WOYWW! A Valentine Freebie!

Is it Wednesday already? It sneaks up on you, same with valentine’s day, one minute it’s Christmas and the next minute I have 3 kids in need of valentines for their classmates. I designed a free printable sheet that will make 4 valentines that are easy enough for the kids to make, I even have a quick video to show you how at the end of this post.

You can download the freebie here. You could also print the design on plain paper and wrap 4 candy bars with it or just fold it in half if you did not want to use candy (no candy on Valentines day? The horror!) After you print the sheet you just need some adhesive and a bit of ribbon, the  camouflage ribbon I used is from Papermart. OK here is what you have come here to see today on What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday, my lovely desk:

As you can see I have remnants of the freebie valentines, some knitting themed stamps for a hybrid crochet paper project I have planned for my kids knitting class tonight and some old brittle friendly plastic that I think I have found a use for. The coffee cup warmer does a really nice job of melting it, I cut up an old silicone mat to use as a liner and the silicone muffin cups are also great to malt stuff like UTEE in and non stick. As you can see I am not the type of girl to spend $40 on a melting pot LOL! I am also going to try to melt wax for candle making in it too. If an appliance is going to earn it’s keep on my overcrowded craft table it needs to do more than warm my cuppa joe!

OK now on to the video:

See, that was easy now wasn’t it? What I love is that you can do the same technique with any paper you like!

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

Lovely in Lilac & WOYWW

Howdy folks! I played with some of the clay embellishments I molded the other day.  Click here for the homemade clay recipe. This butterfly plaque I stamped yesterday was dry but it had warped so I flipped it upside down on my silicone mat and heated it with a heat gun them pressed a stamp block on it while it was still hot and let it cool with the block on top to flatten it out. Then I dry brushed some acrylic paint on the front before adhering it to my card. I think I will have to play more with my stamps on the clay because I really like the look!

 

I picked up this flower and simply sponged some purple ink on it, I like that look too!

 

I started listing to the audiobook The Help and really got in to it, I like to tidy up my work area when I am don for the day but apparently I lost track of time and started another card, whoops! Please don’t mind the mess now 🙂 Happy What’s On Your Workdesk Wednesday!

Before I go I want to share a picture of one of my new chicks sleeping in my hand, can you stand the cuteness?!?

thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

An Oriental Card & Stamping Tips!

Happy Thursday folks! Today I am going to share a card I made a few days ago. I used the sketch challenge at Oriental Stamp Art to plan the layout of this card:

When I saw the simple design of the sketch I decided I would pull out my rainbow ink pad and an Asian Scene stamp from About Art Accents and a die-cut and get to work!

TIPS!

To save space (and money) I do not usually mount my stamps on cling cushion, instead I spread a thin layer of Aleenes Tack It Over Again glue on the back of my unmounted stamps. Then I simply place the stamp on a clear block and stamp on a squishy surface like a silicone mat or mouse pad. Sometimes tho when I have a highly detailed stamp or a stamp that has a lot of rubber like this silhouette style stamp I need a little help to get it to stamp well. I discovered Rock-a-Block stamp mounts (crafter’s companion brand-I got mine at joann.com for 40% off when they had a stamp sale) last year and they work great for stamps like this and the curved surface made inking it up with my Kaliedacolor rainbow ink pad a snap! But, if you don’t have a rock-a-block you can find something similar to use around your house I bet! I have some finicky stamps that are too big for my RABs so I found a curved glass jar that works just as well (it will do until I can afford a Mega-Mount!) and best of all it was free!

Embossed label (without a nestie!)

For the octagon I used my electronic die cutter to cut 2 octagons, one 1/8″ larger than the other. I glued the smaller centered on the bigger one and stamped my sentiment then inked the edges for the trendy embossed label look, best of all you can do this with any shape, you can even cut them by hand if you have no die cutter. Just hand cut the smaller shape first, glue it to a larger piece of the same color and trim that 1/8″ larger and ink, easy peasy!

Got Creative Block? Use a Sketch!

This card came together in minutes because the layout was preplanned. Sketches are great because you end up placing elements in a new-to-you way. A sketch is a great way to break out of your comfort zone and try something new. And for those of you who think it is cheating take a look at the Oriental Stamp Art Challenge blog, you will see that we all use the same sketch but no two are alike!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Tomorrow I am going to share my clear/UM stamp reorganization project with you, I do hope you will come by and see! Til then Happy Crafting!