Monday, March 30, 2015

Recipes



Hello Robin's Nest readers!  Welcome to our Recipe Blog Hop.




Hi, I love recipes!  Especially the ones that require very little effort and preferably no cooking! Yes, no cooking.  Because I am talking about my Art Recipes for making my own supplies and what nots. My favourite recipes are the ones I have collected over time in my various note books and on scraps of paper.  Let me show you my bare bones recipe collection for making my own crafty supplies before and then after a transformation.


Here is my beat up repurposed binder and a notebook.  They look pretty beat up, I know.  Luckily I Design for The Robin's Nest Altered Arts Department and I get a lot of really beautiful products to play with.  Being frugal too I save all the luscious scraps after making projects.  Today I will show you how I turned some of those scraps into something pretty and practical.



For the Notebook:
1.  Collect pieces and scraps of scrapbook papers (preferably beautiful thick ones from the Robin's Nest).
2.  Cut them down  into similar shapes and sizes of squares.  It is not important to be accurate, it is meant to be fun.
3.  Place two pieces of paper over a used dryer sheet and stitch down with your sewing machine.  Use the zig zag and other decorative stitches if you have these on your machine.


4.  Add more paper and keep stitching.  Just join another dryer sheet to make your new paper-cloth the size you want it.
5.  Make two panels larger than the size of the covers of the notebook.


6.  Use a large elastic (this one is recycled from some discarded garment) or a band of stretchy fabric wide and long enough to cover the spine of the notebook.  Sew this band to the two pieces of patch work paper-cloth.
7.  Trim the books cover to size and glue to the covers with strong adhesive.


For the Binder:
1.  Remove all glued on papers and tapes and clean.
2. Collect pieces of beautiful scrapbook papers (Robin's Nest) and glue onto a scrap of printer paper in a quilt like format.

3.  Make tab dividers with some scraps and a punch.  Adhere to sections in binder. Make labels and adhere.
4.  Make a pretty label using a die cut or hand drawn and cut.  Create a title with a label maker and adhere to the label.
5.  Decorate the label(s) with some Archival Seeds.
6.  For this type of binder slide in the the new covers under the clear pocket sleeves.  For a different type of binder just glue the papers down to the cover and spine.

Products used from The Robin's Nest:
Rosy Chevron 12 x 12 card stock
 Cherry kisses Archival Seeds
gcpkanim Safari 12 x 12 cardstock
Glitter Numbers 12 x 12 cardstock
Glitter Letters 12 x 12  cardstock
Wedding Words (reverse) 12 x 12 cardstock
Black Herringbone 12 x 12 cardstock

All products are available at:  http://www.shop.robinsnest-scrap.net

Other products:
Binder
Notebook
Elastic band 2 inch wide
Adhesive: Beacon
Thread
Used dryer sheets

********************************* BONUS **************************************
My recipe for stamp cleaner:

Regular Stamp cleaner; (link to original post with more recipes)
In an empty bottle (shampoo or dish soap) add one part liquid soap or shampoo, one part glycerin, and one part alcohol.  Each part should be about 1/8 cup.  Top off and fill with water.  Shake or mix.  Must be watery.  Transfer into small spray bottles for ease of use.
*******************************************************************************
Please click in each link in the link-up group.  Each link will allow you to travel to each of our design team members blogs, where they are sharing their recipe project.  I am excited to see what they have created.  With every blog, there is a chance to win our Robin's Nest Journal set.  These are perfect for journaling or even storing recipes.  In order to win a prize, you will need to leave a comment on each blog, then leave your final comment on this blog.  Good Luck and Have FUN!
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Friday, March 27, 2015

Colour your Clay

Hi, did you know that you can change the bland colour that is modelling clay?  Well, I have experimented with that lately and I got some pleasant results.

As a Designer for Creative Paperclay® Air Dry Modelling Material I get a lot of product to work with and I need to come up with creative ideas.  So, one day I was playing with some Creative Paperclay®, which by the way is very zen like, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a paint bottle left out from a previous project.  I wondered about this for a few seconds and I thought why not?  Well,  not only does dry paperclay® take paint very well it also takes it in its non dry state.  By mixing acrylic craft paint into the clay I was able to make a faux marble and a solid colour clay.

 It's simple, the more paint you add, the deeper the colour will be.  The more you knead the clay, the more uniform the colour will be.  Using the paint also gave me extra time to play with the clay due to the extra moisture.  The total drying time of the finished piece wasn't much longer, barely noticeable.










To see an example of my experiments you can see a completed project here and I also share this information here.

The product is available at most Michael'scraft supply stores in Canada and the USA and also online here directly through Creative Paperclay®.

Note that although this appears to be messy, if using acrylic paints it will wash off your skin.

Thank you for stopping by.




Saturday, March 21, 2015

Handmade Shoe Gift Box

Hi, here is a peek at the cute little box I made out of a chipboard Artist Trading Block for my assignment over at the Chattering Robin's Nest Blog.

                    "Give a girl the right shoes and she can conquer the world."  Marilyn Monroe



I enjoyed making this cute box out of what is supposed to be a block and I hope I have helped you see things "outside the box". LOL.

 I would like to thank Robin's Nest, Gina K Designs and Beacon for their contributions to this project.


Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Guest Posting and Writing

Hi, if you want to read where else  Ann has been writing about crafty stuff you just might wan't to check out some of the awesome websites and newsletters by Prime Publishing.  Last week and again this week  she got published in Seams and Scissors (here is the link for this week ) and this week  there's a post on Stitch and Unwind (here is the link).  Sorry, that's all I can say as per  their contact.  But I can say that I am enjoying all the treats and toys I am getting from this, and Ann likes coming up with some content for those blogs in addition to  this one and she is still contributing to all the Design teams.  Stay tuned for more of  her creative craftiness.  Meow.



Monday, March 16, 2015

Handmade Paper Card

A Recycled and Up cycled project for you today,  I make my own paper from recycling used papers and it is fun to see the process of turning trash into treasure.  I went even further in this project by up cycling a used dryer sheet.
  

I made this as my project for the Arnold Grummer Paper Making Design Team.

Supplies:  
Up cycled misfit card base
Used dryer sheet
Old coffee
Damaged, clean napkins
Raffia
Twine
Pastels (Prismacolor, and Generals)
Tacky glue: Aleene's
Embossing folder (Provo Craft)
Arnold Grummer paper making kit

You can see more pictures of this project over at the Arnold Grummer blog.  If you are interested in purchasing anything from the Arnold Grummer store you may use this discount for the month of March:  Mar20.

Thank you for stopping by.  Please subscribe to my youtube channel at the top of the page and join the blog gang in the sidebar.

Friday, March 13, 2015

St. Patrick's Day Plant Poker

Hi, today I want to quickly share with you my latest project for the Design Team here Creative Paperclay® :

It is intended to be inserted into a plant to give as a present.  It would also make a great prop to hold over someone's head while taking a picture!

To make this, here is what I used:

Creative Paperclay® modeling material air drying
Craft acrylic paint in green (Plaid)
Micro glass beads in gold and green (Dollar store)
Chop stick (recycled from take out)
Brown ribbon (recycled from gift)
Green foamy clover (Dollar store)
Plastic green Leprechaun hat (recycled cake decoration)
Glue (Tombow)

The instructions are posted over at the Creative Paperclay® modelling material Blog.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Altered Cigar Box Project

Hello,  today I am sharing with you another one of my altered projects made beautiful with the gorgeous Robin's Nest Papers and Products.  As I continue to clean and organize in my studio I found a stack, yes I said stack, of empty old cigar boxes.  Now these are perfect for storing in my already stuffed studio.  But, the boxes are pretty much worse for wear!  So I am sprucing them up one at a time.  Here is a picture of the after alterations:



Supplies:
Robin's Nest Papers:reverse of Wedding Cut Out Item #: cswedcutout; Rosy Chevron Cardstock
Rosy Ribbon 
Metallic Pink Dew Drops 
Black Herringbone Cardstock 
Brass Label Holder
Brass Mini Brads
Beacon Adhesives

Here are some pictures of the before:

and


Not very pretty, right? If you want to read how I altered this cigar box just go over to the Robin's Nest Chattering Robin's Blog.



This is a picture of what the inside looks like after.



You may be wondering what I intend to use this particular box for?  Well, I think I will use it to store those little odds and ends I collect to use in my altered projects.

On March 31st the Robin's Nest Design Team will be doing a Blog Hop whereby each of the Designer's will be sharing their talents on their individual blog, and some prizes!!!  So come back to visit.


Thank you for stopping by today.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

A Natural Dryer for Linnie Blooms Stitched Mixed Media


Hello, today I have my first project as one of the Designers for the Linnie Blooms  Design Team and and the blog.                                                             


This is the side door off my kitchen that leads outside where we have a clothes line strung from our house to one of the 100+ year old pines in our yard.  I made this whimsical sign as an ode to the warmer weather I hope will get here soon!

To make this I mostly used Linnie Blooms products:

Hoop Kit - Oval


Other products used:

Beacon Fabri-Tac Adhesive
Sharpie Fine Point markers: Green & Brown
Dymo Label Maker and Dymo tape
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mistin: Chalboard Evergreen & Bahama Blue
Faber Castell Big Brush pen in Black
Piece of string
Wooden Coffee stir stick (recycled)

Thanks for coming over and have fun creating.

For Linnie Blooms http://linnieblooms.com

Monday, March 2, 2015

Handmade Paper Gift Box for St. Patrick's Day

     I have this gift box project that I made and will be giving some young men in my life for St.Patrick's Day. The project was also made for the Arnold Grummer Paper Making blog.   Even though we are not of Irish descent it is just a day that we like to make an excuse to be somewhat festive!  So here is the box that I stuffed with Gold!  Ok, not real gold but even better, the edible chocolate kind, yum!



To make this I simply recycled some green flyers that were in the mail with a green used envelope  from Christmas.

Supplies:
2 pieces of green junk mail or used envelopes
2 cups of water
1 blender
Arnold Grummer Paper Making Kit
Arnold Grummer  Silver  Dust
Gift box making tool and template from Martha Stewart Crafts
Stickers (Dollar Tree)
Glitter glue in silver and green (Elmers)
Gold foil wrapped chocolat coins(Dollarama)

I hope that you have fun this coming St. Patrick's day.  Thanks for stopping by.