A Different Type of Origami

I've seen these wonderful towel sculptures while visiting first class hotels on the Travel Channel! But this is the first I've ever seen directions for them! Just may have to try them when I get the chance.

Postcards

Enjoy these vintage images that I found as postcards at a local flea market. I picked up 15 different postcards which are themselves copyrighted 1990. What a great look into the past! I already have plans for them in some upcoming projects. Stay tuned....

Bee Happy!

I just wanted to share with you a very simple journal I just finished. I covered chipboard with scrapbook paper for the front and back covers and used an off white paper for the pages. The bees are diecuts from O Scrap, and I stamped the quote on plain cardstock, then mounted it on textured cardstock. The binding was done with my new favorite tool - the Zutter Bind-it-All. I'm very pleased with the result and I'll be doing lots more because it was a quick and easy project.

Thrift Store FINDings

Sometimes you just get lucky. Here is just a sample of the bag of jewelry pieces I recently found at my favorite thrift store. They are all vintage pieces of pins and earrings. The great thing is that the backs have already been removed so I don't have to struggle with removing unwanted clips, pins, etc.

I've already been playing.. Here's a couple of magnets I made from 1 1/2" earrings. The vintage images are enclosed in a rollabind disk and sealed with Diamond glaze. The added rhinestone finish them off nicely. I'm very happy with the way they turned out...

Love That Handmade Paper!

About three years ago I dabbled in making paper from old sewing patterns. It turned out ok, but I knew I could do better if I ever got around to making it again. Well, I was shopping at Michael's a few weeks ago and they were having a clearance sale on all Arnold Grummer's paper making supplies. I couldn't believe the sale prices on the $49 and $69 kits - only $10! Especially since I had just purchase one two weeks prior with a 40% off coupon! I snatched up 2 more of both kits, mainly because if I purchased some of the supplies included, it would cost me more than buying the whole kit! So I've been making paper from my leftover scraps and junk mail, and loving it! So far it's been pretty basic, but soon I'm going to start adding botanicals and embossing. Making paper is easy and fun, and it's always a suprise as to how it turns out. So far I've been using it for journals and cards. Here are some of the results...

The dark background on this card is a piece of my original sewing pattern paper. I stamped the fern on a light green sheet, added a dried fern leaf, and mounted everything on a card made of white paper.

And finally, inside a journal...

When I get some time, I'll post directions on Re-Creative Crafting.

ArtFire Crafters for Canines

There's a new site showcasing the artisans of ArtFire who create for canines. We've just started accepting new studios, so if you have an ArtFire studio and your crafts are inspired by the dog, please consider joining the group. It's another way to promote your studio as well as fellow crafters. It's also a great way to shop for you 4-legged friends. Please check back often to see what new shops and handmade products have been added.

Crafters for Canines

The ArtFire - Etsy Debate

Let me begin by saying that I have shops on both Etsy and ArtFire and I'm in no way trying to promote one selling venue over the other. But I've been reading the forums for quite a while and I'm really suprised at the attitude of many Etsy sellers toward the new ArtFire site. I've read lots of negatives statements concerning ArtFire, mainly low views, no sales, unattractive front page, and poor search options. Does anyone remember the birth of Etsy? Pretty similar, right? ArtFire is still in its infancy. It's still in Beta, which means it's in constant change. Those of us who have started studios realize that and don't expect an immediate influx of buyers rushing to purchase our items from a relatively unknown site. But the word is getting out. Both administration and members are pushing hard to promote the site.



Etsy sellers should welcome this new kid. Competition is not bad. It makes others step back and see if there might be some improvements they could make. There are lots of inovative projects happening on ArtFire. Perhaps Etsy will recognize that sellers respond to improvements. Monopolies become stagnant. Competition encourages companies to become the best that they can be.



ArtFire is just giving us another selling option and if it works for you, great. But if your loyality remains with Etsy, that's ok too. It's a matter of personal choice and neither site should be bad-mouthed for giving it's members an inexpensive storefront to sell our handmade creations and vintage treasures. Your comments are welcome!

Recycled Playing Cards

One of my latest finds in my thrift store excursions was a deck of Coca-Cola playing cards, used but still in perfect condition. I put them to good use by repurposing them into cute retro notepads. This first example is meant to be used as a keyring - never be without paper in your purse again! There are also lots of other uses. Hang it by your phone with phone numbers..... Or on the kid's backpack.... Or anywhere you need information fast. I have one hanging on my desk with my website passwords!


The next is a notepad bound with Rollabind disks. A perfect little pad to carry with you anywhere. The nice thing about both these items is more paper can be added at any time. Never discard the covers - only the used paper sheets inside!



For more information on making recycled notepads, visit my Squido lens, Re-Creative Crafting.

Recycled Calendars

Yearly calendars, given away free as advertising, are filled with beautiful images and photos. I've been saving mine for years, but have never really done anything with them. Well, I've finally gotten around to using them for envelopes and matching cards. Here's what I came up with.

For the envelope, I used a template from Green Sneakers, but you can easily make your own template by unfolding an envelope, tracing, and cutting it out from cardboard or plastic sheets. I mounted the photo page on a white paper sheet prior to cutting, as it was slightly smaller than the template. The extra lining also makes the envelope a little stronger if you are sending it throught the mail. The resulting white border on the envelope came out great. Since I had leftovers from the calendar page, I used the same picture to create a matching card. Don't worry about writing an address, just use a white label stuck on the front.

I tried using Lick and Stick glue for the flap, but it didn't stick to the glossy paper. So I'm using clear 1" stickies that I made from a clear plastic sheet and my Xyron.

I love the look of these envelopes and cards. They're fast, easy, and best of all - FUN!

Happy Mother's Day

Do You Squidoo?

What is this Squidoo, anyway?

According to Megan Casey, one of the founding members:
"Squidoo is the popular publishing platform and community that makes it easy for you to create "lenses" online. Lenses are pages, kind of like flyers or signposts or overview articles, that gather everything you know about your topic of interest--and snap it all into focus."

It's a fascinating site to browse around. I've created my own lens entitled "Re-Creative Crafting", which will focus on tips, techniques and tutorials for creative projects using a variety of repurposed materials. It will showcase more detailed information about many of my projects seen on this blog.

If you have a Squidoo lens, please leave your URL as a comment so we all can take a look.

Recycled Computer Disks

I've finally figured out what to do with those obsolete 3 1/2" floppies. They make great little desk calendars. I printed a year's worth of calendars on cardstock and used two metal eyelets to hold them between two disks. The calendars can be used freestanding on a desktop or closed like a book. This is just a basic calendar, but you could stamp images or decorate the pages in any way you'd like. And it's a great way to make use of something that would just be thrown out.

Recycled Postcard Notepad

Just though I'd share with you another of my recycled items. The cover of this notepad is made from a recycled postcard mounted on chipboard. I used 24lb 50% recycled paper for the pages.

Altered Postcard Notepad

A while back I was working on altered vintage postcards. I was toying with the idea of making some mini notebooks or journals when it dawned on me I still had a bunch of my postcards. Why not use them for the covers of my journals? Well, here's the result:

The cover is from a computer generated copy of my original altered postcard. It is laminated for protection and mounted on chipboard. The back cover is also chipboard. The binding eyelets allow the book to be folded back on itself for easy writing. The notebook measures approximately 3 1/2" X 5 1/2" and contains 35 pages of parchment paper. I'm really pleased with the way this came out and will surely be using some more of my previous projects for more journals.