Paper Crafts – Tools and Techniques
I know it is only the end of September, but trust me, before I know it, it’ll be Christmas time!! I’m trying to get a lot of Christmas cards and gift bags made up and in the ETSY Store. ETSY recommends that I only upload a few items a day – well given the number of items I have, it’ll take from now to Christmas to get them all in!
That’s my work for the day – I’m off to make more Christmas/Holiday/Winter cards!
The blog challenge is about a time when you had a health scare with one of your pets. This is actually too sad for me to deal with, so I try very hard not to think about it. We had to put both of our beloved dogs down together – the day after this photo was taken. The white dog, Odie, had stomach cancer, and the black dog, Lucky, had a brain tumor. They were absolutely devoted to each other, and we brought them in to the vet together to take their nap. They were both in pain, and both having ‘functioning’ troubles. It would have been inhumane to ask them to stay with us just because we wanted to be with them. Odie was 14 and Lucky was 12, and there isn’t a day I don’t miss them.
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I live in a very ‘crafty’ neighborhood. The wonderful ladies here all do some kind of crafting. There are plenty of women who scrap – we’re just so busy it seems hard to plan a time to get together. I have found it better to go down to work in the art studio, though, with a friend over. So although it isn’t a planned event (like every Tuesday) but just a ‘whenever’ type thing – we are getting together and getting some cards made! She has a stack of Christmas cards she’s working on – and I’m still on Halloween!
These are mats and cards made from the “Multi Layered Mats Using Corner Punches” technique. I’m looking forward to teaching this class. These are the new Piggy Tales papers – Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater collection.
The blog question asks what do I do to calm down when I’m really stressed. The picture above is my answer. I find fine detail work with paper very soothing. I like cutting the mats to size and getting them to fit together. I like to stamp a whole sheet of paper with one design, and then paint it in with different colors to see how they look. When I’m stressing, it isn’t the time for me to think about a whole layout, or design something specific – that would take too much thought. When I’m stressed, I like to keep my hands busy and let my mind wander! Music at this time is a wonderful thing. See I’m relaxing already – just thinking about it!
And, in the words of Rosanna Barr – “When I have a headache, I do exactly what it says on the bottle. I take two and stay away from children”
For administrative ease and practicality, we’ve moved the Craft Boutique over to our ETSY Store. The Craft Boutique pages will remain as they are, and the items will be making their way over to our ETSY Store a few every day. If you see something you wish to inquire about please email us at Designers@PaperDesignsByBarbara.com. Most of our items are “one of a kind” and as such will go on a ‘first come – first serve’ basis, but we can reserve an item for you, if you find something.
The blog challenge asks if I would do anything different when looking back on past posts on the blog. And the answer is ‘yes’. I wish I’d been able to post more regularly in the past, especially over the summer. It was a long, sad summer, but I should have found some time, energy and good thoughts to post about. It really upset me to look at the blog and realize it had been some time since my last post.
Things are different now, we have a great daily schedule, and I’ve been able to stay on top of things. Yeah!
I’ve asked over on a message board if anyone had their Christmas Wish List ready yet. I remember that by this time last year I had a long list of new scrapbooking/card making supplies that I had seen in ads and was waiting for them to come out. My plan (and I was successful in accomplishing it!) was to scour the stores and find all the items on my list and pack them away for Christmas. In the end, when Christmas arrived, I found all my ‘wishes’ under the tree.
I don’t have a list this year! I don’t know if I’m in a “I want to use what I have” mood, or if nothing came out that I’m dying for, or maybe – and this is possible, maybe I haven’t seen enough of the new stuff yet to know what I want!
I’m on the lookout for a few things, but I need them now – not on the 25th.
DCWV Halloween Glitter Stack; Hot Off The Press Christmas Clear Stamps; and that’s about it.
If you know of any “latest and greatest” that you recommend I try out – please leave a comment – I am open to suggestions!
I’m actually making cards and layouts every day, but the blog challenge asked me post my latest. I just made this “Autumn Invite”. The larger card is the invitation and the smaller one is the RSVP card. Both have coordinating envelopes. These belong in the category of “cards you hand to the recipient” – as opposed to mailing. But with a different address label on the big envelope – it would still be correct for USPS.
Of course, the RSVP card goes in its envelope, and they go in the card. It all fits nicely in the envelope and I thought it made a nice set. I use templates from Green Sneakers’ new kit they just premiered on QVC a few weeks ago. I’m really liking the card and envelope template that fits a 4″ x 6″ photo!
Fall is my favorite season, it always has been. I grew up in New England, and there’s nothing more gorgeous than a crisp autumn morning with the leaves at their colorful brightest! Now I do decorate for Christmas, it usually takes a couple of weeks to get it all up – so that starts around the 15th of November. The blog question is asking if I have my Fall decor up – and given the situation mentioned, my answer is YES! It has to be, if they are all coming down on midmonth Nov – I need more time to enjoy them! So I get my fall decor up and all over the house by the 15 of August. Otherwise, and it has happened, if I wait too long, it seems that as soon as I have them all up, it’s time to take them down!
Every year it seems I feel I need to “outdo” last year’s techniques. So here I am making “stained glass” window cards with matching envelopes. Actually, it was fun, and by using the Anita gold outline stickers and painting the image in with Sakura’s Crystal Laquer – it gave me the look I wanted without much fuss! I love this paper, and I think I’ll get into making some more of these.
My next technique is to try heat embossing the image onto a transparency and then color it in – to see if I can achieve the same effect. I should try that today!
Another section, this one is called Altered Art, is slowly opening in the Craft Boutique.
The Blog Challenge question is “what color do I find I have a hard time incorporating into my layouts. I’ve just been thinking about this recently – and I had decided to alter that. I don’t use enough black. I want to start using black for the mats on the photos. I can then put them on colored paper – but I’d like to see the photos framed in black first. I have a hunch that this will bring out the subject in the photos better. I am definitely going to work that into my next layout.
