I love using my cookie molds for paper molding...I have never used them for cookies LOL!!! I use a slightly different paper recipe: 1 Sheet paper - can have a bit of printing on it, but not too much. I tear the paper into strips then into pieces about 1" - 2". Then I place them in a blender and cover with hot tap water. Don't fill the blender just cover the paper - about a cup or so. I let the paper soak for a minute or two then blend for a minute. If you have large chunks of whole paper, blend some more. YOu want to end up with pulp. Strain the whole works through a wire strainer, but don't press out the water. Let it drip for a bit, then plop it onto a mold. Spread the paper to cover the mold as evenly as possible. You can have clean edges or let some paper hang over for a deckled look - like in RedConfetti's card. Take a clean towel and smash all the water out. Use your fingers to push the towel down to get the paper into all the crevices. The more water you get out, the faster it will dry. I then microwave the paper in the mold. Try it for 1 minute, then if not dry, go in 30 second intervals, CLOSELY WATCHING IT!! You don't want it to catch on fire. As it dries, it will pop out of the mold. I do "season" my molds with a light spray of Pam, then wipe it out so it isn't greasy. I color my molded paper with chalks (You can find them in scrapbook sections of stores) I use a q-tip to apply the chalk. Or you can use a small paintbrush to apply the chalk too. You can also use construction paper for a colored mold. I like to use brown kraft paper for an antiqued look. Love your card RedConfetti...you are really talented. If you love the molds, check out ebay...there are tons! Brown Bag Cookie Art has a big line, and the Pampered Chef ones are neat too...they have a line of 4 seasons ones out now. Not paper related but: I also make wax molds in my cookie molds. I use 2 Yankee Candle tarts, melting them in a clean soup can that I have placed in a pan of shallow water (think double boiler) I bend the can slightly so I can pour out of it. After the tarts are melted, pour into a mold that has been coated well with Pam. Allow to cool, and it will pop out. If you want to hang it, make sure you put something in the back before it cools. I stick my molds in the fridge to cool them faster.

The napkin had two layers... the printed color layer, kinda bonded to a plain white layer so it had more substance than some paper napkins. I left the layers together. The glue I used was Elmer's Washable School Glue 'No Run Gel' - the light blue stuff. I ran a thin bead all around the edges of the backside of the picture, and made a few squiggles in the center area, then used a soft flat paintbrush to smear/paint the glue to the edges and moosh it around in the middle. The glue did NOT grab immediately, giving me some leeway in ooching the design into place. I had thought of using spray-on adhesive, but with that type of glue, once you drop the picture in place, that is where it STAYS! No room for error with most of it. Glad you liked the card. I hope it inspires you to look at your stash of pretty napkins and make a card, too!

Stephenei: What got me hooked was a section on home made cards in a Feb issue of either MM or CK magazine. And I REALLY got hooked! Card making has replaced (for the time being) scraping. As for ideas, I got some from the aforementioned magazine, some from looking at cards in card shops, and some from my own imagination. ItÂs amazing what creative creatures we can be when doing something we enjoy! One idea for an Easter card came from a quote I found onlineÂÂGive hugs, if you carrot at all! My sonÂs best friend calls me ÂAunt Carront, so I made a little card out of lime green card stock. I made three little carrots out of orange and brown card stock and cut thin strips of dark green card stock for grass. I attached the grass and the carrots to the front of the card with pop dots (for the 3D effect) and outlined the edges of the front of the card with thin strips of orange card stock. I made one large carrot for the inside to hold the latter part of the quote. It turned out to be a cute card and the idea came after seeing the quote. Other ideas come from looking through my materials and Âplaying with them,Âi.e., seeing what goes together. IÂve never scanned anything for use on the computer, but if you like, IÂd be happy to try and scan and post-to-you some of the cards I made to help you get started with ideas. I know what itÂs like to feel like...where do the ideas come from?! And once you get started, believe me, thereÂs no stopping!!!!!!! Also, some others have posted about tea-bag/paper folding which I have tried yet. As Sally said, when your scraping and stamping, the ideas just seem to flow. p.s. there are also books on card making and paper projects. My husband gave me one for a present and one was referenced in the magazine that I have been looking for but have yet to find. Hope this helps. karen

Love your idea and I have played around with that idea a bit myself. Haven't made any cards yet...still toying with how to. Anyway...for applique there is a product called Heat and Bond which comes in a couple of different "stiffness". You iron it to the wrong side of your fabric and then peel off the paper backing and then iron onto your main fabric. Be careful or the stuff gets onto your iron and board and can be a mess to clean off. Anyway there is another product called Timtex that is really stiff and would give your card an almost cardboard type feel. Use it as backing to the main fabric of your applique. For puffiness you can also use fusible fleece or regular batting. This is what I would do: decide on the fabric for the background. Decide on the fabric to be used for the mini quilt you talked about. After the mini quilt is designed iron some heat and bond on the back of it and iron it to your background. Then use your decorative stitches to "quilt" it to the background. When this top part is done, layer with some fusible fleece or batting with the Timtex stuff, bind off the edges and voila, you have a card. Good grief...after re-reading what I wrote I wonder if this makes any sense....anyway. It may give you some ideas of what product to look for and a method of madness too. I hope it helps and you have inspired me. I bought a fabric panel of Maxine sayings and thought about making cards out of it. Maybe someone who has actually done this will chime in with more better ideas. Please let us know what you did and post a picture. Murphy