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 advise 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
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