Tool Time Tuesday- Sticky Sticks

Hey Crafters it's that time again. 

And yes, STICKY STICKS are a thing! In fact, they were a big thing at the Winter CHA 2013 Show. 

What are they you ask? 

Sticky Sticks are tongue depressor-sized craft sticks with the most amazing adhesive on one side of one end. They stick permanently to paper, ribbon, felt, foam, and wood. 

These would be ideal for pinwheels, pennants, flags, signs, puppets and many other crafty creations you want on a stick! You can even paint the wood portion of the stick to coordinate with your project. 

I view Sticky Sticks as a tool because they can help you accomplish great craft success by using them. 

Keep an eye out for these at a crafty retailer near you.

Crafting Tip of the Week#165- Help, it's Stuck & it Won't Come Off...

Hello Crafty Friends!

Have you ever encountered a situation where your old photos have gotten stuck to the glass in their frames? 

Ever wonder how you could remove the pictures without harming them?

If so, I have  a tip to help with those stuck on pics. 

Place your frame (s) into a resealable plastic bag making sure to leave the bag unsealed, then place it in the freezer for a day or two.  Doing this dries out the photos' sticky finish, which is the root of the problem. 

Then, for each frame, use the dull edge of a butter knife to carefully pry up one corner of the picture. At this point the photo (s) should peel off the glass. Now if some of the picture still won't budge, take them to the photo store to see if the staff can help with the issue.

If you still can't get the pic unstuck, then get the photo scanned through the glass to create a copy . At least this way you will still have the photo in tact even if it is a copy. The most important thing is that you have the photo. 

I have encountered this problem and the freezing process worked for me. I am not guaranteeing it but it is certainly worth a try. 

Here's to hoping this doesn't happen to you!

Have a great week ahead. 

Fabulous Friday Find- McCall's Paper Quilt Creations

Hello Friends!

Yes, you read that title correctly. It does say PAPER QUILT CREATIONS. 

It's brought to us by the sewing experts at McCall's.

Paper quilting is a unique craft inspired by fabric quilting, embroidery, mosaics, fashion, collage and scrapbooking. Crafters of any age and ability can produce beautiful, unique, handmade creations in one crafting session.

Each pattern comes with instructions, templates and an easy square creator. Each package clearly lists the materials and tools you will need to make the design.

Check out the video below: 

JOANN FABRICS currently has them in stock. 

If you didn't want to sew, you could use the We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy. I featured those as a tool a while back. 

Doesn't it look like fun? The whole design is so thoughtful with a touch of homespun love. I bet it would work great with all those yummy vintage lines out on the market right now. 

Nothing says handmade like quilting even in paper form. 

Tool Time Tuesday- It's a Roller Doodle!

Brought to us by the fabulous Glitz Girls...It's their DOODLE ROLLERS! They are stamps in roller form and boy do they ever look easy and fun to use.  Last time I checked a stamp was a tool right?
Who knew it could look this cute and give you those fantastic results? 

Check them out: 

Aren't these just divine? Just imagine how much whimsy and character you can add with the roll of one of these babies. You simply add your ink & roll away.  There are more styles too. 

They are clever and ergonomically created to make crafting fun. I was not able to find the price on these just yet, they're not out in retail but should be really soon.

I'm thinking we gotta have these. 

What are you thinking? 

Crafting Tip of the Week #164- Don't Bag the Baggie

Hey there Crafty Friends!

Whatever could I possibly mean by don't bag the baggie?

Stick around & I'll tell ya.

At some point we have all purchased clear plastic sandwich bags. They come in many sizes. There are  even small plastic bags in the jewelry section of most craft stores.
So let's not bag the baggies in the traditional matter for which it was created.
As artists, let's bag it our way!


Why not use those bags to store your memorabilia and then adhere them to your mini albums, scrap pages, shadow boxes & other 3D art? That zip loc seal or snap closure will come in handy.

Embellish your average bags with rub ons, paints, stamps & stickers. The tricky part is finding those type of inks, paints, rub ons and stickers that are compatible with the plastic. Remember you can use SCORE TAPE on them.  It will definitely stick anything to it.

Acrylic paint will not work. You can use stencils and Krylon's Fusion paint. You can also use a polyurethane or epoxy based paint on plastic bags. If you don't want to worry about fumes or paint of any kind simply use rub ons or adhere cool items. You can also attach things with colored staples, your Tim Holtz tiny attacher or the standard stapler.

Then you can place items like baby's first haircut strands, 1st tooth or many baby teeth, ticket stubs, extra  photos, little tiny toys, playing cards, game pieces, etc... inside of the bag, zip & seal. When it's all filled, it's ready to get adhered to your project.

Using the bags can not only provide extra dimension for your project but can serve to hold items of significance that normally wouldn't make it in your scrapbook layouts or mini albums.

If you are worried about the acid free factor then simply place in a way where it does not directly come in contact with your photos.

Imagine the possibilities.

Have a wonderful week.

Fabulous Friday Find- Another We R Memory Keeper's Find

Happy Friday!

Again I bring you a genius product from the marvelous folks at We R Memory Keepers.

This time it's a find & it's so fab.

It's their 360 CRAFTERS BAG & the Storage Bag. 

Check them out!

Aren't they gorgeous?

Not too mention super handy!

These will allow you to organize and store your crafting supplies in style with the adorable multi-functional crafter’s bag & the storage bag. The wheeled  bag is made from two-toned printed fabric that’s both stylish and sophisticated. It’s the first crafter’s bag with top-of-the-line 360 wheels making it easier to take on the go. With dozens of multi-sized pockets, there’s plenty of space to store lots and lots of crafting supplies. And with removable storage pockets and sturdy zippers, it’s easy to take out just what’s needed for the project on hand. The built-in accordion pockets help store paper by theme, color or project type and the latched pockets help to see what’s inside the bag while cropping. 

The Crafter's Storage Shoulder Bag is smaller in size but will sit comfortably on your shoulder with that lovely, extra wide strap pad for comfort. It sports a great zipper pocket on the outside for easy access & of course more storage.

The 360 Crafter’s Bag & Crafter’s Storage Bag (MSRP: $34.99 USD for the shoulder bag and $114.99 USD for the roller bag)will start shipping this spring.

Great for on the go or even for those with limited storage space. 

HAVE A LOVELY WEEKEND!

Tool Time Tuesday- 3"x4" Card Punch

Hi There Crafty Bloggers!

Thanks for tuning in for "Tool Time".

Today's share is brought you by the wonderful, WE R MEMORY KEEPERS!

It's their newly debuted (@ Winter CHA 2013) 3"x4" CARD PUNCH.

Here's what it looks like:

Turn any picture or paper of choice into a 3x4” card with ease. The 3x4” Card Punch can be used anywhere on a project. It’s made with reverse technology to help you see exactly what will be punched, before it’s punched. The 3x4” Card Punch contains two pieces. The bottom piece can be placed anywhere on a project. The top piece is then held in place using strong magnets. It includes a clear covering so you will no longer punch a photo or journaling piece in the wrong place saving you paper, photos, and time. When complete, the final punched piece includes rounded edges.It will be available (MSRP $29.99 USD) in June.

From mini albums, to scrap layouts, to shadow boxes, printer trays, frames & more.

It takes the guess work out of measuring for a 3"x4" size and gives you exact measurement every time. Not to mention those perfectly rounded corners. 

I just love it. I want it. 

Hope you love it too.

Crafting Tip of the Week #163-Cupcake Container Craft-cycling

Hello Crafty Friends!

Today's tip is all about craft-cycling again, so let's get to it then.

If or when you purchase cupcakes from your bakery- KEEP the containers. 

They are great work horses for your crafting space. 

Here's what I am referring too:

Here's my list  of several uses. And by the way, take advantage of the fact that it has a lid. It can close and contain. As always, use up your crafty supplies to jazz it up. 

 1-Use it to hold your smaller spools of ribbon- the little round ones can lay in there beautifully. You would even be able to stack a couple up. So with a cupcake container which holds 12 cupcakes, that is 12 openings just waiting to be filled.

 2-Use it to hold specialty embellishments

 3- Use it to squirt paints and even water into the deep wells for your paint projects. Then when you are done you can wash it out, dry it & repeat at a later time. 

 4- Use it to coral your office supplies in a creative way. Like push pins, paper clips, binder clips, etc...You can embellish the cover and keep it on your desktop.

 5- Use it as a vessel to contain votive or tea light candles that you can gift. Of course as crafters you know that no gift would be complete without our crafty touches, so go ahead- embellish it. 

6- Use it to store & sort your buttons by color

 7- Use it to store beads by color, type, size, etc...

 8- Use it to store collections of embellishments by vendor. So if you had Tim Holtz goodies, each cupcake hole could hold a different Tim Holtz only embellishment. 

 9-Use it to sort & store flowers

10- Use it to place your embossing powder jars inside. Not all sizes fit in them but the smaller pots do.

**Bonus #11*** You can also use it to store your washi tape rolls.

Each time I thought okay, I have enough uses another would pop in my head. 

Hope you find this one useful. Go ahead- grab some cupcakes! You know you want to.

Have a wonderful week!

Fabulous Friday Find- The Martha Stewart Portable Work Station

Happy Friday Bloggers!

Today's fab find is the : PORTABLE WORK STATION BY MARTHA STEWART. 

Take a look at this beauty: It's a work station disguised as a trendy, cool shoulder bag.

• This fabulous  bag opens to a 12 x 12in work surface designed to hold a cutting mat and scoring board.
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• It has a large pocket that can accommodate a 12x12in paper pad.
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• Unique tool storage folds out to stand upright for easy access to crafting tools and writing instruments.
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• It has roomy pockets designed to hold photos, embellishments, glitter, and adhesives.
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• It has an adjustable shoulder strap making easy to adapt to any height.
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•  I have seen it retail online from $34.95 USD on HSN.com to $44.99 USD on other online retailers. 

What a great way to craft on the go, in a small space or even right at your dining room table! 

Hope you enjoyed the first fab find of 2013!

Tool Time Tuesday- Tim Holtz Goodies

Hi Crafty Bloggers!

Today's find is from our friend, the King of Crafts...Tim Holtz.

I'm sharing a small sampling of his new Sizzix Alterations Die Cuts.

They are just so cool, so vintage, so grungy, so steam punk & SO TOTALLY TIMMY TERRIFIC!

Check them out:

From a mini clipboard top & bottom set, to the mini film strips and mini tickets & t hat picture wheel which is simply just fantastic. Everything is so versatile!

With tools like these you can create quite the cacophony of crafts!

Love it!

Have a wonderful day.

Crafting Tip of the Week#162- Write That Down!

Hello & Happy New Year Crafty Friends, Followers & Newcomers!

I hope your holidays were joyous.

Thanks for tuning in today.

For today's tip I wanted to share a few  ideas on how you can help jump start your memories in order to document your life stories, memorable moments & to capture the special occasions in print. 

You already probably take lots of photos but sometimes there may be so many that you can lose track of the who, what, when, where & why's.

So here are a few ways to help you keep your stories straight:

1- Keep a memory jar if you have a specific project in mind. For instance, if you know a wedding is coming up.  Start with an empty jar, a pad of paper & a pen/pencil. Decorate your jar. Label your jar with the year and the occasion & have it at the ready to add special quotes, memorabilia, pics, samples, swatches & written snip its of memories made when getting ready for the wedding. From the bridal shower, shopping for the bride's dress, daddy/daughter dance, etc... As you collect items & make the memories you can simply grab a sheet of paper inside your empty jar and jot down the date, time, place & details. Once you have the jar full and are getting ready to assemble a scrapbook mini, page or entire wedding album- you will have lots of written details to go along with your masterpiece. No more struggling to remember the 5 W's.

2- Use a recipe box with the inserts to jot down special moments, dates, funny things your kids say. You can simply assign one divider per family member. Then you can add the recipe blanks inside the box and have a pen handy in or on the box. Embellish your box & keep it handy, that's key! If you have it close by it will serve as a reminder for you to write down the memories as they are made so you don't forget the details. Isn't it all in the details?
The funny things your kids say & do, your corky mishaps, senior moments, dares, accidental mishaps that turn into fortunate situations. You want to capture it all. 

3- Use a rolodex. They come in all varieties. Make it your own & set it in a place where you will always see it and have access to it. Keep a pen handy. Use the alphabetical dividers for different purposes. You can recover them  and title them birthdays, anniversaries, one per holiday, one per family member,  everyday , etc...You can easily go to that subject matter & write down whatever memory you want to keep & document including those special little details that will coincide with a photo or just be something worth writing about.

4- Keep a journal or notebook w/ pen at the ready. In a kitchen drawer, on your desk or your bedside table. A place where if you need to quickly access it you can & write your stories.

5- Use a calendar! These are inexpensive and you can easily write in the squares. They come in a myriad of sizes so if you need a big one you can buy a big one. The desktop version is fabulous b/c of its' size but also because you have the month, day & year already available. You simply just write your special memories in the corresponding box and you will have it there to reference when you finally get around to scrapbooking those memories. I think this last one is my favorite.

The pictures are fantastic but let's face it, there are times when we can & do and probably will again forget some of the details. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have your journaling coincide with the pics? I am certain that when you, your loved ones & friends look at your scrapbooks and layouts they will appreciate the stories behind the photo and understand it so much more. It will make a complete memory of your photos. Pictures are worth a million words but sometimes you need just only a few to convey more than the photo alone can say.

Isn't it all in the details?
The funny things your kids say & do, your corky mishaps, senior moments, dares, accidental mishaps that turn into fortunate situations. You want to capture it all.


It's definitely in the details! By writing it down- your preserving those details.

Well there you have it, some clever ways to nudge your noggin.

Hope you enjoyed the post.
Have a great week!