Using what you have and then some

A very wise friend has been telling another mutual friend and me to use what we have, craft-wise, instead of running off to Michael's or Jo Anns all the time to get more craft supplies. That really got me thinking so as I slowly got my craft supplies unpacked, I took some time to finish a bunch of projects that have been in my pending drawer.

These are the results, most made from already cut paper die shapes, handmade crocheted flowers, felt cut-outs and buttons:

The flower die cut I used on the letter "B" is SU! Daisy #2, using K&Company Valentine's Day paper. All the crocheted flowers I made using a pattern from here, crocheted out of DMC embroidery floss. The leaves are Prima paper leaves I purchased from Frantic Stamper.

For the paper owl, I got the pattern from Dawn's Stamping Thoughts (see sidebar for a link to her blog). I used assorted paper from DCWV Kids pad.

The cupcake (below on letter "C") with a "cherry" rhinestone I paper pieced together using Martha Stewart hydrangea punch and shaping the flowers before gluing them onto the cupcake. Cupcake die is a Sizzix Sizzlet die (retired but can purchase on E-bay or here). The smaller cupcake on the "E" is also paperpieced - can't recall the name of the cupcake clear stamp I used. I used Liquid applique on the frosting. You can't tell but I also applied Crystal Effects on the tiny cherries :-)!


These paper bag purses were really easy to make! Just take any paper sack you have around, cut it down from the top to whatever size you want then put your desired shape of purse on the front and back.



The picnic basket one was fun to make. The basket lid for the one on the left even opens up halfway up. To make that, measure the opening at the top of your bag; trace that same size on your desired cardstock but adding about 1/8" of an inch all the way around. Now add "flaps" to this lid by drawing flaps that you will cut and tape to the sides so you'll have a very shallow box. For mine, I used 1/2" for the flaps as I didn't want a very deep lid or else it would interfere with where I placed the picnic basket handles. FYI, picnic basket cardstock I used is from DCWV Kitchen pack.

The black glossy purse below was made by first embossing the glassy cardstock using the Houndstooth Cuttlebug embossing folder.




These scrapbook boxes were also super easy to make too. I was trying to use up more DCWV cardstock (this one is from the Posies pack). Got the pattern from here. The smaller box is just an "origami" box where you can put a small trinket in it. This was a gift for a friend's daughter, who loves purple and loves to scrapbook. Paper flower die cuts are from a flower paper pad kit I purchased from Target a couple of years ago.



Oh, but then I couldn't stay away much longer...the same wise friend gave me her 40% off coupon to Michael's so off I went to JoAnns to go and purchase fabric. On my way to that aisle, I noticed our local Jo Ann's now carries EK Success punches and lots of new (Christmas) K&Company products!). Everything on that display was 40% off so of course, I had to buy something! This is what I came home with and those were the things I made with it - 3D trees!:


Easy 3D Trees: punch out 5 of them using cardstock then score down the middle of them (I used my score pal and embossing pen to score it - much easier than trying to put it in your trimmer to score). Fold the trees in half then using glue (I used Tombow's monoadhesive), dot sparingly with glue then glue another folded tree onto it, matching the tree shape as well as you can. When that is adhered, dot more glue on that newly glued piece and do the same with remaining trees. When you get to the last tree, that one gets glued to the first tree. This will now "close" your tree and it will now be able to stand on its own.

If you're curious what I did with that 40% off, I did go to Michael's finally and bought the new I-Top BRAD MAKER by Imaginisce!!! I'm eager to play with it and have been needing it before I even knew the product existed so I am beyond excited to own it. This product was introduced at the CHA convention in Orlando and the blogs I was reading raved about it. Will post later on how well it works and show you the project I needed it for :-)

Happy Crafting!

Bridal Shower Favor Purses

The best way to get any project done is to have a group of ladies (and men too!) to help out in the assembly process. These pictures are the result of this afternoon's crafting effort to crank out 40 of these adorable favor purses and 40 coordinating invitations. We had a couple of manly men who helped tie ribbons, added velcro and fasten paper flowers. The rest the ladies did and they were amazing! Sure wish there were a few extras as I would have loved to have kept one for myself :-)! These favors will be filled with chocolates or mints.





Inspiration for the purses came from Inking Idaho.
Recipe
Cardstock: patterned paper is Making Memories, SU! black and pink cardstock
Ribbons: Black organdy ribbon from Jo Ann's, black and white polka dot ribbon and raspberry pink ribbon from Michael's; silver cording from SU! (retired)
Accessories: Cuttlekids shoe die, pink rhinestones from Michael's, tag punch from Martha Stewart, Top Note Die from SU! (Sizzix); assorted brad centers from SU!; flower punch from EK Success; Spellbinders scallop circle die; and Colluzzel (sp?) circle template

Here's a Lindt chocolate holder I made for Easter. These were "carrot" shaped chocolates and I just made a box to hold 2 of them and decorated the outside with mostly Martha Stewart punches (handle, fence, rabbit) and paper flowers I made. The chocolates are being held in place with a piece of cardstock with holes punched, small enough so you can stand the carrots in there without having them tip over. Cardstock used was all from SU! Stamps are from PTI.





I finally got a chance to try this adorable mini magazine holder. This one I found somewhere out there in blog land, can't recall the site but will update this post when I find the link to her blog. This one has the top edges folded down so the holder is a lot sturdier. Also, it uses 12 x 12 paper. Paper is from DCWV and the mixer brad I got at OTC.

Update: I found the tutorial for the magazine holder from embellish me. Check her out - she has a great step-by-step instruction on how to make these!

A piece of California....

....we now own!!!! We found our new home, by chance, as I was taking my daily run. My in-laws were visiting and they, too, found the same house as they were out for a walk (I'll post photos later using my own pics as I'm sure the current owners will not want me posting photos of the house they are still occupying. I'll wait until we're in there)! So, quite unexpectedly, we found the home we wanted to buy. We were just starting to go out and look at open houses when this home became available and it was too good to pass up. We hope to be in the new house by end of June! The hard part is moving....3 blocks!

This is what is going on for part of this weekend: a bridal shower workshop! Making top note purses, 40 of them. Didn't seem like a lot until I started to cut out the parts for it. I used up 20 feet of Xyron adhesive to put these together. Still not done. They still need the ribbon purse handles, velcro and a decorative flower on the front. Oh, and the tag for it with the bride/groom's names. These will be joined by coordinating shower invites.


This is a photo of what my son gave to his teacher for teacher appreciation this week. Ok...still having a problem with my camera making everything look yellow! This is a copy of PTI's template from last month. Again, too cheap to buy it when I can just eyeball and case it! I added the pencil holders on the sides and also re-inforced the top of the card holder by having folded edges. Much sturdier than PTI's template, I think! The dimensions are not the same as theirs as mine was a complete eyeball on size. It does fit standard size cards and envelopes.




We are on overload schedule this weekend with 2 back to back baseball games, bridal shower workshop, appliance shopping, birthday party and hosting a going-away-breakfast. And there's also sorting, throwing and packing to do! Have a wonderful weekend!

Serious Case-ing

Wow! Blogging 2 days in a row! Of course, doesn't make up for the month I was out of it....

Finally took pictures of the things I've been creating. Am eager to send these off to my friends so finally stole time away from chores/chauffer duties to take photos. My photo-taking is a bit rusty so got to get intimate again with the camera instruction book.

This one is a copy of PTI's stationery set created by Nichole Heady (go here to see the original) I didn't have any PayPal money to purchase the stationery holder template so I eye-balled it and created my own. The dimensions are my own. If you look closely, I put my Score-Pal to good use by doing a criss-cross pattern on the front. Stamps used are all from PTI (Polka Dot Basics and Simply Stationery). Ink and cardstock used are SU! (close to cocoa and baja breeze).




The next 3 photos below is not a direct case of case-ing (LOL!) but inspired by many of the card cases bags I've seen on SplitCoasters. This one re-uses the clear acrylic boxes that PTI's clear stamps comes package in (I cut them in half). I designed a bag around the boxes and used the same scoring technique as above then attached the clear box with red-line tape and finished it off with the pretty ribbon I've been hoarding (from Michael's). The notecards are 3x3; used the Swiss Dot embossing folders for the dots. The flower stamp on the front is again, from PTI, stamped and outlined with white Souffle pen (thanks, Karen! Love the pens!) and filled with aqua souffle ink. The purse closes using Basic Grey's small magnets. Cardstock is all SU!




The next 3 below are again inspired by what I've been seeing on SplitCoasters. I made mine half the size of what I saw because I wanted the card to fit into a smaller envelope. Plus I didn't want to glue a million little hydrangea flowers on the circles. If you look closely, you'll notice that these are individual small flowers that were punched, shaped then glued individually. I used Martha Stewart hydrangea punch using SU! cardstock colors (I believe it was Lovely Lilac and Lavender Lace). The leaves were punched using a McGill punch, cardstock used is called New Leaf by PTI - it's a beautiful green! Flower pot cardstock is SU Really Rust. The scallop punch on the flower pot is from EK Success. Double click the photo and you will see that the scallops are scalloped! Check here for instructions to make the original version.





The purse pictures below were inspired by purses I saw here and here. I used a corner rounder to cut the scallops around the designer paper - I don't recommend that method! It's hard to get it just right so if you have a large scallop die cut, use that instead. It will save you lots of mistakes. The paper I wasted trying to make perfect scallop circles were recycled to make the accompanying notecards you see here. There are 6 of them and I made matching envelopes (yes, handmade!). The patterned paper is Amy Butler. Purse has a velcro to help keep it closed. If you look closely at the purse, you can see I stitched the ribbon onto the patterned paper. I used some tape first to keep it in place but beware, don't put the tape where you are going to sew or else you'll have gummy mess on your sewing needle! The ribbon I stitched is that same one I used above. Can't waste any of it so took this last strip to use as embellishment. The flowers on the notecards are die cuts from Cuttlebug. Stamps used for the sentiments are all from PTI.




This 3-D flower pot was inspired by InkingAddict. I couldn't wait for her to post her tutorial so I made my own. My template has 3 pieces and I believe hers has a few more so I went with mine as I'm always in hurry to get done because I have to be elsewhere and not at home crafting! LOL! The flowers you see here are my own - I call them Dizzy Blooms and sold some in my Etsy shop back when I was still in business. The leaf die cuts are Sizzix. This box is large enough to hold 2 small bottles of lotion or a bit bag of chocolates.





Whew!!! That's it for now! If you'd like any instructions on how I made my altered case-ings, leave me a comment!

Next post - some HUGE news here!

Valentine....

Finished just in time for my children's Valentine school parties tomorrow!

These recycled bags were obviously the ones that the Ghiradelli chocolates came packaged in. Did you know that you can't recycle that lovely foil bag? Do your part in reducing your waste and make something useful with those bags like I did here. Just trim the top to desired size, fold down the edges and tape it down with strong double sided tape (I used Scor-Tape), punch holes to attach a couple of ribbon purse handles and decorate as desired. Heart ribbons were purchased at Michael's (for 50% off!!); brads used are Basic Grey; decorative edge punches are Martha Stewart (lace punch and heart lace punch).

The scallop hearts on the purse/bag and on the cut-out and tag on the sourcream container were cut using the Heart Nestabilities (I purchased mine here). Papers used for the sourcream container came from a pack of K&C Valentine paper pack. Ghiradelli square boxes hold 3 chocolates. Instructions to make those and the sourcream containers can be found at SplitCoasters.



This last beauty is a box pattern I purchased from InkingIdaho. Becky is the very talented lady over there who has taken lots of time to put together detailed instructions with beautiful photos to give you a step-by-step guide in making this type of box. And for just $3.95, it's a great bargain for this pdf template! Cardstock used is SU's real red; patterned papers are from K&C Valentine paper pack; pink ribbon is PaperTrey's new Raspberry Fizz; felt layered flowers on ribbon are die cut using Cuddlebug dies (forgot what it's called but it comes with 4 different sizes in one pack); felt hearts on the post-it pad also cut from felt - those are the same Nestabilities dies used above. Other ribbons you see were from Michael's. Shhh! This will be going to my son's teacher!






On another note, thanks to all who helped us pray for my Dad last week. He did end up in the hospital but he is home now. He got a new and better cardiologist and the other scary medical emergency he got responded well to medication. It's tough being so far away from them and for being the only child left to work through the emotions. However, we are surrounded by many loving aunts and uncles who all helped support and pray for my Dad, even though it was all done via the internet.

I hope I win! and Please help us pray

Ok, this is totally self-serving and posting the following pictures so I can have a chance to win a contest at PaperTrey Ink.

These paper purses and bags are my own creations. If you're dying to get a hold of how I made them, you can leave a comment and I'll send you the instructions.

Here we go!

This first one is my version of the paper hat box. As you can see, it's very small but large enough to put a few chocolate eggs inside!


This suitcase is also a mini-version. What's inside? Look at the next picture - a few "shirt" bookmarks (thanks to Martha Stewart for the idea - I made mine out of patterned papers and used mini brad buttons for the buttons and textured paper for the ties).





My personal favorite - a recycled coffee bag using one of my favorite coffees (Tully's)! The only problem with this is that all my coffee-drinking friends and family now save all their coffee bags for me so I can make more of these little coffee card purses. This bag can hold 4 mini cards and 4 mini envelopes.


Doesn't this remind you of the beach? This one uses lots of PaperTrey sentiments (along with a few SU! stamps - mainly the sand and the shell die cuts are Cuttlebug). The plastic mesh you see on the front of the mini purse is a garlic bulb sack from Trader Joe's (gotta recycle more plastic!). This little beach bag measures about 3" x 4" - yep, I LOVE miniatures! All those cards fit inside the little purse and I also made matching envelopes but didn't get a photo of them.


This last photo are all the different versions I've come up with for that mini 3" x 4" bag. All can hold those mini notecards. Patterned papers you see there are all Amy Butler.


On another note, my Dad has gotten more bad news. I don't think he'd want me to write here what he now has but suffice it to say that it is very serious. He continues to battle MDS and CHF but the latest is the scariest. My son said that he wished Pokemon is real so he can take his Grandpa to the Pokemon center and cure him. Then my 5-yr old said she wished her magic wand is real so she could just wave her wand and her "Boppa" would be better. We believe in the power of prayers so please help us pray for my Dad to get better; and pray for my Mom too to stay healthy as she is single-handedly taking care of him. It's times like these that make me wish that they just lived next door and not 3,000 miles away.