This Little Card of Mine

Difficult Time card

A simple card with more Basic Grey paper.  I found myself reaching for that line alot recently. 

Supplies:  Basic Grey paper, Papertrey Ink ribbon, Stampendous stamp

It's Fall!

Is there a better time for a bushel of apples?   Debbie Olson used this stamp on one of her cards and I just fell in love with it.  Other than Jennifer, who is my number one enabler :-), I buy so many things that Debbie uses.  I can probably blame her for my Copic addiction because Jennifer doesn't use them!  :-)  Thanks Debbie for the inspiration you give me every day.

This card uses similar colors to what Debbie used and I also got inspiration from another blogger who I cannot credit.  :-(  Why?  You know that idea journal I showed you a few days ago?  Works really well but sometimes I don't write down or just know whose card it is.  Ugh....   

 

Supplies:  Bazzill cardstock, Hero Arts Kraft note card and greeting stamp,  Ribbon?  (no idea  :-(  ), Close to my Heart hardware, Lockhart stamps (apple image), Cuttlebug embossing folder (and not the swiss dots!  Can you believe it?), Copic markers

Prayers sympathy card

... and more Basic Grey!  I found myself using Basic Grey papers alot this past weekend.  Some of them have the perfect soft, but pretty colors for sympathy card.  My intent on this one was simple but elegant.   There are a boatload of pearls on this.  :-)

Supplies:  Hero Arts note card and pearls, Basic Grey patterned paper, Verve Visual stamp

Masculine birthday card

I have had this hardware from Close To My Heart forever and never used them.  They seemed just perfect for a masculine card.  I am really sorry I don't know the stamp set that the "Celebrate" comes from.  I borrowed it at the retreat since it looked so perfect for a manly card -- and I didn't look.  Oops....

 

Supplies:  Hero Arts note card, October Afternoon (dot) paper, SEI paper, Close to My Heart hardware

And look what I got in the mail today!  A beautiful thank you card from Cass (who won one of the gift certificates on WCMD!).  Isn't it wonderful? What a treat to get a beautiful handmade card.  Thank you Cass!  :-)

In Sympathy....

I expected that many of you would say that you struggle making male/masculine cards.  I think we all do.  But I must admit that I was really surprised at how many of you struggle with sympathy cards.   While I wish I never had to send one I don't struggle with them at all.   So I gave some thought to how I approach them in hopes that sharing that will help you....

1.  I go for pretty and/or elegant.  I don't believe that a sad occasion means that the card has to be subdued or downplayed.   I actually intentionally go the other way -- not bright and flashy, but just... pretty!   I tend to use appealing, soft colors.

2.  I often have a sentiment about prayers or praying for them -- even if the recipient is not particularly religious.  Regardless of whether they are a person of faith I am -- and the card says exactly what I am doing -- praying for them.  I have not found anyone who was been anything but comforted by that, even if they are not prone to prayer themselves.   I also have a number of stamps of Scripture passages that I think are particularly appropriate. I tend to have a very simple sentiment on the front and only handwritten thoughts on the inside.

3.  Oh the inside... many of you struggle with what to say and boy that is hard.   I found that I would say how sorry or sad I was, that I am praying that  God would comfort them and or give them peace (I say what my prayer is for them essentially) , etc.  Then what?   Then I started doing something that makes these so much easier to write.   I include a memory of the person in what I write.  It might be.... "When I think of Joe I can't help but remember (and then talk about a fun or positive memory)" or describe some of their attributes... "I will always remember Joe as the person who always greeted me with a smile and never had a bad thing to say about anyone".  Or say something I learned from them ... "Joe taught me the importance of making time for the people you love".  Something personal and positive.  If I haven't met them I might say "While I didn't know Joe I feel like I did from how you described him to me. I can tell that he was a very special man and very important to you".   I think because it is positive and usually brings a smile to my face it sends warm loving thoughts to the person.  Just an idea of what helps me.

As promised, at the retreat I went to this weekend I focused on Sympathy and masculine cards.  (and a few others too that you will see over the coming days)  I realized looking at them tonight that I had forgotten to take all of my Scripture stamps :-( so you don't see my usual sentiments on these... so much for what I usually do huh?  Here is one...

 

Supplies:  Basic Grey paper, May Arts Ribbon, Stamping up corner punch, Marvy scalloped punch, Stampendous Encouraging Words stamps set

And the winner of the Card Creations issue is.....

Rona!  Congratulations!   Thanks to all of you for your posts.  I will continue to refer to them as I look for ideas of things to post on my blog.   Gives me some inspiration too!  Thanks all!

Finding inspiration

I am really enjoying reading your posts and learning what kind of cards you struggle with.   Boy, I can relate when you all talk about getting stuck before you even start!  That happens to me too where I just sit and stare at my supplies with no idea what I want to do with them.  Ask Jennifer!  She has seen me do it many times.

For some they go to their sketchbook.  Jennifer keeps one where she draws out ideas and can look through them for inspiration.  I'm not a sketcher.... never have been.  So that doesn't work for me.    I find inspiration in an idea journal that I keep.  Ginger was the one who showed me hers once and I have been doing it ever since.  I used to have piles and piles of  scrapbooking/card magazines that I never looked at again once I went through them the first time. As painful as it was to do initially :-)  I now cut them up when I'm done reading them.   I go through and cut out the ideas that I think could inspire me -- design, style, color combinations, etc.   And it could be a catalog like Pottery Barn where I find something that I think is pretty or could result in a card design.  

I also keep a folder on my computer where I save things I find blog hopping.  I save them in a folder that I intend to print out and then every once in a while I print them all out and put them in my journal.  (who knows, you may see one of your projects in my journal below!  :-)  )Here is a glimpse of my book...

You can see that there are a variety of things in there----  photos of projects, layout sketches from others, Copic marker hints, etc.     When I reference it I don't copy projects exactly but there is an element that I pick out and start with that element to design my card.  It really helps break the sitting and doing nothing thing as once I start with a design element the creative juices flow (or at least trickle!  :-)   )   One of my stumbling blocks is when I have too many options to create with.  So narrowing down to one element seems to help me.  And what's funny is that sometimes you can recognize the card as inspired by one of these and sometimes there is no resemblance at all by the end.  But it got me started.

Two things that I NEVER cut up but reference often are the Hero Arts catalogs and Stampin Up catalogs.  Great idea books in themselves!  And Card Creations stays whole too!  :-)

It seems that many of you struggle with masculine and sympathy cards (and others too that I will work on in the future).  I'm heading off to a scrapbook weekend tomorrow so I will work on some that fit into those categories.  And I hope that my idea journal helps me to do less staring and more creating this weekend!  :-)

A sneak peek! Want one of these?

I've looked and I haven't seen these available on the PaperCrafts site yet -- one of my favorite publications each year... Card Creations!  So I am thinking you are getting a sneak peek here!  :-)  Ever since I started making cards I have anticipated this annual issue.   I've got some projects in it so they send advanced copies when they send the projects back to the artists. Lucky me to see it already!    I have yet to really pour over this yet but what a delight to see many of my favorite card artists in there -- Melissa Phillips and Debbie Olson in particular who are always at the top of my list!  And many more.

 

Here is one of my cards that is in there (sorry if I posted it before on my blog.  I'm simply too lazy to scroll, scroll, scroll to figure it out.  Sad, really.. I know! :-)   )

 

So, they sent me TWO copies of this issue!   So I have an extra and I figured it would be fun to spread the love around and give away my extra!  So..... leave a comment on this post and I will draw the winner on Thursday night (CIncinnati time!).   And in your post, tell me the kind of cards you struggle with or need ideas for.  Can I promise that I have the talent or creativity to do projects to post here that will help?  No.  But I figure it's good inspiration as I come up with ideas for posts here.  So give it a shot!  :-)  And good luck!

And be sure to stop over at Jennifer's blog -- she has a fun giveaway too!

Your wish is my command :-)

Lisa asked that I make a card with the little penguin dude in the Hero set I seem to be obsessed with!  :-)   I happened to have one of those from class too and here he is!

Hard to tell with the photo but all of the scarves have Diamond Stickles on them -- for just a bit of sparkle!  :-)

Another card from my favorite Hero set

I seem to keep making cards with this little guy on them.  I think he is so darn cute.  And of course with the red Rudolph nose! (It seems the string slipped down a bit!  It WAS straight!  And I'm too darn lazy to go photograph it again... :-)  )