Random on Purpose

Can I Bee a Snowflake?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

In keeping with today's theme, Splitcoast had a challenge to use "stamps in disguise", meaning to use the stamp in an unusual way or as something other than what it was intended to be.  I made this card:

 

See that little bee on the acrylic block in the corner?  I stamped eight of them in a circle to make the snowflake!  I stamped them in Versamark on white cardstock and embossed them with Stardust embossing powder (it's glittery!)  Then I sponged Close To My Heart dye ink in Dutch Blue over the stamped image and wiped the excess ink off the embossing.  I also embossed the edges of the panel behind the snowflake.  The Dutch Blue cardstock panel was embossed in the snowflake folder in my Cuttlebug, then sanded to reveal the white core.  I punched four tiny snowflakes ($1 punch) and one larger one (Martha Stewart) from Blush cardstock (also CTMH), which I also used for the mat behind everything.  A gem in the middle of the large snowflake and some ribbon around the whole card, and done and done!

Here's a little trick to get the spacing for the stamping:

 

I punched a circle that was larger than my finished image would be (the scallop is not necessary - that punch just happened to be handy), folded it in eighths (snowflakes often have eight spokes) and stamped the bee at the level on the circle that it touched the fold on each side.  I did this all the way around, measured the center (bee butt to bee butt), and punched a circle from a Post It note (including the sticky edge) that was that measurement (3/4" in this instance).

I stuck the Post It circle onto the white cardstock I wanted to stamp on to use as a spacer.  Then I stamped my bees so that their tushies butted up (punny!) to the circle.  I stamped one, then the one exactly opposite, then two more to make a cross shape, then the other four to fill in and complete the circle.  Ta da!  Snowflake!  I've seen this done with Christmas trees, too.  Snoop around your stash and see what else you come up with - endless possibilities!

Okay, the oven just beeped at me, which means it's preheated, so I have to go put dinner in it now (late late late for us, but I was in the middle of a polka-dotted ottoman that was due today, so I had to finish!  Have a fun, safe Halloween night, and thanks for stopping by!

Silhouettes, Kissed!

I had planned to post this yesterday (well, not exactly this, but a card, anyway), but there was a conspiracy of sorts...  Before I could finish my card for the color challenge on Splitcoast I had to run a few errands, and managed to pick up a screw in my right rear tire - two hours later that was resolved (I had to call AAA to inflate it enough to be able to drive it to the tire place, and then they had to put me in the lineup to actually work on it, etc.)  After I got home and got dinner made and cleaned up and all, I came into my craft/sewing/work room to check my emails and finish my card, and noticed water dripping on my hand.  Further inspection revealed that the mouse pad was completely soaked and, looking up, I could see a section of the ceiling ready to drop on me and the computer - not good!

Needless to say, all thought of further crafting got set aside so I could move the computer to safety, get maintenance to come check it out, etc., etc.  I now have a hole in the ceiling, no info from the apartment staff as to when it will be dealt with, cold air coming in, a room in disarray, and so on, and so on, and so on! 

Anyway, since I got held up anyway, I decided to see if the sketch challenge could be incorporated, and it could, so I did, and here's the card:

 

The color challenge was "Tangerine Pixie Kisses" - Tangerine Tango, Pixie Pink, and Kiwi Kiss.  I wanted to use all of the colors in the "designer paper" for the card, so of course I had to make my own...  I used this beautiful border stamp from Close To My Heart - it's from the Soul Mates Word Puzzle set.  The panels are stamped with images from Stampin'Up!'s Pocket Silhouettes set.  I decided to stick with white for the top section, but Cuttlebugged the whole thing using the textile folder after I put the stamped section onto the white one.  I ran the Tangerine Tango strip through a crimper before matting it with Kiwi Kiss - it's hard to see it under the pink ribbon, but IRL it looks kinda cool.  Added a double bow, and called it good!

Today's little tip is for getting even spacing with a stamp like this (or any border stamp).  Instead of using copier paper as my "scratch" paper underneath my stamping, I used notebook paper.  I precut my panel to size and made sure the top edge was even along one of the lines on the paper, then lined up the bottom of the stamp with the lines on the notebook paper at the same increment each time (every three lines, I believe).  That way I got even spacing, and everything stayed nice and straight.  I did shift the image left or right each time, so the motifs would interlock instead of lining up, though.

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, but hopefully no more drama!  I hope your day is drama-free, as well, and thanks for stopping by!

Napkins? Seriously?!

I haven't been doing the technique challenges on Splitcoast lately because they've been either too involved (time-consuming) or I didn't have the necessary items to do them.  This morning's was a great one, though!  It's called Paper Napkin Transfer (or something close to that) and is EASY and FAST and gives great results.    Here's the card I made:

There are two methods for this technique - the "real" one, and the "fakin' it" one.  For both methods, you get the paper napkin of choice and "peel" the layers apart if there are more than one.  I used this napkin:

 

which looks like this opened up:

 

For the real method, you lay freezer paper shiny side up on the ironing board, then lay your napkin right side up on top of it, cover it with copier paper, and press it with the iron for 10-15 seconds to fuse the napkin to the freezer paper (the copier paper protects your iron and the napkin from each other).  For the fakin' it method, layer cardstock, then Glad Cling Wrap, then your napkin, then the copier paper, and press.  The cling wrap is the fusing agent to bond the napkin to the cardstock.

After you do the pressing and allow your pressed napkin to cool, just trim it and make a card out of it as usual.  If you used the cling wrap, you may find that the edges want to lift a bit.  My answer to that was to heat emboss them with a Versamarker and gold tinsel embossing powder (Stampendous).  Since I had multiples of the poinsettia, I also opted to do paper tole for some dimension.  

The red cardstock I had was from DCWV, and was a little too dull and lifeless for the poinsettia, so I took my CTMH Holiday Red ink pad and added some ink around the edges:

I also ran a Versamark pad around the edges of the whole napkin section and embossed them, as well as outlining the motifs and lines in the border and embossing them.  The photo corners were peach to begin with, but I embossed them, as well.  I'm not sure where the gold ribbon came from, but I made a triple bow out of it, and that's the end of the story!

A very fun technique, very rewarding results, and a great way to use up the leftover napkins from any occasion!  Have a great day!

Tutorial: Scallop Punch Candy Cups

Sorry about my absence the past few days (again!) - too many fingers in too many pies right about now...  I came up with another tutorial, sort of on accident.  See if you can follow Sue's Thought Train on its convoluted journey to this:

 

I was scoping this post on Mel's blog, which led me to blurf several other blogs and notice cute projects by other bloggers.  One of them by Dannie Graves  was just too adorable, and I started thinking of ways to duplicate it without the scalloped envelope die.  I figured any envelope template should work, so I dug out my mini envelope template and started thinking about that, and decided it would be easier to have all the side pieces already connected and just score them instead of adhering all the envelope flaps together, and then I thought that would require some math and I wasn't in the mood (will probably do it another day, though), and then I thought maybe it would be fun to do a round one, and then I thought that the only way to make that work would be to score a smaller circle inside a larger one and make a bunch of v-shaped snips from the outer circle to the inner one to make flaps and I wasn't in the mood, so what could I use that would make the flaps for me in one easy step?  Whew - did you get all that?  Anyway, this tutorial is my ("Sue, the instant-gratification, lazy Queen of Cheap") solution.  I am showing two versions - one plain cardstock, and one double-sided patterned paper - and the pics for the tutorial use both in various stages, so don't let that throw you.  If you've followed this post so far, you should have no problem whatsoever!

What you need:

   

• 2 1/4" - 2 1/2" wide x 5 1/4" long strip of cardstock or double-sided paper (green in example)
• 1 1/2" wide x 5 1/4" long strip of cardstock (black in example - if doing the plain version)
• Black circle made with Stampin'Up! scalloped circle punch
• Border punch - Martha Stewart "goo" punch used for example
• Adhesive - tape runner or similar, glue stick or liquid glue will not dry fast enough
• Ribbon
• Small hole punch (I used a Crop-a-dile, but any hole punch will work)

For my double-sided version, I cut a very specific area out of my paper:

 

If doing plain, cut the contrast strip 2 1/2" , score at 1 1/2", and place the shorter scored edge into the border punch all the way into the "fence" at the back of the punch and punch the entire 5 1/4" length.  For double-sided, you kind of have to gauge it so that it works with your pattern.  I scored at 1 1/4" and only put the edge into the punch as far as the design printed on the punch, as opposed to all the way into the punch to the fence:

 

 

Fold the punched edge toward the outside of the strip along the scored line.  Take the scalloped circle you've punched and fold all of the scallops in toward the center to create flaps.

You will notice that these are not very big.  When you put adhesive onto the lower inside edge of the punched strip, make sure that you are only about halfway onto the cardstock or paper with your tape runner, so you don't have a sticky edge above the flaps on the inside:

   

I found it easiest to adhere the strip to the flaps by flipping the whole thing upside down and sticking the strip to the flaps, moving around the circle as I went (Start with the unglued end, and make sure the glued end is on the inside of the strip):

 

For the plain one, you can just overlap the extra bit and stick it down.  Then make a cylinder of the contrasting, punched strip and tuck it inside. 

 

You can glue it in, if you desire, but it'll stay anyway, and you're adding another element that will help hold it, as well.  For the double-sided one, you sort of have to simultaneously tuck in the folded-down edge and adhere the extra bit.  

    

To finish, punch two small holes opposite each other about 1/8" down from top edge, thread ribbon through to create handle, and tie off each end.  Add candy, and you're done!

     

This little cutie is small - it only holds about 16 little candy corns!  (Is that how you say that?  Should it be "kernels of candy corn"?)  Anyway, you know how much I like small projects, so there you go!

I started my massive stamp indexing project last night, so I'll be posting more info on that before too long...  I'll probably do some more tonight (we'll see how motivated I am).  Hope you're weekend is going swimmingly, and thanks for stopping by!

Another Box...

Good Morning!  Greg and I got home late enough yesterday that I was too tired to finish my project and post it.  We went and watched the Giants game with friends, and then went bowling - haven't done that for a LONG time!  We totally cannot bowl worth anything, but it was fun, anyway!

This morning I finished up (more or less) and here's the newest flip-top box:

Here's what's inside of it:

 

It's a bunch of gift tags!  They're kind of hard to see in a pile, so here's a couple of pics of them in smaller groups:

 

They are all made from these fun papers from The Rob and Bob Studio (Provo Craft):

 

I bought this Christmas slab a couple of years ago because I thought the patterns and colors were so fun and funky.  It's been languishing since, though, because I couldn't really make up my mind what I wanted to do with it (sound familiar?).  I finally decided gift tags would be fun, and this sheet in particular lent itself well to cutting up individual elements, which I did:

All I did was cut 2" x 3" scraps of cardstock that matched the dp and round the corners.  I then cut 1 13/16" x 2 13/16" scraps of the dp itself for the front of the tag, and plain white cardstock for the back of the tag, and rounded the corners and adhered them.  Then I cut out elements from the sheet above and added them (sometimes matting, sometimes not).  The backs of the tags have elements cut from the tree block paper, and look like this:

 

I planned to stamp "to" and "from" on them, but I don't have any to/from stamps - can you believe that?  Over 300 stamp sets, a slew of individual stamps, and not one to/from stamp!  Unbelievable!  I have a bunch of alphabets, but I'm too lazy to do it that way, so I'll check the dollar pile o' stamps next time I'm out and see what I can find...

For the hangers of the tags I punched a hole with my Crop-a-dile and threaded "braiding cord" ("like hemp only better", the package says) through it.  And that's it for this little project!  No stamping  - just cut-and-paste! Okay, on to the business of the day!  Hope your week goes wonderfully well, and thanks for stopping by!

We Have A Winner!

Thank you to everyone who left comments on the blog candy post - very enlightening and also validating!  Maybe some of what I put here on this blog matters after all...  Anyway, I put all the names in Greg's Harley hat this morning (it's a new one - no stink...), and he drew JULIE, who said:

I especially liked the tutorial for using a border punch to make squares. Dual uses for tools makes me feel better about buying them. Your tutorials are so good I certainly hope you continue them, but I enjoy all of your categories. As a newbie, having all this information available is so helpful.

Julie, please email your snail mail address to me at gregz_gurl2@yahoo.com, and I'll get your stamps in the mail to you ASAP!  Congrats!  Again, my thanks to all who played!

I have another project almost wrapped up, but Sunday is "our day" (Greg and me), so we're going to go find something to do.  If we get back early enough, I'll finish and post it.  Otherwise, look for it tomorrow!

 

Single Blue Eye?!

That was the name of the limited supply challenge yesterday on Splitcoast - weird, huh?  The 'single' was for a single sheet of patterned paper and one ribbon, the 'blue' was a color we were to incorporate, and the 'eye' was for eyelets - the only embellishment we were allowed (except the ribbon).  Other parameters for the challenge were no punches, Cuttlebugs, etc.  It was kind of fun to do a back-to-basics challenge (although no punches allowed was a stretch for me...)  Here's the card I came up with:

 

It's much bluer in person - I really need to build myself a light box so I can get decent, consistent pics.  I'd seen the eyelet and ribbon treatment other places before, but never done it myself, so last night I did!  The snow couple is from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' "Snow Friends", and the 'joy' is from Close To My Heart's "Celebrating Life".  I paper-pieced their gear and cut a few leaves and pop-dotted them so it wouldn't be quite so basic.  I had to cut the hearts with scissors since punches weren't allowed (now you can see why I rely on my punches so much!)  Bashful Blue and Real Red were the starring colors here.

Okay, I need to get some house cleaning done if I can motivate!  Still feeling like I just want to lay my fuzzy, dizzy head on a pillow and not care, but I have to at least run the vacuum - it's disgusting at this point!  If we can see the carpet instead of the thread and lint and crumbs, then I can feel good about joining Greg in being a couch potato this afternoon and watching football... 

Have a great weekend, thanks for stopping by, and don't forget the blog candy - you still have until tomorrow morning at 7:00 am EDT to leave a comment to be entered for the random drawing! Later!

Tutorial - Flip Top Box

I know when I posted about the blog candy yesterday that I said I didn't know when I'd be posting again.  Well, as fate would have it, I have been under the weather yesterday and today, and so today I blew off work and everything else to alternately nap and work on the promised tutorial.

Remember that I said Greg came in handy sometimes?  Here's another reason:  he is a smoker (I love him dearly, but wish he'd quit FOR GOOD - he's quit for temporary several times...), and when I went to take out the trash a while back, one of his cigarette packs was right on top.  I was going to just toss it out, when I noticed that it was kind of a cute shape and size (refer to my earlier comments on the random weirdness that is My Brain), so I plucked it off the pile, opened it up, measured and made a template, and now I'm sharing it with you!  I don't want to call it a "cigarette box", though, so I'm calling it a flip-top box:

 

Materials needed:

• Cardstock 3 7/8" x 9 1/2"
• Cardstock 3 7/8" x 2"
• Designer papers, stamps, etc. of choice
• Paper trimmer
• Scoring tool
• Adhesive

I apologize in advance for the quality of some of the pictures, and for my very lame template pictures in particular.  Understand that I am just trying to give you visuals to go by, and not some polished production.  With that being said, let's get started:

Score down the entire 9 1/2" length 7/8" in from each side.  Score remaining scores according to template pictured below - blue lines are scored only from scored line to scored line, as opposed to across entire width of piece.  Measurements are where you will place the paper on your guide, not the distances between lines:

 

The red areas and lines are where you will cut.  To get the cutting lines that are angled, mark as follows:  1/2" below line scored at 1/2"; 1/2" and 7/8" below line scored at 2 7/8"; and at outer corners of bottom edge.  The funky cut (it's sort of angled) from the 7/8" mark to the blue scored line at 2 7/8" is just to make this area of the box a bit more stable, and I didn't measure and cut - just sort of eyeballed it.  You just want it to meet up with the other cut at the inner point, but it's not critical that you make it all pretty, or that the two sides match - you don't see them when the box is folded up.  After you've made your cuts, fold along all scored lines, folding the line at 2 7/8" the opposite way (this is the hinge of the box top).

At this point, decorate the box as you desire - stamping, designer papers, whatever - but bear in mind that the 1 1/2" section at the top and the lowest section at the bottom will be the front of the box when you're done, and that the lower section is upside-down as you are looking at it now.  To make it easier on myself, I used a pattern that was not directional.  You could even do one strip up the whole thing (or make the whole box out of double-sided paper if it's heavy) and call it a day. The sections that don't have the striped paper will be inside the box, so I didn't cover them:

This next template is just to give you a reference for the folding and gluing part of this project:

 

Fold and glue as follows:  Flap A to box bottom A; flap B to box lid B; flap C to outside of flap B/C; 1/2" flap tucked to inside at box lid, as shown below:

 
 

Also fold in and glue the sides of the box. 

Now, take your 3 7/8" x 2" piece of cardstock and score 7/8" from each edge (2" is the length).  Then use an oval punch or a pair of scissor or whatever, and make a cutout:

 

then round the edges with your scissors:

 

Insert and adhere this piece to the inside of the box so that the corners are 1/2" above the edge of the box opening:

 

This is important, because it keeps the box shut without any help at all!  Your box is now finished and ready for embellishing:

 

So, what do you do with a box this size?  How about a set of cute little cards?

 

These were all made with "Precious Paisley" papers and the "Angel Sent" stamp set from Close To My Heart.  I paper-pieced their dresses, colored their skin and hair with Bic Mark It markers, and their wings and halos with a Sakura Gelly Roll glitter pen.  The heart the one little angel is holding has Cotton Candy Stickles.  All the ribbons are Offray, and I used some punches (of course!)  I wanted to add dimension without bulk, so I inked the edges of the papers and punched shapes.  I did use foam tape to mount the angels to their cards, though.

Whew!  I'm ready for another nap now, so I'm signing off.  If you make one of these, please please link back to this post so we can all see!  Thanks so much!  Ta!

First-Ever Blog Candy!

I realize that it's been a few days since I've posted anything, and I also realize that I may or may not be able to post something for another day or two (work's a bear right this minute, and I have a few other obligations to fulfill).  Therefore, to reward you for your patience in sticking with me through this 'thin' time, I have decided to do a blog candy giveaway.  What you will get is this:

 

It is a set of twelve Inkadinkado Christmas stamps, and I love them, but I bought a "double set" of Inkadinkado Christmas stamps, and all of these beautiful designs were included (except for the tiny holly sprig, which I will have to forego...), so this pristine, never-used set is up for grabs.  I do not have the packaging, but I do have a nice clear envie that they will slide into nicely!

What you have to do to get these stamps is this:  Leave a comment on this post telling me two things:

1. What your favorite post so far has been and why,
2. What you would like to see in the future - more tutorials?  more tips? more cards?  more storage/organization ideas? links to other fun stuff?  Let me know!

You have until Sunday morning, October 19, at 7:00 am EDT to leave your comments, and then I will put all of your lovely names into a basket and let Greg pull one out (he can be useful occasionally - more on that later...)  I will post the winner later that day.

And now I have to get back to work!  Thanks for stopping by, and good luck to all!

Merry Pursuits

Today we take another peek into the oddity that is My Brain... 

I know that I am a weirdo - I'm cool with that - but let me share with you this:  My brain does not retain factual information.  When was the French/Indian war?  I dunno...  Who was responsible for the development of nuclear power?  Clueless...  What's the formula for finding the area of a triangle?  Can't even begin to guess...  I used to know all of these things, now not so much...

Do you remember the odd little song from the Levi's commercial back in the early 1970's?  I can sing the whole thing.  Do you remember the Fotomat radio commercial from around the same time?  (For that matter, do you remember Fotomat?)  I can quote the whole thing verbatim. 

Why is this significant?  Because I have come to recognize that the stuff my brain attracts like a magnet and hangs onto like super glue is the quirky and amusing.  Oftentimes someone will say something that hits my ear a different way than they intended, and it's mine for life!  Case in point: the "Worm Welcome" card from this summer.  Today's card is from a similar occurrence.  One of the girls in one of my Yahoo groups posted a "Life's a Jungle" card, but her typo in the subject line made it "Life's a Jingle".  My brain instantly said "That would be a cute sentiment for a Christmas card".  I recently acquired the PERFECT stamps for it, and here's the card: 

 

How cute are these elves?!  They are all from Close To My Heart's "Merry Pursuits" stamp set - LOVE IT!!!  Of course, I did not have the appropriate stamp for the sentiment, so I printed out "Jingle" from the computer (Frosty font and, yes, I printed it in blue) and outlined it with a Micron pen.  I just wrote "life's a" with the same pen (couldn't find a font I liked that worked well and gave up after several tries)  The dp is from DCWV, but I used a couple of Studio G stamps to add blue and yellow "sparkles" because the paper only had green and red - you can't really see much of the paper, anyway, but it mattered to me for some reason...  The red is Holiday Red from CTMH, and everything is colored with my Bics.  I don't have Nestabilities, but I wanted an embossed edge on my sentiment square, so I punched the next smaller scalloped square, put it under the larger one on my light box, and traced around it with a stylus - embossed!  You can't really see it in the picture, but the ribbon has holographic lines running the length of it, in addition to the red and white.  The teensy jingle bell tied with ribbon is from my stash from forever ago!  And that's the whole story!

Off to get dinner started now - check back again soon, and thanks so much for stopping by!