Imagine That: Thanks for Two Fabulous Years

In The Studio

This month wraps up my second year as an Artist in Residence for Imagine and I can’t say how grateful I am for the opportunity to continue on in 2018 for year three!

This month we were challenged to create something with the theme of Winter Window, so I created a shadow box effect inside of a painted and image-transfered glass block. Now, at other times of the year you might have to settle for the actual glass block tiles from the hardware store, but at Christmas they have them pre-drilled for easy insertion of lights or other decorative elements. I bought two just in case, but I haven’t decided what I’m going to use the second one on just yet.

Another prompt this month was evergreen. While there were 1,001 ideas I could have gone with, I’d had the idea to make a bowl out of paper clay for a while and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to try it out. Despite being a messy project, I loved how this one turned out. The metallic gold Creative Medium was such a fantastic way to blend the different greens together while adding a subtle sheen to the rest of the bowl that it’s become one of my all-time favorite projects.

Finally, I close out this year with a quick set of thank you cards–a great project for after the holidays, not just for use this month but to prepare for the coming year, as well. In the video I created for this project I also included three tips for writing heartfelt thank-yous, just in case you need a refresher.

I’m so looking forward to all the cool stuff that’s coming up in 2018! First up is a trip to Phoenix, AZ, in January for Creativation–an event I’ve wanted to attend for ages (way back when it was just called the CHA summer and winter shows) and I get to hang out and help out at the Imagine booth while I’m there. I’ll be sure to post about that here and on my social media channels when there’s more to tell!

Hope your 2017 was a good one and that 2018 is even better!

A “Blissful” Afternoon

In The Studio

I’ve actually had a few of those, lately, thanks to making time for myself and various projects I want to accomplish. But the afternoon I’m talking about, today, is the one that happened about a week ago when I got into the Blissful card kit from Simon Says Stamp and made a good stack of cards from this gorgeous kit!

To see and hear how these cards came together, check out the video, below, or head over to my YouTube channel:

Like most of the Simon Says Stamp kits, this one has sold out, and the stamp set it’s built around is out of stock at the moment, too (though you can sign up for the waiting list to be notified when it’s available again). Still, a supply list is the thing to do for a post like this, so here you go! (the following list may contain some affiliate links)

SSS Blissful Card Kit (out of stock) which included:

To which I added:

And used the following tools:

While I generally enjoy crafting with the Simon Says Stamp kits, my favorite part of this kit (and all the kits so far) were the Daniel Smith watercolors. They were an absolute dream to work with and I have added some more of the dot sheets (like the one linked above) to my shopping list. While there were only 4 colors included on the dot sheet, I was able to paint an entire sheet of stamped images and get a good number of color variations by mixing tiny bits of those little dots.

8 Cards from 1 Kit

In The Studio

In an attempt to curb my random spending, I joined two subscription services at the end of October: Pipsticks (more on that another time) and Simon Says Stamp. I’d been impressed with the Simon Says Stamps products I’d seen some of my favorite YouTubers display and I finally let myself buy in. My first kit to arrive was the November kit, very fall, very Thanksgiving-y, and very bad timing. When it arrived I was in the crunch time on the yarn bomb so all I could do was open it, ooh and aah over the items, and set it aside until this past weekend.

jvanderbeek_simonsaysstamp_november_cardkit_thankful

With the December kit already shipped and due to arrive at any moment, I thought it wise to go ahead and bang some cards out while watching Gilmore Girls A Year in the Life on Saturday. I usually watch Vicky Papaioannou make 10 cards from each kit and wanted to challenge myself to do the same. You can see the cards she created with the kit over on her YouTube channel (I waited until after I made mine to watch hers) and here are mine in more detail.

Unless noted with a +, everything is from the Thankful Heart kit (currently out of stock, but the stamp set may be available in the future). Just because it’s fallish, doesn’t mean the materials are dated–the stamp set is fabulous for any thank-you occasion! (And, no, this is not a sponsored post. I’m just a fan.)jvanderbeek_simonsaystamp_november_cardkit_thankful-1

  • Red cardstock base
  • Plaid patterned paper
  • Thankful Heart stamp set
  • Celestial Copper Delicata Ink
  • Stickles
  • +White cardstock
  • +Spellbinders Belly Band Two die
  • +Dollar Tree grosgrain ribbon

jvanderbeek_simonsaystamp_november_cardkit_thankful-2

  • Red cardstock card base
  • Green/Orange dot patterned paper
  • Red heart patterned paper
  • Stickles

jvanderbeek_simonsaystamp_november_cardkit_thankful-3

  • White cardstock card base
  • +Vellum
  • Floral embossing folder
  • Blue patterned paper
  • Floral-heart clip
  • Thankful Heart stamp set
  • Celestial Copper Delicata ink
  • +Xyron Create-a-Sticker

jvanderbeek_simonsaystamp_november_cardkit_thankful-4

  • Green cardstock card base
  • Tree patterned paper
  • +White cardstock
  • Thankful Heart stamp set
  • Celestial Copper Delicata ink
  • Stickles

jvanderbeek_simonsaystamp_november_cardkit_thankful-5

  • White cardstock card base
  • Wood plank patterned paper
  • White patterned paper
  • +Spellbinders ellipse die
  • Thankful Heart stamp set
  • Celestial Copper Delicata ink
  • +Off-white twine

jvanderbeek_simonsaystamp_november_cardkit_thankful-6

  • Green cardstock card base
  • Flower-pot patterned paper
  • Wood plank patterned paper
  • Thankful Heart stamp set
  • +Tuxedo Black Memento ink
  • +Helmar Zap Dots

jvanderbeek_simonsaystamp_november_cardkit_thankful-7

  • Blue cardstock card base
  • Dotted patterned paper
  • Orange patterned paper
  • Camera patterned paper
  • +Heart punch
  • Thankful Heart stamp set
  • +Coffee Bean Brilliance ink
  • Stickles
  • +Twine
  • +Helmar Zap Dots

jvanderbeek_simonsaystamp_november_cardkit_thankful-8

  • Blue cardstock card base
  • Camera patterned paper
  • +Heart punch
  • Thankful Heart stamp set
  • Celestial Copper Delicata ink
  • +Coffee Bean Brilliance ink
  • +Helmar Zap Dots

Things like acrylic blocks for stamping and basic adhesive go without saying, right?

At any rate, my timing was good. I finished these cards (plus the bonus cards for Monday’s blog hop) on Saturday, the December kit landed in my mailbox on Tuesday evening, and last night the special Holiday Card Kit (not part of the subscription–I was at work on Black Friday and did some frustration shopping from my phone at lunch) came in! Now I have two kits to play with!

DIY Thank-You Cards Gocco-Style

Third Time Wife, Wedding Planning

Hooray! Something is finally, honest-to-goodness finished in regards to this wedding.

(Okay, so my cardigan is done, but so much else is in varying states of started or planning that to complete a task still feels very big!)

As usual, the whole process took a bit longer than anticipated, but that had to do more with weather than anything else. There are oodles of Gocco tutorials on the web, so I’m going to go through this one pretty fast because, really, it’s just that simple to use.

I had the computer print crop marks on the final copy of our thank you notes so I'd know exactly where to trim them.

I had the computer print crop marks on the final copy of our thank you notes so I’d know exactly where to trim them.

1. Print out a crisp, clear copy of the image you want to print. If you don’t have a carbon-based-toner printer (i.e. laser printer of photocopier) hooked up to your computer, you’ll need to head out to a copy shop and make a copy of your image. The screens react to the carbon-based toner, anything else won’t burn correctly.

2. Trim the image to fit your printing area and place it on the Gocco’s printing pad (make sure there’s a piece of paper on the sticky-side of the printing pad, you don’t want the image you’re burning to get stuck). Load the screen (along with the blue filter, if necessary) into the slot on the cover and two of the bulbs into the bulb housing.

3. (not pictured) Close the lid, click the bulb housing into place (line up the arrows) and then press the cover down until the flashbulbs pop and stop crackling (2-5 seconds).

4. Remove the bulb housing and set it aside to cool before removing (and properly disposing of) the bulbs. Your original image will probably be stuck to the screen–this is good, leave it there and remove the whole screen sandwich from the slot on the inside of the cover.

Of course, not even crop marks can 100% guarantee the image is straight--I had to print several test strips to make sure I was lining my paper up straight. And even then it was hit or miss.

Of course, not even crop marks can 100% guarantee the image is straight–I had to print several test strips to make sure I was lining my paper up straight. And even then it was hit or miss.

5. Fold back the clear plastic sheet on the front of the screen and apply your chosen ink generously over the area to be printed.

6. Return the clear plastic sheet to its usual position and let the ink smoosh down a bit. Smooth the sheet out so it’s all level.

7. Reload the screen into the lid of the printer and then peel off your original image, You should be able to see the burned areas of the screen fairly clearly from this angle.

8. Use some copy paper to test your screen and ink distribution. If you have any edges that need refining or a bad spot on the screen, fill it in with correction fluid. I used white-out and a flat-sided brush to clean up the second d in T’s name because it was smooshing over a bit. If a part of the screen didn’t quite burn all the way, you can carefully take a straight pin and scratch out any emulsion that might be hanging around in the way. Careful, though–too much adjusting can make the problem worse, but just enough will keep you from having to burn another screen.

After I printed all the pretty, textured stock I grabbed plain white sheets to keep printing as long as ink and/or space held out. Ink won.

After I printed all the pretty, textured stock I grabbed plain white sheets to keep printing as long as ink and/or space held out. Ink won.

9. After that, it’s just a matter of printing each card and setting it aside to dry. My Gocco kit came with one drying “rack” that lets the cards stand up without touching. After that gets filled it’s every flat space for itself. Make sure the printed areas don’t touch anything else until they dry and know that the heavier the ink coverage the longer the drying time. Since my cards only have printing on one end, I can stack them in offset layers to maximize space.

Red ink of any type stains the most, with proper cleaning you can get most of the messy bits off.

Red ink of any type stains the most, with proper cleaning you can get most of the messy bits off.

10. Finally, clean your screen if you ever want to use it again. With a piece of scrap paper under your screen, scrape up the remaining ink (you can store it in an airtight container if you want to reuse it and there’s enough to bother with) then wipe off the rest with tissues. My kit came with a small tube of OK Cleaner that does a great job of picking up any residue, though the screen stays stained. I then store my used screens in a quart-size freezer back to keep it from sticking to any of my other supplies.

If you run out of space or time and need to pick up printing another day, you can slip the inked screen into a freezer bag and store it in the fridge to keep it fresh and the ink from drying out.

Put on a movie and set yourself up someplace comfy for this step.

Put on a movie and set yourself up someplace comfy for this step.

It took quite some time–2 days and a little bit!–for my prints to dry due to a combination of high humidity and a little more ink getting through the screen than desired (that second d, I’m telling you…the bane of my existence), but by Wednesday night (I printed them on Sunday afternoon) they’d lost their tackiness enough that I could score and fold them. This part took no time at all since I’d picked up one of those scoring boards (thank you, Hobby Lobby coupon!) to help.

I know letterpress is the print darling du jour, but have you considered screen-printing any of your wedding stationery?

Never Too Soon to Say Thank You

Third Time Wife, Wedding Planning

Another stationery project I’ve been meaning to do for the longest time [*cough* almost a year now *cough*] is our thank-you cards. Once I finally got my butt in the seat long enough to design our Save the Dates, I figured I could knock out the thank-you design as well.

On the one hand there was no real hurry to do these since we weren’t having an engagement party or expecting to have any showers or anything. On the other hand, it’s something so simple that not doing it ahead of time was foolish. So I’ve been beating myself up over it for a while (lightly, of course–there have been other things to worry about) and it’ll be good to get this item off the to-do list!

I designed these cards with a few key elements in mind:

  1. Versatility. If I was going to print up a bunch of these, I’d like them to be useful for both wedding thank-yous as well as anything else we might need some pretty cards for, even after the wedding.
  2. Simplicity. This kind of goes with the point above, but I didn’t want anything overly fussy because I wanted them to work for any situation and look right if T was sending one out without me.
  3. Print-ability. I’ve been dying to use my Gocco again and these seem like a perfect excuse to drag it out and turn The Abyss into a press-room.

Because I have one of the smaller Goccos (table-top screen printing “machine” manufactured in Japan by Risu), the PG-5 to be exact, my printable area is limited to 5 7/8″ wide and 4″ long. Luckily, an A-2 (announcement-size) envelope fits a 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ card easily, and I happen to have a box of those envelopes in my stash, too. What’s even better is I have some half-sheets (5.5″x8.5″) of ivory linen stationery-grade paper, enough to get about 30 cards made. And I probably have some full sheets I can cut down, too, if I look hard enough. Score one for my paper-hoarding tendencies!

The screens and bulbs for the Gocco can be tough to find (mostly the bulbs, and when you do they are exPENsive!) but I’d bought a fairly good stock of them a while back and have plenty of ink, too, so I think I’m all set for supplies.

Of course, even with a simple design (maybe especially with a simple design) it still takes some time to get things just right.

That looks so different in my head.

That looked so different in my head.

Originally I’d planned to have our names down in one corner with a border around the edge of the card, breaking where it intersected our names. Sounded good in my head, but looked a helluva lot like the JC Penny logo and that was not the feeling I wanted.

This isn't all that bad, really, it just wasn't us!

This isn’t all that bad, really, it just wasn’t us!

So the frame was out, but then I started rethinking my font choice.

I was sure, going into this, that I wanted a sans serif font, something nice and clean and streamlined. And while they were okay, as I scrolled through my incredibly long list of fonts I kept pulling out the serif fonts after all. Finally I picked 2 of each (really not liking the sans serif when they were next to their serif cousins) and asked Mr. Road Trip to be the tie breaker.

Right away the 2 sans serifs were out, so we were on the same page there. Then it came down to our 2 serif font contenders and he went with Fontleroy Brown, mostly because the ampersand was cooler.

Once I got rid of the riff-raff it was time to decide if the card even needed anything else. I moved the names around on the digital sheet, seeing if Todd preferred the names somewhere other than the lower right corner. Then it was frame, no frame, or maybe just a line.

We have a winner!

We have a winner!

Like I said, a simple design isn’t always so easy to decide on. The single underline turned out to be just enough to anchor our names and I totally agree about the coolness of that ampersand.

Next is getting them printed!

Have you ever found it hard to decide on otherwise simple wedding choices?