Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

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

Q1. How do I create a vintage look on a layout or card?

A1. A good starting point to achieving a vintage look is by inking the edges of your projects in a brown or sepia ink. Another easy thing to do is to distress the edges of your paper. Once you have them distressed you can ink the distressed edges or leave them alone. If you are doing any stamping on the project you can stamp the image in the brown or sepia ink to give it an old look. Using tan, yellows or brown papers, too, is another great way to achieve a worn, vintage look.

 Q2. Do you have any organization tips?

A2. CreateForLess carries a large selection of organizational and storage items for all of your craft supplies. Some of them are created to fit into your craft space to store things like small tools, ink pads, embellishments and other things in. There are some storage pieces that are designed to help you store your paper especially those 12 x 12 sheets. Don’t forget that sometimes you will want to take your supplies with you so those made with handles and divided sections are good for on the go.

 Q3. What can I use to temporarily mount unmounted stamps?

A3. Tack ‘N Peel are reusable sheets that help your rubber stamps cling to the acrylic or wood block and are the perfect answer to using those unmounted stamps. The adhesive side creates a bond between the sheet and the block which helps keep the sheet from moving and when the stamp is applied you don’t have to worry about it falling off or moving while you stamp the image.

 Q4. How do I keep the intricate pieces from sticking in my dies?

A4. The answer to this is an easy one.  Blue Painter’s Tape.  Since it’s made not to permanently stick and won’t harm surfaces it’s a great choice to use on your dies.  Simply cover the intricate areas on your dies before placing the paper over the top.  Run it through your die cut machine and once you’re done pull the tape off.  Those little pieces pop right out!

Q5. I like to use my distress inks and spritz them with water to use on things, but my paper curls up.  What can I do about that?

  

A5. The first thing is to make sure that you are not oversaturating the paper.  Watercolor paper is good to use for this technique as it is made to hold water without becoming too wet.  It is made so that when water is placed on it the water sits on the surface and doesn’t bleed the color into the fibers making them less intense and since all the liquids aren’t absorbing into the paper it doesn’t have the chance to saturate and cause the paper to curl.

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.

My name is Julie, I’m 37 and I live in beautiful Louisiana with my husband, two black cats (a matched set!), and one spoiled hounddog. I come from a long line of crafty women, and have been doing one craft or another from the time I could hold a crayon. I have a non-crafting corporate-type job that keeps me pretty busy, along with a lot of extended family and friends who are often the lucky recipients of my crafty productions.

For the past six years I have been doing a lot of rubber stamping, and turning most of that into handmade greeting cards, although I will stamp on anything that holds still long enough! I love how cardmaking is faster than scrapbooking and more functional that ATCs. I primarily work with rubber stamps, but I have branched out into digital stamping recently. I also can’t seem to make a card without some sort of ribbon on it!

I have been donating cards to Operation Write Home for a couple of years now. OWH is a non-profit organization that sends handmade cards to deployed troops that they use to write home to their loved ones. I see it as one of those awesome win-win-win sort of situations. I get to do a craft I love and get to share it with someone who appreciates it; a soldier gets to keep in touch with their family and gets a reminder that those of us on the homefront care about them; and the troops’ loved ones at home get tangible, physical items as keepsakes. In 2010 I also started helping out with the OWH Stars & Stamps blog – I coordinate the sketch challenges that are posted every Sunday. It’s a lot of fun!

I keep a blog called HandmadeByJulie.com where I post almost daily with my latest creation.

Interested in being a “Featured Crafter”? We want to hear from our crafty friends about what they like to create. Share with us what you put your energy into, whether it is your passion, your business, or simply something you enjoy doing. Do you have your own blog, Etsy store or craft products? Tell us about it!

Click here to submit a “Featured Crafter”!

Congratulations to Chris S. who was randomly selected as our Free Stuff Friday winner and will receive a Life Drawing Satchel Set! Comes with everything you need to start sketching.

The Life Drawing Satchel Set comes with a drawing sketchbook, carrying case, 1 charcoal pencil, 3 graphite pencils, 2 pastel pencils, 3 charcoal sticks and 3 graphite sticks.

Chris’ winning answer to “What’s on your feet right now?” was…

 ”I’m wearing my TOMS shoes.”

I live in the Chatanooga National Forest and last summers heat wave killed millions of our songbirds. I have designed a cooler birdhouse that uses natures own ventilation system to cool the birdhouses. Birds cannot tolerate extreme heat and neither can the eggs. Eggs spoil and birds die. Using foam for insulation and tiny lattice work I have created a birdhouse that pulls the cool ground air up forces the hot air up and out of a lattice ceiling.

They are for sale at Cool Rainbow Birdhouses.

Interested in being a “Featured Crafter”? We want to hear from our crafty friends about what they like to create. Share with us what you put your energy into, whether it is your passion, your business, or simply something you enjoy doing. Do you have your own blog, Etsy store or craft products? Tell us about it!

Click here to submit a “Featured Crafter”!

Dismount Creative offers social DIY craft classes in Houston, TX and at events around the country. Every project is carefully designed to be on-trend, achievable without prior experience and completed in a few hours. In addition to the popular happy hour classes, I’m also available for private parties, special events and freelance projects.

The Dismount Creative blog is updated twice a day with everything that inspires me in fashion, craft, design, decor and lifestyle. Some of my most popular posts are my DIY projects. I started blogging to support my classes and events but now it’s become a big part of my business. I love sharing my creative life and style with the world and especially enjoy working with companies that share my view.

The dismount in Dismount Creative comes from my background as a competitive gymnast. I wanted my blog and classes to give women the opportunity to dismount, or step away from, their busy lives and experience the joy of making something. So many people tell me that they “aren’t creative”, but I often find that they haven’t even given themselves an opportunity to try! I create that opportunity. (Wine helps.)

Interested in being a “Featured Crafter”? We want to hear from our crafty friends about what they like to create. Share with us what you put your energy into, whether it is your passion, your business, or simply something you enjoy doing. Do you have your own blog, Etsy store or craft products? Tell us about it!

Click here to submit a “Featured Crafter”!

DIY Geek Coasters on Mod Podge Rocks!

I am a 34-year-old transplant from Seattle living in Atlanta, Georgia. I was born from creative genes, so I’m carrying on the tradition. I have been knitting for 18 years, sewing for longer and decoupaging for just a few. I do all of these things on a daily basis, or at least as much as I can. In addition to Mod Podge, I love the color blue, dogs, reading, cold weather, funny movies, road rallies, yogurt, garden gnomes, sock monkeys, running, tattoos, being outdoors, buttons, snuggling and apparently blogging. Who knew I would love it this much?

My favorite thing about Mod Podge Rocks! is that I get to bring lots of ideas and inspiration together in one place – making everyone who is featured here an authority! I started this blog because when I was trying to find decoupage inspiration, I had to go to a lot of different places to get it. I thought, “what if it could all just be in one place?” I don’t just complain people – I make it happen!

Interested in being a “Featured Crafter”? We want to hear from our crafty friends about what they like to create. Share with us what you put your energy into, whether it is your passion, your business, or simply something you enjoy doing. Do you have your own blog, Etsy store or craft products? Tell us about it!

Click here to submit a “Featured Crafter”!