A Little Bit of Stamping (and a melt down!)

To say I have a demanding job is an understatement.  I am 'Business Support' to a busy team of clinicians which is in effect a PA but not just to one person at a time.  Our team has continually grown in size throughout March and April which has brought about lots more bodies in the office, lots more people who need help or want a piece of me and my time and I have become PA to about 3 times more staff than usual.  Everyone is demanding, wanting things just how they like it and they don't realise when they come and ask me to do someting that I'm already in the middle of several jobs and a colleague or two has just popped in before them with requests.  There is only one of me!!!

I seldom have a melt down.  I am usually the 'go to' person that everyone else relies upon but I think the fact that I've had a couple of teary moments (just the 2 mind you) I think shows the level of pressure that's been felt of late.

How do I de-stress these days?

Well I take it to God in prayer.  He is always ready to listen whether I'm crying or not.

I focussed on my latest Bible study because ......

A. I had been neglecting it of late and
B. I needed to get work out of my head so I filled it up with something else

That done I was then able to relax and get my craft on!  These times when I just shut everything else out and spend a PJ day crafting often get me really great results.  See what you think.

 

I started by pulling together a few items I thought I might like to play with.  This 'plain Jane' stamp from Verve just seemed to leap into my hand and I'd spent some time using up scraps die-cutting the WMS label dies whilst prepping for the church holiday club a few weeks back.  I knew they'd come in handy.

 

I only ever buy Verve stamps when they're having a sale and rather than big sets I tend to lean towards the mini Plain Janes.  I just love em!

 

 

I started by creating a small paper bag using my homemade template (see earlier post) and this is it cut out, inked up and just waiting for me to decide how I want to embellish it.  I didn't adhere it closed because I had in mind to use my sewing machine and sew the PTI die-cut doily and labels onto the front of the bag.  I needed to perform this step before it was folded and adhered together in back.

 

 

Because of the text I played around with some die-cut swirls to give it a sense of motion - kinda like wind or waves.

 

 

And I had in mind to add a flag or two - the kind you see sometimes at the top of a mast, just above the sails.  I had picked up a thin card of buttons with an anchor on them at a charity store last weekend when my BFF Jilly and I popped into Stowmarket after the women's coffee morning from church.  This is the second time we've just taken ourselves off after something else and I'm loving the impromptu excursions!  Thanks Jilly :-)

 

 

Once I had all my embellishments sewn on and tucked into place I decided to add some liquid pearls and then gave it a fine spray to give it a real shimmer.  I remember my youngest daughter once sent me a handmade card that she had spritzed and shimmered and I always intended to do the same one day.

 

 

Just in case you're wondering what I used - here it is.  It's called 'spray & sparkle' and was called pearl mist.  It was a bit pricey at £5 I thought but then a little goes a long way and I don't plan to use this on many cards so it should last me a while.

 

 

I took this picture with the light catching it just right so you can see a bit of the shimmer.  I am simply lovin these little handmade paper bags.  I noticed some scrummy wrapping paper in a store window on my way to work today and I can't wait to try one with some of that better quality paper - the kind you get at Clintons or Paperchase by the single sheet.  It's usually a bit more expensive but I bet you'd get bunches from just one sheet!  Perfect for mini treat bags for a party.

 

 

And of course I needed a card to go inside my bag so I simply mirrored the design on a card that was cut to fit perfectly into the bag.  Again you can see the shimmer (it looks like specks in the photo).  For some reason this card was really hard for me to photograph.

 

Anyhow by the end of my time crafting I was feeling pretty relaxed and pretty pleased with my efforts too.  I'd had laundry on the go in the background most of the day and listened to a couple of CDs as I worked.  All that was left to do was go take a long soak in a bubble bath and get dressed before hubby came home from work  Almost doesn't seem fair that I get a day off mid-week as well as the weekend but then I go non-stop most weekends between housework, grocery shopping and church.  I let hubby have a lay in both days - I'm an early birdand I kinda like having the house to myself first thing - he pretty much downs tools on the weekend so he gets his relax time then.

 

And then today it was back to work - still stressful, full on and super busy - but I wasn't letting it get to me today! I actually managed to get in a lunch half hour which almost never happens and took that time to start reading a book someone lent me.  I'll share later.

 

Blessings

 

Suezie

More Vintage Roses

I have already given a few of these cards away but wanted to share them here anyway just so you could see how they look made up in different colours.

 

I had a selection of polka dot papers so I just used these.  I love me some polka dots!

 

 

This is the darker yellow paper with 'marmalade' Tim Holtz coloured roses.  The yellow colour I have simply wouldn't have shown up but I love the splash of orange this gives against the yellow background.

 

 

This is the multi-coloured mini polka dot version.  I could've used red or yellow for my roses but I lean towards blue for some reason??  I might try this one with red next time though as the red on red works but was a bit dark.  I might like a bright splash of red against a lighter background next time.

 

 

And my all time favourite colour combo was the teal blue!  This is the one I'd probably pick if I was buying this in a store.

 

In these shots you can see how the back of the bag sticks up that 1/2" in the back (see earlier post for template idea).  Once inside; my postcard stuck out about 1/4" at the top and I debated about stapling a ribbon tab to the postcard but it peeks out just far enough to get a grip on it to pull it out.

 

If anyone's interested my finished size paper bag (front measurement) is 5 5/8" x 4" and my postcard finished size is 5 3/4" x 3 7/8".  The designer paper on the front of the postcard is cut so that there is a 1/4" border on all four sides.

 

And for those of you lucky enough to have the postacrd set can you just imagine how cute it would be to add a paper bag to the mini postcard?  To make them up out of good quality brown wrap with a kraft coloured Christmas postcard in and tied onto the package with twine - how cute would that look?  Perfect for tucking a gift card into as well.  I might have to try that with my holly and mistletoe stamps next year.

 

When I gifted a few of these recently I tied them up with a thin vintage lace ending in a bow at the top edge.  It finished them off perfectly and who doesn't like a gift of a pretty bit of reusable wrapping?

 

Enjoy

 

Suezie

Going Vintage!

After a super busy week last week taking charge of the kitchen for our church holiday club I needed a 'down day'.  This isn't a 'down day' as in feeling down but rather a 'down tools' day where I stay in my PJs pretty much all day until I have a long relaxing bath late afternoon or early evening and put fresh PJ's on ready for bed. So basically it's no clothes, no restrictions, don't want no visitors, leave me be to chill out and I do whatever I have the energy or inclination to do!

A woman's work is never done so as far as house work goes I did some dishes and washed & dried several loads of laundry.  You can't avoid some things completely - I've learnt that you just pay for it the next day.

I chose to craft - ALL day!  When I get days like this every now and then I don't worry too much about whether I eat, drink or anything else.  I just get into creative mode and my own little space and create.  Wanna see what I created?

 

I went all vintage with these gorgeous Waltzing Mouse Stamps!

 

I started out on plain white cardstock but because I pinned several of the StampinUp! 'paper bag' die ideas I was hankering to make me a pretty paper bag too.  I don't have the die but I watched a couple of video tutorials and after a bit of trial and error I created my own cardstock template. 

 

 

I determined the finished size and that was my starting point so I drew a rectangle to this measurement.  Next I added 1/2" to the bottom edge and tapered it slightly to create the lower flap.  I guess you could leave out the tapering bit and use a corner rounder whic h would look equally nice.

 

Next up I added a half measurement rectangle to the right hand side that extended 1/2" above the top of the bag.  I then added a further rectangle to the left hand side the same but with an extended 1/2" out on this side for the overlap at the back of the bag (back seam).  Finally I created 'mirrored curved inner edges of the back pieces and added directions to my template.

 

For example I wrote along the top edge 'cut along this edge with pinking shears' and surprisingly if I think about how I start cutting the overlap matches up perfectly.  The trick is to see where you finished on the first curve and to aim to start the next curve on the same cut - either a ^ or v cut.  Match those and it should all line up nicely.  Otherwise you could cut one side and the front and then cut the other side once it's assembled so the cut 'flows' nicely.

 

 

I inked and distressed every edge in sight, assembled the bag and set to work stamping it up to match my postcard inside.  I was AMAZED at how stunning these roses stamped onto patterned paper!  I liked the look so much I decided to mirror the scripture verse from my card to the front of this bag.  No other decoration is required but I did up a matching tag with the tiny rose stamps included in the set.

 

I know I've said it before but it bears repeating - Claire packs so many stamps into each set they're great value for money.

 

 

The trick to turning these beautiful stamped roses into something wonderfully vintage is distressing inks by Tim Holtz.  I honestly could never get what the fuss was all about with Tim Holtz but since buying a couple of his inks, I'm completely sold and regularly add to my set when I see new colours I might like.  I love that they don't give a crystal clear image every time.  I actually like the random-ness (is that a word?) or the uneven-ness they create, proving that stamping doesn't always have to be perfect to look great.

 

The other thing I can't seem to do at the moment is get away from adding the last layer of stamping in black.  It is so striking!  I guess you could use a deep brown as well for a more vintage feel but I'm partial to black.

 

 

This set is intended to be a little gift for a special gal and I wanted to pop in one of my envelope magnets.  I used the WMS envelop die, distressed it and will add both a liner and some pretty vintage roses to it before finally including a selection of scripture cards that can be popped in the open envelope.  I wanted to be able to send along a couple of other scriptures now and then to add to this gift over the year as well.

 

 

And tucked inside is a postcard to match.  Originally I stamped up a plain white postcard to go with this but when I made up the bag and stamped on the designer paper my creative curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see if I could use this same idea for a postcard.  I guess if you were mailing this as just a postcard it might be hard since you'd have to make sure your paper didn't come away but tucked into a paper bag it didn't really matter.  Spray adhesive would probably be the answer otherwise. 

 

I took my stamping off the edge so most of it is on the paper background but it flows over to the edge of the card.

 

 

And then this is the reverse.  Who says you can't have a 'postcard' card in an envelope or pocket instead of a traditional card?  The mini roses are perfect for adding a co-ordinating touch to the reverse of this postcard too.  I inked these edges slightly to make the whole thing feel 'old'

 

I just realised I will need to do something about the stamp!  I've already given a couple of these cards out and completely forgot to add any kind of stamp!!! Oh well.  I guess creative license says I don't have to if I don't want to.  I guess I didn't want to LOL!

 

Ask me which 2 sets I'd happily take away with me to a dessert island - assuming I could of course - and I think it would have to be these two.  I am incredibly fond of my Verve 'Plain Jane' scripture stamps as well though.  They allow me to share my faith and to send wonderful encouragement to fellow believers when it's needed.  I'm hoping to use this rose set and my Verve stamps at one of the women's coffee mornings that we organise at a different person's home each month for a freebie 'make & take' project. 

 

One of these days I'll get myself a set of stamps that allows me to make little prayer journals or 'praying for' cards to tuck into my Bible or my bag to remember to pray for various people.  Life can be really hectic and full on at times so it's super important to make the time to study and pray.  It'd be really helpful to have a beautifully stamped up card in a pocket on my fridge reminding me.  I did see one a long time ago and deliberated over it.  Now I wish I'd snapped it up!

 

Blessings to all

 

Suezie