scrapbooker = card maker?

so if you are a paper scrapbooker, it should logically follow that you could easily make other paper crafts, such as cards, right? not necessarily. at least not for me. i like to make cards, i just have a hard time getting started. coming up with a design. choosing the type of card.

i've seen where some scrappers make a layout and then a card right away, before they clean up. that way all the coordinating papers and embellishments are right there. it saves them the time they would have spent picking out what products to use. this is a really great idea and i love that it sounds so efficient and effortless. i guess i have trouble switching gears?

others start from a sketch, either one of their own or one of the many that are all over the internet or in idea books. i love to look at galleries online and at idea books. sometimes i'll see a beautiful color combination or paper combination that i would never have thought to pair up, and think i will definitely try them out. but when i sit down with my supplies, the ideas don't translate well for some reason. not sure why?

which leads me to another strategy. scraplifting, or CASE-ing. Copy And Steal Everything. (both of these are fine, as long as you give credit to your source.) i get inspired by most everything i see, but i really don't like just following along and gluing paper 'a' to card stock 'b'. must be the rebel in me. ha!

cards are so much smaller than my favorite 12 x 12 pages, maybe that is one reason why i feel constrained before i even get started? maybe i'm over-thinking it. shocker, that. i guess i'll just keep at it and see what happens.

thank you cards are always handy to have on hand:

 

 and general 'happy' cards are fun to send:

 

do you recognize the bird? :)

if you have a strategy you want to share, let me know!

 

fun with sizzix & alcohol inks

every once in awhile i'll start scrapping and get sidetracked making an embellishment. like today when i was using the big kick to emboss and die cut shapes for an upcoming project. i had a stack of acrylic packaging that i have saved, and decided to use that to make "ghost" shapes. except i wanted to make them show up a little bit. in the past i have painted the edges, but the paint was across the room. (lazy scrapper alert!)

however, the alcohol inks and staz-on ink were within reach.  i did figure out that if you want to use both staz-on and alcohol inks on the same piece it helps to use one ink per side.

here are my favorites:

why does my scanner cut things off? i had it right in the middle. arg. all four edges of the frame are wavy.

have you made your own embellishments lately? i'd love to see!

the great purge continues...

so the great purge of 09 continues, and i have taken at least a car load of stuff out of my house just in the last week. i started the purge in the spring and figured i'd be done by now. however, i underestimated how much junk stuff i have to go through. most everything has been given away or taken to the goodwill, except for that one truck load that went to the landfill. i think when the dresser falls apart as you are carrying it up the basement stairs, you just have to trash it. not that i had that experience or anything.

i was thinking i should have kept track of how much stuff i bagged and boxed up, but then realized that would be pretty embarrassing. what is really cool is the way my shelves and hanging clothes are not crammed together. i can actually see what is there without having to get my upper body workout.

of course when i take a break, i sit and scrap for a little bit. here are some recent cards.

 

 

 

it's hard to see from the scan, but this one says "have courage"

 

so now it's back to the great purge. if anyone has any great purging/cleaning out stories please share! it will keep me motivated so i can get this done before january. or this will have to become the great purge of 09-10. and that just doesn't have the same ring to it.

thanks for stopping by!