A Lesson in Simple

This week Card Patterns is celebrating their 2nd anniversary by having a blog hop. What I like about their blog hop compared to others is that you only have to visit one blog a day. Usually on a blog hop by the time I hit the 4th one, I'm scrolling down and looking quickly (like when I am in Google Reader, I just scroll with my finger on the down arrow until something catches my eye). So with their blog hop I am actually taking the time to read the entire post and look at the card. A card that DT member, Tracy, made particularly caught my attention. It was a clean and simple card with bright colors. Here's what caught my attention and really got my wheels turning -- she put three buttons on her card. She only tied twine onto one of them. I seem to think that if I do something to one element on the card, I have to do it to ALL of them. Apparently not. Who knew. Add to this "stunning" realization an article that I read on the Paper Crafts blog by Go-to Gal Jessica Witty and I was ready to tackle a card. My card is still not perfect. It's still actually a little busy. But let me show you a short list of what I would have done originally.

1. The background of the card was originally the words "sweet pea little peanut" across the whole thing. Talk about BUSY
2. I was going to replace the background with patterned paper (instead I opted for a solid piece of cardstock)
3. I was going to stitch around the whole square with words, instead I just did zig zag stitches in the corners
4. I only added two scalloped circles instead of doing all 3 that way
   

So, even though my card is still not quite where I pictured it to be and is still a little bit too busy...I think I can call it a cleanER and simple card...or a not quite so busy and simple card...or a not quite as much card vomit on this and simple card. Take your pick. And thank you to Tracy and Jessica for getting me back on track!

Supplies Used: Little Me by Unity Stamp Co., Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, We R Memory Keepers Ribbon, Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch, Sewing Machine, Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday patterned paper Pin It Now!

Little Dude!

A friend asked me to make a birthday card for her one year old grandson. I made a few so she could choose the one she liked best. I saw this stamp from A Muse Arts that said "Happy birthday little dude!" and thought that would be cute for any little boy cards. So here are the cards that I made. I also bought some clear stamps (because they were cheap!), and by stamping them in VersaMark first and then in the colored ink, they actually turned out pretty well. I wasn't nearly as frustrated as before. I'm making baby steps, here. :)

This card uses Karen Foster Designs cardstock stickers, Cosmo Crickets Mr. Campy patterned paper, and the A Muse stamp on the inside. The "Spend Your Day" part was just printed and then I used some Tim Holtz distressed ink on the paper.

This card uses stamps from KaiserCraft, Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy and Jillibean Soup patterned paper. I used Liquid Applique to puff out the trail behind the airplane, and Labels 1 Nestabilities.

This last card doesn't look too much like a little boy card, I know. She told me that he likes to play the drums and I couldn't come up with anything for drums. So I went with music notes instead. The stamps are from We R Memory Keepers and A Muse. Paper is Jillibean Soup. I also used some nestabilities for the rectangles.
So, which one would you pick? She actually picked my favorite -- the playin' in the mud card.
I keep thinking it's Friday, which is making this week seem a little long. So, have a happy THURSDAY!
Pin It Now!

Feeling a Little Blue (and White)?

The Stamp Something challenge is to create a card that is blue and white. I made this card using some paper that my crafty friend Rachel sent me. Good timing for the challenge! The stamp is from Unity  (go ahead wish).

Keeping it short and sweet today! For those of you (lucky) ones that have tomorrow off -- enjoy your long weekend!

Pin It Now!