More is More

Happy Tuesday!  Just a quick post before I’m off to work.  I wanted to share the third project we made in my class last week – jumbo clips.  This is a fun easy project – something you can make multiples of for little party favors or to go along with the gift of a book or calendar or bookstore giftcard.

The jumbo clips are silver and I got them at Walmart awhile back.  I’ve also seen similar ones at office supply stores like Staples.  I put together packets with several different types of designer papers and everyone chose a packet as they arrived.  We used the white chipboard that comes in packs of SU designer paper, but you can also use cereal boxes for this project.  Cover the chipboard with designer paper using glue stick and then die cut into the desired shape.  This time we used 2 Big Shot dies from SU, but in the past I have used Cuttlebug dies.  We punched a hole in the middle with a Crop-a-dile and placed a jumbo brad in each die cut flower.  E-6000 adhesive was used to glue the 2 sides to the clip.  (note: E-6000 needs really good ventilation and takes quite awhile to set and dry!)

There’s just a little irony in this post today as I learned to make these clips a few years back from my friend Val when several of us got together at my house.  Val’s stamping has been a huge inspiration to so many over the years and just before I came over to type this post I saw her blog post for today talking about why she needs to take a little break.  HUGS to you friend!

Beyond the simple and fun hobby this started to out to be a number of years ago, many many of my stamping friends have become part of the *industry* in some way – working for stamp companies, owning stamp companies, being on design teams and on and on.  It’s a wonderful industry, but we do have to be so careful not to let the pressures (many of them self-imposed) drain away our creative joy!  Sometimes I find myself forcing myself to stamp something just because I haven’t blogged enough lately. Like I need to keep up with those amazing women who blog every day!  How silly is that? Anyway – I could write an entire editorial on this subject, but I do need to get to work.  So I just want to say to all my stamping friends out there – be sure to take some time to stamp for the pure of joy of it – no agenda – no assignment – no pressure to get the perfect photos of it – just stamp because it’s fun and then share it in a gallery or on your blog only if you truly feel like doing so!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I already have several things stamped and ready to share with you throughout the rest of the week.  And I DID have fun making them…maybe not photographing them so much – LOL! – but the stamping was FUN!