Shopping stuffs - - -

Putting things away in the craft room and one of the recent orders needed to be die cut before putting it away for future use. Whenever I buy a word die set I always die cut it and keep a piece of card stock with these die cut words with the die set. This way in the future I can easily read what words I have dies for. This sample is a word die set I recently bought from ScrapDivaDesigns:

I used a piece of thinner white card stock and pink scrap card stock for the die cuts. I die cut the words (not shadow pieces) and used liquid glue to put the words onto the white card stock. I put this sample piece in with the die set for future use so at a glance I will easily know what words are in this die set:

Also over the weekend I was die cutting a coverplate die for a card front. This is a detailed coverplate so when I cut out those dies I use my older plates on the die cutting machine. Even tho the die and die cut piece come right off these plates sometimes the smaller pieces from these dies will remain on the plate when I remove the die and die cut card stock. The little brush that Sizzix has that  you run over the die to remove small card stock pieces gave me the idea - rather than try to get all the little pieces off these plates any way I could,  I went to Lowe's Home Improvement store and picked up a set of metal brushes for this reason. Here is a photo of the Sizzix die brush and the metal brushes I picked up for the die cutting plates:

                           

With the bristles on the Sizzix brush being softer I did not want to use it on my plates because it could cause damage to that brush. The metal brush does the trick in one pass over the plate and no little card stock pieces are left behind. (Had to buy the 3 pack as it was cheaper than the larger size they had in one in the pack). 

Also -- while I was at Lowe's..... when I entered the store on that aisle by the door were bins with different products for sale. There was a bin that had these white bins with lids for $2.00 each. Here is a photo of the SKU label:

These bins are approx 10" long by 7" wide by 3" deep. They are sturdy and stackable. I recently went to a Restore that I usually don't get to stop at since it is not near me but I was happy to pick up a white countertop shelf unit for $3.00. Brought it home and wiped it down and decided I would put it on the counter where I have my beads/jewelry making supplies. I had my divided boxes for beads and such stacked on the counter but had to move things around whenever I wanted anything since the cases were stacked on each other. Here is a photo of the new to me shelf today:

On the bottom of the shelf are 3 of the Lowe's bins and also a stack of three other bins I will be using on another counter for something else in the craft room. Happy I found these bins and for $2 ea.... Lids will keep things dust free and now I will have to get out the label maker so I can find everything easily when I am working on projects. . .

                                                  

6x6 Paper Projects

For Easter projects I wanted to use more of the 6x6 card stock pads in the stash. For the first treat holder I used a piece of 6x6 card stock and made a sour cream treat holder. There are lots of videos and patterns on YouTube showing how to assemble a sour cream treat holder. If you do not have a crimping tool for the top and bottom of the treat holder you can always use your scoreboard and tool to mimic the lines the crimper makes. 

This next treat holder is for 2x2 Post It Note holders. From one piece of 6x6 card stock you can get three Post It Note holders. Here is a photo of a couple of the holders I made:

For this pattern I had seen this shown on a video by Sandra Ronald on YouTube long ago and since then this is the pattern I use for the 2x2 Post It Note holders. Here is a photo of these holders open to show this pattern gives you enough card stock to make a flap for the front pieces to make them stronger with the Velcro dot closure:

For my 6x6 card stock I used double sided card stock so it has a design on the back side which you can see when you open this holder. Once my holders were cut and scored, I used liquid glue for the two end flaps folded to the inside of the holder where you put the Velcro dot closure. The flaps make the holder sturdy for use.  Here is her pattern:

Cut card stock 2" x 6"

Score this at:

3/4,  1 3/4,  2 1/8,  3 5/8,  4,  5 1/4

Once scored use a bone folder to crease all the lines. Glue the two end flaps to the inside of the holder. Put tear and tape on the back of the 2x2 Post It Note pad at the top where the sheets have their adhesive. I used a corner rounder punch to punch the corners on both end flaps. Remove the paper from the tear and tape and put the paper pad on the holder. Fold on all score lines. Mark the center of the inside front flap with a pencil and put your mini Velcro dot over that. Close the holder with the Velcro dots (top and bottom Velcro dots are already together in the package) in place to have the front and back Velcro pieces line up. With the holder closed I used a large glue dot to add the circle gem on the holder front and I bought those long ago from the Dollar Tree. I used these because they are flat:

For my Post It Notes I used their brand so I knew they would fit my holders. Another great use for the 6x6 paper pads in the stash and very easy to put together. You can save time if you are doing multiples by using a full sheet of the 6x6 paper and score this sheet as one. Once all the scored lines are made then cut it into the 2" strips for your 2" x 6" piece and you will have 3 scored pieces for 3 holders all at once. Very easy holder to put together and something that can get tossed in a purse for notes along the way.....

Easter Treat Bag and stuffs - - -

Took a couple of photos of some of the bags I made for Easter. The first one:

Decorated a white paper gift bag from the stash. Used all printed card stock from the stash. The ruffled white trim at the top I picked up from a recycle craft store. Both "happy" and "Easter" are dies from my stash. Used a large scallop border die for the top piece on the bag. The glittered purple butterfly I made is on a mini clothespin that I covered with floral washi tape. Inside this bag:

The bag on the left is a die set from ScrapDivaDesigns. The bag on the right is the 3D Spring Bag die set from KSCrafts. The purple sour cream treat holder in the center I made using a piece of 6x6 card stock. The little Post It Note holder in blue on the lower right was also made using a piece of the 6x6 card stock. Here is another bag in a different colour theme:

The little peep bunny on the sour cream treat holder is a die from the stash and I just added a pompom to it for the fluffy tail. All the bags I used different papers in different colours so the bags do not match. Fun projects to put together!

3D Spring Bag from KSCrafts

I used the small 3D Spring Bag die set from KSCrafts for this Easter treat holder:

This KSCrafts die set cuts out this bag and it is free standing but the bottom of this bag has a curved piece. To make this bag I went through printed card stock scraps and found a print for the front of the bag but for the back I used a piece of dotted card stock. I cut out the bag from light blue card stock. All the layering die pieces I used printed card stock. Before I assembled this bag I used liquid glue and added all the layering printed pieces to the light blue base while these pieces were flat which is very easy to do:

You need to cut out the base piece twice - one for the front and back of the bag. Now for the bottom - here is a photo to show this piece cut out:

I have other die sets that cut out the bottoms of treat holders and they also have these little die cut tabs... but even with folding the tabs to the front and back of the piece to help break the fibers in the card stock even using a bone folder does not make these tabs even or to lie flat.... so after I folded them to the front and back for this treat holder I folded them to the inside of the die piece - the way they would be attached to the treat holder for the bottom - and I decided to run them through the die cutting machine. I wanted this piece to be totally flat so I used the two plates for my machine that I use for embossing folders only. Ran this bottom die cut piece through the machine and it pressed all the tabs flat and even:

Using liquid glue I attached the bag front/sides to the bag back piece/sides. On the end tabs of this curved bottom piece I used tear and tape and added liquid glue to the tabs on one side of the bottom and put this into the formed treat holder bag piece. Pressed that in place and then added glue to the other tabs and pressed that onto the bag back. Here is a photo of the bottom of one of the bags:

To curve the bottom die cut piece with the tabs before I added it to the front/back pieces I ran it over my fingers curving it so it would bend easier to the shape of the bag:

This is the smaller Spring Bag and it holds a lot of treats for Easter or would hold a small gift easily. Happy to use more of the printed card stock scraps and the new butterfly embellishments clip onto the top of this bag easily.....

Tried Michaels again. . .

The closest Michaels store to me is a smaller store and they do not carry everything I see on videos and blogs from other card makers. Recently crafters have shown new products for paper crafting that Mikes is stocking but I have been to this store twice and they only have a few of the newer items...... then I saw a video on YouTube from "Eve Ara" and she was making butterflies using the Butterfly die set from KSCRAFTS. . . . 

On her butterflies she layered the wings and she used acetate sheets from Creatology, which is a brand at Mikes and this brand has lots of craft kits and supplies for kids. Well, I knew I wanted to pick up some of these acetate sheets but rather than go to the smaller store I decided I would go the largest Mike's in our area and see if I could find these sheets as well as see all the new items I have seen shown on YouTube at Mikes.... I was happy to see that this store had all the new items, supplies, stamps, die sets, embossing folders, tools that Mikes is now carrying in the paper crafting section that I have seen on YouTube videos and other crafters blogs.... I picked up two of their new die sets that I wanted:

Off to the Creatology section of the store -- this store had two full aisles of this brand/products. Walked up and down these aisles twice looking for the acetate sheets.... found nothing..... I saw a clerk walking by and I asked her if they had these sheets and if not could she check another store for me? She looked up the product and said they are on another aisle -- so there they were.... next to clay supplies.... WHY they were there I do not know but certainly happy to find them! I picked up two clear packs - one in pinks/yellows and one in blues/purples and a pack of the darker colours:

When I got home I made up some new butterflies using scrap printed card stocks and these acetate sheets using the ScrapDivaDesign Butterflies die set:

The acetate sheets cut with one pass in the die cutting machine and I assembled the butterflies:

Added paper roses from the stash to finish the butterflies:

And all together:

The acetate layers bring a lot of sparkle/shine to the butterflies - here is a photo of the first butterflies I had made using this die set before I used these new acetate sheets:

Still a pretty butterfly but the acetate brings a whole other layer to these butterflies. Happy to have seen these sheets in use from "Eve Ara" on her butterfly embellishments!

One Buck Bunny Easter Card

Early February I attended the stamp show in Columbia, SC and since I was going to SC anyways I made a stop in Greenville, SC at the ReCraft Creative Reuse Center store where they sell craft supplies that are new or gently used that have been donated to them. This is the store I bought the Distress Oxide ink pads still in sealed packages. Once I picked out the ink pads I looked through the other supplies they sold and I found this Layered Bunny die set from Simon Says Stamp:

This die set was $1.00 and the Simon Says seal was still on the back of the packaging so I do not think it had ever been used. I did look it up online and it sells for $19.99 so paying only a buck for this layered bunny die was a good deal! Used him on my Easter cards:

For this card I cut and scored light blue card stock for the base, scored at the top. Cut a piece of green card stock for the card front. For the white decorated front I cut out the Frantic Stamper die "Star Quilt Card Panel" die. (Frantic Stamper is going out of business but has a lot of her own designs/brands still for sale). With those all cut out I set them aside. 

Cut a piece of plain white card stock to fit behind the Star Quilt Panel. I ink blended light green ink at the bottom of this piece with light blue ink from the green ink up to the top of the panel with it being a little darker blue at the top. Used liquid glue to put the decorated panel onto the ink blended piece. Set it aside to dry.

For the bunny I die cut that out of white card stock and used gray ink to sponge the edges of that. Cut out scrap pink card stock for the ears. I also cut out his base face die piece from a darker gray card stock and that gave me the base for his face which is for his eyes. Used a pink marker for the nose. Assembled him with liquid glue.

The flower die set used for the flowers and greenery is the "Layered Posies" die set from IO Stamps (which is Impression Obsession and they closed their doors late last year). I used scraps for the flowers and the greenery. For the two carrots next to the bunny I used the carrots die set also from IO Stamps and orange card stock and I sponged the edges of the carrots using a dauber and orange ink. The carrot tops are scrap green card stock and I sponged those with a darker green ink. Used liquid glue to put the flowers/carrots together. 

Assembled the card base with layers and then added the flowers with greenery and the carrots on the lower edge of the card. Put the assembled bunny on the card front using foam tape for dimension. I added a few extra flowers on both sides of the bunny. For the greeting "Happy Easter!" I used an old cling stamp set from North Coast Creations "Easter Basket".  (They used to be affiliated with Our Daily Bread which is now Divinity Designs). I stamped it onto scrap white card stock and used a banner die from the stash to cut that out and put it on the card front using foam tape. 

The bunny die is very easy to work with because all the dies in this set are on one piece of metal so one pass through the machine cuts out all the pieces. These dies also emboss the lines for placement of the belly, feet, face, ears and lining things up is very easy. Cute bunny for a buck and glad I was able to put him to use on this Easter card!