You are never too old to color

Stampin' Up! just held the annual Leadership conference in Houston and shared upcoming product releases. As a new demonstrator, I am getting the highlights from Facebook and Twitter. I am really excited to learn that Stampin' Up! will start selling the alcohol based, blendable markers because you are never too old for coloring! I have a small collection of these markers from another company, and I was inspired to play and make a card. I chose my colors from the current Pals Paper Arts challenge.

I stamped my greeting and image from the Simply Sketched (hostess) stamp set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. For years, this has been my favorite black ink and soon Stampin' Up will carry it. (Yay!!!) The Whisper White card stock held up well to some coloring with just a little bleeding through. I expected this and placed scratch paper under my card stock when I colored.

My favorite ribbon is the Whisper White 3/8 inch Taffetta ribbon because of its versatility. At some point, I tried coloring this ribbon with one of my purple alcohol based markers and it worked well. Here is the ribbon that I colored for this card:

I embossed the Soft Sky card stock, added some rhinestones and Dazzling Details, and made a Real Red card base to complete this card.

Simplify & Balance

Some years, I choose a word for the year (inspired by Ali Edwards). For 2014, I've had two words stand out to me: simplify & balance. I am still easing into the new year after some holiday travel, so I have not committed to the words yet.

For now, I can start by relating these words to my favorite hobby, paper crafting. One reason that I became a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator was to simplify my hobby. After being a customer for 5 years, I realized that I could purchase the supplies that I love from one source (and at a discount). For me, this has simplified my shopping process.

Having a creative hobby has helped me work towards balance. This is a constant process, but card making and scrapbooking help me relieve stress during busy times. I started receiving the My Paper Pumpkin kits last fall, and they help me simplify and balance my hobby in a fun way. Each kit comes with supplies to make 4 cards or the supplies for one project. You can try it out once or sign up to receive the monthly kit. I think that the cost is reasonable, and you can skip a month if you choose. Here are three of the cards that I've made with the kits so far:

Sometimes I follow the kit directions exactly and sometimes I change it up a bit for fun.

I am looking forward to my January Paper Pumpkin arriving later this month. You can learn more on the Paper Pumpkin website or contact me for more information. I am also interested in hearing how others simplify and find balance, so please leave me a comment below.