Organization: Ink Swatch Book

Hello,

   Welcome back. I am so excited about my new creation! I cannot take full credit for its concept or design, but I did make it my own. The initial concept came from Jennifer McGuire's blog. (I love her). Click HERE for her video and post. (actually there are several) 

I loved the entire idea, but feared that I simply did not own enough inks to justify the project. Boy, was I wrong! I included every single mini pad and compilation pad I had from every corner of my craft room. I did not know I owned over 120 different inks. (including distress inks) WOW! I had to toss a few because they disintegrated when I attempted to stamp with them because of age. (over 8 years). Geez, I guess I need to buy more?!

Here's a look at my version:

I own a large collection of Stampin' Up! inks that I purchased when I began my obsession with stamping and card making. I wanted to keep track of all my inks, but I recorded something else on the back of my swatches too. 

If you look in the image, the first card is a key to the letters I used to indicated if I owned matching ink refills, cardstock, pen, and ribbon.  On the back of each stampin' up! swatch card, I wrote the letter of what I owned in that particular color. This way, I can pull the card out of the sleeve, flip it over I know exactly what else I own to match this color. Pretty ingenuous, huh?!

I included my distress inks, which I did a bit different then Jennifer. My last sheet all the way to the right is my page of distress inks. I stamped each color, then blended the same color with the blending tool. (she keeps hers separate than her other swatches, I believe) The coin sleeves and swatch downloads came from her website. I ordered the rings to bind them together too. (found them cheaper on Ebay 10 for $4.00) 

Now, can you guess what I am obsessed with now? I want more inks! I want to fill in the colors that I am missing. (oranges and purples as of late). I am eye balling some specialty inks from Hero arts and Color Theory. If you own these inks, and like them, can you let me know? I would love to hear from you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

     Even though Valentines day fell on a Saturday this year, I created a Valentine's day card for my classroom. I duplicated these pieces 20 times and placed them in baggies. The students had the chose of sentiments and additional small hearts to add to the front of the card. They really enjoyed putting this together.

Mark and I spent the night at home watching movies and enjoying a grilled steak and Cuban rice! He bought me a dozen roses and a (gulp) store bought card that MIMICKED a hard made card (how sweet).....

Beautiful Backgrounds!

Hello everyone!

I love when I dig through some backgrounds that I created forever ago, and I finish them into a beautiful card that I did not envision back then. Here are a few of those.

 I LOVE the backgrounds on this duo! The sentiment completes the card.

I just purchased all I need to create Jennifer McGuires ink color swatch book. I have over 100 different inks, and thought it was about time I got them sorted and cataloged to see what I have, and what I lack in my collection. Stay tuned to see my version of a swatch book!

StampFest at the Bay 2015

Hello everyone, welcome back,

     I just returned from Stampfest at the Bay here in Clearwater. It is a small, quaint stamp and scrapbooking expo held in a Greek church once a year. Each year I enjoy strolling in all the different vendor booths and coming home with some new toys. 

This year, I really wanted to invest in a few new ink colors. I was growing bored with my limited amount of colors and wanted to branch out. Just as I was about to leave, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a stand on the floor in one of the booths that read: " 50% off ". Low and behold it was an entire display of Hero Arts shadow and mid-tone inks! They were listed at $6.50 each, so 50% off was $3.25 each. You guessed it, I bought every color I could find. I found 8 colors I could not live without.

I am so pleased with myself. This is such a treat! I also found some pre cut cardstock layering papers, and some clear card gift cases I have been searching for. Other than that, I was not impressed with many of the stamp companies lines of stamps. I think I am just too spoiled with simon says stamp stamps!

No matter, I have a scrapbooking expo coming to Orlando next month. I need to save up for that, and see if I can find any great deals there too. Thanks for stopping by.

Additional Card Gift Sets

Hello,

I am so sorry for being away so long. Despite the holidays and the crazy life I live, I had a terrible creative block. I tried each week to push through it. I think I am over the hump and back in the green!

Here are a few card sets I have created. I was in the mood to make gift sets, so when inspiration hit, I created several cards in different colors.

 This set I used the same embossing folder for all the cards. I added bling to the flowers to bring interest.

 I had fun creating this set. I used Brilliance pigment ink pads to create these multi-colored butterflies. 

This smaller set of blue, green and pink flower set was created with distress inks.

I will be moving into more duos. I picked up a few new stamp sets that I want to play with. Check in soon!