Candice Aguilar, one of the best graphic designers I know, has such a wide spectrum of styles she emulates. You just never know what she will come up with next! Last month you were wowed by Forest Friends, a collection of adorable woodland creatures with coordinating sentiments. This month it's a trendy but classic, elegant but understated stationery building collection. Can I just say how much I LOVE this? I mean really, can you possibly think of anything more perfect for stampers?
The set contains many images to help you create stationery like any professional print shop. This includes round decorative borders in two sizes, decorative finials and lines to put above, below or beside monograms and such, wording to accompany your designs and much, MUCH more! Want to know the best part? This stamp set alone paired with just a bit of cardstock and ink, can lead you to successfully creating dozens and dozens of VERY inexpensive gifts for the special people that you celebrate in your life. Think birthdays, weddings, teachers, co-workers or just because (or even a little something for yourself!!!). And because the set is SO customizable with all of the building elements, no two sets need to look alike! Onto the examples I have prepared for you today!
I have ALWAYS wanted my own special monogrammed notecards to sit on my desk. This stamp set gave me all the inspiration I needed to finally make something, just for me. My notecards are not folded, they are just single pieces of vintage cream cardstock cut down to 4.25 x 5.5 inches. They are the perfect thing to just grab and jot a note to a special friend. I built my entire finished image with several different elements pulled from the stamp set and assembled together on a single block. The monogram was created with two different alphabet sets. The large center "H" is from our new alphabet, Fresh. The smaller letters on either side (N & R) are from our existing Simple Alphabet. (There will be more details and descriptions provided about Fresh Alphabet later this week). The grouping was stamped with our ripe avocado ink.
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I needed a way to keep these notecards corralled on my desk and I decided that Lauren's Desk Top Organizer printable template was just the ticket. For those of you that may be unfamiliar with this template, it prints right off of your home printer onto your 8.5 x 11 cardstock of choice. This particular template has just a few cuts and scores involved in the assembly. Ten minutes, tops! I decided to create mine from our classic kraft cardstock. I love what a rich warm color it is.
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I added just a few special details to my version of the organizer, which is one of the reasons why I love these templates so much! I don't have to waste my precious creative time fiddling with measuring and developing my own packaging for things like this. I just click & print! Because that portion is so easy, I really feel like I have the time and energy to add a few little extra details to make it my own! Before I adhered the top of the end cap down, I added a strip of ripe avocado cardstock that I had trimmed with scalloped scissors along one side. I love the detail the visual interest this added.
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In addition, I also lined the inside (just the bottom and visible end) of my box with ripe avocado cardstock that I had stamped with Polka Dot Basics using vintage cream ink (love the coverage & vibrancy of that stuff!). I jotted down my measurements for the two pieces required for the lining, so you can just cut & go if you decide to recreate it yourself.
Box bottom lining:..... 5-15/16" x 4-7/16"
End strip lining: ..... 4-7/16" x 1"
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I also designed a band to go around the box that you could use if you were to give this desktop note set as a gift. I just LOVE the fonts that Candice picked out to use in this "Handmade Stationery" image. To me it looks like something you might find on the shelves of your favorite stationery boutique! It coordinates well with a 1" circle punch. You'll notice that the embellished circular border behind it uses the same decorative element that I used at the heading of my notecards. Candice did this with several of the image is this set, repeating design elements in different scales and formations to give you mix and match options along with lots of coordination possibilities.
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While creating this band, I discovered that a strip of 11" cardstock is just a hair too short to do the job correctly.
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To help reinforce this area and give it more longevity, I adhered a second circle of cardstock to the back. It really polished it off and gave the band some much needed strength.
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I love how the whole thing turned out and I am looking forward to using it over the next few months! And if you are thinking about making these as gifts, talk about a VALUE! I cut an entire 12-sheet package of our vintage cream cardstock down into quarters (as described above), giving me 48 notecards. That stack nearly filled this organizer to the top, and with the cost of a 12-pack of cardstock being $3, it can't possibly be much cheaper than that!
THRIFTY GIFTING COST BREAKDOWN:
12-pack vintage cream cardstock: $3
1 sheet ripe avocado cardstock: 20-cents
1 sheet kraft cardstock: 20-cents
TOTAL COST: $3.40
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Just to give you some additional inspiration in regards to what else you can create with the incredibly versatile Simply Stationery stamp set, I thought I would put another quick & easy, inexpensive ensemble together for you. This set actually uses our white pre-scored notecards. I love using these when I am making sets of white no layer cards because it saves SO much time. I just grab and stamp without having to do any of the cutting & scoring that is normally involved. The cards even come with matching envelopes that feature the elegant squared flap that we all like so much. Now back to the stamps! Notice the two different sizes of matching borders? One is perfectly scaled for notecard fronts, and the other works well for envelope flaps or labels. The extra line border can be added or left out (note that I used the double lined interior border on the notecard front, but omitted it on the envelope). I just LOVE that about this set.
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For my notecards, I used the new Labels 2 die collection from Spellbinders to emboss a beautiful frame detail on the covers. (It is a little hard to see here, but you can click on the photo to zoom in.) I used the embossing technique which I describe HERE. Essentially, you just run the die through with the embossing mat instead of doing any cutting. It adds some nice detail without much fuss. Leave the card open when you do this so you don't emboss the front and the back of the card. I inked up two of the border images from Simply Stationery with black ink and stamped them inside the area I just embossed. My chosen monogram from Fresh Alphabet nestled perfectly inside.
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Packaging once again is an important choice when presenting someone with such a lovely set of handmade monogrammed cards! This time I chose to work with Lauren's All Boxed Up template. This is one of my FAVORITE templates that she has come up with to date! It is so quick and easy to put together and just makes for such a wonderful presentation!
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The front of the box is covered in one of the yummy patterns found in our NEW Black & White Basics paper collection (more info in post below). The upper portion of the front uses a scrap of true black cardstock that is embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. The focal point uses the same Labels 2 die that was used on the cover of the notecards. The stamp images are also the same, but I punched the interior border & monogram out with a 1" circle punch, layering it with a 1-1/8" mat. Some black fabric-covered brads from Making Memories add a bit of texture.
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The inside of Lauren's All Boxed Up template is really the crowning detail of this ensemble. The two pockets create the perfect nooks to hold 10 notecards on one side and 10 envelopes on the other. Remember how I mentioned the pre-scored card & envelope set earlier? The set includes 20 cards and 20 envelopes for $6. This means you can create TWO of these classy gift ensembles from just one set! That's only $3 per set! Less than a Starbucks Cafe Mocha!
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I love the way that the ribbon closure keeps the whole set tied up in a nice neat little package. It looks fantastic sitting out on a desk or shelf. Really a class act.
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See that adorable bow detail. (You can see a little tutorial on how to make those HERE. Even though I used paper strips in the tutorial linked, you can use the same steps with real ribbon. Scor-tape works great as an adhesive for this!)
It is such an easy thing to do, but really brings about such an *Audrey Hepburn* kind of style to the whole piece.
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THRIFTY GIFTING COST BREAKDOWN:
(half of) Pre-scored notecard & envelope set: $3
2 sheets true black cardstock: 40-cents
1 sheet stamper's select white cardstock: 15-cents
1 8x8 sheet patterned paper: 17-cents
2 yrds. ribbon: $1.20
TOTAL COST: $4.92
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And just because I knew some of you would ask, here is a visual representation of how some of the other monogram alphabets that we already carry will look with this new Simply Stationery set. Fresh Alphabet was designed specifically to coordinate with this set. But our others will work with most of the images as well.
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I hope you are as excited about the prospects of this set as I am. I truly am looking forward to making some things for some special people in my life based on the examples above. If the excitement is contagious, let me know by posting a comment to this post. I will chose one random winner for the following Simply Stationery Prize Package (a $45 value!)...
-Simply Stationery stamp set
-Notecard & envelope set
-Fresh Alphabet
Good luck to everyone!
Fine Print: This contest will close today, January 10th, 2008 at 11:59pm EST. The winner will be announced shortly thereafter. Please play nice, only one entry per person please. Winner is responsible for contacting customer service with their shipping information in order to claim the prize.
THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!
Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers:
389
Timestamp: 2009-01-11 14:04:03 UTC
Comment #389 belongs to:
Congratulations, Jo Ann! You've won the Simply Stationery Prize Package! Thanks to everyone for sharing your excitement with us and playing along!
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Lauren Meader is presenting one of her NEW templates today on her blog! The sample she put together uses the new Simply Stationery stamp set that I used today!
Heather Nichols has a new set debuting this month as well, which you can see a peek of on her blog!
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Desk Top Notecard Set
Stamps: Simply Stationery & Fresh Alphabet (both available January 15th), simple Alphabet, Polka Dot Basics
Ink: vintage cream, ripe avocado
Paper: vintage cream, ripe avocado, classic kraft
Other: My Timeless Templates Desk Top Organizer printable template, Scor-tape
Finished dimensions: 4.5"W x 6"L x 1"D
Black & White Monogram Ensemble
Stamps: Simply Stationery & Fresh Alphabet (both available January 15th)
Ink: True Black
Paper: True Black, Stamper's Select White, Black & White Basics paper collection (available Jan. 15th), white notecard & envelope set
Other: True Black swiss dot & satin ribbons, Labels 2 die collection from Spellbinders, black fabric brads from Making Memories, scalloped scissors from Paper Studio, Scor-tape
Finished dimensions: 5"W x 7"L x 1"D
I love all of your stamps that you bring out. I think I have almost all of them. What really sells me on stamps is what people make with them. You can make something wonderful out of cardboard, I bet.
Once again you and your other designers have done it again and you have made the most beautiful projects.
Posted by: Jo Ann Shive | January 10, 2009 at 10:24 AM