The Creative Blog Hop!

I was nominated by my friend and fellow stamper Heidi Weaver, to participate in this rather unique Blog Hop about a month ago. Even with my poor sleep and nearly constant level of pain, I figured somewhere, some time in a month I could find the time to make a card or project, right? But still, no reason to rush when there's gobs of time to procrastinate, LOL!!! Until there's only a couple of days left and then true panic sets in!!!! I had some new things I could use, and thought I'd start there. I must have tried at least a half dozen ideas, none of which was working at all before I was pretty much ready to admit defeat. But I had given my word, and that's never something I take lightly. So I began again. Since none of the "fancy" things I was attempting to do would come together properly for me, I thought I had best stick to what I'm really good at - color.

I love color. I mean, I really, really, really love color! I'm the girl that has ALL the Copic colors and still wishes they would come out with some new ones!!! And not just color, but different coloring mediums. I love new ways to color, with new colors to play with. From water color paints, to Copics, to pencils, to crayons, to ink pads, to embossing powders...you name it, I've probably got it (and all the colors it comes in)!! So with coloring in mind, I then had to decide what to color. *nutz* Now I really felt like giving up!!!! How was I suppose to choose from the thousands of stamps I have??? Luckily, I quickly came across Corner Garden from Stampin Up, a large background stamp that I had yet to ink up! Yay!

My card:

I stamped the image on smooth white card stock from Paper Temptress, that I used a stitched rectangle die to cut it out first. I then used painter's tape to block off the borders before stamping. I used Momento Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the image. For the coloring, I used Spectrum Noir's blendable pencils and blended the colors with Gamsol (orderless mineral spirits) and a paper blending stump. The background "dots" were used with four shades of blue Copics. The sentiment is from Fabulous Fuchias from Clearly Besotted Stamps. I really wanted to add more to the card, but adding "more" made the card feel like "less". Having just a cleanly matted image made it pop more than by having any other embellishments to distract from the bold colors. So for once, I left it be!

And now for the question part of this Blog Hop:

#1. What are you working on now? Well, I have at least half a dozen things on my desk and floor that might very well turn into something fabulous if I'm not under the gun to produce them!!! I also need to make the perpetual calendar project I bought in the attempt to NOT miss any of my friend's and family's birthdays or anniversaries!! But I can't really say I'm actively working on anything specific at the moment.

#2. How does your work differ from others in your genre? I'm not really sure! Although I'll go through temporary phases of a certain kind of card, my only real consistency is INconsistency! I get bored very easily, so I like new things, new techniques, new stamps, or just new ways of using the things I already have. I love NEW!!!! While I'm primarily a card maker, I do also enjoy the occasional 3D project as well.

#3. Why do you create what you do? I've never really considered myself "creative" until I discovered stamping. I always wanted to be able to paint and draw, and while I'm the worst partner you could imagine for Pictionary, with stamping I can make beautiful images that come alive off the paper. I love the thrill of bringing a blank piece of card stock to life. I consider a card a "hug with a fold in the middle", and there are a lot of hugs needed in the world today! I often think of the person I'm creating the card for while making it, sending my love, prayers and best wishes to them with each step of the process.

#4. How does your creativity work? Well, there's this....

 ...and of course this too!

I don't have a set routine for making anything! I'd say it usually either starts with a technique I want to try, and then I'll find stamps to fit that idea, or I'll have a stamp set that I want to use, and I'll figure out how I want to use it. Lately with my sleeping interfering with just about everything (!!!), I've taken to stamping a ton of images on a sheet or two of quality card stock, and then I can color and die cut them out as I have time/energy and have them on hand to make up a stack of cards at one time. The only problem with that is that by the time they are all stamped, colored and die cut...I'm usually bored of them by then!! But at least it gets some "therapy time" in and I can send out cards once in a while! :)

I'd like to thank Heidi for thinking of me for this Hop, and I encourage you to check out her beautiful blog, Stampin Along With Heidi!! (She posts far more regularly than I do as well!!!) And lastly, I was to choose two nominees to continue with the Hop for next week. I chose Emily Thompson from Stampin by the Sea, and Charlie-Louise Camp from Craft Room Diary. Both are phenomenal crafters and fabulous women - you won't want to miss it so mark your calendars for next Monday when they strut their stuff!!