Craft Forum

must try it out then sarah thanks!

i use those little zippy bags to store sequins, beads, gems, wire, sentiments…pretty much everything little in. at my closest craft store they sell 100 for £1.50.  hang a piece of yarn or string on the wall or under a shelf, then attach the bags with safety pins. it means you can look through what you have easily and quickly and they are super easy to get out and tidy up. i have mine ordered so that i have all different sentiments (birthday, new baby, get well soon etc) in multiple bags together, then a big bead tied on then another thing then a bead etc, so i know exactly where to look depending on what i want.

i sometimes find a nice wrapping paper to use as backing for cards.have bought them at asda for 50p per 2 large sheets which is very inexpensive.they are quite pretty some of them.

What a nice idea.
What can I say…painting with acrylics. If you want a smooth finish, sweep the brush across, but if you want a bumpy finish, dab on in an up and down motion. Always use the right paint brushes and NEVER use watercolour brushes with acrylics or they’ll be completely ruined, esp. if sable. Wash brushes immediately afterwards. Keep changing your water with each change of colour. Leave them to dry naturally lying flat after dabbing with kitchen roll. A little liquid soap may help to clean them too.
For vellum, a touch of glue runner may be enough to secure it at the edges. In addition, if you have tissue tape (the very thin double sided tape) use this on ribbon and secure the vellum by glueing the ribbon across the centre and extend to the back of your card or other paper project.

nadia71 - 04 July 2009 04:04 PM

I was wondering if it would be possible to use eyeshadow instead of chalk to colour in!
Never tried but thought it was a good idea!!
xNadsX

i use them all the time. i have masses of bright colours from when i was a teenager, and figured they needed to be used sometime!

That looks great babypheonix, well done.

xNadsx

Great card-making tips - so many to go through. 

A tip I find very useful when using mini pop dots, especially as I can’t buy them here (in Israel), is that once the
pop dots have been used up, you still have a lot of sticky bits that can be used in the same way.  You don’t
see the sticky parts once the card is made so the shape of them doesn’t matter.

Chris22 gave a good tip and I have used a sticker in this way, once the main pieces had been used. All I had to do
though was to cut around the pattern left as it was clear enougj to use, but I know that all stickers aren’t as easy as
this.  Attached is a photo of my card using this method.

Boobang - I tried using a dryer sheet when doing embossing but it didn’t seem to help, but then I seem to remember
reading that it should be a used dryer sheet.  Please correct me if this is not right.

loads of useful tips here, Mt thanks for the list of sites for freebies I sign up to as many freebie sites/newsletters as I can find in the course of my browsing then I always have new things that haven’t cost me anything. One site I love is http://www.scrapgirls.com its mainly a scrapbooking site but of course the items can be used for anything as ling as you don’t sell the items. I signed up to the newsletter which comes out everyday full of inspiration, hints and tips and sometimes tutorials on how to use various software to help you but the best thing is at the bottom of the email a freebie everyday, yep thats right everyday.

Hi ladies,  I haven’t posted here before, but I loved reading your tips!  When I need flowers for a card, I go to a dollar store or a general store and buy a bunch of white flowers like carnations and daisies.  When you take them apart, you have several single flowers that can be colored to match your project by using your ink pad!  Thanks!

thanks for the tip KraftyChic and welcome to the forum

I love this post, it’s brilliant! I’ve never thought of so many of these things, old eyeshadow.. fantastic! and the straight peel offs with a post it note, so very clever!!

I’ll try to think of some not already mentioned and do another wee post soon.

thanks everyone!

Thanks for these tips.  I love the one about using eye shadow as I never wear it now and have loads left over.  I always knew they would come in useful one day .

Thanks for all the great tips.

Just a simple suggestion I want to share. To stiffen out paper, either made or commercial, you can use stach. If you are a newbie, you may want to start purchasing a cardmaking kit so you will learn the basics first.

Loads more fantastic tips here everyone.

I save the clear acetate packaging and use it in crafting where ever I can. Great for glass paints, add stability to the inside of a card, makes a flat topper look like it is behind a window.
My favourite though is to fold small strips of the acetate into a v shape and glue under butterfly wings so they don’t go flat in the post. As soon as the card is removed from the envelope the wings pop right out again. Best of all they are also clear and can be cut to the size you need.

xx