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A very warm welcome to my teeny, tiny part of the huge world of blogging. This is where I share my passion for making hand made greeting cards. So - why "Always with a Heart"? Well this is for two reasons. Firstly, it is because every card I produce carries a heart on it somewhere. This can be big and bold or small and almost hidden - the fun sometimes is just trying to find it! Secondly it is because I put my heart into everything I produce. I hope that any visitors enjoy seeing what I post. If you drop by then please leave me a comment so that I know you called. It would be nice to know that you have found my heart in what I do.

Friday, 26 June 2026

CALL ME MAD - BUT A BIG DECISION HAS BEEN MADE

Hi Everyone

Well, it has definitely been a warm week here that's for sure. 

I have worked really hard on that "to do list" I mentioned at the start of the week and am feeling quite pleased with myself .. .. .. not that "everything" has been crossed off it .. .. .. but some of the "big monkeys" that have been weighing me down on the Mum front are now crossed off. 

But I did some of the fun things on my list too so they sort of balanced out.

Not much physical crafting done that I am able to share as it would spoil surprises for certain people  but today I got chance to craft just for the sheer pleasure of it and came up with this:


This used:  

Image:  Penny Black - "3865K" Gossamer
Sentiment:  Clearly Besotted "CBSSP649" Speaking Out
Backing Papers:  ArtStudio -  No design name but it came from The Range about 3 months ago and I have finally Christened it
Tiny Scalloped Rectangles - Pre-loved from Ebay
Ribbon
Corner Rounding Punch
My Trusty Sewing Machine

and now to my "BIG decision" ........ and no ....... the sun hasn't done something to my brain

This beautiful design paper pad below is going down in my crafting history as the last physical design pad I ever purchased -  no matter how beautiful or cheap I am buying no more .. .. .. 


My patterned papers are going to be digital downloads or ones I will have attempted to create myself.

My logic being:

A digital file will take up far less room in my life and they will all be backed up so no chance of losing them or running out of my favourite designs.  Quite often with bought pads there are some gorgeous papers but also there are always a fair amount of what I call "those ugly ones".  So eventually all my papers will be beautiful useable ones.

Sometimes I make a card for someone and they will say "could you make me another three like that" but I don't always have enough of the design paper left in the pad .. .. but when I go digital I could make another three hundred if they wanted them!

It is going to take me a while to be totally paper digital though .. .. .. .. so apologies now, because there are going to be lots of old design papers making an appearance.  I dread to think how long it is going to be before I use all of those up .. .. but I will!

I have simply decided I have far too many part-used paper pads taking up far too much space and I am not adding any more full ones.  The dream being I will simply print out a piece (or pieces) as I need them, cut what I need and the remainder will be stored as snippets for future projects.

But there is no way my images will ever go totally digital.  Yes, I love using digital images and there are so many lovely designs and images available .. .. .. .. .. you can get lots for the price of a single stamp.. .. .. but there is something about physical stamps and colouring them that is timeless.

Wish me luck.  

I wonder how long it is going to be before I can post that all of those old pads have gone?  Answers on a postcard LOL!!!

Enjoy your weekend when it arrives and keep slapping that suncream on!!!!!

14 comments:

meg said...

A gorgeous card Jules love the colours and background paper. Can't imagine how long it will take to use all your papers

LesleyG said...

That’s a very pretty card Jules, I do love that stamp and the paper piecing. I do understand but I’m sure your stock will last a long time yet 😃. I’m not a fan of digital (I get fed up with it as it is 😂), but we’re all adjusting our spending in different ways that suit us. Let’s face it, life is constantly changing, as is the weather, which I wish would cool down a bit soon! Have a good weekend xxx

Aquarius said...

Such a delicate and calm card design - love it. Well, what a momentous decision and I can certainly see the logic. If your stock of physical papers is anything like mine I'd say it will take a while to use them all up but I do realise that I'd be freeing up quite an amount of space if the papers were gone. I can't even bear to weed out the 'ugly ones' so how sad is that?? I will be watching your progress into going digital with interest - good luck 😉. Hugs, have a good weekend xx

Pauline C said...

Very pretty card Jules, I love that vintage Penny Black stamp. Good luck with the digital paper drive - great logic as you are right most packs have a mixture of desirable and less desirable sheets .. I still have loads stuck in my cupboard and I never even use papers now! I never really got the hang of Digi papers … not sure my printer is good enough to make a professional result, and do they drain your ink cartridges very quickly? You are right though it would make repeat makes a lot easier … looking forward to seeing what you do with them xx

Linby said...

A very pretty card. I understand your decision about paper pads. However, I have a lot of craft cd roms that no longer work! I have digital photos that look dreadful on my latest PC - digital changes too!

Lynne said...

A gorgeous colour combo Jules, a very pretty card. I dont think I will ever get my patterned paper stack down so I wish you luck with yours.

Eve said...

Hi Jules,
what a beautiful card with such lovely colours and expertly paper pieced.

Good luck with your new resolution! I am going to test you now - what would happen if you suddenly saw your beloved Ella Blue paper pad appear on Ebay?!!! He He!! Would you give in?!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Love Eve xxx

Kath said...

A lovely card Jules and beautiful colours too.
Kath x

Beverley said...

I would be interested to know which printer you use and also which paper you print your digital papers on. My few prints came out very different colours to what I was expecting and on thin copier paper were not at all what I wanted. I am just in the process of buying a new printer and am erring on another n Epson but there are so many to choose from that I am in a dilemma. I know you are short on time but I think this is a question that a few people would be interested to hear from you. Thanks Beverley

JanR said...

Good luck. (: You're a better person than I. If I see a great deal on patterned paper, I can't resist. Such a pretty card! I love the colours and the paper pieced flowers are lovely.

Carole said...

Hmmm ...Till the next time you visit 'The Works' or 'The Range' ??

HilaryJane said...

I stopped buying patterned paper several years ago when it dawned on me that although I love the papers, I very rarely used them on my cards! I do have some digital ones too, but it never even occurs to me to look through them. Good luck with your mission xx

Sarah said...

LOVE this card, excellent paper piecing and I would not have been able to resist that paper pad either. Good Luck with your mission. I have off loaded a couple of drawers full of pads over the last few months but still have heaps left!! xx

Sarn said...

LOVE that PB flower (and own it myself). Thanks for the reminder! Great card xxx