3"x3" Envelopes

This is sort of a long post....

I very often need to make 3" x 3" square envelopes for all of our 13 grandkids' cards.  Decorative paper can be costly and I rarely find anything in my stash I'm willing to use for envelopes.  I also don't like using copy paper for the envelopes. 

I've always believed in supporting small town businesses to keep their doors open, and the folks at our small town newspaper, the Pioneer Press, go out of their way to keep their office supplies reasonably priced.   After figuring in the cost of gas for my car, I now buy all my A2 envelopes and printer cartridges from them much cheaper than at the big box stores (and it's a drive of a few blocks rather than 225 miles!). 

So, I asked Thomas at the Pioneer Press office if they sold paper heavier than copy paper.  He pulled out a package of 24 lb. paper.  I bought some to try it.  When I got home, I discovered that 24 lb paper is bond paper, which we used as our letterhead paper in the law offices!  It cut, scored and folded perfectly!  So, I now have the perfect paper for envelopes.  The 3" square envelopes ended up costing me 5 cents each (2 envelopes per sheet).

So, if you have to make small envelopes and prefer a nicer paper, try bond paper!

Thank you to Thomas and Dawn at the Pioneer Press office for always going out of their way to make my crafting affordable!

A Few of My Favorite Tools Part 2 - Video #9

Here's part 2 of my favorite tools.  Enjoy!

Soapstone Pencil Link

Here is a link for the soapstone (white) pencil I mention in My Favorite Tools video #1:

http://www.amazon.com/Dritz-Quilting-Soapstone-Marking-Pencil/dp/B001UAKKZO

It looks like this one doesn't have the aluminum casing I got with mine, but the pencil part is identical!

A Few of My Favorite Tools Part 1 - Video #8

Some of you have asked about some of the tools I use in my videos, so this is a short video (part 1) with a few of my favorite tools in my craft studio.  Enjoy!

Clean Craft Studio?

Happy Sunday to all of you!  I hope it was peaceful and enjoyable. 

I was asked if my craft room always looks so clean (see video below) - and the answer is NO!  When I am not working on a video or in the middle of a project, yes it looks like it does in the video.  I have a hard time finding things when I'm in the middle of a project, so I make sure tools get put back where they belong and that helps de-clutter my craft table!

I also had a request for a video tutorial for my wire "paper rack."  I don't have enough parts to make a video and I really don't want to take apart the units I have, so I thought I'd try explain them a bit better.

I simple had these wire shelving units laying around, not even assembled, so I put them together like they're supposed to be.  I had three sets.  I think they were originally purchased on clearance for under $5 from Target. The first two are the outer frames, stacked three units high.  The shelves are just the shelves or individual squares from the third set.  Cable ties are those little plastic ties that you slide through and pull tight.  You can purchase them at the hardware store, Wal-mart, just about any place.  I used the small size, they're about 6" long.  I attached the pieces, or shelves with these cable ties and used 4 cable ties on each side, then cut the excess off the ties.  These are very strong and work well for lots of paper or cardstock!

After I got all the shelves in place, because they sit in front of my window, I chose to cut foamboard I purchased at Michael's into pieces and also attached that to the sides and backs of the units with cable ties (I punched holes for the cable ties with my Crop-a-dile) to protect my paper and cardstock from the light.

I hope that helps!

Craft Studio Tour Video #7

I thought I would share a peek at my craft studio where I do all my creating.  I hope you enjoy it and I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

More of my Favorite Things......

I recently purchased a a Scor-pal and I've packed away my old scoring papercutter with the scoring tool. The Scor-pal is much more accurate! I know I've told you this before, but - my Cricut Expression! Now that I've had it about 6 months, I really love it! I still have a few cartridges I want, but that will be a bit later on. I've learned a lot in the last 6 months and thanks to people like "The Pink Stamper," I'm learning to use all the features. I haven't mentioned my "army green" or is it "government green" map storage units. One has 2 deep drawers and the other is 4 shallow drawers and they stack. They hold lots of stuff: punches, pre-stamped images from others, ALL my bling for cards and scrapbooking, templates, and tools. I like to have everything within reach (or it really doesn't get used!), so this makes everything handy. Last item for now: my new Watercolor Wonder Crayons from SU! Love them! I just got them last week and used them for the first time on the explosion box for my friends. I have 2 sets - Soft Subtles and Bold Brights - but you can bet I'm getting the other two sets plus the neutrals!

Even More Favorite Tools!

I recently purchased the distressing tool from CTMH and I'm really loving it. It's in the shape of a wheel, easy to hold, and to use. Very inexpensive, too! I also have a few favorite glues and tapes I use: Zig two-way glue I use on almost every project if it involves paper or cardstock! It's great for adhering letters cut with my Cricut Expression. Two other glues I use on a regular basis are the Tombow multi glue, and "Quickie Glue" from Sakura. It's a pin-point sized roller and is super for fine line glittering. Scotch brand double-sided tape is a must have for me. I use tons of it while creating cards. My favorite "puff" tape for adding dimension is the Scotch brand foam tape. It's about the only thing I use when I need to add dimension in both scrapbooks and cards. My favorite tape for adhering ribbon is the 1/8" double-sided tape called "Be Creative." It's the best tape I've found so far and I purchased it at the Scrapbooker's Treasure Box store in Brooks, Alberta. It comes in all widths, is much less expensive than other brands, and the rolls are much larger so I don't run out so often!

More of My Favorite Tools

I'll add to the list of favorite tools I use: 1. Embossing Body (SU) really does work! It's really important to use the embossing buddy when using dark embossing powder like I used in the Easter Blessings card, otherwise, your image will have little black specks everywhere! I learn very well from mistakes! 2. Did I mention Gary as a tool? Well, Gary is real honest about whether my cards or pages look good or need more embellishments and unless the card is for him, I get an opinion about every card and scrapbook page I create! 3. Baby wipes! I'm not sure I can even craft without baby wipes to keep my hands clean! My hands have a tendency to get oily quickly, so I've always got a "wet" one handy. Plus, baby wipes are great to remove excess ink from stamps, & cleaning ink off a variety of surfaces (doesn't work on clothes!). 4. Micro tip scissors from SU - I cannot even begin to tell you how often I use these. They are super sharp, super pointy, and can get into the smallest places. Plus, they're still under $10 in their catalog! My sister swears by the CTMH version of these scissors, and they're the same price. 5. Disposable gloves - these are super cheap in the paint section of any hardware store. I use them whenever I'm dealing with lots of permanent black ink and since I'm know for getting ink all over my hands, no matter what project I'm working on, disposable gloves are a must have for me! 6. GooGone - I'm not sure how I ever survived before Gary introduced me to GooGone. At the time, he was working for the local True Value hardware store (isn't that every man's dream - working in a hardware store?) and I wanted to get some sticker glue off something in my craft room. He brought a bottle home and now I use it for lots of things. The best use I've found is for getting adhesive off scissors, just to name one of it's great uses! Beware, though, the label on GooGone warns not to use it on rubber, so if you are unmounting rubber stamps, don't use GooGone to remove adhesive off the rubber. Now, GooGone has a spray bottle, which is super convenient!

Tools

I just have to give you a list of a few of my favorite things! 1. Crop-a-dile Big Bite - I used this consistently when I was scrapbooking for a friend and it was fast, simple to use and made lining up those eyelets and brads a breeze! 2. CTMH makes a stamp cleaner that's amazing. I use it to not only clean all my stamps, both acrylic and rubber, but also to clean my acrylic blocks. 3. Microfiber cloth - I bought a dish towel at a discount store that was microfiber, cut it in four pieces, surged the edges, and ended up with four small clothes that are lint free for cleaning stamps. 4. Paint Pad Stamp Scrubber - Back when I was just starting to stamp, I was looking for a large surface to clean stamps on, so, I put together two small paint pads from the hardware store (with the edge loops cut off) and attached them with double-sided tape to a flat plastic lid from a dollar store container. Voila! Stamp scrubbers! I have two, one for wet and one for dry and although I've tried two manufactured double scrubbers, I always fall back on my paint pad scrubbers! They have a large surface and no lip to catch the stamps on. 5. Simple Green - I've got to admit, about the only place I use Simple Green cleaner is in my stamp room! I use it one part SG to one part water for cleaning the SU craft and permanent ink off stamps (like SU's Basic Black and for my embossing pad), and it's an affordable substitute for the expensive stamp cleaners. 6. Cricut Expression - My dear husband bought me a Cricut Expression for my birthday in March and I've thoroughly enjoyed the five cartridges I got with it for both stamping and scrapbooking. 7. Catalogs - I've always had my CTMH and SU catalogs wire bound mostly so they lay flat on my table (plus you can wrap the unused pages to the back, so only the page you need is showing). In January, I had the front and back covers heat laminated at a office supply store and I love that even more than just having plastic covers separate from the actual covers. Try it - it's worth every penny! The laminated covers really keep the covers from getting bent and torn. 8. My guillotine paper cutter - I'm not sure how I ever crafted before I had one! My cutter is not an expensive one - it's about $50 from an office supply store, 12" x 12".