crafty adventures | kimberly ah

Feb 02 2014

crafty adventures, Letter Month, Office Supplies, snail mail

Letter Month, Round-Up 1

Letter Month started up Saturday–are you playing along?

I mentioned last week that I wanted to share each week’s mailings here every Sunday. (And I got sidetracked with a Law & Order marathon and the Super Bowl, so I’m already behind! Monday it is.) I sent out my first Valentines this weekend (shown up above, with sweet Presley). The rest should be heading on their way this week, thanks to a Valentine-themed crafternoon last Friday. I feel like I’m off to a prepared start for Letter Month…of course, that’s easy to say this early in the game!One thing I am trying to do this year is to use the Letter Month Participant stamps on each of my letters. I was pretty faithful about using them in 2012, but last year I kept forgetting. I printed out two sheets on regular paper and numbered them by hand. Then I cut them out each day (with my little Fiskars Stamp Scissors) and paste one onto each letter. The stamps usually end up on the back of the envelope (because sometimes it just doesn’t go with my mail art theme!) I’m hoping to remember to put one on each piece of mail I send out.

That’s all from the outgoing mailbox this weekend. How’s your Letter Month going so far?

Tagged crafts, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Jan 31 2014

2 Comments

crafty adventures, little red toolbox, Office Supplies, snail mail

My Little Red Toolbox | Bone Folder

My Little Red Toolbox is finally back again…

Today’s featured product is the very utilitarian bone folder. For the non-crafters out there, a bone folder is a tool that scores, smooths and creases paper. It is made from real bone (sorry vegetarians & vegans), but there are other options. Martha Stewart’s bone folders are made of plastic (but I find Martha’s don’t work quite as nicely as other bone folders). And, for the “Rolls Royce” of bone folders, the teflon bone folder is dreamy to work with. (I only own the teflon one because I temporarily lost my original bone folder. When I went to the store to buy a new one, they only had the teflon ones–which cost more than twice as much as the bone ones..sigh…the cost of being unorganized!) Today, I’m glad I own both because each has its own strengths for crafting projects.

I bought my first bone folder when I started “bookbinding” and making boxes from these kits at the Paper Source. The bone folder is crucial to perfecting the corner folds and smoothing the papers while adhering them to the book board. Now I use it more for origami and scoring card stock.

The real bone folder has a sharper point, making it better for scoring and getting a really clean crease in the cardstock. It’s so sharp that if you press down too hard, it can actually cut the paper. The teflon folder is much more forgiving. It’s not as sharp on the end and it doesn’t leave a sheen on the paper like the bone folder can. I use my fancy folder for more delicate papers and for messy projects. Glue doesn’t stick to it so it stays nice and clean. If you’ve ever tried to fold a piece of cardstock, you know that it’s difficult to get a smooth fold because the edge gets wrinkly. The red card above was folded in half without any help of the bone folder. See how it’s all sad and imperfect and lumpy? For the next piece of card stock, I used my ruler and the bone folder to score the fold ahead of time. It’s hard to see, but there is a faint scored line down the middle (or, almost-middle) of the card. The scored line allowed me to get a nice sharp fold on the card. See the difference?

I pulled out the bone folders to work on some Valentines. (Spoiler alert.) I decided to use the Paper Pastries Cat Note Template for some cards. (A 4-bar heart fits right inside…genius!) Because I was using card stock to make the cat, I wanted to score the folds in order to get a neat kitty in the end. I dragged the bone folder along the fold guides in the template to score them. Then, once I folded everything over, I used the bone folder to gently smooth the folds. It worked like a charm.

Off to make more Valentines…

*This and all posts about my little red toolbox are not sponsored posts. I just thought it would be fun to share my favorite tools for paper crafting. For more about my little red toolbox, go here.

Jan 16 2014

2 Comments

Christmas, crafty adventures, Office Supplies, snail mail

More Mail Fun with the Cat Note Template

One of my favorite Christmas gifts was this ingenious Cat Note Template from Paper Pastries. It was a gift from Mollie, who knows me well enough to know that cats + letter writing = perfect gifts. I decided to use it for my long-overdue thank you note to Mollie.

Basically, you just trace the template onto any paper of your choice, cut it out, fold it up and it it’s ready to tuck into a 4-bar sized envelope. (Which, at 3 5/8 x 5 1/8, is almost the smallest mailable envelope size.)

You can use the cat template on plain paper and write your letter directly onto it, but I decided to use the template to make an “inner envelope”. I used an old USA Philatelic magazine as my template paper and then I wrote my note on a 4-bar flat card (from Paper Source). I used my bone folder (more on this tool, soon!) to help crease the edges as I folded the template up with the card inside and I used a piece of washi tape to hold it together. The template comes with marks to make slits so you can tuck the folds into the slits to hold without the help of washi tape, but I like using up some of my washi stash, inch by inch. (You can see the “slit indicators” on the right and bottom sides of the template.)I tucked the kitty in a fuchsia envelope, used my new Vintage Email stamp (clearer picture below…gold is hard to photograph!) and called it done. (Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of my corresponding cherry blossom postage stamp before I dropped the thank you in the mailbox.)I’m looking forward to creating more cat-themed mail soon!

Tagged Christmas, crafts, diy, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Dec 17 2013

1 Comment

Christmas, crafty adventures, holidays, Office Supplies, snail mail, vintage

Christmas Card Writing Party

On Sunday night I hosted a little Christmas card writing party. I sent out some (last minute) vintage invitations from Saturday Morning Vintage. Aren’t they cute? It’s hard to tell in the pictures, but I added a touch of glitter to each wreath using my favorite glue pen and some Martha glitter. I typed up gold labels for the addresses (some were mailed, some were hand delivered) and embellished the envelopes with some washi tape. Fun stuff. I started collecting my holiday-ish supplies all last week. I have loads of things, mainly from making my own cards in the past. On Sunday morning, I covered the table with kraft paper and set out the stamps, tapes, inks, Stickles and stickers. (I learned from the best by attending so many LWA socials!) On Sunday evening, the ladies came over and we ate funeral buns (I told you they would be a new party staple!) and salmon dip and caramels. We enjoyed mulled wine and got more done than I thought we would! Jackie already finished her holiday cards, so she painted some ornaments. Karen and I wrote our cards. I got through the L’s…not including my pen pals (because their envelopes are more involved than some of the rest of my list). Tonight, my goal is to finish them up…I’m in a mail art kind of mood, so it should be a fun project!

I’ll report back on the cards soon. I want them to make it to their destinations before sharing on the blog.

Have you finished your holiday cards? Have you been getting a lot in your mailbox?

Tagged Christmas, crafts, holidays, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Dec 11 2013

3 Comments

adventures at the library, Christmas, crafty adventures

Block Printing at the Library

On Saturday afternoon, I went to a block printing class at our library. The class was taught by Liz and Gabe from Hoofprint Workshop in Chicago. They brought their portable press, made from a car jack (!!!) and had small 3×4 inch blocks for each of us to carve. The class was advertised as a holiday card printmaking class, but Liz made it clear we could carve whatever we wanted. I decided, since I cannot draw (and because I have a little bit of PTSD from a previous printmaking class I tried and promptly dropped out of–a story for another time…or a therapist), that I would do a candy cane striped H. I wanted something with simple lines so I could practice making deep, thick stripes and shallow thin ones and getting comfortable with the tool. I was the first one done cutting my block (most people had more intricate designs) so I inked and printed my block. My first print was okay, but you could barely see the thinnest lines so I worked the rest of the class widening those lines and fussing with the other lines. In the end, the one above was my best impression. It’s more challenging than it looks to get the right amount of ink and the right amount of pressure on the press. Practice, practice, practice! That’s Liz above working the car jack press. I’m obsessed with how genius it is…and Dad, do we have a spare car jack?

I have two linoleum blocks in my craft cupboard and now I have the confidence to tackle them and an idea that involves a little bit more drawing skills than our monogram…wish me luck!

For a better picture of the car jack press and a great article about Hoofprint Workshop, go here. Their workshop is in an old funeral home!!

And, for more Adventures at the Library posts, go here.

Thanks to the Forest Park Public Library for hosting another awesome event and to Liz and Gabe of Hoofprint for sharing their expertise with us!

Tagged adventures, crafts, forest park, holidays

Nov 15 2013

3 Comments

celebrations, crafty adventures, holidays, snail mail, Thanksgiving, vintage

Vintage Ephemera Thanksgiving Invitations

I am happy to report that my Thanksgiving invitations are done and in the mail! Seriously, where is this month going? At one point I felt crazy for starting to think about these invites so early, then they barely made it into the mail in time.They aren’t super complicated, but I had a lot of fun putting the mini collages together. Everything on the invite is vintage except the little strip of washi. I needed another metallic element to complement the gold seal. Once I saw the old BINGO cards in my stash, I knew I wanted them to be the base. I love the yellowed paper and the graphic numbers as a background. And of course I had to use my typewriter since tags don’t feed into my (non-existent) printer. I typed out my message and played around with the placement of the vintage postage stamps and gold seals (from a Saturday Morning Vintage Thanksgiving paper pack and fall ephemera bundle) . I pasted everything on with my favorite glue stick because, as I learned at the Halloween Mail Art Workshop, glue sticks work best with delicate vintage papers. The invitation above is the one I sent my parents. The maroon stamp on the bottom (with the gold star) is in honor of railroad workers. My maternal grandpa worked on the railroads, so I think my mom will appreciate that little detail. I had the fig-colored envelopes in A2, which was 1/8 inch too small…so I had to go out and buy some roomy A6 fig envelopes. I made another collage on the front of the envelope with papers from from my ephemera packs (the leaf is a playing card!), some MT washi tape, an old gold border label and a new sticker (Paper Source). I lined my envelopes with marbled paper from Blick. I love this paper. It had a gorgeous mix of maroons, greens, golds and silvers…so dreamy. (And it was in my paper stash ready to be spent out!)

So there they are…done for another year. Now it’s time to work on ideas for the table and…clean!! For more Thanksgiving shenanigans, go here.

Have a good weekend! I’ll be busy today and tonight cramming for book group! The Sea-Wolf here I come!

Tagged crafts, diy, holidays, mail art, snail mail, Thanksgiving, washi tape

Nov 13 2013

Easy Thanksgiving Invitations

I’m still finishing the real Thanksgiving invitations. I had to go out and buy a bigger envelope size (defeating the purpose of using up my stash, but I’m really excited about how the invitations turned out so I needed the just right envelope color!)

When I was playing around with ideas for Thanksgiving invitations (before rediscovering my stash of vintage ephemera) I came up with these as an option. We don’t have a home printer. (Ours broke over a year ago, and I after sifting through thousands of online reviews, I couldn’t make a decision. At this point, I question whether we really need one.) So I decided that my typewriter would be my printing method. I found these leftover paper leaves in my fall decorations bin. The leaves come in a variety of colors, but the ones I chose are shimmery gold. It’s not a perfect paper for the typewriter, especially since my new ribbon is pretty inky, but they worked out okay as long as I didn’t smear the ink with my fingers. The oval-shaped leaf was easy to work with but the “oak” leaf gave me problems because all of its little bumpy edges kept getting stuck as I typed each line…it’s fine though…the little tears just look like texture.

Once I was done typing, I pasted the leaves onto some shimmery antique gold cards and topped them off with a little piece of washi tape. I’m going to put them in some leftover fig envelopes (from Thanksgivings past) and send them to my brother and sister and their families. They don’t join us for Thanksgiving, but it’s always nice to be invited, right?

Tagged celebrations, crafts, diy, holidays, mail art, snail mail, Thanksgiving, washi tape

Nov 08 2013

1 Comment

crafty adventures, holidays, Office Supplies, thrifted, vintage

Vintage Paper Hoarder

I am working on my Thanksgiving invitations today. I have a plan and it involves using up some of my vintage paper collection. I have a giant bin of ephemera that I’ve collected over time. Many things were purchased from Saturday Morning Vintage (Xenia’s shop is so good and most of what is shown above is from a Thanksgiving paper pack that I bought this year.) and from flea markets and thrift shops. Few things in life make me happier than discovering an old box of labels or flashcards at the thrift store.

As I was sifting through my ephemera stash, I was thinking about my 2013 goal to spend out. While I’ve done a very good job wearing out my clothes, using up my stationery and scrapbook supplies, eating my Japanese snacks and hanging up my artwork, I’ve been hesitant to use up the vintage stuff…the stuff that I can’t replace quite as easily… But it’s better to let these papers live on in another form (as mail art or an invitation) than to languish in a bin, right? So I spent part of my afternoon sorting through things and pulling out pieces for certain projects (Thanksgiving and Christmas related right now) and sorting the rest by color or style. I am now prepared to use up and spend out some of my collection. I’m moving a little bit of it onto my desk so it’s handy for mail art and leaving the rest in the bin ready for the next project.

Hopefully, I can finish up the invitations this weekend and show them to you next week, once they’ve arrived at their destinations. In the meantime, have a good weekend!

Tagged celebrations, crafts, holidays, mail art, office supplies, snail mail, Thanksgiving

Nov 07 2013

4 Comments

celebrations, crafty adventures

Blush & Gold Gift

My mom’s birthday was in October. We got her a gift card (booooring!) and I picked up a pretty handkerchief for her in Japan. Such a tiny gift deserved a pretty package, so I whipped up a little decorated paper bag for her present. I love packaging things for my mom because she takes time to notice the little details. It’s a fun way to celebrate the special mom that she is. I started with a little flat kraft bag and layered on anything blush and gold from my craft cupboard (aka the hardware cabinet TV stand–those drawers are awfully handy!). I always have a variety of supplies on hand for mail art, scrapbooking and other projects, so once I collected everything I needed, putting the gift bag together only took about five minutes. It was a happy accident that the pink label fit perfectly on the doily…once that happened, I cruised along layering each piece. I cheered when I discovered that my favorite glue pen was strong enough to hold the tiny gold sequins. (I see more sequins in my future.) I finished off the gift with a little piece of washi tape on the back. Quick and simple. Now if only I could get my act together to fancy up the pile of Christmas gifts…

Supplies used: kraft bags, doilies, peach & gold washi tape, vintage sequins, Rifle labels (these are my favorites!), kraft flags, Quickie glue pen, Souffle pen (not shown), flair button (not shown in supply picture, but shown on package picture).

P.S. Thanks, Mary, for inviting me to the Celebration Link-Up!

Tagged celebrations, crafts, parents, washi tape

Oct 21 2013

2 Comments

adventures, crafty adventures, holidays, snail mail

Halloween Mail Art Party

Confession: I haven’t written a letter since the beginning of August. But when I saw that Donovan was hosting a Halloween Mail Art Workshop at Greer on Saturday, I knew that making some creative Halloween envelopes would be just the thing to jump start my letter writing again. I’m pretty excited to fill up these envelopes with responses to letters I received back in August and September. Donovan had the table stocked with orange, black and purple papers, washi tapes, envelopes and plenty of spooky ephemera, rubber stamps and labels. The four of us in attendance had great time poking through everything and sticking and pasting the bits into mail art creations. I love to watch other people create mail art. Sharing ideas and mail stories are the best parts of these events. You can tell from our completed collection that everyone had different approaches and lots of creativity.
One of my favorite pieces to use was the Frankenstein napkin. Donovan showed us that you can peel the napkin layers and use the images for mail art. They are delicate but fun to work with, and we all used “Frank” in different ways…I especially love him on the black envelope (above left, made by Emily)…the black background gives it a spookier effect! Donovan sent us each home with a goodie bag filled with labels, tickets and amazing vintage postage. I’m determined to use it all up on the rest my mail art envelopes with the exception of the Alfred Hitchcock stamp…I get a little hoard-y when it comes to this stamp. I love Hitchcock and the stamp has a tiny little cut out of his profile…so good!

I am excited to write some letters this week and get back on track with my correspondence. My mailbox has been lonely lately and the only remedy for that is to send some mail out into the world knowing it will be returned in good time. And, if I don’t catch up completely with my letters this week, the Letter Writers Alliance has a Halloween letter writing social at Pieritz on Saturday. It’s as though the universe is telling me to make time for mail again.

You can read about the 2012 Halloween Mail Art Party here.

Tagged adventures, crafts, Halloween, holidays, mail art, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape