Happy Friday, Crew!
There are all kinds of products these days that we can use in crafting, but have you ever considered using cork on your paper crafting projects? Cork can be purchased in thin sheets making it so easy to work with. You can stamp on it, stitch it, distress it, use it as background "paper" and you can even die cut it with Papertrey's wide array of custom dies! I've got several projects to share with you today featuring all of these techniques, including a set of cork gift tags that are SO fun to make! Just wait until you see all of these different ways to incorporate cork into your projects.....it just might make you want to "put a cork in it" yourself! *smile*
To start off with, I thought I'd show you what a package of cork looks like, in case you go on the hunt for some at your local craft store. I found this cork by Quartet at Michael's and it was back in the section with large cork boards and such. The package has 6 thin sheets of cork and I think it was around $4.
I couldn't resist whipping up a set of little gift tags that would be SO fun to give as a gift or you can keep them for yourself and hang them on a gift bag's handle or even attach them to a wrapped gift box. I started out by die cutting 5 "tags" using the Fillable Frames #4 die and then I stamped the coordinating label image on each tag using dark chocolate. I punched a small hole in one end of each tag so that I could thread button twine thru the hole to hang the tags with. Now I will tell you, this cork is very thin and pliable which means that when you put the twine in the hole and pull it gently to pull it tight, you will likely tear the cork. Don't ask me how I know this information. :) SO....the trick is to just die cut 5 more tags from card stock -- I used dark chocolate -- and then adhere them to the back side of the tags, just to reinforce the cork a bit.
After you've got your basic tags die cut and stamped, then comes the fun part -- decorate those puppies up any way you'd like! All of the sentiments I used on my tags are from the Friendship Jar and Friendship Jar Fillers stamp sets. For this first tag, I layered bits of Dotty Biscotti patterned papers that I inked around the edges and stitched on them -- stitching them right to the cork! Because the cork is so soft and pliable, you can stitch right thru it! I also die cut and stamped a teapot from Tea For Two using the teapot die and added a little dark chocolate threaded button.
For tag #2, I used the beautiful blooms II #1 dies to die cut layers of felt and stitched the layers together with button twine and a simply chartreuse button, creating a fun little flower. I did snip in between each petal on the flowers with scissors just to fluff the flower up a bit. I also added a die cut leaf of simply chartreuse felt (Delightful Dahlia leaf die) and a die cut tag using the jar label die. A bit more card stock and Dotty Biscotti patterned paper finished this one off.
Tag #3 really is "Sweet", don't you think? I used the Up, Up & Away stamp set and Up Up & Away die to create the sweet little hot air balloon. Oh, and the cloud was die cut using the clouds die and then I just inked up the edges a bit with vintage touch tea dye ink. I used pinking shears on the edges of the Dotty Biscotti paper on this one and stitched a bit of felt trim that I die cut using the eyelet lace border die.
I'll let you in on a little secret -- that little bit of trim was a piece that I had left over after another project from a month or so ago. I'd saved it, just tucking it back into the bag with the rest of my simply chartreuse felt. When I set to work making these little tags, I found that little piece of trim and decided to use it on a tag. It just goes to show you that if you save those little leftover bits and bobs in an organized manner, they'll be there and ready for you to use on your next project!
Tag #4.....ahhh. Another felty flower, this one using the #2 dies from the Beautiful Blooms II collection. 6 layers of flowers on this one and I stitched the dark chocolate button right thru all 6 layers securing both the button and the flowers. Easy peasy! Another felt leaf (Delightful Dahlia die) and more Dotty Biscotti paper. Then on this one, I used the new Library Ledger stamp set to stamp the ledger lines before adding the sentiment.
And Tag #5 -- More Dotty Biscotti paper on this one along with a scrap of orange zest card stock. The die cut butterflies were cut from vintage book print with the butterfly die and they were also leftovers that I was able to put to use on this little tag. I stitched the butterflies to the tag and topped it with a hawaiian shores threaded button.
And the whole collection laid out together (just because photos like this make me happy!). I love how mix-y and match-y these tags are. I used quite a few of the same supplies on each one but by changing up the little details, it makes each one truly unique. Notice how some of the stitching is zig-zag and some is just a straight stitch? And notice how some of the papers have straight cut edges while others are torn and others still are cut with pinking shears? Those are the types of little details that can help to tie the whole collection together, while still letting each little tag really shine.
Ok, so now that you've seen little pieces of cork in action, how about a bigger piece? I cut the cork on my guillotine style paper trimmer just like it was a piece of paper! Love the nice clean edges. Then I rounded the corners with my corner chomper -- again, no sweat. Then, I stamped the cork with Polka Dot Basics II and fresh snow ink.
TIP: When stitching directly on cork, the cork can 'grab' on the presser foot of your sewing machine so stitch carefully! OR, you can stitch on papers that are layered on top of the cork, like I did here. I stitched all of these paper layers directly thru the cork and to the front of my card.
The sentiment is from Everyday Button Bits and the leaves were stamped from Turning a New Leaf and then I hand cut them. As for this felty flower, I used the #3 dies from the Beautiful Blooms II die collection -- 5 layers of flowers here. 2 of the largest size flowers and 3 of the medium sized ones. The simply chartreuse button is stitched thru all 5 layers of flowers. I use scor-tape to adhere felt flowers to my projects and it seems to hold really well.
All righty, one more corky card for you today. By now you've seen cork on lots of projects and you've seen lots of felt flowers but how about a CORK FLOWER?! How fun is that?!!
The card base is berry sorbet and I distressed, inked and stitched some Dotty Biscotti paper (in hawaiian shores) to the card front.
As for the flower, I used the same flower dies as on the previous card. It's the #3 die from the Beautiful Blooms #2 collection, however this time, I only used the largest die in that set. Next, I inked up the ends of the petals with vintage touch tea dye ink and then I used my fingers to roll each petal in toward the center of the flower, so that they'd curl slightly. I'm not sure if you can tell or not, but the two layers of flowers in the back have the petals curled back -- toward the card. However, the three layers of flowers on top have the petals curling forward -- away from the card. I stitched the button to the flowers, thru all 5 layers of cork with a needle and button twine. (The cork is super thin so even hand stitching thru the cork is easy!)
The cute little library card is another scrap from my scrap pile -- it's one of Heather Nichols' free downloads that she offered awhile back. I had printed out a page of them but hadn't used them all. It was perfect for this card -- I inked up the edges, stamped a flourish from Fancy Flourishes and the "You're so Sweet" sentiment from Everyday Button Bits. I also die cut the small scalloped circle using a bit of lemon tart card stock and another Beautiful Blooms II flower die -- I just folded it in half over the top of the library card and then punched a hole thru it so I could "hang" it from the ribbon with a bit of button twine.
Well, that's it for today, Friends! Are you anxious to "put a CORK in it" now that you've seen all of these projects? *wink*
In case you missed my post yesterday, I'm having a birthday giveaway this weekend! Click here to enter to win free Papertrey stamp sets from me!
I hope you have a great, great weekend! I'm sure we'll be celebrating over here although I have no idea what we'll be doing exactly. Bart's got something up his sleeve, but he's not talkin'! Ha. He knows I love a good surprise. :)
Chat atchya soon!
{Cork Tag Set supplies}
Paper: rustic cream, vintage cream, simply chartreuse, berry sorbet, orange zest, dotty biscotti, vintage book print
Stamps: Friendship Jar, Friendship Jar Fillers, Up Up & Away, Tea For Two, Library Ledger, Fillable Frames #4
Ink: dark chocolate, raspberry fizz, hawaiian shores, versamark, vintage touch tea dye
Other: fillable frames #4 die, butterfly die, eyelet lace die, jar label die, clouds die, Up Up & Away die, delightful dahlia leaf die, beautiful blooms II dies (#1, #2 & #3), teapot die, dark chocolate/raspberry fizz/vintage cream/simply chartreuse felt, dark chocolate/hawaiian shores/simply chartreuse buttons, rustic cream & rustic jute button twine, cork, pinking shears, sewing machine/thread
{Hey There, Chickadee supplies}
paper: raspberry fizz, simply chartreuse, dotty biscotti
Stamps: Everyday Button Bits, Turning a New Leaf, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: fresh snow, dark chocolate, versamark
Other: beautiful blooms II #3 dies, simply chartreuse button, rustic cream button twine, vintage cream felt, cork, corner chomper, sewing machine/thread
{You're So Sweet supplies}
Paper: berry sorbet, lemon tart, vintage cream, dotty biscotti
Stamps: Everyday Button Bits, Fancy Flourishes
Ink: vintage touch tea dye, hawaiian shores, true black
Other: lemon tart button, rustic cream & rustic jute button twine, beautiful blooms II dies (#2 & #3), berry sorbet classic grosgrain ribbon, cork, corner chomper, sewing machine/thread
