How do you guys get cards done for the challenges so quickly??

[KBM]

I'm pretty new to this, so I realize some of the quickness I am seeing is experience.

My question is how are you guys managing your time??

Do you have a stockpile of images already stamped and colored??

any tips to break the process down into smaller steps are appreciated.

(right now, I am doing everything in one sitting... )

[Misstreez]

I've participated in a few Virtual Stamp nights in the past, where there is a limit on the amount of time you can spend making your card. The first one I did was very eratic as I was I was racing to get everything done on time. I felt like I'd run a marathon, LOL.

Now, with any challenge I do, I usually limit myself to what I already have out on my desk. Most times I have nearly all that I need right in front of me. Ie stamps paper ink and a cutter. If there is any special requirement then I just go and get that thing. For a VSN I'll limit myself to colours, stamp sets and tools. The VSN shopping list lets you know what else is required.

Some of the best cards I've ever made was on a tight time budget, but I've also made some really foul ones too. I just cringe and move on to the next. LOL.

I don't have anything pre stamped or coloured but I do make do with my scraps from previous cards.

[Angelnorth]

I'd say don't pressure yourself to be like "other stampers". I'm generally an incredibly slow crafter, I can shuffle stuff around for ages before I finally make the finished item. I can literally have spent a couple of hours making a card that could be reproduced in minutes, just because I'm indecisive and my creative process is slow. Very occasionally, something comes together in 15 minutes or so but that's very much the exception for me!

For me, it's about enjoying the process, not racing for some imaginary line. Maybe you lean the same way and it's not that you need to manage your time better, it's that you need to give yourself permission to enjoy doing something slowly?

[KalaKitty]

I'm very slow at making cards too. I don't know how people can make so many cards like for swaps at convention. I'd like to know the steps others use when making multiple cards.

I use the production line method. For example I cut out all my flowers, then I would adhere the flowers to all the base card stock, next I will stamp all of the images. Of course the order I do things changes depending on the layout and design of the card but basically I do all of one thing before going on to the next. I usually make cards in sets of ten because that is how many I need for my monthly swaps.

[KBM]

I have adult attention defeceit hyperactivity disorder.

I'm bringing this up for two reasons, the first being that I am truly under a bit of a time constraint. Meds only work for 4-6 hours at a time. (so if I want to do something with paper piecing, I have to gauge how able I am to focus. If I don't feel like I can focus enough, then I will have to put it off until another day at a better time.)

Secondly, I do better with a place to start from. I need a proverbial "box" to be able to color outside the lines. I am very creative, and I come up with an idea while I am doing something else.... I can get very off track, very quickly.

[AZstampcrazy]

A lot of the challenges are posted the evening before, I have seen up to 25 people waiting for it to be posted. That could be one reason, watch the previous posts and you can sometimes figure out what time they post. The one time I did watch it didn't get posted until 1:45 am though I gave up by 11:30. (This was for the Featured Stamper)

[Cook22]

I tend not to start a card as soon as I see the challenge (most of the time). Often because of the different time zone I can take a look at what the challenge is before work, and then I have time to think about it before I come home and start stamping.
Some of the time-limited challenges are a bit frantic - my desk gets messier and messier, but there's a fantastic buzz from it. I haven't joined in the VSN nights because of the time zones, but sometimes there's something similar that I have joined in with.
For me personally I don't find having images ready works. For some challenges you might not know the image you would like to use, and having them pre-coloured means you then have to pick paper to match. I prefer to pick my paper and colour the image to suit.
I also feel the main reason for doing the challenges isn't for a race, but as a way of pushing myself outside my normal comfort zone. Sure, you won't get as many comments if you upload late, but you'll still have personal satisfaction. Some people go back and start working their way through earlier challenges - for example, I know several people have gone right back and started with sketch challenge #1. None of the weekly challenges here is time-restricted as far as you participating in them goes.

[Toy]

There was a time that I *had* to be one of the first to post. A bunch of us would sit around chatting in the forums until the challenge was posted and then it was sort of a challenge within the challenge to see who got done first. It was fun for awhile, but times have changed.

I'm a slow stamper. I take an hour no matter what I'm doing. I can't do timed challenges, so I stay away from VSN. The pressure just makes me nuts.

The important thing is to have fun with whatever you're doing. The challenges do not have a "due by" time or date, so you shouldn't pressure yourself. Just do it however it works for you and enjoy yourself

[stampencamper]

I'm not a fast card maker either. I also tend to view the challenges, then think on it throughout the day. Sometimes, you can come up with an easy layout, a simplier
idea, etc

[SShannaS]

I started to think I was the only one until I started to notice how many challenges people link to just one card. I definitely agree never try to be like another crafter here. Create your own process. I am new and just started a month or two or three ago lol. Time flies. I am practically a single stay at home mom and when my fiance is home it gets even harder. I never start a challenge the day it comes out. I also created my own list of challenges in Excel that I frequent and like to participate. You will notice that there are similar days some are realeased and their timelines for being due are the same. I try to have routines in my house and normally when my daughter is taking a nap or a bath I work on a card since my desk is right in front of her bathroom and by her room. I still take hours to finish a card or even days. But I try to combine as many elements from different challenges as I can.

RULE #1 It's all about having fun, relaxing, and never stress out about something you create.

[jukie]

I don't participate very often and haven't done for a while now, for various reasons.

I am an exceedingly slow crafter, I rush a round all day, my alarm goes off at 5 am, and I am in the car heading to work by 6.30, I answer phones, emails, and visitors to my desk, I investigate, challenge and deal with a whole load of dodo on a daily basis, I come come I cook, clean, listen, challenge, assure .....and then I collapse on a chair....sometimes it is the chair my craft room....and you know what....I don't rush....I might even just sit and stare into space...or stroke those pretty papers, or admire those flowers I have yet to use...........but for me that's ok, I give it as a gift to myself that sometimes I make a card, it might take days ......but I made it...I didn't go into the store an buy it, I spend my few moments of peace making it.....and they better be glad to receive it:cool: and most people I send my cards know all of the above and appreciate it all the more!

[Crafty Julia]

For the color challenge, for instance, I like to have die cuts already done with papers I like- bits of this or that. I do these when I am watching tv. As for stamping, if I have an image I like, I will stamp it several times, trim the images, and save them for future projects. I like to work with what I have in front of me unless I am feeling really inspired with a theme, then my stamps and paper will cover the table. Hope this helps!

[yellowmojo]

There is a Virtual Stamp Night coming up ... what I do to prepare is ...

- while watching TV, I will punch out flowers/leaves in different colors out of some of the small scraps I have and put them in a container. I might even glue glitter on some of them and let them dry

- make sure I have the items listed on the 'VSN shopping list' ... if I can afford to

- when the challenges are posted, I write them down on a paper and I think about which ones I want to do (all of them are too much for me) ... once I pick a challenge I want to do, I look through the gallery and see some of the samples ... then I try and think of what I want to do and get an idea in my head ... I will look through the supplies (papers/accessories) that I have ... once I've decided in my mind what I want to do with what I have, I will bring out those items on my craft table ... NOW I start the timer and start my card