Showing posts with label ribbon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ribbon. Show all posts

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Sparks Challenge!

I had some time before I had to post for the next challenge so I didn't smoosh this one in with all the others I posted on Wednesday. While I, of course, didn't win anything it's nice having inspiration coming from another source like a challenge.

Now then, check out this simple little card I made with some ribbon, Paper Smooches stamps, and...shhhh...an Itty Bitty stamp from Unity. Turns out I don't have any sentiment stamps from Paper Smooches. Oops. But isn't this stamp from the Potpourri collection awesome?? I love being able to build my own backgrounds!
Potpourri Collection from Paper Smooches, 'Happy Birthday' from Itty Bitty, orange grosgrain ribbon
I can see doing this card in lots of different colors with many different sentiments. How easy would it be to make it masculine or feminine?? Yes!

View from above

The Paper Smooches Sparks challenge is going on now! See what you get inspired to make.

Happy Crafting!

Monday, January 23, 2012

Time to Get Organized!

So my craft room had sort of gotten to the point where it was, well, a semi-organized mess. I knew it wasn't great, but with craft shows and the holidays there simply wasn't time to clean up. I started thinking about organizing again while at Target...their dollar bins had letter trays and assorted organizers. Ok, time to clean!

I spent two hours the other night sorting, sifting, filing, organizing, and tossing. It was almost embarrassing how many canvas boxes I had still in their wrappers! Those I used for my Cricut cartridges, Sizzix supplies, and boxes of card blanks. Those along with my Cricut, Big Kick, and new Spellbinder machine fit nicely in the one corner.
The wood you see is my laundry rack. Great in the summer, too cold this time of year!
Moving all of those around freed up space on my side table. There my stamps were slightly reorganized (I moved Christmas/winter to their own bin), Sharpies neatened in their bin, stamp pads sorted, and my assorted 'other things' neatened. Now I had space to add a letter tray for finished projects, one for open online orders, and get my tin o' templates where I can actually find it!
Business cards & mailing inserts are right by outgoing orders...think of it!
Next up was my work space...ugh. Paper scraps were taking up the majority of it, followed by punches, partially completed projects, pieces leftover from projects that could still be used...yeah, it was a mess. I started by using my $2.50 Target find - an over-the-door shoe organizer! It fit nearly all of my punches, just the really big ones are left on the table.
Tiny ones bunched together nicely and seasonal is on the bottom
After another 30-40 minutes of figuring out what was left on my table, it cleaned up well. The large paper scraps I moved to an empty 12"x12" scrapbook paper container I had picked up exactly for that purpose. All of my card base paper I use all the time I tucked under the table (easy when my "table" is actually a huge piece of wood on top of a bunk bed!). Out of the way, nice and flat, and very close by when I'm making cards.
Chipboard, envelopes, kraft paper...and it must be Valentine time with all that pink & red!
That cleaned off a LOT of space up top! I put stamps back away, moved Christmas back to its storage bins, and threw out some scraps that were miniscule and I was silly to keep. Now I had room to put my standard tools where the punches had lived, get my cutter out of the way, and had a much more manageable stack of scraps. The last letter tray I used to corral all those bits 'n pieces I was keeping so they don't get lost or destroyed. I left out the season I was currently on (Valentines!) but hey, there was actually room to do so! Wow!
A much, MUCH more organized end of the table!
Now I actually have room to lay out my supplies for whatever I'm working on AND have a ton of space leftover to work. See, I was already painting puzzle pieces!
My new, clean workbench! Yes, that is a Care Bear in the corner...he keeps me company
It was so great being reorganized that I made four cards last night - woohoo! It's amazing what you can do when you can find your supplies. :)

If you're curious about what the puzzle pieces were for, take a look in the shop: You're the Perfect Match

How have you organized your crafting space? I'd love to hear from you!

Happy Crafting!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Say it with Conversation Hearts!

I was inspired by the Crafty Steals blog to try to make a card from a sketch...I think it came out rather cute:
After all, who says that conversation hearts are only for kids? A little paper punching, some ribbon, add a smattering of embossing, ink everything...tada! I simply used my own handwriting for the sentiments, in classic conversation heart red. What do you think? If you really, really must have one of you own I've got it up in my Etsy shop.

Ok, now I'm off to play with all the fun 'toys' I bought today...yay! The one nice thing about having a husband glued to the PS3 is that I get plenty of craft room time...mwahahahaha...

Happy Crafting!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Coffee Note Cards...with Fabric!


Well, it had to happen eventually - a post about coffee! It has finally snowed here for the first time since October (yes, you did read that correctly...don't ask) which means my favorite caffeinated beverage now needs to warm my hands while it keeps me going.

This summer I came across some awesome coffee fabric. I was drawn to it because 1) its coffee and 2) the pattern is rectangular. Usually for fabric crafts this is a deterrent (I really cannot see a skirt out of this) but for paper crafting it's perfect!
I simply had to have it and make cards out of it. To prep the fabric I (shudder!) ironed it out and then cut out some of the blocks. I then went back around them with pinking shears (the funny scissors that cut triangles) so that the fabric wouldn't unravel once on the card.
That's it! Now it's time to make some note cards!
What I used:
  • fabric cut with pinking shears
  • white card base, final size 4.25"x5.5" when folded
  • patterned paper cut to fit card front, 4.25"x5.5" (found at Joann's)
  • chocolate grosgrain ribbon, 1/2" wide x 4.25" long
  • blue cardstock (from stash)
  • sentiment stamp, "how've you bean?" (Fiskars)
  • StazOn Timber Brown ink pad
  • 1.5" square paper punch
  • adhesive
  • Xyron machine
  • ruler
  • paper cutter
  • scissors
Start by cutting the patterned paper to fit the front of your card. Ink up the edges, then attach to the card base using your adhesive. Ink up your sentiment stamp and stamp out a few onto your blue cardstock. Here's a good tip - stamp first, punch out second! That way you can line up your punch and make sure the sentiment is centered:
Stamp, stamp, stamp...
Punch, punch, punch!
Ink up the edges and then set aside to dry a little. Cut out your ribbon so that it fits the front of the card. I used my little Xyron sticker maker to apply the adhesive.
Nice and sticky!
Once everything is cut & dry, I ran the fabric squares and sentiment squares through my Xyron machine. They stacked nicely so that I didn't waste adhesive!
In they go...
All done!
Now, time to assemble. Attach your squares to where you want them on the card. Be careful, the fabric will try to stretch out of shape! Now stick your ribbon down, pop the sentiment square on top, and you've got a unique note card!

Have you ever combined paper with fabric? What was the result? Post your creations here, I'd love to see them!

Happy Crafting!