Sadly, I've had to temporarily turn off anonymous commenting on all my blogs. The quantity of spam is huge and growing, and it's simply taking too much time to deal with them all via comment moderation. For every legitimate anonymous comment, I'm receiving 60-70 spam comments.
I truly appreciate each legitimate comment...anonymous or otherwise...and understand that some of you don't want to register online for privacy reasons. For those of you who haven't registered with Blogger or Google, please note that these are free services and very little personal information is required, mainly an email address which you may choose to leave private.
If you truly don't want to register anywhere, you still have three private ways to contact me. First, go to the profile page on my blog (link is found in the right sidebar by my lovely picture!), where you'll find a link to email on the left sidebar. Second, you may subscribe to Simplicity via email and then simply reply to the email. Your comment will only be read by me, but I will be able to reply if you have questions. Third, add my email to your email address book. It's susanraihala at woh dot rr dot com.
I'm so sorry for this inconvenience.
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
One-Layer Wednesday #121--Snowy Day
Last week's Cake Wreck blog had a Sunday Sweets that is so perfect for me right now that I just had to make an OLW of it. It's Snowy Day. What do you do on a snowy day? Make a card that represents it...you may use the cakes as inspiration (theme, color, layout, whatever) or come up with your own idea.
As for me, the most fun I've had since we got snow the day after Christmas (and it's still with us, folks!) is watching birds at our feeder. It's set up right outside our front door and visible through the dining room window. Our open floorplan means we see the feeder all the time, and the cardinals have been feeding often, along with house finches, chickadees, and other birds I can't name.
So my Snowy Day card has a cardinal on it, with some glittery snow for good effect.
And yes indeed-y, I colored. Shocking, I know. The colored pencils squealed with delight!
OLW121 Rules
1. A one-layer card is defined as a single piece of card stock folded in half. No other layers allowed.
2. Make a card that represents what you do on a snowy day, as per Cake Wrecks' Sunday Sweets from last week. Perhaps you sit inside, drink Russian tea (or wine), and read a book. Perhaps you go sledding or hiking. Whether you sit by the fire and knit or haul out the snow blower, make a card of it.
3. Post that card somewhere on the Internet, and link back to it here using the InLinkz button on the sidebar.
4. Most important rule of all...HAVE FUN!!!!!
As for me, the most fun I've had since we got snow the day after Christmas (and it's still with us, folks!) is watching birds at our feeder. It's set up right outside our front door and visible through the dining room window. Our open floorplan means we see the feeder all the time, and the cardinals have been feeding often, along with house finches, chickadees, and other birds I can't name.
So my Snowy Day card has a cardinal on it, with some glittery snow for good effect.
And yes indeed-y, I colored. Shocking, I know. The colored pencils squealed with delight!
OLW121 Rules
1. A one-layer card is defined as a single piece of card stock folded in half. No other layers allowed.
2. Make a card that represents what you do on a snowy day, as per Cake Wrecks' Sunday Sweets from last week. Perhaps you sit inside, drink Russian tea (or wine), and read a book. Perhaps you go sledding or hiking. Whether you sit by the fire and knit or haul out the snow blower, make a card of it.
3. Post that card somewhere on the Internet, and link back to it here using the InLinkz button on the sidebar.
4. Most important rule of all...HAVE FUN!!!!!
Monday, December 31, 2012
The Last Post of 2012
I'm back...with a lesson in busyness and a review of the new Hero Arts catalog.
A Lesson in Busyness
I have a new stamp...a cling background stamp from Hero Arts called Looped Flower Pattern. It came with the new catalog. I love the stamp, but the catalog leaves a tad to be desired. More on the catalog below.
Large background stamps seem a bit antithetical to clean-and-simple design. They take up all that glorious white space, after all. But when used properly, they can add interest to a card without making it fussy or busy. Like this:
For the above card, I paired the Looped Flower Pattern with a large sentiment from A Muse. Three white layers keep the design fresh and light, and adding the light green color to the sentiment links the two stamped layers visually. This works.
For the next card, I changed the orientation to accommodate a vertical sentiment from Papertrey's Beautiful Blessings and added a touch of bling to emphasize the key word and bring blue to the sentiment. The sentiment isn't as clean and simple as the Happy Birthday one, and that creates a bit more busyness on the card. The clean font and straight lines work well with the curves of the background, though.
The final card today crosses my personal line in the sand as being too busy, although I don't think there's anything else wrong with it. The sentiment is from Hero Arts' Dictionary Greetings. The focal point is very busy...lots of little words! I tried to simplify it by highlighting three bold words with lavender, and that's certainly better than the unhighlighted version, but it's still too busy for my taste.
What saves it, sort of, is the contrast between the very linear text and the curvy background.
Lines love curves.
And don't you forget it.
Anyway, whether or not you like busy cards is more a matter of taste than anything else. I prefer cleaner cards with more white space and very strong focal points. Other people want to look at more stuff. It's all good.
The 2013 Hero Arts Catalog
So you know, I don't receive any free stuff or compensation from Hero Arts. I'm just a long-time customer offering her free and completely personal opinion for what it's worth, which may not be much at all, but it's my blog so here goes.
The Hero Arts catalog is something of a holiday tradition with me. Every year, I buy the new catalog and eagerly peruse it during the holiday break, not just for the new stamps but also for the sample cards, which are always so fun and colorful at a very gray time of year. Unfortunately, as with some other stamp catalogs, every year, the Hero Arts catalog gets smaller, and I find myself feeling cheated. In 2008, it was 90 pages. This year, it's 64 pages...a ten-page drop from 2012.
The price is still $10.
I miss the old catalog value. The 2008 catalog is loaded with tons of sample cards with plenty of cool layouts and ideas--so cool that I still have it even after tossing lots of other companies' old catalogs-- but the 2013 catalog is pretty much just a catalog, with an occasional photo of a card or tag widely scattered throughout. I probably won't keep it past a year.
There's a $3 Card Gallery that I got for "free"...but it's just a four-page, single-fold pamphlet. If I'd paid $3 for it, I'd be upset.
I understand that Hero, like most other stamp companies, is relying more and more on the interwebs for marketing. With all the blogs promoting Hero Arts, it's certainly easy to find inspiration without bothering to look at the catalog. But I perused the new stamps on Ellen Hutson's website (which is a lovely website, by the way) weeks ago, and found that an annoyingly impersonal substitute for the catalog. Ellen sells the stamps (and that's all I expect from her), but Hero should love them and package the catalog in such a way that the love shows.
I miss the old catalogs. I miss the love.
For a full disclaimer, I should note that before children, I worked in marketing and coordinated production of many, many print pieces, brochures, and books. There's a value to beautifully produced print pieces that can actually be quantified, but the world is changing and clearly Hero Arts is following the times. It just makes me sad.
As for the new line of Hero Arts stamps, they're better than last year, but I miss the size indicators in previous catalogs. When stamps were shown at 60%, the old catalogs said so. This one does not, so you're left wondering how big they really are, especially if you're a new customer. That said, the whole line seems fresher to me, yet still clearly Hero Arts. There's some genuinely new stuff, along with some rehashed decade-old stamps, and it all works great together.
Which just goes to show that Hero's designers make stamps that stand the test of time and still seem fresh and fun and appealing. No complaints there.
Now, if they'll just give me an old-style, more inspiring catalog next year, one that I'll want to keep for years to come, I'll have nothing to complain about at all.
A Lesson in Busyness
I have a new stamp...a cling background stamp from Hero Arts called Looped Flower Pattern. It came with the new catalog. I love the stamp, but the catalog leaves a tad to be desired. More on the catalog below.
Large background stamps seem a bit antithetical to clean-and-simple design. They take up all that glorious white space, after all. But when used properly, they can add interest to a card without making it fussy or busy. Like this:
 |
| YES! |
For the above card, I paired the Looped Flower Pattern with a large sentiment from A Muse. Three white layers keep the design fresh and light, and adding the light green color to the sentiment links the two stamped layers visually. This works.
For the next card, I changed the orientation to accommodate a vertical sentiment from Papertrey's Beautiful Blessings and added a touch of bling to emphasize the key word and bring blue to the sentiment. The sentiment isn't as clean and simple as the Happy Birthday one, and that creates a bit more busyness on the card. The clean font and straight lines work well with the curves of the background, though.
 |
| Good |
The final card today crosses my personal line in the sand as being too busy, although I don't think there's anything else wrong with it. The sentiment is from Hero Arts' Dictionary Greetings. The focal point is very busy...lots of little words! I tried to simplify it by highlighting three bold words with lavender, and that's certainly better than the unhighlighted version, but it's still too busy for my taste.
 |
| A Bit Too Busy |
What saves it, sort of, is the contrast between the very linear text and the curvy background.
Lines love curves.
And don't you forget it.
Anyway, whether or not you like busy cards is more a matter of taste than anything else. I prefer cleaner cards with more white space and very strong focal points. Other people want to look at more stuff. It's all good.
The 2013 Hero Arts Catalog
So you know, I don't receive any free stuff or compensation from Hero Arts. I'm just a long-time customer offering her free and completely personal opinion for what it's worth, which may not be much at all, but it's my blog so here goes.
The Hero Arts catalog is something of a holiday tradition with me. Every year, I buy the new catalog and eagerly peruse it during the holiday break, not just for the new stamps but also for the sample cards, which are always so fun and colorful at a very gray time of year. Unfortunately, as with some other stamp catalogs, every year, the Hero Arts catalog gets smaller, and I find myself feeling cheated. In 2008, it was 90 pages. This year, it's 64 pages...a ten-page drop from 2012.
The price is still $10.
I miss the old catalog value. The 2008 catalog is loaded with tons of sample cards with plenty of cool layouts and ideas--so cool that I still have it even after tossing lots of other companies' old catalogs-- but the 2013 catalog is pretty much just a catalog, with an occasional photo of a card or tag widely scattered throughout. I probably won't keep it past a year.
There's a $3 Card Gallery that I got for "free"...but it's just a four-page, single-fold pamphlet. If I'd paid $3 for it, I'd be upset.
I understand that Hero, like most other stamp companies, is relying more and more on the interwebs for marketing. With all the blogs promoting Hero Arts, it's certainly easy to find inspiration without bothering to look at the catalog. But I perused the new stamps on Ellen Hutson's website (which is a lovely website, by the way) weeks ago, and found that an annoyingly impersonal substitute for the catalog. Ellen sells the stamps (and that's all I expect from her), but Hero should love them and package the catalog in such a way that the love shows.
I miss the old catalogs. I miss the love.
For a full disclaimer, I should note that before children, I worked in marketing and coordinated production of many, many print pieces, brochures, and books. There's a value to beautifully produced print pieces that can actually be quantified, but the world is changing and clearly Hero Arts is following the times. It just makes me sad.
As for the new line of Hero Arts stamps, they're better than last year, but I miss the size indicators in previous catalogs. When stamps were shown at 60%, the old catalogs said so. This one does not, so you're left wondering how big they really are, especially if you're a new customer. That said, the whole line seems fresher to me, yet still clearly Hero Arts. There's some genuinely new stuff, along with some rehashed decade-old stamps, and it all works great together.
Which just goes to show that Hero's designers make stamps that stand the test of time and still seem fresh and fun and appealing. No complaints there.
Now, if they'll just give me an old-style, more inspiring catalog next year, one that I'll want to keep for years to come, I'll have nothing to complain about at all.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
OLW120 on Karen's Blog
Just a reminder that Karen has posted OLW120--Cheers! Make a one-layer card with a drink on it and post it to Karen's blog!!!
I probably won't be able to post until Sunday or Monday, but I sure hope y'all are having a wonderful holiday week. I am!!!
I probably won't be able to post until Sunday or Monday, but I sure hope y'all are having a wonderful holiday week. I am!!!
Sunday, December 23, 2012
OLW119 Reminder
Just a reminder (a little late!) that the OLW for last Wednesday is on Heather's blog, and it's Silver and Blue...such a beautiful and appropriate color challenge!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
More Gift Sets
Just a quick post here. My mother arrived yesterday...yippee!!! Like most of you, I will be focusing on family for the next week or so, and posts here will be thin. I want to thank each and every one of you for sticking with me and making Simplicity the very cool place it is. It wouldn't be cool without YOU!
So here are a few more of the note card gift sets I made for my son's teachers, therapists, and aides.
The two-step hearts from Heart Prints (Papertrey) turned out so well, I decided to create an assortment of colors. Here's an example of Memento's really light colors being useful.
More polka dots, this time from Background Basics: Polka Dots (Papertrey). I used the smallest dot border stamp twice to get the green and pink in there. LOVE doing that.
Finally, I pulled out a clear set from Hero Arts and my Memento markers for a citrus-y rainbow.
These are packaged in Papertrey's clear card boxes with envelopes from Marco's Paper...a local establishment with an online store. The employees are so nice, and the shop is a treasure trove of crafting and artsy goodness.
And no, they aren't paying me to say anything. I just like spreading the word when a local small business does a great job!
Merry Christmas to you all!!!!
So here are a few more of the note card gift sets I made for my son's teachers, therapists, and aides.
The two-step hearts from Heart Prints (Papertrey) turned out so well, I decided to create an assortment of colors. Here's an example of Memento's really light colors being useful.
More polka dots, this time from Background Basics: Polka Dots (Papertrey). I used the smallest dot border stamp twice to get the green and pink in there. LOVE doing that.
Finally, I pulled out a clear set from Hero Arts and my Memento markers for a citrus-y rainbow.
These are packaged in Papertrey's clear card boxes with envelopes from Marco's Paper...a local establishment with an online store. The employees are so nice, and the shop is a treasure trove of crafting and artsy goodness.
And no, they aren't paying me to say anything. I just like spreading the word when a local small business does a great job!
Merry Christmas to you all!!!!
Friday, December 14, 2012
2012 Stephen Ministry Ornaments
Better late than never. I feel like this is going to be anticlimactic for many of you. Remember, I am the only crafty member of our SM group, so these needed to be basic.
We made these ornaments using the pink Marvy scallop circle punch and the blue Marvy circle punch. The stamps are Hero Arts Clear Set CL459, and the ink is Memento teal. We mass-produced these (about 200), with my son doing a lot of the punching for us...that is hard on hands, and he was such a team player on that!
If I were to dress these up for a smaller production run, I'd pop the smooth circle on dimensionals and attach the string with the dimensionals rather than punching a hole.
These were presented during the worship service following a presentation about peace and how hard it is for people who are suffering to find it during the holidays. The ornaments are to remind everyone to look out for those who are suffering this time of year and to inspire those who are in the midst of suffering to lean on God for that peace that passes understanding.
Peace be with you.
We made these ornaments using the pink Marvy scallop circle punch and the blue Marvy circle punch. The stamps are Hero Arts Clear Set CL459, and the ink is Memento teal. We mass-produced these (about 200), with my son doing a lot of the punching for us...that is hard on hands, and he was such a team player on that!
If I were to dress these up for a smaller production run, I'd pop the smooth circle on dimensionals and attach the string with the dimensionals rather than punching a hole.
These were presented during the worship service following a presentation about peace and how hard it is for people who are suffering to find it during the holidays. The ornaments are to remind everyone to look out for those who are suffering this time of year and to inspire those who are in the midst of suffering to lean on God for that peace that passes understanding.
Peace be with you.
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