I have run out of cards to post.
The horror!
I had hoped to have more time between my trip to Maryland (finished) and my trip to Pittsburgh (pending) to make a bunch of cards to continue posting uninterrupted through Pittsburgh and beyond.
Bwaaa haaa haaaa! What an optimist I am!
Instead, I only found time to make four cards for August's One-Layer Simplicity #8, which I am hosting.
And no way am I posting one of those cards before August 1st. I don't want to spoil the surprise.
So this post is to give you a heads-up that my posting between now and whenever I can get into my craft room will be sporadic and perhaps nonexistent. There will be three posts on OLS#8 coming up, but beyond that, you'll hear crickets around Simplicity.
Nothing is wrong. I am fine. I will be back. In fact, I'm scared I'll lose all common sense in the next week or so and order a bunch of stuff I don't need just so I'll have fun stuff to play with when I do get back into my stamping nook!
If you want to keep up with what I'm doing next week in Pittsburgh, feel free to check out my other blog called Transforming Common Days.
In short, I'll be back soon. In the meantime, stuff is happening.
And life is good.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Stop the Presses!!!!!
LateBlossom used kraft!!!!
And she actually enjoyed it!!!!
Supplies
stamps: My Favorite Things First Class Friend
ink: Memento Luxe Danube blue, VersaMagic Rocket Red
paper: Papertrey Ink kraft
accessories: circle punch, dimensional
And she actually enjoyed it!!!!
Supplies
stamps: My Favorite Things First Class Friend
ink: Memento Luxe Danube blue, VersaMagic Rocket Red
paper: Papertrey Ink kraft
accessories: circle punch, dimensional
Monday, July 28, 2014
Another Thank-You Set and Some Words on Ink
As I've mentioned before, my sister-in-law Angela and her husband Mike are coming this weekend to watch my boys while I go to the Stephen Ministry Leadership Training Course. I made a set of thank-you cards for Angela and now it's her husband's turn.
He's an Ironman like George. He likes bikes. A lot. So I made a set of nine cards in three colors featuring...a bike.
Masculine colors, a road, and a bike. I think Mike will appreciate these!
And now, some unsolicited and unpaid words on ink....
I have covered inks on my Favorite Products page and stand by all I say there. Now, however, I have a new quick-drying pigment ink to add to the list of favorites: Impress Fresh Ink. This ink is a lovely, rich ink that works extremely well with clear stamps. It offers great coverage, a wide range of colors, and juicy pads that aren't over-inked (a problem I've noticed with some brands that leads to goopy images).
I only have three colors right now, but my birthday is coming up in a few months. My hubby will definitely be widening my color options for me.
If I can wait that long.
And that's all I have to say about that.
For now.
Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (bike, ribbon), Clearly Besotted (sentiment)
ink: VersaColor, VersaMagic
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: none
He's an Ironman like George. He likes bikes. A lot. So I made a set of nine cards in three colors featuring...a bike.
Masculine colors, a road, and a bike. I think Mike will appreciate these!
And now, some unsolicited and unpaid words on ink....
I have covered inks on my Favorite Products page and stand by all I say there. Now, however, I have a new quick-drying pigment ink to add to the list of favorites: Impress Fresh Ink. This ink is a lovely, rich ink that works extremely well with clear stamps. It offers great coverage, a wide range of colors, and juicy pads that aren't over-inked (a problem I've noticed with some brands that leads to goopy images).
I only have three colors right now, but my birthday is coming up in a few months. My hubby will definitely be widening my color options for me.
If I can wait that long.
And that's all I have to say about that.
For now.
Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (bike, ribbon), Clearly Besotted (sentiment)
ink: VersaColor, VersaMagic
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: none
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Seeing the Potential
Do you ever find yourself staring at a card you've made and thinking that something about it just isn't right?
Of course you do.
We all do.
That's all part of the process.
So today I found myself staring at this card. It uses a layout I've used before...found it in the book 1,000 Labels, Tags, and Bags, I think. But this particular card just isn't right. Instead of pitching it, I sat and stared at it, contemplating the problem and possible solutions.
What's not right? Well, there is simply no unity here, as if two cards were stuck together...the one on top and the one on bottom. The light blue was supposed to unify the two halves of the design, but it fails miserably.
As if two cards were stuck together...two cards...could I divide this into two cards?
Why not?
The bottom half got a sentiment and bling to give a visual triangle of dark ocean green that unifies and completes this design perfectly.
The top half needed nothing because lots of empty space reinforces the sentiment so well. I rounded the corners because those pointy right angles definitely didn't fit with the single image of circles. Sometimes curves love angles, and sometimes they don't. Plus, I like how the curves remind me of hugs, and people who miss each other need hugs.
So today's lesson is "Don't give up." I could have pitched this card into the recycling bin, but I relaxed, contemplated, proposed ideas to myself, and got there in the end, with two cards out of the process.
Go, me!
Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Grunge Me, Birthday Basics, Paper Tray; Clearly Besotted A Little Sentimental
ink: Hero Arts, Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: dimensionals, corner rounder, rhinestone
Of course you do.
We all do.
That's all part of the process.
So today I found myself staring at this card. It uses a layout I've used before...found it in the book 1,000 Labels, Tags, and Bags, I think. But this particular card just isn't right. Instead of pitching it, I sat and stared at it, contemplating the problem and possible solutions.
 |
| A Not Right Card |
What's not right? Well, there is simply no unity here, as if two cards were stuck together...the one on top and the one on bottom. The light blue was supposed to unify the two halves of the design, but it fails miserably.
As if two cards were stuck together...two cards...could I divide this into two cards?
Why not?
The bottom half got a sentiment and bling to give a visual triangle of dark ocean green that unifies and completes this design perfectly.
The top half needed nothing because lots of empty space reinforces the sentiment so well. I rounded the corners because those pointy right angles definitely didn't fit with the single image of circles. Sometimes curves love angles, and sometimes they don't. Plus, I like how the curves remind me of hugs, and people who miss each other need hugs.
So today's lesson is "Don't give up." I could have pitched this card into the recycling bin, but I relaxed, contemplated, proposed ideas to myself, and got there in the end, with two cards out of the process.
Go, me!
Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Grunge Me, Birthday Basics, Paper Tray; Clearly Besotted A Little Sentimental
ink: Hero Arts, Memento
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: dimensionals, corner rounder, rhinestone
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Holiday Sentiments, Part 5
I saved the card with the most white space for last. Just 'cause that's how I roll.
Up to this point, the cards in Parts 1-4 were made exclusively with stamps from Holiday Sentiments. No matter how fully functional a stamp set is on its own, however, don't forget to check your stash for other stamps to work with it.
As I stared at the smaller word stamps in the Clearly Besotted set, I realized that the "peace on earth" sentiment could benefit from an actual earth image.
Oh, yeah. I love how that font looks with the lines on the globe image. That's a very, very cool coincidence since the earth image is from Masculine Motifs by Papertrey Ink...different company, different theme altogether.
Think outside the set.
And that concludes this series on Clearly Besotted's Holiday Sentiments. As I said yesterday, this set is incredibly easy to work with. I came up with all five cards very quickly, with next to no hard thinking, and with shockingly few missteps. Pushing harder will no doubt yield a very good crop of creativity!!!
It's always exciting when a new purchase justifies itself in a first inking. I wish--sincerely, truly wish--that I could crack the code and make all my purchases so satisfying. I'm better than I used to be, but there are still those purchases that leave me wondering what in the name of little juicy ink pads I was thinking!
Do you have sets that "clicked" with your style easily? Do you have criteria by which you purchase new sets that minimize buyer's remorse? Please do share!
Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted Holiday Sentiments
ink: VersaColor/VersaMagic
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: corner rounder, circle punch, dimensionals
Up to this point, the cards in Parts 1-4 were made exclusively with stamps from Holiday Sentiments. No matter how fully functional a stamp set is on its own, however, don't forget to check your stash for other stamps to work with it.
As I stared at the smaller word stamps in the Clearly Besotted set, I realized that the "peace on earth" sentiment could benefit from an actual earth image.
Oh, yeah. I love how that font looks with the lines on the globe image. That's a very, very cool coincidence since the earth image is from Masculine Motifs by Papertrey Ink...different company, different theme altogether.
Think outside the set.
And that concludes this series on Clearly Besotted's Holiday Sentiments. As I said yesterday, this set is incredibly easy to work with. I came up with all five cards very quickly, with next to no hard thinking, and with shockingly few missteps. Pushing harder will no doubt yield a very good crop of creativity!!!
It's always exciting when a new purchase justifies itself in a first inking. I wish--sincerely, truly wish--that I could crack the code and make all my purchases so satisfying. I'm better than I used to be, but there are still those purchases that leave me wondering what in the name of little juicy ink pads I was thinking!
Do you have sets that "clicked" with your style easily? Do you have criteria by which you purchase new sets that minimize buyer's remorse? Please do share!
Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted Holiday Sentiments
ink: VersaColor/VersaMagic
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: corner rounder, circle punch, dimensionals
Friday, July 25, 2014
Holiday Sentiments, Part 4
In my quest to stack the stamps in Holiday Sentiments from Clearly Besotted, I felt compelled to push the bounds of my usual minimalist style.
I also wanted to play with my new inks from Impress:
The talented enabler Erin Taylor told me to buy these quick-drying pigment inks. She actually told me to buy a few more colors, and I plan to take her advice. Fresh Ink is fabulous. Where has it been all my life? Never mind.
I'm happy I don't know all the great products out there. That way, there's always something new to discover.
Thanks, Erin, for enabling a new ink passion!
I stacked in shades of wonderful green to give the effect of a Christmas tree. This shape is simply perfect, and the flourished tree stand makes me so happy.
This card is two layers because I was worried I'd mess up with so much stamping, so I stamped on a card back salvaged from a failed card. Turned out to be a good thing, because my stacked tree was slightly off-center. I trimmed it to line up better and mounted it on a white card base.
There's still enough white space to make me happy, plus the image is made with words. Words are good. I love words.
Bet you didn't know that about me.
Yeah. Right.
Just one more card to share in this series, but rest assured that Holiday Sentiments will continue to provide me with crisp, clean Christmas cards for years to come.
Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted Holiday Sentiments
ink: Impress Fresh Ink
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: rhinestones, dimensionals
I also wanted to play with my new inks from Impress:
The talented enabler Erin Taylor told me to buy these quick-drying pigment inks. She actually told me to buy a few more colors, and I plan to take her advice. Fresh Ink is fabulous. Where has it been all my life? Never mind.
I'm happy I don't know all the great products out there. That way, there's always something new to discover.
Thanks, Erin, for enabling a new ink passion!
I stacked in shades of wonderful green to give the effect of a Christmas tree. This shape is simply perfect, and the flourished tree stand makes me so happy.
This card is two layers because I was worried I'd mess up with so much stamping, so I stamped on a card back salvaged from a failed card. Turned out to be a good thing, because my stacked tree was slightly off-center. I trimmed it to line up better and mounted it on a white card base.
There's still enough white space to make me happy, plus the image is made with words. Words are good. I love words.
Bet you didn't know that about me.
Yeah. Right.
Just one more card to share in this series, but rest assured that Holiday Sentiments will continue to provide me with crisp, clean Christmas cards for years to come.
Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted Holiday Sentiments
ink: Impress Fresh Ink
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: rhinestones, dimensionals
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Holiday Sentiments, Part 3
Creating a border with words seemed a natural choice for my next card with Clearly Besotted's Holiday Sentiments set. So I did it.
After I'd stamped the border, I wasn't sure what to do with it. The card was pretty and all, but it had no focal point, and I stared at the card for the longest time trying to come up with something, anything, to pull this card together.
So I borrowed the idea of topping joy with holly from yesterday's card, and God bless us, every one!
And now I have to vent. About five minutes after leaving my sister's house this morning to drive back to Ohio, my car was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light. STOPPED, people! My big Mazda CX-9 in dark RED. How did the guy not see it?!?!?! Arrrghhh! Fortunately, we were not injured, he was not injured, and my car was drivable, which is more than I can say for his car, which was probably totaled. But the rest of my day was pretty miserable (500 miles, plus a few extra for missed exits and poorly chosen exits...sigh), and now I'm home, tired, and wined up.
Let it go, Susan. Let. It. Go.
I still have to talk to insurance companies. And a body shop. And a car rental place. I can't let it go, people. This will go on for weeks. WEEKS!!!
I'm happy to be home. But it sure was fun visiting my mom, sister, and her family. Pictures forthcoming on my other blog. As soon as I knock this chip off my shoulder.
Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted
ink: various
paper: Papertrey Ink white
accessories: rhinestones
After I'd stamped the border, I wasn't sure what to do with it. The card was pretty and all, but it had no focal point, and I stared at the card for the longest time trying to come up with something, anything, to pull this card together.
So I borrowed the idea of topping joy with holly from yesterday's card, and God bless us, every one!
And now I have to vent. About five minutes after leaving my sister's house this morning to drive back to Ohio, my car was rear-ended while stopped at a traffic light. STOPPED, people! My big Mazda CX-9 in dark RED. How did the guy not see it?!?!?! Arrrghhh! Fortunately, we were not injured, he was not injured, and my car was drivable, which is more than I can say for his car, which was probably totaled. But the rest of my day was pretty miserable (500 miles, plus a few extra for missed exits and poorly chosen exits...sigh), and now I'm home, tired, and wined up.
Let it go, Susan. Let. It. Go.
I still have to talk to insurance companies. And a body shop. And a car rental place. I can't let it go, people. This will go on for weeks. WEEKS!!!
I'm happy to be home. But it sure was fun visiting my mom, sister, and her family. Pictures forthcoming on my other blog. As soon as I knock this chip off my shoulder.
Supplies
stamps: Clearly Besotted
ink: various
paper: Papertrey Ink white
accessories: rhinestones
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