"B" is for Quick and Fun!

Here is something I whipped up today - literally in minutes! I purchased the "B" in my local craft store for about $2. I used Rubber Cement onto the front of the letter and added some retired Stampin' Up! Designer Series paper. I sanded the edges to remove the excess paper and to finish the edges. A few stars from the Stampin' Up! new star punch, a tie of wide twill tape, and a little sponging of Chocolate Chip ink around the edges, and I have a new wallhanging.

This was a fun and quick project, and I think I will be making more of these for Christmas presents to accompany gift cards for my neice and nephew, which are VERY hard to buy for. :)

OIF: Altering a Candle

Every month, I provide the assignment of homework to my club members as a monthly contest I hold. This contest is named, "Operation:Inky Fingers," otherwise known as OIF. This month's contest is Altering a Candle. Altering a candle is so easy and fun! Following are the steps and pictures to complete this process and make an inexpensive, yet impressive gift for someone. I will also have this project as one of 3 gifts to make in my "Thrifty Gifty" class in November. Contact me at loristamps@gmail.com to reserve your workspace for this class, or to learn more information about this or my other classes.

Supplies needed: white tissue paper, stamps/ink, pastels or markers, candle, and heat tool.

Step 1: Stamp on tissue paper, and lightly color the image without ripping the tissue (pastels are recommended, as they do not wet or deteriorate the paper).

Step 2: Cut around the images of your stamp, leaving a space around the image. The first picture demonstrates this.

Step 3: Place the image onto the candle and hold tightly in place by holding a piece of wax paper around the candle.

Step 4: Lightly heat the candle with your heat tool, just long enough to grab onto the tissue paper and for the edges to disappear. You will notice that the tissue begins to disappear and the wax paper looks as though it is sweating. The picture doesn't clearly show the image edges disappearing... you have to trust me on this one. ;) See second picture for a demonstration of Step 3 and 4.

Step 5: Peel off the wax paper. ENJOY!

Note: I find that a cream or white pillar candle works best for this process, but the candle can be of any color and shape or size. Nervous? Make a test version on an inexpensive votive candle. Any additional embellishments should be added to the bottom third of the candle, and candles should never be left unattended.

Wanted - Faux Suede

I just love the new set, "Wanted" that I received at convention! I just whipped this up while in my room at convention, and couldn't resist making it with my Mission:Embossibles2 Club meeting this month. I hope you gals enjoy this project as much as I do! (I did remove the hemp from the project to minimize the "fussiness" of the project while we are burning rubber).

The frayed hemp is just to unwind the hemp twine after it has been adhered to the card. This is something that can be accomplished while watching TV or something else that needs little attention. The horse is stamped on "faux suede" - which is cardstock that has been weathered and pulled apart - and then stamped on.

Organization Woes

I am organizing my craft room - again. When I left for convention (and with a month long vacation on top of that), I left my craft room a total mess. During my absence, anything that my dh found around the house ended up chucked there as well. "UNCLE!," I cried, and have been weeding though so much schtuff. Yesterday afternoon, dh and I headed off to do some shopping to find a more permanent solution to my organization dilemma. After all, school begins again for me soon and I need a space not only for crafting, but also for studying and the like. We ended up purchasing 2 filing cabinets and rested a 6 foot countertop on top of those.

What better to do during my organization than to stop and smell the cardstock? I am behind on many thank you notes and have decided to make a OSW (one sheet wonder - a great way to bang out a bunch of cards, mentioned on a previous post). After stamping on one sheet of cs, I made 9 thank you notes! Included here are 3 pictures - of the OSW after stamping (and coloring), of the OSW after cutting it into random pieces, and then the pic of my 9 cards.

Alright (sigh). Back to more organization! I look forward to posting pictures of my reorganized craft room before I mess it up again!!

Home Sweet Home

Home has never felt so good! :) I left home at the end of June, and here it is August already. I actually arrived very late Saturday, and spend Sunday shopping for school supplies while it was a tax free weekend. What was I thinking? I endured shoving and screaming by people, just to save about $7?? That makes absolutely no sense to me. Next year, I will shop the night before the tax free weekend begins, as everything will be in stock and I will be enjoying shopping in my own space and solitude. (Good idea, Lisa!).

School already begins in 2 weeks and I feel as though the summer is completely gone already. I had a great time in Colorado, but so glad to be back in the hot, humid, sticky part of the country. Now, the scramble is on to get the kids ready for school and to put a lot of my ideas from convention on paper (and cardstock). I have so many ideas rolling around in my head that I am about to BURST!

Here is a picture of me with Shelli Gardner, co-founder and CEO of Stampin' Up! - she is such a sweet and wonderful woman.

Happy Stampin'!

Lori