Variations on a theme ...

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you are all surving Spring Break without resorting to alcohol at 8:00 am :)  Gotta admit by noon on Monday I was getting a little twitchy and wondering how we would all make it through the week but things have improved - the bickering has lessened a bit and we have been outside which REALLY helps (we're off to the park again right after lunch).

While the girls were playing this morning I snuck down to my craft room to do some much needed crafting (yes, I have to sneak - they always want me near by!)  My high-school best friend is coming over Friday night to make Easter cards with me and my girls so I figured I should have some ideas ready.  Here is the first one - look familiar?  Yep - it's a variation of my Circle Circus birthday card:

(I used Circle Circus, Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Concord Crush and Marina Mist inks and the Concord Crush cs & ribbon, the jumbo scallop and 1 3/8", 1" & 3/4" circle punches - and lots of dimensionals)

It's not my FAVORITE card of all time (I'm not a hugs fan of the traditional Easter colors) but I think it will be fun (and easy) for the girls to make.

I then wanted to make a simpler version of this card:

Here is what I came up with:

(I used Crosses of Hope, God's Blessings, the Tuplip embossing folder, Concord Crush cs and ink, finger dauber and a rhinestone)

Finally - a friend of mine is getting married in April and I want to give her a stack of Thank You cards as a gift.  I tweaked this card:

... and came up with this one:

(I used Sahara Sand ink & cs, Tulip folder, finger dauber, Bliss, Black Staz-On, Modern Label & Word Window punches, pearls, dimensionals & the sentiment from Short & Sweet)

So although my projects aren't 100% new they certainly fit the bill.  Heck - why re-invent the wheel, right? 

I hope to do more crafting in the next few days so I can use my BRAND NEW stamp set and designer series paper from the upcoming Summer Mini catalogue.  Check back soon to see what I come up with.

Have a happy day :)


Tam

Two Years Later ...

... this stamp set actually sees ink!  Yes - I bought the "Flower For All Seasons" two years ago ... maybe it was THREE!!  I bought it because I wanted to make a little desk calendar (you know - the ones that were all the rage a few years ago) and this set seemed to be the perfect size and style (truth be known I wanted the TREE for all Seasons but it hit the retired list and I didn't want to buy a set that was retiring ... although I still like ... and want that set ... so if you have it and want to sell it to me let me know!)  But, as usual .. I digress ...  I bought the set and have NEVER used it.  I'll betcha $20 it retires this year.  It's been around a while now and it is on the SAB list of items you can pick for free.  ANYway ... I am now trying to focus more on customer service and that involves putting a little Thank You note in with all of my orders.  I stumbled across a cute little card created by Dawn Olchefske (Google dostampingwithdawn or http://www.dostamping.typad.com/) and decided to make one similar for a 3x3 thank you note.  Here it is:

Cute, huh?  I used some retired Certainly Celery DSP (although I ran out so made more with the current Pear Pizzazz DSP), Daffodil Delight cs and colored with the Celery, Daffodil and Poppy Parade markers, along with the Basic Gray & a blender.  I added Poppy Parade to the centre of the daisies on the DPS.  Wa-low!  I quick, qute than you note.  Now I need to mass produce it for my next orders .... 18 more needed!!

Have a great night :)


Tam

Bliss Sympathy

Hmmm - well THAT just doesn't sound right now, does it?  This is a fun, simple little card that we made at my Stamp-a-Stack on Sunday.  It's a case from Krista Fenton (http://kristasstampspot.blogspot.com/2011/03/bliss-one-layer-card.html).  I just changed the colors.  I wanted a simple, striking card that could be used for a wedding, sympathy, birthday, just because ... any occasion - this one really fit the bill (thanks Krista!)

I used the Tulip embossing folder (this is a MUST have item!) along with the Bliss set using Sahara Sand for the flourish and Soft Suede for the butterfly.  Punch out whichever sentiment you want from the Teeny Tiny Wishes with your Word Window punch, mat it with Soft Suede with your Modern Label punch and Wa-low!  A quick card for any occasion.

I managed to find my craft desk today (as well as the floor of the play room!)  The cleaning threw out my back a bit but nothing I can handle :)  I'm not sure when I'll get to stamping this week - I volunteered to work the book sale at the girls' school 3 days this week - what was I thinking?!  Well, maybe I'll get down there now - I want to whip up some quick Thank You notes for my hostess Wendy and her guests who placed orders.  I love making little 3x3 cards - they're just fun :)

Hope you had a fun day -


Tam

Yikes!

Has it really been a week since I posted??!!  Wow - the week has flown by!  My girls and I were sick, sick, sick last week (I still am but am trying to suck it up!!) and this weekend was my busiest (and most fun) stamping weekend in my whole 5 years of stamping!!  Once I find the top of my craft desk I'll post a card or two - I have one to post, I just have to find it and take a picture of it!!  Please come back soon to check it out!!

Hope you are healthier than my lot are :)


Tam

In Color DSP fun

I officially  have a new favorite "workshop" card.  It's quick, easy, pretty and uses whatever DSP you have on hand.  I cased it from Pam D'Urso (http://www.sweetpeabunny.blogspot.com/).  Love it!

(I used teh DSP from the Level 1 In Colour Hostess Paper Pack, Blushin Bride cs, Organza ribbon, rhinestones (CAN'T have a card without rhinestones!) and popped the 1" circles up with dimensionals)

Both girls and I are home sick today - could be a loooooong day.  Hope you are all healthier than we are :)


Tam

Ice Cream Parlour ... Take 2 ... and 3

Happy Thursday!

Hope your day is off to a good start :)  Gotta admit - I did so much crafting yesterday I'm in agony today!  My back and shoulders are KILLING me!  I just couldn't stay out of my craft room yesterday.  I don't know what it is but every card I've made lately just falls short of WOW for me.  Of course once I step away from it and look at it again later it seems "better" but I'm just struggling to be 100% happy with my cards.  Soooo - after I finished my quick and easy workshop card yesterday morning I decided I hated it.  I couldn't possibly make this card .. so I had another crack at it ...

... hmmm - this one only took me about 2 hours ... and I must have stamped the flower image at LEAST 6 times in slightly different places on the paper before I settled on this one.  Better ... but .... nope .... hated it ... tried again ...

Hmmm.  Better .... ish .... went to bed vowing to never stamp again (and I wonder where Alicia gets her drama from ...).  Woke up this morning and decided it was nice.  What am I expecting from a quick and simple card??!!  It's simple, it's clean, it's cute, it's quick.  Has all the ingredients for a workshop card.  It stays.  No more for this one!  (plus I'm starting to run out of the buttons and won't have enough for the party if I don't stop!!)

Right - I have now decided on the 3 cards for the party this weekend ... and the one for next Saturday ... and the cards for the Stamp-a-stack ... and 2 of the 3 projects for my Friday technique class ... now I just need a technique ... masking?  black magic?  .... yep - another tough day being me ...

Have a good day!  Tune in soon to see which technique I settle on (and the 15 cards it will likely take for me to be happy with the end result!)


Tam (aka - the neurotic stamper!)

Simple Bliss

Happy Wednesday!

MAN some days I sure struggle to be creative!!  I just spent 2 hours in my craft room trying to make SIMPLE cards.  You should see my desk!  I  have at least 15 stamp sets, every punch I own and about 10 ink pads strewn about!  I START simple but then I keep adding to it!  I'm getting better stopping myself but REALLY!!  I can't tell you how many times I reapproached this simple, simple card:

(I used Crumb Cake paper and ink, the Bliss SAB set, the Sincere Salutations set, the vintage ribbon and brads and the tiny pearls.  I then used my spriter tool to add a bit of "vintage" splashes)

Doesn't LOOK like it took an hour to design does it??!!

I got a little faster with the next one but not much!

(I used the Simply Said set (haven't dusted THAT one off in about 3 years!!), Daffodil and Mambo card stock, Old Olive, Pacific Point and Mambo ink and ribbon and buttons from the free sAB ribbon / button pack).

We will be making this card at a party I have this weekend.

I wanted to post a picture of the final FINAL version of my Tulip Bliss card.  Remember my post where I thought it needed something?  Yep - I had another play and came up with a version I'm a little happier with - I added two flourishes in the corners.  The rest I kept the same. 

See?  Some days it's just hard being me ....

Hope you're having a fun day.  I'm off to do the breakfast dishes ... after all ... it IS almost lunch time!!

Tam

Marina Bliss ..

Well I THOUGHT I had it.  I struggled for HOURS last night trying to get this card right.  I finally decided to "step away from the card" and look at it again in the morning ... here is how I left it ...

(I used the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Marina Mist csm ink and satin ribbon, Bliss, Engraved Greetings, White Taffeta Ribbon, the retired silver elastic, the spritzer tool (and Marina marker), dimensionals and the Rhinestones)

I dunno - there's just something not sitting right with me about it.  I thought of maybe tearing the left corner to expose the Marina cs but ... I dunno ... thoughts?  I woke up at 5:20 this morning and couldn't get it out of my head so at 8:00 am I headed down to the craft room with a cup of coffee and whipped this one up in about 10 minutes:

(I used the Tulip embossing folder, Marina Mist cs, ink and satin ribbon, Bliss, dimensionals, the Designer Label Punch and the Rhinestones)

I like it more than the first one.  Once again, once I got the majority of it put together I thought "it needs something".  Sigh.  It's hard being me!  I decided against more bling and went for some soft sponging of the edges of the layer.  I MAY leave it as is ... then again, knowing me I'll likely have another kick at it later :) ... hmmm,  now that I'm looking at it I think maybe if I just make the white layer smaller there would be less "dead space" and it might look better ... oh!  or maybe just stamp more flourishes in the corners ... ok - I'm off to play ... (can you tell I have a real addiction to stamping??!!)

Have a fun day!

Tam

Stamp-a-stack's a comin ...

... that means LOTS of crafting going on!  I've been in my craft room making cards all day ... well most of it anyway ... I did take out 2 hours to make a new blanket ... (no comments Marianne!)  I had a lot of work to do.  Last night I spent two hours creating two cards but they both got the thumbs down from Craig.  I kinda agree - the colors didn't grab me on this one ... kind of a boring layout too ...

(I used some retired DSP from last years "Happy B'Day SS Kit; Bring on the Cake stamp set, Daffodil 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, Ridinghood Red CS and Wasabi, Rhood Red & Daffodil circles)

I knew I could do better so I tried again.  I wanted to make a card with bright colors and using the new technique I've seen a lot lately of sticking shapes to your layer and then running the whole piece through the Square Lattice embossing folder.  Hmmm - another miss.  I like the layout but the Marina Mist wasn't the right touch.  I'll try it again another day with another color:

(I used Marina Mist, Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery & Real Red cs; celery satin ribbon and Bring on the Cake sentiment in Pacific Point ink)

Kind of fun but Craig's reaction to it was immediate and not favorable ... back to the drawing board ...

I played with this one for WAY too long but I like the end result.  It is obviously based on the card from my previous post just kicked up a notch.  This will be one of my cards for the Stamp-a-stack:

(I used So Saffron & Chocolate Chip ink; Curly Cute sentiment, Stem Silhouette stamps and the Butterfly sizzlets along with the Scallop Trim Border punch)

You can't see it but I do have the Gold Shimmer Smooch spray on it.  I still think it lacks "something" but I'm struggling today and spending WAY too much time on them.  I really have a tough time keeping cards simple and they HAVE to be simple for SASs ... too complicated means they take too long to complete!  The nice thing about this card is it can be used for birthday, sympathy, just because - anything really.  By the time I had finished this card my brain hurt and I realized that most of the cards I had been working on over the last week are neutral tones - a LOT of browns.  I desperately wanted to have a bright, in-your-face FUN card that only took a few minutes to whip up.  Literally 5 minutes later I had this to show for my efforts:

(I used Real Red, Pacific Point, Wild Wasabi and Daffodil Delight inks and papers; ribbon is the 5/8" grosgrain in Real Red and 1/4" grosgrain in Daffodil Delight.  The sentiment is the retired "Birthday Wish" stamp and the circles are popped up with dimensionals.

Mission accomplished!  It's pretty loud!  It DID get a nod of approval from Craig so it might make it into the SAS.  When I design my SAS cards I struggle with a) keeping them simple but also b) giving them all a unique "feel" - I don't want them ALL to be vintage or ALL to me whimsical etc.  It's tough to do when you sit down over one or two days to create 5 different card types.  Usually I'm in a certain mood and am drawn to certain styles and colors so it's very unnatural to go against that.  I think I managed it today though :)

I'm still working on one last card -  I've spent about 2 hours on it already and I'm still not 100% happy with it.  Back to my room I go ... tune in tomorrow to see what I came up with!

Have a great night - I have a couch date with Craig once the little ladies are in bed - we'll be watching "Red" - looking forward to it :)  See you tomorrow!


Tam

Another Round of Golf (and other stuff)

Happy Friday!!  Woo Hoo!  Hope you all survived Teacher Convention.  I've had a looooooooong day.  Alicia had her 4-6 year old booster shots Thursday and has been in pain ever since.  Add in the fact that she didn't sleep well because of it, was up at 5:30 am and her playmate Rebecca was at Grandmas all day for a sleep over and I'm exhausted!  I did manage to pry mt 43.6 pound snuggle bug off me for 10 minutes to do the dishes and take a picture of the do-over golfer card I made the other day.  While I LOVE the original card I love this one more!  It just kicked it up a notch by adding the white layer for the sentiment and a white brad.

Now on to other stuff ...

I cased this card from Stampin Connection - from Julie Leblanc.  I made a template of a 1/4 sheet of card stock and punched out 3 sqaures (the small punch).  I used my sponge in So Saffron ink to create the square backgrounds and then stamped the images (from Stem Silhouettes and Curly Cute) afterwards in Chocolate Chip.  I wanted to try it a second time but dabbed the sponge in the chocolate chip in instead of the So Saffron - oops - oh well - what do they say?  There are no mistakes in stamping just creative opportunities?  I quite liked the result - I carried on - used a bit more chocolate then some saffron and Wa-low!  I find the darker version more "masculine" - I might be using this one at the SAS too ...

Have a fun weekend - I'll be working on my SAS projects so I should have lots to show off in the next few days :)

Tam

Anyone for golf?

Not likely around these parts .. what with it being -33 degrees and more snow than you can shake a stick at!  (This morning on the news "they" said we have had 142 cm of snow so far this year - the average is 80 cm!!!)  Oh well - I'm not one to complain about the cold weather - I would rather it be -30 than +30 to tell you the truth - when it's cold you can always put on more socks and sweaters but when it's hot you can only get so naked!  ... but I digress ...

I have been having a GREAT time this week (ok, so it's only Tuesday!)  I seem to have found the perfect balance of chores, playing with the kids and crafting.  I am really enjoying my life lately :)  This morning I found time to make a card for my brother-in-law whose birthday is Friday.  I think it will also be one of the cards we make at my upcoming Stamp-a-stack (March 20th if you're free!)

I used another one of the FREE stamps from the last page of the Sale-a-brations catalogue - On the Green.  I think I'll be getting quite a bit of mileage out of this one!  I used some Wild Wasabi DSP (from the Soft Subtles DSP Pack) and card stock along with Early Espresso card stock and ink.  The sentiment is from the Level 2 hostess set in the Occasions Mini "Somthing to Celebrate".  LOVE that set - it's a MUST have!!  A few brads and a few dimensionals and Wa-low.

Have a super fantastic day ... whatever the weather where you are :)

Tam