You're Bokeh Brilliant {A Month of Neglect}

Hello friends,

I am back today with another card in my Month of Neglect.  This card uses two previously uninked stamps from MFT Stamps- Bokeh Builder and Watt's Up.

I stamped the large circles from Bokeh Builder in Aqua, Pink, Yellow, Pale Blue and Pale Green inks on a panel of white card stock. Next I sponged some yellow and aqua ink on the edges of the card stock.   I noticed that the aqua and yellow ink sort of blended to a shade of green, but I just went with it.

I stamped the sentiment from Watt's Up in black ink and added a few clear sequins. The finished stamped panel was adhered to an aqua card stock base. 

Well that's it for me today!  Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

We Must Ketchup {A Month of Neglect}

Hello and Happy Monday!

I am back today with another card to share today in my ongoing Month of (Stampy) Neglect.   This time I am using the Churros stamp set from Studio Calico.

I started with a kraft card base and covered the front with a piece of patterned paper.

I stamped the tomatoes in Hero Arts Fresh Peach ink and the blush circles in Sweet Gelato from W Plus 9 on a piece of white card stock. I added the stem leaves in Hero Arts Field Greens and the sentiments in Versafine Black Ink. 

I matted the stamped card stock on a piece of green card stock and adhered it to the card.

Well that another stamp set down and many, many more to go! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Katie

Sohcahtoa {A Month of Neglect}

Hello friends,

Happy August and welcome to the first day of the Month of (Stamp) Neglect.  All throughout August I am challenging myself to actually use the many, many stamp sets that occupy my crafty space.

Where to start? After much thought, I decided to kick off the month at the beginning (alphabetically) with a few sets that I picked up from Altenew- Sohcahtoa and Label Love.

First up, a simple one-layer card using Sohcahtoa.  I drew I light pencil line 2/3 down the card front and stamped the solid and a few striped triangles with some Hero Arts and Studio Calico ink.

I stamped the sentiment in black ink and added a few sequins to give some dimension to an otherwise flat card. 

 Next, I decided to use the triangles to create another shape- in this case, a diamond.

On a piece of watercolor paper, I added some water and painted a "splotch" using distress ink.  After allowing the panel to dry (a heat gun can help speed up the process), I stamped the triangle outlines in the shape of a diamond.  I started with the large triangle, then stamped the narrower triangle to create the base.  Next I stamped a row of the smallest triangles to form the faucets of the gem.  As you can see, it's not perfect, but still a fun look.  I used the thin Tim Holtz stamp blocks to assist with placement, but a stamp positioner would also come in handy.

I stamped the "U ROCK" sentiment from Label Love in black ink on a scrap of white card stock.  I trimmed it out and adhered it at an angle overlapping the diamond. I added a few enamel dots before adhering the panel with foam tape to a white card stock base that I covered with a piece of black card stock.

So that's two sets down and many, many more to go!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

A Consumer Relapse {Stamp Out Chaos}

Hello friends,

So, it's been a moon or two since Lindsay and I did a Stamp Out Chaos post.  No we didn't abandon the effort.  We have been working on finishing up some bigger projects in our spaces, and it's summer- you know where the call of spending a lovely day outside with the family is more powerful than a siren's song.

I thought I would pop in today with a post to share the current state of affairs in the crafty space.   A few months ago, I had the epiphany that one of my biggest challenges to organization was that I simply owned too much stuff.  It was suffocating me and seriously impeded my creative efforts.  So I purged.  Boxes upon boxes of crafty supplies left my room and were donated to the school, to daycare and some were even sold.

This made all the difference in my space.  Sure there was more work to be done and of course more could (and will) eventually go, but simply freeing up some valuable real estate from items that were in excess, no longer fit my habits, or my style was an absolute game changer.  Rational minimalism was the way to go.

But then something happened...

Looking back, it started in June with the Father's Day weekend sales, continued through July 4th sales, a couple "must-have" new releases from favorite stamp companies, and an online shop's moving sale (40% off people!).  After not making many crafty purchases over the past several months, I had a full-on consumer relapse.  I engaged in the online equivalent of "shopping until I dropped." The padded envelopes started arriving at the house and stuff started creeping it's way back into my little crafty space.

In one way, the delayed gratification and waiting for these sales allowed me to acquire many sets that had been on my wish list, but as a result of all my new acquisitions, the craft room equilibrium shifted and my space was teetering on the bring of chaos once more.

What I came to realize is that as much as my initial goal when I started this journey was to organize my room "once and for all," that's really not how it works.  Do we unload the dishes once and for all?  Vacuum once and for all?  Nope, these are daily/weekly maintenance tasks we (begrudgingly at times) perform to keep our homes running smoothly.  It's the same with creative spaces. It's never done. Maintenance will be necessary to keep the space functioning at an optimal level.

So what's to be done? Two (really three) things...  

The Great Purge- Part IX
As new stamps have arrived, I took an opportunity to go through my stash of supplies and pull out those that have not and are not being used.  I am in the process of listing them for sale online where I hope that they will be able to find new and happy homes.

A Month of Neglect
As I mentioned in an earlier post, there is nothing inherently wrong about crafty purchases.  New products are inspiring and they help fuel this creative industry that we all love.  The problem happens when the items are purchased and not used.  I have many, many sets that I purchased and still love (in other words, I am not ready to let them go), but I need to put them to use.  So to address the horde of unused stamps and supplies in my possession, I am declaring August 2014 as a Month of Neglect.  I will be devoting most of my blog posts in August to stamp sets that have seen little to no inky action.

It is my hope to post daily or nearly daily to share projects created with my (previously) unused stash of stamps.  I hope that you will continue to pop in to see what I have been up to!  The fun starts tomorrow, August 1.

Learning  
I also signed up for an organization class called Workspace at Studio Calico.

The class is being taught by Marcy Penner and starts August 4.  Enrollment ends tonight at 11:59 PM EDT.  I hope that between letting go of more excess, using what I have and seeing some new ideas through the class, I can continue my mission to Stamp Out Chaos.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

You are so cray cray {Paper Smooches SPARKS}

Hello and Happy Sunday!  

I am popping in today to share a card I made for this week's Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge. This week is a Designer Draft (sketch) challenge and here's my take: 

I started with an aquamarine card stock card base.  I stamped the Dippy Dots background stamp on a piece of Lemongrass card stock panel and adhered it to the card base. Next I trimmed a rectangle of adhesive cork and affixed it to the card at an angle. 

I die cut a piece of lined patterned paper with the  Notebook Scallop Die.  I stamped "you are so" from Chit Chat onto the notebook paper.  I die cut the crayons using the School Icon Die set.  For each crayon, I die cut the crayon twice using two shades of orange and pink card stock and trimmed the edges of the lighter card stock to create the wrapper. Using a ruler and a black pen I drew lines on the wrapper.  The push pin is also from the School Icon Die set. I stamped "cray" from Slang Gang onto the crayon labels and added the smiley face using the Market Fresh stamp set.  

Here's a look at this week's sketch: 

Ready to play? You have until 11:59 PT on August 2 to link up your take to the Paper Smooches SPARKS blog! I can't wait to see what you create!  

Thanks for stopping by!

Katie

Happy Birthday Shaker Balloon {AE Challenge}

Hello friends and TGIF!

Today starts another AEI{heart}U challenge and this week's challenge is "to die for."  Not literally, please, but we do want to see you use die-cuts on your entries.  Here's my take:

I was trying to create the look of a confetti-filled balloon like these. So I die cut an angled panel using the Custom Panels ELLE-ments dies.  Next, I die cut one of the balloons from the Balloons ELLE-ments and covered the opening with vellum to make a shaker element. I stamped the balloon string and bow from the Balloons stamp set. 

I filled the shaker opening with card stock confetti and I adhered a few extra pieces to the white panel for some extra color.  This punch works really well for creating shaker-sized confetti and you may already have it in your stash!

I adhered the shaker panel to an Aquamarine card base with foam tape and I stamped the "Happy Birthday" sentiment from Cake and Candles in black ink.

Well that's it for me today. Be sure to stop by the AEI{heart}U blog for even more inspiration from the design team and to link up your take on this week's challenge.  I can't wait to see what you create! 

Thanks for stopping by!
Katie

So Happy for Hedgehogs {Take 2 Thursday}

Hello, hello!

Lindsay and I are back today with another Take 2 Thursday.  This week, we are using Studio Calico's Penny Arcade July card kit.

There were sooo many cute images in this stamp set from the happy cloud to the gnome, but I decided to use the hedgehogs to create a sweet baby card.

First I stamped the hedgehog parents in brown ink on a panel of white cardstock.  The best part is that no masking was involved!  The hedgehog baby was next followed by some pink mushrooms. 

I adhered the stamped panel at an angle to a piece of patterned paper covering a white card base.  I stamped the sentiment in brown and added the YAY stripes in pink.  Since it's a baby card, I couldn't resist adding a cute yellow button to the corner of the stamped panel. 

Here's a look at the Studio Calico July kit: 

Penny Arcade

Be sure to stop by Lindsay's blog for her creation with this fun kit!  That's all for me today!  Thanks for stopping by!

Katie