Back to my Handmade Custom Christmas Cards

Back in September I was telling you about an idea that I had for my Christmas cards this year.  Well my idea in my head sounded great, but I just couldn’t get it right on paper. So now I am really behind in my card making, but not too worry. I just finished a sample of this year’s card. It is a fun card, with a lot of color and layers. I will share my card with you in December only because if my family & friends read this blog, they will see the card that they will be receiving in the mail.  And if you like my Christmas card, you can start making them for your cards next year.

Now it’s time to talk about Cricut.

If you never heard of a Cricut, you will start hearing a lot about it from me.

I have had this personal cutting machine for a year already but am just seeing how much you can really do with it. It’s too cool.

This machine is amazing. It is great for all of those Scrapbookers out there as well as Greeting Card Makers.

After you cut an image (from whatever color paper you want it to be), you can embellish it any way YOU want, not how the craft store and manufacturers sell it to you.

So when I am done with my Christmas Cards, I will share with you all of the new creations that I will be making with my Cricut.

Make it a Great Day and don’t forget to leave time to Craft!

Rubber Stamping and Watercolor Paints

The buzz in the stamping world is Watercolors.  That’s right good old watercolor paints.There are sooo many cool ways to use watercolors with your rubber stamps.  Just remember to use waterproof/permanent ink like StazOn or if you don’t have that make sure that you emboss the ink that you have so that it doesn’t bleed all through your image when you are coloring with your watercolors.  Also watercolors work best with watercolor paper.  This paper holds its shape when wet and will not get all lumpy and bumpy.  Try to find a smooth watercolor paper, just because your stamp image will look better.

If you are going to make a greeting card, a great idea would be to stamp your image on a piece of watercolor paper, and also paint on that piece of paper, but when you are finished, cut it out and layer it onto the cover of your card.  This look will be so professional and if you put a border around it your image it will look like a beautiful framed painting.

I can’t believe how many different types of watercolors are on the market now days.  We have the good old fashion kind, the dry “circles” in a long case that you just put a wet brush on to get the color, or there some that are in tubes and are wet already you just brush them on, some come in jars, pencils, and even crayons.

Watercolors are the easiest way to create shading, just by blending more ink and less water or visa versa. If you have too much water on your paper all you need to do is blot the excess with a paper towel.

Have a Great Day and don’t forget to leave time to Craft!

Rubber Stamping Embossing

Scrapbookers in their effort to embellish their craft are turning to rubber stamping embossing as a great tool. And, on the other side of things, more and more stampers are taking up scrapbooking as an additional hobby. Most hobbies have several things in common, don’t they? Have you ever visited a stamping store? If yes, you would be amazed by the choices and possibilities. We will now look at some of the tips on what to buy (craft supplies) to make beginning with this wonderful hobby as much fun as possible. Some of the items you will need are going to be free, because you have them laying around the house. Some of the other product you are going to have to purchase.

Rubber Stamping and Embossing, Items You Will Need

The most essential tools required for these crafts are a good paper cutter or trimmer, a good pair of scissors and a good supply of card stock. Decorative scissors too can be a very useful tool, particularly when you are looking at greeting cards or similar stamped projects. The circle and oval cutters seem to be on their way out at least from this segment of the business. Templates and the X-acto knife are the preferred replacement for these cutters now. Similarly a paper crimper is something that you may not need because most of the card stock is sold as “pre-crimper”. Another useful tool can be make up sponges to help you apply dye-based ink on to an image for a soft look. A hammer will come in handy for working with eyelets , while a variety of pliers will be useful for working with wire. To store your tools and afford easy portability, you can think of a tool box too. A mouse pad or a desktop blotter under your card stock before stamping will provide the necessary cushion for you to stamp against.

Then you will need a top quality permanent dye-based inkpad in black. The pads should allow you to color in with markers, should be fast drying and versatile. A reinker to keep your pad juicy at all times will be a top necessity. A reinker will also help you to prolong the life of your pad. If you are careful not to allow your pad to get dry, it will remain juicy and juicy pads tend to last longer.

Don’t forget your heat gun

A heat gun and a variety of rubber stamping embossing powders are the next items in the list. To melt your embossing powders you will need the heat gun. The embossed stamps provide the raised finish and an archival quality. A clear embossing powder can be preferred over most pigment inks. When using metallic inks, using a metallic colored embossing powder will be advantageous. If clear embossing powder is used over metallic inks, the sparkle will be lost. Detail embossing powder will be handy for use in very detailed stamps, particularly because they melt to a finer line.

When you are doing embossing in your scrapbook, remember to always emboss your layouts before you attach your pictures to either side of your page. Your photographs can be damaged since the temperature of the heat gun is very high. The ideal way will be to emboss and then allow the page to cool before you put your pictures in.

When it is all said and done

In conclusion, don’t throw away scraps of paper. Stampers can find great value from the scraps of paper which can be converted into many designs. Your mistakes today can be the making of your greatest blessing tomorrow. A piece of work which you did not like today could pop up as excellent piece in a different setting tomorrow. Dare to experiment, don’t be intimidated by fancy projects and know that simple tamped cards and projects can be equally lovely. Rubber stamping embossing can give your project that extra flair that you always look for.

Have a Great Day and don’t forget to leave time to Craft!

Other ways that people will search for information on rubber stamping embossing are:
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Back to the top: Rubber Stamping Embossing

ORGANIZING YOUR CRAFT SUPPLIES – Part 3 of 3

Continued From Yesterday:

** Don’t Over Buy – Use what you have. Try to resist the urge to buy new papers, punches and embellishments until you’ve used the craft supplies you have. I know this is really hard to do. I can open up a store with all the papers and embellishments that I have. Take a look at your inventory before you go shopping, this will save your wallet of unnecessary items and you might just find something you forgot you had. How cool is that it’s like going shopping in your own craft room.

** Shop Online. You’ll save a lot of time running back and forth to your local craft store if you decide to shop online  for your craft supplies. Everything you need can be shipped right to your doorstep and sometimes you save money on the product and also the sales tax. Come on people we all like to save money so we can buy more.

** What to do with things you just don’t use anymore. If you have something you haven’t used in a year or more, such as craft scissors or stickers, paper, donate them to a local church or daycare facility. Some times even senior centers are looking for crafty items. This is a good way to give back to your community.

** Multitask. Looking for a few minutes here or there to catch up on your Scrapbooking or Card making? Take and make phone calls in the same room that you designated for your Craft Room for Scrapbooking or Card making. Then, while you’re on the phone with your friends or family, you can crop, frame or mount at the same time. Or, instead of making punches when you need them, make a bunch of punches at once while you’re watching television, or are on the telephone, or when you’re waiting for a pot of water to boil because where I live that takes awhile. This will save time later because your punches will be ready when you need them.

** Clean up scraps. Always keep a wastebasket near your workstation, all the scraps that you’re not planning on using can be tossed immediately. Don’t leave trash on your work surface.

** Put it away. Always have a place for your supplies, and when you’re finished using them, take a few moments to put everything away. You should be able to start fresh with a clear mind and a clear surface. Plus I am a clean freak.

** Spare time. Those spare minutes that we all have can be put to good use. Have to wait at the doctor’s office for your appointment? Sketch out a quick layout idea. Waiting for the wash cycle to finish? Sort some photos or gather supplies for tomorrow’s Scrapbooking or Card making project.

** Write it down. I am known as the list person, everyone always busts me about it, but I rarely forget anything. So don’t ever leave your home without a small notebook in hand. You’re bound to come up with a thought or cute caption for your scrapbook. Inspiration is everywhere, but if you don’t write down your ideas, they may disappear forever. You may also want to keep a small pad and a pen near your bedside, in case you have a bright idea in the middle of the night. It is amazing what your brain can think of in the weee hours of the morning.

Have a Great Day and don’t forget to leave time to Craft!

Organize Craft Supplies Part 1

Organize Scrapbooking Room Part 2

ORGANIZING YOUR CRAFT SUPPLIES – Part 2 of 3

Continued From Yesterday:

** Storage Containers. Do a little bit of research and purchase a Scrapbooking and/or Rubber Stamp organizer, which will hold papers, rubber stamps, supplies, etc. There are many products on the market that can help you keep it all together. Many office supply stores carry six-drawer organization stations. They’re vertical and have 6 see-through drawers of equal size. Each drawer can be designated for a different purpose -papers, templates/die-cuts, stickers, etc. Plus, they have wheels, which make them very easy to transport from one room to another. Or, if you often bring your Scrapbooking or Rubber Stamping supplies outside of your home when attending a crop party or to a friend’s house, use a portable system that isn’t too heavy and comes with a handle and wheels for easy transport. Again my favorite is Crop-In-Style Navigator. It holds everything that you need for a night out or weekend scrapping event. If you are a Stamper, Crop-In-Style also has a tote that has drawers inside to hold your rubber stamps and supplies called the Stamp Store that works really well.

** Try a kitchen gadget caddy. If you always Scrapbook and make Handmade Greeting Cards at home, use a kitchen utensil caddy with a number of divided compartments, like those you normally keep tall kitchen spoons, ladles, and spatulas in. They hold your markers and embossing powders in them perfectly. The ones that spin will you’re your most used supplies at your fingertips.

** Hang it up. If you’re lucky enough to have a Craft Room specifically for you Scrapbooking and/or making Handmade Greeting Card, hang a large pegboard above your work area. You can then attach scissors, templates, crimpers, rulers, stencils and more, all within easy sight and reach. In addition, you might hang a small ledge or shelf nearby, to store all of your corner punches, paper trimmers, embossing powders, and so on. If you prefer everything out in the open, this system will work like a charm. Check out the new Rack system by Lisa & Becky.

** Save stickers and shapes. Stickers and punched shapes can be kept in acid-free sheet protectors, plastic baseball card sheets, business card sheets. Each sheet should be categorized and labeled by theme: birthday, Christmas, Halloween, wedding, springtime, etc. Insert these sheets into a 3-ring binder. If you have a large number of stickers and shapes, you may want to purchase a sticker binder designed just for stickers. My favorite is from Crop-In-Style sticker binder.

** Minimize and organize magazines. Are your bookcase/shelves full of Scrapbooking magazines and or Handmade Greeting Card magazines? You can go through your magazines, find the articles you wish to keep and organize them into file folders by category, or in a 3-ring binder. In other words, keep the articles, toss the magazines. There are many Special Edition Magazines that I store in a large 3 ring binder all in tact.

** Choose a designated work area. Scrapbooking is more fun and less of a chore when everything is in one place. If possible designate a room, or a portion of a room, in your home for this activity .Organize your work area for increased productivity. Make sure it’s well lit. Find a comfortable chair to sit on and keep your supplies and tools within arm’s reach.

Organizing your craft supplies Part 1

Organize Scrapbooking Room Part 3

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