I have a special crafty friend that lives clear across the United States from me, but that hasn't hampered our friendship's growth. Recently she got a new puppy, believe it or not the first dog she's ever owned. Well her excitement has been infectious so I knew I had to create something special just for her.
This is Coco, the love of Miss Paula's life now. Isn't she just a sweetheart?
I'd love for you to pop over to my YouTube channel and take a look at the heart shaped mini I made for Coco and Paula. This was a pre-shaped chipboard mini consisting of 8 heart shaped pages.
I also have a short 'what and how I did it' video, not the whole process just some thoughts and ideas I'd like to share for anyone thinking of using a pre-shaped mini. Years ago this is what many of us made before we ventured into the start from scratch kind. They both, in my opinion still have a certain place in our crafty studios.
I'm back again today with a tag or card, whichever you prefer to call it, using more of my crafty room scraps. I used several different paper collections in this tag, both sizes of the Graphic 45 Alphabet tags and other embellishments from my stash. As always check the video link at the end of this post to get the complete process of how I made my tag along with tips and ideas for using your own crafty scrap stash.
I store my 6x6 and 8x8 paper pads in a bin on my shelves and leftovers from paper collections either by themes or manufactures in 13x13" art bins in my wire shelving unit. For this card/tag I pulled Websters Pages papers and a Victorian Valentine pad my friend Paula had gifted me from the 6x6's and then looked in my art bin labeled Love/Marriage. In here I toss remnants of paper lines that pertain to love and romance. I found an old Basic Grey sticker sheet from the Bittersweet Collection (circa 2008!) I found great cut aparts from Authentiques Adore collection, I think that's a couple years back. The jist of it is if you group things together you can pull them out and begin seeing what piece from this will go with what piece from that. It's amazing how you can cross over manufactures and collections for your project.
I had some white doily paper hearts in my stash and I lightly shaded them to dull down the white and let the color scheme flow better with the natural tones of the paper. By backing the thin doily with paper you can form a pocket while strengthening the paper. I also slit the paper (upper left) along the curved line to create a second pocket on the front for the tuck in tag you see in the first photo. I love slitting through the paper when I'm trying to preserve the image. You don't loose any of the picture part but you can create an additional useable accent.
One of my favorite parts of this project was running across this die from Creative Expression by Sue Wilson, I love her dies. This one was perfect to create an addition pocket on the back side to slip the cut apart in. I used a tinted glassine bag (gifted from Manuela) to slide the cut apart into.
Come and spend a few minutes with me on the video where I can share more of what I've created here and inspire you to dig into those crafty scraps you have in your own art space. Thanks for stopping by, Patti
Hi everyone I decided I'd use up some of my crafty room stash and make either embellishment clusters, tags or cards. For this first experiment I ended up with a pretty 5x7" card. What do you think?
I pulled out a handful of 6x6" paper, which I'm really bad about using anymore. I also found two boxes of Graphic 45 Alphabet Banner tags. I never use these and thought they'd make great bases for cluster elements or card fronts. I still love that they have these fabulous grommets at the top and wanted to be able to utilize them in something revamped. I used some old packaging acetate and made templates that were 1/4" smaller than the tags so I can cut mats to decorate them with. Since the middle is cut out where the letters are I wanting a backing for stability.
I have a bin that has die cuts in it. Ones I've cut and didn't use, just odds and ends. I found the arrow and leaves in this bin and used a jar of Nuvo Mousse to give them shimmer. Mind you I've had the Mousse for well over a year and never used it. It dried out from sitting around being neglected for so long. The jar says you can add water and that's what I did. It's not the soft creamy texture it was to begin with but it still gave a gorgeous glimmer to my die cuts.
Another thing that's been stashed on a shelf is this wonderful dictionary I bought at a paperback book store. I love the look of torn pieces of it on my cards or art. Since my image on the front is a frog and fairy I thought it would be great to incorporate the word Believe (like kiss a frog, get a prince, you know believe the impossible). You can see how I've torn and inked the edges and placed them on the card front on the picture above. The word stickers, oh my goodness they were a Tuesday Morning find I just had to have, and really I'm so glad I got them but I rarely used them, will today was the day and they were perfect, just the right size, just the right sentiments. So Hoorah! I've used up bits and pieces that have just being laying around and have a new card as well.
If you follow my channel you know I always like to put something on the inside. Here's a sampling of the inside, more die cuts with the Nuvo Mousse, another sticker, some seam binding and a great journaling spot.
Come on over to my YouTube channel and check out the process video. I'll share lots of tips and ideas for using up your crafty scraps. Thanks so much for stopping by!
