It's Blog Hopping Time Again!

It's time for another Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop and this one uses three of my favorite products: Westcott Brand ® Cutting Tools, Duck Brand® Duct Tape and Velcro® Brand Hook and Loop Fasteners.

Westcott is sponsoring a giveaway: To win a fantastic Deluxe Assortment of Westcott Cutting Tools, go to http://westcottbrand.blogspot.com/2011/10/designer-crafts-connection-charitable.html and leave a comment to win prior to November 1st (actual prize package may vary slghtly, US residents only please). You can also get an extra chance to win by leaving a comment about the hop on the Westcott Facebook Fan Page.

I once knew a photographer who said he could build anything if he had matboard, masking tape and an Xacto knife. Well, I'm here to tell you that by adding the products I received from these three companies, I could easily rule the universe. Seriously. Well, maybe not rule the universe, but I could certainly decorate it.

Don't forget to click on the Designer Crafts Connection button, left, to hop to blogs of some of crafting's best designers who used the same materials. It's fun to see the wonderful twists that are put on these products. Many of these projects will be auctioned off for Charity Wings, so be sure to check it out!

You can see the generous amount of treasure I received from these companies. I love the pink color scheme and could hardly wait to get started.

What made this whole project such a joy to produce? Those Westcott Brand® cutting tools, that's what!

Here are some facts about Westcott Scissors and trimmers:
• Westcott Brand® Scissors are the WORLD’S FAVORITE SCISSORS™ meaning Westcott sells more scissors than any other manufacturer in the world!
• Westcott Brand® Titanium Bonded Non Stick Scissors are the BEST Non Stick Scissors on the market that never get stuck and can easily cut through Sticky Back VELCRO®, Duck Tape and multiple layers of fabric and other materials!
• Titanium bonded blades are 3 times harder than stainless steel and never need sharpening!
• Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools have the best performance! The 3” scissors can even cut through 5 layers of fabric!
• Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools are ergonomic and come in several different color options!

The Westcott Brand® Craft Knife with Titanium Bonded Blade has a nice cushioned grip to keep your fingers from being calloused after a marathon cutting session (which is what I will have this week as I finish up my kit prep for my Houston gig).

Did I mention the Westcott Brand® pink self-healing cutting mat? Pretty to look at and such a work horse! Using it with the Westcott Brand® Craft Knife made the cuts feel like I was cutting butter.

I didn't use my pretty new Westcott Brand® 12” Titanium Bonded Trimmer on this project, but gave it a workout later, trimming 1/4" off some kit contents that I mistakenly cut too large.

The scissors holster, designed by Marisa Pawelko, is really a fun item to have. I am always losing my scissors, usually under a pile of papers, paints and brushes. I threaded it onto a piece of cording and hung it around my neck. Having that baby nearby has been a great time-saver.

I love the large Westcott Brand® Titanium Bonded Non-Stick Scissors, but my favorite pair? The tiny, tiny Westcott Brand® Titanium Bonded 3" Scissors, perfect for getting into little bitty places. I love to stamp, color, then trim to make dimensional embellishments, and these scissors are the best I have seen for that purpose. I love them!

On top of everything, the Westcott Brand® Titanium Bonded Non-Stick Scissors do not gunk up when you cut self-adhesive material. I'm sorry for that tacky term (pardon the pun, but tacky is the best term for that stuff that accumulates on the blades), but it's perfect for what I mean. Other scissors get adhesive that pretty much homesteads on the blades, not moving for anything unless I get out the cleaners that smell bad, turn my hands an ashy gray and make me hallucinate from the fumes. I have cut miles of self-adhesive materials in my 35 years of display design and, although some scissors claim to be non-stick, these are the first I've ever used that can truly own that statement.
My first project is a sweet little lunch tote, just the right size for a sandwich or salad, a piece of fruit and a bottle of water.

Here's how I made my lunch tote:


Supplies
Black Fun Foam, 12" X 18"
Pink Fun Foam, 2" X 8", and three 5" x 5" pieces for flower diecuts
Pink Duck Brand® Duct Tape Sheet
Black Duck Brand® Duct Tape Roll
The Duck Brand® Patterned Duct Tape Rolls, Pink and Black Zebra
VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back Hook and Loop Fasteners
Sizzix Bigz Bow Die (button diecuts)
Sizzix Tattered Florals Die (flower diecuts)
FoamTastic Adhesive


Directions
I started by cutting black Fun Foam into 5 pieces: two-7" x 8", two 4" X 8" and one 4" x 7". I cut diamond shapes from the pink Duck Tape sheet and adhered them on the tote's front and back foam pieces.

Hint: Begin at the center for the first diamond shape and you will wind up with the same amount of margin on each side. If you have an even number of diamonds, your center will be the top points equally spaced from the center. If you have an odd number, the top point will be at the center.

I added 3/8" pink stripes to the back and 3/4" buttons to the sides. All of the stripes and buttons were cut from The Duck Brand® Pink Duct Tape sheets.

Some of you may remember a long-ago post where I said I felt that adding buttons to your art is great, but don't disrespect your creation by just gluing them on. They need an anchor, something to tie them to the surface, so even though these buttons were just diecuts, I took a black Sharpie and drew the thread in place.

I glued all the pieces together using FoamTastic adhesive and used straight pins to hold the pieces in place until the adhesive dried. I then reinforced each seam inside and out with black Duck Brand® Duct Tape cut into 1" wide strips.

I cut the piece for the closure from hot pink Fun Foam, then realized that the color was off a little. I covered the closure strip in more The Duck Brand® Pink Duct Tape, then covered the 5" squares of pink Fun Foam with solid pink, solid black and Zebra pink and black and cut flowers with the Sizzix Tattered Florals die. I stacked the flowers using FoamTastic to adhere them together. I used VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back Hook and Loop Fasteners to attach the closure band to the front and back of the tote and placed a stacked flower, again adhered with Velcro in case I ever wanted to change out the flowers, on each end of the band.

The whole process, from computer design to finished project, took a little more than an hour. The hardest part was figuring the best size for the diamond shapes.

I'll be posting more projects made with these products this week, so check back often. Plus, there's another blog hop for Sizzix next week. I'll be using the new Vase ScoreBoard, designed by my buddy Eileen Hull, the Mat Board Queen. I can hardly wait to show you that project!










Note: I received product for this project from Westcott Brand® Cutting Tools, The Duck Brand® Duct Tape Sheets, VELCRO® Brand Sticky Back Hook and Loop Fasteners and Sizzix.