Please Use Other Door

I met my sister and her husband at a French bakery we like the other day. They brought their new Great Pyrenees puppy - Duke - along, so he needed to stretch his legs after breakfast, so we just walked him down the shopping center.

I noticed a few things about the doors in this newish center.

First, there was a pediatric clinic that had two separate entrances - a sick entrance and a well entrance. What a great idea to keep those apart! It's not like kids need any extra help in the germ department.

But on every business entrance in the shopping center, there were two doors. 100% of them had signs on one door that said "Please use other door."

The forbidden doors were all locked, while the chosen doors were all open.

So my question is - why even have two doors? For some reason, all business hate one black sheep door and love the other one.

It can't be fire code to have two doors that open, because EVERYONE locks the black sheep door.

It just seems like such a waste to pay for a door that you hate and never use.

I vote for single doors, so that all doors can get the love and respect they deserve.

This weekend I finally got a chance to play with my Clarity Stamp Stencil brushes.

I had seen these at CHA but only ordered them recently and was anxious to try them because I'd heard how amazing they were and I couldn't believe something as simple as a brush could make people shriek and carry on.

But holy cow did I shriek and carry on when I tried them.

They.
Are.
Amazing.

They are incredibly soft, and you swipe them from side to side (imagine not rubbing a cat's fur the wrong way - you want the bristles to not get rubbed the wrong way either) on your ink pad and then your stencil, and they perfectly lay down and blend ink, with no marks or textures like sponges and sponge daubers can leave.

Zowie. I'm in love.

Because they have been such a crazy sensation, they can be a bit hard to find in the US, but I know Simon Say Stamp has them here.

I did a bunch of simple cards with the Happy Patterns Stencil pack, the ADORABLE new Sale-A-Bration set Party Pants, and some 3M Post-It tape for the one in the center - that was actually my test card for the first time I tried them. I only used three ink colors for all these - Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise and Melon Mambo - or as I call them, the Holy Trinity of inks.

I especially love the soft fade you can do with these brushes. In order to do  that with sponges, you have to work hard at having a very light touch. I did a card similar to this at my last retreat, and I had to really let everyone practice a few times to make sure they were getting most of the ink off the sponge before even beginning. These brushes hold ink in a very different way and so that is not an issue.

And they play very nicely with firm foam ink pads.

So I made a quick video of using these to make three of these cards in four minutes with the brushes, the stencils and the Mini MISTI, so take a peek! PS - even though that sentiment is one word, you definitely need the MISTI to test it and line it up properly - it was kind of a booger to line up. I might never take it out of my MISTI now that it's straight. I'll just buy another MISTI.

So next time you go into an establishment that has shunned one of its doors, try to show that door some kindness.

It's been the black sheep since it was installed.

#alldoorsmatter

Loveyameanitbye.