SSS July 2016 Card Kit Card #5 & 6

Here’s cards #5 & 6 that I made using the Simon Says Stamp Kit of the Month . I still have left over supplies and plan on using it up!

A tutorial video of these cards will be up very soon. So make sure you are subscribed to our YouTube Channel!

Here’s a list of supplies :

For Card #5:

For Card #6:

That’s IT! I really tried to mostly stick to the supplies that were included in the kit. Of course you will need some adhesive too. All the papers, stamps and colored inks were in the kit. I definitely have enough supplies to make at least 2 more cards too. In the end I will still be left over with 4 ink cubes, a water brush, a gorgeous stamp set, and 8 completed cards! I’ve been having so much fun creating with this kit and I can’t wait to get another one next month.

Thank you for stopping by!

 

Crazy About You Card – Foiling & Vellum

This card went in a completely different direction than I had sketched out. Originally it was going to have a foiled frame and some 3-D flowers. The frame ended up being too big and then I ended up making it a somewhat masculine card so I decided to not use the purple 3-D flowers I made.

Here’s a clickable list of Supplies I used:

Black Coredinations Cardstock

White Cardstock

Vellum

Salty Ocean Distress Ink

Dots Embossing Folder

Rose Gold Cord (This was in a 3 pack that I got from Michael’s)

Simply Said: Crazy Stamp Set by Avery Elle

Also currently available in our store for $6.00

Stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

Rose Gold  MINC Foil

Applied using the Heidi Swapp MINC Mini Machine (Click picture for this bundle on Amazon)

Flower Embellishment that was foiled is from the Anna Griffin Minc Bundle. We were selling them and we sold out and won’t be getting any more. Here’s a link to that bundle:

There’s also some floral elements sold in this bundle if you already have the machine:

Here’s what the flower looks like at an angle so you can see the shine of the foil

I also added this little heart on the inside using an old Sizzix die to die cut some Toner Paper. The arrow was from the pieces that came in the Heidi Swapp Minc Mini Set. I didn’t have my heat on the machine turned up enough so I was left with some black spots.

That’s it for today! Make sure you subscribe to our Youtube channel so you can see the video of making this card when it goes live. Thank you for stopping by!

“Stronger” Orchid Encouragement Card

This card came together after I was left with a beautiful watercolored orchid from my last blog post and video. To see how I made the watercolored image using Prima Water Soluble Oil Pastels head over to that blog post.

After cutting out the orchid, from the Stampendous Orchid Greetings Stamp Set, I misted it with some spray mist in a nice light tan color to make the paper look aged and add some shimmer.

I adhered it to a piece of brick patterned paper from Authentique’s “Accomplished” collection. I proceeded to put the orchid image on my background paper with the bricks vertical rather than horizontal (oops!). I didn’t realize this until the very end when I was looking at my card and by then it was too late to remove anything. We’ll just pretend I was trying to be edgy and different!

The sentiment is from a 12×12″ piece of paper that is supposed to look like newspaper ads but has all these awesome sayings. It says “Everyday Moments” at the top. Sadly I threw away the strip with the information and I have no idea who makes it or where I bought it from. I think I may have got just this single piece of paper at one of my local scrapbook stores so who knows what company it was (sorry!). I popped that up with some thin foam tape for a tiny bit of dimension. I sprayed this cardstock with the light tan spray mist to match the background of the orchid.

Lastly, I inked the edges with some Donna Salazar Mix’d Media Inx in the color “Vintage”. These inks are by Colorbox and they are sooooo juicy! I don’t really ever see them for sale at the online craft stores or brick and mortar stores but they are really nice. I was able to find this color and many others on Amazon though.

I always forget to make encouragement cards for my stash so I am glad I have one ready to go now. When you have a friend in need you want to be there for them right away and that means no time to make a card. Now I’ll be ready the next time I need a card for this. Even if it’s just a friend trying to get a raise or save money! It doesn’t always have to be a sad situation to get a card like this.

Thank you for stopping by!

Turn Your Stamps into Die Cuts

As you know from my last blog post, I recently got a Silhouette Cameo 2 Electronic Die Cutting Machine. When I finally decided to purchase this machine after drooling over it for years, I told myself if I am going to dish out hundreds of dollars for another electronic die cutting machine I BETTER USE IT A LOT. Yes, I yelled it at myself in my head. I deserved the yelling though. Considering I spent $350.00 on the Sizzix Eclips when it first came out and I have a SLICE machine. I actually occasionally use the SLICE machine still just because it’s so small and convenient. Sizzix obviously realized they made a huge mistake with the Eclips machine because the cartridges that they used to sell for $40-60 each are now $5.00-6.00 on their website. I’d say that’s admitting you messed up. I didn’t purchase any cartridges and the only reason I bought the Eclips was because I knew I would also purchase the ECAL software (for $50.00 more) and make my own designs. Sizzix actually has an Eclips 2 now that’s specifically designed to be used only with a computer.  I suppose I could have just kept using my Eclips but I just did not like the software at all! So, after years of contemplation, I bought the Silhouette Cameo 2 and got a great bundle with a ton of extra stuff for only $250.00 and Silhouette doesn’t charge you for software (unless you want the designer edition). Now there’s a company that knows what they’re doing!

So, here’s a fair warning that a lot of my blog posts will likely include the use of the Silhouette Cameo 2 machine. However, I am sure a lot of what I am using it for could be achieved in other ways. Such as fussy cutting or using the dies that manufacturers make that you can run through a manual die cutting machine such as the Big Shot (which I still plan on using).

On to the real reason we are here! 

I was playing around with the Silhouette Cameo 2 and thought it would be sooooo cool if I could turn some of my stamps into die cuts!

It was easier than I expected and I am so happy with the results.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Pick a stamp and stamp it in black on white cardstock. (I used Tim Holtz Flower Garden Stamp Set)
2. Take a picture of the stamped images after mounting them on your PixScan Mat. 
3. Import the Pixscan image and trace it. Don’t just trace the outside edge like you normally would. Trace the entire image.
4. Cut out the images and assemble on a card.

   It’s as easy as that! I also cut out the outer edge so I had something to stack the inside of the flower on. I love how well this worked and it’s an awesome way to stretch your stamps.
   
   Isn’t that just amazing!? If you have a Silhouette Cameo, I HIGHLY recommend getting a PixScan mat if you don’t already have one. It will greatly increase your creative abilities.

   All of the papers used on this card are Authentique and the stamped sentiment is by Avery Elle.

   That’s it for today. Thanks for stopping by!

Paper Quilling Flowers Card and New Paper Quilling Board

Hi Everyone! I tried doing some paper quilling a few months back on a card and I really didn’t know what I was doing. I had bought the Lake City Crafts Quilling tool at a crafting convention and didn’t really know what to do with it. When it was time to make a birthday card for my Step-Mom, I knew I wanted to try a different technique than I usually do. Then I remembered that quilling tool and started doing some research. I found that quilling boards can help you create consistent circles and then you can pinch those circles in certain ways to make different shapes. Once I did a little research I realized that paper quilling is not as complicated as I was trying to make it. There are some good websites online with free information to help you get started . There’s even a quilling forum! I plan on incorporating quilling in some of my holiday cards as well. Check out these quilled Poinsettias! 

After I did my research I decided that I really liked the flowers that had all of the perfectly sized petals and leaves. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to do that by ‘eyeballing’ it. I needed a quilling board, but I didn’t have enough time to get one online because I only had two days before the birthday party and I also didn’t want to have to search one out since I know quilling isn’t the most popular paper crafting technique. So, what’s a girl with a nice pile of wood, a computer , and a laser cutter to do? Design and cut my own, of course! My qulling board is about 6″ x 5-1/2″ and hasmany different size holes to chose from. It’s only $3.50! Buy it here on our website.  I used the 20mm, 15mm, and 10mm circle sizes to make the card below. The larger flower on the left was a freehand technique that can also be done using pins and a corkboard.

Thank you for stopping by!

Encouragement Card

I’ve been wanting to use this stamp from Rubber Necker for quite a while. In fact, I’ve easily had it for over a year! I’m pretty happy with this card, but if I made it again, I would put a mirror in the frame that the bird is flying out of. Most of the items used in this card were also handmade. I poured the resin pieces and , of course, I make the Luster Mica Spray Mist.  I used 4 different Luster colors on this card. The die cut pieces are Spellbinders. The background paper is glossy photo paper which, to my surprise,  holds the Luster Spray Mist very well. I tried to leave hints of past, present and future throughout the card . I used the clock to represent time and bird flying out of the frame as change. There’s multiple different ways to interpret the pieces I used in the card though. I hope you guys like it!

Thank you for checking out my blog post 🙂

Mother’s Day Card 2013

Used Prima paper and some dollar store stickers. Also, used my new Sizzix dies. I love that shape! It felt nice to craft after not doing so in a while. 🙂

Logo Canvas

Making a 3D Paper Rose

I recently purchased the McGill Paper Blossoms tool set at the Scrapbook Convention I went to. Last night I tried out the tools with some paper flowers I die cut using my Donna Salazar Rose Creations Die by Spellbinders  . Click the highlited link to find the die template set at my store. I also have the Donna Salazar video in the item description. After I made these flowers I went on YouTube and found a video by Donna Salazar herself showing a couple of ways you can use her die. I’m telling you, this is a die you are going to want! It even comes with 3 different sized leaves. I have a tutorial below, but read the whole thing first! I tell you a couple of things that I would improve and do different the next time I make one of these.

Here are the supplies I used:

•McGill Paper Blossoms Tool Set
•Foam Pad to shape the flower on ( I folded a piece of kid craft foam in half. Worked just fine)
•Spellbinders Rose Creation Die Set
•Big Shot or other die cutting machine that works with Spellbinders wafer-thin dies.
•Patterned Paper (mine was from a Recollections Paper Pad)
•Distress Inks (one in a color to match the flower part and another to match the leaves)
•Cosmetic Sponge or Ink Blending Tool
•Paper Piercer ( You will need this to pop the pieces out of the dies and poke the little hole out of the middle when it is stuck in the die)
•Glossy Accents (or other quick drying clear glue)
•Non-Stick Craft Mat (or work on a space you don’t mind getting inky)
•Metal Brad and Alcohol Ink (Or a brad that you like and don’t need to color with Alcohol Inks)

Ok! That looks like a ton of supplies, but hopefully you already have a lot of that stuff.

Wait…where did those come from?! LOL. I walked in my craft room the other day and found these beautiful flowers and two bags of my favorite chocolate truffles. He gave them to me for no reason! I couldn’t believe it and I was so blown away. It made me feel so special. I had to share!

Ok back to the project haha!

Here are some of the supplies I started with. I  ended up only die cutting less than half of this paper out. Running that die through the machine time and time again gets a little boring. Besides, I started to get a neck ache! You actually just need to run the full set through once to be able to make a flower. I just kept running it through with different colors since I plan to make a ton of these to put on Mother’s Day Cards.

I cut down the papers and ran them through the Big Shot.

Here are the piles I ended up with when I was done with all the cutting. I haven’t tried the vellum yet, but I definitely plan to! After I die cut all of these out I inked up the edges with a distress ink that closely matched the color using half of a cosmetic sponge. I did that to the leaves too. The next step was forming.

This is the part that would probably be easier to follow on a video. There actually is a video by McGill on YouTube showing how to make the paper flowers using their punches. I used a few of the techniques I learned from the video, but I had to modify them to use my dies instead. Basically what I am showing here is that I took the tip and swirled it around in a circle around the hole in the middle. I also swirled it around in circles on each petal. This apparently breaks up the fibers, but it also makes it start to shape and lift.

I repeated this with each size flower and slowly moved down the size of the ball point from 8mm to 6mm to 5mm to 3mm as I was getting to the smaller flowers. The picture below shows what it looks like at this point.

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If you like this look , you can actually just stop here and put a brad through it. If I was to stop here and use the flower just like this I would, however, add another one of the largest flower layers and curl up a small one for the middle. I would also still add the leaves to it. If you want it to be even more dimensional, you can add glue to the bases of each part and glue them together. That will force them to be tighter and more 3D. Donna Salazar shows that in her video about this die set.

The next step involves taking the tweezers out of the tool set and putting it through the hole to clamp on to the middle of each petal. You then take your thumb and forefinger and form the petal around the tweezers. Do this to each and every petal if you want to get this different look I will show in the end. You also take the tweezers and bend each side of the petal down. This part is really easy and doesn’t take that long.

This picture shows what the flower looked like after I completed the bending. The leaves were done the same way I did the petals. I first swirled around on them with the 8mm ball point then I bent the ends. One the leaves I also took a very small pointed tool and made a line down the middle. I am not sure if you can really see that though.

Next, I just put a little Glossy Accents on the bottoms of each flower piece and stacked them up. Pretty Simple. You could use hot glue for this part instead if you want.

Here is what it looked like after gluing was done.

I decided that I didn’t like how wide the opening was so I used another one of the smallest flowers. The paper I used was not double-sided so I had to use a mixture of my pigment inks and distress inks to try imitating the patterned paper. When I make these again I will either make sure I can imitate the paper well or just use double-sided paper. I overlapped and glued the petals together to get a tight bud for the middle. I did not glue the last petal to the first just because I wanted it to look like that. It is up to you how you decide to glue it together though. I glued the small bud to the middle of the flower using Glossy Accents again.

I wanted my middle metal brad to kind of match the flower so I took a silver brad and dyed it with Adirondack Alcohol Inks. It didn’t take too long to dry. Be careful though because I didn’t realize that I should have dabbed out the ink stuck under the bottom of the top part of the brad. There was some in there and it got on my flower as I was lowering it in. Oops!

Finished!

All the pictures just above are of the finished flower . Hopefully you were able to follow my odd instructions. If you need or want a video, just let me know! I wasn’t comfortable with doing a video the first time since I didn’t know at all what I was doing, but now I think I could do it.

Next time I make these flowers I will use more layers  like 2-3 of some of the same sizes for more fullness. I will also probably use double-sided paper.

Thanks for stopping by! Don’t forget to comment 🙂

Simple Organza Flowers

I made my first Organza flower today and it was surprisingly quick and easy. I got this idea from someone’s video I saw on YouTube where they made their own fabric flowers. I started searching around and eventually ran into a video called ” simple Organza flowers ” . I watched the video and once I saw how easy it really was, I knew I had to make some. I didn’t know where to get organza so I ended up buying some of eBay which came in this weekend .

The supplies I used :
* organza
* scissors ( ended up switching to x-acto )
* needle
* thread
* circle template ( you can also freehand, doesn’t have to be perfect )
* sharpie or paint pen ( to trace circle onto organza )

I happened to have a circle I cut out of grungepaper lying around, so I just used that one. I traced this five times onto the organza . I used white so I could see it better . I planned on cutting inside the circle so I knew I would be cutting the white away . Each circle represents one petal.

I quickly cut them into squares to make it easier to cut the circles .At first I was folding them in half and cutting them with scissors . When I cut this way, I didn’t feel like I had as much control while cutting as I wanted.

That’s why I switched over to an x-acto . I felt like the blade easily glided through and I felt like I had more control. That was just my preference though . You might want to try both to see what fits you best.

After you have threaded your needle, Take your first circle and fold in half. Then fold in half again. You should have a triangle now.

Take your needle and thread through the curved part of the triangle. There’s no specific length between stitches. It just depends on your personal preference .

Bring the petal to the end of the thread .

Pull it tight and it will bunch at the bottom . Fold your next circle and start threading it to add next to the first .

Repeat this until you have all five petals done.

At the end, bunch them all together and tie the last petal to the first one.

I added a small resin charm I had to the center to hide the middle hole .

See how quick and simple that was ?! They are so cute and look professionally made too. I never sew and these were incredibly easy to do.

I hope you give these flowers a try. In the video I found on YouTube called ” simple Organza flowers ” , she also shows how to do these using squares for a different look and she made one using satin!

Happy Easter everyone !