Scrap chipboard Ball point pen Pencil Paper cutter Scissors Metal ruler or straightedge for tearing Glue sticks Squeegee or bone folder Old greeting cards Cardstock scraps Assorted decorative papers with floral and garden themes Assorted light colored text-weight papers Paper scraps with text Commerical ATCs (optional) Clean scrap paper for gluing Gesso – white and matte clear Paintbrush Water container Decorative scissors with faux stamp perforation pattern Rubber stamps with greetings and sentiments Floral, botanical and garden theme rubber stamps Rubber stamping ink Metallic gold or bronze paint Optional – stickers, stencils, rub-ons, die cuts and other embellishments from your stash
I was looking through some old greeting cards to recycle recently, and made an observation. Delightful sights from nature are used for almost any kind of greeting card. Condolence, birthday, get well, Valentine, Easter, Mother’s Day, and many more. There are biological reasons for humans being cheered by images of nature. Whether or not we have studied the science behind how that works, it’s something we all instinctively seem to know. So here for you is the first of two parts of a tutorial on making Artist Trading Cards, or ATCs, from recycled greeting cards and nature-based imagery.
Instructions
Make yourself two templates from scrap chipboard. One 4 x 3 inches, another 3.5 x 2.5 inches. These are some standard sizes that commercial ATCs come in.
Tracing onto parts of old greeting cards to make ATCs.
Use your templates to find spots on the cards that you want to use. Trace around them with ball point pen. Then cut them out. If the cards are on matte finish paper, and not slick, you could also do your tracing with pencil.
Commercial ATC cards by Tim Holtz and P13.
Sometimes when you buy a pad of decorative paper there is a sheet or two of cardstock imagery you can cut out. ATC sized rectangles are frequently included. Leftover cards from pocket scrapbooking kits can also make good bases for ATCs. When working on ATCs you’ll probably want to do several at a time, so go ahead and mix commercial and homemade ATC base cards if you want. Seeing all the imagery together could inspire you. That’s one reason I enjoy working with paper scraps and leftovers so much – the mixture encourages extra creativity.
Cover the parts of the card that you don’t want showing with decorative papers. I used mainly papers with a gardening and floral theme. Decorative papers with text and text torn from old books and magazines also work really well with this type of collage.
Covering with torn paper the parts I don’t want showing
Cover the cards with solid pieces of paper, torn strips or free-form torn pieces.
If the backs of the cards are blank, you might want to cover the whole surface. Most of cards in this photo are covered with sections of greeting card envelopes with floral designs in the corner. That leaves a lot of room on the card for adding design elements.
Accent the cards with some brushed white gesso. If the gesso is too opaque, you can mix in some clear matte finish gesso.
ATC cards from paper stacks by American Crafts (left) and Tim Holtz (right).
Part 2 – Prepare Some Embellishments
Cut flowers, butterflies, birds and other garden theme items from old cards and decorative papers.
Butterflies and flowers are good for hiding an awkward joining of torn papers.
With a decorative scissors that simulates stamp perforations, it’s easy to make small stamp-like embellishments. Trim real stamps from envelopes, cut out small square images, or stamp small square designs.
Stamp out some sentiments on strips of paper torn with a metal ruler. I’ve painted some of the papers with white gesso for texture. I stamped assorted sentiments in black.
Part 3 – Embellishing the Cards
Tear out some of the stamped words and glue them to the cards.
Add postal images and cut out images of flowers, birds and butterflies.
Enhance with various rubber stamps until the cards look finished to you.
Two ways of making gift tags from paper scraps and free downloadable files that I’ve prepared. Rubber stamp credits for left image: “Love” and tiny heart by CarolynHDesign, butterfly and notebook texture by 7Gypsies, “celebrate” by Making Memories. Right image: “You are loved”, flower and butterfly by Fiskars, decorative border by CarolynHDesign.
Here is another entry in a series of articles I’m working on about things you can make from old greeting cards and paper scraps. Tags are a useful thing to make and keep on hand for gift giving and gift presentation. Great presentation is one of the best parts of getting a gift – some thought and care makes a gift personal and special.
Download and print out the template Gift Tags Set 1. Loosely cut out the tag shapes from the template and with the glue stick glue them down to the backs of parts of old greeting cards. Burnish well with a bone folder for a tight seal. To keep surfaces clean and to prevent ink and toner from getting onto surfaces, place the pieces you burnish between two pieces of clean scrap paper.
Trim around the outer edge of the tags to cut out. Now you have a tag with To: and From: printed on one side and a design or a plain color on the other, depending on what was on the recycled card.
After trimming. Some of the tags are interesting as they are. Most will need some more decoration.
Add strips of decorative paper to the sides of the the tags that need more decoration.
Give the edges of both sides of the tags a decorative treatment, with rubber stamps and/or paint markers.
Now they are done and you can write them out and tie them to the package with ribbon or twine.
Instructions – Method 2
Cut a bunch of tag shapes out of scrap cardstock and greeting card parts. If you think you will make a lot of tags, you might find it helpful to make yourself a set of templates for tracing tag shapes out of scrap chipboard or other thick paper scraps.
Here are tag templates I made for myself. Whenever I want to make tags, I trace around these onto scrap cardstock and old greeting cards. That gives me a supply of bases for adding embellishments.
Tear the To and From sections out, using a straight edge like a metal ruler as a guide.
Glue the To and From sections torn from the printed paper onto the backs of the tags.
Add decorative paper scraps around the To and From and trim with a scissors.
Decorate the other side of the tag if needed.
Stamping can be kind of time-consuming. A good shortcut to try when adding visual textureand interest is to stamp the edges of several tags at once by placing them next to each other on the work surface.If either side of the tags looked too bare, I added rubber stamp markings where I thought they were needed.Here are some tags with a Christmas theme.
“From the heart” – finished Christmas themed explosion cards. Pictured closed at the top of the picture, open at the bottom.
What is an Explosion Card? It’s a card that allows the recipient to open a folding portion of it and see something come out or appear. Sometimes people put in confetti or glitter. I’m only putting in a dozen punched-out paper hearts in each – they won’t make TOO much of a mess when opened!
This project is the result of old paper crafting templates I downloaded long ago, combined with brainstoming for ways to re-use old greeting cards, Christmas cards in this case. The folding assembly on the front of the card is very simple as far as explosion cards go, but since this card has a lot of parts and uses a lot of different materials, I didn’t want to make it too complicated. When you’re using upcycled paper scraps in a project, a simple design is a good foil for a potpourri of designs and motifs that might otherwise be too busy visually.
Tools and Materials
Templates: Explosion Card Page 1, Explosion Card Page 2, and if you want to make an envelope, Envelope Template Square. Cardstock Assorted decorative papers, new or upcycled, in coordinating colors and themes Bone folder or squeegee tool Ruler Pencil Clean scrap paper for work surface Scrap cardstock or chipboard for making templates for tracing Embossing fluid or metallic slow-drying pigment ink Heat tool Gold embossing powder Optional – large opalescent glitter Long thin plain rectangle rubber stamp or cut down piece of a white plastic eraser Old food lid to use as a palette for ink and paint Paper cutter Scissors Glue sticks Adhesive dots Old greeting cards Heart punch Eraser with flat sides, dedicated for printing Paint pens Acrylic paint and acrylic medium Permanent black or dark color rubber stamping ink Rubber stamps with a sentiment and small words
Instructions
Download and print out the templates Explosion Card Page 1 and Explosion Card Page 2. Keep Page 1 intact for reference. The diagram on Page 1 will tell you what size cardstock to cut out to make the card, and show you where to adhere items to the front of the card. Take Page 2 and cut out the three shapes. Glue them to scrap cardstock or chipboard with a glue stick and trim to make re-usable shapes for tracing.
Here are the three shapes from Page 2, mounted and cut out on old manila file folder scraps.
Next choose cardstock to make the card body. Cut out an 8.5 inch by 4.25 inch piece and fold it in half.
Place the tracing template 3″ x 3″ square in the middle of the front of the card and trace around it with pencil.
Here is a green piece of cardstock, 8.5 inch by 4.25 inch, folded in half. I used the 3 inch square template I just made to trace a square in pencil onto the front of the card as a guide to where to stamp the embossing ink.Rubber stamping a thin strip of gold pigment ink then applying embossing powder to make a nice gold frame for the front of the card.
Stamp on top of the pencil line with either embossing ink or metallic pigment ink that stays wet. As shown in my example I had had some leftover gold pigment rubber stamping ink so I used that instead of embossing ink. Embossing ink is made to dry slowly on purpose so that embossing powder will adhere to it until melted with a heat tool. Pigment rubber stamping ink will also stay wet for a long time so if the application is juicy enough you can use it for embossing.
I stamp long thin rectangles on a lot of my projects to make edging, frames, or lines of various widths. I keep erasers and scrap rubber strips around for this purpose to apply various inks and paints. You can also use strips cut from foam, or as shown in the photo above you can use a rubber shape stamp. The one shown is from my set Faux Postage Shapes. Some commerical stamps that are just plain shapes are sold for when you need solid colors or background colors. Sometimes they are called shadow stamps. It’s also easy to make your own shadow stamps from foam or sheets of rubber you can buy in the plumbing department at the hardware store, normally used for cutting gaskets. Here is a link to an article I wrote that involves printing with foam – a fun pursuit in itself!
Sprinkle gold embossing powder over the wet ink, shake off the excess, and melt with a heat tool. Here is a tip – if you have large-grained opalescent glitter, mix in a little bit of that into the gold embossing powder before you sprinkle it on. As long as you don’t overheat the embossing powder, the glitter won’t melt and it adds extra texture and interest to the gold area.
The first batch of these cards I made used all tints and shades of green. I decided that the green was a little flat looking and needed more interest. I looked through my rubber stamp collection to see if there was a border stamp that might make a translucent texture but none of them grabbed me at the moment so I decided to mix some matte acrylic medium with a bit of yellow acrylic paint and stamp it along the edges of the card with an eraser. The texture of the stamped paint was just what I was looking for. It made the green more interesting without giving it a flat look that was too opaque.
You can let the paint dry naturally or hurry it along with a heat tool, making sure not to re-melt the embossing powder. Now you have a subtle but interesting ground for stamping some words and phrases around the edges. I picked a Tim Holtz stamp “from the heart” for the bottom edge of my cards, and the words “hope”, “peace” and “joy” from my set Christmas Card Making Kit. You can use any stamps in your collection that fit the space and your theme. I used permanent ink so it would stamp ok on the paint, but if you skip the paint you can use any ink you have that suits your cardstock surface.
After embossing, stamp paint along the edges if needed, and words and phrases with permanent rubber stamping ink such as StazOn.
The next step is to go looking for parts of greeting cards to cut out and make into parts of new cards. To make these samples I was looking for three things – first a sentiment to cut out and glue into the inside of the card, where the sentiment usually is. Second, a piece to use as the inside front, which is a square with rounded corners. Third I looked for colorful card pieces to punch hearts from to fill the “exploding” container at the front of the card.
Every card I made didn’t need this, but there were a few pieces of cardstock I used which turned out to be too flimsy to fully support the finished card so I backed the cardstock where needed with portions of cards with nice designs on them, laminated together with a glue stick.
I used parts of cut up cards to line the inside front of some of the cards, and each card had a sentiment inside that I got from an upcycled card.
I used a lot of cut-out sentiments from from the insides of cards to glue in the traditional spots inside my new cards, leaving room underneath for signing the cards.
Then I selected parts of cards to put inside the front folded in assembly that you’ll see how to make soon. I traced around the “inside front” template with pencil or pen then I cut them out. I used both words and images, whatever looked right and fit the theme.
In the middle is the tracing template I made from the download Explosion Card Page 2. Selections both before and after cutting show what might work glued down inside the “explosion” front of the card. Here are some images that I might use for Easter, a new house card, or a Valentine.
With what scraps were left over from cutting parts out of the cards, I used a heart punch by Marvy Uchida to punch hearts out. I supplemented these scraps with other found papers and cardstock to make sure I had enough hearts for all the cards I made. I put the hearts aside for later.
Punching out some hearts from parts of old cards.
The next step is to make the “Assembly for front” as labeled on the template you made. Take the template and trace it in pencil on a piece of solid color card stock that fits your chosen color scheme. Cut it out and fold the semicircle tabs in. A ruler and bone folder are good aids to making nice crisp folds.
When the “exploding” part is folded shut, the decorative paper on the outsides of the flaps will show.
Now on the outside of each tab, the side that will show when the tabs are folded in, glue a piece of patterned or decorative paper. Gift wrap and decorative scrapbooking papers are great choices for this part. After gluing down the decorative paper, trim with a scissors.
Next use adhesive dots to fasten the folding assembly to the front middle of each card, right in the middle of the gold embossed outlined square. Adhesive dots are stronger than double sided tape and less messy than glue, though you could also try those if you don’t have adhesive dots. Burnish well with a bone folder so they really stick.
Outline your rounded rectangle pieces for the inside fronts with a coordinating paint marker. When the marker is dry, adhere to the inside front with adhesive dots.
Fill the container with as many hearts as you like and fold in the tabs in order, one by one until it’s closed. Now when the recipient opens it the hearts will fall out.
If you want to make an envelope to match, you can use the template Envelope Template Square as a guide.
Finished cards made by cutting up old Christmas cards
I’ve been working on a series of projects designed to challenge myself to see how many different ways I could upcycle old holiday cards. Usually there is a nice picture on the front, and a sentiment on the inside. Here is how to make a new card out of an old one by recycling the re-usable parts and adding a bit of your own creativity with a little metallic paint, glitter, and rubber stamping ink.
Templates for two sizes of rectangular greeting cards. This image is smaller than actual size. To download the originals, click on Small Rectangular Card #1 (5.25 x 4 inches) or Small Rectangular Card #2 (3.5 x 2.75 inches).
Download and print out one or both the two card templates, Small Rectangular Card #1 or Small Rectangular Card #2. They will help you visualize what size parts to prepare and how to put them together.
Go through some old holiday cards and cut the pictures out of the front of the card, either the 3.5 x 4.75 inch size or the 3.5 x 2.75 inch size. It’s very efficient to make several at a time.
I added metallic paint to the edges of some of my cut out images, and glitter to others. An easy way to apply paint to a straight edge is to squirt some paint onto an old food lid, or other temporary palette. Cover your work surface with scrap paper. Take an eraser with flat sides and sharp edges and dip it in the paint. Stamp a straight line of paint onto the edges of the images. I reserve an eraser for this use because I use this manner of application a lot for acrylic paint and various inks.
While the paint is drying, you might like to edge more of the images with glitter. Squeeze or brush glue around the edge, then apply the glitter and let dry. I made selections from my own glitter stash more interesting by mixing sizes and shapes of glitter particles and adding at least one opalescent color to each blend.
Glitter blends that I mixed up for a variety of Christmas projects.
If you ever need to speed up the drying of paint or glue at any stage for easier handling, you can dry the pieces with a crafting heat tool.
Cut out images edged with metallic paint and glitter.
For each image, cut a piece of cardstock in the size of an unfolded card, and fold it in half. Using a self-healing cutting mat, a utility knife, and a metal ruler, cut a slit in each corner as indicated on the template. It isn’t necessary to draw the lines on the card before cutting – as long as the cuts are close to the right size and placement they should work.
Next insert the images into the fronts of the folded cards by tucking the corners into the slits.
Stamping the corners.
I thought the corners needed to have a bit more interest to them, so I stamped each corner in a mix of acrylic medium with a touch of metallic paint and glitter to add a little shimmer. Then when that addition was dry, I over stamped some decorative stamp dessigns in black permanent ink.
Gluing a sentiment into the inside of each card that I cut from another card.
The last step to finish the cards was to glue a sentiment that I cut from another card into the inside of the card with a glue stick.
Pieces of paper that I stenciled on with paint that was about to dry up.
Have you ever mixed up several colors of paint and looked for a way to use up the leftovers before they dry out and go to waste?
I’m in that situation today, so I’m going to share with you a few pictures of one of my favorite ways to use up paint – stenciling!
Stencil designs by The Crafter’s Workshop. Clockwise, from upper left: Cosmic Music, Rainbow Montage, Dash V, Bubble Scribble.
I have a large collection of stencils, both commerical and original hand cut. The stencils in this article were designed by The Crafter’s Workshop and are for sale in my online store. I do a wide variety of art and crafts that involve paper and cardstock, such as greeting cards, collages, book arts, scrapbooks, tag art, mail art, planners, art journals, doodle art and more. Stenciling some cool designs on scraps is a great way to build up a collection of interesting papers for future projects. Paint that is on the verge of drying up is ideal for stenciling – the tackiness helps prevent running or bleeding.
I pulled out some papers to stencil on from the following sources: old planner divider pages, reclaimed shipping tags, product packaging, scrap cardstock, scrap chipboard and cardboard,interesting backgrounds accidentally made on waste paper that covered my work surface, assorted unfinished project pieces that could become art journal or doodle art pages.I use dry sponges and tools for each color. If any water gets in the paint, it usually causes running or bleeding of the design, so I avoid that by having enough dry tools ready when I start to work.After I’m done with each color and stencil, the tools go in a container of water until I’m ready for the final cleanup. I start the next color with a dry sponge and dry tools.Some of the paint was too far gone to stencil the normal way – full of lumps. Feeling playful, Idecided to see if I could mix in some water putty and make my own dimensional paste. I answered my question – yes I can! No it’s not smooth like commerical dimensional paste – but it was fun to see what happened and it’s a surface I can play with some more later. Tip – if you want to make your own chalk paint, you can mix in a little water putty or tile grout to acrylic paint.The stencil shown in the photo above is called Splash Whoosh.
When you look at a bunch of greeting cards, you’ll notice that some of the cards with pictures on them have glitter applied to them to enhance the design. In this project, I’ll show you how to take images cut from cards and add metallic paint, glitter, and plastic jewels to make them into sparkly ornaments.
Tools and Materials
Assortment of old greeting cards An assortment of cardstock and scrap chipboard in different colors Glue stick Scissors Paint water container Paint well tray or small recycled containers for mixing paint and glitter blends Clear-drying glue in a bottle with a squeeze tip that will hold a line, such as Diamond Glaze, 3D Crystal Lacquer, Turbo Tacky Glue, or Elmer’s. Glitter glue pens Glitter colors A selection of small paintbrushes Metallic and pearlescent paint such as Lumiere Glue-on or press-on plastic jewels Hole punch String, cord or thin ribbon for hanging
Instructions
Get out the old greeting cards and look for distinct objects and characters to cut out. Cut them by hand with a scissors, then mount them onto a piece of cardstock for extra thickness and give the cut-out shape a border.
Some examples of pictures I’ve cut from cards – flowers, hearts, birds, gnomes, angels, a cross, a lantern, penguins – what can you find on old cards?
Look for areas on on the image to highlight with glitter. The easiest to start with is probably white, because you can use it to emphasize snow, white highlights and other white areas.
I painted on some highlights in white pearlescent paint to go under the glitter for extra glow. On the dogwood I added a few dabs of pearlescent pink as well.
I found that my effects were more exciting if I painted on some metallic or pearlescent paint in the same color range of the glitter as an intermediate step before applying the glitter. I brushed pearl white Lumiere paint on the white areas and I let them dry.
If you want to, you can highlight other colors in the image, instead of white or in addition to white.
On the lantern on the left, I highlighted the white “snow” portion of the image, and added agold outline. I painted some pink lines on the heart to enhance the printed design, added glitter and a platic jewel. Then added a border of pink and white glitter.
Decide how many glitter colors you would like on your ornament. I used one, two or three different colors on each of mine depending on the size and design.
Wherever you would like glitter, squeeze out lines or drops of glue. I added an outline of glitter and glue around the edge of each shape. Sprinkle the glitter over the glue, press down very lightly, then shake off. Let dry between colors so you don’t get your glitter color areas mixed up.
This craft is easy enough for a kid to do, as long as they are old enough to safely handle the small pieces. I guess you could say I learned the rudiments from the kits I had as a kid, involving sprinkled flocking, sand or colored stones one color at a time to make a design. Glitter is fun for kids or adults. I experimented with making glitter blends to create more sophisticated colors. Glitter particles of different sizes and some opalescent colors really add interest.
Making a glitter blend on the left, plastic jewels on the right.
If you would like to add flat-back plastic jewels, attach them with tiny drops of glue and let dry.
Plastic jewels in the center of the cross and in the flower centers.
Punch a hole in the top and add cord or thin ribbon for hanging. You’re done!
Here is an angel and two gnomes with hanging loops of thin ribbon attached for hanging.
Paper bookmarks and/or ornaments made from scraps – Star of David, Tree, Mitten, Angel, and Bell.
Christmas 2023 is technically over, according to the calendar. Anyone in the business of holiday merchandising, holiday retailing, selling holiday crafts, writing about making holiday crafts, or selling the supplies for making them can’t only work on these projects during the “correct” season or the projects would never get finished! I’m trying to finish up as many Christmas projects as I can before I put them away, so as I finish them this blog may contain some projects that seem “out of season”. I hope this isn’t too disconcerting! The techniques of course can be adapted to multiple themes and times of year. For those who celebrate Christmas and other holidays in the religious sense as well the secular, the main messages are applicable any day of the year, so I hope these projects are taken in that spirit as well.
Here in Missouri where I live, we are having a warmer than normal winter, so far. It’s still pretty wet and gloomy though, meaning of course that it’s a great time of year for CRAFTS! It’s also a good time for me to upcycle some holiday cards if I’m not saving all of them as is. I have a several projects in progress that make use of recycled cards.
As I was growing up, the best part of any holiday was crafting. This is still the case for me. DIY, crafting and creative re-use were things both my parents showed me all my life by example. My Mom for example would trace cookie cutters around images from used Christmas cards to make tags and other decorations. She may have read this as a tip in a magazine, or maybe it just occurred to her. My Mom started her crafting well before Christmas, and it was very exciting for me every year to watch her get out last year’s saved ribbon, paper and cards and start making things with it. My Mom and I crafted together and separately all season long. We made multiple trips to the Lee Wards store to supplement our stash with whatever new supplies we needed. By second grade I was having a friend over and leading her in a Christmas-themed gift-making session for a boy we both had a crush on and agreed to share between us! I still remember working on it, and how much fun it was to make together and give. Then after each Christmas, I worked on all the kits I got as gifts during the gray winter. Although other aspects of the holidays are also important, for me I can’t conceive of Christmas without crafts. Snow is not required – here in Missouri we might get it or we might not – however there MUST be fabric, ribbon, felt, glue, thread, sequins, glitter, rickrack, paint, beads and more or things just aren’t right! One of the greatest gifts I could give to anyone of any age is just a little bit of this joy.
Vintage metal cookie cutters and tin. It was very exciting to me when this vintage tin came out of the cupboard, because that is where we stored the Christmas cookie cutters. Now my collection has grown too large to fit in one tin.
In this new project, Scrap Ornament or Bookmark, I’ll show you one way to make a decorated paper ornament or bookmark inspired by cookie cutters, several of which were actually my Mom’s. This is a very easy project you can make from leftover holiday paper ephemeral such as cards, gift wrap, ribbon, twine, packaging and envelopes. Then stay tuned for a couple of variations later. Enjoy!
Tools and Materials
Christmas and holiday theme and color papers and images – new or upcycled Christmas and holiday shaped cookie cutters Pen or pencil Scissors Scrap chipboard or card stock Glue stick Metallic paint pens Clean scrap paper Burnishing tool, such as a bone folder Ruler or straightedge for tearing paper Hole punch String, twine or ribbon Ornament hooks
Instructions
Start out by tracing shapes from cookie cutters onto scrap cardstock or chipboard. Chipboard is the type of thin cardboard that is used to make product packaging such as cereal boxes and gift boxes. Cut out the shapes.
Cut out the traced shapes and cover with strips of scrap paper.
Apply strips of torn or cut paper to the front of the shapes with glue sticks. Burnish well with a bone folder, using clean scrap paper between to protect your work. You can use a thin metal ruler or straightedge as a tearing tool for the paper. Sometimes a mixture of torn and cut edges adds a pleasing variety.
Trim around the shapes with a scissors for a smooth edge. If you don’t like the look of the back of your shape, you can cover it with more strips or a piece of suitable paper.
After trimming, punch a hole toward the top of your ornament or bookmark.
Use a metallic paint marker to outline the edges. Just a bit of metallic can do wonders for a craft item!
Husband Tom wearing decorated shapes in his beard during our #12daysoftomsbeard annual project.
If using your shape as a bookmark, loop cord and thread through the hole, pull through and trim. If using as an ornament, you can attach an ornament hook or loop of ribbon.
Handmade paper mitten-shaped bookmark.
You’re done! Of course since paper is flammable keep ornaments away from possible ignition sources such as candles or lights.
In the past I have taught a card making class that uses strips of scrap paper in a similar way. You can read my tutorial here – Making Greeting Cards From Scrap Papers.
If you would like more ideas about how to have a more sustainable holiday season, recent editions of the Ladue News had articles on this topic, one in the e-version, and one in the printed version. They cover some of the same territory but are different and by different authors. Take a look!
Speaking of cookie cutters, my Mom and I did a lot of crafts in the kitchen and sometimes we used some of the same tools and implements in both crafts and cooking. We also both enjoyed collecting and using vintage cookbooks, food pamphlets and kitchen ware. I haven’t updated my Fun With Food web page for awhile, but the information should still be good. I wrote it to help me keep track of favorite recipes and as a tribute to all the fun Mom and I had in the kitchen. Here is the link – Fun With Food.
My Melt and Pour Soap Making web page needs considerable repair right now, but here is a link anyway – Melt and Pour Soap Recipes. I added a lot to my vintage cookie cutter and mold collection while I was obsessed with this hobby. I still like it, but I’m not obsessed like I used to be! I worked out a way to make multicolored flat soap sheets thin enough to cut with metal cutters and embed into clear soap bars. I also made some salt dough fragrance pastilles which was a fun throwback to another activity I was really into when I was young.
Front cover and an activity page from “Fun Till Christmas” by Janet and Alex D’Amato, published in 1965.
Pictured just above are the front cover and one of the activity pages from a book that I had when I was young. I bought a barely used or written in copy at the St. Catherine Laboure garage sale this past spring. The copy I had when I was a kid is long gone and by the time I was done with it, it was all cut up and torn up and written in. I obsessed over every inch of that book. It was a huge influence on me. I loved the activities and graphics. Many of the projects involved creative re-use, like making things out of old Christmas cards. I’ve enjoyed upcycling cards for a long time. I’d like to share with you some of the creative re-use projects I’ve been enjoying. Of course if you don’t celebrate Christmas, the theme of this project could be adjusted for any occasion that involves cards.
Today I’ll show you Christmas Mini Cards With Envelopes.
Mini cards and envelopes made from recycled Christmas cards, envelopes, and wrapping paper.
Tools and Materials
Old greeting cards Christmas and holiday theme papers and images – new or upcycled Template Valentine Pocket Card Self-sticking laminating sheets Pen or pencil Paper cutter Scissors Scrap chipboard Glue stick Metallic paint pens Small rubber stamps Assorted colors rubber stamping ink Clean scrap paper Burnishing tool, such as a bone folder Optional – stickers
Clockwise starting at top left: paper scraps, mini envelopes before assembly, sentiments cut from greeting cards, Mini Envelope Template, Mini Card Template made from scrap chipboard.
Instructions
First download and print out the template Valentine Pocket Card. Cut out the Mini Envelope Template and for durability, laminate it with self-sticking laminating sheets. Use this template to find and trace around holiday themed papers and envelopes to make cute tiny envelopes. Fold the tabs at the dotted lines, and use a glue stick to glue the bottom flap to the bottom of the side flaps.
Next make a little rectangle out of scrap chipboard to use as a template for finding and tracing around greetings and sayings from old cards. The dimensions for the rectangle are 2 7/8″ x 1 7/8″. Trace with a pen or pencil around sections of cards you want to use for a mini card, then cut out.
After cutting out the greetings and sentiments, outline the edges with a metallic paint marker, and use some small festive rubber stamps to apply holiday related designs around the border. Add stamped accents to the fronts of the envelopes as well. If needed, use clean scrap paper and a bone folder to blot the inks you’re using before handling the cards so that they don’t smear.
Glue colorful festive papers to the backs of the cards with a glue stick. Burnish well, and trim.
Once they are dry enough to handle, the cards are ready to insert into the envelopes. You can seal the top flap of the envelope with the glue stick, or use a festive sticker to close the flap.
Further Reading
If you would like more ideas about how to have a more sustainable holiday season, here are other articles of mine on this topic.
Make your own decorated paper tags for a variety of craft projects!This is a good project for using up a lot of paper scraps.
Tools and Materials
Tag Art Template (scroll up and alt-click to download or get PDF – PDF Tag Art Template) Ball point pen Medium weight black marker Black rubber stamping ink Rubber stamps with sentiments Light colored, light weight paper Assorted paper scraps in a selected color scheme – I used neutrals in this demo Clean scrap paper Ruler Bone folder or squeegee Scissors Glue sticks Hole punch String, twine, or embroidery floss
Instructions:
Download my .jpeg graphic Tag Art Template above. If you prefer a PDF file here is a link – PDF Tag Art Template. Print it out onto cardstock if you can, or print it on regular paper and glue it to cardstock for stiffness and durability. Cut around the tags and punch the holes. Now you have a set of tag templates ready to use.
Here is a selection of tag templates I made for myself out of various scrap card stock and chipboard.Besides my pattern, other good sources of potential tag shapes are cookie cutters, commercial stencils, and tags from gifts you get than you can trace.There are also clear and colored plastic tags for sale where craft supplies are sold. Those could be traced and also used as the covers for tag books.
2. Trace the tag shapes onto assorted cardstock pieces. If you have scraps this is a good way to use some up. Cut out the tags close to the lines you drew, but a little outside. That will help you cut a clean edge later.
3. Pick out some light-colored paper that complements your chosen color scheme. Use a ruler as a straight edge to tear the paper into strips. Stamp greetings and sentiments onto the paper pieces with black stamping ink.
I stamped neutral pastel color strips of paper with assorted sentiments in black rubber stamping ink. Most of the stamps you see here are from my unmounted stamp set Assorted Greetings and Sentiments. You could use any sentiment stamps that you have around or tear words out of found papers or old cards.
4. Place the tags on your work surface with the outlined sides down on clean scrap paper. Glue a sentiment on the front of each tag. Fill in the rest of the tag with paper scraps. Tear them into narrow strips with the ruler if you need to.
Adding stamped sentiments and strips of decorative paper scraps to my cut out tags.
5. Trim the tags following the pen line on the back and punch out the holes.
6. Outline the tags with a black sharpie marker
What they call a Sharpie Fine Point I think of as a medium point marker because they make much finer ones. Any black marker will do if it gives you the kind of line you want around the edge. If you like, experiment on scrap cardstock or chipboard before you outline a finished tag.
7. Select two or three strands of string, twine or embroidery floss and thread through the holes with a lark’s head knot.
Once you have made the tags, what can you do with them?
Put one on the front of a greeting card.
Decorate a gift package.
Use as a bookmark.
Make a tag book.
Enhance a shadow box.
Incorporate into scrapbook or journal pages.
Make a decorative seasonal garland.
Make motivational notes for yourself.
Create decorative door hangers.
Label bottles or jars.
What else can you think of? Have fun with your tag art!
Some of my finished scribble art. This is the second of two scribbles. Are these finished “art”? Maybe they are, but even if they are not I might use the resulting textures as collage elements or image transfers in other projects in the future. They should look pretty good as is with a nice mat and frame.
The work on this page was inspired by the project “Collaborative scribble drawing” in the Expressive Arts Activity Book that I use a lot for study and inspiration (Darley and Heath 60).
Scribble art is a great icebreaker. No artistic talent or skill is needed so it’s easy to get started. If done as art therapy it can also create a rapport between the facilitator and the client by making it into a collaborative activity (Darley and Heath 60). For example, in a two person exercise each person can make a scribble on a blank piece of paper, then the participants trade papers and finish off each others drawings. The initial scribble can even be made with eyes closed to take all the pressure off of having to show artistic skill. Abstract results can also be a way to encourage conversation about something the scribble might remind the participants about (Darley and Heath 60). Following are several examples of scribble art that I made with my husband Tom and my Dad Don.
If you want to try something like these samples, here is a list for tools and materials.
Tools and Materials
Bristol board or drawing paper
Pencil
Eraser
Stencils
Black markers in various widths
Colored pencils
Found papers for collage – I used the insides of business envelopes
Tracing paper
Tape
Glue stick
Scribble art by me and Tom. I did moths on the left with Tom’s scribble and he used my scribble to add in various textures from stencils on the right.
Tom and I each made a scribble with our eyes closed with black marker on Bristol board. Next we traded papers and used commercial stencils by The Crafter’s Workshop to further develop the designs. Then we finished off our designs by coloring in parts of the image with colored pencils and markers.
Tom’s scribble was a challenge to work with because it was very dense. It did remind me of something – I turned it into moths trapped and tangled to represent trying to overcome some kind of frustration or challenge. This kind of work is not only good for the brain but just from a visual point of view it’s a good way to discover effects you might want to use in other art later on.
Scribble art by my Dad. Texture practice on the left, filling in the scribble on the right.
These examples were made by my Dad. First I gave him an introduction to Zentangle and doodle art which I wrote about in a previous blog post. He practiced making some repeating textures. Then we each made scribbles on two sheets of drawing paper. We kept our favorite of the two sheets then traded the other. Then we filled the sheets in with textures from our samplers. For extra fun we glued cutouts from the insides of business envelopes into some of the areas in the scribbles. I thought they looked cool with the hand-drawn textures. The tape and tracing paper from the materials list were used along with the pencil to get my collaged paper pieces to fit in their spots on the scribble drawing.
This is my first scribble art sheet in progress. I think it’s against the “rules” of Zentangle to pre-draw pencil lines as a guide before rendering the designs in marker. But I did it anyway!My finished scribble art after erasing the pencil lines. Bristol board and robust good quality drawing paper will stand up to a lot of erasing if you need it.I made a scribble version of Faux Postage using a printable template I shared awhile back. Dad had started this sheet awhile ago by making marks with stencils and markers in the upper left. He’d left the sheet unfinished for a year or two so I asked him if I could finish it. I was inspired by blue and black patterned envelope insides to make a monochromatic design on the sheet. When I finished marker drawing, coloring and collaging, I glued on some little pieces of paper printed with rubber stamps to evoke postage stamps. I’m going to get printouts made of this sheet and send it out to other artists when I next do some Mail Art.
I’m grateful to Dad and and Tom for doing art with me from time to time. I sure do feel a lot less lonely when I get to do a project with somebody. It helps us all with our general well-being and is also a great way to spend time together. When you’re working on art that is mostly mindless, once you get started, it’s easy to talk about various things. It’s also a good activity to do alone when you’re stressed and need to get in a better state of mind. The finished product really isn’t the point if you’re doing it for therapeutic reasons, but I also get skills and inspiration for future art work while I practice.
Works Cited andRecommended Reading
Darley, Suzanne and Wende Heath. “The Expressive Arts Activity Book: A Resource for Professionals”. Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2008.
