Color

My recent Papertrey order included Think Big #7 because, really, can you have too many big sentiments? Of course not, especially when they are just $5. I needed a few get well/thinking of you cards, so I pulled out a floral silhouette stamp from Clear and Simple Stamps and played with color.

First up: Monochromatic

The soft purple here is so soothing and calm. This would be a great card for someone who's going through a really stressful time, especially if there's no quick fix for it, don't you think?


Next: Happy Colors

This card, in contrast, has a lot of energy in the colors. Bahama Blue and Pear Tart are perk-me-up colors, and seem to imply that the illness is short-term and easily overcome.
I once received a sympathy card, handmade by a friend, that really should have been a birthday card. It's cheerful, perky colors shocked me in my grief and felt inappropriate. The friend's expression of sympathy in person was very appropriate, but I still remember that card.

Do colors affect you emotionally, beyond just a personal preference? Do you think about the effect of color and how it relates to the message of your cards, or is that too obsessive-compulsive for you?

Supplies
stamps: CSS, Papertrey
ink: Memento
paper: PTI
accessories: Corner Chomper

Vertical Sketch by Jessica Witty

FINALLY, I had a chance to try some of the sketches in the magazine Papercrafts Card Ideas for Paper Crafters. The one by Jessica Witty on page 134 caught my eye, and I made a simple, one-layer card intended for a friend who is battling cancer.

The rainbow was created with a long-neglected shadow stamp from Hero Arts (discontinued), and the sentiment is from Papertrey's Beautiful Blessings. Inside, I stamped the verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." (BTW, the orange isn't quite so bright in real life; it's Memento Canteloupe...darn Picasa!)

I love the image of the rainbow as an image of hope and God's faithfulness. What images do you enjoy using on cards for people battling illness? Do you stick with flowers or trees, or do you make the cards with images that the recipient will find funny, cute, serene...depending on the situation?

I Sponged!

My father-in-law spent last weekend in the hospital. Everything is looking far less scary right now, but this is the get well card I sent him yesterday.

Yes, I sponged.

The resist technique is lovely, plus it's relatively easy to make a masculine card with it.

How-To Tips: The stamped panel (white cardstock) was cut to size first. Then, I stamped the sentiment in Memento rich cocoa, followed by the ferns randomly around it with VersaMark ink, which was then embossed with clear embossing powder. Sponging was done with a variety of green inks (SU celery and olive and true thyme...yeah, I've still got that old pad lying around!) using both a swirl and a blot motion with the sponge. I wanted a smoothish background with hints of textured speckle, and it turned out just as I wanted it to! Finally, there's a bit of Memento rich cocoa added to the edges with the sponge for just a bit more definition.

What do you think? CAS sponging. It can be done!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts
ink: SU celery, olive, thyme; Memento rich cocoa; VersaMark
paper: white, SU river rock
accessories: sponge, dimensionals, embossing powder, heat gun

Light Blue and Cantaloupe Make an Awesome Pair

Yes, pair. Most assuredly NOT pear.

*wink*

We're continuing the idea of solid block flowers with this Hero Arts sentiment which, by the way, is an old, wood-mounted stamp that was discontinued long ago. Sorry about that.

These flowers are also from Papertrey's Beautiful Blooms. See, Sue. You really do need this set.

The flowers are arranged in a visual triangle, very much on purpose. The triangle keeps the focus on the sentiment while adding balance and unity to the design. The sentiment is stamped in SU Pumpkin Pie (oh how I love that color!), the flowers in Memento Baby Blue, and their centers in Memento Cantaloupe. In retrospect, I wish I'd layered the white panel in a thin mat of Pumpkin Pie, but when retrospect occurs after adhering the panel, it must stay in retrospect.

All aspects of retrospect leave the prospects looking suspect.

That makes no sense, but it was fun to type.

Tomorrow we're back to Christmas. That Hero Arts clear set I got last week totally captured my attention. LOVE it!

A Favorite CAS Layout

Posting a tad early tonight seeing as we've got a nasty huge thunderstorm bearing down on us. Yikes!

This is one of my favorite clean and simple layouts. You see this particular layout a lot in magazines with layers where I put the border stamp, mats under the stamped panel, ribbon and other embellishments, and colored card bases. But stripped down to its basics, the layout is still super lovely!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Floral Frenzy, Retro borders
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey Ink white
accessories: rhinestones, dimensionals, Corner Chomper

Variations on a Set: Paper Tray

Papertrey's "Paper Tray" set (very weird name, don't you think?) got a thorough workout from me last month, but I forgot to post this picture, which spotlights my new favorite color combo: more mustard and baja breeze.

Really, I would never in a gazillion years put these two colors together. The idea came from somewhere and now cannot remember where. So thank you, nameless inspirational person. These colors ROCK!

Mindless chatter: This week is insane with end-of-year school activities for my two boys. I'm going to Muffins with Mom, Jack's regular class picnic, Jack's autism class's party, Thursday PM and Friday AM working the book fair, and (maybe) the 5th grade family dance. When the volunteer sheet for field day (next week) came home, I told Nick, "I'm not working Field Day this year. No WAY!" He started off disappointed and whined, "Why not?!?!" Then he remembered and said, with a very matter-of-fact tone, "Oh, yeah, you're not exactly athletic, are you, Mom?" Gee, son, thanks for noticing.

I thought next week would be easier, but the first thing just went on the schedule, and I suspect much more will follow, including a trip north to a veterinary orthopedic surgeon to look at Daisy's knees and a sleep study for me. Calgon, take me away!

Thank you for listening to my whine. Now, here are the supplies for the above card, as if you really needed to be told again.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey's Paper Tray
ink: baja breeze, more mustard
paper: PTI
accessories: Corner Chomper

Recovery

StampinUp's Thoughts and Prayers is such a pretty set...and enormously useful to us cardmakers. Get well soon just seems so bossy and boring sometimes, especially for people who have prolonged illnesses, multiple procedures, etc. This set has this wonderful sentiment to add some variety to the whole get well greeting.

I started with the embossed lines to make a ground for the tree, which is stamped in Memento's Pear Tart (yummy!) and using a stamp positioner. Pearls complete the soft yet still cheery card.

Sadly, I have nothing pithy or witty or amusing to say about this card. I just really like it.

Remember to keep an eye out for the OLW42 on Jennifer's Blog. I can't wait to find out what fun she's cooked up for us this week!

My younger son's room is the most pathetic in the house, and I'm determined to fix that this week with fresh paint, new bedding, new curtains, and some art. I spent a big chunk of Tuesday shopping for a new bedspread. Who knew it would be so hard to find boy bedding that wasn't too juvenile, too dark, or too sophisticated? Seriously, this is a huge gap in the bed linen world! I finally settled for a set from Target. It's colorful. It has lots of blue. And he loved it, squealing with delight and blissfully shouting, "Thank you soooo much, Mommy!" Awesome.

Going Grid Again

If you've been reading Simplicity for a while, you know I love grids. As in irrational, uncontrollable, passionate love. They are just so...tidy.

First up, a blue get well card.

I stamped two of each image (from Hero Arts), punched out 1" squares, and popped the swirls. Arranging these is easier if you use a quilting ruler for spacing. Put them all on the card where they belong, then carefully attach each one (glued first, then popped). The card is 4.25".

And now for the exact same idea but with a totally different, fun, and citrus feel:

This one was made with a variety of stamps from Hero and Papertrey. After I'd made the squares, I thought they would make a fun, gender-neutral baby card. I found out last week that a girlfriend with four children is having a fifth in March. This card is for her baby, whatever he/she may be.

Isn't it annoying when people won't find out the sex of their babies? Oh, they have the right to make whatever choice they want, and I truly understand why people make that choice. But dang, it's annoying.

Anyway, back to the card. I didn't pop any of these because there's quite enough going on without popping.

Oh, joy! I'm feeling so tidy!

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts, Papertrey
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: dimensionals, quilting ruler (to help with placement)

A few months ago...

I made these cards while trying to use all the stamps in PTI's Fruitful set. It's a very fun set to work with (except the pears, which you can read about HERE).

This strawberry card would be better if I had just stamped the big strawberry on the card rather than cut it out and glue it. But I cut it out, by golly, and it was getting USED. This would make a great card to mass-produce for gift sets, don't you think? It's a pain cutting out that little strawberry, though, so maybe not, if you're lazy like I am.



An apple a day keeps the doctor away. And aren't you impressed with my rockin' and rollin'? Sometimes that technique just doesn't work for me, but this time, well, it ROCKS.



This may be the first time I've used a scalloped shape for my favorite white-on-white layering. Can't remember. But it's so pretty and screamed for a few embossed lines and a bit of bling.

Thanks for visiting!

CAS26 Stitching

I got so excited last night when I checked on CAS26 and discovered it was stitching but had NO IDEA what I would do except use my Paper Salon stitch stamp set. I perused my stamp index notebook to see what popped out at me and stumbled across Quilter's Sampler by PTI and had an AHA! moment. Here's the result.



It's wonderfully straightforward. I used the wavy double line to hint at a nice, healthy, steady heart beat on a monitor. The button is there 'cause it's pretty. The sentiment was stamped twice and masked for the two colors, but really, I could have colored with both colors and stamped once because I used dew drop pads, which are so easy to control.

Thanks, Jen, for a great challenge. I'm totally not done with it yet....

Supplies
stamps: Paper Salon, PTI
paper: PTI
ink: chalk
accessories: button, ribbon, glue dots

Evolution of Art

A few weeks ago, I was messing around with PTI's retro borders. My success in using these lines for musical notes had me giddy, so I thought why not use it to make a grid...didn't Nichole Heady do something like that? Delusions of grandure afflict me periodically with the misguided notion I know what I'm doing.

Anyway, I had a scrap of white cs (smaller than the one here), stamped a line, turned the scrap, stamped another line, then turned it again and saw...drum roll, please...a cross. The grid idea slipped away as I obsessed on how to make an inspirational card for my dear friend Liz, who recently had surgery.

I hit many evolutionary dead ends with this idea. The sentiment was too close to the cross, too far away, too big, too small, stamped imperfectly...you get the picture. With clean and simple cards, there are so few elements that each one must absolutely be perfect or the imperfection is all you see. There is NO PLACE TO HIDE!

About ten cardstock pieces ended up in the recycle bin before I had this beauty. My evening prayers were extra long asking for forgiveness for all the swearing I did while making it.

Lately, in my gallery at SCS, people have left comments about how "easy" I make clean-and-simple look. EASY?!!?? Nuh-uh. Like many other stampers, I love a challenge and am both bull-dog determined and stubbornly obsessive. For some reason that doesn't bear close examination, I HAVE FUN doing this, even when I'm swearing like a sailor in frustration.

Artistic evolution is not easy, but in the end, it's worth it.

Right?

Supplies
stamps: SU Refuge and Strength, PTI Retro Borders
cardstock: PTI white
ink: Palette noir
accessories: dimensionals

More Papertrey Tea for Two Cards and a Mailing Tip

I made the card above for my friend Liz, who was recovering from surgery. I sent her a care package of earl grey tea and chocolates along with the card. The sentiment seemed particularly appropriate!

I rounded the corners of the stamped panel and matte slightly using scallop-edge scissors. These give a slight curve that looks nice but isn't quite as pronounced as a regular corner rounder.

Simplicity Tip: Some simple stampers refuse to make lumpy-bumpy cards because of the problems with mailing them...risk of damage or expense of bubble envelopes or extra postage. I tend to make easy-to-mail cards most of the time, but I do enjoy going three dimensional, too. And let's face it, PTI's vintage buttons are FABULOUS! So I send lumpy-bumpy cards to people in packages (as with this one) or hand-deliver them, and use flatter cards for mailing. Best of both worlds.

This card is fine for mailing, although I will put a bit of packaging tape on the envelope over the gemstones. I keep a bunch of 17-cent stamps on hand for slightly lumpy cards.

Supplies for kraft card
stamps: PTI Tea for Two
cardstock: PTI kraft, SU cameo coral, vanilla
ink: versamagic pink grapefruit, bark
accessories: dimensionals, buttons (PTI), craft floss

Supplies for teal and white card
stamps: PTI Tea for Two, Spiral Bouquet (flourish for steam), Polka Dot Basics; Hero Arts Tea clear set (sentiment)
cardstock: PTI white. ink: versamagic turquoise gem, aquatic splash. accessories: gemstones, dimensionals, corner rounder, ribbon

Thoughts and Prayers in Teal and Eggplant

I tried putting this stamped panel on an eggplant card base, and it really looked depressing. It looks much more cheerful (but not too perky) on a white base. The ribbon and butterfly and sentiment are eggplant. I love those teal gemstone flowers and how they fit right over the flowers on the branch, leading the eye to the butterfly.

This set is so easy to work with and so well designed for CAS cards. Bravo, SU!

Supplies
stamps: Thoughts and Prayers
cardstock: PTI white, SU taken with teal, elegant eggplant
ink: taken with teal, elegant eggplant
accessories: MS butterfly punch, gemstones, ribbon, dimensionals

Tea Leaves

I love tea pots, so I had to get PTI's Tea for Two set when it came out. Here are a couple of my first cards with this set. I noticed the leaves on the one tea pot match the leaves in the Beautiful Blooms set, so I used it to accent the pot.



The first card uses a rock-and-roll technique. I inked the whole image with lime versamagic ink, then rolled fresh green on the edges. The sentiment uses a combination of fresh green and bark, and the leafy background in the corner opposite the sentiment is fresh green.



The second card uses just lime ink and bark for the sentiment. No rock and roll here. I stamped the leaves twice at a diagonal to create some movement, and put the sentiment for this one on the same panel as the tea pot.

I like them both equally but would love to hear if you have a favorite between the two...and why.

Supplies
stamps: PTI Tea for Two, Beautiful Blooms
cardstock: PTI white
ink: versamagic lime, fresh green, bark
accessories: dimensionals

Another CAS21 Card

Here's another card for CAS21, Make It Sparkle. I love punching white shapes and putting them on white. It's subtle and sometimes hard to photograph, though. Here, I paired the white on white with SU's taken with teal and some sparkly teal brads. I pressure embossed lines to frame the flowers, but they are hard to see in the photo.

This card is soothing yet cheerful, so I added a "get well" sentiment.

Happy Independence Day, America!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Tea for Two
cardstock: PTI white, SU taken with teal
ink: taken with teal
accessories: flower punch, brads, scorpal

CAS17 Inspiration Challenge

What a GREAT challenge! Inspired by Lands End beach towels and totes.

Here's my first card, based on this towel. I'd love to chatter about it, but it's really quite simple. And I LOVE IT!!!!

Inside, it says, "I'm here for you" from PTI's Floral Frenzy set. Let's shout out how wonderful the sentiments in that set are. Yeah!

And here is an orange card, inspired by the polka dot towel. Because orange is a happy color, and I'm feelin' much more orange than blue.

The positive and negative dot stamps are from Hero Arts. I punched them out with a 3/4-inch square punch.

A girl can never have too many thank you cards on hand, don't you think?

Thanks for looking, and, as always, comments are very much appreciated!

Don't forget to comment on THIS POST before tomorrow night at 11:48 Eastern DST for a chance to win a little blog candy. One comment per person, please.

Happy Monday!

Wishing You Well with an Orange Tree

This card uses one of my favorite stamps...the swish from a Hero Arts clear set called Friendship Messages. This swish makes a great "ground" for all sorts of other stamps. Here, I used it for an orange tree and get well message. The simple layout gets its punch from the bright green galore color and the orange bling.

Simplicity Tip: Instead of coloring all the leaves one color, I colored the half of the leaves on the tree with a green galore marker and the other half with a gable green marker, with pretty random placement and no shading. Not sure if my picture conveys the added interest and depth this gives, but IRL it makes a huge difference.

Supplies:
Cardstock: PTI white, SU green galore
Ink: Palette chocolate, and SU green galore, gable green
Stamps: Hero Arts
Accessories: light orange rhinestones (Hero Arts), dark orange rhinestones (bougth at Michael's), SU dimensionals

More CAS14 Cards

Here are a few more cards for the CAS14 Rock and Roll Challenge. It's a fun one, so I encourage you to check it out!





This card is a bit different for me, but it turned out really nice, mainly because of that scruptious gemstone brad. I adore those things, and with a little scrap of ribbon tucked into it, it's such a simple way to dress up a card. (Sorry for the strange angle of the card...definitely not done on purpose!)



This card is quite different (at least in stamp style) from what I normally make, even though it's a one-layer card. When I first started stamping seven years ago, I loved natural-looking images. Now, I lean more toward stylized or geometric images (like Papertrey's), so this was a trip back in time for me. I love how it turned out and may start using some more of these older stamps in a CAS way.



Isn't this a cheery card? Summer sun is a powerful, eye-watering color if used in large doses, but with a lot of white around it, it's just so happy! The bling makes this card, I think.

So which one of these three cards is your favorite? Inquiring minds want to know.

Supplies: I'm lazy today. If you really want to know more, check out my gallery at SCS. Thanks!