Day Camp with a Powerful Glue Stick

As mentioned a few times before, I got some really dandy loot by being part of Team Orange in the Club Scrap PSL. And again, as mentioned before, I'm really grateful to the team members who did so much to make this happen.

(Strangely, ours seemed to be one of the few teams where the people submitting lots of entries weren't complaining about the team members who only posted the odd layout now and again. In fact, our top players made a point of telling the other teams how it was just about having fun, and how everyone should just do what they felt comfortable doing. I was impressed!)

One week's top prize was the Sweet Serving Tray project, which I just received last week. I wasn't that jazzed when I first read about it, but when I saw the real deal, I couldn't wait to put it together.

For once I decided to be sensible and follow the kit instructions. (The webpage linked above shows four possible uses; the kit materials and printed instructions guide you through the example on the far right.) It was fun to make, and I love the "deep breath!" theme:

The kit included several elements to choose from, so I ended up with a slightly different look, plus I made a few changes. My method:

• Don't sand the roughness away because it's not worth looking in the closet for sandpaper.
• Find some unmounted nature-y stamps, don't bother to mount them, ink up the whole sheet with Versamark ink (amazing stuff) and press the cardstock on top of it, and then don't bother to wash the Versamark off the sheet, either. (As opposed to stamping in blue on the blue sheet.)
• Affix cardstock to three pre-cut pieces of bookboard.
• Cut out graphics from provided sheet of art.
• "Distress" the edges of each graphic by smudging ink around the border.
• Spend forever deciding which graphic should go where.
• Add some height to graphics with foam adhesive (top, bottom) or by sticking one of the graphics onto a provided mosaic tile (middle).
• Dig through collected beads and add to middle strip, using a piece of brown string meant for failed "Lady of Shallot" costume.
• Feel clever as this last step was not in the instructions at all.
• Glue bookboard pieces to tray. Decide against instructions' advice to put a piece of white vellum down first. Natural wood is nice.
• Glue "b r e a t h e" and "r e f r e s h" individual letters to individual mosaic tiles.
• Stick these tiles on the side of the tray. (You can kind of see "r e f r e s h" on the right side.)
• Be amazed at how well the extra strength "embellishment" glue stick works.
• Thread more beads on string and loop around the top. Add extra beads to create dangling bit - feel clever again.
• Hang up "sometime this summer."

Underneath the project you can see some scrapbook stuff I dragged out while still riding the wave of creativity. Of course now it is just a mess on the carpet that I'm trying not to look at while typing. (I had planned to use this weekend for cleaning up all the odds and ends and unfinished business around the apartment. Anyway.)

I'd like to make more of these trays, but I can't seem to find any for less than $16 (at Jo-Ann's), and that's more than the whole kit from Club Scrap. We went to Michael's yesterday and they have some natural wood shadowboxes and long trays for pretty cheap that might work, though.

(But not until I clean the house.)

(Sometime this summer.)

Comments

[Reese]

cigar boxes?

[Shari]

I like it! Not too hard to find, either, what with those cigar box purses being so popular. I shall start looking for some very "blonde" ones - thanks!

[Heather in PA]

How many days left for you? I've got....10!
And really, only 7 of those involve students being here. And 5 of THOSE are exams - where students are done by 11:30 or so...

And an interview pending at a 'posh' school 1/2 mile from my house. Oh, the sweet taste of "maybe!"

[Shari]

I have... hmmm... FIVE! Woo!

Tomorrow is the last full, regular day. (Lesson plan: locker clean out, taking photos to decorate next year's walls, and watching the rest of the traditional end-of-year movie.)

Then three half-days of exams next week and one staff day. That's it. The end! Woo x 2!

Good luck with the interview! Half a mile? Be still my beating gas pump!