A Makeover!

I'm running out of space to hoard my numerous empty jars 'n' bottles! Husby darling is quite accustomed to the sight of a couple of glass bottles soaking in warm soapy water in the sink every few days, LOL! I just can't help it, those jars look too good to be thrown away after having served their original purpose loyally - mostly jams, sauces and juice :) And they're so pretty too, so many different interesting shapes and sizes! So I religiously give them a good scrubbing, get rid of all the stickers and icky sticky stuff and stow them away with a firm belief that they'll be put to some good use soon.

And today was the day :) I picked one little (jam) jar and decided to give it a makeover. Nothing fancy and garish, just some simple dressing up. Take a look -

 

You could fill it up with some candy...

or some buttons for a crafty friend :)

Or just about anything - homemade hot chocolate mix, cookie mix, etc.

What a fun way to make a quick 'n' easy gift with that special 'handmade' touch!

So next time you scoop out the last spoon of jam, stop, remember, clean and stow away!

Happy crafting!

Delight!

Hey there! Don't you just love it when you discover a stamp, hidden away in your stash, neglected because it is dominated by the ones you claim to be your favourites and tend to use very often? Well I do! And it was an absolute delight to find this gorgeous silhouette stamp, sitting pretty in the last page of my clear stamps' folder :) I wonder why I never used it all this while, gosh! In all my excitement, I made this chic 'n' trendy card set -

It was quite a challenge to get a crisp image though...since it is a silhouette. I actually stamped twice to get a 'full' solid image. But I'm quite happy with the way these turned out :)

And now, it's like a light bulb moment. I plan NOT to buy any MORE stamps and make full and better use of the ones I have, LOL!

Happy crafting!

Another Mini Album

I'm back with another interesting scrapbooking project. It's a mini album made from envelopes, how cool is that? I found the idea at Following the Paper Trail. Love!

Each 'page' is actually an envelope, so fun! I haven't made the inserts yet, but that's easy breezy. I've used a 6x6 paper pad with shabby chic prints. Didn't venture into much in the embellishment department...kept the pages very, very simple so there's enough space for pictures or journaling. But if the envelopes were bigger, then I'd have more space to spare for embellishments and borders and such. That's the best part about this album, any size envelopes would work. Hmmm...I'm jotting down a pack of 6x6 square envelopes on my 'to buy' list :)

Hope you try this cool little project. Have fun!

Happy crafting!

Scrapbooking: Mini Album

My fascination for mini albums started a while ago when I stumbled upon a tutorial for 'toilet paper roll' mini album. It was just too good an idea to resist! I saw several other similar ones and then I HAD to try it myself. And once I made a couple, I was hooked :) Then there were the 'paper bag/lunch bag' mini albums. Oh they're so cool too! I made a couple of those as well, they're so much fun. And now, just the other day I found this tutorial for a cool 'pouch mini album'. Awesome stuff! I made one right away...

The colours I've used for this project are mainly purple and pink. I love these pattern papers... they're from a pack I bought from Kmart long ago, I finally got to play with them. The pictures don't show the true colours though, this looks so much brighter IRL.
 

I didn't have 6x6 chipboard, so I just used the backing card from the paper pack. It's quite sturdy, sort of like lightweight chipboard itself. I simply had to cover it with the same pretty paper. Works like a charm!

There are six pouches in this mini album for which I used three sheets of 12x12 card stock in shades of purple and four sheets of 12x12 pattern paper for the matting layers.
 

 I made the inserts with plain white card stock.

 Added three binder rings to hold everything together, then some pretty ribbon in coordinating colours and very simple embellishments and voila! My super cute mini album is ready!

 Mini albums can be made in so many possible colours, sizes and themes and are wonderful as little handmade gifts to give away or make a set for your own photos and memorabilia. I'm definitely stricken :)

Happy crafting!