Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Another FCD Blog Hop!

Welcome to the January edition of the Firecracker Designs By Pamela Blog Hop! In honor of the New Year, this month’s theme is to pick something old and make it new again! Oh Boy! I do love using up old stuff and finding new ways to turn “junk” into art, don’t you?

If you’re like most crafters, you have old supplies tucked all over your craft area; most of which you have long forgotten about! That can sure make the job of choosing a project seem overwhelming! As luck would have it, I just picked up a new book from Amazon, ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Stitch Alchemy by Kelli Perkins that tells how to turn fabric into a paper-like surface that can be inked, stamped, printed on, embossed, etc. So many cool possibilities! Since I also have 2 pizza boxes full of 12"x12" fabric swatches, this seemed like a perfect project! (for the inquiring minds, those aren’t “real” pizza boxes! They’re Club Scrap kit boxes that come in pizza boxes. No pizza has ever come in contact with my fabric! He he)

Anyway, I love fabric, and I love paper! What a fun idea to blend them into one crafty medium. The general process of making fabric paper is pretty easy: it involves a piece of muslin-like fabric, strips of tissue paper & other scraps, and watered down glue. Once the gluey mess dries overnight, it easily peels up off the parchment paper work surface, and can then be used in myriad projects! I cut two rectangles out of one of my completed fabrics to make two large tags. I think I may use the other pieces for cards, on layouts, and who knows what else! Ooh, they’d make great bookmarks, too!

I went from this:


To this:

The tags were inked with some tattered Rose Distress ink, and stamped with the ladies from FCD Leading Ladies. The remaining images came from the partner set, Theater Lights. The tag on the right was colored and heat embossed, while the tag on the left was stamped & colored and then overlaid with a duplicate transparency image. I also pulled out lots of fibers (remember those?) to go with some ribbons to make the fringed knots. Man, I haven’t used actual fibers (in place of ribbon) in forever! I finished them off with some junk jewelry finds and an old button.

So, what do you think? Do you like my fabric paper? I think I will do this again! It was so fun & easy. Sort of like making serendipity squares, except with a fabric base!

Here's the drill on the circular hops work: No designated beginning, no designated end - wherever you start is the "beginning" and when you link back to your original post you have come full circle and completed the hop. As always, there will be a blog candy giveaway chosen from the comments on one of the blogs. To up your chances of winning, be sure you comment on all the posts - no one knows who the mystery hostess will be until it's over! Drawing for candy will be announced at 8 Pm EST on Monday, January 25. Check FCD's Blog to see if you've won, or leave your addy in your comment so Pamela can contact you. (spell out the parts of your addy so phishers are less likely to find it - like this: john dot doe at yahoo dot com)

This month, our lovely Melisa has also generously offered to give away some blog candy so be sure to leave her some extra lovin'! :o)

Now, head on over to the very talented Donna to see the next post! Happy Hoppin'!

As always, thanks for stopping by! Happy Stampin'!
Ursula