Valentine Flashback

These fun paperclips were done for the Valentine's Day segment on EveryDay with Marcus & Lisa. This is not only quick and easy but WAY cute to make anytime. Just change your paper/embellishments for any occasion...but hey! it's always appropriate to say I LOVE YOU! I made the Love Notes for my husband. It actually has a magnet on the back so that I can leave notes for him on the fridge.

The giant paperclips are from Target, but I have also bought them at Wal-Mart. You can find these in the office supplies. I punched two identical shapes, scotch-taped the paperclip onto one of the shapes, then double-sided tape the other punched shape on top....kind of like forming a sandwich with the paperclip in the middle of the paper punches. The large scallop punch I used is the Mega punch by Marvy and the smaller is from Stampin Up! ***The heart is a Heidi Swapp ghost heart but is painted on the back with acrylic paint. love those!***

Seeing these again makes me want to make some more! Perfect time to make some cute ones with fun spring colors and flowers. It's also a great way to use those scraps. :) Please note: these are GIANT paperclips - about 3.5 inches long!

Stamps, Stamps & more Stamps...

My mom has recently gotten the scrapbook & stamping bug. This is a new thing and I must say she has jumped in with both feet! She is always asking questions about what she should buy and why I like it and why I don't so....this is for you, Mom! Love you!

Rubber Stamps aka Wood Mounted Stamps - the advantage to these are that they are well made and will last YEARS. You can't hardly mess one up. They clean up easily too. However, the disadvantage is they are pricey and it is hard to "re-stamp" if you didn't get a clear image the first time.You usually use these with an ink pad but you can also use acrylic paint. ***put on sparingly with a foam brush***
Magnetic Stamps - the advantage is that they are pretty cool. You can make different words with them - write whole paragraphs if you want too as each letter is separate. The disadvantage is the selection is very limited. Actually, there aren't many at all - at least that I know of. I do love mine and use them quite a bit. You can see what I am talking about here. Again, usually used with an ink pad but can use acrylics too.
Foam Stamps - the advantage to these is they are very inexpensive and there are a lot of different designs. Because they are inexpensive, they are a great choice for kid's projects. The disadvantage is that they aren't very durable. You have to be careful not to let your paint/ink stay on them too long and have to be gentle when washing them. I have had a few come off the mounting foam but easily glued them back on. Another disadvantage is that, like rubber stamps, it is hard to "re-stamp" if you didn't get it right the first time. If you take care of them, they will last and I love mine.Use acrylic paints with these - be careful not to overload the stamp with too much paint though. Acrylic Stamps - ok, first just let me say...LOVE THEM! These are awesome. The advantage to these are you can see exactly where you are stamping...did I say EXACTLY??!?!? and if you don't get it right the first time, you can just see straight through the stamp and do it again! Them being clear is also helpful when wanting to over-stamp a totally different image (i'll put up something on this soon). They also have sooo many different stamps and stamps sets to choose from and continue to roll out new ones all the time. The disadvantage to acrylic stamps is that, like wood mounted stamps, they are pricey. However, with the right coupon in hand, definitely never a bad purchase! IMO, you can never have too many of these!! Again, ink pads or acrylics work with these too...tap your paint on with a foam brush being careful not to get in little crevices of the stamp.

***tip - you need an acrylic block to mount your acrylic stamp on (like in the picture above). ***

Now there are interchangeable stamps too....new ones...I don't have any of those yet, believe it or not! They are on my wish list and when I get one I'll be sure and share!

A Little Paint & a Bakery Box

This was a thank you gift to a couple of people a while back....as you can probably tell, one was for a guy and one was for a girl. In wanting to package some homemade cookies in a cute way, I took a plain white bakery box (LOVE those!) and painted one blue using acrylic paint and a foam brush - I pretty much "dry brushed" it . If you are wondering what dry brushing is, I will post a how-to soon. :) I went back and used a cat eye (see***tip***below) to put some grungy highlights on. I added a swirl stamp in the corners - inked it with the cat eye and finished it off with some embellishments. For the guy, I punched a hole and added a ribbon with THANKS stamped on it (YES! you can stamp on ribbon!) and for the girl, a cute tag.
(If you are wondering how I got the swirl on the left to "run off" the oval window, I put a piece of paper over the oval window and stamped the design. When I lifted the paper, I took part of the design and left the other just on the box and not on the acetate.)




***tip*** See the little cat-eye-shaped inker? Well, it is made by Color Box and is a chalk inkpad - they are referred to as cat eyes. (You can buy these at stores like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, JoAnns, & scrapbook stores.) Chalk inkpads are not as wet as regular inkpads which means they have a softer effect and they dry faster. They come in a lot of different colors and are great for inking edges or rubbing across your project but they also can be used to ink your stamps - both of which I did on this box. I personally LOVE them and use them ALL the time!!

What is a Chipboard Coaster?

For those of you are wondering " What in the world is a chipboard coaster?".... Chipboard is pressed recycled paper that can be cut, punched, sanded, painted, glued, etc. It is very versatile. It is what the backing on notebooks & legal pads are mostly made of. A chipboard coaster is a piece of chipboard - usually round or 3 x 3 inches square - like the drink coasters they have at Chili's restaurants. You can purchase these plain, but some have printing already on them. But you don't have to buy them - you can make your own by just cutting the back of a legal pad - or any other piece you find around - to whatever size or shape you need!

Perking up a Chipboard Coaster

This is an easy way to make an already-pretty-cute chipboard coaster even cuter! First you take a chipboard coaster. Then you add dimensional glue to where you want it to be "raised". You could stop here and it would look great, but in this case I sprinkled on some pink glitter. Give it a couple of hours to dry while on a flat surface. Voila! Now I have an awesome looking chipboard coaster!

***tip*** Dimensional glue will hold its shape if left alone on a flat surface. Start from the outside and work in - filling in the space with glue. Be careful of tiny bubbles that will form if you swirl the glue around too much. Since it dries raised, it needs a while to dry. Try to leave it for a few hours or overnight just to make sure you don't mess up your work!

So I finally got a blog.....

Ok...so I officially got a blog. This is in hopes of sharing, in better detail, what stuff I am currently playing with. It could be paper, paint, fabric, icing - heck! it could even be installing a light fixture, dishwasher or attempting any other random project that might come up or need doing around here!