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Crumb Cake

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Coconut Sugar Scrub

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Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Wedded Bliss

My friend asked for some wedding cards for three upcoming weddings she has this fall.  She requested two of them be made in teal and chocolate brown, as those are the colours for two of the weddings {popular colour scheme}.  I got back to my roots and created an elegant, multiple layered card.  It was nice to go back to this design.  I did use a sketch, but I’ve been looking at so many, I can’t remember which one I used, sorry!

I used SU Early Espresso for the card base, and layered Crumb Cake and the patterned paper.  The brown heart pattern is Bo-Bunny, one of my favourites.  The teal is some two sided dp I found in my scrap and was the perfect size.  I stamped the image, SU To have and To hold, on Very Vanilla cardstock cut out with one of my nestibilities. 

I added a small pearl to the bride’s veil to match the pearls on the bottom of the main panel and inked the edges of the cardstock with Crumb Cake ink.  A small bow made from Early Espresso ribbon added to the left corner finishes off the card.

If you make your own cards, make sure you come back tomorrow for something that I think you will love!

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

One for the Mr. and Mrs.

This might be my favourite “word card” I’ve created so far.  I had to make the letters a little smaller in order to fit on a standard A2 card, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.

I just love this card!  I was tempted to leave in just the black and white, but when I remembered I had some glitter cardstock I couldn’t resist adding the hearts. 

I used Whisper White as the card base, and layered black cardstock.  I used my MM Slice machine to cut out the letters and punched the hearts with my MS heart punch.

There’s not much else to say about this card because the layout is simple, but it is time consuming with cutting out each letter and punctuation points.

This card is available in the A Paper Buffet Etsy shop and would be perfect for an upcoming wedding, or even an anniversary.

Come back tomorrow for another, more traditional wedding card.

Happy Tuesday!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Name that card, and WIN!

Well, name those cards actually.  This past week I added some new cards to the A Paper Buffet Etsy shop.  They are simple cards, with words or letters die-cut from patterned paper. I have more to add, but here’s what’s in the store right now:

 

 

Right now, they’re very plainly named “word cards”. I need your help!  Listing and naming are my biggest challenge, leave me with the paper and the ribbon and I’ll be fine.

What would you name this product line? 

So here’s the deal: 

The product line name with the most votes wins a $10 gift certificate to the A Paper Buffet Etsy shop! That would be enough for two cards, or one card and some gift tags, or mini envelopes and a card or,…well, you get the idea.

 

The Fine Print:

  • You must ‘like’ A Paper Buffet Facebook page to submit a name
  • You must ‘like’ A Paper Buffet Facebook page to vote for submitted names
  • Value of the Gift Certificate is $10.00 US
  • The Gift Certificate must be used in one transaction and CAN include shipping and handling.
  • The Gift Certificate is only accepted in A Paper Buffet’s Etsy shop
  • The winner will be contacted by me {make sure I have your email address} and provided with a redeemable phrase or code to write in the ‘message to seller’ section
  • How you will redeem your Gift Certificate:
    • Add your items to the cart, and choose “other” payment option.
    • I’ll send you a revised PayPal invoice for any outstanding balance.
  • Open to everyone world-wide!

So get those creative juices flowing, submit a name and spread the word!!

Happy Saturday!

 

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!

Monday, August 15, 2011

The KISS principle- in design and in business.

Summer is a time when online sales slow down, in part due  to family vacations and time spent with family and friends enjoying summer BBQ’s and pool parties.

I used to fret about this time, trying to take advantage of the slow sales months by making hefty to-do lists, swearing I’m going to make my personal Christmas cards and actually send them out this year.  I’d panic when I lost my creative mojo, and feel guilty about my lack of blog posts and not having listed any new products.

Now it is early August. I’ve accepted that summer is break time, for me as much as for everyone else.   I’ve just returned from a week at the cottage; a week spent relaxing by the lake, catching up on my reading.  Essentially, I did absolutely nothing.

I’ve made a few cards for custom orders, and when I did have the energy and inspiration to make something new.  What transpired was a design similar to when I first started.  It was not the multiple-coloured, layered card adorned with ribbons and rhinestones  I had been making a few months ago {and what I will return to, don’t worry}.

Remember the KISS principle? Depending how old you were when you learned of this principle, there may or may not be the word {stupid} after the “keep it simple”.  

With the help of my new MM Slice Machine, I used the KISS principle and created two cards.  Despite a minor glue set back (if you’re a fan of A Paper Buffet’s Facebook page, you will recall this event).

Using some SU Very Vanilla cardstock and some designer paper, I made a baby card and a thank you card.

 

The baby card was made as a gender neutral card, and I think it would be great for a baby shower, a meet-the-baby party, or even as an invitation.  I love the simplicity of the card, and even thought to leave the ribbon out completely.  But I like the balance it creates and I decided to leave it.

 

 

The thank you card was created in the same way, except I used the Italian word for thank you, which is “Grazie”.  Truth be told, this was Plan B; “Thank you” was too large in 1” letters to put on a standard A2 card (4.25” x 5.5”), but I may try a 6”x6” layout card next.  Again I used a satin ribbon in a coordinating colour to add some balance.

 

Keeping the KISS principle in mind, I’ve decided to make a few other changes with A Paper Buffet in general.  While a great idea at the time, the needs of an independent website and shopping platform is too much for me to upkeep with any state of consistency.  I started this business as a means to share my creativity.  With a career, and many other creative interests that I want to pursue (photography, knitting, cooking, scrapbooking, etc), I need to be realistic about how I can/will/want to spend my time in order to be successful.

I will continue to sell on Etsy and give it my all.  While Etsy has made a number of changes which had initially prompted me to start my own website (coupon codes was the biggest one), I have to realize that a website like Etsy has already identified my target market.  Simply put, it’s hard to be found on the world wide web!  There may be opportunities to expand to other online marketplaces (if you have any thoughts about Artfire, I’d love to hear them!), but for now, you will find A Paper Buffet products exclusively on Etsy.  It will also be very easy! www.apaperbuffet.com will be redirected to my Etsy store.

The exception to the aforementioned statement: It still bothers me that Etsy requires a membership to purchase. If you do not want to create an Etsy account but wish to purchase an item that you see here or on the Facebook page, or if you would like to discuss a custom order, please feel free to contact me via email: sales [at] apaperbuffet [dot] com

And so I return to the relaxing pace of summer and I’ll enjoy the rest of August. I’ll put away my neglected to-do list.  Better yet, I’ll throw it out and make a new one when I’m ready.

As for my Christmas cards…I think photo-cards are all the rage…wouldn’t you agree?

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