Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Cardmaking & Scrapbook Layout Contributor, Peg from the blog Peg’s Crafting Corner.

Q1. How can I use stencils and templates on my pages?

 

A1. There are many ways to use these on a layout. They can be laid on the paper so the design can be traced with a marker. When used with an ink pad the image is transferred onto the paper by pressing the ink into the crevices. By using a light box the image can be embossed onto the page with an embossing tool to create a raised impression.

 Q2. What’s the difference in die cut machines?

A2. There are only a few major differences in machines and which one you purchase greatly depends on what you want to do with it. Some of them are electronic and require the use of cartridges (carts) Others are used with electronic design cards ( sd cards) or can be hooked up to a computer to obtain additional images and others are manually operated through the use of a hand crank. These require the use of dies to cut the image. These machines will also emboss the item you have cut out. Many of them will cut various items such as paper, chipboard and even fabric.

Q3. My ink smears when I color my stamped image. Do I have the wrong markers or pencils?

A3. Once your ink has become permanent what you use to color the image can be anything of your choice. The most important key to good stamping and coloring is to choose the right ink. Dye inks are good as they dry quickly. Stazon Inks are good to use because they work on pretty much every surface.

Q4. What are the sizes for layouts?

A4. While it is a matter of preference, the basic layout sizes include 8 x 8″ and 12 x 12″. Some choose to do an 8 ½” x 11″ layout. There aren’t any “right choices” in what size you decide to do, but it helps in choosing to keep in mind the amount of time you want to spend on the layout (remember the bigger the layout the more it will need on it and the more time you will spend). If you have done a lot of one size, create a different one for a change. You may not like part of the paper design so cut it off! This will create a smaller paper for you to use and get rid of what it is you don’t like. That’s ok! Remember it’s all up to you.

 Q5. There are so many tools out how do I decide what to buy?

A5. For me, I have a rule of thumb when I’m looking to buy something…I must be able to come up with 2 ideas for using it first. It doesn’t mean I won’t purchase it; it just means that I have to have those ideas first. If I can’t come up with those ideas I look online to see how others are using the tool.

By Cardmaking & Scrapbook Layout Contributor, Peg from the blog Peg’s Crafting Corner.

One of my favorite things is vintage style.  Growing up, I was raised around antiques and still today love old things.  It has become one of my scrapbooking styles that I’d like to do more of in my projects.  What about you?  Is it one of your favorite styles? Do you like the old look in your layouts?  Would you like to make this layout with your own pictures?  Go for it and enjoy the fun of the vintage style!

Products Used:

Martha Stewart Double Edge Bangle Chain Punch
Kraft Cardstock
White Cardstock
Tim Holtz Paper Stash Retro Grunge
Swiss Dot Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Die Cutting/Embossing Machine
Petal Power Flower Die by Sizzix
The Crafter’s Workshop 6 x 6 Template:  Capricious
Inks by Colorbox:  Mudslide and Copper
Paintbrush or Stippling Tool
Favorite Wet Glue
Favorite Tape Runner

Begin by converting the photos you will be using to the Sepia color using a photo editing program that allows you to change the color.  Next, print the photos and trim them to be 4″ long by 3 ½” wide.  Adhere them in the left and right corners of the medium brown patterned paper from the Retro Grunge Paper Pad by Tim Holtz.  

 

Take the Crafter’s Workshop Template and place it on the left bottom corner of the patterned paper. Holding the template down tightly with your hand or a repositionable tape, stipple (the process of dabbing paint or ink on to something) the Mudslide Ink by Colorbox onto the template with a paintbrush or stippling tool making sure that the ink covers the open areas and transfers onto the paper.  The heavier the ink is applied the darker the pattern will be.  It can, also, be applied heavy to light just by not adding more ink onto the brush to give a contrast in the design.

Punch a 12″ long by 1″ wide decorative strip from the Kraft Cardstock using the Martha Stewart Double Edge Bangle Chain Punch and glue it to the center of the layout.

 Die cut 10 of the small petal and a center piece from the white cardstock using the Petal Power die and your die cut machine.  Run the pieces through your embossing machine using the Swiss Dot embossing folder. Assemble them to form a flower using the wet glue.

Once the flower is assembled, use the paint brush dipped onto the Mudslide Ink Pad to add some color to the embossed pattern.  For the center of the flower, brush the Copper Ink on to cover the center which will add more depth to the flower. 

While holding the flower cupped between your hands lightly push up on the petals to shape it into a little bowl shape.  Adhere it to the layout in the corner with some of your favorite wet glue. 

You now have a simple and elegant vintage style layout to show off some of your favorite pictures.

By Cardmaking & Scrapbook Layout Contributor, Peg from the blog Peg’s Crafting Corner.

I have fun making envelopes.  The other day, I was thinking about one of the themes for CreateForLess this month…the Crafties Voting and the idea hit me to make an envelope card just like they use in the award shows.  The fun thing about this envelope card is that it can be specialized to be used as a birthday card, a thinking of you card and the list goes on. 

Products Used:

• Coredinations Chocolate Box Cardstock
• Coredinations Sanding Tool
• Coredinations Tack Cloth
• Martha Stewart Travel Trimmer
• Martha Stewart Punch All Over the Page-Starry Sky
• Martha Stewart Scissors
• Martha Stewart Scoring Board
• Colorbox Inks:  Mudslide and Dark Cherry
• Star Stamps or Stickers
• Alphabet Stamps or Stickers
• Acrylic Stamp Block
• K & Co Sweet Nectar 6 x 6 Paper Pad
• Repositionable and Permanent Tape Runner
• Wet Glue
• Kraft Cardstock

Begin by cutting a 9″ x 9″ piece of the pink Coredinations cardstock and score it according to the directions on the envelope maker that comes with the Martha Stewart Scoring Board.  This is the A6 envelope listed on the envelope tool.

Trim the triangles out where the score lines cross each other on each corner to create the flap of the envelope.

Use the sanding tool and sand the paper to expose the color underneath. Wipe with the tack cloth.  The more you sand the more that shows. I like to do the scoring before sanding so when it’s sanded the score lines end up showing the color underneath. 

Punch several sets of the stars using the All Over the Page Punch and the pink dotted paper from the Sweet Nectar Paper Pad.  I punched 4 sets out to glue to the outside of the envelope, but you can punch more or less as you’d like.  I, then, glued the stars down the left side using the wet glue. 

Cut a 4 ¾” x 1″ piece of Kraft Cardstock and trim the ends to a point to create the banner.  Ink the edges using the Dark Cherry and Mudslide ink pads.  Stamp on using the alphabet stamps or place the stickers on to spell “The Winner Is….”  Next, adhere it to the front of the envelope and place a few punched stars around the edges of the banner. 

Trim the tabbed paper from the Sweet Nectar Paper Pad under the 15^th line on it (the lines on the paper are numbered) and adhere it to the inside of the card.  Stamp the stars on or place the star stickers on the paper and with the alphabet stamps or stickers spell the word, “You!”  on one of the lines of the paper.  Place a small piece of repositionable tape on the top flap to allow it to be opened and closed. 

Your envelope card is ready to share.  Now head on over the new CreateForLess website to find out how to vote for your favorite Crafties! 

By General Crafts Contributor Melissa, from the blog MeloMomma.

As I was making my morning coffee in my Keurig, I remembered all the coffee filters I will no longer need! I rummaged through my craft drawer and found the clothes pin. Then, the Spring Butterfly was created! It took my kids and I under fifteen minutes to make this (not including drying time) and we had a blast doing it together.

With this concept, the ideas are endless. I think we will be making home made cards using the stained coffee filter idea. What else will you make?

 

What you will need:

• 3 coffee filters
• Clothes pin
• Glue
• Markers
• Scissors
• Water
• Eye dropper or syringe

Directions:

1. Using markers color three coffee filters. Make designs or color them solid. Using a variety of light and dark colors works best.

 

2. Fill a cup 1/4 way full with water.

 3. Fill the syringe or eye dropper with a little water.

 4. Place a few drops of water at a time onto the coffee filters. Watch the colors bleed into each other making a stained glass appearance.

 

5. Allow to dry.

6. Glue the two coffee filters together.

7. Glue a clothes pin onto the center to make the butterflies body.

8. Cut a heart shape and two antennas from the 1 remaining coffee filter.

9. Glue the heart to the under side of the butterflies wings.

10. Glue the antennas to the underside of the heart (the butterflies face).

11. Allow to dry.

 

By Guest Blogger Diane, from the blog Charmingly Creative.

What would a Holiday be without a craft? It is always fun to give a child a simple craft project that is easy and fun to make and this Easter chick can be used as decoration for the house, on a card, as a banner or a basket. The Easter Chick is a great way to get your child involved with different shapes, sizes, and colors not to mention you can use it to make your own very special card. Time to Complete: 5 minutes

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

• Martha Stewart 1″ Heart punch
• EK Success Paper shapers 1¼” Scallop punch
• Uchida small Star punch
• Fiskars Shape Template – Ovals
• Yellow, Dark Orange & Light Orange cardstock
• Darice 10mm Wiggly eyes
• Scissors
• Self-healing cutting mat
• Art Institute clear Glitter glue or Glue Dots

INSTRUCTIONS

Punch one Dark Orange Heart, two Yellow Scallops and two Orange Stars. Trace and cut out one yellow oval 1.5″ X 2″ from Fiskars Oval template.

Glue one Yellow Scallop shape behind head. Cut the other Scallop in half and glue halves in the middle of body to create wings. Fold Heart over so point meets center of heart and trim off the side to form a beak and glue above the wings, then attach eyes. Glue Stars under body for feet to complete the Chick.

I love the card I included where I used the chick as the focal point.

By Cardmaking & Scrapbook Layout Contributor, Peg from the blog Peg’s Crafting Corner.

Everyone enjoys receiving birthday wishes so send them this “hoppy” birthday card to make their day a fun filled one.

Supplies Used:

• Spring Blossom Paper Pad by EK Success
• Google Eyes-3 millimeter size
• Frog Stickers, Die Cut or Chipboard Piece
• Pink Cardstock
• 3-d Adhesive Mini Pop Dots
• Martha Stewart Travel Paper Trimmer
• EK Paper Shapers Corner Punch
• Birthday Sentiment Stamp
• Stamp Block
• Pink Ink Pad

First, cut a piece of pink cardstock with the paper trimmer to be 6″ wide by 8″ long and fold it in half to create a 6″ x 4″ top fold card. 

Open the card up and using the corner punch, punch the bottom left corner by lining the sides of the paper with the edges of the clear piece on the punch. Make sure the paper is all the way inside the punch as far as it will go without bending to make sure it is punched in the correct spot.

The easiest way to punch the right corner is to turn the punch upside down and line it up with the corner and the clear plastic piece again.

In order to punch the top corners of the card in the correct area you will need to start by measuring the area from the side to the punched pattern on one of the bottom sections that has already been punched. You will, also, need to measure the area from the bottom of the card up to the punched pattern. On my card it was ¼” in from the left side to the punched pattern and from the bottom of the card to the punched pattern.

Using the measurement from the step above, I measured ¼” from the top and made a mark in pencil so it can be erased and then repeated it from the side and made another mark. Repeat this step on the other side of the card, too.

Line up the marks with the bottom opening of the pattern and the side opening that is nearest the top fold of the card and punch. Repeat this step on the other side of the card, too. You will now have the four corner punches to hold your patterned paper.

Trim a piece of the Lily Pad paper from the Spring Blossom Paper Pad that measures 5 ½” wide by 3 ½” long and place it behind the corner punches. If necessary, you can trim a little of the patterned paper to help it fit correctly into the card base.

Glue the eyes onto the frog and adhere him onto a lily pad using the Adhesive Mini Dots.

Place the birthday sentiment onto the stamp block and ink it. Stamp the sentiment onto the card. If you have a stamp that won’t fit into the area you’d like it to remember that you can ink one part of the stamp and stamp it onto the card and then ink the next part and stamp it. I did this with the “Happy Birthday” because my stamp was in a long line and I wanted the “Happy” to be above the “Birthday”.

 Now hop to it and create one to send to someone you know who has a birthday coming up so they,too, can have a “frog” filled birthday!

By Cardmaking & Scrapbook Layout Contributor, Peg from the blog Peg’s Crafting Corner.

Do you know of someone who has a birthday on February 29^th?  Would you enjoy making a card just to celebrate a day that only happens every 4 years?  Here’s your chance to have some fun getting creative and to celebrate a day that’s few and far between!  The card is even distressed to make it look like you’ve had it lying around for the past 4 years.  How fun is that? 

Products Used:

• Bo Bunny Smoochable Paper & Sticker Pack
• Bo Bunny Smoochable Clear Stamps
• Pink Cardstock
• Green Cardstock
• Cream Colored Cardstock that will work in your printer
• Paper Distresser
• Colorbox Bronze Ink
• Colorbox Cat’s Eye Queue Ink Pad-Pool Party
• Clock Works Embossing Folder
• Cuttlebug
• Paper Trimmer
• Tape Runner
• Sanding Block

Start with a piece that will measure 10″ x 7″ when you first cut it using your paper trimmer.  Fold this in half to create the 5 x 7″ card base.  Distress all four of the edges until they look ragged using the paper distresser.  Cut a piece of the polka dot paper from the Smoochable Paper and Sticker Pack that measures 3 x 5″ and distress the edges of it.  Once they are done, attach the paper to the upper left corner of the card using the tape runner.

Use the Cuttlebug, the Clock Works Embossing Folder and a piece of green cardstock that measures 3 ¾” x 5″ to emboss the paper.   

Sand the embossed areas with the sanding block allowing some of the white of the cardstock to show.  Be careful not to sand too much or you will sand a hole in the paper.

 Rub the bronze ink pad over the embossed areas and edges of the paper.  Be sure to leave some white areas for contrast.  Adhere the paper to the card offset from the edges of the polka dot paper. 

Using your computer and a computer program that has a printable calendar or by finding a printable calendar on the internet using your favorite search engine, print the month of February, 2012 (make sure the calendar is correct and has the 29^th day on it) out on the cream cardstock.  The size of the calendar once printed and trimmed should be 2 ¾” wide x 3 ¾” long.  Ink the edges of the calendar using the bronze ink pad.  Stamp a heart around the 29^th using the Bo Bunny Smoochable Clear Stamps and the Fireberry ink from the Colorbox Pool Party Ink Pad Set.    Adhere the calendar on the card with the tape runner making sure to offset it from the corners of the embossed clock works piece. 

Now keep the fun going and share this card with someone you know who has a birthday on the 29^th or use it to say hello to a friend that you are thinking of on this extra day of the year!