Couture Cardstock

Hi Everyone!

As promised I have a product review for you today...Couture Cardstock, a division of the Cardstock Warehouse, which recently launched its extensive product line at CHA 2010 in Anaheim, California.

CarrieAnn DeLoach, the founder of Couture Cardstock, fell in love with paper crafting at a very young age (see her story here) and wanted to start a paper company with three main goals in mind...

Provide a quality product at a fair price.

Service with a smile.

and

Focus on what the consumer wants.

The launching of Couture Cardstock has allowed this list to become a reality and CarrieAnn would like share the promises they make to you, each and every time you choose to create works of art with them.

About the Paper....

Couture Cardstock offers papers in over 200 different colors, finishes and weights. A unique feature of CC is stocking paper of 3 different weights. Each weight (light, medium or heavy) is specially suited for different techniques, projects, and challenges. Every paper weight is clearly marked and helpful project suggestions can be found in item descriptions and design team member gallery.

I was fortunate enough to try their papers first hand and I'm here to share my results with you!

Since CarrieAnne was nice enough to allow me to choose the papers I was going to work with I of course went for the blues...Rainy Day Monochromatic Family.

If you will notice on the linked page the color family is pictured in the center showing a composite of all of the colors included in this family pack. The color names as well as the weight of each individual paper (as well as links to their own page) is listed along the left hand side. Very handy if you want or need additional sheets of a favorite color.

I stamped, punched, cut, distressed, and put these papers through their paces. If you will note the pack I rec'd consists of a mix of heavy (h) and light (l) weight papers. To give you an idea of how their paper stacks up against other well know brands I did a bit of comparing.

The heavy weight papers are comparable to Bazzill Basics cardstock in every way. Textured on one side and smooth on the other. I found no noticeable difference between the two in texture, weight or quality.

The light weight papers are smooth on both sides and in my opinion are very similar to Die Cuts With a View smooth cardstock or Basic Grey pattern paper weight.

Quality out of the way I was concerned with how well the paper took to stamping and working with the Ink Blending Tool (as you know, my fav!!). I am pleased to say the cardstock again was excellent to work with.

Here are a few examples of what I did with the paper. As you can see I stamped on both the smooth coat and textured cardstocks...each working exceptionally well. (Note: All paper is CC except for the pattern paper on the 2nd & 3rd cards. The pattern paper is Pink Paislee.)

I didn't have any trouble at all getting nice clean impressions, the IBT and Distress Inks blended and inked the paper perfectly.

After I tried it out I asked CarrieAnn a bit more about her paper...

ISR - Is your cardstock made in the USA?
CA - Our canvas texture product line contains over 75 colors. These papers are made in America and of 100% recycled materials. Shoppers will know they are purchasing one of these products if the item number begins with "CC".

ISR - How often do you plan on releasing new colors/types of paper?
CA - We release new colors and types of papers both seasonally and as we become aware of consumer needs. This summer at CHA we will be releasing 12 new light weight smooth colors, 3 new canvas texture colors and several specialty items. We always encourage paper crafters to participate in our community polls on our website to help us develop products which met their exact creative needs. Couture Cardstock users are also encouraged to contact us through the Couture Contact form to fill special requests.

ISR - Are you planning on offering swatch books?
CA - Swatch books are currently available for media representatives, wholesale clients, stationary customizers, event planners, and professional designers. We do plan on offering them to every day crafters in the near future for $4.99.

Their individual sheets of cardstock are searchable by Color, Weight, and Finish or Texture making it easy to find the cardstock to fit whatever your need.

Now, not only do they offer Monochromatic and Individual Paper Paks but they also offer Couture Collections. Paper collections which offer a wide variety of colors, textures and weights to suit many needs. My favorite of these collections is the Almost Autumn Collection. I can just about hear the crunch of the leaves just looking at it.

There is also a very unique option offered that I am extremely excited about....12" x 24" sheets of select colors of cardstock!!! They are called Super Cuts which is offered in 23 different colors all for $1.00 per sheet. This is PERFECT for creating mini albums, accordion cards or books, etc. It is very rare to find quality paper in this size. I have only located two places that offers this size and it is $2.50 per sheet!!!

CC also offers a variety of Specialty Papers which includes everything from mulberry paper in both 8.5x11 & 12x12; vellum, mirrored, chipboard and more!

At the moment Couture Cardstock is offering an amazing deal on select colors. It is a Buy One, Get One Free offer on perfectly coordinated pairs of cardstock. 50 sheets of paper (25 sheets of each color) for the price of one. I personally can't wait to take advantage of this great offer.

If you are interested in placing an order, Couture Cardstock accepts credit card and Pay-Pal. I did ask about international shipping since many of you are located outside of the cont. US and here was CarrieAnn's reply....

In the next month you will see some major changes in our shipping function in the online store. We are currently designing a custom shipping calculator which will give exact shipping rates as opposed to flat rate shipping. This option will also be available to international shoppers. We currently do ship internationally, but customers must contact us through the Couture Cardstock contact form for an estimate before placing their order. This can be done through the following link: http://www.couturecardstock.com/contacts/.

I wanted to direct you to Couture Cardstock blog. In honor of National Craft Month they are offering a special give-a-way each and every day during the month of March!! Each day there will be a challenge posted and a winner drawn the next day on all qualifying entries. (See the blog for full details.)

In addition to their daily drawing they are also having a HUGE Give-A-Way going on all month long ~ you could win 291 sheets of cardstock ~ one of every piece of cardstock in their entire store ~ every color, weight and texture they offer! All you have to do is post their blinkie on your blog and leave them a comment telling them you did so. How cool is that?!?!?

There is one additional product I am going to tell you about but I'm saving that for tomorrow...it was far to cool not to talk about in it's own right.

BUT

I do have a bit of a give-a-way for you...

Since they are hosting such a generous daily give-a-way on their blog this month I don't have a whole pack of paper to give you but I did cut up 4 swatch book samples of the Rainy Day collection I got to play with. I thought it would be a nice way for a few people to actually get their hands on it to see what they thought.

To enter to win one of these 4 mini swatch books all you have to do is go to CC and check out their papers.

Come back and tell me which color or collection is your favorite!

Simple as that!

You have until April 4th to enter!

Now, be sure to stop back in tomorrow to find out about their other must have cardstock!

TTFN!

BFF Album Challenge #1

On Saturday I posted a cool friendship e-mail I got from my Mom. I thought it would be fun to turn it into an altered book or scrapbook album and someone even suggested a card!

Well, got a lot of response so I thought we'd designate Tuesday as the BFF Album Challenge day.

Every Tuesday I'm going to post one piece of the Friendship Poem and a challenge to incorporate on your page.

Each of the challenges will be something that you could use in an altered book, scrapbook, on a card, ATC, etc. So no matter what your preferred platform you'll still be able to play!

Also, I am leaving the challenges pretty open for interpretation so that you can use what you have on hand. I've seen way to many challenges that make you use a specific stamp company or product which I think stinks. Not everybody has, wants or needs to have exactly the same items to join in the fun!

BFF Album Challenge #1

Sentiment Installment #1 -

1. When you are sad, I will jump on the person who made you sad like a spider monkey jacked up on Mountain Dew!!!Challenge #1 -

Incorporate Texture on your Page!

Texture could be created using layers of paper, paint, fibers, gesso, ribbons, embossing powders, dry embossing or texture plates, etc.

Here is my take on today's challenge!

I thought I'd start by mentioning that I'm going to be using some vintage beer coasters I found at a garage sale. Some will be completely covered while others will have the logo showing through. I'm going to use 2 per sentiment so it should make a nice little altered fat book when I'm finished! I'm going to use my Bind It all to hold it all together when it's done.

Gesso & Mesh

Supplies:

Foundation (Altered Book, Scrapbook, Chipboard, Cardstock, etc.)

Gesso - Ranger Industries

Adirondack Acrylic Paint - Ranger

Mesh

Acrylic Paint - Copper - Golden

Stickles Glitter Glue - Ranger

Collage Image

Sentiment (comp. generated)

Distress Inks

Mica Flakes

Vintage Dictionary Def/Photos

Instructions:

1. Mix up a bit of gesso and acrylic paint (for tint).

2. Press bits of the mesh into the gesso until your entire piece is covered.

3. (Optional) If there are areas of the mesh that haven't been completely covered, dab on additional gesso to cover the mesh. Let Dry Completely.

4. After the gesso/mesh has dried, dry brush (or finger) the metallic copper paint over the coasters. As you can see this will highlight the amazing texture created by the mesh.

5. For added texture I applied a layer of glue to various sections of my coasters and sprinkled on Mica Flakes. I then brushed on a little Stickles Glitter Glue for a bit more texture and a little bling.

6. Add images and text.

So there you go, item # 1 done in our BFF Altered Book!

Now, if you're playing along ~ I *think* I added a Mr. Linky thing below....it looks like I did anyway.

If it works like it should ~ you should be able to click on it and add a link to your BFF page. Please don't be shy ~ we'd love to see your creations!

Next Tuesday I'll post the next sentiment installment and challenge!

See you there!!!

Remember, tomorrow I'm going to be posting a product review for a fairly new company and their products.

Adirondack Alcohol Ink Egg Shell Mosaic

Today's technique was an experiment that ended up going a different direction than I originally thought it would. I had it in my mind that I could ink up the shell, break it into precise little pieces then place each piece of shell where I wanted it to create an image on a card.

NOT!

First off you can't make a shell break how you want it to...at least I couldn't. It just does it's own thing. Then by the time you get some of the pieces broken how you like it's so tedious trying to fit them all together perfectly w/o getting glue EVERYWHERE! Trust me on this!

SOOOO, I sat there for a while and figured out a quicker and MUCH easier way to get a cool egg shell mosaic look in about 1/8th of the time!

Adirondack Alcohol Ink

Egg Shell Mosaic

Supplies:

Egg Shells (cleaned & dried)

Adirondack Alcohol Inks

Chipboard Shapes (cut your own or pre cut)

Adirondack Acrylic Dabbers (to match the AI)

Thick Glue (Aleene's is what I use)

Instructions:

1. Clean and dry the egg shells. We raise our own chickens/eggs so they are very fresh. If your eggs are really fresh you'll need to try and remove as much of the shell membrane as possible. It's not necessary but it saves a bit of frustration later. I used two different types of egg for this example ~ brown chicken egg and a speckled turkey egg.

2. Ink the egg shells with desired colors of Alcohol Ink ~ I used shell pink, raspberry, sunshine yellow and meadow.

3. Paint your chipboard pieces with acrylic dabbers in matching colors (if possible).

4. Apply the egg shells to the chipboard....

Method 1 - I tried applying glue to the chipboard pieces then placing the unbroken shells in sections on the adhesive and pressing the shell (breaking it into smaller pieces) into the glue to secure it to the chipboard.

This didn't work as nicely as I thought it did because some of the bits come off and you can see the chipboard below. It is an o.k. method but it took a bit more time than I liked.

Method 2 - Crush the egg shells into really small bits Alcohol Inked side down. Apply a large amount of glue to the chipboard pieces. Press the chipboard into the pile of egg chips and repeat until the chipboard has been covered completely. Don't worry if some of the egg shell gets turned around so the white side is facing out, we'll take care of that in the next step.

This worked VERY quickly and easily. Keep in mind that the coating of egg shell is much thicker. Not sure if that makes a difference to you or not but if it does then go with method 1.

Either way after the chipboard has been coated let the glue dry completely.

5. If desired or necessary apply another layer of Alcohol Ink to your piece.

6. (Optional) Add accent pieces of shell individually by dabbing glue onto the shell and pressing in place. I did so to add a nice yellow center to my flowers.

Your Egg Shell Mosaic pieces are now ready to be used as desired!

I added mine to a nice Spring-y Card :)

You can see the difference ~ the shell pink flower was created using Method 1, the large raspberry flower and the stem pieces were made with Method 2.

So there you go!

Another fun crafty idea to help ring in Spring!

Tomorrow I'll be starting the Friends Altered Book/Mini Album/Card with the first challenge!

1,000 Post Winner!!!

I want to thank you all for the wonderful words. It really touches my heart. It's also very fun to see what your favorite techniques are! Some I had forgotten about and others are my favorites as well!

Without further delay

the winner

of the mystery goodie envie is....

Rebe!!!

Anonymous said...
Roni, you do such great things that it really is hard to decide but I really love your technique posts. They are more helpful to me than anything. Keep up the great work and thanks so much for sharing your talent. Reba Reebee203sbcglobal.net
March 12, 2010 3:12 PM

Congratulations Rebe!!

Please send me your snail mail addy so I can get your goodies in the mail!

Thanks again everyone for hangin' with me :)

Here's to 1,000 more!!

Vintage Easter Cards

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Gosh so many things going on...

It looks like the Best Friend book using the list I posted yesterday is a go! So many people are excited about it so I think I'll start it either this week or next.

What do you think....

A technique a page (like the calendar I did in Jan.)

or

a challenge a page (color, texture, product, etc.)????

PLMK what you think!

LOTS of people have been posting on Kristin's Retro Cafe Art blog trying to win a copy of my book! So exciting to watch the comments and numbers rise :) If you haven't headed over, be sure to do so and put your name in the hat. She's giving away 3 copies one each week.

I have a product review for you this week instead of a rubber stamp retailer/designer. I'm really excited about it since it's something we all use all the time.

Can you guess what product (not brand name, just general item) it is????

Next week I'll have another stamp retailer/designer as well as a cool set of stamps and a hand made goodie to give away - You sooooo don't want to miss it!

Well, on to the cards...

I usually post vintage postcards but I have several vintage Easter cards in my collection so I thought I'd share some of those with you this week. You can use them just like postcards or collage images.

ENJOY!!

You have a wonderful evening!

I'll be back in a bit with the winner of the 1,000 post give-a-way!

Victorian Flower Pin

Hey Everyone!

I hope you're having a great Saturday!

As promised I told you I had a fun Flower Pin from the guys over at Vintage Image Craft.com. If you've never visited their site before you simply must! They have all sorts of fun vintage images for sale and even offer some free!

I was inspired by their Victorian Flower Pin but since I didn't have any of the large pebbles I thought I'd add my own little twist.

Victorian Flower Pin

Now I'm not one to follow directions very well so I assembled my pins a bit differently.

Supplies:

Cardboard or Chipboard Circles

Flowers ~ Silks, Mulberry, Paper, Fabric, Etc.

Inks (optional if you want to ink your flowers up!)

Stamps (optional in case you want to stamp the flowers)

Vintage Images

Bottle Cap, Watch Parts, Fragment Circles, Bingo Chips, etc.

Glue (your fav. ~ I used Aleene's Thick Tacky Glue and Glossy Accents)

Pin Back

Brad

Instructions:

1. Cut circles from cardboard or chipboard ~ this will become your pin base.

2. (Optional) Ink and/or Stamp your flowers if desired. I like to use Distress Inks for coloring flowers and Archival Inks for stamping on the flowers. Totally up to you though...and not necessary.

3. Assemble the flower - Thread the flowers onto the brad. Puncture a hole in the chipboard and secure the flower/brad to the chipboard.

4. Make the flower center. Since I didn't have any page pebbles that were large enough for my images that I had on hand I decided to try a few other goodies. Here are the items I found in my stash that I used instead....Watch Case; Watch Back (the plate that hides the works); Watch Bezel; Bottle Cap (you know how I love bottle caps!); Bingo Chips; and Tim Holtz Ideaology Fragment Circles. I probably had more options but stopped there ;)

Trim and glue the images to the desired items mentioned above and let dry.

5. Secure the image/center to the pin base using a very strong glue. I used Aleene's Thick Tacky Glue but you can use whatever you like. Let dry!

6. If desired paint the backing cardboard base with acrylic paint or leave plain. Glue on pin back and let dry.

Here are my finished pins!

This set was all made using various watch parts. Clockwise: Little Boy Blue = Watch Back; Daisies & Lace - Bezel; Sunshine - Watch Case

And these were made with various items... Clockwise: Purple Lady = Bottle Cap; Me & Teddy = Ideaology Fragment; Dot = Bingo Chip; and Buttons & Bows = Ideaology Fragment.

Fun huh?

Now would you like to win the supplies to create some of these pins yourself?!?!?!

Well all you have to do is post to be entered to win this assortment of goodies (shown in the supplies area too.)!

You'll have until March 28th to post at which time I'll draw a winner!

I may even draw a few names to win some of the pins too!! ;)

So, let me know what you think and you just might win!

An Altered Book or Mini Scrapbook Theme Idea!

O.k...I'm sure we've all gotten those crazy chain e-mails from someone in the past. I'm sure more than just one and probably the same one multiple times.

Today I got one from my mom that I thought would be awesome if you took it and turned it into an altered book or even a mini scrapbook album for a friend!

Here is the e-mail....

To my Best Friend...

1. When you are sad,

I will jump on the person

Who made you sad

Like a spider monkey

Jacked up on Mountain Dew!!!


2. When you are blue,

I will try to dislodge

Whatever is choking you..

3. When you smile,

I will know you are

Plotting something

That I must be involved in.


4. When you're scared,

We will high tail it out of here.


5. When you are worried,

I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse

It could be until you

Quit whining, ya big baby!!!!


6.. When you are confused,

I will use little words.



7. When you are sick,

Stay away from me

Until you are well again.

I don't want whatever you have....



8. When you fall,

I'll pick you up

And dust you off--

After I laugh my rear off!!


9.. This is my oath.....

I pledge it to the end.

'Why?' you may ask;

-- because you are my FRIEND!

***********************
Friendship is like peeing your pants,

Everyone can see it,

But only YOU

Can feel the

True warmth...

**********************

I can think of so many fun ideas to go with each one of these little bits. Each item could be turned into a page spread and highlighted with whatever tickles your fancy. They could be personalized with events you and your friend shared that remind you of the particular phrase.

Just imagine what fun this would be!!

I'm thinkin I might just give this a go!

Sound interested???

Maybe we could do it together and feature a different technique for each new page spread?!?!?

What do you think?

Yes, no, maybe?!?!?

Let me know what you think!

Win a copy of my book!!!

I have a nice surprise for you all!

Kristin Hubick

of

Retro Cafe Art

(A fellow Indiana Hoosier)

is giving away 3 copies of my book on her web-site blog!

Be sure to check out this post for a little interview and the details about the give-a-way ~

Teach Yourself Visually - Collage & Altered Arts!

She will be giving away one copy each week beginning 3-27 with another being given away on 4-4 and finally the last given away on 4-10!!

Good Luck Everyone!!

Ink Stained Card Sketch 3-19-10

Happy Friday Everyone!!

Well have you taken a look at the stamp poll since it closed?

Looks like we all need some ideas for cute stamps and foam stamps.

I'll be working on it to see what I can come up with ;)

Here is today's Ink Stained Card Sketch!

It's a bit more open than I normally like but it's a real time saver when you need a to make a card quick or if you're short on time but want to create.

Enjoy!

Ink Stained Card Sketch

3-19-2010

and here is my card....

It's your Birthday...

Main b-day stamp - Cat's Life Press, mini flower stamp - Basic Grey

Now it's your turn!

I hope you all have a nice weekend in store.

Maybe a little stampin' or craftin???

Tomorrow I'm going to share a quick and fun little project I got in an e-mail the other day...Flower Pins :) They won't be just like the example but still quick, easy and cute.

Sunday of course I'll have more Vintage Postcards

and

if you haven't posted in the 1000 post thread yet you still have a chance to enter :)

I'll be drawing the winner on Sunday as well!

Have lots more in store next week but you'll have to tune in then to find out what it is!

Till then friends,

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Metallic Easter Eggs - Pt II - Decorated!

As promised here are the Metallic Easter Eggs I created yesterday with Adirondack Alcohol Inks and Metallic Mixatives!

Enjoy!!

Copper Egg

Gold Egg

Pearl Egg

Silver Egg

So there you go...

you can leave them plain

or

you can spruce them up a bit with whatever you have on hand!