Report Card/Schoolhouse cards

Hi,

How are you this week?

Getting any crafting done? Hmm, a few hands there...

Just getting through and crafting is the last thing on your mind? Rats, a lot of hands there. Not good.

I know, sometimes life just gets in the way, doesn't it?

I'm in the 'getting lots done' group at the moment. Lucky me, but I kinda stole some sleep to make it happen.

On Saturday arvo/night we visited with friends which equaled lots of chatter, game playing and eating and when we arrived home at 8:30 pm, I was tired and ready for a sit down (I know, party animals).

I had a shower, got into my pjs, made a cup of tea and went straight to my scrap cabinet though. Don't know why, just wanted to make something rather than sit down.

I ended up staying there until 2 in the morning!

And let me tell you, girls, I forced myself to stay there.

I had back pain, shoulder blade pain (yee ouch, a knife in my shoulder blade, you know those), sore feet and the like, but I made myself stay there.

Just wanted to.

Just wanted to see it through and get all the scraps off my desk.

Just wanted to get to the end of what I was doing.

And what I was doing was making cards with the leftovers of the Report Card and Schoolhouse lines from October Afternoon.

What I was doing specifically was using up the 8 x 8 papers in each line.

Reasons why this rocks:

1.  The folded 8 x 8 becomes 4 x 8 and that size fits in a DL envelope. That is, postage of 60c. Nice.

2.  The 8 x 8 papers are single-sided, which means my cards were white on the inside...perfect for writing on.

Hello? Rocks.

Anyway...here are the cards.

Again, photos a bit dark - sorry.

PS. Not all of them are fab.

PPS. I'm all for full disclosure here on the blog-o.

PPPS. I like them all anyway...

One of my favourites - just like the fella on the front (journalling card from Fly a Kite) and the patterns.

Kristina Werner has been doing Friday Focus videos lately and she's been specifically talking about how to use patterned paper.

One of her recommendations is to only use one multi-coloured pattern at a time.

I agree with her. That makes sense.

Did not make sense on these cards though - just wanted to use the patterns and use them I did. I was making cards for my stash with the intention of using up the papers too.

So, a lotta colour and pattern going on with some of the cards.

I'm okay with it.

I like it.

Not a favourite - but I still kept it in this list.

It was my first one actually.

First ones are always a bit challenging because you're still finding your way. Obviously my way with these cards was not that way.

Well on my way here - like this one.

Cute. Sometimes the simple ones are the best.

I did pull out a few journalling cards from a couple of other lines too. This one might be from Cherry Hill - not sure.

Ha ha, used the front of the 8 x 8 pad here - ie. the cover sheet. Too nice to throw away and kinda matched in with what I was doing!

I know, this one's...interesting?

Sometimes crafting is about just letting yourself stick it down and move on. The next card might be better. And it was.

Very plain - another 'just stick it down and move on' one.

This one didn't fit in the envelope because I had the bits sticking off the edges, so I trimmed it and then it looked terrible. I'll pull it off, trim the edges and glue it on straight - it'll be fine then.

(Edited to add: Done that now. Had a few problems with the trimming of the cardstock - my knife kept getting stuck and jamming on the adhesive that was already on there. Ended up with no navy/stars...whatever! But the bit's straight and it looks fine)

This is one of my favourites.

I do like red, blue and cream together. Nice.

Anyway, that was my five hour session on Saturday night - 15 cards with 15 envelopes to stick them in with 15 address labels (because I always forget to put them on and then when I go to address the patterned paper envelope I get stuck and then I have to find something plain to stick on to write the address on....annoying. Was determined to stick those plain address labels on at the assembly point and not the departure point).

I made the envelopes myself and used leftover OA papers and others - just patterns I wanted to use up. Better to have them as envelopes than nothing at all.

Hope you like the cards - I've since made some of these types of cards and also the 4 x 6 journalling cards with the Farm Fresh line. I'm definitely on a roll.

It's nice to have some 4 x 6 journalling cards in my stash.

It's nice to have some actual cards in my stash to give away, send out, put through the mail.

It's nice to have completely used up some of my OA lines. Had to happen. Had fun doing it.

Going to make more cards - what line will I use up next? Probably Fly a Kite although I've struggled with the patterns in that line previously...will see what happens.

Bye now!

Some of the 4 x 6 cards

Hi there, 

Yesterday I talked about my scrap space and the 4 x 6 journalling cards I've been making, so today I thought I'd show you them.  

Remember they're to fill a spot in my album or to journal on - I scrap using divided page protectors.

They were also just fun to make. 

The reason I made them in the first place?

Because when I was scrapping I was getting stuck on the photo, make something, photo, make something process. 

Sometimes I just want to stick a few photos in, journal a bit and walk away. 

Without any 4 x 6 cards made it was impossible because I always had to make something, find something or whatever. Not what I wanted to do basically. 

I decided I needed some 4 x 6 cards in my stash to just pull out when I needed them. 

Ended up making stacks of them over a couple of weeks.  

So sorry for the photos - they're a bit dark. 

There's a lot, hey?

They're so colourful - love 'em.

Some of the cards will be used as is.

Some will have something else added to them if needed at the time.

They were all made with the October Afternoon Report Card and Schoolhouse lines. They worked so well together.

Anyway, enjoy!

Might be time for me to go and slip a photo in or two...need to. Want to. Bye now.

A Scrap Quiz - What's on your scrap desk right now?

It's not really a scrap desk, it's a scrap cabinet - but the name doesn't matter, it's where I scrap. 

I snapped these pictures recently - because I felt like it I guess. 

I like seeing goings on through the lens...it's interesting to me. 

Here's that small cabinet that was only supposed to be there for the summer last year - we're coming up to summer this year and it's still there, so I guess it's a permanent fixture right now.

I like it. It works and I need the space on top to store things on.

The actual scrap space is a bit of a mess - not to me though of course.

Lately I've been taking each October Afternoon collection separately and making 4 x 6 cards out of them to slip in my scrap album as I need them.

Some are for decoration for when I need to fill a spot or want something pretty, and some are for journalling on.

It's been fun to just use the papers I love so much and build up my stash of bits to use at the same time.

Above I'm using Schoolhouse and Report Card together because they're both school-y lines. A lot of the OA lines coordinate.

And I've discovered a real love for yellow and grey. I remember saying that combo would never come into my crafting kitchen, but it has through these collections.

You can't see it very well, but above there's a yellow and grey striped paper - it's on the bottom half of the card with the tartan in the corner.

I love that paper - you can see it here. It's called No 2 Pencil - very fitting.

The whole Schoolhouse collection is here. It came out two years ago? Back then they had six papers per line, but now they're doing nine and 12.

Sidewalks has nine.

Farmhouse and Sasparilla have 12. Holiday Style has 12 too. Nice.

They used to have a die cut paper with each collection, but they've ditched them for more regular papers. Boarding Pass is the last line to have a die cut paper - the stamp one.

I like the idea of having more patterns in the collections, so that'll be fun.

And what I'm most excited about is that they've bought back the journalling cards. I've miiisseed those. Oh, weelllcome back.

They're perfect for my scrapping albums because I either stick them to a 4 x 6 piece of paper from the same collection or just put them in the little pockets in Becky Higgins' page protectors (I use any and all brands).

Looking forward to using some Little Flyers too - so cute.

Anyway, back to the desk as it is - fun, messy and a really, really, great space for me.

Andrew stood there the other day and was impressed. He liked how it all worked and how I could see the telly and everything else all at the same time.

He gave it a thumbs up. So do I!