Happy Birthday to us!
Today is anniversary (birthday) of The Creative Eclectic’s very first blog post! Wow! Where has the time gone?
It’s been an interesting year, filled with happiness, heartache, triumphs and tears. But a year on, The Creative Eclectic is still here! Of course, I knew it would be.
Things haven’t necessarily always gone to plan. To be honest, NOTHING has happened as I planned at all. Many things worked out way better than I ever imagined. Other things that seemed like a great idea on paper, weren’t the genius master stroke after all! Some things that were extremely successful in the past, haven’t been going so great.
For a perfectionist and detail-orientated planner, the past year has taught me a great deal about myself. it has been an incredibly steep learning curve on many levels. (Who knew a modern small business owner who need to know so much stuff? It’s enough to make my brain explode some days!)
Thanks to the cheerleaders
This year has also shown me who my strongest cheer leaders are. As well as discovering my cheer squad, I’ve found some very negative people who like to sow seeds of doubt too. Luckily, the moment someone tells me I can’t do something I get more determined to succeed. Some might call me “stubborn” but I’d rather think of myself as resilient and adaptable.
Speaking of cheer leaders, I really need to say a huge thank you to my wonderful husband, Steve. I am so grateful that he has been by my side as I’ve moved from being an employee with a part-time stamping hobby to a fully fledged business owner. Some days when he comes home from work to see bits of paper everywhere and me covered covered ink, he must wonder “what happened to our immaculate tidy house?” I don’t think a day goes by where he sees me without ink on my hands, face, arms or clothes – a far cry from the designer suits I wore to work when we first met. I’m blessed that he understands that creating makes me happy.
The other huge thanks has to go to my coach and mentor, Meg. There has been many a extremely early Wednesday morning where I’ve dragged myself out of bed to catch her at the end of her working day in the USA. Every bleary-eyed conversation with her was and is worth it. I appreciate her playing the devil’s advocate when discussing strategies and plans. When my thoughts run off with a million ideas (all of them good), it is Meg who gets me to step back and look at my goals and evaluate whether these ideas will get me there.
Lastly, a ginormous thank has to go to YOU – my followers, subscribers, customers and friends. Without you, I would be unable to create every day and share what I love! Thanks for coming by often.
Celebrate with Cards
Coincidentally as well as today being the first anniversary or birthday of this blog, it is the first day of the Stampin’ Up! 2018-2019 Annual Catalogue (Contact me if you would like a hard copy). So what better way to celebrate a birthday than to make a card (or two) with one of the new Stamp Sets?
With so many lovely sets to choose from, I decided that the Hand Delivered hostess stamp set (page 229) was perfect for The Creative Eclectic’s anniversary celebration. Just to recap, hostess stamp sets are exclusive stamps that are available to you as rewards when you place a qualifying order or host a party that meet the qualifying party sales (over AUD$250) (See page 224 of the 2018-2019 Annual Catalogue or visit my online store for more details.)
Explore “No line” water coloring
If you are anything like me most times when you water colour, you stamp the image with waterproof archival or Stayz On ink then colour it in. Did you know that it doesn’t have to be that way? Take a look
A proper birthday celebration just has to have balloons (eco friendly balloons of course). On this card, I colored the outlines on the stamp with my 2017-2019 and 2018-2020 In Colour Stampin’ Write Markers and stamped on shimmery white cardstock then colored it in with my aqua painter and 2017-2019 / 2018-2020 In Colour Classic Stamp Pads. Using my trusty Stamparatus meant that I got the placement of the stamps perfect! (Love that tool!) As you can see unlike normal watercoloring outlined with stayz on ink the outline is softer and a little blurred but some might say that adds to the “effect”. If you “stamp off” your stamp once or twice before stamping on your shimmery white your lines will be even less noticeable and more like a real water color painting. I challenge you to give it a go!
Why not heat embossing instead?
Although I like the look of watercolor cards without the dark lines, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the result using the Hand Delivered stamp set. I noticed in the new catalogue that Stampin’ Up! has reintroduced Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder. Of course, I simply MUST had to try the Black Stampin’ Emboss Powder and the White Stampin’ Emboss powder with this stamp set. So out came my Heat Tool, Versamark ink pad and embossing buddy. This time I used watercolour paper. Here’s the result:
What do you think? Of the two cards this is my favourite. I love how the raised embossed lines “trap” the colour within them and there is definitely less colour “bleeding” than when using StayzOn or water based inks/markers.
What’s a birthday without cake?
One of the other stamps in the Hand Delivered stamp set is a stunning cake. Cake is perfect for birthday celebration cards. I was so excited by how this card turned out. It was beautiful! The clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder outlines were exactly how I imagined they’d turn out.
Then disaster stuck! GASP!
Somehow when I was photographing my project, I managed to get a smear of unwanted Lovely Lipstick or Melon Mambo ink all down one side. Not a little inconspicuous smear either. A dirty great big smear of catastrophic portions. I was ready to toss the whole thing in the bin and start again. But I really loved the birthday cake and the skirt. Desperation set in! Sponging with Blueberry Bushel made the smear less noticeable but it was NOT the card I wanted to share with you. One of my friends declared she loves this card so I’m sharing it to keep her happy.
This project is a great example of how sometimes no matter how experienced or careful you are things don’t always go to plan. In hindsight, I could have just fussy-cut the cake and skirt and stuck them on a new card.
Well, that’s it from me for now. I have lots to share with you both here and on Facebook over the coming weeks. Make sure you visit the The Creative Eclectic Facebook Page for the catalogue video series starting today.
Don’t forget to take a look 2018-2019 Annual Catalogue online to see all the fabulous new products.
P.S. We will have birthday cake at the catalogue launch party on 30 June 2018. Come join the fun. Book here to secure your place and your party bag!
Trackbacks/Pingbacks