A to Z Challenge - 2019 - Z is for Zutter Bind It All

It's here!!!  The last letter in the 10th Anniversary A to Z Challenge is finally here.  I don't know about you but I've had a really good time with this year's challenge.  I haven't had a chance to visit all 600+ participants but I have gotten to a few dozen.  I expect next month I'll start making some more visits since it won't be that busy.  I'm trying to think of a theme for the month.  Sometimes it seems like a letdown when April's rush is over.

Anyway, for my letter "Z" I'm going to talk about the Zutter Bind It All machine.  When I talked about tools for the letter "T" I forgot about this one because it is something that I have had for a while but don't use very much.  It is a machine that you can use to make your own books with wire binding.  I got it from Blitsy (an online creative supply store) during a sale for a steal. 

It came with instruction booklet, measuring guides and wire cutters,

Wire cutters

as well as several different sizes and colors of wire binding.  There was also a project idea book with so many cute ideas for making different kinds of books and albums.  Look at that boot! 

It even came with some wood chip board covers and pre-cut pages so you could start making something right away.

I got this cover set on sale and thought it would be a great one to use to make a book.

I can use those recycled pieces of cardboard and plastic that I keep saving to make something! 

The first thing is to decide how long your project is and then use the guide to figure out how many holes you need.  Then you put the paper in the machine with the edge of the paper at the edge of the machine and make your first punch.

You slide the paper along until you have enough punches for the whole length.  For this 11 inch paper I needed 20 holes.  

Once the holes are punched then you get the wire binding you want and cut it to size.  After putting the wires through the holes, you set it in the machine again and squeeze the wires together.  That's one of the tricky parts, you don't want to squeeze it too hard and you want it to be even all the way up.  

Here's my finished binding.  It looks like some are a little looser than others but I think it will be fine.

Whew!  Done!  I hope you have enjoyed reading about my crafting experiences and that you've had a chance to visit my Etsy shop.  Please keep me in mind if you ever want something made especially for you or have an idea for a unique gift for someone else.  If you saw my Studio tour yesterday, you know I have A LOT of supplies for almost any theme.  Stay tuned for May 6 when we do a reflection post of our experiences this year.  One more big thank you and Happy Anniversary to Arlee Bird, the founder of the A to Z and all of his cohosts and helper bees.   

A to Z Challenge - 2019 - Y is for YouTube

Happy Monday!  We have the last two letters in the 10th Anniversary A to Z Challenge this week.   I am so happy that I have made it this far with no complications.  I was so involved with getting the Studio together in March that I had almost no time to prep for the A to Z and yet I managed to meet all the deadlines and have relatively (I hope) interesting offerings for each letter.

For the letter "Y" I am presenting a YouTube video walk through the new studio!  I have been wanting to try my hand at making some how-to videos.  I thought that starting with a tour of the studio would be fun.  I hope you think so too!

I left out some things I wanted to say and I'm sure I fumbled a bit but for a first attempt I think it is okay.  In case you want to see some of the companies I mention, I am linking them here:

The shed was made by The Shed Shop in Hayward, California.

The ScrapBox was made by The Original ScrapBox Company.

The binders are from Totally Tiffany.   

I hope you liked my video tour.  Do you think I could do more of them?  Have something you'd like me to demonstrate?  My niece said she wants to see more about the Junk Journal I mentioned so maybe that will be the next video.  Love any feedback.  Hope I didn't scare you away and that you'll come back tomorrow for the big finale!

A to Z Challenge - 2019 - X is for Expo

My oh my we are down to just 3 letters in this year's A to Z 10th Anniversary Challenge!  For X I am using EXPO as my word which comes in very handy since the Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt is using a word with XP!   Thanks, Linda, for helping us keep on track with two challenges!

I've mentioned that I get ideas from magazines and kits, but another big source of inspiration and the place I get a lot of my supplies from is the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo.  There are three Expos a year within traveling distance although I usually only go to two of them.   It is a great time for me to spend a day with my niece, Donna, who is my scrapbook buddy.

We buy our tickets online and then pick them up at Will Call.  If we get there early enough - of course we do! - they give you a Golden Ticket that you can use to try to win a door prize.

There is a big table that has all the different prizes donated by the vendors at the show.  We take our time looking at each one and then when we decide what we want to try for, we put the ticket stub in the matching bin.  Of course we go for different things so there is a chance for each of us to win.  There are also workshops going on during the day and usually we take one of those too.  When you pay for a workshop, you get free admission to the showroom.   

The prize table

The workshop schedule

Inside the actual showroom there are anywhere from 30 to 50 or more different vendors showing off their products.  There are early bird specials if you get to the booths before a certain time.  We don't always care about those but sometimes there are good ones like buy one and get one free of certain things.   

My niece, Donna, ready to shop

They are just about to let us in.

There are also floor demonstrators.  They show you how to use the new products and let you do "make and takes" so you can try them for yourself and then keep what you make.

All through the day they call out door prizes.  There are a couple of ways to win.  One way is just by your name because you bought a ticket.  One is the "number game."  There are numbers on the floor and when they tell you they are going to pick a number, you try to find one and stand on it.  I was lucky #11 once.  I won a paper pack with some extra goodies in it.  Donna won one too at a different show.

Of course the most coveted prize is the one from the Golden Ticket.  Both my niece and I have been lucky enough to win one.  Mine was from the company called Scrap That and this is me with the manager of the company.  

It is a really fun day for my niece and I.  We always come away with some great bargains and some new ideas to try.  The next one is in June in Santa Clara and I'm looking forward to going! 

Happy Shoppers

Have you ever been to a Stamp and Scrapbook Expo?  Does it look like fun?  Tomorrow is a day of rest.  Come back Monday for the letter Y.  I'm going to try something really different.  Care to guess what?

A to Z Challenge - 2019 - W is for Winging It

Down to just four letters left in the 10th Annual A to Z Challenge and I struggled with a topic for today.  You would think that W would be an easy letter to find something for and at first I was going to use Wedding and show some cards I'd made that you could use for a wedding like this one:  

Or this one:

Or even this one:

But that didn't seem so very exciting.  Then I thought about Washi tape.  I certainly have a lot of that:

But that didn't seem very exciting either.  Finally I thought of Weeding as in weeding out supplies that I've had around for years and years and actually decided I'm not going to use so I should just let them go.  Like spools and spools of thread.  If I am getting rid of the sewing machine, I certainly don't need all the thread.  Fortunately I have some friends who took them.

Or piles of yarn.  Not going to make anything out of this any time soon.  I really wanted to make something with the rainbow yarn but no matter how many times I tried nothing came out right.

Even the pieces of yarn for latch hook rugs.  I've made some but what the heck was I keeping all this for?

And beads!  No way do I need all these beads.  I kept some but really?  I put them in baggies by the 1/2 pound and they went on the Etsy site under supplies.  Since I've had them around for quite a while they are classified as Vintage!  Man that makes me feel old.  

I even have some old Monopoly game pieces.    Some of these are collectors items since they are no longer made for the game but I'm gonna let someone else collect them!

So now I have a lot of empty containers and I'm going to weed through those as well and keep the ones I like and give the rest to the second hand stores.  I guess you could say for the letter "W" I'm just gonna "Wing" it.  Thank goodness I have X, Y and Z (maybe) under control!  See you tomorrow.

A to Z Challenge - 2019 - V is for Village

Final countdown in the 10th Anniversary A to Z.  We are at the letter "V" and I was going to write about vellum but then I started working around in the studio and the word "Village" came to me.  Last year during my A to Z of the things that are found in a Michaels Arts and Crafts store, I wrote about the miniature gnomes and fairies that I wanted to get for the garden in front of my studio.  At that time I had no studio so I didn't buy any of them.

This year, I DO have a studio so I am making my Fairy Village!  They didn't have all of the same figures but I found some that I think are really cute.  I put this together on my workbench but eventually it will go outside. 

In the middle is the castle with the little bride and groom standing on a rock kissing.  A gnome is taking their picture with a friendly faced tree and a tea pot hanging from the branch of another tree in the background.  I just realized that the way I took the picture it looks like the owl on my curtain is watching the proceedings too.   

Art imitates life?  My hubby and I got married standing on the rocks at Vista Point in Zephyr Cove, Nevada.  

 


Doesn't that castle look like a neat place to live?  The front door opens but the inside is nothing special so I'll probably keep it closed.  The color of the turrets matches the studio so well.

With all the pictures I take I had to get this little gnome photographer and I just loved the face on the tree. 

 Since I drink tea every night this was a natural figure for me to get as well.

The second one is the village, with three little houses, a bridge to cross and a little sitting area.  The fairy looks on and in the background is the watchful wizard. 

While I loved the figures at Michaels, these little houses were at the dollar store!  I think they work just as well as the expensive ones.  

This is a smaller version of the strawberry house I saw last year.  I thought the little clothesline was a nice touch.  The fairy has a tiny gem in her hands.   

From this angle the bridge and the table and chairs kind of blend in with the rocks but you get the idea.  The "Wizard" is actually a statue of Santa that my late sister made for me a long time ago.  It broke and my husband glued it together but there are spots that are missing.  I was just going to take a picture of it and throw it away but when I started putting the village together, he seemed to fit right in.

The last part is the wise old owl.  There is a pot that my daughter made for me that I'm going to get a plant to put in.  The little boy and girl were figurines my sister used to put on the table when we had family Thanksgiving dinners and the frog is a cute frog. 

The squirrel, frog and owl are solar powered so they will light up at night.  

I don't think I'm finished with these.  I may want to get some more rocks and a couple more figures for the village and definitely some flowers.  I'm thinking that I'd like to get some tree stumps at different heights and put one of these on each in front of the Studio.  I bought all of these things at different times and I wasn't sure what exactly I was going to put them in or what they were going to show but once I thought of the word Village, they just came together like this. 

What do you think of my Village?  Are you going to make it to the end of the alphabet with me?