Hi Stampin’ Friends!!
I am very excited to share a great project with you; it’s something that can be started at any time — you do not need to wait until the beginning of the year to start on it. So many people are reflecting on their goals for the year, why not create a powerful visual tool to help keep you on track!
Here is a peek at the title page of my Vision/Goals book. When I first envisioned making the book I thought about putting a year on the title page, but as I started looking at the goals that I was setting, the goals are more multi-year/long-range goals with consistent, short-term actions required to achieve them. I recommend putting dates on each individual page to record when the page was completed. As I continue to share each section of my book, you will see, though, how important dates are in creating a goal completion time line (SMART Goals).
Project Details
I decided to use the Fabulous Flowers stamp set because the one word stamp in there “Dare to Be Fabulous” just resonates with me! I fell “in love” with this set when it first came out mostly because of this powerful little statement. The Fabulous Flowers (Item # 109343) stamp set is retiring effective January 18, 2009; it will probably be a long time before I can part with this set!
I used the color combination that is reflected in the Urban Garden Designer Series Paper (Item # 112042; also retiring effective January 18, 2009). The colors include: Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, and Not Quite Navy. In addition, later in the book you will see that I used Riding Hood Red — red is a powerful, action-oriented color — perfect for inspiring goal achievement.
On this page used a technique called “One Sheet Wonder;” I stamped a full 12″ x 12″ sheet of Whisper White Card Stock (Item # 106529) with the “Dare to Be Fabulous” stamp from Fabulous Flowers using Basic Gray, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, and Not Quite Navy. I was going for a pattern that could be read from any direction. I started with a row that could be read from my stamping vantage point. I continued to stamp the pattern, varying the colors… then, I rotated the page 180 degrees and continued stamping until I filled the page.
Next I cut the 12″ x 12″ sheet in half, yielding two 6″ x 12″ pieces. With one of the 6″ x 12″ pieces I cut it again to yield 2 – 6″ x 6″ pieces. Finally I cut the two 6″ x 6″ sheets in half diagonally to create the “corners” on the page you see here. I layered the corners (triangular pieces) on 12″ x 12″Basic Black Textured Card Stock (Item # 108693) to create the framed look. I used the remaining 6″ x 12″ piece on the following pages. One Sheet Wonder (OSW) is a great technique for creating personalized “Designer Series Paper.” OSW is also awesome for completing multiple quick cards.
I used On Board Loads of Letters (Item #112084) to create this title. I sponged or used the direct-to-paper method to cover the letters completely with the Classic Ink. My preference is to use Craft Ink (pigment ink) with Sponge Daubers (Item # 102892) to do this kind of job, but the 2008-09 In Colors are available in Classic Ink only. I feel that the coverage was very good! I saturated those letters, for sure!
The page seemed as though it needed a couple of finishing touches, so I broke out the BigShot and started cutting these flowers and swirls from the coordinated card stock colors, Kiwi Kiss, Basic Gray, and Baja Breeze. I used the Birds & Blooms Sizzlits Die (4-Pack Item #113485) and the Scribbles, Swirls Sizzlits Die (Item #113441). The flowers seemed to give it a more polished look. One final touch I did was to sponge the edges of the stamped Whisper White sheet with Kiwi Kiss ink (you can kind of see it on the top right corner of the photo). I was able to get away with sponging AFTER I had assembled the page, but ONLY because the background paper is Basic Black. I highly recommend sponging the edges BEFORE putting your page together!
I’m very happy with the result, although I will sneak some Riding Hood Red onto this page eventually — probably in the center of the flowers!!
