Here are my flowers

Completely forgot last night to do this - so I snapped a quick picture with my phone - it's not the best, but you get the idea:



In this first shot, you can see all the different sizes of circles and scallops I punched. Then i took my Dremel and filed the edges - this is so so much faster than using sandpaper or files and it's a little more precise when you need to get into small edges (like where two scallops meet).

These are my flowers:



I'm not finished with them - I need to add something to the centers, but you get the idea! I just crumpled them up, stacked them, snipped a little here and there and stapled. Whatever I add to the center will cover the staple! There you have it!

later!
lisa

Punches are my favorite tool, how about you?

I love punches - border punches, corner punches, shape punches - all of them. I have a project I'm working on now and wanted to punch a few different size circle. I know I can use my Slice, but there's just something about a punch - I can't resist. And with the Slice, everything is cut in half inch increments and I wanted a different variation.

I headed to JoAnn's first, hoping to find a round punch that was a little less than 2 inches, plus I had a 50% off coupon. They didn't have one but the punches were on sale so I looked around hoping to find a new border punch - but they didn't have anything I was crazy about. I knew Michael's would have one, but didn't have my coupon with me and wasn't sure if they were on sale or not so to Hobby Lobby I went. Most of my punches have come from Hobby Lobby - so I felt they would have just what I was looking for. I also noticed a few Martha Stewart border punches at Hobby Lobby and this was a surprise, didn't think they would ever carry her stuff.

Let me tell you about my punches for a moment. I have Marvy punches, Paper Studio punches, Fiskars, Martha Stewart, and EK Success punches. I'm an equal opportunity puncher!! My favorite punches tend to be the border punches from Fiskars and then EK Success. I haven't had a problem with any of my Fiskars border punches and I use them lots. In my recent clean up of my scrap stuff I finally located one I'd been missing (apron lace) and was super excited to see it!!

I love my Paper Studio punches, but they tend to be really hard to punch with. I have these two that I've used a lot - they are scalloped circles - one is 2 5/16ths and then 1 7/8ths. These two are perfect for layering together but they are super hard to punch. I've tried aluminum foil and wax paper and neither help. I have to punch them on the floor and step on them (not the best method) or go to my kitchen counter top and punch there.

I was hoping to find a circle that would fit somewhere in between those two scallops. I ended up with a 1 7/16th circle punch - doesn't fit in between but I liked that size. I immediately opened it when I got home Saturday and started gathering my paper for my project.

One of the features of these punches (as well as the Marvy punches) is there is a clear cover on the area where your punched shape falls out - so you can see what you are punching, but it stays contained, in the punch. The bad thing is if you are lining up your paper and want the pattern just right in the punch, you have to take the cover off and take out the previously punched shape. My two scalloped circle punches have the clear cover removed and I'm pretty sure they are lost forever. I can see where this would be a great feature if you are punching a shape multiple times since it contains them all right there - no worries about them falling out or getting stuck. But with those particular punches, I haven't found it was that helpful to me. The coolest part of this new punch is the cover is clear and there's a slot that your shape can fall out of - so you can see where you are punching and then slip the shape out without having to take off that cover. I love it!! Best new feature of a punch ever!!

I got a little crazy and punched more circles than I needed, but hey - that's okay - I'll find a way to use them I'm sure!! While I was out hunting down the perfect circle punch, I ran in Tuesday Morning and found some Martha Stewart punches there. I only got one and it's odd - sort of a flower or medallion - not sure what it's supposed to be but for $2.99, I'll try it out. I haven't taken it out of the bag yet, but will get to it this week, I'm sure!!

So, what are your favorite punches? Do you have any fun tips or tricks to share? I'll be back next week with a few tips to share - I love taking a punch and using it to make something other than the shape intended!! Always love a challenge!! I'll try to come back later today and show you the flowers I made with my circles!!

Thanks for reading and leave me a comment about your favorite punch or tip!!

More Can't Buy Me Love creating!

You know, sometimes you get in the grove and you are creating away. Then suddenly you need something in a specific color and you can't find it. You don't have all the embellishments on hand that you have pictured in your mind (or you can't locate them in your stash). I hate when that happens. Usually I can come up with a suitable substitute but not always.

For Valentine's, I don't really decorate, but I decided to at least make a little banner to hang up and actually managed to hang it before Valentine's but just haven't managed to share it here.

I used the "Can't Buy Me Love" kit! I was hanging out with my fellow Scripters - Carol and Virginia. All I had with me were my basic supplies and the kit. I wanted to cut out the banner pieces in a scalloped shape - just to make it more girly and frilly. Since I didn't really have anything with me to use for my shape - I just grabbed the plate Virginia had put yummy chocolate chip cookies on, and traced it's edge. Thank goodness she had a cute plate, huh?

I just didn't have the right shades of pink and blue cardstock with me to go with the yummy Jenni Bowlin paper. So, I just worked on the Jenni Bowlin paper and waited for all the other extras.

I left my project alone for a week or so and then dug everything back out. Sometimes leaving it alone is a bad thing, but for me - when I went back to it, I was ready to finish and hang it up then!! Then I remembered I still didn't have any cardstock to match - at least not to match what was in my head.

So, off to the kitchen I went. I got lost in blogland last week and saw where someone was dying coffee filters to make flowers. They used food color to tint the water and dipped the coffee filters in and then laid them on a cookie sheet and popped them in the oven to dry. I had no food color! I did have icing color so I thought I could try that. I filled a giant pot with warmish water and used a toothpick to add some color to the water. It took much more than I thought, but in the end, I got the result I wanted.

I took my coffee filters (once they were dry) and crumbled them up and stitched a few together in different colored layers. In the end, I got this:



You can't really see it - but it does say BE MINE on the very middle two pieces. Here's a close up of my coffee filter flowers:



I wanted to hang it in a doorway, but having a tall husband puts a cramp in my banner style! So, I picked a doorway we don't really use (the back door).

So next time you think you don't have just what you need - head into the kitchen and whip something up. Of course, you could also use tissue paper since it comes in a wide variety of colors. I've started just buying tissue paper when I see something different, a different color or pattern, just to hold on to, just for when I need a specific color and don't have time to dye something to match. Coffee filters are super cheap though and this was a really easy way to get the colors i was looking for!

So, what do you do when you don't have just the item you need? What are your solutions?

Lisa

A little Christmas yummy for you!

I have a little friend that had her 11th birthday yesterday, so I made her a batch of Chex Muddy Buddies and put it in a cleaned out formula canister.

I decorated the can with some of the November kit. I thought the Jenni Bowlin Studios paper was perfect for this!

You could also use an old hot chocolate can- or even a new one and leave the hot chocolate inside!Chex Muddy Buddies recipe:

9	cups Corn Chex®, Rice Chex®, Wheat Chex® or Chocolate Chex® cereal (or combination)
1	cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2	cup peanut butter
1/4	cup butter or margarine
1	teaspoon vanilla
11/2	cups powdered sugar

1.	Into large bowl, measure cereal; set aside.
2.	In 1-quart microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter uncovered on High 1 minute; stir. Microwave about 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon resealable food-storage plastic bag.
3.	Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

Fun with the November Scripts Kit

I got the November Scripts Kit from Lucy a few days ago and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Virginia took some pics of us at Leeds park a couple of weeks ago and the colors in the November kit mesh really well with the pictures.

One of my favorite techniques (and a great way to use your scraps) is to punch a TON of random, simple shapes and arrange them in a pattern on my layout. Punches make this really easy. I got all the fun patterned papers and some Fiskars Circle Punches (1" and 1.5") and a Fiskars Daisy Punch and made a bunch of little circles. I arranged them in a circle and then used my sewing machine to sew them all down (in a circle - do you see a theme here?).

Next, I took a few fun brads from the kit, some lace flowers and a little bit of a wedding program and added a few extra touches.

Can't wait to see what everyone does with this month's kit!