Book Review | Washi Tape Greetings Kit Courtney Cerruti

The Washi Tape Greetings Kit is a inclusive kit that provides the user a great way to start crafting with Washi Tape.




This is a video of what is in included in this cool "Washi Tape Greetings" kit. If you are fan of Courtney Cerruti's Washi Tape 101 Book, then you will enjoy this kit. I found this kit to a cute collection of tape and cards that allows the user to design their own washi cards using the supplies included in this kit. I think the kit is a wonderful way to introduce others to the fun that is Washi Tape.

Supplies included in this kit are:
2 rolls of patterned washi tape
12 White Postcards
2 Fine-line Permanent Markers in Black and Pink
and a cute 16 Page Full-Color Instruction Book.

Personally, I love crafting with Washi Tape and consider this a great kit for the price. I also recommend her other kits, which is the "Washi Tape Party" kit. I should warn you that you may become obsessed with washi tape and end up with a huge collection (luckily they don't take up my space).



I joined a Facebook Planner Group and one of the members sent me these really cool Washi Tape samples that I will also incorporate into some fun projects.


I think I will combine them with these great animal page flags and make some fun gift tags.




Courtney also has some other fun Washi Kits, and her newest is the "Washi Tape Gift"  Kit.


What types of products do you make with your Washi Tape? What are some of your favorite projects or tape lines?  Leave a comment below and let me know.

Note: this is not a sponsered post, I purchased everything and really enjoyed the items.  The best price for these kits is on Amazon.

Mixed Media Pocket Travel Journal Video Tutorial by Jeannine Stein

This week Stefanie Girard at the Craftside blog posted a fun easy to follow tutorial on how to make

Mixed Media Pocket Travel Journal with a map.

a mixed media pocket travel journal, featuring author Jeannine Stein.

Jeannine Stein is known for her book Adventures in Bookbinding: Handcrafting Mixed-Media Books in which she teaches how to make mixed media books out of a variety of materials.

Her other book is  Re-Bound: Creating Handmade Books from Recycled and Repurposed Materials which teaches basic book binding techniques and has some fun projects for the reader to make.  Re-Bound has 16 pages of patterns and templates, with excellent step-by-step directions that include hand drawn illustrations.  The book serves as a book binding primer for anyone who is new to book binding or just interested in the process.  Jeannine also includes some great repurposing book binding ideas that will inspire anyone to want to try their hand at making a book.

If you have ever wondered how to make a handmade book or just like working with paper, then the video posted today could just be the answer.  The video gives a short "How To Book Bind" tutorial that shows the viewer how easy it is to make a fun multi-media pocket travel journal with a pop out map (although you could substitute some other paper item in the place of the map).
 Note: if you look between Stefanie and Jeannine,

 you can see the cool re-purposed purple Guittards chocolate box book she made.




If you prefer written directions, Jeannine also wrote a great step-by-step tutorial of the pocket travel journal which Stefanie has also posted on the Craftside blog.   Below are some pics of other handmade books that Jeannine Stein has made.

So check out the video and leave comments to let the publisher know what types of videos you would like them to to put on YouTube (  I will forward any comments to the publisher).

Disclaimer :  No payment received for this post.  Stefanie and Jeannine are friends of mine who I think are really talented and create some pretty neat stuff.

Craftside Blog Boston Comic Con Huge Pile of Books Giveaway Link

Great news, the Craftside Blog is having a HUGE pile of book and fun prize items giveaway in honor of the Boston Comic Con event this week.  The contest runs until Sunday, August 4 at 11:59 pm.

The Crazy Boston Comic Con Giveaway includes: 

Walter Foster's

How to Draw Zombies: Discover the secrets to drawing, painting, and illustrating the undead (Fantasy Underground)

Rockport's Science Fiction and Fantasy Art and Creating Comics

Fair Wind's Vegan Sandwiches Save the Day!

Quarry's Drawn In, 1000 Steampunk Creations, 1000 Incredible Costume & Cosplay Ideas (2 editions), Drawing Comics Lab

Aurum's Terry Nation: The Man Who Invented the Daleks, and a certificate for an advanced copy of Magic Words: the Extraordinary Life of Alan Moore 

a small sewing kit, two coasters, and decorative pirate garland from Lilla Rogers.

They are using rafflecopter which gives you plenty of opportunities to increase your entries in their giveway.  You can enter the giveaway at the Craftside Blog.

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A Priceless Wedding: Crafting a Meaningful, Memorable, and Affordable Celebration by Sara Cotner : Book Review

I was surprised at how much I liked "A Priceless Wedding", if you are planning a small tasteful wedding that reflects the personality of the bride and groom within a reasonable budget, then this book will help.  Recently, I helped a relative plan a small wedding and this book has proved to be very helpful. We had a small budget to work with. We also needed to take into consideration the likes and dislikes of both the bride and groom (while at the same time taking into consideration their two very different families). 
      At first all those factors seemed overwhelming, however, the book was able to provide us with some very helpful information that made the process much more enjoyable.
      The bride and groom dislike anything fancy and pretentious. So in order to get a better idea of what she likes, we had the bride start with the "Wedding Vision Collage" project recommended in the book.  She soon found herself to be overwhelmed. That clearly gave us insight to the fact that we needed to keep things simple for her. 
      We turned to the "Vision Setting Work Sheets" which proved to be helpful in guiding her efforts to figure what she really wanted in her wedding. Additionally, the questions asked in that section encourage the bride and groom to think about a variety of issues such as the example below:
     "How do you want to spend your time in the days and hours leading up to your wedding, as well as in the hours and days following your wedding?"
     Well, once they thought about it, they decided that their somewhat complicated lives and actual budget meant that they should keep things tasteful and simplified.

     We also liked the "Traditional Elements" checklist. It has elements such as dress, veil, bouquets, etc. The list keeps track of things that can sometimes be over-looked when deciding 

what to keep and what to reject. The book has a section that I found amusing that listed great reasons to reject high-ticket items. For example: Do you need the big crystal covered white puffy dress? It points out that it takes one or more people to help the bride put on that type of gown. It is also hard to dance in, expensive to buy, and you only get wear it once (unless you are really talented in garment reconstruction...then might not matter to you).

     Wedding Cake Topper can get expensive.  This couple bought a Cinderella statue at Disneyland that was the same price as a cake topper they had looked at.  The bride loves all things Disney, so this statue will join her collection and be a loving reminder of their special day.  In this case, it was a better investment to use the statue than use a traditional cake topper (that only gets to be used once).

     "A Priceless Wedding" has some great suggestions and ideas in many aspects of a DIY wedding. This includes: entertainment, table décor, flowers, venues, etc. It encourages the reader to use their creativity in planning different elements of their wedding.  In the photo below, the bride used a table runner and matching ribbon to the tables at her wedding.

To coordinate the look, she put the same runner on all the tables and the bridal table.

The ceremony was an outdoor ceremony, so the bride printed personalized labels (that coordinate with the table decor) for the water bottles that she provided each guest.

She also kept the same theme in the floral swags she made up to put on the chairs used for the wedding ceremony.

At another DIY wedding I recently attended, the bride utilized her own creativity to create photo opportunities for her guests that were affordable and fun.  She started by recycling an old frame.  She painted the old frame and then provided some simple fun props for her guests to use.  This allowed us to get some fun and silly pictures.

The bride also printed out a cute little sign to be used in various "bride & groom" type shots.  It was an inexpensive touch that created a darling photo (and she was able to put the sign in her memory book).

In the photo below, the bride used simple parosol for her and her attendants,

which was an accent that not only looked beautiful but it also afforded some sun protection for 

the bridesmaids during the ceremony.  It also looked beautiful in her wedding photo's.

Overall, it has been a very helpful book. Bottom line, if you are looking for a $45,000 wedding with all the frills, this book is not for you. However, if you are planning a small tasteful wedding that reflects the personality of the bride and groom within a reasonable budget, then this book will help you plan the various features that you may want to include in your wedding. 
    

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Book Review of Altered Art Circus by Lisa Kettell

If you have always wanted to try altered art but did not want to limit yourself to a flat surface, then "Altered Art Circus" is a book you may want to check out.  The book's author, Lisa Kettell takes you 

into the 3d world of altered art 

with some fabulously inspirational projects and artwork.

Betsy Figure by Lisa Kettell

Lisa Kettel is also known for beautiful paper ephemera designs, dolls, and jewelry designs.   I especially

enjoyed her beautiful bracelets made from things such as vintage jewelry pieces, old baseballs, as well as

her steampunk jewelry line.  She also has a paper line, and other fun items.

Altered Art Circus Lisa Kettell dolls

Lisa's artwork brings a little of bit of whimsy, imagination, and captures the magic from Lisa's Fairytale World.  Her book has several fun projects, like the circus train which is made from old boxes.  This is a pretty

Page from Altered Art Circus by Lisa Kettell 

cool project because you can use recycled boxes as the base for any of these projects.  I decided to try

Project from Altered Art Circus by Lisa Kettell 

my hand to make one of these boxes to hold one of the my cute little yellow chick figure which
is a Lisa Kettell original piece.

Yellow Chick made Lisa Kettell 

   So I started with an empty box of pop toasties.

I measured and drew where I intended to place the cut out on the front of the box.

I took my inspiration from the project below by Lisa Kettell.  She adds paper that she has aged. Then along with some cool die cuts and glitter, she creates a bit of magic for us to enjoy.

Altered Art Circus Project by Lisa Kettell 

So I used some of the ideas and instructions in the book and I decorated the exterior and interior of

Altered Art Circus inspired project.

the box with an assortment of papers.  Then I added the little figure to the box.

I may still add some glitter to the outside of the box I made. However, for now I like the way it came out.

Images from the book Altered Art Circus by Lisa Kettell 

By the way, Lisa has included some fabulous images in her book for you to use in creating your own piece of whimsy.  These are beautifully illustrated images that just inspire a multitude of project ideas.

Lisa Kettell and her book "Altered Art Circus"

The book includes projects that vary from globes, to wands, to card pocket books, and some home decor items.  Lisa has done a wonderful job in inspiring her readers to reach into their own imagination and create some fun projects.

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