Ideas for Embossing Folders & Bottle Cap Brooches!

Hi friends! When I was a kid my mom would mom would crochet holiday pins for me and all of my classmates. There would be Jack-o-lanterns on Halloween and wreaths on Christmas! My classmates loved to see what my mom had in store for them as a holiday approached. Today’s project was inspired by that happy memory, but instead of crocheting a wreath we are going to stamp one and turn it into a brooch that you can wear and as a bonus it arrives on a Christmas card as an embellishment!

If pins aren’t your thing you can make a hairbow or magnet with your mini creation or just glue it to your card. You can also use this idea with any theme. You could make party invitations with another design entirely for example! Watch the video to learn all the techniques from flattening bottle caps, adding color to embossing folders and looking at your dies with fresh eyes!

Video!

Tutorial sponsored by Rubber Stamp Tapestry! Take 10% off your mounted stamp order of $10 or more just use coupon code: PINS
Coupon expires, Monday, December 5th, 2016

Supplies:

• White and colored cardstock
• Stamps: Gingerbread Wreath, Eden, Aloha, Winter Pine Border, Jumbo Gingerbread Stamp
• Dye ink in cottage ivy, Bamboo leaves, Ladybug
• Chalk
• Q-tips
• Acrylic paint, brushes and ball end stylus (or old dried up ball point pen)
• Clear embossing ink
• Clear embossing powder
• Velvet ribbon
• Glitter fun foam
• 3/4″ pin backs
• Embossing folders
• Bakers twine
• Heat gun
• Tweezers

Don’t be freaked out over the supply list, you do not need to have all of these things, these are just all of the things I used but you can substitute or omit things you don’t have, it’s cool. In fact that is the best thing about crafting, getting inspired by something and making it your own. Have a great day and til next time happy crafting!

PS I know this is a super busy week for folks in the USA but I have a couple of giveaways coming up that you won’t want to miss so make sure you check back every couple of days so you can see what I have in store for you!!!

Cute Kids Craft! Bottle Cap Pins (or magnets)

Hi friends! A while back I asked my niece (who then asked her young and single friends) to save me bottle caps and I was rewarded with a bounty of them! I teach a monthly free kids class at the local library and I wanted a fun way to use some of them up and here is what I came up with. A fall craft for kids. Watch the video:

Fun huh? all you need is paper, bottle caps, glue, google eyes and some circle punches or small coins to trace. So…does anyone else have any bottle cap craft ideas? Leave them in the comments below and til next time happy crafting!

A Bunch of Brooches!

I whipped up a a bunch of the spring brooches this weekend, this was the idea that sparked the statement jewelry.

They are just the thing to liven up a scarf or jacket for spring! I’m gonna sell them for $2 at the Spring Fair! Wish me luck and happy crafting!

Bottlecaps, Steampunk, Sherlock & Sushi…

…One of these things is not like the other, c’mon can you guess which one? Woah, I’m having a Sesame Street flashback! (weird… especially since I referenced Fraggle Rock in my video on tuesday…I’m having a Jim Henson moment, if Muppets make it into my next post I’m going to be worried!) I’m feeling a bit chatty today, my apologies. As you know I have been on a tear creating stuff for my upcoming craft fair, I was inspired to make these bottle cap brooches with a steampunk flair after catching the BBC series Sherlock on Netflix the other day:

 

I decided to pin the brooches to ATCs (Artist trading cards) on which I had stamped a large Ferris wheel inspired by the panorama of London in the Sherlock opening sequence. I have to say, the show is brilliant! I was unfamiliar with the stories of Sherlock Holmes, honestly I did not think I could make it through Victorian British literature but after watching the first 5 episodes I downloaded some Sherlock Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and attempted to read them (TV that makes you read…yeah, that’s good TV!) and I loved the story, I didn’t know where to start and I ended up reading the one about Irene Adler  called A Scandal in Bohemia  and it was interesting to see how they updated it  in the episode A Scandal in Belgravia which by the way was my favorite. Then I started a reading Study in Scarlet which was the inspiration for the first episode of the Sherlock series A Study in Pink.  It has been modernized, Sherlock has a website: the Science of Deduction and Watson has a blog that generates most of their detective work (I’m not too far into the books but I do believe Dr. Watson recorded the cases of Holmes.) Sherlock often is texted (not wired) by his brother Mycroft and he has a nicotine addiction rather than a cocaine habit but all in all it seems to keep true to the stories.  Did I mention it’s a lot of fun? Sherlock Holmes is played by Benedict Cumberbatch and Dr. Watson is played by Martin Freeman. They couldn’t have picked more talented actors:

 

I really don’t want to say anymore and spoil anything for you, I do recommend you give it a watch though, it is amazing! Well, how’s that for a tangent? Anyway back to the bottle caps…. oh and the matching pair of earrings…

 

Would you like to know how to flatten one? It is quite easy, all you need is a rubber mallet and a hard surface. You can also use the flattened caps as picture frames in scrapbooks, they are pretty smooth when flattened so I don’t think they would damage your books and they should mail fine on a card too. You do need to get uncirculated bottle caps for this, the ones off a bottle will not flatten right:

BTW, if you want to flatten them quietly you can squish them in your die-cutter between 2 OLD plates, they will gouge up your cutting plates so be sure to use an old pair.

Oh and sushi, I forgot I mentioned that in the title!  Here is a frugal fashion tip…well…maybe just an amusing blurb…I went out for Sushi (and before you ask what a vegetarian knows about “sushi” let me tell you that ‘sushi’ refers to the rice, not the fish) the other day with my friend Kathy and on my plate was a beautiful Orchid so I stuck it in my hair and snapped a photo…yes, it is still a bit fraggle like 🙂

 

…nice roots huh? You know, back to Sherlock, in several episodes they are eating an a vegetarian restaraunt…I wonder if the characters are vegetarians…It might be hard to eat meat when you are visiting the morgue on a daily basis dontcha think? Well, this is probably the longest post I have EVER written, I just had to share my new finds, both Sherlock Holmes BBC series and the books which should keep me occupied for quite a while…who knows maybe after that I’ll tackle Jane Austin…nah, don’t count on it 🙂 Till next time happy crafting!