Feeling Sentimental

Happy New Year's Eve!!

Ready for the big night?  I am ... then again I'm lucky if I can make it to 10:00 pm let alone 12:01 *lol*.  We don't usually do much for New Year's Eve.  I'd much rather throw on my yoga pants (that's assuming I've taken them off in the last week *lol*) and curl up on the sofa with the love of my life, a movie and a big bowl of something fattening than getting all gussied up ... wearing nylons that slice me in two and make me dream of going home and putting on yoga pants ... and spending a lot of money on food and drink to stay up way past my bedtime, kiss people I may or may not know and then feel like a piece of dirt all the next day.  Tonight we are going out ... with the girls.  They get SO excited at the mention of fire works ... and I made the fatal error of mentioning there were fireworks tonight ... so at that SECOND I was committed to going!  I'm actually looking forward to it ... and believe me, I wouldn't have mentioned it if I didn't already know it was *only* going to be about -8 degrees out.  Heck ... that's a heat wave around here lately ... so we have to be in position for the 8:30 pm show.  THAT I can handle ... heck, I may still make it to bed before 11:00 if I'm lucky *lol*

Aaaaaaanyway .... I managed to hit the craft room yesterday ... which is QUITE surprising given the purging, cleaning, organizing and READING I've been doing the last few days (FYI I have NEVER been a reader ... I don't think I've read a book in at least 3 YEARS ... but I got a Kobo Christmas ... and ordered The Hunger Games ... and had the first one read in 2 DAYS!!!  ... I pretty much ignored the family for 3 hours at a time ... fed them occasionally and then got back to reading!  What an awesome book!  I promised myself I wouldn't order the next 2 in the Trilogy until we left for Hawaii ... but I couldn't stand it ... and now I'm half way through the second one ... sigh ... WHO HAS TIME TO READ??!!!  But I digress ... back to cards!)

I actually have a LOT of creating to do in the next week ... I need to have all my little duckies in a row before I leave for Hawaii since I have parties right after I get back.  I started to play with toys from the new mini as well as the SAB catalogue.  What fun!  I spent a lot of time on this card.  It's not my "norm" as I don't usually use a lot of embellishments.  I find I make my cards primarily a) easy to mail (which means fewer embellishments to keep postage down and make them easier to mail) and/or b) easy to reproduce in a class or party - as I usually have fewer buttons/brads etc than stampers I keep the add-ons to a minimum.  Not for this one.  I broke out a LOT of tools and had a good ol' time making a mess!

For this card (and all the rest) I used the new Sale-a-brations set called Feeling Sentimental (get it for free when you spend $60 during SAB which is Jan 22 - March 22).  Something about this set just "grabbed" me ... but once I got it in my hands I really didn't know what to do with it.  I struggle with sets that don't come with a sentiment ... or that come with a sentiment I don't like or have a need for.  This set comes with a great size and font ... but the sentiment is "Celebrate" ... and a retro phone booth doesn't scream "Celebrate" to me so I didn't want to use it.  Instead I just played with some toys.  I used Crumb Cake and Very Vanilla c.s.  I used the new Simply Scored Borders Scoring Plate (from the new mini - page 26 - $19.95) to make the zig zags in the background.  I then took a finger dauber and rubbed it with a LITTLE Early Espresso ink to make the image pop out a little more.  You can't see it very well but I then grabbed my Spritzer Tool and Spritzed some Espresso blotches on the background.  I tore a piece of Newspaper Print DSP and scrunched it up ... and rubbed it with a dauber of espresso to disctress it a little more and taped it down.  The phone booth is stamped on vv in Espresso.  I scrunched it a little ... and distressed the edges with the new distressing tool (page 14 of the mini for $6.95) and then used my dauber in espresso for some added color.  Again, hard to see, but I used the splotch stamp from French Foliage in Crumb Cake ink to add some more splotches ... and the Spritzer tool with espresso for splatters.  I added a Basic Designer Silver Button (page 20 of the mini - $7.95 for 16) with some linen thread tied through it (I attached with mini glue dots.  I also added a little strip of the Natural 7/16" Trim Ribbon (page 20 of the mini - $8.95).  I cut off the edge of the ribbon and frayed it along the one side and taped it down.  It took a long time ... and I like it ... its certainly not my usual style .. in fact it reminds me a bit of Kimberly VanDiepen's style for some reason ... but I like it.

I then wanted to play with the set some more ... and make a simpler card.  Here was my next attempt ...

Again ... not my usual style ... but I like it.  The Ferris Wheel is from Feeling Sentimental and the Hello is from Lacy and Lovely (main catty - page 99 - $21.95 clear - $30.95 wood).  I stamped both in Espresso on Vanilla cs.  The doily behind is made using the Newspaper Print DSP ($13.50) that I ran through my Delicate Doilies Sizzlit.  I then inked it with espresso using a dauber.  I added a glimmer brad and a crumb cake nautrals brad on the wheel for some interest.  Yep - won't win any "design of the year" awards but fun, simple. quick and cute.  The next two are my favorite.  First up:

Fun!  (... and may I introduce Craig's finger ...)  This one is non-standard in size ... the flap opens like this:

Eek!  lighting is off a bit on that one!  The card measures 5 1/2" x 6 1/2" inches and is scored at 5 1/2" to make the front flap.  I stamped the bicycle with the help of my handy-dandy stamp-a-ma-jig in espresso.  I added a 1" strip of Espresso card stock (which I ran through the Argyle Folder) and attached it.  I added 3 neutrals brads to the side - gray, vanilla and crumb cake.  Cute!  A "just because" card with no sentiment.  I liked this layout a LOT so I had one more play with it.  Wa-low!

This one is my favorite. It just reminds me of the old Circus / Carnivals ... and the man in the round hat selling snake oil and medicines *lol*. I used one of the sentiments from another SAB set - Vintage Verses. It has the PERFECT feel for the image (gee ... do you think SU PLANNED that???!!) Again, everything is in Vanilla and Espresso. I rounded the corners of the sentiment with my 3/16" corner rounder and matted it with espresso cs. I used the Natural Ribbon again (mini page 20) and attached a small black brad for a little something extra. The card opens like the one above ... just for fun:

So that's it!  I really do like this set now that I've had time to expore it.  Right!  I'm off to have a bite to eat before the party starts!  Wishing you all a very happy and safe New Year's Eve.  Have a stampy night!


Tam