Kid's Crafts Carnival!!

Be sure to visit these blogs and tell them Craft Critique sent you! Leave them all lovely comments! :)
Wait till you see some of these great ideas! Did you
find yourself listed here? We welcome your link to THIS carnival from YOUR blog. Thanks so much! :)

Sarah hosted a crafty birthday bash where the girls made cute bracelets.

Marie is just full of great ideas for kid's crafts. She often teaches kid's classes and has some great ideas. And a lot of her 3D projects would also work well for kids, with a little bit of supervision of course.

The Wokking Mum (how cute is that) in Singapore has a full site of great crafts she's done with her kids. Check out The Little Craft Box.


Marcy has a great idea for how to use up all those leftover, broken crayons.


Laura and her daughter started a craft and writing journal that they share together. Read more about it and start one for you and your kids.


Whip Up has 42 different great children's crafts along with some kid's craft book reviews. Make sure to click on the title to see the full article and pictures.

Julia made a great mini-book for her daughter's friends. Check out the step-by-step tutorial.

Did we miss something??? Feel free to leave any links we missed from YOUR BLOG or other great ideas in the comments below! As always there will be another carnival soon (keep an eye on the sidebar for all the details).

Paper Beads

Reported by Melissa Norris

Now I will admit that my daughter is only a year and a half so I haven't yet faced the "how to keep them busy during the summer" dilema. But to help all of the rest of you out I am going to give you instructions for a craft that I did with my mom during the summer, and all the supplies you need are already in your home! This is perfect for a rainy day when the kids can't head outside and you don't have the items you may need for another project on hand. So lets make some paper beads!!

Supplies you will need:

• Paper: magazine pages, wrapping paper, thin designer paper (not cardstock), basically any thin, pretty paper


• Adhesive: Mod Podge, regular school glue, clear nail polish, whatever you can find around the house


• Some type of stick: toothpicks, skewers, embroidery needles, etc.


• String: dental floss, elastic cord, fishing line, etc.


• Paper trimmer, rotary cutter, or scissors


• Wax or Parchment paper


• Paint brush

Start by cutting your paper (I used magazine ads) into strips. The base needs to be about an inch wide and tapering off to a point at the top to make a long triangle. Once you practice the basic bead concept you can then change the widths and shapes of your strips to make different style beads.

Once you have all of your paper cut grab your stick (I used bamboo skewers) and start rolling the large base onto the stick. Younger children may need help here getting it started.

Then roll it up until there is an inch or two left on the pointed end. Then, while holding the rolled bead tight, lay the end down on your wax paper and put some glue on the end of the paper strip.

Then roll it the rest of the way up. Once it is all rolled up coat the bead completely with your adhesive to finish it. Slide the bead off and place on a sheet of wax paper to dry.

Repeat this process over and over until you have your desired number of beads. Once the beads are dry you can add extra layers of Mod Podge to make it stronger. Or you can also choose to paint your beads, coat them in glitter, trim them shorter, whatever makes you happy. I have also seen people dip them in a Melt Pot full of Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. These beads are fun and easy and once you learn the basic technique there are so many different things you can do with them.

Thread your finished beads onto your string to make necklaces or bracelets. They're especially cute when you do 2 or 3 strands of them.

This is my best friend's daughter Kaia modeling the necklace we made together.

Making Paper Beads is a great project for a few kids or many kids. Definitely great for Girl Scout troops, slumber parties, or a Moms and Daughters group. So get together with your friends and kids this summer and make yourself some jewlery!

Kids Craft: Decoupage

Reported by Donna Lannerd

As far as crafting with children go, decoupage is one of the easiest you can do and is a very inexpensive craft to introduce kids to. Basically the concept of decoupage is to glue items usually paper or fabric to an object. You can also use items such as stickers or petals from artificial flowers. The paper can be almost anything like tissue paper, magazines, napkins, newspapers or you can even use paper maps. Your item to decoupage can be just about anything you are able to glue items to. It's a great way to recycle an old vase, box or bottle.

It's easy to get started. You probably have a lot of the supplies around the house and the only skill you need to show kids is how to brush on the glue. They usually catch onto this pretty quick. Just follow the basic instructions below and see the projects to get some ideas.

To begin you will need some basic supplies:

• Mod Podge by Plaid - this is a water base glue that has been around for 40 years and is non-toxic and nonflammable
• An assortment of papers and/or fabric and stickers
• Foam paintbrush
• An item to decoupage

Basic steps:

1. Make sure your item is free of dirt and debris especially if you are recycling a food container or you are wanting a stained glass effect.


2. Pre-cut or tear pieces of paper or fabric.


3. Using the foam paintbrush, apply glue to the item.


4. Place paper or fabric over the glue.


5. Brush glue over the paper or fabric you just glued down.


6. Add other pieces as desired repeating steps 3-4.


7. Apply a thick coat of glue over entire design. Allow to dry.


8. Repeat step 7 as desired. The more coats the thicker the finish.

Although all the projects I'm showing are very easy, the first one below uses the fewest supplies. This has been made by cutting a piece of tissue paper in a rectangle about 2 inches higher than the height of the terra cotta flower pot and about 1 inch longer so that the paper overlaps when wrapped around the outside of the pot. Apply the glue to one small area at a time as you place the paper on the pot. Glue the top edge to the inside of the pot and the bottom edge to the underside of the pot. Don't worry about the paper crinkling and folding - it's part of the charm. The tissue paper used on this one is printed and had to be cut just right to get the pattern to show in a certain way. For very young crafters a solid tissue paper would be easier to handle and then add stickers or silk flower petals as desired.

The next two photos are an easy way to get a mosaic or stained glass effect. The candle globes were purchased. Pieces of tissue paper were cut into pieces for the globes. I added some yarns and beads to give it a more boutique look. My daughter has given both of these as gifts.

This vase is simply an empty Arizona tea bottle.The vase's tissue paper pieces were torn to give it just a little different look.

The next project is a wall decoration my daughter made for her room. The plaque is a purchased paper mache one from Michaels. It has been covered in tissue paper. I stamped the "MEOW" for her onto tissue paper. The paw prints and quote are stickers. The cat is a cut-out from a magazine. Unfortunately the tissue papers bled together making it hard to see the stamped image but my daughter still thought it was good.


The last project is a paper mache box from Hobby Lobby. The bottom is covered in tissue paper. The top is covered in pieces of fabric I picked up at a quilt show by RJR Fabrics. I purchased them in a sample pack of 5" squares. I still have bunch left in different colors. I did most of the work on this one. My daughter was getting a little tired and I was having too much fun. It was nice to used some of my cool fabrics without the work of washing them, cutting them into precise little pieces and sewing them up.

Kid's Craft Carnival!

Would you like to participate in our next carnival and reach our growing readership?

This week's Carnival is a Kid's CraftCarnival! We are looking for your Blog Postings; projects & articles about crafts that are appropriate for children. Do you have a favorite craft you do with your children, or maybe something crafty your kids like to do independently? We wanna see! This could be an item already posted to your blog; or a post created especially for the Kid's Craft Carnival.

Just Email us a link to your related post. If selected; your blog will be included in our Wednesday, May 30th Kid's Craft Carnival! You will be asked to link back to the Carnival post in exchange for your participation.

Please have your Carnival submissions in by Midnight (CST), Tuesday, May 29th. Tell all your favorite bloggers!

Pipe Cleaner Fun!

Reported by Amy Westerman

My kids are long past the stage of sitting down with Mom making crafts! They weren't that big on making crafts in the first place, but when we did sit down together, it was often painting or coloring that made them the happiest! If I had known about Giant Chenille Pipe Cleaners by Westrim Crafts when they were little, we would have had a blast making all sorts of fun creatures together!!

I purchased the Giant Chenille Stems by Westrim Crafts at my local Michael's store. Each stem is approximately 14 inches in length, and fat! The package retails for just under $10 US and contains 50 giant stems per package, in many different colors; pink, yellow, orange, blue, black, brown, purple, etc. The package comes with instructions for 12 different projects you can make with your kids! They are easy to understand, and come with bright colorful photos of each project.

In less than a hour, we managed to make at least 5 things with our giant chenille pipe cleaners. We made a dinosaur, a flower, a butterfly, a tall skinny man, and a lollipop. I was able to snap pictures of the first four items we made but the fifth got taken by our little neighbor girl because she loved it so much!

Another huge benefit of playing with giant chenille pipe cleaners....no sticky, icky mess to clean up afterwards! That's always wonderful for Mom! Your kids will have many hours of fun with these Giant Chenille pipe cleaners by Westrim Crafts! I could not find a picture of the box or any additional information about the product online, so this picture of part of the box will have to do. At least by seeing this, you'll know what to look for at your local craft store!

It's so long I couldn't get the full box in the viewfinder of my camera!

Here's a closer look at our dinosaur....

Here's our little man....(sorry, didn't have any wiggly eyes sitting around the craft room!)

And our pretty little butterfly...

And we can't forget my adorable pink flower!

If your kids like crafting, these Giant Chenille pipe cleaners from Westrim Crafts will be right up their alley!

More Inspiration!

Our reporting team thought it'd be fun to share some fun blogs/websites we like to frequent. We hope you enjoy this list... grab a cuppa joe and get comfy!



Amy Westerman's selections:

This Art That Makes Me Happy
This woman is amazing! Vicki makes BEAUTIFUL things with paper

Taylored Expressions
Taylor is an amazing designer! She comes up with the most beautiful cards ever!

Oodabug Alley
Not only is Charmaine adorable, her work is top notch! Her cards are amazing!



Donna Lannerd's Selections:

Betz White
The felt queen of the blogosphere. She has even done a stint on Martha Stewart. Makes the best felt pincushions

Sunshine's Creations
A super crafty site with great little tutorials and lots of ideas for lots of different crafts.

The Black Apple
Although she is a cool artist she leans to the crafty side especially when it comes to altering clothing and supplying recipes. She loves Alice in Wonderland and hedgehogs.



Melissa Norris' Selections:

The Inkblog
Nicole Seitler has tons of great info and tutorials. And her creations are beautiful!!

Primrose Design blog
Featuring a wonderful "stitch school" to learn embroidery stiches and techniques

Crafty Daisies
Ton's of great ideas and a huge variety!



Julia Stainton's Selections:

Capture the Moment
Nicole Heady's fabulous new blog. I've been a huge fan of Nicole's designs since I first noticed her designs in Papercrafts a few years ago. Captured Moments is her blog that features her new Papertrey Ink stamp line and has lots of great tips and behind the scenes peeks.

Paper Trufflez
Julie Ebersole has a fabulous unique style and a great sense of humour. I always love reading her blog and it is actually the first I ever started reading. If you've never checked it out, you need to!

Running With Scissors
I love Leslie's fabulous style. She always makes my jaw drop! Gorgeous cards and you'll find beautiful pics of her fabulous garden as well

Embellished By Jacksonbelle
Jacksonbelle is one of the top five Papercrafts Idol finalists, a fabulous designer and wonderful friend. Check out her blog for fabulous papercraft designs.

Thinking Inking
Debbie Olsen has a fabulous blog that I visit daily. With lots of fabulous designs, ideas and inspiration, Debbie never disappoints!




Colleen Schaan's Selections:

My Inky Fingers
Cindy Brockes Blog. Cindy's blog is full of great techniques, wonderful examples, and good humor.

My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence
Lauren's blog is one of my favorites. She is such an inspirational women. She shares tidbits of her personal life along with amazing examples of her work.

Quacking Creations
Angie's blog is AMAZING! Her intricate and detailed work simply defies explanation...you must see it for yourself.

Stampin' When I Can
Allison's blog is the mother of all blogs...the place to visit when you want to find out who is having candy contests, who has new tutorials out, and what new blogs are worth visiting. Allison does a great service to all the bloggers out there!


Sue Mylde's Selections:

Sisterhood of Scrap
A group of ladies inspiring the scrapbooking world.

Pencil Lines
A great place to pick up sketches to use for your scrapbooks!

Kristina Werner
Kristina Werner's Design blog - really fabulous, crisp designer.

Kristina Contes' Sounds of Science
A wonderful, talented scrapbooker with her own enigmatic style...

Journalers Junction
Dare to Journal! Here are some great challenges to inspire you!

Elsie Flannigan's A Beautiful Mess
Elsie's blog with her creative scrapbook ideas, and lovely photographs.

Anna Griffin Papers

Reported by Sarah Moore

It was during the planning of my wedding in 2000 that I discovered Anna Griffin papers. I had been scrapbooking... trying my best to make my pages look beautiful... but you know how it used to be... my pages were filled with stickers, papers that didn't really match, and well... looking back at those early pages now is a bit embarrassing.

I completely remember the day when I discovered the Anna Griffin heritage style line of papers... they were all in my wedding colors! Sage green and ivory... with a hint of pink... very shabby chic without being too shabby! The matching embellishments, ribbon photo corners and rich looking bows (which she still makes by the way) were such a step up from my current work. I spent TONS of money on sheets and sheets of that lovely paper... and I found it even matched my home decor... Seven years later; I still love those papers... how often does THAT happen?

Then to be honest, I had lost track of Anna G for a bit. I have moved away from scrapbooking and find I now enjoy making cards and giftables more. Like many women I also focus a lot of creative energies on my home, and I love to make decorative items to display. My personal style is very eclectic; but I gravitate toward a vintage look; and often find myself purchasing home accessories that are really intended for children's rooms; lamps, pillows, frames... My taste is so varied.

A few months ago I was shopping at my local scrapbooking store and peeked in on my pal Anna. She still makes the traditional scrolled, floral, damask and toile style patterns; with matching accessories... but now she has this NEW look... retro inspired lines that are bright, stylish and somewhat comical. I had to have them!

My favorite... the "Bailey" line







The newest "Mackenzie" line.

And look at this new line... even her traditional patterns have made an upgrade... with bold back and whites and those same Damask patterns but now in HOT pink!

*NEW* The "Dorothy" Collection

The Anna Griffin collection of course includes a full line of papers, die cuts, stickers, and various embellishments. I especially love the fabric covered brads, pre-tied ribbons and new flocked stickers. Her other paper designs are MUCH more on the traditional side; so she really has something for everyone. You can see HERE for a list of places to buy Anna Griffin Papers. Also don't miss the Outlet store. QVC also features Anna's wonderful goods. They have some more unusual items there too; combo kit's and what-not.

The paper is super smooth and soft... almost on the fragile side. I wrote the company for specifics on the weight of the paper but have not yet heard back; I will update this post when I do. The papers take ink well also; they are not coated or glossy in any way. Use this product with confidence! :)

I created this project especially for this article. After using my Xyron to apply the paper to this pressboard vase (by Prima... purchased at Target), I applied some White Craft ink (direct to paper). I completed the protect with this big bow and a vintage button. Because the paper is so soft; it is ideal for projects such as this one where a very light weight paper is better suited.

Get Inspired!

Today I thought I'd chat a bit about inspiration... where to find it and how to get it! We would enjoy reading your comments below... tell us how and where you find inspiration for your craft! Here are some places I find inspiration...

Cool Hunting
Craftzine
not-martha
Apartment Therapy
Buzzville
Design Sponge
Designspotter
The Sampler
Instructables
Craftster
Junior Society

You can find inspiration here on Craft Critique too! Have you learned to use out Tag List yet? Look at the side bar on our Main Home Page. Scroll all the way down... you can click on one of our many categories and see all that articles that fall within that category! Cool right?

Stampin' Up! Papers

Reported By Colleen Schaan

Paper...it comes in an array of weights, styles, textures, patterns, sizes, and finishes and can add character to any crafting project. As we continue to celebrate it this week, I would like to share some information and my own opinions on Stampin’Up! brand paper products.

First the facts. Stampin’ Up! (referred to as SU from this point forward in the article) may best be known for its exclusive color families. There are 4 basic color families (Bold Brights, Earth Elements, Rich Regals, and Soft Subtles) with 12 colors in each family. That means there are 48 unique colors to choose from. In addition, there is a neutrals line, an In-Color line that consists of 6 very trendy colors that are available for only one year (before being retired and making way for the next year’s color grouping), a number of designer paper lines (I’ll talk about these more later), and a specialties paper line. So with all that said, SU offers a huge variety of paper products...something for everyone!

The Recollections patterns coordinate with various stamp sets and add an elegant touch to this card.

Let’s start with cardstock...the basic supply for card makers and scrapbookers. SU’s exclusive cardstock comes in packages of 8 1/2 x 11 or 12 x 12 and is dyed so it has pure color throughout. This means there is no white core! You can rip or tear the cardstock and not have to worry about having that glaring white show through. The cardstock is 80lb. weight and I like that is is heavy enough to use as a card base and light enough to layer. SU’s cardstock comes in all 48 exclusive colors in addition to the six In Color colors and also comes in neutrals (black, white, vanilla, sand, brown, and grey). All of these have a smooth, flat finish to allow for clean, crisp stamping.

True Thyme and Buckaroo Blue work together with Sahara Sand and the Journeys designer paper.

SU also offers a specialty line of papers. This line includes watercolor paper (140 lb., 100% cotton, cold-pressed), confetti white and vanilla (80 lb. with flecks of color throughout), glossy white (80 lb. with a shinny surface), gold, silver, and copper metallic (92 lb. with a metallic shine throughout), shimmery white (89 lb. with shimmer on both sides), mulberry (white), and vellum (regular or cardstock weight). The specialty papers are a bit more spendy, but well worth the price to add some elegance to your projects. One final note about SU’s cardstock and specialty papers...all of them are acid free with the exception of the shimmery white.

Lastly, SU offers up an array of Designer Papers. There are 18 original assortments in the regular catalog with many more being offered throughout the year. Each collection of Designer Papers comes 12 sheets per package (2 each of 6 designs). Each pattern matches SU’s artwork and coordinates with their exclusive colors to make creating projects a cinch. The single-sided Designer Papers are much lighter at 70 lb weight while the double-sided is a much stiffer 100 lb weight.

Three different patterns from the Sarah designer paper series meld together to create a delightful card.

Them’s the facts...so what do I think?

I believe SU is keeping up with the papercrafting market by offering fresh new cardstock colors and patterned paper with fun, bold colors and simple, elegant designs. I LOVE the fact that SU exclusive colored cardstock perfectly matches their inks and coordinates with so many of their other products. It is super simple to pick a designer paper and find some matching cardstock to completely coordinate your project. I really like to use the single-sided papers for altered items. They are thin and flexible enough to cover like a dream. I don’t often use the double-sided papers for altering items because they are a bit stiff and it takes a really strong adhesive to get them to stay put, but I love mixing and matching the patterns on cards and scrapbook pages. I like that SU’s cardstock is thick enough to use as a sturdy cardbase, and I like the fact that it takes ink so well. The only exception to this would be the whisper white. I do think it is a bit thin to use alone as a cardbase. When I do use it as a base, I always layer another color onto the card to give it a bit more stability.

The bold, bright patterns of Dots and Dashes help to create this "sweet" altered tin and matching beaded pen.

Overall, I am very pleased with the paper quality and selection from Stampin’ Up! For even more information about SU’s products or a glimpse at their on-line catalog, please click HERE.

Die Cuts With a View Paper

Reported by Melissa Norris

I recently discovered Die Cuts With a View (DCWV) paper on a dig through the clearance bin at Michaels. Some of their Card Kits in a Stack had gone on clearance and I loved the patterns on the paper so I decided to try grab a stack. DCWV has a large variety of paper products, with a lot of it being stacks or kits full of coordinating papers, cardstocks, and accessories.

The Card Kit in a Stack package that I purchased includes everything you need to make 20 5.5"x5.5" cards. The cardstock cards are pre-scored and are made of textured cardstock. The kit also includes 2 sheets of stickers and 5 sheets of coordinating paper. Now, since I don't have any large square envelopes I chose to trim the pre-scored and cut cards down to a standard 4.25"x5.5" (A2) card. Plus by doing that you have more scraps of coordinating cardstock to use. Another thing to note about the DCWV textured cardstock is that it has a white core. This makes it a great cardstock for sanding to reveal the white inside.

This is the card I made using the DCWV Card Kit in a Stack. I chose the "Congratulations" kit because of the great colors and retro style designs. This card also features a Stamping Bella stamp and cardstock and stamps from Stampin Up.

I also purchased a DCWV Assorted Box of Cards. These boxes come in several sizes and styles including ones with scalloped and ric rac borders. This box I chose includes 5 each of 10 different styles. Each card is made of textured cardstock with the white core and features a printed front and coordinating solid back. I chose to cut one of mine in half so I had to pieces of paper to use on my card. Again as with the other DCWV pack I got the colors and patterns are fun and whimsical, which is just my style.

This is the card I made with the Box of Cards. It also features stamps by Stamping Bella and Gina K Designs.

Overall I really think DCWV has a great product. The cardstock isn't as heavy and some so you may want to add it to a heavier card. But the texture makes it look great and the coordinating sets really take a lot of the guess work out of it for you. Their products can be found at major retail stores like Michael's and JoAnn's and at some local stores. I would definitely recommend picking up a pack the next time you're out and giving it a try for yourself.

Scenic Route Paper Company

Reported by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

Scenic Route Paper Co. is a relative newcomer to the scene. The company was started in 2004, but their beautiful paper was immediately snatched up by scrapbookers. I can totally understand why.

This is what I have come to expect from Scenic Route:

Double-Sided, Heavyweight Patterned Paper
- You can create folded objects where both sides look good.
- You can use the paper as pages in a mini album, no need to glue two single sheets back-to-back.
- Scenic Route does a very good job of using coordinating, but unexpected patterns on each side.
- You have two times the choices.

Fun and Colorful Designs
- As someone without children yet, I appreciate the bright and colorful, but non-specific designs. I can use them to document my adult life, and another scrapper can use the same paper for a child-centered album.
- The patterns are often whimsical choices, such as birds and flowers.
- Scenic Route paper has clean lines, often using geometric shapes.
- It doesn’t have a grungy, distressed look.
- Scenic Route coordinates each paper collection to include patterns of different scales and shapes (i.e. large flowers, small circles, stripes, and a plaid). This makes anyone look like a superstar at coordinating patterns and colors!
- The patterns are often layered (a background pattern with a motif on top), this allows you to cheat a bit. The paper looks like you might have stamped a design onto it!

Scenic Route has an excellent website. Beyond the usual product photos, you will also find a gallery (many projects have instructions on how to recreate them), you can sign up for their monthly email newsletter, and they run a monthly challenge in which the winners are sent goodie boxes!


In addition to their wonderful papers, Scenic Route offers an array of chipboard (alphas and printed shapes), die cut arrows, stickers, and cardstock.

I hope you'll give Scenic Route a try!

Here are some projects I made with Scenic Route:

Looking for a Few Good Reporters!

Are you a crafty blogger? Do you love to write and feel like you have something to say? Well we want to hear it! Craft Critique is currently looking for a few good Reporters.

At this time we are looking for crafters that have some experience in papercrafts and at least one other area of craft; all over creative dabblers are welcome to apply. You must have a blog and have had the blog for at least 60 days; 50% of your posts must be craft related. Novice crafters are welcome to apply.

Commitment is flexible... there is no pay... you might get some free stuff sometimes but no promises. What's the benefit? Well, you can help increase traffic to your blog and it's fun. Plus it's something to put on your resume... and it will keep you out of trouble! :)

We are looking for 2 kinds of reporters. "Staff Reporters" must commit to writing at least 2 articles per month according to our deadlines and chosen topics. Occasionally staff reporters may receive free product for vendor reviews. Staff reporters will appear on our sidebar with a link to their blog. Due to stipulations with future vendor reviews, staff reporters must reside in the US or Canada.

"Feature Reporters" can submit articles according to topics they select, or on our featured topics... they only are required to write one article per month. After writing two articles they will be listed on our sidebar as a reporter and will remain listed there as long as they continue to write for Craft Critique.

If you are interested, please email the Craft Critique Team. Write "CC Reporter Submission" in the subject line. Include a link to your blog, a description of your crafty interests and anything else we might want to know about you. Please include your City and State/Country.

This call is ongoing and we will respond to all submissions within 30 days.

Michael Miller Memories Fabric Paper

Reported by Donna Lannerd

Recently while attending a class on fabric postcards I was introduced to fabric paper. While not technically paper it is manufactured by Michael Miller Memories , a spin off of Michael Miller Fabrics, which can be found in many quilt stores. Basically they have taken some of their fabric lines and stiffened it and cut it into 12" x 12" sheets geared mostly to the scrapbooking industry. I was very intrigued by this new product especially since I love fabric, so, I went looking for some.

Unfortunately it was a little hard to find and I eventually found it online, of course. My local scrapbooking store had not heard of it. It is available in single sheets and in ensemble packages like the one I used shown in the photo. It contains 7 - 12" x 12" sheets and 7 - 5" x 7" sheets for $16 US. The name of the package I used is Resort Floral. I did not find it in single sheets except for an Australian web site.

Since I was working with fabric paper and I have been inspired by the paper quilts I recently viewed while reporting from the International Quilt Show , I tried out a few methods of manipulating the "paper" to test it out and make my own little quilt. The package states that it acts just like paper only better. I found that it isn't necessarily better but different. For example, I had a difficult time using a paper punch with this. It took a lot of pressure to get the punch to cut through. I don't have a die cutter but it would have been probably a lot easier to use than a punch. The package also says you can rip it. This also is much more difficult than ripping paper but you can rip it like you would rip fabric to make fabric strips. The strips have less fraying than regular fabric because of the stiffening but they also warp more and have to be pressed if you need them straight. It actually cuts really well with the rotary cutter trimmer I have. If you are a quilter and not a scrapbooker you will not want to use your regular rotary cutter and ruler because it is slippery compared to non-stiffened fabric.

One of the things I really liked was the ability to put it through the printer. The quote on my little quilt was printed using my basic ink jet printer. I decided not to put machine sewing on this sample but it does sew better than paper because the needle of the sewing machine does not tear this "paper" but hand sewing the buttons on was difficult especially through 2 layers of the stiffened fabric. I used an eyelet setter to place eyelets in the top corners to add a ribbon hanger. The fabric was too flimsy to simply hang so I backed it with a piece of cardstock. Also, I glued all the pieces down, but when I use this product again I will back the sheets first with fusible web and then fuse all the pieces in place. I like the ensemble packages but being a more of a quilter it does not have enough contrasting values in the prints. For the little quilt above I only had the green for my darkest value and the remaining prints were very close to each other so I could only use them as the lighter value in my design.

In the next photo, I tried stamping on the "paper" and it did really well. I have tried to stamp regular fabric without much success of getting a sharp image. I especially like the heart wreath I stamped and did some sponging around the edges to give it an antique look.

The last photo is two flowers I made using a large Marvy flower punch. I punched 2 flowers for each flower I made then offset them and sewed together with a button. Michael Miller Memories also has a line of flowers made from paper fabric.

There is also a book by the company as well, Fabric Paper Party, published by C&T Publishing but I have not viewed this book yet. The description on the publisher's web site is "Make 3-D crafts and scrapbooks with versatile fabric paper."

This product has a lot of potential. The colors are very vibrant. The company has gone to great lengths to provide prints that are fun and colorful. The prints can be found as regular non-stiffened fabric too and their regular lines of fabric are just as whimsical as the "paper".

Basic Grey Paper Line

Reported By Julia Stainton

An article on Basic Grey paper line hardly needs an introduction. A long-time top favorite of papercrafters, there are few that have not heard the name Basic Grey. Basic Grey has a fabulous paper line of very distinctive designs. It is made up of an eclectic mix of modern and vintage designs…many with layers of texture, swirls or flowers. The papers are highly original as well as, edgy or sophisticated and are extremely easy to work with. The designs are so interesting and exciting; one hardly wants to cover them up. In fact, I have heard of some fans even framing the paper itself as a work of art.


Basic Grey markets their papers in Design lines in which all the papers work well together. They released four of their most beautiful design lines to date at Winter CHA 2007 a few months ago. Stella Ruby, Phoebe, Perhaps and Scarlet’s Letter have been flying off the shelves since they hit them. I know that I had to hunt them down as soon as I could! Lifetime Moments has a great feature from CHA that showcases the fabulous new Basic Grey line.


Basic grey papers are mostly single sided 12 x12 inch square papers designed for the scrapbooking market. The paper from each line is sold separately as well as together in packs. Each pack includes each of the eighteen papers in the line as well as tags and coordinating alphabet stickers. All of the papers in each line coordinate well with each other. I love how they include a mixture of patterned papers with gorgeous designs with simpler patterns that closely resemble distressed cardstock. This is fabulous for layering and for matching up papers when you desire a simpler look. The paper is a wonderful 65 pound, heavy weight that makes it ideal for any type of papercrafting project. Tags, monograms and other die cut paper is printed on 80 pound weight paper. The Basic Grey paper line is acid free and printed on white core paper. A great effect is to distress the edges or surface with sandpaper and create glimpses of this white inner core for interest. These papers retail for approximately $.65 USD per sheet or from $15 - $20 USD per paper pack.


Recently released from Basic Grey in the past year, is their new 6x6 paper pack format. All of their newer lines have been released in this format as well as the original standard size. These are perfect for the card making enthusiasts, as well as for smaller scale scrapbooks and small layers. I have been just thrilled with this new format as I primarily design cards for my papercrafting projects. The best thing about the smaller paper pads is the scaled down size of the prints. A long-time frustration for card designers has been beautiful 12x12 patterned paper that is scaled perfectly for scrapbooking but is just too large in pattern to work well with the smaller design projects. The other fabulous thing about these smaller sized pads is the cost. Retailing for approximately $6.00 US, you can have two of each paper design in the line quite affordably. If you are at all like me…you like to have it all!

Besides their gorgeous paper lines, Basic Grey is also known for their Rub-on transfers, coordinating ribbons and fibers, undressed chipboard and fabulous cutting edge tools. Each of these products is extremely high quality, very versatile and easy to use. I know this from personal experience. I, (most selflessly, of course) have personally tested almost all of their products so that I could share this information with you. (wink)

The Basic Grey company opened its doors in July 2004 and is located in Layton, Utah. The company has been phenomenally successful in the past three years. I can hardly believe their achievement in a highly competitive market. I recently conducted a very informal survey among almost two hundred papercrafters, asking them their favorite paper company. Basic Grey was the incontestable winner by a fairly large margin. With so many other creative & high quality companies on the market, this is high praise direct from the consumer. I recently contacted the company by e-mail and was amazed at their level of customer service. Within minutes, I had a lovely e-mail responding and answering my questions.


If you are looking for added inspiration with the Basic Grey line, their online gallery is a fabulous resource of ideas. If you are a Basic Grey fan and would like to stay on top of their new releases and great ideas, Basic Grey has a free on-line newsletter that you can sign up for on their site.


What would I like to see more of in the Basic Grey line? Having a houseful of boys, I think I'd like to see some more masculine designs in their product lines. I also like to see them come out with a cool new embellishments...I can never get enough of those and paired up with Basic Grey style...I'm sure they'd be fabulous! Basically...I'd just like to see more and more Basic Grey! They have become a staple in my papercrafting supplies.


Basic Grey has a fabulous rich, organic look and an inimitable style. I love their look with just the right amount of distressing and depth. Each item is a work of art. I can't wait until the next Basic Grey product release as I know, they won't disappoint! Basic Grey has this quote on their web-site...

YOU SEE THINGS; AND YOU SAY "WHY?"BUT I DREAM THINGS THAT NEVER WERE; AND I SAY "WHY NOT?"-George Bernard Shaw

I'm loving every thing that Basic Grey dreams up and they in turn are inspiring dreams of creativity in my mind and those of papercrafters everywhere. If you haven't tried out Basic Grey...what are you waiting for?!