Cardstock

I loved CMs cardstock – it was smooth, a nice weight.  It cut beautifully in punches and electronic die cutting machines.  Solid color throughout – I could go on & on  

As my CM cardstock stash dwindles I’m going to be replenishing it with cardstock from Hobby Lobby - the cardstock you can purchase in store by the sheet.  I bought a pack of black cardstock by the Paper Studio at Hobby Lobby and it was very thin and left lots of fibers behind on my Silhouette mat.  That isn’t the case with the type sold by the sheet –it’s very, very close to CM, in fact I have a hard time telling them apart.  I’ve even started storing the Hobby Lobby cardstock with my CM cardstock.  That’s a big step for this former CM purist. The Hobby Lobby cardstock is smooth, dyed throughout (no white core) and a very decent weight.  Except for colors, side by side I can’t tell the difference between CM & HL cardstock.

Here are some photos of cardstock I bought at Hobby Lobby compared to CM cardstock (used to cut out the labeled tags.)

Sorry for the fuzzy pictures – these are just a few of the colors Hobby Lobby sells  - to give you an idea of how they compare to CM.  CM Colors are the labeled tags – Hobby Lobby colors are underneath those.

And while we’re on the subject of cardstock I thought I’d pass along how I store my paper scraps.  I love the look of keeping everything neat & tidy in drawers but that system doesn’t work for me.  I really need to have things close at hand and vertical storage works for me.  Part of the challenge I find with organizing scrap stuff – anything, really – is to figure out what works best for you. 

This is a cart from an office store – it’s not 12x12.  If I had to do it all over again I’d go with this 12x12 file cart by Cropper Hopper or something similar.  Even though they’re scraps I sometimes have bigger sized pieces and, as you can see, they peek over the top of the smaller folders. 

I save my scraps, cutting off jagged edges so they fit nice(ish) in the folders.

I have adhered an old 12” long sticker envelope  to the back of each folder using CMs Photo Tape.  That stuff is strong!  Don’t worry if you don’t have any more CM Photo Tape - 3Ls Crafty Power Tape is a good alternative.  They’re made by the same company, too!

In this clear envelope I put my smaller scraps.  Without it they fall to the bottom and they’re hard to get to – and also the bottom of the folders become very full making it a really tight fit.

Do you have a favorite brand of cardstock?  I’d love to hear about it!