Judy Nolan

Saved from the rubbish heap

judynolan — Fri, 04 May 2012 17:55:08 +0000

Although it’s not a new product line in my Mister PenQuin shop on Etsy, I took some time this week to make some Post-it® Note Mini Clipboards to add to the shop.You wouldn’t know it by looking at them, but there are a lot of tools and steps involved in making mini clipboards.

The materials

I start off by gathering the raw materials: chipboard, card stock, binder clips, heavyweight stabilizer scraps left over from sewing projects, buttons, thread, adhesives, and distress ink. Most of the mini clipboards I make are cut from old three-ring binders that have seen better days. The chipboard behind the vinyl covers is much thicker than any chipboard I can find locally, and the price is certainly right. As for the card stock, I use designer scrapbook paper left over from other projects. I store my scraps by color group inside sheet protectors in a three-ring binder. How do you store your paper scraps?

The tools

Next, I gather my tools: Zutter™ Kutter to cut the unusually thick chipboard, Round-it-All to round the chipboard corners, paper cutter to cut the card stock and Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper to round the corners, sanding block, foam brushes to apply adhesive and distress ink, cutting dies and Sizzix® Big Shot to cut flower layers from card stock, and a petal roller to curve flower petals. Adhesive is applied to the chipboard with a foam brush before I glue the card stock to the chipboard squares. I use a pot scraper to smooth the adhesive evenly; if you have an old plastic credit card or gift card lying around, that works well, too.

As I complete the paper gluing step, I stack chipboard squares beneath a heavy stack of magazines to give the paper time to dry and the chipboard-and-paper combination a chance to form a strong bond. I separate the layers with ordinary kitchen cellophane wrap so there is no chance for one chipboard square to accidentally stick to another one. (Sadly, this is based on experience.) After a couple of hours (or the next day, depending on how much time I have), I use scissors to trim the excess paper from the chipboard squares. I sand the edges smooth with a sanding block, then ink the edges with distress ink, mainly because I like how the walnut-colored ink looks, compared to the naked card stock.

When the chipboard squares are completely finished, I dig into my card stock scraps once more, seeking the best colors and prints that will coordinate with the decorated chipboard squares. Some of that card stock is used to cover a binder clip, while the rest of it is used to make layered flowers. I use cutting dies from different companies to cut the petals, curve them with a petal roller, stack them and sew them together with a button on the center front, and a circle of heavyweight stabilizer on the back. The flower is fastened to the binder clip with the help of a little adhesive to make it more secure.

The results

When the mini clipboards are finished, a process that takes two to three evenings to complete, it’s fun to lay them out and compare them. No two clipboards are ever exactly alike. It feels good to be able to use materials that many people would discard. What are some items that you make using recycled materials?

Spring is in the air!

judynolan — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:20:55 +0000

This month, Margaret of Splendid Little Stars challenged fellow Blogging Business Artisans members to “create a project that calls to mind how one or all the senses respond to this new beginning time of year.” What calls to both my visual and olfactory senses is flowers, but unfortunately I can’t grow them for dust! The next best thing, at least for me, is any flower that doesn’t require water to survive—in other words, a handmade representation. If you visit my JN Originals and Mister PenQuin shops on Etsy, you’ll notice that many of my products include floral embellishments. This is no accident. I am on a one-woman mission to replace all of the poor blossoms I have forgotten to water over a lifetime.

That’s enough about my botanical failings, however. The way I decided to meet Margaret’s April challenge was to create floral embellishments I can adhere to the covers of mini books I make. In a previous post, The tutorial that wasn’t, you may recall that my first attempt to meet this challenge didn’t go so well, since I broke my Big Shot® die cutting machine in the process. The fault was entirely my own, of course, since I didn’t follow the manufacturer’s recommended instructions. I ended up, in fact, ordering a replacement Big Shot®. It was an expensive lesson.

The flower I was attempting to emulate (before I broke my die cutting machine) was supposed to look somewhat like the one in the Mini Gratitude Journal shown below. This particular floral embellishment is made by Basic Grey and is called “Bloomers.” (You can click on the any of the photos, by the way, to see the same item in my shop.)

After my Big Shot® die cutting machine replacement arrived, I pulled out my cutting dies once more, this time following the manufacturer’s instructions. I cut out floral shapes from both paper and Creatology™ Foam Sheets that you can buy at Michaels. I layered them, and inserted a Making Memories pebble brad.

I wasn’t finished with my floral experiment, though. What I really wanted to make was a 3-D flower about the same size as Prima Flowers. If you have never seen one of these sparkly little blooms, take a look at this Mini Gratitude Journal that includes one on its cover.

With the help of a video tutorial called Flower Tutorial using distress ink by Creations with Christina, along with a little experimentation and no distress ink at all, I created my own glittery layered flower. Christina’s instructions call for you to cut out two large, two medium and one small floral shape using the Tim Holtz Alterations Tattered Florals cutting die. On a larger project, this would probably work well, but I was aiming for a Prisma Flower-sized embellishment. Instead, I cut four medium flowers and one small flower.

I misted the flowers with water until they were quite wet, then crumpled then into tiny balls. Carefully, I opened up each flower, and dried each one with a heat gun. I added a pearl to the center of the small flower first, cupping the petals around the pearl. Next, I layered the remaining flowers, curving them upward a little as I adhered each one. When I was finished, I spray misted the entire flower with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl to give it a sparkly effect, then dotted it with Inkssentials™ Glossy Accents dimensional medium before pouring glitter over the entire flower. I tapped off the excess glitter, re-heated the flower with the heat gun to dry it, and affixed it to the Mini Blank Book shown below. What do you think?

I really liked the first flower, but wondered what it might look like in black. It took very little time to create another flower.

Creating these tiny little flowers is quick, easy, and fun. I can see myself customizing each mini book with a different one. The added bonus is that these flowers cost a fraction of the packaged, purchased floral embellishments. What’s your favorite way to make paper flowers?

Tuesday’s Treasury Showcase

judynolan — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:47:16 +0000

The last few weeks have been extraordinarily busy as my husband and I were involved with preparations for Iowa’s Destination ImagiNation® state tournament, as well as communications with Iowa’s Global Finals-bound teams who will be competing May 23-26, 2012 against teams from across the U.S. and around the world at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. We will be there, too, as Appraisers, evaluating almost 1,200 teams’ creative problem-solving solutions. Because of this busyness, I have not had a chance to thank the many curators who showcased my handmade items in their Etsy Treasuries. The Etsy marketplace is so large that visibility can often be an issue, thus I am really grateful for the added visibility that Treasuries bring.

Although there were more than 16 Treasuries in which my items were featured recently, I have decided that this week I will highlight 16 curators’ items through a Treasury that was a delight to create. When I have 16 more curators to highlight, I will create another Treasury. Please feel free to click on any of the photos in this collection, and thank you once more to the individuals who included me in their Treasuries.

Thanks also to the following Etsy buyers who included my items in their Treasuries. Because these folks do not sell handmade items, I am including their Treasuries instead.

Åsa-Katrin Erlandsson from Sweden included two of my felted wool Rebecca Bags in her Treasury titled “Rebecca” that honors her friend, Rebecka.

Sarah Wilson King, who joined Etsy this past December, included one of my crocheted spa cloth sets in her Treasury called “Cocoa & Blue.”

No more frayed ribbons!

judynolan — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 01:44:50 +0000

The other day I was finishing up a craft project involving a ribbon embellishment, and wanted to seal the ends so that the ribbon wouldn’t fray over time. I reached for my Dritz® Fray Check, only to discover it was an old bottle containing liquid that had gummed up and turned cloudy. Hmm, I thought, I didn’t know Fray Check did that. Of course, this was an old bottle, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. It was a Sunday evening when I discovered this, so running to the fabric store to pick up a new bottle was not an option. An old stand-bye is clear nail polish (even though it leaves your ribbon stiff), and in a pinch you can use a tiny bit of Elmer’s Glue. I’ll wait till tomorrow, I thought.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t resist surfing the Net to see what other solutions might be available. The next thing I knew, I had discovered a handy little gadget called the i-magicut™ Ribbon Cutter & Sealer by imaginisce®, the folks from Durham Enterprises who bring you the i-top brad/button/magnet maker, the i-rock Gem Setter, i-rock Mini Iron, Petal Roller and more tools that I should but often cannot resist.

The next day, I visited my local Archivers scrapbooking store to look for an i-magicut™, but was disappointed to discover they had not even heard of it. And you know where I found it next, don’t you? Yep, online, at Amazon. While I waited for my new toy to arrive, I watched a video by Stamping Scrapping about it.

A few days later, my i-magicut™ arrived. I couldn’t wait to try it out! I inserted four AA batteries (not included), grabbed some gross grain ribbon, and turned on the five-inch long device. All you have to do is slide the switch from off to on, and insert your ribbon. Your ribbon can be up to three inches wide.

When you open up the i-magicut™, there are guidelines across which you lay your ribbon. You can do a straight cut, diagonal cut, or a chevron cut. I started off with a straight cut. Close the i-magicut™, and press the button. In three to five seconds, your ribbon will be cut and sealed.

In the next photo, you can see how you angle your ribbon to do a diagonal cut. To create a chevron cut, fold your ribbon in half length-wise, then angle it exactly as you would for a diagonal cut.

The i-magicut™ works only on synthetic ribbons and trims, not cotton, since what it is doing is melting the fibers together. For this reason, if you need to seal two ribbons together, such as when you wrap a package with layered ribbons (like a narrow ribbon centered along the length of a wider ribbon), you can seal the ends together to make it nice and neat. If you cut wired ribbon, you will have to use your scissors to snip the wire, but the ribbon itself will cut and seal without any problems. Because I still do work with cotton trims, I won’t be throwing away my (new) bottle of Dritz® Fray Check, but for synthetic ribbons I found the tool to be quick and easy to use. The i-magicut™ sells for $19 .99 to $24.99. If you can’t find it locally, try Amazon, Stamping Scrapping, Scrapbook.com or Oh My Crafts! I’m sure there are other suppliers as well.

The tutorial that wasn’t

judynolan — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 23:04:38 +0000

This post was supposed to be a tale about how to save scrapbooking dollars, or more precisely, a tutorial for how to create your own 3-D flowers that don’t cost between $4 and $5 for half a dozen, such as the ones below.

I gathered my basic materials: heavyweight stabilizer, fabric and cutting die.

Then I layered my materials sandwich-style, according to the directions that came with my Big Shot® die cutting machine: acrylic cutting plate, Sizzix® cutting die, stabilizer, and—for good measure, in order to save time—the fabric—followed by a second acrylic cutting plate.

I ran the layers through the machine, and was disappointed that the die didn’t cut through all of the layers. “Needs more pressure,” I said to myself. So, I re-cut a scrap of stabilizer and fabric, and added a crease board. “That should do the trick,” I thought.

However, that turned out to be a bad idea.

I must admit that I learned a very interesting science lesson about the power of the wedge, and also the fact that the Big Shot® consists of “solid core steel rollers, unibody cast roller housing, solid steel gears, and ABS (high impactic) plastic exterior.” Many screws and washers later, I salvaged what I could.

R.I.P. Big Shot® . . . I guess I voided the three-year limited warranty, huh?