Today’s card is all about using up scraps. I had a few scraps of paper left from the past few cards I’ve made, and it made sense to use them up, rather than add them to my pile of paper scraps.

A few tags and bling, and stickers from a Cosmo Cricket tiny text set, and the card is done.

It feels incomplete without a stamp on it.

But then again, not everything you make will be something that you love. Some will work really well, some will work better than you expected, and others will fall flat. That’s the nature of creativity. At its heart, making things is about exploring and experimentation. That’s why it keeps us enthralled.

Do you have any cards or pages you’ve made that you find less than inspiring? If you’re feeling brave, feel free to link them up in the comments below!

Yesterday, while frantically (well maybe not frantically) looking for indigo ink, I tested a distress stain, to see how indigo it was. While it was pretty close to indigo, it was too runny for me to use it on a stamp. It can be used for stamping, but not when you’re pressed for time and workspace. I HAVE to clean. Want to see my desk?

I think it may even be worse than that, since that card’s a couple days old.

Today’s card is all about those distress stains I didn’t use yesterday, and my favorite technique for them, the ever popular splat!

After letting the splats dry, I stamped over them with a planet stamp, and then added a sentiment, and a spaceship stamped on a piece of scrap paper, colored with copics and mounted with foam adhesive.

I think this may be my favorite card of the month so far. I love how the splats fit the planet stamp so perfectly.

Unfortunately, this particular stamp set isn’t available, but Stampendous has something similar if you want to make something like this. You can try these supplies from Amazon: (affiliate link)

Today has been a bit busy, and I was completely out of ideas. Nothing was coming to mind. At all. So I asked those of you who follow me on Facebook for some help.

First I asked, stamp or sticker as a focal point. The first response was stamp.

Next was theme. The options were flower, simple shape, or tech. The first response was flower, and tech was a close second. I feel like I’ve been doing lots of flowers and sewing this month, but you spoke, and I listened. Flower it is!

Finally, it was time for you all to decide on color. When I gave you the option of ROYGBIV, of course my sister piped up and said indigo right off the bat.

Indigo flower stamp it is. Do I have any indigo ink?

That’s pretty close to indigo, right?

How does this work for a crowdsourced card?

If you want to make this, you could try using these supplies from Amazon: (affiliate link)

The card idea I originally had for today involved lots of masking and fussy cutting, but I haven’t been able to find my desk lately, so didn’t really have room at the moment to work on that idea.

Instead, we’ve got the lazy woman’s version of fussy cutting.

The sentiment was made with stamps that were cut out by hand– no die-cut for these cuties!

Bonus for today? Using up these ancient Jolee’s sunflowers, and the last full sheet of the Amy Butler paper pad from K & Company. I’m a stash-busting fool over here!

Amazingly enough, the sunflowers are still available from Amazon! (affiliate link)

This school year has been super busy, what with the new job, and kids in high school now. (Activities! Friends! Sports! Lots of driving!)

As a result, most of the cards I’ll be sharing with you are simple and quick to create. I’ll be doing a few more technique investigations, but the object is to make cards, not reinvent the wheel.

Today’s card makes use of a great tool from Creative Memories. I don’t know if it’s still available, but you could use any oval cutter to achieve a similar look.

The stamp is an old one from The Angel Company, and the laser cut paper ribbons were a present from my mother, lo, many moons ago. (I just got back from a Marvel Universe Live show. Hyperbole is running rampant today.)

Basically, none of these things are currently available for purchase, other than the ink. So what would a card maker looking to lift this design do?

If you don’t have oval punches or cutters, use circle punches. Any stamp or sticker in your collection would work as a focal point. Your favorite washi tape or ribbon or border punch would work as the horizontal element. Make this design your own!

You could even post your versions of it in my Flickr group, just click on through!

Don’t forget, if you want to get a card from me, sign up for my email list in the box on the top right of the page!