Amazing Paper Grace

As much as I love coffee and as much as I love my friends, I couldn’t believe that I had not used THIS set from JustRite Stampers yet!  I think I got all wrapped up in Christmas too much to know that this set was surely calling my name!!  Funny, because when I do little gifts my default is a coffee basket and this set fits in to that vein very well!

I’m using this weeks sketch from Mojo Monday – it fit perfectly!  As you can see, I opted to use one of the stamps from the set as a stand alone sentiment instead of as a center or insde a border.  That’s the nifty thing about these stamps – even though they are coordinated to fit concentrically on the stamp mount – it’s easy to break out the mold and use them anywhere. 

Card Recipe:
Stamps:  JustRite –  A Little Caffeine and Friends Centers and Borders
Paper:  My Minds Eye – Tres Belle, Bazzill, The Paper Company – Blonde Columns
Ink:  Tuxedo Black Memento
Accessories:  Copic Markers, Spellbinders Classic Square Large, Spellbinders Classic Square Small, Spellbinders Standard Circles Small, Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Circles Small, Spellbinders Classic Rectangles Large, Ribbon, Martha Stewart Deco Shells Border, Martha Stewart Daisy Fan Deep Edge Punch

There are lots of exciting things coming in November!!  Be sure to stop by and see me tomorrow, Our Daily Bread Designs is having a blog hop to celebrate new designs!!  Stay tuned!!

Let’s see . . . go get coffee . . . plop down in studio . . . cup chin in hands . . . daydream a little . . . look up after an hour of wondering what to make next.   Lightbulb! . . . where is that bag of stuff from the $1.00 bin at Michaels?  Ah, there it is . . . bliss.

This is what I did yesterday.  I had a project all planned out but I just wasn’t feeling it enough to launch into making it.  I took a detour instead with some items I bought several weeks ago with a JustRite Monogrammed Writing Ensemble in mind.  This was a delightful project because it was extremely inexpensive, all the embellishment was fun and the addition of THIS JustRite set for monograms gives it that perfect polished touch I was looking for.

The purchased items here are the boxed pen, the boxed tiles, and small accordian file which originally had a bright fruit cover, and one package of four file folders that match the boxed pen.  File folders?  Don’t you see them?  That’s what I used to make the box holding the cards and the two belly bands on the boxes.  Okay that’s four items and you know where I purchased them, so besides adding the ribbon and design paper you can see what I have tied up in this project.  

The main item is the monogrammed note cards – I made a set of six.  For some reason I always prefer top folded cards and this week I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how much I’m liking side fold cards.  This is a side fold card that leaves much of the inside layer exposed so I thought I’d pretty it up.  After designing the layout of the card I knew that adding a small, crisp, one letter monogram using JustRite Damask Centers and 60 Point Font, would be a fairly clean look.   It’s hard to tell in the photo but the monogram sits inside a small square frame that I have popped up – then the last tier (the "B") is popped up.  Below is a picture of the card set unboxed.

I get the question in email all the time in regards to what JustRite set to start with.  My advice is this set is a perfect first project – it gives you a great feel for the stamps, how they fit into the mounts and they sure stamp up pretty!!

The cards are all 7" x 5" and I just used standard cream colored greeting card envelopes to pair them up.  No mystery to the box – it is the dimension of the card plus 1 1/2" on each side.  The nice weight of the file folder made the box super sturdy and since the file folder was double sided, the inside of my box is a shiny red :-).  The top of the box is made with a sheet of acetate.  I cut just a tad smaller than the bottom then scored 1 1/2" in on all sides, folded and taped it up.  It made for a lid that would fit just inside the bottom of the box.  The box itself used one file folder and one 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of acetate.  The belly band is made using a small strip of a second file folder.  

The accordian file was an easy embellish item.  It was a bright color to start with so I measured, cut and covered it with black card stock.  Once the black was in place, I then embellished with left over pieces of design paper -a monogram, border and bow finish it off.

Below is the pen set.  I simply put a belly band on the box.  For the (magnetic) tile set I simply embellished with monograms.  The magnets are recessed so these can be used as magnets or as paper weights.

This was totally fun.  Now that I have my layout in mind, it will take no time to sit down and make additional sets.  Okay one Christmas present done, a kajillion to go!  Have a great day friends and thanks so much for stopping by!