Thursday, August 13, 2009

A peek for the Caardvarks Coredinations blog hop & Jewel box turned Tool box

Today's post is late and a relatively short, but I wanted to chat about some things that make me really happy:

#1 YOU!

Thank you for being You!-Thanks for being such supportive & fun friends. Your kind comments make me so happy that I get all happy-weepy. You are fabulous!


#2

Core'dinations Blog Hop

Incidentally, that Thank You medallion is a sneak peek at a project for the Caardvarks Coredinations blog hop: next week!!! The medallion is from Martha Stewart & it's a really cool one. It's a blank PDF form & you can type in anything you want! (I'm a bad tease, because I'll have to wait and link it up when we have the blog hop. I've searched & searched for the Martha link and haven't found it yet.)

Did you know this is the first Caardvarks blog hop ever?!? We are SO excited! I've been working on making a new template & a new free digital image to share with you on each day of the 3-day hop. Can't wait!



#3

( Jewel box turned Tool box)

And this storage thinger makes me happy too. It was jewel box. My cousin Mitchie gave it to me for Christmas when he was little, so it makes me think of him and grin. However, I don't wear jewelery very often (being a bit of a house mouse) so I converted it something I need ALL the time...

...a tool box for piercing tools
(and my very favourite needles):



It's made by cutting some thick foam pieces
from these dollarstore brads...



and adhereing them to each other inside the jewel box. (I don't like to throw anything out, and I swear, that foam is better than the brads. It makes great pin cushion material or a little piercing pad. or holders for brads...)

#4


It holds my beloved-Making memories piercer

(If I had to have just one tool this would be it)

& it holds these puppies too...



(Homemade tools) They were made by:

1) shaping polymer clay around needles
2) texturizing with these wooden batik blocks
3) baking it in the oven
4) rubbing in metallic turquoise ink to colour

It was surprisingly speedy and so fun to make homemade tools. :o) The fun thing about the polymer clay is that you can shape the tool to fit perfectly in your hand:



I made the long one to score intricate 3D projects with:



Things I like about scoring with it:

1} It's shaped around an embroidery needle (so that it's not too sharp and won't tear the paper during scoring.)
2} It gives a fine score line for really sharp folds.
3} It works great with the Tim Holtz design ruler & with the template placed on top of a piece of fun foam.

The round tool is a dedicated cleaner
for the tip of my lacquer bottles:




Well that's all the chit chat for today,
Hope your day is an amazing one!
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7 comments:

mudmaven said...

As always you come up with some really great ideas! Thanks for all that you share with us. ~chris

Donna in Louisiana said...

Thanks for sharing the tool box. I just have one question, what type of needles did you use to make the tools? Ok two questions, How did you anchor the needles into the clay?

Again, great ideas, thanks for sharing.

Shauna K said...

WOW! loving the sneak peek from the hop, looks gooogeous! :D

Etha said...

so cool!!!! love your homemade piercing tools. I think I will definitely case the bottle tip cleaner. always use one or the other needle for that and then guck it up :( to have such an obviously dedicated handle on it seems like a great idea. and I must play with clay sometime these days, its been too long! The sneak image is amazing! suck clean colors, can't wait to see more :)

Anonymous said...

My favorite section of all your blog entries is the Cheap Tricks. I LOVE all the creative ways you find to accomplish what others do with an expensive crafting tool. I love your extreme creativity in all the projects you make. Thank you so much for sharing them.

Swedie

Kim Etherington said...

I like that Thank you medallion. Sounds like a cool idea that you can put what you want inside of it. I love your little touch of purple stitching.

Donna Baker said...

what a cool tool holder and how GENIUS of you to make your own handles for them! I ADORE the idea of the bottle needle! TFS!