Saturday, September 21

Bits and Pieces Part 3

I survived my first week at my new job... yeah!  In celebration, I cleaned house... yeah again!  And since I don't feel like going anywhere, I really want to clean my planet and do a lot of crafting.  Yeah?  Yeah.

Anyway, here are the last two cards from my Bits and Pieces series.  



The olive green layer behind the sentiment is a leftover cut from one of my projects with Cricut.


Materials used:
cardstock/dp:  DCWV, leftovers
image/sentiment:  RAKed
tools:  Spellbinders, EK Success
spellbinders:  ribbon, buttons (Sticko)
adhesive:  Scotch, Glue Dots, mounting tape

 


The sentiment is not stamped.  It's one of those that come in kits.  I can't remember which kit this sentiment came from.


Materials used:
cardstock/dp:  leftovers
tools:  EK Sucess, Cuttlebug
embellishments:  rhinestones
adhesive:  Scotch, mounting tape


'Til next blog!

Thursday, September 19

Bits and Pieces Part 2

So much stuff to do and so little time!  

Well, at least in my planet.  

I like to make plans.  I have many plans.  But the sad thing is, even if I have an entire day off, I still barely accomplish anything.  My planet is full of stuff I can create with for many years.  And as much as I want to, I can't help but add more to these piles of stuff.  Then I make more plans.  And the wheel keeps on turning. 

You all know what I mean.    

Anyway, here are two more cards I made last weekend:





Materials used:
cardstock/dp:  leftovers
image/sentiment:  Verve
tools:  Spellbinders, Stampin' Up, EK Success
embellishments:  bling
adhesive:  Scotch, mounting tape


I love how this card shows the use of leftover cardstock.

 


Materials used:
cardstock/dp:  leftovers
image/sentiment:  RAKed
tools:  Martha Stewart, Spellbinders
embellishments:  Forever in Time, 3 Birds Design
adhesive:  Scotch, Glue Dots, mounting tape
misc.:  yarn


That's it for today.  I guess I have nothing more to say, but I'll do my best to keep creating.  We shouldn't stress about planning too much, right?  We should just do what is fun.

'Til next blog!

Tuesday, September 17

Bits and Pieces Part 1

This week started with a lot of new things.  For one, I had a new hair cut.  Well, my hair is still long, but added some layers.  I guess you can still consider that new.  There are still some other new things, but I'd rather not disclose that for now.

Last weekend, however, I made a bunch of cards from leftover materials and RAK images and sentiments.  I purged a good number of cardstock and dp and donated them to the Scrapbooking class in one of our schools.  Then I discovered some die cuts and embossed cardstock from previous projects.  So I decided to keep them and made sure to make cards with.

So here's a couple of cards, making this post a 3-part series.

For this card, the base was originally cut with a Spellbinders die.  So I patched it up, then added a couple of layers of elements and bling.




Materials used:
cardstock/dp:  leftovers
image/sentiment:  RAKed
tools:  Spellbinders
embellishments:  Want2Scrap, The Paper Studio
adhesive:  Scotch, mounting tape


When I found this embossed cardstock, it already had some color on it.  I figured it would be nice to make  a white card with some touch of color.

 


Materials used:
cardstock/dp:  leftovers
image/sentiment:  RAKed
tools:  EK Success, Tim Holtz
embellishment:  yarn
adhesive:  Scotch, mounting tape


Nothing too fancy with these cards.  I just limited myself to the leftover materials I dug from my stash.  I'm just glad that I was able to make cards this weekend - a good way to end a very busy week.

'Til next blog!

Monday, September 9

Molded


Several times have I played with melted UTEE and poured them in ceramic and metal molds.  You can see samples below:

UTEE via ceramic mold

UTEE via metal mold

UTEE really follows the shape of any mold I have used so far, making them perfect for use as embellishments or even for jewelry making.

During my last visit at Joann's, I saw this mold from Mod Podge called Mod Molds.  It's meant to make Mod Melts, which you can use as embellishments and more.  The Mod Melts come in sticks and is melted with a Glue Gun.




Browsing through the Plaid Website, I also learned that they make the Martha Stewart molds for their clay.




So when I had the chance, I took out my stash of molds.


Ceramic Mold


Metal Mold

Plaid Push Mold

Wilton Fondant and Gum Paste Mold


My experiment was to try and see if all these molds will work with a melted regular glue stick.  Here are the results.


 

I learned that melted glue sticks work best with silicone-based molds like those below.




 

 


The quality is not as good with the metal mold.  The cool temperature of the metal doesn't give the glue enough time to take the shape of the mold.




The worst was with the ceramic mold.  There are lots of air pockets, for some reason.




The attempt with the push mold was a failure.  It couldn't take the heat of the melted glue and they started to fuse together.





So I tried to give it another shot by spraying oil on the mold first.  The melted glue didn't stick as much, but the shape was not so good either.  And it left a residue on the mold as well.

  
Left:  without oil     /     Right:  with oil

I guess I'll just reserve the push mold with clay or something similar. 

Now I'm interested to try the Mod Melts itself.  It seems the consistency is the same as melted UTEE, only they come in sticks.  I'm actually thinking of melted wax too, as I have those.  That's going to be my next experiment.

'Til next blog!

Friday, September 6

Left Over P3

TGIF!  Mine didn't start so well though.  I had a minor accident spilling a very hot drink on my lap while driving to work this morning.  To make the long story short, I had to stay home.  So no excuse for me not to post anything today.

Here's my third card for this series.  I used the following elements:



 


This is actually my favorite of the three.  I love how the Martha Stewart Punch-Around-The-Page goes so well with the main die cut.




Materials used:
cardstock/dp: Recollections, K & Co., leftovers
image/sentiment:  Inkadinkado
ink:  Tsukineko
tools:  Cricut Expressions, Spellbinders, Martha Stewart
embellishments:  Sticko, silver pearls
etc.:  Tsukineko embossing powder
adhesive:  Scotch, Glue Dots, mounting tape







Have a great weekend, crafty friends!  'Til next blog....

Wednesday, September 4

Left Over P2

I was on a roll last Friday -  I was able to make 3 huge cards.  If you haven't seen the first part of this series, you can click here.

For the second card, I used these main elements:




I opted for a horizontal orientation this time, using the wedding theme again.  Verve stamps is one of my favorites for wedding cards.



Materials used:
cardstock/dp:  The Paper Company, leftovers
image/sentiment:  Verve
ink:  Tsukineko
tools:  Cricut, Spellbinders, heat gun
embellishments:  Darice, 3BirdsDesigns
adhesive:  Scotch, Glue Dots, mounting tape




The last part of this series will be posted next.

'Til next blog!

Monday, September 2

Left Over P1

During the process of making my best friend's wedding invitations earlier this year, I had lots of cut materials and stamped images left over.  I made several cards with some of them (click here and here to see), and I made note cards which were placed on the wedding reception tables (top right of the picture below) for guests to write messages on.



Last Friday, I managed to clear my craft desk and craft room floor... woot!!!

Then I came across a bunch more leftovers from the wedding invitations - more of  the samplers I made for my friend.  So I made three big cards (8.5 x 5.5) using some of these leftovers.  Making this post first of a series of three.

For this first card,  I went for a vertical design using this image cut with Cricut Expressions and sentiment originally made for the wedding invitation slider.




Most of the tools I used are edge punches by Martha Stewart and EK Success.  The embellishments are mainly by Prima (washi tape and trim). 



Materials used:
cardstock/dp:  The Paper Company, leftovers
image/sentiment:  Verve
ink:  Tsukineko
tools:  Cricut, Spellbinders, Martha Stewart, EK Success
embellishments:  Prima, Darice
adhesive:  Scotch, Glue Dots, mounting tape





It sure feels great to make cards again.  Looking back at my old blog posts, the last card I made was in early June.  That was almost three months.  It's time to catch up with the card making.

'Til next blog!