Running With Scissors…

I was visiting Laura at The Stampin’ Soldier the other day when I saw that she’d posted this sketch challenge.  I’m not sure why I took to this particular sketch, but I had an urge to use it.  As always with challenges, I’m late but I still wanted to do the sketch.  The only thing extra I added was the ribbon and brad.  Gosh, after spending all that time sorting my ribbon I just had to use some!

This is the same paper I used on my tin and ribbon gift set yesterday.  Regarding colors, sketch, theme, papers, etc. I was asked by Jodene, Dianne, Melissa, Michelle R. and Kim B. if I would explain a little something about how I get started on a card.  I was asked where I get my inspiration and how I decide which papers to select and combine.   Sue suggested I take you through the creative process of designing a project.  I thought about those questions and suggestions as I began yesterday’s project.  It is interesting (to me, at least) to read about the stamper’s thoughts as they create their work, how they reach that end and what occurs along the way.  Some folks hope to find the technical details in the content of a post so I try to provide that, too.  Since so many people asked about this, I’ll make an effort in the future to express some of the thought process.  Sometimes it’s more a feeling than a thought, like the feel of a color, for instance.  There’s not always time to go into a lot of detail and I cringe at the thought that I’d be rambling on like a know-it-all and boring you to tears.  Truly, we all go about this in our own way and all I can do is tell you how I do it and what goes on in my head.  It’s not necessarily the right way or the only way.  Okay?

Today I thought I’d just narrow it down to the paper. 

Paper selection:  When I started these last two projects I had unfinished stamp room cleaning still on my mind but I thought, gee, it would sort of be cleaning if I used scraps — one of those justifications — we have a million of them, don’t we?  So I went to the new and improved scrap drawer (devoted only to DP scraps) to see what was at hand, figuring to select papers I could come closest to finishing off.  If you click on the thumbnail you can see how my papers are clipped together in pairs.  Whenever I buy individual papers (as opposed to packs or pads) I always buy two coordinating sheets.  Three is ideal but that’s how I discipline myself to use my stamps for backgrounds — it doesn’t always work that way, though, and I may “borrow” a piece from another pair sometimes.  By the way, they’re only clipped after they’ve been cut into — all the scraps from the two coordinating sheets are clipped together so I can quickly grab a pair of papers to work with.   It’s just one of those time saving necessities because I’m usually stamping on the run.  So that’s how I chose the papers for my tin, ribbon spools and Halloween card — they were the smallest possible pair, and we all know how everyone loves a purple, orange and green color combo, right?  Kidding…

When choosing paper pairs, to my mind’s eye, color is the most important consideration.  This is made easy in most places we shop because collections are grouped and there are always coordinating colors in collections.  As long as each piece picks up the colors in its companion you can be wild and free with the patterns — almost.  I’ll combine a big pattern with a smaller, opposing pattern such as a big plaid with a small polka dot (see the blue papers in the photo).  Or I’ll combine two bold but opposing patterns (see the big dots with the wide stripes).  A busy pattern with a quieter, more open pattern works, too, such as the two papers on my Halloween card.  So…opposing combinations of big/small, bold/bold, busy/quiet — that’s one way to get started.  It’s possible to combine large and small polka dots, stripes in opposite directions and lots of different patterns.  Just look at the colors and lay them out together.  You might just say “yep, by golly!  That works!”  Well…maybe you wouldn’t say “by golly”…

So that’s just a little something about how I decide on paper combos.  I’d love to think that this information is helpful to someone — any little part of it.  We do read a lot of tips and tricks and glean from those what’s adaptable to our own way of doing things.  Whatever you do, I just hope you have fun doing it!  Have a wonderful new week!

Part One:  Altered Items

This post is dedicated to Claudia F. and Andrea Mason and to everyone else who’d like to see more altered items.  I do have a category, listed to the right, called Altered States that includes every altered item I’ve posted.  There’s not a lot in there right now, but I’ll see what I can do about that in the future.  I’d also like to again thank Pattyjo and Mary R for the nudge toward chipboard.

I absolutely love altering these tins.  Truthfully, beginning to end, it’s a lot quicker than designing a card.  There are far fewer decisions to make.  My tin came from a friend but I found this site that sells all kinds of tins and other containers at wholesale prices.  This particular tin is priced at only 74 cents!  I now have a new love of chipboard, too, and even though I did take a peek in the Stampin’ Up! catalog, I’m not going to rush into buying every piece of chipboard I can get my hands on.  That was the old me.  The new me just cleaned her stamp room and doesn’t want to clutter it up again.

Before I go any further I’d like to address the ribbon spools.  The idea to alter them was completely inspired by Candy Williams (SCS user, cwilliams).  If you’re a Splitcoaststampers Fan Club member you can view what she did with ribbon spools here.  The functionality is different in that Candy dressed an empty spool to the nines and turned it into a gift bag tag.  Not just any old tag — more like an ornament.  Very cool!  The spools I altered are much simpler, ribbon intact, intended to be used as a ribbon spool — stacked, lined up in a drawer, thrown in a basket, hung on a dowel.  In this case, the two ribbon spools fit perfectly inside the tin to make a cute little gift.  I made this set for a doorprize for an upcoming Portland, Oregon SCS dinner.  I plan to decorate a gift bag for it, too, and include a couple of unaltered tins for the recipient’s altering pleasure.

To cover these Offray ribbon spools I just smeared Alene’s Tacky glue over the surface of the spool, then pressed it onto the cardstock.  I burnished it and let it set up for just a few seconds and then trimmed around the edges with scissors.  The center was cut with an exacto knife and all rough edges were smoothed with sandpaper.  I used wadded up toilet paper to smoosh ink onto the cardstock and stamped the surface with some little circles from Seeing Spots.

For the scalloped center I punched a 3/4″ hole in the designer paper, then punched with my Stampin’ Up! scallop punch centered over the hole.  Of course, I covered both sides of the spool in the same manner.

The cardstock on the top of the tin was applied in the same manner, with tacky glue, but the sides were adhered with Sticky Strip (red liner tape).  The chipboard flower was covered with the tacky glue process — smear, press, trim and sand.  I had mentioned before that I would photograph the process of covering chipboard but, darn it, I was having so much fun I forgot to take pictures — sorry!

Stamps:  Seeing Spots

Paper:  Pumpkin Pie, Lovely Lilac, Green Galore, My Minds Eye Kaleidoscope designer paper

Ink:  Same as cardstock

Accessories:  Stampin’ Up! On Board Blossoms & Basics chipboard, ribbon, scallop punch, 3/4″ circle punch

Part two:  Some questions answered

As I go along in my posts in the following days I’ll be trying to provide some of the things folks mentioned they’d like to see, such as the chipboard and altered items in this post.  I’ll also begin answering a few questions at a time.

Allison asked:  “Do you have any fav paper/stamp/embellishment companies you’d like to list?” 

Well, I do get all my cardstock from Stampin’ Up! because I like the weight of it and I love all those matching inks and accessories.  Their designer papers are fun, too, because of the coordinating colors and patterns.  BasicGrey designer paper is one of my favorites, but I use so many others, too — My Mind’s Eye, Wild Asparagus, Bohemia, Chatterbox…the list is endless!  As for embellishments, I get those here, there and everywhere and I couldn’t pick a favorite company but I find a lot of fun stuff at Paper Wishes.  Most of my ribbons come from Stampin’ Up!, Wal-Mart, Joann’s.  When I want to indulge in something really gorgeous I visit Jacksonbelle Embellishments.

Linda Beth Smith asked:  “I would like to know what kind of paper cutter you use or would recommend. I seem to go through a lot of cutting blades. I use the Fiskars cutter with the swingout arm. Is there a better cutter or one that is self sharpening?”

I have the Fiskars cutter, too, and used it for a long time, constantly replacing blades.  I finally took the plunge and got the guillotine cutter sold by Stampin’ Up!  I don’t know if it’s self-sharpening, but I’ve had mine for about a year and it’s not the least bit dull.  It won’t cut your fingers but it cuts through paper like butter.  It’ll shave off the tiniest sliver and still be straight.

Kammie asked:  “What do you do when/if you’ve lost your stamping mojo? Where do you find your inspiration?”

When that happens I usually just let it go.  It’ll come plodding back sooner or later.  If I make too many duds in a row I’ll take a short break, a day or two.  I’ll visit some galleries and blogs, leaf through Paper Crafts, go shopping at the local scrapbook store, talk with my stamping friends.  It won’t be long before all the colors and fun projects get me excited again.  Maybe I’ll just go look at my stash of designer papers.  Really, nothing gets me going like those designer papers!  A lot of folks will tell you that the challenges are a great way to get going again.  Gosh, I’d say the combination of a sketch challenge and some designer papers ought to do the trick.

Jan Scholl asked:  “Do you run with scissors or will you poke your eye out like mom’s always said?”

I know this question was asked in fun, but I’d like to answer it, anyway.  Figuratively speaking, I do run with scissors.  When I was trying to think of a name for my blog all the usual things about paper, stamps and ink came to mind but I wanted something different.  When I thought about the other paraphernalia used in stamping, scissors came to the fore.  Yep, I thought, that’s me — running with scissors.  It seems like I’m always stamping on the run — a little here, a little there.  I have a full time job and it’s not easy to work in all this stamping and blogging.  A lot of the stamping takes place in my head while I’m waiting for the opportunity to get to my stamp room.  Chances are that might be about 15 minutes before I leave for work in the morning, so I may just pull out a couple of designer papers, cut a card base, select a stamp set, throw some things in a bag to work on during break times.  Writing a blog post is the same way — I’ll write a little, save it, come back later.  Yes, I do run with scissors but it’s not my preferred method of stamping.  It is possible to find time for the things we love and once in a while I have the pleasure of some uninterrupted stamping time — Heaven!

Thanks for visiting today!  This was another rather lengthy post but, as always, there’s the option of just looking at the pictures or skipping to the end.  I used to subscribe to all kinds of gardening magazines and that’s mostly what I did with them — look at the pictures.  At least this is free!  We’ll talk again soon.  Have a wonderful day!

Hello, again!  As I mentioned before I’ve spent the last few days reorganizing my stamp room.  That is, I’ve spent every available minute working on it.  Not every minute is available, of course.  One of the reasons it’s taking so long is that I’m going over it with a fine toothed comb.  I’ve already filled two large garbage bags and have a lot set out to give away.  The garbage bags contain mostly packaging.  It’s amazing how much space can be saved by sorting things into a few, or not so few, handy receptacles.  The two big garbage bags don’t even include the burnables–that all goes into the wood stove.  Sheesh!

My ribbon collection was completely out of hand.  I’ve seen bigger collections but if there was a contest for the messiest collection I’d enter it with high hopes of winning.  I had one big drawer full of ribbon that started out somewhat organized but wound up with rolls piled on until I could hardly get the drawer closed, let alone find anything.  In addition to the drawer I had a big basket with ribbon rolls and packages tossed in haphazardly.  And then, of course, I had two sets of Stampin’ Up!’s ribbon holders.  The top tier of each is cut off in this photo, as are some of the contents in the near end of the drawer.  I have another matching jar to fill with ribbon scraps but it’s soaking in the kitchen sink right now.  The jars held candles.  I considered altering them but decided the ribbon inside was pretty enough.

Until I completely remodel the stamp room I simply had to find a way to compact and organize my ribbon, making it more accessible.  With no additional floor space available I was left with no recourse but to clean out and reorganize the whole room.  This is what I wound up with for the ribbon.  One thing I’ve come to love about Offray ribbon is that no matter what kind or how wide it is, the rolls are all the same size and they’re beautifully contained in these small Made Smart bins that I found in a local store (Bi-Mart).  Aren’t they pretty all lined up there, ripe for the plucking?  Who doesn’t love ribbon — show of hands?  I gave up trying to sort them by color and went with “types” instead — all the polka dots, stripes, plaids & ginghams, satins, sheers, velvets, grosgrains, florals and novelty ribbons, metallics, particular collections, ric racs, lace ribbons, taffetas…  I painstakingly wound all the loose ribbons (except the bulky twills) on embroidery floss cards and pinned them in place.  I found a whole baggie of the most beautiful taffetas I’d completely forgotten about.  Oddly, there are times I feel I don’t have just the right ribbon for a card I’m working on.  Well, there’s just no excuse for that!  This is the dawn of a new day for me and my ribbons.

After I completed this project I had need of one of the sheer dot ribbons that I’d wound on an embroidery card.  I’m happy to report that I removed the required length, re-pinned the card and placed it carefully back in its neat, new home.  Now that I can see what I have, I’m feeling all kinds of inspired!  Oh, happy day!  I hope you’re having a happy day, too.  Take care!

Cathy M. mentioned that she’d like to see ideas for simple cards and I’ll bet there are other folks who might enjoy that, too.

Well, Cathy, simple is right up my alley at the moment because I’ve been totally immersed in my stamp room reorganizing project for several days now.  My stamp room isn’t all that much to shout about as far as being pretty and loaded with brilliant ideas.  In fact, it’s a little bit of a nightmare right now and I’ve resolved to fix that situation.  Once I get the current mess squared away I’ll take stock and a few measurements and get to work on some storage and work space solutions.  I’ll share photos, even though it won’t be anything to get too excited about.

So…for my simple card:  At one point in my reorganizing frenzy I came across this white textured paper that I purchased a long time ago at Wal-Mart.  I have stacks of it in a variety of textures.  This piece has a semi-gloss finish with this wonderful leathery texture.  It’s surprisingly fabulous for stamping on.  It takes the ink beautifully without any interference at all from the texture.  It hasn’t been too long since I noticed this same paper at Wal-Mart, if you’re interested.  The paper pack comes with a variety of textures and finishes.

Did I really make this card?  I’ve only admired this extreme simplicity from afar till now and it took every bit of will power I have to avoid creating more of a layout.  I learned something from this card, though — simplicity will set you free!  Wow!  I’m suddenly seeing this as a Christmas card, a wedding card, a set of thank you cards — so quick and easy.  It can be elegant or sweet, depending upon the image or the font of the sentiment.  This birthday sentiment is one of my Flourished Words that I love so much.  The little accent image is a flower from Flourishes Fantasy Floral Garden.  Gosh, it could double as a snowflake, couldn’t it?  I used my double rectangle punch from Stampin’ Up! to create a spot to tie on some Basic Gray taffeta ribbon.  The card is 4 1/4″ square.  I’ve never made a card this fast before.  My head is still spinning!

Back to work on my stamp room now.  No rest for the weary.  I still have a long way to go.  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Flourished Words, Fantasy Floral Garden

Paper:  Textured white from Wal-Mart

Ink:  Blue Bayou, Soft Sky

Accessories:  Double rectangle punch, ribbon

Imagine my delight when I opened my newest package from Flourishes and found such a stamp set that would include this beautiful, true to their name, flourished image!  Oh, my — they really outdid themselves this time.  This is just one of 12 stamps in this set and they’re all gorgeous!

I made a 5 1/4″ square card, although this image would work nicely on a standard card, too — probably best on a horizontal layout.  I used some of the shimmery red cardstock they’ve included in the O Christmas Tree Combo Kit.  I clear embossed it with SU!’s retired Filigree background.  I just couldn’t bear to cover up too much of it so I made this big card with a very simple layout.  That pretty metallic border down the side is something I bought locally a long time ago, but the white satin ribbon will be available at Flourishes next month.

I embossed the main image on Shimmery White with glittery Jewel Gold Stampendous embossing powder and colored it with SU! Markers in Handsome Hunter and Real Red.  There’s simply not much more required when you’ve got a large, beautiful stamp like this.

I’m heading outside on this glorious Fall day, now.  I’ve barely emerged from my stamp room the last three days.  Not stamping, though.  I’ve been cleaning, clearing and reorganizing.  It’s a huge task!  I did clear out a tiny space for stamping, finally, so I’ll be back with more soon.  Take care, and have a wonderful day!

Stamps:  Rejoice (Flourishes)

Paper:  Shimmery white, shimmery red, gold metallic, Handsome Hunter

Ink:  Versamark, Handsome Hunter and Real Red markers

Accessories:  Ribbon, eyelets, tag corner punch

Hello again for another Ruby Tuesday!  Why Ruby Tuesday?  Well, I bought a 12 x 12 pack of this BasicGrey Stella Ruby paper clear back in April and it was immediately apparent that it was a lot of paper and I have so much paper and I loved this Stella Ruby.  So, to be certain it didn’t go unused, I committed myself to a project a week using this paper, to be posted on Tuesday, hence Ruby Tuesday.  Just thought I’d recap the purpose of Ruby Tuesdays for the folks who might be wondering.  You can click on my Ruby Tuesday category if you’d like to see some of the previously posted projects.

Pattyjo left a comment on my Flourishes blog candy post stating she’d like to see projects and tutorials using chipboard, particularly letters.  Well, Pattyjo, I don’t have any letters and this isn’t a tutorial but I did use chipboard.  Furthermore, this is the first time I’ve used chipboard so I’d like to thank you for the push.  It was fun!  And easy!  I now have a couple of chipboard projects planned and I’ll be sure and show pictures of the process if you think that would help.  I’d also like to thank Mary R. (hi, Mary!) for inspiring me to finally break out this On Board Blossoms and Basics chipboard I’ve been sitting on far too long.

To cover the parts of the chipboard flower I just smeared 2-way glue onto the chipboard and pressed it onto my Stella Ruby paper.  I used scissors to trim around the edges as closely as possible and finished it off by sanding any rough edges with fine grain sandpaper.  I know there are more sophisticated tools for this purpose, but the sandpaper got into all the nooks and crannies just fine.

The chipboard center is raised on dimensional tape and I used my 1″ circle punch to punch out a Seeing Spots image.  The sentiment, from In My Thoughts, is stamped in Versamark and embossed with dark brown EP.  There’s Linen stamped on the Ruby Red card base and the Stella Ruby is matted on Groovy Guava.  The ribbon is from the Sherbet collection.  All these supplies are from Stampin’ Up! except the BasicGray Stella Ruby paper, which I purchased from Jacksonbelle Embellishments.

There’s a summary of the supply details below.  Happy Ruby Tuesday to everyone!

Stamps:  Seeing Spots, In My Thoughts

Paper:  Ruby Red, Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla, BasicGrey Stella Ruby designer paper

Ink:  Ruby Red, Chocolate chip marker, Versamark

Accessories:  On Board Blossoms and Basics chipboard, Sherbet ribbon, Ruby Red brads, dark brown embossing powder, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

As promised, at 8:00 pm Pacific time tonight I took one last look at the total number of comments on the blog candy.  I entered the numbers, 1 through 271, in this random number generator and it came up with………………….#9!  And who is #9?  Well…………………….it’s………………………Terry!  Congratulations, Terry!  Be sure and contact me with your address so I can send your package to you.

I’ll look forward to addressing your questions and suggestions as soon as possible.  I appreciate every one of them.  Thank you all for your time, your kindness, and for making my blogging experience a happy one.  Have a wonderful day!

I’ve made another card with my newest Stampin’ Up! set, Illuminations.  There are only four large stamps in this set so I’m thinking I shouldn’t have too much trouble getting ink on all of them.  Maybe this set has limited appeal, but I sure do love all the swirls and curls around those big letters.

This was another one of those joyous times when all the parts fell into place for me.  I’ve had this BasicGrey Scarlet’s Letter 6×6 paper pad for quite a while.  I purchased mine from Eclectic Paperie right here, but I’ve done nothing but adore it all this time.  As for that luscious red velvet ric rac, well, I spotted it at Jacksonbelle Embellishments and just had to have it for this paper.  I don’t see the red ric rac there now but, oh, she has other colors.  It’s been a while since I looked at her May Arts ribbons and I believe Lindsey must love ribbon like I do because she’s got some serious ribbon over there!  So I had the paper and the velvet ric rac…what was I waiting for?  Well, I guess I was just waiting for this stamp to come along.  Funny how that works sometimes.

I embossed the main image on Whisper White with Versamark ink and Midnight Pewter Obsidian embossing powder.  This EP (thank you, Linda!) has a bit of a glint to it and even when I use the Embossing Buddy to eliminate static from my paper I wind up with an all-over shimmer.  I don’t mind that one bit!  I have the bright white of SU!’s Whisper White cardstock with the shimmer of their Shimmery White.  I filled in the empty border of the letter with my Real Red marker and lightly sponged the edges of the panel with Going Gray ink.

The Prima flowers were purchased at my local scrapbook store.  My friend and I each bought a different color assortment of these same flowers and split the colors between us — sort of a Prima share, I guess.  I sponged Basic Gray ink on the gray flower and Bravo Burgundy ink on the red flower to give them a little more depth.  The black organdy ribbon was pinched between the prongs of the brad under the flowers and taped behind the panel on one side, left loose on the other side.

I mounted the main image panel on a Basic Gray panel in such a way that it echoes the shadow of the letter.  I did a little piercing with my mat pack and piercing tool.  The mat pack, if you’re not familiar with it, contains a hole guide, a foam mat and a hard mat.  I purchased mine from Stampin’ Up!.  It doesn’t come with the piercing tool, but I found that at Eclectic Paperie here.

This may be a little surprising, but I’m going to use this as a Christmas card.  I know the gray and black are not the usual Christmas colors but I’ll send this to someone with a venturesome spirit and, hopefully, they’ll enjoy receiving it as much as I enjoyed making it.

Be sure to enter a comment for a chance to win the blog candy I posted on Friday.  You have until Monday at 8:00 Pacific time.  Good luck and have a wonderful day!

Stamps:  Illuminations

Paper:  Basic Gray, Real Red, Whisper White, BasicGrey Scarlet’s Letter designer paper

Ink:  Versamark, Going Gray, Basic Gray, Bravo Burgundy

Accessories:  Organdy ribbon, velvet ric rac, mat pack and piercer, Primas, brads, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

Well, I don’t have any eggciting news but a friend of mine does so I brought out one of my favorite retired sets to make this card for her.  Though the day will come that I’ll part with my Best of Cluck, for now we’re still on good terms and this darn chicken simply makes me smile.

I colored her with Stampin’ Pastels and dressed her up with my Linen Prints papers.  The Offray ribbon is some I’ve had for a long time and, gosh, the colors were a perfect match — that was pretty eggciting!  It’s the little things…  The ribbon wanted to fray so I encouraged it because the look seemed to go with the rest of the card.

If you haven’t yet, be sure and take a look at the blog candy in my previous post.  It just might be your day to win!  Have a happy day!

Stamps:  Best of Cluck (retired Stampin’ Up!)

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral, Apricot Appeal, Very Vanilla, Linen Prints double sided designer paper (all Stampin’ Up!)

Ink:  Basic Brown, Apricot Appeal, Close to Cocoa

Accessories:  Offray Ribbon, Stampin’ Pastels, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

The folks at Flourishes have very generously given me an extra Peace set to share with you.  You may have already tried your hand at winning this set on one of the other Flourishes designer’s blogs.  Did you win?  No?  Well, here’s another chance!

As you can see I’ve also included some Christmas themed designer papers and coordinating ribbons.  Now, the only thing you have to do for a chance to win is leave a comment on this post.  You don’t have to answer any questions.  This is meant to be a thank you from Flourishes and a gesture of friendship from me.  If there’s something in particular you’d like to see when you visit me here, please, I’d love to hear about it.  If I can accomodate your request I’ll dedicate that post to you.  I’d also like to encourage your questions (not that I have all the answers) and I’ll do a question and answer thing when I get them all (if any) compiled.

Your comments will be automatically numbered and a winner will be selected by a random number generator on Monday, September 24 at 8:00 pm.  The winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

Good luck to you all!