SOS #232: My Precious

It's Tuesday, and time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. This will be a two-week challenge to allow all of us to spend time with our families.

This week's theme is a repeat from a few years ago: My Precious. We'd like you to use something you have hoarded that you never, ever, planned to actually use. Piece of pretty paper? Special embellishment? A piece of special ribbon or lace? Suck it up and use it!

I learned something about myself while playing this challenge: I am not a hoarder, at least not any more. I actually don't have anything that I haven't cut into because I love it so much. I have things I haven't used because I forgot I had them, but nothing that would make me cry to use.

That said, here's my card, then I'll explain:

Back in my craft show days, people would comment that they don't often see people selling cards. I'd tell them quite honestly that's because there's no money in it. Let's say your booth fee is $80 (I always tried to stay under $100). For you to make back your booth fee -- the cost of just showing up -- you'd need to sell 20 $4 cards. And that doesn't cover the cost of materials to make and package those 20 cards.

I was always pondering a higher-end product I could sell to make my life easier. I hit on the idea of making wine journals, where people keep track of wines they've had and take notes on flavor, etc. Here's my original post back from 2008.

Anyway, for the wine journals, I added pages cut from some pretty 12x12 Laura Ashley vellum. I liked my mock-up, so I ordered more of the 12x12 sheets of vellum. Then I never made more wine journals, so I had this cache of pretty vellum. It made the cut when I purged my 12x12 papers, so I guess I like it.

ANYway, for this challenge I used a piece of the printed vellum. It's quite busy, so I just added a sentiment, and a wine glass cut from card-stock-weight vellum. I colored the back of the wine glass and stuck it to the front with a piece of Kool Tak. I used my tape runner to apply some stick behind the sentiment strip, wine glass, and a few of the darker spots of the vellum to stick it to the front of my card base.

Pretty simple to make once I got a clue.

So, are you hoarding something special, waiting for just the right moment to use it? I know you bought two of them; don't we all? One to keep and one to use, right? So use it, then stop over at Shopping Our Stash to link up.

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used: a piece of Laura Ashley printed vellum, Copic V09, card-stock-weight vellum, and the following:

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SOS #231: Let It Snow

It's Tuesday, and time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. This week's theme is Let It Snow, and we'd like you to focus on snow, or a snowman, for your project.

Here's my card:

This stamp set is ancient, at least in stamping terms. It's an old MFT set, and it's still available!

I like how easy it is to use - just stamp and color. I added some clouds, then pulled out my also-ancient Liquid Applique to add snow at his feet. I love how it puffs up when you heat it. I also love that it's still white. I was kindof expecting it to be yellow by now.

So, got snowflakes or snowmen or faux snow in your stash? Why not pull 'em out and join us at SOS this week?

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used: Copics (0, G02, BG34, BG15, YR07, YR16, C0, C2, C5, B000, B0000), MFT Holiday Hugs stamp set (though the packaging is labeled Frosty & Fabulous Snowman), and the foll

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owing:

SOS #230: UFOs

It's Tuesday, and time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. This week's challenge is UFOs, which stands for UnFinished Objects. We'd like you to use something that you started but didn't finish. Perhaps some new technique you tried; you didn't feel the love, but you couldn't throw it away. Or an extra stamped image. Or a left-over die-cut. At least in my world, I will never run out of options.

Here's my card for this challenge:

One thing I have in great abundance (is there any other kind?) is Gelli plate panels. I have a challenge on my list to use blue & green (my favorite!), so I chose a Gelli panel with mostly blue & green to die-cut my snowflake.

I actually cut it twice so I could put one on the back and make this a spinner card. Well, that was my plan, anyway. I found my 5 spools of SU gold cord (before they made the elastic version) and used a few inches of it to secure the snowflake in the circle aperture.

Then I veered off track and just backed it with a piece of SU Brushed Gold card stock, so it's not a spinner after all.

The green layer is a piece of Hero Arts designer paper that was sitting in my cast-off pile near my paper trimmer. The peace die was a freebie from Taylored Expressions for shopping on their site. First time I've used it.

For my final act I added a turquoise enamel dot to the center of the snowflake to hopefully accent the blue in the die-cut.

So, got UFOs? Why not join us at SOS and use some of them. While you're there, please make sure to check out what the other gals have made and leave them some bloggy comment love.

I'm entering this card in the Less Is More challenge to use green & blue, and the CAS-ual Fridays challenge to use a snowflake:

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used:  SU Brushed Gold card stock, SU gold cord, Taylored Expressions peace die, and the following:

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SOS #229: No Stamping

It's Tuesday, and time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. For this challenge, we'd like you to use No Stamping. That's right: no stamps. This includes anything digital. You can use stickers, paper, dies, rub-ons, etc, but no stamps. Take this opportunity to go into your stash and re-discover some of your loot. That's what I did.

Note: This is a TWO-WEEK challenge so our gals in the US can have some time off to spend Thanksgiving with their families.

Here is my No Stamping card:

Yeah, the sticker is crooked.

This all started when I thought I'd use that Let It Snow sticker. Man, that must be at least 15 years old. It's also really stuck, and I can't move it to straighten it without tearing the paper. :(

I wanted to have snow hills, so I cut three, with the top layer a pale blue so you could see the white sticker.  I sponged the clouds with what I think is the same blue.

It needed a vertical element, so I pulled out my Savvy Dies Birch Trees and cut them out of SSS Fog card stock. I tucked the ends under the top hill.

By tucking the ends under the hill, I created a visible bump, so I dug out my Memory Box Deer Trio, cut it out of a Kraft remnant, cut the legs off of the base, and put the mama and baby deer on the hill to cover the tree bump.

I thought it still needed something, so I pulled out my Memory Box Resting Birds because they are so tiny. I was going to cut a red one, but lo and behold, one of my habits is paying off! I tend to keep left-over die-cuts in the envelope with the dies. You just never know when they might come in handy. As I reached into the envelope to retrieve the die, I spied a cache of already-cut red birds! Yay! So I used one.

I layered everything onto a blue panel and put it on a white card base.

For my last act, I added clear Wink of Stella to the tops of the hills.

I was going to add some snow with a stencil and embossing paste, but I thought that might be a bit much. It's not snowing here, yet, but one of my pals is praying for it.

So, got stash you've forgotten about? I think you need to go rummage and play along with our No Stamping challenge. Go on, make something, then link us up over at SOS. Remember, you have TWO WEEKS.

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used: Stampendous Class A'Peel stickers, and the following:

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SOS #228: Thanks

It's Tuesday and time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash. This week's theme is Thanks, with a nod to the US Thanksgiving holiday just a week away. You can make a Thank You card, or a Thanksgiving-themed card, or a stack of Christmas Thank You cards for all those gifts you plan to get.

Here's my card, then I'll explain:

This card only took an hour and a half to make. Seriously. My original idea fell apart (my small leaf thumb-punches refused to cut through card stock - must have reached their end-of-life). I wanted to make a leaf wreath, and I wouldn't let the idea go. I might be stubborn. Next I looked through my leaf dies. They were either too big or too small. What to do ... what to do ...

Stamps! I have stamps! But without dies (there is a matching die set, I just don't have them), I'd have to manually cut them all out, which sounded like work. I finally settled on the SSS Summer Garden set because it has a small, smooth-sided leaf.

I didn't want to cut out ALL of them, so I drew a circle on my white card panel, and stamped every other leaf. They were pretty much end to end around the circle.  Then I stamped 10 or 12 leaves on a piece of white card stock.

I colored the stamped leaves, cut out the singles, then stuck them to the circle, covering up the spaces between the stamped leaves. I liked how it came out!

I did not like how I schmeared black ink on the bottom of the panel, so the wreath had to be cut out, which is why it's a circle. Sigh. The things we do for our craft ...

I knew I wanted to use a black thanks die-cut, and wished I had a give word somewhere. I checked; I don't. So I used my trusty MFT Mini Banner Day Alphabet set to stamp the word give. It was going along swimmingly, since I practiced a lot off to the side. Then, it happened. I touched the e to the card stock before I was ready to stamp, and I RUINED THE WHOLE THING.

Fear not, as I used my usual method for saving myself in this situation: I stamped it again on a separate piece of card stock and covered the boo-boo with an I meant to do that banner. It looks a bit strange, but I was NOT starting over!

Since I destroyed my original white panel, I was forced to figure out what to do with the white circle/wreath. I finally settled on a Hero Arts Kraft card base, but it was boring. No problem! I have lots of failed projects on my desk, and one of them involved a new-to-me background stamp from Impression Obsession: Starburst. I stamped it with Versamark over the card front. I didn't even emboss it; just went for the tone-on-tone look.

I used a punched foam circle that was also sitting on my desk -- left over from a shaker card episode -- and stuck it behind the wreath piece before I stuck it to the card front.

I think my idea of stamping every other leaf was a sound decision. I believe that in the future, I need to cover my whole card front with a huge Post-It note to try and reduce these schmears. It's getting old, fast.

SO, are you thankful? How about making a Thank You card, or a Thanksgiving card (got turkeys?), and join us over at SOS!

Thanks for stopping by!

Some of the stuff I used: MFT Mini Banner Day Alphabet, Copics (0, YR14, YR68, YG67, YG95, R37, Y19), SU black card stock, SU mini glue dots, and the following:

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