Custom Personalized Bookmark

Hey, I just realized that I passed my 100th post milestone a couple of posts ago!  Shows how much I've been paying attention,eh?  Well, happy 100th post to me anyway!

I got a custom personalized bookmark and gift envelope order late last week, and what really made me happy is that it was a customer for whom I had done a similar project a couple of months ago.  I send coupons for a future purchase with every order I send out, and in almost 2 years of sending them, this was the first one that was actually redeemed!  I am always glad to get repeat customers, because that tells me that they truly like my work.  This order was for a bookmark with blue and yellow flowers, and she left the design up to me.  My favorite kind of project!  Here is the bookmark:

I again went for the collage-style on this one, as it has really grown on me, and it really makes each bookmark unique.

For the gift envelope, I have to admit I was a little stumped at first.  I had a pretty pale yellow and white floral patterned paper that I loved- I have used it on several projects, including these cards.  Alas, I only had the one sheet of it, and my supply is now nearly gone.  I had enough to use on the reverse of the bookmark, but not enough for the gift envelope.  I planned to do the envelope itself in blue, but needed something yellow to embellish it.  I also wanted it to coordinate with the bookmark.  I brainstormed and considered a few different ideas: embossing plain yellow paper, finding a stamp and creating my own patterned paper, buy a border punch that could punch out a floral cutout strip, or find some other yellow patterned paper to use.  My preference was to find a paper that could be used on both the reverse side of the bookmark and the envelope.  Unfortunately, there don't seem to be very many patterned papers out there in pale yellow shades!  Michaels had literally nothing- I even checked all of the expensive pads of designer papers.  I did find a border punch that would work if I went that route- however, it was $28- ouch!  Craft Warehouse was also a disappointment.  Finally, I found a paper at JoAnn's in a lovely yellow and blue daisy pattern, and it was only 59 cents, so it was a no-brainer- that's what I went with!

Here's the bookmark reverse side:

and here is the gift envelope:

And, everything all together:

Now that I've done a couple of these personalized collage-style bookmarks, I have decided to add that option to my shop.  I didn't want to replace the old three-flower style, in case someone prefers it, so I added a new listing for this style.  Since I do use about twice the amount of flowers, I did up the price, but it's only $1 more.

I worked on a couple of other cards this weekend, but haven't had time to take pics yet.  It's been awhile since I added anything new to my shop, so I'm working on making some new items to stock the shop with.  Check back soon for those new designs!

Another Sympathy Card

Hello- it's still rather busy these days, so I have not done much in the way of crafting.  I am currently working on a custom bookmark and gift envelope though, so will post pics of that soon.  I also just made another sympathy card.  This one is for the family of my hubby's best friend, whose brother passed away recently in a tragic accident.  The service is tomorrow, so I wanted to send a card with him.

I actually came quite close to making the same card as the previous sympathy card I did for my coworker.  But I looked through my paper stash and found this one, and decided to use it instead.  The card base is black, and the next layer is a caramel-colored paper that I embossed with a viney floral embossing folder.  The sentiment was printed out on the computer, and the inside says "Our thoughts are with your at your time of loss".

I do hope they like it.  Incidentally, my hubby's friend's mother, for whom this card is intended, placed a rather large order for several cards from my Etsy shop recently, so I do hope that she likes this one.  I feel terrible for their family for the loss they have suffered.  No one should ever have to lose a child.

Next time I'll post pics of the custom project I'm working on.  I am happy to be doing this one- it's for a repeat customer, who ordered a personalized bookmark and gift envelope from me in April, and for this one she used the coupon I sent with her order.  Two years of sending coupons, and this is the first one that was actually used- woohoo!

A Few New Cards

Just a quick post today, to share pictures of the cards I made over the weekend.  The first one is for a coworker who lost her husband to cancer.  The agency I work for is getting a nice plant for her, and I volunteered to make a card.  This is what I did:

The plant we are giving her is a hydrangea, which I love, and I had wanted to try to coordinate the card colors to the flowers.  However, I couldn't find a paper I liked in the right color.  This one is nice though- it's a very subtle floral in pretty sky blue shades, with just a hint of gree in in the leaves.

Next is my dad's Father's Day card:

I used the striped paper as the jumping-off point for this one.  I like the combination of blues, browns, and green in the paper, although in the piece I used, there is only one green stripe...and it ended up being covered by the sentiment.  I liked this paper for my dad because his favorite color is blue.

Lastly, I managed to make a couple of new washi paper cards:

I mentioned awhile back that I had found a seller on Etsy, susiestablefare, that sells washi paper, in addition to some of her own creations with it.  These two papers were from the bundles I purchased from her a couple of months ago, and I really like the vibrant colors!  They are both kind of patriotic too, with the red and blue in them.

That's all for now- not sure what to work on next, but I do need to work on stock for my shop, so check back soon!

And..Another Graduation Exploding Box!

June is a VERY busy month here- last month of school and all, and I can barely keep up!  Therefore, I have not been doing much crafting lately.  It is all I can do to get a full night's sleep these days!

I did recently get a call from a very nice lady named Mary Beth.  She is a neighbor of Janet, the very nice lady who ordered a graduation exploding box at the Salem Etsy Team Spring Sale last month.  She evidently saw the box card I made for Janet, and contacted me about making one for her niece, who is graduating from high school this month.  I was happy to have another exploding box project to work on!

The recipient of this box card is a swimmer, so I had the task of finding a way to symbolize that in the box card.  I found several swimmer symbols, but settled on one that seemed to coordinate best with the colors and design of the box.

I paired the swimmer symbol with the school seal, and I think it works well.

I used the school logo, as well as the seal, incorporated with other graduation imagery to make this exploding box card.  It is a great example of an exploding box card, with a variety of colors and images.  I love how it turned out, and I hope that Mary Beth does too (as well as her niece!)

Since I have not had any time to craft lately, I am trying to catch up this weekend, and I really have a full plate.  I have a sympathy card to make for a coworker, as well as a Father's Day card for my dad, and that's the minimum....if I have time, I have several graduates for whom I'd like to make a card, not to mention my son's birthday at the end of the month.  Can't believe he will be 16!!!  In addition to all of that, I know I need to make some additional stock for my Etsy shop.  One thing at a time- I can only do what I can do!  Hopefully next time I will have some cards to share.