Craftinbish

It's a beautiful springtime, my crafty friends. Are you inspired by all the blooms and greenery surrounding you? I certainly enjoy pressing a few flowers to incorporate into my papercrafts and am loving the energy of growth and renewal that's surrounding us in this season.  Today's item is a quick project and one that you can complete with mostly scraps of paper. If you're like most paper crafters, you have a hard time parting with any usable paper, no matter how big or small. So this piece would be a great item to use all those bits and bobs on. Why not make several at a time while you're at it?  This project starts out with a large book page. What's on the page doesn't necessarily need to be of importance unless you want it to be the focal point of your piece. What really matters is that it's sturdy. You don't want to use a page that's so old it's brittle and cracks at the folds. Make sure whatever you use, it's heavy enough...

Happy Mother's Day to you! What's happening crafty friends? Are you creating lots of fabulous paper things? I hope so. Today's craft is a very easy and quick piece of ephemera. This folder would be great in a junk journal or tucked into an envelope for a pen pal. It would also be great as a gift card holder for Christmas, Hanukkah, birthdays, or other gift-giving occasions. One gift card for each pocket. That may be coming in another tutorial soon. Front of the folder when tied. Inside the folder To begin construction, measure out a piece of patterned paper, six inches tall and 12 inches wide. You can use double-sided patterned paper or glue two single-sided pieces together. Another option is to go with the single-sided pattern and cover the bare side in later steps, which is what I've chosen to do. Tim Holtz ephemera peaking out the pocket.  After you cut your paper to six inches tall and 12 inches wide, score horizontally along the ...

 Greetings crafty friends. Today I'm sharing some fun and easy cards I made using Spellbinders Hex Tile stamps with their clear stamp of the month for August 2021. I picked this stamp set up on sale but sadly didn't get the coordinating die set. Stamp Set I like the paint splatter in this one. Since I don't have the die set I decided to do a flat card. I didn't want to bother with fussy cutting. I stamped images into the corners of my cardstock using the Misti stamp tool and Memento black ink. Next, I colored in the flowers with Prismacolor colored pencils and opted not to "build" them with the included stamps. I blended my colored pencil using some mineral spirits and a brush for a watercolor-like effect. After the flowers were colored I restamped my images to make the lines bolder. This is easily done using the Misti and makes a big difference in the finished product. I used watercolor to outline the design in light blue and then splattered it wi...

Postcard of Brooklynn Bridge in 1890. Hello, all you lovely crafters out there. This post is dedicated to all my fellow snail mail enthusiasts. If you're like me you discovered your love of correspondence as a child. I began receiving and writing letters to my Grandma Georgia and Great Grandma Bessie from the time I was old enough to realize the magic of the mailbox. My Grandmas would send me birthday cards and letters regularly. Before the time of email and social media, the only option was to use the good old postal system. I also wrote letters to my classmates over summer break and even wrote to my first love in boot camp and throughout the years while he was stationed all over the world. Needless to say, I have a collection of correspondence from loved ones that I cherish. Received Postcrossing card from the "another day in paradise" collection  Jump to the current day, my Grandmothers have passed away and all my schoolmates have put down their...

 Hello crafty friends. Today's post features some really fun typewriter greeting cards with floral accents. I used Spellbinders clear stamp of the month with an accompanying die set for February 2022. Love this cute design! I began by using my Misti stamp tool to lay down these images with some black versa fine ink. I love using the Misti because it ensures you get a usable stamped image. If you don't have one of these in your craft room yet I certainly think it's worth the investment. Next, I heat embossed my stamped images with Wow clear embossing powder.  A card I'd love to recieve.  Coloring in my stamped images was a lot of fun. I used a combination of alcohol ink markers, Tombow brush markers, and colored pencils. Because my images were embossed the clear layer allowed me to use any medium I wanted without fear of smearing the ink. I even used some watercolor on the typewriters simply because I love the way watercolor looks! I wanted to ach...

 Hello, wonderful crafting friends. Hope you're all feeling inspired to create and have been cleaning your crafting space as you go. 😋 I'm the messiest crafter ever and usually have to spend time picking up and putting things away because I've run out of every inch of space possible and lost all my tools under the clutter. HA! When inspiration hits, you just have to run with it, right? Today's greeting cards go hand in hand with being a bit of a messy crafter. Often my cards will have smudges on them or imperfections, which is expected to some extent as this is a handmade item. I don't really understand how exactly this happens, but it just does. When the smudges can't be erased using a pink eraser, I LOVE splattering my cards with some acrylic paint. Not only does this look cool and artsy, but it's also fun to do and hides any small or large imperfections you may have in your design.  Card using Catherine Pooler Date Night inks In creating this...

      Good morning my paper-loving friends. I have another upcycle project for you today. I call these specimen envelopes because they feature a clear widow like a slide with a "specimen" in the middle. I've had these envelopes in my stash for a while now. I love them so much, that I haven't been able to part with them. These would make a lovely addition to a happy mail for a pen-pal, a swap, or of course, tucked into a journal. I could also see these tied to the outside of a gift package with a note or a little something extra inside. So, let us get into it.        I used some pages from my German English dictionary for these envelopes. I got out my Gelli plate and swiped some Distressed Oxides onto it and misted it with water before I pressed my paper onto my Gelli plate. If you don't have a Gelli plate a regular craft mat or piece of laminated paper (or any non-porous flat surface) would work just as well. I used my h...