diy gift wrap

I’m always looking for different ways to wrap gifts – especially those ideas that use supplies I already have on hand!  While looking through Pintrest (which is a site where you can spend hours looking at so be careful going there) I saw this photo of some DIY gift wrap, created by Summer Watkins, a designer who specializes in weddings.

The one that caught my eye was the first package in the second row – which looks like ribbons made into a flower.  I followed the link and found the instructions on how to make this HERE.   This is such an easy project – one I will do not only for gift wrapping but for card fronts as well.    I don’t have a project of my own to show today, but I will soon.

I’ll be off line for the next week or so and will check in soon!!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

making baker’s twine

I love the fact that paper crafters are so resourceful!  Baker’s Twine has been hot in the past year or so and leave it to a crafter to find a way to make their own!  I found this tutorial on The Frugal Crafter’s website via SCS on how to make your own Baker’s Twine and it could not be any simpler.  All you need is crochet thread, a ruler, and some markers.  I used Copics, but probably any type of marker will do.  Here is a photo of my first try:

 

This was sooo  easy!  I can now coordinate my twine with the colors on my card.  And it cost so little.  I had to purchase a skein  of crochet thread – which was about $3.  This roll will last me forever and I only have to make what I need at one time so I don’t have to store a bunch of small, different colored pieces of twine in my craft room.  

This is such a great idea and want to thank The Frugal Crafter for posting the video!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Color Lab for Copics

Hello friends! 

It’s Christmas Eve – are you ready for tomorrow?  I’ve got a dessert to make today and some gifts to deliver but that’s it!  It’s time to relax and enjoy the season.

I wanted to share a website that I just found out about.  It’s called “My Create Ink Color Lab” and it’s a great resource if you use copic markers and need ideas for color combinations.

The site is similar to the Color Combo site for Stampin Up where you select a color or two, click,  and the computer generates a color combo swatch for you.

This site takes all 330 plus copic colors and does the same thing.  And it lets you lock in favorite color swatches.  Now, since this site takes in all the copic markers sometimes it is a little slow (or it may just be my computer!) but I think this is one great resource!

Here is the link:   COPIC COLOR LAB

Merry Christmas!!

when 120 colored pencils are not enough…..

First – check out this photo I found while surfing the net – it’s a fence made to look like prisma pencils!!!

In yesterday’s post I showed the Prismacolor pencil blank chart I found on the their web site.  I spent part of the day filling in the chart with all the prisma pencils I have.

When I was finished  coloring in the chart, I was missing 12 pencils.  How did that happen????    Colors with names like Seashell Pink, Black Rasberry, Caribbean Sea, China Blue, Kelly Green, Expresso…..and so on. 

I found myself wanting to color with these particular shades – you’d think 120 pencils would be enough, but sometimes you just need that right shade of blue to make things come together.

So I checked out the Prisma site and it seems when I originally purchased my pencils (ages ago)  I bought the 120 box set and not the 132 box set – probably because the store only sold the 120 set.  Of course the 132 box set contains these 12 colors.

sigh…..

So – I’m trying to find if there is a place that sells just these 12 pencils as a set.  They are in the sequential number range of 1092 through 1103, ao I’m hoping that they may have been issued together as a new set at some time.  Otherwise I’ll have to buy them individually.

In the meantime, I’ll have to make due with 120 colors!!!!

Prisma pencil color chart

All I can say is….where have I been all this time!!!

I’ve been thinking about making up a color chart for prisma pencils.  I visited the Prismacolor web site ages ago, figuring they would have something, but there was nothing on their site at that time.

So yesterday I was surfing along and decided to see if the Prismacolor site had been update since I last visited. Lo and behold –  I found this great prisma color chart!  I don’t know how long it’s been on their site, but I am glad to have found it!  Here is the link:

Prisma pencil blank color chart

It’s 11 x 17 size, but I printed it out on 8.5 x 11 –  a little hard to read some of the numbers, but I wanted it on a letter size sheet of cardstock because it is handier for me.  It has little icons of pencils along with the color name and number – which allows you to color in a portion of the icon for your color chart.  I like the fact that they have the colors sorted by color family (ie all the yellows together, then the oranges,  etc) which makes it easy to find a grouping of similar colors for shading. 

So….I’ve started filling in the chart with the colors I own – here is a little look at how it’s coming….I hope to finish later on today.

 I hope you find this useful.  Thanks for stopping by!

stamp storage update

Hello friends!

Just wanted to update you on my stamp storage situation!  As I said in my previous posts, I’ve taken all of my clear stamp sets from their boxes and put them inside envelopes with a copy of the images on the outside of each envelope.  These are then stored in a canvas box, which fits inside a rolling cart.

Today, I just finished sorting out the stamps by category.  I created 15 categories (this will probably increase once I start converting my unmounted rubber to this system) and made file dividers for each category.  Here is a photo.

The file dividers are very low tech – chipboard cut down to 5 x 12.  Then I typed file folder labels for each category, attached them to a piece of scrap cardstock and stapled them to the top of the chipboard.  I’ll be able to add or change the names of categories easily!

Here’s my problem.  I’ve tried to make category names that are specific, yet general enough so that  I don’t have one stamp per category.  The problem I have with a few sets is that they contain primary images that fall into more than one category.  For example, I have a set that has a large heart as well as a large butterfly.  I’ve put the set in the “love” category for now, but it could easily be placed in the “winged things” category. 

For those of you who sort their stamps by category, what do you do in this situation?

Thanks for stopping by!

Copic and Prisma storage and color chart

On yesterday’s post Carol from Australia (hi Carol!) commented about the canvas box full of envelopes containing my clear stamp sets and was wondering if I was going to add tabs or some type of identification for the stamp categories so that when they are sorted each category can be found quickly.  The answer is yes!!!!  I’m in the process of figuring out the best material for the dividers (cardstock is too flimsy, so heavy chipboard may be the answer) and  how to make the tabs themselves.  Once I am done with sorting and tabbing everything I will post another photo.

I used to store my copic markers in a  plastic bin sorted by the color blend groups sold by Flourishes.  I kept them in their original packages but the little bags were starting to get torn.  For my prisma pencils they were all just in a small plastic bin and I’d have to rummage through them to find the colors I needed.  Here is my latest storage system for both.

Copics

 Prismas

Here’s a close up of the copic markers.  The cute buckets are from the Target $1 area and hold about 24 sketch markers.  I’ve sorted them in each bucket by general color group (reds, blues, greens, etc.)

 

Now that I have the markers and pencils nicely (and neatly!) displayed by general color group I wanted to have a handy reference chart available for each.  Here is what I’ve come up with so far.

For the copics you can get a blank color chart where you fill in the boxes as you purchase markers to keep track in one place of the colors you have.  The chart is found HERE.   There are a couple of online stores that sell copics in color groups and have color charts specifically for their groups.  Flourishes and Papertrey are two stores that sell in this manner and I’ve printed out Flourishes groupings for my reference.  Their charts fit on an 8.5″ x 11″ sheet and fit in a plastic page protector. 

For prismas, a blank color chart can be found on this SCS thread HERE.  This is a wonderful chart ( available in excel or word) and is a great way to keep track of what colors you have.  I printed out this chart and colored  in the blank spaces just below each name with that color pencil and now have a great reference chart.    That was good to start with for prismas, but I wanted a chart similar to what Flourishes does with their copics – a chart showing natural color blend groups.  So….what I started to do was as I use my prismsa and find a small group (3 or 4 pencils) of colors that blend well I note them in a journal I created.  Eventually I will have a record of my favorite blends and can create a master grouping.  I just started doing this – here is a photo the journal and a close up of one page. 

 

 

The journal was created with my Bink-It-All ( I love that machine!!!) and has good quality card stock inside.  You can do this type of art journal not just for copics or prismas, but any type of marker.  It’s a great way to keep a reference of color blends that have worked for you!

Thanks for stopping by today!

stamp storage – progress is made!

This canvas box measures 13.25″ square and about 6″ tall.  Do you know what it contains?

109 CLEAR STAMP SETS!!!

In an effort to save space and get organized, I spent much of yesterday and this morning taking my stamp sets from their clear boxes and switching them to envelopes.  Envelopes are a simple, inexpensive and space saving solution to storing most unmounted stamps.  This method has been around for decades and it was time for me to get back to basics.

I was fortunate because several years ago Orvil’s granddaughter had given me several boxes of envelopes – her office was going to through them away!!!  Can you believe that?   They are Domlar brand and measure 4.75 x 6.5 ”  – this makes them perfect for many clear sets.  I was able to get all my “4 x 6 ” sets and most of my “8 x 6” sets in these  envelopes.    Here is a photo of the outside of one of the envelopes.

First – I cut the flap off the envelope.  Then I made a copy  of the imaging sheet (reduced to about 90% of actual size)  that comes with the set and taped it to the front of the envelope.  If you don’t have the imaging sheet you can pull the photo off the vendors website, or just stamp the image on the front. 

Inside the envelope is the stamp set and the actual imaging sheet.   I prefer to keep the original image sheet with the stamp set just in case I need it in the future.

So – the canvas box works great, but what is even better is this cart that they fit in. The canvas box on top of the cart contains acrylic blocks and tools I use on a daily basis. 

All the components are from the Itso Storage system from Target.  I love the rolling cart – it is placed next to my chair by my stamp table.  And because I was able to  fit over 100 stamp sets in one draw  – they are instantly at my fingertips!   My next step in this process would be to sort them by category (ie florals, holiday, etc). 

And – the second draw is completely empty!  Which means I have to start working on converting my unmounted rubber to envelopes.   The one drawback to doing this is coming to the realization of how many stamps I actually have, which is way too many!

Thanks for stopping by today…I’m working on a simple idea for my copic  marker collection and will share that as soon as it is done.

neverending stamp storage issues!

Once again I am revamping how I store my stamps. 

Since my collection continues to grow but the square footage of my stamp room remains unchanged I’m at the point of having to redo things.

I’ve gone from binders (which I will probably keep for some of my stamps) to the Stamping Up style boxes (too big), CD cases (too flimsy and small), to Flourishes Boxes (nice size but still take up too much space) to SU’s new DVD style boxes (again a nice size but too much space)..to my latest solution…..

When I first started stamping ages ago, I’d go to stamp conventions and almost every vendor that sold unmounted stamps had them in envelopes with the images stamped on the outside of the envelope.  This seems to me very low tech, and not very attractive but so many people use this method and swear by it.  You can store a ton of stamps this way.   I think it was time to let “old” be “new” again.

So…I’m about 1/3 of the way done transferring my clear sets to envelopes  (haven’t even touched my UM rubber) and I will post  a photo or two of the results when I am done!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Happy New Year!!!

I mentioned in my last post about my crafting goals – one of which was to expand my horizons, to push myself more with my stamping and try something different.

This first post of the year gets me off to a good start!  First, its a bookmark, not a card, second it has a collage-y and vintage-y look – which I tend to shy away from since I don’t feel comfortable with that style, and lastly I used a cutting stencil in the corners – a tool that I’ve had for ages and just never seemed to use!

I’m happy with the way it turned out!  I also realized that I have alot of “time/clock” related image.  I used 9 different ones on this tag, and probably have that many more that I did not use!!! The stamps are from either  Above the Mark or Limited Edition, but they are all unmounted and I failed to write the stamp company name on them, so if you recognize any of the stamps and they are not from either of these two stamp companies, please let me know so that I can give proper credit.

The main panel was stamped and masked with a variety of Ancient Page inks – browns, blacks, greys, rusts, etc. and sponged around the edges.  The main clock face is popped up.  You can’t tell from the photo but the charm at the top of the tag is a clock face – and it is a new year miracle that I was actually able to find a clock charm in my stash of stuff!!

The main panel was mounted on a piece of scrapbook paper that looked like sand – I was able to use it without any sponging! 

Take a closer look at the corners.  I used an Incire cutting stencil to cut the paper, then folded the cut part down to reveal the black cardstock underneath.  Have you used these types of stencils?  I’ve had them for years, hardly ever use them, but thought the look would be right for this bookmark.

Incire stencils are made of metal (like the brass stencils), and they have sections cut on the stencil where you use a kraft knife to cut, then fold the cut part over.  I’m not sure if that makes sense!!  Here is a look at a sample stencil – its not the one I used for the bookmark, but you get the idea.

I hope the year is starting off well for you – thanks for stopping by!