It's been a rather busy week, all work and no craft makes for a very dull day! Managed to find spare time here and there to experiment...
Experiment on what, though?
Crafting things takes me several hours.. just to make one thing. An unfair chunk of that time is spent finding my table... other chunks of that time is spent trying to find where I put my scissors down and anything else that I'm pretty sure I had to hand a few seconds ago..
The majority of that time, well, is spent trying to decide what paper I want to work with..
The other day, I was having a go at making a card for a competition on Trimcraft, and I picked out my paper and cards I wanted to work with, some lovely blue. I came to use my perfect layers rulers and, unfortunately many slashes later ended up with something that could be passed as my five year olds cutting handiwork. To say the least, I made a bad job of it, because I picked, for me, the wrong type of card.
So I decided, lets look at different types of papers for my blog, something I can have to hand, that others could use, too, because nothing is worse than ruining pretty papers by using the wrong thing!
I've rummaged through my cardstock and picked out some different pieces, different textures and different gsm.
Okay so I've picked glitter card, pearlescent card, Trimcrafts First Edition Christmas Joy 200gsm card stock, 210gsm white card stock from The Range, Sheena by Sheena Douglass a little bit oriental 160gsm, Tim Holtz Kraft core Nostalgic collecion by core'dinations, some very fine paper designed to see the threads of the paper, Gold card stock, parchment paper and red foam.
I'm going to put each card stock through the same tests to see which works best with which technique. The techniques are : Scalpel test - how easy it is to cut through; Rigidity; Embossing with a folder and finally die cutting and embossing with a simple die and a complex die.
The embossing folder is Sheena by Sheena Douglas A Little Bit Oriental Cherry, the simple die is a Xcut nesting die scalloped square and the butterfly is by Bebunni (also comes with a smaller butterfly and a bee).
So here are the results!
Christmas Joy 200gsm by Trimcraft First Edition
Scalpel test :- Gentle cut creates scores for fold, firm pressure cut through.
Rigidity:- Will make good layer or card base.
Embossing folder:- embossed well but did remove a little of the coloured top layer in places Die cut and emboss:- Cuts and embosses well but some tear around where the dies get more complex.
Sheena by Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Oriental 160gsm
Scalpel test: Not too much pressure needed to cut nicely through the paper.
Rigidity: Lovely as a layer to the card, but not firm enough to act as the main card base
Embossing folder: Embosses well but some damage to the top layer of paper where embossed, this could be used to create a distressed look or ink to cover.
Die cut and emboss: Complex die did cause some damage to the paper where it was embossed, care does need to be taken to remove card stock from die (especially if you are heavy handed!). Looks lovely though..
Standard White card stock from The Range, 210gsm
Scalpel test: Gentle pressure scores the card, does need firm pressure to cut through
Rigidity: Suitable as layer or as the main card base, this tends to be what I use as it's cheap and I go through a fair amount of card stock until I am happy.
Embossing folder: embossed well, clear to see.
Die cut and emboss: Die cuts and embosses well, easy enough to remove using pokey tool.
Pearlescent Card
Scalpel test: Cuts through if you use firm pressure, scores with gentle pressure.
Rigidity: would make a good layer or card base
Embossing folder: embosses clearly and beautifully in the folder
Die cue and emboss: Cut through first time, embossed beautifully, easy to remove using pokey tool.
Gold foil card
Scalpel test: Gentle scores the card, firm pressure did start to cut, need to press hard.
Rigidity: Firm enough to make a card base or a layer.
Embossing Folder: Embossed beautifully, very clear to see.
Die cut and emboss: Nice embossing and die cutting, easy to remove, but some small tears at the finer details.
Glitter Card
Scalpel test: Gentle pressure scores, does cut through with firm pressure
Rigidity: It is sturdy enough, but felt horrible to fold! I'd rather use it as a layer.
Embossing folder: does emboss in folder (also embosses if you forget to check that you put it in the folder the right way round,,,,)
Die cut and emboss: Does cut and emboss though harder to see, easy to remove with pokey tool.
Parchment paper
Scalpel test: gentle scored the paper, firmer pressure cut through
Rigidity: Will bend but not sturdy enough to act as the main card base
Embossing folder: Does emboss, but creates a pale white "shadow" in the paper where it has been embossed
Die cut and emboss: Die cuts, but did notice some threading around the edge, some tear to the embossed areas where it is more complex and did rip when removing with a pokey tool.
Very fine paper
Scalpel test: Cuts with gentle pressure.
Rigidity: No rigidity to it, better as a pretty layer.
Embossing folder: Did emboss, but not very clear and quite hard to see.
Die cut and emboss: Does die cut but doesn't emboss well and ripped easily.
Foam
Scalpel test: Cuts through with some pressure quite easily.
Rigidity: Not great at folding, wouldn't make a good card base layer, good for adding a textured layer
Embossing folder: Did emboss, but not as a clear an image as you get with card.
Die cut and emboss: Does die cut, some strands of foam left around the edge, embossing did cause the foam to curl a little.
Tim Holtz Kraft core Nostalgic collection by core'dinations
Scalpel test: Gentle pressure scores, firm pressure cuts through
Rigidity: Firm, stands well, possible good base
Embossing folder: Embosses well. There is also the advantage that you can sand the embossed image.
Die cut and emboss: Die cuts and embosses well, easy to remove with pokey tool.
So there you have it! Just to explain to those that don't know what gsm means, it stands for grams per square metre, the heavier the paper the higher the gsm. (Also, just to add, I haven't been approached by any of the companies to do this test, I just wanted to see what could be done with different gsm papers, the cards mentioned above were some of the papers I had that had the gsm on the front.)
Thank you for taking the time to read all of this! Phew! It's certainly been interesting to see just what I could do with some of my stock!
All the best,
Sara
The Heavy Handed Crafter xx
