Little Things: Day 2

Important Note: Lots of people answered yesterday's questions via email rather than commenting directly on the blog. Email responses will NOT be entered in the drawing. If you read Simplicity in your email, you must click on the title of the post in the email and leave a comment on the blog to be entered to win. Feel free to leave an anonymous comment...just make sure you leave your name or screen name in the body of the comment.

Using Stickles Without Your Ink Bleeding: Several of you commented that you have trouble with Stickles making ink bleed. I think this happens when you use an ink that is water soluble...like SU's classic ink. If the ink is water soluble, adding liquid glue over it will probably make it bleed. Using a water resistant or waterproof ink prevents this. I have used my Stickles over Memento, VersaColor, VersaMagic, Palette, Ancient Page, and Memories inks without the inks bleeding. Copics, Bics, Sharpies, and Memento Markers are all bleed-proof, so you can use Stickles over them without a problem. Hope that helps!

Today's LITTLE THING is the Sakura Stardust Clear gelly-roll pen. Oh, my golly gracious! What a handy little pen! An employee at Archiver's first introduced me to to them years ago, and I've not been without a couple in my stash ever since because you can do really cool--and FLAT--things with these pens with almost no effort at all.

For example, you can make fish scales shimmer:

This cute fishy is from Oceans of Joy, a clear set from Hero Arts. I colored it with Memento Markers (quick review of the markers: colors are darker than the matching pads and don't cover as well as Bic/Sharpie markers, but I still like them because the light colors are lighter than the Bic/Sharpies and they don't bleed through PTI white cardstock).

To color the fish, I used two shades of pink and London Fog gray; then I accented random bits of the fish with the clear Stardust pen. The shimmer below is exaggerated by the photo, but you get some idea of the shimmer a simple swipe with a pen can give. It takes a few minutes to dry, so be careful not to smear it!

I liked this so much I made a blue one, too!

Just adding this shimmer to an image can help turn an ordinary simple card into an extraordinary simple card. I find myself reaching for these most often on Christmas cards but really should use them more to accent flourishes (I could make curls of steam shimmer as they leave a coffee mug!), flowers, and all sorts of other images.

Today, there will be two winners picked at random. Each will receive a two-pack of the Sakura Stardust Clear pens. Just answer the following questions in the Comments section of this post. Entries will be closed 48 hours after this post. Please leave only one comment!

Stardust Pen Give-Away Question
What one LITTLE THING makes you realize that spring is finally going to arrive? For me, it's walking out my door early in the morning and hearing the robins singing in chorus.

Snail's Pace

I spent an excessive amount of time Sunday stamping. Very little productive came out of that time, but perhaps my mojo is returning, if only at a snail's pace:

Today's card uses the Papertrey set called Way to Go, Kiddo. I used the Martha Stewart grass border punch to create, well, the grass. I know you don't need to be told that. Sorry. Just call me MOTO: Master Of The Obvious.

I like Lady Blingsalot better, though.

Also, I'm too chicken to put eyes on the snail, but that hardly matters since a snail's eyes in the real world are on the ends of its tentacles. Which means I'm spared the necessity of adding dots for eyes and having them look dreadful, which they would because before I learned snails' eyes are on their tentacles, I practiced. The results were not pretty.

Sometimes, Mother Nature really helps us stampers out. Thanks, Mother Nature. But we have to talk about this whole perimenopause thing, because I'm soooo not enjoying it.


Supplies
stamps:   Papertrey Way to Go, Kiddo
ink: memento canteloup, SU close to cocoa
paper: PTI white, spring moss
accessories: Martha Stewart grass border punch, dimensionals, rhinestones

A Little of This, A Little of That

First of all, I just want to thank every one of you who has emailed me or left me a comment lately. Today, I cleaned out my inbox (hadn't done it for about six weeks) and deleted over 2,000 emails, most of which pertained to Simplicity. I'm feeling the love. If, perchance, you sent an email with a question that I haven't answered, please ask again. I'm really trying to stay on top of things, but stuff MUST be slipping through.

Second, someone (Susan?) asked about a source for small envelopes (that hold 4 7/8" x 3 1/2" cards). I buy mine at Marco's Paper. I've never had luck navigating their website, but look for a #4 envelope, which is standard and can be ordered, I imagine, from lots of different places.

Third, edie3 asked (months ago) how I decide color choices. Wouldn't it be super cool if I had a fool-proof system for color combining? Well, I don't, other than to keep combinations simple simple simple because then I'm less likely to screw them up. But I do keep my eyes peeled for cool color combos pretty much anywhere and everywhere, and I found this one in the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens.

Love the soft tan and two shades of orange together, so I played with it using my brand new Papertrey set, Way to Go, Kiddo!

Not sure if you can see the Stickles on the orange 'shroom, but it's pretty sparkly in real life. And as part of my resolution to use older, neglected supplies, I pulled out my grosgrain ribbon for this one. I found a color of ribbon that would work here, but since I made this card, I have FAILED to find matching ribbon for three other cards. Please tell me how one woman can have SO MUCH RIBBON and still not have what she needs? Seriously. And I'm not buying any more until I've used up most of what I have, which will take years.

Sigh.

Fourth, I'm giving this away to anyone living in the United States who wants it. The first person to leave a comment saying they want it will get it.

I'm not going to tell you why I have two of these because that would be embarassing. I mean, no way would I forget I bought a magazine and actually buy a second copy. That would be monumentally silly, wouldn't it?

Of course it would be.

Doh-dee-doh...

Who are you looking at?

Birthday Cards for Children

I pulled out Oh Boy, a clear set from Clear and Simple Stamps, to make some birthday cards for children. The focal images on these three cards are from that set.

First up, a train. So cute! I used the birthday sentiment from Papertrey's Birthday Basics set to ground the train, a variety of markers to color it, and a pair of brown brads to balance the image (echoing the wheels) and the sentiment with a visual triangle. Don't you love the smoke coming from the funnel? Too cute!

Next up, a puppy. This is my favorite image in the set...so very cute, and easy to color, especially if you leave him mostly white, LOL! I stamped the pup and masked it, then stamped the swish, which is from Hero Arts
(Friendship Messages, I think is the name of the discontinued set). The sentiment is from Papertrey's Mixed Messages.

Finally, a paper airplane. I colored it with two shades of red Copics (remember, I won three red Copics from Sue Berker's blog...very cool!). The sentiment is from the Oh Boy set.

I love this set for children's birthday cards!

Dee asked me what I do inside cards, and the answer is, usually, not much. I enjoy writing notes and leave myself plenty of space, but for birthday cards, I always add a stamped sentiment to the inside, usually one from Papertrey's Birthday Basics. I'd really like to start adding a little something to the insides of cards...perhaps a little image to coordinate with the outside of the card. We shall see.

I'm blown away by the sheer number of comments on the Give-Away post, and have loved reading what y'all have to say! Thanks so much to all of you who have commented. Remember if you haven't commented yet, you have until Sunday night at midnight.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

As I said on the last post, blogger didn't post Monday's post as scheduled, so the emails are all off schedule. Sorry about that!

Several people have asked for more kid cards on Simplicity. Honestly, I make some of them but they aren't exactly cards that make me happy. I'm trying to change my attitude, but it's hard because I really don't like most of the stamps I have for kids, with the notable exception of a few sets by Clear and Simple Stamps).

Still, I do have to make kid cards, so here's the latest one. The bright colors really pop off the white cardstock, and a touch of glitter on the flames adds some sparkle. The stamp is an old Hero Arts wood-mounted rubber stamp. It's really my go-to for kid birthday cards.

This is pretty much what I make every time I need a kid card. Oh, I'll change up colors, but the layout and concept are pretty much the same. So now it's time for me to get jiggy with making some kid cards. I'll see what I can do.

Please, please, please make sure you put your two cents' worth in on THIS POST for suggestions of tweaks to Simplicity.

Supplies
stamps: Hero Arts Birthday Candles
ink: memento black
paper: PTI white, SU brilliant blue
accessories: Bic mark-its, yellow stickles, ribbon, dimensionals

All Booked Up

My recent PTI order included All Booked Up. Purchasing this set is a no-brainer for a bibliophile like me. I've already used all the image stamps on cards and will be showing you some of the results in the next few weeks. Really, though, I can't wait to make some book marks for Christmas gifts. How totally cool since so many of my friends and relatives also love books immoderately.

Contented sigh.

So here's the first card I'm going to share.


Design Tips: Since Nicole Heady used the text from Text Style for the background of some of the images, it really made using it on this card pretty obvious. Remember when I said how nice it is to buy lots of stamps from one company you love? This is why! Things can just coordinate so perfectly. The ribbon is cut to mimic a ribbon marker in a book. The pumpkin text provides a color complement to the dark blue of the stamped circle and ribbon. Using complementary colors gives added pop and interest to a very simple two-color scheme.

Have a great Labor Day. Tomorrow starts this month's Blog Hop for Mark's Finest Papers. I am so excited about this release, and I sure hope you enjoy my cards and projects. Frankly, I'm a bit giddy about them!

A Happy Heart

Here is a simple little card using a soon-to-be-retired StampinUp set called Wild About You and heart stamp from some other company. Hope you like it!

I will be unplugged for the next five days but want you to know that your comments and support of Simplicity are much appreciated. I'll be back next week with a really cool set of cards I'm so excited to share with you!

Supplies
stamps: Wild about You, unknown heart, sentiment from Hero Arts
ink: Brilliance
paper: PTI white
accessories: silver metallic pen, dimensionals, black pen