Birthday White

Y'all know I love white space, but lately there's been a bit too much white space outside my windows in the form of snow. Snow. Snow. Snow.

We're getting more snow today, which is the day after I wasted a bunch of white card stock making what my friend Leslie calls "pretty trash." Ugh. Pretty white trash in my white waste basket, pretty white cold stuff falling out my window, piling up on more white stuff that's been there a while. White is everywhere. The good, the bad, the trash.

I have no idea where I'm going with this lament (no doubt it's the result of an annoying cold virus that's taken residence in my head), but the following birthday card makes me embrace the white.

I decided to try something a bit funky with the dotted line in Lily Bee's Memorandum set, and this is what happened. GLITTER!

This would, by the way, qualify for the One-Layer Simplicity Challenge this month...except for the punched shape, which, technically, makes this a two-layer card.

Thanks so much to all who commented on this post about their favorite white card stock. Isn't it just the most wonderful thing that we have so many good options for card stock? Next up, I'm going to talk some more about inks and ink storage and such. Put on your thinking cats (*giggle*) and be prepared to share your ideas on that pesky subject soon.

When it comes to ink, I think we all need as much advice as we can get.

Supplies
stamps: Lily Bee Memorandum, Papertrey Birthday Basics, Hero Arts circle
ink: Hero Arts green hills, Memento Luxe black
paper: Papertrey
accessories: daisy punch, Doodlebug lime glitter, glue pen, dimensional

Tweaking a Design

These tweaking posts always yield interesting comments because what I consider an improvement, some of you inevitably consider a dis-improvement. Everyone is entitled to her (or his) opinion, which is why the world is such a fun place. Feel free to disagree with me, but I'm always right and you know it.

Yeah, right.

(Seriously, we need a sarcasm font!)

Anyway, here's the first card I made with my drop-dead gorgeous Hero Arts map stamp.

The ink is VersaMagic aloe vera, which is a nice, soft green, with charcoal VersaColor ink for the sentiment. It's not a bad card at all, but the sentiment seems a bit too dark, and the border around the map is so tiny that it makes the whole card feel a bit cramped.

So I re-made the card with a lighter inks, different colors, and bling instead of pearls. Oh, and a wider mat of white around it all. Much better! Well, at least it looks more like I made it.

As you can see, I trimmed almost all the border off the stamped panel to make the mat wider, and the whole thing feels so much less cramped as a result. The map is stamped in VersaMagic sea breeze, which is a lovely light blue, and I colored the bling to match with Sharpies. The sentiment works better in a warm brown than the charcoal of the first card. (This brown is VersaMagic jumbo java.) Brown and pastels always look nice together.

I gave this card to my darling husband. I bought this stamp, in fact, because he loves maps and I love him. But I digress.

So, do you disagree with me? Does the green one float your boat, or are you true blue in your sailing preference?

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts map background, Papertrey sentiment
ink: VersaColor and VersaMagic
paper: Papertrey
accessories: pearls, rhinestones, dimensionals

Memory Lapse

In yesterday's review post, I commented about the Kaleidacolor pads being hard to use with larger stamps, but I forgot about this card I made last week after my new Hero Arts background map stamp arrived.

Gay of Crafty Musings reminded me about this simple technique for using big stamps with those awkward pads in the comments of yesterday's post. (Definitely click to Gay's blog...she's a wonderfully talented stamper!)

To make this card, all I did was ink the top part of the stamp first, then rotate it 180 degrees, ink again, and then stamp. I trimmed out a strip of the whole background, popped it with dimensionals, and stamped the sentiment after inking it on the Kaleidacolor pad so its colors would continue the ones beside it on the map. If you look closely, you'll see that the top of the "l" is purple-blue, not green.

I love all the movement on the stamp generated by the lines of magnetic declination...which is weird because they clutter up the map. The contrast, however, between the colorful, cluttered, sorta visually wild image and crisp, clean, white card really works well, don't you think?

I prefer top folds on portrait-oriented cards, but when making cards for Operation Write Home, side folds allow the troops to see the card front when it's stuffed into an envelope the way that Sandy wants them stuffed.

Thanks, Gay, for reminding me about this little trick.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts (map), Papertrey Ink (sentiment, Happy Trails)
ink: Kaleidacolor
paper: Papertrey Ink
accessories: dimensionals

Quickie Reviews and a Card Stock Comparison

It's been a while since I reviewed anything...but then, it's been a while since I bought much new stuff. Since Christmas, I have been on a spending bender that probably ended today with a significant purchase at Marco's Paper, a bit of brick-and-mortar paper-crafting heaven. Here's some of what I bought.

Surprisingly (because I already have so many), I've been buying a lot of ink pads lately. Not sure why, except that the gray dreariness of an Ohio winter probably makes colorful inks particularly appealing. I've stocked up on a bunch of Hero Arts colors for no other reason than they are pretty, but Marco's had these cheerful pads calling my name.

Here are my quickie reviews of these two inks:

1. Kaleidacolor spectrum pads: Love them. They are juicy with bright colors. I find the monochromatic pads the most appealing, but the Melon Melody above was irresistibly citrusy and made my mouth water. Because the ink in these is watery, the case is designed to separate the five pads of ink for storage so they don't get muddy. To use these pads, you slide a plastic handle until all five pads are snuggled up together, and then ink your stamp. I find patting the stamp repeatedly with tiny shifts left and right over the pads blends the ink beautifully for a spectrum effect.

These pads have limited usefulness for inking really large stamps because the plastic sliding mechanism that separates the colors for storage gets in the way. Some people ink up a brayer and then ink the stamp with the brayer (I find this messy and wasteful of ink, but that's my OCD talking), but still, if your stamp is wider than the brayer, it's a challenge. Also, if you only want one color, you have to use a pretty small stamp. With those caveats, I give these pads two thumbs up.

2. Memento Luxe: I'm in love. (Yes, I am an ink slut. Bet you are, too!) These pigment inks (in the same colors as the regular Memento inks) are rich, vibrant, densely colorful, and just plain gorgeous. The black is utterly opaque on white card stock and incredibly beautiful. Luxe inks dry faster than plain pigment inks, but not quite as fast as, say, VersaColor or Brilliance inks. I find this mildly annoying. The lids fit tightly, which is nice for keeping the pads juicy. I haven't tried these on fabric yet, but the case says heat-setting makes it permanent. Awesome!


And now for my comparison of Papertrey Stamper's Select white card stock and Neenah 110# Solar White Cover card stock.

I've used Papertrey white card stock for years. I love the thickness of it, especially for one-layer cards. I love the way StampinUp Real Red dries nearly instantly on it. I love the feel of it. Love, love, love it.

Today, I bought a 25-sheet pack of Neenah Solar White at Marco's for more money than I should have but I didn't really care. I figured if I liked it, I'd buy a whole ream and save big, right? Whatever. Anyway, I'm having a really hard time picking a favorite between the two.

The only real differences appear to be that Hero Arts ink does slightly--and I do mean slightly--better on the Neenah, while Ancient Page does slightly--and I do mean slightly--better on Papertrey. These variations could simply be the result of more ink on the stamps or more/less pressure applied in the stamping rather than any intrinsic difference in the paper.

The colors seem a bit more intense in general on the Neenah (take a look at the Brilliance and VersaMagic samples in particular), but when I flipped the card stocks over, I noticed the Hero Arts image was slightly visible through the Neenah but not the Papertrey. None of the other inks showed through to the back of the Neenah at all, so it may just be that I over-inked the stamp for that impression.

I tested a Copic on both Papertrey and Neenah, and it bled through on both. If you're going to color with alcohol-based markers on a one-layer card, use Gina K's heaviest deluxe white card stock. That will NOT bleed through no matter how much blending you do because it is coated.

I'll be darned if I can tell a difference in how the Papertrey and the Neenah card stocks feel. They also seem to be the same weight...Papertrey's site doesn't specify the weight of its paper. Both are very heavy and require scoring to fold cleanly.

The Neenah is available by the ream (250 sheets) and works out to about $0.18 per sheet from the Paper Mill but is much higher in smaller packs ($0.37 per sheet in a 50-sheet pack from Marco's), while the Papertrey is about $0.15 per sheet in 40-sheet packs.

My conclusion: if you're looking for a good white card stock for card bases, either Papertrey or Neenah Solar White 110# Cover will serve you quite nicely.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Please feel free to share your own experiences and opinions about Kaleidacolor Inks, Memento Luxe inks, Papertrey's Stamper's Select, and Neenah Solar White 110# card stock. I'm fully aware that individual results may vary, and my readers deserve multiple opinions!

Little Birdie Says Hello

The grid stamp from Lily Bee's Memorandum set adds a fun and fresh pattern to this little birdie!

I'm having problems with Blogger...again. It won't let me upload photos from my computer. So frustrating sometimes! I fear the resolution on this photo is too low as a result of my work-around, and hope the "Hello" doesn't look as pixelated to you as it does to me. At least the photo is here and not languishing on my hard drive!

We're bracing for yet another winter storm here in Ohio, while other parts of the country are already being pummeled with snow. To all who are in the grip of Old Man Winter, stay safe and warm!

And drink a hot beverage. I find that helps.

Supplies
stamps: Gina K sentiment
ink: Hero Arts and Memento
paper: Papertrey Ink white
accessories: SU bird punch, dimensional, glue pen

A Little of This, a Little of That

1. Jonah is doing better after his bout of RSV, although now Ben, Jonah's daddy, has the upper respiratory crud. I've delivered cards the past two Fridays but because they've been sick, I've not gone inside. If you've sent a card and it's been delivered, your name should be on the Jonah Card page. If it's not, let me know. I actually did miss one name during Christmas, so mistakes can be made. By me. Because I'm fallible. Oh. So. Fallible.

2. I have received more cards from some of you, and now's the time to share them. There's one more I've received from Anne B. that still needs to be photographed, but y'all need to know how much I appreciate every single card you send me. Happy, pretty mail!!!!

Pam S. totally rocks negative space.

So does Janet, but that metallic snowflake steals
the show.

And Heather's sparkles so much in real life that even
George said, "That is a REALLY pretty card!"

3. Click over to the One-Layer Simplicity Challenge Blog for Heather's Can You Repeat That? Challenge! The design principle of repetition is so fundamental and flexible...you can already see the incredible variety in the entries! Have fun with this one!!!

4. My card for tonight is, unfortunately, the best of about ten cards I made with Papertrey's Springtime Doodles...

which leads me to believe that doodle-style stamps are not for me...or I need to put my thinking cat on.

Awwww, that's so cute you're bound to forget my card, which isn't terrible but is rather uninspired. Sometimes we buy things that we think should work for us but don't. I'm not giving up on the set yet because it really is ideal for making kid cards (regarding which I am excessively challenged), but I have some other new stuff to play with right now, which leads me to...

5.

I went a little arrow crazy because I bought Hero Arts Borders and Arrows set, but the arrows in it are huge. I wanted some smaller ones, and now I have them. All because I saw these dishes last summer on vacation in northern Minnesota. Oy.

And that's enough for one night.

One-Layer Simplicity #2: Can You Repeat That?

February's One-Layer Simplicity Challenge is hosted by the Master of Sponge-and-Masking, Heather Telford! Her sample card is simply amazing, so click on over and check it out.

The challenge focuses on a key design element: repetition. There are so many ways to use repetition in designs to add interest and movement and balance! I know y'all will have fun playing with this design concept, so get stamping!

I often focus on very, very tight, orderly repetition...grids and rows...because I'm so very, um, tidy. Yeah, I like that word better than some others that pop to mind. Anyway, today, I have a card that is very tidy but also has lots of movement. My design repeats a leaf from Papertrey's Ruby Reprise to create a single large flower in happy citrus shades.

Notice how the stamp itself--with its three thick and three thin curves--creates a sense of movement in a very static design. Also, the sentiment slightly overlaps the flower without committing the sin of trapped white space. This has the effect of stopping the eye's movement and drawing attention to a rather small sentiment. I really like the tension created by the "movement" of the flower and the stasis of the black rhinestone and sentiment.

I hope you do, too!

Now click on over to the One-Layer Simplicity Challenge blog, and put on your thinking caps! Let's see how you use repetition to make some one-layer awesomeness!!!

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Ruby Reprise, Birthday Basics
ink: VersaColor
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: black rhinestone