Halloween Pillow Box project

My friend Sharul came over and we made some fun Halloween pillow boxes using Stampin' Up! Pillow Box die $20. Batty For You stamp is a set of 8 circular stamps for $24. Bat punch is retired Stampin' Up! bought on sale for $10. Spooky skull is a rub-on, also retired and bought on sale for $5 for 2 full sheets, one white and one black. 

The silver bats are punched from the new glimmer paper ($2.50/sheet) from Stampin' Up!  They are a bit thinner than AC Cardstock glitter paper ($2/sheet) from A.C. Moore.  Stampin' Up! glimmer paper also works with my Northern Frost extended sizzlits die (snowflakes), which I am really excited about.  Paper side should face the die blades instead of the glitter side.  It takes a long time to individually apply glitter to snowflakes after they have been cut out.  I am going to remake my snowflake cards from last year using the silver glimmer paper.  The AC Cardstock glitter paper does not work with the thinner die, but large punches do cut the paper (but not small punches).  AC Cardstock glitter paper is available in more colors.  The white bat is punched from this paper.

Winter Birthday 2010

Fangs for the Memories, Birthday Card for my Dad

I sent this Halloween Birthday card to my Dad, whose birthday is on October 25th.  My parents moved to Korea on a whim and sold their house in Virginia. So far, they seem to love it there.  They get three Korean meals a day cooked for them by the condo association and they go on fun outings for seniors.  They live in a megaplex for retirees.

All supplies from Stampin' Up! except where noted:
New from winter catalog Halloween Hang Ups jumbo wheel $8.50, retired acorns wheel $2, Batty For You stamp set $24, 1-3/8" circle punch $16, 1" circle punch $11, 1-3/4" scallop circle punch $17, black 1/4" grosgrain ribbon $5, retired card stocks close to cocoa, crushed curry, and cameo coral, cherry cobbler ink pad $6, VersaFine black ink pad $9, VersaFine sepia ink pad $5, and Martha Stewart scallop wheel cutter $5.  Prices are approximate.  Many can be had on sale for lower prices or during January-March Stampin' Up! Salebrations with many freebies thrown in.  The "birthday wishes" stamp is a freebie from this year's Salebrations.  The Batty For You stamp set is really cute and has 8 circular stamps with sentiment encircling the image.  My Halloween Pillow Box project uses some of the other stamps from the set.

Butterfly Take-Out Box

Hello, this is an easy box created using Sizzix Take-Out Box die I got on sale for $25 and Stampin' Up! Butterflies embosslits die (about $10).  Accessories are pink ribbon, scrap of designer paper, red brads, hole puncher, and pop-ups.  Top uses 2.5" and 3" oval scallop punches from Marvy.

Embossing and Stenciling Supplies

Some of the video classes will cover the very popular heat embossing, and the infrequently used but beautiful dry embossing with metal stencils.

Additional heat embossing supplies:

• Heat embossing gun
• White embossing powder
• VersaMark clear or tinted embossing ink pad
• Scrap paper, printing/copying paper.
• Optional, other most used embossing powder: silver, red, black, clear, gold.

Additional dry embossing and stenciling supplies:

• Two Dreamweaver Stencils - Mushrooms and Koi are used, but you can pick others.
• Low-tack removeable tape, Scotch Magic removeable tape recommended for a clean removal. 
• Dry embossing tool, medium tip - shaped like a pencil with ball bearings at tips.
• Bees' Wax, or a small white candle - to rub on card stock before dry embossing.
• Glass table & small lamp that fits under the table. (You can buy a light box, but I rarely use mine.)
• Brilliance tri-color ink pad - Metallic, Peacock, and Aurora.
• Finger daubers 6-9, several Fantastiques, and 1 large dauber.

These Brilliance ink pads have a shimmery shine, and they go on dry when used with finger daubers.  For coloring over metal stencils, I find the Brilliance ink pads with daubers to be the best, fool-proof method.. Fantastiques (crayon shaped foam applicators) are useful to getting colors into small corners.  Daubers can be used to apply ink to a rubber stamp, and is especially helpful for the middle color in the ink pad.  Use the large dauber to quickly ink up a large stamp.  These three ink pads gives you 9 colors to use for stamping with rubber stamps or for coloring stenciled or stamped images.  They take up less space than carrying 9 full sized ink pads, and saves money too.

Basic Tools and Coloring Medium

Welcome new stamper!

Basic Tools

Here I recommend what I consider to be the best, most useful, basic tools.

• Scissors 6" long.  Durasharp, Titanium, or Gingher brands are sharp.
• Clear ruler 6" long. Omnigrid has easy to see markings.
• Pencil with eraser.
• Double-sided tape - TomBow mono permanent - It conveniently rolls on paper.
• Double-sided tape - Scotch Gold - strong adhesive for cold weather (Christmas).
• TomBow glue pen - optional. Very convenient for  attaching small accents.  Does not run.
• Bone folder - optional, cleanly folds card stock.
• Clear case 6"x9"x1.25" - to hold basic tools.

Cleaning Supplies:

• Baby wipes
• Small cleaning brush - nylon nail cleaner
• Staz-On Multipurpose stamp cleaner
• Stamp cleaning brush pad - optional.

Next, I list the most useful and convenient coloring mediums.

• Crayons or brush markers, water based - Stampin' Up! Watercolor Wonder Crayons in Bold Brights or assorted markers by TomBow or Stampin' Up!  (I use Stampin' Up! markers because the colors match with Stampin' Up! ribbons & accessories and card stock. Both brands are of the best quality in my experience.  Between the two, TomBow is better.  It does not dry out and the brush tips are larger and they hold more ink than Stampin' Up! marker.)
• Brushes - Aqua Pens or regular water color brushes.  (To get a soft, water-colored look with markers, pick up the color on the marker tip with a water color brush tip, then transfer the brush to the card to color.) 
• Black marker, TomBow or Stampin' Up!
• White opaque pen - Signo or Gelly Roll.  (White Souffle pen gives an interesting puffed look.)
• Non-smearing black ink pad - VersaFine black is highly recommended.  You can water color over the stamped image and it does not smear.  It does need a few seconds to dry after being stamped.
• Large ink pads in various colors are convenient for coloring a large bold stamp, but you don't need any in the beginning.  You can slowly acquire them in your favorite colors as you discover your own taste and your own ways of making cards.  Large ink pads are most useful for batch processors who make 6+ cards at a time using one color per stamp.

Returning to Blogspot.com for my Budget Crafter blog

Hello,

I have decided to return to using Blogspot.com for my crafting blog.  I had used VOX.com but they closed the business.  My crafting blog was temporarily located at typepad.com, but I did not see an easy way to list older blogs on the side column.  Since Google bought Blogspot, I am hoping there were some improvements in user interface.  Also, Annette Wen, my crafting teacher from California uses it!  I decided to formally change the blog's title to "Budget Crafter."  I am planning to post a series of 10 class videos for newbie card makers.  I will also sell kits for newbie card makers so they can start learning this incredibly empowering and creative hobby of handmade cards with as small a budget as possible.
Happy Crafting!   from Jennifer Yoon