Stamping on Vacation

I’m happy to report that I have cards made for all of this week and at least one for next week. Whenever I pack my craft supplies to go out of town, I usually just grab a bunch of stuff and hope for the best. More often than not, I end up with several bags and a die-cutting machine and still wish I had that one thing I didn’t bring.

This time, I decided to plan (what a novel idea, right?). I went to the Freshly Made Sketches board on Pinterest and grabbed about seven sketches. Most of them are older, although I did write down the numbers if you’d like to check out the sketches. I knew I wanted to work with mostly new stamps, so I decided which stamp sets would work with which sketch. Then I grabbed three new packs of Designer Series Paper (DSP) and coordinating ink, card stock, and Stampin’ Blends, as well as some Watercolor Pencils and some embellishments, dies, and embossing folders. (I told you – three bags and a die-cutting machine. But this time it was three bags with purpose!)

Yesterday morning, I paired three sketches with DSP and stamps, then decided what other paper to use and headed to the motel lobby for an hour or so. I discovered a few things I forgot to bring, like the Perennial Flower Punch and the Leaf Punch. I kept thinking, “Oh, I need to get those…” but still left them home. We’ll find a work around!

Here’s one of the cards I made in my makeshift craft room.

It’s another Free as a Bird card – minus the birds. This is sketch FMS345. I love to use sketches, because you can follow them literally (like I did with the rectangle diecuts) or stamp images or use other elements that mimic the idea of the shapes.

I decided on a Petal Pink card base, then added a layer of Mossy Meadow and a strip of the beautiful Magnolia Lane DSP. And then I ran it through the die-cutting machine with the Lace 3D Embossing Folder. (Note: The 3D Embossing Folders that are carrying over from the 2018-2019 Annual Catalog, from the 2019 Occasions Catalog, or from Sale-a-bration are not available yet. But all of the new 3D folders are available for you to purchase. Look for the “n” icon to know which are new. And stay tuned for updates on the returning folders.)

I die-cut two Whisper White rectangles using the Stitched Rectangles Dies and stamped the larger with floral images from the Free as a Bird Stamp Set using Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, then stamped the sentiment in Mossy Meadow Classic Ink on the smaller one. I sponged the edges of the rectangles, and grabbed some Stampin’ Blends to color the flowers and leaves.

Well, there’s another thing I forgot to bring. Petal Pink is a color in two of the three sets of DSP that I brought, but I did not pack Petal Pink Stampin’ Blends. But they’re called “Blends” for a reason. I used a Light Flirty Flamingo and Ivory Stampin’ Blends to create my own version of Petal Pink. I was really happy with the results. The leaves are Mossy Meadow which I did remember to bring.

I didn’t get any stamping done today. When Mike and I packed the car, we realized the back isn’t as large as we thought. It’s fine for most trips, but when we go to the beach, we pack, well, a lot, including a large beach cart to haul stuff from the condo to the beach. I didn’t realize how large this cart was until it filled the back of the car. We have a cargo bag for the top that fits on luggage racks, so no problem, right? Wrong. We have luggage racks, but not crossbars. These are apparently very important to the process. Good news! Mike found some on Amazon. The bad news – when he got the shipping notice, they would be arriving in Atlanta on June 16. On June 16, we would be almost home. He quickly canceled that order.

Since there was really nothing we could leave home, we filled the car (including the back seat where Wes & Amelia will be sitting when we pick them up from the airport on the way to the beach), packed the storage bag, and prayed we’d find luggage racks somewhere along the way. And, yes, Mike did find some that would be here on Thursday, which would give us lots of time to install them, repack the car and be on our way.

And this is why I didn’t get any stamping done. Mike’s computer has been sketchy for months. He has threatened to buy a new one. For months. He has not bought a new one, so after he found the parts and was ready to purchase them, his computer froze. He waited, but, alas – there was no warming. It stayed frozen for quite a while. I offered the use of my laptop. Or my tablet. Or my phone. (I always travel prepared.) He used the laptop. The laptop I write my blogs on. The laptop I use to edit my photos and videos. The laptop he transferred his curse to. Yep. This morning, I couldn’t get it to do anything correctly. After fussing with it for longer than I should have, I finally reset my computer and uninstalled my photo editing app and reinstalled a newer version. Success! The curse has been lifted.

Hopefully tomorrow I can create at least three more cards and snap a picture of my temporary studio!

Thanks for stopping by Rambling – er, Stamping with Buffy. Have a lovely day!

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