Craft Tuesday: Celery Stamping

 As I was browsing through the internet, on the hunt for a new craft project to try, I found the idea of using celery as a stamp. I was very familiar with using other foods (we all remember stamping with apples in elementary school), but the pattern of the celery gave a wonderful, flower-like shape. I filed it away in my head, telling myself "eventually." Well, a few days ago I saw some stamping projects and it really made me think about that celery. I checked my fridge, and my celery was starting to look like it had neared it's end, so I decided to go for it!

With very little planning (none at all actually), I pulled one of the extra canvases I have (I stocked up when they are on MAJOR sale), picked my most autumn-friendly colors, and had at it! Here is what I used (including the colors, in case you want to use the same ones I did), and my step-by-step instructions.

You will need:

• 1 12x12" canvas
• 4 colors of acrylic paint (FolkArt Buttercream, Linen, Yellow Ochre, and Autumn Leaves)
• 4 bowls to pour paint into
• 1 celery stalk (or remains of a stalk)
• 1 paint brush
• 1 kitchen knife
• Rubber bands

Start by cutting your celery stalk so that it is 3-4" long, just long enough for you to be able to have a really good grip on it. Now, take those pieces you cut off and trim them down so they are about the same length as the still-in-tact stalk.

Using rubber bands, arrange and attach the extra pieces of celery to the stalk to create a large bundle, which will give you a larger "flower." Start by adding the pieces with the bigger/wider ends, and then add the small ones. The rubber bands should all be between 1/2" to 1" of the end being stamped. To make sure they are all level on the end being stamped by placing the celery on a flat surface and pushing them gently down.

 Now that your stamp is ready to be used, prepare your paints and canvas (whether you are using a real canvas or not- my fiance used the stamp after I did and stamped onto rice paper and it turned out very well, too).

With the first 3 colors on, using only the dipping technique

 Start stamping with your lightest color (for me, it was the buttercream). Apply the paint once and that will give you 2-3 stamps worth, each one looking a little less solid. Between each color rinse off the celery with some cool water and then blot well with a paper towel (or hand towel you don't mind staining the heck out of). The celery will not come completely clean, but as long as you get the majority of the paint off, it won't matter (this is one reason I started with the light colors and worked to the darker ones).

For the first few colors, I dipped the celery directly into the paint, and it was a bit messy. For the last color I used a paint brush to paint the celery. I would HIGHLY suggest this second method; I would've wasted less paint if I had started this way, and I wouldn't have gotten as big of globs on the canvas. However, if you want the very textured look, then you can achieve this by leaving those globs on there. If you do decide to dip the celery directly into the paint, it wouldn't be a bad idea to wipe off SOME of the extra paint, otherwise the shape of the celery will be unrecognizable.

After I finished with the stamp, I took a single piece of celery, cleaned it off and used to for touch-ups and filler.  I filled in the brightest colored flower towards the center and added extra to the outside so that I had one flower that was fuller, creating more of a focal point. Also, in the corners where there was little to no stamping, I mimicked a corner of the celery flower stamp, stacking 3 or 4 stamps.

I think it turned out really well for a first try with no real instruction! I hope you can learn from my mistakes and have fun making your own! I would love to see your celery (or any other kind of) stamping. Submit them and they'll be posted on Brag Thursdays!

Craft Tuesday: Make your own notepads!

Let me give a brief history of this project: I followed the instructions I found on a collection of different blogs, but the adhesive they said to use (padding compound/adhesive) didn't work! I don't know if it was the specific one I bought, or if I didn't use it correctly, but I was quite dismayed. And determined. I decided that I had to try something different. SO I had to experiment. How about Mod Podge? Would that work? Why yes, yes it does! =D

This homemade note/memo pad is a great project to do with leftover scrapbooking paper that you'd normal toss out,  cardstock scraps, paper that you print out (to make personalized notepads), or paper you buy specifically for this (you know those paper stacks you find in the scrapbooking section? Hooray for pre-coordinated paper). I have lots of scrapbooking paper scraps and full pages I have had for years that have never been used and were getting ready to be thrown out, so I decided to use those. You don't need much for this project! Just a little time and some color coordination!

For this project, you will need:

• Paper
• Craft paper cutter (or scissors and a ruler, but I suggest something like the Cutterbee, pictured, or Fiskars craft paper cutter)
• Drop cloth for use when applying adhesive
• Mod Podge (not pictured, that's a picture of the first adhesive I used, which didn't work)
• Binder clips (not pictured)

Please read through the whole set of instructions before beginning!
First I went through all of my papers and divided them into a couple of piles of papers that would look good in a notepad together. I decided to go with the pink/red and blue paper combination.

Next, using my handy-dandy paper cutter (SUCH a good investment, especially since I scrapbook) I trimmed off rough edges and any tears and cut the paper into strips that were 3.5" wide (pictured above). After I did that I had lots of different lengths, since it was scrap paper. From this point on there is not too much direction, because it gets creative. I picked the first paper, making it the bottom piece, and cut it to 8.5" long (the average magnetic notepad is 3.5x8.5"). I then continued to pick papers and trim them down, making each piece 1/16" smaller than the one it stacked on top of. Make sure you save your scraps you trim off of the 3.5" because you will use them later! Of course you can make all of your paper pieces the same size! It's just a fun look I wanted to try. It takes a while to cut them all and stack them, but the effect is really great in the end.

Now, if you are strategic with it and have enough paper, you could (theoretically) use the small scraps from the end of the strips (pictured above) and get your notepad so that the bottom piece is 3.5x8.5" and the top piece is 3.5x3.5" Of course, I didn't have enough paper of the set I chose so I used the small pieces to make a separate small stack. I only had to trim up these pieces a little bit.

After all of your stacks are lined up, tap the end you want to the top (where the adhesive is going) and place your binder clips about 1/4" away from the top. Use a foam brush to apply Mod Podge (I used two moderate coats, drying about 15 minutes in between each) and allow to dry COMPLETELY before removing the binder clips. Ta-Dah!

Other great things to use this for:

• Trim your pieces to 5x7" and create a notepad of ready to use picture backdrops for scrapbooking or frames.
• Print out blank recipe cards and make into pads and give as gifts! Add a little extra by putting one of YOUR favorite recipes on the front card.
• Make your own day-by-day (or week-by-week) calendar, personalizing with YOUR birthdays, cute pictures, etc. Usually these measure about 5.5x8"
• Buy some chip board and sticky magnetic strips, put the chip board on your notepad and put your magnet on the back! Now you can hang your pad on your refrigerator!

Craft Tuesday: Paper Towel Roll Upcylcing!

I use a lot of paper towels. Probably too many. I have been trying to cut back and use more dish towels, but sometimes it's just easier to use something disposable. So what to do with all these paper towel rolls? Hmm. How about I make some wall art!

I have seen it done before with toilet paper rolls, which are exactly the same material (and diameter), but the rolls are different lengths. Paper towel rolls are 11" long, while the toilet paper rolls are about 4.25" long. So, if you are cutting your rolls 1" thick, then that makes it a bit tougher, doesn't it? You end up wasting that little bit of roll... well, I suppose you aren't wasting it (it was trash previously), but you are making an unnecessary cut!

I made mine to hang in my bathroom, which is kind of my low-budget room. But once you get a glossy coat of spray paint on this bad boy, you can hang it anywhere!

For this project, you will need:

• 6 paper towel rolls (they're not all pictured. I used about 60 pieces, with 11 pieces per roll, I had some left over)
• Hot glue gun (a very strong crafting glue will work too)
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Pen/Pencil
• Spray paint (not pictured)

First, flatten your rolls. I dragged the ruler across the creases to make them neat and crisp. Mark off every inch on each side of the paper towel rolls, then connect the lines, creating 1" sections down the roll. Cut at each line.

This is where you can get creative. Play with what you want to do. Here are a couple of different designs I played with. I really like the random look. Just spread them out and then group them back together. You can adjust to make certain pieces do something specific, and then have random around it too.

Don't be afraid to cut the roll slices to different shapes and sizes to give it a layered look. The flower-like design that has the rolls cut in half looks really good. Imagine if you continued to add those halves. It would look like a rich, layered flower! Make sure to think about what colors you want. Do you want your whole piece to be one color? if so, you can wait until after you glue it all together to spray paint it. If you want individual pieces to be different colors (for example, if you are doing a grouping of four sets of four like in the last picture, maybe you want one of the sets of four to be a different color, whether it be the corner set or that center set) then you will need to spray paint the pieces before gluing them together.

After you decide on a design and how you are painting it, execute accordingly. If you are painting first, make sure to wait a full 24 hours before gluing. If you are gluing and then painting, make sure the glue is fully dry (which is pretty quick with hot glue) before painting.

It has been a busy, rainy week for me, so I have not had a chance to paint mine yet. As soon as I do I will post pictures of the finished project! Get excited!