Use One, Make Three Challenge: Hero Arts Holiday Pine Boughs

So I'm into my Use One, Make Three Christmas Card Challenge. For those who missed it, my method for overcoming the intimidation posed by owning so many Christmas stamps is to pick a set and make three cards from it. Then, I pick another set and make three more cards. And so on, until I have enough cards or decide that store-bought works well enough for whoever's left.

I whipped out nine Christmas cards the other day in record time, so it seems to be working so far. My plan is to share all three cards from each set at once...whether they turned out great or not. Keeping it real here at Simplicity!

Today's trio of cards uses Hero Arts Holiday Pine Boughs. The first two cards were inspired by a variety of cards on Pinterest that showcase multiple images of stamped or punched branches arranged in swags, like this one by Michelle Williams here.

Stamps: Papertrey sentiment; Ink: Hero Arts green; Archival
red geranium, leaf green; Paper: Papertrey white
Accessories: craft foam, glue, scallop scissors
(to round the corners slightly)

The first version uses traditional Christmas shades of green and red for a festive punch of color. The second version goes softer with light shades of blue and Delicata silver for a peaceful, cool effect.

Stamps: Papertrey sentiment; Ink: Delicata silver; Hero Arts soft sky,
cornflower; Paper: Papertrey white; Accessories:
satin ribbon, rhinestones, glue dots

The third card branches into border stamping. (I'm so sorry. That's a terrible pun.) It was heavily inspired by Michelle's CARD on my Pinterest Cards board. Michelle's card is prettier than mine, though.

Ink: Impress mojito, grass; Ranger red geranium
Paper: Papertrey white; Accessories: bling

And that's one set down.

1,234,783 more to go.

*sigh*

I think I might have issues.

And many thanks to Michelle for al the inspiration for today's cards!

Two Sympathy Cards Compared

We've received several requests for more sympathy cards at Karen's Card Shop, the shop I help run at my church. So I got to work and made both of these cards back-to-back. They are in some ways a study in contrast, so posting them together makes sense.

First, the soft, controlled card.

Stamps: Hero arts Holiday Pine Branches, Gina K sentiment
ink: Distress, VersaMark; paper: Papertrey white
accessories: clear embossing powder, Martha Stewart butterfly punch,
heat gun, rhinestone, glue, sponging tool

This card uses a resist technique (clear embossing) and very soft distress ink to offer sympathy. The color is soft and clean and monochromatic, and the little punched butterfly is understated. This card's power rests in the understanding that the loved one's spirit is gone but also beautiful and transformed and full of hope.

I see the first card as the perfect card for someone whose grief is overwhelming and tragic and fresh, someone who needs to be surrounded by comfort and calm and love so they can express their grief as they see fit.

Now, the second card.

stamps: Gina K Elegant Florals, Papertrey sentiment
paper: Papertrey white; ink: Hero Arts wet cement, charcoal, navy
accessories: rhinestones

This second card has a completely different vibe. It's got a simple color scheme that has more pop than the first card, a bit more energy, a bit more contrast. While still stylized like the first card, there's more movement here, more depth, more to catch the eye and move it around the card. The bling is subtle but present. The leaves bracket the sentiment like a hug, balancing the asymmetry which reflects the unbalanced feeling of grief.

I see the second card going to someone who already has some peace with the loss, who maybe was expecting the death after a long illness or as the end of a long life well lived. The energy of this card feels more celebratory than the first, and so fitting for that sort of loss.

Sympathy cards are among the hardest cards to make. We want them to be personal and meaningful, comforting and kind. Ultimately, we can't always know how they are received, but when we pour our feelings into them, write a short, loving note, and send them, we are showing love in difficult circumstances.

And really, showing love is what this hobby of ours is all about.

Praying comfort, peace, and love to all who are grieving this day.

Three Variations on another Maile Card

Maile Belles is an amazingly talented designer, and her fourth card HERE inspired all three of my cards for this post. (It's also on Pinterest HERE.)

Today's lesson is about varying an inspiration layout to accommodate the stamps you have. A solid design usually works with the shape and line of the stamps themselves, playing off their strengths. Maile's card, for instance, takes strong advantage of the half-circle shape of the focal-point stamp, its lightness and symmetry, and the wonderful sentiment design that's the true focal point of her card. Note that her image is definitely background here...the whole point is the expression of sympathy.

My first effort to use her layout implemented a stamp that would NEVER have worked to fill a half-circle, but it worked most excellently set at a right angle.

Stamps: Altenew Botanical Garden, Papertrey sentiment;
Ink: Memento Luxe London fog, rose bud;
Paper: Papertrey white;
Accessories: craft foam, rhinestones, glue

The asymmetry works so very well. The rose fills the corner and balances the bling on the bottom right corner. My effort to create a visual triangle with bling proved unnecessary and distracting. If I thought I could remove the bling in the rose without damaging the card, I would.

Live and learn.

The second card returns to Maile's symmetrical layout with asymmetrical bling. Notice, though, that the butterfly isn't covered by the sentiment panel in any way. You don't pin down a healing butterfly on a card! We want this butterfly to fly free and healthy, now, don't we?

Stamps: Hero Arts Antique Engravings, Papertrey sentiment
Ink: Hero Arts butter bar, Memento Luxe London fog
Paper: Papertrey white
Accessories: craft foam, glue, rhinestones 

Maile's enamel dots are asymmetrically arranged to draw attention to the "you" of the sentiment, rather like a hug. Brilliant design and placement! My sentiments on all three cards, however, needs broader spacing of the bling. The bling simply serves to move the eye through the whole sentiment.

The final card changes the theme and gets a little whimsical with a subtle visual pun on turkey butts using a chrysanthemum. This card most closely mimics Maile's card in symmetry and half-circle emphasis, but the heaviness and color density of my variegated mum completely changes the feel of the card.

Stamps: Mama Elephant Freestyle Florals, Papertrey sentiment
Ink: Memento black, Archival Monarch Orange
Paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Memento markers, craft foam, glue, half pearls

Maile's sympathy card is light and airy, calm and peaceful, soft and comforting...as a good sympathy card should be. My Thanksgiving card, on the other hand, has a dense and heavy focal point, rather like a pumpkin or mincemeat pie sitting heavily in your tummy after a very satisfying meal. Or it looks like a turkey butt. Take your pick.

Turkey butts aside, adapting an inspiration layout to your own stamps can be easy if you relax and play around. Give it a go! But make sure you start with a good design. Pretty much anything on Maile's blog will work.

A Tree Repeat

Our fourth and final tree card (at least for now) is sponsored by the design principle known as repetition.

One stamp, stamped three times in two shades of green, adds awesome interest to the blank canvas of a standard white card. If all three trees were the same color, this wouldn't have worked nearly as well. That pop of chartreuse really livens things up, doesn't it? Throw in a little complementary red, and you've got quite a festive Christmas card!

Note there is no embellishment of any kind...just one layer of cardstock with some delightfully placed ink.

Simple, high-impact cards are among my favorite cards to make...and this one fits the bill nicely. What are your favorite cards to make? Which of your creations makes you grin from ear to ear?


Supplies
stamps: A Muse (tree), Hero Arts (sentiment)
ink: Hero Arts green, Ranger Archival vivid chartreuse, red geranium
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: not a blessed one!

Two Tree Cards that Teach Us Lessons

One of my favorite sayings is that people come into your life to be blessings or lessons. Well, the same might be said of cards we make. Some are blessings (like yesterday's card) and some are lessons (like today's two cards).

Either way, we win. We either jump for joy or we learn something. It's all good.

So here are our two lessons for today.

First, the PSX pine tree. I decided to make a set of all-red holiday thank-you card that had a Nordic flavor, but I experimented with adding a bunch of Stickles on the tree to add a snowy feel.

Stamps: PSX tree, Clearly Besotted sentiment;
Ink: Ranger Archival red geranium

Mostly, I love this. The Stickles turned a little pinkish, which is disappointing. I was really hoping the red would stay red and the white Stickles would stay white, with a snowy effect. The red ink is Ranger Archival red geranium, which is waterproof, so I have to assume that the red showing through the clear glue gives the pinkish cast to the glitter.

 Perhaps I'm picking nits, but I left the three other cards I made Stickles-free.

And second, the Hero Arts tree. There's a design flaw here...too much space between the sentiment and tree. Wow, that's a big gap! I considered buying some silver or gold sheer ribbon and add a bow below the tree, but somehow I think that would look "stuck on" and certainly not integral to the design. Nope. Trying to make that tree fit this panel with that sentiment just didn't work.

Stamps: Hero Arts tree, Clearly Besotted sentiment; Ink:
Delicata gold and silver

Dottie Jo wanted to see my effort with this Hero Arts flourish tree.  Perhaps it would be better for her to look at this older, lovely heart card. Hope that's a better example for you to follow, Dottie Jo!!!!

Clearly, today's card just isn't a winner of a design contest. But I'm keeping the silver-and-gold color scheme in the back of my mind as I move forward in my plans to use my Christmas stamp stash.

The great thing about my holiday stamp challenge is that if I make a card that doesn't work, I just move on. These two were "move on" efforts. Maybe next year, these two stamps will yield better results.

Tomorrow, we'll be back with a fun and balanced tree card where everything went right.

Tackling Christmas One Stamp at a Time

Just a reminder: There are three challenges currently going on in my little corner of the interwebs. 
1. One-Layer Simplicity #32: Colour Challenge
2. Thanksgiving Crusade Challenge
3. Altenew Ultimate Blog Hop



It's sort of odd how I tend to work better with some sort of structure to my stamping. To get to work on my Christmas cards, I pulled out all the clear Christmas stamp sets and put them in a CD bin on my desk, thinking that would inspire me. But it's just sort of overwhelming.

There are so many of them!

So it occurred to me that working methodically through the stash (not just clear but wood as well) might be less intimidating. I grabbed four wood-mounted tree stamps that work for Christmas cards and started making a card with each.

Clockwise from top left: Hero Arts, A Muse, PSX, and another PSX.

Here's the first result, an old PSX scene colored with Copics.

card size 6.5" x 3.5"

My son Nick said that this may be his favorite of all the cards I've ever made. While my Copic skills are not very refined (seeing as how rarely I practice, LOL!), this card blisses me out!

Doesn't this evoke the peace and silence of a winter's evening in the woods? Oh, my. My original intent was to add a small sentiment in the empty snow under the hill, but that would have marred unsullied peace of the scene. Better left alone, I say.

*happy sigh*

I made one card with each of the four wood-mounted trees in short order, and three are blog-worthy. That's fairly reasonable for me. Now, I'm tackling the clear sets and already made three blog-worthy cards each with two different sets (plus a few that ended up in the recycle bin). Nine Christmas cards finished in one day...something's working here.

So that's the plan for using my holiday stash: three cards from each clear set and one from each wood-mounted single stamp. I'm feeling pumped for Christmas now!!!!!

How do you tackle the challenge of and get yourself excited about making lots of Christmas cards? 


Supplies
stamps: PSX
paper: Gina K deluxe white
ink: Memento black
accessories: Copics (C1, C3, BG70, BG72), craft foam, glue

One-Layer Simplicity #32: Colour Challenge

The oh-so-talented Karen is hosting this month's One-Layer Simplicity Challenge with a fabulously flexible color challenge: red, orange, and yellow!

This is great for all those in the northern hemisphere who are making fall/Thanksgiving cards, but it's flexible enough to accommodate almost any theme and season. It's a warm, high-energy challenge (depending on the shades you choose) and always a happy scheme to play with.

I'm posting two cards for the challenge, using the same leaf stamp but in ways that yield VERY different results. First up, a fiery blast of bold watercolor plays background to very simple design.

The color comes from StampinUp's summer sun, more mustard, and cherry cobbler, used on watercolor paper. The brown ink for the leaf and sentiment are Memento Luxe rich cocoa.

Next up, a crisp, clean leaf border in the same StampinUp colors for a completely different look on white card stock.

The difference is AMAZING!

Thanks, Karen, for such a fun and versatile challenge! Click on over and give it a try!

Supplies
stamps: PSX (leaf), Papertrey (top sentiment), Clearly Besotted (bottom sentiment)
paper: watercolor (top card), Papertrey white (bottom card)
ink: SU summer sun, more mustard, cherry cobbler; Memento Luxe rich cocoa
accessories: watercolor brush, washi (mask), rhinestones