A Paper Buffet

40 days without sugar begins now.

2012-02-22T11:30:00.000-05:00

I’m giving up sugar for Lent.

There. I said it.

It’s public and out for all of the internets to see.
I’m accountable now.

I was browsing the Etsy forums and someone mentioned they were giving up browsing the forums for Lent. The poster commented that she will be more focused on working on her shop, be more productive, and hopefully more successful. I started thinking about what I should give for Lent.

I have lapsed in the past few years and haven’t given anything up in a while. When we were kids, it was most often chocolate, or potato chips. One year it was gum.

I remember the year I tried to give up liver.

Ma said that wasn’t the point and I had to pick something I actually liked.
I also remember the year I gave up coffee…let’s not go there.

I decided when I was eating the mini-baking chocolate peanut butter cups that I needed to give up sugar.
I crave something sweet after dinner, almost every night. I don’t know where this came from, because we were never a dessert-every-night-after-dinner family.

I know exactly where it came from.
Me.

Here are my rules for the next 40 days:

No refined sugar; white, brown, raw or otherwise
No chocolate, cookies, pie or candy
No ice cream (sorry D)
No pop (not even diet)

Honey and Agave syrup are acceptable as is Splenda in my coffee
Naturally occurring sugar i.e. fruits are acceptable

I’m doing this for me. To bring back my focus, take control of my health and show my strength.
Lent is about many things, and I don’t necessarily believe it has to be entirely religious. I can choose to give up something at any time, for any duration.
I’m choosing to start today because I want to. I have a start date, and an end date- Easter Sunday.

I also am curious to see what other benefits I will get out of this. I expect to have more energy, be clear headed and hopefully lose a few un-healthy pounds.

I just looked at my list of rules and realized that I should clarify: I don’t have a completely unhealthy diet. I don’t eat pie or ice cream on a daily basis (but I’d love to). But the chocolate chips in the granola bars, a cookie here and there…it’s adding up.

So here we go.
40 days without sugar begins now.

Technorati Tags: Lent,40 days,sugar

Confession: I’m not on Pinterest

2012-02-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

Recently, my friend asked me “Are you on Pinterest yet?”.

“No. Pinterest is the devil”.

It’s not really.

Or is it? (disclaimer- I have nothing against the creators, or users of Pinterest nor do I really think they are the devil or any hellish beast)

I’ve heard from countless people “ I signed up for Pinterest; I was on there for hours!”.

Reason number 1 why I’m not on Pinterest:

I already spend too much time online. I run an online business and am in the process of launching a second online business (surprise! but more on that later). With email, Facebook, Twitter, Etsy, Flickr and this blog, I have enough to do.
I share interesting links to articles or photos on Facebook or Twitter.

I’m always plugged in.

(PS- having your pins linked to your Twitter feed when you go on a pinning spree 5 x a day is the fastest way to get me to unfollow you)

Reason number 2 why I’m not on Pinterest:

I have enough trouble keeping up with what I have online already. Take a look at the dates of the posts on this blog… I need to make my blogging more consistent, not less.

Reason number 3 why I’m not on Pinterest:

I have enough on my project-to-do list.

The top argument I hear for joining Pinterest is “it’s so inspirational”!

I’m not lacking inspiration. And when I do get stuck and need some crafty mojo, I have a Google reader full of blogs, pages of bookmarks I can review, my whiteboard and my notebook full of projects I can/want/am waiting to start.

Reason number 4 whey I’m not on Pinterest:

“But Stephanie, you have an online business! You need to be on Pinterest, so people go to your shop and buy your things”!

Really?

See number 3- if most people are using Pinterest as a to-do list for their own DIY projects…they aren’t my target market.

Etsy recently added a “pin it” button in each listing, and beside the “tweet” and “share” buttons. If someone wants to pin photos of my cards, they can. People are free to pin my items if they so choose.

It also seems to be a faux-pas to pin your own items for your own promotion. Whether that’s an actual Term of Use, or just frowned upon I don’t know. But I fail to see how being on Pinterest would equate to more sales for my shop. I’d personally prefer to be in more treasuries on Etsy, which I would consider to be the first pinterest-type arrangement. People looking at treasuries are more likely to be buyers.

There has been some talk in the Etsy forums, that as other users “pin” your photos, and not all owners provide consent to the “pin-er”, the owner loses copyright protection. I don’t really know about that, nor am I worried about it. I gave up my online privacy that day in grade six I signed up for an email account. If you put anything on the internet you have to be aware someone, somewhere will probably use it, find it, or claim it as their own. My photos on Flickr are more important to me than my images of my greeting cards. Although Flickr has licensing and other stops in place that I can use to protect my images. And my favourite images, the ones I really want to protect, are not online at all.

I think the idea of Pinterest is great; I can see how it could be useful to organize ideas, be fun and inspiring.

But I don’t need it.
I don’t want it.
And frankly, I’m over it.

Will I ever join Pinterest?
I’ve learned it can be foolish to never say never.

The way I see it is until Pinterest starts offering units of time to complete my ideas/projects, I won’t be ~~signing up~~ requesting an invite (and what is up with that?) any time soon.

Because time is what I really need.

S

ETA- Pinterest is a hot topic right now. After I wrote this post (last night) there were no less than 4 threads on Pinterest in the Etsy business forums. Most of the discussions were regarding legal rights to images that may be sold by Pinterest to affiliated websites (Amazon, Target, etc)- 'images', not "items". Lore has it that Pinterest keeps the full file when an image is 'uploaded' (vs. being pinned).
The TOU's posted from Pinterest indicate you are to only upload an image that you own the copyright to, or have permission to upload.

There's also concern that Etsy didn't ask the member's permission to put the "pin" button in all of our shops.

I haven't read the Pinterest TOUs in their entirety, but this seems to be a slippery slope. I can see how a photographer could be caught in this loophole. I hope that Pinterest addresses these issues.

Hello!

2012-02-15T12:00:00.000-05:00

How are you? It’s been a little while, I know. Things have been quite busy here. I had a great weekend at the Artist’s Affair Valentine Show and I’ve been working hard to restock the A Paper Buffet Etsy shop . I have some great new ideas for 2012, but I don’t seem to have enough time to implement them all. Don’t you hate when that happens? I’m trying to write them all down so that I can work through them one by one. While holiday cards (Christmas, Valentine’s, etc) are very busy times for me, I also want to create some cards to keep on hand, that you can use for any reason…or for no reason at all!

I made a few of these cards for the Artist’s Affair show and got some really great feedback (and sold out!) I’ve expanded the line and added a new option in the shop. I’m going to call this the “hello” line, for lack of a better title.

Each card is made with a kraft base, with a stamped animal inked in a colour to match the card stock matting. I love the white space on the card- which is usually a bad thing!

Lion

Owl

Fox

Turtle

Whale

I can’t decide which is my favourite, so I’ve decided you shouldn’t have to either. I’ve offered a “choose 3” option in the shop (along with a slight discount for buying the set) so you’ll never be caught without a card!

So, tell me if you had to choose, which one is your favourite?

Technorati Tags: A Paper Buffet,greeting cards,animal cards,A Paper Buffet on Etsy,Owl card,Fox card,Lion card,Whale card,Turtle card

Happy Valentine’s Day!

2012-02-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine’s Day friends!!

Project 365: January

2012-02-01T19:47:00.001-05:00

Have you kept your New Year’s resolution? My resolution was to complete a Project 365- one photo a day for a year. I’ll be sharing my favourite pictures each month here. So here’s some of my favourites:

Afternoon break

Covent Garden Market

My Godson Ethan

Snowflakes

Red Barn

I can’t believe it’s been a month already- have you kept your resolution so far?

Happy Wednesday!

Extra Extra- read all about it! A Paper Buffet at An Artist’s Affair February 4th!

2012-01-25T12:00:00.000-05:00

That’s right folks! An Artist’s Affair is planning another spectacular event at the Convergence Centre here in London and I’m happy to announce that A Paper Buffet will be there!

When: Saturday, February 4th, 212

Hours: 10am-6pm

Where: Convergence Centre at UWO, London, ON

I’ll have Valentine’s cards as well as birthday cards and other paper items. I would love for you to stop by and say hello! There will be many talented artists there; make a list of upcoming birthdays, get some shopping done (and don’t forget to pick up something nice for yourself!) and support your local London artists!

See you there!

Steph

Yarn Wreath tutorial

2012-01-24T13:10:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! I’ve been busy stocking up the shop, but thought I’d share with you a project I made before Christmas as a gift. I know we’re past Christmas, but you could change this up for each season. So without further ado…here’s how to make a yarn wreath!
Supplies: foam wreath; yarn (amount will depend on the size of your wreath); floral picks; floral wire; ribbon and anything else you want to embellish your wreath.
Step 1: wrap the wreath with the yarn. This part is the longest process; I wrapped two layers so that you couldn’t see the foam through the yarn. After I finished my wreath, I was blog hopping and saw someone who had used quilting batting over the foam to give the wreath a more rounded appearance, so feel free if you want a “fuller” looking wreath.

Step 2: Take your floral wire and wrap it around the floral picks (these are the decorations you find at the craft store, leaves, mini ornaments, glittery bits, etc) so that you have a way to attach the decorations to the wreath.

Step 3: Push the wire into the wreath to secure. Continue adding all of your elements layering if need be.

Step 4: I then wrapped more yarn over top to secure it and cover the wire. I suppose you could also use a dab of hot glue to secure things, but remember you’d just be securing it to the yarn, so make sure the yarn is tight around the wreath.

Step 5: I used some felt and cut some flowers with my Nestibilities dies and Cuttlebug. I like how they are layered, but still lay flat. For the next wreath I make {one for me to keep this time ;)} I think I’ll try making more dimensional felt flowers; here’s a tutorial from Scrapping Tonight.

Step 6: Add a ribbon at the top to hang the wreath. Ta –Da!

Here’s a few detail shots:

I love how this wreath turned out, such a welcoming decoration to hang on your front door and welcome guests to you home. If you make one, be sure to come back and share pictures- or post them on the A Paper Buffet’s Facebook page .

Happy Tuesday!
Steph

Technorati Tags: Yarn wreath tutorial,DIY yarn wreath,winter wreath

Cheers to 2012!

2012-01-08T13:03:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! We’re a week into 2012 and so far it’s very looking promising. I have some great ideas, and hopefully I’ll be share them with you soon. Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions? {have you broken them already?}. I only made two this year; one was to complete a Project 365. I’ve committed to taking a photo every day for a year. I started a Project 365 set on my flickr page . I’m trying really hard not to only use my cell phone, but it’s just so much easier to upload it that way.

My other resolution was to “do what makes me happy”. Today, what makes me happy is playing with some new stamps and paper and making Valentine’s day cards for the store.

When I saw the Mojo Monday 222 sketch, I knew I had to play along. Here’s my card following that sketch.

From time to time I make a card that I love so much, I have a hard time putting it in the store. This is one of those cards. I love how it came together.

I love the black, red and ivory combination.

I also love how well it photographed.

Fear not, I did put this card in the A Paper Buffet Etsy shop (and I have two available).

I’ll be adding some other great Valentine’s day cards to the shop this week using more of this gorgeous paper pack, so stay tuned!

Happy Sunday!

Card details:

Cardstock- SU Basic Black, Riding Hood Red, Very Vanilla

DP- SU Love Letter

Black grosgrain ribbon, heart brad, black rhinestones

Stamp: You and Moi

Technorati Tags: Valentines Day Cards,Project 365,A Paper Buffet,Mojo Monday

Under Wraps

2011-12-22T11:30:00.000-05:00

I love wrapping presents. Tying big bows of ribbon, making them all coordinated; it’s one of my favourite things about Christmas.

I had a great idea for my gift wrap this year, however my Slice machine decided not to cooperate. I’m now awaiting an upgrade card from the manufacturer (which also means there won’t be any gift tags in my Etsy store until it’s fixed) and had to come up with another way to wrap my gifts.

My original idea included using kraft paper, so I decided to keep the kraft paper and do something simple. Sometimes simple is better.

Brown paper packages tied up with string.

How do you wrap- with fancy bows? gift bags or boxes?

DIY Christmas gift- Coconut/Peppermint Sugar scrub

2011-12-13T15:05:00.001-05:00

I love giving homemade gifts. Last year I gave some cookies in a jar and they were a big hit. While watching Steven and Chris on CBC, they had a segment by The Frugalista on coconut oil (she has a great website by the way). Her sugar scrub stuck out in my mind and I knew I had found this years gift in a jar.

There are many recipes out there, but I followed Frugalista’s using coconut oil. Here’s what you need:

1) Containers:

I found these sugar jars at my local dollar store. They were perfect because they had a lid and a little spoon! If you can’t find a suitable sugar jar, I’d recommend a mason canning jar. I think it’s important to have a wide mouth jar; if you don’t have a little spoon to scoop the scrub out, the recipient has to dig their fingers in the jar…much more difficult if the jar is narrow. I washed and dried the jars, and I removed the “sugar” sticker on them because I wanted to make my own labels.

2) Cocount oil:

I found organic extra virgin coconut oil at a local health food store. This jar was $12.99 and was enough for the 6 jars I made. You could likely substitute the coconut oil for olive oil if you wanted to. I love the smell of coconut oil and it has very good moisturizing properties, so I knew I really wanted to use it.

3) Scented oil:

This is the peppermint oil I use for my beeswax lip balm so I didn’t have to buy anymore. You could use any essential oil you like, just make sure you’re not using baking extracts! {although since the recipe is just sugar and coconut oil, it would be completely edible…a little snack for the shower? ;) }

3) White sugar

C’mon, I don’t need to take a picture of white sugar, do I?

That’s it for ingredients!

Coconut oil is quite stable, meaning it can melt and then return to a solid form without any major consequences. My apartment is a balmy 26 degrees Celsius year round, so I had to keep my oil in the fridge, otherwise it would turn to liquid. Since the Frugalista measures her oil in solid form, I was convinced I had to have the oil solid. I’m going to tell you to throw this out the window. You have to melt the oil to mix it with the sugar anyhow. The 1/4 cup of coconut oil that’s recommended in the recipe didn’t give me the consistency I was looking for. So don’t worry if your oil at room temperature is a mix between solid and liquid, or all liquid.

In a bowl you’re going to mix 1 cup white sugar with your coconut oil. I will recommend you start with the 1/4 cup melted coconut oil that’s recommended, but I kept adding until I liked the consistency. I wanted it to be a wet mixture; with 1/4 cup of oil, I found the sugar to just be clumpy. I ended up with close to 1/2 cup of oil, but mix it until you like it. Add your essential oils; I never measure how many drops, I go by smell.

Now comes the crafty part…making the jars look pretty!

Labels are up first.

I could have easily left the sugar labels that came with the jar, but I wanted something a little more festive. You could design your own, or you could use holiday address labels. Here’s a link to some holiday label templates from Avery.

I decided to use the labels in my Stampin UP digital design free download, that I got a few weeks ago. I chose the little snowman label. I added the words “peppermint sugar scrub” and resized it to fit the space on my jar.

I printed them in colour and cut them out. Since the scrub is most likely going to be used in the shower, I wanted to protect the label from water damage…which would make the ink run and get…well…yucky.

If you have a laminator, this is the time to use it! If you’re like me, you resort to plan B and use shipping tape.

Sandwich the label in between shipping tape, and now it’s protected! Trim the edges and adhere to your jar. I used double sided tape I use for making cards, it’s strong and sticky!

I wanted to dress up the jar a bit more, so I added one of my rhinestone snowflake gift tags and added some red and white baker’s twine to the lid of the jar.

How cute are they!!!??

I’ve gifted one already and it was a big hit! I also had some scrub left over and used it myself. It smells amazing and left my skin so soft and smooth. A quick and easy gift, easily made in big batches and quite cost effective!

If you make some, take a picture and post it on my Facebook page! Tell me what oil you used too!

Happy gifting!!

Technorati Tags: homemade gift,DIY Sugar Scrub,coconut sugar scrub,The Frugalista,gifts in a jar,homemade Christmas gift,peppermint sugar scrub

Homemade gifts- Cookies in a Jar

2011-12-08T13:00:00.000-05:00

If you’re looking for some ideas for homemade gifts, check out my post from last year on Cowboy cookies in a jar- a great gift to give, and easy to put together!

Happy Gifting!

The Postal Leap of Faith

2011-12-05T14:59:00.001-05:00

This is the time of year, where as an online business owner, I hold my breath every time I put a package in the post box. I find myself saying a little prayer to the mail gods to deliver my customer’s order with speed and efficiency. I pray to the Customs gods, that if they must pull the package, that they wrap it with the same care I did (I know…) and put it back in the mail system as quickly as possible.

As a Canadian Etsy seller, the majority of my customers are located in the US. The estimated timeframe for letter-mail delivery to the US is 4-6 business days. Most of the time, these time frames are upheld. However, especially around this time of year, mail volumes go up, and turn around times may get longer.

I’ve done my due diligence and make sure my profile as my location as London, Ontario; I put notices in my announcements, the message that is sent when the order is placed, in my acknowledgement email to the customer, and again in the shipping notice email. I ship all orders the next business day upon confirmed payment (unless otherwise stated).

All my customers have been phenomenal. If they don’t realize when they order that their cards are coming from Canada, they realize it when they send me a message and are always understanding. I recently received some feedback from a US customer that there was room for improvement with shipping; the customer, although very happy with her order, and stated she would purchase again, seemed to express disappointment that her tags took 1 week to arrive.

1 week?! That’s fantastic!

At first I was confused, and a bit taken a back. When I looked at the order and shipping dates, a little light bulb went off. I think I understand her comment better now, but I think there are some things customers should keep in mind when they place an international order.

Here is some information about our Canadian Postal system that my international customers may not be aware of:

Post boxes have cut off times. Here in London, a major city with a postal processing plant, post box pick ups are scheduled for 10am.

Some locations may also have an evening clear out of 5pm, typically these are post boxes that are in front of a postal outlet, or a mall.
This means, if you put mail in the post box after 10am, it will not get picked up until the next business day.

We do not have Saturday mail service. Our letter carriers work Monday-Friday. That means, if I put a letter in the post box, on Friday, and after 10am, it is not picked up until Monday morning.

The customer I previously mentioned placed her order Friday afternoon; therefore when I put it in the post box on Saturday morning, it wasn’t picked up until Monday morning. She received her order 5 days later, which is within the estimated turn around time for US lettermail. She may not realize that we don’t have Saturday mail service, and thus she expected her order to arrive earlier than it did.

Customs can inspect the packages at random. By law, I need to include a CN22 customs declaration when sending printed matter with a value under $500. This means, each order has a customs form that I fill out. Customs has the right to inspect these packages, which can delay the delivery times. I have absolutely no control over what they inspect, or how long they hold on to it.

It’s all really a gamble. I’ve had orders get to Australia faster than they get to the U.S. I have no idea why, or how; aside from putting an “airmail” sticker and increased postage, the orders that are sent to the Australia are packed the same as the orders to the US.

This is a very busy time of year for mail; I know everyone is excited to receive gifts and purchases in the mail. I feel very helpless when things don’t arrive when expected, and I will do everything I possibly can to ensure an order is in the mail as soon as possible.

I want to thank all my wonderful customers, who have had orders delayed due to customs inspections or other mail delays for their understanding.

I ask that the next time you make a purchase from a small business owner, that you take into account the location, where’s it’s coming from and where it needs to go. Plan ahead if you can, and if the timing isn’t going to work out, ask if you can upgrade shipping, or consider something else.

Happy Shopping!

My Etsy wishlist

2011-11-22T14:30:00.000-05:00

Like it or not, Christmas is around the corner! I admit that I’m just trying to make it to 5pm December 4th before I do anything remotely Christmas related. At 5pm on December 4th I’ll have finished a weekend at The Met. After that, I’ll be able to breathe. Then I’ll have time to finish my own shopping, decorating, wrapping and all the things I love about Christmas.
I’m trying very hard to shop local and/handmade if possible this year, more so than in the past. Except for some little kids I know, I will be choosing to purchase local/handmade items, or making things myself whenever possible. I’ve already purchased a few gifts on Etsy and have a few items in mind for the rest of the people I’m shopping for.
I was taking a peek through my favourites on Etsy; I’m still amazed every day about the talent of the artisans. Here are a few things on my Etsy wishlist:

A TwillyPop Bianca necklace. Or anything TwillyPop. I have been eyeing so many things from her shop for a long time.
Photo credit: twillypop

A photo calendar. I can’t decide between Paris or New York as they are two of my favourite cities. EyePoetry Photography’s work is just absolutely gorgeous, so either would be amazing to hang on the wall.
Photo credit: EyePoetryPhotgraphy

Isn’t this leather Dalia brooch gorgeous! I’m very much intro brooches now and this one from Leatherblossoms is just beautiful!
Photo credit- Leatherblossoms

I love this yarn bowl from LennyMud. I actually have a piece from the artist Lorrie, who very generously gifted a pink elephant to me after we both participated in a Thursday Sweet Treat challenge. I have never forgotten her kindness and proudly display my pink elephant on my shelf in my office. You can read the story of the Pink Elephant here. Lorrie’s work is incredibly awesome and her Etsy store indicates she’s busy working day and night to keep her popular items in stock. Unfortunately her knitting bowl has sold, but I will continue to keep my eye out for after the holidays and hopefully a few more will be available.
Photocredit: LennyMud

And finally, this picture from PibbleSlobberStudio. I don’t know where I’d put it, but every time I see it, I can’t help but smile and laugh. This may go in my office for some stress relief.

Photocredit: PibbleSlobberStudio

I hope that more people will find Etsy, or other avenues of shopping handmade and/or local. It may not be possible for everything, and I have many things in my possession that are not handmade. But when I have the choice, I will choose to purchase handmade or local.

Besides, it’s pretty exciting to shop online comfy and cozy with some coffee and look forward to a package in the mail amidst all the bills ;)

Happy Holiday shopping!
Stephanie

Technorati Tags: Etsy,Christmas Shopping,twillypop,EyePoetryPhotography,Leatherblossoms,Lenny Mud,PibbleSlobberStudio

Time to walk the walk

2011-11-17T12:00:00.000-05:00

I have always said that I want this blog to be about more than just A Paper Buffet and my store. I haven’t been doing that. The past few weeks, I’ve been trying to blog more, but I haven’t kept my word about content. The majority of my posts have been a breakdown of my cards; the same pictures found in the listing, but I explain what colours I used.

I’m not that boring in real life, I promise.

So, I’m committing, once again, to change up the content of this blog and make sure it’s about other things that just cards. With the holidays coming, I have lots of ideas for homemade gifts, holiday decorating and some non-holiday related things. I’ve been practicing some new things in photography so I can share that with you as well. I will still feature some cards, but I don’t want to make it my entire focus.

I hope you’ll join me, or come back if you’ve left because of my boring content {I don’t blame you}.

And if you’ve stuck through it all, boring posts and me blabbing endlessly about different shades of cardstock- thank you!

Until next time,

Stephanie

Vintage card- part 4

2011-11-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

Here’s another card made with some vintage Authentique paper. I used the striped paper as the background and kept the rest of the card quite simple.

I used Old Olive as the card base and added a cherry cobbler mat. I cut a poinsettia with my Slice machine from cherry cobbler paper; the poinsettia is cut in two layers and I really like the effect. I used a large rhinestone in the centre of the poinsettia to add a touch of sparkle.

I stamped the Christmas tree in old olive ink; this tree is one of my favourite Christmas images and is from the Season of Joy set. I cut out the Very Vanilla paper with my nestibilities, but before I removed it from the die, I sponged some Crumb Cake ink around the inside. I’ve often seen this technique and was quite envious. I’ve only recently gotten better at it, the trick is not to have too much ink on your sponge.

I used a scallop punch for the bottom edge of the DP, and placed a rhinestone in a pattern on the bottom. Finally, I added my absolutely favourite ribbon…which technically isn’t ribbon at all- it’s called seam binding in Cherry cobbler.

The inside of the card used come more Authentique paper (I seriously can’t get enough of it!), more scalloped border punch and distressed all of the edges.

I’m also really pleased how this card photographed. Some cards are very easy to photograph and some are…well an absolute nightmare. I am getting better, but sometimes it’s still a struggle.

Happy Tuesday!

Lest We Forget

2011-11-11T11:00:00.000-05:00

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe
To you, from failing hands, we throw
The torch: be yours to hold it high
If ye break faith with us who die,
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

Composed at the battlefront on May 3, 1915
during the second battle of Ypres, Belgium, by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

Never again.

Vintage Christmas- part 3

2011-11-10T14:00:00.000-05:00

This might be one of my favourite cards so far; and it came about by accident! I had cut the background paper, punched the red edge and attached the red ribbon and then…hit the creative wall. The card I had planned out, just wasn’t working anymore. I tried a number of different images, sentiments, but nothing was working. I put the card away for a night and decided to come back to it later.

I looked over my craft table and saw a scrap of the Authentique Christmas paper tucked under my paper cutter. This little group of birds was staring back at me…eureka! It was perfect! The answer to saving the card wasn’t a stamp at all…it was patterned paper!

I cut out the birds with my oval nestibilities, and added a cherry cobbler mat oval and it became the focus point of the front of the card.

The inside of the card used coordinated paper, with a lace punched old olive paper.

This card is a bit vintage, and for some reason I feel the bird image makes it a bit country/shabby chic. For a card that didn’t come together as I had envisioned, I’m thrilled with how it turned out. Some times you just have to let the creative process completely take over.

I’ve added this card to the A Paper Buffet Etsy shop . I’ll have more cards to share with you from this paper collection soon!

Happy Thursday!

Technorati Tags: Christmas cards,vintage Christmas cards,Christmas greeting cards,A Paper Buffet,Christmas card,Authentique paper

Vintage Christmas- part 2

2011-11-09T13:25:00.000-05:00

Here’s another card with no stamping on the outside. Another vintage Christmas cards using Authentique Christmas “Wonder” paper. I just love this snowman!

I added a different stitch (and did it by hand…I must be crazy!) to the border to add some texture. I used the cherry cobbler for the base, with a black mat and black stitching.

There’s not much more I can say about this card- I think it speaks for itself. The collage paper is absolutely gorgeous, I can’t wait to show you more from this line.

I added more to the inside of the card again, using more patterned paper and distressing all of the edges.

I’ve listed this card in the A Paper Buffet Etsy shop and I have some more vintage themed cards to show you, so stay tuned!

Happy Wednesday!

Technorati Tags: Vintage Christmas Cards,Authentique paper,A Paper Buffet,Christmas cards,handmade Christmas cards,Etsy

Vintage Christmas; part 1

2011-11-08T11:45:00.000-05:00

Surprisingly, there’s no stamping on the outside of these cards. I recently bought some gorgeous Christmas paper (Wonder by Authentique) and I just couldn’t bare to cover it up with stamped images.

This paper has a very vintage theme, which isn’t something I normally work with, but I couldn’t resist this paper. I added hand stitching to the border of the card to add some interest since I was using the paper as the main image. I was most happy about using black and red, what an impact it has!

I just love this old vintage Santa image, and the postmark just adds to it. I decided to dress up the inside of the card since the outside didn’t have anything extra

I added some more of the Authentique paper, and a border of green cardstock, punched with a lace punch.

The card base is cherry cobbler and I used some black paper for the matting. The inside panel is more black with a

very vanilla panel.

I’ve listed this in the A Paper Buffet Etsy shop and I’ll be back tomorrow with another vintage Christmas card.

Happy Tuesday!

Technorati Tags: Christmas cards,vintage Christmas Cards,Authentique paper,handmade cards,A Paper Buffet

Coffee mug gift boxes

2011-11-07T11:30:00.000-05:00

Are you ready for some cuteness? I am so happy to be finally sharing these with you. I’ve made some cute new gift boxes that are shaped like coffee mugs!
Just in time for the holidays and perfect for teacher’s gifts, the office gift-exchange or that hard-to-buy for person on your Christmas list.

I’ve been working over the past few weeks trying to figure out how to ship these, in a manner that won’t cost you your first born child. Shipping is very expensive here in Canada; funny enough, it’s cheaper for me to ship something to the U.S. than it is to ship within Canada!

I’ve decided, due to the cost of shipping, to sell these paper mugs in sets of two. You can gift these as a set, or individually.

Aren’t they adorable! Each mug is 3” high and has a diameter of almost 2.75”. You can fit a package of hot chocolate and some marshmallows, or some little cookies inside.

These will be perfect filled with little goodies; I’d wrap some clear or Christmas cellophane around the whole mug and tie it with some ribbon. It’d be so sweet!

I’ve made these mugs in three colours, and they’re available in the A Paper Buffet Etsy shop

You’ve already seen the green set, so here is the blue:

and red:

I can’t decide which one I like the most- they are so cute!

What would you put inside your paper coffee mug gift boxes? Chime in below!

Happy Monday!

Technorati Tags: coffee mug gift box,Christmas gift box,Christmas,paper gift box,paper coffee mug,Etsy,A Paper Buffet,coffee theme

Thank you card

2011-11-03T14:15:00.000-04:00

I bought some mini shipping tags months ago, and completely forgot about them. I needed to make a thank you card, and thought the mini tag would be the perfect way to stamp the sentiment. I used some of that great Simple Stories Elementary paper that I used for these birthday cards and a simple layout. I just love this paper, and the slightly distressed look; I distressed the tag using some SU Crumb Cake ink to compliment the DP.

The card base is SU Very Vanilla, and I layered Cherry Cobbler paper for the matting. I love the deep colour of the Cherry Cobbler paper. I added some Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon to the tag to tie it all together. I made the card 5” square- I needed the card for work and 10 people had to sign it, so I wanted to make sure there was enough room.

Happy Thursday!

Technorati Tags: Thank you cards,Simple Stories paper,Stampin Up,A Paper Buffet

Knit poppy and a penguin sweater

2011-11-01T12:00:00.000-04:00

In Canada, November marks Remembrance day, celebrated on November 11th. We pay tribute to our military personnel, past and present. We wear poppies on our lapels as a sign of remembrance. The poppies are pinned on using a small straight pin, and I often lose many poppies each season. I hate the thought of losing a poppy and having it lay on the ground somewhere. I think I lose them, in part, because I drive so much and the seat belt often moves the poppy that I wear on my left side. I was browsing Ravelry and found a pattern for a knit poppy. I thought this was a great way for me to have a poppy that I wouldn’t lose. The pattern was written by Laura Chau, and she also has it posted on her blog here . The poppy was my knit flower, and it knit up quite quickly. I didn’t have any black yarn, so I used some left over dark grey yarn. I added a few rows to make the poppy larger; the grey yarn was double the thickness of the red yarn, and I wanted to keep the flower proportional to the size of the centre. I added the following rows:

                           Round 10: Knit
                           Round 11: kfb k2 repeat to end 56 stitches
                           Round 12: Knit
                           Round 13: Knit
                           Round 14: purl
                           Round 15: bind of pwise

I’m happy with how my very first flower came out. The first few rows are the trickiest; the needles (2.75mm) are very small and I felt like I kept getting tangled in the yarn and the needles.

Poppies are received when you make a donation to the Royal Canadian Legion Poppy fund. I’ll continue to make a donation when I see the Legion members with their poppy boxes, while wearing my knit poppy.

And now for a penguin sweater update- it is complete! I finished knitting and then added the elastic thread on the collar and on the bottom edge as recommended. I don’t have a stuffed penguin, so I modeled the sweater on my Harrod’s bear. He looks pretty cute!

The penguin sweater is on it’s way to Australia. It might not help this round of penguins (the request went viral and the wildlife centre received an abundance of sweaters), but perhaps some other little animals can put it to good use.

Happy Tuesday!

Technorati Tags: knit poppy,poppy,Remembrance Day,Ravelry,penguin Sweater,knitting

Here’s looking at you, kid.

2011-10-31T11:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!!

I’ve been waiting to share this project with you for so long! I have a circle of crafty friends and we’re located all over North America. We keep in touch on Facebook mostly and every so often we have a Secret gift exchange. It’s like a Secret Santa, but we do it for other holidays or for no reason at all. I haven’t been able to participate in all of them, but we decided to have a Fall gift exchange. We were allowed to choose if we preferred a Halloween item, or a Fall item.

I will admit, I’m not the biggest Halloween fan. I love seeing my little Godson dressed up, but I’m not one to go to a Halloween party. I had a project in mind for a Fall gift, but I was nervous about getting someone who wanted a Halloween item because I didn’t have any ideas!

As fate would have it, my Secret Sister requested a Halloween item. I was up to the challenge! Cue Pinterest! Well, indirectly Pinterest. I’ve avoided signing up for the site, even though I’m extremely interested since I already spend so much time online. I was hopping through some stamp blogs for inspiration or another project and went to i {heart} to stamp for some inspiration. Jen Del Muro is so uber talented, it’s just awesome! I found her post from her adventures on Pinterest and her frame.

I knew I had to case this frame! I decided to add more space in between the eyes, and I excluded the banner she had created. Even thought it’s for Halloween, I wanted to keep the frame less-holiday specific.

I picked up a wooden frame and covered it with black card stock. I used a nail file to smooth all the edges flush with the edge of the frame. Then I glued down all those googley-eyes.

I created the flower with some green and black glitter ribbon (read: glitter everywhere) by cutting straight pieces, arranging them in a star pattern and then folding them into the middle and gluing them down. I found a lime green paper flower, and then a giant black flat-backed rhinestone. I sprayed the glitter ribbon with sealant so that the glitter would stop ‘spreading’. I glued down the flower eh, voila!

The best thing about this frame is the sound it makes when you shake it…all those googly eyes, moving about…it’s creepy and hilarious all at once!

If you celebrate Halloween, enjoy! Be safe, and have fun!

And if you don’t celebrate Halloween, at least it’s a good TV night ;)

Happy Halloween!

Technorati Tags: Halloween,altered photo frame,Pinterest,I {heart} to stamp,A Paper Buffet

Birthday greetings (and a penguin sweater)

2011-10-24T11:30:00.000-04:00

My mom requested some (masculine) birthday cards for some upcoming family birthdays, and luckily I had just bought some gorgeous paper. I had picked up some Simple Stories Elementary paper (Spelling Bee #1207 and Smarty Pants #1205) for a thank you card, but had enough for some birthday cards.

I chose a variation of Mojo Monday sketch and made two cards using this great paper. Both cards were made on Night of Navy cardstock, with Old Olive card stock as mats. Each edge was distressed with Crumb Cake ink.

I bought the little shipping tags last spring, and completely forgot about them. But it worked really well on this sketch.

The second card used the same paper, but flipped some of the paper (thank goodness for double sided paper), and this time I used a label and a button instead of a tag.

You probably thought the bit about ‘penguin sweaters’ in my title was a joke, but, sadly, it’s not. There was an oil spill off the coast of New Zealand and it has affected some Little Blue Penguins. A yarn store, Skeins, a yarn store in New Zealand is collecting Penguin PJs to be forwarded on to help the penguins. The penguin sweaters will prevent the penguins from preening their oily feathers and ingest the oil.

The pattern was posted on the Skeins newsletter. There was an update on the blog and the Wildlife centre doesn’t need any more sweaters, but you can still send them in as there is another rescue centre that has asked for the surplus.

I’ve started a sweater and I’ll send it down once it’s finished, here’s a snapshot (from my mobile, sorry for the bad lighting) of the first part.

I’ll have some more projects to share with you this week, and some new holiday items to add to the store- make sure you check out the A Paper Buffet’s Facebook page and grab a coupon to save 10% on any purchase until Oct 31st (limit one per customer).

Happy Monday!

Technorati Tags: birthday cards,handmade greeting cards,A Paper Buffet on Facebook,Simple Stories paper,Penguin Sweater

Cinnamon Scones

2011-10-16T11:25:00.001-04:00

I love anything cinnamon. When my mom and I went to NYC in 2007, I had a cinnamon scone at a Starbucks in the airport. I have thought about that scone ever since. I had looked over the years for cinnamon scone recipes, but could never find one. Evidently, I was looking in all the wrong places.

I recently found a recipe on The Pioneer Woman, and had planned to make them when I went to visit my parents for Thanksgiving (I know, they should’ve been pumpkin scones given the holiday. As I said, I love anything cinnamon). Wouldn’t you know, we couldn’t find cinnamon chips up there? I had some at home in the pantry, but didn’t bring them because I thought I could buy more up there.

So I had to prolong my wait and yesterday morning I whipped up a batch. The recipe is simple, but the dough is very crumbly. I think mine was too crumbly. I decided to make mini scones, so I piled the dough into a rectangle. I put too much cream in the topping, and it was like a paste, as opposed to a crumble. As I painted the topping on the dough I couldn’t help but laugh.

I managed to transfer the crumbly scones to the baking tray and popped them in the oven. They smelled delicious, and even though they weren’t as perfect looking as Ree’s, I was very happy with the results. Even better than the one I had at the Starbucks in the airport (crazy point of reference, I know). I picked the nicest scone I could find to show you.

These are perfect with a cup of coffee, tea, ~~when you walk by the kitchen.~~

Thank you Pioneer Woman, for ending my search for the cinnamon scone.

Happy Sunday!

Technorati Tags: Cinnamon scones,The Pioneer Woman,A Paper Buffet