{capture the moment}

This and That

I will be heading out first thing tomorrow morning for Salt Lake City with my final destination being at the Paper Crafts office.  We are going to do some brainstorming for future issues so it should be fun.

While blog hopping today I found a few interesting  posts I thought you might be interested in..

Watch this short movie compiled by one of my design team members, Heather Nichols.  Sometimes it can feel so overwhelming to be a parent.  To see the struggles that Heather has had to face while raising a special needs child really puts things into perspective.

Very thought-provoking conversation going on here.  Joan really dug deep to announce to the world what ALL of us probably felt at one point during our journey in this hobby. I can identify with the pressure to perform with my work for Paper Crafts.  It can be challenging to constantly stay on top of your game , be new and inventive.  Joan has me thinking a lot about how I now view this craft.  When was the last time I stamped for fun?  I honestly couldn't tell you.  It has been MONTHS.  Perhaps even over a YEAR.  Do I miss it?  Oh yeah.  Oh for the times where I just sat down to create something I loved, with no agenda or assignment attached.  Now, I can't  walk away from that responsibility completely, it allows me to make a financial contribution to my family.  But I CAN control how I spend my free time.  Joan has inspired me to start something I'm gonna call "MSN" (a.k.a Me Stamping Night).  No matter what is going on or how long my to-do list seems to be, the first Saturday night of each month will be just for ME.  I will make whatever I want and just let the creativity flow.  No worries about how "good" it is, or if I use the "latest" technique or product.  Ahhhh, just the thought of it has me giddy!  So will you join me in this challenge?

Rose Ann has me craving salty & sweet!  YUMMM! Perhaps I'll have to make these as a snack for my first MSN this weekend!

So what do you have for leftovers?  Love this concept.  Check it out!

You have got to see how darn clever Lisa Johnson is here with the Paper Tray stamp set!

OTHER PAPER TRAY SIGHTINGS:
-mj weston has a really pretty card here using the sentiments vertically.

-Not only does Marie McClellan have a clever use of the set in conjunction with word window punch, but she tried her hand at my design process that I outlined in my last post.

-c williams stamped over a floral image for a bold look.  And what a unique background technique!

-dinagriff used the stem as a simple underline.  I've gotta try that!

-I love how Heidi created this simple card with a shadow stamp!  Quick & easy!

-Debbie has been creating these great word collage embellishments. I love the use of two colors!

Okay, now off to bed.  I probably won't get a chance to post again until I return from my trip.  My inbox has been flooded with questions from all of you that I'm anxious to answer here on the blog.  I'll tackle that next week! 

Design Process

I have received a few questions from visitors and thought perhaps I would post my answers here, some of the responses may inspire others.  If you have a question, please feel free to email me.

I enjoy looking at your blog daily and truly enjoy your creations.  This is my question….how do you come up with your ideas?  I see your card and I think…why couldn’t I think of that.  So for certain blogs that I visit I am asking how people find their inspiration and/or how they come up with their cards.  I am awed and envious as I wish I could have an original and not have to CASE cards. -Dee Dee

My process has evolved over the years to a routine that works well for me.  The same process might not work for everyone, but I would be happy to outline what steps I take to create.

I always start with a color scheme.  I get inspired in a multitude of ways.  It could be from a piece of clothing, something in nature, a new spool of ribbon (see a previous post about this here) I picked up at the store or patterned paper from a trendy manufacturer.   For this project, I got inspired by the colors in the new Laurel line by Scenic Route that I had used in a recent project for the magazine.  I thought the Petal Pushers set from Technique Tuesday would go along with my theme nicely.  So I started going through my ink colors to pull three colors that coordinated with the paper.  I knew I wanted the same look and vibrancy as the Laurel paper, without using the paper.  I ended up pulling Old Olive, Cool Caribbean and Rose Red from Stampin' Up.  I got inspired by a design used by my stamper friend Melissa, on her blog.  I loved the way the three flowers were arranged on the cover of her card.  

I like to pull all of my supplies before I begin, so I also got together some coordinating cardstock.  I knew I needed something dimensional to add to my card, whether it be ribbon or an embellishment.  I organize all of my supplies by color, since that is the language my creativity speaks.  My small embellishments are categorized in these compartmentalized craft boxes and my ribbon is wrapped around wooden clothespins and fastened with a glass head pin.  By organizing in this way I can easily find things in exactly the color I am looking for.  The other thing I like is that it can constantly grow and expand with my collection.  Keeping ribbon on spools threaded onto rods was not working for me, I was running out of space AND a lot of ribbons come wrapped around cards instead. I consolidated over 20 spools and a huge pile of cards into this one jar containing all my pink & purple ribbon.  If it gets too full, I know I can further break it down into two jars, one for pink and one for purple.  It has worked wonders for me.  The embellishments are the same way.  If I out grow one compartmentalized craft box, I can divide the contents into two.

So now that I have all of my supplies assembled, I get to do the fun  easy part, STAMP!  I just utilized the ink pads I knew coordinated with the stamps I knew I wanted to use.  I assembled it according to Melissa's design and viola, I was done.

For actual layout ideas, I sketch A LOT!  I get inspired by the layouts of ads in magazines, product packaging, tags on clothing, etc.  I have a book I use to contain all of my magazine clippings. When I am in a rut, I can leaf through it and get a fresh outlook on design. 

In brief, color is the main focus for me when working on a project.  Pick trendy colors that will make your project fresh and exciting.  Neatness counts.  Sometimes I make a project twice.  Once to get everything laid out the way I want, a second time to pull it off with perfection.  Organization helps me to perform better and find just what I need without a long search.  I hope this answers your question, Dee Dee!  Good luck in finding yourself and your creative process.

Thank-you!

Now that the excitement surrounding last week has begun to calm, I wanted to be sure to stop in and say thank-you to each and every one of you!  You have all been so supportive and kind with your comments over the past few weeks.  It was so fun to have you all along for the ride and I am thrilled that you agreed to be a part of it!  So thank-you, a million times over, for being my cheerleaders, my sidekicks!  I appreciate each and every one of you!!!

Our website is seeing continuing success.  We have been so happy with all of the wonderful emails we have received in response to it!  You all resoundingly LOVE the InkPad gallery, which is a personal favorite of mine as well.  Next month we will be announcing a new member of the design team, just to add to the fun!

I have been hard at work the last few days putting the finishing touches on next months stamp set.  It has turned out better than I could possibly have imagined and I am so darn excited to get a set to play with! It's gonna knock your socks off!  It has SO many possibilities.  Definitely a "must have"!  Perhaps another countdown will be in order?!?!

(This project uses the Pristine Collection papers from Paper Salon & Paper Tray stamp set)

Sentiment combinations

We haven't had a chance to get this up on the site yet so I thought I would add it here. My dearest friend, Wendy-no-you're-the-best Thomas, compiled a list of all the possible sentiment combinations for our new set.  Over a hundred! 
Download paper_tray_combinations.doc

And the winner is...

SUSAN LANKFORD!!!
Message from post #3:

Nichole...this is such a beautiful card...love the way you design with simplicity...when I try it, I always feel like I have too much "space" showing...thanks for the closeup on the flowers! And all the tips you add in on the different entries are wonderfully helpful! Susan

Posted by: Susan | February 12, 2007 at 04:04 PM

Email me with your snail mail and I will get it right out to you!  Congratulations!

You can now view the complete stamp set at our website, www.papertreyink.com. And for those of you who DIDN'T win, you can purchase your very own set for only $15.  Head over to the site, and don't forget to check out the gallery!