Blank Space!

 Sneaking a Craft Roulette card in here before the Kindred Stamps June New Release, which goes live on Saturday!  :)  The parameters landed perfectly.  I will explain "flying kite" colors....  I was thinking a "kite diamond", and I did find...a shiny white flying kite in google land.....plus there is a flying kite bird...lol

 

 

 

 This was my 79th entry for Craft Roulette!  (Episode #272)  That's a lot of cards!!!!

 

And just for grins....

 

 

Cribmate BFF's! Kindred June 2025 New Release

 Isn't it amazing how quickly each month rolls by, and poof all of the sudden, it's a Kindred Stamps New Release!  As always, the offerings are hard to resist, the cute and fun factor is true to be delivered!   This month, I was excited to work with:  Cribmates  

 

 Friends for a very very long time!

When I made this card, it reminded me of when my kidlets were in preschool!  Both of my kids, attended 2 years of preschool that was kind of hard to get accepted in to, so once in, rarely did any kiddo leave.  The same group of 28+ kids were together for 2 years straight.  There was a pack of about 10ish in both my daughter's AND my son's 2 years, that remained acquaintances all the way through high school/college and beyond.   I say "acquaintances", because they all scattered, went to different grade/middle schools.  Many, however, ended up at the same place later on... sports teams, high school, college roommates of friends, facebook, etc.... A bonus was the MOMMIES remained fairly close!  So...when I first saw these characters, along with the sentiment...I immediately thought of "Little Treasures"...truly, a treasure for both my kiddos to have been lucky enough to attend. I could see me giving a card like this easily to one of those "Mommies"...and maybe even going back to my childhood group, as class reunions are coming up!

 "You Can Always Hang At My Crib"

 

I knew this little guy needed to be near a rainbow, singing a rainbow type song.  Who wouldn't want to hang out near an aqua blue lake, on a log, gorgeous colorful rainbow, singing a happy tune?  This would be a fun invite for "card night" with a "crib" play on words...or even an invite to any type of get together!

I used the Kindred  Bare Trees Craft Die for my log!

Baby's First Birthday!

I've been to a few of these!!!  I've even thrown 2 "Baby's First" parties...  I had in mind, this card would be a great invite, but...one could swap the sentiment stamp with another in the set, and turn this into a birthday card for a baby celebrating this one year milestone day!

 

 BFF'S forever....

 Making the background paper with the Baby Bottle Stencil, I could turn a card into an instant card for a long time bff .... I added holographic star paper over the top of my stenciled bottles on this one!

 

Simple and Sweet ... Baby Notes

When you need a quick note...  I had baby shower enclosure cards in mind!  

 

 

Truly, the possibilities are endless with Cribmates!

 

Cribmates will be available on Saturday, June 28!  You can find this set, along with the Baby Bottle stencil and other Kindred New Release Sets 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday Night Lights!

 For my 5th GIU Day....I wanted to give you a glimpse of my weekend...

I started this week, briefly talking about a challenge I play along in weekly.  It's been 2 years now, almost to the day...when I decided to tune in to what I'd been hearing a lot of buzz on the street about...  I had a Facebook friend, one I had met at the one and only retreat I'd ever been to, tag me in to this challenge she occasionally participated in.  Every time she tagged me, I really didn't pay much attention to it... At the time, I was struggling with hard emotions, and I knew I needed to find something to send some positive energy to my well being. That's when I decided to hit the link she'd been tagging me in, and I was introduced to.....

CRAFT ROULETTE!!!!!

 Oh my gosh....what a game changer it has been for me.  I have used supplies I never dreamed I'd ever use...I've tried different card types, like z-folds, zoy-folds, cards with pockets, cards with bookmarks, book binding cards, tri-folds, etc....this last challenge was a MATCHBOOK card, I'm pretty sure I've never made one of those before...  How it works is... the mom/son team who dreamed this all up, goes live on YouTube, every Friday late afternoon for me (4:30 Pacific Time) and runs a program which includes a slideshow, guest designer, a recap of the previous week, along with live card creation using the parameters that a Craft Roulette Wheel lands on....  There are 4 criteria:

1.  Project

2.  Colors

3.  Element

4.  Random

 There are 24 potentials for each parameter...so...lots and lots of possibilities!

I find the 2 hours to be full of entertainment.  I've seen some fabulous guests, and I've designed things that my brain would NEVER have come up with otherwise!!!  

Unity Stamps are PERFECT for Craft Roulette nights...  Pooh and Friends, Angie Girls & Phyllis Harris stamps have been super favorites I've used, I even dabbled in a scrapbook page or 2 using the perfect Unity Stamps via Craft Roulette.  You have a couple of days to submit your card, and if you do...you are eligible to win a prize the following Friday.  After the matter...I journal it all in my Creative Companion, which highlights the week...it's my personal journal/card diary, so...scribbles, crooked lines, bad handwriting...it all works for me, and I have a fun journal book to peruse through when I get in a creative slump, or just want to reflect!

 To analyze my 78th Craft Roulette contribution, Episode #271

  

 The wheel chose the following for the parameters and I justified by:  

1. Project/Matchbook Card:  I did an upside down matchbook card, where the front panel tucks under the lip of the top, like a matchbook
2. Colors/Park:  I used the colors you would see at Bahai Honda State Park
3. Element/Key(s):  Bahai Honda State Park is in the Florida Keys
4. Random/Curved & Straight:  The waves are curves, the sand is curved...the pole to umbrella is straight!

I could go on and on about how much Craft Roulette has changed my way of approaching my card making.  I'm much faster at things now, and I find it much easier to come up with unique ideas!

 Some of my favorite Craft Roulette creations came from Unity Stamps, and I'm sharing my journal book                         pages of them here!  I'm at 78 entries now...at 100 I'll need a new book!                                 

 

 

It's nonstop going back to my pages to add more...even if it's months after the matter.  I have some pages REALLY filled up...and some with blank space, which is fun to return to and add more...

Supplies used:

Stamp Set:  Live in the Sunshine  (Beach Scene)

 Stamp Set:  "Other Side of Fear" (Retired)(for the little sailboat)

Links to my Friday Night FUNN!

***Craft Roulette Live 

***NOTE:  I don't always make it at the start of the show...in fact RARELY do I make it when it actually starts...So, I pick it up on YouTube after the live.  That's OK for me, I will find myself pulling up parameters if I'm remote, it's an addicting challenge, but what a good thing to be addicted to, right?   

 Well, what a week it's been!  I enjoyed being a GIU guest as much this time, as I did before!  I hope you enjoyed your week, and pop by every now and then!  You will see lots of Craft Roulette cards, of which big portion of them, are with Unity Stamps! 

Leave comments!!!  And THANKS for stopping by this week!  I enjoyed reading your comments!  This really is a wonderful thing, paper crafting in UNITY!!!

 Trudi 

 

                                         

Famous words of Pooh

 You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem....

Day 4 as a GIU guest.  

 

  

 I like the brave part and the stronger part of Pooh's famous quote, as it resonates with my life right now.  There definitely is something about these Pooh stamps that are refreshing and fun to color and cut.  About 6 months ago, I made a Pooh card, with a different Unity Pooh stamp.  I enjoyed so much making it, I wanted to take another go at it, this time with a different stamp and enhancements.  I've had some very sad weeks this last month, so, coloring up Pooh, Piglet and Eyeore, with colorful butterflies and flowers, a little brightness occupied my time.  I'm loving the Pooh line so much, that with every order I place with Unity...I tend to add one more.  I believe I have a new one in my "happy mail" this week!  

 

I LOVE to decorate the insides too!!!!!

 

Side by side...my new card, that I put together a couple of weeks ago, and my original that I CASED....

 

Let me tell you about my Creative Companion  

Tomorrow, I'll share with you the challenge I try to  participate in weekly.  I will admit, life got in the way this Spring, so I had missed a couple of months...  What is a Creative Companion?  It's a notebook/journal book, that records each week of my challenge...(up to 100 weeks, plus extra pages for additional notes).  I take a picture of each card I make along with the challenge notes.  So....rather than hoarding my cards, I'm now freely letting my Mom, my sisters, etc., grab cards out of my stash for any and all events.  I'm flattered, and glad that my cards find homes...lol...since I tend to make and never mail any of them personally.  By recording them in my notebook, I never have to reinvent the wheel, so to speak....and I can CASE my own card.  (Copy and Share Everything) (some people say "steal" instead of share...that sounds so deviant...  I like share much better)

When I started my GIU cards a couple of weeks ago, it was smack dab in the middle of huge sadness, and I needed a little moral "boost" to rally myself into getting my cards started, let alone completed for this week.  It took me 3-4 months back in 2020 to make my 5 projects, I stressed, and stressed even more, and stressed even more again 5 years ago...  This time, I had my Creative Companion to refer to, fully knowing I wanted to make a Pooh card.  I knew I wanted it to be different and new, but there were elements that I really liked and was glad I had my notes all there as a recipe.  Pooh was the first card I started, and that little "boost" really helped get the inspo going.  I personally, LOVE my Creative Companion, sort of like a card making cookbook, a nice sturdy notebook would work too! 

So, drop by tomorrow, I'll tell you all about my weekly challenge, and I'll share with you how I saved my last GIU day for last Friday night's challenge.  I didn't know which Unity stamp I'd be using, I let the challenge help me decide!  I will tell you, I can ALWAYS find a Unity stamp that will work!   I'll share a picture of my Creative Companion pages too!  I'm almost as excited to "journal" my cards as I am to make them! It really is fun thumbing through the entries and reflecting!  

 Supplies Used For my Poohs

GIU Pooh Stamp Used:  Winnie the Pooh: I Think It's Called Love 

GIU Pooh Stamp Used Background Tag:  Winnie the Pooh: Oh, Dear 

CR #248 Pooh Set Used:  Winnie The Pooh: Honey Pooh     CR #248 Blog Deets 

 

Leave comments!  Til tomorrow!   

 

 

Doing Yoga with Purr-ty Cats!

GIU Day #3 and I'm making it CLEAN AND SIMPLE!!!

Inside of Card 

 

 

It's going out of my comfort zone to do something quick and easy, but what I like about that...is that it's QUICK AND EASY!  Easy clean up, easy everything.  If I were to redo, and I was tempted, it's just that my schedule isn't allowing me to do so tonight...I'd try this in pinks, or a turquoise blue, etc.  I struggled with matching my blue distress oxide inks that I gently blended the blue background with any card stock that I have combined with my designer papers in my stash.  I'm surprised, because I have THOUSANDS of both..card stock and designer papers.  But...I wanted this quick and easy...not hours of hunting down the perfect paper.  I applied a film of sparkly holographic stars paper to give it that shiny sparkly look you see on my designer paper.  I love these cats, and when I showed this card to my sister...she called them YOGA cats!  They do kind of look like that!  So, YOGA Cats it is!  

 

Supplies used:

 

Unity Stamp Set:  Purr-ty Cats 

Designer Paper Used:  Atomic Kitty Cat {Paper Pack} 

For Sparkly Stars:  Holographic Sticker Paper 

 

Dies are random dies from my stash...not sure where I picked them up from, they are out of their original packaging, in a magnetic folder!:    Magnetic Die Folder Holders 

 

Thanks for stopping by today!  Back tomorrow with Day 4! 

Take Me to the Beach!

 Day 2 of being a GIU guest....and I was waffling between showcasing either a clean and simple card, or one not so much... well... while I was trying to decide...

 

I got an order from one of my longtime customers in my chocolate biz.  It's one of my biggest customers, if not my biggest, they are a major tourist attraction on the Oregon Coast, and they keep my staff busy all summer during the vacation/beach season.  I saw that as a sign to showcase my "Sunshine & Happiness" card...after all, when the beach calls...you run to it!  

I fiddled around with my sand here, and decided alcohol markers were making my eyes happier than ink blending.  Any tips and tricks on ink blending, please send my way.  I suspect it's the card stock I use, or maybe my brushes...I seem to be a little heavy handed in spots...but...it's sand, it's possible you will see something similar later this week....another reason I'm showing this today instead of my clean and simple card... (I didn't actually case my own card for my last GIU day...remember, that card is the result of my weekly challenge, so it's what resulted from the criteria, lol...you must come by on Friday, you will understand when you see it!!! 

 Sand with alcohol markers... 

 

 

Sand ink blended... fun textured card stock!

 

My details for this card:

Stamps Used:  Sunshine & Happiness 

***Dies Used:  Scallops & Rectangles  

***NOTE:  this appears to be out of stock, but has a notification button attached to it.  I use this die set ALL.THE.TIME.  I love it, so I thought I'd add the link for future reference.  :)

   Leave comments!  (Bonus if you leave tips for ink blending!  What is the best card stock to use?)  I have a good selection of Tim Holtz Distress Oxides...just need to work on the spotch!)  I will be pulling the comments from all my social media accounts to get my 2 (random) winners of a $20 gift credit!  My Instagram is fairly new...this old girl is late to the party, but, I'm getting the social media thing down.  Thank goodness, my day life/business was established way before things like Facebook and Instagram!  I'm learning as I go....40 years into that!  hahaha

 

Positive Days Are Ahead

Hello!   Welcome to my week as a GIU Guest!  

Entry #1 

 

I've been a guest before (June of 2020), almost the exact dates, just 5 years apart.  So much has happened in those 5 years...We lived through a pandemic, for one, which definitely changed the course of so many things...  I lost people I knew and loved because of it, and secondly, had to restructure my life and business focus too, which changed my view on so many things...definitely a game changer in so many ways.

 Over these 5 years, my creative journey has taken a few turns as well.  In my life I have leaned on my paper crafting time every now and then, especially when life truly threw me really hard stuff...and as I sit here on Father's Day, the first without my Dad, fighting back tears...I know having my creative space in my daylight basement at home, aka known as "The Trudio Studio" has been a blessing for me.  My heart is taking that windy path again, trying to find a new normal.  The "me" time is important, I know, as I've traveled the road before.  I call that studio time, "Creative Therapy".    

Two years ago, I decided to join in on the fun of a weekly challenge, found in Craft Land.  (I will share the challenge I play along in, later this week)  I had found my mental health wasn't good at the time, it's hard watching those close to you struggling with their physical health, and you can't do anything about it. You help as much as you can with the day to day tasks, you put on a fake smile, and you then go back to your home, in tears, with your heart so very sad.  This was me, and I found myself drowning in heartache.  It was then that I decided to join in a weekly challenge, to get my mind on other interests... (I'll share later this week what challenge)...  from that first entry on...I felt a bit of excitement week after week, looking forward to the next and the next and the next.  It doesn't really matter what challenge you find...any challenge will do, there are so so SO many out there,  I found one that was a good fit for me.  Because of my weekly challenge (I've now completed 78 weeks of it..), I have found my process has gone from agonizing over a design, to just moving forward with it.  The ideas roll along faster for me now, and  I can always find the perfect Unity stamp to fit the challenge criteria!  I used a Unity Stamp  this last challenge, which aired Friday night. (my 78th)  I plan to share it here,  this coming  Friday!  Be on the alert for it!!!!!

 In the meantime...  I, day by day, get stronger, as I did when I first joined in on that weekly challenge.

I promise to not be so long winded next post...It sometimes feels good to "get it out".  I've resisted.

 Supplies used...

Stamp Set:  Positive Currents  Unity Stamps 

Designer Paper:  Lily Lagoon 6x6 paper  Unity Stamps

This is definitely not a 1 postage stamp card to mail...it would be a "small package" due to the dimension!  I loved every minute of coloring and dreaming up the "pond" look!

Leave a comment, and you will be entered as a possible recipient of a $20 gift credit to Unity Stamps!      2 lucky winners will be randomly selected after my week.  

I see "Positive Currents" is on sale right now too!

 I started an Instagram!  Leave a comment there as well!  More chances to win that $20 credit!

@the_trudio_studio

 I'm also found on facebook....

The Trudio Studio

 Til tomorrow!  Waffling on a clean and simple card, or one with a few layers...(yet flat enough to be a one postal stamp, USPS!!!  lol  It's because of that dang "small package" size, that I quit using buttons!  I'm not ready to give up my dimension tape though...I don't see that happening, anytime soon! 

 Look close, here's an angle of the dimension...If you count the sentiment...3 popped up layers!

Trudi