Summer holidays are almost here and I can’t wait to enjoy some crafting time with my kids. Whether it’s creating birthday party invitations, scrapbook pages of summer fun or wall art for our newly renovated house, it’s going to be a very crafty summer at our home.
Today’s tip, trick and technique is all about asking you, “Who taught you to craft?”, “What crafting skills do you have?” and “How can you incorporate them into your paper crafting projects?”
In the summer issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today I shared a layout about my mother. She is a seamstress and quilter. There is no doubt in my mind that the crafty apple does not fall far from the tree in our family. For this layout, I took advantage of the features of the Xyron Creatopia and used the fabric adhesive option to add die cut felt flowers.
Supplies: Core'dinations cardstock and Sand-It Gadget tool, Jillibean Soup kraft paper, My Little Shoebox patterned paper, stamp and diecuts, Maya Road trinket pins, American Crafts buttons and layering tape, Sizzix flower dies, Quickutz letter dies, ProvoCraft embossing folder, Xyron Creatopia (fabric adhesive, Cutz, Shapez), Tsukineko ink, DMC embroidery thread, Font: Another Typewriter, other: felt, pattern paper.
When I was growing up my mother worked full-time once I entered grade one. She would get a few weeks of vacation in the summer so most of my days were spent with my maternal grandmother. My grandmother taught me how to knit, sew, needlepoint, quilt, smock, paint, rug hook, braid, and hot glue gun. Yes, it staggers the mind to think of how many pinecone-spray-painted-gold-angels-blowing-golf-tee-trumpets I hot glue gunned one summer for a fall bizarre at her church. We would make nylon-baby-faced-fridge-magnets out of empty creamers. We would make God’s Eyes and Barbie clothes for every season. I remember spending one particularly hot summer rug hooking a large Mary Maxim wool creation which left me dehydrated at the end of each day. Every day with Grandma was like a craft boot camp and I loved every minute of her wisdom and attention.
The Xyron Creatopia got me thinking, “What other crafty elements can I start adding to my layouts and cards? How about knitting?” That’s something I haven’t added to my paper crafts at this point. I literally ran next door to my neighbour, Kimberly, and asked if she had any knitting needles since I have lost mine in our recent move. She didn’t have any but she did have some bamboo skewers which worked even better than I had planned because I could trim them to fit the card. After I have knitted several rows I ran it through the Xyron Creatopia to add adhesive to the back. My sewing machine added a nice border to the card and - Voila!
Supplies: Jillibean Soup kraft paper and patterned paper, Patons yarn, Xyron Creatopia fabric adhesive, Font: Another Typewriter, other: sewing machine, thread and bamboo skewers.
What can you add to your paper creations? Have you tried adding hand-stitching to your layouts and cards? Do you have scraps of fabric which could be used to make gorgeous flowers? Be sure to let me know which crafting techniques you might add to your future projects or which ones you are already using. Do your crafting guru proud and add show off your skills in your next scrapbook or card project!
~ Sarah Hodgkinson
(Don't forget today is the day to either send in your May Project 12 submission to ideas@scrapbookandcards.com or link it to THIS post! The July sketch reveal will be on July 1st!)
