The perfect thank you card...

Saturday was my birthday!  My sister, who knows me so well, sent me a tomato spoon.  And, of course, I wanted to make her the appropriate thank you card...

I tried to spruce up the card with a subtle tone-on-tone background image (tomato red, of course) using Impression Obsession's Dotted Floral Cover-a-Card stamp, but the true find was that I had a stamp of a tomato spoon!  Well, sort of.  As I was browsing through my stamp catalog, continuing my trip down memory lane, I saw an Impression Obsession Tea Tools stamp:

I masked the other stamp elements, added a thank you greeting, and called it done.  Don't tell anyone that it's really a bon bon spoon...

Seeing what happens...

I find it so easy to be stymied when I don't have a specific project in mind, or an intended recipient for a card.  Last night I reminded myself that the only way to get past that is by doing the work - just put stamp to paper, and something will happen.

This card started from me just stamping out a couple of stamps from a new-to-me set on some scrap paper, just to see what they looked like.  It's simple, which is completely my style, but I might try this one again and see if some pale coffee rings works as a background, or detracts from my focal image.  The inside reads:  Coffee is my love language.

All images and inside sentiment:  Coffee Talk by Joy Clair.

Another Rainy Day...

We've been having this spate of gloomy, rainy, intensely humid days in my part of the world.  I feel lucky to live and work in places with climate control.

In a rare burst of inspiration and creativity after a stamping convention a number of years ago, I made this card, which captures the current state of things.

It's a simple thing - two stamps, no embellishments, and these days cold be easily mass produced, and have better ink coverage using the MISTI.  Background:  Rain Cover-a-Card from Impression Obsession; Foreground:  Umbrella People by Technique Junkies.

Those bygone days...

I wasn't feeling especially creative last night (turns out I was hungry - who knew?), so I worked on my unmounted stamp catalogue.  I have a bunch of stamps that I've either unmounted from their original wood blocks and then remounted with cling foam, or that are cling-mounted duplicates of stamps I already had.  As I was looking through my mounted stamp catalogue for company and stamp name references, paging through that binder, was a wonderful trip down memory lane.  Yes, I'm now securely in the unmounted camp, for ease of use, storage, and the game-changer stamp positioning tools that all but remove the possibility of inking mishaps, but I don't want to lose track of and stop using those older images I love and collected over many years.

Above is a favorite card that I never quite had the courage to send.  Marvy dye inks on glossy paper, mounted on black felt, gold paper, and then the perfect shade of purple card stock.  Image:  Acey Deucy/Lynne Perrella.

Wait, what is a blog again??

Oh, I remember, a web log, a journal, a record of what I'm doing, in this case, in the craft room.  I've tried a couple of different ways to record a snapshot of what I'm doing, but the paper versions - inchies and ATCs involved making a thing, and then an extra bit for the journal.  Now I'm trying an old scheme:  online, one photo, 1-2 sentences, supplies.  What are the key things you want to know about a craft project?

Impetus:  This week's Splitcoast Stampers clean and simple challenge prompt is balloons.  I've been wanting to play with this Concord & 9th set for ages.  Also exploring the idea that the image on the front of the card, the sentiment, and the intended recipient can have a little incongruity and it's not the end of the world.

Supplies:
Image:  Happy Balloons by Concord & 9th
Sentiment:  Tealightful Day by Pinkfresh Studio
Background:  Mini Cloud Edges stencil by My Favorite things
Inks:  Altenew, Versafine, Impression Obsession