First one thing and then another . . .

HAPPY ME that in today's mail was my newest tool purchase -- the Stacker by the Scor-Pal company. This new tool is sold out at a lot of online stores but I was able to find mine from Rubber Stamp Tapestry - www.pegstamps.com. This product was released earlier this summer and when I found it for sale I was happy that there were two of them left in stock so I ordered one for me!  Here it is:

The Stacker is a great addition to my craft room and I know it will get quite the work out by me. The Stacker is assembled so it is already put together for use when it arrives. To save on shipping charges this holder arrives empty and it is suggested that you fill the canister with rice, sand, dried beans, or small pebbles for weight so when you are using it it will stay in place. Here is a photo of the top of the Stacker:

You peel off the two blue oval pieces and fill the canister with whatever you want to use for weight. I filled mine with uncooked rice. Once the two sides are filled you put the two blue oval pieces back on the Stacker and it will be all set. The center of this canister has a rectangle space which is for tools, pencils/pen, bone folder, awl or whatever you want to store with your tear and tape for use. 

Here is a photo of the front of the Stacker right out of the box:

I put three of my favorite sizes of Scor-tape and other tear and tapes on my Stacker for later use:

As you can see as you are using your roll of tape you can stick the end of it to the side of the Stacker for easy use for your projects. This Stacker has rubber feet on the bottom of it so it will not be moving all over the work room table while you are working. Here is a photo to show I have my Scotch adhesive resistant scissors in the canister for use with my tear and tape:

I will probably put one of my extra bone folders and an awl in there for use with the tear and tape. This canister can hold any tape rolls that have a 3" core which is tear and tape and also some of the Scotch foam tapes with the larger core. 

I  had read reviews about this new product before I bought mine and I am happy I ordered it on the weekend and it arrived today.  The only thing the box says is to not use liquid to fill it for weight but to use something like sand, rice, dried beans, or small pebbles. This holder is the perfect size for the craft room work table as it does not take up a lot of space. Plus with your tape rolls fitting over the center canister you will not be misplacing your tape under everything on your table while you are working on projects. 

Another good product from the Scor-Pal people and I am happy I was able to buy one for my craft room.  First the Scor-Pal scoreboard, then the smaller version the Scor-Buddy, then their Scor-Tapes, and now the Stacker.  With the holiday projects I am working on my tear and tape will get lots of use and now I can easily store the tapes and also find the tapes on the work table while working !  ;0) Another great product from the Scor-Pal people!

Witch way to use it?

Bought the Witch die from Impression Obsession:

Cute witch but to me I thought it would make a cute scarecrow so that is what I made:

Easy die to put together and whether it is a witch or a scarecrow it is a perfect size for embellishments or on a card front. . . The die has many details like the lines on the hat and the detail of the hair. Plus the buckle piece on the hat slides over the strip of card stock across the front of the hat. For the scarecrow I sponged the edges of all the scrap pieces I used to give him some dimension.

Laundry room DIY

Finally the laundry room is finished and I thought I would quickly post a photo of what we have been working on.... told DH I would buy everything but it had to be on the cheap..... First I wanted a door for the laundry room since it was just a doorway into it.  DH picked up two free pallets and made a door that slides open:

Then I wanted open shelves above the washer for storing the liquid detergent and such:

I had seen other people keep their liquid detergent in a sun tea jar so it is easy to dispense as well as much better looking than a plastic jug of detergent.....  The "Wash/Dry/Fold" sign was on sale at Hobby Lobby. The small plants on the bottom shelf are from Ikea and everything else was from a thrift store or a garage sale that I already had on hand. The shelves are cheap pine that DH picked up at Lowes when he picked up all the hardware for the shelves.  Happy this project is finished and it is certainly nicer to do laundry in a finished room!  TFL

Treat Bag Fall Topper

Had seen a video by "PaintsandGlitter" featuring her fall embellishments on YouTube and that prompted my latest project. I had a few of the die sets she used but not the Marianne Designs Raccoon die set. I was able to find a new die set of this on Etsy and it arrived this week:

For my fall embellishments I decided I would use them for a treat bag topper for Thanksgiving. Here is a photo of some of my bag toppers flat:

and the bag toppers standing up:

For my bag toppers I used #110 weight kraft card stock from Mikes. I die cut out all the toppers I would need before I began the raccoon pieces. Here is a photo of that die:

I used all scraps to die cut the raccoons and I put them all together using liquid glue. Set those aside to dry. I used the Rosette die from Sizzix for my rosettes and I used various fall printed card stocks from the stash for those. Some of my papers are lighter weight than others so for each of my rosettes I used a 2 1/2" circle punch and punched out solid circles for the rosette base to give them some weight. .

For the "autumn" banner I used the Brenda Walton die from Sizzix and I die cut out a solid card stock banner and then a white or cream banner to put the "autumn" die cut on - again used liquid glue for that. For the "autumn" words I used various glittered card stocks from the stash. Here is a photo of the die set I used for the banner:

For the "autumn" word I used a Karen Burniston die set from my stash:

I used hot glue to put the rosette on the solid circle base. I used either gold or sliver metallic thread for each rosette and added that with the hot glue in the center. Put the raccoon over the thread in the center of the rosette and then added the word banner to each one. Here is a closer photo of some of the bag toppers to show the raccoons as well as the metallic thread on the rosette:

For the flower on her head I used a small flower punch and scrap card stocks. Added gems from the stash to each one. This raccoon rosette fits perfectly on the bag topper for the treat bags. Happy I saw her video and thanks to Raquel for sharing her embellishments for inspiration. The raccoon is super cute and am sure I will be using the die again for other projects. . . 

BOO Blocks and Bits

Supposed to be cleaning up the craft room from working on all the BOO Day (Halloween) projects I have been working on . . . .   While putting things away I came across a basket of unused wooden blocks from Stampin Up that I had not mounted my stamps on.  Long ago had seen many crafters use their unwanted wooden blocks for holiday decor projects and of course this turned into a "some day" project on my list. . .  until now.  Here is a photo of my BOO Blocks I made using my unused wood blocks:

With all the projects I had worked on for Halloween I had a bunch of die cuts and punched pieces in a bag waiting to be used. I took the bag to the craft table and pulled out items I wanted to use on my blocks. To start the project I die cut out all the glittered letters. I put each glittered letter on top of two regular card stock letters that I glued together to give my glittered letters dimension on the blocks. With the letters done I pulled out blocks that the letters would fit on. I measured each block and cut out scraps of printed card for each block - here is a photo to show my original die cut letters and the prints:

I painted all my blocks using acrylic paints I had in the stash - I used five colours and I used the black paint twice for the letter blocks. I also pulled out smaller blocks to put my jack o lantern pumpkins on and I painted those blocks as well. I set these all aside to dry. With the blocks drying I went back to the card stock prints I had trimmed for each block. I had sponged the edges of these prints after I cut them out but I decided to use the distressing tool on the edges to give them a rougher look.

I laid out the prints on the work table and decided what bits and pieces I would use from the scraps bag for the blocks - this is when I had to decide if I would use a "theme" for decorating all the blocks or if I would just decorate all the blocks separately and then put them together. Looking at all the scraps I had in the bag I decided to just do each block as it's own and then put them all together as they were. Once I had started to decorate my blocks I made the decision having all the glittered letters being black would not work so for two blocks I die cut new letters using glittered orange card stock and one letter from the glittered silver card stock. I die cut those and put the layers of the letters together and set them aside to dry.

I put the printed card stocks onto the wooden blocks using matte finish Mod Podge. For three of the blocks I added a small piece of washi tape and I also used the Mod Podge over the washi tapes:

As for the little blocks with the jack o lantern pumpkins they are not attached to the larger blocks so you could put them on top of the letter blocks or between the blocks:

I used crystals from the stash and added them to the blocks for some sparkle and shine. The mini ghosts on some of the blocks are from a single die from Impression Obsession. I did use a star punch to punch out glittered stars from scrap card stock to add to the blocks. Also I wanted a small pumpkin for the "O" and the "Y" block so I used a small oval punch for those. Punched out three ovals and sponged the edges and put them together and added a stem. This smaller pumpkin fit perfectly on the letters on the blocks.

Easy project to put together for BOO Day. Nice using things I already had on hand and did not need to go to a craft store and buy. Glad to put to use the new wooden blocks from the basket as well as card stock printed scraps and the left over pieces from Halloween projects.

Scarecrow Embellishments

Had seen a video on YouTube awhile back featuring a scarecrow die and had to order the die set to make this him since he is so cute:

http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_dUlGi7A

I believe it was on a video by Craft Eccentricity about a month ago. She had used this die for a card with "thankful" below him.

AliExpress dies do not come with packaging showing what the die will look like once it is cut out and put together so when I get an Ali die I always cut it out right away so I can see what I am looking at. I keep this sample with the die set for future use. When I first got this die set I put the scarecrow together using scraps:

Here is a photo of this 11 piece die set:

I had not ordered anything off AliExpress in almost a year and I remembered that it usually took 3 weeks or so until the item would arrive. With everything going on now I thought it could be closer to 5-6 weeks but I am happy to say it was just over three weeks before I received this little guy. . . Face pieces - nose, cheeks, and eyes are easy to place because as the face die cuts out the face piece it also embosses it so you have perfect placement for them. Here is a photo of a die cut face piece to show this:

And of course not leaving well enough alone... I made a second scarecrow and this time I sponged the edges of the scarecrow face and the scalloped piece I added under his chin:

For that scalloped piece I used an EK Success 1 /34" scalloped square punch to make the scalloped piece under his chin. I punched out the square and used scissors to cut it to the size I wanted to use and I sponged the edges of that and then adhered it to the scarecrow piece. Here is a photo of the scallop piece after it was cut apart:

Used a circle punch for his scarf. For the center of the sunflower I used flocked card stock - I think it adds dimension to the flower. . . And of course not leaving well enough alone:

For this third scarecrow I sponged the edges of the hat, the face, the scalloped piece and for that scallop I used a smaller scallop punch. I also sponged the cheek circles as well as the nose and the sunflowers.. For all my scarecrows I used black crystals for the eyes - those small black crystals were from AC Moore before they closed. . I like the last option with everything being sponged. I also used scraps for all the scarecrows and that is always a good thing -- less scraps in the craft room!!! Easy project to put together and another good use for scraps - both solid and printed card stocks. He will make a fun embellishment for Fall projects!

Could you ever need an extra hand? ? ?

Recently came across this liquid glue stand that I had not seen before and after checking into what it was and how it worked I decided to buy a set for me and one for my PIC (stamping Partner In Crime).  I bought ours off Amazon:

www.amazon.com/STANDIY-Liquid-Glue-Stand-Replacement/dp/B088KJ6YBR/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Standiy&qid=1595693628&sr=8-1

This is a photo of the packaging:

This is sold in a set of two and although I do not scrapbook or go to crops/classes I was happy to have the two. I can keep one on hand for later use if need be. But I knew my PIC would be able to take it to the scrapbooking crops/classes she attends and have one for use in her craft room.  DH had made me a glue/Glossy Accents wooden block with circles drilled out so I can stand the glues/Glossy Accents upside down so they are always ready for use. But that holder is not large enough for the larger (more economical) bottles of glues so this holder is perfect for the smaller AND larger bottles. Here is a full bottle of Scotch glue I recently bought in this holder and even being larger and full the weight of this does not smash down the holder nor does it fall out. (In my photo I have the glue cap on this - just showing the size of this glue bottle and that it does not smash the holder in anyway:

and this is the back of the packaging:

I have already dropped these off for my PIC to use - I tried mine out and it does work! Sometimes when crafting it is nice to just grab a bottle of glue and use it without having to take the cap off every time. . . Plus it will help to keep your glues from drying out if you should forget to put the lid back on it.  Easy to put together too! Smart new tool in the craft room and am sure I will get lots of use from it!

Rest of the BOO Tags

Finished up the rest of the Beware BOO Tags and thought I would share the photos:

A few years back I was in a Walgreens store when the clerk was replacing the shelf strips in the candy aisle - this was at Halloween time so I asked her what they did with the strips she was removing? She told me they throw them away as each holiday/season they get in different patterns. I asked her if I could have them and she gave me a huge amount -- large enough that I was able to share them with my PIC (stamping Partner In Crime).  With my Halloween projects every year I try to use some of these free shelf strips for some of my projects. This year I used them on these Beware BOO Tags:

On the left tag I used the shelf strip for my rosette using the Sizzix Rosettes die. For the tag on the right I used it for the top banner piece under the green rosette. Perfect spider web print for Halloween for sure.  These tags helped to use up a lot of the holiday prints I had in the stash so that is always a good thing. Moving onto Christmas projects this week I hope.... Time will tell....

Beware BOO Tags

Awhile back I had seen a Halloween project on the internet but could not find a posting for it to tell me what products were used. Although the project was cute I only wanted the skull and crossbones product used to use for my BOO day (Halloween) tags.  Decided I would search the internet and see where I could find this product....  Long time later I gave up on it being a die... so this product was now on the "hope to find someday" product list . . .  until . . .

Had seen a video on YouTube a few weeks back and a gal had made Halloween embellishments and at the end of her video she showed embellishments she had made featuring the skull and crossbones I had been searching for -- as she explained the project she said she had used the EK Success punch for her skull and crossbones and it was an older punch from her stash. . . Punch? I had not thought of that as I did not realize this is an older product. Off to Ebay to search for it. . .  Came up with nothing and I thought maybe I would try Etsy.com as in the past I have been able to find older products on that for sale.  Happy me to find this punch for sale and it arrived yesterday!! Here is a photo of this punch:

This is a thicker punch and I wanted to try it on three different card stocks to see how well it would work. In this photo I punched out a black glittered card stock, #110 weight black card stock from Mikes, as well as a black foil card stock. The punch punched them all out with no problems. That is a drawback from buying a used punch in that you really will not know how well it punches out the shape until you try it for yourself. The seller had wrapped the punch very well and used bubble wrap and the punch arrived in mint condition:

When I bought this punch I had already decided I would use it to make tags for my BOO Bags I am making for Halloween for my treat holders. Here are two tags I just made using this new to me punch:

Now to another problem -- I wanted to have these tags be larger than my normal tag dies and I have a set of these larger tag dies from My Creative Time.  But that die set cuts wonky stitches on the tag piece and I did not want that. To get my tags I laid the largest die in that die set on top of the #110 weight black card stock from Mikes and I used scissors to cut this out. I cut out two for my tags.

For the printed card stocks on my tags I used all scraps in the Halloween printed card stock bin so that I would not be cutting up anymore full sheets of card stock. The printed scrap sizes dictated how long the flags/banners I would have on the tags. First I used the larger scraps and cut a piece longer than the tag but a bit narrower for the front of my tags.  I used the ATG and put this onto the tag. I turned it over and I used scissors to trim off the tag corners and top. Punched a hole for the tag top.  This way my whole tag is covered with the printed card stock from the top to the bottom of the tag.. Set those aside.

I used the Hobby Lobby three banners punch and punched out a 2" wide and a 1 1/2" wide banner piece. A longer one and then a shorter one for each tag. I used the ATG and put the smaller banner on top of the larger banner piece. I put this onto the tag front, again using the ATG, and turned the tag over and trimmed off the top and the corners so the prints would match the tag shape. Used a small circle punch and punched the tag hole in the prints.  Stamped my greeting "Happy Halloween" on scrap white/GP card stock using Close To My Heart black ink. I trimmed this piece to the size I wanted and used a small banner punch for the ends. Then I sponged the edges of the greeting banner with black ink and put them onto solid card stock scraps.

For the skull pieces - I used black glittered card stock for one skull and a glittered silver card stock for the other. I also punched skulls out of scrap #110 weight black card stock. I used TomBow glue to put the black card stock skull behind the glittered skulls. This gives the skull more stiffness and shape. I used various printed card stocks and the Sizzix Rosette die set and die cut two different rosettes. I put those together using hot glue. Put the skull in the center of the rosette and set them aside.

Using Glossy Accents I added a glittered card stock bow to each skull. The bow punch is older and I had gotten that at Hobby Lobby.  I added a crystal from the stash to each bow:

Using hot glue I put the skulls on the rosettes and then put the rosettes onto the banner pieces on the tags. Used foam tape to put the greeting pieces on the tags.

For the twine on the tag I used black and white twine from my stash. Put it through the hole at the top of the tag. To keep it in place I used hot glue to add my black and white gingham bows that I had made using my Bow It All tool. With the bows on I added crystals from the stash to the tag fronts randomly. Here is a closed photo to show the bow is over the twine at the tag top:

Using hot glue to add the bow to the tag top will also keep the twine from being able to fall off the tag and the glue will also keep the loop I made putting the twine on the tag in place. Happy I was able to find this punch after my long search ... now I am down to searching for one die from long ago -- Sizzix 658979 which is a Decorative Frame die - it is a movers and shapers die from long ago but hoping to find it on Ebay or maybe a used stampers sale next time someone in the area has one.

Glad to be able to use so many of the printed card stock scrap pieces for the tags. Have cut out more pieces for more of these tags I am making and the scraps make each tag look different so that will be nice that everything does not match. Easy project to put together as well! Thinking by the end of the weekend that punch will get a good workout --- haha.  Happy I finally found it to add to the craft room stash. . .

Sometimes -- who knew? ? ?

Have looked at my Hobby Lobby in the past for the faux leather ribbon spools but until last week I could not find any.  Ribbon spools were 50% off last week so I stopped in my Hobby Lobby and was happy to see they had a variety of theses spools.  I picked up three different spools for some future projects. First I bought one of the rolls of the glitter faux leather:

On that I used a steel ruled multi butterfly die to cut it out:

The steel ruled die cut right through this thicker ribbon with ease. This next photo is of a second ribbon spool and I want to use this for a Christmas project:

This red and black check faux leather has a more vinyl finish and once cut out using a steel ruled bow die it almost seemed "floppy" due to weight.  Decided the bow steel ruled die was too large for the project I would use it on so I decided to use a thin die and see if that would cut this ribbon. This is a photo to show the back of this checked ribbon showing it is woven:

I thought with the woven back that maybe I would have more success if I cut this with the die pieces on the back rather than the front of the ribbon. I used the medium bow die from Pink & Main:

I ran the die through the machine front to back and using one piece of a card shim. The Pink & Main die cut through the woven ribbon with no problems! Happy surprise for me -- here is a photo of the larger bow and the smaller Pink & Main bow together:

Using the smaller bow die the smaller bow holds it's shape well and it is the perfect size for my next Christmas project. Happy the thinner metal dies can cut through this woven ribbon. These spools are sold in a 24" x 8" size - less than a yard - but with the smaller dies I will be able to cut out a lot of ribbons using the smaller die set. Wished the check pattern was a bit smaller but happy the smaller die was able to cut through it for my bow!

Glittered Butterflies

Finally found the faux leather ribbon at Hobby Lobby I have seen other crafters use on their projects on YouTube and some blogs. Hobby Lobby only had one of these that was glittered so I picked it up for a project I wanted to make. Happy me all ribbon spools were 50% off on sale.  Here is a photo of the label:

I used a Sizzix steel ruled butterflies die that cuts a larger butterfly and a smaller butterfly. Here is a photo to show the front and back of this glittered faux leather ribbon:

Here are three of the butterflies I cut out:

The ribbon has a fabric texture to it so it is not stiff like a card stock would be. I cut the smaller butterfly out of this glittered ribbon and for the larger butterfly I used a stiff silver glittered card stock from Mikes. I used Glossy Accents to attach the smaller butterfly on top of the larger silver butterfly. I cut out the body piece from the sliver card stock and attached that also with Glossy Accents. I added clear crystals from the stash to that. Here is a better photo of one of the butterflies:

This is a good sized butterfly and it will work well on a large paperclip or on a clothespin as an embellishment. The camera did not capture all the sparkle and shine of the sparkled ribbon or sparkled card stock. These are very shiny and sparkly IRL.

As with any glittered card stock and a steel rule die the die was covered in glitter when I finished all the die cutting:

To remove this glitter I used a lint roller and ran that over the die a couple of times and now it is ready for the next project:

Hoping my Hobby Lobby will get this faux leather ribbon in other colours with the holiday season ahead. Lots of projects to use this faux leather for besides just for bows.