Mat for Cross Stitch

A friend received this tiny cross stitch art piece representing the colorful historical houses in downtown St. John's, Newfoundland.  The original frame had fallen apart and she wanted to preserve the piece of needlework.  Knowing my paper craft skills she asked if I could make a mat to frame it into this new 2.5" x 3.5" frame.  I selected a black textured card stock.  I cut the piece to the size of the frame then with the motto of "measure twice cut once" I penciled the cut out.  After checking, I placed it on a cutting mat with lines across so I could cut very straight. Once cut, it frame the bit of art nicely.  I taped the fabric to the mat.  I cleaned the glass on both sides, slipped the art, the spacer and the backer back into place.  Voila!!  Restored to bring joy again. 

Photo - Red Leaves

I took this photo for Sally Russick's Photo Challenge this week which is Color Photography.

We do have a few red maple leaves this far west. There were many people taking their fall family pictures this afternoon. I liked the contrast between the red and the grey wood.

TH Distress Stains - Christmas Colors

I'm working on the April Christmas Card Challenge so I decided to see how the colors from the Tim Holtz Distress Stains collection would work together.  I had paired them in my mind and had to change the combos a bit.
I've decided to pair these top and bottom. The vintage colors set on the left, traditional colors in the centre then an alternative color combo on the right.

Cool Tool - Scrap Storage

How do you store your cardstock scraps?  This is my third attempt at solving this problem and it seems to be working for me. I bought these magazine holders at IKEA.  I place my cardstock scraps in large ziplock bags where the taller pieces just stick out the top.  Easy to identify the color and search inside for the piece I need.  The cost is right as well.  Each holder stores 2-3 colors depending on how fat the ziplock bag is.  I have a zip lock for green, red, yellow, red, beige, black, brown, blue dark, blue light and orange. I recently added glitter and metallics.
I would love to hear about your system. Leave a me a comment!