How Many Fingers?

I bought some fun new stamps at Hobby Lobby last week when they were having a 50% off sale. Here's one of them:
This image is by INKADINKADO. There is also a line at the bottom of the stamp that I chose not to ink up, but it says "Shane O'Donnell, age 4". I think this could make a fun card for both kids AND adults, LOL!

To complete this quick and easy card, I used patterned paper by Paperbilities.

Have a great day, Tootles!

Bandana Technique

Every month when my TAC Hostess Club meets, I also give them homework to do on their own before the next meeting. Last month at club, after our regular project I then showed them the "bandana" technique. We used the TAC stamp So Girly Swirly stamped in Palette Noir ink on red cardstock. Then we used white gel pens to doodle around the black image to give it a bandana look. Their homework was to use this little strip on a card and bring it back to the next meeting to show everyone. It was really neat to see everyone's creativity and the different ways to use the same image! I wish I would have taken pictures of them all to show you!!

Anyway, here is what I came up with for mine:
I also used a sentiment from the TAC stamp set Little Things.

In this picture, you can see how I used my Scor-Pal to create a fun background. We've had so much fun with the Scor-Pal, that almost all of my ladies are choosing that as their half price item when it is their turn to be hostess!

Thanks for stopping by to visit! Tootles!

One Sheet Pocket Book

I'm on a roll! TWO tutorials in a row! Actually, I have several things ready to show you. Some of them I've had done for awhile, and some I just made. Since I have the time today, I will be scheduling several posts to automatically show up on here over the next couple weeks. So keep checking back! On with today's tutorial.....

I have seen different variations of this, but I call it the "One Sheet Pocket Book". It's made out of one sheet of 12" x 12" paper and ends up with 8 pockets. The pages are 4" tall and approximately 2 5/8" wide (after binding).
This is such a cute size! It's definitely purse-size and can be used for holding so many different things.

In this picture, I have put some stamped images in the pockets. Wouldn't this make a great gift for a stamping friend?! Once they use up all the images, they can re-use the pocket book for something else. Here are some other ideas I've came up with for this little book:
Use it to hold
* gift tags *
* business cards *
* ATC's (altered trading cards) *
* wallet sized photos *
* phone numbers/addresses *
* credit cards *
* gift cards *
The possibilities are endless!
___________________________________________
ONE SHEET POCKET BOOK
Supplies:
One 12" x 12" sheet of paper or LIGHTweight cardstock (I used double-sided)
Bind-It-All
1/2" O-wires for the Bind-It-All
Scor-Pal
Paper trimmer or scissors
Adhesive
Stamps, ink, ribbon, etc.


Directions:
1. Using the Scor-Pal, score the cardstock at 6" (red/orange line in diagram).
2. Turn the cardstock over and score at 2" and 10" (blue lines in diagram). The reason I say turn it over is with the Scor-Pal, it is recommended that you fold your score lines with the bump on the INSIDE when possible. The indentation should be on the outside. It has to do with the way the scoring divides the fibers in your cardstock.
3. Now turn the cardstock 1/4" turn and score at 3", 6", and 9" (green lines in diagram).
4. Place adhesive as shown by the aqua lines in the diagram in four places. Fold at the 2" and 10" score lines, adhering them closed at the ends.
5. Using a paper trimmer or scissors, cut on the FIRST 6" score line made in step #1. You'll cut from the 3" score line all the way down to the bottom edge (orange line in diagram).
6. Accordian fold each side until it looks like the picture above. Obviously in this case, all of your folds will not have the scored bump on the inside/indentation on the outside. But you will have a general guideline for folding. Also, as you can see - my ends have not been glued together yet in this photo as I've instructed to do in step #4. So do not be confused, LOL!
7. The two pockets at the bottom in the picture above will be adhered to each other, back to back.
8. The entire book is too thick to fit into the Bind-It-All at once so you have to punch the holes in stages. First of all I punched holes in the two center folds at the same time.
9. Then I punched each of the other two folds, one at a time. Make sure you're punching all of the holes on the same side of the book, with the pockets all on the same side.
10. Insert the 1/2" O-wire with the Bind-It-All. Usually when binding books, they recommend that you flip the back cover around to the front before putting your O-wires in. But you can't really do that with this little book. So the ends where your binding wires meet each other will show on the outside.
11. Embellish as desired with stamped images, ribbon, etc.

I did not add a cover because I used lightweight cardstock. But you could add a cover if you wanted, and also use alternate binding (ribbon, staples) if you do not own a Bind-It-All.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Smackin' Acetate Tutorial

I have a quick tutorial to share. This is a technique we did at our hostess club last week. A couple of those ladies couldn't make it to our meeting and I wanted to be able to show them some pictures to go by. So what better place to do that than right here on my blog!
This is the card we made at club. It uses the stamp set Fanciful Flowers from The Angel Company. We did the Smackin' Acetate background with Glacier Blue & Dark Olive Tombow markers. The flower blossom was stamped with Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid ink.

Here's my tutorial, using a different card:
You need markers, acetate, fine mist spray bottle with water, and cardstock.

TIP: I cut the lid off of a clamshell box that TAC stamps come in, then cut the ridges off around the sides. This is what I used for my "acetate". The great part about this technique is the Tombow markers wipe off with a tissue and the same piece of plastic can be used over and over.

Scribble on the acetate with your markers. I used two colors on both of my cards - one for the "sky" background, and one for "ground". If you don't have Tombow markers, just experiment with what you have!

Holding your fine mist spray bottle about 6" away, spray a couple times to moisten the acetate. The water will bubble up, that is fine.

Turn the acetate over and lay the wet side down on your cardstock. Rub your fingers across it to make sure all of the color transfers, and also work the bubbles out.

This is what it will look like. It'll need a couple minutes to dry before you stamp on it.

To stamp my image, I used the same Tombow marker that I used for the "ground".

Here's the stamped image, ready to be colored which I did with Tombow markers.

And here is the finished card. I used my Stardust glitter clear gelly pen on the wings.

This is a very quick and easy technique! Great for a quick background!

Make it a great week, Tootles!

Cha Cha Meander Book

Here is a Meander Book (also known as "maze" book) that I made with my Bind-It-All and Scor-Pal. These little books are so much fun to make and also quick and easy, depending on the embellishments. Mine's pretty simple!


I used these directions for the scoring, cutting, and folding. I have also made these using coasters as the covers. But for this one, I cut my covers from cereal boxes (this thin cardboard is GREAT for Bind-It-All projects!) and covered them with cardstock.


Here is a view of the inside. I didn't do a lot of stamping or coloring in it. Pretty basic. I glued one edge of every page to form pockets. After folding the cardstock, most of the pages are open on two sides. Kind of hard to explain, but very easy to figure out!

This picture shows all of the tags laid out. I used the Cha Cha Soar With It Collection from The Angel Company for this project. It comes with a page of coordinating tags that are great for projects like this! I also used Cha Cha ribbon on the tags and the stamp set I used is called Little Inspirations, also from TAC.

Thanks for visiting! Tootles!

Card Keeper

Here's a Card Keeper I made using both my Bind-It-All and my Scor-Pal. I used the general instructions from this tutorial on Splitcoaststampers, called "Card Organizer". But of course I didn't use the Rubicoil machine for the binding. Instead, I used the Bind-It-All and 1" o-wires.

It's really nothing fancy but it definitely serves it's purpose! The "Card Keeper" sentiment was done by computer. The stamped images are from the set "Swirly Gigs" by The Angel Company. Everything's colored in with Tombow markers.

There is a pocket for each month, with a line for each day. A template for the months/days can be found at the tutorial link given above.

You write re-occuring events on the days, like birthdays and anniversaries. This way, you can make the cards ahead of time, even address them in an envelope, and put them in the pocket all ready to be mailed out! Pretty cool, huh!

I got2go! Thanks for stopping by!

Re-vamping my blogs

I won't bore you with the whole story here. If you care to read it, it's over at my other blog. I just want to let my readers know that from now on, ALL of my stamped cards and projects will be right here on this blog. It will no longer be exclusively TAC. For the near future, I will be doing good to keep ONE blog updated with stamped inspiration, let alone two!

Just wanted to let you know! I have a "Card Keeper" that I made with my Bind-It-All that I will post soon!