Thursday 9 May 2019

Houston... we have a problem!

Apple... snap... bugger... blast and bother!  Yep that's pretty much how it went when I was proudly showing a couple of friends the Horse and Apple page I'd made for Doodlebug's book.

As we were snapping the apples on and off... and on and off... and maybe just one more time... on and off the trees... cause grown ups can be kids too you know :) and then snap the snap didn't come back up with the apple... let me show you what I mean:


Yep... that pesky little snap back was still on the snap on the page instead of being on the back of the apple so:


I knew I'd done an order on Ali Express... as you do... for a snap tool and plastic snaps especially for making Doodlebug these pages but I didn't know how long it was going to take... and then it arrived TODAY!!  Soooo happy!

I decided that I was going to try and work out how to fix the apples with minimal damage... and minimal unpicking and re-sewing... and this is where I struck GOLD people! Pure GOLD... the really good stuff... 24-karat GOLD!

But I digress... so it turned out that the solution was SOOOO easy... and the page is now fixed and I'm ecstatically happy with how it's turned out.  Its even BETTER than the original!

Here's what happened... I carefully took the top of the snap off the apple... turns out that it wasn't hard to do... which is a bit of a worry really:


Then I made a hole using my new screw punch... also from Ali Express:


Then I popped the shank of the snap through the hole... placed the snap back in place and PRESS with the snap tool... very easy on my hands and totally SILENT!


Well that was easy... so I carried on doing the other apples.  One of the great things with these plastic snaps is that the back of the snap is the same colour as the front so there's no SILVER on the RED apples anymore... you have NO IDEA how happy that makes me... it's the simple things folks :)


Then it was time to tackle the tree... and the snap back that had gotten stuck.  Again these were SIMPLE and EASY to remove... so I'm pleased this apple snap came apart BEFORE I made Doodlebug's book!  I will definitely not be using metal snaps in anything for my wee cherub :)


I followed the same procedure as I had with the apples... remove snap... make hole with screw punch:


And then I had a BRAIN WAVE... I have a LOT of plastic snaps... in LOTS of colours... so why not use a green snap on the tree???  Me oh my... Brilliant!


The front and back of the snaps are exactly the same... just like on kids clothing... so the back of the page looks good... and it's a nice smooth surface too! p.s. since I made this page I've learnt that lots of people use only WHITE cotton on their bobbins when making Quiet Books so they don't have to change both threads when they stitch different colours... GAME CHANGER!!!  That little tip has save me so much time... and makes the back of the page much neater... it might be an OCD thing but it makes me HAPPY! 


So now I have RED apples and a GREEN tree and the page is back to being finished again:


Want to see my new snap tool and all the little snaps that arrived in the mail???  Of course you do... so here you go:


There's so many colours and I'll be able to match them up with all my felt and fabrics... I can't wait to get 'snapping'!

Oh yes... before I go I thought I'd share with you how good the snaps 'sound'... after all that's part of the fun isn't it... just like popping bubble wrap and having bubble wrap popping races... it's a THING you know!!


I have almost finished another page for Doodlebug's book... can't wait to show you :)



4 comments:

  1. Oh I love all the colours you have got for the snappers.And the bonus of that incredible sound "SNAP".Wow.Such a happy sound.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great 'save' - and you will feel so much happier with the 'safe' plastic snaps - and their wonderful sound!!
    Blessings
    Maxine

    ReplyDelete
  3. Whoop, whoop! Gotta love Aliexpress! xx

    ReplyDelete

Hi :) I really love hearing from you so please leave me a comment... I really appreciate it!
Thanks, Shell xx