The difficulty with looking online, say on Pinterest or YouTube, for crafty inspiration, I find, is the abundance of inspiration. The abundance of wonderfully crafty people, showing what can be done with all the beautiful products and supplies released so regularly and frequently.
Distracting.
To be honest, it's like popping into a shop for, I don't know, tin-foil, maybe, and coming out with a whole basket of things you didn't know you needed.
I've said before how easy it is to get carried away and accidentally spend a fortune because you just have to have the pretty things, because you're absolutely going to make that project you just saw - isn't it beautiful, and oh-so-easy - and before you know it, you have a StABLE in your crafting space. And you still haven't made that project.
But, if you're patient, or able to resist purchasing immediately - can wait, in fact, until you will actually make that project - you might get a good deal when someone has to destash.
Some years ago, I saw a video on YouTube, from a Stampin' Up! Demonstrator (Sam, of Pootles Papercraft), making Christmas baubles with a stamp and punch set. Very pretty, very simple. Too expensive a set for me then, so I sighed, coveted, and went away.
And periodically looked on eBay, because you never know.
To be fair, if I'd thought about it then, it's easy enough to make similar baubles with circles. Or, you know, any bauble die you might happen to have in your stash. You don't really need a specific bauble-shaped punch or die. I did, in fact, have a go at circular baubles last year, with instructions I found in a magazine, but it was a bit of a failure. Bit too complicated, what they were doing. Could have been too thin a paper, of course, to take the glue.
Whatever it was, it didn't really work.
Simply speaking, all you need is about five die-cuts or punch-outs of the same shape. Fold or score each in half, glue some thread down one score-line, and then glue each half to one on another of your pieces: each half should be glued to a different piece, so they end up in a circle, with the score-lines touching at the centre.
Finally, however, a month or so ago, eBay came up trumps for the original stamp and punch set, at the right price-point for me. And I've been making baubles. And marvelling at the ease of using a punch to cut out images, especially lots of the same image, rather than a die.
I have also, since, got myself a good-sized circle punch, to have another go at circular baubles (among other things: circles are always useful for card making). Probably be good for mobiles, or solar systems, if you have different sizes of circle. Because, of course, there's no reason why you have to use those specific bauble stamps with the bauble punches, and certainly not if you're making circular ones. Or perhaps, done in orange, with a leaf on top, they could be pumpkins, if you decorate for Hallowe'en.
But this Christmas, our house will be decorated with lots of paper baubles, the joy of which will be that we don't have to keep them, and next year we can have them in a different colour. Because that's how you change your Christmas colours every year without breaking the bank or filling the loft.
No comments:
Post a Comment