All Paper Arts

Every since I posted last week about the glue pad I bought I have been having fun with it. Maybe too much fun. Here are some more samples using a rubber stamps pad and glitter, embossing powder, and micro beads. Enjoy!

Orange embossing powder with the glue pad you don’t have to heat set the powder if you don’t want to.

Light blue micro fine glitter on dark green paper

Dark blue micro fine glitter on gold shiny paper. With the glue pad the glitter doesn’t slide off the shiny paper.

Silver micro beads. Watch out when using the micro beads they roll everywhere I suggest using a shoe box top or some kind of shallow lid. Some of the beads rolled on my scanner because of the static between the beads and the glass on the scanner.

Crystal clear transparent micro beads. You can’t see them well even with scanning the paper itself but in person it has a really nice effect. This would look great over a big flower image.

Art Accentz, micro fine glitter, pravo craft, beadies, mini marbles, micro beads, the essential glue pad, card making, scrapbooking, embossing powder, rubber stamping, all paper arts

I love gift bags. Bags, baskets, boxes, tins, and cans. Anything that can have another use then just wrapping a present is great. What I don’t like is paying the price for gift bags in the store. The prices are ridiculous to say the least. Plus they aren’t exactly personal. But with just a little imagination and some of your craft or gift wrapping materials around the house you can make one of kind wrapping. Here are some quick ideas… Bottle of wine covered with some sheer material and tied with a ribbon and maybe a silk flower simple and savvy. A regular white lunch bag fold over at the top and then punch holes and pull ribbon through you can also write a message, add some stickers, or stamp some images. Clear cellophane bags that you can use for party favors are fun for items like candles fill bottom of bag with some shredded color paper place the candles in and tie with ribbon make a faux matchbook for a label. Have some scrapbook paper you bought but will probably never use? You can use a box from your kitchen like a powdered sugar box for a bag. Act as if you are about to wrap the box in wrapping paper but leave the top open, use plenty of double sided tape for the side and bottom, punch two holes on both sides of the top and add ribbons for a handle. The possibilities are endless and everyone enjoys getting a neat gift wrapped present. Do you have any special gift wrapping tips? Just leave a comment on my blog so others can read your ideas, too.

Here is one other purchase I made at the Rubber Stamp Convention. The Essential Glue Pad by Tsukineko. It is a glue pad that you use just like an ink pad. Best of all you don’t need a heat tool like you do with embossing powder. Here is a sample. This is with old fashion craft glitter so I used a stamp without a lot of detail. The finer your glitter the more detailed stamp you can use. I have been told you can use the micro beads too. That will be my next experiment.
plain card stock
rubber stamp that I used
viola!

rubber stamping, The Essential Glue Pad, TSUKINEKO, glitter, card making, scrapbooking, all paper arts

This past Sunday some friends and I went to a near by rubber stamp convention. I was hoping to show you all the great finds that I would find. However, there weren’t really any great finds. Maybe it was because I was spoiled the time I went to the Great American Scrapbook Convention. This was much, much smaller then I expected. I was also expecting booths full of original rubber stamps. Instead most of the rubber stamps weren’t mounted and cost as much as mounted stamps. Also it seemed all the booths had the same stamps and they were mostly geared for altered arts. You know I love altered arts so I saw a number I liked but like I said they weren’t mounted and just seemed so high so I didn’t purchase any. Yes not having already mounted stamps saves room but I am the type that wants to pick up my stamp and press. I don’t mind the clear stamps because with those you are building a scene. At the last Great American Scrapbook Convention I went to there was a greater variety of one of a kind rubber stamp booths. So really the only things I found were vintage style label cards by 7gypsies at the top of this page. At 7 for $2 I don’t know if it was a great find but I really like 7gypsies stuff and I never find any of their products locally. I also found a couple of packs of cover board 10 pieces for $1.50. I bought a pack of rectangle and square cover board packs these will be good for mini book covers. The other thing I found was spray glitter for paper. You can turn dull dark colored cardstock into glittery paper with just a few squirts or jazz up a card or scrapbook page when you have that something is missing feeling.

7gypsies, rubber stamping, altered arts, card making, scrapbooking, all paper arts

Many moons a go I wrote a post about the cool punch I had ordered that you could use to make your own little books.click here to see the post

Many of you asked what you could use to bind the books together. I had used ribbon on my sample. I also suggested old spiral notebook rings from notebooks that were out of paper. But what I really wanted to show you I didn’t know where to find yet. I am still looking for the rings I had in mind. Yesterday, I was checking out sizzix.com and updating my wish list when I came across these plastic rings.

You can buy them in packs of 50 at sizzix.com and right now they have them on sale.

making your own mini books, www.sizzix.com, stampin’ up, all paper arts, card making, scrapbooking, plastic rings

At last I have found a use for those cd jewel cases I have piling up around the house. I don’t know why the idea didn’t hit me the first time I saw my friend Lori’s stamp set she had bought. At the card party Saturday Elisa had many of her clear stamps in a jewel case. Fantastic idea!
Most of the clear stamps come on a sheet of plastic that they stick to pretty well but I have found that is not always the case. Instead of using the plastic you can stick your clear stamps inside of a jewel case. It makes a great storage spot. Not only that but just think of how cheap you can get storage towers and such for cds. To me that is much better organizational tool then having to find a box or a notebook big enough to hold the plastic sheets. Plus you can label the sides of the jewel case making it even easier to locate the set you are looking for. The key is you must use a jewel case that is clear on all sides so you can see what is on there for one reason. If you really want to get organized you could even buy the colored cases to seperate them by theme. I am not that organized. It will probably take me forever to actually implement the idea in my own paper arts space. Which by the way is in major need of reorganization.

clear stamp sets, cd jewel cases, card making, scrapbooking, all paper arts

This past Saturday was our monthly card party. Our unofficial theme was get well and sympathy. This is the card I designed. The stamp set I used is a now retired stamp set from Stampin’ Up called Under the Weather. I just loved the little chicken bowl. I chose the alphabet paper because it made me think of alphabet soup. I used vellum to stamp the chicken bowl on. I had to glue two pieces of vellum onto the alphabet paper because one sheet was too sheer and you couldn’t see the soup bowl very well. Here is a tip if you are stamping on vellum it is best to use a craft ink or an ink especially made for slick surfaces. After you stamp on the vellum put it to the side for a few minutes so it can dry and not smear especially if you plan to color in the image. I liked this card so much I made extras I thought they’d make great get well cards for teachers as well.

Stampin’ Up, card making, scrapbooking, all paper arts, get well cards, vellum paper

Making tags is as big of a paper art as any. Whether you are buying the premade tags altering, stamping, or embellishing them or cutting out your own tags it is hot hobby. They can be used as embellishments on scrapbook pages and cards or used to make your own mini books. The uses are endless and I guess that is why they are so fun. Here are some ideas for tags. Giving a bottle of wine as a gift? How about using a label from an old bottle adhere it to a piece of plain cardstock then cut it into a tag shape. Use the blank side to write your greeting on. The fronts of gift cards or pretty cardstock are great to make into tags. Need a tag for a child’s birthday? How about using a cereal box to punch out a tag? Wallet sized pictures or pictures you have that you can crop down make great tags, too. All you need to do is give ordinary things a second look. You can make tags easily by cutting out a rectangle and punching a hole in the center of one end. Or if you have a die cut machine with a tag die that is really simple. Also in the scrapbooking section of local hobby stores you can find a nice variety of tag punches. Of course on the internet you can find tons of free tag templates to use as well. Nothing says you have to stick to the traditional shape for tags. Die cuts of all shapes can make great tags. The key is to always having a hole on whatever you are using, add some ribbon, and tie to the present. So next time you are giving a gift remember to say it with a tag!

Today my husband’s sister and her two great kiddos went back to Washington. There were many tears falling when we all said our good byes.

Speaking of tearing up here is a full size journal I altered. I love the old fashion composition notebooks. They are so much nicer looking then the cheap spiral notebooks. Also they have a thickness to them that helps them stand up much better. As much as I love them their covers leave much to be desired. So of course I have to add my own touch to them. My challenge today was little adhesive and no scissors. I wanted to see what I could do with just using my hands to tear paper and on very limited double sided adhesive. (Can you believe that I am running out of adhesive?) I also had a great sticker set that helped me out a lot with adhesive. I think I might go back over this with a layer or two of mod podge just to protect it. I bought four more composition notebooks at a local super store. They were only 50 cents each not bad at all. I am going to let the girls go crazy tomorrow and alter them. My step daughter found a really cool book on clearance at the book store the other day. It is full of old stock art from the 50’s and 60’s they will make a great collage on her notebook. Well back to adding more embellishments to this notebook.

altered art, collage, composition notebooks, scrapbooking, card making, all paper arts

Project designed by Kerri Lindstrom and demonstrated by Paula Montgomery. As seen on The Carol Duvall Show

We still have family in town so as you can imagine we haven’t had a lot of time to do things around the house. Just ask my husband who is already commenting on the mess. Of course if I can’t clean my mess I really can’t sit down to do some paper arts can I? The Carol Duvall show was on DIY while I was making my bed this morning. I realize the Carol Duvall show is no longer in production but it is still running on DIY. Most of what I see on her show is a little more “crafty” then I go for but every now and then I see something that catches my eye. Today’s episode had these cute hand stamped kimonos made out of luggage tags. The looked really simple to make. So I thought I would pass the link on to you. There are step by step directions.

The Carol Duvall Show, DIY network, paper arts, scrapbooking, card making

Originally my plan for today was to post a jewelry box I am altering. However in the middle of the project I found out that some of my embellishments can double as helpers for projects. I bought these teeny tiny clothes pins a while ago for a card I was making. While I was working on the altered box the ribbon kept popping up on me. Obviously, I don’t have enough hands to hold all four sides down until the adhesive starts working. So I saw these little pins and decided to use them.
I really love it when my paper art materials have more then one purpose. These little pins are just the right size for small projects. A regular clothes pin or clip would have probably dented my little lid.

altered arts, all paper arts, scrapbook embellishments, mini clothes pins

The girls and I went to Six Flags yesterday. Ahhh! Yep that is the reason for no post yesterday. My husband’s sister and niece and nephew are down from Washington. Since the kids are all getting older my sister in law was excited that we could take them some place other then indoor or outdoor playgrounds. So we went to Six Flags. I have learned that the little dare devil in me is gone. Not that I don’t want to still ride the big rides but because I couldn’t stand up to them. After going on one of my favorite rides, Batman, I became very dizzy. Needless to say my all time favorite loop de loop that I have been riding since I was seven was passed on to the younger generations to ride. We still had a great time. All together there were 15 of us. We found out we have some future thrill seekers when my seven year old and her seven old cousin decided they wanted to ride the big rides. I was scared for my daughter at first and wanted so bad to run over and yank her off when she decided she wanted to go on the ride that has two loops and you go forward on the ride only to end up doing the whole thing over backwards before getting off. She loved it and wanted to do it again. Both girls were extremely upset when they learned they weren’t tall enough for the Batman ride. After some coaxing my nine year old agreed to ride Batman and then was upset afterwards. Of course by the end of the night she was asking to ride it again. Even my 5 year old wanted to ride the big rides. After riding one of the older wooden rollercoaster’s she told me she didn’t want to ride anything with bigger hills. So when all of her sisters and cousins rode the loop de loop she kept looking at me with an evil eye because she was tall enough to ride. I had to keep explaining the drop was bigger before she decided she probably wouldn’t have been happy if she rode it. After closing the park down (we were there until 11 p.m.) we all went to IHOP (International House of Pancakes) to eat and finally got home at almost 2 in the morning.
As you can imagine today will be a very lazy day. As a matter of fact my 5 year old is the only besides me and the dogs awake. Once everyone wakes up I think we are going to just hang around and make some crafts. We are going to start with making some bead rings. Jummy has a great tutorial on her website we are going to follow.
Just click here to check out her tutorial at gettingcrafty.net Afterwards I am thinking a nap will sound good!

Six Flags Over Texas, beaded jewelry, all paper arts, scrapbooking, card making, getting crafty

One of my favorite things to do with paper arts is to find new uses for ordinary boxes and containers. Here is a compilation of boxes I found around the house. All of these would be great fun to alter. Check back later this week to see what I make out of some of these.

altered art, recycled art, paper arts, craft tins

If you happen to have a Hobby Lobby where you live you might want to go there this week. They have an embossing gun for $9.99, a paper trimmer for $4.99, and the crop-o-dile is on sale for $19.99 as well. Also HSN and QVC are worth looking at for great deals for paper art and scrabooking supplies and tools.

Do you ever see a great paper art project you’d love to make but don’t have the template for it? There are some great sites online with free templates. All that I ask is if you go to their websites please respect their wishes. Such as not selling their templates to others or online. Also, try to give them credit where credit is due. So with that said here are a few sites to check out for templates.
http://www.stampington.com/html/tempting_template_index.html

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com

http://www.ruthannzaroff.com/mirkwooddesigns/templates.htm

http://www.funpaperairplanes.com/Plane%20Downloads.html

http://www.creativity-portal.com/howto/artscrafts/free.printable.calendars.html

http://www.jersgirl.com/

stampington, split coast stampers, scrapbooking, card making templates,