My Circle Mania TRENDS Make N Take

Anytime a group of crafters get together we always love to share tips and techniques with each other.  At Circle Mania a few of the Circlets volunteered to do Make N Takes for everyone.  I love to teach others new crafty things so I thought hard about what I could offer my fellow Circle crafters that might be more unique so that had me pondering what was hot trends right now. And what could be used on a variety of projects...cards, layouts, home decor, party decor, etc.

Washi Tape is all the rage right now in the crafting world.  Many of the scrapbook companies such as My Minds Eye, Teresa Collins and others are making it to match their scrapbook lines.  You can even find Washi Tape at Michael's craft store, Target, Archivers. And of course you can find single rolls of it or pre-cut sets of it on Etsy and Ebay too. It can say either Washi Tape or Decorative Tape on it.  Washi tape is more translucent so you see a bit of the background to which you apply it.  It is easy to tear or cut and apply to your projects. It can even be pulled up easily if you need to reapply. 

And another BIG trend is using decorative Twine in a variety of colors on your projects.  Again, many of the scrapbook companies also offer packets of matching Twine to their scrapbook lines.
I have bought many different sets of Twine...two of my favorite Twine companies are Divine Twine and The Twinery.  They both offer gorgeous colors of twine.  Again, you can buy entire rolls of it or a variety pack.  One of the our Circlets, Mary Cork, even did a Twine share where you could get a variety pack of lots of the different colors in smaller portions.  I have also bought it that way on Etsy.

And a third trend is making projects using Kraft cardstock.  Colors really pop when use Kraft as your base.

Many have bought these products and have no idea what to do with them. So I jumped on the chance to do a TRENDS Make N Take using Kraft cardstock, Washi Tape & Twine along with my Cricut.

TRENDS MAKE N TAKE TUTORIAL - I had a choice of two cards for the Circlets to make.

 

Trends Make N Take Card #1

Step 1: Start with a blank Kraft card base.

These are A2 size Kraft cards and envelop sets I bought a

Michael's craft store but you could easily make your own.

 

Step 2: Decide which Washi Tapes you want to use.

Here I selected a variety of 6 patterns but you could easily do this

with only two or three and repeat on the card

 

Step 3: Tear off various lengths of Washi Tape. See how easy Washi tape is to tear with your fingers.

See how it is slightly translucent.

 

Step 4: Place the Washi tape torn at random lengths across your card starting slightly from the edge on the left of your card base and alternate the patterns working towards your right. I focused more of where the ends of the washi tape ended up on the card base than on the top.  Once I was finished, I just trimmed the tops off the washi tape to give a clean edge to the top of my card.

 

Step 5. I used the new CTMH Artise cartridge and matching stamp sets to make a sentiment for my card base. On this card I used the Quote Bubble pg 65 Accent 2 cut at the appropriate size to the matching stamp.  I love the fact the CTMH stamp set has the dimensions printed on it so I know exactly what size to cut out my base image.

 

Step 6: To finsh off the card, I used a foam pop dot to add the sentiment to the front of the card.  Then I tied a piece of twine at the top of the card into a little bow.  TIP:  To keep the twine from slipping, I cut a small slice on each side of the card with my scissors on each side of the card and threaded my twine through that before tying the bow. 

 

This card went together really fast and easy. 

 

 

Trends Make N Take Card #2

 

Step 1: Start with a Kraft Card base and variety of washi tape of your choice.

Step 2: Use a piece of Twine about twice the width of card base. 

Step 3: Starting in center of twine, begin wrapping washi tape around the twine to form a banner piece. Don't worry about matching the ends just yet.

Step 4:  Alternate your washi tape patterns across the twine creating 5 little banners.

Step 5:  Trim your washi tape banners using scissors into whatever banner shapes you like. Just be sure and alternate the sizes so you have variety to make it more interesting.

Step 6: Make two small slits about 1/8" apart from each other on each side of your card base where you want to place the banner to hang.

Step 7: Place your banner across your card base until you have the banner you created centered across your card.  Now take one end of the twine and wrap around the two slits you made on one side of the card base and tie a bow with the twine ends so your banner is hanging properly across.  Repeat on the other side of the cardstock base and tie a bow.  Cut off the bow tail end to your desired length.

Step 8: Place a piece of Washi Tape all across the bottom of your card about 1/2" up from the bottom of the card to create a border. Trim the edges with your scissors to get a clean edge on your card.

Step 9:  Using the CTHM Artise cartridge, cut the Banner shape on page 58 Accent 3 out of cardstock and stamp with the matching "Oh Happy Day" stamp from the Artise bundle. And adhere on the left side of the card across the top of the washi tape border.

 

This card is a little more complex than the first one but it is fun to make and looks darn cute to give for any festive occassion.

 

I have quite an extensive collection of Washi Tape now.  I am sure you will too once you see how fun and easy it is to use on any of your projects. Before I go, I wanted to show you one more card I made for display using nothing but washi tape to decorate the front of a kraft card base.

 

This card was made by selecting a few fun patterns of washi tape from my stash.

I think most of these were ones I bought a Michael's.  Starting in the center of the card, I angled my washi tape across the entire card.  Then proceeded to alternate other patterns diagonally across my card.  Even that Congrats! pattern is washi tape...how cool is that? When I was finished I went back with my scissors and trimmed off the edges of the washi tape to give my card a clean edge.

 

The card still needed a little something so I decided to make a bow out of washi tape.  I took a long  strip of the rose washi tape and folded it sticky side together to create a doublesided piece. I cut than in half.  I folded the first piece together to form a loop, used a small piece of single sided washi tape across the center of the loop to form the bow top. I took the second doublesided piece and used it a s a base for my bow and trimmed the ends.  Using a glue dot, I adhered the base to center strip on my card, then used another glue dot to adhere the bow on top of the bow base. 

 

As you can see, the bow added some dimension to the card but thanks to the washi tape it is still flexible to placed inside an envelop. 

 

I hope you enjoy the TRENDS Make N Take and try it yourself sometime. 

 

TRENDS MAKE N TAKE GIVEAWAY : I am giving away on the Circle MB a Trends Make N Take goodie bag with supplies to make one of the two cards we made at Circle Mania to 10 lucky winners.  Find the thread on the Circle MB to enter to win by 11:59 pm CST on Saturday 10/6.  Winners announced on Sunday 10/7 here and on the Circle MB.