Got Scraps? Here's a fun and cute solution for using them .

Hello Friends,

Anybody besides me enjoying the sunny days of summer?  I enjoy them even when I am inside the house working.  There is something energizing about the sunshine and longer days.  I have been cleaning and purging my studio again lately (it is a never-ending job), and have had to make decisions about what paper to keep; what to throw away, and what to donate.  I am certain that you other paper crafters out there end up with lots of scraps that you hate to throw away.  Well, I have a solution!

I love the looks of the mixed media albums and journals that are so popular right now.  I have a friend who sells supplies overseas and has to send everything in "smalls".  She enjoys the 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" size, so I decided to use my pretty paper scraps to make some little albums.  I gathered scraps, paper cutter, 3/8" hole punch, adhesives, scissors, embellishments (i.e. stickers, sayings, punched flowers, die-cuts, sequins, rhinestones, chalk inks, sponge, etc. I picked up some book binder rings from my Staples store and was ready to make my little books.

I cut the papers into 2-1/2" x 3-1/2" rectangles...then punched three holes evenly down one side.  All of the papers should be punched in the same place.  I have a special pattern that I made up for the pocket page.  You can also cut a smaller rectangle and glue it to the page to make a pocket, or glue a little paper bag to the page to put things in. I punched out tabs and glued them to the pages. Once I embellished and stamped on all of my pages, I attached the paper binders.

Here are some close-ups of my albums.

This is the front and it has a tabbed pocket on it.  I chose to put business cards in this pocket.  I like having important information handy!

You can see in this picture about how many pages are in it....you cant really see all of the cute things

I put on the pages though......I will add some other photos later with better views of the pages.

Of course if I am going to have my important info in a handy little book, I also need a handy place to keep it.

Enter....CraZy TACKz!  I used a CraZy TACKz that matched my little album from a Designer package of the rounds in black, white and red.  The TACKz will hold up to two pounds.  My little book doesn't weigh anything near that!  It is mounted close to my computer for easy access.  

I can line up all of my little books if I want to.  Fun!  Here are some more views as I promised!

The embellishments were little scrappy things that I found in different places.  I am not sure they would 

have turned out as cute if I had planned every page!  I just started gluing and pasting!

That is about it for today.  I will post some more examples of the books in the next day or two.  Hopefully this is enough to inspire you to get started on some of your own.  Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Crafting!

Marilyn

Design Consultant

for

CraZy TACKz 

www.crazytackz.com

www.marilyngossett.com

ABC JUNGLE BOARD with CraZy TACKz

Good Morning Friends!

I just finished a piece of wall decor to hang up mementos or items you want to have handy for a kid's room. I used some cool items from New Image including CPE felt, Lara's wood shapes and of course our clear CraZy TACKz. The TACKz were embellished with black glitter before using them on the board. There is a tutorial on an earlier blog for applying glitter to the CraZy TACKz.  I covered a 12" square Smooth Foam wall mount from Plasteel Corporation with the giraffe patterned felt, then inserted it in the wooden frame that has a 1/2" indent.  (Found these at Craft Warehouse and Ben Franklin's Craft and Frame Shops).

At the bottom of the frame there is a wood rectangle that I painted and made into a shelf, secured by gluing 1/2" wood blocks to the frame and under the painted wood rectangle.

The pre-painted monkey and zebra shapes are secured in a standing position by gluing the same sized blocks to the backs of the feet and to the base.  The blocks are not visible from the front view.  There is room on the "shelf" to place a little jar of Q-tips, a picture, etc.

The CraZy TACKz were applied to the monkey's noses and along the top of the board. You can hook up jewelry, mementos, etc. for safe keeping. I have some ideas for up-cycled stuff that I will post a little later. Blogger has changed a little and I am still getting used to it. Hope this added a little inspiration to your day. I will post more soon!

I will close with a little tip from the CraZy TACKz Solutions board on my Pinterest site. It is summer and time for barbecues in the back yard. Here is a tip via photograph to keep your tools handy and organized.

Our summer has finally warmed up here in the Pacific Northwest. We are having beautiful days in the backyard and great meals on the bar-be. This is why we put up with so much rain during the rest of the year! Hope you are enjoying the dog days of summer as well!

The CraZy TACKz are now available at many crafting retailers and fabric stores.  Ask for them!

Happy Crafting!

Marilyn

Designer for

CraZy TACKz

www.crazytackz.com

www.marilyngossett.com

A Place for your Keys!

Do you ever get frustrated because you can't find your keys?  I know I do!  

While shopping at Craft Warehouse, one of my favorite craft supply stores; I was browsing in their wonderful selection of unfinished wood supplies.  I found this shadow box with a little piece of string and clothespins built in to hang something inside.  I thought this 

would be a little different twist to putting my words on the outside of the box or frame.

I am always thinking about how to use our CraZy TACKz in a way that is a little more creative than poking them straight into a wall.  Not that they don't work great for that, but I favor a piece of wall decor that is also useful and attractive.  Below I have posted pictures of the steps necessary to create this shadowbox-key holder.  Here are the supplies I started with to complete the project.

This is how the unfinished wooden shadow box looked before I took it apart to decorate.

This next photo is of the box taken apart.  There are three parts, four counting the glass in the front.

The top piece shown has the string attached and there are extra mini clothespins to hang your pretties with.  I put a wash of a brownish green paint on all of the pieces and let it dry thoroughly before the next step.  (Carefully remove the glass and set aside while you are working on the wood pieces.)

Here is the back of the frame.  I cut the paper to fit the piece of wood and used decoupage medium to attach it.  Allow to dry, glue other embellishments to the piece as desired.  I used some little cut out scraps of memory card stock and some little metal sprocket pieces that I found in the scrap-booking department.

I cut paper strips to fit the sides and front of the shadow box frame, then cut out banner pieces on my personal die-cut machine.  They are about 2"cuts, with slightly smaller pieces for the inserts.  The letters are from a package of alphabet stickers and measure about one inch high.  As you will see in the picture of the finished project, I clipped them to the string with the extra mini clothespins.

Here is another picture of the finished project.  The basic clear CraZy TACKz were decorated with gold glitter and I used a jewelry pliers to gently push the tack into the wood.  The CraZy TACKz are not recommended for use with a hard wood, but most unfinished wood pieces in the craft stores are made from a soft wood such as pine or bass.

Here is the final picture and a close-up view of the CraZy TACKz in the bottom of the frame. See how cool they are for hanging the keys?  If you plan on putting quite a bit of weight on this, make sure the frame is anchored to the wall securely.  Hope you enjoy this project, I will be posting more in the coming week.  I stocked up on wood that looked fun to decorate when I was at Craft Warehouse.  If you enjoy getting new project ideas and ways to use CraZy TACKz, please join this Blog and keep in touch.

Hope you are enjoying the summer!

Happy Crafting,

Marilyn

Design Consultant

for

CraZy TACKz

www.crazytackz.com

www.marilyngossett.com

Banner & CraZy TACKz!  Use the tackz to hang the banner,

use the hookz to add balloons.  Viola!