Fourth of July

After being married to the Air Force for twenty years, I have quite a fondness for emotional patriotic displays of the red, white, and blue. It's been many years since I spent much time around 5:00 pm on a military base, but recently, I was leaving the hospital at Wright Patterson AFB after an appointment for my son. We had just climbed in the car when the loudspeakers started broadcasting the National Anthem. Seeing all the uniformed people on the sidewalks stop, turn to the nearest flag, and salute brought a tear to my eye. I rolled down the windows of the car and had my son cover his heart while we sat respectfully with all the others in their cars across the whole base.

When we lived on Wurtsmith AFB in the early 1990s, this happened to me all the time.

And every time, it makes me proud to be an American.

We're coming up on July 4th, that fateful anniversary of the founding of our nation, and I wanted to make a couple of cards to celebrate the date.

I made this card using the Headline Numbers set from StampinUp, the th from another SU alphabet, and the July from the Hero Arts clear set called July. The little row of four rhinestones completes the visual triangle of blue and reinforces the giant red number.

The stamp here is from the Hero Arts July set and is all one stamp. I masked each part and stamped the colors separately.  Here, I used just three rhinestones to echo the three stars.

Last year, I read a book called Signing Their Lives Away, a fascinating and casually readable book written my friends of my sister. Each chapter dishes up the sometimes sordid, controversial, or tragic story of a signer of the Declaration of Independence (which wasn't signed by anyone but John Hancock and Charles Thomson on July 4th). I highly recommend it if you're looking for some riveting and decidedly unstodgy history on our founding fathers. I plan on reading it again with my elder son this year!

One-Layer Wednesday 56: Father's Day

Before we start the OLW discussion, I just want to thank you for your fun comments on yesterday's post. I was howling at the "horny" misunderstanding and especially at Lu C's comment. OMGosh, the pear jokes never get old, do they? *giggle*

Okay, back to business!

This week's OLW challenge is to make a card for a special father in your life...your own, your children's, or a father figure who is special to you.

This card will go to my uncle Darius. He and my grandfather walked me down the aisle at my wedding. Darius taught me how to turn a cartwheel, do a penny drop on uneven parallel bars, and swim. He also grills a mean steak. He's been a godly, strong, stable, solid influence in my life, and he taught me how to climb trees, so Papertrey's tree from Father Knows Best seemed perfect for his card.

How-To Tips: This card is deceptively complex. First, I used the square frame from Papertrey's Framed, but altered it by expanding the opening for the sentiment using a ruler and post-it note. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. Then, I stamped the tree in Memento Bamboo and Rich Cocoa on PTI's natural cardstock. The tree looked, well, boring, so I used colored pencils (Prisma olive and sepia) and a clear blender pencil to add shading and interest. LOVE this easy technique for enlivening simple block images, and if you'd like, I'll do a tutorial on it.

OLW Rules

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

2. Make a Father's Day card (for a father or special father-figure in your life). Remember to 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!!!!!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Father Knows Best, Framed; Hero Arts sentiment
ink: Memento
paper: PTI natural
accessories: post-it, ruler, prisma pencils, clear blender pencil

Inspired Goodness...and a Way to Use Ribbon Scraps!

Today's post contains four cards of my own making and one card--the one that inspired my four--from Card Creations magazine. Like I've said before, this issue of Card Creations is stellar, superb, out of this world! *squeal*

I can't contain my glee. Especially when such super-cool ideas as the one Vera Yates shares in this card send me into spasms of creativity.

You see, just the day before I saw Vera's card, I looked at my very full jar of ribbon scraps and thought, "Huh. You need to do something with those."

Then Vera's card then led me to do this:

HELLO!!!!

I used my Fiskar's Shapecutter system to cut the heart and Scor-Tape to adhere the ribbon to the card base. The stamp is from October Afternoon. The only two tips I have are 1) make sure your ribbons don't extend beyond the popped-up mat and 2) put plenty of dimensional tape around the opening in the mat so it doesn't sag. Also, if you want to do the faux stitching or tie a ribbon around the mat, do these things BEFORE adhering the mat to your card with dimensionals.

Just sayin'.

Since I had the Fiskar's out, I tried a couple more shapes. This leaf has a lovely curve that allows the sentiment to nestle in so nicely, don't you think? The sentiment is from Papertrey's First Fruits.

And what comes after Thanksgiving? Christmas, of course! I did Vera's faux stitching on this card and really like the effect with this much larger image, which required a 5" x 7" card. It looks sort of country-ish and warm because of the stitching.

Finally, I decided to try a punched shape, but found the restrictions of punches (that you can't punch anywhere on the paper...just on the edges) a bit frustrating. This 4.25" square card uses a big flower punch from StampinUp and button from Papertrey.

If you're looking at a huge pile of ribbon scraps, give this a try! Obviously, if you have a die cut machine and some interesting dies, you'll have more options than I have. If you have a Fiskars, you can certainly have fun. Punches are a bit harder just because of the narrow margins, but they still work.

But please, if you have a pear die, don't go there. Just don't. *wink*

What's with the Top Fold?

Someone asked why I make portrait-oriented cards with folds on the top rather than the side. Honestly, I hadn't really thought about it. No good reason, I guess, except that I find it easier to photograph them that way and they seem to stand up better for display.

Here's a portrait-oriented card with a top fold. See how nicely it stands for its picture?

Now, here's a landscape-oriented picture with a top fold. It also stands nicely.

As far as I know, there are no rules about folds. I certainly don't judge folds. In fact, you can fold any way you want and as long as you're not hurting anyone, it's okay in my book.

Orientation, on the other hand, does have certain design rules, but those pertain to balance and harmonious composition for each individual card. Neither orientation is right or wrong in and of itself; orientation is a case-by-case issue, as these two cards show.

And by the way, I don't judge orientation, either.

Supplies
stamps: Shady Tree Studio Eastertide (a gift from STS's owner Nancy)
ink: Palette noir
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: colored pencils, dimensionals, scallop scissors

Happy Valentine's Day Followed by Lunatic Ravings

For those of you reading this in email (which is now over a thousand of you...I'm still not able to process that number), you'll get it on Monday. So Happy Valentine's Day! For those reading it on Sunday, Happy Day-Before-Valentine's Day!

I love you all no matter what day it is. You know that, don't you?

Anyway, here's a very traditional red Valentine, with velvet ribbon no less. Now that I see it on the screen, I'm wishing I'd put a red rhinestone on top of the cage, even though in real life when I contemplated that, it seemed egregious. Oh well. I still love the velvety, romantic feel of this.

Although I do have to ask...why is it that two birds in a cage symbolize love? Love is a prison? Is this just a prettier version of ball-and-chain?


I'm not going to think about that too much.

Warning: If you want to read the following lunatic ravings that definitely result from thinking WAYYYYY too much and four days of non-stop cold medicine, please read on. If not, have a lovely Monday. I understand. Really. I do.

I've been contemplating the fact that there are so many wonderful options for stamping style for a long time. Despite the fact I am all about extreme CAS, I adore that there are so many fabulous options for stampers when it comes to style, and I enjoy perusing the different styles in magazines, at Splitcoast, and on blogs.

But there are times when it all becomes overwhelming. That's why, about five years ago, I decided to limit myself to two stamp companies: Hero Arts and StampinUp, mainly because they both had large catalogs and warned you when they were discontinuing product. I was still trying to define my style, and it felt easier to limit my choices. It was easier, and I have no regrets about that choice.

Since then, I've gradually added stamp companies, such as Papertrey, Mark's Finest, Shady Tree Studio, and Clear and Simple Stamps. I feel like I now know who I am as a stamper, and branching out feels right. I like experimenting, trying new things (even if sometimes some of you don't think those new things look like LateBlossom, LOL!). Trying new stuff and playing are integral to artistic growth...how stale and boring it would be to get in a rut and do the exact same thing over and over again!

Papertrey's anniversary festivities have left me feeling overwhelmed, though. I find myself scanning Nicole's blog posts rather than reading every word as I used to. At first, I thought it was the huge and diverse product line that PTI has developed, especially in the last year. There are so many designers that I can't keep track of who is who anymore. Many of the products they've introduced are products I simply can't use: the dies, for instance, and all the products that go with them such as felt. I participated in a PTI button share run by the fabulous Krystie Lee a few years back, and found that buttons are not exactly my thing. I love the look, but they're just too bulky to be practical.

And I'm nothing if not practical.

As I thought more about this, however, I realized that I also skim the Hero Arts blog now, though I still carry the catalog around like a blankey, seeking comfort and inspiration in its pages. And then it hit me...my brain needs repetition to feel comfortable. When a million things come at it all at once, there's no time to process everything. It's totally visual sensory overload on the internet. I can peruse a catalog at my leisure, over and over again. That's hard to do when the internet is overloading you images and new product scrolling down the screen as fast as you can finger the roller on your mouse, and each new click brings an avalanche of new stuff for you to look at.

A few days ago, I had over 300 unread blog posts in my Google Reader. I'm not keeping up with the contests at PTI because there are just too many of them, too many details, too much information. I would LOVE to win free PTI stuff. I could keep what I wanted and give the rest away on Simplicity to you wonderful readers who could use it. How fun would that be?!?!?!

I cleaned out my Reader, which now shows just two unread posts...one by Nancy at Shady Tree that I want to respond to and kept unread while I process what she has to say. My apologies to any bloggers whose stuff I missed in the rush to unload and clean out. I'm so happy when I can keep on top of things and comment when I can. Heck, I still haven't commented on all the OLW39 cards, and they were AMAZING!

I guess what I'm trying to say, in a convoluted and cold-medicated way, is that we are beyond blessed to have so many wonderful choices in our hobby. We just each have to find our own way of coping with the choices.

And it's all good. It really is all good.  

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Ink Love Birds
ink: Memento black, SU real red
paper: PTI white
accessories: velvet ribbon, rhinestones

A Week of Gratitude: Day 1

Six years ago, my pastor preached a sermon about how sad it is that Thanksgiving gets lost between the commercialism of Halloween and Christmas. That year, I noticed that Target had six aisles dedicated to Halloween. The Halloween aisles switched straight to Christmas. In fact, the only display specific to Thanksgiving was one end-cap, although there was one side of one aisle with dried fall arrangements and a row of hand-towels on another end-cap in Home Decor.

The pastor suggested several ways we reclaim Thanksgiving from the mad rush of Halloween and Christmas. My favorite won't surprise you at all. He proposed that we take special time each year to send Thanksgiving cards or letters to those who have touched our lives in some way.

Oh, yeah! I have been ALL OVER that one ever since. Each year, I send about twenty cards to random people from my address book, letting them know that I'm thankful they are (or have been) a special part of my life.

Mary Dawn and I had so much fun with Kraft Week a while back that we decided to do something else later. Later is here, and it's a Week of Gratitude! We're going to showcase cards expressing gratitude to various people. We'll have two prizes for random drawings from comments on both blogs, so the more posts you comment on, the more chances you have to win! The prizes are

1. An issue of Papercrafts Card Style (oh, how I love this special-issue magazine!) and two shadow inks.

2. A $25 gift certificate to Shady Tree Studio.

We're also challenging you to join in. We'll be adding an InLinkz button later this week for everyone who wants to take up the challenge to reclaim Thanksgiving for themselves.

For my first card, I chose to go vintage with a shabby chic card. I KNOW!?!?! Where did THAT come from?!?!?!

 But I was thinking about my friend Deena, who was my best friend when we lived in Boise, Idaho. Deena and I shared all our secrets and supported one another each and every day. We worked side by side for three years, and then I moved to Rapid City.

And that was it. I tried to keep things going via email, but Deena felt like she had to write whole letters and just never found the time. We sent each other Christmas and birthday presents, just little things to let each other know we were thinking of each other. Then, she started sending the gifts late. Then, my last birthday and Christmas, she sent nothing at all, nor did she acknowledge my Christmas package.

Through another mutual friend, I know that she is fine and busy and doing well, but she has gone the way of so many civilian friends. You see, military folks are so transient, we learn to make friends very, very quickly. Our military friends understand the effort needed to stay connected over distance and DO SO, largely because we know that eventually, we will probably be reconnected at another base. There's hope of reunion, and that keeps the friendship close.

Civilians, on the other hand, lose hope, and friendships fade. To use a military metaphor, you fall off their radar scope, and their lives are too busy to put forth the effort of extending their scope's range to maintain long-distance friendship. They've got enough on their scope to keep them busy closer to home.

I used to be hurt and a bit bitter about this fact of life, but after it happened for the umpteenth time, I realized not to take it personally. FaceBook has helped to reconnect with these lost friends a bit, too. But Deena isn't on FaceBook. So I decided I'd send her a card this year.

It's vintage style popped into my brain when I was looking through Take Ten and seeing all the cards with text backgrounds. I thought the shabby style would reflect the friendship itself, a bit worn around the edges, a forgotten corner in the garden of life but still beautiful and precious nevertheless. The color scheme is soft pink and brown, a bit faded and washed out. But still pretty.

How-To Tips: First, I masked the vintage cream card base, and stamped Text Style on a long rectangle in Soft Wheat ink. Then I sponged some Pixie Pink VersaMagic to give the rectangle a bit more definition. After removing the mask, I stamped the large branch from Turning a New Leaf in Pixie Pink and the sentiment (from a fall PTI set from last year...can't remember the name) in VersaMagic Sahara Sand, a lovely light brown. The flowers were punched from a piece of stamped and distressed vintage cream (the paper was wadded up and flattened repeatedly, and sponged with Pixie). The centers of the flowers were punched from a piece of kraft that I repeatedly ran through a paper crimper (haven't used that in FOREVER!), poked holes into, and tied twine like a button. This keeps the card flat for mailing but adds some lovely softness and texture to it.

I hope you like this because OH MY GOSH, I do. It's wonderful when the style of a card reflects the message so perfectly and in such a personal and specific way for the recipient. I make hundreds of cards for other people every year...cards used by soldiers whom I don't know and will never meet and sent to people who are precious to them but unknown to me.

It's wonderful to make a card for someone I know and love. That's what makes handmade extra special, don't you think?

If you haven't done so already, check out Mary Dawn's blog My Pink Mexico for her kick-off to A Week of Gratitude!

A Few Autumn Cards

Must. Take. Break. From. Christmas.

Ahhhh. Pumpkin. Rust. Chocolate. Mustard. I'd forgotten what you looked like.



Simplicity Tip: When you are overlapping a cardstock border with ribbon as I did above, DO NOT put tape on the back of the ribbon on the front of the card. Unsightly bulges result. Tape it firmly inside the card. No one cares if ribbon wraps to the inside. NO ONE!

If I tell myself that often enough, maybe I will start to believe it.



All I have to say about the second card is this: sometimes, you gotta pop a card for all it's worth and just add extra postage. I popped this one and have no regrets.

Supplies
stamps: Fall Elegance, First Fruits
ink: PTI vintage white, SU pumpkin pie, VersaMagic brown, pumpkin
paper: SU pumpkin pie, more mustard, really rust, PTI vintage cream
accessories: rhinestones, ribbon, dimensionals, Fiskars threaded water punch, corner rounder

A Little Confession and Halloween Cards

I've been bad. Very, very bad. It all started so innocently with the August PTI release. I ordered a few things. Then, I placed an order with my SU demo, Danielle. Most of that was consummables, with only two small stamp sets. Then I bought ink at Marco's. Then I placed another order with PTI. And then I went to United Art and Education to buy handwriting workbooks for both of my boys and just happened to wander over to the stamps, where I just happened to find the Hero Arts Clear Month sets ON SALE FOR FIVE DOLLARS EACH!!!!!

They had every month except January (which I have now ordered online and should receive early next week). I wanted these sets when they first came out, but at $15 each and the need for all 12 months for scrapbooking purposes, I never thought I'd get them. That's a ridiculous amount of money for stamps when I could use my alphas to spell out the months and have quite enough stamps for each month's theme anyway. I was so logical and cold about not buying them. Then, on Friday at United Art and Education, when I realized I could get 11 months for just $55, well, it seemed PERFECTLY SILLY not to snap those babies up immediately.

They are MINE. ALL MINE!

I think you'll agree with my decision. Still, I must once again put a spending freeze on stamp purchases. I think I'm good for a while, but you just never know what PTI will throw at us next month. Help me be strong, please.

And now, today's cards. Hero Arts Clear Stamps October set contains two fab Halloween images that worked perfectly for my niece and nephew. This witch stamp actually reminds me of my niece, in a good way. She's going to love this green and purple witch. And I want it noted for the record that I COLORED IN a stamped image. It felt so strange, but I did it, and she didn't turn out half bad.

This card is for my nephew, who loves every single card I make for him. He's the only dude in my life who appreciates stamping, and the fact that he's seven doesn't dampen my pride in his adoration in the least. He has excellent taste. I honestly don't think the card needs the bling but I added it because I didn't want my nephew feeling slighted.

Now, aren't these cute enough to justify my weakness? *wink*

Supplies for the Witch Card
stamps: Hero Arts
paper: green galore, eggplant, white
ink: palette noir
accessories: Bic Mark-It Markers and Sharpies, rhinestones, dimensionals

Supplies for Trick or Treat Card
stamps: Hero Arts
paper: PTI white
ink: Palette noir, only orange marker
accessories: ribbon, rhinestones

Fall Elegance with Pretty Brown Ribbon

You must be getting sick of my obsession with Fall Elegance by now, but I really can't control myself with this set...it's too, too pretty and easy to work with! Seriously, go buy it right now. You'll thank me for it! And see how lovely it is with the flourish from Silent Night? Throw that one in your shopping cart, too!

And no, PTI does not pay me for all these exclamation points and my subtle advertising either.

Supplies
stamps: PTI Fall Elegance, Silent Night
paper: PTI white
ink: VersaColor burgundy and pinecone
accessories: ribbon (blog candy from Ali Manning!), dimensionals

An Oldie I Never Tire of...

and I hope you don't tire of it either because, boy howdy, I will use it again. And again. And again.

This very basic, clean grid layout is so, so perfect. You can make it bright and cheery, soft and calming, crisp or distressed, well, you get the picture. It just always works. Four squares in a grid, with a sentiment underneath. That's it.

Who said safe was boring? Not me.

This card came to me in a rare moment of blinding inspiration. I'd been working with eye-watering colors for days and reached for this set from PTI. After making a few extremely forgettable cards with it, this card popped into my noggin and I just made it.

Don't we all wish this happened more often?

Soft, sweet, (dare I say...oh, why not!) sophisticated. It seriously looks better in real life. I love fall, with its sense of hunking down for the winter and savoring life's blessings. There's a peace and calm to that, amidst all the bustle of harvest. I wanted to show that peace.

The inks are chalk (various shades of Versamagic). I stamped onto PTI's vintage cream cardstock, punched with a square punch, stamped a sentiment, popped up the squares, and THAT WAS IT. Well, it did get a tiny bit complicated achieving an overall balanced look with the four different images and colors, but still.

For one wild and crazy moment, I wondered how bling would look on it, but quickly recovered my senses. It's done. It's lovely. I'm so very happy.

Click on over to my other blog for a few words that reinforce the message of this card. I guarantee it'll make you feel good. *wink*

Supplies
stamps: PTI
paper: PTI
inks: versamagic
accessories: dimensionals, square punch

Father's Day Card

I want it noted that I ACTUALLY USED a piece of Hodgepodge Hardware on this Father's Day card for my wonderful husband. JulieHRR laughed at me in the SCS forum a while back (a l-o-n-g while back, LOL!) when I stated I would eventually use my Hodgepodge and wasn't really hoarding it. I think this is proof I was right.

Sort of.

Supplies
stamps: PTI Pond Life
cardstock: PTI natural; SU artichoke, night of navy
ink: SU artichoke, night of navy, chocolate chip, close to cocoa
accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware, ribbon

Clean and Simple Challenge #14

This week's CAS challenge will be announced shortly. Here's one of my cards for it. The challenge is quite versatile, so over the next few days, I'll be posting other cards that look quite different from this one. I really tried to stretch out of my usual comfort zone on a few of them. Can't wait to see what you think of the results!

This card is well within my comfort zone, though. It's one layer, with the scene grounded by a fun Hero Arts shadow stamp. It looks a tad nekkid in the upper right for some reason, but every time I tried to add anything, the rest of the card looked odd. I decided to leave well enough alone, and really like it. Hope you do, too!

Supplies: stamps: Papertrey Father Knows Best and Hero Arts shadow; cardstock: Papertrey white; inks: various chalk inks; dimensionals.