WHEN DID COVER STOCK PAPER PRICES SOAR?

Just asking…

Have you noticed the surge in cost of vellum or cover stock, a staple in paper crafts?

As a card-maker hobbyist, I’ve been using the vellum paper for decades. It’s got more body and stiffness than the everyday document “typewriter paper,” what you commonly use in your copier.

Back in the day, a ream (250 sheets, 67 lbs.) cost under $5 a ream, then periodically became more expensive over the past four decades.

Springhill cover stock paper.

It was more than three years ago, prior to the start of the COVID pandemic, that I bought my last ream of plain white vellum paper. If you’re a hobbyist, you know that these cover stock paper comes in a range of colors, from pastel pink and blue, to yellow and green, and even tonier hues of orchid or peach.

Prices have been gradually escalating, like everything else, to $16 and $18 a ream…the last time I purchased several reams.

But ouch! When I visited Fisher’s the other day, the price tag was more than doubled, to $30-plus for a ream for the Springhill brand, the one I usually bought. For red, and dark colors like purple and garden green, I had to purchase another brand at Office Depot that was always costlier.

At Fisher, I located another brand, Hammermill, for under $19, so purchased that.

But I wanted to find out what comparison costs were at Office Depot and not surprisingly, the price tags were over $30 for cover stock and even standard copier paper.

It might be cheaper to shop at Amazon, which sells the Springhill product for $16.34.

Besides card-making, I need the vellum paper to create mounting labels for the holiday pins I make.

Just wondered if anyone else has encountered the soaring cost of paper.

MATTERS OF THE HEART

It’s February, and yes, Valentine’s Day looms.

To my network of friends and allies, check your mailbox: mailings are out to you.

The pins were fun to make, but had a last-minute burst of creativity: concocted one shadow-box for Valentine’s, already distributed to a longtime buddy, and shared here.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS CARDS

So I’m pretty much done doing Christmas pins and decorations, so now focusing on easy do-it-yourself Christmas cards.

Utilized scraps from gift paper, cut three segments using different designs, and assembled with double-sided tap to secure on vellum or card stock paper.

Add a star at the top, if you have stick-on stars, and the base is those hot-coffee shields cut into little stands. Can’t see ’em in the photo, but used fringed string at the bottom of the three tree segments, to cover possible irregular space in-between the three tree cut-outs. Give it a try!

These cards say aloha. Enjoy!

A NEW HANDLE ON HALLOWEEN PINS

The bewitching season begins soon, so the behind-the-scenes witchery has been toiling without fanfare.

Translation: I’ve been indulging in my holiday crafting throughout September, to create, design, and assemble the 2022 collection of Halloween pins.

Halloween pins, 2022 collection: the critters are pretty much the same every year.

First confession: The yearly pins resemble previous last year’s selections, because there’s very little you can do with pumpkins, bats, witches and other available Halloweeneries.

I’ve also done some early mailings to friends, colleagues and family – so ifMy you’ve been on the list, watch your mail box for treats over the next few days.

A brainstorming idea: Pins with handles, resembling trick-or-treat bags.

Second confession: midway through the assembly period, I had a quick flash of inspiration.

Sure, ghouls, jack-o-lanterns, spiders, bats and other Halloween critters prevail.

My brainstorming idea: Why not make pins resembling trick-or-treat bags?

Did only a limited addition of these designs, but see the results here – the treat bag pins are the ones with little bag handles.

Will surely be part of the repertoire for next year’s designs.

Trick or treat!!!

FINGER-PAINTING WAS SQUISHY FUN

For no reason the other day, I had a momentary flashback to…

fingerpainting?

What’s that, you ask?

If you are of a certain age, you should recall this curious but fun “art project,” where your grade school teacher would hand out oversized sheets of paper to hand-craft, or finger-paint a scene.

The paint was a liquified goo, oozing and swishing as you ran your fingers and hands, creating images that had to be dried.

And yep, you got to take this art home for your parents’ gallery of childhood creativity.

Your fingers and hand were “paintbrushes” in fingerpainting.

I recall the paint had a special smell and pasty texture.

Then today, I got an errant email about making-your-own paint for fingerpainting.

The scent must be from corn starch and sugar, yielding the oozy quality.

Single fingers can create still-life flowers

I don’t remember if the teacher made the paint – or it was a staple product back in the day  –but an attached recipe (that showed up in my email) shows you can revive this art form for your child or grandchild.

The colors come from food coloring. Of course, the primary hues, when mixed, result in new colors. Like red and blue yields purple; blue and yellow, green.

Recipe for fingerpaints.

The painting style may vary, using your hands and fingers to swish  amid blobs of several colors; or single finger to paint, create, with you digits as brushes, to create still-life flowers or landscapes.

Suggestion: when the dry out, you can create note cards covers by cutting the art to card size and securing with rubber cement or double-sided tape.

 If nothing else, it’s a silly but fun stroll down memory lane.