Survey and a Prize Drawing

I am working on revamping my Etsy Store with a focus on Handmade Papers and Crayon Papers. I love doing beadwork but I am just feeling a pull to change my focus so...... I am having a survey.

Please take a moment to answer the following questions and either email me at cspaperandbeads@yahoo.com with your answers or leave a comment here on the blog. I won't publish your answers.

I will be accepting answers to this Survey until August 10, 2009. On August 11, 2009 I will be drawing names for 2 prizes: 1 set of 5 x 7 inch handmade papers (10 sheets) and 1 set of mini thank you cards with envelopes made with handmade papers (10 cards/10 envelopes).

Survey Questions:

1. How do you use handmade paper?

a. greeting card making

b. scrapbooking

c. stationery

d. other

e. I don't use it but like to give it as a gift

2. What is your favorite size to use?

a. 2 x 2 inch

b. 5 x 7 inch

c. 8 1/2 x 11 inch

d. larger than 8 1/2 x 11 inch

e. a mixture of sizes

3. What size paper pack do you prefer to buy?

a. 6 sheets

b. 10 sheets

c. 25 sheets

d. more than 25 sheets

e. depends on my project

4. What do you like or dislike about handmade papers?

5. Do you like your handmade paper pack to contain all one color of papers or do you prefer a variety of colors?

Please go to my shop at www.cspaperandbeads.etsy.com for the following questions...

6. What item would you like to see more of in my shop?

7. Are my prices reasonable, too low or too high?

8. Would you use this paper scrap recycling service? http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22873690

8a. If no, why?

9. What is your name and email address? This is so I can contact you if you are the winner of one of my prizes. (Your information will be kept private.)

Thank you so much for participating in my Survey!!

Cape Lookout NC

This weekend was such a fun time for me. My brother and his family (who live in Texas) came for a weekend visit. We had a blast seeing the sights and playing at the beach. Our first stop was Cape Lookout. We took a short ferry ride from Harker's Island and spent a couple of hours beachcombing and getting our feet wet. All with the lighthouse in the background. On the ferry ride back, we were able to see the Shackleford Island Horses which have been on Shackleford Island since the 1600's. We didn't get close enough for good pics though. I'll have to take the long lens next time...

When is a green crayon not a green crayon?

As I was working on my green and gold background crayon paper for Christmas cards, I pulled a small piece of a green crayon out of my basket. I had several green crayons out and ready to use because the different shades always create nice depth in the paper...

I was very surprised when I began melting this crayon because I didn't get green, I got gold! Very shiny gold. So, I played with it a little bit on the page then put it down to do some research. I can across this blog: http://aleksandreia.wordpress.com/2009/03/18/all-that-glisters-is-not-metallic-gold/ and discovered something I never even thought of before. Apparently my gold crayon is pre-1994 and was made using bronze powder. Crayola no longer uses bronze powder in their gold and copper crayons. I also have a copper crayon that is from the 1960's ( I believe)...

And there is a gold in that old package as well but it is not nearly as green as the little piece I found. So, after finding out that the formula for my shiny gold piece has been discontinued, I thought I'd compare it to a new gold crayon:









See how shiny it is compared to the newer gold formula. It is wonderful. I won't be using this crayon any longer. It will go with my other older crayons and I also will not be using the green/gold paper sheet I made with it. I think I will save that too.

This discovery kinda got me in a collecting mood. :) It may seem strange, but I can see myself collecting old crayons... Hmmm...

Happy 4th of July!

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone enjoys the parades and fireworks. We had a few fireworks being popped off in the neighborhood last night. It was fun to see them, but our little dog is terrified of the noise. Poor puppy! He felt he had to sit in my lap while I was working on little thank you cards last night.

Hope everyone has a happy, fun and safe day. Don't forget to take a moment to remember all the sacrifices people had to make to get our Country started and to keep our Country going. And for all the Military personnel at home and abroad for their hard work and dedication.