Going Postal 2013: Making a virtue of repetition ... and repetition.

Hi hi [apologies if you've already seen this in your blog reader ... small scheduling mix-up!]

If you've been tempted to try something a bit postal-inspired and decide to start collecting the stamps that drop through your door don't worry if you keep receiving the same design of stamp again and again.

Just make a virtue from the repetition:

Just create a focal point from a row of identical stamps and pull the rest of the card together by picking out colours from the stamps and then using the same colour palette right across the card for emphasis:

For the less patient [who don't want to wait for a collection to drop onto their doormat] I've created a range of  'Instant Stamp Collections' which are currently available in colour-coordinated packs or themd around: Christmas; Plants + Flowers and Birds + Animals.  

 

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If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board where I'll be saving your post.
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.
• The Going Postal Pinterest board has close to 800 followers ... so this could be a fun way to get your blog seen by some new eyes!

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)

Cardmaking: Make your own postal rainbow!

Hi again.

We're just about two thirds of the way through Going Postal now so you can choose to look at it like this:

•  if you're sick of the sight of stamps ... then there's not long to go now!
• BUT if you're looking for even more creative inspiration on how you can use postal ephemera in your crafts ... there's still lots to come!

I guess it all depends on if your glass [or maybe it should be your postbag] is half-empty of half-full! Either way, Going Postal is still going strong ... and you're still welcome to join me before the end of the series [27th Oct].

Now for today's technicolour inspiration ...

If you're not in possession of a sprawling and exotic stamp collection then there's no need to let that put you off having some postal fun on your craft projects.

Today's project is a super-simple 'rainbow queen' card:

It's made from a simple arrangement of the most basic, average, postage stamps that drop through doors every day of the week.

But, as any fellow colour-lovers out there will know ... everything is made special when its organised in colour order! 

If you store your stamp stash in colour order, maybe in little envelopes, maybe in plastic pockets, whatever, you’ll soon see rainbows forming right throughout your collection. Then simply stick them on to a card ... with maybe a few coordinating gems for a touch of glamour!

And if you haven't got any stamps but want to give this a try then try one of my new 'Instant Collections' of mixed vintage stamps which are available in a rainbow of shades:

And, as with everything in my shop, if you'd prefer something slightly different to what you can see on the shelves ... just give me a yell and I'll make something up just for you. [So, if you want a rainbow in one pack, it's yours!].

 

Julie :-)

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If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)

Cardmaking: with vintage images + stationery [and a mole postman thrown in for good luck!]

Hi, hi, hi.

So far in this year's Going Postal series I've made projects using vintage postage stamps and vintage postcards and ... well ... it's about time I reverted to type and shared something I made with vintage book pages ... so how about this?

The central image is from a 'Katie Mouse' story from a 1970s children's annual and it was the starting point for the colours across the rest of the card.

There's probably not a lot for me to explain about the rest of the card's construction... it was a 'thank you' to someone who kindly sent me a bundle of pages of stationery so I reflected some of those elements in there along with a 'snippet' cut from an old school book:

The rest is just layers of patterned paper, a journaling block, washi tape ... and a paperclip:

Oh and ... I added the little 'Hi' message on the letter being delivered by the mole postman:

Now there's a sentence you don't ever think you're going to catch yourself writing ...!

If you'd like to browse for some inspiring vintage images to introduce into your paper-crafting then check out the 'Vintage Paper Packs' section of my shop ... or commission a custom pack based on something specific you'd like to use!

Or if you'd like an 'Instant Collection' of vintage stamps to use in your crafts you can find those here.

I'll see you on Friday with a rainbow of stamps!

Julie :-)

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If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board where I'll be saving your post.
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.
• The Going Postal Pinterest board has close to 800 followers ... so this could be a fun way to get your blog seen by some new eyes!

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)

52 Weeks of Photos: Weeks 1 - 4

Hey, hey. How's things today?

You know how I told you all my best tips about organising an on-going project a few weeks back?

Well today you can call me a hypocrite if you like because, for my latest project '52 Weeks of Photos' ... I'm not exactly following all those rules!

For example:

• I'm not selecting all my supplies in advance ... because how bored would I get with that? 52 weeks worth of creative decisions already made for me?
• And I'm not creating any pages in advance either ... because I've thought of another fun way to keep myself happily scrapping in the same format for a whole year ... but more of that soon ...

Firstly - let me quickly tell you about the '52 Weeks of Photos' project - it's something the 3DJean Design Team are playing along with as we're all rather fond of a list and of scrapbooking ... so anywhere the two meet is just fine with us. And you're welcome to join us - there's no fixed start or end date - just a list of 52 items to photograph, one per week until you're done, in any order you like!

Oh, all except that we've all taken a self-portrait as our first instalment - and we'll be doing the same 52 weeks later for our final one. And here's mine:

As for what I'm planning to do to keep things interesting for 52 weeks ...

• I've decided to, wherever possible, use up my old alpha and number stickers BUT also ...
• make good use of my most recent supplies on my pages in this album [which consists of 6x8 split page protectors].
• Not because I only like new stash [you know how I'm fond of vintage papers!] but because I want to put any new supplies - papers in particular - to full use straight away ... while I still love them. While they're still my favourites!
• This way at the end of the year, alongside 52 photos illustrating my life over that time scale, I'll also have a record of how [or if] my crafty-tastes changed too!

I think I'd had this Shimmerz Texturez paint [part of my 3DJean Design Team goodies last month] for less than hour before I put it to work on this page:

For more details on the Shimmerz products I've used on these pages visit my 3DJean DT post today.

 

But, amid all the newness ... I decided to introduce a couple of recurring features to give some continuity to the 52 individual 6"x4" pages and so you'll find:

• a snippet of camera patterned paper [see above] tucked in somewhere from time to time, plus ...
• the occasional appearance of something zebra-ish or animal print-y in general [below]:

 

 As I hope this page shows, while I'm going to be taking my photographic prompts from the list of 52 Weeks of Photos page on the 3DJean blog ... I'm still going to be looking for ways in which the list can help me document my year [rather than me ending up simply documenting the list - if you know what I mean?].

So, I browse the list and try to find the best fit, each week, that will help me tell the story of what was happening in my life when I was playing along with this list! Like when I had 100 padded envelopes delivered ... and captured them on camera half an hour later:

Or when I was commissioned [by someone whose work I greatly admire] to create a collage and I documented a close-up of my finished piece before posting it off:

So what do you reckon? Something you'd like to try out too?

• if you're looking for something regular and no-pressure to join in with;
• something that will get you not only taking photos BUT printing and scrapbooking them;
• something which could be as 'bite-sized' or grand as you care to make it; 
• then you're welcome to join in too - check out the list of 52 Weeks of Photos here.

I'm sure I'll share my pages from time to time here and over on the 3DJean blog too.

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Right, I'll leave you to think about it, and  it's back to Going Postal tomorrow ... so I'll see you then.

Julie :-)

30 postcards to myself: Week 4 of LSNED

Hello, hello.

This is the final instalment of the 30 collaged postcard pages inside my Learn Something New Everyday journal. [A class hosted each September by Shimelle Laine].

While I haven't been sharing the full story behind each of the 'lessons' [that all goes on on the reverse ... in private!] I hope that you've found something interesting in them just the same. 

• Maybe the style of the collage is something you'd like to try? 
• Or you might want to adapt the postcard idea to fit another project - like a travel journal?
• Maybe it shows a way you can introduce vintage supplies ... like postcards and stamps with newer patterned papers?
• Maybe you like how it uses some scrapbooking supplies ... without being 'traditional' scrapbooking?

Whatever it is ... I hope you feel the pages were worth sharing. 

And you should absolutely feel free to take inspiration from this project and interpret the ideas in your own. 

Now here are my final 9 collaged 'lessons':

September 22nd 2013:

Mind you ... how long do you have to be asleep to still be allowed to call it a 'nap'? I think this was more like an hour long 'sleep'. Either way ... it was lovely!

September 23rd 2013:

September 24th 2013:

Do you ever get that? Where something almost immediately annoys you / makes you get all 'ranty' / makes you bizarrely over-react? I had a little of that on the day in question and I couldn't understand why ... so I did what I do best: had a little think!

I forced myself to try to work out why such a silly little thing could cause such an out-of-proportion reaction and I think I worked it out in the end.

September 25th 2013:

September 26th 2013:

September 27th 2013:

I've been letting my morning walks get away from me lately!

September 28th 2013:

'Nothing much' [even lots of different kinds of 'nothing in particular'] can be just as nice as 'something' at the weekend!

WEEK 5
September 29th 2013:

This was a nice lesson to learn! It turns out I'm not really easy to frustrate when I'm trying to pass some knowledge or idea etc on to someone. So, if you ever need anything explaining ... I'll give it a go!

And, finally ...

September 30th 2013:

Let's hope so. But if it's not, it won't mean I'll stop giving it.

 

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Thanks for all your comments on this project - they've been gratefully received!

 

I really enjoyed making the cards and while the 'lessons' themselves were a bit harder to fathom out some days that where to stick my wonky layers, they were still worth the effort!

 

So that's that for Learn Something New Everyday 2013 and if this made you want to join in yourself next year then don't forget to keep up-to-date over at shimelle.com.

 

Before that, if you missed any of my '30 Postcards' posts you can catch up on the full set [and more!] here:

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• and a look behind the scenes complete with lots of tips for making these extended crafty projects creative projects happen!

 

I'll be back tomorrow with something non-posty [if, after 3 weeks of Going Postal, you can imagine such a thing!]

 

See you then then!

 

Julie

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If you join in with a posty post of your own:

• let your readers know you're Going Postal [a few words of introduction is fine];
• link up to my blog or the Going Postal Pinterest board
• then - if you use Pinterest please consider pinning it to one of your own boards, link me up, and I'll 're-pin' it.
• but - if you DON'T use Pinterest drop by here or my Facebook page and leave a link to your postal-themed project or story before Oct 27th and I'll add you to the board for all to share your contribution.

Any problems or questions - just get in touch. :-)