What to bring?

Twice a month I pack up to join the company of other stampers at our Gone Stampin' meeting. Sometimes we have each designed a card to share with others, so those days were easy to pack for. I just needed to bring the exact materials I used in my card.

Other times we just kind of "free form" where we bring something we want to work on. I also have the privilege of attending a stamping retreat once a month where a group of us stampers hightail it to the words for an overnight retreat of stamping the time away. In both of these situations, I am never sure what to bring. I am very spoiled by having my own stamping room with my supplies and stuff in cabinets, bins, and plastic drawers.

I happened to find this list on one of my favorite sites, Operation Write Home. (If you love to make cards, but do not have a place to send them, the girls at OWH collect cards for servicemen and women to use in correspondence home.) There are great ideas and tutorials at this site, too. The link is in the column on the right.

Crop Packing List

• A large bag or rolling tote to hold all supplies.
• A cutting mat – 12 x 12 or preferred size to use as a work surface of your own. A foam-back mat will be good for stamping on and one with a grid will be good for measuring things.
• Adhesives – variety is good. ATG or tape runners, liquid adhesives, glue dots, dimensionals. A wrist strap of scotch tape instead of a whole roll will save space. (see video).
• Punches – stick to your favorites or ones that match the projects that you are going to work on.
• Inks or distressing pigments – the smaller sizes are better for travel or stick to the colors that you need just for the projects that you are taking along.
• Essential tools: scissors, bone folder, paper piercer and mat, scoring tool, favorite pens/pencil, adhesive eraser, corner rounder, hole punch if needed.
• A favorite new stamp set or two. Build everything else that you need to bring around these stamp sets!
• Ink pads for stamping, unless your images are already stamped or printed. Bring along pre-stamped, heat embossed, or even completed images ready to add to cards.
• Clear blocks for your stamps, if needed.
• Coloring tools and some kind of container or way to pack them with you.
• Patterned paper or pads to match your stamp sets.
• Card stock in colors that match your patterned paper for mats and card bases (bonus points if you pre-cut and fold some card bases before hand!)
• Some die-cut pieces to use for focal points – cut from the same colored card stock as above. Have a variety of shapes (circle, square, scalloped) in a variety of sizes. You can also pre-cut some pieces to stamp sentiments on to.
• Some pieces of the same paper that have already been dry embossed with designs that match your stamps / papers that you want to use.
• An assortment of ribbon, twine, buttons, brads and other embellishments to match.
• Your own garbage can (see video) or even a paper or plastic sack to use for garbage scraps if you like.
• Inspiration in the form of sketches or card ideas – maybe a magazine or some photos of cards that you would like to CASE!
•  A drink container – to be a good crop neighbor you should always have a drink container that is guaranteed not to spill if accidentally knocked over – you don’t want to spill on your own or on your neighbors’ precious work.
• One more tip – it’s never a bad idea to mark your own supplies in some way with a Sharpie or permanent marker to identify them as your own – just put your initials on them somewhere.

Christmas is Love

I made a number of Christmas cards this year, about 30 in all. Far fewer than previous years, but then I started in November instead of July. Some of them I posted on earlier posts, many I made and mailed immediately, so no scanning was done. This is the last card I made Sunday and my favorite. A one of a kind made for my sister Angie, who got me comfortable with cracked glass technique and tying ribbons. She also shares a  love of trains with me and her grandson Nathaniel.
On the back I wrote this verse in white:

This is love: not that we loved God, 

but that he loved us 

and sent his Son 

as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Merry Christmas!

Thank You Card

I love the colors in this paper. I think they are kind of Christmas-y, so this could be a good thank you card for after the holiday.I used Versamark ink and gold embossing powder for the sentiment and a gold paint pen inside the scallops.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to send holiday greetings to anyone who happens by my blog today.

Going out of My Comfort Zone

This card is dedicated to my sister because it has embellishments she loves and I do not use too often: ribbon and glitter. What was I thinking? I was at my local stamp and scrapbook store, Sparkle and Sprinkle, with my sister Angie recently. She was looking for their new micro glitters and showed me how they feel soft, not sharp like regular glitter. I was hooked and bought a bottle of a color called Reflection. I used a wide double sided tape, stuck one side to white card, then punched it in the border punch. Then I applied the glitter, rubbing it into the exposed tape. I used my tidy tray and brushed out the excess back into the bottle, but there was extra glitter on my table, on my fingers, in my hair, on my clothes...I sparkle! I heat embossed the snowflakes(Michael's $1 stamp) with silver embossing powder over Versamark ink, used a silver paint pen to outline the larger circle and embossed the words on the tag with the same silver. The ribbon has silver glitter in it, too. I am going to stamp "tis the season to sparkle" on the inside.

 

PS you can order online from Sparkle and Sprinkle if you are not nearby. See the link on the  right.

More Glittery Cards

 I found this ribbon on sale at Mike's yesterday and thought it would go well with my snowflake embossing folder. The blue snowflake was stamped with Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue ink, so it sparkles, too.

These two cards on the right were made with the same ink and then embossed with clear powder. This is Brilliance Starlight Black ink which stamps on both  white and dark paper. The stamp set is Rejoicing With You from SU. I used a silver paint pen to edge the mat below the sentiment piece which is just a smidgen smaller.

This last card was also made using the Starlight Black and outlined with a silver paint pen as above. The stamp is from Impression Obsession. No embossing was added to this card, just a little glitter pen added sparkle to the stamens in the center of the poinsettia.. You can see how neat that ink is on the white and red card stock.

Joy Ornament Card

I just got a new toy: a Grand Calibur die cutting machine. Now I am able to use my Impression Obsession dies and also cut and emboss with my Nestabilities  easily. Here's a card I made using the pine branch and a stamp set from Sparkle and Sprinkle that matches the Nestie Ornament dies.

I added some glitter on the branch with a glitter pen and used silver embossing to continue the sparkle. It doesn't show, but the base card has a sparkle finish as well.

I added two score lines and popped up the ornament, too.