I am updating the blog and starting up cards again. Hopefully this will be done within two weeks!
Simple Gratitude.
23 Jul
Simple Gratitude - Brief Greetings - Card #001
So, I know it’s small, but hey- great things begin with small steps! I decided to start small with embossing; and try out my new ink pad! Just $1.00 at Target, haha. I am thinking of selling these for $5.00 each, but make a splendid deal on packs of them. Other phrases are also available!
Description:
Plain, flat ivory folded card 5.5 in x 4 inch. Comes with envelope.
Red inked medallion stamp.
Glitter embossed phrase “Thanks so much” in black
(Phrases include: good luck, you’re invited, get well soon, best wishes, birthday wishes, holiday greetings, thinking of you)
No card will have the exact stamping.
Price: $5.00 ea // 5 for $15.00 // 10 for $25.00
Time for this boss to emboss!
23 JulThanks to my great friend/professor/boss, I know have a few critical tools to start embossing! I have been reluctant since it is costly to buy ink pads, powders, heating gun, etc; but since she won’t be crafting any time soon (baby number two in less than a week!), she gave me her materials. Tonight will be fun! Also starting my third order, which includes a custom card! I’m definitely enjoying my Friday night!
Tags: work
With You.
21 Jul
With You - General - Card #004
As of 21 July 2010, this is my newest card. I named it “With You” since the lyrics I decided to write in are from “With You” by Linkin Park. I am looking forward to designing another one similar to this one!
Description:
Textured, flat white folded card 5.5 in x 8.5 in. Comes with envelope.
Translucent oval backed by golden brown textured card-stocked; stitched in place with golden brown thread.
Custom phrase can be printed or hand-written.
“Phrase oval” is backed by yellow-cream textured card-stock (brought out with dimensional foam stickers).
5 to 6 velvet textured designs: butterflies, flowers and satin butterflies
Inside: translucent paper. Note: I can print phrases onto the translucent paper. Otherwise, it is blank.
Price: $6.00
Tags: brown, butterflies, cards, hand-made
Second order- done.
20 JulI just finished ten cards of ‘Simple as a Bird’s Song’ in both purple and blue color themes!
The purple themed cards were a breeze since I already had set hues to use- but the blue ones were a different story. I spent about 15 minutes trying to match three different hues together. The backing of the white ended up the color I wouldn’t have immediately chosen, but my favorite was the back of the shimmer paper, so it’d be too much of a waste to use it for that. So in the end, I used the backing of a textured paper. A waste, I know, but not as much as the shimmer paper.
All in all, it was fun as hell.
Now, to come up with a whole new design!
Glimpse of progress!
Tags: work
Daisy’s Blush.
18 Jul
Daisy's Blush - General - Card #003
Also part of my newest cards, this is rare evidence of the hidden little girl inside…. My mother was shocked at how much pink I, of all people, could use on a card. It’s one of my favorites, actually, haha. Unfortunately, the specific paper used to frame the whole daisy and its own backing is very limited. I think only two or three more cards could be made exactly as this one…. So hurry and snatch it before someone else does!
Description:
Textured, flat white folded card 5.5 in x 8.5 in. Comes with envelope.
Pressed pink specialty paper with hand-torn edges.
.5 in silver non-wired ribbon.
Daisy print paper is back by plain white card-stock (Minimally brought out with thin craft board)
Inside: translucent paper. Note: I can print phrases onto the translucent paper. Otherwise, it is blank.
Price: $5.00
Simple as a Bird’s Song.
18 Jul
Simple as a Bird's Song - General - Card #001
This is one of my new designs (second batch). So far, as of 17 July 2010, two orders have included this card. Available color options are: purple, blue and pink. Other colors may be possible.
Description:
Plain, flat white folded card 5 in x 6.5 in / 5.25 in x 7.25 in. Comes with envelope.
Plain purple as background (brought out with dimensional foam-stickers), plain white on top.
Bird consists of purple shimmer card-stock (body), dark purple cross-grid textured card stock (wing).
Leaf and vine are of the same texture as the bird’s wing, in (forest) green.
The flower is made of paper, by Prima Manufacturing. Hues of the flowers vary.
Inside: translucent paper. Note: I can print phrases onto the translucent paper. Otherwise, it is blank.
Price: $5.00
Color themes for this card are: purple, blue, pink
First order- done.
18 JulI started off this whole new experience on my Facebook account by making an album for all the cards I’ve made so far, and within 24 hours, I got two orders.
The first one was for three cards; two based off those I first made in February for Explosive Love, and one brand-new one.
The second was for ten cards; all of the brand-new cards I made.
Of course, as you can imagine- I was ecstatic. I unfortunately needed to stock up on materials, so I barely started on them today, 17 July 2010; it was a near-disaster! I started off with the brand-new design I had barely made, figuring I could just do all 11 at once and get it over with. Well, the purple shimmer cardstock I needed? Magically gone. Nowhere to be found. So I dug through my large Victoria’s Secret giftbox I kept my scraps in, and to my luck (and misfortune at the same time) I found tiny strips of the cardstock I needed, but they were barely large enough for the punch-out I needed to make.
I somehow managed to make the strips work, but when I finished and counted all the birds I had punched out- I only had ten! Unbelievably, I spent 10 minutes gluing together scraps I punched out of pieces of the bird, making it look as if it were one whole piece. Pretty awesome. I got my 11 birds.
After that, I had a mini-panic episode while I counted out the paper flowers I was using for part of the design- yeah, I have some flowers now, but about 10 orders from now? 20 orders from now? On top of that, each tin of 64 flowers cost $7.00 and the sizes are various; that means, the small ones I am using on this design will run out, and I’ll be left with large flowers not meant for the design. My mission to find large stock of paper flowers begins. I’ll keep you updated on that.
My other moment worthy of pulling out chunks of hair was when I needed to adhere the translucent paper to the inside of the card. I tried out a new way different from how I had once adhered them, that being with the super-sticky rolling glue tape. No bueno- couldn’t make a straight, neat line with or without a ruler, and that was unacceptable if it was going to be visible through the paper. So I decided to revert to the old and original way- my beloved, extremely-sticky spray glue. I nearly cried. Having sprayed on newspapers, as always before, my fingers swiped up the ever-so-faint residue of the print, and when dealing with this spray glue, trust when I say it picks up anything near or on it. The paper ended up looking smoky. Hell, an eye-lash even got stuck in the glue. Guess how many times this happened? Twice.
10 minutes later of yelling within my head, I decided to instead use the glue tape again, but only use small strips on the top corners and in the middle. It worked beautifully.
Then there was the fact I am so blind sometimes. I wear glasses to see far away and don’t need them for anything upclose, but when I got to the second card in the first order, and went to cut out the stenciled designs out… I couldn’t see the pencil marks! And they were dark, too, since it was on a dark hue on purple. Yet no matter how much I darkened the lines, I couldn’t see them without holding them up to the light behind me. So I busted out my small book light and held it in my mouth as I guided my beloved X-acto Knife along the lines. I was a sight.
In the end, I survived with only a few paper cuts rather than bald spots in my hair, and my first completed order of $15.00. Not to mention I have officially taken over the dinning table with all my supplies and needs. At least I have my bed to sleep on this time….
My original work space....
My new work space to my mother's dismay :P
Good night, everyone! Or morning, however you look at it. I’ll be ‘seeing’ you all soon :)
-natasha
