Saturday, October 20, 2012

Coming Clean: Part First

As most card-makers know, the idea of making your own cards to save money is the initial pull to the craft (well, really, it's that first heat-embossing demonstration, but you know what I mean), but after about 12 seconds of shopping you realize that is a bold-faced lie. Card-making supplies are like crack*, and you can never have enough. There are Professional Enablers in the wilds of the Blogosphere that lure us in to need things we really don't need, but somehow we feel we must own them.

It's confession time: I shopped. I did. I need nothing. I have SABLE. If I never buy one more crafty item I would still never run out. But I shopped. *hangs head*

Today, I challenged myself to use as much of the new stuff as I could without making it look like I was just piling it on. Amazingly, I made a card that uses a huge long list of supplies, but it's not at all busy. Here's the card, then I'll explain:

I just counted 14 supply items on my scrawled list. Yes, 14. That's not counting the bone folder, paper trimmer, scoring board. ... yeah

Obviously I've succumbed to the allure of Hero Arts' Pool ink and papers. Here we have the Pool Designer Papers and Tide Pool Mid-tone Ink. The stamped background is Impression Obsession Circle Fusion 1.

There's also a piece of just-opened washi tape in there:

 It seemed like the right color (you can see where I scribbled the brand name on the inside of the roll - secret of how I remember what it is), but once I applied it to the darker paper:

... it kinda disappeared. Ah, well. Oh, look at the cool texture-y pattern on that paper.

The rest of the 14 items landed here:

We have an SU Framelits Labels Collection die, a piece of Basic Grey What's Up paper that I cut with a Die-namics banner die, a Studio Calico veneer heart I colored with a Copic, and a piece of Twinery twine in Caribbean. That's a lot of stuff on what seems to be a simple card, isn't it? I mean, look at it:

This is a crazy hobby, fer sure. Oh, and I followed this sketch from Clean & Simple:

 
So I've done my duty. I've come clean about my shopping and played with a lot of new stuff so now I can put it away. My next card will be Part 2 of Coming Clean. Yeesh.

Thanks for stopping by!

*Speaking of crack, I've got this bubbling for dinner: Mac & Geez, and I may or may not have been feeding on it all afternoon. So good.

Items used but not linked below: SU Framelits Labels Collection die, Twinery twine (Caribbean).



5 comments:

  1. I know what you mean about the blog enablers LOL! If you are having problems losing the pattern of the washi tape, you can adhere it to a strip of white cardstock the same width as your washi tape, then the washi colours will pop :)

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  2. I think I could still run out of supplies if I never bought anything else. I'm fairly young and I've only been accumulating the stuff for a couple of months. I can definitely see that point of never-run-out somewhere ahead of me, though.

    Why is it we feel the need to use the new stuff a little before we put it away? I guess, for me, I feel that I need to justify my purchase. "Oh, see, I did something with it, so I guess I must have needed it after all." I did that with a couple of stamp sets today, I must admit.

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  3. Mine was definitely the heat-embossing. And every colour of EP...which actually doesn't last forever. What's with that? lol
    You realize that somehow even with your confession I still feel the need to shop now? Probably just because you mentioned the word shop. Gawd.
    That is a fabulous bunch of stuff you got there, though. I can't see regretting any of those purchases!

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  4. That's really a lovely card !
    I discovered it on "clean & simple stamping".
    Bravo !!!

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  5. Great card - I hope you'll link up at 52 Card Pickup this week!

    http://www.oldbackporch.com/2012/11/52-card-pickup-week-44.html

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I'd love to hear what you really think! :-)

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