All About Paper

Visit any craft store and you can easily become overwhelmed by the hundreds of papers available for purchase. It's all too easy to become addicted to obtaining everything presented, so I'm going to list the papers I always keep in my inventory. An assortment such as this can easily be all that's required for the majority of your projects.

Plain Quality Cardstock in assorted colors: A basic necessity. I prefer a 110# weight. This is heavy enough to make your own base cards. Why spend $5.00 for 25 precut cards when you can purchase 150 sheets of white cardstock for less than $10.00. It's also used for die cuts, frames, backgrounds, almost anything you can think of. I often print on it.
Patterned Scrapbook Paper: Another required supply. These can be purchased as single sheets or in stacks. Extremely reasonable when purchased in stacks with a 40% off coupon from your local craft store. They come in an unlimited number of themes and colors.
Textured Cardstock: Really important for giving your cards or scrapbook pages a special look. They come in plain colors and in patterns, and often give the impression of fabric rather than paper. I prefer the small 4 1/2" x 6 1/2" stacks because they only need a little trimming to fit perfectly on a card.
Metallic Cardstock: Gives a gorgeous, elegant look to any card or scrapbook page. You can also get matching colored envelopes.
Velum: Use it as an overlay, or for printing.
Parchment Paper: I line all my cards on both interior sides with parchment paper. Makes a perfect letter writing medium or a simple site to stamp a sentiment.

Well, there you have my basic essential papers. But just like everyone else, I have my small stash of non-essentials: handmade paper, mulberry paper, metallic-textured cardstock, glossy paper, corrugated cardstock, etc, etc, etc! And yes, I do use them occasionally. But if you stick with the basics I've listed and add a few of your own favorites as you go along, you won't go wrong!

Calendars into Envelopes

January, 2010! Time to take down the old calendars and post the new! But don't discard those obsolete calendars... I say turn those pictures into one of a kind envelopes and matching cards. They're fun and easy to make.




Find an envelope you like and open it up to make your a template. Transfer the template to chipboard or plastic and trace around it on your calendar page. Carefully cut and then score the paper for the folds. If your calendar pages are thin you might want to attach them to a duplicate sheet of white recycled paper prior to folding your envelope. (This is especially important if you plan on sending them through the mail.) Glue the envelope together using double sided tape. Use a lick and stick glue for the flap on matte paper and double sided tape on glossy paper. Don't worry if you can't write an address over the picture - just use a plain white adhesive address label. So simple, yet so elegant.

Chances are, you did not use the entire picture for your envelope. Use the leftovers to create a matching card. If you have a large enough piece left, cut it appropriately and mount it on textured cardstock, then on a card that will fit your envie. Otherwise, use a punch for smaller cuts and assemble them in a mosaic arrangement. Use your imagination!

Notebooks from Recycled Materials

Handmade notebooks are unique and fun to make. It's a great recycling project for almost anyone because there are so many options available. All you need is a suitable recycled front and back cover, paper for the inside pages, and something to hold everything together. This adorable notebook is made from a postcard and a zutter binding.


COVERS: The size of your finished project will determine what you use as the covers. Small notepads can be made from playing cards, board game cards, old photos, postcards, etc. Larger notepads can use covers cut from boxes with great graphics. You can even use thin wood or metal. I like to use plain chipboard for the backs.

PAGES: Your choice! Use recycled paper, handmade paper, parchment paper, cardstock - whatever you have on hand.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: Punch holes in your covers and pages using a hand held punch, hammer punch, or one of the reasonably priced binding system punches for the home crafter: Rollabind or Zutter. If you're not using a binding system, you can start with a simple tied binding using ribbon or twine, or just hold everything together with book rings or o-rings.

Rollabind Binding System
Punch your pages and bind with plastic disks

Zutter Bind It All
Wire binding system.

Sewn Binding Technique
Make or repair books with this easy technique.

Get Ready for Valentine's Day!

Here's an adorable vintage inspired collage card I just listed on Etsy. It measures 5" x 7" and is mounted on heavy off white cardstock. The phote is a computer generated copy of a vintage postcard. The front of the card is embellished with scrapbook paper, ribbon, brads, and a die cut. The inside is lined with blank parchment paper.

A Different Type of Origami

I've seen these wonderful towel sculptures while visiting first class hotels on the Travel Channel! But this is the first I've ever seen directions for them! Just may have to try them when I get the chance.

Postcards

Enjoy these vintage images that I found as postcards at a local flea market. I picked up 15 different postcards which are themselves copyrighted 1990. What a great look into the past! I already have plans for them in some upcoming projects. Stay tuned....

Bee Happy!

I just wanted to share with you a very simple journal I just finished. I covered chipboard with scrapbook paper for the front and back covers and used an off white paper for the pages. The bees are diecuts from O Scrap, and I stamped the quote on plain cardstock, then mounted it on textured cardstock. The binding was done with my new favorite tool - the Zutter Bind-it-All. I'm very pleased with the result and I'll be doing lots more because it was a quick and easy project.

Thrift Store FINDings

Sometimes you just get lucky. Here is just a sample of the bag of jewelry pieces I recently found at my favorite thrift store. They are all vintage pieces of pins and earrings. The great thing is that the backs have already been removed so I don't have to struggle with removing unwanted clips, pins, etc.

I've already been playing.. Here's a couple of magnets I made from 1 1/2" earrings. The vintage images are enclosed in a rollabind disk and sealed with Diamond glaze. The added rhinestone finish them off nicely. I'm very happy with the way they turned out...

Love That Handmade Paper!

About three years ago I dabbled in making paper from old sewing patterns. It turned out ok, but I knew I could do better if I ever got around to making it again. Well, I was shopping at Michael's a few weeks ago and they were having a clearance sale on all Arnold Grummer's paper making supplies. I couldn't believe the sale prices on the $49 and $69 kits - only $10! Especially since I had just purchase one two weeks prior with a 40% off coupon! I snatched up 2 more of both kits, mainly because if I purchased some of the supplies included, it would cost me more than buying the whole kit! So I've been making paper from my leftover scraps and junk mail, and loving it! So far it's been pretty basic, but soon I'm going to start adding botanicals and embossing. Making paper is easy and fun, and it's always a suprise as to how it turns out. So far I've been using it for journals and cards. Here are some of the results...

The dark background on this card is a piece of my original sewing pattern paper. I stamped the fern on a light green sheet, added a dried fern leaf, and mounted everything on a card made of white paper.

And finally, inside a journal...

When I get some time, I'll post directions on Re-Creative Crafting.

The ArtFire - Etsy Debate

Let me begin by saying that I have shops on both Etsy and ArtFire and I'm in no way trying to promote one selling venue over the other. But I've been reading the forums for quite a while and I'm really suprised at the attitude of many Etsy sellers toward the new ArtFire site. I've read lots of negatives statements concerning ArtFire, mainly low views, no sales, unattractive front page, and poor search options. Does anyone remember the birth of Etsy? Pretty similar, right? ArtFire is still in its infancy. It's still in Beta, which means it's in constant change. Those of us who have started studios realize that and don't expect an immediate influx of buyers rushing to purchase our items from a relatively unknown site. But the word is getting out. Both administration and members are pushing hard to promote the site.



Etsy sellers should welcome this new kid. Competition is not bad. It makes others step back and see if there might be some improvements they could make. There are lots of inovative projects happening on ArtFire. Perhaps Etsy will recognize that sellers respond to improvements. Monopolies become stagnant. Competition encourages companies to become the best that they can be.



ArtFire is just giving us another selling option and if it works for you, great. But if your loyality remains with Etsy, that's ok too. It's a matter of personal choice and neither site should be bad-mouthed for giving it's members an inexpensive storefront to sell our handmade creations and vintage treasures. Your comments are welcome!

Recycled Playing Cards

One of my latest finds in my thrift store excursions was a deck of Coca-Cola playing cards, used but still in perfect condition. I put them to good use by repurposing them into cute retro notepads. This first example is meant to be used as a keyring - never be without paper in your purse again! There are also lots of other uses. Hang it by your phone with phone numbers..... Or on the kid's backpack.... Or anywhere you need information fast. I have one hanging on my desk with my website passwords!


The next is a notepad bound with Rollabind disks. A perfect little pad to carry with you anywhere. The nice thing about both these items is more paper can be added at any time. Never discard the covers - only the used paper sheets inside!



For more information on making recycled notepads, visit my Squido lens, Re-Creative Crafting.

Recycled Calendars

Yearly calendars, given away free as advertising, are filled with beautiful images and photos. I've been saving mine for years, but have never really done anything with them. Well, I've finally gotten around to using them for envelopes and matching cards. Here's what I came up with.

For the envelope, I used a template from Green Sneakers, but you can easily make your own template by unfolding an envelope, tracing, and cutting it out from cardboard or plastic sheets. I mounted the photo page on a white paper sheet prior to cutting, as it was slightly smaller than the template. The extra lining also makes the envelope a little stronger if you are sending it throught the mail. The resulting white border on the envelope came out great. Since I had leftovers from the calendar page, I used the same picture to create a matching card. Don't worry about writing an address, just use a white label stuck on the front.

I tried using Lick and Stick glue for the flap, but it didn't stick to the glossy paper. So I'm using clear 1" stickies that I made from a clear plastic sheet and my Xyron.

I love the look of these envelopes and cards. They're fast, easy, and best of all - FUN!

Happy Mother's Day

Recycled Computer Disks

I've finally figured out what to do with those obsolete 3 1/2" floppies. They make great little desk calendars. I printed a year's worth of calendars on cardstock and used two metal eyelets to hold them between two disks. The calendars can be used freestanding on a desktop or closed like a book. This is just a basic calendar, but you could stamp images or decorate the pages in any way you'd like. And it's a great way to make use of something that would just be thrown out.