A Freebie for Easter! {let’s make cards!}

Hi friends! I love looking through stacks of vintage postcards at antique shops. People used to send cards all the time, especially on holidays such as Easter. Today I have a free template (printable PDF and SVG cutting files) for you to create four cute cards that won’t cost a lot to make or send!

We will also be using washi tape and baker’s twine, two of my favorite supplies, from our sponsor Papermart. Watch the video to see how it’s done:

Supplies:

• White Cardstock
• Baker’s Twine
• Washi Tape
• Stamps and Ink
• Sponges or color dusters
• Embossing folder (I used a Damask pattern from Darice)
• Foam Tape
• Scissors
• Free Template
• Also a craft knife or die cutter for cutting the templates.

Directions:

1.  Die cut the SVG template on a full sheet of white cardstock OR print the PDF template. If hand cutting I recommend using a craft knife to cut out the windows on the cards and then cutting the scalloped frame with scissors. You will have 4 scalloped papers with windows.
2. Emboss the papers with an embossing folder if desired. You can also stamp a sentiment on the paper if you want to keep it flat (unembossed.)
3. Center the window on a card base and trace the window with a light-colored pencil.
4. Apply washi tape over the traced image.
5. Apply foam tape to the back of the window.
6. Wrap the panel with baker’s twine and adhere to card base.
7. Stamp an Easter sentiment on a label die cut (not included) and adhere over twine with foam tape.

Thanks so much for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

 

What Time is it? AAC Time!

Wow, what a difference a week makes, it was 55 degrees out today, I was ready to break out the suntan oil and hit the beach! Of course that would mean ice skating rather than sunbathing but still, it felt like spring and  could almost ignore the 2 feet (yes! down from 3!) of snow in my yard. Small favors:) Enough about the weather, it’s time for the latest Ask a Crafter and you get to meet one of my cats who paid us a visit, never a dull moment LOL!

Leave your questions in the comments as well as any tips or advice you have for the folks asking questions. The community is so awesome for helping each other out! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Sew With Me! DIY Quilted Bag & Giveaway!

Hi Friends! I had this idea floating around in my head since I heard about a method of quilting called “quilt as you go” or Fun and Done”, Fun and done sounds like my speed, doesn’t it? Well my mom (who is a way better quilter/seamstress than me) explained the basic technique. I wanted to try it on a small project so I designed this cute reversible bag:

I made the bag to fit my EasyLunchboxes, I love these bento style boxes for packing lunches for myself and my family, often I portion leftovers from supper right in them along with fruit and snacks so I have a bunch of premade lunches the next day for anyone who needs them. I made my bag big enough to hold 4 because I like to take my kids to the beach, park or pool for the day and it is the perfect size. You can see how I made these in this video:

Like I said in the video you can make your bag to fit whatever container you like. Here is my diagram to figure out how much fabric you will need.

For this project you will need:

• 1/2 to 3/4 yard of fabric for the inside of the bag (I used a polished cotton)
• Fabric scraps cut into 10″ long strips
• Batting (or you can use light colored fleece)
• Basting spray or sewing pins
• Sewing machine and thread (plus basic sewing supplies)
• Rotary cutter and mat
• Scissors
• Iron and ironing board

Tips for making your bag:

1. Choose washable fabrics, I went with a polished cotton for the inside so I could spot clean it as needed but the bag can also be tossed in the wash if it gets really dirty.
2. Be aggressive when sewing down into the corners or you will need to go in later and hand stitch them up. I showed you the first corner where I was too shy getting in there, the other ones stitched up fine but you have to be brave and get right in there!
3. Because I designed this bag while I made it there were things I would do differently next time, one being I would sew the sides all the way to the end (top) of the bag so that when I folded down the top to bind the top of the bag it would have been more even and I would not have needed the trim I added at the end.
4. Press. Press. Press. It’s a drag but pressing the fabric down after you add a new strip really helps and saves aggravation when you sew.
5. Hey, I’m a beginner, if you have a better way by all means do it your way (and tell us about it in the comments below!)

Do you want your very own set of 4 lunch boxes and cooler bag? Well, of course you can buy them directly from EasyLunchboxes they even offer free and reduced shipping through their Amazon store (they are the #1 best-selling lunchbox on Amazon BTW) for US and Canadian residents OR you can win them! To win you need to have a peek here in their shop, then come back here and leave a comment telling me something you like about their products. My favorite thing is that I can wash them in the dishwasher, I can’t stand a sink full of hand washable plastic containers. These truly are my favorites and I use them every day. I bet if you try them you will like them too! I will pick a winner at random on March 17th 2015. This giveaway is open to US residents only.Good luck in the giveaway, thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Make this palette for free!

Hi friends! I had an idea the other day for a DIY watercolor paper made with stuff from around the house. Best of all I can change colors as easy as can be:

This Marie’s set is just about the cheapest good watercolor paint I have ever found! It was $5 a set of 18 tubes at Ocean State Job Lot but most big art suppliers have it for about the same price.

Supplies for this DIY:

• a magnet sheet
• metal soda or beer bottle caps
• adhesive if your container is not metal.

Directions: Cut a piece of magnet sheet (I get scraps for free at a sign/banner shop-they are leftovers from the car magnets they make) to fit your container and adhere it inside magnet side up. Arrange bottle caps on the magnet. Fill bottle caps with paint. You can an add or remove caps easily because they are just held in by magnets. You might need to replace them occasionally if they rust. (I only mention this because I’ve seen old rusty metal bottle caps outside in the dirt before.)

Not bad for a cheap palette, eh?

The brushes are the Real Value line from Princeton Art & Brush Company and they are excellent for the price, the set I demonstrated cost $6 at Ocean State Job Lot but, again, you can probably find them online.

I hope this us useful to someone! Happy crafting!

 

Breaking News! Prima & Spectrum Noir Pencil Expose!

Hi friends! Let me tell you about my nerdy afternoon! It all started with me indexing my new Prima watercolor pencils with washi tape depending on what set they were from then cross indexing them with thinner strip of washi tape to indicate what other sets they could be found in. then I started coloring some stamped images. I was coloring one of my favorite PSX pansy images but it just did not have the depth I wanted with the watercolor pencils alone so I grabbed my Spectrum Noir colored pencils to punch up the color….wait a minute, hold the phone, the color numbers on both lines of pencils matched! They looked identical as far as I could tell so then I swatched out the Spectrum Noir pencils next to the Primas on the chart I made yesterday and low and behold the colors matched from number to number. don’t believe me? Have a look:

I wonder if these pencils were made in the same factory, both of the tins said they were made in China. How do you feel about this? I like having lines that match even if they are not from the same company. I hope that one of these companies release the whole line of colors in watercolor pencils because I like the Primas and the Spectrum Noirs both very much. I have to say I prefer the way Spectrum Noir releases products so that you do not have duplicates between sets and you can collect as your budget allows. I’m sure there is a reason for Prima releasing the watercolor pencils with the same color in more than one set (they probably think that a crafter will buy the one set they like most and do not realize that we want them all LOL!) Nobody asked my opinion.Hey, if there are any companies out their looking for a  product development specialist I’m available.  Well, the phone isn’t ringing yet LOL! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Edit: I realized when reading the comments that some readers did not realize that the Prima pencils are Watersoluble (aka watercolor pencils) and the Spectrum Noir pencils are traditional wax/oil based colored pencils and are not watersoluble. So if you have them both you did not just buy the same thing twice, they are different mediums with very similar colors, in facet as near as I can tell the colors are the same (in my opinion.)

Let’s Paint a Flower with New Prima Watercolor Pencils!

Hi Friends! I just got 4 of the new Prima watercolor pencil sets this week as well as water brushes from Hallmark Scrapbook. This is what I made:

I thought it would be fun to turn on the camera as I used them for the first time so you could learn along with me. I will show you how to draw and paint this flower. Here is that video!

As I mentioned there is some overlap in the colors. I have four sets and I asked viewers what color numbers were in the other sets so I could make this a handy color chart for you. Here is a list of the colors in each set:

Earth Tones: 03, 88, 86, 89, 94, 107, 109, 111, 114, 117, 119, 120
Soft Neutrals: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 87, 88, 113
Spring and Fall: 01, 03, 08, 21, 26, 30, 34, 52, 58, 90, 97, 119
The Basics: 01, 16, 22, 25, 32, 44, 47, 64, 71, 80, 91, 120

The following sets I do not have.
Scenic Route: 05, 07, 09, 113, 88, 84, 61, 50, 54, 62, 58, 120
Julie Nutting Skin Tones: 101 102 90 89 86 09 05 16 08 91 95 120

 

I think it might help you to decide what sets you want to get. I was planning on buying the skin tone set when it came out to use with my other colored pencils I already had (most colored pencil sets are lacking in complex light skin tones) but Hallmark Scrapbook offered to send me these to try before I got the chance and the skin tones were out of stock! I really think I could come up with about any skin color with the soft neutrals and Earth tone sets though. I also do not have the scenic route set which contains more blues and greens for landscape art. Here are the colors swatched out and blended for the sets I have:)

I hope you find this helpful. The pencils retail for $12.99 and Hallmark Scrapbook has them for $10.99 and if you don’t see all the sets on the website it means they sold out but they get stuff back in pretty quickly (case in point, the Spectrum Aqua markers.) I really liked the quality of the pencils. I have tried almost all of the watercolor pencils out there and these are really comparable to a Derwent watercolor pencil in my opinion at half the price retail. I put the color chart together so you can spend your money on sets with colors you like and avoid too many duplicates. I’m going to put mine together in a jar so I can see them together and so they will take up less space on my desk. Maybe I will put a piece of washi tape on the pencil to indicate what set they are from so I can tell at a glance. I’ll let you know in a future tutorial:) Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

 

 

DIY Invitations for Weddings or Spring Parties!

Hi Friends! Today I will show you how to make an elegant shabby chic invitation for a wedding or spring party using supplies from our sponsor Papermart:

This is a single panel card wrapped in a doily. It is very affordable to make these cards because they use few supplies and it is frugal to mail because they are light and will not require extra postage. Perfect for a bride on a budget! They are quick to make too! Watch the video to see how:

Supplies:
8″x11″ Cardstock cut in quarters
6″ paper doilies
Vellum (and a computer and printer OR you can hand write on it)
Paper ribbon
“Silk” rose petals: (bag of 144)  (bag of 400)
Baker’s Twine
Washi Tape
Brads (if desired)
Straight and decorative scissors and a paper trimmer
A4 envelopes
10″ square doilies for lining envelopes

You will get 4 invitations from every sheet of vellum and cardstock. I recommend you work assembly line style when making these in a large batch (cut all your cardstock at once, attach vellum at once etc.) you can even enlist a friend to help! For this demonstration I am using a generic invitation wording but if you are making these for a specific event print all of those details on the vellum to save time and it will look really professional! I hope this project will make your next party a snap! Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Ask a Crafter!!! (Did you miss us?)

Hi friends! We are back with a brand new AAC today after taking last week off! Lorraine came back because she could not stand missing the rest of winter. I think Kathy and I should go stay at her place in Florida for a while LOL! Oh well, it did get to nearly 50 degrees today! Let’s melt some snow! OK, enough weather rambling, here is the latest Ask a Crafter!

Here is the link to my friend Renae’s free handmade training course.The deadline for registering is today. I saw the first video in the class yesterday and it was amazing! If you happen to click over and the site is down just keep trying, the site crashed a couple of times last night because so many people went over to sign up. If you have a question for an upcoming show you can leave it in the comments! Thanks so much and til next week happy crafting!

Let’s Make Rainbows and Chat!

Today we have a chatty video! I made this card for my friend Kelly who wrote the book The Rainbow Pants so I thought this card would be perfect. Grab your watercolors and let’s get started!

Supplies:

• Watercolor paint
• Clear embossing ink
• Black pigment ink
• White and black cardstock
• 1 sheet of 12″x12″ colorful scrapbook paper (K&Company from one of the 360 sheet pads)
• Stamp, Happy birthday noteblock from Purple Onion Designs
• A7 (that means 5″x7″ folks!) envelope templates from Greensneakers

All the instructions (including what not to do) can be found in the video. Have a great night and til next time happy crafting!