Sunday, May 15, 2011

Homemade Embellishments

So, the Counterfeit Kit Challenge has inspired me to make some of my own embellishments. The CKC blog has posted several tutorials. First up, I tried making the watermelons. They were really easy since I used my Cricut to cut out all the circles. The seeds on the watermelon "flower" were made using the bird punch from Stampin' Up (they are the leaves from the branch). I used the Cricut once again to cut letters from printed cardstock. The Cricut is a great tool for making embellishments! I didn't even come close to utilizing it to its potential!



Next, I tried making my own Baker's Twine from crochet thread and markers. I had a really difficult time getting the color even. While this would work, my perfectionism will have me ordering the real stuff once I use up what I've made.

I also had mixed results making my own washi tape. I think it was more of a trial and error to find out what works on different types of tape. The paper tape was my favorite. It took color better and dried faster. The masking tape was more difficult to color and took longer to dry. It was a good project to work on while I was watching TV. Since neither of these are acid free, I'll only be using this on cards and altered items.

So, I think that fabric buttons may be my new addiction. I used a gift card to buy a few supplies. I decided to buy some white patterned fabric. I tested dying the fabric and was happy to discover that the pattern became more pronounced! I used spray mists (from Maya Road and Tattered Angels). I also used ink pads to color the fabric after I had dampened it. I'm excited that the few scraps of fabric that I purchased will be able to work on a variety of projects since I can use supplies I already have to dye it the desired color!
Posted by Picasa

It definitely saves money to make my own embellishments, which leave me money for more paper! So, that definitely makes me happy!

Friday, May 13, 2011

May Counterfeit Kit

So, I spent most of National Scrapbook Day getting my May Counterfeit Kit together. Well, really I didn't spend most of the day, I just spent most of my crafty time. I didn't put in very many embellishments. I figure that I can grab what I need as I'm doing projects. I did try to pull out of couple of things that have been in my stash for quite a while: Li'l David Journaling Pockets and Bazzill coin envelopes and fabric brads. Other embellishments include Echo Park Alphabet Stickers and Journaling Cards, Autumn Leave and Oriental Trading Company stamps, Crafter's Square flowers and trims (from the Dollar Tree), and some shipping tags.


I was happy that this month's inspiration kit was smaller. I think it's just the right size for me since it seems that my monthly page totals can be counted with my fingers. I chose quite a mix of patterned papers from GCD, My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey, Echo Park, Doodlebug, and Club Scrap. I made one sheet of patterned paper (the wavy one inspired by the Basic Grey paper in the inspiration kit). The cardstock is American Crafts and Prism (still working on using up what I have left of that).

Posted by Picasa

I'm hoping to have time this weekend to start using the kit. I'd like to try some of the challenges that I saw posted last weekend. I saw a few that will stretch my creativity. In the meantime, I have been trying out making some of my own embellishments, so I will be posting about that sometime soon!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Game Night

I have another layout that I did as part of the Counterfeit Kit Mini Challenge. My inspiration came from Jessica. It was a quick and easy layout to put together. These days, I need quick and easy! I made the photo corners from a square frame that I cut in half.

Supplies used: American Crafts cardstock, Paper Studio patterned paper, Doodlebug and Bo Bunny alphabet stickers, misc. buttons, ribbon, and bling.