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.

Christmas Banner Availability

I don't really have time for a full post right now, but I wanted to answer a question from the comments this week. No, I did not sell the "Merry Christmas" banner at Tiny Canary last weekend. If you are interested in the banner please feel free to contact me (PoshtaDesign [at] gmail dot com). It is priced at $45 (plus $3 for shipping - unless you are a local and I can deliver it) and I will send you a Paypal invoice for the total. I will be taking it to the North Market Holiday Open House (December 5th & 6th) if it is still available at that time. Also, feel free to email me with any questions (dimensions and such).

I'll post again as soon as I can. Take care!

Christmas Banner

Hello Blogland! It's been ages since I last posted. I've been super, super busy. Between shows and custom work and Etsy shop maintenance it's been non-stop. This weekend is Tiny Canary, so I've been preparing like a mad woman. There are little paper scraps on every surface of my house right now. Seriously. And I've been staying up late to get work done so my lack of sleep is leaving me a little scatter brained. It's going to be a fun weekend though, so it's all worthwhile.

I wanted to share a project I did this week. It's a Christmas pennant banner and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.


First, I decided on a size for the pennants and the font. Since I don't have a fancy schmancy cut-it-out-for-you machine, I cut all of the letters by hand. I did this by typing the phrase in Illustrator and flipping all of the characters so that I had a mirror image of my letters. I printed that out at a 50% grayscale so I could cut around the letters, but the ink wouldn't be visible through the cardstock (it probably wouldn't have been visible anyway, but better safe than sorry). Note: this takes a very long time and a willingness to get cozy with your Xacto. You have been warned.


Then, I die cut circles of Spring Moss and stamped each one with a wreath image from Rustic Branches. I also cut a Spring Moss pennant for the space and stamped it with the vine image from that same set. I added glitter and dimensional glaze to the berries and set those aside to dry.


Next, I cut red pennants and stamped them with a polka dot pattern with Fresh Snow ink. I really like how this ink maintains its brightness even on really saturated colors. I lined up the pennants and chose a white ribbon to string them together. I punched holes using my Crop-A-Dile and threaded the ribbon through the holes. Then I stitched a Ripe Avocado button over each hole to make the whole thing look a little more finished.

Once the wreaths were dry I matted them with white scalloped circles and adhered them to the pennants. Finally, I mounted the letters with foam adhesive and called it complete.

I hope you've enjoyed today's post. I hope to get back into a rhythm starting next week, so I'll see you then. If you're in the Columbus area please stop out at Tiny Canary and say hello (and remember: the first 100 people through the door each day get a goodie bag filled with treats from the vendors)! It's a really amazing event and I'm super excited to be involved.

Bye-bye, now!

Recipe:
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, Spring Moss - Papertrey Ink; Ultimate White - Strathmore
Ink: Pure Poppy, Fresh Snow, Ripe Avocado - Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Rustic Branches, Polka Dot Basics II - Papertrey Ink
Other: Ripe Avocado Buttons - Papertrey Ink; Glitter Pen - Sakura; Dimensional Glaze - Ranger; White Perle Cotton Thread - DMC; White Ribbon - May Arts; Foam tape - Scotch