Sunday, April 15, 2007

I'm insane, seriously



I'm insane, seriously I am, guess who got up at 5.15am on a Sunday to buy Nichole's new set from Papertrey, that would be me!!!!!

I know the ribbon on this card looks a little weird, but it's to hide a big splodge of olive ink that transferred. This card is heavily coated and so the dye ink takes a while to dry and I keep forgetting, lol.

Why is it that the ribbon all lies in the same direction, I'm really happy with how they look and then you take the photo and they all mysteriously turn around? I swear, they are straight! :)

I like this card because even though I have used all Earth Element colors, I still think it looks really spring-like.

I don't know if any Americans know this, but British cardstock is a slightly different size to American cardstock. Our cardstock is longer and thinner, so it is just shy of 12" long and 8" wide or in cm like we work, 29.8cm long by 21cm wide, so my cards are always slightly longer than yours. It's a complete pain sometimes, especially when I use SU background stamps because they are not long enough, so I end up having to cut a big slice off it. Now don't you feel richer for that information! :)

Details of the card - Set - Green Thumb by Papertrey, inks - More Mustard, Really Rust, Old Olive and Ruby Red, ribbon.

ETA: Jenn asked a question about how I like acrylic stamps. Jenn, I have always gone for stamps I love rather than what they are made of. So mounted, unmounted, acrylic, whatever, I love and have always bought them all.

Acrylic does behave differently though. It does sometimes pool when using dye ink, but I just rough the stamps up slightly with my jeans and they work perfectly. You can't use inks like Stazon though, the Stazon sticks to the cardstock and the stamp comes off the block, ask me how I know, lol. I used classic ink on this card, on slightly textured cardstock and they still worked perfectly.

But the huge advantage of clear stamps is just that they are clear. I use mine with a clear block and so you can see exactly where you are stamping. You can avoid spaces on your design, you can stamp accurately, I must admit I love them.

What do you need? Just a couple of different size acrylic blocks. Unlike rubber, clear acrylic cling to the blocks by way of static, so they don't need to be glued or taped on.

I would say buy one set and a few blocks and see how you get on. I have nothing but praise for Papertrey's sets, there are just endless permutations of ways to use them. You never get bored with them, well I haven't anyway and this card seriously took me no more than 5 minutes to actually stamp. It took me about an hour to choose the colors and tye the ribbon, but that's another story, lol. Hope that helps Jenn. :)

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I LOVE this!!!! And think it would look naked without the ribbon. It's a PITA about the background stamps, isn't it?

squishychickfi said...

Don't know what it is about this card, but I think it is stunning. Really love it and the colours and ribbon. Did you make it at 5.15 or just order all the stuff?

Joan said...

This is fabulous -- my fave of all of your cards. It does have the spring look and is soft and lovely. I do not have these sets, except for the first one, but they are on my to buy list for the summer!

Andrea C (Frog) said...

Hi Alli thank you so much for the lovely comment you left about my cards on my blog. Wow you are seriously talented yourself yours cards are so gorgeous i love them all. I will be back to look again soon.

Andrea xx

Anonymous said...

I don't think you're crazy--that set Nicole has designed is ADORABLE!! On this card, I too love the ribbon accent (even at a slant) and EE colors are my favorites! Lovely work.

Here's the question: what are acrylic stamps like, compared to the SU! ones? I know they're unmounted and that you store them that way, yes? I SO want the new faux ribbon set, but I don't understand how you work with this kind of stamp. Thanks for all the sharing you do!

Allison Rankin said...

This card is super...your site has nothing but inspiration!

Jennifer Magreevy said...

I'm an American stationed in England, so I completely understand the difference in cardstock sizes. While it's not too noticeable to the eye, it's really obvious when you plan a project or attempt to throw it through a printer. Fortunately I'm an SU demonstrator, so I can get American cardstock by them, and buy the UK cardstock in shops. I have my cake and eat it too....and I LOVE being 5 hours ahead of EST so I can order these sets first as well!! :-)

Rose Ann said...

This is so pretty! I think it looks very Spring-like as well.

That's very interesting information about your card stock. Thanks for sharing! ;)

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Alli, for describing the acrylic stamps! This is going to be my Mother's Day present, I hope!

Dorinda said...

Oh Alli this is just stunning!!!

Ana Wohlfahrt said...

Alli!! I love this card..I think the ribbon is perfect.

Anonymous said...

This card is gorgeous! I just found your blog through beate's. You've got some nice inspiration, I'm sure your creativity will come flowing back!