Hi Everyone
Many thanks for your comments on my previous post where I am sure you probably all think that I have gone completely doo-lally .. .. .. as I have vowed to use up all of my current design pads .. .. .. .. .. and never to buy any more. (I actually made a "little" start yesterday by weeding out some of my papers ready for donating to a local charity store that is very dear to my heart. The local brownies and schools will have great fun using them up I am sure).
The charity store also collate little craft packs containing various card, papers and toppers and they sell really quickly .. .. .. someone donates plastic wallets and they cram them with crafty goodies so it is a win, win.
My mission will certainly be much easier for me to achieve now though than it would have been a few years ago when there were lots of craft outlets that you could easily walk into and see shelves absolutely full of quality design pads, along with every other craft item you could possibly think of. Especially The Range. We had a fairly local Range store that used to have a huge array of tables on which would be stacked masses of design pads. Especially the First Edition pads (of which there were many) and they were available in three sizes, 6x6, 8x8 and 12x12!!
Even our local Dunelm store used to have a Craft Dept .. .. .. and treat of treats there were little local shops where you could buy supplies or even pay to take part in Saturday morning craft lessons (which is where my papercraft obsession began) way back when!!
The Works don't even have any paper pads to tempt me anymore!!! So my task is getting easier by the day
It is true to say though, it is going to take a while for me to use up all the design papers I currently have .. .. .. quite a lot of them are left over from magazine commissions, as well as some I bought and loved so much I purchased two (or more) of them .. .. .. LOL!! But sadly Eve .. .. I only ever bought one Ella Blue and it was a 12x12 pad. Had I known they would become unobtainable I would have bought two .. .. .. or even three LOL!!. There is actually an 8x8 pad being sold by someone in America .. .. but the postage costs more than the pad!! I won't be succumbing. Such restraint and I don't want to fall at the first hurdle!!! Fancy you remembering my love of that pad Eve.xxx I wonder if I will find any leftovers as I work my way through my supplies?!?
I have been asked a few questions both on my blog, and by email, since my original post that I am more than happy to answer.
Quite a few people have been interested in what printer and paper I use and whether my printer is heavy on ink.
Printer wise
I purchased my current printer just prior to moving to our new home which is over 2 years ago now from Printer Base. I think it must have been on offer at the time otherwise I would have waited until we had actually moved home. The printer is a Canon Maxify GX4050 .. .. .. and yes it was a bit pricey but has been worth its weight in gold. I am still working with original bottles of ink that came with the machine and it will print onto cardstock too..
I bought mine in February 2024 .. .. .. and so far haven't needed to buy any more ink for re-filling .. .. .. and believe me I do an awful lot of printing, lots of design paper printing and images. But it isn't just for crafting purposes but for everything concerning Mum as well as info for the accountant and Mr Tax Man for my little business. Not a day goes by that it isn't put to some sort of use.
The printer came with all the inks in plastic bottles ready for filling the individual tanks, which I did prior to moving in April 2024, and I then put the remaining ink into storage. I only last week topped up the ink to their maximum levels again and I still have ink left in the bottles (but not loads). So hopefully I am going to get a another couple of years use (although I may need a black re-fill bottle before the colours). Now I know the ink keeps perfectly even when the bottles have been opened I will be keeping my eye open for them going into a sale sometime.
Paper wise
I purely by accident a few weeks ago found the most perfect paper (both for printing on and stamping/colouring on).
I bought it thinking it would be good for making card bases with, but I felt it was too flimsy for that .. .. .. but perfect for everything else. A brilliant happy accident. It comes from PaperMill Direct - Arena Extra White Smooth 300gsm card.
When buying my current laptop quite a few years ago I was fortunate to be served by a wonderful young chappie who gave me a little lecture on getting good results when printing. He said it has nothing to do with what computer or printer you have .. .. .. it is all down to the paper you print onto. Of course I put his advice to the test once I got home and he was right. I tried printing on plain papers, coated cardstock, smooth card, bog standard thickish paper and everything in-between to compare the results and it was amazing how different they all looked.
I always use smooth for my images whether they are digital or hand-stamped and coloured, but have never used glossy photo paper.
For backing papers you would be surprised at the difference. I like the look I get from smooth paper and other times depending on the design I print onto rougher paper and you can get a lovely hazy look which I love. I have always assumed that is because the ink bleeds into the rough paper more than the smooth.
But I have made a start today, and before heading off to spend the afternoon with Mum I dragged out two paper pads and have used them both up (to be fair there were only a few pages in each but every little helps). I found that if I reduce the size of my teeny tiny cards slightly they fit into a home made envelope using a 6 x 6 piece of design paper.
This now finished pad originally came via a magazine commission and uses the papers I am not so keen on seeing on the front of a card. No-doubt quite a few other 6x6 pads might be turned into teeny tiny envelopes just like these - I do get through quite a lot of them and it is nice to have them ready and waiting.
I will share the cards I made with the other paper pad tomorrow as this post is becoming like War and Peace! LOL!!!
Well done if you made it to the end. Hope my post has helped those who raised queries/questioned my sanity 😊
If you need to know anything else just give me a shout and I will try to help .. .. .. .. but I don't know the winning lottery numbers unfortunately.
10 comments:
Lots of information here, thanks for sharing it. I buy white smooth paper from Papermill direct. It is Mondi white colour copy paper and I buy it in 3 weights 160gsm (used for inserts), 250gs, (used for die cutting and stamping) and 350gsm (used for card bases) It is very white and very smooth and not too expensive. I like my cards to have a good weight to them. They feel more sturdy and look better in my humble opinion anyway. Have a great week xx
Thank you for your lovely long post, so interesting. I too have a Canon ink tank printer, a g3600 I think is the model number, and so interested to read your thoughts on paper quality, as sometimes I am disappointed with results and that could well be the answer.
This has been so interesting. I’m a great believer in getting the right quality paper/card. I had Papermill card years ago, so will look into that. I have an inexpensive HP Envy with an ink subscription that works for me at the moment. Your envelopes have inspired me to get out my old envelope maker again, and use up some papers…….xxx
I enjoyed reading your post Jules, my Epson thank printer isn't taking heavy weight card any more it must be about 8 years old and I'm only on my second !lot of ink .I bought Highlight Crafts Premium pure print papers in different weights and the colour qualify is fabulous for printing images. Use card I bought from the papermill in Aberdeen before it closed.Love your dinky envelopes. Meg
What an interesting (and lengthy) read this was, also very informative.. I had to replace my Canon printer some time ago and couldn't find a suitable Canon model (during the Covid years so unable to shop around as I'd have liked). Too late I discovered that the replacement printer refuses to take anything heavier than 160/180 gsm weight card which to my mind isn't heavy enough for printing images which need to be coloured for instance. Too much hassle to think about replacing it so I've just had to adapt 😉. Love what you've done with those 6" papers made into envelopes, something which hadn't occurred to me! Sorry this comment has turned into 'War and Peace' now 🤣🤣. Hugs xx
Thank you so much for taking the time to explain all that info re paper and printer. it was a long read which I will read again and digest.
I do love your cards and the tiny envelopes are superb. Carry on with your inspirational card designs, I look forward to each blog post when you have time.
Beverley
Hi Jules,
I hope my cheeky comment made you laugh about your Ella Blue papers!! What a good memory I have - can you believe that you first started using that paper pad in 2010!!! I checked!! I always used to have a quick search on Ebay for you hoping that someone would have one for sale with no luck :-( ...
Thank you so much for all that info on paper and printers. I have a Cannon printer which guzzles ink cartridges like there's no tomorrow!
I still use paper from Rymans but will look into the Paper Mill one.
I do have one more question for you which I think that I have probably asked you before but my menopause brain has forgotten the answer! Please can you tell me where you get your lovely fonts from - are they free or do you pay for them?
Hope you get a chance to use more of your snippets soon.
Lots of love
Eve xxx
An interesting post, thank for all the information. My printer won't print on anything heavier than about 160gsm, which is really frustrating. We've had it a long time and if we eventually need to replace it, I'll be sure to buy one that prints on a heavier card. I still miss the Paper Mill retail shops, there's nothing like feeling the card and paper before you buy it and fill a box yourself. I've just Googled when the stores were closed and it was 2011! I still have plenty of their coloured card stock left!
Liz xx
Thanks for this really interesting and informative post Jules. Good luck with your quest to use up your papers .. I’ll watch the results with great interest xx
That was such a good read Jules, particularly regarding your printer. I have lost count of the number of times I have been tempted to throw my printer out of the office window and keep threatening to replace it but there are so many out there it's hard to make a decision. I like the idea of the single ink colours as it sounds a cost effective way. We are currently on HP Instant Ink and I am not convinced that it is good value xx
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