Regifting

I know most of you think that I am going to write about the practice of giving someone a gift that someone else had given you, but this blog is about a gift I made for the person who gave me the gift of a jumbo booklet of Japanese sample papers.  (See lower photo.)  My friend had intended to use the paper samples to make some handmade crafts but said she didn't think she ever would so she generously gave them to me. I was so happy with the freebie that I had to make her something from the papers so she would know how much I loved her gift. These photos show what I created for her.

Because the papers were Japanese, I decided to keep with the Japanese feel and do simple 'woodblock style' printing using my Hanko and Kodomo No Kao stamps.  (These stamps were purchased a long time ago from Ben Franklin Craft but there are probably similar ones on sale there now.)  Those of you who are familiar with Japanese greeting cards know that they often are very subdued with just a strip of printed paper on a solid colored card. By using Duo Dauber and Dew Drop ink pads (Tsukineko) I was able to color just certain areas of each stamp to print multi-colored images. I spritzed the inked stamps with water just before stamping to give a slight watercolor look. I think BFC still sells these small sized ink pads that are just perfect for this technique.  Remember that you can just ink some parts of the stamps to apply more flowers or leaves where you want them and to give each card a unique look.

This photo shows the sample paper booklet I was given and the stamps I used.  The washi tape was used to cover up the fact that I cut the paper for the folder a bit short so it was 'washi tape to the rescue'! Oh, the folder was made simply by folding some thick textured paper around the cards to determine the size...no real measuring needed.  The whole folder was put together with double stick Merikan tape.  Don't forget to allow for the thickness of the set of cards....my mistake that required the use of a washi tape repair.

This last photo is of a card I made to go with the gift card set.  I stamped words on my card to show my friend what she could do to adapt each card for the purpose she intends.  Well, I guess this post is long enough....hope you weren't bored and learned something that you might like to try.

Winner Alert!  I am happy to announce that  Shirl (Creations by Shirl) is the winner of my random commenter non-contest contest.  Every once in awhile I choose a name from the commenters to my blog for a certain month.  Even though I've been traveling and not commenting on other blogs, my faithful blogland friends have still continued to comment so I decided to reward them by choosing one of them from the month of May.  Congratulations Shirl, you have won a $25 gift card to BFC plus some other crafty goodies.  Thank you to all who read my blog.  Please continue to do so and leave an occasional comment if you have the time because you never know; you maybe the next winner (each comment = one entry to the uncontest).