50% off Everything at Lindsay’s {and cute shoes!}

Howdy folks! I know the holidays are busy so with that in mind I want to have a sale you can use NOW when you really need it! Most of the products I sell at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff are designed for crafters so they can make beautiful things to give as gifts or even sell. That’s why I am having a sale NOW at the beginning of the month so you can get a great deal and still have time to spend on handmade cards, gifts and packaging and maybe make a craft or two with the kids. So hop on over to save 50% off everything at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff now through Sunday:

I wanted to share a cute ornament idea made Design Team member Diane Bove using my 3-D High Heel Shoe Template:

Now that is my kind of tree! These would be adorable craft fair items too…infact if I get a minute between now and Saturday I might just whip up a few to have in my craft fair!

I’m gonna keep it short and sweet today! Don’t forget 50% off at Lindsay’s now through Sunday and til next time happy crafting!

Let’s make candles! {and recycle too!}

Howdy folks! I am still gearing up for the craft fair this weekend and I wanted to share some candles I made:

I happen to be a “tin hoarder” I save tea tins, fruit cup tins, cookie tins, in fact I never met the tin I didn’t like! 😉 Hmmmm, mayde A&E should do a show about it LOL!

I know I am not alone in the craft hoarding. How can we in good conscious throw away something that can be used in our art? But I am here to help. Drag out all of the cute tins and jars you have been hord..er…I mean saving and let’s make candles!

 

Making candles is easier than you think but you need to keep a few things in mind:

1. Wax has a flash point, meaning it will not get hot and boil, it will get too hot and burst into flames (not good) so use a craft dedicated crock pot to met your wax in. You can get a used crock pot at a thrift shop for a couple of bucks. It takes a lot longer to melt it this way but no spontaneous combustion. Do not leave wax unattended, even in a crock-pot!
2. You can use canning jars, baby food jars and decorative tins to make your candles in. You can even make floating candles by pouring the wax in plastic applesauce cups. Just be sure to remove the candle from the plastic cups before use.
3. Make sure you have the right size wicking for your project. I buy mine by the spool. I keep two spools on hand: one for candles up to 2″ in diameter and one for candles up to 5″ diameter. Using a too small wick will increase the chances of the candle snuffing out all the time, the wick drowns in the wax. A too big wick will cause the candle to burn too fast. You might want to purchase small packs of pre-primed wicks if you are only making a few candles because the large rolls of wicking (while cheaper in the long run) are a bit pricey.
4. You can use paraffin, beeswax or soy way or even melt down old candles to make new candles from. If you are making a lot of candles find a wax wholesaler but be sure to account for shipping.

How to make candles:

I’m just going to explain how to make poured container candles.

1. Cover your work surface with wax paper.
2. Prepare your wick s by cutting them 2″ longer than you need and dipping them in the wax a few times to stiffen them.
3. Place your containers to fill on the wax-paper surface.
4. Wrap the end of a wick around a pencil or skewer and lay it across the mouth of your jar. Try and keep the wick in the center of the container.
5. Pour the wax into the jar. I use an old coffee mug with a handle to scoop the wax out of the crock pot.

Options!

• You can tint the wax with broken old crayons, just peel of the paper and pop them in the crock pot to melt.
• You can scent the candles with commercial candle scents or you can just but the inexpensive scented wax cubes (they are a dollar at AC Moore and smell great! They are designed to be used in wax melters) and melt them into your wax. Be aware that it will smell a lot stronger when you are making the candles than the finished candle will smell and all the smells might make you queezy after a while!

Everyone loves candles and they are fun and easy to make! Why not make a few for friends this holiday season? Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Exploding Box Ornament!

I am so into making ornaments this year, maybe because I am going to be in a craft fair in one week and I am desperate to make stuff to sell LOL! Or, prehaps just because it is fun;) Every year I make some sort of photo ornament for my folks and that is just what I thought of when I designed my Exploding box SVG kit:

By punching a hole in the lid and box bottom I was able to run a folded length of seam  binding through he hole and make an ornament.

Best of all it only took minutes to make since I cut the SVG file with my Cricut. I decorated it with papers from K&Co (double-sided paper is perfect for this because you see both sides!) and stamps from About Art Accents.

Here is what the exploding box looked like before I decorated it:

You can buy the SVG/printable kit here. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Thanksgiving Sale! 50% OFF!

Who needs black Friday when you can shop at home in your jammies? I myself plan to stay in my PJs til noontime today and work on some crafts with my kids 🙂 Hubby always has to work til 2pm on Thanksgiving so the kids and I watch the Macy’s parade and make stuff, it has kinda become a tradition! If you are looking for some fun crafts to make (SVGs, templates, digistamps, printables, etc) check out the 50% off sale today at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff. Here is a fun SVG set I made for traditional 3-D snowflakes. I learned how to make the snowflakes traditionally but folding and cutting was tedious and time-consuming (it took me over 30 minutes to make 1) so I designed an SVG cutting file and now I can make these in 10 minutes, they are easy enough to make once you get the hang of it that my kids can make them and they are so pretty hung from fishing line like I did here:

I think I will add some glitter to them too. You can find the 3-D snowflake SVG kit here and it is 50% off today!

 

Don’t miss the 50% off sale at Lindsay’s stamp stuff AND MyGrafico today only. Happy Thanksgiving and til next time happy crafting!

Stop me if you’ve heard this one…

Phew! What a day (and it is not half over!) we have been to the eye doctor, Christmas shopping, an indoor bounce house and now we are home to take a breather before heading to the mechanic to get an oil change and have snow tires put on. I hear it’s gonna snow tonight, and tomorrow…. With Thanksgiving traveling coming up I need those snow tires on. (Let’s face it, no one wants to go to the vegetarian’s house for Thanksgiving LOL!) 😉 So, what does all of that have to do with frugal crafting? Absolutely nothing. But it does explain why all I have time to do today is post a simple card I made a couple of weeks ago…I’m pretty sure I haven’t posted it yet 🙂

I printed the jars out on cream cardstock (staples) then colored it with really light markers and stamped the hearts (stampin' up!) inside. Stamp twice without re-inking for two shades of red. The cheeky envelope stamp is by Judikins-Love it!

Charming eh? I have been searching high and low for a canning jar stamp and haven’t found one I liked or was large enough (So I think I need to design a set) but in the meantime I found a beautiful freebie vintage clip art at the Graphics Fairy. You can download it free here. Nifty.

In closing please disregard the run-on sentences, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors and look at the pretty card. Til next time happy crafting!

Recycled Paper Bag Pins & Ornaments!

Happy Sunday folks! I have been in a creating frenzy since agreeing to have a table at the PTC craft fair. I wanted to make something that was cute and inexpensive for my table and came up with these:

 

I used supplies I had on hand, string, buttons and Paper Grocery Bags! Can you believe it! I made sure to have my groceries bagged in paper instead of my reusable bags (hmmm, Me thinks I will make some reusable bags for the craft fair too…) then I cut the bags open and painted the unprinted side with acrylic paint and let dry. I used 3 methods for cutting my bags:

1. I used a sizzix die to make the hearts
2. I used my Cricut and Doodlechams to make the trees
3. I free-hand cut the mittens with scissors.

It does not matter how you cut the paper, just make sure you fold the paper so you cut two at once so you have 2 the same wrong sides in. In the case of the circut I simply flipped one of the trees on my Gypsy before cutting.

After the shapes are cut you need to find some stuffing, a bit of cotton ball will do, and place it on one of the cuts lying face down on the table. If you are making an ornament hot glue a ribbon to the top at this time. Then add a bead of glue to the perimeter of the other die cut and press it on the first die cut with the cotton ad ribbon sandwiched inside. Now scrounge around for bits and bobs to decorate with! If you are making a pin you can glue on a backing. I used hot glue but you can use tacky glue if you have an aversion to burns 😉

For the packaging I die cut a pretty frame and stamped ut with a SU! notably ornate stamp. If you want that die cut or to learn how to make your own custom die cut for stamps you have you can here.

Have fun making a practically free craft! When they ask you “paper or plastic?” at the store this week I know what you’ll say! Happy crafting!

Video Tutorial: Homemade Paper Tape!

Hi Folks! I’ve been waiting to post this video since August! I used some awesome button and Jewel stamps from Pink Persimmon in this tutorial and they kept selling out of them so I wanted to wait until they were back in stock because you might want them after seeing this! I made paper tape out of stamps and sticker paper, it was so fun and easy, you can see the tape on this card, the video is at the end of the post:

I made a ruffle out of crepe paper and used glitter nail polish to add quick drying bling to the jewel. I colored my rhinestone with marker to match and made my own seam binding. You can see more tips like that in my latest article in Scrap & Stamp Arts!

Also I wanted to tell you that I have a new article out in the January 2012 issue of Scrap & Stamp Arts Magazine! It is filled with my favorite tips on making your own craft supplies titled, what else? The Frugal Crafter! Check it you on newsstands or get your copy here.

Here is the video, enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by and til net time happy crafting!

Recycled Pajama Craft!

I love cute Christmas jammies! my twins get several pairs of cute flannel PJ sets each winter but all too soon they are outgrown. I had thought of making a quilt with them {but I don’t quilt} then I thought of recycling them into something really useful. Hot/Cold packs! They make great gifts too!

I keep one in the freezer and one on top of the microwave. They are the best heating pad ever! I nuke my heating pack in the microwave for 2 minutes and it is the best for sore back. I also keep one in the freezer ready to go for applying to the bumps and scrapes of everyday life with young daredevils 😉 Here is how to turn an outgrown pair of kids’ pajamas into hot/cold packs. You get 2 heat packs and 2 covers from 1 pair of PJ bottoms!

It is quick, easy and useful! And moms, the next time you child has an earache and you give her one of these hot packs (heated for 1 minute) you will thank me. Make sure you slip the hot packs inside the washable cover and they will last for years. BTW, if you buy rice/corn packs online or at a craft fair you can expect to pay $10-$30. How do you like me now? 😉 Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Batik Snowflake Christmas Cards

Do you ever get inspired by a stamp set? I took on one look at the huge snowflakes in this Tattered Angles Winter stamp set and thought “Batik Snowflakes!” The look is loose, messy, artistic and I just love the way they turned out:

 

I used a couple of methods to make these cards:

1. Stamp Watercolor paper with clear ink and heat emboss with clear embossing powder. Wet the paper with water, then paint ultramarine and mauve watercolor paint loosely over and let dry.
2. I also tried the above method with cardstock.
3. Paint directly on he stamp with ultramarine and mauve watercolor paint and stamp repeatedly on a sheet of white cardstock then randomly flick the same colors of paint on the sheet.

So after I prepared 3 standard size sheets of paper like this I cut the papers up into quarters and made my set of cards! I also used the watercolor paints to dye the seam binding I added. I used eyelets to secure the watercolored panels to the cardbases. This is a fun technique to try if you need to loosen up a bit in your crafting!

TIP: Save the non-stick backing that comes on the back of contact paper (shelf liner) to protect your work surface when you do messy projects. I like it better than my non-stick craft mat and if it gets too nasty you can simply throw it away!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!