CREATIVE CRAFTING

Archive for November, 2008

This is a fine magazine with truly scrumptious recipes if you’re into the kitchen/food thing, home ideas that one can actually use (or that will inspire one to do something similar), and exquisite photography, usually quite stark and simple, of ways to enhance the aesthetic beauty of one’s life.
One can serve a plain meal of soup and bread, and make it look like a feast, if you get into Martha’s way of looking at things, and it does not take a spending spree to have a “Martha Look”. Her basic table settings tend to be white china (one can use mix and match white plates from the local thrift store), clear glass, and colorful fabric…add some well shaped twigs in a glass vase for a centerpiece, and voila ! you have a table that could be shown in this lovely magazine; a rule for “The Look” seems to be the absence of clutter.

Of the regular monthly articles, I like “Ask Martha”, which solves problems posed by readers, from health issues to how best to clean your eyeglasses, to “How can I get the coating on my chicken to stay in place when I am frying it ?”.
“Clip-Art Craft” is another I appreciate, where in the August ’04 edition for example, there are attractive templates for postcards, which one can copy onto card stock, glue a 4 x 6 photo to, and send to your friends. It’s another grand idea from Martha !

I found this craft about a month ago and decided to try it. It was so simple and so much fun and it looks great. This is a great addition to any Christmas decorations you already have.

I have also been giving some thought to making a few for gifts, different holidays, or just for everyday living. The principles involved would be the same for all occasions.!

Copyright © 2007-2008 Jane Lake All Rights Reserved

Use small ornaments and Christmas figures to make a Christmas scene, with shifting snow, in a shadow box. This would be a nice activity to do with your children – let them play with the figures until they create a pleasing arrangement, then help them to glue everything in place.

You Will Need

* shadow box – at least 1½ inches deep (available at craft stores or dollar stores)
* assorted Christmas figures and small decorations
* optional: alphabet blocks
* strong craft glue or glue gun and glue sticks
* crystal snow or fine artificial snow

Project Instructions:

Remove the back of the shadow box and set aside.

Collect an assortment of Christmas figures and decorations and, working from the back, start to play with different arrangements until you create a Christmas scene that you like when seen from the front.

CardMaker magazine is devoted exclusively to cardmaking. Looking to learn a new cardmaking technique, look no further! The expert advice and instructions will inspire long-time cardmakers and thrill those who are just getting started. Visit our Web site frequently so you don’t miss any of the exciting things planned.

CardMaker magazine is devoted exclusively to cardmaking. Looking to learn a new cardmaking technique, look no further! The expert advice and instructions will inspire long-time cardmakers and thrill those who are just getting started. Visit our Web site frequently so you don’t miss any of the exciting things planned.

CardMaker is published six times a year with several special issues available for purchase as well. A one-year six-issue subscription is $17.95 plus $1.98 for postage and processing. This offer includes one free issue.

CardMaker is a fun magazine that offers a bit of something for everyone. They feature beautiful, large, clear photos with detailed supply lists and amazing instructions. They offer downloadable patterns and lots of great ideas for a wide range of topics.

CardMaker has its own website with online tutorials, newsletters, downloads, contest information, current issue information, subscription service and more. They also include information on sister publications.

The title of this book, SCRAPBOOKING OFF THE PAGEàAND ON THE WALL: Off the Page And on the Wall (Scrapbooking) says it all. The projects included within its pages take scrapbooking to a new level, turning your memories into artwork to be displayed on the walls rather than in a book. The project ideas include a variety of themes; Family, travel, vacations, babies, sisters, gardening, children’s special moments, graduation, friends, weddings, heritage, cowgirl, love, sports and pet themes and decorations for holidays and around the house. The unique aspects about the scrapbooking projects in this book are the materials on which the photos are displayed. Among them are canvases, shadow boxes, frames of various shapes and sizes, shutters, an aluminium sheet, particleboard, mat board, a clipboard, ceramic tiles, a wood cabinet door, an artificial evergreen wreath and a small wood screen you assemble yourself.

Scrapbooking is a great passion for a lot of people. The ideas in SCRAPBOOKING OFF THE PAGEàAND ON THE WALL: Off the Page And on the Wall (Scrapbooking) are so exceptional and inspiring they are what makes this book a must have for scrapbookers. The photos are beautifully arranged so they are distinct amongst the embellishments and the relevant memorabilia. I really like how the color combinations from the frame to the papers and embellishments all tie in with the photo in the layout (i.e. the person in the photo of the Cowgirl themed layout is wearing a red sweater and the color of the papers, embellishments and the frame match it as closely as possible). One of my favorite scrapbooking techniques from this book is the use of small frames in combination with big frames either within the layout or hanging from it as part of the embellishment. This technique was used in a couple of the projects in Scrapbooking off the Page … and On the Wall. It was really hard to pick my favorites from the wide variety of layouts because they are all so beautiful and inspiring.

Readily available, inexpensive, and easily manipulated, polymer clay is an ideal beginner’s medium, and Syndee Holt does an admirable job of introducing it. She sets the stage with background on materials and basic handling, then presents 27 approaches and variations as a series of questions on technique whose answers are full-fledged projects. “How do I make a pinroll cane?” for instance, explains a simple cane process and uses it to cover a candleholder. Other cane methods yield jewelry, a frame, a barrette, drawer pulls, and a covered pen, utilizing both basic canes (bull’s eye, banner, checkerboard, blended) and pictorial types (flower, millefiori, star, face, shaman). The final section focuses on molds and textural effects such as metallic and rubber stamp effects to produce brooches, light switch covers, a box, and coasters.

It is easy to think of polymer clay as glorified modeling clay, but as a serious craft medium it requires knowing some basic techniques, such as making multicolor canes. These are covered in great detail with excellent photos in Polymer Clay for the first time (For The First Time). Beginners will find many of their questions answered in this book. After mastering the basics one can move on to complex projects such as miniature villages. The tiny houses in Ritchey’s book are only several inches high and would be just right for a tabletop display or a small-gauge model railroad layout. Buildings include cottages, stores, a church, and a lighthouse. There are also instructions for making shrubbery and grounds. Both books are recommended for public library crafts collections.

Digital scrapbook supplies from A Cherry on Top Scrapbooking Shoppe are a convenient way to make the most of your crafting time.

Browse through our collection of digital kits, embellishments, and quick pages to find the products that fit your needs, then download them directly to your computer.

We have designs to fit every style, from grunge-inspired teen pages to heritage scrapbooks with a vintage feel.

For scrapbook layouts with a unique touch, check out their collection of exclusive products.

A great project for inspiring creativity while encouraging your children to save their pennies!

Use paint to make your piggy bank any color you desire!
Everything old is new again! Many of the crafts that were popular in the ’60s are enjoying a resurgence in popularity. The plastic bottle piggy bank is just such a timeless classic. Kids today will enjoy creating their own personalized piggy bank just as much as you once did!

Materials:                                                                       

one plastic bleach bottle
felt
four tapered fabric softener bottle caps
pipe cleaner
scissors
pencil

Steps:

1. Remove the handle and bottle neck from a half gallon bleach bottle by sawing across the bottle just below the upper end of the handle.
2. Using a knife, cut around the other end of the handle, leaving as small an opening as possible. Close the opening at the top of the bottle by inserting the bottle cap into the hole. Glue a felt flower cutout over the other opening.
3. Glue floppy felt ears in place. Glue on felt eyes and mouth. For the snout, glue a felt circle over the inverted bottle cap. Glue a narrow felt strip around the outside edge of the circle.
4. To make snug-fitting legs, glue a strip of felt around four identical 1-1/2″ to 2″ fabric softener bottle caps. Cut holes to accommodate legs in the bleach bottle. Insert the tapered ends of the felt-covered softener caps into the bleach bottle. Secure with glue.
5. To make a tail, curl a pipe cleaner around a pencil. Punch a hole in the bleach bottle to accommodate a tail. Insert the pipe cleaner coil and glue to secure.

There are many places on the Internet that you can get layouts for your digital scrapbooks for free.

Here is a sampling of three that I made and how I used one of them.

As you can see it is very easy to follow a template. With free embellishments and background paper you can turn any of your photos into a scrapbook page to last for years. Your can print the pages out to make a book for your parents and grandparents. Or frame them for use a pictures for the wall or gifts. There are a thousand and one uses. Best of all it is free to do.

There are many sites that offer free templates, free embellishments, free papers and instructions on digital scrapbooking. All you need is your computer and a photo editor program. I personally use Microsoft Picture Plus!, as I have had it on my computer for years and am used to it. I know some digital scrapbookers use photoshop. So any photo editing program you have can be used for digital scrapbooking.

If you like these layouts download them here for free and enjoy!
Sample Layouts