Tool Share

 Had recently seen this video by Kathya K on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsmaGJFu8Y0

Normally when I use the Nuvo paste or textured paste I use a plastic knife spatula but the plastic can be rigid so it can pull the paste off the card stock so you will not have an even application. Kathya shared in her video that she uses a silicone mask applicator from the Dollar Tree that she cuts and uses for her pastes on her projects. 

I shopped my local Dollar Tree for this silicone applicator but they did not have any in stock. Yesterday when I went to Winston-Salem I stopped at a local Dollar Tree and I was able to buy a couple of these applicators. This is what this looks like:

I took them out of the packaging to show what the applicator looks like when it is sold on the left and after I cut mine as Kathya suggests on the right:

With is applicator being silicone the paste/paint or whatever you are applying can even dry overnight if you should forget to clean it off and all you have to do is peel off the medium you were using with no damage to the silicone. This will certainly make applying texture paste easier and more even on a projects. Thanks to Kathya for sharing her tips - for $1 this "tool" will get lots of use in this craft room!

Weekend of Hauls

 

Saturday was the Paper Crafters Yard Sale that is held yearly in the parking lot of the Enchanted Cottage store in Lewisville, NC.  Stampers set up in the parking lot behind the store and each stamper sells their new or gently used items at their own tables and they can price their items as they like.  I have gone to this sale for a few years now and always seem to find something I did not know I needed -- haha.

Here is a photo of part of the sale set up - the parking is curved and there were more tables past the blue canopies:

There were sellers on both sides of the parking lot with plenty of room to spread out. At every table there were lots of Stampin Up products for sale - trimmers, punch boards, stamp sets, ink pads with re-inkers, and dies. I do not want anymore SU products so I did not look at any of the SU items for sale except for one die set a woman was selling in a box of her dies for sale:

This set was $10 and that is the most I paid for anything I bought yesterday. I also bought 4 of these Close To My Heart boxes that were $5 each and they sell for $16.95 new:

I also bought various items:

The DSS came along with us and she found some items for her crafting as well. So a successful sale for the two of us. After we left there we went to Winston-Salem and stopped at Hobby Lobby. I picked up this die set using the 40% coupon they offer:

I had not seen this die set at my local Hobby Lobby so I bought one. This Hobby Lobby has all their holiday dies out - Momenta, Sizzix, and Spellbinders so a lot of new things for us paper crafters. After Hobby Lobby we stopped at a Tuesday Morning and I picked up a Fall pack from Authentique and two Pilgrim dies:

I do not shop the two Tuesday Morning stores near me as they never have anything in their craft sections that I see on haul videos on YouTube so I was happy I found the Authentique paper pack for Thanksgiving projects. 

We stopped at Marios and had our lunch - this week was her birthday and DSS wanted to eat there so we did that and then headed home. Once we were home we had cake and did her gifts/cards so it was a fun day. 

Also online hauls arrived this week --- first is two small hauls I had ordered:

When I made the raccoon rosettes a few weeks back I was using the rest of the glue in my TomBow glue bottle - it would have made things easier for me if I could have had the glue bottle inverted while I was working so I decided to buy a table top holder for the glue bottles. This is a nice holder and it does not fall over and when the work table is covered with everything it is easy to find!   The coloured clips on the right in this photo are clips you put on the handles of the black blending brushes so you know what colours of ink you have used that brush for - these clips will come in handy when I do not have time to clean all my brushes after every use. 

Earlier this week Spellbinders had their Warehouse Sale - many of the dies/embossing folders/ribbons and other sale items were $1 each and higher. I believe one die set I paid $10 for and the rest were $3, $4, and $5 per set. I ordered 17 items and before their $5 flat shipping fee I paid $58 for this order:

Not everything made it into the photos but I bought hot foil plates for the Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil machine I recently bought as well. This was a very good warehouse sale with great prices and too good to pass up - the flat rate shipping was a plus as well.  Lots of new and new-to-me items to be put to use this in this craft room so I should be busy for awhile! ;0)

Fall Greetings Cards

 

Made some Fall cards using a fall stencil from SimonSaysStamp, Autumn Splendor. Some cards I used a rust card stock base and others I used a darker green base:

Cut and scored the card stock base at the top. Set those aside. For the stenciled front of the cards I used white/GP card stock and that was 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. I used various fall coloured distressed inks over the stencil using makeup brushes. Once the stenciled pieces were done I used a stitched rectangle die from my stash and die cut the stenciled piece. Cut a white/GP piece to put behind the stenciled piece. 

For the "fall" piece I used a solid card stock for the fall shadow die to match the card stock bases. For the gold "fall" die cut pieces I used foiled card stock sold in sheets at the dollar store. I used glue to put the gold fall over the shadow die cut piece. This shadow fall die set is from HoneyBeeStamps as is the "greetings" stamp for the strip below the fall pieces. Easy card to put together once all the stenciling and die cutting were done. As with any stenciled piece all the images look different - it depends on how dark I put the inks on as well as where on the stenciled piece I placed the rectangle die to cut it out. This is a nice leaves stencil that will get lots of future use in this craft room I am sure. TFL

Fall Pumpkin DIY

Had seen a video showing a DIY project using Dollar Tree pumpkins as the pumpkin bases. I had seen the video last year at the end of the Fall season and just put the project on the "list" for making these at a later date for this year --  the video is on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbWLA-X5SI0

Tracy shares a lot of tips and tricks and shows her bows/ribbons, how to mount the pumpkins so they have a layered dimensional look for your decor project.  I had seen other videos for these Dollar Tree pumpkins and a lot of crafters use the blank sides of the pumpkins for their pumpkin fronts. But if I did that then on the back of my pumpkins you would see all different patterns of the pumpkin fronts and I did not want that to show.  Here is a photo of the pumpkins I used for my project and you can see I had lightly sanded my pumpkin fronts to help remove the glitter or paint the pumpkins are covered in so that my finishes would adhere to the actual pumpkin fronts:

With my pumpkin fronts all sanded I covered each pumpkin with matte finish ModPodge. Once that was dried I took autumn printed card stocks from my stash and traced the pumpkins onto the card stocks and cut them out with scissors. Used the ModPodge again to put the printed card stock on the pumpkin fronts. Set those aside to dry.  I wanted my pumpkin groupings to be on a "stand" so I picked up these two Autumn signs at the Dollar Tree and a small wooden piece game from the toy section for my stands:

I used a small acrylic brown paint from Hobby Lobby and painted my two Autumn signs and two of the wooden game pieces so they would match. With the pumpkin fronts dried I used Slick Puffy Paint by Tulip in brown to add lines to the pumpkin fronts. Set that aside to dry. Used pipe cleaners from the stash and wrapped them around a pencil to make them into a coil shape. Used leaves from the Dollar Tree and hot glued those to the pumpkin tops by the stems. Added the pipe cleaners on top of the leaves and set these aside. Using all different ribbons from the stash, Dollar Tree, and Hobby Lobby I made the bows as Tracy shows in her video. Used hot glue and put the bows on the pumpkins at the base of the stems.

Used hot glue and put the pumpkin wooden piece base from one of the pumpkins onto my painted Autumn stand for the pumpkins. Added hot glue to the channel of the wooden piece and added my largest pumpkin to each stand. Layered my pumpkins and hot glued them as I went along. Added the small wooden game piece behind one of the pumpkins to keep it in place:

Here is a photo to also show the back of my pumpkin DIYs:

With the decorated pumpkins on the stand all I had to do is add moss at the base of the pumpkins and different fall items I had on hand. I had bought these flower stems at the Dollar Tree and took them apart and then put them together in layers with a gold brad:

I also used fall themed buttons from my stash and cut the shanks off of them to decorate the stands.  The orange pumpkin pieces were sold in a small bag at Hobby Lobby as was the berry trim that I cut apart and hot glues to the stands. Here is the first set of pumpkins I finished:

and the second one has three smaller pumpkin pieces:

and photos of the base stands:

Hot glued the moss and all the random pieces onto the base stands and when everything was on there I just randomly cut apart the berry trim and hot glued pieces of that here and there to fill it in. These were easy to alter and another good use of card stocks from the stash. Thanks to Tracy for her easy to follow directions and her video!  Glad I was able to be able to make a set for myself in time for Fall!

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.