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Cut down any size card stock down to card size after you purchase it, and to what size?
Do you do same for designer paper, or leave Intact until you need it?
Do you as a card maker generally buy 12x12 or 81/2 x11?
I recently returned home after our winter holiday where we have a good group who enjoy making cards and stamping etc.This is usually when I get the urge to tidy up or do some Re organizing.
This time I took all my 12x12 sold colour card stock that had bits cut out, and trimmed them down to 6x6 pieces. Left overs were cut to 4x6 or 3x6 and smaller tossed.
I have a friend that cuts hers down to 4x6 as she just makes cards.
Because I also like making small boxes and treat bags decided on the 6x6.
I am wondering if this will make for better paper storage? I should mention I do
not plan on cutting down my white or vanilla as those are the colours mostly used for my card base.
I would appreciate your feed back before I go on a cutting frenzy, and regret I did not post here first. Thanks for all and any input.
I never cut down card stock or pattern paper until I need it. I made all different sizes of cards. If I cut everything down, I might not have the right size paper to make the card I want.
I make 4x4 card up to 6x6 cards along with A4 cards. I have even made a 7 inch long card at times.
Cutting down my paper just will not work for me.
Some people only make A4 cards so this might work for them.
__________________ The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable. Practice safe eating always use condiments
While my preferred card size is 4.25x5.5 I never cut down my CS or DSP in advance. As Leslie says, it's nice to have the option of making any size card.
Like the others, I make all sorts of sizes of cards, also square ones. So I never cut anything until I need it. I can see it would work if you only really make one size/shape of card though.
I should have been more clear in my post.the card stock I was cutting up was "not" new but
But scraps I had come home with. I was trimming them down into more usable sizes.
While doing this I wondered about the first part if my post regarding if anyone cut down their paper to card size right away to have it at hand and secondly what size paper do most card makers buy.
I find that there seems to be more variety of colour in 12x12 card stock than 8 x 11 1/2"', and I wondered if others also primarily bought 12x12.
I hope this helps with further input, sorry for not making clear I was cutting scraps.
I am also in the "don't cut it until you need it" camp. This goes for cardstock, as well as all my scraps.
I make card fronts and adhere them to white bases. I never use colored cardstock itself alone for a card base.
I buy most of my colored cardstock at Michaels in the multi-colored packs, in the 8-1/2" x 11" size.
I buy the big paper pads of patterned paper occasionally, and it lasts me forever. It is usually 12 x 12 size.
When they have a good sale on open stock pattern paper, like 6 pieces for $1.00, I usually try to pick up some nice small patterns for cards, and it's in the 12 x 12 size.
__________________ Bugga in OK
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Dalai Lama
I buy colored card stock from Stampin Up. Size is 8.5 x 11
GinaK card stock in white and beige. In both 80lbs and 110 lbs, I use the 110lbs for card bases. I also use this paper for coloring with copics.
I ventured into buying Michael's Recollection 110 lbs card stock in white for card bases. I don't feel coloring with copics on this paper works very well, so I save my GinaK paper for copics.
I have bought 12x12 card stock to make larger cards.
I buy pattern paper in both 6x6 and 12x12.
I do not cut down my scraps. Because they are usual small enough when the card stock becomes scraps.
Oh, I have tons Georgia Pacific paper, I use this for images I don't color or stamping sentiments.
__________________ The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable. Practice safe eating always use condiments
Last edited by lesliespringer; 04-16-2015 at 03:18 PM..
[QUOTE=buggainok;20954211]I am also in the "don't cut it until you need it" camp. This goes for cardstock, as well as all my scraps.
I make card fronts and adhere them to white bases. I never use colored cardstock itself alone for a card base.
I buy most of my colored cardstock at Michaels in the multi-colored packs, in the 8-1/2" x 11" size.
I buy the big paper pads of patterned paper occasionally, and it lasts me forever. It is usually 12 x 12 size.
When they have a good sale on open stock pattern paper, like 6 pieces for $1.00, I usually try to pick up some nice small patterns for cards, and it's in the 12 x 12 size.[/QUOTE
I use coloured card stock for layering on while or vanilla as well as for my die cuts.i do like the smaller pads of patterned paper for cards, but can't resist 12x12 if it catches my eye.
When I was in Arizona I was able to pick up 12x12 Bazzil card stock for 16cents a piece. Bazzil sold out to American crafts over a year ago and many colours will no longer be available so some colours were discounted and they were good colours. How could I resist at more than one store.lol
I buy colored card stock from Stampin Up. Size is 8.5 x 11
GinaK card stock in white and beige. In both 80lbs and 110 lbs, I use the 110lbs for card bases. I also use this paper for coloring with copics.
I ventured into buying Michael's Recollection 110 lbs card stock in white for card bases. I don't feel coloring with copics on this paper works very well, so I save my GinaK paper for copics.
I have bought 12x12 card stock to make larger cards.
I buy pattern paper in both 6x6 and 12x12.
I do not cut down my scraps. Because they are usual small enough when the
card stock becomes scraps.
Oh, I have tons Georgia Pacific paper, I use this for images I don't color or stamping sentiments.
I used to use GP then switched to Staples as it was whiter than GP.
I recently bought the recollections 110 and really like the weight. Unfortunately it dies not feed through my printer like the staples 110 which is thinner but same weight.as well like SU crumb cake, although Recollections kraft is also nice.
When it comes to scraps another question would be " how small is too small". The ladies down south take it to the extreme...I refuse to save piles of scraps of 1" wide paper. Some yes ....but not shoe boxes full. We do try to purge when the "hoarders"are not looking.
But I would be a liar if I did not admit to keeping "a few" to die cut tiny birds, lady bugs and butterfly's.
I buy 8.5 x 11 white and colored cardstock. I do buy 12 x 12 patterned paper. I do cut and score white, cream, and Kraft card stock into card bases which I can do at my husband's print shop. Love our guillotine cutter and scoring machine! Makes fast work of a ream of cardstock!
Scraps I don't cut down just keep with the big sheets.
So, I do pre cut, it makes getting to layout designing and stamping faster if I don't have to cut a card base or card front.
I buy 8.5 x 11 card stock mostly, sometimes 12 x 12. I will cut/score about 40 sheets of white into 4.25 x 5.5 cards (30 scored wide / 10 scored narrow). I will then also cut about 20 sheets into 4 x 5.25 card fronts. These sit on the top shelf of my paper stand so they are easy to grab.
I do use coloured card stock as card base as well. So I will usually just make a 2nd base at the same time to have on hand.
As for scraps, each colour is stored in its own bag so it is easy to see if I have the colour I need. I do trim off the punched or die cut portion to make the card stock square, but not cut to a certain size. If it ends up being card front size then it will go in my card front pile. I do keep everything greater than 1" thick to a point. If I have more than I think I might use before I create more then I recycle, or I will take out a small punch like a flower and punch a bunch out and then put those punches into their baggy. Yes I like baggies :-) I used to have scrape stacked in certain sizes however I never seemed to have the right size I needed so I stopped doing that.
As for DSP it is usually 12 x 12 or the SU! Paper stack size (4.5 x 6?) This is not pre cut and usually all scraps are kept.
Hopefully you will find a system that works for you.
I don't cut my full size sheets down ahead of time. But for my leftover scraps I cut them to card front size or ATC size and recycle the smaller pieces. I store my ATC size pieces in a Velveeta cheese box and store the card front pieces in a plastic shoebox.
I loved the video. I can relate to her comment about keeping scraps that had dies cut out of the middle...because I do a lot of die cuts and that's just what you get.lol
I already use her idea of saving strips for hearts flowers etc, that's where I trim down my hole the middle scrap into strips for this purpose.i am guilty of sometimes punching or cutting out extra flowers etc ..guilty guilty because I know I will need them.
Yep I needed to hang on to these pieces ( right) until I realized that my grandsons school has a teacher that teaches cards there. She was doing the dance of joy when I passed over my scraps, of labels, sentiments circles of all sizes last year. I kept enough for the time being and felt good knowing they were going to a good home and the kids certainly would have plenty to choose from!
Well I did trim down and square off my smaller scraps the other day,in fact my little piles looked a lot like hers.in her words "they look so purdy" all arranged by colour and size.
Oh yes, and some of those patterned papers from the big box store she mentioned......going to the school.
As for those name brand pretty papers I have lots of those, but some days you just hate to cut them at all.lol
I dont cut down paper. It helps me to gauge how much I have to make multiples. Also allows different sized cards.
I have suggested to people they cut down to 6 x 6 if they tend to buy that size pad and dont want a lot of different sized papers around from a storage POV
I personally dont even get the 6 x 6 size. I get 5 x 7-that would handle the three most popular card sizes. Unless people are making a lot of square cards. Then it makes sense to me.
I have a scrap box. The smalls are in a plastic bag and the rest are just in there.
Since I cant fit a 12 x 12 into my big shot to do die cuts, I tend to cut a piece off that will fit the die in a strip. The extra piece goes in the scrapbox. When the sheet gets to half size, then it goes in the scrap box too or I might cut card faces out of it. That would be more solids not DP.
If you need to tidy up your sheets from having done punches in them that makes sense to me. I would just cut that section off in a straight line across.
If you dont want to keep 12 x 12 storage then yes, sure, go ahead and cut it down.
I rarely make anything other than cards in the A@ size. This minimizes the envelopes and sleeves I need to keep on hand.
80% of my card bases are white, 10% cream, 5% kraft and 5 % other. I have recently started cutting a large number of 8-1/2 x 11 sheets into card bases and 1/4 sheets. It's nice to have a ready supply at hand once the creativity bug bites.
I no longer use much patterned paper but cut that down as I need it.
I'm getting ready for a crafty get together and am will do a lot of pre-cutting to maximize my time there.
I mostly make A2 size cards. That's what I learned when first introduced to stamping at an SU party; and it's nice to cut an 8 � x 11 sheet of card stock in half and get two bases with no waste.
I do not cut anything ahead of time, as the years have gone on I have branched out and ended up making some square cards, or some 5x7. Sometimes the image or design I have in mind just needs more space. Plus, having all those "pre-cut" bases or layering pieces would stress me out. "Well, it's CUT, now I HAVE TO use it"!!! Weird, I know.
I've pretty much stopped buying 12 x 12 paper, either solid or patterned. What I have I store in drawers and just use as I need it. I prefer 6x6 patterned paper pads for card making and I keep them in the pads and store them in the bottom of a plastic tote.
I end up with a ton of white or cream scraps that are � inch or � inch wide from trimming to get a layer to stamp on the front of my card. "They're a perfect size for a sentiment"! LOL
Any colored card stock scraps have to be at least 2 inches or they go into our household recycling.
Bazzil sold out to American crafts over a year ago and many colours will no longer be available so some colours were discounted and they were good colours. How could I resist at more than one store.lol
Of all the changes over the last seven years, I think this was the saddest. It's as if Target bought Neiman Marcus and now use the latter name on the former stock. I too bought the 16 cent each "Bazzill" paper, and bought more for my sister and every other stamper I knew. I was the paper Santa Claus! It was SUCH a good deal. And then I found the colors might have been Bazzil, but the quality definitely was not. Even now you can buy "Bazzil" paper on some of the major sites where we all shop but it's not at all like the Bazzil stock we all knew and loved.
Not to hijack the topic here: I take white to the printer and have it cut into A6 and A7 sizes, usually 100 each at a time, and then I score it all and store in a Zip-Lok. I also keep a folder of each size in colors, cut at home and scored because preparing the base card is my least favorite part of the process and even my Genesis Trimmer doesn't cut as flawlessly as the lazer cutter at the print shop. Print shop charges $5/200 of one size.
Of all the changes over the last seven years, I think this was the saddest. It's as if Target bought Neiman Marcus and now use the latter name on the former stock. I too bought the 16 cent each "Bazzill" paper, and bought more for my sister and every other stamper I knew. I was the paper Santa Claus! It was SUCH a good deal. And then I found the colors might have been Bazzil, but the quality definitely was not. Even now you can buy "Bazzil" paper on some of the major sites where we all shop but it's not at all like the Bazzil stock we all knew and loved.
Not to hijack the topic here: I take white to the printer and have it cut into A6 and A7 sizes, usually 100 each at a time, and then I score it all and store in a Zip-Lok. I also keep a folder of each size in colors, cut at home and scored because preparing the base card is my least favorite part of the process and even my Genesis Trimmer doesn't cut as flawlessly as the lazer cutter at the print shop. Print shop charges $5/200 of one size.
I shop regularly at the shop when we winter in Arizona that is owned by the wife of the former owner of Bazzil, I guess she is Mrs Bazzil ( lol). Anyway I am quite familiar with their paper, and the colors I bought were definitely Bazzil and matched up with the colours I had at home, as well as their logo on the bottom of the page.
I only purchased solid color cardstock, sorry to hear of your disappointment. I have not purchased any American craft paper since coming home to compare it to the Bazzil. I was told however at the store that they did not know what colors or what textures or anything else that American crafts were planning on dropping . I would think they will not continue to put the Bazzil name on paper that is not produced by them.
I never cut my paper until I use it. However, once I've cut it to use, I immediately cut the patterned paper remnants into 3x4 or 4x6 pieces and file those. If it's solid paper, then I file them in my drawer as whatever size they are.
I buy all my solids 8.5x11. I've been a 12" scrapper, but as I've changed to cardmaking and Project Life, I've not bought any 12" paper in more than a year I think. It's easier for me (for space and budget reasons) to have all the 8.5x11 papers or 6x6 PP.
[QUOTE=canada goose;
I would think they will not continue to put the Bazzil name on paper that is not produced by them.[/QUOTE]
American Craft BOUGHT Bazzil, and I assume can use the name as long as that was part of the sale. But you will know.........if the paper you bought in Arizona is the same quality you always bought, you got stock that was made by Bazzil when Bazzil was owned by Bazzil.
Bazzil is my fav coloured card stock. Not sure what I will have to "settle for" once my stash is used up ( wipe tears from eyes). Especially when I have a couple of favorite colours that I know the colour just by looking at it.
i never cut down my paper, I make more than just cards and never know what I will want to use and what size.
Lately I've really been getting 8x8 and 6x6 pads, but I like that I have 12x12 around as well.
I have all the original sizes I bought the paper in... sorted by colors in those sizes...
and anything "cut" or sometimes even 6" pads when I have used up a lot of the papers in them get ripped out of the pads and placed in hanging file folders by color.
I make a variety of sizes though so to me if I were to cut my cardstock down, I would for sure need a piece larger than what I cut it to.
I purchase both sizes of solid colored cardstock since I both scrapbook and make cards.
For pp's, I usually buy 12x12 but lately prefer to buy 6x6 or 8x8 pads. The latter really depends on the printed designs. Some look better shrunken down, others I prefer the original size on 12x12 paper.
I never pre cut anything! Especially pp's because I want to take advantage of cutting the detail I want from any part of it for a project.
Hi,
Since I store all my paper in *sleeves* sorted by color...I just have a clear bag with scraps of the same paper inside the sleeve with its original paper.
That way, when looking for a particular color (as of course I always am LOL) I can see if there is a scrap size that will work.
I am often using the same color for different parts of the card anyway and sometimes a scrap of that color works for one thing and a whole sheet is needed for something else. It is all together this way
I tried the separate route but my brain did not like it LOL
Except for: making a *paper pack* of 8x8 size. Looks like the ones you buy and they go by main color in image...so some are reds pack some are bluish etc etc that makes the paper scraps more fun for me...
Most of my cards for close friends and family are 5x7 or square cards either 5x5 or 6x6, so this works well and the *strips* left go into the sleeve with the original.
I do the same for my fabric LOL Only they are on foam core bolts and scraps are attached with safe tape to the original bolt, although I do make some small *charm packs* as well just like the paper packs.
I use fabric on my cards sometimes, especially pieces that are embroidered LOL
Last edited by Craftwise; 04-19-2015 at 04:43 PM..
If it is printed cardstock I cut it down following one of the many one sheet wonder templates that I found on Pintrest. Mind you I don't cut them all just some for quick application to my card projects. I usually stick to A2 or A6 size cards.
I also like the recollections 110 lb but it wouldn't feed through my printer either. I had this idea to brayer the lead edge to try and flatten it a bit so it would feed. It worked! Give it a try. No guarantees but it might work for you, too.
I also like the recollections 110 lb but it wouldn't feed through my printer either. I had this idea to brayer the lead edge to try and flatten it a bit so it would feed. It worked! Give it a try. No guarantees but it might work for you, too.
I have no problem with staples 110 Easy Peasy. However Recollections 110 is a whole nuther thing. Until you feel the two you have no idea how two papers same weight could be so much thicker and heavier. I recall some time ago someone explained about paper weights and their differences here.
On another note. I did not realize that besides bring an illustrationist Sandy Alnock s involvement in Operation Write Home.
I watched another of her funny videos where she uses Siri ( on her apple cell phone) to design a card asking Siri a number of questions.This time not in Wrangler mode. Lol
Do you or don't you
