Fablous Finds Friday — Die Cut Basket

I am crazy for this basket template from Lifestyle Crafts:

(Do check out my fun Easter baskets that are featured as the Craft of the Day on the Crafts ‘n things website.)

What I like about his die set (besides the fact that it is stinkin’ cute) is the variety of baskets and boxes you can make with this one set. Here’s a look at the first set I made, just for practice:

Above is the basket, using all four of the lattice inserts. But you can use just one or two of the inserts and keep the other sides solid, or leave them all solid.

The set also comes with a cover so you can make a box:

I’ve been playing with a variety of paper to create more boxes and baskets, some of which will be featured soon at www.craftsnthings.com.
Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for hopping on over!

Easy Peasy Texture

While playing with fabric (to add soft texture to cards) I also came across a few fabric-like items that are perfect for cardmaking.

Again, I found a stamp that mimicked fabric … Crazy Quilt CG477 from BasicGrey/Hero Arts. The burlap ribbon is from Close To My Heart and the bowtie embellishment is from Basic Grey. The sentiment is from Hero Arts, the ink Cup O’ Joe.

This shabby chic paper (Close To My Heart) looks like it could be fabric, so I paired it with a canvas sticker (also from Close To My Heart).
The paper rosette (from the same paper collection) is topped with a fabric covered button (Close To My Heart) stamped in pigment ink.

Who says fabric is just for sewing?
Thanks for coming by.

More Fabric Goodness

In my last post, I showed some cards made using fabric that coordinates with cardstock.
So can you imagine my excitement to get a package from Stampin’ Up! that had coordinating fabric, cardstock AND stamps?!

First, a card using just the cardstock and the fabric:

The flower was made using the same process as the previous post, but I only did one layer. (Sentiment from Hero Arts, ink is Stampin’ Up! Rich Razzleberry). (Note the coordinating strip of paper under the flower… it’s a scrap of the same paper, but using the other side.)

I love the stamp set so much, I made a card with no fabric but featuring the stamps:

The stamps — so sweet! — are from Stampin’ Up’s Betsy’s Blossoms.
And may as well use up the rest of the paper:

Fabulous Fabric

This alliteration is such fun, I should have saved it so it could be a Fabulous Finds Friday Fabric Flower!

I recently wrote an article for Crafts ‘n things magazine about using fabric in paper crafting. The article is finally out, in the Summer 2013 issue, which came out the beginning of March (and should be on newstands now.) Fabric, I found, is a great way to add texture and softness to paper crafting projects. (I also love the idea of coordinating fabric, stamps and paper!)

Here are some samples I made to go with the article:
This first card is made using coordinating paper and fabric from Anna Griffin:

I went crazy cutting these flowers — they were so fun and easy. The flower on this card (and the others I will show you) was cut with the large and medium flower from Sizzix die set 654979.

I cut four of the large and four of the second largest, folded them in quarters and hot glued them to a punched circle base. The smaller flower was done the same way. A button topped it off. The burlap ribbon is from Close To My Heart and the sentiment is Hero Arts (stamped in black and Cup O’ Joe inks.)

Here is an close-up:

Here is a similar card:

The background stamp is a pretty print from Basic Grey/Hero Arts and was stamped in Soft Sand, grey (Marvy Matchables), and Soft Blossom. I liked the fabric look of the image.

I’ll have some others in my next post.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Craft Hot List

Yay! It’s finally out! My exhaustive report from the Craft and Hobby Association about what is new and hot and fabulous from the latest show.

You can see the entire report (in two parts!) on the Crafts ‘n things website. The CHA Hot List is listed under the Craft of the Week button. (You may have to register on the site, but it’s free. You simply register to join the Crafts ‘n things community).

It sounds complicated, but it’s not: go to http://www.craftsnthings.com, click on the Craft of the Day. You can try searching for “CHA 2013 Hot List” or …
click on the March archives, then scroll down to the

CHA 2013 Hot List

— it’s easy to find: it’s a big blue icon that says “March is National Craft Month.”

If you make it there, leave us some love in the comments section!

In the meantime, here’s a trendy bag made at the craft show:

Here’s a close-up:

The darling camera iron-on and spray paints are from S.E.I.
(Yes, that overspray is because of my sloppy masking! I get SO impatient…. sigh.)

Thanks for stopping by!

Camera Ready

This darling camera die captures two of my favorite themes these days: cameras and dies!

On Friday, I used a Sizzix ScoreBoard die that works with mat board and chipboard. Today I went opposite, using a new Thinlets die, also from Sizzix:

I combined the camera from the Retro Camera & Icons 658958 set and the banner from Arrows, Banners, Chevrons & Clouds. The brown basecard paper is from Stampin’ Up!, the patterned paper is from Basic Grey’s Hipster collection. (check out the groovy flip side of the paper:

The banner was cut from scrap paper then stamped with a Stampers Anonymous newsprint image in Hero Arts’ Wet Cement. The sentiment (Tim Holtz Simple Sayings) was inked using Marvy Heritage Timeless Sepia.

Simple fun.

Fabulous Finds Friday — Box Die

Happy Friday folks! As I mentioned before, I am fixated on dies!
Today’s find is a candy box die from Sizzix. Here’s my first attempt:

Since we all know how impatient I am when I get a new toy, er, creative tool, I didn’t plan this out, I just grabbed a piece of cardstock and some scrap paper (that had been hanging around my desk) and cranked out the box. I cut the box first, then cut the scrap paper pieces to fit. The top embellishment was something that had been given to me long ago… but there it was and it seemed to fit perfectly!

The die is a steel-rule big die, 657726, and requires an extended cutting pad. This die cuts and scores most chipboard and mat board. I cut it using my Big Shot. (Had I thought more about it I would have covered the bottom of the box before I took the photo!)

Stay tuned for more die-licious projects! Thanks for stopping by.