One-Layer Wednesday 72: Variations on a Sentiment

This is today's second post. Please scroll down to see the first.

This week's OLW expands on my strategy for making lots of Christmas cards fast without mass producing. There are three requirements in addition to the use of a single layer of card stock:

1) use ONLY a sentiment stamp on your card...no other stamps or embellishments allowed!

2) use a NON-STANDARD size for your card

3) make at least two cards using the same stamp that vary something (color, type of ink, technique, placement of the stamp, size of card)

NOTE: There are no limits to the theme for this challenge, so if you've finished your holiday cards, consider making thank-you cards (you know you're going to need them!) or whatever theme you find most useful.

I got a little carried away with this and love the results, especially because they make me cease regretting the purchase of this stamp from Hero Arts. It's beautiful, but too big for a standard size card. Giving it the extra space to breathe makes a huge difference.

All four of my cards are 4.25" x 7" and will fit into standard 5" x 7" envelopes.

StampinUp Cherry Cobbler

Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy

Ranger Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder

Fuzzy for a Reason: Red Doodlebug Flock and Essential Glue Pad

Some of you may find this challenge particularly difficult because a single sentiment looks so excruciatingly clean and simple. Look for really interesting sentiments in your stash, and then think how you could make it even more interesting with colors, placement, shape of card. If you must, consider embossing lines to frame your sentiment, masking and sponging, using resist techniques, etc. Just don't use any other stamps or embellishments.

If this kills you, remember you can always photograph the unembellished version for the challenge, then add whatever embellishment you feel necessary. ;-)
OLW72 Rules

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

2. Use only one sentiment on a non-standard card size (or shape), and create at least two variations of the card. NO OTHER STAMPS OR EMBELLISHMENTS ALLOWED!

3. Upload your creations somewhere online and link back to them using the InLinkz button on the sidebar of Simplicity.

4. HAVE FUN!!!

StampinUp Tree Trimmings

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

THE ONE-LAYER WEDNESDAY CHALLENGE WILL BE POSTED SHORTLY. SORRY FOR THE DELAY.

And now back to our regularly scheduled program.

I spent almost two hours last night making three cards with StampinUp's Tree Trimmings, one of which is unfit for public consumption. The problem is, I've already made perfect-for-me cards with this pretty set in years past, and I wanted to do something completely different...which is never, ever a good idea when you're tired.

Yesterday's cards showed how color alone can create different looks. Today, I use a technique and punches on one card to get a distinctly different feel.

The first card uses emboss resist and Twinkling H20s...a golden jade color. I couldn't find my watercolor paper in my "staged" craft room, and used PTI white card stock instead.

Here's a close-up that gives an idea of the sparkly shimmer of the Twinkling H20s.

The second card is more "me," with no technique at all and a tiny little bit of bling and plenty of white space.

Two cards, two very different looks. If you're playing along with me on my challenge to make variations on sets to meet my quota of Christmas cards, keep in mind you can use those techniques whose supplies have been languishing in your stash. What a fun way to mix things up and keep them interesting!

Christmas Card Strategy and A Muse and a Little Give-Away

As I stamped on Sunday, I realized that I needed a strategy for making over 100 Christmas cards quickly and without going insane. I decided to try to make at least two cards using each Christmas set or stamp I own...two cards that look very different. Also, I'm trying to keep them all one layer, though if a design requires layers, I'll add them.

Here are the first two cards I made using this strategy and A Muse's Snow Crystals set.

The first card uses a speckled blue-gray cardstock and Marina Mist (SU) ink. Three sizes of pearls are a serene and interesting accent for these beautiful stamps.

The second card uses a little masking and is reminiscent of nordic sweaters with its cream card base and Cherry Cobbler ink.

Which do you like best and why? Just for fun, I'll send a random commenter a package of pearls! Give-away deadline is Thursday at midnight, East Coast time.

Felt Poinsettias and a Reminder

Today's cards came out of yesterday's delightful make-out session with product.

I'm sorry. Was that too much information?

The product was a package of Hero Arts Felt Poinsettias I bought in a moment of weakness and have hoarded for several years. You don't have any fabulous unused products like that lying around, do you? Of course not. You're more sensible than I.

These felt die cuts are extremely high-quality, unlike the premade paper poinsettias I made out with first and whose end results shall remain unviewed by anyone in cyberspace or the real world. The paper poinsettias were poor quality; they looked like some small critter had nibbled their edges so the cards looked nibbled, too. When I moved on to the felt poinsettias, I managed to use practically the whole package on just two cards, which felt very efficient. (Did I just make a bad pun?)

Even better, I don't feel the need to buy more simply because the results are so lumpy and hard to mail. But they sure are pretty!

Hero Arts Felt Poinsettias come in packages of three colors (burgundy, red, and white) with two shades of green for the leaves. I layered two flowers together to get a richer, more dimensional look: the burgundy on the bottom and the red on top. The white poinsettias, of course, just got layered together.

Break out some unused product and give it some love this week!

Simplicity Tip: You can get a very similar look without the bulk of felt using a daisy punch and two shades of red card stock, a shade of green card stock, and a brad. White and cream might look lovely, too! The end result will be less textured but will carry the exact same punch for design that the felt poinsettias do. Of course if you own a die cut machine and daisy dies, you can create your own. But I don't die; I punch.

A Reminder: 52 Weeks of Mail is going strong! I hope you're sticking to your resolution of sending more snail mail. This is week seven, and I know I've sent out far more than seven cards, despite all the craziness in my life. With Christmas coming, this challenge will be LOTS easier, don't you think?

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Ink Signature Greetings (faux handwritten sentiment) and Silent Night (verse)
paper: Papertrey white
ink: cherry cobbler (SU)
accessories: Hero Arts Felt Poinsettias, small antique gold brads, glue dots

If You're Anything Like I Am...

you probably have a lot of specialty papers lying around unused, unloved, uncut. "Oh, that's too pretty to cut!"

Hogwash.

Specialty papers are most often found in the art section of big box craft stores or in fine art supply stores. They generally come in very large sheets on tilted paper racks, although some scrapbook paper companies produce them in 12" x 12" sizes or smaller.

One thing I've learned since I started papercrafting is that specialty papers stick around a LOT longer than the latest Basic Gray collection. Art paper suppliers are less given to trends. You can buy the same velvet paper I bought ten years ago today at Hobby Lobby. Rice papers are always around, too.

So instead of hoarding specialty papers, use them to make pleated ornaments for the holidays!

It's hard to tell from my stellar photograph (not), but this is red velvet paper. In real life, it looks fabulous and feels even better. I scored it on the back to pleat so I didn't damage the pile of the velvet.

Green ornaments on trees don't show up well unless they are light green or very glittery/shiny. This is what I call rice paper (not sure it that's the real name, though). It has interesting, slightly shimmery fibers in it.

Finally, we have some silver faux-leather paper, which adds texture and shimmer to the ornament.

There are plenty of online tutorials on making these beauties, but here are a few additional tips to help you out.

1. Use a glue gun. It holds the best of any glue I tried.

2. Score the folds, then punch the edges (I used Fiskar's Threading Water edge punch), THEN fold the paper.

3. I used strips that were roughly 21"-22" long and 2" wide, which gave me lots of pleats. But this isn't a souffle recipe. Vary as needed for your own purposes.

4. The snowflake is a Martha Stewart punch, and the scalloped circle is from Marvy.

5. You could use these as gift tags, too, but definitely tell people they are ornaments. You don't want these beauties ending up in the trash. Instead, make a whole set for someone as a gift. That was my plan before the Great House Sale of 2011. Now, I'll cut myself some slack and just wait until next year.

That must be the sanest decision I've made in the past two months.

A Gift-Wrap Philosophy: Part Two

As some of you may remember, I love the traditional colors of Christmas but sometimes feel the need to break out and try something different, something rad, something rebellious, something edgy.

Yeah, I'm such a bad girl.

*snort*

One thing I love about my new Gift-Wrap Philosophy is just how flexible it is, allowing for lots of variety in styles and colors. For those of you who tolerate mass-production well and can't stand non-traditional colors for Christmas, today's post may not be of much value, but for those of you who, like me, would rather bleed from your eyeballs than mass-produce, well, here's a fun way to put some variety into your Christmas packaging!

Tropical fruit-slice snowflake stamps and sentiment from Hero Arts

Note how the sentiment makes excuses for the tropical colors. And the bling makes this so sparkly and pretty!

Retro colors of Brilliance inks and Hero Arts Stamps

I love aqua and orange and make at least one card with them every Christmas. The Brilliance inks are shimmery and I added a spot of Stickles in the center of each snowflake to kick it up a notch. This is a less expensive option than rhinestones, but remember if you're sending packages to the troops overseas...no glitter allowed!

Stamp by PTI.

Memento's gray ink makes me swoon and fills me with joy. Paired with this shiny silver and shimmery white ribbon, it's a stunner. Who knew gray could be so fabulous! BTW, adding a bit of bling to the center of each snowflake would be even more fabulous.

Stamps by PTI. Orange baker's twine.

Using quintessential Christmas icons in totally fun colors keeps the theme clear while allowing for rebellious color choices.

Stamps by PTI. Glitter by Doodlebug.

Finally, blue isn't exactly a non-traditional color, but it is pretty. Very pretty!
And that's it for Christmas tags this year. I'm considering making angel cookies to give to neighbors this year, and if that happens, I'll share that packaging as well. Otherwise, it's time to get cracking on Christmas cards because oh holy sugar plums, I've only got about 30 and need 130.

It's time like this when Clean-and-Simple Design is sooooo my friend!

How many holiday cards have you made? How many do you need?

A Gift-Wrap Philosophy: Part One

Simplicity takes a lot of work. Stripping something down to its essentials, making the essentials look interesting and pretty, and getting a design's balance just right take time, patience, and perseverance.

Sometimes, however, the design gods hand you an idea so simple and quick that you wonder what the heck took you so long to figure it out.

After years of fretting over gift wrap, I've hit upon a minimalist philosophy so simple and so perfect that I'm sure I can't be the first to hit upon it.

The philosophy can best be summed up by the equation T + R + WP = FABULOUS, where T is a simple, colorful tag, R is coordinating ribbon, and WP is white paper.

Papertrey Mendhi Medallion, Hero Arts sentiment

The first sample is a tag I made months ago and shared already, but I combined it with a red ribbon edged in gold...one I bought to use years ago and never did.

Papertrey Holiday Treats

This tag shows how those nugget label stamps can be used as borders on small tags. For this tag, I'll write the name of the recipient on the front, rather than the back. In brown ink to match the gingerbread man!




Hero Arts

Rick-rack or other interesting trim can add interest to a super-simple tag.

Papertrey Holly Jolly

For someone special, add bling to the tag. Yes, it will end up in the trash, but seriously, it's Christmas. That green satin ribbon is so soft and rich-feeling, it just demanded a blinged-up tag.

Papertrey Sign Language

Tags can be any shape or size you want. Here, I took left-over strips of cardstock and turned them into long, narrow tags using simple images and bling. The white ribbon with its red stitching was the perfect accompaniment!

What are the advantages of this philosophy? Well, let's count them.

1. You only ever need to buy white wrapping paper, although if you want some variety, kraft wrapping paper will work well, too.

2. You can express your creativity through the tag, getting as fancy or as personalized as you want. Plus, you can use odd scraps of cardstock for your tags.

3. Christmas tags can double as ornaments, too!

4. You can use up that massive stash of ribbon you have sitting there, being hoarded. Or you can buy spools of ribbon when they are discounted and let the ribbon inspire your tags.

5. No more searching for baby wrapping paper or kid birthday wrap or Mother's Day wrap or graduation wrap at the last minute. All you have to do is make sure you have stamps for every occasion, which, let's face it, is HUGELY more fun.

6. If you keep a stash of white gift bags in assorted sizes and tissue paper (either white or assorted color packs as you prefer), the ribbons and tags work equally well for awkwardly-sized or hard-to-wrap gifts.

7. This style of gift wrap lends itself to additional embellishment if time and inclination allow. Adding pine-cones, jingle bells, sprigs of holly or picks of artificial fruit, foliage, berries, etc., to Christmas packages, party favors to birthday gifts, and such work well. But only if you want to embellish.

What are the disadvantages of this philosophy? Well, there's only one I can think of, and that's finding good white wrapping paper that is opaque enough. Perhaps one of you has a suggestion, but the the white at HL and M's can be seen through, so when necessary, I've started wrapping a strip of it around the gift box first, then wrapping the gift.

But I'd much rather have truly opaque white paper to wrap gifts.

What do you think of this Clean and Simple Gift-Wrap Philosophy?