Tami Lynn Designs

I came across this quote today and just had to share…

Birth is not about making babies. Birth is about making mothers – strong, competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and know their inner strength.

~ Barbara Katz Rothman

Todays overcast Seattle skies drew me to bright colors of summer hope.

And, nothing adds shiny brightness quite like glitter…

Springtime has inspired me to try some new techniques. Here is my latest bird card:

I have learned to fill in a stamped image with colored pencil BEFORE pasting it onto textured paper, which apparently leaves grid marks (oopsie!):

To get a raised 3-D appearance, first I stamped swirls in the corners of the card. Then, for the first time, I tried attaching my stamp embellishment to the base card with foam mounting tape, overlaying the swirls. The foam mounting tape was very easy to work with, and I am definitely pleased with the results.

And, in true Tami Lynn style, I highlighted my stamp with Martha Stewart’s fine glitter.

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?

My birthday this past summer was one of my favorites. I typically love to have a huge birthday bash and to be surrounded by all my loved ones, but this year I did just the opposite. I went away with one of my best friends on a little road trip/ferry ride to the Kitsap Peninsula.

View from the ferry, Mt. Rainier in the distance.

Our first stop was in the quaint little town of Poulsbo. We ate scrumptious fish & chips at J.J.’s, played with Wrangler the dog (yes, he was awesomely named after a Jeep), poked around in all the cute mom & pop shops, and walked along the waterfront park and marina. I even bought some cute birdie stamps at a local stamp boutique, Rubber Soul.

Beautiful Victorian Port Townsend

We spent a day exploring beautiful victorian-style Port Townsend. I absolutely adore old architecture, and this town was built with it.

Downtown Port Townsend

Victorian house peeking over the hillside

Downtown Port Townsend

Port Townsend Waterfront

On our way to Fort Worden, we made some new friends…

Mamma Deer

Baby Deer

I remember playing at Fort Worden as a child. Back then, I thought that the batteries were cool to play hide & seek in, but now I have grown an appreciation for the actual history they hold.

Fort Worden Army Base

John L. Worden

Fort Worden

Fort Worden Batteries

Inside a Fort Worden Battery

Fort Worden Batteries

August Quarles, perfectly fitting for my August Birthday

Fort Worden Battery

Leaving the batteries at the beginning of the hike back down the hillside, there is an amazing view of the light house.

Light House at Fort Warden

View from Fort Worden State Park

My world has been beyond busy lately with many wonderful and exciting experiences:

Trips exploring Washington, visiting friends in Utah, good friends got married and had babies, I started Doula class, and I finally moved to an apartment with windows!

All of which I was thinking I should write about and post pictures of. I have added this to my ever-growing to-do list, and it will hopefully make its way to top priority soon.

Driving through the hills in Utah

For now, I am off enjoying life…

Tami Lynn

Back by popular demand! We are having another Boutique-Style Yard Sale this weekend! There is a lot of fabulous new merchandise from nine households. Items include:

• Clothing & Shoes from Nordstrom, Ann Taylor, Anthropologie, Banana Republic and more!
• Handbags & Jewelry
• Kitchen items
• Artwork by a local artist
• Home Decor
• Craft supplies including scrapbooking material, yarn, sewing patterns, and more!
• Cards and stationery
• Stationary Bicycle & 10-Speed Bike
• Media center and other furniture items including a Pier 1 wicker chair!
• Custom framed wall art

Once again, my personal proceeds from this sale will be going to support the Seattle Midwifery School.

Products are top-quality in like-new condition, labeled with cute little hand-made tags, and attached to the merchandise with a twine bow. All clothing will be hung on racks and all non-furniture type items will be neatly arranged on tables adorned with vintage-style tablecloths. (see my craigslist ad)

Please come by, if you can make it this weekend!

Weather permitting, the event will be August 23rd and 24th (this weekend) at the corner of 49th and Admiral in West Seattle. Click here for a MAP

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

An old friend shared this quote with me today. It is perfectly fitting for this past week…

“A memory is what is left when something happens and does not completely unhappen.”  ~Edward de Bono