Four Ways Friday #31 - Springtime Vintage Designer Fabric (SNEAK PEEK!)

This week's Four Ways Friday is a sneak peek of the Springtime Vintage Designer Fabric that will be available beginning January 4th in the Occasions mini catalog!  I don't know about you, but I shied away from using fabric on cards since I thought I needed a sewing machine...not to mention the ability to sew a straight line...in order to use fabric on paper projects.  But you don't!!!!  This week I've decided to show you 4 ways to use the fabric on your cards and other paper projects without needing a sewing machine!!!!

You can use fabric as a background on your cards and paper projects!!!!!  Don't you just LOVE the added texture?!!!!!!  I just tore a piece of the fabric into a square and then adhered it to the card using sticky strip (snail does not work well with the fabric - you need to use a stronger adhesive and sticky strip does the trick)!  Then you can build your card on top of the fabric.  Dimensionals work great for adding layers.  I also used a few mini glue dots - they don't seem to adhere as well, so you might just want to use small pieces of sticky strip to ensure your pieces stay put!  The buttons are from the subtles designer buttons and I added a few punched flowers using the itty bitty shapes punch pack.  I love adding the pearl jewels to the centers of these tiny flowers!  I am also forever in love with the decorative label punch!  Here I punched 2 labels, embossed one in the Big Shot and then layered it on top of a darker label that I had cut into 2 halves.

Ooh - can you see the gorgeous embossing around the edge of this card?!  That's from using the new Framed Tulips embossing folder!  Notice the torn piece of ribbon?  It's not ribbon at all - it's the fabric!!!!  Here I tore a piece of the fabric and then gathered it on the card stock using sticky strip.  So easy, and it adds such a wonderful, textured touch to the card.  The greeting is from the On Your Birthday stamp set (I used the same set for the greeting on the first card too!).

For card #3 I used the fabric in the same way I would use a piece of ribbon.  Here I tore a length of the fabric (I LOVE the frayed look) and then wrapped it around the card and knotted it.  If you turn the fabric while you are tying the knot, you can get the printed side of the fabric to show on both ends of your bow.

Don't forget that you can also die cut your fabric!!!!!  Here I used the Daisies #2 die and another pattern from the Springtime Vintage designer fabric.  I die cut 2 of the medium daisies and 2 of the small daisies.  I didn't use any glue.  I just sandwiched the fabric flowers in between a punched circle of baja breeze card stock on the bottom and then 2 smaller punched circles on the top (baja breeze and pear pizazz).  A rhinestone brad holds it all together!  I hope you've enjoyed these 4 ways to use your fabric.  Fabric adds a great new texture and feel to your cards and paper projects - give it a try!!!!  Happy New Year everyone!!!!  May the coming year be filled with creative exploration, joy, health and prosperity!!!!!

Top Note Treat Topper

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Make Your Sweet Gifts Extra Special!

Baking sweet treats is one of the special things to do this time of year.  I can't take credit for these yummy pretzel creations.  Elizabeth made them the other day...and I tasted them and they are yummy!  Some pretzels topped with Hershey hugs and then, once heated, the melted hug is topped with an M&M.  Sweet & salty...what more could you ask for?! :)  We needed a quick and cute way to decorate them and here's what we came up with.  A top note die cut of Whisper White card stock, scored and folded in half.  Then we stamped the top note with the flourish image from the Baroque Motifs stamp set using Garden Green ink.  The Thanks stamp is from the Perfect Punches stamp set - stamped once in Garden Green and once in Cherry Cobbler.  We cut around the oval greeting from the Garden Green image and popped it up in the middle of the Cherry Cobbler image using a dimensional.  The Old Olive backing was punched using the Decorative Label punch.  A piece of Night of Navy 1 1/4" striped grosgrain ribbon and a small piece of hemp twine finish the look.  The topper is attached to the treat bag using a few mini glue dots on each side.  Taking the time to stamp a handmade topper makes your sweet gifts extra special!

Birthday Bakery Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  See The World Through Someone Else's Eyes

I went an enjoyed a play date at my friend Elizabeth's the other day!  I love getting together with her to play with new product!  It inspires me!  When I walked into her craft room and started looking at some of her latest creations I came across this adorable card and fell in love!!!!!  I can't tell you how many times I passed by p. 10 of the Idea Book & Catalog and didn't give this Birthday Bakery hostess set a second look.  I'm not sure why I wasn't interested in it - it just never caught my eye...until today!  Until I was able to see the stamp set through Elizabeth's eyes and see this adorable creation she made from it!  I think that happens quite a bit in life - that we see something in a new way because someone else is passionate about it or enjoys it so much that their passion and excitement becomes contagious!  Thank you Elizabeth for helping me see something in a totally new way! :)

Fun Foam Magnets

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Identify What You Liked About Today And Build On It Tomorrow!

What did you like about today?  Did you eat one healthy snack?  Did you spend a half hour creating?  Did you tell someone you love how much you appreciate them?  Did you talk on the phone with someone without multi-tasking?  Whatever you did today that you liked, consider how you can build on it tomorrow!  I feel the same way about my art.  The other day I made magnets out of card stock and chipboard and really enjoyed it.  Today I found myself wondering how I could build on the idea.  Specifically, as I walked the dog I wondered "how can I make the magnets more durable - especially in the kitchen?"  Fun Foam came to mind!  So today I decided to make a gift for a friend building on my experience from the other day and these fun foam magnets were the result!

I die cut the thin fun foam pieces with the Big Shot and used hot glue to adhere everything together.  I even snuck a piece of ribbon in between the layers :)  You can't see the back of the magnet, but one little tip I have for you is to cut a 3/4" circle from plain copy paper and adhere it to the back of your magnet.  This helps prevent the magnets from scratching surfaces or leaving black residue on surfaces.  Here is a picture of the full magnet set (the last name of my friend) and a close up of one of the magnets.  I hope you like them!

Heart Woven Basket

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  Cleaning Can Lead To Creating!

What a disaster my craft table was this morning!!!!!  Piles of paper, ink, punches, glitter...you get the picture!  So, I decided to do a bit of straightening...and that turned into creating - once I was able to see the table top :)  Sometimes sitting down to clean can lead you straight to creating.  Just touching your supplies and sorting through what you have may inspire you to start crafting - even when you feel your creative energy has been turned off.  So go sort and clean...who knows what will happen!
(I have to admit that I am hiding what I made in the craft room today since I am thinking about submitting it for publication at some point and the publication requires that the item not be posted anywhere if you submit it...so, let me share with you an item I made awhile back that didn't get published)...I made this woven heart basket as a submission for a magazine.  Since I haven't heard anything for a few months, I'm assuming that enough time has gone by to figure they didn't want to publish it so now I can show it to you!!!!!  I wove together 2 colors of pink card stock after stamping them with the Bella Toile background stamp.  If you google "paper weaving" or "paper basket weaving," I'm sure you can find a template to weave your own basket!  I attached a braided satin ribbon handle with hot glue and linked the inside of the basket with gold waffle paper.  Some glitter around the edge, along with a greeting and antique brad finish the basket.  Some treats in a small cello bag are the perfect insert!  I hope you like it!