Beach Challenge from Queen & Co.

Yes, I know I said I was going to use a greater variety of products. I will. Seriously. However, I love the beach, and Demo Donna of Queen & Co. has a challenge going with a beach theme, and they are offering a $25 gift certificate to 2 people. With hospital bills and DH on disability, my spending money is limited these days, so I decided to give it a try. The chances of my winning are slim, but it's worth a try. There are some fabulous entries. I don't know if it's luck of the draw or whichever one they like best, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. I was itching to have a reason to get creative anyway.

I used a variety of kits to create this card, and in some cases, such as the Surfboard Rental booth, crab, clams, and bait bucket, I used dies that cut completely different items when used as they were originally designed.

My Favorite Companies and a Disclaimer

I haven't seen it recently, but the debate comes up on message boards from time to time, as to what bloggers and YouTubers are truly unbiased vs. those who are promoting companies and products because they receive freebies. I don"t represent any company. I never have. It's in the About Me section on my blog, but I don't know how many people read it.

I get nothing free from anyone. Because I purchase everything that I use on the cards and projects that I post, I do not feel obligated to use or praise any particular company's products. I have been using a lot of Queen & Co. products lately, because I have bought more from them over the last year, ever since the COVID shutdowns.

I started stamping about 34 years ago. I started scrapbooking 25 years ago. I have been collecting stamps, dies, and pretty papers for a long time. My current favorite companies (who get most of my spending money) are:

Queen & Co.

Heartfelt Creations

My Favorite Things

Lawn Fawn

Art Gone Wild

Karen Burniston

Hero Arts

Graphic 45

BoBunny

Paper Wizard

They are not listed in order of preference, although I did base my list somewhat on companies whose products I have purchased over the last couple of years. I have probably missed a few, so I may add to this list later. I found many of these companies at conventions, and I have continued to shop online when conventions weren't an option. 

I haven't had time to craft as much over the last several months due to my husband's health problems, but he is thankfully recovering, and I hope to be posting more frequently. I will also try to use a wider variety of products from various companies instead of focusing so much on Queen & Co., although you will probably continue to see me frequently using their Foundation dies.

Heartfelt Creations Card for 85th Birthday

I made this card for one of my neighbors, who is turning 85 this month. I got out my somewhat neglected Heartfelt Creations stamps, dies, and papers for this one. Their Lush Lilac collection has been my absolute favorite and most used out of all of their design collections. The bird cage die is part of the collection and is the largest bird cage on the card. I cut it from a metallic white card stock. The smaller bird cages are part of the paper. I used their lilac flower shaper and prills to add dimension to the flower cluster, and I popped the banner in a couple of places. I also added a subtle shimmer to the banner, flower cluster, and areas of the background with Wink of Stella. The birthday banner is also Heartfelt Creations, but was from their (now discontinued) Young at Heart Collection.

Sunshine and Rainbows Card

My daughter needs surgery. I am hoping this card will brighten her day a little.

Shaker and sentiment/banner are Queen & Co.

Stamps are from My Favorite Things.

Paper is Pink Paislee Stormy Weather that I got from Tuesday Morning a long time ago. I found the Bazzill Sparkle (shimmer finish) card stock at Tuesday Morning last week.

I created the box card cutting file using the Silhouette software and cut it with my Cameo. When folded flat, it fits a 5x7 inch envelope, if you angle it slightly going in.

Stamp Organization and Storage 2021

I first started collecting stamps when a gal at church showed us how to make our own cards using stamps. Cards were expensive, so I thought that making my own cards would save money in the long run. Maybe it does for a few people, but crafting rarely saves money for many of us. We only think it will.

In late January, I decided to reorganize my stamps. It took me a lot longer than I expected, since they had once been well organized. I got a bit lax over time about putting stamps away, especially when doing the card classes and I realized that if I wanted to find things as quickly and easily as I used to be able to, I needed to do an overhaul. It took me longer than I thought, even though I kept my basic system. The sad thing is that after getting them organized all over again, I realized I am missing a few favorite stamps. I am hoping the missing stamps are in an Iris or ArtBin container with other project materials, but that organization is for another day.

Most of my stamps are stored in the Crop in Style Paper Sticker Binders (CIS PSB). The binders that worked so well for me are either no longer available, or they cost a ridiculous amount of money to buy on eBay because they aren't being made anymore.

I've been collecting stamps for at least 35 years. I have a lot of stamps, and I still continue to buy stamps, although I am a lot pickier than I used to be. I had run out of space in my PSB's, but I couldn't find anything that I liked as well. I can find what I want very fast with this storage method, and they don't take up a lot of space, especially since I took stamps off wooden blocks and use a stamp positioner. Each binder has a tag on the handle that lets me know what stamps are stored there (for example, a general category such as summer stamps, or one or more particular brands of stamps such as My Favorite Things, Lawn Fawn, etc.).

I found some zippered school binders on sale at Costco, so I bought some of them. They don't hold nearly as many stamps as the PSB's, but they work. I adhere the plastic sheets that the stamps are stored on to card stock, and slip the card stock into plastic pockets.

It took me weeks to get them all organized, but it's done.

Years ago, when I was first collecting stamps, an employee at a stamp store asked how many I had. At the time, I had a couple hundred, which I thought was a huge collection. The stamp employee told me, "If you can still count them, you don't have enough." 

I haven't been able to count them for a very long time. However, at least with the way they are organized, I can find what I want very quickly.

Thank You Card & Cheer Card w/ Queen & Co. Foundation Dies

 My husband had a "widow maker" heart attack last month. By the grace of God, he survived what should have killed him. I am grateful beyond words to still have my sweetheart. He was in the hospital for nearly 3 weeks, but is now home and doing well.

A kind family from church made us an incredible dinner, so I made a thank you card to send to them:

 

 

The card below was originally going to be my thank you card, but it seemed more like a "Cheer" type of card, so I will keep it for someone struggling with depression. The card above was actually my second attempt. I made both cards this morning.

I used Queen & Co. Foundation dies to make the cards. I used scraps left over from 2020 CARDtober projects. The scraps for the Thank You card were from BoBunny's Celebrate Freedom collection. The Cheer card was made with Graphic 45 Cafe Parisienne scraps. I found both collections months apart at Tuesday Morning, long before COVID.

 

Garden Card with new Queen & Co. kit

I am not a good gardener. My sister seems to have gotten all of the gardening genes in the family. I had no intention of buying the new Garden Party kit, but when I saw it, all I could think of was that my sister would love cards made with it. She's not a card maker, but she loves getting hand made cards from me. Here is what I hope will be the first of many for her.