Friday

not overthinking

Sometimes one has to stop trying so hard to create a wow and just enjoy the process. Take a breath, let go of what's new or trendy, what's challenging, what's cutting-edge...and just do what you love. Embrace the comfort of the familiar. When you have been papercrafting for a long time, some things are just old hat and comfortable creatively.

So it is for me with a black and white color combination and a big bold cut-out flower. What's not to love, right?

 
I find pages about the cat so easy to do lately. I love her so much and she brings such a peaceful balance to our home. And let's face it, she photographs well. :)
 
I realize that the above layout is one of those fluff pieces that I am in a rut with right now...not alot of journaling, no real story, just a couple of photos and some big ol' flowers.
 
And some ribbon.
 
That big flower is by Impress Rubber Stamps now called Impress Cards and Crafts and I love it. They have recently redesigned their website and it's even more awesome than before. The flower is called Chrysanthemum Outline and you can see it here.  It has a good center (in my opinion, that's the mark of a good stamp design) if you wanna leave it as is, but it also makes a great back-up piece if you want to make your sentiment really stand out.
 

 
 

 
I started down the monochromatic road on the cards after reading a challenge at The Stamp Nation from the very marvelous Maureen, who regularly blows me away with her clean and crisp design sense.
 
Check her out here.


 
 
Thanks for taking a peek! Happy Stamping!
--Sarah
 
 
 
 


Wednesday

fallish all over again

In the past, I haven't been one to do fall, Halloween or Thanksgiving stamping projects very much at all. However, I do love pumpkins and going to visit the local pumpkin patch is usually something my boys and I make it a point to do very early in the season, sometimes more than once. The weather here is still warm in the daytime but refreshingly nippy in the evening and frankly, it's downright inspirational for this stampy girl. :)

I have a taken a few days away from the reds and greens and silvers of Christmas crafting and jumped fully into the deep rich browns, golds, oranges and hints of blues and purples that are so much a part of fall.

Here are a few of the proceeds of my excursion into fall...

(Above)
Sentiment Stamp: Stampendous "Angel"
Image stamp: Hero Arts "Tall Wheat"

 
(Above)
Image Stamps: Stampin' Up! Wonderfall
Sentiment Stamp: Hero Arts
 


(Above)
Background Stamp: Stampendous "Autumn Words"
Pumpkin: Stampin' Up! "Jack-O-Lantern Fun" Retired
Grass Die: Quickutz
 


 
((Above))
Pumpkin Stamp: Stampin' Up! "Jack-O-Lantern Fun" retired
Sentiment Stamp: Hero Arts
Grass Die: Quickutz
 
 
Good inspiration is certainly not hindered by a good picture as a jumping off point. This current Stampin' Royalty challenge includes the photo below, which has a little bit of everything fall.

 
The elements that really jumped out at me were the dried stalks of wheat (see the top card) and the shutter (referenced in the third card).
 
I'm also kinda diggin' that small bird egg blue pumpkin on the lower left. :)
 
 
Take a deep breath and feel the cool fall air...
 
 
--Sarah 
 
 

Tuesday

cookie cutter dies

Tips on Tuesday
A new feature of White Daisy Press blog is Tips on Tuesday. Every Tuesday...a paper crafting tip.
 
Today's tip is all about Cookie Cutter Dies. You've heard of those, right?
 
Cookie Cutter dies are dies that are the shape of the image they cut (like a traditional cookie cutter). Their obvious shape makes precision cutting significantly easier and of course, they cost less to produce, package and ship. Cookie cutter dies range in size from about the size of a dime (such as the ones in the photo) to up to 12" long.
 
 
 
Standard dies (non-cookie cuter style) are on a "bed", typically square. Usual sizes of the "bed" are 2" square, or 4" square. There are many alphabets available on beds of 4"x8". They can be up to 12" long. These are sometimes called "wafer-thin dies" too.
 
The white foam is called ejection foam and usually comes with the dies. Applying the foam to the die encourages the paper you are cutting not to stick in the super-fine details of the image...but to eject easily. Ejection foam is self-adhesive on one side for easy application. There's a video on youtube about this if you need to see it being applied.
 
 
Some of the newer companies producing wafer-thin dies and cookie cutter dies don't encourage users to apply ejection foam...something I completely do *not* understand. Ejection foam takes the work out of die cutting.
 
One of the largest manufacturers of dies--and I'm pretty sure the originators of the "cookie cutter" reference is Lifestyle Crafts, formerly known (for many years) as Quickutz.
 
Stampin' Up! has a line of dies made similarly called Framelits.
 
Sizzix, the maker of the Big Shot, also does Thinlets. 
 
There are other companies that offer these styles of dies as well, such as
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
--Sarah