Paper Woods

Whew!  After a last minute run to the shipping store I can now say that Christi’s wedding favors are done and in the mail!  Yay!  I finished up the assembly of all 130 sets of personalized stationery today while watching a movie.  (And entertaining the most adventurous of my four cats, Meriwether!)

I didn’t get to round the corners of each sheet of stationery like I wanted to (like in the picture of the sample below), but I just did not have enough time.  I realized that since there are 520 sheets total (4 sheets for each set) that would mean 2,080 corners to punch!  I wonder, do they make corner rounder punches that can cut through large stacks of paper?  Anyway, I think they came out okay.  I used the same cardstock for the bellybands as I did on her invitations, so they match.  And I also stamped the same double heart image in the same ink color.  I think they’ll really look nice at the reception, and will help tie in her wedding theme and colors.  What do ya’ think?

Great idea – bad product!

I loved the idea of the Circle Scissor (by EK Success) and couldn’t wait to try it.  One simple tool that can cut over 120 different sizes of circles - sounds great!  Well, I was soon very disappointed. The circle does not turn very smoothly at all, and I was even using it with the recommended Glass Mat. Then, within the first half hour of playing with it to make it turn the tip of the blade broke off. Good thing they include two spares, right? The next day the second tip broke off! Using it to draw circles with a pen or pencil, instead of using the blade, faired much better, but it still took a while to figure out how to hold it without keeping it from turning.

I was so frustrated that I put it away in the bottom of a drawer and forgot about it for months. When I found it again I took it out and it promptly broke in my hands, the rim coming apart and spilling the tiny silver beads that allow the device to turn. I was able to recover most of the beads and awkwardly tape the thing back together, but I am definitely glad that this was given to me as a gift instead of paying for it myself!

Synopsis:

• Price: $15.99; refill blades $1.99
• Availability: the Circle Scissor, Glass Mat, and refill blades are all available through the EK Success online store, and it can also be found at Joann.com.
• Rating: Poor.  It is poorly made and difficult to use.
• Recommended?  No.  

One of the blogs that I like to regularly peruse is the Craft: blog.  It is the blog component of Craft: Magazine, which is published both digitally and in print.  Craft: is the place to go to find out what’s happening in the crafting world.  From really suprising crocheted creations, to jewelry making tutorials, Craft: blog has it all!

And now, I’m so pleased to announce that my recent Paper Corsage project from the Craft: group on Instructables made the Craft: blog front page!  How cool is that?!  I am truly honored.

If you’re interested in seeing any of my other projects, subscribe to my blog!   

I decided that I wanted to make Christi some kind of paper corsage for her to wear at her shower.  I did some searching online and found a pattern for some paper roses at Canon’s Creative Park website.  I think it turned out pretty well! 

Here’s a picture of Christi (in the center, wearing the corsage) with her future mother- and sister-in-law.

I found the directions provided with the pattern for this project a little lacking, so I went ahead and made a tutorial so you can make it yourself!  This project would be easily adaptable to use as a gift topper, table decoration, anything!  If you decide to make it, please take a picture of it and post on the comments - I’d love to see it!

Here’s the project tutorial: Paper Corsage

Die-cutters everywhere!  It seems that die-cutting machines are the “accessory of the day” that every paper crafter is talking about.  There are some really amazing machines on the market right now, but how do you know which one is for you?  I was recently asked by a crafty girl-friend to explain the differences and similarities between the major die-cutting machines currently available.  So for anyone else who is curious and/or confused, read on.  I hope this helps!

This is a big topic, so to keep from overwhelming you (a “talent” I seem to posses - just ask my husband!) I think I’m going to break things up into several posts.  Feel free to comment upon anything I write and add your two cents worth of knowledge.  I’d love to hear from you!

First, I think it might help to talk about the basic design of a die-cutting machine.  Once you understand how a machine functions, you will be able to better see the benefits and detriments of each design. 

There are three ways a machine can cut shapes out of paper, two of them are manual and one is electronic.  The manual machines all use dies, which are hard plastic discs containing metal blade edges that are surrounded by foam. 

The two manual ways of depressing the foam to expose the metal blade to the material to be cut are:

(1) lever-press action -
a lever that you press down which squeezes the die and material to be cut that you place under it.

(2) rotary (rolling) action -
a handle that you turn, which engages a roller that pulls the die and material through, squeezing it along the way.  

The electronic method of cutting shapes out of paper doesn’t use dies, so it’s technically not called a die-cutting machine at all.  However, it does create the same result, namely, shapes and letters cut out  without you having to lift a pair of scissors.  So the electronic machines are usually grouped with the die-cutters, but are called “personal cutters,” or something along those lines.  These personal cutting machines have a single blade attached to an arm which is controlled electronically.  You buy special cartridges or discs which contain the electronic data that tells the blade how to cut the material placed under it.  It’s similar to how a CD or disc works in your computer.  

Okay, so now we (hopefully) understand how die-cutting machines work!  My next posts will cover the pluses and minuses of each method as I discuss some of the most popular machines on the market right now.  Stay tuned!

Okay, it’s a bad picture because it’s nighttime right now, but I wanted to show you all how much snow we have. This is my front porch, with a path shoveled to let the dog out. That’s a full 11 inches of snow!

Here in West Michigan we are currently in the middle of a blizzard! As beautiful as it is outside (yes, I love winter!) unfortunately, that means that my Introduction to Invitations class has been canceled. As much as I understand the store’s decision to cancel, I’m still really bummed. I was really looking forward to this!

My husband and I got up early this morning and drove down the highway white-knuckled to my brother’s house to baby-sit our nephew. I was more than willing to take on the roads again to make it to the store to teach my class, but when we finally got home after babysitting we discovered that the entire stretch of highway between our house and my brother’s was completely shut down most of the morning because of several 50-70 car pile-ups! Yikes! I think the store made the right decision.

We will be rescheduling the class, so stay tuned for updates. I’ll post as soon as I know the new date.

My second invitation class, Creative Invitations, is still scheduled for Saturday, February 17th from 11:00-12:30pm. Hope to see you there - but in the mean time, stay warm!

Happy Crafting!