I recently bought a bunch of tin games on clearance at Target.  The tin had some kind of brownish label on it.  I covered it with colorful paper, used my crop-a-dile to punch a hole and connect a brad to the corner, and attached a piece of ribbon.  I made sure the ribbon was long enough so that a tiny pencil could reach to the score pad.

On the inside lid I put a piece of cardstock and used some strips of paper to make a tic-tac-toe board.  (The tin actually came with the game printed on the lid, but it was yucky.)

I love my Bloomies. 

I received this sale flyer in the mail a couple of weeks ago.  I kept it because I thought the color scheme was interesting.

I think these colors are usually really gaudy when they’re used together, but somehow they work well together in this ad.

I have gobs and gobs of cardstock in these colors (they really are difficult for me to work with…I like to stick with earth tones.)

I used the ad layout as my inspiration for this card.  It has turned out to be one of my favorites, which has been a pleasant surprise for me.  I’m glad I got to use my gobs and gobs.

I thought I’d share a couple of tools and stuff that I absolutely can’t live without.

{Paper Snips}:  these sharp little guys make cutting around corners super-easy.  I can get into tiny spaces without a problem.  The tips are really sharp, too, so I can poke holes with ease if I am too lazy to grab my paper-piercing tool or my punch.

{Ribbon Scissors}:  I can’t stress to you enough how very important it is to have a nice pair of sharp scissors that are dedicated strictly to cutting ribbon (and nothing else!) It doesn’t matter how cool the creation is, if the ends of the ribbon aren’t cut properly, well…it’s kind of like being all dressed up and smiling and then realizing you have spinach in your teeth. I actually have a funky little keychain hanging on my ribbon scissors and I tell the people in my card classes that an alarm will sound if the scissors are used on anything else besides ribbon!  They are petrified of what I will do if I see them using these scissors on paper!

{Adhesive Eraser}:  This seems like such a simple thing, but it is BIG!  If I make a mistake or change my mind, I can remove something that I have applied with adhesive and then erase any leftover adhesive in an instant!  This eraser also gets that nasty gummy price-tag residue off of stuff.  This is without-a-doubt the least expensive item in my craft area but one of the items with the most value.

{Mod Podge}:  Can’t live without it!  Looks and feels like good old-fashioned Elmer’s glue, but works like magic and works FAST, which is even better.  (I still need to figure out how to work with it so that it doesn’t get all over my fingers, because that makes everything get really messy and I end up getting really frustrated.  Any suggestions?)

Seems kind of boring to talk about scissors and erasers, but the proper tools really do make a HUGE difference.  Whenever I create things I get lost in a “zone” and it really helps to have things on hand to help me get the job done.  (and remain calm.)

What are some things you can’t live without?

Oh, wait!  I forgot!  Gotta have lots of dark chocolate on hand, too.  That’s a no-brainer.