World Cardmaking Day 2018 (Bonus Post)

Hey guys and gals! Yesterday was a fun day in the papercrafting world, it was World Cardmaking Day. Don't worry if you have never heard of it, I only discovered it a couple of months ago. I decided to go online and see what could be found about this obscure holiday and I discovered that it was created by Paper Craft Magazine in 2006 and is held annually on the first Saturday in October.

In order to celebrate, I decided to finish a large group of cards that I had started working on awhile back but never got around to finishing. I had previously cut an entire 8.5 x 11 patterned paper pad into 4.25 x 5.5 inch rectangles in order to be used on cards.

I spent the entire day cutting, gluing (with double sided tape), stamping and sorting so that I could finish off this large batch of cards. I even got to use up some of my ENDLESS supply of Project Life cards (I swear that those cards have a way of multiplying when I am not looking). In the end I had about 150 finished cards (I made 4-6 of each card design).

Because I made so many cards of different types (birthday, friendship, encouragement, etc.), I decided to also make some boxes so that I could sell the cards in sets. I put eight different cards into each box so that each box would contain a variety of different occasions. 

Wow, it was a LONG day of crafting. I didn't finish until around 3 o'clock this morning, my back is KILLING me but at least I got a lot accomplished! 

Let me know if you are interested in purchasing one (or more) of these fun boxed sets. Email me at thesweetscrapper@gmail.com

Baby Block Welcome

Well it is FINALLY Friday and two of my blog goals have been completed! The Sweet Scrapper has it's own Pinterest presence (click HERE to check it out) and a new banner and logo have been finalized! I would say it has been a pretty decent week overall, even after I broke out into a rant in Monday's post. I am still feeling a lot of sadness and anger but I am TRYING my best to work through it and not let it stop me like I have in the past. I have been repeating the same phrase over and over throughout the week and it has been helping me push through; 'accept the things you can not change because you can not change other people'.

So without further complaining let's discuss the card for today. Over the last several years I have made quite a few new baby cards for my ever expanding extended family. With each new pregnancy announcement I feel the need to rush off to my scraproom and make a brand new card. Since I usually don't know the gender of the new baby I just 'have' to make a card for each.

The card that I have for you today was made using some square scraps that I had laying around. I was able to color the stamped onesie image to match the color of the patterned squares perfectly.

For the inside I used one of my favorite quotes from a Fiskars stamp set that I have, and added the same square (only smaller) from the outside of the card. I really like this one!

Alright guys, I need some advice. What should I focus on next? 

- Creating a new Sweet Scrapper Instagram?

- A Sweet Scrapper Facebook Page?

- An Etsy store where you guys can purchase the items that I have posted on my blog?

Let me know in the comments below! 

Celebrate Everyday with an Announcement

I have officially made a brand NEW BLOG LOGO AND BANNER!!! And, better yet, I did it all on my own! I have to take a second to toot my own horn *toot toot* because I am really proud of myself. I hope that you all like it as much as I do!

My New Logo

My New Banner

The card for today is yet another one that I made a few years ago. Every now and then I simply sit down with some new supplies and decide to 'play' by testing the limits and new techniques to see what I might like. This card was the result of one of  my 'play days' where I was trying out some new stamps, dies and ink colors to see what might look good together. 

Let me know what you think about the new banner and logo as well has the card for today in the comments below. I love to get new comments, and it helps me know what you like! 

See you again on Friday! 

Cake Card

Many of you are probably wondering why September has turned into the month that I share so many of my OLD cards that I made years ago. Well, there is a simple reason for that. At the end of August my grandpa had to come up to my house to stay for several days because everyone in the family who is acting as caregivers, either had a doctors appointment or was out of town for that week. The only solution was to bring him to our house. The only downside...I had eight MONTHS of craftroom mess to clean up and organize in just a couple of days (because my craftroom doubles as the spare bedroom).

Because I haven't had much time at home to work in my scraproom lately, what I have been able to work on was typically quick and I didn't have time to put the stuff I used away when I was finished. Hence the room was a complete DISASTER!!

I worked extremely hard for three days straight to get the room into a presentable state. While moving, shuffling, organizing and straightening the entire room  I came across a box full of old cards that I made back when my craft supplies were so small that they fit into a little corner of a desk in my bedroom. In the box, along with the photos was an old computer flash drive that contained all of the photos of the cards that I have been sharing with you (that is why the quality is so poor). It was really fun to come across this little piece of the past that I had forgotten about.

I first started making cards and other paper crafts back in 2009, after I received a Cricut for my birthday. Back then the only way to really get a feel (at least for me) of what an image was going to look like when cut at a certain size, was to actually cut it out. Today's card is one of those early cutouts. It comes from the Cricut Sweet Treats cartridge and I still like it a lot (and not just because it is the same purple, pink and teal of my craft room today, although that is a BONUS). 

Looking at the card now makes me want to play around with the cartridge again, maybe cut this cake card in a size that will fit a gift card? Maybe just use the cake (that isn't a card) and add it to the front of a gift bag? Hmmm, the ideas keep coming.

I hope that you are all enjoying this flash back to some of my early stuff and I think that I have a few more but I will try to space them out a bit more over the next couple of months so that you don't get bored. 

You Are My Sunshine + Announcement

It is official! The Sweet Scrapper is now on Pinterest! I have been working this past week to get set up and as of Saturday, it is done. ☺ I have photo's of all of the projects that I have blogged about pinned to one board (with different sections) to make them easier to find. Here is my direct link if you would like to give it a follow, which I would greatly appreciate: www.pinterest.com/thesweetscrapper/.

Next on my list of things to do is a logo. For a while now, I have wanted to get a new logo but have been unsure as to how to go about it. Online video tutorials here I come. I have several ideas floating around in my head and now I just need to figure out what I CAN do and what looks the best. Wish me luck!!

I have made it my mission to be more focused on The Sweet Scrapper blog and 'business' (hopefully) as a whole. I want to prove not only to other people, but to myself as well, that I CAN make something of myself and by doing something that I love. So, in saying that...stay tuned for a LOT of new changes coming to the blog.

So for today's card, I used a sunburst/starburst technique that I have used before. It is a technique that I really like because it looks so much more complicated than it actually is.  For other examples of cards using this technique, check out my new Pinterest page. (wink wink)

If I were to make this card again I would probably change the stitched 'You are my sunshine' sticker to something more bright and colorful to match the papers of the sunburst, because I think that the colors in the sticker come across to muted.

Thanks for reading and I will see you again on Wednesday for a 'sweet' post. 

(Remember to check out The Sweet Scrapper on Pinterest.)

Typewrite Be Mine

I came across this card at my grandpa's house this week. I gave it to my grandpa for Valentine's Day back in 2014. I don't know if I have mentioned it before on my blog or not but back in the day my grandpa used to have a typewriter repair business in his garage and he was really good at fixing any problem that would arise. Even after he got older and retired he would still help people when they needed a repair. He only quit working on them a year or two ago when his eyesight worsened a bit which made seeing the tiny parts and springs too difficult. Keep in mind that he is 93 now so that is quite a feat.

So needless to say, typewriters have always held a special love and fascination for my grandpa, so I try to use them in cards and things when I get a chance.

This cute little card was made using an image cut with the Cricut (from the Suburbia Cartridge) a couple of stamps from Michaels and these fun little heart shaped brads that I found at Hobby Lobby.
It really warms my heart that he loves this card so much and he has kept if for so long.

Change It Up Thanks

I made a card for a coworker of my mom's several years ago to thank her for something, and from the minute that I completed the card it felt off to me. I was happy with parts of the card but with others I was displeased but unsure of how to fix it. I remember staring at it for quite a while trying to convince myself that I liked it. In the end I decided to just go with it and I went on to bed.

Here is a couple of photos of that card, what do you think? Was I being too critical of myself or is there something off designwise?

The next morning I came back and the card was still sitting on my desk. I grabbed an envelope and prepared to address it when an idea of how to fix it popped into my head. I CAREFULLY peeled up each of the flowers, leaves and mini buttons on the front of the card, which was difficult because the polka dot paper in the background was extremely thin, (about the weight of copy paper) and I had used a rather strong double sided tape to adhere them down. 

Finally, the floral elements were off and I am happy to say that the pink paper remained intact. I found a different flower that was in the same stamp set as the ones that I had just removed and stamped and cut it out. I placed the 'thanks' sentiment on the outside of the card and relocated the mini buttons. I was MUCH happier with the new look and it felt like it belonged there. 

But, because I had added the word 'thanks' to the front I now needed to change the inside of the card so that it wasn't just the same. I added the larger flower that had originally been on the front to the inside so that it didn't go to waste. 

So, what do you think? Did I make the right decision changing the card up or should I have just left it the way it was?

Thinking of a Floral Gate

Since the last couple of blog posts I have written have been about cards I made years ago, I figured that I would continue that trend for at least one more day.

I made this card at least 6 years ago. Back in my paper flowers phase, when I literally put paper flowers on EVERYTHING. To say that I was obsessed with them would be an understatement! I can still remember the day that I ran out of the flat, felt-like flowers that were used on this card. I actually cried and dragged my mom all over town to every big box craft store looking for more, only to discover that they had been DISCONTINUED and the stores wouldn't be getting anymore like it. They had changed to a different looking flower that was more paper-like and I HATED it! I wanted what I had not something new. Wow those were the days. Thank goodness I am past that now. 

The gate and fence were cut out using the Cricut with a cartridge that I actually forgot that I own. With the creation of the online Cricut design software, it is easy to forget each cartridge as a whole because I usually just search for the image that I want and then from there weed out the cartridges that I don't own to find the right fit. I will have to go and look up more images from this cartridge to see what else I might be missing from what I already own. One more item for my to do list that I will hopefully get to someday soon.

I could go in and try to modernize this card but I think that I will probably just stick it into a keepsake box to be "rediscovered" many years from now so that I can reminisce over it again. 

Masculine Card of Confusion

I made this card several years ago and thought that it looked pretty cool, until my mom asked me what occasion this card would be given to someone for...and I drew a blank. I have no idea what occasion would be befitting, maybe an new driver? or an over the hill card? Let me know if you can come up with a good reason for this card. But, even if it doesn't have a purpose I still like it and I will definitely have to do the inside stamping with the wheels again because it looks pretty cool.