No Bake Cake

Hi Everyone!
In addition to reading books and magazines about papercrafting I also follow blogs and visit the web sites of the manufacturer’s of papercraft products. When I come home from the store with a papercrafting product I check the packaging to see if there’s a web site listed on it. If there’s one, I visit the web site to check it out. Sometimes I learn ways to use my new product and often I learn about other products carried by that manufacturer. If the manufacturer has a newsletter I sign up to receive it and then I learn even more ways to use the item I have purchased.
My friend, Janet, told me about the Hero Arts blog which she follows regularly and now I do too. By following their blog I learned about their "cling" stamps, purchased a few of them, and now I am a fan of them.

My friend, Susan, who first turned me onto this papercrafting passion, told me about the Split Coast Stampers. I signed up for their newsletter which now appears in my mailbox once a week. About 2 weeks ago the newsletter was about Tealight Cakes. As soon as I read the newsletter and saw a picture of a tealight cake, I knew I HAD to make one. Well, some 36+ tealights later, I can say I LOVE LOVE LOVE the tealights. I can make and decorate one from start to finish in under 15 minutes! I use scraps of paper to wrap the side and top of each tealight. I use my paper punches to punch out embellishments to decorate the tops of each tealight. I also used pearls and gems to add sparkle to the tops of the cakes.
I think these tealights would be perfect to place on a friend’s desk to wish them a Happy Birthday.

Please post a comment telling all of us about your favorite papercrafting web sites. Have a great day!

Carol

I'm Back!

Hi Everyone!

Well, I did it! I attended my very first craft fair with my cards and other paper crafts. I had such an AWESOME day! People responded very positively to the cards, gift sets, tealights, and card sets that I was selling. Thank you to my sister, Jeanne, for spending the entire day at the fair with me. Thank you to Amy, Angela, Peggy, and Terri for coming to visit me at the fair.

While I was at the Creating Keepsakes Conference a couple of weeks ago, I purchased some stamps from Purple Daisy Designs. They have designed some stamps that work with EK Success paper punches. I used the daisy stamp to stamp the images on these cards and then I used my paper punch to cut them out. Very cool. They do not have a web site. You can order a catalog from them for $6 and it comes with a $5 coupon. I didn’t realize they didn’t have a web site so I am kicking myself for not purchasing a catalog at the conference. If you want to order a catalog from them the address is Purple Daisy Designs 8541 Riverdale Road Green Castle, PA 17225 and their phone number is 717-597-8803.

Some of the leaves on these cards were stamped with stamps from Blooming Button Bits and others are from Turning Over a New Leaf from PaperTrey Ink. I have told you many times that I love the quality of their stamps. The butterflies were punched from a Martha Stewart punch. I only glued down the middle of each butterfly to add dimension to the cards.



My Father’s Day stamps are a set of Clear Stamps from HeroArts. The background paper on my Father's Day cards is from a 12" x 12" block called "The Guy Stack" from DCWV. I looked in all of the local stores for a smaller block of that paper before I checked their web site and learned that the 12" x 12" block is the only size available. I think that sometimes the prints in a 12" x 12" block are too lorge for a card, but happily all of the prints in "The Guy Stack" are card friendly. The apron and the "metal" spatula on this card are die cuts from Sizzix. The grill, food, and tools are stickers

I created a variety of cards using tool stickers and tool buttons. The stamps are from that same Hero Arts set.



The cups on this card were stamped. The donuts are epoxy stickers that I found at Michaels.

I cut out ties from a second sheet of paper and used 3D dots to attach 3 ties to this card.

I just want to add a few thoughts to this blog. When I saw the "cookout" paper in "The Guy Stack" I knew I’d want to place accents on top of it. I looked through my die collection and decided that the apron and the spatula were just what I wanted. I bought those dies a long time ago, but they are still available on the Sizzix web site. Aprons have come back into fashion, but even if they hadn’t I associate aprons with baking Christmas cookies, grilling, chefs, and pizza makers. I’ve used cutouts from the apron die on Christmas cards, Valentine cards, Mother’s and Father’s Day cards. I am trying to say that I have gotten a lot of mileage from that die. When you see a die in a store or on a web site think of
all of the possible ways it can be used. You can even post a comment or question about a die here and maybe I or other readers can give you suggestions on ways to use it and/or will learn about ways that you use your dies.
Random thought Number One...
I was surprised not to find any 3D or epoxy dump truck stickers in any of the local stores. In the Father’s Day clear stamp set from HeroArts there’s a stamp of a small dump truck with a heart in it and a stamp that says "Loads of Love for Dad". I wanted to buy some stickers of dump trucks and add hearts to them, but I never found any dump trucks. Anne, what do you think? Do you find lots of stickers and embellishments that you like for your son?

Talk to you soon! I am planning to start to work on Christmas cards very soon. Yes, I said Christmas cards. I plan to exhibit at fall fairs so I must build up my inventory.

Carol

Got Flowers?

Hi Everyone!
I have been very busy papercrafting. Yesterday I made 12 garden glove gift card holders. I would love to make hundreds of those cards. I think they are adorable! You can slip a gift card in a little pocket that you create between the thumb and the glove. I plan to put a package of seeds in each pocket before I put the cards and envelopes in their clear plastic envelopes.

The pattern for the glove gift cards came from a book called Paper for All Seasons by Sandra Lounsbury Foose. The book appears to be out of print, but I know that I bought mine in the past 6 months so you should be able to find a copy of it. As the title suggests there are projects for every season. I own and love other books by the author too. Many of my quilted cards come from her Paper Quilts book which is still in print. Other cards that I love came from her book, The Card Shop, which is also still in print.

I also made one dozen of the Rounded Wrap-Up boxes from

Papertrey Ink. I put 2 votive candles inside of each box along with a small box of matches. I covered the tops and the bottoms of the boxes of matches with paper that matched each of the Rounded Wrap-Up boxes. I added a flower to the top of each box of matches and to the front of each of the Rounded Wrap-Up boxes. I hung a simple tag that I cut with a Sizzix die from the front of each box. I want to add a flower to each of the tags, but haven’t figured out which ones to use. Oh, wait! Oh, I have the perfect flowers!!! (I will take a picture of them and show you...be right back.

I bought these flowers at the Creating Keepsakes Conference that MaryBeth and I attended last week. I just looked on the bottom of the crate and it says "Flowers and Mini Crate" distributed by Target Corporation. Maybe they have them in the scrapbooking aisle at Target. I haven’t seen them there, but I may have overlooked them. Look at how sweet they look on the little tags!

Okay, must get to work on my First Communion, Graduation, and Father’s Day cards.

Talk to you soon.

Carol

Sunday's Cards

Hi Everyone!
I’ve spent the day putting my new supplies away and creating cards. The materials for this hobby of mine are taking over more and more of my dining room. I still have and love my collection of dishes, but they are taking a backseat to my papercrafting tools and materials.

Yesterday I showed you this Get Well card that I created from the Take It EZ collection from Woodware USA. Last night I made a variation of the same card, but this time I used a Martha Stewart ladybug edger punch to create a ladybug border.

I used another stamp from the same collection to create these Get Well cards. The elephant and the monkey are chipboard animals from

K & Company.

One of the techniques that I saw at the Creating Keepsakes Convention that I really liked was punching a hole in a card and then placing a chipboard embellishment in the hole. You’ll notice that I used that technique on the 2 ladybug "Get Well" cards I created. I also used that same technique on these 2 Mother’s Day cards. I love the look and have lots of embellishments here that I can use. The sunflower buttons are Favorite Findings. I used a stamp from the Blooming Buttons collection from PaperTrey Ink to create the leaves for the sunflowers.

Toni went to a cardmaking class at Ink AboutIt in Westford and learned about the technique of cutting the flower into thirds before it is glued to a card. The rose stamp is from Heartfelt Creations. The "Happy Mother's Day stamp is from the

Lockhart Stamp Company.

The hat on this card is one of my new stamps from Purple Daisy Designs. I purchased several stamps from them at the convention. Many of their stamps were very different from others I have seen.

Well, that’s what I have done so far today. Talk to you soon.

Carol

Organization Ideas Day 2 and More

Hi Everyone!
I have so many things to tell you today. Yesterday MaryBeth and I went to the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Manchester, New Hampshire. It was a last minute decision so we decided to only attend one class and to visit the vendors. Talk about letting 2 kids loose in a candy store! We had a total blast and purchased things that we haven’t seen in the local stores. I have new stamps, new embellishments, a couple of new paper punches, new blank cards, and lots of new ideas!

The class we attended was presented by Kim Hughes of PaperCrafts magazine. She was a terrific presenter. While she explained the activities, she had a great powerpoint on the screen behind her showing us what to do. It was a fast-paced class, and was also a lot of fun. My favorite part of the class was learning how to make a flower using a heart stamp and overlapping it again and again as we stamped.

When I got home last night I just had to make one card before I could go to bed. I decided to try one of my new get well stamps from the Take It EZ

collection from Woodware USA. This company was new to me so I only purchased one package of their clear stamps to try them out. The print quality of their stamps is awesome and I will definitely purchase other stamps from them soon. Their stamp is the one that says, "Heard you caught a little bug!" The dots on the red paper were created from Polka Dot Basics from PaperTrey Ink. I used one of my circle Nestabilities to punch a hole in the card and used a large glue dot to attach a ladybug Favorite Findings to the card.

Okay, need to step back for a while. The other day I wrote about some of the ways I organize my supplies and Pattye asked a question about ribbon. I store my ribbon in more than one way. Many of my full size ribbon rolls are stored on a paper towel rack that just happens to have a shelf on it too. Some of my other full size rolls are stored in a plastic container. My small ribbon rolls are stored in quart size canning jars. The idea for storing leftover pieces of ribbon on a small "dress form" came from a Creating Keepsakes Special Issue magazine called Scrapbooking Tips & Tricks. In addition to leftover pieces, I took some of my ribbon, cut it to the size I usually use on a card, and hung it on the dress form so it is ready to use. You can find these "dress forms" in places like HomeGoods, Marshalls and TJ Maxx.

The other day I told you how I store my wooden stamps, but forgot to mention how I store my clear ones. I store my clear ones in CD cases. Many times when you purchase a package of clear stamps there is a piece of plastic that shows the outline of the stamps in that set. I cut that plastic up and use Scor-Pal tape to attach it to the front and back of a cd case. Then I match the stamps to the outline and store them inside both parts of the cd case.

I have a great collection of brads. When I first started to make cards I saw this idea in a magazine called Organizing Your Scrapbook Supplies by the Making Memories Masters. You just push the brads into a bulletin board. This gives you a place to store your brads and adds color to your workspace. Many magazines show brads being stored in votive holders, on cupcake stands in silicone muffin wrappers, and in silicone ice cube trays. I have a couple of different votive holders that I use in my home for day to day storage. I have used the cupcake stand and ice cube tray ideas in my classes.

The craft fair is one week from today so I may not post as often as I like, but I will take pictures as I create my cards and will post when I can.
Enjoy your weekend!

Carol

Papercrafting Organization Day One

Hi Everyone!

I papercraft in my dining room. I mostly work at an old table that was discarded from one of my classrooms many years ago. I believe that the adage, "Out of sight, out of mind" rings true, so I like to keep my papercrafting supplies visible and organized so that I remember what I have. Stop laughing, Jeanne (and Peggy, Jan, Toni, Pattye, Gayle....) my papercrafting supplies ARE organized. It’s the rest of my stuff that needs a little help.

Most of my paper punches are stored in 2 clear shoe organizers that are hung on either side of my kitchen door. Yes, I said my kitchen door. There isn’t any other place to hang them that is close to my work space. They are visible and they are organized. Like I said that’s how I like my supplies to be.


My other punches are stored in a planter that I bought on clearance at JoAnn’s years ago. Look at the picture of it. It doesn’t take up a huge footprint, but does store the punches quite nicely and there’s even room for more of them! JoAnn’s gets those planters in every year so if you like what you are seeing you should be able to find one.

Yesterday while I was walking around HomeGoods I spotted a teak flatware organizer in the clearance section for only $5. It has 7 sections so it is slightly larger than the average flatware organizer. I knew instantly that it was deep enough to hold some of my stamps. Well, it turns out as you can see that it holds LOTS of my stamps. I am hoping that my sister, Jeanne, will be able to figure out a way to hang it on my wall. Hi, Jeanne! Are you reading this?

I am also hoping that Jeanne will be able to turn this shadow box that is holding other stamps in the landscape direction so I can arrange my stamps in a different way. Only stamps for the current "season" and everyday stamps are displayed. Right now I do not have room for other seasonal ones so they are stored in some plastic drawers. If my plan works and I can find a few more flatware organizers I am going to arrange all of them on the dining room wall with Jeanne’s help, of course, and then I can display all of my stamps. Visible and organized.

My buttons, LOVE my buttons, are sorted by color and are stored in glass canning jars. All of those years of being an early childhood educator paid off. I am great at sorting!!! I know that there are plastic jars sold for papercrafting supplies, but I prefer the look and feel of glass.

My paintbrushes, scissors, rulers, colored pencils, crimpers, paper piercing tools, and corner rounder punches are stored in a variety of ceramic vases and pots that were meant for plants. My thumb is only green after I have been stamping with a green ink pad so I found another use for all of those containers. They are fun and they are functional.

I have other organization ideas to share with you so please stop by tomorrow!
Carol