Wednesday, May 2, 2012

A Little Something for Bits and Bobs

The other night I got a great little email from Gale at Paper Whimsy with a nifty idea for all those leftover seeds that cry out to be shared with your friends....the Seedman's Purse. If you're not familiar with Paper Whimsy they have the most lovely digital images, and lots of other goodies in their one line Shop. I had just purchased some new paper at my local stamp store, the Stamp Cache and thought perhaps I would give it a go.

I have a tin lid on my table where all the extras go....you know those little items I audition for a piece that don't get the part, and then don't go home right away...cause sometimes they don't have a home. Anyway, its current condition is over-flowing. Could there be a better solution? I wondered if a passel of purses could be the answer.


I started out with 6 inch squares and folded according to directions. For the lids, I scored them with about a quarter to half inch shelf at the top, to allow for some expansion with the stuff.


I tried buttons as a fastener, but settled on brads because they too, allowed a bit more room to wind the jute, ribbon, and/or waxed thread around. Next, they needed a place to hang-out. I gave a plain tin a couple of coats of black acrylic paint, and used Ranger's Glue and Seal to paste on a band of paper. Wow...was that slick. To put some ribbon around the top, I used my regular tape adhesive. And finally there was some place to put a button or two.


Even though several of the purses had a bit of a lip on the lid, they still didn't sit nicely, so I crafted an insert that seemed more hospitable to them. Some trial and error here, but after a couple of times I got it right.


So now I have this nice, compact little bit of goodness on my table.


Originally I thought this would be my entry into Hels Sheridan's Sunday Stampers this week, which called for RED. One small oversight on my part. No stamping. Oh well; perhaps another time.

Enjoy.

5 comments:

  1. These are really cute and clever! I love them, the last line of your post made me giggle, I've nearly done that before!

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh wow !!! these are super amazing pieces!!!! I love them!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. These purses are fab, obviously you're more organised than I am as I don't have 1 container for bits and bobs I have several :-/ And really I should just chuck all the bits and bobs away as they've been in their container or should I call them junk boxes for so long I wouldn't even know what's there! I have a box with offcuts of card and seriously they must have been in there for 2 years and I don't even look in there any more so the contents of that are definitely going in the bin - when I remember; with me it's very much 'out of sight out of mind'.
    Ooh lots of lovely storage you have in your craft room.
    I love the colours of your May page below, gorgeous :-)
    Anne x

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are my favorite kind of projects... the ones that use up all the 'also auditioned.' But the outcome is rarely stunning, as these are!

    ReplyDelete
  5. How very inventive of you, I love your little parcels and I like the idea of using a brad instead of a button - great idea. Not sure I could re-create them but it is food for thought.......Anne x

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving a few words...it's so much fun to get feedback! Here's wishing you sunny skies (at least proverbially!)