Getting Crafty

Have you had time to think about your crafting goals? If not, and if you would like some ideas of goals you could make for yourself, here you go:

Make presents
Perhaps your goal this year could be to make presents rather than buy them for your loved ones and friends. This past holiday season, a “buy handmade” campaign was promoted and with popularity of etsy, buying homemade gifts, even if you can’t make them yourself, was encouraged. A reasonable starting goal would be to make one gift every few months, or a total of four gifts that take a substantial amount of time. If you do find you have extra time, work on making quick projects that can be stocking stuffers for this Christmas, or small add-on gifts. Summer has some great ideas for quick crafts, especially gifts with a Christmas theme.

Explore a new craft technique or art form
If you’re looking to try something new, why not pick up a book on a type of craft you’re unfamiliar with, or sign up for a workshop to learn a new technique? From embossing techniques to digital scrapbooking to jewelry-making, there is a lot out there that might have grabbed your interest or your awe. Take the time to learn how to make your own awe-inspiring creations!

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Sometimes you don’t realize what is involved in an undertaking until you try it yourself. It not always a case of discovering that something is more difficult than you suspected, sometimes you just discover that something has more steps than you thought. That was the case with stamping.

When I made Christmas cards earlier this month, I experimented with stamping on some cards. I didn’t know how to switch ink pad colours on the same stamp without getting the old colour on the stamp except to wait for the first colour to dry, and hope it doesn’t transfer along with the new colour. I tried rinsing the stamps off between uses with water, but that didn’t work. “There must be something meant to clean off stamps,” I thought to myself as I headed to the dollar store this week, and sure enough, there is. I found these solutions at two different dollar stores:

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I can’t resist the dollar store for crafting aids, but I have been very good: I mentally slapped my hand every time it tried to reach for something that I already have a million of (brads) and I didn’t come home with even one package of brads, even though I went to three dollar stores and Wal*mart last night (do I get a medal?)! I even resisted the Christmas papers because I really want to focus on simple colours and using all those darn brads I stockpiled to make this year’s cards.

What did I come home with? Just this adorable set of letters:

Aren’t they cute?

Although I have a few stamp pads, I’ve never really stamped. Kari over at All Paper Arts stamps all the time on her cards and does such a beautiful job that I really should have tried this sooner! These letters convinced me to give stamping a whirl, and I took one of yesterday’s cards and stamped five letters onto it in green ink:

What do you think?

At this rate of adding one small piece to the card each day, the card will be elaborate thing by the time it’s sent…well it would be if I wasn’t sending it tomorrow!

I didn’t quite stop with the stamps. I saw these cute chipboard albums marked at a dollar each and I had to buy one three.

I was attracted to the deep yet bright purple shade immediately, but I hope to take a trip soon and document it in the brown one, and the orange one would make a great gift for a couple of my longterm friends. I also bought some gel pens in festive colours for all that Christmas card writing. Nothing makes the monotony of address envelopes more fun than using brightly coloured pens.

So, if you’re seeking inspiration for either decor or gifts, stop by your local store and see if there isn’t something that you can bring home and build upon!

The whole purpose of the Get Crafty challenges was to encourage participants (gently, mind you) to stop waiting for the perfect time (whenever that is) or waiting until you have all the right materials, or when you’re feeling creative before embarking on a project. If you find yourself waiting for weeks or months for these things to all come together in a certain way before you can finally create, you will probably continue to wait without ever getting anything done (a feeling I know well!).

Sometimes you just have to say “I’m going to do it, no matter what”, grab the supplies you need and get to it. Just as important as doing it is making sure you keep doing it: it’s easy to start things and not finish them, or keep restarting them. These are all traits of a good procrastinator. Many times while making the cards, I wanted to start all over and I really forced myself to work with what I had: if I did something that I didn’t like, I was more likely to cut the offending portion away, or cover it up creatively, or try to convert it into something else rather than start over from scratch. By making your brain work with what you have, rather than giving yourself a clean slate every time, you not only curb your procrastination and reduce the time wasted, but you might stimulate more creativeness in the process by turning something you’d have ordinarily considered junk into something beautiful.

Other ways that you can keep a project going, and prevent yourself from procrastinating on it are:

• gather all the tools and supplies you need ahead of time so you don’t have to keep getting up to get things
• divide your project into pieces and give yourself a deadline for each piece
• tell a friend or family member of your goal and ask them to gently inquire how you’re doing with your plan to complete or reach it.

From the results of yesterday’s challenge (see here, here or here), it’s clear that by choosing a theme (such a Halloween), and an item such as a card, you can still come up with a number of very different interpretations, depending on the person creating. That is what makes it so fun: imaginations can still run wild. For someone like me, who finds having too many choices overwhelming, a starting point is a definite help.

How is the second challenge coming along for you? This challenge will be harder I suspect, because for those who celebrate Christmas, Christmas means so many different things: winter activities, hot drinks and a roaring fire, loud family get togethers, with lots of food and laughter. Perhaps Christmas is a more contemplative time, where thoughts of goodwill towards others and peace on earth fill your mind. If you are Christian, Christmas may cause you to think deeply about the special birth that is celebrated during that time. Whatever your interpretation of Christmas time, I hope you enjoy the challenge of trying to capture it in your card. You may find that Christmas means too many different things to you that you have to make a couple of different cards to showcase these things. Don’t hesitate–go for it!

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While I was at the local dollar store a couple of days ago, I came across the following which I may or may not use for challenge number two (details here):

There were also Christmas stocking brads but they were green and I felt I had enough of that colour already. If they had been red I would have grabbed them for sure.

As you may recall from a couple of days ago, I need help in the department of adhesives. Who should come to my rescue but the lovely Sherry of Sage and Thyme. (You should go visit her, she’s great. If you can read her blog and your heart doesn’t feel lighter, then you may need to make sure you still have a heart–I mean that in the nicest way, mind you).

Sherry happened to have the July/August issue of a magazine I had never heard of, Cloth Paper Scissors (the table of contents for this issue is here), on hand, and was kind enough to share some of the things she learned from an article on how to make things stick.

Now I don’t want to stop you from getting what seems to be a very interesting magazine, so please don’t hesitate to go and subscribe and read up on all sorts of other things. However, adhesives is the name of this game, and here’s what Sherry was able to get for us:

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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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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.”

Did you know that it is possible to have spent hundreds of dollars on crafting material and still manage to not have what you want when you need it?

Well, I’m a walking example of this phenomenon. The main reason why this is the case is because I don’t follow a rule that applies to clothes shopping too: When you buy, think of what you already have that it can go with. If your eyes light up at the sight of a 75% sale and you find yourself shovelling bargains into your shopping basket without even pausing to examine what you’re buying, it’s time for a change. Here’s how to be a savvy crafty shopper.

Take inventory of what you have
You may want to tackle this by type of craft material: paper, yarn, and stamping materials, for example. Make a note, mental or otherwise (recommended) of the colours/textures/sizes you have and what colours you’d like to have. For things like yarn, it will be important to also note how many balls or skeins of each colour you have. This means the next time you’re out shopping and you see a ball of pink yarn drastically reduced in price, you’ll be able to pass it by because you know you already have 13 balls of the exact same stuff at home.

Group things in families
If you are not sure what colours go together, check out a colour wheel and read up on complementary colours and colour triads. Practice putting different patterns together, get used to seeing how things go together and what things go together. This is important because it’ll help ensure that you don’t come home with something that doesn’t match anything you have and will therefore never get used.

Shop with a list
Your shopping list can include anything you are missing from the gaps you noticed after taking inventory. This can be a list that is created on the computer and updated regularly after each shopping trip. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to be able to pick up every item on the list but by taking the list with you and watching for sales, you’ll be sure to get what you actually need on sale. And the list prevents you from picking up things that either don’t match or you don’t need.

How do you make the most of sales and ensure you keep your craft supplies well stocked?

savvy shopper, save money, sales, crafts, paper, yarn

Oh glitter.

So shiny, sparkly and fun! It is impossible to be serious and boring and be a fan of glitter; I refuse to believe it. Once your favourite child discovers glitter and the other important “G” of crafting, glue, you are in serious trouble and will likely never again have a day that doesn’t involve finding random specks of glitter in your hair, on your cheek or in your morning coffee (you have been warned).

If you would like to keep your glitter activities confined to crafts alone, good luck! Here are some things that you can use glitter for:

• to outline anything, by first “writing” or drawing the item with glue, then covering the page with glitter. Do this over a flexible surface (paper is fine but a plastic placemat or craft mat works really well) and you can return the excess back into its container. If the thought of using liquid glue is too daunting to contemplate, you must check out the glue stamp pad that Kari wrote about here.
• encase glitter in clear plastic and it can add some dimension to your art work. You can create a frame that can be shaken to move the glitter around, or create a card that has the front half covered in glitter and a “Happy Birthday” or “Congratulations” confetti (picture to follow).
• if you’re having a somewhat fancy party, you may want to sprinkle tables with a bit of glitter and some metallic confetti to add a festive feeling to things

How have you been using glitter?

glitter, sparkle, shine, using glitter, crafts with glitter

Ah, ribbon.

Fat or skinny, shiny or matte, rough, made of sheer chiffon, organza, tulle, paper or silk, ribbon is great stuff. It generally gives things a dainty, fancy or “dressed up” appearance–tie a ribbon around anything and it gives it a special air.

I like to tie up gifts wrapped with ordinary wrapping paper with cloth ribbon, or continue a rustic theme by tying a gift wrapped in plain brown paper with paper ribbon. Another nice use of ribbon is to sew up cute fabric bags, and use ribbon to tie them up.

Or, dress up a handmade card by punching holes in cardstock and weaving ribbon through it.

Another neat idea I saw in a Christmas craft magazine was sewing several long strips of wide ribbon across the middle to create a quck and easy table runner.

What interesting ways do you or have you used ribbon lately?

crafting with ribbon, ribbon crafts, making things with ribbon, ribbon

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At last, I’m finally posting the tutorial for how you can make your own very basic scoubi keyring.

I apologize in advance if the pictures aren’t helpful. Hopefully the words will help explain any tricky bits.

Without any further delay, here we go:

Obtain a keyring and two 3-4 feet lengths of scoubi lacing (or gimp). Contrasting colours look quite nice.

Tie one of the lacings around the keyring (here I have tied the red one) and slip the other piece of lacing through, allowing an equal amount of lacing on each side.

Selecting one colour (here I chose red again), making two loops going in opposite directions (one looped toward you, and one away from you) and hold the loops in place with your finger.

Using the end of the second colour on the left hand side, weave this end over the loop to its right, and under the loop furthest away.

Using the end of the second colour on the right hand side, weave this end over the first loop to its left, and under the loop furthest away.

Pull all four ends tight. I usually grab two ends, each of a different colour, and pull, then pull each individually.

Repeat.

And repeat.

When the desired length is reached, make a double knot with each colour. The result is your very own keychain!

scoubi keychain, scoubi keyring, gimp keyring, gimp keychain, scoubidou, scoubidous, gimp lacing, gimp

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I know I promised you a tutorial but camera issues (the issue being I don’t have enough hands to both demonstrate and photograph the demonstration) have prevented me from posting it.

Never fear, it will be posted by the end of the week!

In the meantime, check out some of the neat things you can make with scoubis:

Alphabet keyrings
Funny faces
Key chains, zipper pulls, necklaces and more (I also discovered that this plastic lacing is called boondoggle too!)

Denise in New Zealand recently sent me an article about a young entrepreneur who is making a name for herself with her handmade luggage tags. These tags, which she calls ’scoobies’, are made from colourful plastic that is looped and plaited. A metal charm finishes off each tag.

I was able to find some of the plastic lacing in a local store:

Tomorrow, we’ll look at some techniques with these plastic laces, called scoubidous (it is also known as ‘gimp’ in North America). In the meantime, check out Yoarra for instructions on the many different ways that scoubi lacing can be knotted, and check out the flickr photoset of a talented scoubi manipulator for inspiration!

children’s crafts, crafts for kids, scoubi, scoubidou, plastic, plastic lace

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