Necklace - Upcycled Scrabble Tile

When it comes to crafting, I find inspiration all around me.  So when Teri posted Nerdtastic Holiday Gift Guide, on Off-The-Deep-End,  I had an idea.  Sometimes those ideas stick in my head just waiting for free time to create them.  That time is now. 

Teri’s wish list included a set of Scrabble Tile Coasters and two pieces of jewelry.  My idea was a combination of these gifts . . . a personalized Scrabble Tile Necklace. 

This is so easy to make.  And inexpensive.  Trust me. 

For starters, we are going to upcycle a Scrabble Tile.  (I don’t often go to yard sale, but if I do I always look for Scrabble games.  Those little tiles are so much fun to use in craft projects.)  Next, glue a bail to the back of the tile using a strong adhesive like Super Glue.

Make a pretty little beaded charm to go with it.  I used a 3” head pin, two silver seed beads, and  two Swarovski bicone beads (a small crystal and a large blue).  You are going to do what is called a wrapped loop.  This is my favorite method of finishing off a beaded charm.  (The alternative would be a single loop.)  I found the perfect video tutorial and step-by-step instructions for you at Fire Mountain Gems and Beads.   Fire Mountain Gems and Beads is a great place for beading instructions and to purchase beads.  Add a jump ring to your charm and it’s ready to be strung.

The last step is to put it all together.  You’re going to love this part.  The chain is ball chain and although you can buy it at your craft store or jewelry store, I bought mine at the hardware store.  It’s a lot less expensive and it’s the same thing.  The only thing to factor in is whether or not you like the size.  Typically the hardware store’s smallest size is bigger than what is sold at craft and jewelry stores.  I’m okay with this.  I like the casual look of it.  I think it makes for a fun necklace.  If you don’t like the look of the ball chain, you can always buy a silver chain and put the charms on it.

Here some alternatives: 

·         The bails are sometimes hard to find and probably the most expensive thing in this project.  An alternative would be to drill a tiny hole in the top of the Scrabble Tile and screw in an eye hook.  You can find eye hooks in the hardware section of Walmart or at any hardware store.  Add a jump ring to string onto your necklace.

·         If you really don’t want to make your own beaded charm, buy one.  It doesn’t have to be beaded.  You can find a variety of charms in the jewelry section of your craft store.  You could add a flower, a butterfly, an airplane or whatever.  Just add a jump ring to it to fit onto your ball chain.

Big Flower Love Cards

 FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING
Parting is such sweet sorrow.  

Today is Valentine's Day.   
Happy Valentine's Day!

This means my "For the Love of Card Making" series has come to an end.  Don't despair.  I'm not going anywhere.  I just have to find some new material.

Today is such a fun day for me.  In several of my previous posts, I used Purple Onion Designs/Stephanie Ackerman stamps.  And today, not only am I going to use another one of her stamps sets, I'm also going to use a matching Sizzix die.  The funny thing is that I have been buying Purple Onion Designs stamps for years, and it's only been recently that Stephanie Ackerman started designing stamps for them.  After I received the Heart Flower stamp, I realized that I had a die that was very similar.  Low and behold, Stephanie Ackerman created it for Sizzix.  What a small world.

 So...let's go over how to make them.  The top card was made by using Flowers with Stems.  I cut the flower, center and heart out of chipboard, and painted the flower and it's pieces with Ranger's Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers.  Once each piece was dry, I glued them together, and added Lime Green Stickles on the stem and Cotton Candy Stickles on the heart.

The base of the card, is a 3 3/4" x 4" pink cardstock panel adhered to a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" side-folded black card.  Next is a large decorative label cut from a die and chipboard and covered with an old book page, inked with Distress Ink Pads and edged with black ink.  Next, glue the flower and greetings to the large decorative label.

The next two cards were made with the Heart Flower .  I stamped both flowers on white cardstock with Jet Black Archival Ink, colored them with watercolor pencils and cut

out each one.  For the pink and yellow flower card, I used pattern paper and some vintage lace and put everything on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" side-fold green card.

And for the purple and pink flower card, I used the Black Soot Distress Ink Pad to create a Wrinkle Free Distress background.  I mounted this to a black panel and adhered it to a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" side-folded pink card.  The two layers of the label were punched from black and pink cardstock using punches from Stampin' Up!/Sizzix.  I added some pearls to the label and to each corner of the watercolor panel.

And there you have it.  Valentine Day Love and For the Love of Card Making.  Have you made any of these cards?  I hope you enjoyed the series...I sure did.

Happy Valentine's Day!

For the Love of Sweets

FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING

Aren't sweets all part of Valentine's Day? Why not save on the calories (or NOT) and send a sweet card? Again, today we are using stamps from Purple Onion Designs. You have to check them out. The banner set is adorable and can be used on anything, the series of houses (thanks to Stephanie Ackerman) are wonderful, and the little fence from a another set (Stephanie Ackerman again!) can be used wherever.

Here's a quick run-down: The banners were stamped on pattern paper, cut out and glued to the card with little ties, made from twine. They were decorated with hearts punched out of pattern paper, and a white pigment pen. The Ice Cream Parlor was stamped on white cardstock, colored with watercolor pencils, cut out, and added to the card from. The fence was stamped on white cardstock and cut out and added. The saying was stamped directly to the card.

Do think you're seeing twins? It's the same exact design, only this time I used the Bakery shop.

Hope you enjoyed today's sweet treats!

Tree of Love

Here's a little something special for you today.  Take a look and see if you can figure it out.  If you're a crafter like me, you just look at something and for the most part know how to make it.

If paper crafting isn't your thing and you need a little more information, check out Off-The-Deep-End.net's post on Monday, February 13.  Here you will find out how to make all the elements on the Tree of Love.

Do you know what the tree topper is? Tell me what you think.

And don't forget to come back to here on Monday and Tuesday to check out the last of FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING samples.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Love Tags

FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING

Do you remember Thursday's post? We are using the same stamp from the card called "Kisses & XOXO" to make these two tags. The stamp is called Love Noteblock. The first tag was made the same way -- by applying ink to the stamp and stamping onto a white gloss cardstock. It was layered with pink, then black, and onto a big dark pink tag. The second tag was done the same way, except this time, three shades of pink ink were used. This one has a few more embellishments -- a pretty flourish cut form black cardstock using a Cricut Expression, ribbon, and lace.

Kisses & XOXO Card

FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING

Here are some more great stamp from Purple Onion Designs. The noteblock, called Love Noteblock, was created by Stephanie Wheeler. I used a Mini Brayer to apply Adirondack Ink to the stamp and stamped it onto gloss white cardtock. Next I stamped hearts, also from Purple Onion Designs, with Watermark Resist on pink cardstock and embossed them with Seafoam White embossing powder. (All products from Ranger.)

Trim the stamped noteblock out and mount to a dark pink cardstock, embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Using a Fiskars Border Punch, cut out a scallop edge ribbon from light pink cardstock and apply to back of panel. Apply this to a 4" x 5 1/4" white cardstock panel embossed with another Cuttlebug embossing folder. Mount to a 4 1/4"x 5 12/" side-folded white card.

I Love Ewe Cards

FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING

We're doing it again today.....using scraps, stamping, and making Valentine Day's cards.

The featured stamp is from Stampin' Up! and it's been slightly modified. The sheep says "Thank Ewe" underneath him, but I masked that part when inking him up.



You know the drill -- I stamped him black ink, colored him with watercolor pencils and blended the colors with a water blender pen. Nothing new here.

For the pattern paper, I used left overs from various Basic Grey collections. I also used the tag, as shown above, and the alphabet stickers.

Remember you don't have to use paper specifically for Valentine Day's.

Love Lives Here Card

FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING

Oh, how I love my stamps from Purple Onion Designs. A short time ago, Purple Onion Design, added stamps by Stephanie Ackerman. {swoon} And, oh, how I love her style. Her style is light and airy, whimsical, simple and sweet . . . kind and heartfelt. YES, stamps can say all those things and her stamps do!

The card is is simple, sweet, and heartfelt. At first I thought it was too plain, but then I realized it's perfect. It's not over-stated nor under-stated.

Here's how easy it was to make. Stamp the house four times with black ink. Once on a 4" x 5 1/4" pattern paper panel, and three times on coordinating scraps of pattern paper. Cut the scraps out. One of the house, one of the roof and one of the heart. Glue each layer to the big panel you already stamped. Stamp a saying in the upper right corner and attach to a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" side-folded tan card.

Done!

Fun!

Stash and Scrap Valentine Card

FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING

How many of you keep your scraps? Or start a project and never finish it? If we're raising our hands, I have both of them up.

This card is a combination of scraps and partly finished projects. A while ago, I stitched together pieces of cardstock I had stamped. It was red panels stamped with white ink and white panels stamped with red ink. Those panels have been moved around my craft room numerous of times. Finally. I mean finally. I took that panel, trimmed it to 3 3/4" x 5", mounted it to a 4" x 5 1/4" black panel, and then onto a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" top-folded white card. Next, I stamped a Valentine saying with black ink.

In that stash of stuff of mine, I found left over cards I had made for my son's class. They had red felt hearts glued to the front. I ripped one of the hearts off and added it to this card.

And there you have it. A stash, recycled, partly finished project, scrap card. What do you think?

Love You A Latte Card

FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING

Latte Love could be used for Valentine's Day or just about any other day. This adorable stamp is from Stampin' Up! and like yesterday's post, it was stamped, colored, and blended.

Using Spellbinder's Nestabilities dies, I cut the stamped image out with a circle die and a matching scallop circle from brown cardstock. Both cut-outs were layered together and then on top of a paper doilie.

The background panel is scraps of brown coordinating pattern paper pieced together, trimmed to 4" x 5 1/4", edges inked with brown ink pad and the seams stamped with a zig-zag stitch, and mounted to a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" top-folded cream card.

Beaver In Love Card

FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING

I think this Beaver is in love.  He sure has a way of showing it!

The focal technique for this card is coloring!  Who doesn't love to color?  It makes you feel like you don't have a worry in the world when you can sit down with a box of crayons watercolor pencils and color.

For starters, I used scraps (yes, again) of pattern paper and pieced them together, trimmed it to 4" x 5 1/4", inked the edges with black ink, and mounted it to a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" top-folded white card.

I stamped this adorable Beaver from Inky Antics with Archival Jet Black Ink, colored it, and used a blender pen to shade the colors.  I trimmed it to size, inked the edges with black ink, attached it to a pattern paper panel, and then to the card.  Next, stamp your saying in the upper left corner.  This "Happy Valentine's Day" is from Purple Onion Designs (love this stamp company!!!).

Did you notice that the colors I used weren't quite the traditional bright red or pink of Valentine's Day?  You can do that.  But of course, you know that, right?

p.s. Happy Groundhog's Day!  Yes, this is a beaver, not a groundhog, but don't they look like they should be cousins?  BTW...Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today.  Six more weeks of winter.

Triple Love Card

FOR THE LOVE OF CARD MAKING

Today's card uses stamps from Purple Onion Designs (hearts), Inkadinkado (script), and The Angel Company (saying). As long as you have similar stamps at home, you don't need to run out and buy these. I mentioned this mostly because I realize that the saying has been part of a staple set of saying stamps that I have had in my collection for years (and years and years). Unfortunately The Angel Company is no longer in business and this stamp is no longer available. Still...it's one of my favorites and I plan on using it for years to come.

For this card, I cut my 8 1/2" x 11" kraft cardstock in half vertically to give me two 4 1/4" x 11" panels. I used one of these and folded it in half to create a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" top-folded card.

Next I cut three 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" white cardstock squares. I stamped each with a script background using Adirondack dye ink pad in Sandal. Then I over-stamped each square witha heart using Brilliance Rocket Red pigment in pad. I tied some red and white twine on each square and mounted them to the card with Pop Dots.

The saying was stamped with black ink and the little heart was punched with a heart punch and red cardstock. I added it with Glossy Accents and then covered the top of it with more Glossy Accents.

Triple Love!