Getting Crafty

Speaking of Martha Stewart, I have some inside scoop: apparently Michaels is now able to mark her products down! If you remember, when Michaels first started carrying her stuff, the one caveat was that this merchandise never went on sale and the handy coupons included in Michaels flyers did not apply to Martha Stewart merchandise. Being an avid coupon clipper and collector (any and all friends who lived within a 15km radius were required to surrender their coupons to me every week), this was devastating news.
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If, like me, you haven’t been to your local Michaels craft store in a while, you may want to get your fanny down there and have a look-see at what is going on.

First up, they have the Great Pumpkin Event. Since this coming weekend is Thanksgiving here in Canada, the event is being held on Saturday October 6. Americans can take part in this event on Sunday and Monday (October 7 and 8 respectively). There is a fee involved ($7 in Canada, $5 in the US-would someone tell them that the Canadian dollar is very close to parity with the American dollar?) but it looks like you’ll be getting your money’s worth. This is a family event so bring the kids (borrow some if need be-their parents will thank you).

I wonder if this is a good time to admit that I don’t get very excited about Halloween. I’m not sure why but the thought of rigging the house out in pumpkins, ghosts and goblins never did get me excited. And costumes? I only put on a costume so that coworkers don’t label me a “loser” or “not a team player”. Nothing thrills me less than having to think up a costume and get all made up, although costumes that require the application of makeup are out automatically. Despite this (see how much of a team player I am?), I encourage you to check out what Michaels has to offer in the way of costume ideas. We all know that making costumes might be more time consuming and expensive than buying them but you cannot beat the quality, fun and personal sense of accomplishment and satisfaction involved in putting together your own costume.

Didn’t I just finish saying that Halloween isn’t my bag? Well after having a gander at what Martha Stewart has in store for the holiday, I might be a bit more open to decorating this year. I really like the spider confetti, decorative tape and 12×12 halloween papers (big surprise that I’m giddy over the paper).

What more is there to say but get thee to a Michaels!

I’m still excited about my latest dollar store finds (I know, I gushed about my finds yesterday).

Today will be more of the same, along with my own ideas of how to use them. If you have a cooler idea, send them over!

Yes, it’s more paper. Yes, I have more paper than I will probably ever use and have taken to using the back of some as notepaper and scrap paper (only the not-so-pretty ones!), just so I can justify buying even more paper. The problem with paper is you never have quite the one you need when you need it, so as a precautionary measure you end up going out and buying as much paper as you can with the hope of avoiding this problem. It doesn’t work.

The top sheet is baby themed. My best friend has plans to start practicing this babymaking business so I may have a reason to use it soon! My three favourite prints from the stash are:

These sheets are only 5 x 5 inches so they can either be cut up for cards, or used to make a mini scrapbook. Alternatively, if they are perfect squares, I could make some origami figures or boxes with them.

Last but not least, I found these alphabet medallions. They are large enough that I wouldn’t want to use them to spell out any names but it would be great for initials. The handy hole in the top allows it to be strung and displayed as part of a charm if needed. String one on before beginning a scoubi keyring to personalize it a bit.

The lesson here is: you don’t need to buy all of your crafting stash from high-end craft stores. Sometimes a well stocked dollar store is just what you need to get started.

I’m not feeling remotely creative, but I can’t stop buying crafting materials. So, to buy myself some more time before actually making something with them, I’m going to show it all off. I’ll show a few today and a few tomorrow and if any brilliant ideas for using them come to mind, do share!

I could not resist these alphabet buttons. They are adhesive, which is a bonus-no need to fumble around with glue or those handy tiny adhesive squares. I see myself using these buttons on a card or in a scrapbook. I’m not a big fan of bumpy things like that in a scrapbook because they can sometimes damage (create indents in) photos that you have on the facing page. These buttons come in quite a few colours and would look cute on a baby themed card (in pink or blue).

If these clips don’t scream “scrapbook”, then I’m not a crafting slacker. Again, I don’t see them inside the book, but on the outside. I think they’d look especially cute on a miniscrapbook, perhaps holding a sheet of paper or a photo that depicts the title or theme of the book. These clips are pretty small and come in some other colours too: a bold pink and blue, but also in more pastel colours.

I saved the best news for last: I found these items at the dollar store! I wasn’t kidding when I said that the dollar store is becoming the new “it” place to buy crafting supplies. Sure, some things are tacky and cheap looking but as reader Sherry said, “Even things that aren’t “good” quality can be made to look expensive depending on what you do.”

Original? Imitate? Those seem to be two words that are at odds so close to each other!

If, like me, you have trouble creating, and often get stuck or at an impasse, focus on imitating as a first step. Through the process of imitating something you like, you might feel inspired to make changes to it, no matter how small. Maybe you’ll change the colour (don’t be afraid to do this-children aren’t!), size or some other aspect of it–this all counts as change, and by making changes you are exerting your personal touch on something, and expressing your individual taste or style. That’s right: you’re slowly but surely working on being more of an original (artwise, that is-you’re already an original). Once you’ve mastered making small changes, try making big changes while keeping the same main idea.
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