Making Your Own Pop Dots

One of the things I love to use when papercrafting is Pop Dots but I don't actually use Pop Dots because they are a bit expensive in my opinion when used in volume that I use them. They are especially expensive if you have to buy several different packages in order to get the size you want and my solution is to make my own then cut to the size I want. To make it even better I can layer it to get different heights.

I started to panic last night while finishing up decorating my last box and I thought I was getting low on my own Pop Dots. Fortunately when I went to the closet in the craftroom and checked my box I was quite relieved to find that I still have a "few" rolls of mounting foam. I stocked up a few years ago when Wall's Bargain Center had quite a few packages for $1 each and I think there were like 3 or 4 rolls to a package. I shared my find with my friends Linda and Carmen. 

So what do you need to make your own Pop Dots? Mounting Foam and something to stick it to, yep that's it! What I have found that works great is the left over sheeting from contact paper. I have tried several things over the years but this works the best because it releases the mounting foam the best. I use to just cut pieces off the rolls but my scissors would get gummed up pretty fast and after going through a few pairs I would have to clean them with some Undu because they wouldn't even open anymore. 

Since I store my mounting foam strips in a pencil case I cut a piece of contact paper the length of the pencil case to make things easier. I then lay out strips of the foam covering the piece of contact paper backing making sure to leave a little gap between the strips so I can cut them apart when I'm done. 

My pencil case will hold two rolls of mounting foam strips and this should last me awhile. The case fits nicely in one of my craft table drawers and is handy to get to. I love being able to cut the size I need without getting my scissors all gummed up. After spending about 20 minutes doing this last night I'm all ready for when I need Pop Dots!

Webster's Pages Clean and Simple - Altered Box

I got another one of the boxes covered and this one was a bit harder but I think only because I didn't have all the little extras to choose from with the Webster's Pages paper like I did with the Graphic 45. I might have overdone it with the flowers but I really like how they turned out and wanted to use as many as I could. I did end up with some extra white daisies that I can use some other time. 

Supplies Used:

-White Paperboard Box

-Webster's Pages Clean and Simple

-Daisies Cutting File (available below)

-Cuttlebug Daisy Quillng Kit

-Sizzix Dies Label, Ornate #2

-EK Success Medallion Border Punch

-Stampin Up "Define Your Life" Journey

-McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit

-Colorbox Chalk Ink

-Glimmer Mist

-Smooch Spritz Tea Party

Here is a straight on view of the top of the box. The white flowers are the daisies that there is a cutting file for at the bottom of the post. The pink flowers were made using the Cuttlebug Daisy Quilling Kit. The center papers were cut using then Sizzix dies. I stamped the "journey" definintion and then adhered the yellow paper on some orange and used the Stampin Up Decorative Label punch to punch it out. 

On the close up side view you can see the ribbon on the side of the box a little better. I found some Sobe glue at Zipp Outlet and I have to say I love this stuff! It was great to put the ribbon on the box and also for the little dangling "Spirit" embellishment that I used as a open/close apparatus. 

You might be able to tell from the photo but in case you can't...I used mounting foam and a lot of it! That is one thing I love about altering items is that I can add a lot more dimension than I can on cards or scrapbook pages. 

I think you can see the "shimmer" on these flowers better than you can on the last box I did. I used Glimmer mist on the white daisies and Smooch Spritz on the pink daisies. For the centers of the white daisies I ran some yellow circles I had cut, that are included in the cutting file, upside down through my Xyron and then covered with flock. 

The quilling kit has a plate that cuts some straight strips that I used in the center of the pink daisies but then it looked a little plain to me so I popped in some pearls to jazz it up a bit. 

When the last box posted on Facebook someone asked if I had covered the inside as well and asked for me to post pictures if I did indeed cover the inside. I don't know why I didn't think about posting pictures of the inside then and I thought I should go ahead and post a picture of the inside of the box so you can see how the inside is covered as well. 

  

Graphic 45 Come Away With Me - Altered Box

I've been busy working on converting a bunch of files in Make The Cut the last 2 weeks or so and haven't done any crafting. This weekend I got tired of working on those files and decided to get busy on a project. I had found these bare boxes at Zipp Outlet a few weeks ago and I think I paid a whopping $2 for 3 of them. I love boxes around this size not only because they are fun to decorate but also because they will hold A2 size cards or those small Bath and Body Works items which makes them convenient for gift giving. 

Supplies Used:

- White Paperboard Box

- Graphic 45 Come Away With Me

- Stampin Up Flower Punches

- Ranger Memory Slide and Frame

- Various Embellishments

- Basic Grey Magnet Closure

- McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit

- Colorbox Chalk Inks

I think I improved my flower making skills a little since my last attempt. I was pleased with these flowers and will be working on some more this week for another box. 

It's probably a little hard to see in the first picture but if you look at the bottom of the picture you can see a small metal square that is a Basic Grey Magnet Closure *okie bows her head and has a moment of silence in remembrance of Basic Grey's wonderful run in the papercrafting world*. The closures came with some small magnets and I placed one on the side of the box and then to attach the metal piece I looped ribbon in the "hanger" of the metal piece and then attached the ribbon between the box and the piece of paper that I used to cover the inside of the lid.

I used a small picture of a ship from one of the sheets of paper from the Come Away With Me collection and put it in a Ranger Memory Slide. The ribbon is from Stampin Up. The little white flowers are earring jackets and the pearls in the middle are earrings. I got a ton of these years ago and use them for everything but earrings. I used Sobo glue to hold the "pearl" in place. The little gold roses are buttons and since they were plastic I was able to snip off the shank of the button. 

For the little stamps, hot air balloon, the woman and ticket I just found scraps from sheets I used and fussy cut them to add to the box. 

I took a close up hoping you could see where I used Glimmer Mist *okie wonders why some people don't like that stuff* on the flowers. It actually served a dual purpose, one being to add some shimmer and the other was to add wetness to the flowers to help me shape them and then when they dry they hold their shape better. 

I have some Webster's Pages paper picked out for my next box that I will be doing this week and of course I will be trying out my flower making skills for this one as well...at least that is the plan. Sometimes I have great plans but then they get changed as a project goes along so I guess we will just have to see!

I Remember Flat Stanley

In 25 days I will be heading to Orlando Florida to spend a glorious week with BFF Karen! It's been almost 2 years since I've been to see her and I can't believe it's been that long since we have seen each other, 6-9 months is usually as long as we go without a visit with each other. 

We won't be going on a cruise this year as it isn't in the budget for either of us right now. However I will be spending a week in Karen's pool. She bought a house not long ago and the mission is actually for me to get her craftroom set up. If you are a regular reader you might remember me doing this like 2 years ago in her apartment. When I last talked to her she said "I thought about going in that damn room and doing something but since you are coming I'm not touching any of that shit". The cool thing is that Karen lets me have free reign to arrange and put things away however I want and then she never moves things around because she can call me and ask "hey do you know where that brown paper is" and I answer "yeah it is on the 3rd row down and 2nd cubby over". Seriously...that so happened before!

Karen really can craft and she actually comes up with some really cute ideas. I was thinking about this and remembered when we did Flat Stanley for her nephew and thought I would share that post again since it was something we worked on together and we were both so proud of ourselves.

Without further ado I present -

Flat Stanley project.....

My BFF Karen is in for a week for my daughter's graduation and brought Flat Stanley with her. Karen's nephew is in first grade and sent Flat Stanley to her before she left California to come here. When Karen told me about the project I told her we could fix up something nice. Karen's idea was to write a letter and put some pictures in a plastic brag book type thing. Of course that just was NOT going to work for me! *okie wonders if maybe Karen had a lapse of temporary insanity with even thinking that would work at okie's house*. Especially after she said her nephew was talking about how a little girl in his class had a really nice project from her grandma!!

We sent the pictures to Walmart for development and of course I had idea's running through my head. Evidently my idea of nice and Karen's idea of nice are most assuredly not the same. I did tone things down a bit, but not by my choosing! *okie is still cringing because none of the pages are inked*.

Here are the pictures of Flat Stanley's cross country trip in his own mini-scrapbook. You can click the pictures of you would like to see more detail

The little album is 6x6, which does fit in a flat rate priority envelope in case anyone is wondering! HA HA HA

For the cover I used 50 States, Locker Talk and Everyday Paperdolls. I did manage to get in a little doodling when Karen wasn't looking. I cut the United States in red, white and blue and then cut the white into stripes and cut the corner for the blue. The starts are iron on studs.

I used a black marker to dash the flight pattern across the United States.

I wanted to to cut Massachusetts again but with silver thinking it might show up better.....Karen wouldn't let me!

Karen found a post card for the first page to represent that Stanley made it to California. She wrote the story out and then I placed the pictures in order through the book. After she got it typed up I measured what size was left for journaling and then used MS Word to get the size right.

The starfish at the corner of the journaling is a die cut I got on clearance years ago.



Karen is a travel nurse and was able to take Stanley to work with her and get a few snapshots. Everyday Paperdolls was used for the Ambulance and the stethoscope. I cut the ambulance in black and white and then cut the tires off the white. I glued a small piece of red behind the cross and then glued the white on top of the black. Brads were used for the hubcaps. The stethoscope was cut in blue and I used a silver gel pen for the end and ear pieces. I added a surfboard brad for some decoration.

So I had problems with these two pages. Karen didn't want to cover up the paper and kept telling me I couldn't use it. I figured it was my paper and I could dam well use it if I wanted too! I thought she was going to have a heart attack when she realized I cut the word flip flop in half *okie grins a bit evilly* and she felt that was like a mortal sin since she loves anything flip flop!




I used die cuts for all the embellishments on these two pages, except for the word sand, it is fuzzy sticker letters. I love how Karen had Flat Stanley in all the pictures! I don't know if I would have thought of doing it or taken the time!! *okie does have to admit that Karen is an awesome Auntie* 






I had a hard time deciding what to do for the Old Town clock and decided to use the "wish you were here" from Going Places. I did make it longer using Design Studio so it took up more room. I colored in the arrow with silver gel pen.

The fish is cut from Pagoda and I used orange Mica cardstock to give it a more glitzy look and then added a little doodling with a silver gel pen.



The sailboat is a die cut from the same package as all the beach die cutsused. I cut the waves from Everyday paper dolls. The shark is a rubon, as is the word "CHOMP!". They came in a package of Sea World rubons and worked great for that page.

Karen even had a friend of hers in California in on the project, that is the hand you see saving Flat Stanley from getting eaten from the shark. *okie certainly hopes the first graders in Massachusetts don't get nightmares from this image*

I so cracked up when I saw the picture of Flat Stanley buckled up in the car for the ride to the airport!! I would really like to say that Karen was teaching the kids safety but after being BFF's for 23 years I have to admit she was likely being a smart a**!*okie falls out of chair laughing*. I used Going Places for the suitcase and the airplane embellishments. On the suitcase I used a Stampin Up marker to color the corners, handle and around the name tag. And yes boys and girls, inside that tiny name tag it indeed says "Flat Stanley". Karen thinks I go overboard sometimes *okie blinks innocently*and I have no idea why she thinks that!

We really couldn't think of how to decorate these pages and decided the ones with the clouds were fine as they were. We came up with peanuts but I didn't have any peanut brads *okie knew she should have ordered some* so off to the internet I went searching. I found a picture of some Delta Airline peanuts and a can of Coke. I sized the images to what I needed and printed...WALAH! instant embellishments!



Stanley finally arrived in Oklahoma!! Oh yeah, and Karen made it also *okie snickers*. I found a post card at Walmart that we used for the one page. I also resized a picture of the Cheyenne Arapaho tribal flag to use. For the statue picture I just used a sticker I had left over from a layout I did years ago *okie hears the gasps when she mentions stickers*, OH GET OVER IT! You guys know you have used them before also!*okie cracks up laughin*


I printed a picture of a Sonic cup to add to the page here. The lime and cherry brads are some I recently ordered from Eyelet Outlet. Karen mentioned something about her nephew should feel special that I used some of my nice brads on him*and okie whole-heartedly agrees*. The other page didn't seem to need much embellishing. We did add a picture of my daughter since her graduation was the whole reason for Karen and Stanley's trip to Oklahoma.


Finally on the back page we added Stanley decked out with his new sunglasses and surfboard. The sunglasses are a die cut and the surfboard is from a picture Karen had left over.

So that is the little scrapbook of Flat Stanley. It could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse to be sure! Overall I am quite happy with the project....oh and that little girl from Karen's nephews class.......She can tell her grandma to EAT IT BECAUSE WE ROCK!! *okie composes herself*.

Hope you guys enjoyed the Flat Stanley project!! *okie smiles sweetly and waves bye-bye*

I Have A Magic Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall who's the fairest of them all. I think almost every girl knows that line from Snow White and how the wicked step mother wanted to be the fairest and how the mirror would tell her she was, until of course Snow White came into her beauty. I, myself, have a magic mirror.

I have had the same make up mirror since my college days. I have sat in front of that mirror almost every morning since I was 20 years old either getting ready for class, work or just starting the day. I don't always put on make up since I hate the stuff and as I am getting older for some reason make up is bothering my eyes. The magic isn't in how long the make mirror has lasted, the dial on it won't turn anymore so I am stuck with only one light setting, the daylight setting. I am fine with that setting because I don't ever really remember using the other three settings and I am not a vampire and daylight is not my enemy. The magic of the mirror is how it makes me look. 

Now remember I said I got it when I was 20 and well now it is 30 years later, yes I am 50 now *okie wonders if that is some sort of record for a make up mirror and thinks it has to be* and the magic is when I use the mirror, for I still see a strong resemblance to the girl I was 30 years ago, albeit the gray hair does show in the mirror and a lovely shade of gray at that. About 5 years ago I started to think my make up mirror is rather magical and within the last year I have determined that it must in fact have some enchanted source of reflectional powers behind it because when I look in any other mirror I look...um *okie tries to think of a word besides old* mature, yes that is it, I look mature. 

Deciding whether the make up mirror's deceiving qualities are a gift or a curse is something I am tryin to figure out. I wonder if it is a curse because it lies to me, but to think of it as a gift makes much much more sense. This mirror has been more consistent in my life than most anything else and maybe it is some sort of supernatural bond we have that allows it to project a younger face back to me. The mirror has been through God only knows how many relationships and a few engagements and the corresponding break up for every one of those events. It watched me through the pregnancy, birth and raising of my daughter. It has survived multiple moves throughout the last 30 years. It has shared my mornings of grief and my mornings of happiness. In that mirror when I do put on make up I see a bright, vibrant woman who looks only half of her true age. 

Now the problem comes when I move away from the mirror and catch my reflection in any other mirror and see what is likely truth. I see wrinkles on my face and neck, I see huge bags under my eyes, I see hugely large pores on my cheek and nose area. I see an old woman and feel confused wondering just when did that happen because not 30 minutes ago while looking into my make up mirror I saw nothing like what stares back at me. 

When I take time to look into a mirror other than my make up mirror my thoughts are always the same as I walk away. I always think "Why is my make up mirror magic and make me feel younger and more confident?". Which is generally followed with "I only wish other people could see me, see my reflection as I see it in my magical make up mirror". 

Now I must go and think on this subject more and decide if having a magic mirror is a curse or a blessing of some sort. Or maybe it is just one of those twisted cursed blessings that occur from time to time in the fabric of the cosmos. 

Flower Making Made Simple....NOT!

I was skimming Facebook groups over the weekend and came across a post in a stamping group that I am in, think it is called Stamping Enablers or something like that, and some lady showed some flowers she had made and I immediately fell in love. She said something about Heartfelt Creations and I went immediately and found the website and started looking around. I signed up for the newsletter and they sent me a 25 minute video that showed how you could make like 5 different flowers with the same stamp and die set. Since I have quite a few Stampin Up flower stamp and punch sets I figured all I needed was a tool kit. The video made it all look so simple to make gorgeous flowers. 

I priced the tool kit on Heartfelt Creations and since I wasn't sure I would be able to do the techniques I got on Amazon and looked for a flower making tool kit. I came across the McGill Paper Blossom Took Kit and thought I would get it since it was cheaper and like I said I wasn't sure if I would even be able to pull off such gorgeous flowers like that were done in the video I watched. I pushed the buy button and quickly got my email saying my order had been placed and when I got my shipping notice it said I would receive my package on Wednesday. Much to my delight I got a text on Tuesday saying my package had arrived, a full day early, but I was out of town at the time at my aunts house and waiting to get home reminded me of how it felt on Christmas Eve waiting for my dad to get off work so we could open presents. Oh the anticipation!!

Sadly my first attempt looked like something that had been left in the rain for a few days. I know I did a sloppy job of coloring it. I actually tried to use my Stampin Up inks and a watercolor brush but the ink ran and I used Memento but then I remembered I usually use Stazon for this purpose. I was feeling a little discouraged at this point but it was late and I knew I couldn't give up on the tools and the lady in the video said it would take some practice. Little note on me, I don't like to practice...I like to do. I like to do and I like to do well. If I can't do well then I don't want to do at all. I decided to go to bed and work on it the next day when I got home from work.

After I got home from work yesterday and fixing me a t-bone steak for supper, my doctor told me to cut down on carbs and so that is all I had for supper but that is for another post, I decided to just practice using the ball tips and punched out just a plain flower and I did use some chalk ink to color it a bit so I could fool myself into thinking it wold look like a flower. When this one didn't turn out so well I decided to go back to the video and watch again. 

I stamped off some flowers using some Rhubarb Stalk Memento Ink on some dusty rose colored paper and punched them out so I would be ready to follow along with the video. I was more pleased with the results this time and felt a little more confident that maybe I didn't waste my $12.70 on the tool kit. 

I wanted to see how well a vellum flower would do and stamped and punched some out of the vellum.  In the video the lady had used white embossing powder on her flower and it was gorgeous but I was having a bit of lackadaisy attitude after a long day at work and because it was a practice flower I went the simple route. Most likely it would have turned out better had I not changed the type of flower I was trying to make half way through. I added a bit of Glimmer Glaze in the center of the flower to color it up a bit and since it was an experimental flower I might as well go all out and really experiment. 

For my final practice flower I resolved to take my time and think of this as a flower for a project. I stamped on white paper and used my ProMarkers to color the flower. I added some Perfect Pearls on the tips of the petals and for the center I cut it out of a flower I had stamped and then even did some little technique the video lady showed on small pieces. FINALLY! Once I got done with this flower and looked at it I realized I have a new love...FLOWER MAKING! The only problem now is that I want all the flower and die sets that Heartfelt Creations sells! Okay maybe not all but I would like to have a few. My trip to Florida is coming up and I need to save money for that so I won't be ordering any of those awesome kits until I get back so until the I will have to work with what I have on hand. I know I will need more practice but I a quite certain I will eventually get the hang of this and it will become a new obsession!

Post It Note Holders

So after trying to make a guide for the 3:1 pitch wires for the mini albums and seeing how much work it was going to be and thinking "Hey I have a perfectly good machine that can cut those suckers" I made a file in Make The Cut for more mini albums but also did one for Post It Note Holders.

I got 3 Post It Note holders done this weekend using Graphic 45 Fashionista and the Dylusions stamp set "Say It How It Is", which I also found at Zipp Outlet for $2. When I found the stamp set I wasn't sure what I would use the for but I wasn't going to leave them in the store for that price.

Here are the Post It Note holders I got done and my daughter has already claimed one of them. I will be making more of these since I really like them and I have more stamps in the set to use.

Used Those 3:1 Wires - Mini Album

I was brave over the weekend and tackled some mini albums using the 3:1 pitch wires I got at Zipp Outlet. I will say it was a bit of a challenge to get the holes all punched and if I didn't have a Crop-O-Dile Big Bite I'm not sure I would have been able to finish them.

I used some of the Graphic 45 Mother Goose line for the little albums and it was test of my patience on using the papers for a 4" album. I also had to watch the embellishment on the inside because the album couldn't be too thick. Since people don't generally comment on my craft projects anymore I will just post the pictures and y'all can just see how it came out.

Front of the album.

Close up of the front. I used LiquiTex on the flowers to help them keep their shape after I manipulated the petals like I wanted.

Page 1 and 2

Page 3 and 4

Page 5 and 6

Page 7 and 8

Back of album

And that is all.