Simplifying-Will it make you happy?

I have read several articles lately about simplifying one's life. This one in the NY Times, particularly caught my attention. Ms. Strobel and her husband weeded out their belongings until they were at 100 items each.

Could you live, and be happy, with only 100 belongings to your name? Before you say, "oh sure, I could do that easily, that's a lot of items". Think about this, a pair of shoes counts as one item, a book is one item, a car-one item, a telephone-one item, a pan-one item. Now, is your answer the same? :)

There are many things in my life I would love to simplify, and sure, I have TONS of items that I could give up without really missing them after a few days, but I don't think I could be happy with only 100 items to my name. My craft table alone probably has at least that amount of items on it right now!

In the spirit of simplifying though, I decided to try my hand at some simple cards this weekend. I always admire those that can make really elegant simple cards, like Susan Raihale on her blog Simplicity.

I have the tendency to add more, more and still more. Vintage and collage are my favorite styles after all. Anyway, here is my attempt at some simple cards.The mottled effect on the Presto Pattern DSP was just from playing around. I first spritzed it with some Razzleberry shimmer mist I made from ink, shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol. Then I sponged on some Perfect Plum ink over the piece, finally I spritzed the pieces with plain water. I have found when using the shimmer paints and ink and then spritzing with water, you get this wonderful mottled effect. The mat is the new Concord Crush In-color card stock.

The butterflies were given some color with Concord Crush and sponge daubers. The sponging is a little sloppy, I think for that size item a smaller dauber or a Q-tip might have been a better choice. They were then sprayed with Vanilla Shimmer Mist as a finishing touch.

Stamps: Afterthoughts (Hostess-Level 1), Occasional Quotes (Hostess-Level 3)
Paper: Whisper White textured and smooth, Concord Crush, Presto Patterns DSP

Ink: Concord Crush, Perfect Plum, Rich Razzleberry
Accessories: Platinum Shimmer Paint, Vanilla Shimmer Mist, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Big Shot, Sponge Daubers, Dimensionals

Enjoy!