Custom order- First Communion Card

I’ve had a flurry of custom orders lately, and a few that I’ve forgotten to share with you.  Here’s a First Communion Card for a customer’s Grandson I made last month.  A fellow stamping friend suggested I check out The Doodle Pantry for their digital stamps.   I used a cross from their Christ’s Gift set and took inspiration from one of their sample cards.  I was drawn to how the cross had been coloured, with a faint hint of a glow behind it. 

I coloured the cross with my Prismas and blended with OMS.  It took me a few tries to get the “glow” to look subtle, but I’m pleased with how it turned out.  I had initially thought of printing a second set of the rocks and then popping them up on dimensionals, but I realized it wasn’t the look I was going for.

I kept this card in light blues and greens, using Marina Mist and Pear Pizzaz on a Crumb Cake card base (I can’t find the label for the DP,…I don’t know what company, but I remember that it’s called “Campfire”) .  I made the card very long and lean,  at about 4.25” wide and 6.75” long and  distressed all the edges (with the exception of the image) with SU Crumb Cake ink.

I used a labels die from Nestibilities for each the sentiment (printed on the computer) and for the image.  I found using the next biggest label die didn’t work with the size of the card, so I cut out a second label in Pear Pizzaz and offset it from the main image to add a bit of layering.

The inside featured the date of the First Communion Ceremony and a personalized message from the Grandparents. 

The Doodle Pantry features some great digital images, and Christ’s set has some beautiful sentiments that can be used for many different types of cards.

 

Happy Thursday!

Technorati Tags: digital stamps,First Communion,The Doodle Pantry,A Paper Buffet

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Floral Chiyogami for Mom, and For Japan

There is a lot of beautiful paper out there…and too much of it is in my craft room, but the Japanese Chiyogami paper is absolutely gorgeous.  I was more aware of buying coordinating papers this time around, vs buying all that I thought was gorgeous and trying to work with it later.  I knew immediately these patterns would work well together, but I didn’t realize just how well until I had put the card together.  With edges of gold and deep greens, this card is stunning.

I paired it with SU Old Olive and SU More Mustard paper.  I’ve never used More Mustard, but I’m quickly warming up to it. It worked beautifully with the patterned paper, and gives this card a rich elegance. 

As with the other Chiyogami cards, I want the paper to be the focal point, and so just a simple stamp of “Mom” in the right hand corner, some gold and green ribbon, some deep green rhinestones were added to the left side for some balance and I had to stop. 

This card is available at A Paper Buffet Etsy store and $2.25 from the sale of this card will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross relief efforts in Japan.  You can read more about the details of the donation here.

 

 

Happy Tuesday!

 

 

Technorati Tags: For Japan,Artist Aid,Canadian Red Cross,A Paper Buffet,Etsy,chiyogami,greeting card,Mother's Day,handmade cards

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Butterfly Chiyogami for Mom (and For Japan)

Here’s another Chiyogami Mother’s day card in my For Japan line.  This paper is incredibly gorgeous- I had a really hard time cutting it! I also had a hard time trying to keep it the main focal point of the card. Often a stamped image or sentiment is the focal point on a card; once I started thinking of the paper AS a stamped image, it became a little easier to envision.

I used SU Baja Breeze and Real Red- which matched the Chiyogami paper quite well.  I used some satin red ribbon to compliment the scalloped edges I punched on the blue and red paper.  A simple “Thank you Mom” was stamped on a banner, cut out and popped up with dimensionals.

I really had to stop myself from adding any more to the card, because I just couldn’t cover up the butterflies on the paper.

This card is available at A Paper Buffet Etsy store and $2.00 from the sale of this card will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross relief efforts in Japan.  I’ve decided to keep this campaign going past the end of April.  To date, we have $6.00, which will be turned into $12.00 when matched by my employer…but I think we can do better.  I”ll be working hard to put more items in the store so we can raise as much as possible.  You can read more about why I’m donating to the Canadian Red Cross here.

Happy (Easter) Monday!

Technorati Tags: Chiyogami,For Japan,Artist Aid,Etsy,A Paper Buffet,Greeting card,Mother's Day,stamped,butterflies

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Melon Mambo Mojo Monday

Mojo Monday is a great source for inspiration, with a weekly sketch released each Monday.  When I saw the Mojo Monday 186 sketch I knew it would work well for a milestone birthday card I was making for my mom to give to a co-worker.

I love this Kaiser Kraft paper, and it was perfect for this feminine 50th birthday card.  I used SU Melon Mambo for the base, a really great and vibrant pink.  Pear Pizzaz matched quite well with the green in the Kaiser Kraft paper, and I found some green ribbon in my stash.

The sentiment is from SU- although the name of the set escapes me at the moment.  I printed out the number “50” on the computer and covered it in Martha Stewart glitter, then sealed it with acrylic sealer.

I love using glitter, and the acrylic sealer helps it from shaking off and getting everywhere- a definite ‘must-have’ in your supplies.  You should be able to find it at the craft store, or at a hardware store with the spray paint.

I distressed the edges of all the paper with Tim Holtz Walnut distressing ink, and added some green adhesive rhinestones.  The original sketch had twine or another ribbon at the top section, but I thought it was a bit too much given the paper that I used, so I left it out.  

This card is bright and cheery…unlike the rainy weather we’re currently having.  I’m at my parent’s house for the Easter weekend and enjoying some time with family, catching up on some projects, and eating chocolate of course!

 

I hope you all have a great Easter weekend!

Technorati Tags: greeting card,birthday,Kaiser Kraft paper,Stampin Up,A Paper Buffet

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Celebrate in Style!

A recent custom order was for a special birthday card.  The recipient will be celebrating a milestone birthday, and my customer wanted this to be a special card.  Knowing the recipient’s favourite colours were orange and teal, I went hunting for some DP.  This is the card that started my obsession with the My Mind’s Eye Fine and Dandy paper, I just kept forgetting to post it and show you.

The layout is from MojoMonday (177 to be specific) and I really love how it turned out.  I completed this card far too late to include in the contest, but that’s the great thing about blog archives and sketches- they’re timeless!

  The card base is SU So Saffron, and it’s just the perfect yellow tone.  It’s quickly becoming my favourite colour and works really well with the My Mind’s Eye paper.  I also used SU Pumpkin Pie for each layer.  The dress image is from Gina K, and one of my favourites for a really ‘girly’ card.  I paper pieced the dress with some more My Mind’s Eye paper, but stamped a flourish in the background before I added the dress.  I found some perfect satin ribbon in my stash and embellished the dress.  Of course I also had to add some rhinestones…a girly card is not complete without rhinestones!

 

I printed off the “40” on the computer; my original idea was to use small adhesive rhinestones and make the “40” really standout…but I couldn’t find small enough rhinestones to actually make it work.  So I turned to glitter, naturally! 

 

 

 

 

  The final touch to the card was actually the envelope; I lined it with yet some more of the My Mind’s Eye paper.  This was the customer’s favourite part and has ordered a few more cards, requesting the envelopes be lined with DP.  It’s not something I had done many times before, but I do really like how it ties everything together. 

Happy Friday!

 

 

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: greeting card,handmade cards,birthday card,GinaK stamps,Stampin' Up,My Mind's Eye

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Chiyogami for Mom (and For Japan)

Mother’s day is around the corner and I wanted to incorporate the gorgeous Chiyogami paper with this year’s Mother’s day cards.  I picked out my paper and got to work. 

I used a sketch for this card, but for the life of me, I can’t find out which one, or where from.  I usually shy away from cards with panels, but since I’ve been using my Nestibilities (these are the small rectangles), I’m not afraid anymore!   The nesties really make a big difference.  I cut the panels from two 4x4 sheets of Chiyogami paper and used my paper piercer and a gel pen to create a faux stitching around the edges.  I adhered them to a piece of Whisper White cardstock, then adhered that to…you guessed it! So Saffron!

 

I created some labels with the Nestibilities in So Saffron and Whisper white and then stamped the sentiment in Baja Breeze.

 

The yellow button is Basic Grey and was muted enough to work well with the So Saffron. The blue button is a vintage button from a lot I bought on Etsy, and matched really well.  I used the scraps of the teal paper and punched out some small flowers to add balance to the label. 

 

 

 

This card is so bright and cheery, and the paper has a gorgeous texture to it IRL.

 

The next card uses the Sweet Sunday Sketch 112.  I flipped the sketch to be able to use my bird stamp. I stamped the birds in versamark, then added some Stampendous Vintage Gold embossing powder and heat embossed the image.  The gold birds really make the gold in the paper “pop”.  

The card base is Crumb Cake and I layered More Mustard and Baja Breeze to bring out the colours in the Chiyogami paper.

This is the first time I have ever used More Mustard, and it worked really well! I think I’m starting to warm up to the colour.

 

 

My circle nesties were perfect for the Mother stamp, which is stamped in More Mustard ink and mounted on a scalloped More Mustard cardstock, also cut with Nestibilities. I popped it up with some foam tape, then added some gold ribbon tabs and kept it simple. 

Both these cards sold within an hour of listing, and $2.00 from each card will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross Relief Efforts in Japan.  With the sale of the Birthday card earlier in the week, we have $6.00 to donate, which will turn into $12.00 when it’s matched by my employer.  You can read more about that here; and shop more “For Japan” items in A Paper Buffet Etsy Store .

Have a great Thursday!

 

Technorati Tags: For Japan,fundraising for Japan,Canadian Red Cross,Chiyogami,Mother's Day,Stampin UP

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Spring

April showers might bring May showers, but my idea of spring is leather shoes. 

 

 

 

 

Leather shoes, sprayed and ready for their first venture outside, anxiously await a sunny day to go exploring.

 

Ecco Lite in Moon Rock

Happy Spring!

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Every little bit helps…Chiyogami Birthday Wishes

Today the Birthday Wishes card sold locally here in London.  This is my first sale in the For Japan line, the first of many I hope!

 

I created this card using a piece of Chiyogami paper from Vancouver that I’ve had in my stash for years a while.  It’s a bit embarrassing to admit that I’ve hoarded kept paper for so long, but ask any papercrafter and I know I’m not alone.  Sometimes, it’s just waiting for the right layout, or ribbon, or occasion.

 

I used Crumb Cake for the base, and layered Pear Pizzaz and Pink Pirouette paper, before adding the cherry blossom pink Chiyogami.  The texture of this paper is  unbelievable, it’s so delicate and yet quite strong at the same time.

 

I layered some different labels before stamping Birthday Wishes from “So Happy for you” in Pear Pizzaz.  A small piece of gold ribbon finished the card.

 

$2.00 from the sale of this card will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross Relief efforts in Japan at the end of April.  For more information as to why I chose the Canadian Red Cross, you can read here.

I’ve added a few more cards into the A Paper Buffet Etsy store  featuring Chiyogami paper including two Mother’s day cards I’ll be featuring later in the week.  You can shop for those here.

Happy Monday!

 

 

 

Technorati Tags: Chiyogami,Canadian Red Cross,Japan,Artist Aid,A Paper Buffet,Etsy,Birthday card,handmade cards,greeting card

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Blue Daisy Chiyogami

Part of my ‘For Japan’ line, this blank greeting card features some blue and black Chiyogami paper I picked up years ago in Vancouver.  I came across this layout while blog hopping…but I seem to have misplaced the link.  I really liked the simple layout; the original card used a stamped pattern for the vertical column but I wanted to use the paper as much as possible.

 

I created a mat of blue and black cardstock for the vertical panel.  Following the CASED card, I used my Score-Pal to score two lines, and placed some black satin ribbon in between.

 

I found this silhouette stamp in my stash- one I had completely forgotten about, but I think it works really well.  I used black embossing powder a heat gun to set the powder.

 

I love the clean lines of this card, and how the black and blue really stand out. 

I think this layout is great for showcasing some really gorgeous paper, like the Chiyogami paper.  This card is available at A PaperBuffet.com and the A Paper Buffet Etsy store.  

Happy Wednesday!

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Chiyogami for Japan

I have always loved the gorgeous and colourful Japanese silkcreened paper, Chiyogami.  I brought some home from a trip to Chicago last year and made some beautiful Mother’s day cards that were very popular.  With all the tragedy that Japan has experienced over the last month, battling earthquakes, tsunamis and now nuclear threats, I’ve decided to arrange my own fundraising effort from items created from Japanese Chiyogami paper.

I’ve recently picked up some more Chiyogami paper and will be busy over the next few weeks making as many items as I can.  A portion of each sale, outlined in each listing, will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross, Relief efforts in Japan.  While there are many worthy charities helping the people of Japan, I have chosen to donate to the Canadian Red Cross as my employer is matching all employee donations.  That means whatever WE raise over the next month, it will be DOUBLED and given to the Canadian Red Cross.

Here’s how it will work:

• Each item will have a different price point donated, and it will be outlined in each listing
• Donations will be collected over the month of April, and will carry further if there are still Chiyogami items in the store
• I’ll post updates here on the blog, the A Paper Buffet Facebook Fan Page, and in the A Paper Buffet Etsy store
• Items will be available in the A Paper Buffet Etsy store and A PaperBuffet.com
• Most items are one of a kind, so grab them when you see them!
• I will take custom orders for items to be made with Chiyogami paper, but may not be able to guarantee a specific pattern

If you need a greeting card in the next few weeks, please consider purchasing a card from the “For Japan” line and feel good about supporting the people of Japan.

I’ll be featuring a few products each week on the blog, but have some available now at A PaperBuffet.com

 

 

Technorati Tags: Chiyogami,fundraising for Japan,A Paper Buffet Etsy,A Paper Buffet.com

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