Grab Boxes for Sale

I've put together four medium-size flat-rate USPS boxes packed full of stamps, embellishments, punches, and doo-dads.

Each box contains at least 12 clear stamp sets (even distribution of large, medium, and small sets between the four boxes), some wood-mounted stamps, Stickles, bling, and border punches. The clear stamps are mostly Hero Arts and Papertrey, with a few other great brands thrown in, and the rubber stamps are mostly Hero Arts and StampinUp.

NOTE: I do break up some sets, which means a few sets might be missing a sentiment or image. All stamps have been used, so there may be some staining of stamps, but they all work great. In fact, every thing in the boxes works, but realize some supplies may be partially used.

These are GREAT deals just for the clear stamps alone...and you get all sorts of fun extras to play with! 

Each box costs $64, which includes the shipping cost of $13.65. I will accept PayPal or check, and will ship within a few days of receiving payment and checks clearing.

Sales are limited to the United States.

Confirm with me by email that a box is available for you: susanraihala@roadrunner.com

If you have questions, email me or post in the comments!

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Stunning Cosmos by Altenew

Altenew has mastered the art of multi-layered floral stamps. Their Stunning Cosmos set is a case in point.

My first card today shows one of the cosmos blooms with a sentiment from the stamp set. The sentiments are LARGE and so are the flowers, so they take up a lot of real estate on a standard card. For CAS cardmakers like me, however, these large-scale sets don't leave enough white space.

So I made another card, using a sentiment from Hero Arts Thank You Messages, that allows for more white space.

Which do you prefer? Why?

(You already know my answer, but personal tastes and preferences vary widely among my readers, and I'd love to hear what you think!)

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Altenew Stunning Cosmos, Hero Arts Thank You Messages
ink: Memento canteloup; Archival tiger lily, leaf green; Hero Arts soft granite
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Hero Arts sequins, glue

Father's Day and Summer Cleaning

Often, older stamps still make great cards...especially when the stamps are awesomely designed. Such is the case with Papertrey's Through the Trees. Sadly, this set doesn't appear on the Papertrey website anymore. But I love it still. 

The leaves are a separate stamp from the trunk, making this an incredibly easy image to ink and stamp. I did use my MISTI to allow for repeat inking in case of imperfect impressions.

The card looked okay but needed a little something extra so I added dark green Stickles to random leaves. The sparkle is darling in real life!

The sentiment comes from Papertrey's Father Knows Best, which is also discontinued. Just because stamps are old doesn't mean they can't be useful and well loved!

Today, I got a bee in my bonnet to clean out my craft space. It's been a while, but I know that I've got a LOT of stuff stuck in my unfinished basement that probably needs to be sold. Why not add a little more to the "get rid of" stash? 

I feel compelled to get rid of stuff right now. I haven't sold grab boxes in years, and it's time. There are so many supplies sitting unused in my basement...it's just sad.

So I'll be posting grab boxes for sale soon and send those supplies to great new homes where they may serve a greater purpose than collecting dust in my basement. 

Quick question: How often do you clean out your craft space? Do you find it as relaxing and satisfying as I do? Or does it stress you out? Okay, I guess that's three questions. But I'd love to hear your responses. Curiosity about cleaning from the OCD minimalist!

Mercy, grace, peace, love, and cleaning,

Susan

Supplies

stamps: Papertrey Through the Trees, Father Knows Best

ink: Hero Arts soft granite, forever green

paper: papertrey white

accessories: Stickles, craft foam, glue

Running Stencils through a Cuttlebug

It occurred to me that I've never tried running a stencil through my Cuttlebug, so I gave it a try. The results made my artist mom up pick the panel (not yet made into a card) and say, "Oh, pretty!"

Here's the card.

Sadly, the photos don't really capture the three-dimensional effect, but it's lovely in real life. I inked the piece with Tim Holtz distress inks and the inking tool. The rhinestones are Swarovski crystals that have been in my stash for over a decade. They were just the right blueish purple for the card. How awesome when that happens!

It's also awesome to realize that an old supply (stencils) can be used in a new (well, new-to-me) way.

What is your favorite "new" way to use an old supply?

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Keep It Simple Thank You
ink: Archival black, Tim Holtz distress inks
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Swarovski crystals, stencil, Cuttlebug, inking tools

Stenciled Thanks

In addition to my Mother's Day purchases, I picked up a few Tim Holtz stencils at Marco's Paper in Centerville. I was actually there just to buy envelopes for Karen's Card Shop with my monthly 40% off coupon, and I'm not quite sure how those stencils and a few bottles of Stickles jumped into my basket. In fact, I'm not quite sure why I picked up a basket to hold the box of 250 envelopes since that would have been easy enough to carry to the checkout by itself.

Why do we do things in stores? It's a mystery. Or I'm just extremely weak-willed and acquisitive.

"Oh, look! Something shiny!"

Anyway, since one of the Stickles colors was steel, I decided to use one of the stencils with a dark gray distress ink and accent it with the Stickles. Karen's Card Shop is desperately in need of thank-you cards (if anyone has any lying around they'd like to donate...just sayin'. I got envelopes!), so I made a thank-you card.

I love the look of one-layer cards with a repeat-pattern stencil. This one gives the illusion of a pretty piece of tile art, doesn't it? It retains the sim2`111111111111111111111. My dog just helped me type. With her chin. On my keyboard. I think someone needs attention.

Back again. As I was saying, the stenciled card retains the simplicity I love in its monochromatic repetition while allowing for pretty ornamental detail.

The dog is staring at me. "Why do you love your computer more than you love me?"

Perhaps I should go pour love into her empty love bucket. There's a hole in that bucket. It's never full. Oh, my.

Daisy from yesterday on the deck. She's
begging for cheese.

Could you say no to that eye? It's staring at me again. Just like yesterday.

We've already established how weak-willed I am. 

Good night.

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Keep It Simple Thank You
ink: Archival black, Tim Holtz weathered wood(?)
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Stickles steel, Tim Holtz stencil, post-it notes

A Trio of Wildflower Cards

Altenew's Wildflower Garden set is quickly becoming my new favorite floral set. Wow, it's shockingly easy to make beautiful, one-layer cards!

Like this one.

And this one.

And this one.

Whether it's a single stem or the green field of the second card, this set makes creating easy. The images have so much movement and can carry a whole one-layer card so well, without the need for any embellishment whatsoever. That's handy when designing sympathy and prayer cards, which truly benefit from simplicity.

A quick note about the MISTI. I stamped the green stem on the first card above without the MISTI and instantly regretted it. The image isn't quite as crisp as I would have liked. So I used the MISTI for the next two and was able to get good, solid, crisp images with repeat inking. Even when lining up stamps might be just as easy with clear blocks, I'm finding the MISTI to be very useful. If you don't have one (or a similar contraption that might be cheaper), I highly recommend getting one.

And no, I'm not getting a kick-back from the MISTI manufacturer. I just really like mine...which was still free to me from a very nice lady named Tina. Yay, Tina!

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Altenew Wildflower Garden
ink: various dye inks (Ranger, Archival, and Hero Arts...all of whom owe me big for all the money I've spent on them. Why don't I have sponsors?)
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: MISTI

A Little Something Extra

Who doesn't love a Before/After post?

In playing with a new set from Altenew (see below for my Mother's Day order), I made a very simple card (you know, the kind I like!). But it was too simple. It needed a little something extra.

Here are the BEFORE pictures:

Isn't this sweet? I adore this two-stamp branch and blossoms from Altenew's Wildflower Garden set. But those blossoms look so flat.

I pulled out my Prismacolor Pencils and added a little shading. First, I added a bit of dark purple pencil to each blossom, and then I rubbed over it with a blender pencil to smooth it out and blend it into the lighter ink color. I tinkered with the shading until I was satisfied. It makes a world of difference!

Here are the AFTER pictures:

Often, a little something extra takes blah to beautiful!


And for those who are interested in such things, here's my Mother's Day bounty.

I'm wondering if I'll regret all those sequins. Do they stay glued to cards when sent through the mail? Inquiring minds, and all that.

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Altenew Wildflower Garden
ink: Hero Arts passion flower; Archival leaf green and black
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: Prismacolor pencil, blender pencil, MISTI