Tea With Friends: Paper Crafting

Showing posts with label Paper Crafting. Show all posts

Monday, January 25, 2021

Crafting with a Cuppa Love

Months ago, I was looking for tea-themed Christmas stamps online and discovered a stamp company I'd never heard of before, Papertrey Ink. I bought their cute teacup-shaped Merry Mug stamps in hopes of creating tea-themed Christmas cards for a few friends, as I sometimes do, but the matching dies never became available, and I wasn't happy with the design without them, so … I continue to wait and cross my fingers that the dies will become available again. (Besides, the way the mail runs lately, I could make Christmas cards in February and mail them and nobody will know they weren't sent on time!) But then I discovered and ordered another set of Papertrey Ink products, their Cuppa Love stamps and dies, and that's what I've been experimenting with over the weekend.

One reason I find this set so intriguing is that the patterns are based on the old Fire-King and Pyrex glassware patterns. (I don't collect old Pyrex, but the heroine of my cozy mysteries most certainly does, and I couldn't help thinking that "Emma Madison" would appreciate this.) When I learned by looking on Pinterest that some crafters have stamped these designs in pink and turquoise palettes, I got even more interested. (I have a Pinterest board here if you'd like to see what others have made. I'm just getting started.)

Really, though, I bought this set because a) the stamps were on sale and b) I wanted that mug-shaped die. (Alas, I ruined a pair of Tim Holtz scissors cutting these metal dies apart. I didn't realize I should have had a pair of metal snips awaiting, and I don't own any—yet!) But I just loved the idea of making tea-mug-shaped cards, and I used some things I already had on hand to make a few trial runs. Most of the things were from Stampin' Up (the embossing folder, the small rose, the die for cutting the paper lace trim), but the larger rose (on the green card) uses a Peaceful Roses stamp from Gina K. Designs, part of a set that was a Christmas gift from my friend Kathy.

The cards open vertically (see first photo), and since I scored the white backing piece about 1/4 inch from the top before gluing these two pieces together with snail adhesive, they can even stand up. Each card fits inside a standard 4 x 5-1/2-inch envelope. I've also found a pattern for a treat box that can be constructed from card stock then glued inside two pieces of these mug cutouts, for mug-shaped treat boxes, and I imagine I'll be trying that soon as well. So that's what I was up to this weekend. What about you, friends?

Friday, November 13, 2020

Washi tape — you get what you pay for

A friend of mine used to say, "You win some, you lose some, and some get rained out." Well, this "washi tape" from Dollar Tree would fall into the "you lose some" category. I was so excited to have found a washi tape with a teacup on it for just a dollar.

With cookies and hearts and a shy, smiling teacup, how could I lose, right?

My first clue that something was amiss was that the tape had a piece of clear cellophane holding it in place, which I've never seen on other washi tape. When I removed the clear piece of tape, this stiff stuff practically popped right up. (And if you're not a washi tape enthusiast—yet—just imagine a slightly lighter weight of masking tape. Same idea. So it should definitely be sticking to itself.) It *did* hold my dies in place for my die-cutting machine, which is one of the main reasons I buy washi tape, but alas, it tore the paper when I removed it, so that's a deal breaker. This tape has little in common with the other washi tapes I've used, so maybe I'll use this one to decorate packages or something. On the bright side, it'll force me to be creative!

Monday, November 11, 2019

More adventures in teatime card making … and a small giveaway!

The other week, I used the last pennies of an Amazon gift card to order this stamp-and-die set, the Tea Time set from Gemini by Crafter's Companion in the UK. This set was intriguing to me because the die comes in two parts, so that you can cut out the complete design of the teacup stack or simply cut out one side and let it serve as the edge of a card. Could I do it?

Why yes! Yes, I could.

Actually, I had a few flubs along the way. First, I colored with alcohol markers, which I absolutely love, but …

It didn't dawn on me that they would bleed through. So, alcohol markers will need to be saved for when the full design is cut out and I'm adhering it to a card in a way that the back doesn't show. Lesson learned.

So I turned to my colored pencils and went with fall tones on another card. I've had fun creating a few of these teacup stack cards so far, and I decided I would offer some as a giveaway this month, but I couldn't decide which color would be most popular. A fall palette? Pinks? Blues? And then it occurred to me …

I'll let YOU decide! If you're a fan of coloring and would like to win a set of four color-your-own-design cards, just leave an "Enter me" to this post by Friday, November 15, at 7 a.m. EST and you'll be entered to win, making sure to leave an email address if I don't already have a way to contact you. And happy coloring to the winner!

Monday, October 28, 2019

Crafter's Companion Floral Tea Cups Stamps — A Review

A few weeks ago, I saw some teacup stamps on Amazon that I immediately fell in love with and ordered, and since some of you enjoy paper crafting as much as I do, I thought I'd share my experience here since I was quite happy with the results!

These "Floral Tea Cups" stamps are from Crafter's Companion and also have a matching die, which is sold separately.

Helpfully, the stamps are numbered in the order in which you're supposed to use them. First, you stamp the main background color.

Next, you use the outline stamp. (Hard to see here, but this gold color has a metallic sheen, much like a real teacup would.)

Next, you stamp the outside of the roses.

Then, the inside of the roses. (I know my pink inks don't match at all, but hey, I was dying to try these out and used what I had on hand.)

And then the finished design with the roses and leaves. I was aiming for perfection, but apparently the stamp is supposed to leave a bit of white space in the design, which makes these stamps pretty forgiving to use. And in the interest of full disclosure, I wasn't paying attention and switched steps four and five, so the leaves actually were supposed to be step four and not step five. Oh well.

I've got to find a space in my office to place a table, but until then, I work in the floor, using my trusty Cricut Cuttlebug to cut out all the teacup stacks. I love to cut things out with a die!

I made two different styles of card, and even though I wasn't thrilled with the roses' ink colors (Hobby Lobby, here I come), I was actually pretty happy with the finished cards. I had a gift card and ordered my stamp set from Amazon here, and it's also available directly from Crafter's Companion here. And as luck would have it, a kind reader just *happened* to send me some gorgeous tea-themed paper crafting supplies last week, so look for more designs in the coming days!

Monday, August 12, 2019

A bit of weekend creativi-tea

Every month or so this year, I've had the pleasure of going over to my friend Kathy's house for a morning or afternoon and playing with "all the things," as she calls them, in her craft studio. She is a Stampin' Up demonstrator and has every paper crafting gadget, machine, tool, and toy imaginable, and I've been inspired to pull out my paper crafting supplies once again. This weekend, I decided to consult my Pinterest boards and experiment with the Stampin' Up Tea Together stamp set Kathy gave me last Christmas. I'm usually quite critical of my own cards because they're not as perfect and precise as hers, but I actually liked this one, perhaps because it was so simple!

First, I stamped a bunch of teapots and teacups so that I'd have plenty in case I messed up.

On a side note, I bought this retired color of Stampin' Up ink on eBay a while back because I liked the name and shade of this particular green.

I had some embossed pink paper I used as the background, and then I just added the die-cut teapot and flowers, attached with those little raised adhesive dots that give it a dimensional look. Coloring is one of my favorite parts of card making, and I used some Chameleon Pens that I thought went well with the pink of this paper. (No idea what color the paper is, but I'm pretty sure I got it at Michaels or Joann.) And Kathy had also given me some cute pearl adhesive dots (another Stampin' Up goodie), and I thought they made the perfect finishing touch for this card.

I've been slap out of tea-themed cards, as we say down South, so my goal is to make a batch of them and have them on hand at all times. If you're interested in getting this stamp set (and the matching dies) yourself, you can visit Kathy's Stampin' Up page here. (No affiliation, just a grateful friend.) And for my paper crafting friends who already have this set, or who just like to see some pretty eye candy, I have been adding to this Pinterest board filled with cards that other people have made with this set. Have any of you been crafting in any form lately? (Warning: I just rediscovered an old watercolor paint kit. We'll see where this leads!)

Monday, June 4, 2018

The Cricut Cuttlebug & teatime paper crafting

So here's what I made this weekend!

My birthday was last month, and I used the Amazon gift card my husband gave me to get this Cricut Cuttlebug machine for die cutting and embossing.

And then a gift from my oldest niece funded the purchase of the prettiest tea-themed dies I have ever seen, this Vintage Tea Party line by Sara Davies of Crafters Companion, founded in the UK but with an office in the US as well. I ordered my goodies on eBay from a seller in the UK when I found that I couldn't get all the ones I wanted on Amazon, but I have seen some of the line there and some in the Paper Wishes catalog, in case you happen to like them as well!

It's taking me a while to learn the tips and techniques of this brave new world of what I consider "fancy" paper crafting, but I'm up to the challenge since I am so enamored of all the pretty tea-themed dies I have discovered. This lacy one from the Vintage Tea Party line has so much detail! I'm having lots of fun with my new toys, and I plan to share some of the notecards and other crafts I make in the days ahead. If you happen to be a Cuttlebug user, or perhaps you've long advanced to one of the larger electronic Cricut machines, please share any tips and links you think might be of interest. I do know that my friend Joy got a Cuttlebug about the same time I did, so I'm quite happy I know at least one other tea lover who is exploring this form of paper crafting!