Lens

May 2011 Acquisitions

Apparently it was "all Tim Holtz, all the time" month.  I was thrilled to see new TH stamps and paper at Michael's!  

April 2011 Acquisitions

I've already used 17 of the items shown above, which I'm pretty happy with.  I don't feel guilty buying supplies if I'm actually using them up on cards and layouts.  :-)
~ Laura 

March 2011 Acquisitions

I bought a lot of patterned paper this month: Crate Paper, Graphic 45, Girls' Paperie, etc. As I type this in June, I've used all or part of 7 sheets of the paper.  I've also used one of the border stickers, some of the Remarks letter stickers, some of the blank cards, and some of the Distress Stickles.  (I'm trying to be better about buying stuff I will actually use.  What a concept, right?)
~ Laura 

February 2011 Acquisitions

I periodically post pictures of the supplies I've added as a way of reminding myself what I've got and might not have used yet.  As I peruse the image now in June, I can say that I've used everything in the picture at least once.  It will take a long time to use all the Prima flowers, but purple is one of my favorite colors, so I'm not worried.  The square that looks empty represents Bazzill French Vanilla cardstock.  :)
~ Laura

Crafty Projects for the Weekend

1. Father's Day cards x 3 -- for my husband, my Dad, and my father-in-law -- I am a total slacker about finishing these cards!  I'm using some of the new Tim Holtz kraft embossed cardstock for the bases and misted two of them with some new Glimmer Mist I found at Hobby Lobby.  Pictures will follow. :)
2. I'd like to play along with the June Crate Paper Sketch Challenge, since I have some papers and border stickers from their Restoration line that I'd like to use.  
3. I'd like to finally edit and get prints made up for my 2010 Week in the Life project.  I "played along" last June with Ali Edwards as far as taking tons of pictures of our everyday life and doing some journaling for seven days straight, but then I never did anything with my raw materials.  I'm actually kind of excited about doing a Week in the Life again this year -- Ali is doing it the week of July 25-31 and I see there is a fledgling Flickr group set up for this.  I think I'll take the week off from work that week (I'd planned to take at least one week in the summer anyway) and try to make it a really fun week.  

Congratulations card

This is a card to congratulate some new parents on the birth of their first child.  I don't have any baby-related stamps, so went with something soft and pretty instead.  Prima flowers, My Mind's Eye ribbon, and some off-white trim that, believe it or not, I bought at the dollar store. 

~ Laura

Ten Things that Work for Me Right Now

1. Making a layout if I'm not in the mood to make a card.
2. Making a card if I'm having trouble getting started with a layout.
3. Leaving works-in-progress out on the table, both for practicality (ready when I have time) and for inspiration.  Seeing the project sitting there causes it to percolate in my brain even when I am doing something else.
4. Keeping a container of small paper scraps right on the table (this causes me to use them more often)
5. Keeping a container of neutral cardstock scraps handy (very useful when you need to do a trial "stamp" of a title or image, or when you want to put a sentiment for a card on a separate piece of cardstock.)
6. Jumping right into a project if something inspires me, even if I only pull out raw materials
7. Keeping a running "cart" going on Two Peas in a Bucket that I put things in as I see them. . . which I then pare down when I once again have funds to spend.  I like the ease with which I can shunt things to my wishlist if I'm not going to buy them at a particular time. (The only thing I don't like about the Two Peas wishlist is that there is no indication of whether an item's price has changed or even whether it is still available.  I can imagine that they don't want to devote server power to doing that.)
8. Buying things for projects I know I will work on soon, instead of just buying something because I love it.  I, of course, make occasional exceptions to this rule. :-)
9. Putting a product out in plain sight that I want to work with soon 
10. Storing my clear and cling stamps in a bin right on the table (rather than in a binder, which was their previous home.)  I'm trying to use more stamps on my layouts and I just wasn't getting them out very often with the old storage method.

 

"I'm Sew Excited" Challenge

I was inspired to make this card for a challenge over at Cath Edvalsen's Moxie Fab World blog.  We were challenged to use sewing iconography (rather than actual sewing) in a project.  I immediately thought of this Tim Holtz paper from his newest paper line -- it includes images and words from sewing patterns.  The dress form is from Pink Paislee/House of Three -- I dressed it up with pearls, paper from Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl line, and some lacy trim.  The flowers are Prima and the measuring tape is cut from Material Girl paper, too.  And let's not forget the postmark from Paris (a Tim Holtz stamp) -- one of the fashion capitals of the world.  :-)  

~ Laura

Gabi's Hangout

 

It's a rare layout of mine that doesn't include patterned paper. . . I assume the news crew will be over soon to interview me about this breaking news.  *grin*  There are so many bright colors in the pictures that I felt they could easily stand on their own along with some simple embellishments. 

 ~ Laura

[The idea of punching a shape out of a punched circle was inspired by this card.]

Tuesday Trigger: Classically Modern

This gorgeous picture is the "prompt" for Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger challenge this week.  

I was inspired by the striking blue on white color scheme, the metallic wall ornament, and the pop of pink from the tulips.  

I used Faded Jeans distress ink to stamp the floral image (Hero Arts; Long Stem Flowers) and the sentiment (Hero Arts; All Occasion Messages) on white cardstock.  I used a piece of white grosgrain ribbon as a foundation for my embellishments: a pearl brad (American Crafts) and two Prima flowers.  

I needed an end-of-year card for my daughter's teacher, so this will come in handy. :)

~ Laura