I watched a video from Dawn O. from Stampin’ Up where she made an “easy” pinwheel card.  Here’s the link to it.

I had a really difficult time making this card and I think it was because I wasn’t mindful of the two times it is imperative that you flip your paper over.  Here’s how you make it.

You’ll need a piece of 8″ square double sided patterned paper and you will start with the pattern you want on the inside of your card (not as featured as the front side), face down to start.  You will make a little pencil mark on all four sides at 3″ and 5″ on each side.  Put something squishy under your surface (I have foam under my mat) and take a ruler and a scoring tool and line the ruler up with the 3″ mark on one side with the 3″ mark on the diagonal.  Then score it well.  Do the same with the 5″ mark and the diagonal 5″ mark on each of the four sides.  You’ll end up with a “V” in the center of each side and you will cut out those V’s.  Now, FLIP YOUR PAPER….Take your score board and put your paper in and score the first side at 1″, (but only the top section), then turn the paper one turn and score at 1″, then turn one turn and score at 1″ (always just the first section not the second.) and then do your last side.   You will have an indentation from your scoring tool on these 1″ marks and you will want to fold back on those indentations and then use your bone folder and go over them so you have clean folds. (Your paper should now have the inside paper facing down again.)  Now fold back on the scores left in the center of your card.  Use your bone folder and burnish all of your folds.   To close your card, start with the bottom flap and fold it up, and then in a clockwise direction, fold the flaps in.  (That means you will fold the bottom, then the left flap, then the top flap).  Your last flap you will make sure you tuck under the other flaps making sure you include the top flap.

I used Stem Silhouette’s, an old Stampin’ Up stamp set and Stampin’ Up Kiwi Kiss ink, and stamped on my white piece of paper that will be in the center of my card.  I also attached a flower embellishment that matched my papers.  I used three layers of cardstock in the center of my card.  The bottom layer  was 4 1/8″ square and the next was  3 7/8″ square and the white layer was 3 3/4″  (I mixed up these sizes when I discussed them in the video.  It won’t make a big difference if you follow the other measurements as they come out to look basically the same.)
I used a stamp set Friend to Friend by Stampin’ Up for the sentiment and used Memento Teal Zeal ink to stamp it.  I used it on the sentiment for the inside and the Happy Birthday for the white inside paper.  I used a scrap paper to stamp the rest of the image over the little white paper where I stamped Happy Birthday.
I cut out the rest of the sentiment with my paper trimmer and added a layer of orange paper behind it.  I used am EK Success edge punch and cut a strip of matching cardstock that I would use as a belly band. I layered two types of ribbon with Fabric Fusion (you could use tear tape to layer the ribbons if you don’t have Fabric Fusion)…Then once the ribbons were dry, I threaded it through the holes in the strip for the belly band.  I added a layer of white paper behind the ribbon that was about 1 1/8″ wide and attached it to the back of the strip, then using tear tape, wrapped it around the card and tear taped it closed.  I put my sentiment layered on the orange paper onto the front of the card and it was complete.
If you tear tape is sticky anywhere on your belly band, rub your embossing buddy, corn starch or baby powder on it, so it’s not sticky any more.

I started working on the album for our great niece who is leaving for college in the fall.  I really wanted her to have a keepsake that she can add whatever memorabilia she wants to it.  I had 6 x 6″ chipboard pieces that were supposed to be white.  They are white on one side, so I had to paint the edges and back so it would be consistent on both sides.  I went online to see what her school’s mascot was and the colors for her school.  Her mascot is a hornet and her colors are (I think) a maroon red and navy blue.  I printed out a bunch of the images that came up for her school and used them to create little covered paper clips.  I had to make some images bigger and some smaller, to make them the proper size for the paper clips.  So far, I am happy with what I’ve created.  Now comes the hard part.  I’m not exactly certain what I am going for, but had some papers that I colored to match the album and will be deciding how to make journaling spots and flip up pieces to the album.  It’s just in the initial stages, but I’m happy with the progress I’ve made so far.  I guess I’ll have to wait to see how it turns out.  (I’m a little worried, but will just take a deep breath and throw myself back into it tomorrow.)

I went to Michaels on 7/21/2017, specifically to purchase the Recollections Heavyweight 110 lb cardstock that is now being sold in a variety of colors.  Of course I got sidetracked along the way and bought a few other goodies that I thought I would share.

The Heavyweight Recollections 110 lb cardstock comes in packs of 100 sheets.  The sell full packs of black, cream and white.  I already had those colors, so was looking for more of a variety, as I make my card bases almost solely from this brand of paper.

I bought the neutrals, which were black, gray, brown and cream, and the blues, which are a turquoise, light jean color, royal blue and navy blue.  I also bought the pinks, which were very light pink, then baby pink, then a brighter pink and a fuchsia color.  They normally sell for $14.99 but were on sale for $10 and I had an additional 20% off coupon for sale items, so they were $8 each (and well worth that price.)

In the clearance department, I found a cute notebook that I’ll be covering that was $1.50 and a smaller popsicle shaped post it note pad for 50 cents.

They were also selling small “Mason jar” type bottles of crafty supplies for $3.89 each.  They had the alphabet in peg stamps with a small black ink pad.  I’m going to return this set as they did not stamp really clearly and I’m sorry that it’s not mentioned in the video.
Also bought a jar of 12 ink mini ink pads and I went into detail on them in my ink video that’s one of the videos I uploaded right before this one.  This jar was also $3.89.

I bought two sets of spray shimmer inks that were called “Boho” and the color sets were orange, yellow and pink, and green, purple and a blue/green color.  They were also $3.89 each.

I bought a marbling set that was originally $30 and I spent $9 for it.  I thought it was poor quality and you are only given four or five packets of “magic powder” and once the powder is gone, you can’t make any more marbled papers.  Also, the colors included were all very vibrant primary colors.  The box was really well sealed in the store, so there was no way to determine the quality in the store.  I did contact their customer service department and they gave me a $15 gift card which was terrific.   They did say the item had been discontinued.
I love the quality of the things I normally purchase at Michaels and was happy with the end results of this haul.

I can’t believe it’s August already.  I’ll blink and it will be January and continue to be January for about four months.  I really need to stop whining about winter….or do I?

The card fronts that I started yesterday, upon further reflection (used some big girl words there), were not as horrible as I originally remembered them to be.  I decided to continue with my original plan and in the end, I don’t think they are garbage.  Ok, the envelopes might be, but the cards are not.  I decided to use sparkling spray ink (I made up that name) on the envelopes and they took on the look of something that was dropped on the ground and landed in mud.  Of course they were not mud colored, but still, the image remains.  I do think I’ll have to make them over, as they really are pretty bad, but then again, maybe by tomorrow, I’ll think they are ok.  Seems that the way my craftiness has been going lately.

I need to make a small album for our great niece this week.  I know I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s my way of making myself get serious about it.  Tonight we are going out for dinner with friends and then to horse races.  I’m not a big fan of them, but do like sitting around and just people watching.  It’s always fun to catch up with old friends too.

So I’m off to the races, sounds like of catchy, huh?

I decided I needed to make some cards tonight.  It was one of those times when nothing worked like I had planned it.  I made so many horrible mistakes and my garbage can kept getting more and more full.  I really didn’t want to give up on the things I was trying, but should have quit long before I did.  I had some images that I originally really liked, but then I kept adding things to them and in the end, they look pretty terrible.

I’m one of those crafters that is really hard on myself.  If I make a lot of mistakes, I just want to throw in the towel and close the door on my craft room until I’m feeling better about myself.  I wonder if other crafters do that.  I’d love to hear that Lindsay pouts like I do.  I’ll bet she doesn’t.  She probably just paints something amazing and makes that into a card.  I need to get motivated.  I think I’ll make a mini album instead of a card, as our great niece is going off to college, and I thought it would be fun for her to have an album to fill with freshman memorabilia.  I still have my college albums and wish I could part with them, but just haven’t been able to.  Oh well, it’s something else I can put off for another day.

I was asked by a viewer named Nancy for a video on different brands of dye inks and how they work.  I stamped the dye inks on a red rubber lined image, a sentiment, and a filled in image, plus two acrylic stamps– one that is an outline of an apple and one that was the center of the apple.  If you buy new stamps and they don’t accept the ink (it beads up on them), you should wash them in a very gentle detergent like diluted Dawn dishwashing detergent or baby shampoo.  If the stamp still won’t accept ink, you can lightly, and I mean lightly, go over the stamp with a cardboard nail file.  If you use it too aggressively, you’ll destroy your stamp.

Stamping–Pat the ink onto the stamp until the stamp is shiny with ink.  You don’t want to wipe the ink pad on the stamp as it will show lines when inked.  Pat it, don’t rub it…  I stamped in the air because I wanted you to see the ink pad and how it reacts to stamping.  You’ll stamp your ink pad by keeping the ink pad on your work surface and stamping onto it.  As for using the stamp once it is inked, stamp it and hold it in place on the paper, giving the ink time to transfer to the paper.  You’ll have much better results if you stamp with either a piece of foam under your paper or a phone book or magazine, something that will give you a cushion under your paper.

Storing ink pads.  You should store your ink pads with the lid face down, so the ink doesn’t sink to the bottom, but instead, is laying at the top of the surface, and makes for a juicier stamping experience.

The stamps I used — one very old Stampin’ Up retired stamp,  Hero Arts Daisy Style #3272 and the apples are from Stamps of Life, a set called Apples2Stamp.  The “Let’s do Lunch” stamp was from a $1 bin from a Michaels or other craft store that I’ve had a long time ago.

1. I was at Michaels on July 21, 2017 and bought a jar of Recollections inks for $3.89.  There are twelve 1″ cubes of dye inks in the “Mason Jar” from Recollections. Firm felt ink pad.   I used the green ink and it worked well on the red rubber and the acrylic stamps.  You would want to consider the size of the ink pad that you used based on the image you are stamping.  If you use a small ink “cube” on a big apple, your ink pad will run out of ink quickly.  You’d probably want to use this with other inks on a bigger stamp, or on smaller images or sentiments.

2, Distress Ink Twisted Citron SKU 789541043294, Joanns price $5.99 full price. Firm felt ink pad.  I find that I have had to re-ink my Distress Inks, so you might want to buy re inkers if you have a color you like very much.  Distress Inks come in the size I showed which is roughly 2″ x 2″ and the also sell the small cubes as well.
A lot of people don’t use Distress Inks to stamp with and use them more for techniques like distressing the edges of paper or using water on them to reactivate them.  You can stamp with them though, and that’s why I’ve included them.

3.  Hero Arts Shadow Ink Soft Stone SKU 029477611304, Joanns price $6.49 full price.  Firm felt pad.  Full size pad.

4.  Ranger Electric Lime SKU 749541043877 Tupelo Designs LLC $3.49 full size pad.  Jennifer McGuire used to really like these inks. They are mainly primary colors and they have a great everyday price.  Tupelo Designs doesn’t charge shipping within the US.
Firm felt pad.

5.  Gina K. Sweet Corn ginakdesigns.com $5.95 full size pad (sorry, no SKU) firm felt pad

6. Simon Says Stamp Willow SKU 029477808605 $5.99 at SimonSaysStamp.com.     Firm felt pad,  full size.  I had the most difficult time removing this lid.

7.  Prima Color Philosophy Sepia Color…full size but  a little different shape and size than the others.  SKU 655350589302 Blitzy $6.80 . firm felt pad.

8.  Memento dew drop- SKU 712353247031 Joanns full price $1.99. You can buy these in sets  of 3 or 12.   Is shaped like a tear drop.  firm felt pad.  Great for inking small designs or using with other dew drops to color a large design.

9.  Stampin’ Up- Pear Pizzazz foam pad.  Very juicy when you first get them, you need to touch very lightly with your stamp so you don’t over ink your stamp.

Paper used-  Georgia Pacific 110 lb. from Walmart.  Pack of 150 $4.88 Great for layering

on cards but not great for the base of the card, as it is kind of flimsy.

 

I made the video for tie dye sneakers today and wow, that alcohol smell is powerful.  I’m not kidding when I say powerful, Rich could smell it two rooms away from where I was coloring the sneakers.  I would have liked to have colored them outside, but unfortunately, it’s difficult to get the right kind of lighting there for a video.  I still have a small headache from coloring them, and really encourage viewers to color them outside.  I had a fan running, plus all of the windows open, and still the smell was overwhelming.  The things we do for our art, haha.

I have been encouraging viewers to go to our facebook page and add their projects.  I’d love to have a more interactive form of media for viewers.  I made a video where I talked about it and made sure to mention that I will not allow anyone to leave any kind of negative comments on facebook.  I want this to be a safe place where viewers can share their ideas and projects, without having someone say negative things to them.  I did explain that I knew going into YouTube that I could be receiving negative remarks and have set myself up for that, but viewers who share their projects on facebook did not sign up for that.  I’m not going to let anyone be bullied on facebook on Crafting for Almost Everyone.   Don’t we all need a place where we can share our art and ideas without having someone tell us why we shouldn’t?

Another day of my wrist not wanting to play, darn it.  I usually just put a Ben-Gay type product and an Ace Bandage on it overnight, and my wrist is better the next day.  Not so much today, but there’s always tomorrow.

Garage sales were really disappointing today, I bought a tiny box of pom poms to use with chalks and pastels and that was the extent of my purchases.  Geez!

I did take the time to put a post on my facebook page, Crafting for Almost Everyone.  I wanted to let people know that my goal for that page is to turn it into a place where viewers can share their projects and ideas, and make it much more interactive than the YouTube channel.  I think it would be amazing if viewers would post their projects and talk about ideas and leave questions for the group about products, techniques, etc.  I realize that there are a lot of places that are similar, but often those sites don’t have many people with hand/wrist issues that would be able to share their insights.  It’s also really important to me that people have a safe place to share their projects and ideas.  I’m hoping my viewers respond to it and use the facebook page as I intended.  I’m going to make a video to discuss it as well and already I’ve had some great rrsponse.  Time will tell.

I saw a video of a spinning fairy card by Olga Direktorenko and I thought it would be fun to try with butterflies.  I started with an      8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ pink card base scored on the 8 1/2″ length at 4 1/4″.
I used stamp sets from Stampin’ Up called Best of Butterflies that works with an old Stampin’ Up butterfly punch.  I used Blushing Bride ink from Stampin’ Up that matched the pink paper and some pink paper that was pearlized.  I had a scrap of it that I used two Aliexpress square dies to create a frame, then cut the smaller of the two  frames to cut the center of the front of my card base.  Using another Stampin’ Up set called Butterfly Basics, I used a fern from it to stamp with Blushing Bride ink all over the front of my card.  I used a peg stamp that is called Tiny Open Apple and stamped around the ferns so there were more images on the front of the card and so it appears like patterned paper.
I used another scrap of the pearlized pink paper and a butterfly from the Best of Butterflies set and stamped the Blushing bride ink on it several time in the MISTI.  Then I used a Stampin’ Up old marker called Rose Romance to make the butterfly look more dimensional by coloring the edges and center of the butterfly.  You can use any water based marker on your stamps.   If you make a spinning card, your image has to be exactly the same if you flip it over, as it can’t lean to one side or you won’t get a mirror image.  You’ll need to stamp your butterfly twice and try to make them look exactly the same.  Once the butterflies are dry, I punched them out with the butterfly punch.  I added tear tape to the backs of the butterflies and added wet Martha Stewart glue as well, to ensure the butterflies would hold the string, and give me wiggle room to ensure the butterflies are back to back so you can’t see the second butterfly when you look at one head on.  I used a gold thread is thin and ran it down the center between the butterflies.  I would recommend that you use tear tape to lay your string in it under the frame  on the top and bottom in the center and make sure the string is taut, laying it into the tear tape.  Once the thread is laying in the tear tape and is glued under the frame, add wet glue and lay something on it to make sure the butterfly is not going to come out from under the frame.
I used a sentiment from My Creative Times This and That stamp set for the front of the card on pearlized paper and used the smallest die from the set that I used to cut the front of the card.
I used a new card base that was 8″ x 5 1/4″ scored on the 8″ length at 4″ so the off white card base is 4″ x 5 1/4″ .  You will put tear tape on the back of it and line it up on the inside of the card and glue it down on the back.  I used another flower stamp from the Butterfly Basics set and used markers to color it for inside the off white card.  I scribbled them on plastic and sprayed water and then colored the flower and leaves with a paint brush using markers from Stampin’ Up in Blushing Bride and Old Olive.
I stamped the apple stamps on the back of the envelope and colored them with the same Blushing Bride marker.  Before sending the card, you will spin the butterfly in one direction until you feel like the string is really swirly looking, then close the card without letting go of the butterfly.  Then when the person who gets the card opens it, the butterfly will spin.

Some days when I am being me, I’ll have one joint that decides it doesn’t want to play.  Today, it’s my right wrist.  I’m not sure what I did to cause it, but had to put an ace bandage on my wrist to immobilize it and reduce the pain.  It’s all part of the game of having arthritis, so unfortunately, the big crafty plans I had for myself will have to be delayed until tomorrow.

On the flip side of that, Rich is currently editing a video, and we’ll have one uploaded tonight.  So even though I’m not making any projects, you’ll still think I’m working like a busy beaver.   How do we know beavers are so busy?  Because they build dams?  What about birds that build nests from one twig at a time?  Aren’t they busy too?   Why do beavers get all of the credit?  Just a thought.

I’ll be going to garage sales in the morning tomorrow, then making something crafty and will have more to report then.  In the mean time, I’m going to be trying not to use my wrist so it’s ready for action then.