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Wow thats awesome, I actually picked the wrong photo. LOL But heres one flip side (playing devils advocate) to the price comparison you did...what if people don't own reinkers? Now they have the investment of those on top of the styrofoam balls which makes the pots more than the price of flowersoft. Flowersoft in the States is cheaper than you mentioned plus I get mine at a discount.
Not arguing with your post (definitely a brilliant post) just wanted to point out that not everyone owns reinkers in a multitude of colors. I only own three reinkers (black, brown and a watermelon color) and two brown copic reinkers.
I loved the idea of maybe using what we have and I don't own any soft flower but do have a couple of foam balls from an old girl scout project. Thanks for the idea!
__________________ Sharon
Only 3 more Cancer Treatments and then I am a free bird :)
Location: along the bluffs of the Mississippi River
Posts: 2,933
Quote:
Originally Posted by AmzdByHsGrace
I never buy colored brads anymore! I just buy the white ones and color them with my Bic Mark-its! It works wonderful and I have all the colors that I need and no left over colors of brads that I never use!!!
Great ideas here!!
God bless
Nyoka
Oh, thanks for that great idea. I was just looking at SU brads and whenever I do I think, "I won't use all the ones in the color family." Bic Mark-its must be permanent.
Thanks again!
__________________
All I want is the chance to prove money won't make me happy!
I make the glass ornaments but have never thought to put anything in them that looks like snow. Great idea!! Thanks. I've also done the faux FS and it's really good, and cheap.
Wow thats awesome, I actually picked the wrong photo. LOL But heres one flip side (playing devils advocate) to the price comparison you did...what if people don't own reinkers? Now they have the investment of those on top of the styrofoam balls which makes the pots more than the price of flowersoft. Flowersoft in the States is cheaper than you mentioned plus I get mine at a discount.
Not arguing with your post (definitely a brilliant post) just wanted to point out that not everyone owns reinkers in a multitude of colors. I only own three reinkers (black, brown and a watermelon color) and two brown copic reinkers.
No, you're right - that is a good point about the re-inkers. I'll have to think of something that people could use if they don't have re-inkers. Maybe liquid food dye or rit dye would work. Once I figure it out, I'll have to post an ammendment to that posting. Thanks for pointing that out.
I never throw out packaging without thinking about whether it has papercraft potential. Lots of clear packging is great for clear card bases (if it's big enough) or for die cutting "ghost" shapes. Corrugated card packaging can make interesting textural layers and is especially useful on masculine cards.
Buttons get snipped off any clothing that's going in the rag bag and if it's a pretty fabric (hubby has some nice shirts!) then I might well save some of that for use instead of patterned paper. Shirts that are very worn on collar and cuffs tend to have lots of useable fabric in the back and even the fronts. As I often stitch on cards I tend to attach fabric that way.
I'm another one who colours white or ivory ribbon or pearls with a Copic to tone with my project.
Soda cans can be die cut for metallic embellishments and if any of you girls buy tomato paste in tubes rather than cans (I know it's less common in the US but Italian grocery stores apparently carry it in tubes quite often) then the metal from the tube is fantastic stuff. It get a rich gold colour from the acid in the tomato paste and it embosses beautifully (couple of projects made with it attached here).
If you work in an office or know someone who does, be alert when any filing gets sorted in case any old and dog eared file folders get tossed. Rescue them out of the recycling - they make great kraft cardstock, just trim off the ragged edges.
I improvise on tools too - I use a map pin as a paper piercer and have a couple of plastic canvas shapes (square and circle) that I use as piercing templates for lines and circles. My stamp positioner is made of Lego bricks (positioning sheets - another use for that clear packaging plastic!).
I've been meaning to try twisting sewing thread to make a cord to see how close I can get to the baker's twine look. I quite often twist a plain cord so I just need to experiment with the best way to get the stripe.
I may think of more, I'll come back if I do!
Try embroidery thread which is a little thicker and may be easier to work with.
Maybe 4 strands of white/cream and 2 strands of color.
__________________
Becky
"We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." Randy Pausch www.pancan.org
Re thread for creating twisted twine...embroidery floss is thin enough so that you can separate it and braid it. You just would have to decide how you want to secure the ends so it doesn't "unbraid". Embroidery floss is very inexpensive and one skein could probably provide more than one braid. You could also mix colors when doing this. I have skeins from my cross stitch and needlepointing and until I read your post, I didn't think about braiding the floss to use on cards. Thanks.
[I love Card Candy - those little bags of card circles that look like brads without the legs - you can buy them in loads of scrumptious colours. Last time I was in the shop I was advised to buy white and colour them with my Copics - that way you can match them exactly to your card. Works brilliantly. Ok, each bag costs the same - but you don't need to buy so many different colours thus saving your pennies (or cents)!.
Ok, I'll bite, what is card candy and where do you buy it? I've never heard of it before.
Card Candy are little circles of coloured domed card that look like brads - but you just stick 'em down instead of having to fiddle with brads. They're sold in packs of 400 for about £1.60 (I think thats about $2.60) - have a look at craftworkcards.co.uk. They're hugely popular here in the UK. Hope this helps hun![/QUOTE]
I used to do a post on my blog called Thursday's Throw Aways using recyled materials in my cards and crafts. I've repurposed the insides of security envelopes, the vellum from envelopes received with our junk mail, metal sock clips, expired credit cards, bakery twine, magazine/catalog paper, mesh bags, and more. Here is the link to those items in my gallery.
Unfortunately, the drawback to doing this is being overtaken by the amount of material that is actually able to be reused!
a hint about envelopes....if you are ever in a store and see the person stocking the card section - ask for their extra envelopes as they always have bunches of varying sizes from people that switch when buying cards. I have tons - all colors and sizes, and they are FREE!
they come in all sorts of colors now (retractable) and I already have them on hand....
My diet tip is to just use up what I have. I will be dead before I can use up all the paper.....
.....speaking of which I am starting to make my own envelopes and line my envies with scrap paper. It looks so classy IMHO.
I also am starting to use my scraps to create card fronts. I have so much that I always can find coordinating or contrasting paper.
Last, I am trying to use my rubber stamp images more. Through the years, I have gotten away from my stamps because of all the gorgeous paper out there.
Don't get me started on buttons......I can see, once again, I have gotten off topic!
Also if you have nail polish around, you can use that to color your brads. I have heard the enamel shine gives it an awesome look.
Starbucks has some really pretty designs in their brochures that they have. I have used them with my punches and the coffee theme pics are great to send to your coffee loving friends!
Of course, now that I have read this, I will probably go to jail for using their stuff on cards. Please write me if I do!!
So many great ideas here! Mollymoo, I love your counterfeit button idea. I can't seem to throw away any kind of box these days. I collapse them and save them for templates to make my own boxes from. Saves from buying those online template. I also look at purchased cards in a new way now. I use punches and cut out certain portions to use on my cards. Sometimes you get a great sale flyer in the mail that has designs that can be cut and used on cards.
No, you're right - that is a good point about the re-inkers. I'll have to think of something that people could use if they don't have re-inkers. Maybe liquid food dye or rit dye would work. Once I figure it out, I'll have to post an ammendment to that posting. Thanks for pointing that out.
Just a thought on this great idea you had about the styrofoam balls. Can you color the flat surface of the ball with several different magic markers (bic, sharpie, etc.) before rubbing them together to get a colored and/or variegated look to the faux flower soft? I don't have the styrofoam balls otherwise I would try this myself to see if it works. Would love to hear if someone gives this a try as to whether or not it works.
Card Candy are little circles of coloured domed card that look like brads - but you just stick 'em down instead of having to fiddle with brads. They're sold in packs of 400 for about £1.60 (I think thats about $2.60) - have a look at craftworkcards.co.uk. They're hugely popular here in the UK. Hope this helps hun!
I checked out that website. These look awesome. I too have never seen them in the US. Thanks for sharing. I know this list is supposed to be how to "make due" with what we have - but I am seriously tempted to purchase some of these from overseas anyway. LOL
I checked out that website. These look awesome. I too have never seen them in the US. Thanks for sharing. I know this list is supposed to be how to "make due" with what we have - but I am seriously tempted to purchase some of these from overseas anyway. LOL
You do not need to purchase these. I saw somewhere where you can easily make your own (i believe it was on SCS).
Take a 3 pieces of 1 1/2" x 3" piece of cereal box, Punch a hole in them with a hole punch. (Punch one piece, line it up with piece 2, punch, line up with piece 3, Punch) Glue these together making sure the holes line up. This makes your template. you could also punch several holes in a row if you wanted too.
When you come across scraps that you plan to toss. Punch them with the hole punch. Place your template over a mouse pad and put the punch out inside the hole of your template. Use a stylus or the back of a pen and move it in a circular motion in the hole. This creates the domed effect.
These look really pretty sprayed with pearly sprays.
There is so much here that is getting me soooo excited BUT I have floors to wash so I am subbing and ... wow... those floors are gonna get done fast!!!
__________________
I know that when God closes one door He opens another BUT...sometimes it's hell in the hallway!
I checked out that website. These look awesome. I too have never seen them in the US. Thanks for sharing. I know this list is supposed to be how to "make due" with what we have - but I am seriously tempted to purchase some of these from overseas anyway. LOL
Here's a video on youtube (not mine) that shows how to make them quite easily. Step away from the phone and put down the credit card.
I just remembered something I've done for envelopes. After Christmas, check out the Dollar Stores. They usually have boxes of standard size, all alike Christmas cards. Frequently they put them on sale for as little as 25 cents or 50 cents a box for 20 or so.
You can pitch the cards and use the envelopes.
You can even get some milage out of the cards (as I do with the store-bought ones I get from others) and fold them into beautiful little gift boxes. A pencil, ruler and scissors are all you need. A scorer might be helpful, but I've never used one. I'd attach a picture and step-by-step if I only knew how.
Location: Mt Albert, north of Toronto, Ontario, Can
Posts: 727
Not quite the same...
Quote:
Originally Posted by mollymoo951
I did a couple of blog posts on making do. I was tempted by a new release. Saved myself $54 dollars and had fun in the process. Known as counterfeiting.
Location: Mt Albert, north of Toronto, Ontario, Can
Posts: 727
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gatomom
I love this tip on the brads - had no idea the embossing powder wouldn't "slide" off the metal!
Actually, it doesn't slide but it can goop up on one side if you don't keep it level or try to add powder twice. So be sure to heat it thoroughly the first time and get it in the powder really quickly. And heat only *just* until the powder is melted, NOT longer. Lopsided mushroom looking brads are not cute.
Location: Mt Albert, north of Toronto, Ontario, Can
Posts: 727
Quote:
Originally Posted by scrappintlc
Wow thats awesome, I actually picked the wrong photo. LOL But heres one flip side (playing devils advocate) to the price comparison you did...what if people don't own reinkers? Now they have the investment of those on top of the styrofoam balls which makes the pots more than the price of flowersoft. Flowersoft in the States is cheaper than you mentioned plus I get mine at a discount.
Not arguing with your post (definitely a brilliant post) just wanted to point out that not everyone owns reinkers in a multitude of colors. I only own three reinkers (black, brown and a watermelon color) and two brown copic reinkers.
True but Reinkers are quite reasonably priced for most brands, even Copic (you get more than any other brand) and you can use them for many other frugal techniques like coloring the edges of cardstock for a mat layer (use a sponge), distressing, making your own spray inks, colouring white embellishments like flowers and ribbon as has been mentioned including making crumpled seam binding that is so popular and many others. So the reinkers are a frugal purchase in and of themselves.
Location: Mt Albert, north of Toronto, Ontario, Can
Posts: 727
I've gotten envies from Shoppers Drug Mart here in Canada because lots of people buy cards and forget the envies. Also from Hallmark stores but they are less generous as the ones around here package them up for sale WAY too expEnsive.
You can make small faux brads by shaking EP on glue dots and heating gently. You can get jumbo Brad too from those 1/2" dimensional glue dots.
I save small bubble packaging for shaker cards and large ones for disposable paint containers for acrylic paint or water pots for watercoloring. I often don't even throw them out but wash them to use again
Hot chocolate tins, chocolate boxes and other nice boxes, tins and jars make great treat or gift packaging. I open pop-top cans (soup, condensed or evap milk) with a can opene from the bottom, wash, dry, decorate and fill then glue the bottoms back on so the recipient can 'pop' the top.
I save the acid free cardboard from SU! dP packs and use for creating or reinforcing 3-D projects.
Buy large, full flowers on sale, separate the petals, they are formed in layers, and only use a few layers per card.
Use lighter weight cardstock for mats saving the heavy stuff for 3-D projects or card bases. Clear Dollar stamps sells 'layering weight' cardstock for a good price.
Use art qualiy tracing paper instead of vellum. It is easier to emboss, still see through and you get a whole roll for the price one pack of vellum.
Save your scraps. Nichole Heady made a great scrap organizer from her clear stamp boxes. If you don't have any, you can buy card set boxes in lots of places and use those. I also save scraps in folders by Cropper Hopper. Each folder has two pockets to hold scraps. I use one for medium scraps, one for large scraps, even half sheets and the small ones go in my organizer. I never cut into a full sheet for a small mat, tag or punch/die cut. Saves me tons!
If you have crafty buddies, see if you can get together to buy stuff in bulk like small tins for teacher's gifts or similar. I've got a whole box of tins I am slowly using up. They are exactly like tins that retail for $2.50 but I got them for 50c each with shipping about 65c. Same for test tubes which make great gifts.
Buy things you might use a lot of in bulk like ribbon or twine. I've gotten full spools of ribbon from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for wedding favours and it was very fancy ribbon for a fraction of the retail value.
Buy foam dots in bulk, I get mine from Jody Morrow of the Addicted to Ribbon blog and they are great quality for cheap.
Get your Copics at a discount. COPICmarkerS.com - a Period Style website has huge discounts everyday. Did you know you can buy empty cases and build your own custom sets which ship for free as do all sets?
My $ store now carries Kaisercraft-esque pearls! Same packaging, similar colours (tho fewer of them), same sizes and they come in white!!
Same $ in other ways so you have more to buy the fun stuff. All of my small bellies live in $ store packaging, 25c per container. They stack with one screwing in to the one below it. They sell at Michaels for almost $4 for 5 or 7. Compact, they stack way higher than how they sell them and they are clear for all his who forget it if you can't see it!
I do lots more too but most have been touched on by others. I really like the tip to use excess chipboard as dimensionals. Acid-free unlike some other things I've seen suggested and that makes me happy!
Try getting some stuff at discount, deal-a-day sites like CraftySteals.com and a couple others I can't remember the exact names but if you google 'craft deal a day' I'm sure you'll find the others and maybe more! Discounts of over 50% are pretty standard but I've gotten over 75% a couple times.
Also if you have nail polish around, you can use that to color your brads. I have heard the enamel shine gives it an awesome look.
Starbucks has some really pretty designs in their brochures that they have. I have used them with my punches and the coffee theme pics are great to send to your coffee loving friends!
Of course, now that I have read this, I will probably go to jail for using their stuff on cards. Please write me if I do!!
One thing that I have started doing is reusing store bought cards that people send me. Often the back of the card has a space that can be cut down for a small stamped image or the front will have a design that can be cut out and reused....and many cards have embellishments that can be pulled right off and used in another project. Anything I don't use gets put in the paper recycle pile.
I do this as well. I salvage as much as possible and then I create new christmas cards with them. I have so much fun with this because it can be somewhat of a challenge and makes me think out of the box.
__________________
Cara
""The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude -- William James"
I also use Sharpies and Bic Mark-Its to color my pearls and rhinestones. I have a lot of clear rhinestones that aren't sticky on the back so to color them I place them on the sticky strip of a Post A Note and color away. This idea is not original with me but it doea the trick.
Also, since I have so many clear rhinestones I used some to make a color chart showing the end color of each of my markers. That way I can find the exact color I need.
I've gotten envies from Shoppers Drug Mart here in Canada because lots of people buy cards and forget the envies. Also from Hallmark stores but they are less generous as the ones around here package them up for sale WAY too expEnsive.
You can make small faux brads by shaking EP on glue dots and heating gently. You can get jumbo Brad too from those 1/2" dimensional glue dots.
I save small bubble packaging for shaker cards and large ones for disposable paint containers for acrylic paint or water pots for watercoloring. I often don't even throw them out but wash them to use again
Hot chocolate tins, chocolate boxes and other nice boxes, tins and jars make great treat or gift packaging. I open pop-top cans (soup, condensed or evap milk) with a can opene from the bottom, wash, dry, decorate and fill then glue the bottoms back on so the recipient can 'pop' the top.
I save the acid free cardboard from SU! dP packs and use for creating or reinforcing 3-D projects.
Buy large, full flowers on sale, separate the petals, they are formed in layers, and only use a few layers per card.
Use lighter weight cardstock for mats saving the heavy stuff for 3-D projects or card bases. Clear Dollar stamps sells 'layering weight' cardstock for a good price.
Use art qualiy tracing paper instead of vellum. It is easier to emboss, still see through and you get a whole roll for the price one pack of vellum.
Save your scraps. Nichole Heady made a great scrap organizer from her clear stamp boxes. If you don't have any, you can buy card set boxes in lots of places and use those. I also save scraps in folders by Cropper Hopper. Each folder has two pockets to hold scraps. I use one for medium scraps, one for large scraps, even half sheets and the small ones go in my organizer. I never cut into a full sheet for a small mat, tag or punch/die cut. Saves me tons!
If you have crafty buddies, see if you can get together to buy stuff in bulk like small tins for teacher's gifts or similar. I've got a whole box of tins I am slowly using up. They are exactly like tins that retail for $2.50 but I got them for 50c each with shipping about 65c. Same for test tubes which make great gifts.
Buy things you might use a lot of in bulk like ribbon or twine. I've gotten full spools of ribbon from the Stamp Simply Ribbon Store for wedding favours and it was very fancy ribbon for a fraction of the retail value.
Buy foam dots in bulk, I get mine from Jody Morrow of the Addicted to Ribbon blog and they are great quality for cheap.
Get your Copics at a discount. COPICmarkerS.com - a Period Style website has huge discounts everyday. Did you know you can buy empty cases and build your own custom sets which ship for free as do all sets?
My $ store now carries Kaisercraft-esque pearls! Same packaging, similar colours (tho fewer of them), same sizes and they come in white!!
Same $ in other ways so you have more to buy the fun stuff. All of my small bellies live in $ store packaging, 25c per container. They stack with one screwing in to the one below it. They sell at Michaels for almost $4 for 5 or 7. Compact, they stack way higher than how they sell them and they are clear for all his who forget it if you can't see it!
I do lots more too but most have been touched on by others. I really like the tip to use excess chipboard as dimensionals. Acid-free unlike some other things I've seen suggested and that makes me happy!
Try getting some stuff at discount, deal-a-day sites like CraftySteals.com and a couple others I can't remember the exact names but if you google 'craft deal a day' I'm sure you'll find the others and maybe more! Discounts of over 50% are pretty standard but I've gotten over 75% a couple times.
Hope these help!
I looked at the COPICmarkerS.com - a Period Style site and it said that they do not ship outside of the US. Did they ship to your Ontario address? Maybe their policy has changed.
That reminded me - security envelopes! You know when you get a bank statement or other piece of mail with confidential information. the inside of those envelopes is patterned to make them impossible to read through. It's usually a blue or grey print - useful for backgrounds, especially on masculine cards!
I just love this thread and all the excellent ideas for saving money! I even dug through my trash and now possess some masculine background paper, thanks to Angelnorth's great idea!
My FIND for Faux Bakers Twine. I was at Wal Mart and spied Lily brand Sugar and Cream Yarn Twists..........the color is Barnboard Twist and it looks just like the red & white bakers twine, but is dirt cheap I also picked up Cottage Twists color too. It has red light blue and yellow in it. They both look really really neat done up on cards, tags or whatever and am quite sure they were less than $2 for a whole skein. It is 100% cotton and really does the job, no one would know it is NOt bakers twine.
Mel- You know your our hero for frugal stamping. I tell everyone in the world go to MelStampz, go to MelStampz over and over again. Your blog is the "IT" blog hands down. I don't care who argues with me.
You do not need to purchase these. I saw somewhere where you can easily make your own (i believe it was on SCS).
Take a 3 pieces of 1 1/2" x 3" piece of cereal box, Punch a hole in them with a hole punch. (Punch one piece, line it up with piece 2, punch, line up with piece 3, Punch) Glue these together making sure the holes line up. This makes your template. you could also punch several holes in a row if you wanted too.
When you come across scraps that you plan to toss. Punch them with the hole punch. Place your template over a mouse pad and put the punch out inside the hole of your template. Use a stylus or the back of a pen and move it in a circular motion in the hole. This creates the domed effect.
These look really pretty sprayed with pearly sprays.
Cheap and beautiful.
Blessings,
Pam in IN
I have participated in some card candy swaps here on SCS. They are usually layers of punched shapes embellished with buttons, glitter, etc. I have received some very pretty ones.
11Likes
Thanks for pointing that out.
Bakers Twine Experiment
Linear Mode
