Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

I love that pearls can be used in any style of crafting – vintage, whimsical, romantic etc. My style tends to be cute/fun so on this card I used the adhesive pearls as the snowman’s buttons. I also used a few smaller ones as accents by the card sentiment. Pearls are now appearing in all kinds of colors such as these by K&Company, Martha Stewart, Making Memories, and Bazzill.

To create this card:

• Create card base from patterned paper. I would use winter patterned paper such as Best Creation Winter Wonderland Snowflakes.
• Cut a wide strip of another patterned paper and adhere to center of the card.
• Adhere snowman to smaller piece of patterned paper and then adhere to card – overlapping over the edge of the card a bit.
• Adhere stickers to spell sentiment. I used winter stickers such as Best Creation and Mini Alpha Stickers from Making Memories.
• Affix pearls to card for the buttons and near the sentiment.

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

I always like to add a little dimension (or a lot) to my cards. I have to admit that ribbon sometimes intimidates me because I feel that if I don’t have the perfect bow and loops it’s a flop. One of my resolutions for 2011 is to learn how to tie a bow! That’s what I like about Pom Pom Ribbon – no tying required! I also find it pretty easy to adhere with Mini Glue Dots or a strong Liquid Adhesive. If you are going for a vintage look you can always use staples. On my card I wanted the ribbon to look pretty loose so I adhered unevenly to the card.

To create this card:

• Create card base from patterned paper.
• Cut smaller rectangle from snowflake paper and adhere to lower part of horizontal card.
• Adhere sticker strip to top portion of card. Don’t worry if you don’t have a sticker strip, a strip patterned paper works just as well!
• Adhere ice skate or other winter sticker to card.
• Adhere Pom Pom ribbon below sticker strip.

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

I love to use circle templates, but because I make a lot of cards and smaller projects – often I do not use the entire circle. On this card I cut the circle in half and saved the other half for a future project. There are a variety of circle templates available or you can also trace a small plate or other items around your house.

To create this card:

• Create the card base from white cardstock. The card size is 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ so I cut an 8 1/2″ x 11″ piece of white cardstock in half on the long side and now have a second card base to use for another card. You can also purchase premade white card bases.
• Cut a piece of patterned paper slight smaller and adhere.
• Cut circle from patterned paper, cut the circle in half and adhere.
• Add ribbon to the flat side of the circle.
• Add alphabet stickers and the sticker strip to the card.
• Add flowers and rhinestones above the ribbon.

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

I love to use Mini Alpha Stickers in my card marking.  I have a huge collection of various sizes, colors and fonts and I love that so many companies now create these tiny alphas.  Not only do they come in black and white, but they are now available in every color of the rainbow, so they can match any project.  If you aren’t a card maker, they are also great for journaling on a layout or in a mini album.

To make this card:

• Create a card base from white cardstock or use a premade card base.  You can also make the card base from the patterned paper – if it’s a two sided paper, you end up with a colorful inside to the card. I used My Little Shoebox “Green” Collection papers & stickers.
• Affix journaling sticker and tree sticker.  Cut another tree from patterned paper and adhere using pop dots for dimension.
• Add jewels to the tree trunks.
• Use the Mini Alpha Stickers to spell the sentiment.
• If you do not have this paper collection don’t worry.  You can use other stickers and papers and just use my card as a sketch to get you started.  

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

Another one of my favorite (and easy) techniques is to use glitter to emphasis patterns on paper. I used a Sakura glue pen to trace the snowflake pattern, sprinkled some glitter…. super easy! On this project I used Martha Stewart glitter, but any fine glitter will work. On this mitten chipboard ornament in addition to tracing the snowflakes I also added lines of glitter to the cuff of the mitten. If there isn’t a pattern on the paper, you can always create your own. I then attached the papers to the chipboard mitten using a strong adhesive. If you do not have a mitten, you could use a circle to make an ornament for your tree. Repunch the hole using a paper punch and you are ready to hang this on your tree.

A couple other non glitter related tips on this project. I used the left over Pop Dots Packaging to add dimension to my cuff. Never throw it away – it is great to use on larger pieces of paper for dimension. I used a Martha Stewart border punch for the cuff, but you could easily draw a scalloped cuff and cut out with scissors.

Tips when using Glitter:

• When using a glue pen, do a small area at a time, so the glue doesn’t dry out too quickly.
• You can also use a glue pen to apply glitter to flowers, stickers or anything else needing a little sparkle.
• When doing a large area such as a chipboard piece, I often use Modge Podge. You can also rub a glue pad over the surface or use a spray adhesive or other liquid glue.
• Use a tray or small, flexible paper plate, so that you can easily put it back into the bottle.
• There are different sizes of glitter – the glitter I used was very fine. If you have a chunky glitter, you would want to use on a much larger, less detailed project.
• Baby wipes are a great way to clean the tray or help to get the glitter off your hands. They also help with static cling.
• Use a small paint brush, Q tip or eyeshadow applicator to brush away excess glitter.
• Be prepared – you will probably be a little shimmery for awhile! Whenever I go to a crop on Saturday, I always seem to be a little sparkly at church on Sunday

 By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

With the holidays quickly approaching, I wanted to share a super easy project perfect for when you are giving a gift card or money. This time of the year I know I don’t have a lot of extra time, but this can be made in minutes. You can also decorate mini bags throughout the year for birthdays, weddings graduations and other special occasions.

Supplies:

Small Paper Bag – size 2 1/2 x 4 1/4
Snowflake Paper
Sentiment Stickers or Rub-ons
Small Rhinestones
Black Cardstock
Small Pop Dots
Glue Dots
 

To create the outside of the gift card/money holder:

Cut 3 different sizes of snowflakes from the patterned paper. Be sure to use sharp, small scissors so that you have nice clean lines. I recommend the Cutterbee scissors. I own 3 pairs because I am always temporarily misplacing a pair or two and I don’t like to use anything else.

Adhere largest snowflake to the bag using a Glue Dot. Add the next smallest snowflake to the center of the large snowflake using Pop Dots for dimension. Add the smallest snowflake to the top using a Glue Dot. Add a rhinestone to the center of the smallest snowflake.

Add the sentiment sticker or rub-on to the bag. On my project I used a clear sentiment sticker, but rub-ons work just as well.

To create the inside of the gift card/money holder:

Cut a rectangle from the same snowflake paper to fit snugly in the bag.

Cut a small rectangle of black cardstock and adhere to the top.

Add rhinestones to the black cardstock.

Use Glue Dots to adhere your money or gift card to the snowflake paper.

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

When using themed paper, sometimes less is more.  When I saw this paper, the quote “An Apple A Day Keeps the Doctor Away” popped into my head, so I immediately thought of a Get Well card.  I didn’t have any apple or doctor embellishments to go with the paper, so I made the paper the main “embellishment”. 

Supplies:
Red Cardstock
Studio Calico patterned papers
EK Success Paper Shapers Punch Edger Bubbles
Making Memories Sentiment Stickers Looking Glass
Pearls

To give it a little dimension, I used a border punch around the edges.  I added that paper to the top of a larger, coordinating paper and used red cardstock as the card base.  I used a small sentiment circle and two pearls as my only 3 dimensional elements on the card.  The card is still fairly flat and with a little padding in the envelope, this could easily be sent to a friend who isn’t feeling well.