: I know I have an over-active imagination, but I just have to say that last card brings to mind my last mammogram -- tee hee. Yes, I always ask to see the images.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I know we have to use items we're hoarding and let them go out into the world, but this is SUCH lovely vellum, I'm feeling inspired to try to make my own modeled on what you've used. Beee-u-ti-ful!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking time to comment!