Just Something I Made

Cigar Boxes: Collection Obsession

Cathe Holden — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:17:32 +0000

It’s challenging to stay on task with this studio remodel. Like the kid who tells his mom- “It’s hard to clean my room, I keep finding cool stuff to play with!” Today I pulled out all my cigar boxes to stack on a shelving unit in one of the driveway storage containers. Seems I have a lot of boxes, and I don’t see an end to the collecting anywhere in the near future. What’s with the obsession? Here’s a simple list in order of precedence:

1. Vintage Graphics

2. Gorgeous Typography

3. Beautiful Decay

4. Craft Storage

While loading them onto the shelves, I took a few minutes to snap some shots of what I find so appealing about cigar boxes, especially the much older ones with such detail on nearly every panel in the labels and stampings.And what’s cooler than a cigar box divided with a cigar box?To top off that collection, the start of a new collection: old paper labeled biscuit and starch boxes.

Paper Tape & Stickers: Free WorldLabel.com Printable

Cathe Holden — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:53:55 +0000

You know I love paper tape. And everyone loves stickers. So, in partnership with WorldLabel.com I designed some “cheater” paper tape and coordinating sticker designs for making printing your own. There are four different design styles in several color combinations for both tape and stickers available to you as one free PDF file download. Print the tape designs to full sheet label stock and the sticker designs to 3/4″ round label sheets. The free tape and sticker file and corresponding label sheets are all available through WorldLabel.com. Once the tape graphics are printed, use a paper trimmer or Xacto knife and straight edge to cut the designs into strips. Keep the backing paper attached until ready to use, then simply fold back a small section of one corner to separate the backing from the adhesive paper.I like to trim my round label sheet into strips and peel away the outer area leaving the “stickers” only.Make lots of extra to keep on hand for quickie gift-wrapping, dolling up letters and envelopes, taping notes up, decorating containers and a zillion other things I know you’ll think of!TIP: To create a scalloped design along the edge of something, fold back a long section of the backing on a row of stickers to the halfway point and press the adhesive exposed sections along a fold or edge. Remove the remaining backing and fold the other halves of the stickers over the edge.Enjoy!

Barn Studio Progress: Containers

Cathe Holden — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:12:07 +0000

Behold: My driveway with two 8′ x 20′ storage containers. Lovely, no? These two beasts will be housing my craft stash for the next few months during the making of the barn studio. I’ve only begun to move shelves and bins into the units, doing my best to keep things somewhat in order so I can access materials and supplies as easily as possible during the transition. Some bins need their contents organized, but I’ll wait until I’m ready to move them into the barn for good, no need to organize twice. Here are a few of my drawer units already in. Over the next week I hope to get all the tables, chairs and other furniture in the containers as well.. This is all in an effort to clear out my current studio and the crafty overflow that has taken over our garage and move things currently in the barn into those areas. Then we can begin the necessary barn work such as building a ceiling, lighting, painting, flooring, plumbing, electrical, and likely a few more things we’ve yet to think of. It’s going to be a very, very busy summer!

Vintage Graduate Silhouettes

Cathe Holden — Wed, 09 May 2012 18:00:53 +0000

I can hardly believe the school year is almost over. Next year our oldest will be a senior in high school, which is impossible because he was just born! I can hardly believe how fast time goes, it’s truly bittersweet.

Maybe you know someone who is about to graduate. Here is some free clip art- sweet silhouettes and a bit of lovely script- for creating a special card or gift (think photo jewelry!)

Mother’s Day Top Ten Memory Box

Cathe Holden — Thu, 03 May 2012 08:30:30 +0000

It’s so convenient to live just 15 minutes from a Michaels craft store. I’m convinced that our Petaluma store has the best employees and staff a shopper/crafter could ask for. I’m even getting to know the staff by name- John, the manager is always busy on the floor stocking and organizing but never too busy for a kind hello and product update, and I’ve grown quite fond of several other employees there, especially Claire, my favorite cashier. For a big store, it sure has a small town vibe. Gotta love that.I went to Michaels yesterday to brainstorm an idea for crafting Mother’s day gifts. I was looking to create something of a mix between my sister’s journal cigar box and my husband’s Top Ten lists. I spied these large wooden recipe boxes and the crafty gears started to turn. Here’s what I came up with…

Mother’s Top Ten Memory Box

I made a total of four memory boxes, one for my mom, one for my sister, one for my mother-in-law, and one for me (of course!) So, yes, if they read my blog, the jig is up.

Michael’s just stocked Jolee’s Boutique new line of French General products by Kaari Meng. Here’s a sweet video of Kaari and her new product-

I picked up pads of her two sided 12″ x 12″ papers, delightful embellishments and 12″ x 12″ adhesive-backed fabric.

Although the boxes can be decoupaged with paper, the adhesive fabric couldn’t have been more perfect and mess free for this project. The fabric patterns and images are just gorgeous and some so beautifully “patch-worked” in places. I cut out shapes to match all sides of the recipe box, cutting the back panel into two pieces to work around the hinges. I trimmed each of my pieces just a bit smaller than the box sides, you’ll see how that looks in a bit. Each box required a bit more than one 12″ x 12″ piece of adhesive fabric, so I did a bit of mixing and matching on a couple of the boxes to maximize my sheets.I peeled the backing from each piece and adhered it to the sides.Using my Xacto knife, I trimmed around the hinges, and sliced through the fabric along the lid sides and front to separate.

I then used sandpaper to scuff all edges of the fabric pieces and edges of the wood, even rounding the corners of the box. This created a wonderful aged look.With the little fabric fibers sanded off smooth, I brushed the entire box with Mod Podge Hard Coat, careful to avoid the hinges. This was my first time using this product and I think I’m hooked! It dries nice and hard and actually enhances the texture of the fabric rather than dulling it. Also, it doesn’t have the slightest stickiness factor when dry that you might find when decoupaging.Once the hard coat was dry, I gave the entire piece another quick and light sanding to soften the surface just a bit. Then I added embellishments to the front of each.The French General embellishments have adhesive foam dots which are great for scrapbooking, but I recommend something stronger, such as hot glue, for adhering them to boxes that may get knocked around a bit.

Here are my four finished boxes:For the inside of the box there are lots of options for Top Ten memory making. I designed a couple of printable cards to help explain the concept, and printable list cards in both one-sided layouts or for longer entries, two-sided or folded layouts. The printables are sized as both 3″ x 5″ cards and 4″ x 6″ cards, depending on your preference. If you’re working with a smaller box or would like to attach cards to decorative larger paper (as shown below), then the 3″ x 5″ cards work best. If you’d like to skip the decorative paper backing part and just have large cards, print the 4″ x 6″ sheets. And, in a pinch, standard office supply index cards will work just fine.

PDF DOWNLOADS:

The French General two-sided papers are breathtaking. Each 12″ x 12″ sheet cuts equally into quarters of 4″ x 6″.An adhesive runner, glue stick or liquid paper glue does the trick for attaching smaller cards to the quartered papers. There’s no set number of any of the cards that you should make. Make several and the recipient can always make more of their own as needed. Or fill their box with cards, papers and a glue stick and allow them to craft their own from the start. Also, you may opt to print larger 4″ x 6″ cards and save the decorative paper to cut into subject/category dividers slightly taller than the cards and labeled or tabbed.

TIP: To keep cards of any size from falling back into the not-so-full box, glue a piece of corrugated cardboard or corrugated cardstock trimmed to fit into the bottom of the box.

I filled the boxes with instructions, ideas and plenty of starter cards. I included a fine-point roller-ball pen & box of chocolate covered pretzels, both of which I also found at Michaels!

TIP: When making these boxes as shown, you may find yourself with scraps of adhesive fabric. Cut those into strips, remove the backing and wrap around wooden spools to create your own rolls of beautiful fabric tape!Now I’m off to start filling my Top Ten Memory Box and nibble on chocolates.

Bees and Beehives: Free Digital Downloads and Clip Art

Cathe Holden — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 16:50:49 +0000

I found another old scrapbook recently, this one filled with clippings from the early 1920s with a beautiful cover designed with a beehive, bees and blossoms. It’s worn, yellowed and fabulous. I couldn’t resist but scan and share. Click on the cover for a larger image to keep and use.

I also scanned several other beehives and bees from one of my printers’ clip art books dated around the same time. I just know you’ll create something wonderful with them. If you do, I would love to see it. Enjoy!

Spring & Summer Serving Trays

Cathe Holden — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 03:54:53 +0000

Whether you’re serving Mason jar sweet tea, summer salads and sandwiches, or crafting with little run-away supplies, lightweight melamine serving trays are a must-have. I did a bit of surfing and here’s some lovelies I found:

platter 1, platter 2, platter 3, platter 4

platter 5, platter 6, platter 7, platter 8 platter 9, platter 10, platter 11, platter 12

If you love trays and prefer something a bit more custom, you don’t even have to leave your seat. Right there at your computer you can download an image like this:

and upload it to a website to create a custom tray like this:

…order and serve!

For more information and inspiration on making your own custom serving tray, see my post over at SC Johnson Family Econimics HERE!

Disclosure: I am a paid blogger for SC Johnson.

Vintage-Style Office Labels: Free Printable

Cathe Holden — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 16:02:40 +0000

I’ve always adored little vintage boxes of Dennison and Maco red border labels and have lots in my stash of studio goodies. The trouble is, I never want to use them up because they’re not as easy to come by as you might think. They can be found and purchased on Etsy and Ebay, but being so popular among crafters & designers, you know- that whole supply-and-demand-thing, the cost can be pretty hefty compared to the price of a new box back in the day. An alternative is to simply print your own from a free download I have for you over at SC Johnson Family Economics! (If you leave me a comment on my SCJ Fam Ec post, you’ll make me super happy!)

Bonus: Here are a more similar label printables for you!

Disclosure: I am a paid blogger for SC Johnson.

Pergo from Lowe’s: Barn Studio Progress

Cathe Holden — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:12:40 +0000

Look what was delivered to my barn yesterday- the very first in many wonderful things to come that will transform our big barn into the ultimate craft studio and workshop/classroom of my dreams! PERGO! We have a LOT to do before we’re ready to install the flooring, but I just couldn’t wait to share. I am excited to share every step of the craft barn studio adventure with you.There are so many choices in flooring, but I knew the look I wanted and with all that will be going on in this studio, I decided that laminate flooring would work best. I wanted a natural looking floor, but with a touch of paint to it, you know, something vintage but clean. I dug around the internet for just the right product and discovered that Pergo’s Whitewashed Pine is PERFECT! So I wrote a few letters and the very fine folks at Lowe’s and Pergo are helping make my beautiful studio floor possible!Whitewashed Pine is from the PERGO®MAX collection available exclusively at Lowe’s and is one of Pergo’s most durable floors. I love that it provides great scratch and scuff protection. Seriously, do you have any idea what I’m going to put this floor through?! It also has pre-attached premium underlayment which maximizes sound reduction. Since my barn is one large space with no interior walls, this is going to be really helpful when classes are in full swing.

Here’s a close-up- this flooring is one of Pergo’s AccuWood Textures™ -rustic wood textures that simulate the pattern of natural wood. Gorgeous!

Stay tuned for more exciting things to come!

Antique Book Cover Digital Download

Cathe Holden — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:30:38 +0000

TGIF! I hope you all had a nice week and have something fun to look forward to this weekend. Isn’t the above graphic lovely? It’s (modified) from an antique book I found at our our local library’s book store for a whopping three bucks. The cover and spine are just so beautiful. The book is Famous Poems of Standard Authors, circa 1890.

Gifted with an inscription for Miss Lishman.

Here is a touched-up image of the slightly soiled but beautifully designed cover for your enjoyment. Click to enlarge.Let me know if you make something with the image, I’d love to see it!