I made this card for Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. I saw someone else's card where they cut the image into 3 pieces, and I love it! I decided to try to make a card that would work well for either a man or a woman. How did I do?
Here is Sandi holding up a pennant that she made with one of our exclusive dies.
The sentiment across the bottom of the scrapbook page is also an exclusive SU die. (Don't you just love her Kiwi Kiss shirt?)
Here is a picture of Sandi and Shelli together at the recent Founder's Circle trip. Sandi showed us all of the cool things that SU gave them; they got a gift each day! They got a stamp set from the upcoming Spring/Summer catalog that is adorable. The frame for this photo is the negative piece left from cutting out the Top Note die.
Aren't these cute little tote bags? They were last week's 3D demo challenge. The original design is by Lauren Meader. I've included photos for a tutorial because I think my way of cutting the angle was a little easier than hers (at least for me). The cool thing about these is that it would be easy to make them any size. I made mine from 6X6 squares. These bags are big enough to hold a gift card or some candy. The actual measurements of the finished bag are 4" across, 3 1/2" tall at each side and 1" deep.
Cut 2 sheets of CS or DSP the same size. Mine are 6 X 6. Score down each side and across the bottom. The sides and bottom should be the same size; I've used 1" on mine.
Lay the 2 pieces on top of each other and punch a hole for the handle. Here I've used a 1" circle punch. You could use a larger one for a larger bag. (I also saw a cute one on SCS where someone attached a scalloped circle first and then punched out a smaller circle in the center. Way to go, Amy!)
I used the Coluzzle to cut the handle around the hole. As you can see, I lined up the smallest circle line with my hole. I cut the 2nd line out from that. The Coluzzle makes it easy to make an exact half circle!
I measured down 2 inches on each side of the paper and made a tiny little mark. Then I lined up that mark and the end of my Coluzzle cut inside the track of my cutter and cut straight up. Repeat on the other side and do the same on both pieces.
On each side of the paper, cut along the vertical score lines from the bottom of the paper to the horizontal score line. Use sticky strip to adhere the 2 pieces together. Put the sticky strip on the INSIDE of one piece and the OUTSIDE of the other piece. (I learned this the hard way. The bag made with the Urban Garden DSP has extra strips attached to the sides to cover up the sticky strip on the outside of the bag. Oops!) Line the 2 pieces up and attach the sides together. For the bottom, fold in all the little flaps and adhere the 2 long flaps together.
This is what the side of the finished bag looks like. I just love these. If you use the 6X6 squares, you can get 2 from one sheet of DSP. You could also use rectangles of paper. I think if you start with 6 X 12, it would be big enough to hold a DVD. These are fun and really easy once you get the hang of cutting the angles!
This week's demonstratable card challenge was to go back to basics. It was a very limited challenge: 1 stamp set, 3 colors (no In Colors) plus neutrals, no embellishments, no tools (except very basic ones like scissors). Wow! I decided to go WAY back to when I first started stamping. Bold Brights was my first and favorite color family, and now I hardly use them. I knew I wanted to use Simply Said, and I wanted to color in the flowers. Well, Bold Brights are the only markers I have, so that helped narrow down my colors! I colored the flowers Pixie Pink and added some Lovely Lilac in the centers. The stems are Gable Green. My card base is Pixie Pink with flowers stamped in Pixie Pink and Lovely Lilac. I used a strip of Gable Green instead of ribbon, and I matted the focal image in Lovely Lilac. This card took me about 15 minutes, and that's because I had to restamp the focal image 3 times.
You got a little peek at the upcoming mini last time with the Scandinavian wheel. Well, here is a look at the coordinating stamp set, Scandinavian Season. This set caught my eye right away because it looks like rosemaling. Rosemaling is a style of painting; I think it's from Norway, but I'm not Scandinavian! I have seen a lot of it up here in Minnesota, though. Yah, you betcha!
First, though, here is a picture of Rhonda last night at craft night. She used hemp twine to tie her hair back. It was so cute!
The tutorial for today is for a lip balm holder. Those of you who know me or have been reading my blog for a while know that my MIL, Shirley, is an Avon lady. Last year I made lip balm holders for her to give her customers at Christmas.
First, I wheeled a full sheet of cardstock. (Here I've used the retired Wild Wasabi cardstock, Garden Green ink, and the Scandinavian wheel from the upcoming Holiday Mini.) Each lip balm holder is 3 3/4 X 5 1/2, so you can get 4 from one sheet of cardstock. Place one 3 3/4" side against the top of your cutter and score every 3/4". This divides the piece into 5 equal sections.
Next, I turned the piece over (plain side up) and put the 5 1/2" edge against the top of the cutter. I lined it up at 4 1/2 and used a pen to make a little mark across each score line and at the top and the bottom. I made the marks inside the area where the blade would normally score or cut. Then I flipped the cardstock 180 degrees and did the same thing again. This made all of the marks 1" in from each edge.
Then I used the 1/4" square punch to make a diamond shaped hole where each mark was. (Fold on the score line and line the punch up as shown above with the mark in the center.) I also punched a triangle on each edge.
Here is my downline and friend Rhonda's latest project. She gave me permission to share it with you! She decorated this box and made 8 coordinating cards to go in it (2 of each design). I don't know where she got the box; I'm guessing Archiver's.
All 4 of the cards use the same DSP. They are just gorgeous! Thanks so much for letting me share these, Rhonda!
Happy stamping!
This week's workshop wow is to make a Halloween card. What, you don't think my card looks like Halloween? My technique is ghosting! I don't really make Halloween cards, so I decided to go in a totally different direction. What makes my card a wow is the focal flower. Here's how I did it.
I stamped the big flower image in Pacific Point and used my five petal flower punch to punch it out. I love how it makes this flower look totally different! I used a sponge dauber to sponge the points and edges. Then I made the flower center. I inked the stamp with Creamy Caramel and used a sponge dauber to apply Riding Hood Red around the edges. Then I used the Flower Frenzy classy brass template to dry emboss it.
Here is what it looks like after I'm done embossing. I don't use a light table; I just use an Empressor stylus. Once I know where to start, I use the Empressor to find the next area to emboss. Since it has a rounded ball, it doesn't crush the cardstock like a regular stylus would.
Here is what it looks like from the right side. Pretty cool, huh? I cut it out and used a mini glue dot to adhere it to the big flower.
Here is my one and only on Saturday, which was his 19th birthday. (Don't even ask about the hair and the beard! He's 19. What am I supposed to do??)
For Daniel's birthday I made him a spring card using the Sock Monkey. No, it's not a card for the springtime; it's a card with springs inside! This technique was demonstrated at Convention, and it has been all over SCS ever since. The awesome Jenn Diercks, our September WICKED stamper, chose the spring card for the WICKED technique. She posted a terrific video here. If your internet doesn't handle video well, I've got a few photos below.
Here is the inside of the finished card. I've used stamped images from the Sock Monkey set, but you can use flowers, butterflies, punched circles, you name it. The springs each start life as a 1 3/8" circle. Then you just cut it into a spiral.
Adhere one end to the inside back of the card. (I used Mono Multi--just a drop!) Put a little adhesive on the other end of the spiral, hold the spirals down so they look like a circle again, and close the card. This adheres the other end to the inside front of the card. I put a little weight on top of the card and then let it sit for a few minutes so the adhesive could set. Then open the card and use a little drop of adhesive to adhere the embellishments to your springs.
You can also use embellishments to cover up your ends. On the top of the card, I used the ribbon to hide them.
This week's demonstratable card challenge was to make a retiform card. I have never tried this technique before because it looks complicated. But Caville assured us all that it can be done quickly, and if Cav says it, I believe it! So I pulled up Beate's tutorial and got started. This card was the result. The technique wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but I think I would have liked my card better if I had left off some of the stamping around the edges. Next time I will, but I had to follow the directions the first time; that's just how I'm made! The reason for the warning in the title is that my mom can't stand that bird, but it's one of the few SU bird stamps that I actually like!
Let me say right up front that I did not make today's card. My friend Pauline did. Didn't she do a great job? We had craft night last Friday, and she was playing with her new stuff. I was working on a swap card. She decided to make a baby card. I said, "I need one of those!" So she gave it to me when she was done. I don't get many baby sets as I and most of my circle are past the baby stage, but my brother-in-law and sister-in-law just brought baby Gus into the family last week. This stamp is from one of the new hostess sets that contains stamps to go with the new punches. The ribbon started as white, and I ran it across my Pacific Point pad with a sponge dauber. Thanks, Pauline!