Fall is just another way of saying PLUNGE!

Exciting news!  I have been asked to be a part of the design team at a new weekly challenge site called, The Paper Plunge!  For our first challenge we're making fall themed projects. Here is my card:

I love it when our products can be used in different ways!  The stamp set White Christmas instantly makes us think of different winter scenes we could create with it. When I was looking around the stamping sites, I saw a few people were using the tree image for autumn cards, by adding leaves with a variety of techniques. I chose to stamp the snow image from the same set in Cajun Craze ink, and then stamp the small splatter image from Gorgeous Grunge in Crushed Curry ink using a mask to protect the rest of my card. You could use the snow image for both colours, but I don't like to clean my stamps until I'm putting everything away if I can help it!The sentiment is from the Holiday Invitation stamp set.  I stamped it in Chocolate Chip in a 1/2" wide scrap of Whisper White, then I trimmed the end with my Paper Snips and attached it with Stampin' Dimensionals.  The white panel was then mounted onto a 4-1/8" square of Island Indigo and finally onto a Cajun Craze 4-1/2" card base. 

Check out the other designs at: The Paper Plunge

Take the challenge, and go stamp something!
Diane

So Many People to Thank

What do you do when you need to make a large number of thank you cards, but you don't have a lot of time to dedicate to making them?  Here is my method for getting a lot of cards done in a couple of hours.

First, I use my computer to help me write the messages efficiently.  Using the label templates in Microsoft Word, I set up my document so that it has four postcards per page.  Then I type my messages on the postcards.  I print the post cards on a light colour of cardstock, then cut the cardstock into quarters (4-1/4 by 5-1/2) and they're ready to stamp!

I try to design the front of the card to have no extra layers, though sometimes I'll have one or two punched layers.  The Work of Art stamp set made this easy since there are so many ways these images look great without extra embellishments.

This layout is simple, but effective.  I was able to get the 25 cards I needed done in a little over an hour start to finish.  I feel sure that the people I wanted to thank will know how much I appreciate them when they receive their hand stamped card.  Combining technology and paper crafting allowed me to express myself creatively, even when my time was limited.  Is this a strategy that could help you too?

Go stamp something!
Diane