A Second Opportunity

You may recall a fairly recent project where I had a 4.5 yard and so I wove one shorter scarf and then had three  treadling errors in the second scarf?   Well, it was overly generous to call that a scarf as it fell quite short of the length I prefer to weave.  It was  a short length of woven cloth and it wasn't long enough or wide enough to do much with.  (Some one, a bit too late sadly, reminded me of little drawstring bags, so perhaps next time?)

I recalled that I had some tri-fold card stock tucked away somewhere and could make some (blank) greeting cards.  A hunt ensued and I finally found them and but they had been bent and creased.  This was disappointing as I had used them before with great success.

  So I did a search on line and I found card blanks.com  I placed an order, thinking it was coming from Vancouver, but it actually came from Victoria south of us on Vancouver Island!   I placed my online order on Sunday night, and they arrived in my mailbox Tuesday morning.   That was fast!

I got tri-fold card stock with 3 inch square windows in both cream and white, plus a 3 x 4 windows also in cream and white. They have a mailing envelope each as well.  The bonus feature?  They come pre-set with double sided tape!   You simply cut and position your cloth, or other craft / artistic feature and then remove the cover from the tape and gently fold over to seal.  {note: the circular window does not come pre-taped}

So, out came the rotary cutter and mat with convenient grid lines and I got to work.   It was good fun and quite addictive!

So here are a variety of cards and inserts made from the  second weaving. I must add that these cards are quite difficult to photograph as the lighter card stock messes with the  white balance settings of the camera.  I have chosen to play using the computer settings to show the insert to its best version of colour reality and so this may make the card stock look like its a bit over bright.   

There was a variety of colours in the warp and some suited the cream card stock better such as the one above..... which incidentally has one of the treadling errors.  In this context, it just adds interest instead of angst!

Depending on the cuts, I could even get some of the edging border and use either sized window depending on the cloth size.  I got approximately 10 to 12 cards made.

Then I recalled a short piece of silk where I had hand painted the warp and dyed the weft. It was woven up years ago and was sitting in a drawer as a large sized sample.   The deep maroon red and turquoise suited the white card stock and I got 7 cards with the 3 x 4 window.     Now this is fun!

So I dug out my sample binders with all my project notes and cloth samples and went on the hunt!

If you are a regular reader, then these two should look fairly familiar.  I took a full width scarf sample and simply cut it in half.  Nice sample for the note book.... and also a card.

So I now have a variety of cards made using samples from past projects such the one below.  I won't trot them all out here but you get the idea. I had also bought a small 100 batch of the clear re-sealable bags so they all get slipped into their own  protective sleeve.

Now I have a unique selection of cards for giving or gifting that are special and a real keepsake*.  It was fun to do and once I had my samples all lined up, it went quite quickly. It was a nice way to spend a couple of afternoons. 

I almost used up the supply of card stock I had ordered, so I placed a second order.  It came equally as quick...

* keepsakes:  I have a card selection of many Christmases and some birthdays where friends and weavers over the years have gifted me with hand made cards. There are woven cloth, some quilting, origami, woven ribbons and even water colours. You can see a few of them in this older post from Christmas 2008

Currently in the studio:  I'm busy chipping away at an 8 yard warp of cotton in the Stewart Dress tartan.  I somehow pulled a muscle in my right upper arm so its been slow going and slower still with all the colour changes.  Its okay as it gives me time to watch the falling snow outside!