Cosmo Cricket

Collage Wall Art

Today is my birthday, but we celebrated yesterday. Eric asked me what I wanted to do and I told him I wanted to paint. So, the whole family did art projects yesterday.

Here's mine:

This little gal is made by layering Clementing papers in the background of a framed panel my kids and I found at our thrift store. After the first set of papers are layed down, I did a bit of antiquing. Then, I cut the skirt paper for the girl and stuck it down. I did more antiquing and painting on the skirt. I painted the girl, then stuck a few decorative elements on her dress and painted them in. More layers of antiquing and she's done!

This little chicky and I are now headed to California to teach 70 make and takes to store owners. Wish us luck!

Thrifty Craft! Altered Basket with Card

Yep, I am a thrifty crafter, but now I can say that instead of being cheap, I am being "green."

Two days ago I took Jack and Kate with me to our local thrift store.... Jack's first time that he can remember. I had tried to convince them that it would be boring and that they would rather stay home with dad, but they are not easily fooled.

As we were walking down the aisles, Jack exclaimed, "I love this place, can we have my birthday party here?"

They had been given strict rules about not whining or asking for things and they were very well behaved approaching the experience something like browsing a museum of junk. There were toys they remembered from their past, appliances that pre-dated their existence and lots of other items of interest. Mostly they were fascinated with the fact that people just gave all this stuff away.

It was on this trip that I found some great vintage dishes that make me really happy!

But we were really there for one of my favorite pastimes..... scavanging for alterable items!

On this trip we scored:

Grapevine Wreath    $2
Large Basket, shown below    $1
Small Basket    $1
Serving tray    $1
Vintage scrabble game    $2

And a few other goodies. Here's what I did with the large basket, some Clementine paper, buttons, ribbon and two Glubers. (By the way, the flowers are made with seam binding and a video of the technique can be found here: Loop Gluber Flower.)

And there you have it! A simple, quick and easy gift that not only is very economical, but re-uses something that would have otherwise been discarded. LOVE THAT!!!

One Girl, One Guy, One Garland and Lots O' Glubers!

So I made a ton of flowers yesterday.... probably around 50. Lindsay even came over and made a few with me... I have photographic evidence!!!

Here are some pics of the garland I told you about. And yes, I promise lots of video tutorials coming in the next week.... right after my birthday!

I decided to use fabric in place of ribbon for the garland support. This meant that I didn't have to back the flowers to each other like I thought, so I had twice as many as I had planned. I used every single one and might even add a few more!

By the way, 50 may sound like a lot of Glubers, but even if I bought the Glubers at full retail, this entire project would have cost me less than $20. On average, your finished flower made with fabric will run you a whopping .40¢. Most of mine were made with fabric I already had on hand.

Here is Lindsay, caught Gluber-handed. Yep, even a man can make these beauties!

A bit more proof. This next photo is what I call truth in blogging. It's not super pretty! Here you can see the mess, the project in progress, the dog and the Gluber usin' man. Can you see Suki's blue toenails? I think she needs a few flowers around her collar to finish off the look!

OK, onto yesterday's winner.... congratulations Emily Keaton. Send your info to cathie at cosmocricket dot com.

An Uber Gluber Giveaway!

I am loving Glubers, now that we have enough in stock that I feel free to play with them!

I am working on a garland right now. The plan is to make doubles of each of the flowers, then peel and stick them with ribbon sandwiched in between. This will drape along my mantel. I'll be sure to show you when it's all done!

Here are some of the pretties I've made so far.

I'll give a little description for how to make each of these flowers, there's also a video I made a while back that shows a couple of the basic techniques.

For the velvet rose, cut a 1" strip of fabric. You'll need approximately 24" in length to do a 2" flower. Tie a knot in one end and trim the tail so that the knot is all the way at the end with no excess. Then press the knot into the center of the glue, take the remainder of the strip and twist as you press it into the glue coiling around the knot. When you get to the end, trim the excess off and press the raw edges onto the backside of the Gluber. Roll any exposed glue along the edge to the backside to finish off.

For the ruffled silver flower, take a 2" strip of fabric. Fold it in half lengthwise and beginning from the outside edge, press it into the glue so that 1/4" is in the glue and the remainder is hanging off the edge. Take little tucks or finger pleats to ruffle the fabric on the glue as you work your way around coiling inward. When you run out of glue, trim off the excess. Glue a gem over the center point to cover the raw ending.

The poinsettia is made with the same technique as above. The only difference is to take your strip (2" x 24") fold it in half on itself over and over until it is small. Then take a really sharp pair of scissors and cut the ends into a point. If this doesn't make sense, imagine making a paper doll, but instead of a doll shape, we are just cutting a pinking sheared shape. It doesn't need to be perfect, you are just going for the effect of pointed petals. Once you get both edges of your strip pinked, fold your strip in half lengthwise and ruffle it onto the Gluber as instructed for the silver flower above.

It takes me less than 2 minutes to make each of these flowers! I am now making big plans for my fabric flowers:

Locker magnets for Kate... she will be in 7th grade.

Christmas bulbs covered... my tree needs a bit of updating and I'm starting now before the holiday hub-bub overtakes me!

A fall wreath for my front door.... yep, I'm getting in the nesting mood with the back to school sales starting.

Some wall decor for my home... we just finished a family room last Christmas, but I haven't decorated it yet. My garland will most likely be in this same room.

Jar toppers on my neighbor gifts... again, a holiday pre-emptive strike!

I love the huge roses and have attached big red ones to all my compacts.. it makes me happy everytime I pull one out of my purse!

Tell me your plans for Glubers and you could win one of each of these skus:

We'll pick a random winner tomorrow morning. Thanks everyone and have a great day!!!

How Charming!

It's true.... good things come in small packages! For me, that means Hershey kisses, nail polish bottles and one inch squares of beautiful papers! I have begun a fascination with "inchies" and made these cute charms using them on pre-cut squares of painted wood.

After I got my wood painted, I used some acrylic medium to glue the inchies to them. Then I covered the paper in Glossy Accents. All I had left to do was add the charm findings. Well, I looked high and low. They were a bit tricky to find! That is until I found a fantastic jewelry making store just a few minutes away in Logan called Beadles. They have everything!

I was so impressed with this store owner that I started up quite the conversation. It just so happens that every store owner on the main level of this complex is female! They are all independents and they are all doing a fabulous job!

There's Beadles in the center, then My Girlfriend's Quilts to the right and a couple salons on either end. At Beadles, they not only have everything you need to make the most beautiful jewelry, but they offer a free class every Saturday and a consignment area where you can sell the crafty things you have made. If you are in the Logan area I highly recommend you check them out! (They are behind Home Depot.)

My Girlfriend's Quilt is super inspiring with the cutest patterns and projects you have ever seen made out of fabric! There are always women in there with half completed projects getting the next tip or question answered so they can finish it up. The owners of this store are as much teachers and mentors as they are business women. They will be carrying Circa 1934 as soon as the shipment arrives, and you may even find me down there taking... or teaching a class every now and then.

So, let's hear it for the independent store owner. With these two women and businesses like their's you have a great selection of crafty goodness, beautiful quality and great service from people who really love what they are doing.

Button Card Cards

If you like to paper craft, but your friend likes to sew, then these little cards are the perfect answer! I personally like to do both and so I might have to keep these for myself.

This first card is made so that the button card insert can be removed by undoing the ribbon. Also, the buttons are stitched on so that they can be taken off and used too. This makes an especially nice gift when paired with hard-to-find, vintage buttons.

I did not make the next button-card to be removed, although the buttons can be.

And one just for us Glüber flower lovers! These flowers were made with the new one inch size, which is shipping right now... so look for it at your local independent store soon.

All of the above cards were made in a snap using this fun paper from Clementine.... it will be shipping in two weeks, so look for it in about three weeks. Then get busy, because you could whip up six charming cards in less than an hour!

Have a great Monday everyone!

Healthful Safety Tips for Work at Homers

When you work from home, it can be hard to separate your home life from your work life. If you're not careful, work can take over. This is especially true when preparing for large events like CHA. So, I have made a list of warning signs just to keep myself in check. Please use caution if you notice any of these symptoms.

• You're friend invites you to meet her for lunch in 20 minutes. You decline as you put another bite of Cocoa Puffs in your mouth. I mean really, who eats lunch at noon... that's breakfast people.

• You get up, get dressed and plan to go out. As you get in the car, you realize you're not wearing shoes.

• You find yourself explaining the flushing sound of the toilet while on a conference call.

• While doing laundry, you notice that you are only folding tee shirts and loungy pants.

• When you put on make-up, your kids ask you where you're going.

• When you ask what day is it, you don't mean what is the date. You really just want to know if it's Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.

• When your friends start talking current events, you are completely lost.

• When your kids wake up in the middle of the night, they don't come to your room, but head straight for your office.

And the final warning sign....

• You run to Walmart to pick something up really quick and then get emailed a photo of yourself in pajamas standing on the milk aisle.

If any of you notice any of the above signs, it is time for drastic action! Please step away from your computer, get yourself dressed and go out of your house..... even if it's just to a trade show!!!

See you in Chicago everyone!

It's not Easy Being Seen.

Today we'll talk winners, show a couple CHA projects and discuss the life of my 14 year old.

If you follow this blog, or are friends with me on facebook, you have seen photos of Kate, Abby and Jack. But there have only been one or two photos of Ethan ever posted.

This leads me to the title of my post..... to a 14 year old boy, it is not cool to be featured in your mom's craft projects. What if some potential love interest read all that sappy journaling from mother to son? Just the mere fact of being associated with scrapbooking could ruin your social standing forever... well at least until college when you move to a new town and start over!

So, in an effort to spare Ethan humiliation and all other sorts of teenage angst, I have kept his world, for the most part, private. However, it is OK with him that I show these layouts since they are of a much younger boy and I didn't add any sappy journaling..... that will be added in private after the show, just to make sure that he will be sufficiently embarrassed when I'm introduced to his well-in-the-future fiancè. By the way, check out how young Eric looks too!

He really is good. Such a great kid and I love him to bits... that wasn't too sappy, was it?

OK, onto the winners of our sneak peek contest.

Congratulations go to:
Mel H: Jumping up and down for those button cards, and Mr. Claus...AWESOME. I want this immediately! Home run on both lines guys!

Audrey W: Clementine has all of my favorite colors! Love it! Love it! Love it! Dear Mr. Claus has such a sweet retro look...reminds me of the wrapping paper on my gifts growing up! Thanks for the great reveal. Hope I get lucky!

Karla: Love all the new stuff. The colors and patterns in Clementine are so pretty, love them! I always buy two Christmas Lines- 1.fun/cute.whimsical and 1 more traditional/elegant. Handsdown those Santas and snowmen put Cosmo to the top for fun!

 

Sweet Cupcakes Tutorial

As promised!

Start by downloading this free cupcake wrapper template.... or make your own. The outside circle measures 6.5" and the inner circle measures 3.75".

I prefer to cut out the pattern, discard it, and then use the matrix as a template so that I can see exactly where I am cutting on my paper pattern.

After you cut out your paper, you can trim the outer edge with decorative scissors if desired, I used Fiskars scallop scissors on mine. Glue where the glue tab is and set this aside.

Next you will need a 7" circle of fabric. You don't have to be exact. I used a lid to a tin I had, but a salad plate is about the right size too.

You are going to stitch around this with a running stitch. It should look like this.

When you get to where the ends meet up, pull them together to gather the stitching in. Before it's all the way gathered, fill your cupcake with stuffing.

When it feels full enough, gather the thread tightly and knot it off.

Turn this over, and hot glue it inside the wrapper you have already made.

Then you just need to decide how to top it off. I used Gluber flowers. You can see how to make them here.

Have a great day everyone!

PS: We'll be announcing our CHA Reveal winners on Friday morning. Thanks!

 

CHA Summer Reveal!

Hi Everyone. I am sorry to keep you waiting, but I am just not an early morning person!

Here are the new lines. As always, I am very excited about them. They are available for pre-order now. Contact Lindsay if you're interested in ordering them. They will be shipping in about 3 weeks.

This is the line I used for my cupcakes we showed on Friday. We'll have a tutorial for them this week, stay tuned!

I love the warm colors and simple patterns! The falling leaves and sweet flowers are backed with a tweed like pattern.

Eric helped me choose the light green color for a few of these large flowers. I think his advice made the paper so much nicer than the coral I had orginally placed!

I am having tons of fun with the button cards on the backside of this paper. Stop by our booth to see everything I've done with them! This could be my favorite sheet ever!

Each of the squares below measure's 1". They're perfect for jewelry making or accents... or do what I did and cut a section for a card and then sew along the lines to make it look like you took the time to piece a bunch of random squares together! I'll be showing this technique soon too.

Laura Craigie, the next one's for you! I'm glad to hear you like it.

I have only played with the frame in the upper left corner so far, but Kate's photo sure looks cute sitting on it!

By popular demand, the borders are backed with a neutral!

Get everything you need for big stuff in our collage kit, or little stuff in the mini deck!

The stickers follow the same format as Odds and Ends, because you all seemed to luuuuurrrrve those ones!

Our Lovely Bits are now stickers for you. There's three really great things about this, first they've already got adhesive on them. Second, we won't run out because, like all our products this release, they're made in the USA! And third, you get a lot more!!

Our next line features the illustration talents of Mr. Eric Comstock. It can be difficult to design a Christmas line in the spring and summer, but with his fun drawings it came together pretty quickly.

The following pattern reminds me of Christmas excitement in the air. I asked Eric to draw me the ribbons so I could weave them through the design. It took him forever to do this in Illustrator, but don't you think it was worth it?!

With one sheet of paper, you can tag 14 presents. It looks like Eric will need a couple sheets to do all of mine. ;)

All the letters are 1" square in their frames. Yep, I'm in love with this size.

Ho, ho, ho, Eric's santa rocks! My Christmas cards will be a snap this year!

This one takes me back to the 1950's! By the way, have you noticed there are really only three colors used in this entire line: Red, Green, Black.

I'm hoping for the following pattern to be made into fabric so that I can sew my kids PJ bottoms for Christmas Eve.

These patterns feel very vintage to me too! They will be great to support some of the fancier designs.

More Christmas cards for the Snowman lovers!

Get it in a kit for gifts. Then, spend the holiday break scrappin' all those great Christmas photos!

 

The below sheet of stickers, will seal 36 envelopes to friends and family!
 

I have just a little more to share with you. We have updated our Tiny Type stickers with Tiny Text! Check it out!

These phrases are perfect for the Holidays.... although many would work for anytime.

The next ones coordinate with the colors in Clementine.

The last set is neutral and has as many phrases as I could think of for encouraging your inner artist..... something I personally need when faced with a blank canvas!

As always, let us know what you think and you could win! We'll pick three winners to get one of each Collage Kit from the new lines, unless the winner would prefer a mini deck for cardmaking. If that's the case, that's what we'll send them! Thanks everyone!