Posts Tagged ‘DCWV’

If you’re a Dean Martin fan, then these words have danced in your head before…

“Let me tell you ‘bout the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees, the moon up above, and the thing called love.”

Now don’t start fidgeting in your seat, we’re not going to talk about THOSE birds and bees, we’re going to talk about another kind! More colorful, but not in THAT way…goodness gracious the places people’s minds go… With spring coming up (and hopefully SOON), its time to start getting in gear for gardens, sunshine and of course — birds and bees! Its a new year; time to shrug off the old and embrace something new. And that’s exactly what I did!

Have you ever noticed that when you shop for supplies you tend to migrate towards the things that appeal to you the most? Do you tend to come home with the same styles, colors and themes? Have you looked at a paper stack, gave it that old high school ‘up and down’ and then, with upturned nose, walked away? Well I sure have! I’m the queen of avoiding anything yellow, orange or containing realistic bugs. I mean seriously, how can THAT ever = cute?!?!?

Here’s how!

Not bad for a first attempt out of the proverbial ‘box’!

What I used:

eCraft aka Mischief – of course!
DCWV ‘Collage Musings’ stack
Mr. Cricut Crazy ‘Friends, Friends’ stamp set
Black Pigment Ink
Black Embossing Powder
Heat Embossing tool
Lettering Delights ‘Bee Yourself’ svg set
Glimmer Mist ‘Black Magic’
Ranger Distress Ink ‘Vintage Photo’
Ranger Blending tool
Brads
Craft knife
Glue Dots
Small Paint Brush
Embossing Tool/Pad

What I did:

The main portion of the card is made from a single sheet of card stock from the DCWV stack…  I love how realistic the flowers are and I wanted to really make them POP!  So I selected some of the petal and I cut along the edges with my craft knife about 3/4 of the way around the petal; I left it uncut where the petal connected to the center of the flower.  I also did this with the ends of the ribbon and the two flower buds at the top of the card.  Once I ‘freed’ those portions, I flipped the paper over and embossed the back of the pieces, being careful not to tear the paper.    Then I folded my card, but not the top flowers.  TIP if your embossing tool is skidding or ‘squeaking’ when you rub the paper…rub the embossing tip across some wax paper to help it slide better.

I found the bees on Letter Delights’ website, they’re part of the ‘Be Yourself’ svg cuts file.  Those were for Mischief, my eCraft, to cut out…and OMG what an amazing job she did!  Do you see those teeny tiny legs and those almost not even there antennae???  Crazy!  The more I use my eCraft, the more I’m impressed with what it can do…

WOW.  Mischief, you really out did yourself on those bees.  Good job!

Ok, back to the task at hand!  One of the other things that I really love about the paper I chose is the sparkle!  DCWV added the perfect amount of sparkle to the flowers and their stems and I wanted my bees to really look like they belonged.  To do that I used ‘Black Magic’ Glimmer Mist and the effect was perfect!  But instead of spritzing the glimmer mist on the paper, I used a paint brush.  I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss any spots, especially with those tiny parts…  I used mini glue dots to adhere them to the card.

Mr. Cricut Crazy Stamps had the perfect phrase for this card… ‘You’re the Bees Knees!’  Such a cute, old fashioned saying!  And since this card is all ‘garden’, I used another piece of card stock from the same DCWV stack that looks like wood.  I used Mischief to cut out my ‘piece of wood’ and the holes for the brads.  I used the Ranger Ink and Blending tool to deepen the color of the ‘wood’ and also to ink the edges of my ‘sign’.  My stamping skills are a little rough, and yeah…so are my heat embossing skills.  LOL  But, nothing ventured, nothing gained and those are two techniques that I wanted to learn this year.  Once that was done, I popped in the brads and adhered my little ‘wooden’ sign to my card.

All in all, a challenging but very fun card to make…  And proof that the old adage is true; If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.  So the next time you see a paper stack with colors or embellishments that are not what you tend to buy, instead of passing it by, why don’t you buy it and challenge yourself to break out of what you’ve always done…because you just might like when you get!

Have you ever wondered just what ’65lb’ card stock really means?  I do!  So I scoured the net for information that would help give me a better understanding of what that ‘lb’ really meant to me in terms of my craft and of course, justifying the purchase of MORE!

Currently, there are 2 ways that card stock weight is measured; the European way and the American way and both involve mathematical formulations, that a non-math person such as myself, could get seriously confused with.   Why?  Well the European measurement is based on the two dimensional height and width of one square meter.  Here’s where that fun math-stuff comes – g/m2 (gm/m², gsm, g/m²).  I know, I know…Math geeks everywhere  just shouted out ‘Can I get a woot woot?!?!?’.  lol  Back in my world though, that math stuff makes me want to turn heel and RUN!

Which brings us to the American measurement…  Much less math involved, which at this hour, is much appreciated!  American measurement is based on the weight of the paper as weighing 500 sheets (a ream) but doesn’t take into account the dimensions of the paper.  Sounds all well and good until your mom asks you ‘Ok, then what weighs more; a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?’.  Duh, Mom!  A ton of bricks, geesh *eyes rolling*  Like, totally.

For those who like visuals… here’s a lovely lil conversion chart for ya.

What was that, you’re still confused about paper weight?  That’s ok, you’ve got plenty of company!  See those seats over there by the exit door?  Ya, that farthest one is mine…makes it easier to sneak out when that math-stuff gets thrown around the room!

While the card stock weight thing is still confusing, I can tell you a few things.  The heavier and more dense the card stock, the better quality its going to be (and the more you’re going to pay for it).  Typically, us crafters are using card stock in the 60-90lb range.  I compiled a list of the ‘top selling’ brands of card stock  and then tried to find out what the weights were for each of those companies.  *TRIED* being the key word here.

*When I could find a weight noted, very few of their products state this information

**Most of their product states the weight of the paper

***When listed in this manner – Light-weight = 60lbs., Medium-weight = 70-80lbs., and Heavy-weight = 90lbs.

I’m a firm believer in ‘knowledge is power’ and although (for many of us) this is our hobby, that doesn’t mean we don’t want to make informed decisions.  I’d like to see more companies listing the weights of their paper right along with the dimensions.  Wouldn’t you?  Just do me a favor…hold the mathematics!  Because, yes, my 8th grader is smarter than I am in math.  That one’s for you Sammie, enjoy the moment