Reverse Creativity

My normal process of designing a card starts with a general idea I want to communicate, followed by a search for pictures, embellishments, and quotes to represent that theme. Too often, I end up printing out an entire collage sheet for just one picture. While attempting to organize my craft supplies this past week, I decided I had way to many pictures just gathering dust. So I decided to change my thinking process and started designing some cards in reverse. I found a picture that I totally loved, but had no idea what to do with. I mounted it on coordinating scrapbook paper and textured card, then I found an appropriate quote. So far, so good, but it definately needed to be embellished. A search through my supplies found some great additions to the theme, and Voila... Here's the results of my reverse creativity! It was a fun personal challenge to take an object, in this case the picture of the dancer, and force myself to develop it into a beautiful and unique creation.

Guy Cards

My guess would be that about 70% of handmade cards can be sent only to a woman, maybe 25% can be sent to either sex, and only about 5% are made specifically with the man in mind. Today I'd like to share with you a few of my favorite "guy cards." Sometimes it's quite a challenge to design cards for the men, but they're really quite fun and you can use themes that you just can't use on a woman's card. Think about sports, fishing, TV (I recommend the Three Stooges!), motorcycles, cars, etc. as themes and make sure to use a suitable color scheme. Stay away from flowers and cutesy animals. Old vintage photos are great to use. Just don't be afraid to try something "completely different". The guys will love you for it.

Storing Your Unmounted Stamps

I love my unmounted stamps, and tried every storage solution I could think of that wouldn't cost a fortune. This is my method for storage and I think it works great. I take old CD holders (you can also buy them rather cheaply at a computer supply store) and remove the inside plastic that holds the CD. The unmounted stamps then lay perfectly inside. You can store them in a CD tower or stick them in a drawer. You can see exactly what is in each plastic cassette. Another tip: if you don't know how to make unmounteds stick to your acrylic block, just use Aleene's TACK-IT and you can stick and remove all you want. When you're done stamping, stick it back in its plastic holder. I don't even use a foam backing for my stamps. I just do my stamping on a computer mouse pad. It doesn't matter if the foam is between the stamp and the block, or on the bottom... it works the same way.

My New Etsy Store

If you like using vintage and unusual items in your projects, check out my new Etsy Store, Thrift Store Supplies. I'm always on the search for discarded treasures to use in my creations and now I will be offering some to you at very reasonable prices.

Lest We Forget...

I was in somewhat of a reflective mood this morning and came up with this thought provoking card called "Time Travel". I am quite involved in family genealogy, and my ancestors settled in Buffalo, New York from Germany, so this card really comes from the heart. My purpose in creating the card was to let the recipient stop for a few moments and reflect on where they came from and where they're going.

Some of my Favorite Craft Blogs

I love surfing the craft blogs. Here are 3 of my recently discovered favorites:

A Time 4 Art A little bit of everything - altered art, atc's, postcards, tags, etc, etc, etc. - all with a vintage flair!

Paper Cat's Page Altered art, more postcards, collage and more!

The Best of DIY Links to totally awesome tutorials for the crafter.

Related post: Introducing "Just Blogs"

Mother Earth's Children TAGS

I discovered a wonderful child's book at a thrift store and just had to use the pictures for something! I made sturdy chipboard tags, then used old Farmer's almanac pages covered in mulberry paper as the background. The pics of the plant children and the quotes were copied from the book. I then added ribbon and an old print-like picture of the apple and strawberry and finished them off with a fiber hanger. I like these a lot and plan on creating more from the many plates in Mother Earth's Children: The Frolics of the Fruits and Vegetables.

Latest Treasure Hunt Finds...

Ah - Scrabble tiles - a versatile little piece of wood! I always pick up games when I find them at thrift stores or garage sales. I don't care what the box or the board looks like - I only want the tiles! But yesterday I hit the jackpot - I found a deluxe edition that contains maroon tiles! They will be the perfect addition to my vintage style cards. Most likely, I'll save these tiles to use just as they are. My brown wooden tiles which are much more easily found, will be the ones I'll use for decoupage or stamping, or altering in any way. I also picked up a bag of dominoes. Along with the large plastic ones I use for pendants, there are also a number of dark brown wooden ones. There is a Chinese dragon embossed into the wood. I foresee something new and exiting over the horizon! I can't wait to get started using these little beauties. My next search will be for vintage buttons - not the cheap plastic rip-offs you find today - but the little treasures made of bakelite, bone and ivory I remember in my mothers button box many years ago.........

Vintage Friendship Challenge Card

I want to share with you my newest card developed for my recent card challenge group. The theme was easy enough.. "Friendship", but as usual, I wanted to do something completely out of the ordinary. The resulting card combines vintage elements with a beautiful quote. I think the card portrays a peaceful, sweet and sincere sentiment perfect for any special friend.

I LOVE LUCY!

I'm a big fan of Lucille Ball - her comedy and her philosphy on life. So I came up with these two cards using stamped images of Lucy and a couple of her famous quotes. The stamps are available from The Stampsmith which carries a wonderful line of vintage photo stamps. Click on the cards to get a better view and read Lucy's wonderful attitude about life.

A Memorial Day Thought

Memorial Day .. the beginning of summer for many of us, but let us not forget the purpose of this holiday. Let us pay tribute to all those who have served our country and given their lives so that we may have the freedom offered by our great nation. A big THANK YOU to all our service men and women, past and present.

Retro Mother's Day Cards

Mother's Day is coming and I'd like to share with you 2 of my retro mother's day cards. I had such a fun time creating these cards - the sentiments are so true!




The pictures of the Moms are computer generated from a purchased CD. To the first I added lots of vintage ephemera - I use all copies, not originals - and buttons. Then I stamped "lifetime of love". The second card is mounted on textured cardstock. The mom's quotes are stamped on parchment paper. A few embellishments and a Thank You raised sticker complete the card. Both cards could be used for other occasions such as a birthday or just to say you care.

"Altered Canines"

I've started a new line of altered dominoes I call "Altered Canines". They're made from large 1" x 2" x 3/8" dominoes which are first colored with alcohol inks. Then they're stamped, fixed, and sealed with acrylic sealer. Some have eyerings, and some have attached wire bails or chains. They can be used as a pendant, or attached to a pin or keyring. Presently I'm limited in breeds to German Shepherd, Great Dane, Dalmation, and Siberian Husky, but I will be increasing my inventory shortly. If you have a breed you'd like to see, send me an email - cardsbypatzee@embarqmail.com. You can find more examples at my Etsy shop but don't forget to look in my sold items, because they go fast.

Frugal - Not CHEAP!!! Frequent local Garage Sales....

Craft stores are filled with thousands of cardmaking embellishments. You can usually find anything you want to finish that special card. But if you want to be truly unique, bypass the ready made embellishments, and dare to be different. Some of my favorite places to search for one of a kind items for my cards are flea markets and garage sales. They're also the best place to find alterable items. Look for vintage photographs and postcards. You'll be amazed at what people are giving away for almost nothing. Vintage ephemera - newspapers, magazines, books, menus, maps, travel brochures, etc. can all be used in your creations. Don't overlook things like small hardware and jewelry pieces. They can be attached to almost anything. Rip things apart - don't always look at the whole piece - there are some extremely interesting components to other people's "junque". Old games - scrabble, dominoes, mahjong, etc. provide alterable items as well as embellishments. Look for inexpensive books, records (if you're old enough to remember what they are!), boxes, tins, clipboards, picture frames, and anything else that you can recycle. To create successful altered art you must see things not as they are, but as they could be. One final thought - my rule which I have broken too many times and regretted it: If you pick something up twice it better go home with you. You'll be sorry later that cheap treasure got away!