Inspiration from NYC

Christyn, of Bead Up, does wonderful posts where she shares the inspiration behind some of her pieces. I love those posts and they make me think about where my inspiration comes from.

Truth be told, more often then not I am inspired by what materials I have on hand. Sometimes the inspiration comes from the person who'll be receiving the card or the mood that I am in. All of these things are a little difficult to showcase.

Last weekend, my husband and I took a trip into NYC to see a show and visit a museum. I've been to NYC a number of times, but it never ceases to capture my imagination. Once, on a trip, I was ruthlessly teased for whipping out my camera at every available opportunity. After my local tour guide (a friend) realized I wasn't taking the typical "tourist" pictures, he eased up.

After returning home from our trip, I was inspired by some of the things I saw there and began working on some overdue thank you cards.

While in NYC I visited FAO Schwarz. I am a Barbie collector and FAO is one of the few stores that I can actually see an upscale doll in person before making a purchase (their selection is limited, and typically a little overpriced). A silkstone doll came home with me (she just hopped in my bag, I swear I don't know how it happened), and when I took a look at the inside of the box I found inspiration to create one of my overdue thank you cards.

The card uses the same color scheme of ivory, gold, and a little black for the lettering. I used my Cricut to cut out the square shape. The phrase and gold corner details are stamped on. I went over the stamps with gel pens to enhance their look. The final touch was a little gold ribbon.

After pulling the tissue paper back to get a better look at my new doll, her swimsuit (inspired by the original Barbie's swimsuit back in 1959- yes, this is Barbie's 50th Anniversary!) was a definite inspiration. I love the simplicity of the swimsuit, and how the black and white really draw your eye.

I used the swimsuit and the turquoise pashmina I bought as inspiration for another long overdue thank you card. I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the flower design on the black paper. Then I went over the embossed design with white and turquoise gel pens. The quadrilateral shape was cut out using my Cricut. Thank you was stamped and then enhanced using my gel pens.

Hopefully, in the future I can do more posts like this, where I can share the source of my inspiration. The trick will be remembering to snap a photo of the inspiration before it's too late.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Thanks So Much

Another thank you card that was made for my Aunt, Uncle, & Cousin. They sent me some very cute stationary and a nice Starbucks gift card.

I used my Cricut to cut out the smaller square, and then stamped the sentiment on it. Then the yellow background went through the Cuttlebug to give it some texture.

A simple, yet very beautiful card.

Thanks a Million!

I've been on vacation for the past week, but I'm back now and back to posting on a regular basis.

I made this thank you card for my parents, to thank them for my birthday gifts. They sent me more crafting stuff than I would have imagined could fit into a box that size. Thank you Mom & Pa! (I know you read this blog.)

I used one of the Cuttlebug folders they gave me on this card for the background, and then used a new stamp set for the burgler and sentiment. I stamped both onto shapes that were cut out using my Cricut.

I couldn't find my gel pens, so I used crayons to color in the burgler.

I finished off the card by using my Paper punch on the corners.

Thank you Thank you Thank you

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I love this card because even though it was simple to create, the design really catches the eye.

I used a paper cutter to cut strips from a patterned piece of cardstock and three colored pieces. I glued the paper to the card, and alternated the colors with the patterns. Once the paper was secured on the card, I used a clear stamp to stamp "thank you." I repeated the stamp until each color had a solid line of "thank you's" across it.

Many Thanks

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This is a card I made for my Mother & Father In-Law as a thank you for my birthday gift.

I just purchased a Cuttlebug (which MIL & FIL gave me birthday money for), so I wanted to make sure I used it on this card. I used the Cuttlebug for the little frog in the lower left corner and the white square shapes on the card. I used my Cricut for "Many Thanks" and the black circle behind the frog. I outlined the circle with a silver gel pen to help it stand out more.

The inside of the card is blank.

Thanks (Playbill)

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This card was a thank you for my parents. They bought me tickets to see Chorus Line on Broadway- which definitely deserved a big thanks!

I was inspired by the Playbill from the show and tried to give the card the same feeling. The letters and apples were cut out using my Cricut.

I stacked the apples up using varying sizes. I used apples because New York City is so often referred to as the Big Apple, and I felt they gave the card the same look as the original Playbill.