A New Technique

The Papertrey birthday festivities are fully underway and today's announcement (How-To Videos and weekly challenges!) included a challenge to use the emboss resist technique in one's project. I had never tried this particular technique and it was fun to try something new and step outside my comfort zone a little.


I started by stamping tiny Aqua Mist polka dots and Water Lily Green flower clusters onto white cardstock. It's important to remember that anything you eventually want layered on your embossed image has to be stamped first because once that embossing powder is set there's really no stamping on top of it. After my dots and flowers had fully dried (you can speed the process with a heat gun) I stamped the cake with VersaMark and embossed it with clear powder. Next, I sponged Aqua Mist ink over the entire image and matted it to a layer of Aqua Mist cardstock that had been sponged with Water Lily Green ink (I didn't really have anything on hand that was the right color otherwise). I added a die cut cake plate and a few punched flowers embellished with rhinestones before setting the focal image aside for a moment.


Next, I repeatedly stamped an image from Giga Guidelines onto Aqua Mist cardstock using white ink. Once the ink was dry, I stamped the sentiment in silver ink and heat embossed again using clear powder. I mounted that patterned layer to a white base and wrapped the entire card with knotted white ribbon. Finally, I mounted the cake image to the base with foam adhesive.

It's relatively simple, but I had fun trying a new technique. Enjoy the rest of the birthday bash and I'll see you again soon!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink, Silver - Paper Source; White
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics 2, Scattered Showers, Piece of Cake, Giga Guidelines - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Fresh Snow, Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink; Water Lily Green - Palette; Starlite Silver - Brilliance
Tools: Flower Punch - EK Success; Floral Corner Punch - Fiskars; Cake Plate Die (discontinued)- Quickutz
Other: Rhinestones - Darice; White ribbon - May Arts; Foam tape - Scotch; Clear Embossing Powder

Papertrey Ink Turns Three!

Hello Blogland! Did you know that Papertrey Ink turns three this year?! I am so excited and totally looking forward to the birthday festivities over the next couple of weeks. Today Nichole announced the stamp design team and issued a challenge to use one (or more) of a series of graphics created by this year's stamp designers to make a card. I would have loved to play along with each and every designer, but alas, time was not on my side toady. I chose the image that I was most pumped about at first sight to create my card. This cupcake image was designed by Heather Nichols and I am absolutely smitten. She always seems to design images that really get me ready to create something. I love that!


So to start today's card I downloaded the image from Heather's blog and printed it once on copy paper to get an idea of the size. I wanted the cupcake to have a little more weight on my card so I placed it in Illustrator and made it about twice the size it was in the original download (to be honest, I just eyeballed it - nothing fancy). I printed my cardstock with two images on a sheet (you could fit several more though) because I knew I wanted to die cut one into a circle and trim one out to pop with foam tape. I stamped the sentiment onto the circle with the cuppie and mounted the loose cupcake with aforementioned foam tape.


The focal panel was adhered to a scalloped circle and foam mounted to a 5 1/2" square base that had been stamped with polka dots and tied with ribbon. Finally, I bedazzled the heck out of the cupcake with glitter and called it good. Quick and easy and so much fun! I love it when a card comes together faster than I expect (especially when I love the finished result). Hope you're all enjoying the Papertrey festivities. Have a great time and I'll see you soon!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Ocean Tides - Papertrey Ink; Ultimate White - Strathmore
Digital Image: Cupcake - Heather Nichols (for Papertrey Ink)
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics 2, Everyday Button Bits - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Fresh Snow - Papertrey Ink; Burnt Umber - Palette
Ribbon: Lemon Tart Saddle Stitched Ribbon - Papertrey Ink
Tools: Nesting Flowers, Nesting Circles Dies - Quickutz; Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers
Other: Frosted Lace Stickles - Ranger; Foam Tape - Scotch

A Real, Honest-to-Goodness Project!

Hello Blogland! Well, I've been prattling on about how I was hoping to share an actual project now for awhile, so I thought I might go ahead and do that this evening. I held off buying the Everyday Button Bits stamp set from Papertrey for months. I'd look at it every once in awhile and wax poetic about what might be, but ultimately end up removing it from my shopping cart; preferring instead something practical like stamp cleaner or cardstock or ribbon.

Then, last month I received a gift certificate for Christmas and that stamp set found its way to my house before I could talk myself out of its purchase. I was so happy when it arrived I showed Sean at least a half-dozen times. He, of course, couldn't care less, but tried to match my enthusiasm anyway.


This card is one of the first I made with the set. I loved the hot air balloons image from the moment I saw it during the countdown week. And the sentiment is so totally perfect. There are several in the set that coordinate well with the image, but I thought this one would be cute for my first effort.

So anyway, I started by stamping the polka dots onto Aqua Mist cardstock and rounding the corners on my card base. Then I stamped my balloon baskets onto white cardstock using Burnt Umber ink and stitched on a few buttons. I adhered my white panel onto the card base and stamped my sentiment in Burnt Umber as well.


Then I free-hand cut a couple of little hills from patterned paper and stitched along the top edge to give them a little texture. I rounded their bottom corners and mounted those to the white base with foam adhesive. And there it is. A lovely little "pick-me-up" card for a friend having a bad week. Not that I'm hoping any of my friends have a bad week or anything, but it would be totally fun to send this to somebody. I can be patient...ish.

Well, I hope it's been worth the wait (or at least worth the visit). Take care and have a happy tomorrow!

Recipe:
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Everyday Button Bits - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Stamper's Select White - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: Bitty Box Basics (Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado) - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Burnt Umber - Palette; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Embellishments: Vintage Buttons (Ripe Avocado, Melon Berry, Aqua Mist) - Papertrey Ink; Embroidery Floss - DMC
Other: Foam Tape - Scotch; Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers

What I've Been Up To

Hello, Blogland! It's been awhile, hasn't it? I'm afraid I haven't been able to blog recently as I've been hyperfocused on business as of late. I hope you're all well and the new year is treating you kindly. I've been adding new Valentine's Day cards to the Etsy shop recently. There are several there in the "Seasonal" section. Here are a few little peeks if you're interested:


I hope to add more of the non-holiday stock to the shop soon, too. If you ever have a question or special request just let me know and I'll let you know if I have something on hand. If not, most times I can get something put together in short order.

Hopefully, in the next week or so I will have something a little more exciting to share. Until then, all the best!

Eco-Friendly Conundrum

Hello Blogland! I know I've been quiet and for that I apologize. Every year seems to get busier and busier. With any luck one of these days I'll get it all figured out and there won't be these giant gaps in posting. Until then, I want to thank those of you that still check in regularly.

So today I wanted to share a typical decision with which I have to grapple in my professional work. I feel very strongly that using recycled and environmentally produced products is a responsibility of every one of us, but particularly those of us that handle paper as part of their job. I'd been using a particular felted finish, recycled cardstock for more than a year with which I was generally happy. Lately though, my printer and this cardstock decided to feud (I think it was the finish) and the result of which was a lot of poor quality prints and a lot of waste. That made me cranky. I would have staring competitions with my printer and say an angry little prayer every time I had to print something. Realizing that wasn't a sustainable business practice (and it rarely had any noticeable impact) I went on a search for a new recycled white cardstock.

My needs are simple: heavy weight, true white, smooth finish (no more felted finish), FSC certified, produced conscientiously, include recycled content.

Today I went to make the final selection and found myself torn.

I found two contenders that had most (if not all) of the criteria that appeal to me. Contestant Number One (No.1, henceforth) was a bright white, 80 lb. cardstock consisting of FSC certified, 100% PCF recycled content. No.1's production was chlorine-free, carbon neutral (via the legally binding and voluntary Carbon Neutral Plus agreement), and made with 100% renewable green energy. I asked if No.1 was available in a heavier weight and was told it only came in 80lb. I found out later by searching the company's website that there is a 100 lb. option available.

Contestant Number Two (No.2, henceforth) was a crazy bright white, 100 lb cardstock consisting of FSC certified 10% PCF recycled content. No.2's parent company is involved in the Sustainable Forestry Initiative via their certified fiber sourcing efforts. No.2 is also certified by the Rainforest Alliance and donates $275,000 annually to the WWF through the purchase of their products.

Tough decision. On the one hand the production and recycled content of No.1 were definitely preferable. On the other hand No.2's brightness and weight were more along the line of what I truly wanted and they donate money to a worthwhile environmental charity.

In the end, I chose to forgo the weight I originally wanted and went with No.1. Now that I know I can get No.1 in the heavier weight I am even happier with my decision. And the best part...the cardstock prints beautifully! I did test No.2 and the weight was not a problem. I'm not going to go giving away the source for the one I decided to choose (a girl has to protect her business, you know), but No.2 is the EarthChoice line by Domtar.

So now you have a little insight on the selection process I go through when choosing my raw materials. I hope you've enjoyed learning a little more about my business. Take care and I'll try and post again when I get some free time.