Another Scrappy Saturday - A Chocolate Colored Card - Photo Heavy

Let's face it. The last two months of 2014 had us faced with the temptation of calorie laden foods. Then January hit and we were (hopefully) able to get back into the swing of proper eating. And then bam! February hits and every store is laden with more tempting chocolates and candies for a holiday about Love. So when the first week of February ended up being themed chocolate, I had no clue I would be caving and doing a special Food edition of Make it Monday to break the cycle of normal calorie intake! So in an attempt to reign that crazy haired, crazy eyed, Chocolate maniac in, I am going to make a card for Scrappy Saturday.

A chocolate colored card. One without calories. In fact, it burns calories!

The inspiration is the wrapper of a chocolate bar. The sentiment and stamp was chosen to match a Dove chocolate piece that has an inspirational saying inside. (I so love Dove milk chocolate. Yum!)



Materials:
A paper cutter
Scissors
Roller Tape
Scott's Magic Tape (transparent or similar brand)
Acrylic block
Stamp set
Staz-on Brown Ink
Tim Holtz Distress ink in Walnut
A sponge (I use a makeup sponge - super cheap.)
Silver or gold thread
1 card base (white)- 5 1/2 x 4 1/4
Layer 1 (tan) - 5 1/4 x 4
Layer 2 (designer paper) - 5 x 3 3/4
Scrap piece of white paper
Scrap piece of tan paper for stamp mats


Remember: The stamps I use or the paper is relatively easy to change for what you have on hand. Use this as a guide.

Before starting - I cut all my papers and base to have them ready.

1. I started by stamping my sentiment and stamp on white card stock. I always stamp on a larger sheet and cut them out by hand.

2. Using Tim Holtz, Walnut Distress ink, I sponge around the outside edge of both stamped images to create a contrast on the tan background.

3. Adhere (roller tape) the stamped images to the tan background, and hand cut them out.

4. Here they are cut out.

5. Using a piece of Scott's tape, adhere the gold (or silver) thread onto the back of the designer paper.

6. Wrap it around how many ever times you wish. I chose five. Once you like the look, cut the thread and attach with another piece of tape on the back.

7. Using roller tape, attach Layer 2 to Layer 1. Then attach with roller tape to the card base.

8. Using pop dots or foam tape adhere your stamps to the front. I positioned my flower near the center of the card with the sentiment at the bottom. You could easily adhere the flower in the center and use the sentiment inside.

And that is my chocolate inspired card. Who couldn't use a push to enjoy life's moments? We all get lost in life sometimes. Having a push in the right direction is great!

Happy Saturday!

Sarah

Another Scrappy Saturday - Ribbon and Bookmarks - Photo Heavy

Okay! You may have noticed that I have been making a lot of bookmarks in the last few months. *shifty eyes* I do not have a problem. I promise. LOL! But, I do have a lot of nieces, nephews, sisters, cousins, and such who love to read and who I needed to make gifts for. This week's bookmarks made on Monday were lacking the ribbon part. So I wanted to use some scrap ribbon to add some.

On one trip to my local Dollar Tree, I found some beautiful gossamer pink ribbon. It sparkles! It was the closest color I could find in my stash that relatively matched the color scheme of the tie-dyed bookmarks. So I decided to give it a try. Here's a quick tutorial on adding ribbon to your bookmarks.

*Note* This post contains a sneak peak into next week's Scrappy Saturday project!

Materials
Finished bookmark
Hole punch (standard size)
Ribbon


1. Punch a hole near the top of the bookmark. In the photo below, you can see that I punched one slightly higher than the other. I found that it looked better in the end product, but both still look really good.

2. Take ribbon and fold it in half. With the ends, fold them in half and half again. It should be able to fit into the hole.

3. Insert the ribbon into the hole from the back of the bookmark.

4. Pull the ribbon until half of both ends are on each side.

5. Insert the ends of the ribbon through the loop.

6. Now pull tight. Cut the ribbon to a shorter length if you wish.

Here's the finished product. Two bookmarks with gossamer ribbon for my two older nieces.

Now that you have a tutorial on how to add ribbon to your bookmarks, you can effectively add ribbon to any project similar to this.

Wishing you a happy crafting day,

Sarah

Another Scrappy Project - Bookmarks 2

Apparently this is a new and exciting thing for me. Using up scraps has become a way for me to expand my mind into creating new unions. And, it is an AWESOME way to reduce unused materials. Here's the next batch of bookmarks. These are all varying in size and shape to utilize the most of the scrap paper.

These are the pretty papers I found in my scrap box. I was almost tempted to search through my pattern books for more just so I could make cards to match. I resisted the temptation since I wanted to just use scraps!

Here's the first batch of true Christmas bookmarks. I am sure these will make their way into some gift bags for my nieces and nephew this Christmas. 

What I love about making bookmarks and using scraps is that you can allow your mind to wander. It is a completely easy craft to do. I spent so little time actually piecing these together. I believe the longest part was making sure there was no tiny paper fibers on the outside because my paper cutter is weird. That means someone with a great paper cutter can whip these out quickly. If you don't have a paper cutter, feel free to do this with a ruler and scissors. It is completely do-able. 

Sending positive crafting vibes,

Sarah

Saturday's Christmas Craft - What Do You Do With Scraps?

When I think about my year as a crafter, I realize that I have untold amount of scraps all over the craft room (and perhaps the house). That includes yarn, ribbon, paper, and sequins. Everything I have used has some sort of scraps. Without being wasteful, I squirrel them away in hopes I can use them in a future project. And sometimes, that "future" doesn't come. So as I was thinking about what I had and what type of things I can make with them, my mind fell on the paper scraps that keep piling up.

Now, I am sure those who exclusively do cards have a larger pile of scraps than I do, but what I have is enough for many of today's craft. Several of them! I realize that I am just getting started. Would you like to see what you can do with your scraps in time for Christmas and able to make many at once?

Yep! Bookmarks! All shapes. All sizes. And in varying patterns. Take a look.

I spent about a hour (including the time it took to search) completing 13 bookmarks with scraps. I only used one new sheet of paper to match the deep purple pattern paper as I didn't have any scraps. This time also included finding my laminating paper and laminator to make these bookmarks last.

Who would have thought? It is one of the most stressful times of the year for crafters and here I found a great way to destash and enjoy a few quick projects.

I do not have any specifications for these bookmarks. It literally depended on the size and shape of the scrap paper. Allow your imagination to soar. If you want to add something else to this, use a hole punch at the top and add some ribbon.

What are you working on this Saturday?

Sarah