Breathing Again and Playing with Color

Thanks to all who commented on my krafty card. I think you're all right about the need to add white to the kraft from a design point. But I don't want to do it. I'm over it. Movin' on and returnin' to white card stock. White card stock lets me breathe. White card stock makes me happy.

Maybe I should change the name of the blog to White Card Stock, or WCS for short.

Or not.

Whatever.

Today's two cards make me happy!!!!

First up is a super-soft sympathy card. Unfortunately, I've needed a lot of sympathy cards in the past few weeks, and my stash is low. (You'll see a flurry of them tomorrow, too.) The stamps are from a PTI anniversary set called Botanical Blooms. The soft pink (VersaColor's cinnamon) and green (split pea) are soothing, and grounded with a brown sentiment. All that white space symbolizes the loneliness we feel when someone leaves us. It works.

When I'd made the sympathy card, I wondered if the exact layout would also work for a more cheerful card with just a color change. Would color have that big of an impact on what is otherwise a serene and peaceful design?

Peony pink and green tea inks certainly liven up the design, and a touch of sparkly glitter makes it more festive than the formal white pearls above.

Color really does have a huge impact on the feel of a design. Which do you prefer?

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Botanical Silhouettes
ink: VersaColor
paper: PTI white
accessories: pearls, Stickles crystal

Krafty Stuff

First off, don't forget that the One-Layer Wednesday Challenge this week is on Karen's blog. It's OLW129 All In A Row. Make a one-layer card with a row of images. Oh how fun this will be when I get to stamp again!!!!!

If she's said "row of bling" I could have posted a card tonight that I made last month and am saving for Easter. But alas, you'll have to make do today with a krafty card with a pre-made envelope attached to the front that has nothing to do with rows of anything. 

Why is it I love kraft when other people use it, but when I use it, it just looks...brown? WHY?

The envelope was in a multipack I bought at Michael's and doesn't match white card stock I have. It's just a little too dull. It took ink nicely, though. If I'd really been paying attention, I would have used a corner rounder instead of the tag punch, and I might have pulled out my deco scissors and done something that looked pinked like the envelope.

Alas, February hasn't been a totally excellent stamping month for me.

And oh, man. I'm grouchy right now. I'm going to shut up and go to bed and find my bliss in the Land of Nod before coming back here and whining at poor, innocent blog readers.

Please forgive me. I really do love you and want you to come back!

ZZzzzzzz.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Floral Frenzy
ink: VersaColor
paper: Papertrey kraft
accessories: envelope, tag punch, circle punch, twine, Scor-Tape

Using Transparencies, Part 3

Don't you like how clever my titles have been the last few days? Scintillating, I know.

Here's the last transparency card that's good enough to share. Ta-da!!!

Julie Ebersole, Her Royal Rubberness, taught me to never, ever, under any circumstances, use nekkid buttons on a card. So these three all have brown DMC floss in them...love knots, if you will!

One heart, two strips of wood-grain-stamped transparency, three buttons. Easy as 1, 2, 3!

And yes, that was on purpose. Give it a try!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Heart Prints, Hero Arts wood grain background
ink: StazOn brown, Memento Love Letter
paper: Papertrey white, clear
accessories: buttons, dimensionals, heart punch, DMC floss

Using Transparencies, Part 2

I decided to use the half-sheet of transparency left over from yesterday's card to make several more cards, just using pieces of it. Some of these cards were, um, ugly. But I stamped a big background stamp (wood grain from Hero Arts) in brown on the transparency and used it successfully on three different cards. For two of them, I used punches and layered.

And yes, I made these cards for Valentine's Day.

Pretty cool, eh? On the top one, I scored the middle of the heart so it would add some dimension. Bling hides the glue dots that hold the transparent punches on both cards. I like how the transparencies add shine and a hint of dimension without bulk.

Several of you asked if I stamped on the outside or inside of the transparencies. The ink is on top in all my transparency cards because I liked the look better, but you do have the option. The effect is subtly different if you flip the transparency over. There's less sense of dimension.

I also like how the use of wood grain over hearts implies that love is natural, withstands the test of time, weathers well. It's a bit unexpected, but feels right.

So pull out those transparencies and get punchy!



Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Heart Prints, Hero Arts wood grain background
ink: Staz-On timber brown, SU real red, Memento chocolate
paper: Papertrey white, SU purely pom or regal rose, not sure
accessories: heart punch, rhinestones, heart rhinestones, dimensionals, glue dots, corner rounder

Using Transparencies: Part 1

The special issue of Papercrafts Magazine that lists challenges is interesting, although my reaction to it has been more rebellious than embracing. Do you ever get that way? "Oh, you want me to make a fabric flower? I don't think so!"

Yes, I'm a rebel. Just call me James Dean. Or maybe Jimmy Dean.

Yum. Sausage.

I miss sausage.

What was I typing about?

Oh, yeah, challenges. I was flipping through the magazine in a very negative, grouchy frame of mind when I came across a challenge to use transparencies. Hmmm. I bought a small package of "clear card stock" from PTI years ago, and it's languished in my stash ever since. So I pulled it out and felt happier instantly.

Then I realized I sold my white Staz-On and felt sad. But only for a second. I still had stone gray, brown, and black Staz-On and decided to see what I could do.

The first card uses a half-sheet of transparency for the card base, with a smaller, trimmed card taped inside with a single strip of 1/4" Scor-Tape across the top back, which is almost invisible even through the transparency. I didn't invent this idea, by the way. I've seen it several times over the years. It's a good way of emphasizing the fact that ohmygoshIusedatransparencyformycardbase!!!!

Because I didn't have red Staz-On, I stamped the sentiment on the white card stock, but the red dots are Sharpie used directly on the transparency. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the effect of that layering adds depth to the whole design.

PTI's clear card stock is nice and thick and sturdy, and while it's expensive per sheet, a pack will last most of us YEARS because we will hoard it as too expensive to cut.

Wow, I'm cynical this morning. Clearly I need a sausage biscuit.

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey (Beautiful Butterflies, sentiment), AMuse (Marvelous Marigolds)
ink: Gray Staz-On, Versacolor scarlet
paper: PTI clear card stock, white
accessories: Scor-Pal (you gotta score that thick transparency!), Sharpie

Awwww, Cute!

Weeks ago, I went shopping at a papercraft store, and after looking around for over an hour, ended up buying a single set of stamps (plus a few other odds and ends). The stamp set was the Hero Arts speech bubble clear set.

When I tried to use it, I realized I have a shocking lack of stamps of images that might legitimately have something to say in a speech bubble. After digging a bit, I found two old, discontinued stamps from Hero Arts--a kitty and a dog--that are obscenely adorable. So I made these two cards.

The dog, named Newton, and the kitty, named, um, Kitty, need ground to stand on, so I gave Newton a piece of my last remaining washi tape (I gave the rest away because I'm washi-challenged), and Kitty got the large AMuse oval to stand on.

They're cute, but I feel creatively tapped out with speech bubbles. And now I'm feeling stupid for buying the speech bubble set in the first place. They seemed like such a great idea in the store, but now I suspect I fell victim to some trend or another, subliminally controlled by marketing forces I don't care to look at too closely.

Or maybe I just need to buy some more images of critters who might have something to say.

Oh, and by the way, we're not even going to talk about the punch I bought that I already had. No, no, no, I did not do that. Never, not ever, no way, not in this lifetime, ever.

De Nile is a river that runs both deep and wide.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts, Papertrey (Newton's saying)
ink: Memento
paper: Papertrey
accessories: heart rhinestone, washi tape, Memento markers

Floral Frenzy Revisited

After playing around with A Muse's Marvelous Marigolds, I pulled out Papertrey's Floral Frenzy, an older set that is lots of fun. Here's the first card I made with it.

I just love the white layers and the soft browny-greens (VersaColor inks, split pea, bamboo). Sadly, I have no clever explanation for the three layers of white.

It just felt right.

Skip on over to Heather's Blog for this week's One-Layer Wednesday Challenge: Feminine Birthday Card. FUN!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Floral Frenzy
ink: VersaColor bamboo, split pea, pinecone
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: none