A chance to play!

So I finally had a chance to play with my new Always set from Stampin UP! I only used the bird- which I really adore. It has such a simple elegance. Unfortunately the reason for the card is due to the death of a friend's mother-in-law. A very sad time for the family.

This is a simple layout for an easy and fast card. I eyeballed my measurements since I wanted the bird centered on the Very Vanilla cardstock. I used the black staz-on since my black classic pad made the bird look purple- not the look I was going for! The staz-on gives such a nice, clean and dark image. I used basic gray cardstock behind the bird image and then basic black for the paper behind that. I used my scalloped blade on my cutter for the decorative edges. The background paper is Charbon DSP (retired) and the "So Sorry" is from Fancy Flexible Phrases (also retired). Unfortunately, the rhinestones on the bird are not picking up in the photo- they add a lot to the look. I also used the basic gray taffeta ribbon which softened the black that was used on this card. I can't wait to do more with this set! The SCS gallery has hundreds of beautiful samples for Always.

What have been your favorite new sets to use? Do you have a "go to" set when you need a quick card and don't have a lot of time to plan a layout? I am just trying to use my sets so I am always reaching for a different one.

On a more personal note... When I lived in SoCal I had a 400 sq.ft. basement room that was for all of my crafts and storage- I had a great space. It was layed out well and I knew where everything was. But when we moved here to northern CA I lost my space. So I moved into the mini basement and we just yesterday finally finished cleaning it up. I had a little space to work but not a friendly environment (it's open to underneath the house- which means spiders!) So a little later I will post some before and afters and a picture of what I had in SoCal.