Friday, May 6, 2011

Through the Gears....

You may remember those old Dunkin' Donuts commercials where the guy wakes up and in a zombie-like state and utters over and over again "time to make the donuts." Yeah, that's how I often feel in the mornings (except I'm not making donuts). For me, it's more like time to change the diaper, time to get breakfast ready, time to get the chickadees dressed, time to take them to school...if you're a mom, you probably know what I mean. It's those mornings where my daughter adamently refuses to wear pants when it's 0 degrees or when my son poops up to his neck that shake me out of the zone. The gears stop working.

Thus, the inspiration for today's card. The "gears" on the card are actually doily stamps from Studio Calico (and yes, they are fabulous stamps). Here's what I came up with:


The sentiment is from Everyday Button Bits from PTI...lots of sentiments on that set. I liked the first card so much, I decided to make a set of them for my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. Here they are (click on the photos to see them up close):


While these cards look really easy, they were actually pretty hard to make (at least for me). I had a hard time getting the ink colors to look good together on each doily (there are 3 inks on each one). I would try one color scheme and one color would be too yellow or too dark, etc. But once I got the colors right, the stamping was pretty easy. Except I messed up at least once for each card (always on the last doily) and had to flip it over and stamp them again. In the end, I decided they were good enough and stamped on the sentiments. In the end, I think they turned out nice for notecards.

I also decided to add the Google Follower link (see left), so now you can follow me (in a Google way, not in a cult sort of way). Thanks for looking! I really appreciate your support--you all are awesome (well, maybe not the people who keep spamming me, but everyone else is awesome!).

Here are the deets:
Stamps: Everyday Button Bits (PTI); Doilies (Studio Calico)
Inks: A zillion
Cardstock: white, Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Royal Velvet (PTI), the last of my beloved turquoise (Bazzill)
Rhinestones: (Me and My Big Ideas) & (Kaisercraft)





14 comments:

  1. Jocelyn, these are beautiful! I love all of the variations in the different colours. :)

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  2. Absolutely beautiful, and a wonderful gift pack. Such a fun post too!

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  3. YEP... this is absolutely beautiful... I know how hard it is to make...when it looks that simpl!!! Trust me... Happy Mothers day to you....hugs....xoxo

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  4. Great to see how colour can transform. My fav is the first violet one. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on challenges

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  5. These are gorgeous, Jocelyn, and such a cute set! Love the colours and I am impressed - I still have yet to master this technique. Must try it again...
    I totally remember the donut guy! Next time you're chasing your daughter around waving a pair of pants at her just think of these lovely, zen gears of yours and all will be well. :)

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  6. Isn't it funny, how the what looks CAS is not always CAS. I bet it wasn't easy to create, but so clever and fantastic outcome and you made how many???? Keep rockin' it girl!

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  7. What a cute story! I am usually a zombie in the morning until I have had my coffee! Your cards turned out so cute! I love the fading colors.

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  8. Amazing how the simple-looking cards are always the toughest to achieve! :D Not that I really think these look all that simple, with the lovely gradations of colours. So pretty!

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  9. These are very elegant, Jocelyn! I love how the set looks together, I'd have a hard time parting with one. LOL Did you use the rock 'n' roll technique with the inks? You mentioned you had a hard time getting them to look just right but they look wonderful to me! Happy Mother's Day!! (P.S. I remember the days of poop up to the neck. LOL)

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  10. I really LOVE these, Jocelyn, and I think the colors look perfect!

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  11. Your MIL is a very lucky to be recieving these! They are fantastic, I just love how you have graduated the colours! They kinda remind me of 'Spirella"... is that what it was called?

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  12. love the inspiration for your card:-) i am usually making coffee to get me going. Hope you have a great mothers day!!!

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  13. Love the cards! Super cute & fun!! :)

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  14. These are really lovely! I'm sure they are hard to stamp...I always have trouble getting clear crisp images...lol

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Thank you so much for your comments!

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