Mini PET Film Collage Cards

I had told myself not to get anymore PET film tapes or stickers, but it’s sometimes really really hard to resist!! So I bought from Daiso this set of cute animal stickers, together with some pastel mini cards & matching envelopes. I’m combining these with the Chinese sentiment PET film stickers in my stash to make some quick & easy collage cards.

It was a no-brainer project: just stick a cute animal sticker in a corner of a matching coloured mini card, find a sentiment that can fit into blank space, and voilà!

What I found more difficult was trying to take a good picture of the final result! It’s really not easy to photograph PET films – my usual “flat-on-the-ground-with-natural-lighting” did NOT work well at all, the edges of the film are way too obvious (left photo). I tried holding the card up against outdoor lighting, but the result turns out too dark (right photo).

In the end, I found that photographing without any natural light shining directly on the card (right photo) works the best. Holding the card in my hand allows me to tilt the card at an angle that minimises the reflection.

But of course, on the actual cards, the shiny surfaces would be a clear contrast against the matte pastel paper. I still have some trouble accepting this – I usually prefer all shiny or all matte surfaces – but I’m learning. Perhaps I can add some embellishments, then with the different textures it’ll be considered mixed media!!! ;P

I matched the 3 sets of mini cards I bought – blue, pink and green – with the animal film stickers for a different background.

By using at least one animal sticker on each card, I quickly exhausted an entire sheet (of out 2 in the set) of film stickers to create 10 different collage cards.

The Chinese sentiments I used consist of various positive phrases: for example, the 5 words above translate as “fortunately there’s still light/hope”, while the sentence on the left loosely means “happiness every year”.

These message cards would thus serve well as little greetings to my friends – if I could bear to give them away!

Yet another Journal Book Prep

Every now and then, I lose control and buy stationery supplies that I would not be using for the moment, but I just HAVE to hold in my hands right now!!

After a good month of self-control in February, I went on a shopping spree and got this A5 size 6-ring binder journal book from online Shopee platform. I totally love the metallic leaf charm attached!!!

The smooth cover smells of leather, even though for the low price it must be faux leather. I bought from a different company a set of vintage design paper index dividers with gold foil, which matches the cover perfectly!

The binder book came with 100 sheets of kraft papers, half of which I removed to make space for additional pockets and stuff. I’m so tempted to buy another cover to hold these excess papers!!

I had the vague idea of using this binder book for art journaling in future. A ruler cum bookmark is useful for any such setup.

Transparent film inserts with pockets of various sizes are purchased separately.

These would serve well to hold any loose art journal pages, or even used directly as shaker pockets, when I finally buy a photo sleeve fuse tool! (aren’t I thinking way too much?!)

I also bought some plastic storage bags – again, with pockets of various sizes – to hold any fussy cuts or embellishments during art journaling.

A zipper bag would be helpful to hold heavier/bulkier embellishments, perhaps even a couple of pens to journal on the go. Last but not least, a stiff backing plate to write on, so that I don’t always have to remove the papers to work on.

Now my new journal book is set up and ready to use! But for what purpose????? ;p

Maiko-san ATC

When clearing my bedside table I found some facial oil blotting paper that I bought during our previous holiday trip to Japan – which happened so many years ago I’ve lost count!

As such, I was rather dubious about using the papers, despite them not having an expiry date. Instead, I decided to use the translucent papers for crafting.

The package cover features a maiko-san (an apprentice geisha in Kyoto) illustration: this I fussy cut to place against the other half of the cover, which features the product description in traditional Japanese format. The thin translucent oil blotting paper is torn into size and sandwiched between the 2 items for a contrast of colour & texture.

Other items on the cover (seals and words) are also fussy cut and added to the composition to achieve the final look. Can you spot where I placed the red seal mark?

I’m now wondering how best to keep this ATC as a memory to my favourite oil blotting paper brand from my youth……should I file it, or should I add it to one of my journal pages??

Memories with Mini Display Scenes

Sharing some of the little displays I had in my room over the past couple of months:

This is the lunar Year of the Rabbit, so of course these cute bunnies hung around during the Chinese New Year period in January & February. I think I bought about 11 different such figurines from the same set, so it was fun trying to set up variations of the same rabbit-carrot scene over the holidays.

Some recent Gachapon figurines giving me the sense of calmness I get when I drink tea. A friend had given me a box of totally fragrant Whittard English Rose Black tea for Christmas, which added to the other teas I had bought during the season. Spiced black teas are so warm & aromatic, I can never control my shopping urge during the seasonal offerings.

My latest set of Concombre figurines from Decole feature a drinking pig and rabbit, complete with some bar accessories. This is something I cannot do currently – having just taken my 2nd booster Covid vaccine, I have to abstain from alcohol for 3 days and aerobic exercises for 2 weeks. Can’t wait to be able to enjoy my Asahi beer again!!

Recent ATCs

I had some cut-offs from the Artists’ Papers when making the double-sided tag flip (here and here), so I trimmed these to 2.5″ x 3.5″ to make some Artist Trading Cards.

As usual, my intention is to record my crafting adventures in an ATC, and hence I used the materials involved in making the tag flip. It is not only much faster to create the ATCs when all the materials are still on the table, the paper scraps are used up immediately and hence less to go into the bin/recycling pile!

Bits of string and coffee sleeve are layered with paper scraps for a simple & quick design. The sentiments were cut from the same Winter issue of the Somerset Studio magazine I worked from for the tag flip.

Of course, sometimes it’s necessary to add in fresh items to achieve the look you want. I made sure to take the button and wooden embellishment from the same set of stash I used for the tag flip.

Actually I need only one ATC for my collection. It’s a hard decision to make, but I’m putting the other 3 cards aside to give away in future. My problem now is which one of the four to keep!!!