July Stamping Project - Serene Garden Thank You Cards

My team held a card swap earlier this month to celebrate the new catalogue and it was...a challenge for me. As usual I had an idea in my head and quickly sketched it out. I'm not sure if this makes any sense, but here was the original idea:

As you can see, it turned out very differently! Once I started making the cards, I realized I wouldn't have enough space to make an aperture card and I didn't have a sentiment stamp small enough to fit in a round space. Creativity is often all about problem solving, so I attempted to solve the problem with a pink strip across the card front and a bit of glittery ribbon to give it some pizazz. However, the cards looked too dull. Dang! One of my crafty friends suggested that I use a colour that would make it pop and she was right. Here's the final design in the pink and green combo:

Stay tuned for the orange/blue combo - I ran out of time for a pic!

Another challenge was fussy cutting out all those birds. Sometimes it seems like spending the extra money on dies isn't worth it, but, let me tell you...if you want these cute little birds on lots of cards, you'll want the dies to go with them. Bonus tip! Did you know that there is a 10% discount on new stamp and die bundles in the first year of production? The sets are unbundled after the first year and must then be purchased separately.

Supply list for 20 cards

• 11 sheets Very Vanilla 8.5x11" cardstock (10 sheets for bases and 1 for birds)
• Tea Room 8.5x11" Cardstock Pack (6 each of one colour or 3 of green or orange)
• 1 sheet Powder Pink 8.5x11" cardstock
• 6 Garden Impressions DSP
• Early Espresso ink
• Crumbcake ink
• Calypso Coral ink or Coastal Cabana ink
• Serene Garden stamp set
• Mesh stamp from Best Birds
• Dotted line stamp from Petal Palette
• Thank you stamp from Daisy Delight
• Thank you stamp from Tea Room Ribbon Pack Combo
• Wink of Stella pen
• Adhesive, Stampin' Sponges and Stampin' Dimensionals plus scissor snips

1. Score an 8.x5x11” sheet of Very Vanilla cardstock down the middle. Do not fold.
2. Stamp all over the front edges of the cards with the mesh stamp from Best Birds in Crumbcake ink. Stamp down the middle so that when you cut the sheet in half, that edge will be stamped.
3. Cut the bases in half. Load up a Stampin' sponge with Crumbcake ink and sponge around the edges and towards the top of the card front.
4. Cut 20 card front panels. I cut 10 Coastal Cabana and 10 Calypso Coral, but you can do 20 of your preferred colour. Each panel is 3.25x4.5" tall and you'll be able to get four panels from a letter sized sheet.
5. Stamp leaves and flowers in a corresponding colour on the front panels. You can rotate the small leaf stamp if you want to fill in both top corners. Fill in the extra space with the dots stamp from Petal Palette. Sponge the front lightly with Crumbcake ink. I went over them with a Wink of Stella pen.
6. Cut 20 2x3" Melon Mambo pieces if you are making the green and pink version or 20 2x3" pieces from a sheet of Pacific Point for the other version. Or 10 of each for variety :-)
7. Pick the red roses or blue and yellow flower sheets from the package of Garden DSP. Cut 20 2x2.5" pieces and set aside.
8. Stamp the Serene Garden bird 20 times over a sheet of Very Vanilla with Early Espresso. Leave room to die or fussy cut. Cut out and set aside.
9. Cut 20 1x3.25" Powder Pink strips. Stamp "Thank You" in Fresh Fig in the middle of each strip and set aside.
10. Cut 20 4" pieces of Tea Room ribbon. I used white for the green and pink combo and green for the orange and blue combo.
11. Whew! That's a lot of prep. Time to assemble! You will probably find it easiest to start with the front panels. Adhere the pink Thank You strip about 1.5" from the top. Run a little bit of Snail or other tape runner adhesive to the back side of a ribbon strip and center it under the Thank You strip. I used tape to secure the ends to the reverse. Add the bird above the Thank You strip.
12. On the front of the card base, adhere the solid rectangle in the upper left hand corner with the longest edge point down.
13. Adhere the patterned rectangle in lower right hand corner with the longest edge along the bottom.
14. Add Stampin' Dimensionals to the back corner of each card front and centre it on the front of the card.

Now, it would be easy to say that I chose the Serene Garden stamp set because it has birds, but the line style art is really unique and eye catching - a nice clean look that you don't often see on stamps but you probably have in icons and illustrations. I gave away all but two cards in the swap - I'll have to stamp some more or come up with a new idea to have on hand. Until next time, I remain...

A Crafter's Best Friend - the Raskog!

Raskog! What the heck is that? You may have heard the name but you have surely seen the three tiered utility cart or one of it’s cousins on Pinterest or your friend’s craft room. As an IKEA fan, I remember wanting a Raskog so much when they were first released. There were two things I couldn’t get over - the hospital blue colour and the price, which I think was around $69 at the time.

Fortunately, the price came down and more colours were released! Never was I so excited about a piece of furniture in my life - and I think that is why people adore their Raskogs and are so devoted to them. If you don’t believe me, google “Pimp my Raskog” or join the Facebook group of the same thing. What makes the humble utility cart so appealing is it’s infinitely customizability. It’s not just A Raskog, with a little creativity, it becomes YOUR Raskog. Folks add paint, vinyl stickers and trick the carts out with containers and more. Add a cutting board and you have an instant work surface. Flip over the top tier for a sewing cart. If you’re short on space, Raskog to the rescue! All you have to do is search for "Pimp My Raskog" and admire the way people have customized their little carts. It's amazing how attached we can be to an inanimate object. My theory is that a Raskog is just so handy and an extension of our creatives selves that we can't help but fall in love with them.

The only downside to Raskogs is that they are a little rascally to assemble, with tiny screws that like to fall out of the hole while you try to screw them in. I think it took about a half hour to assemble and then I soon busy organizing all my craft stuff. It’s been a constant struggle to keep the craft stuff under control - it just gets all over the place no matter how much IKEA furniture you own - but it has made a huge difference in keeping my supplies off the kitchen table. I have seven cups hanging off the side of the top tier for pens and pencils, then two on either end for cutting utensils, sponges, adhesives and random stuff. Antonius baskets will fit in the tray - which I previously featured.

All my catalogs and albums are within easy reach on the top tier along with some larger crafty items. My Big Shot lives on the second tier - the handle hangs outside the tray, while the third tier is a catchall of papers and projects. I love that I can wheel my supplies out of the way or closer to the kitchen table - but it lives just outside the kitchen most days! It’s been tempting to get a second one, I have to confess for the basement where a lot of my art supplies are.

If you don’t have an IKEA near you, don’t worry. You can find Raskog style carts at Michaels, Sam's Club and Target. I have to admit, it's been tempting to get another...