Sunshine Stamper

Over the years, I have developed my own method of paper crafting that works pretty darn well for me and I have dubbed it the “Garden Method of Paper Crafting.” For those that know me, that is pretty ironic because I am not a gardener and my house is where flowers come to die a sad death.

So why the Garden Method of paper crafting then? Well, it fits as a method. Just like you would not plant only one seed in a garden and wait for it to grow before you plant another one, I don’t craft just one item at a time from start to finish.

Instead I craft in batches, just like you would plant a section of seeds in a real garden. Instead of making one card at a time from start to finish, I create multiple backgrounds, sentiments, and focal points each time I sit down to create. Then, like a harvest from a garden, I have multiple items to chose from and can “harvest” multiple finished projects at once.

For example, I have been feeling the Halloween vibes lately, so I this weekend I sat down to create and “planted” multiple seeds for my creative garden.

I started by making a batch of different backgrounds to grow my cards on.

When I take out a stencil or a background die, I make multiples and experiment with different colorways. Just like you would plant different varieties of flowers or veggies in a garden, I have a variety of colors and styles to chose from when I go to create a card.

Next, I created a batch of different paper-pieced die cut elements. I had purchased the Spellbinders Craftoween box this year, and it had tons of adorable dies I wanted to use. Instead of just making one copy of one die, I made a large batch of multiple die cuts, so when I go to construct cards I have multiple options to pair with my different backgrounds.

To stay organized, I keep my finished die cuts in little lunch trays so no one gets lost or left behind when its time to craft.

Finally, I use the same garden method for creating sentiments to finish off the cards with. When I have my stamps out, I stamp multiple copies in different colors so when I sit down to craft, I can experiment with different sizes, sayings, and colors to get the perfect look on my cards.

I also keep my sentiments handy in little dishes on my desk so I can try different colors and styles easily.

The final result is being able to put together multiple cards quickly, as I pick and choose and experiment with different pieces from my crafty harvest. For example, when building my cute little ghost card below, I was able to quickly try different colorways for the sentiment and choose the one that looked the best without having to re-stamp and die cut more sentiments!

Which one do you think I chose to glue down and make permanent? Leave a comment below with your guess- green text or black!