My First Paper Project

I began playing with the idea of scrapbooking early this summer. It all started when I stumbled across this wedding blog (Road to the Aisle). The writer, a woman named Heather, is a very crafty young lady! She totally inspired my creative side. Now, most of her posts are related to DIY projects for weddings (which, by the way, I plan to try when the time comes). But she also includes many "how-to" guides for making all sorts of neat paper crafts and other projects. So I decided, hey, maybe I can do this too. How gratifying would it be to create something by hand? And if only they could turn out as beautifully as some of her projects!

My mind was made up. I was going to jump right in to this! I had a friend who was expecting her first child any day, so I decided I'd make a card for her. I went to Michael's and bought the scrapbooking basics: a paper cutter, adhesives, paper, a craft knife and some decorations.

It took quite some time to get everything right. And let me tell you, cutting out tiny letters with a craft knife for the very first time was quite the awakening! It takes A LOT of patience and a steady hand. Although it looked a little sloppy, I was SO proud of myself. I consider my first attempt at paper crafting to be an overall success. It gave me further encouragement to continue with this whole paper crafts/scrapbooking thing!

Here's a picture of the card I made:

While I am getting better at using a craft knife, I am considering a future purchase of a Cricut or maybe a Silhouette. Having one of these would make lettering/shape cutting SO much easier. They're both pretty expensive though, so I want to make sure I'm in this for the long haul before I invest too much money. I'm leaning toward the Silhouette, mainly because it doesn't require cartridges like the Cricut. Therefore it is more of an upfront cost, rather than an on-going cost. If you have either of these, please give me some feedback!! I'd like to know which you prefer and why, and whether you think it's worth the price!


Sincerely,

Bailey