• Blog - Crafts - Creativity

    Building a card stash

    May 25, 2020 - By 

    As I mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been sending more cards. This, in turn, depletes my stash. Over the past week, I’ve been having fun creating some new designs using some scraps as well as previously created card bases.

    I have an index card box full of precut layering pieces for cards. This comes in handy for quick card making. I also have a wooden cigar box filled with mini collages for cards or journal pages. Doing some of the mindless prep work ahead of time leaves more time for the creative process and doesn’t interrupt the flow of ideas.

    I am also starting to pre-make some sentiment pieces. I grabbed my tag and mason jar punches to start. The mason jar is so darn cute. The punch itself is a bit finicky. It jams almost every single time. UGH!!!!

    I am willing to put up with it though because…look how cute this is!!!! After I stamped the pale seafoam green I realized that it was beginning to look like an old-fashioned blue mason. I used a cosmetic sponge to shade in two colors of blue dye-based ink. Then rubbed the top of the jar on a gray pigment ink pad to act as the zinc lid.

    I used foam tape to lift it off the page so I could add some sticker flowers to the jar. So fun!

    I can 100% guarantee that you’ll be seeing more cards and postcards. They are really quite addictive to create.

  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    Butterflies everywhere

    May 17, 2020 - By 

    I’ve been sending so many more cards and little care packages since the stay-at-home order began. I had to order more stamps and really needed to make some new cards to replenish my stash.

    These are my favorite type of cards. Little bits of scraps, snippets from magazines and whatever else finds its way into my scrap bin.

    In 2015, I wrote an article for Sew Somerset describing my process for mini-collages such as these. I now see them all over YouTube in the junk journal community. They call them clusters.

    Without even realizing it, most of my recent creations featured butterflies.

    collage postcard collection

    Even most of these collage postcards I made for my MIL.

    One even found its way onto one of the tags I made from the off cuts of the postcards.

    Maybe I just have mom on my mind. She was nuts about butterflies. They always make me think of her.

  • Art - Blog - Creativity

    T Tuesday: bits and pieces edition

    April 20, 2020 - By 

    Hello! We’re still here…all still here…always…

    Have you settled into a routine within our new normal? I feel as if we have. It’s slightly less structured than the beginning of this new normal. Workspaces have shifted. Schedules have adjusted…Marvin is still not pleased but such is the life of a cat.

    In my free time, I’ve continued to put scrap paper to use making serendipity collages. These are so fun and can be made without much thought. Very therapeutic.

    I was able to cut 3 postcards, 2 tags, a bookmark, and a tiny tag. These are not finished of course but a good start.

    I have a bunch of seedlings started in my plant cart. Tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers so far. I have some flower seeds in the purple pots but they are kind of old so I’m not holding my breath on those. I also started a few cold-weather crops outside…I’ve never tried it this early so we’ll see what happens.sewing masks

    sewing masks

    I got back to sewing more masks as well. My fabric selection is dwindling as well as my elastic supply. Thankfully I had a spool I bought last year when I was making scrunchies from Mini-me. Otherwise, I’d have never been able to make as many masks as I have.

    Distance learning continues for Mini-me and I.  J has two weeks of class left of his sophomore year of college. Final exams will be taken from his bedroom…so strange.

    I’m staying hydrated while getting this post written with some ice water…please excuse the messy desk.

     

    T stands for Tuesday
    What are you doing today?