from my ink pad to yours

Carols of Christmas

Earlier this week I set out to play with a preview set, Carols of Christmas. This is a set, along with the coordinating Card Front Builder Thinlets, from the upcoming Holiday Catalog that everyone will be able to purchase early as part of an August promotion. I saw a Color Challenge at SCS that practically screamed Christmas so I used it for a trial run.

I like this one because the fairly simple message and embellishments don't compete too much with the fun frame effect.  I don't think that pictures alone can show how great these greeting "images" stamp. Every greeting I've done - and I have a cello bag full for future projects - is crisp and lovely. The shadow lines are impressive!

The partial frame takes a little getting used to but I found it very easy to line up when I wanted a top and a bottom.  Once I ran it through to close the the edge of my Big Shot plate and it didn't cut all the way through on one side.  It was a piece of cake to get the die exactly in the right place again so that I could get it cut all the way around.

Colors: Cherry Cobbler, Garden Green, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White

As I tried out the some of the other Card Front Builder dies this card just kind of fell together. I like how the Peace on the white circle kind of ended up looking like a big moon. Next version - I might add a second deer or move the single one over to the right. What do you think?

Colors: Crumb Cake, Garden Green, Whisper White

An idea for you!

I'm excited about the new selection of ribbons and to make sure we use those I've collected when I stamp with downline next week I put this together:

 I rescued the box out of a bin headed for Goodwill and put a bow and a 6" strip  of each ribbon in the box.  This makes it easy to tryout the ribbons as I design a card layout.  It really saves me from having a slew of ribbon spools spread out over my work space as I try out different ribbons.  I might need another box if I get very many more colors! Just one rule: these are for planning only. I need to tie a new bow to use on a card so the sample box stays in tact.

Save

Check out the Marbled Background!

I signed up for the Facebook Challenge group, Caseing the Catty, a few weeks ago and finally tried one of their challenges.  The challenge they issued this past Sunday was to case something from the Artistic Expressions section of the catalog.  That's a big section so there was a lot to pick from but I settled on a card from page 164 which had several new products I was anxious to try out.

I changed up the colors a little since I had the Black Mini Sequin trim instead of the gold.  And then I didn't even end up using  the trim. I admit that I was inspired to buy the Marbled background stamp because of the tone on tone Marbled background on page 182. That is why I switched to a tone on tone Soft Sky for my card. It does kind of look like water doesn't it?

Colors: Powder Pink, Flirty Flamingo (of course!), Basic Black, Soft Sky, Whisper White. 

Save

A Stamping Pantry

 

I have a new stamping pantry! It is a big change from the large studio that was part of our family room before we started downsizing. But I think it is really going to be good! Good for me when I'm spending time creating by myself. And also good because it will still expand to other work surfaces to accommodate stamping with my family, friends and downline. And we are living in well under half the space we used to live in.

• The lower shelves on the floor are Kallax from IKEA.
• A Hutchinson Minnesota company,  Stamp-N-Storage, makes inserts such as the punch shelf to work with these.
• The table is a 29" deep by 59" wide top with adjustable legs, also from IKEA. It just fits in this little room which measures about 5' x 6' with a corner cut off. I have it raised about as high as it will go giving me a very convenient space on top of the Kallax shelf to store flat tools, acrylic blocks etc.
• The ink pad holders are also from Stamp-N-Storage. You could get some to fit the Kallax too but these were made to sit on a desk or be hung from the wall. I wanted the option to hang them on the wall but so far they are doing well just sitting on the desk.

I looked a long time for DVD shelves that would be just deep enough for our stamp cases but not so big that they took up too much space in my little room. I couldn't find anything that would work until I went to IKEA to pick up the Kallax. These Svalnas bamboo shelves were recently introduced and they are perfect! The shallow shelf which measures 5 7/8" deep is perfect for all of my stamp cases.  Well, not all of them, but definitely the current sets.

I meant this to be a space where I stand and work but it turned out I wanted to be able to tuck this stool out of sight - ie in the pantry. (It gives us a tenth chair for our counter height dining table on the rare occasion when we need that many.) Anyway it spins around so I can quickly put away or grab stamp sets. This is helping me keep my table top less cluttered.

Our dining table and bar height counter are just steps away from this pantry so it will still be comfortable to stamp with larger groups or spread out a whole pack of DSP to see how well it plays together. I alson have a basket handy to bring projects out to the cherry table from my old stamping studio. Its new home is near a window overlooking Lowertown St Paul - just in case I would rather work in natural light.

I have a few more things from Stamp-N-Storage on my wish list and I need to commit to what will go on the walls. I think a ribbon holder will fit and, even though they are a bit expensive, the Stamp-N-Storage for Kallax paper organizers would be easier to access than the magazine holders that I'm currently using for card stock. We'll see. I have to spend a little more time working here to make sure that is justified plan!

I'm looking forward to having more time to stamp - and being grateful that I can just shut the door when I need to hide my work space.

OK... If you actually read all of that you at least need one card:

I do have more projects to post - actually a lot of catching up to do. It's coming!