Whimsy Wednesday!

Hola!
I've had a busy, happily productive week so far and I hope the same can be said for you-all!!
This Whimsy Wednesday post will be a bit different as it will be more of a peek into my studio processes.
I've had a recent influx of tools and ideas to help me streamline some of my studio work and I'm so pleased with all of it so far! Like many of you, there are some things that just weren't working very well for me or needed refining and I've been slowly tackling them in little bits at a time.
This is especially important to me because I'm branching out into other media and other creations in addition to the jewelry and so need to recapture some time and energy from places that don't need it.

That's what today's post is all about...showing you a little tidbits of this refining process.
How is that whimsical, you ask? Well, part of it is because of my perspective of a "new" tool that I just acquired and part of it is the whimsy that I strive to mingle into every part of Sprite Creations and my studio life!

So! First the "new" tool!
I needed a different paper cutter; one with the ability to cut multiple sheets at once and with as little fuss as possible on my part. I looked at new paper cutters with the "guillotine" style and then mentioned to part of my family that I was going to procure a paper cutter in the next few days. This led to a flurry of investigation as to where an old paper cutter had been placed in storage and voila!! Here it is!


This is easily an antique and is probably well over 4 decades old! I love that the metal is steel and cast iron and the board is actual lovely honey-colored scarred wood! The paint spatters, scratches and discolourations all speak to me of stories and! it still cuts quite well!!
Where is the whimsy in this? It fits into my over-all perspective of how I like things in my studio... rich, full of stories and built like tanks (some would say "over-engineered")... Items such as this paper cutter encourage me giggle secretly to my self every time I pass it by!

Speaking of cutting so well...that subject brings me to the next and final part of the blog!
I tested the cutter right away on the new tags that I just redesigned and printed!
For the earring cards, I found that I wanted to phase out some of the plastic and go with a more earring-card style..which prompted the tag redesign at first... but then I found that I spent a great deal of time writing on the tags, which was fine, but I was really starting to resent writing the repetitive but necessary information such as my website and company name... also, my hand hurt! So, I think these new tags have the proper mix of lovely pre-printing and hand-writing and I've the photos to show you!
Whimsical parts of these tags include the star, the parchment-style paper, and the space for the stories which accompany nearly every creation...
I've photographed the tags on the lovely wood of that fabulous paper cutter...

And here are the earrings cards.. with a few different views...



So!! That's all for now! See you on Friday!!!