Yesterday I was looking at the blog of a stamping diva and "my Stampin Up Lady", Robin. She makes amazingly beautiful cards. She had just posted some beautiful "one layer cards" (see her fabulous creations here.) What a great idea! I hopped right on the bandwagon and made this:


I know Robin's cards are nicer than mine - not false humility, she is just a master. But I think if someone didn't see hers they would think mine was fine.

After making this I thought of how the trend in the stamping world appears to be to throw as many embellishments as possible onto a card. I think it has gotten to the point that the cards have too much on them - truly. So, not that I would want every card to be one dimensional, but it is refreshing to see something simpler. And on a practical note, those hyper-embellished cards are impossible to mail, especially from Taiwan, so I think I will be making a lot of simple cards that I can use when writing letters.

Thank you for the marvelous inspiration, again, Robin!

~La

Christmas Mojo

I am back to looking to the blog "Mojo Monday" for design inspiration. I don't know if my brain is thinking more creatively or if this weeks design was just easy, but when I looked at it I immediately knew in my head what I would do - a first for me!

This card is ALMOST perfect. I would be so happy if I could drop the "almost". The vellum adhesive shows - darn it. If I would have thought I should have put adhesive on the entire piece so it would have looked uniform. Oh well, live and learn I guess! (And BTW, the colors actually match in real life. For some reason the cranberry looks too red in this picture.)

~La

Practice Hospitality

I think I made this card for myself, because it is my new goal. (Actually, not just a new goal - the first time I've ever had a goal!)

2010 Christmas

I bought some Christmas things from Stampin' Up on sale last year, either after Christmas or after it was too late to make Christmas cards. I love the ornament stamps so have begun making cards with them.

It is hard to make Christmas cards this year because I don't feel "merry" or "joyful" or even "peaceful". I guess more precisely it is hard to put a sentiment on Christmas Cards this year. So I've decided I won't put much, just the obligatory "Merry Christmas".

Here is today's card:

Deck the halls and fa-la-la and all that stuff.

Breaking the Rules...

So I believe I am finally, officially, back to stamping. I used a sketch from the blog "Mojo Monday" to get me started. Except, right out of the gate, I broke one of the rules! The ribbon is supposed to go horizontally across the top of the card. I just did not like how it looked that way, at all, so I did it vertically instead. It doesn't matter because: 1) I don't think the blog people are terribly concerned that I follow their rules exactly; 2) There is no prize up for grabs; and 3) I am strictly using them for "inspiration" and they certainly gave me that this week!

Here is my card, front:


and inside:


Making this card made me realize something good and something bad about my Mom being gone. The bad: I don't get to show my cards to my Mom and listen to her tell me how great I'm doing. The good: I can send the cards to ANYONE. In the past I had to fight not to send every card to Mom because I knew she would think they were wonderful whereas anyone else will not necessarily think that.

I like this card. I wish I could send it to my Mom.

Beginning Again

After my long hiatus from stamping I made the card shown in my last post. As I said, it was for my Mom. The date of the post shows as August 30th but, in fact, in MY time it was made on August 31st. (I am in Taiwan which is 12-15 hours ahead of America.) I finished the card in the afternoon. That night I received the news that my Mom had died so, obviously, I never got to send her the last card I made for her. Mom died on August 31st, 2010.

Today is October 11, 2010 and once again I have returned to stamping. I made this card for a woman who reads my other blog. She comments frequently and has a blog of her own which I love to read. I recently mentioned on my other blog that Mom was the only person who sent me letters. Elizabeth commented that she would happily write real letters to me. I cried when I read that. I quickly sent her my address, and she sent me hers. So today I decided I need to write to Elizabeth and I cannot do it on ordinary stationary; I needed a handmade card.

I made a watercolor image because I love water coloring. Since I am living in Asia I turned the image on its side so that it looks kind of like an image of cherry blossoms. Because Elizabeth and I are both Christians I chose to include the Bible verse. It speaks to where I am at emotionally right now. The card was not looking good; too stark, too sparse and too... I don't know. Then I thought of the Bible verse that talks about seeing through a glass darkly but that someday we will see our Saviour clearly, face to face. (That also speaks to where I am at now as I consider my Mom now seeing Jesus clearly.) I decided to put vellum over my main image, which sort of distorts the image. It just seemed fitting to me.

I am sorry that I cannot do a better job of explaining this card. It's clear in my head, but at this time I am having trouble translating the thoughts from my brain onto "paper" (as it were.)

I'm rusty. But I have begun stamping again and I intend to keep at it. I have missed it and I need it.