Tami Lynn Designs

I found an adorable collection of Melissa & Doug kids vehicle stamps at a fairly new children’s boutique shop in Gig Harbor, WA – Hush Baby. I could not wait to play with my new toys and make a card for a school bus driver friend of mine.

This fun and youthful paper from BasicGrey’s Mellow Collection was a perfect compliment to the school bus stamp.

Le Plume II Bright double ended markers were great to color in some tiny, and some not-so-tiny stamp spaces.

Have you thanked YOUR local school bus driver lately?

I purchased these adorable birdie stamps as a birthday present for myself. On a whim, I tried new techniques and styles with literally every part of this card.

Birdie Thank You Card

And, of course, I just couldn’t resist designing the envelope to match…

Birdie Envelope

This was my very first attempt at:

• Distressing (Using a cosmetics sponge)
• Fraying the edging of the top layer of paper (Which resulted in lighting it with a match. Any suggestions to do this successfully are welcome!)
• Stamp Layering (I used the same stamp on the corners of the card stock, and then on the corresponding corners of the layering paper. When you see it in person, this really adds depth.)
• Using 2 colors on one stamp (This may seem simple to some people, but it took me a few tries. I think the secret lies in blowing on the stamp to reactivate the drying marker ink.)

I am fairly new to the card designing world. I started my designing endeavors last fall after feeling a great need to have balance in my life. I was lacking any form of creativity in my job at the time, so I pursued a way to have it elsewhere. My first thought was to start drawing again, which I hadn’t done for several years. Then, one day as I was skimming through a magazine, the idea came to me ~ I should make fabulous cards for people to enjoy! It made complete sense, I always had a secret little fetish with stationery that led to a collection of more cards & stationery than I could ever use in a lifetime. Making cards was my destiny!

Like so many others, my adventures in card making began at the local craft store. I was completely unprepared for the multitude of embellishments, designer papers, card stock, ink pads, glitter and stamp choices. It was like shoe shopping, but a whole lot cheaper!

So many questions kept running through my mind… Where did these clear flat stamps come from and how the heck do you use them? How does one decide to use an ink pad, an ink roller, or markers? And, what the heck is embossing powder?

I certainly still do not have all of the answers to my questions. Even so, exploring different styles and techniques with various textures, layers and colors sure has been a refreshing experience! It’s exhilarating to not even know myself what ideas may come next!

Here are a few samples of some of the first few cards I created:

	BE THE CHANGE – This is one of my favorite quotes by Mahatma Ghandi. How wonderful that someone decided to create a stamp out of it! The decorative stamp above the quote is highlighted with fine red glitter from Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Store.
CELEBRATE – This fancy little card was made using glittery card stock and a tied off with a black satin ribbon.
	DREAM – I used black ink on the chandelier and dream stamps. The chandelier is glistening with Martha Stewart’s Purple Sapphire fine glitter.

A few trends that I have noticed that I stick to include “simple elegance” and “glitter.” Unfortunately, the sparkle of the glitter doesn’t show up too well for me in pictures. Perhaps photography should be the next hobby I delve into.

Stay tuned for additional card ideas and postings…

Thanks!

Tami Lynn