Another Card with a Doily on it!

I’m making sure I get my money’s worth on that Cheery Lynn doily die I bought at the stamp show last month LOL! Today I snuck down to my craft room while the house was quiet and made this card using the sketch from Oriental Stamp Art:

 

The lantern stamps are from BoBunny and they set was another stamp show purchase, it was a steal of a deal at $3! The card came together quickly because All I had to do was stamp the lanterns on cardstock and then from paper scraps and piece it. All the paper is from a 6×6 My Minds Eye pad. The thank you stamp was one of my first ever stamps I got 12 years ago by PSX. So my tip for today is to mix the old with the new and let your creativity blossom! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

40% off everything at MyGrafico and a flowery thank you!

Hey there, I just wanted to let you know that everything is 40% off today only at Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff and MyGrafico! OK, now that the business is out-of-the-way check out the thank you easel card I made for my mom using the Paper Flower SVG kit:

Here is a look from the side, you can see how it stands for display, it will also fold flat:

Now for some quick tips!

• Cut slivers of paper and thread them through your buttons for the look of real string, it is so quick!
• If you see hot glue strings on your project blast them for a second with your heat gun and they dissappear…opps! I forgot to do that LOL!

 

You can make an easel card any size, simply fold your card in half as usual then fold one end to the middle fold. Then you can attach a panel (the same size as your original card front) to the half folded section. If that is confusing just search “easel card template” and you will find lots of instructions 🙂

That’s all for today, be sure to check out the 40% off sale at Lindsay’s and Mygrafico. Til next time happy crafting!

 

Another Camera Phone Scrapbook Page!

Another thing I love about my camera phone is that I can hand it off to my kids and not worry about the lens getting smudged or scratched and also people do not run away from someone holding a cell phone like they do if you are holding a honest-to-God camera. Look at the great pic my daughter Maizy got of me, my sister and her husband, my other daughter and my parents…oh yes, and my dog Hazel:

I’m pretty sure Dad would not have smiled at me holding my big DSLR LOL! It just proves my motto: Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without. Don’t fret about missing a moment because you left your ‘good’ camera at home, grab your phone and get scrappin! Til next time happy crafting!

PS In case you are wondering my phone is a cheap Samsung Trac-Phone, nothing fancy and less than $50 (and I think that included a year’s worth of minutes…I don’t talk on the phone much 🙂 )

A scrapbook tool (in your purse!)

OK, I am pretty sure I poo-poo’ed camera phones on my blog but that was before I got one! My phone is not fancy, it is a trac-phone. I was happy with my old one but when my husband ordered a new one with a camera on it he asked if I wanted to trade…hmmm..I’d give it a shot…and you know what? I love it! The pictures are not great. It is a 2 megapixel camera with a teeny lens but ya know what? It’s good enough. I am not going to carry my camera with me wherever I go, I rarely carry a purse so if it can’t fit in my pocket I’ll do without it.  I wouldn’t use it to take pictures on Christmas or my kid’s birthday but at the beach or the park, heck yeah, I’ll use it! Here is a scrapbook page I made with shots from my camera phone…hey, it’s better than nothing!

 

Did I mention our boys WON the packwagon scramble?…oh I did…sorry. 🙂

So, if your phone has a camera why not use it once in a while to capture something scrapworthy.

BTW, I get my pictures from my phone to my printer by emailing them to myself…I felt real tech-savvy when I figured that trick out 😀 Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Faux Postage & Reverse Masking Video!

Do you want a quick and easy (not to mention inexpensive to make and mail) card technique? Well, read on my friend! Today I’ll show you some easy techniques while we make this card:

 

I used the sketch from Oriental Stamp Art and stamps from About Art Accents (all except the postmarks, they are Limited Edition and Hero Arts) Sorry about the length, it’s 20 minutes, but chock full of tips!

There you have it! Wasn’t that easy? Now go grab your ink and play and til next time happy crafting!

WOYWW: The Kid’s Art Space!

Lat week I said that I would share my kids’ art area on What’s on Your Workdesk Wednesday. I had the best of intentions to organize it and make it all snazzy before I took photos…well, that did not happen. I walked downstairs this morning and just started taking photos (luckily it was clean due to a basement tidy yesterday) so you can see how a real mom provides a real space for her kids to create in a real basement craft room. Something tells me that this won’t be on Pinterest anytime soon 🙂 But, it works for us and when the kids craft momma gets to too!

Just like in my craft space almost every thing here has been scavenged for other parts of the house, yard sales or “free on the side of the road” finds. I used an old banquet table and an old computer desk to make an “L” shaped workspace. I have an old low bookshelf under the banquet table for bulky storage. I have shoeboxes and bins with stamps and stickers under the computer desk and a basket of ink pads there too. Markers and pens are in mugs and plant pots. Nothing fancy but they can find everything and more importantly put it away when they are done!

I got a couple of the $5 bookcases at Big Lots and they are great for paint!

When my twins were little this set of canvas cubbies organized their toys, now I have art supplies and odds and ends in here for them to make art with! (Thanks Kathy-we are still using this storage solution!)

I love cheap plastic storage drawers for holding unruly craft supplies. I have play-doh and molds in the white one and the kids have who-knows-what in the black one, they each have 2 drawers to keep their own supplies that they don’t have to share with their siblings…They pretty much share everything tho, they are good kids.

When it is time for a break the kids can play a game of pinball on my vintage Spirit of 76 machine (this used to be in my kitchen of my old apartment but we decided it did not belong in the kitchen of a “Grown-up” house so it is in the basement along with my makeshift ping-pong table (there is a pool table underneath for versitility!) and the kids can use the ping-pong table as an extra work surface if need be!

I’m glad my kids have a place to make a mess too! It is great that they don’t have to take over the kitchen table each time they want to get creative. It does not take a lot of money to make a fun art space for the kids, just a little time and creativity! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Fast & Fabulous Tags!

I have to admit I like making gift tags. I rarely make them ahead of time tho because they are quick and easy and I like to reflect the personality of the recipient. Best of all I can usually make use of the paper scraps sitting next to my paper-cutter! Here are two tags I made this weekend for kid’s birthdays:

 

Stamp Credit: Clear Dollar Stamps

And this one:

 

Stamp Credit: Inkadinkado

Use up those card and scrapbook scraps! You likely have a pile of coordinating scraps leftover from a project anyway so instead of putting them away make a tag today! Happy crafting!

Quick & Easy Bookmarks & Video Tutorial

Last week at Oriental Stamp Art they challenged us to make a bookmark. I love to make bookmarks, they are useful and a great way to try out a new technique before committing it to a card or scrapbook page. I wanted to try something different for me so I made a corner bookmark. I used this corner accent stamp from Art Neko and it is on sale for $1.00 (regular $5) + .20 cents shipping! I love how fair their shipping is.

 

It is really simple. I realized if you wanted to make it even easier you can just stick a piece of scotch tape across the back to secure since no one really sees the paper inside you can line it with but, hey you are using up scraps so it really is up to you. Here is the video:

Here is a bookmark in action (action!?!) :

 

Try these in a variety of themes and colors, it will work with any corner stamp or just fold strips of magazine paper or other scraps. It’s all good. The kids will love to make these too!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

New paper flower SVGs

Hi there, I hope you are havng a great weekend! Here is the latest kit from Lindsay’s Stamp Stuff at MyGrafico. It’s my brand new Paper Flowers SVG kit:

I designed this kit after seeing all of the crazy flower dies at the stamp convention I went to. Now, I don’t care how anyone spends their money but one flower die was going for $25 and they were the thin dies that only cut paper and you are stuck with one size. I realized that having an SVG file you can cut with your electronic cutter would be a better deal because not only do you get 5 different flower designs and a file of assorted leaves but you can cut them bigger or smaller, fatter or thinner and skew and stretch them for endless variety! All that for a couple of bucks and you don’t have to waste paper figuring out the right sandwich 🙂

I wanted to mention the special instructions that come with the kit. They are on the printable templates. I recommend you read the directions before assembling them. I also recommend you use a slotted quilling tool for any of the flowers that have a coiled strip center like the daisy and the primrose:

The lily, plumeria and primrose can also be rolled but they are easier to assemble if you cut the petals apart. I like that they are attached at the base for two reasons: 1 because if you want to ink them you can quickly swipe an sponge up the petal from the strip where it is attached and 2 because you can keep all the parts of the flower together if you like to cut a bunch of flowers at once but use them at a later time. If you get confused just look at the printable directions. The directions are always a last resort for me too so don’t feel bad 😀

If you like making paper flowers you can find the Paper Flowers SVG kit here.

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!