Fabulous Finds Friday — Paper, stamps and more!

So much crafty goodness coming up in the craft world. Here are a few snippets:

 

Tim Holtz is working like a mad crafter on new ideas that he will present in January at the big Craft and Hobby Association show. One highly anticipated item is the sequel — yes, part deux — to his technique book A Compendium of Curiosities.

 

A Compendium of Curiosities, Vol. II follows the same format as the first — it’s not a traditional how-to book, but rather what Tim calls a “creative field guide” for crafting. It will be released in January, and I, for one, can’t wait. For more info, check out his blog.

 

And for all you Tim fans (and there are oh, so many!) check out my interview with Tim in the February 2012 issue of Crafts ‘n things magazine. (YES! The February 2012 issue is out now!) He talks about how he got started in the craft world, what inspires him, and more.

 

(and now a photo to break up this post!)

* * * * *

Sigh…. Every time I think I can’t love Hero Arts any more, they come up with something new! Page through the new catalog. I adore text backgrounds, and Hero Arts has some new dandies — including a city scape and an owl. (I thought I was over owls, but apparently I’m not.)

If you love your die cuts, you’ll go wild over the 10 new Frame Cuts made for Hero Arts by Sizzix. There are frames and flowers and… oh, just go see. I love the new letter matching system — the dies are given a letter designation and the stamps are similarly labeled so you know which dies work with which stamps. Brillian.

 

Another new product I’m crazy about is the Add Your Message set. There are 12 pre-printed cards in each set, which come with envelopes and four wood mounted stamp sentiments. Talk about quick and easy! (I must find out if you can buy replacement cards — that would be so cool.) This is a great gift idea to entice a new stamper! (Go ahead, be an enabler!)

 

And one more … new Basic Grey items. The Kissing Booth collection is just in time for some serious Valentine’s Day stamping. Can’t wait to break into this set for some delish cardmaking.

 

* * * * * * *

Before I forget … I hope you will take a look at the February issue of Crafts ‘n things magazine, which has my annual exhaustive look at what’s new in the wonderful world of ink. PLUS the famous ink chart (found online.) I hope to have some ink-inspired projects soon.

 

Doesn’t that look yummy?

 

Happy stamping!

 

 

What? Another covered box?

In all the pre-holiday excitement I almost forgot to post my usual Friday musings.

And guess what? It’s one more box. I know, you’re probably thinking, “Sheesh, isn’t she done collecting trash?” But I couldn’t resist the packaging from my son’s new iPhone, which went from this:

…to this:

And I still have pieces left! Can’t you just imagine me picking the Christmas and Chanukah paper out of the trash?

Posting many wishes for a happy holiday and a healthy new year. Thanks for visiting my blog.

Holiday bags and more recycling

I previously admitted my current addiction to recycling — excuse me… rePURPOSING — old boxes into gift bags.

Here are a few more:

First, the original — a box that held a bar of soap. (Which I pulled out of the trash bin when the Hubster wasn’t looking.)

Luckily, Hubster is very clean and goes through a lot of soap, so I collected several. Here are some finished bag/boxes (covered with gift wrap paper and odds and ends):

Thanks for indulging me!

Holiday Packaging

Everyone is busy making holiday cards (uh….I better get right on that) but lately I’ve been obsessed with recycling empty boxes to make gift bags.

It all started when the wrapping fell off this box of matzoh (a dry cracker-like thing eaten during Passover. An acquired taste. And YES, this box is from Passover, which was in April. Yes, it has been sitting in my studio since then. Hidden from my husband. Don’t judge me, grin.)

Well, as you can see, underneath is a plain, perfectly shaped box, just BEGGING to be decorated:

Really, how could I just toss it away? And since we eat a lot of matzoh during Passover, I had a lot of boxes. Here are some of the results:

(Covered with an old Cavallini calendar from Paper Source). Here is the other side of the box:

I punched holes in two sides and threaded ribbon as a handles.

Still in bird mode, I also used an old calendar for this one:

The next box uses green gift wrap paper. I tore huge chuncks of the paper and glued it, collage style, all over the box.

The NOEL lettering is from a Brenda Walton Chipbox collection (by K&Company).

I have a few more to post later. (I told you I became obsessed with these!)

Thanks for coming by! What have you recylced lately?

R.I.P. Ginger

Hope you will forgive this off-topic posting today, but I wanted to pay tribute to our beloved dog, Ginger, who died over the weekend.

She was a rescue dog (as are all our animals!) who brightened our lives for nearly 12 years. A shepherd mix, she was extremelly good natured and sweet; patient with children and other dogs. She loved riding in the car, feeling the wind in her fur.

Thanks for indulging me. We will miss her.

Gettin’ that Holiday Spirit

Yes, it’s getting to feel a lot like Christmas (go ahead, sing along. You know you want to.) And Chanukah. (Hmmm…. no good Chanukah melody. Sigh.)

Here are three cards to get the season going:

The card above was made while I was working on my mixed media article for Crafts ‘n things magazine. I used Donna Salazar’s new Mix’d Media Inx, a  creamy, slow-drying pigment ink from Clearsnap (ColorBox). I stamped in white on navy blue card stock, then embossed with clear powder. (long design is a bolio from JudiKins; menorah is a very old stamp from Limited Edition.)

And something a little different … sort of seasonal, sort of wedding, sort of any time…. I dunno. I just felt this was a good time to share it.

(Spellbinders’ Nestabilities die cut flower; border punch; gold mum paper from Paper Source.)

And a similar card: (I think if I replace the “happy” with a seasonal greeting, it would work as a Christmas card.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Fabulous Finds Friday, Random Cards and a holiday idea

Gearing up for the holidays (and trying to cull through my paper stash) I decided to make some easy gift sets. These are great for teacher gifts, hostess gifts, or just a little somethin’ somethin’ for a friend. They are so fast and so satisfying to make! So here’s my Fabulous Finds Friday idea — pretty paper, easy gifts.

Enjoy:

Look at that fun paper! This is scrapbook paper from **Close To My Heart (see note below) that I was not going to use in a scrapbook. I love the bold, graphic look. I simply cut up the 12×12 sheet, distressed the edges and mounted on cream card stock. This will be perfect for my writing friends!

Next, I found some origami paper — another quick card set:

Here’s a close-up:

I packaged them in a sushi take-out tray.

Not terribly exciting, but fast and easy. Perfect for a day when the mojo isn’t mojo-ing.

Thanks for coming by!

***Editing Note: I made a mistake in my original post, now corrected here. This gorgeous typographic paper is from Close To My Heart. Mea Culpa.