Saturday, April 20, 2013

Some Stamps are Keepers

Pin It Now! Today was spring cleaning in my craft room.  I decided to sort and organize every one of my stamp sets.  Look at this mess!  I should be ashamed.  I am a stamp glutton.

At least the sets on the right I've decided to sell.  But the sets on the left?  Sigh.  They're either current, or I can't bear to part with them.

In my flurry of purging, I came across the first rubber stamp I ever bought.  It's a Christmas stamp from 2006!  Before that I was purely a scrapbooker.
 Aaannnd, I found the first card I'd ever made.  With said stamp!  I joined a monthly card swap at my local scrapbook store, and started researching.  This card was a 100% CASE of a magazine card.  I shopped for every exact item on the card's supply list.  Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder, Tea Stain Distress Ink, actual flannel that is hand frayed!  I recall that the cards cost me over $70.00 to make 20.  Eek!  And the hours and hours of work.  I was so worried that they wouldn't be good enough. Do you know the feeling?  Performance anxiety.  Fear of putting it out there.  Looking back, and even looking back into recent history, I have felt that way many times.  This card, however, made me happy, and I'll keep it always.
I saw a card with Santa on the front by Margaret Moody that I absolutely love, and decided I will give this old stamp one more go at a CASE.  This time, it only took 15 minutes!  No shopping for supplies (just look at my craft room, haha).  And it was truly an interpretation of a card, not a copy.  It was a nice coffee break during my cleaning.
This is my second card for the Merry Monday challenge this week.  I hope that's okay, I just have a real affinity for Christmas cards!  Only one Christmas stamp set made it into the sale stack.  I think I need an intervention.
I'm so glad I'm still making cards after nine years.  I do want to get back into scrapbooking more, but cards are a wonderful way to show love and appreciation for someone.  Maybe I won't need quite so many stamps if I scrapbook more!  

 Have a blessed and creative day!  ~Erika






5 comments:

  1. Love your old vintage Santa and the way you embellished the card. Thanks for joining us at Merry Monday again this week.

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  2. Good for you for doing your spring cleaning! Your original design is gorgeous...I think we all understand easily spending $70+ to replicate a card...crazy but it's all good clean fun:)

    Such an awesome card for Merry Monday! Genius use of the bottle cap!!!!!!! I love the ribbons you picked too! Thanks for playing with us at Merry Monday!

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  3. Wonderful cards, I love your Santa. Thank you for joining us for Merry Monday this week.

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  4. Your first card is definitely a keeper! Maybe you should put a price on the back so down the line, when your great grandchildren find it, they can see what it was worth. LOL, my friends and I know how much we have invested in our cards. Our husbands must stay oblivious! Anyway, Erika, I love the new card as well as the old and enjoyed the visit! Thanks for joining us at Merry Monday!

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  5. I love all of Margaret's Santas and I LOVE this one too! It is fun to revisit older stamps and how cool that you kept your first card!!! I remember mine, but it's long gone!
    WHeeeeee! Your stamp table looks just like mine! I am in the process of cleaning up and out, too! I have some oldies but goodies I refuse to part with too! Going through them, there were a few I forgot I had!!! Thanks for sharing this with us at Merry Monday this week!

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