a different kind of blog candy...

the lovely Anne, all around talented felter and occasional guest blogger here at MCIYN, is having a giveaway on her blog where you can win a set of 3 felted bangles...

kasanika - enter by 12:00 AM PST, April 30th...

photo credit: Anne @ kasanika

even more blog candy!

a new week and more blog candy to be found!

Pickled Paper Designs - enter by 9:00 AM, April 25th...

Heather Rolin's Creations - enter by 4:00 PM CST, April 25th...

congrats to both Amy and Heather on their milestones / releases this week!

other places to win these stamp sets are:

my scrapbook table - enter by April 25th...

Stampin' With Markie's Mom - enter by 5:00 PM, April 25th...

and one more great blog candy:

No Time To Stamp? - enter by April 26th...

blog candy!

so many of my favourite blogs right now are giving away blog candy, it's unreal... so if you want to get in on the fun, please visit these great blogs!

fresh & fun - enter by 2:00 PM CST TODAY!

i{heart}2stamp - enter by Saturday morning, April 19th...

Inkling of Love - enter by April 19th...

The Voices In My Head - enter by 8:00 PM, April 20th...

my scrapbook table - enter by April 21st...

Sharing My Obsession - enter by 12:00 PM, April 21st...

L'il Buck's Creations - enter by midnight, April 21st...

Tutorial: Partially Embossed Card

when looking for ways to use my Cuttlebug (the item i just had to have, yet rarely use to its full potential), i stumbled across Heart Prints by Sue Nelson... i loved the look but just didn't "get" how she was able to partially emboss part of her cardstock... and those embossed lines intrigued me...

after searching out everything i could on the technique and then being blessed with
three great tutorials (thanks to Sue, Jay and Beate), i decided to add a tutorial of my own... not because it was needed but, rather, because i wanted to try my hand at doing a tutorial...

i started by getting my supplies together and cutting and scoring my cardstock... i went with a standard 4¼" x 5½" card for this tutorial... just keep in mind that you are somewhat limited by the size of both the Cuttlebug opening and the embossing folder... i stack my plates as you would for any Cuttlebug dies or embossing folders, with the B plate on top of the A plate...

next, i took my embossing folder (Birds & Swirls, which co-ordinates perfectly with the Always stamp set) and lined the edge of the embossing up with the line i scored earlier... i apologize that you can't really see that in my picture, but it's hard to get a clear image of the score line... it's really important that you look at your cardstock placement and ensure that everything is square so you don't end up with a slanted edge to your embossing...

once you have your embossing folder lined up to your liking, place it on your A & B plates with the portion you do not want embossed hanging over the edge of the two plates... in my example, i've left about 2" overhanging in order to fit my sentiment in later... then place the second B plate on top, lining it up with the A & B plates below... make sure that your cardstock hasn't shifted and then begin to feed the stack through your Cuttlebug...

when you're done, you should end up with a partially embossed card front that looks like the example on the left... you can see that i've gone ahead and stamped my sentiment...


now it's time to embellish! i selected the small dotted circle embossing folder because i wanted to keep the whole card fairly simple and clean in its design... i've always found that my smaller embossing folders can leave indentation marks where the folders end, but Sue suggested instead of running the folder all the way through, reversing the stack back towards you to solve that problem and it has worked perfectly... another suggestion is to shim it with another piece of cardstock...

here's a close up of the dotted circle... it's very subtle and doesn't look half as smart in the picture as it does in person...




time for the final embellishments: black ribbon to border the partial embossing, the lovely bird from the Always stamp set (also stamped in Graphite Black and mounted with a dimensional, although it's hard to see in the picture), and a few black brads to give some visual interest to the upper corner...

Recipe:
Paper: SU Whisper White
Ink: Dew Drop Brilliance in Graphite Black
Stamp Set: Always © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: black ribbon, black brads
Tools: Cuttlebug, Birds & Swirls and small dotted circle Cuttlebug embossing folders, Xyron 150, 1/16" hole punch, dimensionals

what i love most about this card is the simplicity... there's not a lot going on, but the different textures and images work well together yet are subtle... i have a feeling a lot more of my cards are going to be of similar design in the next little while (i have another card exchange coming up in June with a Thank You / Congratulations theme and i could see something like this working perfectly for that)...

something i didn't do with this card was the embossed lines, like the other tutorials show... that, dear readers, is simply because i'm still awaiting my Scor-Pal, the lovely tool that allows you not only to score your cardstock perfectly but to emboss lines as well... i'll be sure to do a product review / demo when mine arrives...

Card Challenge 3 - Monochromatic

the latest card challenge i was participating in was simple: use whatever you like but keep it to one colour, black and white excluded... i decided to go for something very simplistic and just stick to black and white in order to showcase one of my latest favourite techniques: partial embossing with a Cuttlebug... i won't get too far into explaining how i made this card, as i'm adding my first tutorial later today on how i did it exactly... in the meantime, here's the recipe...

Recipe:
Inspiration: Sue's beautiful cards at Heart Prints
Paper: SU Whisper White
Ink: Dew Drop Brilliance in Graphite Black
Stamp Set: Always © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: black ribbon, black brads
Tools: Cuttlebug, Birds & Swirls and small dotted circle Cuttlebug embossing folders, Xyron 150, 1/16" hole punch, dimensionals

Love Your Sweaters The Frog Way

Today the buzz word is UPCYCLING. Have you heard this word before? It's my new favourite word. Upcycling is taking things that would otherwise be destined to be thrown out and turning it into something else--something usable, something beautiful, something wonderful. Upcycling is taking plastic bags and making them into reusable bags, or taking an old pillowcase and making it into a dress for a little girl, or taking previously loved sheets and turning them into a rug. Seriously, the possibilities are endless with Upcycling! Whatever you can imagine, you can do.

Let's think about sweaters. Everyone has them. Everyone gets rid of sweaters for whatever reason (you grow out of them, they have a hole in the arm, they are out of style)...but really quite a few of them could be reused by unraveling them. If you take the time to unravel (or 'frog' as it's called in crocheting circles) a sweater and then crochet or knit it into something else then you are recycling (turning it into something else), reducing (saving a sweater from a landfill) and reusing (sweater into dishcloth or bag--it's even better when the new product can be used many times).

There are some wonderful websites that have tutorials on how to unravel sweater. This one is my favorite. Here is another one with good information. I gave them a thorough reading and then I just jumping into frogging my sweater.

The first thing you need to learn about frogging a sweater is... IT'S ALL ABOUT THE SEAMS. A good sweater has a double seam. A double seam indicates that the pieces have been sewn together whereas a sweater that has a single seam is one that has been serged. A serged sweater won't unravel. Well, it will but it will unravel into short pieces (the length of the sweater). When I am at second hand looking for sweaters to buy to unravel I am turning them inside out and seeing if I can spot the double seam - the good seam.

So, if the first thing is seams, the second thing to learn about frogging a sweater is this... IT'S IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT KIND OF MATERIAL YOUR POTENTIAL SWEATER IS MADE OUT OF. Some sweaters are really made out of several thin threads. You can still unravel them but it is a pain since one of the threads usually has some elasticity to it while the others don't. Cotton seems to be a good choice for unraveling. It doesn't fray and stays intact with no pilling.

The third thing I've found is that HOMEMADE SWEATERS ARE WAY EASIER TO UNRAVEL then a store bought one. The little seam is simple to spot. Everything unwinds easily. It's one piece of thread rather then the many little ones that store bought ones seem to have. There's no tags to deal with cutting out. It's just a nice time all around.

The fourth to keep in mind is this... DON'T BE AFRAID. Seriously. When it comes time to cut that little thread that is in the double seam. Just. Do. It. There is no fear in frogging.

Now, lets jump in...

I started with this sweater. It was a nice green. 100% cotton. It had a good double seam with a wonderful little thread and best of all it was $5.99 at Value Village. I washed it and when it was thoroughly dry I began the process.


First, I separated the good double seam and found the little thread. In the tutorial I posted the author says 'you have to love the little thread' & it's true. The little thread is your best friend in this process. Find the little thread and cut!


As you rip you get something like this...


Eventually, by following the tutorial, you'll have your sweater in pieces.



Now you can start the unraveling. This is the fun (and scary) part. The top of the sweater will have these little loops (like you get when you knit). You might have to cut some 'bad' top off... but be patient... stick with it and don't get frustrated. If it gets bad, just remind yourself that this sweater was free (or very cheap) and any amount of wool you get out of it is excellent.




I ended up with this much yarn from the sweater. I expect to have enough yarn there to do about a dozen crochet dishcloths.




And there you go. That's how you love your sweaters the frog way.

Carrie :)

P.S. I realize the pictures aren't the greatest... maybe I'll try to take better pictures of the next sweater I unravel and change them out.

Ms. Crafty says: Carrie is an avid crocheter and has launched her own business, 4Star, selling upcycled plarn bags...