Washi, Washi, Washi (Revisited)

Back in August I shared how I used an IKEA pot lid holder to organize my growing collection of washi tapes. I also said I thought I had enough washi and would buy no more. I might have lied. I keep buying to fill in the missing colors. You know, when you go looking for just the right blue, and none of yours are right? Yeah, those missing colors.

So I'd been collecting the new tapes in a bag down in The Abyss, that area of floor space at my feet where everything eventually lands. I can't see going across town to IKEA to buy one $5 item, so I just never go. I even tried to order it online, but it was $20 to ship. Pffth. So the bag at my feet was filling up.

Until this weekend, that is! You see, one of my local tweeps, Kara, tweeted me that she and her DH were headed to IKEA, and did I want her to pick me up another washi rack? YES YES! We did the clandestine parking lot hand-off again, and I rushed home to re-organize the washi. Now it looks like this:

 Sorry about the bad lighting. The only decent light in The Captain's Quarters is right over my desk.

Here is the blue/green section now:

I think I may have a problem.

To attempt to justify this collection, I decided to make a card using some of the tape. I used the new OWH sketch:

and I made this:

I used a few more stamps from my CAS-ual Fridays Big Thanks stamp set. The gray chevron is part of a sheet of washi tape, and because of that, the strip of blue is stapled to the card to hold it in place. I decided the white-on-white was boring, so I used some more of the tape to make a border around the front of the card. I actually applied the adhesive for the top panel inside the washi rectangle on the card front so I knew it would stick. The washi is yummy, but not good with adhesives.

Right after I added the gray piece of washi, I decided to accentuate it by scoring a line above and below it, which you can sorta see here:

It looks way better in real life.

Now I may try this sketch with paper, like a normal person would do. ;/

Thanks for stopping by!

Products used and not listed below: Misc white card stock (it's an un-marked package, so who knows), CAS-ual Fridays Big Thanks stamp set, Queen & Co silver pearls, misc washi tape.

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Neon Thanks

I've been wanting to try an idea I had that was inspired by another lesson in the Online Card Classes Holiday Card Workshop. When I saw this week's CAS{E} This Sketch! challenge, I decided to use my idea for the sketch. Here's my card, then I'll explain:

The lesson we had was how to make a multi-colored word grouping for mass production. I just wanted to execute ONE. Some of the words are a bit wonky, but it's my first one, so I'm still pretty pumped at how it came out.

I used Hero Arts' neon inks for the words, and a new Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder, because, well, you know: the white space.

Tip One: Don't have neon paper? Make it with direct-to-paper using the neon inks.
Tip Two: You know those teeny tiny dies that come with the Spellbinders Nestabilities? Not good for much, right? Wrong. I used one here for the shapes under the sentiment strip so they weren't boring half-circles.

Oh, and here's the sketch:

I'm kinda liking these CAS cards, though I'm not using up my s-crap nearly as fast. I think I need to go see what else I can stir up in the craft room. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Products used but not linked below: CAS-ual Fridays Big Thanks stamps, misc white card stock.

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Arsenic and Old Lace, Part 2

After my last post, I went back into The Captain's Quarters to clean straighten shove things aside, when I decided the cut-off of the Webster's Pages paper would make a perfectly good second card for the Catered Crop Arsenic and Old Lace challenge, so instead of dealing with the remnant, I just used it. Here's my card:

(I'll clean up that loose thread, sigh.) Just a strip of paper with another piece of the same lace and twine, different button and sentiment. Another quick card, and that remnant is off my desk. :)

Next up on the old blog: get out your shades. I might have broken out the neon inks.

Thanks for stopping by!

Arsenic and Old Lace

The current challenge at Catered Crop is Arsenic and Old Lace, wherein we are challenged to add lace to our paper craft projects. For extra credit we can add "arsenic", meaning something a little rugged or rustic.

I went immediately to my stash of Webster's Pages materials and made this card:

The paper, lace, chipboard button, and sticker letters are all Webster's Pages. The twine is from May Arts. You are looking at a 5-minutes card, too, and yes, I am very proud. :)

I think I'll go back in for more while the mojo is flowing.  Thanks for stopping by!

SOS #76 - Best Deal Ever

It's Tuesday, and that means it's time for another Shopping Our Stash challenge. This week's theme is Best Deal Ever. We'd like you to create something using one of your best bargain finds or "had to have it" purchases (and be sure to tell us what it is).

You know you've fallen for it, maybe more than once, even. You know that deal that's just too good to be true, and even though you don't need it, you NEED it, am I right? Well, let me tell you a little secret about me: I don't shop*. I cannot be lured into a store by a coupon. I don't care if it's 20% off my whole order, because I don't NEED anything. Plus, I detest shopping, and the thought of going into a store makes me curl up tighter on the couch.

Secret #2: I don't subscribe to store newsletters.I don't need to know what's on sale today, because I DO NOT NEED IT.

So one day, I found this site called Pick Your Plum, and I signed up. I must have been really, really sick that day, or delusional, or drunk. But sign up I did. It's a daily email with the Deal of the Day. GAH! What sucked me in I think was the washi tape. I was weak.

Luckily for me, I would never use most of the stuff they have, but one day ... it was spools of lace. Colored lace. For like next to nothing. I shopped.

Now here's my card, then I'll explain:

See that lace? I detest it. I have spools of it, in many colors. I cannot disappear it fast enough. I was all over this challenge.

My card was inspired by this one by Cristina Kowalczyk that I saw on Pinterest:

Mine is NOTHING like hers, But my brain remembered the paper banner with the ribbon looped on top, so I took away the idea of using my lace on top of a paper banner.

I actually made three other cards at the same time. Here's another one:

Same idea, just a different color lace and different paper. Why do I not like this stuff? It's cheap (inexpensive) for a reason: it's cheap (not the best quality). I think it would be okay if it didn't come already stuck to a strip of permanent double-sided tape. I can't get the stuff off, so making loops with the lace is out of the question. Like this one:

See that piece of lace at the top? I covered the tape with some non-stick powder and looped the lace, then it promptly stuck to itself. Boo. On a brighter note, though, I also discovered it wasn't symmetrical, so in order to run it down the center of the paper banner, I got to use twice as much of it by putting two strips back-to-back. yay

And the last one:

In addition to a few strips of lace, I also disappeared 4 black buttons and 4 strips of paper remnants from my Basic Grey Out of Print 6x6 pack. I also used my Cuttlebug Herringbone embossing folder, mostly because it was still out. :)

Now it's YOUR turn. Think about something (or multiple somethings - ahem) in your stash that were either bargain finds or "had to have it" purchases, use it on a card, post it somewhere (and be sure to tell us what your Best Deal Ever item is), then come back to Shopping Our Stash and link us up so we can see what you've made!

Thanks for stopping by!

*I do not shop IN STORES. Heck, I even detest grocery stores. Online shopping is a different matter entirely. Just sayin'.

Products used and not linked below: GinaK white card stock, misc black buttons, Pick Your Plum lace.

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Burano Central

In a desperate effort to convince myself my heat-of-the-moment purchase of the A Muse Studio Burano paper AND ink AND ribbon wasn't a total air-head moment, I played again the other day and made this:

That cool paper is Heidi Swapp Color Magic, that I also bought in an I MUST OWN THAT moment, and have used maybe once. This makes twice.

I applied the ink with a distressing tool to the edges of the magic paper and let it fade into the center. I wanted it boldest on the outer edges.

Are you wondering how I did those hearts and got them straight? Ha. I found I had two of the Simon Says Stamp HOLIDAY SHAPES Hearts Stars Craft Die, so I cut one in half. Well, actually I bent it until it snapped. I also figured I'd never want to cut hearts and stars at the same time, so even if I only had one of them, I'd still have cut it in half. So all I did was place the hearts section where I wanted it and cut. No problem.

I also cut some hearts from the Burano card stock before I'd decided to add a Burano layer, so in theory I could have skipped adding them, but I like how they are now flush with the white surface. I have now disqualified this card from any of the negative space challenges this week. Pffth. I think I'll work on last week's challenges anyway, so there.

Oh, and because I could, I also added some Burano ribbon, thus justifying my entire purchase. I also just realized how amazing this would look with black. I need to try it. 

In other news, I've created a washi tape swatch-y sampler thing. See:

This was not my idea, but I used it because it was so fabulous. When I made my ink sampler I punched 4534566 tags from card stock and stamped an image on each of them, one for each color of ink I have. It's nice, but the thought of doing it again made me a little more nuts.  Someone applied their washi tapes to punched pieces of vellum, but still, the punching ... Plus, I don't have a source for all of them, so what's the point, right?

One of my other peeps - Linda, of LindaTraceDesigns - used strips of acetate for her washi sampler and applied bunches of tapes to each of them. NO PUNCHING! I loved the idea, so that's what I did here. I did the best I could to group them by color. As Linda said, you usually know which color group you want, so you can grab that strip (or 2 or 3) and select what you need. I have the names of the companies written inside some/most of the spools, so I didn't need the reference here, too. Oh, with the black collection, where it looks like there are repeats -- you're just looking though clear sections of acetate waiting for their new brethren and sisteren to arrive. *cough*

Okay, I'm off to review the handy voting material so I can be informed for tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies used but not linked below: A Muse Studio Burano card stock, ink and ribbon; GinaK white card stock.

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