Stamp Storage Idea

I have quite a few rubber stamps and clear stamps, and I must confess, they are all in a drawer in a great big muddle. When I received my beautiful new Tonic Studios stamps designed by Ruth Hamilton, I knew they deserved a better storage solution  to keep them organised and in tip top condition. Here is my solution...

What you will need...

An A4 Ring binder - I got mine at Tesco for about 57p !
Some poly pockets - get good quality ones as it will make cutting them to size much easier.
Double sided sticky tape
PVA Glue
Fabric for the cover.
Inkpad suitable for using on Fabric.
Quality Coloured pencils or acrylic paints.
Paper or card for covering the inside
Optional - elastic, hole punch, eyelets and eyelet setting tool.

Measure the size of the stamp sheet and allow extra for when the folder is closed.
For this Tonic Studios range a good size for the side of the cover (not including the spine) is  14.5cm by 23.5cm.

Cut out with a craft knife and metal ruler. Don't forget to protect your work surface with a cutting mat.

My folder was bright blue and I was a bit worried it would shine through the fabric, so I covered it with a white printer paper first. I use PVA glue thinned down with a little water.

I used some curtain lining cotton fabric and cut a piece about an inch extra all round bigger than the folder. I used the lovely Fuschia and Lily stamps to stamp all over the fabric and then coloured in using my Karisma pencils - which are the same as Prismacolours. You could use watered down acrylic paints or fabric paints for this.

I then pasted glue all over the front of the folder and adhered my fabric. It is best to let it dry before moving on to the next stage. Here you see I am brushing the corners of the fabric with glue and then letting them dry. This is to prevent fraying when I snip the fabric off.

Snip off the corners but leave a few millimetres so there is enough to cover the corner of the folder neatly. Glue it all down and wait for it to dry.

Once it was dry I punched the back of the folder 1inch in from the corners and inserted some elastic which is then held in place with eyelets. This will be to hold the folder closed.

To cover all the raw edges on the inside, I stamped this gorgeous bee stamp from the Lily set ( I love bees) on some lilac card and stuck it down. Next time I do this, I might try and work around the ring mechanism in a different way.

The Poly pockets were cut to a centimetre wider than I needed so I could then snip 1cm of the width of the top layer, fold it over and stick it with double sided sticky tape. Now I can just slide out the stamps I need, use them, and pop them back in again easily.

 I don't know why it never occurred to me to chop down an A4 Ring Binder before, but just imagine the possibilities. You can make a customised folder to suit your needs. Easy peasy - and cheap too.

Aren't these new stamps so pretty?

Hello!

Hi, I know it's been a while. Despite the fact it is the school holidays, life seems to have been busier than ever. What's been happening? Well... visitors, house viewings, birthdays, decorating, gardening, keeping a six year old entertained - I just don't know where the time goes, I really don't!

This is the birthday cake I made for my photographer daughter Naomi. I really must buy a cake smoother for the fondant!!!

I'll be back shortly with a project I've just made...

Whether the weather be hot

Here in the Highlands the weather can't seem to make up it's mind. Yesterday the sun shone and it was beautiful. I spent four hours edging our lawns and flowerbeds. I haven't completed it yet either. Then around 6pm the rain returned. Today is dull and chilly. I don't feel like any gardening today. 

I'm reminded of a silly poem I heard when I was a child.

Whether the weather be fine
Or whether the weather be not.
Weather the weather,
whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not.

So I made a bright sunny card to make up for the lack of sunshine today. I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are.

just dropping by

Last weekend we had a lovely time in Edinburgh at a wedding. 

It was in very grand surroundings. The couple looked beautiful and the food was amazing. The newly-weds are headed off on a cruise to New York right now. 

I quite fancy doing that myself! Summer doesn't seem to be happening here in the Highlands this year!

I'm attempting to do a whole bunch of masculine cards for my stock box right now. I do struggle with masculine cards so I am making a special  effort! My husband usually says my men cards are too girly! Hopefully this one isn't!

who's a crazy chick then?

I just listed some of my funky chicken brooches in my Etsy shop. 
They were sitting in my desk for ages, but now I can finally tick that little job off my "To Do" list.
Now for the other gazillion jobs on my list!

Obsessive compulsive cupcake decorating disorder

If there's such a disorder as O.C.C D.D. I think I'm suffering from it. I had to make a load of cupcakes for a school event. Would have been simpler to just slap a bit of icing on and chuck on a few sprinkles, but no, not me. I obviously like making work for myself! These are a few of the cakes.

I embossed the fondant here with a previously unused clear stamp. Doesn't really show up very well in the picture.

I made little squiggles of white chocolate to decorate these ones with.
Now I really need to get out in the garden and get some weeding done!

Alice in Wonderland party post 5

Here are some more ideas for you if you are thinking of having a bit of a Mad Hatter's tea party...

Sugar cookies with Sugar paste disks written on with an Edible writing pen.

The Queen of Hearts she made some tarts...well actually Naomi made some Empire biscuits. These were made by adapting this recipe.

I had picked up the cardboard cake stands from a Tesco sale for under £1 each.
Cardboard cake stands are quite widely available now and make a much cheaper (and more child friendly) solution than china, and you can use them more than once if they don't get too trashed.

These were the party bags I made for each young guest to take home. They were simply folded from one sheet of A4 paper.
For instructions and a printable template you can check out my post over at It's a Creative World.

A very Merry Unbirthday to you!