Sunday, July 19, 2009

Finally, She STAMPED Something!

I tell you, Life sure gets in the way of stampin' sometimes. Take this past week, for example. This is the first week I have not brought new cards to my market. Well, actually, this turned out to be a good thing, since no one was buying anything, but still. For me to have a week with no real production is strange.

To what to I attribute this? Let's see ... I found Twitter, and I am still trying to balance that with my already-too-full calendar; I try to keep up with Google Reader, but Twitter has made me add oh so many more blogs, and I find I can no longer keep up; I took a most-excellent Blogger Webinar Thursday night from Understandblue (HIGHLY recommended, by the way); the Webinar sent me down several paths to Blog Improvement and much reading and tweaking ensued (and will continue until I get it where I want it); Saturday's market was so slow I went through my cards and pulled a few to post in my Etsy store, and then I had to photograph them and post them; the Day Job was draining this week and I had no creative juices flowing; I bought food, and it needed to be cooked; ... enough excuses for you? :-)

I have so many ideas that I want to put to paper, that I bit the bullet this morning, and instead of getting dressed and going to the grocery to purchase chipotles in adobo and pectin, I stayed in my jammies and made some cards. CRAZY, I KNOW!

Today I bring you the card inspired by this sticker:

Not sure if they {heart} DC or what, but the whale immediately brought to mind the SU Animal Stories stamp set I thought I had to own, and now do. It's a kids' set, so what was I thinking? I broke the 50% rule to buy it for the cute owl, but THIS ... this simple sticker made me believe the set could be used for non-kiddie cards.

Ta-Da! A not-a-kiddie card, with a whale on it!

My idea started out with the phrase "had a whale of a good time". Then I thought, "Do I say 'We' or 'I' had a whale of a good time?" Sigh, all these tough decisions a stamper needs to make. Really! I had some "we've moved" cards and someone asked if I had any that said "i've moved". You cannot please everyone. So, faced with this mind-boggling dilemma, I opted for neither! By using the simple ellipsis (that ... thing) in place of the pronoun, I avoid the whole sticky wicket!

Since I had the 'puter powered up to print something, I carefully thought out (not) then printed off the sentiment. Several times, I might add, as I cut up the first batch and failed to leave enough room for the thanks. I am an idiot sometimes, and it's a good thing I buy this card stock from myself.

I used the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to get the whale and the sentiment placed almost centered and almost straight. Even with the right tools, I am challenged with the concept of 'straight'. But I think I am getting better.

The blue card stock and ink are SU retired Buckeroo Blue, and the patterned paper is also retired - Western Sky. I love it, and I should have hoarded more. The ribbon is from one of my 1200-yard spools from my Ribbon Outlet trip over two years ago. A little bling in the holes from the Threading Water punch, and I call it DONE.

I'll add this to my Thanks section and move on to something else. I think I'll work on tomorrow's UHC card. Yes, I'm really going to do one!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

4 comments:

  1. Loved your blog and your cards are wonderful. Very talented. You did inspire me to get my own stamps and cards out and I did pretty well.

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  2. I think it looks very straight...yay for you and the SAMJ!!! I really like it...and of course I think the use of the ellipsis was BRILLIANT!!!
    I am looking at it again and I think I might borrow that layout...that's going to work for a card I've got in mind...thanks! (just saved the pic into the inspiration file so I don't forget where I saw that great idea!) Hope you have a great week, ♥ K

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  3. Love this card!

    Can you send inspiration this way? Need it badly for this coming weekend's events!

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  4. Way to go! You did a magnificent job with your stamp-a-ma-jig. Great inspo too :)

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

PS: I've had to disable Anonymous comments, because the spammers were killing me. If you are unable to comment, please email me your comment and I'll get it posted for you. Sorry. (stoopid spammers)