~ Reverse Die-Cuts ~ thrifty recycling in papercraft

I made this card the day before my exam (instead of slogging away on the scales like I should have been doing) ......... because I had this *brilliant* idea (nothing really brilliant about it, really) ........ see, I had this die-cut set from Melissa Frances...


... that I used up a looong time ago. But I saved the "negative" sheet, you  know the stuff left after you use up the insides? If you trim around what's left, you get this...



That frame... and you can just stitch all around it to create a cute little box for your buttons to nest in.

  

Another card with another negative-frame... I love how it looks like a little window, with these cute banner stamps strung across! But I'll tell you that banners are BIG-TIME troublesome to make (that's cause I'm lazy) ;o)

 
 Cherry-and-olive buttons! from here! and that sentiment, from Masculine Motifs.


I like to make tri-colored scrunchy bows. They add a little too much bulk to the card, but oh-welly... ;o)
One more card........ and I'll be done.


Twill roses are really fun. I used a strip that was from a failed-bow (have you ever heard of those? :o) ...) and just rolled, and tucked, and glued. Easy-peesy, and no-need to make it perfect. That's another one of those negative-frames under the rose. They're versatile, and add an extra-special element to any card.


Hope you have a happy day!
Will be back on April 1st for Clear and Simple Stamps' April release!

Vio ~

~ A Honey Basket ~ creating with burlap and recycled tissue tubes

I have a tutorial to share today. Be forewarned, it's a pretty lame one.

Ok, let's make this! ^ ^ ^ look above ^ ^ ^


Behold, the humble inner-tube of a roll of toilet paper!

You probably don't use such huge bales of paper (with such wide inner-tubes) in your own home, but if you ever see an empty roll at some public restroom, you can save it..... I know it sounds kind of gross, but that's your problem, see... I got mine from a really, really sanitary place (that I actually help to clean sometimes, so it's REALLY clean, I'm sure of it).....

didn't mean to get so hung up on restrooms. let's move on ok?

- Cut you some nice, fuzzy burlap. (shall we have a burlap spree one day, all of us together?) Cut it into a nice, large circle much bigger than the base of your empty roll.



- Lay the burlap under the center of the roll and start wrapping up the sides, folding the fabric so it won't "stick out" the sides..... hard to explain, but I hope you get the picture. Tuck the overlap over the top edge of the roll into the insides.....


- Secure the fabric to the inner walls of the roll with adhesive. You could try glue-dots, or some other kind. I used liquid adhesive, which is --- um, really messy (sometimes i forget to use my brains).

- Sit at craft table and hold the burlap down tightly until the glue dries (approximately 30-40 minutes, if I remember rightly)


- Snack on favorite raspberry-chocolate cookie-bar while waiting for glue to dry... (as you can see I cheated and let go in order to hold the cookie... lesson learnt: glue-y fingers + cookie-bar = not good)


 - Admire nicely adhered burlap-to-roll.....


 (insert spectator-brother's question: "how do you take your pics with that colossal junk in the background?!")

- Wrap twine firmly around the burlap sides, to keep everything in place.....

... then change mind, unwrap, and wrap again..........


 - Add pretty lace trim to the base of the burlap sides. Adhere with more liquid glue... sit and hold for another 30 minute session....


- Untie twine bow, but don't unwrap.... fold twill bow like so ^ ^ ^ and tie twine around it (that is really mean of me to just say it that way, but how else could I?)

 
- Layer two pink mulberry-hydrangeas and add a gold-edged rose (I'm thinking the rose came from some dinky store I frequent ... but I can't be sure)... adhere to the center of the twill bow.


- Add a Melissa Frances resin embellishment just under the floral centerpiece.....

- Remove colossal junk from background and take some pretty pictures to share.....




My "honey-basket"... because I love it so much :o) ............. from rags to riches.


So that's my lame tutorial for you. I don't do this much because it's hard to balance the big camera in one hand and hold the "thing" with the other. Hope you'll have fun trying it out yourself (if you can find yourself a roll).

I'll be back, soon enough......
xoxo,
~Vi

~ My Heart is Always With You ~ for Japan

a thousand tears


for the souls in Japan


I hardly read the newspapers because of a million commitments and so little time in a day. But I heard so much about the heartbreak in Japan, and saw enough glimpses of the front-page-news to make me pick up the papers today and read about what has been going on..... right here, in Asia, and so close to us, yet we have been mercifully untouched.



Japan, we love you. Keep going. Go strong.
What we cannot do for you, God can.
Our hearts are always with you.

~ Messy Tables Produce Miracle Cards ~

Hello Saturday!! :o) This week, I managed to sneak in a little crafty-time one of the afternoons.

A quick 20-minute, de-stress session at my messy table = a fun card for a fun friend ..........



I like rows of buttons...... they remind me of the candy from america - smarties - that I loved in my childhood days (a fairly recent stage in my life!) :o)



I actually almost licked my fingers after glittering these buttons....... the way the glue-and-sparkles stick to your hand makes you think it's actually good to eat.

Today I intend to tell you what a messy crafter I am.  Tilting my head ninety-degrees downward, I can see on my skirt traces of glue and several ink spots. Some of those said ink spots have a suspicious triangular shape. Triangular as in: pennant-flag-stamp-shape.

Will i ever learn to stop cleaning my stamps on my clothes?

~ pretty K&Co papers ~ favorite fairy-wings with a little dash of tea-dye ~ some vintage trim ~ beautiful banner stamps from here (they're sold out now, but if you live in the US you can find some with a good discount here) ~ posies from here ~ delicious button-candy in this pretty pink, gorgeous green, and cream ~

one more card with button-rows for you..............



~ vintage paper trimmed into layers of a heart and stitched ~ more K&Co papers ~ favorite sentiment set ~ mulberry rose ~ new favorite silk ribbon ~ wide lace trim ~ fuzzy twine ~


This is a three-loop bow I like to tie when one of my tails "accidentally" turn out too long.. a quick addition and it makes a much puffier ribbon......... maybe one day I'll show you how :o)

Sending you weekend cheer.........



 ~ Vi

~ Clear and Simple Stamps Group Challenge ~ Stylish Gift Cards

It's time for our monthly CSS group challenge!! We're showing you gift card holders today using the March SOTM Just My Style ...... and it's going to be sooo much fun!

But first, let me tell you that I don't know what a gift card is. In other words, I've never received one. so if you have any extras, please send them to me -- then in future, I will have a reference point for a challenge like this one. that would be really, really nice of you .. ;)

But anyway, since it is my BFF's birthday today, and I wanted a place to put [my own version of] a gift card in, I used a recycled box (heee :) to dress up and tuck away the special thingy.


Believe me, it works just as well as any NORMAL gift card holder. it's just a different shape. (but didn't I just say that I don't know what a gift card [holder] is supposed to look like?) *shakes head in confusion*


See? there's a nice hidey-place for the gift card. Actually I wanted to give her a little ummm, money :) for her birthday (cos it's the best thing to do when you've forgotten to get a gift and there's no time left) ... but as I looked in my wallet, and in my drawer, and under the bed, and in the roof, I couldn't find any cash anywhere. *sigh* ... so I used a scrap of paper and wrote a gift card (a.k.a. redemption coupon) for the amount she could claim from me at a future date.

note to all peeps reading this: I am not a verrry good example, so don't save this idea to do it to your own BFFs.

 

The cutie sentiment is from Just My Style .. if you check out the set, you can see there's even a lovely $ sign to use on real, proper gift card holders. But since mine isn't, I didn't desecrate the stamp by using it.

Stashed-away-for-a-long-time flowers + trinket pin + felt + lace trim + stitching + tiny tag + scrunchy ribbon = deco for my gift card holder.

and I made a card to match:



These sentiments are from the Kind Deeds set -- I love their versatility and wide range of use for so many occasions -- the top and bottom line are separate stamps and can be mixed and matched with the others in the set.

Yesterday I splashed out in the rain puddles to the mailbox to get these goodies off to my friend for her b'day... I so hope the mail will be as reliable as they claim it is and she gets them today.

Okies then, hop on to these other ladies' lovely blogs and see what they've been up to, making for our group challenge......

Dana -- Kim -- Lori -- Ryann -- Cristina -- Simone -- Tiffany

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
And I have another card to share, with some new goodies I got from Emma's Paperie .. My Mind's Eye and Crafty Secrets all mixed in, and the sentiment from CSS ........ and the colorful bow was made with scraps of scrunchy ribbon. I love the rainbow hues! :)


 last thing --- a peek at a project I'm working on but haven't completed. I'll show you more in a few days.



feelin' happy today.......

~ vi

~ remember ... with love ~

 ~ pretty crimson mulberry rose ~ velvet leaves from a local millinery store ~ tea-dyed lace trims ~ favorite K and Co patterned papers ~ a beautiful "new" stamp set ~ tea-stained mini-tag ~


Stitches attach a little glassine bag to the front of this card, with a pocket space for a special tag... The journaling space "remember" stamp is from my stash and the florals (and sentiments) from the Kind Deeds stamp set ~ a new favorite of mine.

Mulberry roses have officially taken over my blog. Aren't you sick of seeing them? I'm not sick of using them yet. Here's another one.
 




Lots of fun woody buttons with my favorite button twine... mixed with a few teeny pink buttons from my stash, and scrunchy ribbons ~


sending wishes from my heart to your home tonight! have a happy and restful weekend! :)

~ Vi

p/s thank you, thank you for your nice words about how CUUUTE my sisters are... they were pleased beyond measure to hear that you all think so highly of them!! :D