Paper is king!

Yesterday I discovered my personal supply of cards is a bit low thanks to the opening of my etsy store and a few birthdays. Today the weather is in the low 20Cs, windy and overcast even though it was a very hot summer day of 36C earlier in the week so it is a perfect day for crafting.

Today’s challenge use some of the offcuts I have been hoarding and to make the paper the king of the card. Once paired with some sentiments and die cuts from my birthday collection box the resulting cards are beautiful.

What else do you have on your desk you ask? Well I always keep a photo box full of standard 5×7″ cards organized by colour, my baby and middle xyron, baby cricut, baby and large cutter, toolbox (old biscuit tin is my favorite for this) and an old ice cream container for the rubbish. Trying to be more environmentally friendly I also have a plastic tub at my side for all the paper offcuts.

Katrina

What to do with free patterned papers

We all get the free papers in the craft magazine but I often wonder what do with them? Yes they are pretty but also printed on quite flimsy paper and often you can see the other design on the reverse side. Ok I admit I am a bit picky but when you have been making cards for awhile your standards change.

Last week though I had a lightbulb moment what if I cut the sheets into 5 1/2″ strips so that they fit through my xyron then stick them to white card (i used the back cover from a stack of printed papers). Next step see which ones are too transparent and which ones are ok, eliminate the circle ones (tad to difficult for moi to cut by hand plus I am already recycling) and cut out.

One my projects (see pic below) was to decorate some tags to add to a girlfriends birthday present. I cut strips of the background paper, adhered to the tag then added the cut out images with some double sided foam dots. Once topped with some ribbon it was a fabulous set of 6 unique christmas tags for under 50 cents.

How to get ready to visit craft shows

I’m off to one of our 2 big craft shows tomorrow with a dear crafty friend which got me thinking what do other people do before going to the show.

My pre-craft show routine is:

1-2 weeks before the show

• find out how many crafty friends want to go and work and suitable times
• review all my craft stash and identify items I need to stock up on
• flick through my craft idea’s folder and magazines to see what projects take my fancy and what I need to buy
• check if any of my crafty friends who aren’t going need anything
• check prices of things I want to buy (so I know if I am getting a bargain)
• review the craft show website and see what “free” sessions I might like to attend
• organise a meet time and check we all have everyone’s mobiles

Day before the show

• double check my things to purchase file
• collect together small items I have for my craft buddies, my list, a notebook, pens
• make something for morning tea

Show day

• fill the water bottle
• wrap up morning tea safely
• wear the most comfortable coolest thing I have (lots of women in a hall is always hot!) and comfy shoes (usually sneakers)
• grab a light jacket (in case the class room are cold)
• find a good sized strong bag to carry purchases around in and keep my purse (there really isn’t enough room in the stands to have your handbag and a carry bag)
• drive to the show (I know not particularly environmentally friendly but easier to slip out and drop the purchase in during the day than carry them around or pay a per bag fee)

At the show

• check workshop times and book in if needed
• do an initial lap of all the stands making notes of prices of things I want and stands I want to come back to
• break for morning tea
• shop till I drop

Katrina

 

Happy World Card Making Day!

I am all in favour of a day dedicated to my most favourite craft – card making!  My challenge for the day, apart from the heat (a lovely 36C in Brisbane, Australia), was to use Kaisercraft Christmas Carnival 6″ Paper Pad to create a set of 10 christmas cards for a friend of my mum’s.  I am sorry to say, that this is last years design so you may or may not be able to buy it.  I luckily discovered a few months ago a Kaisercraft outlet only 15 minutes from me tucked away in a quiet location just near a large hardware store.  The bargains were truly fantastic with most items 90% off plus gift bags for shopping there.   Needless to say all of my crafty friends received a gift bag from me of Kaisercraft products.

But I digress, all of these cards were made from the Kaisercraft paper pad (with the exception of a few inches of silver crochet thread).  Modern, funky and full of the joy of the upcoming festive season.  The best part is that I still have enough left over to make another 15 or so cards.  So, even if you aren’t a card maker or into scrapbooking, have a look for one of these “all-in-one” paper packs and see what you can create.

Hope you have had a productive World Card Making Day!

Katrina