How to fold a paper origami crane & support Japan

this is something that is near and dear to my heart.  

when my older sister was 21, she had a brain tumor removed.  the doctor gave her 1 year to live.  needless to say, i lost it right there in the waiting room.  long story short, she went through radiation and chemotherapy treatments, i prayed A LOT, and now she is 42 and doing great!

while she was going through treatments we received a package in the mail from Japan.  it contained 1000 paper cranes.  each one was hand folded by some dear friends of the family.  it was just beautiful.  please watch the video above to learn a little bit more about the history behind the paper crane and also to learn how to fold one.  :o)

if you fold one and would like to show support for Japan you can go to http://www.dosomething.org/news/join-us-make-paper-cranes-japan

Uses for Cans - Valentine's Day

i know this is a little late, but i since i was at home sick on valentine's day, i just gave my co-workers their v-day treats this week.

this is what i gave them:

i filled the cans with dry red beans and i used bar-b-q skewers to hold the rice krispie treats.  i covered them in melted chocolate and sprinkled them with little hearts before they cooled.  and then i covered the cans with scrapbook paper.  i cut the paper to 4" x 10".

after i made these a co-worker reminded me of another use for cans.

it got me thinking about multiple uses for old cans... so i feel some more posts coming on new uses for old cans! :o)

hope you're all having a wonderful week!

DIY Flat Gift Bag & A Giveaway

hi all!

i hope that you all had a fantabulous thanksgiving!

i got a chance to hang out with my fam and had a wonderful time. :o)

here's another tutorial for y'all!  these flat gift bags are perfect for little trinkets, small journals, gift tags, etc.  i hope you like it! :o)

please let me know if you have any questions.  also, please scroll down to the bottom for more details and also for a GIVEAWAY! :o) 

my printer

CIS ink system

gift tag pdf

here's my giveaway... this set of gift bags & tags, and some other fun things... it'll be a surprise for the winner. :o)  i like surprises... don't you??

to enter:

all you have to do is leave a comment below

i will randomly choose a winner on december 5 at 11:00 pm pst

Plans in the Making...

this came in the mail today and i'm so excited!!

stampin up's big shot lattice die cut.  i have some plans for it... i can't wait to show you.

Organizing My Craft Room

whoooweeeee... i've been working on my craft room in stages and i'm not quite ready for the whole reveal.  i apologize, but i'm going to reveal it in stages.  i have a difficult time deciding on things- so colors, location of furniture, etc. are always changing.

you'll get a snapshot of what a disaster my craft room was in this picture.  i started out with this multi-color drawer system that was functional, but the multi-colors wasn't working for me. 

i decided to spray paint it white, but oh my goodness was that a process.  i wanted to save a little money so i settled on krylon spray paint.  after 2 coats, the colors were still showing through and there were a bunch of little cracks in the paint.  you can read how i feel about this brand of paint. 

i got all of these little cracks in the paint and it was driving me crazy.  i realize that it's partly my fault too... i didn't get the application just quite right, but honestly, i haven't had this much problems with spray paint before. 

i gave up on this project for a little while out of pure frustration.  after i got over it, i went out and bought rust-oleum spray paint for plastic and what a difference!  i sanded down the crackly parts, and it still showed through a little bit, but the application was much smoother and the paint went down so much thicker. *quick side note- definitely invest on the more expensive attachment.  it saves your fingers and the cramping in your hand and it's much higher quality.  i started out with the cheapest attachment and it lost its grip on the can.  i should have started out with this one... i would have saved more money in the long haul.

here are the drawers after:

i LOVE this look SO much better! 

just in case you're curious, here's a run down on the contents:

1st drawer: i left empty because i like to gather all of my supplies in it and then take it to my work surface.  at the end of the day, if i'm still working on the project, i'll put the project and supplies back in this drawer and slip it back in place... it helps keep things tidy.

2nd drawer: INK- all of my loose stamp pads stored with the ink pad facing down so that they don't dry out.

3rd drawer: GLUE- all of my adhesives

4th drawer: LETTERS- rub on, magnet (that i found in the $1 section at Target and haven't found a use for yet), and sticker letters.  i love, love, LOVE rub on letters.  that's what i used on the front of the drawers.  i've had them for MANY years and they have come in handy many times.  i just think they give projects a finished look.

5th drawer: COLORS- my watercolor pencils and crayons, regular crayons and colored pencils, and chalks.

6th drawer: PUNCHES- all of my small punches.  my large punches are stored elsewhere.

7th drawer: EMBOSS- all of my embossing powders, tray, plates, tools, and now that i'm looking at this picture, i think there's room to put my heat gun in there too.  :o)

8th drawer: HARDWARE- all my hardware and hardware-type embellishments.

9th & 10th drawer: i haven't decided on the contents yet... still evolving!  :o)

did you notice my awesome new rugs in the pictures?? i picked them up today! i saw the rug at homegoods a couple weeks ago and i kept thinking about it and thinking about it... i went back today just to browse around and it was still there... ON CLEARANCE!  lucky me!! and there were two! i only saw one last time... i was and still am, overjoyed!  they look perfect in my craft room/office. i LOVE all the different colors! since i change up colors all the time, it's absolutely perfect for me. :o)

just so that i don't totally overwhelm you with all the pictures, i'll hold off until tomorrow on how i organized my stamps.

have a wonderful evening!

nori

Stretching A Tight Canvas - with a video tutorial

dear crafty friends, 

i'm sorry that i haven't been around lately... life has been a little busy with work and organizing my home.  today i managed to do a quick transformation... I took a $2 picture of a butterfly and turned it into a place to keep and display my flower pins. it's amazing how doing something crafty is so re-energizing!

while i was doing the transformation i shot a video on how to stretch a canvas so tight and even that you can actually bounce a quarter off of it.  i can't bounce a quarter off of anything else, so why not a canvas?? ;o)

here's what i started with:

i loved the natural look of the wood!  i decided to keep it that way but had a difficult time deciding on the backdrop to use.

muslin?

 or burlap?

i decided on burlap because i liked the color and texture contrast.  i cut it bigger than the frame so that i'd have something to grab on to. at first i tried using my electric staple gun, but it was so powerful it started to break little bits of my frame.  so i went old school and grabbed my manual stapler.

when i was an art minor, we used to stretch our own canvases and this is how we did it to ensure that it was both tight and even.

- lay the canvas down on the backside of the frame

- put a staple in the midpoint of each of the sides

- start from the midpoint and work your way out pulling and stapling as you go (see video)

 

once you've worked your way all around your frame, trim the excess fabric/canvas. 

and here's the finished product!

thanks for checking out my tutorial... have a wonderful and blessed Easter weekend everyone!!!!

nori

Flowers and More Flowers

i told ya... i. can't. stop. 
here's what i've been working on... 

here's how they look on! 

 i'm sorry if you're sick of seeing them... i'm just having too much fun making them! :o)

Tutorial: NO SEW Fabric Flowers

 

these no sew fabric flowers are deliciously beautiful and SO easy to make! grab your glue gun and here we go...

what you'll need:

- glue gun

- iron

- heavy starch

- no fray spray

- fabric

spray your fabric with heavy starch and iron.

cut out 3 different sizes of petals, lay out on a piece of paper and spray with no fray spray. this stuff is STINKY and potent.  make sure you spray it in a well ventilated area and wear a painters mask if possible. 

now you can go get a snack, dream up of all the different colors you can make this in, and let the petals dry.

the combination of the heavy starch and no fray spray make the petals really stiff and fun to work with. take a petal and fold over on the bottom. 

 place a small dot of hot glue on the folded part of the petal. 

wait for a couple of seconds before folding the petal over so you don't burn your fingers. one dot of glue is enough to hold both sides of the folds together. 

 i like to vary the depth of the folds to give the flower more dimension. see the difference in these two petals?

 use an unfolded petal as the base and start hot gluing the smallest petals on.

overlap your petals a little and continue gluing them on in a circular fashion.  it only takes one little drop of hot glue to keep them on. 

it takes about 5 small petals to create the center part. look at how cute!!!

trim away the excess base. 

 take your mid-sized petal and place it staggered behind the small petal. don't glue it yet.

hold the petal in place and flip it over. then place a small dot of glue at the base and hold the petal down. i might be a little OCD... i just liked doing it this way because it ensured that my petal would be just where i wanted it.

continue gluing the mid-sized petals on in a circular fashion. it takes approximately 8 mid-sized petals.  then glue on the largest petals... it takes approximately 8 as well.

for the center, cut a circle out of one of your petals or just use one of your extra small petals and fold twice. 

 place a small dot of glue on the bottom corner. 

 press it down off-center in the inside part of your flower.

it takes about 4 of these folded circles to fill up the center. 

here it is all finished!!! what a cutie you are!!!

i just realized... i made this flower smaller.  i just used 5 small petals, 8 mid-sized petals, and 4 small folded circles to make it. 

i can stop making these beauties!

i need to either give some away or start selling them! my house is going to be overtaken.  i can only wear so many on my clothes and in my hair...

i'm feeling giddy seeing these beauties all around me. 

SO I'M GOING TO GIVE ONE AWAY! :O)

this one...

**Giveaway Closed**
if you'd like to win this little treasure:

- leave a comment (if you don't have a blogger account, please make sure to leave your contact information)

- follow my blog for another entry (leave a separate comment about it)

**giveaway open until 10:00 p.m. PST March 14th**
**Giveaway Closed**

i hope you enjoyed the tutorial and happy flower making!!
have a blessed week!!!

nori

i'm linking to SNS, Make Your Monday, Just Something I Whipped Up, It's So Very Creative, DIY Day, Make It Yours, and Polka Dot Creations.