Covering How to Books and Catalogs

I came across an idea of using the 9x9 Album Protectors to cover the How To Books from CTMH. It keeps the covers protected and in really good shape.
After covering all my books I got to thinking would this also work for the Idea Book? I am going through that book so many times during the 4 months they are current that the covers get pretty torn and bent and dirty by the end of the 4 months. Since they are still a very valuable book to continue to use and order from even after the next one comes out I thought why not try the same 9x9 Album Protector to cover it. It worked like a charm!! It just needs a little tweaking and you're in business.
For the back cover you cut both of the flaps off. I measured the cover size and trimmed the back cover to that size. You end up with a piece that is closed on 3 sides with the 1 open side the side you cut a straight line removing both flaps and the extra.
The front cover is done a bit differently. You leave the long flap alone and just trim from the other flap with the holes in it. That flap is totally removed along with a bit more.
The first set of pictures are of the Idea Book. With the covers being clear I realize it is a little hard to see. The picture of the back view has the flap from the front cover inserted into the back cover. I have it held in place with a few glue dots. The second set of pictures is showing one of the 5 How To Books from CTMH. This one is one of two card books. It has the same Album Protector on as the Idea Book. With this book and all the other books you have a tighter fit and use more of the protector. Not as much is trimmed off. The Album Protectors are thick and sturdy. Making them ideal for this additional way of using them. I had seen the use for the How To Books from another web site. (I can't think of it right now) After doing them is when I decided to try it on the Idea Book as well.  If you want to protect your Idea Books and/or How To Books this is an inexpensive quick and easy way to do it. Give it a try!!

My Stamp storage system

I thought I would show you what I do for both storing and keeping track of what stamp sets I have.  So I don't buy the same one twice lol and so I know what I have when working on a project I developed this system.

There are 3 parts to it.

1. The storage portion.
I have drawers that I have them sorted by categories. You will notice the different colors. The CTMH Idea Book is divided into sections. Sentiments, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Alphabets, Celebration, Everyday Life etc. Each category is a CTMH color on the sleeve in the stamp envelope. So in this picture the pink is Blush and that means Sentiments, the next one is Alphabets which is Indian Corn blue and the last one showing is Spring in Buttercup. The colored sleeves give a quick reference to the group of stamps you are looking for.
I also have them in order by the item number within there group.
2. The Binder

Shown here is an album that I have the picture of each stamp set I have in a sleeve. You see the colored tabs along the side? Those are the actual color cardstock that matches the sheet in each stamp set. So I have Sentiments and then all the stamps I own following that tab. There is a tab for each group that CTMH sells.



3. The Notebook. It is a notebook that lists each of my stamps in the same order as shown above.This notebook also holds all the other products sold by CTMH so I can check if I have it and know what I still want to buy. I used the same card stock tabs to identify the stamp set categories.

This system is working really good for me. I can find what I want easily and quickly. It is really nice for discovering all the stamps within a stamp set that I don't know about or remember they are in the set.
Thanks for looking.

I Have a Tip for Today

Today I have a quick little entry but I think it is very useful information. If you own a Cricut and you love to use CTMH papers here are a couple things to know.

1. Cut using the "Flip" mode if you don't want the white to show on your raw edge.
2. Use these settings as a guide when cutting CTMH papers with your Cricut.
    a. For Basic style cuts >1" use the Regular blade
      blade depth-5  speed-5 and  pressure-4
    b. For Intricate cuts < 1" in size use the Regular blade
       blade depth-3  speed-1  pressure-2

All of our machines are different so check yours but this at least gives you a guide that works in many cases.

Bow Easy Part 2

I am going to include a video today that I found on You Tube. Her name is Jerri and she does a very good job of showing how easy it is to make perfect bows every time.




Now that you see how to make the bows here is that trick I mentioned in Part 1.   The trick is to show that the bow looks like it was tied onto the ribbon on the card when it really is attached with a glue dot.

See the sheer ribbon on the left side of the card? I have placed this here and taped it on the back of the bamboo colored cardstock. Do this all before attaching to the green card.

Here is the trick. You take a piece of thread and tie it around the ribbon where you are going to place your bow. See how it crunches up? That is what gives the illusion that the bow has been tied onto the flat ribbon piece. You would trim the threads and then......

Add the bow with a glue dot. Of course I made the Bow with the Bow Easy too!!!

A very quick and easy trick but very effective I think.

I will be back tomorrow with all the details on how to make this card. I have another little trick in the making of this card.

 Hint: It has something to do with the ornament.

See you then.

Have you heard of the Bow Easy???

I don't have a project today for you but I do have a fantastic tool to tell you about. I am going to do it 2 parts. So today will be Part 1 and tomorrow I will be back with Part 2.
It is called the Bow Easy.
It is a small plastic tool that makes perfect bows every time. You can make 7 different sizes too!!! The sizes are 3/4", 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8", 1 3/4", 2 3/8"2 3/4". Come back tomorrow with  a video for you to watch I found on You Tube and a little trick for my Part 2.
First here is the Bow Easy

I have the smallest size bow shown here. Let's face it trying to tie a bow this small by hand is not the easist to do. But with this little tool it is a breeze!!

Here is an example of all 7 sizes in order from the top down. I made a double looped bow for the largest size. I also used a variety of types of ribbons such as satin, sheer, and grosgrain.

Come back tomorrow for Part 2.

Homemade Glue Dots

Check out this video from Crafty Chica

It is so easy to do and very cost effective. Plus they work like a charm. Thank you very much for making this video.

Tip for Embossing

I have been experimenting and trying some different things in my efforts to make working with embossing powders easier.

In an earlier post I mentioned using an Embossing Buddy. It is a product that has a powder inside a little bag that you pounce and /or rub it over your paper before stamping with your Versamark or Embossing ink pad. Then when you apply your Embossing powder it only sticks to the area that has the ink. It removes the static and makes getting the excess off where it doesn't belong and back into the container. Along with using it on your paper I have also discovered that if you rub it over your craft tray it also helps so it pours from the tray easily back into the bottle. The static is removed from there also.

I am not sure how easy it is to find  a Embossing Buddy to buy so I also figured out that you can make your own. Now you all might be way ahead of me and have already made your own or know about it. But just in case you are hearing this for the first time here are the instructions.

Supplies:
a pair of old pantyhose or knee high length hose
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
measuring scoop
stiff bristle brush
small soft bristle brush

1. Take your pantyhose and cut off a leg at the knee.
2. Place 2 tablespoons of cornstarch  in a toe of the stocking.
3. Tie a knot close to the bulk of the contents.
4. To  give it more body and a thicker level for the cornstarch to go through fold the nylon back over itself and tie a knot.
5. Trim off excess. Now you have your own homemade embossing buddy.

Using one of these makes embossing a much more pleasant experience.

To Emboss:
1. Rub the paper with the embossing buddy.
2. Take the stiff brush and brush off any extra cornstarch.
3. Stamp
4. Pour on the embossing powder.
5. Use the soft brush to brush any loose particles of embossing powder
6. Heat with heat gun until melted.


Give it a try and see what you think.

Glitter Anyone?

I posted a few days ago about using the Glue pad as one way of using Glitter. Today I want to show you another way when working with Glitter. I got a kit from Martha Stewart that is a card kit using glitter and sticker paper. This method is using a die that is cut from sticker paper. The individual cuts are peeled off and glitter applied. Doing the smallest areas first works the best. I also found that after applying the glitter pat it on the area before dumping off the excess. That helps to give a more solid filled in look on the sticker paper. The examples that I have here are the results of this method. I will return with them on a card or finished project in the future.

 

 

 

They really sparkle in person. Now I am wondering if you used sheets of Score Tape or some other sticker paper and you punched out a design or cut a design if it would work the same way? I have another product which is a Rub On that can also be glittered. I will give that a try next and let you know what I discover. 

ENJOY!!

Have you tried a glue pad?

There are some questions that have come my way about using a Glue Pad. There are a few different ways of using a Glue Pad but I am going to talk about stamping and using glitter with a Glue Pad.

Supplies:
Glue Pad
Stamp of choice
Cardstock- orange and black
Glitter-Black from Martha Stewart
 Cricut & Mini Monograms
Bowl of  warm water
1/8" hole punch
Black 1/8" ribbon

In my example I took a pumpkin stamp and  instead of ink I pressed it onto a glue pad.
Stamp as you normally would onto your cardstock or paper

* VERY IMPORTANT  wash your stamp immediately. You don't want the glue to dry onto the stamp. If it does it will ruin your stamp.  You will want to have a bowl of  warm wateras part of your supplies. Drop your stamp in the warm water right after stamping. This will dissolve the glue.

Sprinkle glitter over the image
Knock off excess glitter and Viola you have a Glittered image.

I used Black glitter from Martha Stewart.  I cut the image out and then  pop dotted the pumpkin on a scalloped square cut from my Cricut and Mini Monograms. If you are in my Fiskars monthly product swap  you may recognize these when you get your package.

See you again tomorrow for another tip or technique.

I have a Cricut Tip for you today...

For all of you Cricut lovers out there....This is a you tube video for a really cool technique when using the Cricut. This video  was done by Clever Someday. She calls it a Hinge Technique for cutting out printouts. She explains it very well and I am so glad I stumbled upon this. All the credit goes to her of course. I just wanted to share it with all of you. Be sure and stop by her site to see lot's more.

I gave it a try and here is my result.

This is the first couple of steps I am showing here. The paper was attached in the hinge fashion with blue painters tape. I moved my mouse down to the paper and in a bit and took note of those numbers that appeared on the screen. Make note of these so you can complete this technique. Mine were 1 1/4 for the Left/Right and 4 1/4 for the In/Out. I then cut a 3 1/2" circle out of the red cardstock. Then I placed my design I had made under this circle.

Step 2 This is showing you my design now placed on the mat.

Step 3: I have brought up the red card stock to make sure I like how I have my design placed within that circle. I would now bring the red paper down and proceed to cut the 3 1/2" circle out of the square that is now on the mat.

Step 4: Here is my end result of my design cut out.

I  made my design using a different way then she did. I wanted to show you another way of getting  a printout you could use in doing this. So I used Microsoft Word 2007. I used the Word Art function and a circle shape to make the Merry Christmas part of this. I printed that out on white card stock. Then I stamped my Owl and holly. I used Markers and Glitter and Stickles to finish decorating the owl.  I cut it in a square large enough to handle and be able to center under my cut circle.

With this technique you could make a number of different sizees and different shapes. I hope you give it a try and see what you can come up with.

Thanks again to Clever Someday for this video and instruction.