random.on purpose.

Stamp Organization and Index Update

Since I've been moving my studio/workroom from the attic to the main floor, I've also been re-thinking some of the ways I store, organize and index my "stuff". 

I thought that I had shared my new stamp storage method, but I can't find a post in my archives, so maybe I was waiting until I finished, instead of sharing mid-project or something.  If this is old information, I apologize - consider it a reminder, I guess...

ANYway - I was tired of having multiple methods and containers and what-have-you for the different types of stamps (photpolymer, rubber, etc.)  I read somewhere about someone using laminated folders, cut down to fit in envelopes, to store their unmounted stamps on.  That was the seed that grew into my current method of storing stamps.

I bought a slew of the laminated folders when WalMart was having their back-to-school sales and they were CHEAP!  I cut them down into 4" x 6" cards (about seven per folder) and bought these Iris photo keepers, because envelopes sounded like too much work to find something to put them in:

The "keeper" contains 16 individual cases, and each case will hold seven fully loaded cards.  Here's an example of what the cards look like:

I have them all organized by category, and each case is labelled (P-Touch labelmaker) with the category of the stamps inside.  When I took this picture, I still had some of the stamps in their sets, but have since split everything up - Christmas trees all together, Santas all together, snowmen all together, etc.

If/when Greg and I decide to be nomads and travel around in an RV instead of living in a real house, my stamps are now portable if I put them in the keepers.  In the meantime, however, I've done this with them:

This is a 60" shelf on the wall in my "new" room.  The "cubbies" are CD crates on their sides with a strip of molding (I think it's baseboard.  I found it in the garage, it was the right length and I was too impatient to get in my car and drive to Home Depot to get a real board - Greg doesn't know I swiped it...yet).  Obviously, the cases on the bottom row are taller than the CD crates, so a little ingenuity was in order.  I have an entire box (the file storage kind) full of blocks that were intended for mounting rubber stamps, and they will NEVER be used for that purpose, so I took a few that were the right dimensions to support the top "shelf".  Here are a few more details:

This CD crate houses small alphabet sets.  The blue and green box is Stampin'Up! Little Letters, the box below is a Hero Arts harlequin stamp set.  The three ammo boxes contain EK Success small alphabets (four different ones).  These little alphas work best for me on the little wood "pegs" that they're on, so this is my answer, storage-wise.  The clamshell case above them is my JustRite monogram stamper and one of the circle sets.

These clamshell cases contain background and other over-sized stamps.  Above them are three JustRite pre-inked stamp thingies, and a couple of eensy teensy stamps from Sweet Stamps that I haven't made up my mind about storage-wise yet.

I have most of my inks elsewhere in the room (stories for another day), but these are a few overflow Stampin'Up! ink pads and my Versamark pads.  The VHS case above them has some foam Christmas sentiment stamps that I'm convinced I'll get around to using for something someday...

Just inside the door of my room is a litle niche created when we bumped the wall out to expand our bathroom, and a DVD rack fits there  perfectly.  It houses my unmounted wheel stamps (no longer "wheels", obviously) and other border stamps that are too long to fit in the photo cases.  Large alphabet sets (Close to My Heart and Inkadinkado, mostly) are here, as well.  They are in the DVD-style cases from Stampin'Up!:

That's the scoop on the storage aspect!  Moving on to the indexing...  I have two notebooks that have pictures of every stamp set I own in them, arranged alphabetically by manufacturer.  I'm keeping those, obviously, but wanted an index that had the stamps arranged in categories to mirror the way they're stored now.  I got an idea from THIS GIRL, but tweaked it a bit.  She stamped each image on a separate card.  If I did that, I'd need about twenty notebooks - not happening!  I opted to do "like with like", with as many images as would comfortably fit on a card without crowding or making it hard to see each image easily:

Now I can see all of my options when I need a specific word or image, and compare them size-wise and style-wise to see which will work best:

I stamped them in gray because it's not quite as stark as black and it's easier to clean up, but it's still neutral enough to leave my imagination free to fill in with the color of my project.

Lest you think that I'm all THAT, let me assure you - I'm at the beginning of this indexing project, and have - to date - completed only TWO of the SIXTY-FOUR cases you saw on the shelves...  I'm doing the sentiments first because it's harder to find them (although, with this new storage system, it's pretty fast-and-simple, anyway), and they will take MUCH longer than the images.  The good news is that there are only eighteen cases of sentiments.  I'm planning to do one case each night that I have available time until they're done...

And that's the update for tonight!  If you have any questions, as always, feel free to ask!  I'm gonna go watch the Giants/Forty-Niners game to see who pulls off a win.  They're in overtime now...  I'll be back a different day with crafty stuff.  Thanks for stopping by and have a great night/week!

Thrifty Thursday - back again

It's been a really, REALLY long time since I've done a Thrifty Thursday post!  I don't know if I'll get back to doing it with any kind of regularity, but I messed around with some stuff yesterday and this morning, so I thought I'd share today and the label fit, so there you go!

So, exactly how much fun can you have for $3.88?  If you pick up one of these tablecloths from WalMart:

 you can have AT LEAST three times much fun as this:

Why do I say three times as much?  Because I made everything you see in the photo above from less than one-third of the tablecloth! (As you may have already noticed, I only used the one on the left - I may or may not get around to playing with the other one...)   I will warn you - this is a LONG post and has MANY pictures!   Turn back now if that will overwhelm you!  If not, let's start simple, shall we?

These are beanbags - probably the easiest thing on the planet to make!  Here's what you do:

Cut a piece of the tablecloth that is three full squares high, with a half-square above and below, by seven squares wide, with a half-square at each end, like this:

  or this:  

 

 

 

 

 

 

depending on where you want the pattern to be on your finished beanbag.  Fold in half, wrong sides together, and begin stitching almost at the end of the side opposite the fold, and right where the red and white squares meet (make sure the back is lined up with the front):

Stitch to the corner of the white square, leave the needle in your work, lift the presser foot and pivot your work 90 degrees, sew down the next side to the corner, pivot, turn and sew the edge by the fold - continue until you are sewing down the side you started on, but only go about an inch down that side.  Clip the threads.  You should have this:

See that opening?  Using a funnel if necessary, pour rice or popcorn into the opening until your beanbag is as full as you'd like, then sew the entire edge on the machine to close the opening.  Trim around the edges with pinking shears to remove excess fabric and make it pretty , and you end up with this:

  or this: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don't want to make beanbags, you can use the exact same pieces and make coasters instead.  Just go all the way around all four sides instead of leaving an opening, then trim.  I thought they'd be cuter if I also stitched along the lines between the squares, too, so I did:

Want to make a pouch to carry the beanbags in?  Sure you do!  Here's how you do that:

Cut a section of tablecloth that is eleven full squares wide, with a half square at each end, and five full squares high, with a half square along the bottom, and a three-fourths square (more or less - I just cut along the tops of the hearts) along the top.  Also cut a smaller strip seven full squares wide with halves at each end, and one full square high, with halves at top and bottom:

First we're going to hem the top edge of the larger piece.  Do this by folding that 3/4 row to the wrong side, tucking the raw edge back under to meet the fold, and stitching.  I used a zig-zag stitch.  (I also forgot to take a picture of this step, you can see the wrong side in the photo below this one):

Fold the piece in half width-wise and stitch along the half-heart row, so you only have full hearts on the finished piece.  Trim the seam and stitch the raw edges with a zig-zag stitch to finish:

 

Leaving the piece exactly as it is, sew across the bottom where the half square and full square rows meet:

We need to square the bottom, so this is how we accomplish that:  Open the corner and manipulate the sides and bottom until the seams of each are lined up and you have a triangle.  Stitch across the triangle where it is two full squares wide, then trim the excess:

  


Repeat for the other side.  Since there is no side seam there, just line up the bottom seam with where the fold was.  You can look inside to see where you are, if it helps:

Turn the entire thing right side out, and you have this:

Now we need a handle.  That smaller strip that you cut earlier - you can see it in the pic waaay up there - is going to become the handle.  Lay it wrong side up, fold the half-square rows to the center, and stitch right down the middle with a zig-zag stitch to catch everything and hold it together:

  

Tuck the half-square at one end inside the top edge of your pouch, lining it up with the top edge, and centering it on the side seam.  Stitch it on (I used a zig-zag stitch, and double-stitched it).  Repeat for the other end of the handle on the opposite side of the pouch, centering between the two full squares on the other side (since there's no side seam):

   

And that's it!  Four of the beanbags will fit in this little pouch:

The purse is made basically the same way - hem the top edge, sew the side seam, sew the bottom seam, square the corners - with a couple of changes and additions.  Cut the body piece twenty-one full squares wide, beginning and ending with a red row.  It is eight full squares high, beginnng with a white row and ending with a red one.  The handles (there are two) are fifteen sqares wide by one square high + half squares top and bottom.  The picture below shows seventeen squares wide, but I ended up trimming my pieces when I went to attach them - I thought that they were too long:

  

The hem is a full square folded to the inside, instead of a three-fourths square.   When you sew across the triangles to square up the bottom, sew across three full squares instead of two:

  

Make the handles the same way as you did for the beanbag puch.  To attach them, I left the entire piece inside out and flattened it back out like it was before the bottom was squared up.  Lay one handle wrong-side up on the table, lay the purse body over it, with one square of the handle aligned with the top edge of the purse body, and at the edge of the full square closest to the side seam, as shown below.  Lay the other handle, right-side up, on top of everything else, again lining up one square with the top edge, and making sure everything is even:

  

Stitch across the top ege through all layers of the handles and purse body.  Leave the needle in the piece and pivot 90 degrees, stitch until you get to the edge of the hem, pivot and stitch along that edge until you get to the other side of the handle, pivot and stitch back up to meet where you starte, pivot and take a few stitches to reinforce and finish off:

  
  

Repeat for the other side with the other ends of the handle strips, making sure that you don't get them twisted.  You will now have this:

Turn the entire thing right side out.  Now we're going to make a piece to stabilize the bottom.  Cut a piece of cardboard 3 3/4" wide x 8 3/4" long.  Lay it on the tablecloth and cut around it, like so:

Flip the fabric over so it is facing wrong-side up.  Center the cardboard piece on it and trim off the corners.  Put adhesive around all four side of the cardboard, fold the fabric over and press into the adhesive:

  

Turn it over and tuck it inside the bottom of the purse, right side up.  Now all we need is a closure!  Cut a strip of the tablecloth one full square wide, with half squares on each side, and four full squares high.  Fold the half square rows to the wrong side, then fold the entire piece in half.  Sew down one side, from the raw edges to the fold, pivot and sew across the fold, pivot and sew back up the other side to the raw edges:

  
  

You will end up with a finished flap.  Tuck it inside the top edge of the center back of the purse as shown, and stitch across the entire flap with a zig-zag stitch (twice) to sew it securely to the purse.

  

We're going to sew the hook side of a Velcro closure to the free end of the flap by sewing a big "X" across the square.  We're going to sew the loop side of the Velcro to the front of the purse by stitching in a sort of hourglass shape:

  

And that completes the purse!

Want something easy now?  How about a tube?  Cut a strip three full squares wide with half squares on each side, and nine full squares high, with half squares top and bottom.  Hem the bottom by folding one and a half squares to the wrong side, and topstitching across a full square on the right side.  Then fold the whole thing in half lengthwise, right sides together, and sew the side seam (the usual half-square dealie-o).  Trim excess fabric:

  
  

Turn the tube right side out, cinch the hemmed end with a rubber band, and tie a bow around it to cover the rubber band.  Tuck in a square and a half on the unfinished end, then fill the tube as you like (candy for the kidlets or, like I did, two bottles of Stickles for a crafty friend).  Tie a ribbon around the unfinished end to close (no need for a rubber band here), and you're done!

 

One last project for you - tired yet?  This one is an envelope.  Cut a section of the tablecloth five full squares wide with half squares on each side, and eleven full squares high with half squares top and bottom (I trimmed the top edge of my piece after I took the photo below - sorry!).  Hem the top edge by folding a double hem and stitching, as we've done on the purse and pouch, only this time we want to end up with a half square row along the top, as shown below:

  

To form the pointed flap of the envelope, fold the strip in half lengthwise, and sew across the bottom along the half-square line.  Clip the corner, trim the seam, finger-press the seam open, and turn the point right-side out:

  
  

Topstitch across the flap to hold the self-lining in place.  Fold the hemmed edge up, right sides together, to form envelope body.  You want to pay attention to the bottom edge, making sure that you have the fold exactly between two rows of full squares:

  

Sew the side seams along the half-square edges and trim the bottom corners.  In order to make a nice, finished look when we fold the envelope shut, we need to do the following:  Fold the side seam and the bit of the flap that's not in the seam toward the inside of the envelope.  Stitch from the edge of the flap to the bottom of the hem, as shown.  Repeat for the other side.  Turn envelope right side out.

  

We're going to sew the hook side of the Velcro to the flap, but this time we're going to stitch around the heart instead of through it (you can do this - take your time...).  Figure out where the loop side of the Velcro needs to be on the envelope front, then stitch it on - I did a square around the outside edges this time:

  

And now that project's all finished!

Here's the group shot again:

So, was that fun or what?!  If something is unclear or you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me or leave a comment.  Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

The "Day Job" Doesn't Always Suck

While the majority of my days are filled with things that "have" to be done, rather than things I "want" to be doing, sometimes the project(s) I work on have an element or two that make it kinda sorta fun.  I've made the pillows for Hannah's room, and it was fun to figure out how to use the scraps from her "memo wall" to make decent-sized pillows:

Hannah is mostly into giraffes (as opposed to the other animal skins), so I used bigger pieces on the wall, which meant smaller scraps to use for the pillows.  One answer was to use a strip of it with two smaller strips of the cheetah for a neckroll (made from a strip of batting left over from another job rolled into a "tootsie roll" and whip-stitched together), with taffeta cording and buttons.  A 17" strip of the iridescent taffeta was fashioned into a shirred, round pillow with button tufting.  I had a big piece of the tiger left over, so it became one side of a 24" square  pillow.  The other side is pieced together with a giraffe square surrounded by mitered cheetah strips, with taffeta cording between:

I used larger welt cord to make the cording for the outside edge of the pillow.  Hannah's comforter is solid brown, so these pillows should look pretty good against it.

In other news, I finished my coffee-table-turned-patio-bench:

It's hard to see because of the lighting (or lack thereof), but the bench itself has several coats of black spray paint, followed by a couple of coats of "hammered black" spray paint.  Here's a better look at the top of the cushion:

And, since it 's reversible, I'll show you the other side, too:

Not bad for FREE, eh?  (Well, almost - I did have to buy the webbing to support the cushion and the spray paint)  Next up: staining the Adirondack chairs.  They're going to be RED - the stain color is called "Sangria" - I'm pretty excited about it...

And that's pretty much all I have to share with you today!  Something a bit different from the paper creations you're used to seeing, but I'm trying to share more of all of the different things I do, not just cards and such...

I'm delivering Hannah's pillows today and faux-finishing the walls of the sunroom at the same house, so I doubt I'll be back around later.  Have a fabulous weekend!

TMI + DIY Shelving (a tutorial of sorts)

Before I begin my actual post - which is long-winded and I apologize for that - I wanted to update you on the moving-forward-with-this-blog front:  Odd Brain and my heart had a "meeting of the minds", so to speak, and brought me full circle.  "Random" is the concept I started this blog with (you can read about it HERE), and that's what I'm going to be true to.  Some days I'm all meditative and philosophical, some days I'm creative and make things, some days I drop everything to go fill an elderly parent's needs, some days I don't give a flyin'...

What this means for you: you'll never know what I'm posting about (or even if I'm posting) from day to day.  It will reflect whatever's going on over here at any given time.  I'll try to spare you the mundane as much as possible (unless I hit a streak of that, in which case I'll post a "MIA for now, go look at these things instead" type of post with links to fabulousness found elsewhere in blogdom).  Like I said at the beginning, "What I'll post on here is whatever enters my head and/or whatever I create with my hands or whatever wonderful things that I come across to share.  As with other areas of my life, it could be a daily thing, or a weekly thing, or some of each."  So there's that!

On to the TMI section:  I am about to reveal to you two of my pet peeves.  They are odd, but hey, we're dealing with Odd Brain, remember?  The first is bifold doors.  I know that the concept behind them is to save space because they can be opened and closed in a smaller area than a normal door, but I've never encountered a bifold door in my personal living space that was not causing me grief on a regular basis.  They are always on the closet that I need to be in and out of constantly, so they are always open, so they are always in the way!

The second pet peeve is drawers.  I know - can you even believe it?  Here's the deal:  I am impatient on certain fronts, and when I need something, I need it NOW, so unless the drawer is shallow enough to allow me to see the entire contents at a glance, I am losing precious time and getting annoyed.  This does not apply to dresser drawers, so much, since I rarely have a t-shirt or underwear emergency.  I'm referring to drawers in my work/craft/sewing room.  Many a fabulous project has been derailed by the need to plow through a drawer for something.  The hazards are twofold:

1. I will lose interest in the project by the time I find the needed item
2. I will get distracted by other shiny things in the drawer and forget why I was there to begin with

Quite the dilemma, yes?  This is exactly how extreme my peevishness in this area is:  I have some of those plastic three-drawer units you pick up at WalMart that are all stacked up nice and neat with all of my ribbons and flowers in them, and those are neatly contained within clamshell boxes (stamps from Stampin'Up! came in them, originally), and there are only two layers, but I inevitably need the clamshell on the bottom, so I have to move the one on top to get to it every single time.  I know - I'm ridiculous - but I have to live with me, so I try to work around these little idiosyncrasies and accomodate them as much as possible...

All of that nonsense is background for today's DIY project:

TUTORIAL (sort of): DIY Shelving:

What you will need:

• A dresser you hate
• Screws (details below)
• A drill and/or screwdriver
• Shims

I started with this dresser:

It was appropriately hideous and missing hardware (what appear to be handles on the bottom drawer is actually wire...) and the drawers were deep enough to hold all manner of crap treasures, which, in my case, quickly became "buried treasure", so they had to go.

One dresser yields TWO shelving units.  The first is incredibly easy. 

• Step one: remove the drawers. 
• Step two: admire your completed shelving unit

Wasn't that fun?!  Since it's hideous, move Shelving Unit #1 to the unfinished side of the attic for storage (mine holds alterable items), or the basement, or the garage, or wherever.  Shelving Unit #2 is only slightly more attractive - we're going for function here - but it's going to be in a closet, so who's to care?  A few more steps required, too:

• Remove all the hardware from the drawer fronts
• Determine what size of screws you will need, and acquire them.  Screws are sold by gauge (#4, #6, #8, etc.) and length (1/2", 3/4", 1 1/2", etc.)  You can find the correct gauge by using the screws that were holding the pulls onto the drawer fronts.  The length needs to be the thickness of the drawer front + the thickness of the drawer back.  Do not exceed this length or you will regularly impale yourself on screws that are sticking through where they have no business being!  Make sure that the heads of the screw are larger than the holes where the pulls were on the drawers.
• Acquire several sheetrock screws as well.

You will be building this unit upside down, then flipping it over to install it.  Here's how:

Take the smallest drawer and set it on the floor on its front (where the pulls used to be).  The back of the drawer should be facing up.  Take the next drawer and set it on top of the first, again with the front down.  Keep the bottoms (which will become the back of the unit) lined up.  Using the drawer pull holes as a guide, screw the drawers together.

Continue on with the rest of the drawers, moving from smallest to largest, until they are all screwed together.  Flip the unit right side up and place it in the closet (or against the wall) and place shims under the front edge to level it so that the back sits flush with the wall.

Mark the shims with a pencil line across where the edge of the drawer sits, remove the shim and cut off the excess; replace.  (I never cut mine off, as you can see in the first pic - oops!)  Use the sheetrock screws across the top of the unit  to screw it to the wall, so it doesn't come crashing down on you when in use.

Stand back and admire Shelving Unit #2!

See those bifold doors?  I've been battling them for a year - they are gone, baby, gone!  I'm going to put up a pretty curtain instead.  I can leave the curtain pulled back until company's coming, at which time I can pull it neatly across to hide the crap treasures on the shelves.

I used mine for punches (previously way too visible, as seen in this post) and other unsightly items that I need to have handy, but don't want to look at all the time.  I installed a curtain rod inside two of the drawers (if the brackets are 3" down you will have enough room for this configuration) and used wood blocks (intended for mounting rubber stamps) to support yardsticks cut to length to create shelves for more punches.

The border punches have wings? legs? arms? extended pieces on them that I just tucked under the shelves.  Some of the punches were sizes/shapes that didn't fit in, so they got dealt with differently.  Taller wood blocks with yardstick shelves and an unfinished wood pencil case turned on its side help out this group:

And a wooden CD crate helps out here:

I also have a mongo jar of glitter, gesso, UTEE, my date whomper, and my stash of paper bags and coffee filters here.  On the very top shelf (you can see it on the first pic of the post) is my iron and some other things like mineral spirits and acrylic sealer.

I positioned the unit away from the side wall so that there was a gap wide enough to slide my ironing board into, and installed pegboard on that wall  to hang gridded rulers, squares, yardsticks, cutting mats, etc.

And that's the rest of the story!  If you want your unit out in the room for all to see you could "prettify" it easily enough with paint, papers, etc.  I didn't have any enthusiasm for that, since it's not part of the decor, per se.  It's functional and I can hide it if need be and that's all I care!

I promise not to be so wordy in my next post!  Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

EverGREEN Christmas, Part 1

I love love love holiday decorations and I love love love making things and I love love love saving money and I love love love re-purposing things, so I'm going to do a series of posts combing all of these things!

I'm starting off with a couple of ideas for re-purposing all of those pretty Christmas cards we hoard (the real "ghosts of Christmases past") because we're sure we'll find something to do with them!  I have three ideas today, and three more in the wings...

The first two ideas actually came from my mother - which may be where I got my hoarding/repurposing/crafting genes...  The idea that requires no tutorial and almost no explanation is very straightforward and simple: Separate the card front from the rest of the card and use it as a gift tag - attach it to the front of a gift bag or use it as the "centerpiece" on a wrapped gift.  Simply write the to/from info on an area of the card that doesn't have a lot of busy pattern going on...

The second idea does need a bit of a tutorial, so I'll provide that now:

TUTORIAL: Christmas Card Boxes

Materials Needed:

• Christmas card(s)
• Gridded ruler
• Paper trimmer
• Scissors
• Scoring tool
• Strong adhesive (like red-lined tape)

After you've selected the card you wish to use, measure from the motif you'd like to center to the outer edge of the card at the narrowest point and trim the opposite side to make them even.  On my example, I had 1 3/8" from the white frame around the tree to the edge of the card on one side, and 1 1/2" on the other side, so I trimmed it so that they were both 1 3/8".  Trim the back of the card at the same time, so the front and back are the same size.  The card front will be the lid, and the card back will be the box:

Determine how much of the motif you want to leave showing, and measure from that point to the edge.  In my example, I wanted to leave a 3/8" border on each side, which left me with 1" to play with.  Now that you've determined the outer border dimension, divide it in half.  Score all four sides of the card front at both dimensions.  In my example, I scored at 1/2" (half of the finished measurement) and 1" (the finished measurement):

Trim the corners so that you're cutting away the three little squares at each corner.  Also cut from the long edge down to the inner score line to form a tab.  Trimming the edges of the tabs so that they taper slightly will make it easier to assemble the box:

Pre-fold all scored lines, then add adhesive as shown (sorry about the blurry picture, but you can still get the idea):

You could put adhesive across the entire side and end flaps, but I'm the Queen of Cheap, so I just put enough to hold the thing together...  Fold the short ends up toward the box, then tuck the little tabs toward the long sides and fold the side flaps over them to form the box sides (sorry I didn't get a picture of this step...)  Fold the short ends to the inside to finish:

Repeat these steps with the back of the card to make the box bottom, and you're done!

My mom used to make a bunch of these, tie them up with ribbons, and add them to wreaths...

Lastly, I've been seeing a lot of cone ornaments this year, and thought that it would be kinda cool to make a few out of Christmas cards.  Larger cards would work best for this.  Before I move on to the tutorial, I will point out that this is the prototype, and not as "perfect" as future cones will be, but I wanted to put this tutorial up before the season was over, so I'm letting you see it, warts and all, k?

TUTORIAL:  Christmas Card Cones

Materials Needed:

• Christmas card
• Strong adhesive (red-line tape or similar)
• Icicles
• Coffee filter or crepe paper
• Glitter
• Glue
• Ribbon
• Hole punch
• Stapler (I used a Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher)
• Scrap paper
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Bone Folder
• Needle and thread

Determine which part of the card you wish to have as the focal point of your cone.  On my example, I wanted Santa (duh):

Measure from slightly above where you want the top of the cone to be down to the bottom of the card, then cut a square from scrap paper roughly twice that dimension.  Fold it in half on the diagonal several times and trim the wide, open end of the triangle to make a rough circle:

Trim out one quarter of the circle to make your pattern:

It's obvious that this isn't actually a "pattern" - think of it as a rough guide.  Here's what you do:  find the center point of the bottom edge and determine where you want the sides to stop and cut a line between the two.  I actually used a point slightly below the bottom of the card, and slightly above where I wanted the side edge to stop:

Cut the other side to match and trim the top round, again using the pattern as a rough guide:

And you'll end up with something like this:

Please note that I don't have a pointy bottom edge and that the top corners of the sides are missing.  I needed the extra little bits, and by the time everything is stuck together, you'll never notice.  Trust me - "keep calm and carry on"...

Because purchased cards are generally heavier weight than the cardstock we usually use in papercrafting, it's a bit more difficult to roll into a cone shape, so take your bone folder and pre-form it a bit by placing it down the length of the card and pulling the card out from under it:

Pretend I'm holding the lower left corner - I only have two hands and one was holding the camera - and pulling that corner up and to the left while leaving the point and bone folder stationary.  Repeat this several times, and the card wil be a bit more bendy:

Put strong adhesive down the backside of one long edge, roll your cone and stick it down to the other edge:

I wanted a tassel at the bottom of my cone, so I looked around to see what I could make one out of, and landed on my dollar store holographic icicles:

I trimmed off a small  section of the icicles, folded them in half and cut the fold, then folded them in half again and tied that fold with some gold thread (I could've used anything, since it's not gonna show, but I had the gold thread handy).  I had to open the bottom of the cone just a bit to get the tassel snugly in there, so you may want to do that before you stick everything down well.  Then trim the ends of the icicles, which are now your tassel, even.

Punch small holes on either side of the cone and make a ribbon handle.  I fed the ribbon through, then stapled them in place.  The staples will be covered in the next step.

I wanted a glittery frill around the top of the cone, so I trimmed a coffee filter like so:

You could use crepe paper, as well, but I had the filters (they are super cheap) and this way I didn't have to worry about sticking the ends together - no seam!  Using the needle and thread, sew a running stitch down the center of the strip.  I took a tiny stitch at the beginning to hold that end securely when I pulled the other end to gather up the strip.  Don't gather it yet, and don't cut the thread.

Working a section at a time, add glue to each edge and dip it in glitter (easier and less mess than pouring glitter on it).  Since I had the "basket" part of the filter just sitting there, I dumped my glitter in that for this step.  Easy to pour back into the jar after, and no guilt when I threw it away...

Now go find something to do while the glue dries...  Make another box, peel the potatoes for dinner, whatever....  Okay - back again!  Put a strip of tape around the top of the cone but don't take the liner off yet:

"Dry fit" the frill by pulling the threads to gather it, slide it onto the cone, and adjust the gathers until it's close to fitting (it doesn't have to be exact, just close).  Tie off the thread and trim the ends.  Remove the liner from the tape and stick the frill down, adjusting as needed for a good fit.  Cut a piece of ribbon and adhere it over the gathering stitches, and you're done!

What I'll do different next time:  A longer handle and different glue for the glitter, mostly...

I hope you've enjoyed these tutorials, and that you have some fun making your own cones and boxes!  The other three ideas will be along in the near future, so check back.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Hang In There, Friends

Hello again!  Do I win anything for being such a consistent blogger this week?  Hmmm....maybe you should!  I'll see what I can gather for sharing, and put something up in a bit, k?

Today was the color challenge over on Splitcoast, and I haven't played that one for a loooong time, so I decided to give it a go - especially since red was involved!  The other two colors were Bermuda Bay and Kraft (and you know how I feel about kraft!)  When I went up to my room to see what was what, I found a card I'd started but never finished, and it just happened to be...Bermuda Bay!  I added a few things in the other colors and called it good!

The border is done using the emboss resist technique and the Very Vintage wheel from Stampin'Up!  The "Friends" is from the coordinating stamp set - Vintage Vogue.  I made the flower from some paper that was used to pack SU! goodies when they were shipped to me (just happened to be kraft-colored), and the base layer is an upcycled gingersnap box (also kraft-colored).  I sponged some red ink on the edges of things, added a red ribbon and walked away happy...

I liked the color combo so much that I decided to knock out another card that's been kicking around Odd Brain for several weeks now, ever since I bought some dog Cuttlebug mini-folders:

Isn't he the cutest?  I embossed the dog in kraft, and the balloon in red, then cut them both out.  I added some Versamarker to darken the outlines on the dog, added glaze pen eyes and nose, defined the string a bit with a Micron pen, and added Ranger Glossy Accents to the balloon to make it shiny.  The clouds are made by punching out a scallop circle and using it as a mask while sponging on color.  The sentiment is from Studio G.

I had to go to JoAnn's today to get some thread for work and - of course - had to nab a new set of Inkadinkado beach inchies.  Hey - it was $5.99 (already cheap) and on sale for 40% off!  I couldn't just leave it there!  Look for that card tomorrow, when I do a repeat performance of this color combo!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I'm gonna go see what Greg's doing - I've been ignoring him all evening while I embossed and sponged and cut and glued and...

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great night!  Ta!

The Queen of Cheap Gets Organized

First, I must apologize for my absence of late - nothing worth sharing, so I just didn't...  NOW, I have NEWS!  Probably not a big deal for you, but I'm totally stoked over here!

In my last post I shared the shame and horror that was my workroom/studio when I "blew it up good", so I'm happy to report that the re-org is going well and to share some pics with you that are shame-less.  First I have to show you my amazingly wonderful SCORE:

This table was at our local Rescue Mission Thrifty Shopper (similar to Goodwill, Salvation Army, Deseret Industries - whatever your point of reference might be) for $35, which I would gladly have paid, but they were having a 60% off sale this morning, so I only paid $14!!!  It's big, it's solid, it needs a facelift (some sanding and some type of sealer will be enough, I'm thinking), especially since it got some new scratches from sliding face-down into the bed of Greg's truck (mortar chunks and such will do that...)  I wasn't about to complain, though - I knew it needed repair already, and Greg was kind enough to drive me out and load the thing and all the rest of it, so...  I purchased a couple of other things I'll share a different day.  This post is gonna be long and photo-loaded, so I'm sticking with the subject!

Just for orientation, I'll let you know that when you walk into this room, you're looking at a window in the gable end of the house, and there are knee walls on either side of the room, because this is the finished side of an attic, and there are no dormers.  To the left we have this:

What you do not see in the picture is a dresser to the far left that has "stuff" in it, and to the right is a sewing machine table/cabinet that has a TV and DVD player on it.  What you do see is two of the JetMax cubes for 12" x 12" hanging files flanked by DVD racks and topped with a shelf, which is topped with CD crates laid on their sides to house my ink pads.  The cases on the racks are all of my stamp sets (organized as outlined in this post).  The plastic drawers have adhesives, embellishments, etc.  On top of the four in the center is a wooden drawer organizer that houses embossing powders, Stickles, glitter, re-inkers, etc:

 

On the desk above this is my Xacto guillotine cutter (I turn it the other way when I'm actually using it).  Under the sewing table are my sewing machine and my patterned papers in legal size file folders (as outlined in this post - scroll down a bit), stored in those crates.  I have felt on all four corners so I can slide them out without destroying my hardwood floors.  The drawer above them has 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock in it.

 

Across the room on the right-side wall we have this:

I'm pretty much considering myself a minor genius here, because this configuration is totally doable for: a) someone on a budget and, b) someone who rents and can't put holes in the wall.  I figured out how far apart my shelving units (free-standing, on sale at Target for $15)needed to be to leave the outlets free, then cut my "Handi Panel" pegboard (2' x 4', $6.72 at Home Depot) to that measurement (3' in my case) and screwed it to the back of the shelves down the edge (high enough to clear the heat register), right through the existing holes (make sure your drill is level if/when you do this, so you don't have screws coming out in weird places on the shelves)  The top two curtain rods (28"-48" heavy duty, 2" projection, WalMart $2.32 ea) are wall-mounted, but if you wanted to, you could screw strips of wood to the shelves, and then screw the curtain rod mounts to the wood strips.

The third rod is a tension rod (slightly more expensive, but still cheap - can't find my receipt).  DO NOT USE MORE THAN ONE TENSION ROD.  If you use more than one, they wreak havoc with each other and everything comes crashing down (I know I do not need to explain how I know this...)  I have (obviously) put most of my punches here, and I used a tool holder for the few decorative-edge scissors that I do, in fact, still use, as well as my Corner Chomper, Cropadile, brayers, quilting templates (which have many, many other uses) and my "Absorber" (around $10 in the automotive section at WalMart) that I use instead of a scrubber for my stamps.  TOTALLY worth every penny, but large enough that I could cut it up and split the cost with several friends, if I were so inclined.  Read about it HERE.  The crate has two smallish drawer units that have my thread in them, and there are more punches on top of it, including hand-held ones in a basket robbed from a spice rack (the over-the-door kind), and small ones in a clamshell case:

 

There are more punches on top of the shelves:

A CD crate and a wooden pencil box are used to make things more efficient and easier to see.  There's a similar configuration (largely Martha Stewart punches) on the other shelving unit.

On the shelves themselves?  The one on the right has magazines, books, etc.  (still a little empty, as I'm still hauling up boxes from the basement) and the one on the left has binders with stamps, my stamp index, and stamp catalogs on the bottom shelf, and this on the top shelf:

 

The white photo storage box has clamshell cases of buttons sorted by color, the clamshells stacked next to them are flowers sorted by color, next to that are feathers sorted by color.  In front are recent flower and button purchases that haven't been integrated into the system yet.  The white drawer unit next to them has specialty pens, small tools, etc.

The center shelf has my Cuttlebug and the items that I use with it:

A few details here:  The black leather box has the cutting plates, embossing folders and texture plates, cardboard pieces that I use as shims, etc., and this:

This oh-so-expensive baby just happens to be the perfect size for small folders and dies:

The Sizzix Embosslit and Sizzlit dies don't fit, but everything else does!  On the other side of the Cuttlebug is another photo storage box with a couple of zippered cases and a clamshell in it, as well as a few other things:

The two boxes at the back are letterpress kits that I haven't had time to play with (except for a quick moment before Christmas), the clamshell has Dymo tape in several colors, there is a CTMH swivel stapler, A Dymo and a Fiskars shape cutter in front of them, and then the two zippered cases.  The front one has my Creative Memories shape cutting system templates and cutters:

The other has CTMH 3" mini-albums with brass stencils in them:

As well as a little plastic box with brass charms:

In the corner is a TV stand (under $20 at WalMart) that I removed the shelf from, and loaded up with 12" paper pads, etc.  This is only a temporary fix, as I'm working on a more permanent plan which will see them all moving across the room into the second (currently empty) JetMax cube.  On top of the stand, where the TV would normally go, I have:

Chipboard and such-like in a photo storage box on top of another photo storage box that has coasters in it.  There's also grungeboard swirls and Tattered Angels frames in there.  Next to this is a small crate that has 6" and 8" paper pads, gift tags, and these:

They are the photo organizer/keeper things that I have specialty stuff in, like this:

And that pretty much covers the progress to date!  Perhaps you noticed that all of my furniture is either cheap or hand-me-down, and that my storage solutions are to make the best use of what's at hand.  In my fantasy life I own The Original Scrapbox, but in my reality I have what I've just showed you, which works just fine for me.

Now, I know what you all are thinkin'... " If you have all of this stuff, how come you don't use it?  We've never seen a project with grungeboard or Tattered Angels frames, or even glitter, for that matter!"  I can only say one thing here: Out of sight, out of mind - which is exactly why everything is in plain sight now!

Alrighty, then!  That's waaay more than enough for now!  I'm gonna go back up to my new "studio" and MAKE SOMETHING!  Amazing thought, that!  Thanks for stopping by, hope you've gleaned an idea or two, and see you tomorrow, k?