Running With Scissors…

I now know the source of the little stickers with the amazing prismatic sparkle that I used on the Christmas tree in my last post.  They were a gift from my friend, Linda Bullard, and she provided this information in her comment:

“As far as the identity of those fun little stickers, they are Class A’Peel Dot Sparkler Stickers (Silver), by Stampendous. I bought mine at Archiver’s, but they are supposed to be available at Michael’s too: http://www.michaels.com/art/online/displayProductPage?productNum=pc1151&channelid= Linda”

Thank you, Linda!  These stickers are well worth checking out!

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!

I’m playing tag catch up today.  The Rockin’ Girls on the following list were all kind enough to give me the honor of this badge for my sidebar.  The only thing is, I haven’t been able to get it in my sidebar yet.  I don’t know why it won’t work.  Anyway, thank you, girls!  You all…well…rock!  These are the folks who tagged me and if you haven’t been to their blogs before, please, check them out.  They all bear the Rockin’ Girl Blogger badge:

Stamp Till You Cramp  … Shannon    –    Stamperosity … Lynn

Moonlight Inker  … Sophia    –    Libby’s Little Addiction  … Libby

It’s Not All Black & White  … Bethany    –    Paper Pleasing Ideas  … Julie

The Stampin’ Soldier  … Laura    –    Angelosity … Angel

I was also tagged recently with the “List Seven Things About Yourself” tag.  I did this once before and I can do it again — as long as those seven things don’t have to be interesting…  The folks who tagged me are:

Jeansinkyhugs … Nancy    –    Stamp a Little Love, Baby! … Cambria

Also — Laura, Julie, Libby and Sophia — their Rockin’ blogs are linked above, in the first part of this post.  Here’s my seven things:

1.  When I was little, my brother and I used to play a game we called “Rocky Boat in the Sticky River”.  My Mom had a huge Audubon Society book and she (gasp!) allowed us to place that on top of something (can’t remember what we used) that turned the book into a roly-poly teeter totter of sorts.  He’d sit on one end and I’d sit on the other and we’d hang on for dear life as our “boat” was tossed around in the “sticky river”.  If we fell off…well…we’d fall into the sticky river.  The consequence was no more serious than that we’d simply fall into the syrupy rapids, but it was very exciting!

2.  At some point I developed a fear of heights, but only if I don’t have some sort of visible barrier that reaches at least to my waist level.  I can handle the Space Needle, the Pan Am Tower, an airplane window, but a glass front elevator that goes to the second floor — eek!  I’ll stand far in the back and look at my feet and pretend it doesn’t bother me.

3.  When I was growing up I lived in Oregon, Washington, California and Missouri.  My Dad liked to move around a lot.  In Missouri we had a farm with lots of cattle, horses, pigs, chickens — you name it.  A few of the animals had personalities and we devoloped relationships with them.  We had a cow named Toodles and a turkey that bonded with my Mom.  We also had a pig named Donna because she looked like my cousin by the same name.  Don’t tell Donna.

4.  If I had to pick a favorite color, I’d probably say green but I like all colors.

5.  One of my favorite things to do is lay in bed and read before I go to sleep.  I used to love to eat crunchy snacks while I read, too, but I have acid reflux now and can’t eat that close to bedtime anymore.  That was hard to adjust to.  I’m okay with it now.

6.  The dogs in our lives have had names like Otto, Charlie, Barney, Ebo, Gus.  Our cat is named Marvin and in the past we’ve had Elmo, Boston, Big Cat, Scooper.  My husband simply won’t stand at the front door and call out “Fluffy!”

7.  I’ve worked at the same Medical Laboratory for over 20 years.  I spend every Monday through Friday there, eight hours at a stretch.  I’m very fond of my coworkers and some of them are my closest friends.  How lucky am I?

I can’t find enough people in my blogroll who haven’t been tagged yet.  I’d like to invite you all to pick one from my list that you haven’t visited yet.  When you visit one blog you enter the Land of Infinity because there’ll be another new-to-you blog on their list, and another and another and another…  Some of the things you find…oh, my gosh!  It’s so worth looking around if you have the time!  Enjoy your day!

Well…not this post, but this post by Libby at Libby’s Little Addiction.  It’s inspirational food for thought for any newbie or aspiring stamper.  Even if you’ve been stamping for a long time, been published, on a design team, editor of a popular stamping magazine (ok, then you probably wouldn’t be reading my blog, so scratch that last one at least) — it’s a wonderful read.  I’m not kidding…treat yourself!  In addition to sharing some thoughts and feelings I think we all could relate to at some point or another, she takes you on a very entertaining trip when you click on the links she’s provided — I just came from there and it didn’t take much time at all.  Thank you, Libby!  I enjoyed it immensely!

Oh, dear, I’ve been tagged a couple more times (that I know of)–something different on this go around:

Kirsten over at Confessions of a Naptime Stamper says I’m supposed to list 10 wierd things about myself.

Paula at Love Blooms in Me says to simply tell you 7 things about myself.

Well, let’s see…I ought to be able to come up with at least 7 things, but I don’t know how wierd they’ll be.  Maybe I’ll fall somewhere in between:

1.  I’m !% years old and I have a mouth full of braces.  They’re due to come off around October and I’m heading straight to the popcorn and caramels!

2.  Okay, this sounds a little odd:  When I was a young girl, drying dishes in my Mom’s kitchen, I always felt irrationally sorry for the last piece of silverware to be put away–like it was the last kid picked for the team, you know.  So I always dried the last few pieces in one bunch and dropped them in the drawer all at the same time.  Boy, that does sound a little wierd, doesn’t it?  I’d forgotten about that.  Will you still come back and visit me, now?

 3.  I just got done counting them–I have 13 stamp sets that have never had even one stamp in the set inked yet.  That’s just the SU! sets–there’s actually more that I didn’t count.  Maybe I should make that a personal challenge. 

4.  My husband is the great love of my life.  Come what may, there will never be another.  No need.  I’ve been very lucky.

5.  I admire people who are brave enough to publicly share their personal struggles and inner turmoils, knowing others will benefit from the sharing.  Thank goodness for them.

6.  I read more before I started stamping.  I also used to clean house more, be more organized, sew, remember to feed the cat…you get the picture.

7.  I love to be outside around the grand things of nature–huge vistas; deep, starry skies; thundering ocean waves.  It helps scale down my worries and put my place on earth in a whole different perspective.  Swap deadlines and job stress, for instance, feel a lot less significant in those settings.

Well, that’s 7 things–probably enough.  Now I’ll tag 7 stampers from my blogroll:

Kim @ Inked.  She’s my sister-in-law and downline.  A relatively new stamper and doing an awesome job as a stamper and Stampin’ Up! demonstrator.

Libby @ Libby’s Little Addiction.  I love her enthusiasm (and her flower photos)!

Vicki @ Summerthyme Studio.  She’s been doing some pretty cool stuff over there.  Be sure and check all the way through to some of her older posts, too. 

Cambria @ Stamp a Little Love Baby.  My friend and upline.  She’s a trendsetter and stamping diva.  Always coming up with a great idea!

Tracy @ Inky Dreamz.  She’s got some sweet stuff over there.  I see she’s been recently tagged, but I’ll tag her anyway.

Lindsey @ Embellished.  I’m sure she’s been tagged 100 times, but I love her to pieces and she’s got some more blog candy coming up pretty soon that you won’t want to miss!

Amy @ Prairie Paper & Ink.  As if you haven’t visted her blog before!  She’s already been tagged so I don’t expect her to go again, but I love her question and answer thing she’s got going on.

Honestly, every blog on my blogroll is super and I visit them almost daily.  Most have already been tagged.  It’s hard to pick out just seven!  There’s a plethora of other great blogs I’m discovering as I go along and I add them to my list as time allows.  Enjoy!

When I first started taking digital photos of my projects, as opposed to scanning them, I would hurry home on my lunch hour to photograph them in the natural light of my kitchen window.  This wasn’t always satisfactory in the dark days of winter.  I wondered how others were managing the bright, attractive photos I admired in their galleries.  Does everyone have Ott lights?  I asked my friend, Linda (SCS labullard), what she was using for her photos and she told me about these lightbulbs.  I’m eternally grateful to her.  I’m often the last person to learn of these things, but I thought I’d share this information with any of you who may not be familiar with this inexpensive alternative to Ott lights.

I use these bulbs in two lamps when I take my photographs, ideally one at the side of the project and one a little more in front, but slightly further away than the lamp at the side.  I take the photograph from the side opposite the lamp so I get a good shot of the shadow cast by anything dimensional.  The lamp that’s positioned at the side will help produce the shadow and the lamp at the front will help brighten the subject and keep the shadow from being too exaggerated.  I’m not a photography expert and I’m often still frustrated and disappointed with the quality of my photos, but I’ve been much happier since I started using these lightbulbs.  You can get them just about anywhere–I got these at a local hardware store.  If I remember correctly, they were about $5 or $6 each.  I hope this helps someone who’s been wondering like I was.  Now, back to stamping!

Well, being a new blogger and all, this is my first experience with being tagged!  All you savvy blogger folks probably know that means someone lists 5 blogs they visit and recommend and the 5 that they listed will now list 5 blogs they visit, and so on…  I’ve been tagged twice on this go ’round that I know of…gee, does that mean I should list 10 blogs?  Okay, here’s my picks.  I just got done visiting every blog in my sidebar and I love them all!  This list is totally random.  Take a peek if you have time: 

Kirsten (Ked) @ Confessions of a Naptime Stamper

Jami @ More is More

Sharon (stampersharon) @ PaperFections

Sherry (badsherry) @ Walkin’ on the Bad Side

Dee (stampincuzIluv2) @ Stampin cuz I Luv 2

I’m such a novice blogger!  I jumped into this with both feet, but very little knowledge and consequently I did something the other day that fouled up the works.  I thought that once I “published” a post I could delete the photo from my files because, after all, it was just a duplicate, right?  Wrong!  Some of you reported to me that you couldn’t see the thumbnails in the Post-It tutorial, others couldn’t see the “Buddies” picture.  Some folks could see everything just fine.  Hmmmmm…what might be wrong?  I thought and I stewed and I fretted and I mulled this over until I realized that the common denominator with these pictures was that I had deleted them from my files–the only pictures I had deleted.  I went to my wise and patient blogging friends at Splitcoaststampers (thank you, Jenn and Kurtis!) who explained it to me in terms that, surprisingly, I could understand.  No more deleting of files will take place on this blog!

Soooooo…if you viewed those pictures before they were deleted you’d still be able to see them until you cleared your internet cookies.  Sure enough, I cleared my cookies and–poof!–they were gone!  If you were viewing those posts for the first time after I deleted the files, you were just seeing a box with a red x in it.  So sorry!  I hurried home at lunch time today and re-uploaded all the pictures so you’ll have better luck if you’d like to try again.  Thanks for sticking with me!  I’ll get better at this, I promise!

This blogging thing is all so new to me!  Every time I try to add a feature or figure something out I feel like I’m in one of those dreams where I’m trying to run away from something or someone–giving it tremendous effort, but barely moving.  I did finally manage to get a “subscribe” feature added.  I was so clueless!  Soooooo, if you’re interested, it’s over there to the left–just click and you’ll see.

I have a few ideas for future posts that I hope you’ll find interesting so when I can get to my stamp room I’ll get right on that!  Thank you for your patience!  I hope you’re all having a wonderful day!