Notecard Gift Set -- ScrapbookPal.com

Hello again!  Have you ever met a crafting product that just made your heart happy?  I did this month.  It's called Scor-Tape.  It's not pretty, the way most things that I fall in love with in the papercrafting world are, but it is just about the most useful stuff I have ever used.  It comes in several widths -- what I used is 1/4" -- and it is a seriously strong adhesive that sticks to anything.  Plus it comes on an enormous roll for a ridiculously reasonable price.  I LOVE IT!!! (Okay, I'm sorry for shouting.  I just get really excited when I'm in love...)



So I thought for my project to highlight it, I would tackle two of the adhesive-using projects that have given me the biggest fits over the years -- boxes and accordion flowers.  With both, I have tried several other adhesives with mixed (mostly aggravating) results.  I had taken to hot gluing, which worked pretty well, but was a little messy and bumpy and then there's all that waiting for the glue gun to heat up... At any rate, this Scor-Tape is my new best friend.  Both the box and the accordion flower came together beautiful and feel as solid as a rock.  I also used the Scor-Tape to adhere the lace and it worked beautifully.

I'm also still in love with the Viva Decor Pearl Pens I highlighted earlier in the month, so I used the Gold and Cream colors to highlight details on the box and on the stamped image on the accordion flower.  I also used them to created that big pearl in the center of the flower.  The tip of the pen is so fine that you can create accents from teeny-tiny to huge and bling-y.  Love that!


To go inside the box, I created 6 very simple notecards with coordinating paper from the same Basic Grey line that I used for the box.  To create this I cut regular 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 cards, then added a 1 3/4"x5 1/2" strip of patterned paper and another strip punched with a Martha Stewarts border punch.  But just to add a little touch of special, I accentuated the border punch strip by adding a line of pearl drops with the Cream Viva Decor Pen. Just right!

As for the accordion flower, I had promised the lovely Ann that I would do a tutorial highlighting especially how to use the adhesive, and I really tried, but the video was out of focus and it crashed my computer when I tried to put it together.  So I came up with a list of instructions and tips to help.


1.  I used the Tim Holtz accordion flower die to create the one pictured above, but you can create your own by cutting a strip of paper (I like about 1 1/2"x12") and scoring it every 1/4" or so.  Then fold it like an accordion.

2.  Take your accordion strip and bend it so that the first and last flat surfaces of the accordion overlap.  Apply Scor-Tape to the last flat surface and adhere the two together.

3.  Punch or cut a small circle (about 1") to be the base of your flower.  Apply two strips of Scor-Tape to it in  a "+" shape.

4.  Press the center down so that the side you want to be the bottom is facing up.  This will save you a lot of grief, because you'll be able to just grab your pre-adhesived base circle and attach it rather than trying to lift your flower and get it to the base.

5.  Press your base firmly into the center of the accordion flower.  Decorate the center as desired.

And just a note -- if you are using the Tim Holtz die, it doesn't really score the fold lines -- it perforates them. Which is all fine and good, because it folds really easily, but it also tears if you're not careful with it.  (I've had the same problem with made-from-scratch versions where I was a little too eager with the scoring tool.)  If that happens, don't panic.  Just lay your accordion strip out flat and lay the two pieces together as if they hadn't ripped, then secure with a small piece of scotch tape.  No one will be able to tell. :)

Thanks again for stopping by!

Materials used:  Adhesive -- Scor-Tape; Pearl Accents -- Viva Decor Pearl Pens; Patterned Paper -- Basic Grey; Border Punch -- Martha Stewart; Stamps and Scallop Circle Punch -- Stampin Up; Distressing -- Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan; Lace -- Fancy Pants; Magnetic snap to keep box closed -- Basic Grey

What I've been squeezing in...

Hey, y'all!  I know my posts have been few and far between lately.  I've been working away on some fun projects that are not quite done yet, and mostly I've been trying to get our house organized.

Organization is SO not my strong point.  In fact, it's probably my weakest point.  So I am very proud of what I've accomplished so far and I wanted to show you my food storage closet:

All organized by type of food, and it even has labels.  Labels, people!  I'm so proud of myself.  I wish I had taken a before picture, but just imagine this closet with spaghetti sauce behind the paper towels and so many bags of fishy crackers on the floor that you couldn't even get in.  Oh, and also with flimsy shelves that were so overloaded they were seriously in danger of collapsing at any second.  My awesome hubby came up with these great braces and I'm no longer in fear of my life going in there.  He's actually the one who has inspired me to get to work on the house -- he's already checked off nearly everything on his summer to-do list!

I have also been working on our garage, where I have a terrible habit of opening the door from the mud room and just throwing stuff in.  Somehow it did not magically disappear, but waited patiently, gathering cat hair, until I came to clean it out.  There are labels out there, too.  Go me!  I do feel very accomplished, but man, it's seriously cutting into my craft time!

Now I'm putting all the organization on hold and getting ready for our vacation to California!  Dan's grandpa's 80th b-day, Disneyland, the beach -- it's going to be awesome.  I'll have several great things to show you after we get back!

Fancy T-shirt with Viva Decor Pearl Pens -- ScrapbookPal.com

Oh, goodness -- I think I have found my new favorite craft goody!  This month ScrapbookPal.com sent me a selection of their new Viva Decor Pearl Pens, and my mind was immediately going like crazy with ideas for how I can use them.  These work on a great selection of materials, including being machine washable on fabric.  How cool is that?!  So my first project just had to be embellishing a plain t-shirt that I bought from the thrift store for $2.  It's my favorite color, but it was so plain and blah before.

For the base design, I combined some different swirls and flourishes from Cindy Loo and cut them to create freezer paper stencils.  If you haven't tried this yet, DO IT!  It's so fun and easy, and it works great.  There are a bajillion tutorials online for how to do it, but you can check out a great one from "CleverSomeday" right here.  After I painted on the swirls, I cut a small swallow shape from Heritage and painted that on with the Viva Decor Pearl paint.  It took several coats to make it semi-opaque, but it has a gorgeous pearly finish.

After that base paint was dry (helped along by my blow dryer because patience is just not one of my talents), I went to work with the Pearl Pens.  I used Ice White and Silver for this project.  I just created little pearl dots along the edges of the painted flourishes with the Ice White, and then with the silver I created additional flourishes.  It turned out SO cool, and now my $2 has some seriously fab personality!

Thanks for stopping by!  Tune in later this month when I showcase these pens again, along with my other new favorite thing -- Scor-Tape!