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I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that my "style" of crafting has changed over the years. There are things that I used to love that I'm starting to realize are not my "thing" any longer. The main item I am trending away from is large stacks of patterned paper. I have purchased NONE this year. Instead I have fallen for 6 by 6 paper pads of much prettier paper that I feel have patterns scaled better for cards.
I'm just curious what you might be going away from and what you are more drawn to in paper crafting right now.
I'm just curious what you might be going away from and what you are more drawn to in paper crafting right now.
I am trending away from stamped images, and trending toward more paper crafting. I have started to use up my rather large stash of patterned paper, using it as the focal point, and less so on stamped images as a focal point. Think interesting folds (e.g. teabag folded Christmas trees), intricate dies (e.g. Memory Box - Bianca Snowflake, Winter Wonderland tree), chipboard shapes (e.g. SU! ornaments), die cuts (e.g. Crate Paper Holly Collection) etc. In fact, I just made 60 Christmas cards, and not one of them has a stamped main focal image. The only stamps I used were for sentiments. Usually every year, I make sets of Christmas cards for a church bazaar, and I always buy a new stamp set so that I can bring something new and fresh to the table each year. This year, I didn't do that, and still managed to make the cards, all with a fresh new twist from what I brought last year.
With so many companies coming out with more and more dies, I have found myself turning to them as focal images, and less and less to stamped images.
__________________ Elizabeth
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Hand over the chocolate, and no one will get hurt!
I haven't been in the craft long enough to trend away from anything but I have found that I'm developing a style that doesn't include a lot of patterned paper. I seem to like the CAS look. Of course, not knowing what I was doing when I first started, I bought a lot of patterned paper on sale while shopping in the USA. Other than some Christmas papers, I'm determined to not add to this stash until it is cut down to at least half. And, then, I'll be even more selective on my paper purchases. I'm trending away from cheaper cardstocks and more towards SU and CTMH cardstocks as well. I need papers that will cut well in the Cricut and emboss well with the Big Shot without cracking or ripping or having the Cricut blade tear it up. I'm also being more selective with my stamp purchases and probably have a few I can get rid of that I know I won't use going forward.
__________________ Leslie Harnish
Sambro, Nova Scotia
Canada
I'm relatively new to card making also. I love coloring, so doubt I will ever get away from stamps. I'm buying lots of 6 x 6 pads and also the pads for matting photos, I find those a good size for cards.
I have found myself trending away from the 12x12 paper as well. I haven't bought any of it in a long time, but I did have a bunch from when I first started crafting. Now I'm starting to give it away and pass it on to other scrapbookers and paper-crafters as I lean towards the 6x6 pads!
I'm going through a sort of paper crafting metamorphoses recently. I am trending away from a lot of my old style and trending into my new style. Here's what I'm trending away from:
12 by 12 patterned papers
Cluttery cards with tons of layers and embellishments
Shabby chic/Vintage with lots of ephemera
Flimsy card stock
Wood mounted stamp sets
And here's what I'm following now:
Clean and Simple cards
One Layer cards
Good design with bold, graphic focal points
Die cuts
110 lb. card stock
smaller paper packs
Unmounted stamps
Paring down my stash for a less is more philosophy
It's been really freeing to give up old wood mounted sets that I've had forever and start over with new companies and a new style. After twelve years, it was time to do something new.
I've been at this for 10+ years and I find that I tend to be cyclical. I won't use something for years and then all of a sudden, I will drag it out and do something new with it! I seem to be all over the map with my style, and it just seems to be what mood I'm in and who and what I'm making the card for.
Even though I still buy new stuff, I tend to be going into my stash more often and trying to use what I have. And, I :oops: still have supplies and stamps that I love that lay unopened :mrgreen: Seems to be a common theme with us crafters!
I went through a period of "collecting" a boat load of 12"x12" patterned paper. Thankfully, I have widdled that down to about half of what I used to have and plan to thin it out even more.
I also had 6 filing cabinet drawers filled to the brim with stamps. Now I am down to 1 which is half-and-half wood mounted and cling.
I used to have tons of distress inks, alcohol inks, paints, chalks, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, and markers - now I am down to just a handful of copics. I went from 50+ ink pads down to a dozen, but the only 3 I seem to use are the memento black, memento brown, and versamark. If I want color, I use colored cardstock layers under black or brown images stamped on white. Once in a blue moon I will stamp on printed paper.
I still love and use a bunch of bling, eyelets, brads, ribbon, buttons and other embellishments.
I own an Epic and a handful of alphabet dies because I got rid of all my other ones - they just never got used. I still use the alphabets for page titles because using all those Thickers alphabets got to be too expensive when I ran out of an "e".
After browsing through the stash again, I realize how much more I still need to purge.
I participated in two craft garage sales this summer and I'll tell you what I got rid of:
*LOTS of wood-mounted stamps. I only have a small drawer-full now
*Tools that were the "it thing" at some point in time that I never ended up using (the Making Memories Tag Maker; various stencils; border punch system..)
*Lots of 12x12 patterned paper. I used to buy everything.. I mean it.
*trendy/weird/unique stamps that don't really have a purpose. I liked them, but once I made a card with them I was like WHO would I ever give this too???!! I am way more practical now.
I still buy a lot of patterned papers but I am way more selective with my purchases. I only sometimes buy 6x6 or 8x8 pads. They aren't always the best choice for me because I don't use them enough. I have no less than 50 paper pads and I know I'll never use ALL of the paper in them...
__________________
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I haven't been in the craft long enough to trend away from anything but I have found that I'm developing a style that doesn't include a lot of patterned paper. I seem to like the CAS look. Of course, not knowing what I was doing when I first started, I bought a lot of patterned paper on sale while shopping in the USA. Other than some Christmas papers, I'm determined to not add to this stash until it is cut down to at least half. And, then, I'll be even more selective on my paper purchases. I'm trending away from cheaper cardstocks and more towards SU and CTMH cardstocks as well. I need papers that will cut well in the Cricut and emboss well with the Big Shot without cracking or ripping or having the Cricut blade tear it up. I'm also being more selective with my stamp purchases and probably have a few I can get rid of that I know I won't use going forward.
Man, I can REALLY relate to this. Apparently I don't use patterned paper at all. D'oh!
I went through my stacks not too long ago and shared with my friend and my mom. Whatever they didn't want, I have donated to my son's art program at school. They were thrilled to get it, and I was happy to gain the space. I've also been known to wrap small presents in scrapbook paper that I didn't plan to use! Perhaps that's why I am not buying any more stacks!
You sound like me with your getting rid of stuff. I do buy the 6 x 6 pads since I am now selling cards at our local farmers market and tend to make a couple of the same cards for back up stock. I like that the pads all match because I am not that great at matching up all different types of papers.
I find that I am not using my flower soft and that will be the next item to hit my next garage sale.
I am also not getting much use out of my tombows and might just put those up for sale as well. They are great for having alot of different colors to use on my stamps but I suck at getting them to watercoloring nicely. I know practice makes purpose.
I got away from wood-mounted stamps and 12 x 12 paper years ago ~ not surprised to see so many people saying they are too.
In supplies, I buy very very little paper anymore. Recently I bought Out of Print by Basic Grey and a couple of new Christmas papers, but what I don't use for Christmas this year will be donated before next year. Generally, I buy less of everything including stamps.
In card-making, I have trended away from buttons, big bows, rhinestone brads (which I used to use a lot of), and Prima-type flowers which I'm not sure many people use much anymore. I'll use diecut flowers (like TH Tattered Floral die) and small white paper flowers that I can custom color (A Muse).
I'm sure there are going to be more replies that when I read, I'll say - Oh, yeah! Me, too!! :^)
It seems stamping is just one more area where everyone is learning to simplify - and it's so refreshing and liberating!!
I am new to paper crafting but I must say that I am definitely trending away from my Cricut! I just don't like it anymore :( I like the look of stamps better than cuts and I find that I can do MORE if I put the machine away! (should be the other way around for those who aren't familiar with the machine) I actually took it out of my crafting area about a month ago and there it sits...staring at me and feeling lonely I'm sure.
__________________ "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack" ~Rudyard Kipling my gallery
I would have to say cardstock as well, I only use one for base and the rest pattern paper and embellishments, I collected to many packages and now I hardly even use it.
I haven't stamped a scrapbook page in years and have gone exclusively to digital photobooks (not even digistamping...straightup Snapfish and Shutterfly!) I am unmounting my wooden stamps as fast as possible! I'm totally over eyelets and shaped brads and am tempted to purge the whole works...then I also have my cropodile and big bite that haven't seen the light of day in years. Oh, and my pastels and blender pens. I prefer to watercolor with my stamp pads. I'm not a hoarder and have no trouble using supplies I've bought, but when I'm done working with a product I have a hard time giving it away because the amount of money I spent on the stuff keeps running through my head like a dot matrix receipt printing machine!
__________________ Rachel Schott
As my best friend says, "Stamping....it's cheaper than therapy" to which I add, "Not by much".
My mom was the proud recipient of my first handmade card. Cost $200.
I now look only for small and tiny patterns for my cardmaking and only buy it when on sale at 5 or 6 sheets for $1. The old 12 x 12 pads also can be used to make some custom envelopes when needed.
I try to challenge myself ocassionally to try something like using an odd material. Recently the challenge was tissues boxes. They have gotten so colorful. I made two different cards using a piece from a tissue box.
I've been trending away from wood mounted stamps for several years now, only buying cling or clear. I've also gotten away from using cardstock for layering, using up my sheets of patterned or solid paper instead and making my cards lighter to mail. Also stopped buying eyelets and brads and using up what I have. But still using lots of gems, punches and now embossing folders and dies!
Today I played with some Martha Stewart, punch-around-the-page stuff and it was a lot of fun. I was able to use some of the small patterned paper and it works well in the layers. I started by using a kit and tried doing some things I would not have ever done on my own. I wil be able to incorporate some nice things into my ongoing work.
I'm mostly "trending away from" buying a lot of new stuff, and trending towards shopping my stash. I can most likely continue this hobby for the next decade without purchasing a single thing besides cardstock for bases and adhesive to hold it all together. I'm also trending away from following trends. Lately it seems like everything is starting to look like everything else, and it leaves me totally uninspired. Having said that, I'll add that there are a couple of new Papertrey and Waltzingmouse stamp sets that intrigue me... ;-)
Trending away from Designer Paper. I like to make my own backgrounds. I still buy individual sheets of paper for my altered arts. The last pad of paper I bought was the DCWV Twilight stack. Plus, the paper companies use so much ink now it triggers my asthma.
Trending away from the alcohol marker craze. I like to water color, color pencil and acrylic paint.
Trending away from die cutting and getting more into traditional hand cutting. I find hand cutting relaxing. I like the control of it more. I still love my BossKut Gazelle.
Hmm, I still like and buy wood-mounted stamps and 12x12 paper!
Never having been a big one to jump on trends I don't have too many to move away from, but I'd say I probably use less patterned paper these days. I'll always buy it when I love it, but DH is a worse hoarder of paper he likes than I am.
DeeAnn, I'm with you on hand-cutting. I like Nestabilities and have some other shape dies, but I haven't gotten into the stamps with matching dies so much. First, I can never seem to line them up properly, LOL! And then, I don't need that feature so often that I can't just cut them by hand.
Sabrina, I'm intrigued -- is your husband a papercrafter as well?
I said I cut back on purchases and then today ordered two new 6 x 6 pads of Basic Grey and a couple of Memory Box dies and the Poppystamps window dies from Ellen Hutson LLC! Hopeless I tell you. ;^)
I still love patterned paper. I find that sometimes it's cheaper to buy a sheet of designer paper of whatever the new "design" is, instead of buying a stamp of the same "design".
For example, when chandeliers were really big, instead of buying a chandelier stamp set for $14.99, I bought a couple of sheets of chandelier designer paper for about $2.00. I've actually done that quite a bit.
Don't get me wrong, I have enough stamps sets to choke a horse. But I figure, some styles won't be functional very long, so why not buy a couple of 12x12 sheets of designer paper, make a few cute cards and feel like I've been part of the craze?
Last edited by bweaz; 10-19-2011 at 08:44 AM..
Reason: grammar
I still love patterned paper. I find that sometimes it's cheaper to buy a sheet of designer paper of whatever the new "design" is, instead of buying a stamp of the same "design".
For example, when chandeliers were really big, instead of buying a chandelier stamp set for $14.99, I bought a couple of sheets of chandelier designer paper for about $2.00. I've actually done that quite a bit.
Don't get me wrong, I have enough stamps sets to choke a horse. But I figure, some styles won't be functional very long, so why not buy a couple of 12x12 sheets of designer paper, make a few cute cards and feel like I've been part of the craze?
I did the same thing with the Steampunk craze. It's not really my style, but I wanted to go outside my very comfortable box and try my hand at it, but didn't want to invest in all that stuff, particularly since I don't foresee myself doing it again. So, I bought six sheets of Graphic 45 steampunk style paper, did a lot of hand cutting of the images and the background paper and made a set of 24 cards. I have about 1 1/2 sheets left, which I can use either inside the envelopes or on something else, I "did steampunk" and am not burdened with stamps, embellishments, etc. that I won't use.
I am, and always will be, a scrapbooker first, so 12X12 sheets of dp is still something I use frequently, and I don't worry about whether the pattern is large or small scale. I just am happy that I can get multiple uses out of my supplies - cards and scrapbooks.
__________________ Elizabeth
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Hand over the chocolate, and no one will get hurt!
eyelets....a lot of other embellishements that I have unfortunately collected. I have a floor to ceiling stack of the Paper pads in my office now...this is totally separate from the piles in my stamp room. I think I need to quite buying those pads...
blessings.
Like so many of you, I'm not buying 12x12 paper pads, but I do still like the 6x6 & 8x8 ones because the scale works so much better for cards. I'm totally over anything "cupcake".
I'm getting away from the 12x12 Designer paper. What I have I will use. by cutting it up into 6x6 sizes. It will make it easier to use. Also I won't waste it as much either.
I'm also slowing down on buying wood mounted rubber stamps. I really enjoy the unmounted ones better.
Also Ribbon isn't something I will be buying for awhile. I have TON's of it!
Interesting reading here. It's funny how we morph in and out of things huh? I've pretty much trended away from card making. As a result, I've also pretty much trended away from stamps of any sort. I'm embracing stencils a lot more and really like the look they offer. Heat embossing is another huge trend away. It's too messy for me and it never comes out clean no matter what I do, so I waved the white flag on that one a long time ago.
__________________ �:*�*:�My next house won't have a kitchen. Just a bunch of vending machines and garbage cans.�:*�*:�
I tend to be doing a lot more paper crafting projects, and fewer cards, so I'm finally using up a lot of my 12x12 dp. I guess i find myself moving toward digi stamping a lot too. I like the ability to scale my images. My style has always been more on the CAS, and that remains. I find myself overwhelmed with too much "stuff", and the spending is definately on hiatis.
I have a friend who is very into paper crafting, and for Christmas we always do sort of a swap with many of our papers and embelishments. We love doing this, and we don't have to go out and buy anything.
Last edited by gram2boyz; 10-19-2011 at 05:22 PM..
I'm trending away from patterned background paper (never have been very good at matching it with cardstock and ink colors) and making more of my own background papers. CAS is still my preferred style, although I venture now and then into using more embellishments. I am trying to find new uses for products I already own, and that's been fun, too!
Sabrina, I'm intrigued -- is your husband a papercrafter as well?
Not really. He does some origami and origamic architecture but he's a sucker for patterned paper. He's always eyeing mine up saying how it would make a great box or this or that. But whenever I buy him some he won't use it because it's too good. Sound familiar??
Not really. He does some origami and origamic architecture but he's a sucker for patterned paper. He's always eyeing mine up saying how it would make a great box or this or that. But whenever I buy him some he won't use it because it's too good. Sound familiar??
That might explain why I'm now building a custom paper cabinet just for my DP! LOL
__________________ �:*�*:�My next house won't have a kitchen. Just a bunch of vending machines and garbage cans.�:*�*:�
What are you trending away from?
