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Thursday, April 9, 2020

Brighter Days ARE Ahead

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I think it's probably true that courage looks different in different situations.

The difference between the mental strength needed to survive WWII and what you need to survive being trapped in your houses is a pretty big leap.

But that doesn't mean that it doesn't take courage to do what we are all doing right now.

I've seen a lot of really frightened people be pretty courageous in the last few weeks.

The stamp company owners who are under immense pressure right now are being so creative in their approach to not being able to work in any sort of normal way. And they are laser focused on encouraging us, which just reinforces everything I know about who they are, and really what an industry that thrives on the joy of its customers should be doing.

But still - when they feel as anxious as we do - that takes courage.

So when Greg told us what this month's very small release was about it was hard not to cry on the Zoom! But I didn't!

But today's release is all about brighter days ahead. I know they're there. I know there's uncertainty about when they'll come. But I didn't survive the last three dark years not to know there's something better coming, dang it!

So I love the theme, and I ask you to believe in that, and however you can express that, fill up their awesome hashtag with your photos so that you can encourage others - #C9BrighterDays.

My brother is a shutterbug, and has been since childhood. Our maternal grandfather was as well - there are boxes and boxes of his slides that were the movies of our young lives. He worked all over the world on clean water systems in developing countries, so there are photos of him in Egypt, Africa - every exotic destination you can imagine. My brother photographed all the things from a very early age, and you really never see him without a camera to this day. We had every sort of camera known to man, and taking pictures has always been a part of our lives.

But there is no joy in photography that will EVER surpass the joy of the magical Polaroid! I'd love to know how many hours of my life I've spent waving one back and forth waiting for it to develop. Good times.

So my pick of this release is the retro, interactive camera bundle! The dies cut the camera, the slot, and a T-shaped polaroid - the top of the T keeps the picture from coming all the way out. So awesome. There are a bunch of stamps you can use on the little picture.

So here's what it looks like "closed." I colored it the way I remember it.


Then here's what it looks like when you pull the photo out. I do recommend using foam tape to pop up the camera so the photo slides out. They've included a "pull here" stamp you can stamp on the photo if you're mailing it. So adorable. I made the background with this new background stamp by stamping it, rotating it 90 degrees, and stamping it again.


I'm a bit of a googlie eye opportunist, so when I saw this month's rainbow turnabout I went 100% rogue. Those stripes looked like smilies to me, and since the camera set the 70's tone, it fit so perfectly. I just stamped it once, and then added the yellow hearts from this new background stamp in Cheerful ink.


Yesterday on my live, I created some distress oxide backgrounds to use with the clouds from the Brighter Days Bundle. I cut the clouds from this clear glitter paper, and the raindrops from silver glitter paper (no shed) but they look more similar in the photo than they do in real life.

I used Wilted Violet, Blueprint Sketch and Stormy Sky with Life Changing Blender Brushes and spritzed it with water. I die cut the sentiment with the same dies and pieced the little negative spaces back in. I really love these dies - there's also a little sun ray you can put behind the clouds, but my plants are loving our rain so much this year, I decided my card would celebrate that.


Remember - you can always buy the full release bundle here - perfect for this smaller release.

And, Greg is donation 10% of this entire month's profits to Covid-19 relief! So that goes for purchases of older products as well. You have to actually apply to many of these organizations, like the ones Jimmy Fallon is featuring before you can do donations like these, so when you see these efforts start without a specific charity named, that's why! Hero Arts is doing a donation as well, which you can read about here.

So shop for a cause!


April 2020 Release Bundle
[ C&9 ]
Brighter Days Bundle
[ C&9 ]
Oh Snap Bundle
[ C&9 ]
Pinstripe Background
[ C&9 ]
Rainbow Turnabout
[ C&9 ]
Tsukineko VersaFine Clair CHEERFUL...
[ SSS ]
Life Changing Blender Brush: 2-Pack –...
[ PFS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad...
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad...
[ SSS ]
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad...
[ SSS ]
Neutrals Glitter Paper Pack - Concord...
[ C&9 ]
Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473
[ SSS ]
Heavy Base Weight Card Stock- White
[ GNK ]
MISTI Stamping Tool
[ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ]
Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -...
[ BLIC ]
LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for...
[ BRG ]
Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC
[ ELH | SSS ]
Crafter's Companion GEMINI...
[ SSS ]
Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring...
[ SSS ]
Essentials by Ellen Storage...
[ ELH ]
Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets...
[ CHC ]
XL Stamp Storage Pockets
[ ELH ]
Mermaid tidy towel case and glue...
[ ETS ]
Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045
[ SSS | CST ]
Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies
[ ART ]







I hope you are all doing okay and aren't too anxious. It's really crazy to be together alone.

If you want me to send you a card, just email me your address!

Loveyameanitbye.



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15% off anything at Marker Universe or any of their other sites - Understandblue15.
10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10 Arkon stand link below!

3 comments:

  1. Such fun cards! That polaroid card! I enjoyed joining the LIVE fun yesterday and seeing you create the weather background. Stormy Sky is now on my wish list! The Miss You card is a hoot. My dauther is the ambassador of googly eyes! She has the inside of car splattered with googly eyes. The air vent makes a smile when closed. Googly eyes on the gear shift and a few other places. She keeps extra googly eyes in her car and lets her friends add them and they are now adding googly eyes to their vehicles! She is a hoot! Wishing you love and sunshine today!

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  2. I put the #C9BrighterDays graphic on my lock screen on my phone. It's such a great reminder, many, many times each day, to stay positive. Thank YOU for always staying positive!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Super clever way to use the turnabout! Who doesn't love googly eye smiley faces?! So much happiness and cheer!

    ReplyDelete

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