Heigh Ho I.O.!

Yesterday was the first day of the Impression Obsession (IO Stamps) Warehouse Sale. This is the first warehouse sale they have held since before the pandemic. My PIC (stamping Partner In Crime) and I decided this would be a sale we wanted to shop this year so plans were made with DH, our "Cuber" driver (crafter Uber driver), driving us there and back.... I baked brownies with nuts for this trip as well as I made the fruit salad for us so we would have something cold to eat since the temperature yesterday was in the upper 80s there --- here is a photo of the cold fruit salad:

It is made with a can of Mandarin oranges w juice, a can of Dole Pineapple chunks w juice, and a pint of cleaned strawberries sliced into bite size pieces. I keep the canned fruit in the fridge overnight before I make the salad so they are cold. Prep the strawberries and put in a large bowl, add the can of oranges w juice, and the can of pineapple chunks w juice and stir. Keep in fridge and serve cold. 

We left the house at 4AM for our drive to Richmond, Va for this sale. The IO Stamps warehouse is located in Oilville which is a suburb of Richmond. The sale began at 9AM and we arrived in Richmond around 8AM in plenty of time for the sale:

When we arrived at the warehouse there were a couple of other cars there with shoppers waiting to shop:

Before the sale I had looked at their website to see all their dies, stamps, and products I wanted to look at. I made a list of items I wanted to look at or buy as well as a list of background stamps I already have  because I knew I wanted a couple more of their background stamps as they are excellent quality. I wanted a couple of those I had seen used on YouTube by other crafters.  In the past when IO had their warehouse sale all their dies were 50% off but with all dies and stamps all over going up in price I was not sure if IO would still have the dies for the 50% off or not. Along with my list of items I wanted to check out I also had a generous gift card my PIC had gifted me for when I shopped this sale. 

Happy to report the dies were 50% off - altho some dies had increased in price since before the pandemic. They had deals on stamp sets, ink pads and refills, background stamps, and unmounted rubber stamps. Here are photos:

I picked up two background stamps, already mounted, for $5.00 each -- no packaging but I am fine with that:

These 2 background stamps were also $5 each but not mounted - but they mounted them for free for me:

I also picked up their orange ink pad with refill, both on sale for 50% off the prices:

This is the only stamp set I picked up which will get plenty of use for Christmas projects ahead:

DH was in the parking lot waiting for us when we finished our shopping. Since it was already getting warm out we sat in the car and ate the fruit salad. Then off to a store I had found online in Richmond and I wanted to shop at. It is the SCRAP Richmond Creative Reuse Center. In our area we have the Scrap Exchange in Durham, NC and they have all kinds of items that have been donated from building items, craft items, office items/supplies, tools, etc.. But this SCRAP store in Richmond is CRAFT items ONLY!!

We drove over there and we arrived shortly after they opened -- What a GREAT store!! They have fabric, quilt supplies, patterns/books, threads, needles, sewing supplies, ribbons, wood pieces, chip board, card stock, scrapbook kits, storage items, stamps/stamp sets, embossing folders, dies, a Cuttlebug machine was there, stencils, beads, jewelry making items, yarns, knitting needles, crochet hooks, books and patterns for such, buttons, trims, floral making supplies, picture frames, mats, etc.. All crafting items  -- for $2 each I picked up these bins with lids:

I also picked up a Cottage Cutz die set and a tulip stencil:

Fabric bundles for $2 each:

I also picked up a pack of collage card stock prints:

My PIC also found many items she wanted - plastic pages for her binders, another binder, a storage bin and such. Stopping at that store was a great find for us!  Wish we had such a place in the Raleigh area!! Fun thing was while I was shopping there two ladies that we also saw at the IO Warehouse Sale saw us at this store as well! Off to a great lunch at Olive Garden (we saw those ladies there too!!) and then onto our trip home -- with brownies for dessert on our ride home.... We were home by dinner time:

Once home I washed the bins and lids and those are all ready to hold craft supplies in my craft room so I am sure they will be in use in no time..... A fun day for this crafter - altho I will say there were far less shoppers at the IO Sale than in the past so hoping today is a busier day for the IO sale than yesterday.. It was nice to be able to get out again and shop for craft supplies -- esp on a week when Heartfelt Creations, a staple at all the craft shows, and a great online store, has announced it will be closing doors this year...

Eyelet Cover Plate Die

 My-Creative-Time has a new cover plate die on their website called the Eyelet Cover Die.  As soon as I saw this cover plate and samples made with it I placed my order. Happy me the die arrived this week and today I made a sample with this new cover plate:

With such small details on this cover plate I knew when I cut it out I would have to use my metal shim for my die cutting machine. I used that shim and the two plates for my machine and ran this cover plate through my machine forward and then back and this cover plate cut out the design well. I used my die cutting brush to go over my die cut piece to release any little pieces that were left behind after it was cut out. Not much left to remove in my die cut piece having used the metal shim. This is a very fine and detailed die design and to show the size of the design I took a photo of this die cut piece next to an extra Lattice piece (from EllenHutson.com) that I had left over from the front of my Easter bags I made:

Here is a photo of the Eyelet cover plate and packaging:

Pretty eyelet design and the proportion is good for a background piece on a card front. Plus the cover plate dies at My-Creative-Time are very affordable compared to other online shops. 

More Easter Dies

 Photos of more Easter dies that came in my KSCrafts order:

The above die set are bunny circle shaker tags. The dies included in this set is the scalloped frame, the layer for the shaker layer, as well as the bunny ears. Cute die set .... Here is a second Easter shaker set I had ordered:

Another cute shaker die set -- used scraps and made up samples of each:

I keep these scrap samples with the dies since the KSCraft dies do not come with photo packaging:

Fun projects I can make for next Easter. Both die sets will make good use of card stock scraps as well...

More Easter Bags

 Here is a photo of other Easter bags I decorated to hold my Easter treat holders:

I used the same printed card stock I used for the other bags and that is from Hobby Lobby. I used the trim from Dollar Tree to go around the printed piece. The lattice die is from EllenHutson.com. I put the lattice piece on the bag front using these adhesive dot sheets:

The Bunny Ears die set is from Waffle Flower. Used recycled card board for the bunny ears and the pinks for headband and bow pieces are scraps as is the headband piece. 

The greeting:

"Happy Easter" is a die set from IOStamps (Impression Obsession). I used solid white card stock for the shadow piece and glittered card stock for the words. Put these together using liquid glue. 

Packing away all the Easter products for next year and I had used this bunny die set from KSCrafts from last year:

This year I ordered this die set in the smaller size and that arrived a couple of weeks ago so I made up a sample for size to put with the die set in my Easter die bin - KSCrafts dies do not come with photo packaging so I always make up a sample so at a glance I know what the die set will look like made up - this photo shows the larger size bunny (used for above photo) next to the sample of the new size die set I just ordered:

The smaller sized bunny will be good for tags or maybe on a smaller treat holder/bag. Easy and fun bunny to make for Easter projects. The little sample I will keep with the die set.  Was able to organize all the Easter dies this year so next year bunny crafting should be easy!! ;0)

Here is the bin I just organized with the labeled tabbed dividers I made using the Tab Punch board from We R Memory Keepers:

Happy to have all Easter items sorted and put away for next year - also happy to see the top of the work table again!! Until the next project begins. . .

Sweetie Bag Treat Holders

 

This is a photo of some of the Sweetie Bag Treat Holders I made for Easter using the Sweetie Bag die set from Mama Elephant. This die set has many pieces in it to decorate your bag. With this making a square bag rather than a rectangle bag it can hold cookies, a cupcake/muffin, etc. It is a nice size bag to hold the treats.

For the front of the bag I used an egg shaped die set from A-Muse Studios that I picked up at the stamp show in Columbia, SC. My Peep Bunny is a die from GinaMarie Designs. I used a Sizzix rosette die for the rosette and the metallic threads behind the bunnies are from my stash. Some of my rosettes I added a glittered tulle circle to and others I did not add that. The mini bow on the Peep Bunny is a punch from Hobby Lobby from long ago. 

Easy treat holder to assemble and it is a good size for many different treats. 

Mini Easter Basket

 The above mini basket is made with no dies. Just a 6x6 piece of card stock scored on both sides at 2 and again at 4. Clip the top and bottom corners and you bring those clipped corners to the outside and use a brad to keep the basket closed and that also holds the handle. My handle piece is 1/2 x 8 1/2. (There are many videos on YouTube showing how to make this mini basket). For mine I used single sided card stocks but it would be cute with the double sided card stock as well. Here is a photo to show the size of this mini basket next to the Tootsie Pop Holders I just made:

The above photo also shows my little holiday Bunny Brad I used on these mini baskets.  Easy project to put together and no need to buy a die set to make it! I used tear and tape to form my mini basket and to attach the handle as well.

Easter Nugget Treat Holders

 

Used scrap printed card stocks for the 1 x 3 1/8 wrappers for my Hershey Nugget candies. I used the plain chocolate and the almond nugget candies in this treat holder. I made a solid card stock "tray" to put the nuggets on - I used 6 candies so my tray is 6 x 1 3/4. On the long side I scored each side at 1/4 for the sides to the tray. Once the candies were wrapped I put them on the solid card stock tray and slid this into a pretzel bag from the craft store. Tied them closed using twines from my stash. 

Used a Bunny tag from My Creative Time for the tag/greeting label:

I used a pink marker to add pink to the ears and I hot glued a small pink pom pom for the bunny nose. I used a holiday stamp set from Waffle Flower for the "Happy Easter" greeting stamped in black ink. Easy treat holder to put together and another good use for card stock scraps....

One and done rummaging . . . .

On going craft room organization and so it goes.... decided I wanted to keep ALL stenciling items together so awhile back I labeled dividers I had made using the We R Memory Keepers Tab Punch Board. I had all the stencils in a basket together -- but these were the standard sized stencils. For the longer or wider or Taylored Expressions one Stencil Quad Set I own I kept those in another basket. 

With moving things around this freed up a larger basket I was using for other storage that I could now use for my stencils. Now everything is in the one basket and easy to take the basket to the work table when I want to stencil a project. Here is a photo of this larger basket stencil storage:

I have the stencils sorted into sections that I use a lot. Behind the pink divider section is the Taylored Expression Stencil Quad Set. This way it is with all other stencils and it fits nicely in this larger basket and it won't get bent or damaged...

This photo was taken looking down into the basket:

This small basket is from another storage item I reorganized and it fits inside this larger basket in front of the pink dividers for the stencils. In this basket are Post It notes (also by Jot) for masking when I am stenciling, larger scrapers to apply textured paste or Lunar paste over the stencils, and a folded piece of foam drawer liner that I cut to size and I use this to keep my ink pads on when stenciling so the ink pads will not move. Also -- 

My PIC (stamping Partner In Crime) gifted me two packs of the mint green Sizzix plastic envelopes. I use them to store any stencils I have that I also have a die set for or maybe a stamp set for and I keep these on the side of the basket. I used the label maker and have labeled each envelope with what is inside - I have three stencils from Altenew that I have a matching die set, embossing folder, or stamp set for. I also have one of The Ton's stencils that has a matching die set for. Here is a photo to show these in the basket:

(Since this photo was taken I re-labeled the first envelope since stencil only has the one "L" in it) Happy to have all stencil items together in this larger basket and now I just have to store the one basket instead of two or three smaller ones.... 

Happy me that this project is done. . now if the craft room was totally done that would be better!!.... but when will that happen???? haha

Afraid to say . . .

 Afraid to say the honeymoon is over . . .    Went to a Hobby Lobby store earlier this week that I shop at regularly and was quite surprised with what I discovered..... 

Walked back to the paper crafting section to check it out as I usually do being a card maker/paper crafter. This section used to be 6 aisles, full on both sides.... it is now down to 2 aisles and they are sparsely filled... I commented on this to my DSD and I said I wondered if this is temporary and just to this store or what???

She sent me a text this afternoon that she is at a busier Hobby Lobby near downtown Raleigh and that store is also boasting the 2 aisle Paper Crafting Section. . .   First AC Moore closes, Mikes gives up coupons that are realistic, and now this... afraid to say the honeymoon is over but... I will find other places to shop as I am not giving up my card making/paper crafts hobby anytime soon..... Will watch for online store sales and hopefully save some gas from not having to drive to a store!! ;0)

Thank You Card

Made a thank you card for my PIC (stamping Partner In Crime) for all the birthday loot and cake she gifted me for my birthday . . .  She is a purple person so I used as much purple as I could for her card:

Card stock base is light purple, cut, scored at top. Used a piece of 6x6 gingham checked card stock for the card front. Stenciled the Waffle Flower Daisies stencil set for the stenciled piece for the card front. Using their A2 Layers die set I cut the gingham piece and the stenciled piece to the size I wanted for the card front. 

Used a "thanks" die set from my stash for the purple "thanks" on the front. I used white craft foam for the back piece to "thanks" to give it dimension on the card front. Added mirrored sequins from the stash to the card front using Glossy Accents. Easy stencil set to use from Waffle Flower and lots of options for it depending on what colour ink you use. 

Easter Cards 2023

 

To start I used various spring coloured card stock bases I had already cut and scored in my stash. For the fronts of the cards I used the Bow stencil from Waffle Flower. The Bunny Ears die set is also Waffle Flower. 

To make my cards I picked out all the card stock bases. Then I cut my white card stock for the stenciling. I did all the stenciling:

Here is a photo of one of the stenciled fronts I did:

This stencil has the bows and the circles on the stencil. For my above samples - the top photos show the card fronts finished. The photos below those show the stenciled fronts. For the turquoise and the yellow card fronts I did all the bows in one colour and then added the colours to the stenciled circles. For the bottom photo I did the bows and the circles all in the one colour - pink. Below that photo are two card fronts - the one on the left I used different colours and the one on the right I added purple ink to the colours I used. Totally different looks using the same stencil set. 

The Bunny Ears die for the front of the card is from Waffle Flower and I cut that out of recycle card board. PInk ear pieces, bow pieces, and headband pieces are all from scraps.... I also cut the ears die out of white foam to put behind the bunny ears piece for dimension on the card front. The greeting I cut out using glittered card stock and an Easter die from Scrapdivadesigns - it is from her Bunny Bag Topper die set. I did not add white foam to the back of the greeting piece. I used liquid glue to put the Bunny Ears and greeting piece on the card front. 

For the inside of the card:

For each card I stenciled a bow to match the colour of the card stock base. This Easter greeting is a cling stamp from Whipper Snapper Designs for long ago:

Fun Easter cards to assemble and love the Easter products from Waffle Flower! Easy to die cut and assemble and another good use of scraps.....

Tootsie Pop Holder

 Made these Tootsie Pop holders for my Tootsie Pops for Easter treats:

For the holder I used peach coloured card stock and cut that 2 x 9. With the long side at the top of the scoreboard I scored this at 3 1/2, 4 1/2, and again at 9.  Cut my gingham card stock 1 x 2 and used liquid glue to put that on the top flap of my holder. For the egg printed card stock for the holder front I cut that piece 3 1/4 x 1 3/4. Put that on the holder front using liquid glue as well -- I used a directional print for my holder front -- if you should do the same be sure your print is on the front of your holder right side up. 

I used a small circle punch at the folded top of my holder for the Tootsie Pop stick to come out of. I also used my smallest circle punch to make two small holes for my twine to tie my holder closed. Used pre made flowers from my stash to add to the holder front top. Easy holders to make and you can get 4 of these from one piece of 8 1/2 x 11 solid card stock.

Easter Bag

 This post shows the Easter Bag front I made for this year to hold my treat holders for Easter:

White gift bag is from my stash. For the floral printed card stock I used card stock from Hobby Lobby. I also used that print for the rosettes at the top of the bag. For the white lattice piece for the bag front I used the Lattice die from Ellen Hutson. The bunny ears die is from WaffleFlower and I used recycle card board for the ears. Pink scraps were used for the inner ear pieces. Used scraps for the headband and the bow pieces. "Happy Easter" is from the Bunny Bag Topper die set from Scrapdivadesigns.com. The pink pearls/crystals trim is from Dollar Tree. 

Shopping Shares

 Just want to share that a couple of good sales are going on for this weekend -- 

Impression Obsession (IOStamps.com) has just updated their website and to celebrate their 25 years in business they are offering a site wide 20% off sale - dies, stamps, stencils, ink pads, etc.

EllenHutson.com is offering 30% off Waffle Flower products on her website

Also if you have not ordered from RangerInk.com -- if you sign up you get 20% off your order of their products -- Tim Holtz, Simon Hurley, etc.

Happy to have these sales to stretch my crafting budget . . .

More Bunny Embellishments

 Used my KSCraft Bunny Die set from last year to make Bunny embellishments for this Easter:

This year I added a small piece of glittered tulle to spice up the Bunnies. The bows I made for the bunnies are two different die sets. These bows:

The bow on the left with the separation was made using the smaller bow from the Bunny Bag Topper from Scrapdiva Designs that I bought last year. The blue/green bow on the right was made using the medium die set from the Pink & Main bow die set. The glittered tulles are all from my stash but most of them are from Hobby Lobby.  I cut the piece of tulle at 3 x 3 1/4. Added white pom poms from Hobby Lobby to the center of the bows again using hot glue. 

The bunnies were die cut from scrap white #110 card stock from Mikes. The pinks are also scraps. I assembled the bunnies using liquid glue. Once the bows were all die cut and assembled I used hot glue to attach them to the gathered tulle piece.Then used the hot glue to add these to the bunny pieces. Easy project for a holiday embellishment for Easter.