Design Time Saturday

For the last few months Saturday's have been Stickles Saturdays.  Well, I like to keep things fresh so I'm shakin things up a bit and going to start something new...

I'm going to post various cards highlighting various designs and design elements.  Basically I'm going to break down design elements of a card, show you how the elements work together and more important...cards that are easy to recreate. 

So Saturdays (for a while) will now be Design Time Saturday. 

Today's design is plays a bit with vertical and horizontal elements.  Starting in the very background of the card you have a combo of the yellow and blue cardstock seperated vertically with a piece of black ribbon... 

The next layer up is an intense layer of inks (applied with the ink blending tool) in the same shades as the cardstock and stamped script creating a horizontal layer. 

And finally the main image combines both a horizontal and vertical feel due to the stamp design it's self but it's emphasised by the use of multiple colors of ink. 

By combining all of these elements together it draws the eye in and creates dimension and interest where there may not be otherwise.

Note: Stamps - Just For Fun Rubber Stamps; Inks - Nick Bantock Dye Inks; Tools - Ink Blending Tool & Foam.

I hope you give my little horizontal/vertical trick a try during your next crafting session.  You'll be amazed at how easy it is to reproduce this type of design element and by how much it changes the feel of your card.

Have a great day!

Just For Fun Friday - A Little Coffee with Your Jelly Beans?

LOL...how's that for a wild title?

Got your attention though didn't it ;)

Well it's Just For Fun Rubber Stamps Friday and I originally was going to make a couple Easter cards.  I created the first card and was rummaging around in my JFF stamps and decided to make another card using the same design with totally different stamps just to show how versatile individual card designs can be.  

and here is the second very different card using the same design....  the heart looks fuzzy because I used some Distress Stickles to highlight and give it a bit of sparkle.

I haven't had much time to think up and create new card sketches but this got me to thinking about them again.  I believe I'm going to try to make some time each week and post one along with my JFF cards each Friday.  I know lots of people really like having sketches to refer to so be on the look out for more in the near future!

Have a wonderful Friday!!

Alcohol Ink Sunflower Card

Happy Day!!

Oh my, started off my day right...got to watch the little one today :)  (Oldest DS's fiance's little girl Ariana is 1)  She is so much fun to have around.  She's always so pleasant and happy.  I taught her what chickens say and she was able to repeat it to her mom when she came to pick her up!  Going to turn her into a farm girl yet ;)  LOL!!

Today I have a fun card for you ~ Alcohol Ink Sunflowers!  I just love figuring out new flowers to create with AI's and these are one of my fav's.

You need a clean felt pad ~ add a dot of Espresso to the center and surround it with 5-7 dots of Butterscotch AI.  Make a circle around the Espresso with Alcohol Blending Solution.

Immediately pounce the inked felt onto the glossy cardstock several times.  With each pounce you will be creating a new sunflower head.

Cut a heart shape from a clean felt to create a sunflower leaf.  Stick it to your Blending Tool.  Apply desired color(s) of green AI's to the "leaf".    I like to use Meadow and Lettuce. 

 Pounce these leaves randomly around the sunflowers.

After the inks have dried you're all set to use your sunflowers on a card, scrapbook page, ATC, Gothic Arch or any other project you might want to brighten with a ray of sunshine!

Hope you have a simply wonderful day friends!!

Where to find 100% Rayon Seam Binding

I have had lots of questions about where to find 100% Rayon Seam Binding.

I tell you to be honest the only place I've ever bought it is on-line.  I live in a VERY small town (one stop light) so we don't have anywhere locally to purchase it. 

I originally bought the vintage seam binding (the one that has the gauze-y look) from someone who had a bunch of it on e-bay out of New York.  I checked and it's all gone now so for the vintage stuff I have no clue.

New Rayon Seam Binding can be found at most large fabric/sewing stores or LOADS of places on line.  Here are a few links....

Etsy ~  Zipper Stop

Amazon

The Sewing Place (for smaller qty)

Sew True

Alpha Stamps (smaller qty) (scroll down)

UK - Crafty Ribbons

Schiff Ribbons (says it's vintage!)

Hope that helps :)

Rayon Seam Binding - Crinkle Ribbon

I have had several e-mails from people asking about using Rayon Seam Binding to make Crinkle Ribbon.   Most saw a video or read somewhere that you couldn't use Rayon Seam Binding to make Crinkle Ribbon....you had to buy a "special" ribbon designed specifically for making Crinkle Ribbon.   

I have one thing to say to that...

Bull!

You do not have to buy any special ribbon to make Crinkle Ribbon and I'll prove it to you...

(NOTE: I did not alter any of these photos in any fashion.)

Some months ago I shared the technique I use to dye and crinkle Rayon Seam Binding but I will share it with you again and use the stop watch on my phone to show you it can be done...

First about 100% Rayon Seam Binding.  I have two types ~ new (yellow label) and vintage (blue/cream label).  I have made Crinkle Ribbon from both types and each work equally well. 

The reason I have two different types of binding can be seen in this photo ~ when the ribbon is wet then crinkled the vintage seam binding takes on a gauze-y distressed look while the new seam binding looks basically the same.  I believe the reason for this is that the vintage ribbon isn't as tightly woven as the newer type of ribbon.  I particularly like to use the vintage Crinkle Ribbon on projects where I'm wanting a REALLY vintage feel.  It also looks really cool when used on Halloween projects too!  

On to the Crinkle Ribbon....

I usually pounce my ink onto my Non-Stick Craft Mat, spritz it with a bit of water and dip my ribbon into the puddle of inky water.  If I'm looking for a more intense color or some variation in the color I will then rub my ink pad directly on the wet ribbon.  

I then wad the ribbon up into a ball ~ this is where you put the "crinkle" in Crinkle Ribbon.

Then I heat the ribbon with my Heat Tool to speed drying.  It usually only takes about 15-20 seconds to dry the ribbon because it is very thin and filmy.  

This step is where the dispute over Rayon Seam Binding apparently arises.  One or several people have mentioned that if you heat the Rayon Seam Binding the ribbon will burn or melt!  Which is also where it has been said that you have to purchase the "special" ribbon.

I say ~ Nonsense!!!!

I set about to prove these naysayers wrong and show you the proof. 

I placed a piece of the vintage 100% Rayon Seam Binding on my Non-Stick Craft Mat.  I placed a drop of water on the binding to initially hold it in place because it likes to flit and flutter about when it's dry.    I warmed my Heat Tool up prior to heating the ribbon for about 30 seconds.  I then turned the gun on the ribbon and started my stop watch on my phone.   I held the heat tool over one spot on the ribbon, never waving the gun or diverting the heat to any other section.

As you can see the timer was at a minute and twelve seconds and the ribbon hasn't yet burst into flames or even singed yet....

I repeated the same test using the new 100% Rayon Seam Binding.  There was a tad bit of shrinkage after about 35 seconds and at one minute and 5 seconds the seam binding did start to singe in one area.

There was a bit of "smoke" with both types of ribbon when the water was initially evaporated by the heat tool but that "smoke" is actually steam which occurs with the "special" ribbon as well. 

Here are both pieces of heated ribbon... 

So while I'm sure the "special" ribbon works great I say that 100% Rayon Seam Binding works just as well as these photos have shown. 

I hope that clears up some of the confusion about using 100 % Rayon Seam Binding to make your own Crinkle Ribbon.

Newsletter Spam ~ Martha Stewart & Cloth Paper Scissors!

I have to tell you I am really ticked. 

Recently I signed up for two newsletters which I *thought* would be really neat.  Cloth Paper Scissors (the magazine) has a newsletter you can sign up for as does Martha Stewart ~ both of which are supposed to have "fun project ideas" in each e-mail. 

I must say I'm more than disappointed by their newsletters....

Obviously one or both of these companies wasted no time in sharing/selling my e-mail addy because ever since I signed up for these things I have been getting a TON of Spam!!!!  I'm talkin' 60-100 a DAY.  Now luckily I have Gmail which (thankfully) has a very aggressive spam monitor so I only have to pluck 1-2 out of my inbox a day.  The rest are all sent to my spam folder which I do check before I delete because sometimes it sends my Etsy orders or other correspondence there by mistake. 

AND the "Fun project ideas" have turned out to be mostly advertisements for each companies products.

Needless to say I am unsubscribing from both of these and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone.  I would actually tell you to run the other way.  They are a waste of time and are more of an aggravation than what they are worth.

Mom Gothic Arch Book - FINISHED!!

Happy Monday All!!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  We moved Ben and his fiance to their new home over the weekend.  Friday I cleaned while they were both at work then Saturday we moved the bulk of their furniture and helped them finish it up yesterday.  

It's amazing how quickly it transformed from an empty space to a home. 

I also finished up my Mom Gothic Arch Book by creating a cover and binding it. 

I am very pleased with how it turned out...

I hope my Mom likes it :)

Here is the cover I made...

and here is how it looked after I bound it using two GIANT book rings.  I must say I originally planned on using my Bind it All and 1" rings to put it all together.  Well I went a bit crazy embellishment wise and it ended up being about 2.5" thick...and that's just 6 double sided pages.  I'd hate to think how fat it would be if I had kept going - LOL!!  I don't think I'd have been able to bind it at all!

Remember, If you've been playing along or if you just decided to give one of the arches a try ~ you're more than welcome to share links to your arches or finished book in the comments section.   

We'd all love to oohhh and ahhhh over your creation :)

Have a wonderful day friends!!

Happy Mother's Day to UK Moms!!

Have a wonderful day today!!!

April Holidays & Observances!

HAPPY APRIL!!!!

Flower: Daisies and Sweet Peas

Zodiac:

Aries / The Ram, Mar. 21 - Apr. 19

Taurus / The Bull, Apr. 20 - May 20

Birthstone: Diamond and/or White Sapphire

MONTH LONG OBSERVANCES

American Cancer Society Month

Autism Awareness Month

Community Spirit Days

Daisy Flower Month

Florida Tomato Month

Holocaust Remembrance Month

International Guitar Month

Keep America Beautiful Month

Month of the Young Child

National BLT Sandwich Month

National Child Abuse Prevention Month

National Food Month

National Frog Month

National Garden Month

National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month

National Humor Month

National Pecan Month

National Poetry Month

National Recycling Month

National Smile Month

National Soft Pretzel Month

Pets are Wonderful Month

Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month

Stress Awareness Month

Straw Hat Month

Tackle Your Clutter Month

Thai Heritage Month

Woodworking Month

Zam! Zoo and Aquarium Month

WEEKLY OBSERVANCES

Week One

Astronomy Week

Be Kind to Spiders Week

Cherry Blossom Festival

National Bake Week (begins 1st Mon)

National Reading a Road Map Week

Scoop the poop week

Straw Hat Week

Week Two

Be Kind to Animals Week

National Garden Week

National Guitar Week

Reading is Fun week

Week Three

Bike Safety Week

Boys and Girls Club Week

National Bubblegum Week

National Coin Week

National Secretary week

National Week of the Ocean

Pan American Week

Week Four

Big Brothers/Sisters Appreciation Week

Egg Salad Week / always 1st week after Easter

Forest Week

Jewish Heritage Week

Keep America Beautiful Week

National YMCA Week

Teacher Appreciation Week (begins Last Mon)

DAILY OBSERVANCES

April 1

Apple Computer Birthday 1976

April Fools Day

International Tatting Day

Invention of Sliced Bread Day (1954)

National Sourdough Bread Day

April 2

Fun at Work Day

National Ferret Day

National Peanut Butter & Jelly Day

Sweet Potato Day

Yo-Yo Day

April 3

American Circus Day

Find a Rainbow Day

National Chocolate Moose Day

Passover

Tweed Day

April 4

Chocolate Milk Powder Day (1828)

World Rat Day  (??!?!?)

April 5

Bell Bottoms Day

Dandelion Day

Fun at Work Day

National Caramel Day

National Read a Road Map Day

Rubber Eraser Day

Stories Day

April 6

Fresh Tomato Day

National Caramel Popcorn Day

National Tartan Day

(United States, Scotland, Canada Australia, New Zealand)

Post-It Notes Birthday (1980)

TV Dinner Birthday (1954)

April 7

National Coffee Cake Day

No House work Day

(WOOOHOOOOO!!!!)

World Health Day

April 8

Astronomy Day

Draw a Picture of a Bird Day

National Empanada Day

Trading Cards for Grown-ups Day

Zoo Lovers Day

April 9

Araw ng Kagitingan, a.k.a. Bataan Day

(Philippines)

Name Yourself Day

National Cherish an Antique Day

April 10

Cinnamon Crescent Day

Golfers Day

National Sibling Day

April 11

Barbershop Quartet Day

Eight Track Tape Day

National Cheese Fondue Day

School Librarians Day

April 12

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day!!

National Licorice Day

Walk on Your Wild Side Day

April 13

Blame Someone Else Day

National D.A.R.E. Day

National Peach Cobbler Day

Scrabble Day

April 14

International Moments of Laughter Day

National Pecan Day

Titanic Shipwrecked

April 15

Art History Day

Go Fly a Kite Day

Leonardo Da Vinci's Birthday

Mc Donald's Opened (1955)

National Auctioneers Day

Rubber Eraser Day

Swallow Day (UK)

Take a Wild Guess Day

April 16

Day of the Mushroom

High Five Day

National Eggs Benedict Day

National Stress Awareness Day

April 17

Blah! Blah! Blah ! Day

National Cheese Ball Day

Daffy Duck's Birthday (1937)

April 18

Great San Francisco Earthquake 1906

International Jugglers Day

National Animal Cracker Day

Paul Revere Day

April 19

Amaretto Day

Astronomy Day

Garlic Day

Humorous Day

April 20

Cuckoo Day (UK)

Food Day

Look Alike Day

Make A Quilt Day

National Pineapple Upside Down Cake Day

April 21

Kindergarten Day (1837)

Red Baron Day

San Jacinto Day (Texas, 1874)

St. George's Day (Newfoundland)

April 22

April Showers Day

Earth Day

Jelly Bean Day

April 23

Conch Republic Independence Celebration

(Key West, Florida –Conch Republic Founded 1982)

Picnic Day

William Shakespeare's Birthday (1564)

World Book & Copyright Day

April 24

National Puppetry Day

Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day

April 25

ANZAC Day

(Australia and New Zealand)

Arbor Day

National Crayola Day

National Telephone Day

National Zucchini Bread Day

Red Hat Society Day

April 26

Hug a Friend Day

Hug an Australian Day

National Bird Day

National Pretzel day

National Static Cling Day

Richter Scale Day

April 27

Morse Code Day

Mule Day

National Arbor Day

(Actual date varies by state)

Prime Rib Day

April 28

Gone-ta-pott Day

Kiss your mate day

National Blueberry Pie Day

National Hairball Awareness Day

(I hope this means Cat Hairballs!)

Poetry Reading Day

Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day

April 29

National Shrimp Scampi Day

April 30

International Walk Day

Mr. Potato Head Day

National Oatmeal cookie day

Raisin Day

Now, to help celebrate April and Spring I have a set of stamps and a nice little assortment of flowers looking for a new home!

To enter to win, simply post a comment telling us what you would name yourself  if you could...  (Name Yourself Day April 9th).

You have until April 16th to post your new chosen name to be entered to win!!

Good Luck Friends

and

Happy April!!! 

Just For Fun Friday - It's Spring!!

I'm not very good at April Fool's Day... I was always the ding-dong everyone played the jokes on...so I figured I wouldn't even try to fool you all. 

I hope you all make it through the day w/o being tricked today!

Today I thought I'd celebrate Spring since it's finally here ~ at least on the calendar ;)

The first card is just a fun birthday card with a spring-y flair to it...

 

And this card is another Easter card that I really messed up.  As I was moving things around I unknowingly raked something across my wet Liquid Pearls :S  Sooo I tried to fix em up as best I could for the photo...I'm going to re-do it when I have more time cause I really like the card.

Be sure to check out the Just For Fun blog to see what the rest of the team has been up to this week :)

I'll be back a bit later with

April's Holiday's and Observances List

 and

an another fun give-a-way!

See you then!