I started card making in the six months before the first lockdown of 2020. It was reasonably good timing, as shortly thereafter I was put on furlough and suddenly had a lot of time on my hands.
Even then I didn't manage to learn any fancy card-folds, or make anything more complicated than a cut-and-stick sort of card. But I kept buying supplies. Dies and stamps and papers. The odd stencil.
Lots of things which were A Good Idea At The Time.
Like a random card kit from Stampin' Up!'s Paper Pumpkin (which I found on eBay) called Hugs from Shelli, from May 2019. I remember looking at it at the time, attempting one of the cards, failing, and then putting it aside.
Until now.
I haven't really made many cards this year, despite a firm resolve to make two a week, one festive and one "ordinary". Easy enough, right? Especially given the non-complicated nature of my card-making.
Well, no, not with hefty tomes to read and study. Crafting doesn't often get much of a look-in.
But in a spare few minutes, I pulled out the card kit and settled on the sofa. Tiny was happy pottering and pulling out books to look through. I had a lap tray and all the bits and bobs I needed to make some cards.
I didn't even have to think about the designs, unlike with an Aldi card-kit I also have lurking in the craft room. I presume it's the same with most Paper Pumpkin sets, with instructions for making several specific designs. The Aldi card-kit is likely to remain in its box, though I sometimes use the die-cut sentiments, because, really, it's just a box of coloured card blanks and liners.
Still simple - very much still stamp and stick cards - they managed to be fancier than my normal cards, partly, I suspect, because they used ephemera I don't normally use, like the linen threads and the velvet ribbon. Amazing what a difference that makes!
I was impressed by how easily and well the stamps stamped, too, given that I haven't used many of them before. Lovely, clean images and sentiments, even with half an eye on Tiny on the other side of the room. Very relaxing, stamping one sentiment after another.
It was also a good feeling to be able to sit down and craft for a while, without Tiny demanding to see what I was up to and "help", which is what happens if I try to in the craft room. And in what felt like no time at all, I had almost a dozen cards made.
However, I did have a couple of niggles.
The first was that I could have done with some bigger or clearer images of the final designs. Crafting is hard enough on the eyes without also having to squint at a picture to copy. And I sometimes cross-stitch too. The images felt a bit like studying a cross-stitch pattern. I nearly missed some background stamping on one of the busier card-blanks. (All right, I know I don't have to copy them exactly, but I'm one of them as likes to do what I'm told, especially with creative things like this. Otherwise I freeze in indecision, overwhelmed by all the choice.)
The other thing is not really unique to this kit. It's just one of those things I've noticed in the papercraft community, which…makes me roll my eyes a little.
It's the use of the word "adhere" instead of "stick" or "glue". A bit like "fussy-cut" instead of "cut out". And I know, I use "fussy-cut" on occasion, but I do draw the line with "adhere". It just feels like it's trying too hard. There's nothing wrong with a plain old "stick", or "glue".
But I think I'll be on the lookout for more kits like this. And investigate using more ribbons and threads and other such ephemera. Primarily, though, I am working on streamlining my craft-supplies, to reduce the amount of thought that goes into it all. That, after all, is what takes the most time.
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