SLMPetersen

Deciding on sentiments can be the easiest or hardest part of card design. There is no middle ground for me. Most often it helps if I plan to create a type of card before I delve into making. Theme selection is frequently dictated by low stock in the shop or by requests for a certain variety of cards. Once my theme is established I will pull all the sentiments for it. This in itself can be a project since I store my stamps and dies by brand. I find it difficult to store by theme, as most stamp sets have multiple themes, but I digress. In this phase, I will also select patterned papers and embellishments. There are other times I build elements from components in my stash. I design parts for later card designs. The elements at the right are an example of that. I assembled each one with bits laying on my desk or from my stash box. Using die cuts, tags, and journal cards. As I was creating them I added small sentiments that felt like they fit the element. This practice often get...

New Newsletter format, including new articles, links, and of course discount codes. Wanna make sure you get every issue? Subscribe now, the first edition of 2022 will drop on New Year's Day! I have some fun new card designs coming, including some fancy new folds and different sizes. There might even be a few shaker cards and cards that light up coming in the new year. If you're a maker peeping the shop for inspiration I have great news! I'm planning to do a weekly posting here in the Artist's Journal, with details and affiliate links for the products used to create a featured card. The Shop will be getting a little facelift as well. I'll be rephotographing all the cards to create a more uniform look. I'll also be adding additional shots of each card to showcase more of the details. I'm also working on a schedule for consistent Instagram posting. I played with this a bit in Fall and I'll be returning to it in 2022. I won't lie, this kind of co...

It just doesn't seem possible that it's December already. Christmas is racing in as we close out the 2021 year. Here's a quick update on what's happening for the Month of December.   Today, December 1st, you might notice Christmas and Holiday cards are no longer available on the website. For the second year in a row, I'm taking all of my holiday card inventory to Smiling Moose for their big open house. This portion of inventory will only be available there for the remainder of the season. Now is the time to shop locally and pick up a few handmade cards. If you're looking for a great gift that is consumable and will bring joy throughout the year, might I suggest a package of handmade cards? There's still time to order handmade cards for gift-giving, but don't wait. Orders need to be shipped by December 13, 2021, in order to receive them in time for gift giving. Want to stay up to date with news and receive discount codes for your birthday? Consider subscr...

Do you know what affiliate links are and how they actually work? Most people have heard of them, but rarely if ever use them. Today I want to talk about the importance of using affiliate links and how they support your favorite makers and creators. I feel like this is a topic that we need to talk about and maybe explain a bit better. Do you appreciate the content you read and wish you could support the makers and creators you follow? Have you seen affiliate link disclosures within a post or on a site you follow? Do you know how these links support the content creator? If you do, carry on. If not let's take a minute to chat about it and dispel a few myths. Myth #1: It costs more to use the links There is a misconception that if you click on an affiliate link, you'll be charged a fee of some kind. Myth #1 busted! In reality, you pay no additional fees for using any affiliate links. The small commissions we make from these links come from the sale total that you're paying, wit...

Changes can be exciting and scary. Not everything I envision works out. When this happens I make adjustments and refocus my creative energy into the areas that I enjoy more and are more successful. It's taken me a long time to find my niche, or maybe accept my niche. I started my handmade sales journey years ago with the usual craft bazaars. Then in 2007, I hopped on the Etsy train, way back when it was a baby learning to walk. I tried sewing, crocheting, and knitting all to find my way and build my own business. I stumbled through several more years of trial and error before arriving where I am now. I had to try all of those other things to bring myself full circle to the thing I love the most, card making. I had to go through all the excitement and burnout of all the things to find my own way back to the card making I'd fallen in love with over two decades ago. So why am I telling you all of this? I wanted to give a snippet of the back story to share my journey throu...

It's officially October and the holidays will be upon us before we know it. Much like the foot of snow we got over the past weekend here in Interior Alaska. Fall flown south with the geese, bring on the cocoa and sweaters! There's nothing like the first official snow to put me in the mood to create holiday and winter-themed cards. How cute is this guy? On that note, it's time to start thinking about ordering your custom holiday cards. While holiday cards cover the gamete from Valentine's Day to Christmas and everything in between, the most common orders are for the winter holidays, which are quickly approaching. As I write this, Thanksgiving is 52 days away and Christmas is only 82 days away. What? 2021 seems to be rushing by us. I know, no one wants to rush the season, but there are a couple of deadlines for ordering this year: Thanksgiving Order Deadline - November 1, 2021 Christmas Order Deadline - November 26, 2021 Not sure about design ideas? Check out my ...

We are surrounded by inspiration in our day-to-day lives and in the environment we live in. The graphics used on a restaurant menu, the architecture of a building, the landscaping of a park, and even the tile in a public restroom can all be inspiring for an artist. I have a board on Pinterest dedicated to things I find inspiring. This board includes everything from tattoos to tiles to fingernail polish. I might be inspired by the colors, the textures, or the patterns. I think it’s an unconscious part of my being that seeks out the beauty in my surroundings. I see things that others might walk right past. This pic on the right, of a flower on the sidewalk, is one of those examples. I snapped this pic while on vacation one year in Hawaii. Gobs of people were walking this section of sidewalk, yet here laid this perfectly fallen flower untrampled. I stopped and snapped a quick shot from a bird’s eye point of view. It's one of my favorite shots from that trip. There's somet...

As an artist, I love hearing how much someone admires, enjoys, and appreciates my work. As an artist, I can also say I never enjoy the addition of validation that some feel is necessary for explaining why they aren't a customer. The most important takeaway of this article is this - Support doesn't equal customer. I don't care if you forget all the other things I say, just remember that support doesn't equal customer. Let's break that down. Support can be shown in a number of ways. Offering an honest compliment to the artist. Telling your friends about the work of the artist you've been admiring. Sharing the artist's work on social media. Recommending the artist to others in search of the art said artist creates. You do not have to be a customer to support anyone. Support is being kind. The flip side is that as a customer, you are supporting an artist. You're putting your money into the backing of the work that an artist does, whether that be i...

Color swatching is fairly new to me. I've only recently found the value in color swatching markers, paints, pencils, inks, etc. Up until a couple of years ago I never really saw value in this practice. So what changed? Honestly, joining the Copic marker cult. Yes, I said cult, because well these markers do kind of have a cult following.   Copic markers are alcohol markers, the medium I turn to most often when creating my hand-colored cards. These markers are designed to blend and create depth when coloring. They're transparent and layering the colors creates a lot of definition. About a year ago I actually started keeping track of color combinations for blending. Color swatching is about more than just a patch of color on a substrate. While trying colors on the substrate you'll be using is very helpful, I find more value in swatching when it comes to mixing or blending colors. This gives me a chance to try the combination to see if I get magic or mud out of it. ...

I'm often asked what inspires me. I often laughed and say everything, which usually returns a puzzled look. When I say everything inspires me I'm not really lying. Think about that is what brought to mind the idea for a bit of a mini-series, Inspiration Found where I could go a bit more in-depth to answer the question "What inspires me?" I thought I'd kick off the series with color. I find color inspiration in my everyday life, everywhere. My color choices are inspired the most by nature, especially colors that paint the sky. The skies in Alaska during the winter months produce some of the most amazing pale shades of blue, pink, and purple. I've learned that the pale colors I've never been able to capture on film can be captured with ink on paper. Ink blending is a bit of a magical thing. Through this technique, I can blend the most spectacular skies, recreating some of the same striking combinations I've seen in the evening sunset or early m...

Abandoned Cart Syndrome is a real thing, right? Well, it may not be a real syndrome, but it is a real phenomenon that happens to every online shop. Don't pretend like you haven't done it. I'm pretty sure we're all guilty of it at some point. So what is Abandoned Card Syndrome? Abandoned Card Syndrome is the art of filling an online shopping cart and then leaving the site, never to return and complete the purchase. Is that really a bad thing? I'm not gonna say it's a bad thing, but from a shop owner's perspective, it's a bit frustrating. Would you go to a big box store, fill a cart, and then leave the cart and walk out of the store? I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. As an online shop owner, I can see every sale that wasn't completed. If I'm lucky the shopper went far enough through the checkout process to leave an email address. If an email address was entered and then the cart was abandoned an automated email is sent out to ...

Today I thought I'd share a bit of a run-through on what the process looks like when I start an idea with a sketch. Not every idea starts as a sketch, but it should. I find value in getting my design ideas down on paper, no matter how rough the sketch is. To be honest, sketching is a practice I should form into a habit. It would be especially helpful during those times when I’m loaded with ideas and don’t have enough time to create what's floating in my head. Card sketches start, usually when I find a design that inspires me, but I want to use different products or a different theme. It can also start with me revisiting one of my older designs with a bit of a plan to refresh something. In this example, I was working on some samples for the 4-H thank you card presale I talked about a couple of weeks ago. I wanted to roughly sketch out the clover thank you card before I went to work one morning. Before the idea was lost to the dozens of other thoughts in the day. When I ...

Let's pull back the curtain and address some of the most frequently asked questions, or in some cases offhanded comments. Everyone is always curious about where I find time to create so many cards, especially while working, running a household, and still finding time for friends and family. It's no secret that I make a crazy amount of cards, but maybe it seems a little secretive about my creative habits and routine.   The most frequently asked question I get is - Where do I find the time? The short answer is - I don't find it, I make it! I don't watch TV. We don't have children. And to be frank, I'll pick card-making over housekeeping any day. Making cards allows me the luxury of escape and the ability to unwind from the everyday craziness. Making and creating is a stress release for me. I dive into a pile of paper and embellishments for a daily swim. Yes, I said daily. It's a rare day if I don't create anything or work on Inked Inspirations in some ...

What made me create a new line of cards around my photography? It seems a big shift from my more artistic cards, but honestly, it's not that far of a shift. It's all in the eye, literally. I was asked a few years ago for recommendations on starting a photography hobby/side hustle. Honestly, my biggest recommendation is not about the gear, you can learn to use any camera if you have a passion and an eye for it. My advice is to find your artistic eye and use it. I won't lie not everyone has an eye. Can you learn to be a photographer, absolutely, but I don't believe you'll ever have an eye for it if you don't have the passion. I was a photographer before I was a card maker. My first camera was a 110 box camera and I took a ton of photos of my dogs and cat. When I was in Junior High my grandma gave me a 35mm point-and-shoot for Christmas and I used that for years. I was a Junior in High School when I got my first 35mm, it was a Mamyia NC1000. I wore it ou...

What's your superpower? Mine? I make cards. Food and cards are my love language and they're how I show the people in my life that I love them. When someone we care about is tossed a big storm in life we generally step in and offer something to let them know we care and that we're there for them. Some take food to the family, others send flowers and notes of love, but I usually make cards. Thank You cards to be more specific. When something unexpected happens in someone's life and the world rushes in to help, there are always thank yous to send after the storm recedes. I create those cards and give them with love, often with the postage to mail them. When I need to make a lot of cards in a short amount of time I always turn to ink blending. I cut a few masks from full stick post-it notes using some dies. The masking creates a simple way to spotlight the stamped sentiment. Using white cardstock for the panels and a variety of stencils makes the ink blended colo...

This was an enormous project of love that I spearheaded in 2017. In June of that year, my friend Lindsay had a freak accident that broke her C5 and C6 vertebrae, leaving her partially paralyzed. She spent a year in the lower 48, going through rehab and being separated from her family and the community that loves her so much. This project was hatched after I kept seeing updates on her progress that included a reoccurring theme, They kept talking about not knowing how to begin to thank everyone who's shared support, love, and prayers during her journey. I couldn't' help but think - "I can help with that" and so began the Love for Lindsay Project. This project was intended to be a thank you card campaign to get her a bunch of thank you cards to start being able to thank those supporting her, but it became so much more. It blossomed into something so much more than the 140 thank you cards we made for Lindsay to send out. I created a dropbox for the community to drop c...

When I was building a name for my handmade card business I was looking for a name that would encompass my cards, art, and photography. What did these three things have in common? How could I tie them all together under one brand? I'm a list maker. I sat and made lists of words and combinations of words until I hit on something that really struck a chord with me. My art, my card, and my photography all had ink in common. It's kind of obvious with the art and cards that there is ink involved, but how did it tie into photography. While I realize traditional photography is developed, the way I was going to be using it, as a card medium, it would be printed with ink. The inspirations came along kind of naturally as a bit of alliteration of sorts. Serendipitous really, because I wanted to inspire people to put art in their lives and in their mailboxes. I wanted my customers to feel inspired to share my work with other people in their lives. While Inked Inspirations had nothing to do ...

Last week I left off in the year 2014, where I was building my courage to keep going. I had reopened my Etsy shop and was selling a few things there, as well as by word of mouth. I also started doing some cards for donations, including a really big one for our community in 2017.   As time went on I started working up the courage to put my cards in a local gift shop. I have some great cheerleaders that kept pushing me to keep going. Finally, in 2017 I decided on a name for the business and ordered some business cards. We'll talk about the reason I picked the name later. Then in March of 2019, I bit the big bullet that was way out of my comfort zone and put some cards at Smiling Moose Gifts & Office Supply. I'm not sure anyone realizes what a huge step that was for me, but it was enormous and so worth it. As the quote says "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone" and that couldn't be more true in this case. I was terrified it would be a success and...

For the last four years, I've created custom thank you cards for a couple of 4-Hers. The first year, I was eager to make them, but really had no farm or animal-themed supplies. I created some very basic cute cards with a few background stamps and I used a heart to create a clover. They turned out really cute, but I knew I'd need to add some farm animals to my stamp collection for the next year. In year two, I had cute animals to stamp and hand-color. There was a small challenge of needing a turkey, which ended with me coloring a chicken stamp to try and pass it off as a turkey. I think it worked pretty well. I also created cute pig and sheep cards. The animals were hand-colored with Copic markers and I created layers with die cuts on some fun plaid paper. I was upping my game. In the third year, I snagged a few more stamp sets and received two orders. I had three orders in the third year. I did the same hand coloring with Copic markers this go-round, but I fussy cut the animals...

The reality of my creative work is that I'm human and I make mistakes, sometimes big ones. Take for example a custom card I created a week ago. For a 70th Birthday. Big birthdays deserve amazing cards. Step one was to set about coloring an amazing background of beautiful florals with Copic markers. These kinds of projects take a considerable amount of time and I enjoy every minute of creating them. Coloring is a wonderful way to get lost and forget about a busy day.  It's very therapeutic for me as a maker. Once my beautifully colored background was complete I decided to cut the numbers from the panel. Here's where this big oops happens. I haven't a clue what possed me to cut 75 from the panel, but I did. What's more, the card was a custom creation for a friend who needed it the next morning. There was no time to recolor a second panel and recut it. So, how to fix this GIANT booboo? Well, you carefully pull apart the layers. Next, you tape the "5...

So what made me start this crazy venture and why did I decide to start building it into a business? Where do I even start with this story? I've wanted to own my own business ever since I can remember. While most little girls were playing house I was playing office. I made my dog a co-anchor for my own news programs in our yard and even wrote short stories on an electric typewriter I bought with some birthday money. I've been hoarding notebooks and pens since I was in junior high. The desire to have my own business has always been strong within my soul. In my pursuit of owning my own business, I even tried to buy into multi-level marketing. Once upon a time, I was a "beauty consultant" for Mary Kay. Yep, that's right I tried selling cosmetics to win my freedom from a 9 to 5 job. I learned this was not going to be for me, too much focus on recruiting more people for my liking. So I gave up and went back to the 9 to 5 job. Then in 2007 I got married, left a j...

Let's talk about pen and ink trees.  I've done a few...dozen of them.  I can draw other things, but I don't want to.  This used to bother me.  I used to get very down on myself for not having an interest in drawing something other than trees.  Then I started looking at the artist I was following on Instagram.  Everyone's got a thing.  Some of them are all about faces, then there are the flower artists, and let's not forget the watercolor landscapers.  It finally dawned on me there is literally nothing wrong with always drawing trees! When did this start? Probably about 2014 when I tried to get into the art of Zentangle. I honestly never did really get the hang of Zentangle, but I enjoyed drawing with microns. I started creating letters that had some sort of floral element to them and it kind of blossomed from there. I created watercolor background and drew trees over top of them. I started creating different trees based on the seasons and some let...

This summer you'll be able to find my line of photography cards at Rika's Roadhouse Gift shop.  I stocked 110 cards for opening weekend, with more to come.   The photography is all original and all mine.  Photographs have been printed with a Cannon Selph printer that uses thermal dye-sublimation to print images on heat-sensitive paper. The images are touted by Canon to have an extremely long 100-year print longevity when stored properly.   The selection of cards at Rika's will be exclusively Alaskan, taken during our 9 years of living in Alaska.   I plan to expand this line into the online shop soon.  I'll be including more locations with the online photo cards.  I've been a scenic photographer since high school and will be including shots from our travels and other states we've lived in.

Is there anything more difficult than talking about one's self?  That must be the introvert in me talking. If you haven't read the About Section, then you might not know much about me yet.  I'm Stacy, the SLMPetersen behind Inked Inspirations.  I'm pretty sure I was born creative.  I can't remember a time when I wasn't a maker.   I come from a long line of creative ladies.  My creativity comes from my mom's side of the family.  Crochet and embroidery from the Great Grandmothers and Aunts.  My Grandma was legally blind by the time I came along, but that never stopped her from working on crochet and plastic canvas.  She was also a bit of a seamstress and quite talented as an armature artist.   My Mom is an avid knitter, crocheter, and quilter.  She also dabbles in a bit of painting when no one's looking. It took me a lot of years to become comfortable with calling myself an artist and honestly embracing the title.  I've...

At the end of last week, I kind of fell off the wagon of consistent blogging. I had a bit of an odd week with some things and I didn't plan far enough out to have a post for you on Friday.  To clear my head I spent Wednesday watercoloring and creating a few new pieces of art.  I got a custom order on Thursday, so knocked that out on Friday.  Then spent the weekend working on a color mixing chart and starting seeds for our garden this year.  So enough housekeeping, let's get to the meat of the post. I started watercoloring in 2019 when I found Let's Make Art.  I've talked about Let's Make art before and you can read about the start of my watercolor journey here .  I'm still learning and still love the LMA tutorials .   This past week I started my watercoloring projects with the duck.  Not gonna lie I struggled with this one a little, "painting" white animals or objects is never easy.  In the end, the results were satisfying, but only aft...