random.on purpose.

Consolidate, Celebrate! Part 2

So... I carried on with the stamp organizing, consolidating project today...  ALL of my Stampin'Up! stamps are now housed in their new DVD-style cases, with Sailor 2-in-1 glue on the back, ready to use on acrylic blocks.  Here's the really, really exciting part:

This is a picture of three shelves on a five-shelf DVD rack.  There are 27 DVD-style cases on it, and inside are twelve (12) background stamps, sixteen (16) jumbo wheels, twenty-six (26) standard wheels, and one hundred forty-one (141) stamp sets!  I may have missed one or two somewhere in there, but you get the idea!  All that red rubber bliss in 27 cases total!  Can you say "STOKED"?!  Don't believe me?  Here's my index:

Download Case Index

In other happy news, here's what I did with my new I {Love} Love jumbo wheels:

 

The top row is the intact wheel (although unmounted) that I intend to use for borders and backgrounds.  The bottom row is the second wheel cut into 19 separate stamps!  I now have 8 "Love" stamps, 2 "I love you" stamps, 1 "Hugs & Kisses", 1 "Love you lots", 1 "Heart to heart", 2 "xoxoxo", 2 rows of hearts and 2 individual hearts!  Since each wheel is only $8.50, I got a BARGAIN, I'm thinkin'!

Lastly, here's my little review/plug for Sailor 2-in-1 glue markers (select supplies>adhesives, then scroll down).  This is NOT Sailor:

I believe I tried out Zig 2-way glue to see if it would work, and this was the result, sadly.  The stamps that had this sad stuff on it got cleaned up (this just rolled right off with my thumb) and re-coated with Sailor, which leaves no residue on the carrier sheet, but sticks beautifully to it and/or the acrylic block for use and storage. 

And there you have it - my progress so far!  I ordered 32 cases, and already had 8, for a total of 40, and got 2 more with a couple of the new stamps sets I ordered, so I have enough to house my other unmounted rubber from other companies, too!  I'm still deciding if I'm going to do this with the photopolymer (clear) stamps, as well - they're already fairly compact...  I'll report back on that when I make up my other mind, k? 

Okey-dokey - gotta jet for now!  Thanks for stopping by, and maybe some of this is useful for you!  If you have any questions, just email me - I'd love to hear from you!  'Bye!

A Chuckle to Start the Day

Oh, how I love my Greggie!  Not only is he THE coolest guy EVER, but an endless source of amusement, as well!  This is the sight that greeted me when I went to the closet to get a shirt:

Yup - his sweats and socks, right where he stepped out of them and into bed last night!  Think maybe he was on auto-pilot?  Too funny...  (Note: the wall to the right of the sweats will be stripped of the remaining bits o' wallpaper this weekend and painted - we bought a new bedroom set that will be delivered in a couple of weeks, so now there is MOTIVATION!  The cord will not be there any more, either, hopefully...)

Okay, as you were - I just wanted to pop in for a quick sec to share the joy!  Gotta work this morning, but I've got a card a-brewin', and a tricky tidbit, too, so check back later - ta!

Buttons 'n' Bows

I read a thread on Splitcoast Stampers regarding the bows w/buttons that seem popular these days, and how I did mine wasn't the same as how the other posters on the thread did theirs, so it inspired me to show you my method.  Please excuse the fact that I'm not making an actual card - just using card "ingredients", and please forgive the "old lady hands" - my 'day job' is doing upholstery and such-like and does a number on the digits...  'Nuff said, here we go:

I'm frugal (cheap), so I don't like to waste ribbon, so I just cut enough to wrap to the back, where I adhere it.  Leave it a bit slack (I didn't, but I did adjust in later steps):

 

Determine how big you want your bow to be by sort of overlapping like this, and cut a bit extra, just in case and for trimming neat ends.

 
 
 Wrap your twine behind the ribbon and through both holes of the button, leaving a loop, as shown.
 

Slide your overlapped ribbon(bow) into the loop of twine, pull it tight and tie the twine into a bow.

It will look wonky like this, but don't be a-skeered - just manipulate the ribbon and the bow until it looks normal (this is why you needed to leave a bit of slack in the ribbon in the first step - I didn't, and it made the card bend and the ribbon do odd things - I adjusted it before moving on...).  Trim the ends of the twine and the ribbon, and you're done!  Here's mine all prettied up:

 

I'm really liking the one-tail-up-one-tail-down look these days, but you can also make the bow so both tails are down, simply by changing which way you put the overlapped ribbon/bow through the loop:

Flip the overlapped ribbon/bow over so the tails are against the card to slide it through the loop, then carry on, and you get this:

(sorry - I got in too much of a hurry and didn't trim the other tail even...)

You can also add a flower into the mix (or snowflake or heart or whatever) like I did on this card:

I just brought the twine through the hole in the center of the flower before threading it through the button, then slid the ribbon/bow into the loop and finished as above.  This entire bow/button/flower assembly is held on with a glue dot, rather than tying it around a ribbon on the card itself. 

And that's all there is to it!  Have fun, have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!