September 2007 - Posts

• TTT #10 - Personalized Wrapping Paper

  With the holidays approaching, I'm getting excited for gift wrapping. 2 years ago I held a Gift Wrapping Party. We all had a blast! I had foam stamps, acrylic paint, kraft paper and ribbon for all to use. I also had cookies and Hot Chocolate. We all saved some cash by making/decorating our own wrapping paper and we had fun doing it too.  It just looks so cute, doesn't it? This brings me to another idea. You could make it a family activity! It'd be a great project to do with the kids, and a wonderful way to get them more involved in the holiday preparations. Choose any color butcher or kraft paper, and stamp or color onto the paper with foam stamps, sponge stamps, crayons, markers, pens and even let them use the stickers you don't ever use. Encourage your kids to fill the whole paper, edge to edge, with their own creative holiday or special occasion designs. Add some ribbon for the perfect finishing touch! Here's a picture of a gift I wrapped for a Baby Shower. See, the possibilities are endless.   Posted Sep 27 2007, 04:42 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, tips, SPECIAL OCCASIONS, MONEY SAVERS, OTHER FUN IDEAS

• TTT #9 - Decorated Popcorn Bucket

  If your throwing a themed party and want to hide all of the standard popcorn promotional info printed on the bucket, you can cover it with plain or patterned paper. Use ribbon, die-cuts, stickers or anything else to give it more flair.     Posted Sep 27 2007, 04:37 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, tips, OTHER FUN IDEAS

• TTT #8 - Shoe Box Ribbon Organizer

  I must love ribbon because this is my 2nd post on how to organize ribbon this month. :) To create this ribbon organizer box, just use a regular shoe box and small wooden dowe.l. 1. Cut holes in the sides of the box for the dowel to slide through. 2. Cut a slit in the front of the box for each ribbon to slide through, you can use a hole puncher to create holes for the ribbon to fit through, or even your Crop-a-Dile to punch the holes. 3. If you want to go the extra mile or make more work for yourself (as my husband would say) you can even decorate the box by covering it with patterned paper to match your room decor. Posted Sep 27 2007, 04:30 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, tips, ORGANIZATION, EMBELLISHMENTS, MONEY SAVERS

• TTT #7 - Cutting Mat = Work Surface

  We use a large self-healing cutting mat with a grid on each Fidjiti Studio Station for your work surface. The grid ensures that photos and embellishments are perfectly aligned on layouts cards or projects, and also helps keep handwriting straight when you need to do some journaling. Whenever you need to use a cutting blade you'll already have your cutting surface in place. It is also perfect for setting eyelets and using the other tools we have available. The mats are made by Making Memories. Come and use one of our Studio Stations to see if you like them. I highly recommended them. :) Posted Sep 20 2007, 04:34 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, EMBELLISHMENTS, TOOLS

• TTT #6 - Cleaning Out your Anywhere Punch

  If you're like me and love to use eyelets anywhere, you know your hole punch gets clogged. :( You'll want to clean it out on a regular basis if you prefer not to get little dots everywhere and every time you need to use your hole punch. To clean it out, snip off the puffy end of a q-tip and insert the q-tip down the shaft. You can also use a Paper Piercer (which I've used here) if you have one, it's stronger to unclog the toughest clogs. Posted Sep 20 2007, 04:23 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, tips, TOOLS

• TTT #5 - Adhering Vellum

  The magic is in the Fiskars CLEAR Photo Squares. They don't show through!!! They're only $2.94 for 500 squares, what a deal! You can purchase them at our favorite 24 hour store, Wal-Mart. Note: If you don't have a Wal-Mart near by I'd be happy to purchase it for you and ship it to you with your order. :) Just add a note to the order letting me know you'd like to add that item and we'll email you the new total for your order. Posted Sep 20 2007, 11:18 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, tips, TECHNIQUES, vellum

• TTT #1 - Toilet Paper Ribbon Organizer

  Cover cardboard rolls (like toilet paper or paper towel rolls) in acid free tissue and then wrap your ribbon around them for storage. Wrap rolls with tissue paper or vellum if you have some. Just an idea to keep your ribbon acid free. Apply 1 strip of adhesive length wise on the roll. (This will help keep the ribbon in place when wrapping.) Place one end of the ribbon starting at the adhesive and start wrapping the ribbon around the roll until it runs out. Use a pin to secure the other end of the ribbon to the roll, to make sure it doesn't unwind while you roll the other strands or store it. (Be careful not to poke through the roll because you'll end up getting pricked in the finger.) Roll the rest of your ribbon. Display, hang or store your ribbon where you'll be able to find it quickly. Have fun! Posted Sep 14 2007, 03:16 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, ORGANIZATION, EMBELLISHMENTS, MONEY SAVERS

• TTT #4 - Tie then Cut Bows

  Make small bows by tying the bows first before cutting the ribbon. It'll save you time in the end, simply because you won't have to cut out and waste another piece. It's also nice when it's still on the roll because you can adjusts the length or even undo it several times until you like it. Posted Sep 13 2007, 04:05 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, tips, TIME SAVERS, EMBELLISHMENTS, TECHNIQUES, MONEY SAVERS

• TTT #3 - Grab Those Tiny Embellishments

  Use tweezers to hold small embellishments and reach tight areas when crafting. Tweezers act as an extension of your fingertips. I like to use tweezers to pick-up small eyelets from their containers. Some of the containers made for scrapbookers are really made for people with baby fingers. Luckily for us we have tweezers. You can also use the tweezers to hold small die cuts in place while gluing them down without getting your hands covered in glue. Posted Sep 13 2007, 03:49 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, tips, EMBELLISHMENTS, TOOLS

• TTT #2 - Craft Table Covers

  Use plastic party table covers for messy crafts. They protect better than newspaper and can be used more than once. I would also recommend taping the table cover to the bottom of the table to secure it in place. I hate it when my projects stick to my table covers. Posted Sep 13 2007, 10:25 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, tips, TIME SAVERS, MONEY SAVERS

• Three Thursday Tips

  I'll be posting my favorite tips, tricks and techniques here in this section of the site. You can subscribe to it via RSS if you'd like to make sure you're always updated. Or come back every Thursday for your tips fix! Please comment on any of the tips and let me know if they helped or made your life worse. I hope not. :) Happy Scrapbooking! Love, Linda Posted Sep 12 2007, 10:03 PM by fidjiti with no comments Filed under: three thursdays, tips