Some Cool News from Hero Arts

Wow. For those of my readers who use Hero Arts stamps and like to submit work for publication, check out this post on the Hero Arts blog. Very cool.

I don't ever try to get my cards published, but if I did, I'd be all over this!

Starry, Starry Night

The blue of this specialty paper from my stash is gorgeous, is it not?

Something about this card really appeals to me, but for the life of me, I can't articulate what it is. The design isn't particularly good...in fact, the spray of silver cord strikes part of me--the logical, sensible part--as distinctly odd.

But another part of me--the symbolic, artsy, vague part--loves the intimation of a comet or shooting star contrasted with the stable, very traditional star (which is made of wood painted with a silver metallic pen). Stable and transient. Movement and stasis.

Wow. Those last two statements illustrate the rhetorical trope of chiasmus. A and B. B and A. That transposition of the order of meaning in two pairs is something Alexander Pope uses in one of his poems...probably Essay on Man, but I'm not sure about that. It's been a while, but every time I think of chiasmus, I think of Pope. Shakespeare, too. (Okay, I checked. Pope did use chiasmus in Essay on Man, though he certainly might have used it in other places.)

Oh good grief. I can hear you unsubscribing from Simplicity. Ayyyeeeeee! Run screaming from the weird English Lit freak spouting classical rhetoric!

Don't worry. Tomorrow's card will be sensible and down to earth. But for tonight, I'm feeling very starry and rhetorical.

And I swear I only had one small glass of wine.

A Brief Note, Times Three

I made these cards before my unexpected vacation while trying to use up some pre-cut card bases...colored card bases, no less. The stamps are from A Muse. In fact, I bought this whole set because of the brief stamp. Too cute!

When using a darker color for a card base, I add a white panel on the inside. Of course, you can write on dark cardstock with a white gel pen, but I always find those diabolical white gel pens choose to start skipping in the middle of my note and make a blotchy mess. Hence, the white panel.

Supplies
stamps: A Muse
ink: Memento
paper: SU real red, brilliant blue, pumpkin pie, black; Mark's Finest Papers 110lb white
accessories: Bic and Sharpie markers, dimensionals

Botanical Silhouettes, Erin Lincoln, and Variations

I sat down to use all the images from Botanical Silhouettes, the PTI anniversary set that my friend Linda sent me. This was the second card I made:

This card was inspired TOTALLY by a card in PTI's DT gallery made by the amazing Erin Lincoln. This turned out so well, I wondered.

what
would
happen
if
I
varied
Erin's
layout
with
the
other
stamps
in
the
set?

Yes, I've been reading weird poetry again. What of it?

Not really. I'm just feeling weird tonight. Perhaps I should try to write some weird poetry.

Anyway, I started playing with Erin's design (hope she doesn't mind) and couldn't stop because it was just sooooo inspiring. So I made this by stamping the dandelions and poufs into the stems.

And then this happened. Love how easily the flower stamp lines up with the grass stamp. I was skeptical at first, but it's seriously easy.

Finally, I made this. At first, I tried grounding the dandelion as I grounded the previous two plants. It looked, well, awkward. So I redid it like this and I like it so much better.

Hope you do, too!

Supplies
stamps: Botanical Silhouettes, Text Style
ink: Memento
paper: PTI
accessories: rhinestones

Some Pretty Cards People Have Sent

Last week was a great week for receiving cards. I got four lovely ones I thought I'd share with you because they are so very lovely. Many thanks to Nicole, Lori, Joan, and Linda for brightening my week!

From Nicole P. Check out that cutting inside the wreath!!!

From Lori M. That glitter is beyond gorgeous!

From Joan L. Her folding of the two-sided paper for the flower is STUNNING!

From Linda E. Kraft and aqua are fab, and so is the way she used that label stamp.

Just the After, and a Thank You

Easing back into blogging here; not sure how often I'll post over the next week or so, but I can't stay away completely. I want to thank you all for your wonderful words of encouragement...y'all are the best!!!

I was going to make this a before-and-after post, because I made an "meh" card first, then this one. But once I edited the photo of the "meh" card, I decided it was actually a "blech" card. You're spared the disaster.

You're welcome. Seriously.

This card's color scheme was inspired by a tea display at Barnes and Noble, with gorgeous gold and green tins alternated on a shelf. The colors just looked so summery I had to put them on paper. 

I inked the grass from PTI's anniversary set for this year using the summer sun marker from StampinUp, then I streaked green galore over it. Before stamping, I huffed it a couple of times (heavy breathing and stamping go together so well). The watercolor effect is so pretty!

On the blech card, I inked the sentiment with a pad, and it looked too crisp for the watercolors of the grass, so here I used the rich cocoa Memento marker. To stamp the butterflies I used a set called Spring Garden from Leave Memories and inked them with the green galore marker, huffed, and got a bit of watercolor effect. Love the crispness of the white with the bright watercolors!

I didn't actually earn the PTI anniversary set this year. I bought eleven sets (ARRGGHHH!!!) instead of the required twelve last year, so no set for me. UNTIL my friend Linda E offered to send me her extra! So, in addition to the card, here's a big

THANK YOU, LINDA!!!!

Skip on over to Questioning my Intelligence...

It's the three-year anniversary of my other blog, Questioning my Intelligence. Go to this post for details on a wee little give-away.