"TIPS" Thursday

Do you love using Dew Drops? Well here is a great coloring tip I received from soemone who RAK'd me some Dew Drops. It was the first time I had heard you can do this.

• Place a spoonful of clear dew drops in a small baggie. Add 6-7 drops of an alcohol based re-inker. Shake, shake, shake. Now pour your pretty colored dew drops onto a paper towel to dry. Now you can have dew drops in all your favorite colors that actually match your cardstock, ribbon, brads, etc.
  
  

"TIPS" Thursday

Well we are only a few days away from Easter and I am sure many of you will be getting ready to dye tons of eggs with your kiddies. I haven't decided yet if I will be dying eggs with my boys because we are leaving Saturday for Kalahari. It's an indoor waterpark in Wisconsin. We do have a full kitchen in our suite so there really isn't any reason we couldn't dye eggs. But I might not be able to get them out of the water long enough to do that. So how about some Easter egg dying tips? Here are a few I ran across googling, of course.

• If using food coloring or tablets to dye your eggs make sure your eggs are completely cooled off before dying. Cold eggs adhere the color better. But if you are coloring or using wax, warm eggs work best for this method.
• Wrap rubber bands around your hard-boiled eggs, then drop them in food-coloring dye. Remove eggs, pat dry with paper towel and remove rubber bands. The parts of the egg covered with rubber bands will not be colored. Once the rubber bands are removed, you can drop the egg into a different color dye.
• Make a design on an egg with a clear or white crayon, and then dye it in a light color. Once it’s dry, draw more of the design with the crayon, and dye it a slightly darker color. You can keep doing this from lighter to darker colors until you have a brilliant multi-layered display of loveliness. This method is called Psyanky, and it’s a Ukrainian folk tradition. Doesn't that sound neat?

Now go buy those eggs and have lots of fun spending quality time with your kids, neices, nephews, or even some neighborhood kids. I'm sure someone's mom or dad wouldn't mind getting rid of them for awhile-LOL.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend everyone!!!

"TIPS" Thursday

A day late again...I tell you, the weeks have been flying by me. Everytime I think I'm a step ahead I realize I am actually 2 steps behind. I think it's the whole beginning of baseball season. My 11 y/o, Alex, is on 2 baseball teams this season. One is the regular in-house little league team and the other is a travel time. So usually 4 days out of the week we are transporting him to batting practice, pitching practice, and regular old practice. I guess I should get use to it since it doesn't seem like he is going to stop playing anytime soon.

O.K. enough of my whining, let get to some tips:

• Keep a Swiffer cloth or lent brush roller near your crafting area. Now you can easily clean up pearl ex, embossing powder and pastels.

I came across this tip on SCS. I don't have many wheels but this is a nice cheep alternative to purchasing the clear storage boxes.

• Use empty Pringles cans to store your wheels. Take some computer paper (CS is too thick) and then wheel each image on the paper so you know what's inside each can. Adhere the paper to the outside of the can so at a glance you know what's in each can. You can store 7 small wheels and 3 jumbo ones per can. And it was also noted the Crystal Lite containers can be used also.

Now don't forget, if you have a great tip you would like to share for the "TIPS" Thursday post? Then email me at paperexpressions@att.net with your tip and blog address. I'll include you in a "TIPS" for Thursday post with a link to your blog.

"TIPS" Thursday

Happy Thursday Everyone,

I'm so glad it's Thursday, and tomorrow is Friday. Why is it we look forward to the weekend when we know that it is going to be over with so quickly? Well hopefully this will be a very productive crafting weekend for me. I have a couple of projects I would love to start and finish this weekend. Wish me luck...

Now on to some tips. I came across both these great tips on SCS.

• When stamping on window/acetate/vellum sheets, put grid paper underneath the sheet to help line up flowers/animals/shapes, etc.). And then use your stampa-ma-jig to help you with the placement of the images. Your images should come out just the way you want them every time!
• If you have an image with sticky on the back or stickers that you think would be great "poppep-up" on your card, just blot the sticky side with your embossing buddy to get rid of the sticky. It's a lot easier and cleaner than using a bottle of baby powder.
  

Enjoy these tips and oh...Happy St. Joseph's Day!

"TIPS" Thursday

Ooops, guess what? It's Friday!!! This week has flown by. I woke up this morning and remembered-I didn't post any tips yesterday. Shame on me. Well here a few that I came across in my blog, internet, and magazine hopping.

• You can transform a boring fishing tackle box into a great storage box for all your small embellishments like buttons, eyelets, brads, rhinestones, etc. And now you can even find tackle boxes in cute colors like pink and purple.

• And last week I gave tips on how to tie ribbon. Now that you have mastered the art of tying ribbon now do you notice the edges fraying and coming undone? Well pull out your handy embossing (heat) tool. Go back and forth for just a few seconds to singe the edges. Be careful not to start a fire. :)
  
  

"TIPS" Thursday

Yeh, I know it's actually Friday. But I had another sick kid at home yesterday.

Well today's tips came about when I started pulling my hair out over a darn ribbon that would just not cooperate with me on one of my cards. So I thought I would steer you to a couple of helpful ribbon links:

• Ribbon Tying-Check out Roxy's blog. I came across her tutorial just by googling. And with such a great ribbon tutorial, I couldn't help myself, I had to click on some other tutorials. You won't be disappointed.

• Ribbon Knots
  


• Ribbon Bow

Enjoy these links and happy ribbon tying!

"TIPS" Thursday

O.K. the past couple of weeks I have given you crafting tips, but crafting is not our whole life. Even though we wish it was. So here are a few household tips that might make your home run a little smoother, or at least keep a few more strands connected to your scalp.

• Wrap celery in aluminum foil before putting it in the refrigerator - it will keep fresher longer.


• Hate foggy car windshields? Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser! Works better than your hand or a rag.
  
  

"TIPS" Thursday

Here are a few more healthful tips for you...

• Are you just a tad bit cheap like me? I found out you can put your Stampin' Scrub pads on the top rack of your dishwasher. TURN OFF THE HEATED DRY, and run it through a wash cycle. It can even be washed with your dishes. I popped mine in the other night and they are nice, clean, and fluffy.

• Have you ever mounted a stamp and realized after you have stamped with it that it is crooked? Yep-I've done it many times. But 10 seconds in the micowave lets you 'unmount' and 'remount' any sets that may need to be re-positioned or trimmed a little more.
  
  

"TIPS" Thursday

Well it's Thursday, and that means it's time for 2 more tips that will keep you happy when you are crafting.

• Use photo corners to secure a "temporary page" inside your cards. This way the receiver can make another temporary page and give it to someone else. Now your beautiful card can be reused for someone else's enjoyment.

• Do you hate getting ink on your fingers each time you have to take off the plastic protective covers on ink pads like the ones that are in Staz-on pads? Then stick a foam pop dot or a pop-up glue dot on top of the plastic cover and adhere it to the inside of the ink pad cover. The plastic cover will now stick to the lid from now on when you take the lid off.

Hope these help. Have a good evening and a Happy FRIDAY!!!!

"TIPS" Thursday

Or should I say "Wow-that's a great idea!" Thursday! Every so often I hear or read about a great tip-hence the name "TIPS" Thursday. So I have decided to bring you 2 great tips every Thursday. Now I will try my best to include where I got this tip from, but that may not always be possible since I am forever blog hopping and reading several different sites on stamping, card-making, crafting, etc. Now I hope some of these "TIPS" will be a "Wow-that's a great idea!" moment for you.

Do you have a great tip you would like to share for the "TIPS" Thursday post? Then email me at paperexpressions@att.net with your tip and blog address. I'll include you in a "TIPS" for Thursday post with a link to your blog.

So here's the first 2 tips for "TIPS" Thursday:

• Do you have some used dryer sheets? Love the look of mulberry paper? Well take your used dryer sheet, which can be dyed with a little water mixed with re-inker. Let dry and you're ready to create.
• Have you ever noticed when your paper trimmer blade is getting old it leaves your CS with a ragged edge? Well use a sanding block along the edge of your CS and that will give you a nice, crisp, clean edge.

Have fun with these new tips and check back next week for more "TIPS" Thursday.