Lessons I learned making the Party Girl pages

 I am making up some of the kits that were put aside during the Christmas Card Buffet classes. The pages are beautiful.

There were 3 2-page layouts and a single pag        e.  There are pieces left over and I am going to make some Picture My Life cards to go with this set.  I have decided I am going to try and use up the scraps at the same time as I work a project but I need to finish some of the card kits for Christmas (our family is meeting late January so I am busy on making albums and cards and calendars as gifts)

What I learned and relearned:

1. Go Back to the Basics - Always!

I work very fast.  Always have.  I usually expect myself to do things quickly which means even though I get done quicker than others, I am expecting a faster speed.  Sometimes that means I don't read the directions as carefully as I should.

    - Read the directions.  They are helpful so get things in the right order

    - The rule is that no open fluid can be on the table.  I had a covered water the day before that rested on the floor.  Today I had it on the table as I was looking at what kits to do.  I picked it up and as the cover came off 16 oz of water went on the table.  Mostly everything was in plastic except the pages and cards I did yesterday.  Several pages were water logged but the card envelopes were most damaged.

    - LOOK at your block before you print the stamp.  I had several lines and extra ink that were unnecessary if I had just taken the time to wipe it off - I didn't look and then had to try and fix the problem.

2.  I really love Close to my Heart.  It gets reinforced over and over

They make their border stamps so you can do continuous stamping.  On the Party Girl set, the glass in her had doesn't have lines so you can stamp it and it looks like it belongs.  Also the circle has an opening that fits the words.  They think ahead when they create and do a marvelous job of putting things together.  The attention to detail matters.

3. These stamps didn't have thin cuts.  Fussy Cutting got its name for a reason

I am falling in love more and more with thin cuts.  I really like it when I have to prepare for multiples in a class setting.  This stamp set is ok because it will be used on pages which I really don't mind the fussy cutting.  I enjoy my small sharp scissors and my utility knife to get the job done.

4. I have had water color pencils for a long time.  I am now getting the CTMH ones.

I don't buy things that I already have.  I have a great number of water color pencils that I have had for some time.  This project made me see that I don't have shades of a color.  I have blended alcohol markers and water colors but now I see that to get the right shade, I need to have the right tools in pencils as well. It is the next thing on my list to get.

5. I learn so much and need to keep it in my head or start a technique tips for my own

I really like to do new pages and get ideas for pages using other paper.  I have several projects going and will find a way to use the guidelines in those settings.  Also I learned new techniques for the stamp set.  It is learning about how to take these little stamps and use them together for borders or images.  This set sill be good just for the little stamps and what you can do with them as they go with other images.

If you have had "ah ha" experiences lately, make a comment.  It is a good reinforcement to share with others what you have learned.