Ink Applicator

Hello crafty friends!  For a while, I've been hanging out in the message boards at SplitcoastStampers.  I know a lot of stampers have been unmouting their rubber stamps, and I know somebody would like to get rid of their stamping blocks.  And a few weeks ago, I found somebody from California (Thanks Ching!) and she gave me her wood blocks.

And that's what I want to share with you today.  I figured these stamping blocks can be good ink applicators with the aid of the following materials: Velcro strips and felt.

I bought this box of Velcro for less than $8.  It's industrial strength, but the regular Velcro should be cheaper.  The white felt is leftover from a previous project.

I have a Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Applicator and I love how it works.  But with all the ink pads I have, buying an applicator for each one is just not cost effective for me.  Even with coupons, it would take me forever to buy the applicators for all my ink pads.  That lead me to this idea.  I'm sure with the many creative stampers out there, a bunch of them have already been doing this.

Basically, I just cut the rough strip of Velcro and adhered on one side of my wooden block.  I did the same with my felt, attached it to the velcro and voila!  I have a new ink applicator.  For the first batch of twenty applicators, I used the 3/4 inch stamping blocks, originally alpha stamps:

Now I have an ink applicator for each of my Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads:

And guess what?  They work just like the one bought in stores.  And for less than $10, I now have a big lot of ink applicators.  They are easier to store too.  Can't wait to do this with the other stamping blocks.

'Til next blog!

Brave Boots

Hello everyone!  Today's project features a couple of stamps from the Unity Brave Boots Mr. Itty Bitty set.  Somehow, I was in the mood to make a clear card.  Here it is:

 

The card front is actually a piece of plastic packaging, which I like because it's more sturdy than an acetate sheet.  Both the boots image on the card front and the sentiment inside were heat embossed with Tim Holtz Distress EP in Black Soot.  

Because my card front is clear, the adhesive behind the cardstock with the boots image showed on the other side.  So I adhered the 2nd DP layer on that side to cover the adhesive.

 

This is how it looks like opened.  The message can be written on the blank space, which will be covered by the image on the card front.  You can also see here how I hid the adhesive behind boots image in the front.

Materials used:

cardstock/dp: My Mind's Eye, Wassau, vellum, leftovers

image/sentiment:  Unity

ink:  Tsukineko, Stampin' Up, Prismacolor

tools:  Spellbinders, Janome Sew Mini

embellishmnets:  brads

misc.:  leftover packaging

adhesive:  Scotch

'Til next blog!

Paper Tree

Happy Monday crafty reader!  Last weekend, I wanted to make something different to share with you.  A while back, I cut a bunch of dresses using a QuicKutz wafer thin die.  I have used some of them on some cards and a mini scrapbook.  Since I still had a good number of these cuts, I decided to make this:

The idea came to mind when I curled one of these dress cuts with a bone folder.  Then I dug a styrofoam cone from my stash, and started attaching the curled dress cuts with Glue dots.  The colors are perfect for the coming Autumn season.

And for my topper, I used a Kanzashi flower made with origami paper (Check out my first Kanzashi project by clicking here).

Materials used:

cardstock/dp:  leftovers, origami paper

tools:  QuicKutz die

embellishments:  button, yarn

misc.:  styrofoam cone

adhesive:  Glue Dots

'Til next blog!

9.10.11.

Hello crafty friends!  The other day, DH and I went to the closing-out sale of Borders bookstore.  They were selling everything with discounts up to 80%, even their shop fixtures and display racks.  I wish I had more room in my craft room for those racks.  As expected all the craft books and magazines were gone, except for some knitting books.  But I don't knit, so I looked around in other areas until I got to the humor section.  And I found this:

Ting!  I can make cards out of these hilarious bumper stickers.  Plus at 80% off, that's a sure steal.

The cards I made are 4 x 9.25 to fit No. 10 envies.  Here are the first five:

Enjoy the weekend... 'til next blog!

Miss U

Hello crafty friends!  While browsing through old card making magazines, looking for some inspiration, I saw a card designed and made by Mary Jo Johnston (Card Creations Start to Finish by Paper Crafts Magazine).  I loved her card so much that I just had to CASE it.  But before I show you my card, let me describe Mary Jo's first.  Her square card had a black base, and she used rub-ons for the stitching.  Her card also said "Love U".

And following her design, I made this card:

I stitched with the Janome Sew Mini, and used leftover alpha stickers for "Miss U".

Materials used:

cardstock/dp:  @theoffice, leftovers

ink:  Tsukineko

tools:  Janome Sew Mini, SU label punch

embellishments:  alpha stickers

adhesive:  Scotch

Speaking of CASEing, I blogged about this topic a few years ago.  You can read it here.  And yes, I'd love to know what you think about this issue.

'Til next blog!