Here are four cards I made today ... I was trying to keep them simple and fun.
They all use white card stock as the base, then paper from the TAC(tm) Designer Collections as accents; inks are from the TAC(tm) Palette Hybrid Ink Pad series. These inks are a fantastic addition to any stamper's tool chest! They combine the archiveal qualities of pigment inks, and the fast drying of dye inks. Palette Hybrids are a bright, waterproof ink that is a pleasure to use.
The Butterfly stamp was in my work kit for the day, but isn't in the current catalogue. :-( Sorry. However, a very similar butterfly, even about the same size, IS in the catalogue in a set called "a wittle bug," #T-2034. The butterfly was colored in using Glaze Gelly pens. If you haven't tried these yet -- ooh, they are so fun to use. The ink flows out of them so smoothly and dries transluscent and raised like heat embossing but without the heat gun. TAC(tm) offers these as well in the Fall 2007 Catalogue and Idea Book; they make a great half-price item for hostesses to consider for their wish-list (hint hint) ... Shadows under the butterflies were added using a gray Tombow brush marker, also available in the TAC(tm) catalogue.
The doodle stamps are from a set that is brand new to the newest catalogue, called "curls & swirls," #T-2773. This is a set that is so versatile! You can use it as a main design or to create an accent or even to create an awesome background.
I must admit -- I am stymied by many of the fads in papercrafting right now. One of them is the use of staples to affix layers together. However, in the work kit for today was a small stapler that had a pack of various colored staples with it. So ... I figured, try it and see why it is so popular.
**Sigh** It looks okay, but I still don't quite understand why it is such a popular fad ... although it does add a tiny "something" that just wouldn't be there is I had used only a tape runner to affix the two layers together.
Twice I have mentioned the "work kit for today" -- basically, I knew I was going to my friend's house today to "play stamps." So I went around the house and tossed a few odds and ends into a tote bag with the thought "maybe we can find a use for this, maybe not."
I find that if I have too many options in front of me to choose from, I get overwhelmed and just get lost trying to make decisions. I have found that if I limit my choices -- get out only three or four sets of stamps instead of all of them, a couple inks, and one or two embellishments -- I have a much easier time actually getting the work done rather than agonizing over which product to use here or there. I always know that upstairs in a drawer I can find anything else I may suddently decide a card needs. But, by then the decision is made that the card indeed does need this other item.
If you find you have trouble -- not trouble focusing, but trouble deciding what to focus on -- try limiting your choices. I had a lot of fun today making those four cards with two inks (two tones of pink and burgundy), one card stock and one accent paper. My friends that I was stamping with, each got one card finished -- they had a harder time making their decisions today. But, funny -- they both needed birthday cards today: the one needed one for her husband and the other for her father-in-law -- both had birthdays today, and both ladies needed cards. Their cards were awesome. I wish I had gotten photos of them! I'll post a "blueprint" of their layout soon ...
