It all came together out of the blue. I was in the stationary aisles to pick up some papers and cardstock that I use to package my orders. While I picked up the ones I usually I found some very colorful cardstock, which I assume have no takers because of their bright colors. Being me, of course I had to go for the bright colors. I figured that it's strong enough to use as packaging materials. At $3 a pack of a couple hundred, it's cheaper than the cardstock I've been buying, so I figured I can give it a try.
Right behind me, I found some $1 stamps. And I saw some metallic gel ink pens, too. That's when the lightbulb went off. Dark and metallic inks would be perfect on brightly-colored cardstock. There were no ink pads for the stamps, so I figured I can go to an office supply store and get one. The nearest Office Max happened to be right next to a Target, and like Odysseus' men drawn to the Sirens' song, I walked into aptly-named Target first. Normally my wallet would fall prey to the Scylla and Charybdis known as the shoe and clothing clearance sections, but this time it didn't. Instead, my money was well-spent on some cheap ink pads. I got black, silver, and gold for a dollar each.
I got home that night and had my way with the stamps and pens. I think I'm gonna start making my own cards for birthdays and such:
Argggh...the blue metallic ink just doesn't photograph very well. Red is too intense for the camera.
I made a few others that didn't make it to Picture Time--they are no longer in my possession. At first I thought about selling a few sets on Etsy since they are so cute, but the fear of getting sued for copyright infringement (technically this is a derivative work) nixed that. Instead, I decided send my creations off to a few customers as gifts (including the lovely Bernie of Magic Realist).
Every time I'm done with a Big Leafiness necklace, I'd save the bigger leftover scraps and see what I can do with them. I've made some small cutouts with the scraps, but I didn't know what to do with them, so I saved them in an envelop. Lightbulb #2 went off. Here's what I did with them:
Now this is probably something I can sell without fear of getting slapped with a complaint. I love the feather cutout and I'm so glad that I can put it to good use.
My cards can use lots of improvement, that's for sure. In the meantime, I might turn to other free alternatives. Jess of How About Orange has generously put up a birthday card and envelop she designed for those days when you're in a hurry to go to a party and, darn, forgot that birthday card. You can find them here. I wish I have a color printer to take advantage of that, but I'm gonna have to wait until after the Bar to be able to afford one.
3 comments:
Congratulations on your graduation!!!
Also, I love how you come up with clever names for all of your creations that you sell on etsy. It looks like you are doing a good business with that. I hope you enjoy your new camera too.
Hey, any advice on the best way to beat a ticket? I got one this weekend for going through a yellow light (the cop said it was red but it was definitely yellow when I went under it). It certainly is not a fun thing to have hanging over me now.
Thanks, Stacie! I am enjoying my new camera. It's a bit different from my old one, so I'm still getting used to it.
As for the last part of your comment, I have to preface this with a disclaimer: I'm not your lawyer, and what I'm saying is simply a general statement of fact. That said--whether something is running a red light depends on how Vermont defines it. Hopefully the law goes in your favor.
So clever! I must admit, when I first received the tags, I thought "She is so talented, to draw that cake!" I guess that was because the ink on the writing and the cake matched perfectly - they're adorable and I can't wait to use them. Good luck with all the bar stuff!
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