More cards!

I went to tidy my desk this morning (ready for another cardmaking blitz tonight), and there were a few pieces of card & paper left over from yesterday’s 10 card session.  I whipped up these 2 mini cards … and those strips at the bottom … that’s literally all that is left from one sheet of cardstock and one sheet of pattern paper.  That is what I call a bargain … 10 cards and 2 mini cards from so few supplies.  I really enjoyed using an embossing folder for texture, and some stamp sets that I don’t often play with.  By using stamped images instead of bought embellishments, I keep the cost of these cards super low PLUS they are flat enough that they won’t require an extra stamp when I post them!  Tying everything in by using the same ink gives a really cohesive look.  I love these!

Get Your Craft On – 10 card One Sheet Wonder

It has taken ages, and been tonnes of fun making sure I got it right … this is my 10 card One Sheet Wonder template set!  It is similar to the 8 card OSW I have available for free download on my website, but this one has all the bugs ironed out, extra cards and has extra step by step photos.  My favourite thing about this set is that you can keep it very clean and simple, or really tizz up your cards with lots of luscious embellishments.  This set of cards cost me 94c … for all 10 cards!  How?  I bought in bulk.  Here’s a breakdown:

Book of 100 sheets of pattern paper – $10 (that’s 10c per sheet!)

A4 Cardstock (1 x black, 5 1/2 x white) bought in a reem of 100 – $13 (that’s 13c per sheet)

I used a set of 7 Gypsies bird & crown stamps that I bought on sale, my Stampin’ Up Chocolate Chip inkpad, Darkroom Door ‘All Occasions’ greeting stamp set and Prima acrylic music background stamp.  I used double sided tape, a pair of scissors, my trimmer, bone folder and an acrylic block.  No bling, no ribbon, no embellishments … an incredibly cheap way to make cards!

But you might be thinking to yourself … “I really don’t want to buy a book of 100 sheets of paper.”, and fair enough.  Maybe you have a sheet of pattern paper or two in your stash that you can use already.  And with this set you can use a sheet of A4 cardstock for the template, or you can use a 12×12 sheet of cardstock, so use what you have on hand.  But you may not have those things to hand, so what happens if you want to just buy enough to make one or two sets of cards?  Well … I tested that out, and went to Spotlight on 30%-off-all-stock day.

I bought some Kaisercraft products … 2 sheets of 12×12 ‘Miss Nelly’ double sided pattern paper ($1.55 ea), 2 sheets of 12×12 Kaisercard to match ($85c ea), a book of ‘Miss Nelly’ tags ($2) and 1m of lime satin ribbon ($1.29).  The total full price was $8.09, but with 30% off it came to $5.65.

I didn’t end up using all of the tags, so the pink flower cards cost me $2.52 for 10, and the blue cards cost $2.60 for 10.  That’s 25c and 26c each!  I matted some tags with the leftover cardstock, and I still have some left over.  Because I wanted to use up the tags, I bought 2 more sheets of pattern paper and 2 more Kaisercard today, and I will make another 2 sets so I am not left with tags I have no other use for.  Because I used a $5 voucher sent by Spotlight, it technically didn’t cost me anything!  Shop smart people!

So … how can you get your hands on this template?  Well … it is now available under the shop banner of the Cake & Enemy blog, and it can be all yours for $3.  Just click the paypal button, and you will be emailed a zip file containing the cardstock template, pattern paper template, step by step photos, written instructions and card sketches.  Here’s a link straight to the template pack in the shop CLICK HERE.

100 cards for less than $10

One of my favourite batches of 10.

On a recent visit to Spotlight I was super excited to find a pad of 100 sheets of 12″x12″ scrapbooking papers by Grace Taylor.  Usually when I look at those paper pads I only like half the papers, but this one … I could see a use for every single design!  Then up popped a challenge from Mums Who Make … what can you make for $10?  I realised that I could make 100 cards for that!  I did buy in bulk and dug into my stash of rubber stamps & inks, but using my One Sheet Wonder template I can make 10 cards using 1 sheet of 12″x12″ pattern paper and 5 & 1/2 sheets of A4 cardstock.  I paid $10 for 100 pattern paper, so that’s 10c each.  I paid $13 for a pack of 200 A4 cardstock, that’s 13c each.  That’s 94c for 10 cards!  Technically I could use the entire paper pad and make 1,000 cards … dare I take on such a challenge? LOL

In the photo above you can see my ‘ingredients’ on the left, and the finished cards on the right.  The beauty of the templates is that you can make lots of cards quickly.  If you are a person who likes to send handmade cards, this might be what you’re looking for!  Personally I like to bundle together 10 handmade cards with 10 envelopes and a book of 10 stamps and give them as a gift.  I’m starting to think about Christmas and some upcoming birthdays, and these 100 cards will make 10 wonderful gifts for less than $10.  Great for teachers, babysitters, lovely neighbours, dog walkers, Guide leaders … and no last minute Christmas shopping!  I’ll be sharing a lot more details as this project progresses.  For these cards the music stamp is Grace Taylor, the bird & crown stamps are 7 Gypsies and the greeting stamps are Darkroom Door (also an acrylic block).  The ink pad is Stampin’ Up ‘Chocolate Chip’  There is one sheet of Grace Taylor pattern paper, 5 sheets of white A4 card, 1 sheet of black A4 card and 1/2 sheet of cream A4 card.  I used a trimmer to cut the white A4 card in half for the card bases, and the bone folder to get a crisp fold on them.  I also used the trimmer to cut the pattern paper and black card following the templates. Last, but not least, I used a small pair of scissors (Martha Stewart) to cut out my stamped images and double sided tape to stick everything down.  I will be releasing these templates soon!

Girly copic challenge

Card by Dawn, Stamp by Etc. Anime

Today I have been getting my craft on!  I used to belong to a couple of awesome design teams, and I realised to day that it’s been about a year since I actually participated in a challenge.  So, I found one for copic markers at Colour Me Creative, and decided to dive on in.  The theme is anything goes as long as it’s girly.  I think this qualifies!  The pirate girl stamp is by Etc. Anime (digital), and the Hello Stamp is a Studio G acrylic stamp.  The paper is from a huge Grace Taylor paper pad I bought at Spotlight this week (on sale, go me!), and the flowers & brad are from my stash (probably Prima).  This is one card from a set of 10 I made with a One Sheet Wonder template (that I have tweaked a bit from my segment on Scrap It TV).
I love blog challenges, because it is just that … a challenge!  I often try a technique, theme or colour combo that I wouldn’t usually try, which is fun.  They’re great when you’re feeling creative!  The only downside is how addictive they are LOL … so I don’t put too much pressure on myself to win, or to enter every single one I can find.  I do them when I feel like a bit of creativity!

Copic colours:

Skin: E50, E51, E53, R02 …. Skull: E30, E31 ….. Shoes & Hat: C1, C2, C3, C5, C7, C9 …. Purples: BV00, BV01, BV02, BV04, BV08 ….. Teals: BG01, BG02, BG05, BG07 ….. Hair: Y21, Y23, Y26, Y28