Did you know?-Tissue Tape tutorial and happy mail

I know I started a "Did you know" idea back in the fall then I sort of dropped it while I was scrambling to do my craft shows but I got thinking the other day, I am going to try to do a tutorial or lead you to info that you may not already have or to refresh your creative mind, we can always use a little help now and again.

Today I want to say....Did you know?... you can make your own tissue tape??? well you may have  or maybe just never bothered, but, once I show you how easy it is and how little materials you need you will be happy I showed you this.

Here in Canada Tim Holt's tissue tape is very pricey and I do like Ranger products, don't get me wrong, but, I find sometimes you are limited when you buy some of these things and can only use things on grunge projects or not so feminine looking things. Well, I have some great news, you can make your own tissue tape, just enough for a special project, or, you can make some to have on stash or just make some blank ahead of time when you need to  make that card in a hurry and you need a little pizazz.

OK enough gab about it...here we go....

All you need is double sided tape, I buy mine at the dollar store and you can get different widths, this size is about half inch and I got 3 rolls for under 2.00, tissue, you can use dressmakers tissue, gift tissue or even a nice napkin with a pattern on it, tissue comes in a variety of colours or just use white and you can see how quickly you can transform it. You may need ink, stamps, scissors and that is it.

Not sure why but my picture loaded sideways, but you get the idea, the green card stock is just for a contrast in colour so you can see the tissue.

 Roll your tape onto the tissue, try to keep it straight and the paper smooth, if you do get a few wrinkles, it just adds a bit of texture to the final result. Make as many strips as you like so you have some on hand in a hurry. If you look a the bottom of this picture you will see I left a little tissue overhanging, that is so it makes it easy to peel back the backing of the tissue tape, you can trim that bit off after you adhere to your card or project and tidy it up.

 Now trim the sides of the excess tissue.

Next I had made my own shamrock stamp for another project and I am in another swap for March so I made my partner some tissue tape for our Shamrock theme. Before I stamped the tissue, I just lightly inked the tape, don't worry if you don't get the inking perfect, it adds interest. Next stamp your stamp. I have made some tissue tape in a collage style using numbers, small clocks etc. Try anything, it really is fun and quick.

 And below is the tissue tape that I stamped on the left and the middle and right side are napkins. Remove both layers of that white fine paper from you napkin and you may want to press the napkin with an iron or just lay it out and place your tape on the opposite side of the design. Trim and you are good to go. Remove the backing and place carefully onto a card or altered project.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial....Did you know?.....you can make your own tissue tape for a fraction of the store cost and you can make it more suitable to your theme.

After I made the Shamrock tape, I took a gel pen and just outlined the shamrocks, made them pop a bit.

  And below I want to share a beautiful Spring theme ATC I received from a long time follower of my blog,   Amy Jo from Art from the Heart. Around Christmas time we decided we wanted to swap art and well the holidays are always a busy time of year and lately we have both been saying how we are anxiously waiting for spring. So we decided to do an ATC in the theme of spring. I received this lovely ATC and below the pic is the backside just as beautiful as the front. I wonder how she knew I love sunflowers, they are my favourite. I also had a pic of the goodies Amy sent along but the pic was sideways and I wasn't going to leave posting.

Thank you Amy and I hope you get my little package soon. I hope you like it.

Til next time friends. I am working on a little whimsy faces booklet for my dear Aunt in England. I just need to work on the pages and it will be done soon.

If anyone has any great quote sites that makes one smile or makes one feel good on a not so good day, could you please let me know. I would like to add some sayings or quotes to my little book.

Thanks all for dropping by.

♥

Another Did you Know

I have been quite busy with painting and getting ideas in my head for my upcoming shows so I haven't devoted much time into "did you knows" , but I have a couple to share with you.

The first one is from one of my followers and she posted on her blog about how to make your own Flower soft. I have always admired the effects Flower soft gave to cards and embellishments but after looking at the price of it,because lets face it I can be rather frugal, and, if I can make it myself, I will. So after seeing this post that Shelly posted quite a while back I asked her if I could share this link with everyone so they can take a peek for themselves. I had to really look for the correct styrofoam tho, I see the type used in the tutorial sort of has a glittery look to it, it is not that white static kind of styrofoam that is all chunky. So I found some recently and put a few of the balls away til I can make some. Follow Shelly's tutorial and have fun.

And " did you know" you can stamp onto salt dough? I just found this idea over at Percy and Blooms blog and all the details are here. I have made salt dough ornies before and baked them and yes they did puff up but if you read this tutorial you will find out how easy and wonderful these look. With Christmas around the corner isn't it nice to get a head start on the little things. The only thing I am not sure of is which kind of ink to use on these. If you have any suggestions let me know. You stamp onto the damp clay and let them air dry.

Feel free to contact me and let me know if you have a tutorial or a tip that qualifies for a " did you know" idea. This way we can share ideas and tips and features and bring traffic and maybe even new followers to our blogs.

Thanks for dropping by and til next time, stay crafty.

Did You Know continues.....

A few more to add to your list of Did you Know....

Turn your paper not your scissors when cutting images for clean and intricate cuts.

Hand sanitizer works great to remove inks like Stazon if you don't have Stazon Ink Cleaner on hand. Just remember hand sanitizers have alcohol in it so wash your stamps well after removing the ink and hand sanitizer. Works great in a pinch, works on rubber and acrylic.

To mount rubber stamps that aren't mounted on wood to an acrylic block, put a bit of glue stick glue on the back of the stamp and place on your  block. Stamp stays put and after you are done just wash the block and stamps off with a bit of soapy water.

Don't have the coloured gems you need for your projects but have lots of white pearls or clear gems? Add a tiny drop of alcohol ink to the pearl  or gem to match your colour themes. I add a drop to a q-tip then rub on the gem, they still glisten and have an iridescent effect, add to the center of your flowers or an embellishment.

Stay tuned for some recent creations and tomorrow I will be showing my next Colour of Summer project featuring RED.

Have a very creative day.

Sunday's Did You Know's

I started a Did you Know topic the other week and I can't believe how time is slipping. I am going to try to post my Did you Know's on Sundays, that way I won't be trying to post other things and this gets lost.

I have started a list by my work station and now I am accumulating quite a few so today I will post 5 of them and then next Sunday 5 more.

So here it goes.....

Did you know?.....

1.If you don't have an Embossing Buddy, try using a dryer sheet prior to stamping and applying Embossing powders to your cards or paper arts. These are anti static sheets so they will remove static and you won't have unwanted bits of EP on your art work.

2. Wrap your wet paintbrush in plastic wrap if you get interrupted while painting, this will keep the brush moist and you won't have to throw away a good brush. Just remove the plastic wrap to continue painting or dampen in some water. Clean up is just as easy than a hardened paint brush!!!!! Works on house painting brushes too!!!!

3. Place your stamp pads face down to keep them moist and the ink to the top of the surface of the pads.

4.Stick an eye pin ( used for jewellery) in your Glossy Accents bottle to keep the nozzle free. Nothing worse than having a clogged up nozzle and mess every time you want to use it. I push the eye pin right down into the hole and the loop is great to pull up and you are ready to use every time. The lid also fits on no problem.

5. Clean those acrylic stamp blocks with the Mr.Clean Magic Eraser. Works every time.

Stay tuned for more Did you Know's????

Image is from the Graphics Fairy.

Did you know?

Have you ever wondered what to use when you don't have all the fancy schmancy tools that you see other artists using online?

Perhaps you are frugal like me and wonder what can I use to substitute for that? or can I use this instead of that?

Well from time to time I am going to share things that I have either found or use or maybe someone shared with me to help you.

Artists are always looking for ways to incorporate items in their stash to use other than their intended uses.

So I am going to start a " Did you Know" article now and again and I invite you to share with me things that you  find helpful, useful, instead of"s.

If I find something online I will direct you to the link to give credit where credit is due and I hope you will do the same if you find something here and share the link. Together we can build up a very helpful resource.

So here it goes.....

Did you know......

to distress the edges of your pages open up your scissors and run the paper between the blades close to the hinge part of the scissors, or, if you take a dressmakers seam ripper run it along the edges of your papers to make them ratty and worn.

Did you know.....

you can crackle your paint with ordinary white school glue? Apply a base coat of paint to your surface, let dry. Apply a rather thick and not too thin coat of white glue to the base coat, paint it on in different directions for interest. Clean your brush and allow the glue to tack up a bit. Next take another coat of contrasting paint and paint over the glue but do not go over the same area you just painted this will glob the paint up and glue and cause a mess. Cover the entire area and leave to dry. You can also use a sponge brush and sponge on the top coat of paint which I prefer to do. Watch as the paint dries, cracks will appear.

Did you know.....

if you don't have gesso not to worry, although white acrylic paint is no real substitute it will do the job. If you need to, just add a bit of water to the paint or your brush and paint the area you want to tone down or add interest to.

Well that's it for today.

Stay tuned for further Did you Know's?