Snazzy Check Book Covers!

Happy Friday! I hope you're as excited as I am for this weekend, but first a project for today! These pictures aren't the greatest but hopefully they can help spark some ideas for your own check book. My cover was on its last leg so I decided instead of buying a new one that I should make my own with some of my favorite papers. We sell clear plastic covers for checks in packs of four so you can create your own cover using whatever materials you like and slip them in the plastic. For my check book I used My Mind's Eye Bohemia Collection for the cover. For the inside I used a sheet from an 8x8 Vintage Paper Pack by Paper Pizazz. I added embellishments to mine but if you use a patterned paper that is really all you need. That is all for me today, have fun, get crazy, and enjoy the weather! Tiff

Personalizing Albums and Journals

Personalizing clothing has become very popular these days but I think we should be personalizing everything we own. It is probably the easiest project to take something that is already made and put your own twist on it. Today's project is personalizing your Scrapbook albums and journals. There are endless possibilities but I will just tell you about a few for now. I used an album that was semi-unfinished to start. It doesn't matter if the album or journal has a pattern on the front because most likely you will be covering it up, go for the one that is less expensive. This can also be a great way to give a new look to an old album. We covered ours with scrapbooking paper from the Basic Grey Blush collection but another great way to cover your album would be with your favorite fabric. We used double sided tape to attach ours because we knew we would be using an iron in our next step so we avoided using glue. If you choose to embellish your album another way a good option would be mod podge for both paper and fabric. Next we used a flocked flower iron-on transfer that is normally used for clothing. The flocked transfer adds another texture to the album and makes it more interesting. That's it, not many steps and your album or journal is completely transformed! This album will be on display in the store for a closer look, don't be afraid to ask our team for inspiration on other ways of personalizing an album. Tiff

Vintage Easter Spread

I can't even believe that it is almost April! That means that Easter is right around the corner. We had the St. Cloud Times call and ask us today about what kinds of ideas that we had for Easter centerpieces and place settings. All we had as of right now was pre-made items so we thought we better fix that. The centerpiece is what I would recommend starting with and then you can use it to base your colors and accents on later. We created a three tier centerpiece using terra cotta pots and trays. We started with the largest tray, then placed a pot upside down on the tray. Now you have created the next platform for another tray and so on. Sizes of your trays and pots should be decided according to what you will be placing on your tiers. For the bottom of the centerpiece we used pots filled with floral foam, moss, and small bushes of spring flowers. You will probably need only a few bushes because you will cut them down to fit into your pots. For the next tier we experimented with a new way of displaying your colored eggs, instead of egg cups we used small cupcake liners. It gives it a more elegant look. We topped it all off with a chocolate bunny. Instead of using the usual Easter grass, which, lets face it can look a little cheesy at times, we used shredded scrapbook paper. For a really colorful look use double sided paper. We just used a paper shredder to do the work for us, you will be surprised you actually won't need to shred that much paper, we only used one 12x12 sheet. Hopefully we have inspired you to do a little holiday planning and make a festive setting. Tiff

Trés Jolie and Signature Life!

As Spring is arriving and the weather is changing, so is our product here at Crafts Direct! Recently, we received two new paper lines from My Minds Eye: Trés Jolie and Signature Life, both complete with coordinating paper and die-cuts.
The Trés Jolie line is full of bright colors and new, vintage-retro patterns, perfect for the upcoming summer season! The line comes with brand new adhesive page borders and fun and funky frames, cardstock alphabets and memo tags too spice up any craft project!
The Signature Life line also has a complete set of matching paper and functional embellishments to make any scrapbook page complete while taking on a more urban approach, turning even simple moments into extraordinary ones!
Take a look for yourself at http://www.mymindseye.com/tresjolie.asp
-Kimberlie

Extreme Crafting

Today's project is kind of a different sort of project, it is more like a little something to inspire you to be bold with your crafting. If you checked out my blog about the Urban Craft Uprising you might have run across some of these groups that are changing the way we see crafting these days. The one that was most interesting to me is actually a knitting gang...that's right I said knitting gang. It is called Knitta, Please! "it is a group of more than 10 ladies of all ages, races, nationalities, religions, sexual orientation and gender". The group "tags" the city with colorful pieces knit from left over yarn with a note attached signed by Knitta, Please! along with their web address. Business owners are then greeted by a silly, thoughtful piece of art that is easily removed instead of the graffiti that is most commonly scattered in the city. The group originally began as an anonymous crew but as their popularity arose they were forced out of secrecy and are now finding themselves installing exhibits of their works in galleries. Ok, so you don't have to be this wild and crazy, but it is a great inspiration for us crafters to get involved socially with one another for good causes or for just plain fun. Tiff

French Inspired Memo Board

Its Friday!!! Hopefully everyone is having a fantastic day and gearing up for St. Patrick's Day tomorrow. Sadly I don't have a St. Patty's themed project for you today, instead I want to give you a project that you can use every day of the year. Memo boards have endless craft possibilities but I won't overload you today, I will just show you our very fancy french inspired memo board. The toughest and most time consuming part of this project will be just deciding what kind of fabric and frame you want to use to coordinate with your decor. You will need a frame (whatever size you desire), fabric (we used Anna Griffin fabric, our frame was 11x14 so we only needed a fat quarter), and lastly you will need either a sheet of metal or a sheet of cork. We used cork on ours so that we could use it as a bulletin board, it is also easier to cut the cork down to your desired size using scissors. Since your fabric will be mainly held in place by your frame you will only need to use a little tape to hold it in place. We wrapped our cork in fabric like you would a present, then we put it in the frame and replaced our backing. It is nice to have the backing because most come with a stand or hooks attached so that you don't have to do more work! The same can be done using metal so that you can create a magnetic memo board. Keep posted with us on our blog or in our store for more ideas on memo boards and fun ways to personalize your magnets. Have a great weekend, see you Monday! Tiff

Stamp & Wrap

I was so busy yesterday getting ready for our All Day Scrap this Saturday that I completely forgot to blog!! I can't believe it, but I am back and ready for today's project. I always find myself at home, last minute of course, trying to throw a present together for a birthday or something of the sort, and I NEVER have wrapping paper. I don't buy wrapping paper unless it is Christmas and I think gift bags just aren't as entertaining for people to rip open. So I was thinking it might be fun just to create our own wrapping paper from things you might have around your house. I started with basic brown craft paper that you normally use for mailing packages. You can also use plain colored paper, tissue paper, etc. Now you can put to use some of those stamps that you have around your house that you use for scrapbooking or decorating and embellish your paper using paint and ink. Here we used Ceramcoat acrylic paint and distress ink. Now you have custom wrapping paper! (Sounds fancy doesn't it) You can even top it all off with a bow made from left over yarn scraps from your last knitting project. Even if these aren't supplies that you already have at your house it ends up saving you money on gift wrap! I love it and I hope you do too. Just a reminder, don't forget to come in and check out our Crafting Contest, the entries are all so amazing, the race for the winner is getting heated. A lot of the categories are REALLY close. Also if you come in and vote your name will be put in the drawing for 10/ $10.00 gift cards, you can enter once a day until Friday the 23rd.
Tiff