At this point in my life I can purchase most of the stamp sets and supplies that I want. I consider myself very lucky, it wasn’t always like this. When my kids were young, I chose to stay home with them, rather than work outside of the home. Although, with 4 kids in 5 years, it was probably cheaper to stay home rather than pay day care, lol.
It is certainly possible be creative with limited supplies. If money is an issue, start with the basics. White card stock, black ink and a few versatile stamp sets that pique your interest. Then, as you can, add on some colored cardstock and patterned paper to expand your supply cabinet.
For this card, I started with the Game On stamp set, which has the chess pieces, some dice, and a flush of cards as well as some matching greetings. I started by stamping the chess pieces and the greeting with Tuxedo Black ink. My first thought was to place the greeting above the chess pieces but I changed my mind and placed it below, which left me with too much room at the top. If I were to recreate this card, I would move the image up higher. I then used a post it note to cover the stamped images and greeting and then stamped the checkered background stamp repeatedly to cover the background. I wasn’t too fussy about lining up the edges as I stamped, or getting them perfectly straight. I wanted to create a simple card, and I’m not really good at getting things perfectly straight even though I have been making cards for 35 years.
Because I didn’t like the large space at the top of the card, above the image, I added a 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ strip of black cardstock. I did play around with putting a 1″ strip of foil paper under the black strip but I liked it better with just the black. Especially since I was going for a simple and quick card.
I hope this simple card will give you some ideas on ways to be creative without breaking the bank.
Supplies to Create This Card
Stamping@Robyn's Roost 