Budget Crafter's blog

Baby Tiger Cards

Hello friends,

I got this cute stamp from eBay of a baby tiger holding a lilly ($7.50 with shipping).  I made a boy and girl version. The girl one is for a friend who's wife just had a baby girl.  I think they turned out really cute!  Enjoy!

BabyTigerLily_Girl

BabyTigerLily_Boy

All supplies are from Stampin' Up!  Punches: scallop trim border & corner, oval large, and oval scallop.

The Girl card uses melon mambo polka dot ribbon and melon mombo marker on jacket. The lilly is also pink.  Matting is two-toned melon mambo and pumpkin cardstock. I love how this two-toned matting turned out. Safety pins are stamped as a background in yellow.  The Boy card uses red on jacket and matting cardstock. The lilly is colored orange and matches the pumpkin ribbon. I sewed on two bashful blue buttons using cornflower blue rayon thread after affixing them using glue dots. Background is stamped "welcome baby" in mustard.  The only thing I will change is on the Girl card I will cut the soft sky cardstock larger to cover the word label and mat it again in darker blue or an earth elements cardstock.

Graduation Cards

I experimented with graduation card designs using Stampin Up's Happy Grad word stamp, $9.  I purchased the cute owl (DeNami Design, Graduation Owl, $3.50) and shadow stamp (Penny Black, Graduates, $13) from AddictedtoRubberStamps.com to go with the word stamp.  I used the lavender card for my meeting with Alisa & Sisters.  They really liked coloring the cute owl tag. Supply cost 70 cents direct, $1.20 with ovehead.  Ribbon riding hood taffeta ($7/10 yards) 23c, orange string (6") 1c, pop-ups (5) 6.7c, cardstock (lavender 11.5c, eggplant 3c, plume 3c, pumpkin 2c, white 2c) 21.5c, snail tape (40") 18c.

Graduation_lavender

 

Hello to California! - Elements of Style Swap Card

Hello ladies, this is a shout out from Virginia!  I miss seeing you at the demonstrator evenings :-( but feel like I am participating vicariously with this swap.  I changed all colors from my original design to be current for June and to continue after July. I think it was prettier using Tangerine Tango ink, Haiku paper, and Kiwi Kiss ribbon (see previous post).  If anyone is interested, I will send another card using my original colors (but die-cut flowers instead of Kiwi Kiss buttons).

ElementsOfStyle_Swap

Here is the complete supply list:

• Elements of Style clear stampset $20, Sincere Salutations wood stampset $24, Oval Scallop Punch $16.
• Cardstock: so saffron base, whisper white, & pumpkin pie designer paper (was bananna & Haiku designer paper).
• Inks: pumpkin pie craft, black, real red and rose red.
• Accents: Flower Fusion felt, Die-Cut Blooms bulk, olive ribbon (was kiwi kiss satin ribbon), so saffron brads, thumb tack to punch hole, and dimensionals.

Supply Cost: 76 cents direct, $1.26 with overhead

• Paper: saffron (23c/2 =11.5c), white (17c/16=1c), pumpkin designer ($10/12/24 = 3.5c) == 16 cents.
• Accents: felt flower ($15/130 pieces = 11.5c), die cut flower ($10/112 flowers= 9c), olive ribbon ($5/15 yards/2.25 = 15c), saffron brad ($9/200= 4.5c), dimensionals ($4/300x10= 13.3c), plus tape ($2.10/472"x11"= 5c) == 62 cents.
• Overhead Cost for inks, cutting tools, storage: 50 cents/card.

New stampset - Elements of Style by Stampin' Up!

Hi, I had a neighbor, Maureen, over and we got to play with a brand new stampset from Stampin' Up!  I think Elements of Style (set of 5, $20 clear or $28 wood mounted) is a good set for a newbie stamper.  It's versatile and very elegant. The birthday stamp is from Sincere Salutations (set of 8, $24).  This will make a very useful greetings set for a newbie.  

Elements_of_Style

You can order from me "Current Stampin' Up!" supplies.  I am an independent sales-rep/demonstrator for this company.  Email me with your order to "mail" @ "jenniferyoon.com".  Current catalogue and sales info are viewable at http://www.stampinup.com/us/enu/default.asp .  

Current Stampin' Up! supplies: Elements of Style stampset ($20 clear, $28 wood mounted), Sincere Salutations stampset ($24), Punch Scallop Oval ($16), Haiku designer paper ($5 from clearance, 12 sheets 12"x12"), Barely Banana cardstock ($5 for 24 letter-sized sheets), and Kiwi Kiss buttons ($4 from clearance, 24 assorted).

Other supplies: Tangerine Tango inkpad (will be available again after July 1st), black VersaFine inkpad, and sponge.

I love the Haiku designer paper (from Spring 2008 catalogue).  I used it to make 75 Asian Pear cards (see earlier post -- http://budgetcrafter.vox.com/library/post/asian-pear-cards-for-new-year.html), and was sad when I could not buy it anymore.  Surprisingly, they are being offered again on clearance.  I highly recommend it.  Stampin' Up! is remixing it's color families as of July 1st.  It's brining back popular "in colors" and getting rid of many current colors.  Tangerine Tango is coming back, and Barely Banana will be gone.

Simple Delights - simply sent kit

SimpleDelightsA

Hello, I just got around to making cards from the "Simple Delights" simply sent kit I purchased in March 2008, when I became a Stampin' Up demonstrator. It was $43, but after 35% off for joining and 20% demonstrator discount, the final price was $23.  I really love the simple but elegant design.  It's also quick to make.  Nothing to color and not many layers.  This will make a good kit for a newbie stamper who does not have many supplies. I ended up making 33 cards, so I more than broke even. After I ran out of soft sky and river rock, I substituted bashful blue and celery cardstock, which also looked great. 

All supplies used: soft  sky, river rock, chocolate chip, and vanilla cardstock; old olive, river rock, soft sky, and chocolate chip inks; bashful blue taffeta ribbon, old olive 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, vintage brad, double sided tape, and dimensionals. (Click on photos to enlarge)

Cost-Benefit Analysis:

• Stamp kit with supplies for first 10 cards = $23.
• Supply cost for next 23 cards (23 x 50 c) = $11.50
• Benefit Value ($2.50 x 33) = $82.50
• Net Value ($82.50 less $34.50) = $48.

(Note, had I paid $43 for the kit, my Net Value would have been $28 instead.)  Click on photo to enlarge

Poker birthday cards -- Card Games stampset design 3

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Hello here is a variation on the Stampin' Up Card Games design.  Instead of "Game Night" cards, I made birthday cards.  The word stamp is from Diffusion, "Life consists not in holding good cards, but in playing those you hold well. (Josh Billings)."  Whoever was Josh Billings said some fine things! 

Punch cost-benefit analysis 2

CurlyLabelPunch

Hello, this is my second cost-benefit analysis for paper punches.  The Stampin' Up Curly Label Punch costs $16.  The two Martha Stewart labels cost $5 per pack of 25, which comes out to 20 cents per piece. In order to match the 20 cents per unit cost, the Curly Label Punch needs to be used 80 times.  For most shapes, it is cheaper to buy the accent pieces than the punch.

Still, I have over 50 punches and I love using them. I especially like using matching stamps & punches together.  The punch is a bit more versatile, since I can use it with different colored cardstock and decorative papers.

Scrappy Card 2

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Hi, this is another card design for using up scrap pieces of cardstock.  This design uses larger scraps, about 1.5" wide.  Total scraps used is 3/8th of a letter-sized paper (~ 4" x 8").  First, choose a matting color from one of your larger scrap stash.  You will need 1/8th sheet per card in this color.  Cut or punch six 1-3/8" squares from your matting color (eggplant is used in the photo).  Second, choose a variety of dark and light scrap pieces of cardstock from contasting (opposites) and complementary (blends) colors.  Cut or punch five 1-1/4" squares from the variety of colors and one white 1-1/4" square.  Stamp some shape on the white square.  Third, punch out more shapes from the other scrap colors.  Mount all using snail tape.  Make a template for placing the squares from a quarter-sheet cardstock.  Use ruler & pencil to draw evenly spaced six squares.  Cut or punch out the spaces where six 1-3/8" squares will go. 

(On my template, the square are place 1/4" from the top, 1/2" from left and right sides, and 3/16" between all squares.)  I made enough pieces for 8 cards and used up ALL of my purple scraps! 

Cost: Total supply cost: 44 cents. 

Frog Prince - variation uses larger squares

• Cardstock base (23 cent/2) = 11.5 cents
• Snail Tape (25"x $2.10/472") = 11 cents
• Dimensionals (4x1.33 cents) = 5.3 cents
• Scrap cardstock (23 cents x 3/8) = 8.6 cents
• Envelope = 7.5 cents

Wow!  This is a super-cheap card to make!  All punches used: Stampin' Up: 1-3/8" square, 1-1/4" square, curly label, 3-hearts, 1" circle.  Other brand punches: 1" flower, 5/8" flower, 1/4" circle.  Stamps: Life, live like you mean it -- retired Stampin' Up hostess. Eastern Blooms -- Stampin' Up.  Cardstock: barely bananna, matting squares eggplant.

(Frog Prince stamp variation.  The pieces here were cut larger to 1-3/8" square and 1-1/2" square.)

Easter Wishes card from Virginia

Easter_Egg (1)

Hello, I have been moving from California to Virginia.  I was busy since September 2009, moving out of our place and storing everything into moveable cubes.  Then finding a job (Bill got one, I'm still looking). Then finding a new place to live in Virginia (we have a temporary place we rent by the week).  Then getting the moving company to transfer our stuff to Virginia.  Then storing them in a secure, clean place nearby. I feel like I have been moving continuously for a long time...  

Finally, got re-connected with my GOOD friend Alisa back home.  I went to a card making social with her sisters and sister-in-law.  I came up with an Easter card design that I thought was simple, but they thought was elaborate. Anyway, here it is a bit modified.  I changed the top ribbon from eggplant 1/4" to white organza, and the greeting to white embossed powder. Enjoy!

One great thing about this group is that they don't require me to use only current Stampin' Up products.  I can even use  other company products and they are perfectly fine with it! Since I don't demonstrate to make money, this is great.  It frees me to use my other stuff.

Easter_Egg

Materials:  Easter Wishes -- Penny Black, egg stamp -- SU retired Tag Time, SU Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, lavender cardstock, white organza 5/8" ribbon, curry 5/8" ribbon, razzleberry 5/8" ribbon. Inside card, Gifts of Spring retired Stampin' Up stampset, vanilla cardstock. Embossing powders white and gold, Ranger's PearlEx powders bronze and dark purple, embossing inkpad, heatgun, powder trays and brush.   

Cost:

cardstock lavender -- 11.5 c

cardstock vanilla -- 8.5 c

two dotted ribbons 10" ($10/15 yds/36") --  18.5 c

white organza ribbon 15" ($6/15 yds/36") -- 16.7 c

inks, embossing powder, pearl-ex -- 5 c

snail tape 45" ($2.10/472") -- 20 c

envelope -- 7.5 cents                                          .

Total supply cost:  88 cents 

Petite Pansies -- simply sent card kit $43

Pansies_Fullsize1

Pansies_Fullsize2

This is a very expensive kit, but I still got it because I really liked the stamp design.  Plus I knew I would be on-the-road and I thought it would be compact to carry around while I am homeless (moving :-).  I ended up using it a lot for various full-sized cards, so I was able to break-even on it.  This could have been a good idea for a new stamper who does not have any supplies.  Cost of getting full packs of cardstock, inkpad, etc. can be quite high.  One drawback is that the kit only has ten 4"x4" cards (for gift presenting and not for mailing), instead of the regular 4.25"x5.5" cards (1/4 letter-sized). 

Cost of supplies if bought seperately:

• Cardstock (lavender $5, eggplant $5, cocoa $5, plume $5, olive $5, vanilla $7.50) -- $32.50
• Ribbon (vanilla 5/8" satin ribbon $9, old olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon $5) -- $14
• Markers $3 or inkpads $6 (olive, lavender, chocolate, plume) -- $12 to $24
• Blending brush or watercolor brush -- $7 to $10
• Envelopes vanilla -- $6.50
• Dimensionals pop-up tape -- $4
• Snail tape --  $7                                           .

Total supply cost for a newbie stamper: $83+. 

Plus, the Petite Pansies stampset if sold separately might cost $15.  So the initial cost for a newbie stamper would have been about $100.  Buying the kit could save on the initial outlay ($43 vs $100), but since the cards are not full-sized, the kit is not as useful as it could have been.  Note, the supplies listed above is enought to make 100 cards (see below).  I found a nice saying for inside the Sympathy card from Diffusion.  It says, "It is not length of life, but depth of life... Emerson."  

PetitePansy_SympathyLavender (1)

PetitePansy_SympathyLavender