Moving and Settling Into Chaos

My plate's been pretty full with having to move to a temporary location for four months while my apartment building is being renovated. Before the move, though, I made one last card - one that I hope I won't need to use for a long time: a sympathy card. While the stamp I used, a weeping willow tree, is not by Stampin' Up!, the rest of the supplies are. (Simply click on the photos to enlarge them.)

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The first cards I made shortly after I moved was made from leftover My Paper Pumpkin kit parts plus some washi tape. I'm not thrilled with them, but given how little I had to work with when I made these, I think they turned out relatively okay.

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My original plan was to work out of one box which I labeled "Art Survival Kit" which consists of project parts (i.e. things I started but didn't complete + leftover parts that I wanted to challenge myself to use + a few templates and other tools) and a second box containing only my photopolymer (clear) stamps. With my health being as it is, packing is difficult, so I don't have the luxury of unpacking my wood mount and cling mount stamps, Stampin' Up! or otherwise. 

I think my Easter card turned out pretty cute. The bunny, butterfly, flower, and greenery were all fussy cut and paper pieced onto a scrap of patterned designer series paper, which was then layered onto another DSP piece which covers the front of a Crumb Cake card base. 

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I'm not so sure about my next card, mostly because the layout left some empty spaces that my instincts tell me to fill. I was reminded by my stamping buddy that not every part of a card needs something on it, hence the concept of Clean and Simple. I agree with her in theory, but I still think something is off-balance here. The carousel ostrich stamp and the sentiment are both from Paper Wishes. I colored the ostrich with Derwent Inktense pencils, a new medium to me. They work a lot like watercolor pencils, but the color is so much more vibrant. They also react differently to water than traditional water color pencils. I need a lot more practice, but I think this is not too bad for a first attempt.

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My last card for this post is all Stampin' Up! I ordered the set You're Amazing when I put in my final order before the new catalog, so I was relieved to have some SU! stamps to work with once again! The card base is Island Indigo, and the colored circle background is from the newly-retired Watercolor Wonder DSP. The card itself is pretty simple, with the only thing really needing to be pointed out is the paper piercing in the corners and on the Happy Birthday panel.

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I want to show off one last thing before I close. Stampin' Up! recently introduced a photopolymer personalized stamp option, and I played with the idea until I came up with this:

It's much smaller in real life, and looks great on the back of my cards!

Next up: Introducing (at long last) RAISIN BOAT!!

Smiles,

Joyce Spear / StamperJoyce