News

Shadow Boxes Just finished these floral shaping birthday gifts for cousins who happen to be twins. Was pleasantly surprised to find water based stain from Hobby Lobby was a breeze to apply to the shadow boxes (also from Hobby Lobby), no streaking. I’ve had a lot of fun working with these papers, designed from an 1871 Philadelphia based type foundry collection among other sources so I hope my cousin will enjoy that bit of local history as she loves all things Victorian and antique. I can’t wait to try them with a dark rose floral since they are so neutral...

Use Every Scrap Challenge Spring cleaning has been making me reassess my craft habits. Not only do I have things I have never opened but my scrap paper box keeps getting fuller with each passing week.  I decided to give myself a challenge; when I cut a sheet or sheets of paper for a project I will use every scrap as soon as possible. It does not leave my work area and it does not go in to a scrap box.  Part I of this series shows how I tackled some uses of scraps. This week I have a showcase...

Special Occasion Tags I was inspired by a vintage rose project from Heartfelt Creations (a very inspirational channel) which had some dark pink roses on a dark brown background along with some other die cut embellishments and very muted colored scrapbook papers. A lot of eye catching contrast but muted and moody as well. I have also been experimenting with inked embossing folder techniques and combining textures with embossing and dimensional shaped flowers.  I think creating deluxe tags like these are perfect for very special occasions like weddings and rather than embellish another paper box for my daughter's Easter gift...

Repurpose Your Machine Embossing and die cutting offer many opportunities to take your paper crafting to new levels but you can also use this versatile machine to make prints.  I use my embossing machine to make prints, especially on book pages to add subtle designs and textures.  I run off more than one to store for when I don't feel like stenciling multiple pages. I have several 'plates' with flowers, leaves, simple designs. Anything that will accept and transfer ink can be used. The acetate/poly vinyl makes for a stronger plate that will last a long time, is easier to...

More Shaped Paper Flowers From Circles If you can cut out paper circles you can easily make these shaped paper roses. In this video I demonstrate more ways to make dimensional flowers without a die cutting machine. I also show some other paper projects for making corner bookmarks. A nice little tuck in gift for cards. I think these corner book marks are ideal to keep in book pages that you reference often like cookbooks, garden books, planners or other reference material. So much prettier than post it stickers. They are also a nice embellishment for junk journals.  Happy crafting!...