Retro Sketches 98 Thank You Card

I stumbled across Retro Sketches recently and really liked the most recent sketch below. It actually kind of reminded me of this card I made before.


It was a busy week at work that involved a couple of later nights than normal, so although the card didn't take that long to make overall, it took more than one sitting to finish.



The blue and woodgrain patterned papers are actually from winter/holiday collections - Winter Borders from Carta Bella Winter Fun and Ski Lodge from Crate Paper Peppermint.
Blank diagonal mini label from Evalicious, stamped with a clear stamp from BasicGrey.
Divine Twine for the washi tape banner, stapled with the Tiny Attacher.

Avery Elle Stamp Storage Pockets

I recently decided, in the midst of purging, cleaning, and re-organizing my craft space, that I would also re-do my clear and cling stamp storage. I wanted to give the Avery Elle stamp storage pockets a try after seeing some others use it for storing stamps (namely Jennifer McGuire, videos of her stamp storage at Video: Clear and Cling Stamp Storage and Video: Clear and Cling Stamp Storage – Larger Sets).

I looked around sites online comparing prices and shipping costs and found that many places were roughly the same total between the price for two packs of 25 and shipping, but there was one site (Scrapbooking Warehouse, see below) where it came in about $4-$5 cheaper than most of the other places. I thought I'd have to wait longer for them because I chose the cheapest shipping option available, but it didn't take that long to get them - I ordered on 12/26 and got them in the mail 12/31.

Here are the places online where I researched the price and shipping (sometimes sales tax applies depending on where the company is physically located):

• Scrapbooking Warehouse - this is where I purchased mine
  $6.88 per pack of 25.
  $2.99 shipping for DHL Budget/Domestic (this is the shipping method I went with), $6.45 USPS Priority shipping.
  $16.75 total for two packs.
• Stampin Mania
  $7.99 per pack of 25.
  $4.95 flat rate shipping, free US shipping over $100.
  $20.93 total for two packs.
• Archivers Annex (not sure how long this will be around since they are closing?)
  $8.00 per pack of 25.
  $5.12 estimated shipping for my zip code, free US shipping over $75.00.
  $21.12 total for two packs.
• Amazon (sold/shipped by Midwest Scrapbook)
  $10.62 per pack of 25.
  No shipping.
  $21.24 total for two packs.
• Ellen Hutson
  $8.00 per pack of 25.
  $5.75 shipping for orders up to $25.00.
  $21.75 total for two packs.
• Simon Says Stamp
  $7.99 per pack of 25.
  $5.99 flat rate shipping, free US shipping over $75.00.
  $21.97 total for two packs.
• Avery Elle
  $8.00 per pack of 25.
  $6.95 flat rate shipping, free US shipping over $60.00.
  $22.95 total for two packs.

Here's what it looks like after getting the majority of the stamp sets moved over.



For the smaller sets, I transferred them over to a new transparency cut to fit the storage pocket, if they were too tall to go in as-is. Otherwise, I just put the sets in as-is if they already fit.



For the larger sets that didn't readily fit into the storage pockets (even to transfer them over to a new transparency), I used 8.5 x 11 sheet protectors. I put them in the sheet protectors upside-down since there was no flap to keep dust out, and then used a piece of washi tape to keep the stamps from falling out the bottom (this is more a temporary solution for larger stamp sets since I didn't want to break them up to make them fit the pockets).



I also used the storage pockets for wafer thin metal dies, with a bit of magnet cut from a strip and adhered to heavy cardstock. It works okay, but I think magnetic sheets would work better.

The containers are Cabinet Binz from Bed Bath and Beyond. I'm still trying them out and haven't quite decided yet if they will be the long-term solution.

Ruler Growth Chart

Last year, I saw a couple of ruler growth charts on Pinterest that inspired me to go out, get a piece of wood, then let it sit for a year. Heh. Not really, but that's effectively what happened. I bought a piece of oak as well as the wood stain to go with it, then never did anything with it except sand it down to prep it for staining. At first I thought I would have it done in time for Evie's 2nd birthday, in time to take her height on her birthday, but that, of course, did not happen.

I mentioned to my friend, Emily, at the beginning of the week that I had this outstanding ruler growth chart project, saying that I had never stained anything before. She said staining was super easy, and I don't know what it was about her saying it that got me over the fear of messing up staining, but it did. So, the plank of wood got a couple coats of stain, and I also used my Silhouette to cut stencils for the numbers and lines.

I used a couple of tutorials as reference when I did this growth chart, but the one from 517 Creations more so.




Here's how mine turned out:






The details:

• I used a Sharpie paint pen for the lines and the numbers. I haven't sealed the wood yet, so I'll need to find something that won't smear the Sharpie paint pen when I do seal it.
• In retrospect, I think I would try cutting the stencil for the lines out of a thicker cardstock to reduce bleeding of the edges, or use pencil first and then fill-in by hand like I did with the numbers.
• I also used the Century font for the numbers, like the one from 517 Creations.
• I made my one-foot lines 3 inches long, quarter-of-a-foot lines 2 inches long, and all the other lines 1 inch long.
• I made my numbers about 3 inches tall, but I believe my plank of wood was also wider than the ones used in the tutorials, so it could accommodate taller numbers.
• Instead of starting my chart at 6 inches (i.e., meant to be hung on the wall 6 inches from the ground), I chose to make mine start from the ground so that we would just lean it against a wall to take height measurements.
• I placed each number 6.5 inches from the right edge and 5/16ths of an inch to the left of the one-foot lines.