New Discoveries #1: Take Ten Kits

A new weekly feature on The Craft Sea. I would love to share my new crafting discoveries with you. These may be specific products, websites, techniques, or general crafting ideas. Today on New Discoveries, I would love to highlight a relatively new monthly project life style subscription kit. Colie Kumar from Card Stock Option has created a great, cheap ($10!) monthly kit. I signed up for the first kit in March, but I was regulated to the wait list. Thankfully, I made it onto the actual list for April and now for May. So far, I've received two kits and I am in love with them. They are fun, coordinated, and actually useful. The kits are designed, but they haven't moved in to the super-trendy category like Studio Calico's kits (have not been a fan lately, and super expensive in comparison). The quality of the products is great. The cards are one-sided, but of great cardstock weight. I love the option of rounding the corners yourself or leaving them squared. I prefer rounded corners, but I know many don't. Overall, this is a great little addition to my crafting stash.

April's Kit:

Stamp set -- Three border stamps. Colie offered an add-on stamp that featured words that fit into the border stamps. I didn't buy it, but it was pretty cute.
Silver thickers -- Always love some alphabet stickers
Embellishments -- Chipboard geo tags, one piece of button flair, two manilla tags, sample of washi tape. She offered more matching washi tape as an add-on.
11 3 x 4 Cards
3 4 x 6 Cards

May's Kit:

Stamp Set -- Cute little clouds, rain, etc. I really enjoy this stamp set and can't wait to use it.
Green alphas -- Always a welcome addition
Embellishments -- Clouds and sun wood veneers, button flair, enamel dots (always use these!), and transparent leaves.
11 3 x 4 cards (embossed!)
3 4 x 6 cards

High points:

$10 monthly cost plus shipping: Colie keeps shipping around $2-3 per month. So your total cost can be as low as $12.
Add-ons are offered: If you want to buy some great coordinating products, she offers some great add-ons. The best thing about the add-ons is that you should be able to actual get them if you log onto the Facebook page the first day of the month. I haven't bought anything, but I have been very tempted...
Opt out option: If you aren't a huge fan of the kit, you can opt-out for the month with no penalty. All you have to do is cancel the invoice. You still keep your place on the list for the next month.

If you want your own Take Ten Kit, sign up here.

Gingham Garden Spring Cards

A few of my crafting friends and I went in together on a SU DSP share. We each bought three packs of DSP and then split the packs evenly. In total each of use got a 6x12 sheet of each design from 12, yes 12!, DSP packs. Well all the paper is really gorgeous and fun, it is all retiring at the end of May. This means that I want to try and use of this retiring paper to make room for the new designs. During my crafting open house at the end of April, I spent some time using the rest of the Gingham Garden DSP. I made 8 total cards from the rest of the paper.

Card #1

The first card used some die cut flowers that another crafting had leftover from her card. I cut a few more flowers and added a cute Mother's Day banner. Love the bright colors on this one.

Cards #2-5

In the end, I have just a few card layering sheets and a few a larger pieces left. I used a tried and true card design and just cut three banners per card. Add a sentiment and I have a complete card. I love the pattern play on these cards, especially the pink one (second picture, right side).

Cards #6-7

These cards came from my desire to use my Floral Frames die cuts. I can't believe I bought them weeks ago, but have never really used them. I grabbed a few of the patterns and just started cutting. The only frame I didn't use was the biggest one (too big to fit on a standard card). I love how they tuned out. They look even better in person due to the 3D nature of the cards.

Card #8

The last card is a replica of a card we made at April stamp club. While, i don't usually go super girly, I love the patterns and colors of the sample card much that I had to make another one.

When all was said and done, I have completely used up all the Gingham Garden DSP. Now I have room to buy a new pack in June.

Stampin' Up Supplies:

Midnight Muse Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Brights Designer Series Paper Stack

$21.95

Wild Wasabi 8-1/2X11 Card Stock

$6.95

Melon Mambo 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

Floral Frames Framelits Dies

$26.95

Gingham Garden Designer Series Paper

$10.95

Island Indigo 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock

$6.95

Daffodil Delight 8-1/2X11 Card Stock

Big Shot Die-Cut Machine

$99.95

Paper-Piercing Tool

$3.95

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Welcome to The Craft Sea

Welcome everyone to The Craft Sea! I've been wading through the craft sea for a few years now (since ~2006) and would love to share my adventures with you. I am a scrapbooker both traditional and Project Life style, card maker, and random crafter. I stick mostly to paper crafts, but that doesn't mean that I won't ever try something different. I lean towards simple and clean designs in all my crafts. I've been expanding my repertoire of techniques and favorite designs these past few months and hope to share some with you. And as of this year, I have become a Stampin' Up Demonstrator. Hopefully this new venture will allow me to share my love of crafting with even more people.

On the personal side, I am a SAHM of three boys (twins March 2003, singleton October 2013). I love reading, crafting (of course), and playing with my kids. I am a lifelong learner who hopes to go back to school for a new degree in the near future. I was previously a high school social studies teacher (focus on U.S. History) and then a project manager for an educational technology company. We moved from Indiana by way of Nebraska to sunny northern California (San Fran Bay Area) in 2012 and couldn't be happier. My life here has been a big change. Being without family and friends, I had to find a whole new social group. Thankfully, I've met some great crafting ladies and a mom's group through Meetup. Definitely check out Meetup; it's a great way to meet new people with shared interests. I also write a more general life blog at Wading Through the Ocean of Life. There I share kid updates, book reviews, music, movies, fashion, and random thoughts. Come check me out!

Programming Notes: My goal is to have a post a day. Lofty, but still attainable. To help myself out, I have created a weekly schedule of features. Here's the types of posts you can expect to see each day of the week:

Monday -- Highlighted craft (greeting card, traditional scrapbook layout, journal, etc)
Tuesday -- Alternating Essential Products / Basic Technique
Wednesday -- Stampin' Up News
Thursday -- New Discoveries (new fave products, sites, ideas, techniques, etc)
Friday -- Project Life (weekly spread, new products, helpful hints, etc)
Saturday -- Highlighted craft (greeting card, traditional scrapbook layout, journal, etc)
Sunday -- Sunday Haul (post about my weekly crafting purchases)

tobe.buffenbarger@gmail.com

Archives: Project Life 2014 -- Weeks 13 and 14

Originally published on April 12th, 2014Week 13

Family Album: Weeks 13 and 14 were all about documenting our trip back to Indiana. I loved adding the little embellishment tags and sparkly stars here and there throughout the spread. I didn't want to clutter the photos too much, but felt they needed a little something.

As to the pictures themselves, I love adding in more pictures of Arthur with other people. I got some great shots of him with my sister, father, mom, grandpa, and grandma. So cute!

Supplies:

SU Sent with Love DSP and embellishments
Studio Calico alphabet stickers
Random travel themed stamps

Week 14

Family Album: The second week of our trip back to Indiana. This time I used some of my new Heidi Swapp stamps ("hello" and "together") and some great alphabets to label some pictures. I also caught some great pictures of Arthur with his Grandma and Papa, Uncle, brothers, and new baby friends.

Supplies:

WRMK Albums Made Easy Dreamy cards
Enamel dots
Heidi Swapp stamps
Studio Calico alphabets
Heidi Swapp stickers

Archives: Crafts of the Weeks

Originally Published on April 19, 2014 This past week I've been working on two crafting projects. Here's a look at them.

Valentine's Day/Love and Mother's Day OSW sets:

I grabbed this sketch from InkyPinkies and went to town cutting two 12x12 DSP sheets. Once I got them cut, I started pairing pieces to card bases. Unfortunately, I realized that the pieces cut would not make 12 complete cards. I would have to add other DSP pieces or something else. Obviously if you look at her examples, she used other paper pieces to complete the cards. Oh well. I just combined the paper to make 8 cards for each set. Then, I cut some more DSP from full sheets to add layers and embellishments to make 12 cards for each set. After making one complete set, I talked to my mom who requested I send a batch of Mother's Day cards for the shop. So I actually made two Love sets and two Mother's Day sets. Crazy crazy... but they do look great.

Valentine's Day/Love Set:

Stamps: Retired SU stamp (sentiment), Perfect Pennants (heart)
Inks: Primrose Petals, Riding Hood Red
Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Smoky Slate, Twitterpated DSP
Accessories: Heart washi tape
Tools: Swiss Dot Embossing Folder, 1 1/4" circle punch, Petite Petals punch

Mother's Day Set:

Stamps: Random Mother's Day stamp
Inks: Riding Hood Red, Island Indigo, Basic Gray
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Smoky Slate, Twitterpated DSP
Tools: Embossing Folder

Archives: Project Life 2014 -- Weeks 11 and 12

Originally published on March 29th, 2014

Week 11

Family Album: This week I chose to go back to using one of my "older" kits -- WRMK Tangerine. My idea is to rotate my various kits to get a different color/design scheme each week. I like the little pops of design with the Tangerine kit. I added some cute labeling tags to help highlight a few of the pictures.

As to the pictures and events, this week is very Arthur heavy. Oh wait... It's always Arthur heavy. Anyway, I chose to include some adorable candid shots and eating shots. I love the face he makes while eating. It always looks like he hates it, but he eats everything. The right hand page has a few random shots and his 5 month pictures. I always have to include the stats insert. My favorite shot of the week is the one where he's crawling towards me (left side, bottom left picture).

Supplies:

WRMK Tangerine
Labels from Studio Calico kit
Random stamps
PL Neutral Baby (monthly stat insert)

Arthur's Album: This week I added in some of the new cards from the Baby for Him kit. I love the cool blues and greens of this spread. The left side is a wrap-up of our week. The right side is all about his 5 month pictures and milestones.

Supplies:

PL Neutral Baby Kit
PL Baby Boy Kit
Random stamps
Labels from Studio Calico Kit
Recollections stickers

Week 12

Family Album: I changed up my kits yet again and went with some of the random cards from my Studio Calico kits (Sept. and Oct. 2013). I kept the cards a cool blue and gray with pops of pink. I especially love my pink enamel dots and my new camera stamp (thank you Michael's $2 bin).

The pictures from this week came from two big events. The left side highlights our morning at Washington Park. Arthur had a great time crawling around. And I had a great time taking some pics and reading in the sunshine. The right side highlights Arthur's first official playdate. I grabbed a few cute pics and stole a few from the other moms. My favorite is the pic of Arthur and his friend Luke and their dueling grump faces (right side, top left).

Supplies:

Studio Calico Kits -- Sept and Oct 2013
Michael's stamps
Basic Grey enamel dots
Random stamps and alphabet stickers

Arthur's Album: Arthur's spread focused on lots of pictures. I decided to use the back side of the inserts from the previous week. Those were reddish so I picked two more reddish inserts for the right side. I've realized that most of Arthur's spreads are light on embellishments and heavy on pictures. And I'm okay with that!

Supplies:

PL Baby Boy Kit
Random stamps

Archives: One Sheet Wonder

Originally published on March 22, 2014 While on Pinterest, I kept running across these "One Sheet Wonders." I was very lost... And so I went hunting and found a ton of tutorials of how to make the most cards out of a sheet of DSP (12x12, 8 1.2x11, 6x6). I found this particular template from Crafty Steals:

I love that the template uses 12x12 paper and makes at least 11 cards. This got me to thinking about what I wanted to do with the OSW. I didn't want to make 11 cards using the same DSP just for me. But this would be a great way to make card sets for gifts. And so a master plan was born. My plan is to use the OSW method (using various various templates) to make sets of a dozen cards. Each OSW would be for a different occasion or holiday (e.g. Christmas, birthday, thank you, etc). Once I finish all 12 sheets, I will have 12 sets of cards to give as gifts for next Christmas. So simple!

I started my first sheet and ended up making four sheets worth of cards this first week. My first set is an Easter card. I ended up using Stampin' Up's Birds of a Feather DSP, Summer Starfruit, Primrose Petals, and Raspberry Ripple cardstock, random Easter stamp, polka dot embossing folder, and patterned scissors. I love the variety of designs. I didn't follow the example cards exactly, but used them as guidelines for my own designs. My favorite of the bunch is actually the very first card (first picture, top left). I love the focus on the cute DSP.

My second set is a Birthday set. I used another sheet from the Birds of a Feather DSP pack. The colors and paper are the same as the Easter cards. I just threw in a birthday stamp I just bought from Michaels. I really love the squares card (first picture, top right).

The third set is for Father's Day cards. I love the masculine color and prints of the SU Parker's Patterns DSP. Perfect for Father's Day cards. I used a chevron embossing folder, random Father's Day stamp, Marina Mist cardstock and ink, Not Quite Navy cardstock and ink, and some kraft paper. My favorite card is the simple two pieces of DSP with a sentiment in between (third picture, bottom right).

The fourth set is for Anniversary cards. I wasn't going to make another set, but I had so many left over pieces from cutting two Parker's Patterns sheets that I could make another. The opposite side from the very masculine print was a cute little floralesque print in Marina Mist and Cherry Cobbler. I thought the print was perfect for Anniversary cards. Not too masculine, not too feminine, just right. I added in some Not Quite Navy and Cherry Cobbler ink as well as brown and kraft cardstock and a baroque embossing folder to complete the cards. My favorite is the simply embossed card with the strip of DSP (first picture, bottom left).

Four sheets of DSP, some cardstock for bases, and a few scrap pieces for sentiments and I have 48 cards done! I plan on using a different OSW template for my next set of cards.

Archives: Cards #34

Originally published on March 23rd, 2014 A ton of crafting this week... but you'll have to read my post here to get the scoop. On the other side of crafting, I received the rest of my Project Life card swaps from February. Overall, I am very pleased by what I got back. I can't wait to incorporate some of these cards into my spreads.

Archives: Cards #33

Originally published on March 16th, 2014Crafting:

PL Swaps (easter eggs, scraps, rainbow) -- I love the use of washi tape on the rainbow cards. For the scraps swap, I decided to make pocket cards with washi tape. And the easter egg cards made use of my SU Birds of Feather DSP.

Book of lists notebook -- Tons are people are participating in the 30 Days of Lists this March, but I just don't have the time or energy to commit to that. Instead, I thought I would create a notebook, decorate it, and then have various lists. The idea is to do a list a week (or so). I love putting my own spin on the project. I ran across this perfect little binder on clearance at Target the other day. I set about cutting cardstock and patterned paper down to the sizes I would need. When it comes time to make a list, I'll select a topic, pick a stamp set to decorate (and any embellishments), and cut a piece of white cardstock for the actual list. I love that it's ready to be used. I don't have to start from scratch every time!

PL W9-10 -- I finished these weeks yesterday. Check out my blog post here.
Punch Guide -- I also made a handy guide to all my punches using some random blank playing cards (from old teaching supplies). I got the idea from Pinterest and immediately put it on my to make board. This will definitely come in handy when I need to figure out the best punch to use or the relative sizes. No more digging through the drawer!
Stamp Guide -- Making my punch guide led me to want to create on for all my stamps. I have so many now (both loose and SU boxes) that I often forget what I have. I spend way too much time digging through all of them to get ideas. So, I decided to stamp all my stamps onto white cardstock to act as a handy guide. There are separate pages for Christmas, Holidays, Sentiments, Occasions, and Misc. I'm only partially done, but this is going to be great when I'm finished.

Shopping Scores:

Steals.com box -- During steals.com's big archive sale, I ordered a mystery box. This is what came. I'd say that 70% of the box will be used by me. The paper stack is great. I love the alphabet stickers and small tags. The chipboards will get a lot of use. The jewels will probably get use, but I need to find the best adhesive for them. The ribbon isn't my style at all and I'm still trying to figure out the best way to use the watercolor products. Overall, a really good buy.

Target randomness -- I grabbed the 3x4 and 4x6 Dreamy sets by WRMK. I also found two containers that are the perfect size for holding greeting cards. The zebra print wasn't my first choice, but they work. And I found some great little stickers and embellishment pieces in the One Stop bins.

Peachy Cheap -- Another daily deal site I found a few weeks ago. This time I grabbed an entire set of enamel dots from Basic Grey. I couldn't wait to use them, hence the missing dots.

Birthday gifts -- This week I received the last of my birthday gifts from J's parents. I love the paper stacks and am super excited to use the PL theme packs. The Americana pack is even cuter in person.

PL Swap and Sale FB Group -- I've been a part this group for a few weeks now, but most of the items don't appeal to me. I had been marginally searching for the PL Kiwi set. Ever time it came up for sale, someone snatched it up right away. I finally caught a listing at the right time. I received my 1/3 of the kit yesterday. Love love love the cards I received! I also received my scrap swap back. I'd say that over half of these cards will be used. There's only a few that don't fit my style (looking at you cowboy card).

Stampin' Up order -- I ordered my March order early as I will not be in town for the monthly stamp club. We are doing a huge DSP share so I bought three packs to share. Plus one other member and I are buying two of the larger color collection DSPs to share so I bought the Regals. Lastly, I grabbed the 2012-2014 In color DSP as it was one sale. For my Saleabration item I grabbed the Petal Parade stamp set. I've seen some great examples to copy.

Michaels -- Last week I grabbed the Baby Boy Mini Kit on clearance, some purple washi tape (how did I not have any purple?), and a cute little stamp set on sale. Today they were starting a huge paper crafting sale and bonus extra sale this afternoon. I had to take advantage of both sales. I was also looking to pick up some items for the mom's group Easter party next month. I managed to get most of the party items and some basics for me (white and black cardstock, trimmer blades).

Project: Somehow I agreed to help organize an Easter Party for our mom's group. The group is starting a babysitting co-op and we plan on having a quarterly social. The Easter Party will be our first big event. The original idea was just to get together and have an egg hunt, but babies aren't so great at the hunting. Instead, we are putting together baskets filled with baby-appropriate toys, shaker eggs to play with, and a few arts and crafts. Parents pay us back a set amount. We are also using the leftover money to make baskets for charity.I picked up a ton of the arts and crafts supplies today at Michaels. We are waiting a week to gauge our RSVP amount before we commit to buying the toys (we have to buy in dozen units). I hope everyone decides to come as we have some great plans! Overachiever that I am, I've already started on some of the items.

Archives: Project Life 2014 -- Weeks 9 and 10

Originally published on March 15th, 2014

Week 9

Family Album: This week I decided to change up my color scheme. I put away the Seafoam and Sunshine kits in favor of the Seasons Mini Kit. I took a look at all the cards for spring and choose the pink and yellow ones. I then added some great stickers from the My Mind's Eye giant embellishment pack for some flair. Lastly I rediscovered these cute gold rimmed tags. Love the inclusion!

As for the weekly events, Arthur started solids so I had to include a ton of pics and some journaling. I love the middle eating picture. He looks so proud of himself after eating the entire bowl of rice cereal. The right hand page is all about the Arthur's first official playdate. Lots of pictures from that event plus some nice journaling to remember the day. Lastly, I added "the weather today" insert to highlight our unusual (rainy and chilly) weather on playdate day.

Supplies:

PL Seasons Mini Kit
My Mind's Eye die cut and sticker pack
Random embellishments from Studio Calico kit

Arthur's Album:

Supplies:

PL Baby Neutral Kit

Week 10

Family Album: I again turned to the Seasons Mini Kit for inserts. This time I used a variety of colors, designs, and sizes. I love the way the layout turned out! I added more of those gold tags, some alphabet stickers, a birthday sticker (for my birthday!), enamel dots, and a cute word bubble. This week's layout is busier than usual, but I'm loving it! I imagine that I will end up using the rest of the spring cards within the month.

This week was about a ton of candid shots of our family. I love the little moments I caught of Arthur being extra cute. I can't believe that this is my first naked baby butt shot! It was too cute to not include. I had to add a card for my 32nd birthday... Per usual, there was no party, but I did got out to eat twice this week (once with Pam and once with J).

Supplies:

PL Seasons Mini Kit
Enamel dots
Birthday stickers
Random Embellishments from Studio Calico Kit
Random Alphabet stickers

Arthur's Album: I used one card from the Baby Boy mini kit I found on clearance at Michaels. Hoping to add more color in the coming weeks.

Supplies:

PL Baby Neutral Kit
PL Baby Boy Mini Kit