Cosmo Cricket

Surgery and Surtex

Tomorrow morning, I will leave bright and early for NY, NY. What am I doing in NY when Eric is scheduled for surgery on Monday you may ask? Well it's the Surtex (surface and textile) Design Show.

Besides, I got Eric one of those extender-arm grabbers, a bed pan and subscription to HBO.... he'll be fine. My four kids have promised to take great care of him. Jack will be dosing his meds which is great math and reading practice. Abby has plans to make every meal: Ice cream for breakfast, cereal for lunch and ice cream with toppings for dinner. Kate will be in charge of physical therapy and has practiced lots of cheers like "moving machine, moving machine... you're really nice, though you feel so mean" and "the bend is your friend" and "go Dad, you're my guy, but you can't do it if you don't try". Finally, Ethan is in charge of entertainment having hidden the remote control just outside of grabber-arm reach.

I'm kidding of course, it's actually much worse for Eric than all that... my mom is coming to take care of him! (Mom, I'm kidding... this is humor... don't be mad... you know I love you.)

Here's a little preview of some of the work you can see in our booth #570 on the Surtex show floor. 





Drop by and see me if you find yourself at the Javits Center!

Thrifty Thursday: Tea Bags on Cards

If you are good friends with the staff at your local coffee shop, you may be able to get empty tea bags for free. That is what I did. But if you have to purchase them don't worry.... 200 will run you about $10 bucks. 

What will you do with 200 tea bags you ask? Well, you could make tea, but I use a reusible filter for that and so I did something different.

I started with a sweet little card to welcome a new baby. Tea bags just happen to fold up into the perfect little diaper embellishments. I found the chipboard safety pin from Baby Jane's mini deck. So easy and simple!


How about tea bags to hold seeds you've collected from your garden. This makes a really fun gift to give friends. I used a bunch of Tim's Distress Inks to color my tea bag into a nice dirty flower pot. Then I filled it with my Hollyhock seeds from last fall.

Last but not least, I had to try at least a couple Gluber flowers. The tea bag paper is really fun being almost like a fabric, but still enough like paper to punch easily. I also really like the new flower type I thought up with the ruffle on the inside, what do you think?

Just a simple little idea that won't break the bank! Enjoy.

And congratulations to our three winners from yesterday:

Linda Harris who said, " Love it!!! I choose option #4!!! That was to cute and funny. Thanks for the chance."

Kathy W. who said, "Option 4, and big hugs to you! I was in this position exactly one year ago moving from SLC to Vermont sans children and pets (and it was still overwhelming). You will get through it, best of luck!"

Naomi who said, "I like option #2! I hope option #5 is Julie telling me I won!"

Ladies, send your info to julie at cosmocricket dot com and I'll ship you the goods. If after you recieve them you find yourselves being stalked, let me know. I have a list of stripper names and a great contact for employment opportunities at the Persian Peacock! ;) 

Giveaway! Odds and Ends Charm Packs and Bags

I'm sorry for my lack of blog posting! Would you like to know where I went? Let's play a little game. If you pick the winning answer to where I've been, I'll enter you into a drawing for one of these cute charm packs from Odds and Ends and a super-useful market bag to carry it around in.




Option #1: On mother's day, 2012, Julie Comstock was waiting in bed, pretending to be asleep, as her children colored her pictures to go with the surprise breakfast they were making. At exactly 7:54, her ceiling seemed to open up and a bright light flooded her room. The next thing she knew, she was in an alien operating room. She can't be sure, but she thinks they replaced her brain with mush since she has been babbling incoherently and running around like a crazy woman ever since. There are visible scars on each of her earlobes where the brain to mush probes were inserted. She showed them to our reportive team who thought they resembled earing piercings, but lab results are inconclusive.

Option #2: On mother's day, 2012, Julie Comstock witnessed a child talk back to his mother. The mother took swift action which was also witnessed by Mrs. Comstock. As a result, Julie was entered into the witness protection program Sunday evening for her own safety because according to police, "an angry mother is the most dangerous of criminals." Monday through Tuesday, Julie took on the name of Roxy Star and found new employment at the Persian Peacock, an adult novelty store in Logan, Utah. She testified in court on Tuesday afternoon and is now free to resume her life.

(Some of the prints in Odds and Ends.)

Option #3. On mother's day, 2012, Julie Comstock realized that she had four children, one husband and a dog. She has a house too, but only until June 2 when she must be out of it. With these things in mind, the thought of her husband's upcoming knee surgery sent her into a mild psychotic episode. Monday through Tuesday, she was curled up in the fetal position crying like a baby. Late Tuesday afternoon, she overdosed on the dog's sedative the vet just prescribed for the 24 drive to Austin. She slept like a baby last night and is now deliriously happy as a side effect from the dog's pills.

Option #4: All of thee above and none of the above. Julie does have pierced ears and cute kids that make her things for Mother's day. Her brain being mush is still inconclusive although she has been babbling and running around like a crazy woman. Julie did witness a child talk back to his mother on mother's day and there is an adult novelty store in Logan, Utah named the Persian Peacock, although she has never been employed there. Julie's dog does have a scrip. for sedatives, but Julie did not take them. She is freaking out, but knows that with the help of her friends and family she will get through this!

And, take a look at this! These are for Moda to giveaway at Market (certain rules apply). Aren't they awesome. Leave a comment today to be entered into our giveaway. We'll announce three lucky winners tomorrow on Thrifty Thursday when we show you what you can do with Tea Bags.




 

Placemat to Mini Album, Necklace and Hair Clip

Boy, oh boy, have a gotten a lot of mileage out of my bamboo placemat. Even with yesterday's and today's projects I still have more than half of it left!

I'm really happy with this cute mini I made using Evangeline papers between placemat book covers. I plan to fill it in with some pressed flowers from my yard as a keepsake when we move.



Next I made a hair clip for Abby. Don't worry, I know she will break, lose or flat out refuse to wear it in a matter of weeks! But, it's just so darn beautiful against her red hair that I couldn't resist.

The fabric flowers I used were machine cut, but if you don't have a fabric cutting machine, you can see an easy technique for cutting them yourself in this video. To make your flower, simply fold your cut fabric in half and press it around the edge. For this style, bring the fabric much further onto the Gluber as shown in the picture below. Repeat with a smaller cut of fabric for the inner petals. I used hot glue to attache the gem because it is quite heavy. Then flip it all over and glue on a hairl clip and find a beautiful girl to wear it!

Last, I made this fun little necklace for a friend of mine. Is it just me, or do the cream colored Tiny Text stickers make the bamboo look like piano keys? I love that and hope my musical friend will too! 

Well, I'll leave you to your Friday. I hope it's fabulous and that you all have amazing weekends! 

Thrifty Thursday: Turning a Placemat into Jewelry

These cute accessories were made from a lonely bamboo placemat I picked up at Ross for 3 bucks.

They only take minutes each to make and you could literally get dozens out of one mat. I made the cuff by trimming my favorite color of cardstock (aqua) to fit over the tiles! You can find this subtle pattern and beautiful color in our Baby Jane Mini Deck. It took about 1/2 of one sheet for the whole bracelet.

I used Glossy Accents to glue the paper to the tiles and then covered them with it to make them look enameled. String it together with some elastic thread and you're done.

I really love it! My only issue will be keeping it out of Kate's hands. She's already been caught trying to sneak off with it.

With such a cute cuff to wear, I got to thinking about more accessories. How about a brooch pin?

For this one, I used one of the long pieces of bamboo, three 1" Glubers and a bit of aqua fabric from Odds and Ends.

You can see how I coil the roses onto the Glubers in this video. The technique is the same for the one inch size, you just go around the Gluber one time only.

After your flower is made, back it onto the fabric so that it won't be sticky. You do this because the flower overlaps the bamboo and the exposed backing is adhesive which would stick to you or your clothing. (This photo looks funny because I am so close to the flower.)

Trim around your flower and use a little hot glue to attach it to your bamboo piece. I thought that three were cute. Flip your bamboo over and add a brooch pin.

Embellish with a little bling if you like!

If you are planning to sell handmade items at a summer art fair or craft market... if you need summer camp or family reunion craft ideas... or, if you still need a Mother's Day gift idea.... these would be fabulous. You can get soooooo many accessories from one placemat. We have more placemat projects to show you tomorrow so check back! 


 

10 Tips for Boosting Creativity

Follow these tips and you may just find yourself on your way to the land of creative mojo.

#1. Don't go shopping!
Hey, isn't it my job to convince you to go to the store and buy all the latest products? Well, I guess it would be OK if you were to buy all the Cosmo Cricket stuff, but other than that, try improvising. Improvisation will force you out of your box. You will HAVE to try and solve the problem with something you didn't think of first and that could just turn out to be a brilliant new idea! 

#2. Clean your desk. 
Ahhh, I know we all hate to hear that right! But a messy area will make you feel overwhelmed and that feeling is NOT going to get your creative juices flowing! I am the queen of messy desks, but since we put our house for sale, I have had no choice but to keep it clean. Here's what I've discovered, for my 10 minutes of clean-up time each day (yes that is really all it takes), I have been 100 times more productive! It is well worth the investment.

#3. Take a walk.
It doesn't have to be a walk necessarily, I get great results with showers too. It's funny though, on almost every walk I come home with at least two new ideas. There's something about the repetition of movement, the sound of my steps and being outside that let's my mind wander to little creative places.

#4. Expand on what works.
When you get a good idea, try to extend it out to as many new ideas and uses as possible. Turn your spark into a flame and your flame into a fire. I was amazed how many ideas I got for sewing tissue paper after I started thinking about it.

#5. Bounce ideas off friends. 
When I posted the DIY activity book, one of our facebook fans suggested Golden Books for the cover. I didn't think of that on my own, but it's a great idea and it sparked other ideas for me too like giving a new life to a child's favorite book that may have been loved too much to be readable.

#6. Re-Define
Sometimes we get so caught up in what something has been, that we neglect to see what it could be. Is it a book or a purse? Is it a sewing pattern or artsy tissue paper? As you walk through stores constantly ask yourself, what else could this be?

#7. Take a Break
If you find yourself in a creative rut on a project, take a break. Walk away. Give yourself a time-out. It's amazing how after coming back from a break you can have a completely new perspective.

#8. On your break, drink a coffee
Studies show that after only 20 minutes of drinking a cup of coffee, people's brains are more alert and creative making better and faster connections.

#9. Keep a notebook nearby
I especially find a notebook on my bedside table to be handy. I often get good ideas right when I'm waking or falling into sleep. I jot these down and then look at them when I'm fully awake. About 50% of them make sense and about 50% of those are actually good.

#10. Live your Life
You can't have new ideas without new inspiration and I don't mean Pinterest. Get out there, enjoy a picnic, play a game with your kids, go see a movie. Creativity is actually just coming up with new and useful connections, but you need things to connect and that comes from living!

So, now that you've got your creative thinking caps on.... tell us, what do you think we'll do with this bamboo placemat I picked up for $2.99 at Ross? 

We'll show you some great ideas with it for tomorrow's Thrifty Thursday.

Book Frame with Collage Art

Maybe it's because I am a romantic when it comes to sappy, inspirational, and somewhat cheesy quotes, but I love framed messages. I think this one is especially sweet being framed in an old book. "Your life is a story, make it good."
This book's cover was titled Don Juan, and although I briefly thought about making a scrapbook with stories of my old flames titled The Don Juans of My Life, I re-thought that when I saw Kate reading one of my past journals. Instead I simply flipped the book over and cut it into a frame.

I saw the idea for cutting stepped frames from old books years ago and it's something I've always thought of trying. Here's how I did it.

I measured 1" in on all sides except the bottom which I weighted by cutting 1.5" inches from the edge. A cork backed ruler is handy here because they don't slip, but if you don't have one, you can drizzly a bit of hot glue on the backside of a plastic ruler to make it non-slip.

After your window is cut, measure in from its edge 1/8" all the way around. (By the way, you could make little shelves with this technique simply by cutting the bottom edge flush with the opening.)

Make sure your blade is very sharp or it will tear the soft book paper. Press very hard through as many levels of paper as you can. Do this a couple times. Then carefully lift out all the pages you have cut. When you get to the lower levels, there will be some areas you have to go back over to free them. You want to make these cuts deep enough to go through the first third of the book.

Repeat this two more times. Each time, bring your frame in 1/8" and make your step another third deep. When you are finished, it will look like this.

The front binding on my Don Juan book was falling apart. This is a very common problem with old books, but a bit of tape secures it nicely. 

Next, I need to glue the book pages closed to give my frame much more structure and keep the book from sagging funny. I used some acrylic medium in matte (no, I am not endorsed in any way by Liquitex, I just like their product) and some binder clips.

While that was drying, I created my framed quote to place inside. I really liked the idea of using the book paper I had just cut from the book for this, but alas, the story of Don Juan didn't seem to have the right words! I found the words I was looking for, after spending far too much time reading steamy scenes from Don Juan, in The Beloved Vagabond book from last week.

I wanted the word "story" to stand out and so I took some of our Ready Set Chip Alphas and covered them in book paper. To do this, I coated them with Liquitex, placed them on the paper and then trimmed around each one with my craft knife.

Next, I took all my cut words and my new story letters and put them on some of our cardstock from Evangeline. I muted the background pattern by using some of Tim's Distress Ink in Tea Dye.

Since I may want to change out my frame at some future point, I taped the collage in place with Washi tape.

For the finishing touch, I ran some ribbon between the spine and the binding to hang it on my wall.

And there you have it. Total project time, 1 hour. These would make super cute gifts!


Tomorrow we'll show you what we'll be using for this week's Thrifty Thursday. Check back!!! 

Challenge Monday: Inspiration from YOU!

Happy Monday everyone. I am recovering from a terrible virus this morning. Did you all have a fun National Scrapbook Day on Saturday? Did you get lots of paper crafting in? I hope so!

We had five crafty gals take on our Banners, Buntings, Oh My challenge with some pretty amazing results. I am feeling super inspired to go make something cute myself. I hope you get some great ideas from their projects too.

Here is an amazing little girl's room by Tomi Ann Hill. She decorated this for her "big-girl" as a step up from her baby room. I'll bet that her daughter feels like a princess everytime she walks into this space. Isn't it magical? Tomi Ann used Girl Friday papers to make a paper window valance with a point for each letter in her daughter's name. My girls would love this!




Mandi's project is much more simple, but just perfect for a Mother's Day card. She used Early bird for the card and flower (I love her flower) and paired it with Jolly by Golly for the banner strips hanging down.

This gift box, or should I say Flip-Flop box is such a cute idea. Kimberly Rae created it with Snorkel. I have no idea how she made the box, but I would love to figure it out. It appears that the lid opens by pulling on the toe straps! Too clever!!

I love that Irit Shalom creates these wonderful layouts for our challenges each week. I always need layout inspiration and I've gotten some great ideas from Irit. Her banner and tags are made from Odds and Ends paper.

Savi Ostrozny used Twenty Three to make a fun mini album for her mom for Mother's Day. Am I the only one that hasn't gotten her mother's day gifts finished yet? Savi's banner is made by cutting up the pattern called "Photo Booth". I love cutting up this paper myself, but never thought of making it into a banner. What a great idea!

The winner of this challenge is Irit Shalom. Irit, please email julie at cosmocricket dot com and I'll see to it that you get your prize. And, we have a second winner for the yard of fabric. Congratulations go to Kelly who said, "Such a fun project idea! thanks for the chance to win some of your lovely fabric!" Kelly, do the same as Irit so I can send you this fun print!

Do you guys have a great idea for a challenge. Is there something you have wanted to try, but need some inspiration with? Let us know! We'd love to help you out.

Check back tomorrow to see another idea for re-using old books. I think it's my favorite one yet!

DIY Activity Book & Fabric Giveaway

I think I may be the last person on earth, with four children and no media player in the family van. I don't usually notice this fact, except that June 2, I will drive Ethan, Kate, Suki (don't worry, she will be in the car, not strapped to the top of it) and two Mac computers to Austin. Eric will be flying with the little two and hopefully recovering from knee surgery (keep your fingers crossed we get a donor).

As part of my effot to keep Kate entertained, I made her my version of a DIY Activity Book. There's three reasons why I think this is much better than buying an activity book. First, it requires creativity to come up with your own activities. Second, Kate, like myself, gets car sick if she tries to read things on the road, but drawing is not a problem. Third, it's just so darn cute!

Here is a guide to help you make one for yourself or someone you love.

First, you'll need to cut the insides out of an old book. This one had been in someone's basement for so long that it had spider webs behind the binding.... that nearly made me run screaming and not come back, but I managed after just one shriek. (Yep, terrified of spiders.)

Then, you'll want to re-inforce the binding area by cutting a piece of cardboard or tag board. Before you glue this down, make sure that it isn't too wide to allow the covers to fold still. I had to trim mine down slightly.

Use the book as a guide to cut out your background fabric. I wanted to piece mine out of two, but you don't have to!

Use a pencil to draw around your book onto your fabric. Then iron the edges behind, rolling the pencil line to the backside. Use your book as a guide to make sure it is looking good. You can iron right on top of it if it's easier for you.

Next your make your pockets. I used an element tag from our soon to be release Odds and Ends fabric. I simply cut it out, hemmed the top edge, ironed the other edges back and top-stitched in place.

For the pencil pocket, I cut my rectangle twice the height plus top edge allowance. (I would give dimensions, but everyone's books will be different in starting size). I hemmed the top edges and stitched the sides, wrong sides together to make a pocket that was a separate piece from my background. Then, I stitched every .75" for each pencil holder. 

When you pin this to your background, please keep your pencils in place. They are quite dimensional and with the pocked backing up to a hard book, you won't have any give once the project is completed.

You don't have too, but I even left the pencils in place as I stitched the pocked to the background fabric. To do this you will need a zipper foot. If you don't have one, simply resist the urge to flatten out your pencil pocked from where you placed your pins while the pencils were in the pocket.

Don't stitch across the bottom. Leave that free. Otherwise, we would have to take tucks and gathers and go to more work than this project really justifies!

I got some purse handles at Joanns on clearance for 97¢. I'll be they still have some if you hurry.

I sewed tabs to attach them to the book, but ribbon or twill tape would be cute too.

I used hot glue to attach the tabs to the book.

Then I hot glued my insides. The best way I found to do this was little by little. You can press and spread the glue out that way. If you get a glue lump under your fabric, you can use a craft iron (I have a dedicated iron for messy projects that might ruin my good iron) to heat the glue back up and spread it out. I only had to do that once though until I learned my little by little lesson!

If you like this project let us know! And, if you like the fabric below let us know that too. We'll be giving away one yard in the color of your choice to one lucky winner. This is a light weight canvas print from our Odds and Ends collection. The print is called Happy Thoughts and it is so fun for bags, aprons, pillows, chair cushions, etc! I plan to make some things with it this weekend for sure!!

Leave a comment to be entered into our random drawing. We'll announce the winner on Monday. Have a happy weekend and wonderful National Scrapbook Day everyone!

 

Thrifty Thursday: Old Books Get New Lives

You've seen us make them into Kindle Covers

Shaddow Boxes

And Secret Compartment Boxes

Today I'll show you what I did with "The Story of a Bad Boy." I found the title so funny, and I've been wanting Eric to make a scrapbook so that our kids will have his perspective on some things, rather than just my own. But, how do you get a man to make a scrapbook????

Well, in my experience, you don't. You make it for him and hope he'll add to it! So, without further ado, here is what I made for Eric. Call it a DIY Smash Book, a Man Book or a Pocket Book, either way, it turned out really fun!

I first cut out the insides. Is it a sin to cut up an old book? If the book is not a first edition or valuable in some other special way, then I don't think so. They are simply too abundant! You can find old books discarded for pennies, sometimes even free, at libraries. They run 50¢-$1.00 at my local thrift store. But the book I am using today I bought at a yard sale just for the title. It was fairly priced at a buck!

 Then, use one of the inside pages as a template, to create your pages. I wanted mine to be pockets, so I doubled the page width and added a quarter inch gluing strip to the sides.

Then, I made pages that would be easy for Eric to fill in. Think about what you would like to remember of the person you are making your album for.



If you know Eric, you know he is the antithesis of a bad boy. That is what makes this so funny!!!

If you like the looks of this project, here are some other ideas:
Gardening Book: Use the pockets to organize your seeds.
Card Organizer
Interior Design Guide: Use the pockets to hold swatches, magazine clippings, paint chips, etc.
Business Reciept Keeper: Make a category for all your expenses.
Wedding or Party Planner

Check in tomorrow for a fabric sneak peek and giveaway. We'll show you more ideas for old books before we get to next week's Thrifty Thursday. Have a great day everyone!

UPDATE: Brenda asked if I would give more details on making the individual pages. Well, here you go! I hope this helps... they are the only photos I got of the process.

First, since all books come in there own size, you need to cut one of the pages from the book to use as a guide. Measure its height and width, then follow this diagram.

As always, if you don't have a scoring board, just use a ruler and the BACKSIDE of a craft knife.

Take your cut and scored paper, cut the tiny bit of horizontal fold that extends past the 1/4" score lines on both sides.

Then fold your paper as shown below. A bone folder comes in really hand here!

Use a strong adhesive runner to apply glue to both tabs on the right had side. Then, fold your page in half sandwiching the glue between the tabs. For added design interest, I used a circle punch to cut the half-circle tabs and punch outs. You could make tabs in lots of ways though, or not at all.