Flower tutorial

Here's my tutorial on how to make a fun dimensional flower without any fancy tools.  (Click here to see the finished flower on a card.) I love my Big Shot, but I couldn't bring it with me on my business trip.  Here's how I made a flower with just DSP, a pen, scissors and a sponge.

Start by tracing circles onto the DSP or cardstock.  I made 3 different sizes of circles, using the top and bottom of a mug and the bottom of a glass.

To make the circles into flower shapes, I cut out the circles.  Then I cut slits in towards the center and rounded off the edges.  For the biggest circle, I cut 5 slits to make 5 petals.  The others have 4.  Don't worry about making them perfect because they're going to be all crumpled up and layered anyway.

Next, I wet my hand to get water onto the DSP without soaking it.  Then I crumpled each one into a ball.  I let them sit like that for about 5 minutes.

Next, I opened up each flower and shaped it into a cup shape.  I set them upside down on a piece of paper towel and let them dry.  If you have a heat gun, you can dry them that way.  Just be careful not to burn them!

The last step before assembly is to sponge each flower with ink to highlight the edges and wrinkles.  Here I used Peach Parfait.  To assemble, I just use monoadhesive to attach each layer.  A brad, button or pearls make great flower centers.  You could also scrunch up another circle for the center.

Happy stamping!

Making a mat for the decorative label punch

Like I said in Wednesday's post, I saw this done on the northshorestamper blog. She has a great video, but I couldn't see exactly how to cut the pieces. Hopefully these photos will help.
To make the mat, punch the decorative label twice. Cut one in half horizontally and cut the other in half vertically.
As you can see in the above photo, I took the one that was cut in half vertically (on the left) and cut at an angle from the middle of the top and bottom "bumps" to the center of the cut edge. For the one cut in half horizontally (on the right), I cut off the side bumps completely.

Next I took the longer pieces and adhered them to the back of a whole punched piece.

Next, I adhered the side pieces, lining up the partial "bumps" with the edges of the top and bottom pieces. This photo shows the back of the piece so you can see how the edges line up.

Happy stamping!

Corner bookmark tutorial with photos!

Here is a tutorial for the corner bookmark. It's a lot of photos, but I wanted to make sure each step is clear. I originally saw this on Dawn Griffith's blog. She has a video, and the link is in this post. I added the eyelet border on the bottom.

Start with a 6" square of DSP. Decide which side you want to be the primary side showing and place that side facedown on the table.

Fold the bottom point up to the top point.

Turn the paper so the folded side is on the right. Fold the top and bottom points over to the left point to form a square.

Open those folds back up and turn the triangle so the long (folded) side is at the top. Fold the bottom point (top layer only) up to the top side of the triangle.

Fold the right point back down and tuck it under.

Repeat with the left point. You can stop at this point and have a great bookmark. Or you can move to the next step to add a little extra.

Place the bookmark into the paper cutter, pushing it so the folded edge rests against the blade arm. Cut off the excess paper.

It will look like this after you cut.

Unfold the bookmark and use the eyelet border punch on the cut edge.

Refold the bookmark.

Happy stamping!

Scallop punch turkey

This week's workshop wow challenge was to make something for Thanksgiving using punches. I decided to make this adorable turkey that was in the October issue of Stampin' Success. I wasn't quite sure what to do with him though, until Caville posted the demonstratable card challenge to make place cards. Isn't it great? I think this would be perfect for the Thanksgiving table. (Shirley, don't get any ideas; I'll be in Florida for work for 3 weeks before Thanksgiving!) It would also be a great project for your kids to help with.
The place card is made from a quarter sheet of cardstock folded in half, so you can get 4 from a full sheet. The front of the card measures 4 1/4 X 2 3/4. I used Very Vanilla sponged with Always Artichoke layered on the front.
The turkey feathers are scallop circle punches in Real Red, Always Artichoke and More Mustard from the Patterns hostess pack of DSP. His body is a 1 3/8" circle punch. The head is a 1" circle punch. The hat is a 3/4" square cut in a pilgrim hat shape. The eyes are from the double circle punch, and the buttons are 1/4" circles. His beak is from the ticket corner punch. (The one in the magazine used Boho Blossom punches for feet, but I don't have that punch. And I think he looks fine without feet!)
The next pictures show how to fold the feathers. (I think they would make a nice flower too!)

The first step is to count 5 scallops and fold up.
Next fold in half at a 90 degree angle to the other fold and then unfold it.
Fold the two edges in to the center line (like folding a paper airplane).

Happy stamping!

Whoohoo!

I was able to get the internet hooked up on Daniel's computer, so I can post again! Whoohoo! Let's celebrate with a tutorial! 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.

When Rhonda and I were at Regional in Milwaukee in April, a demonstrator made a little box using the Print Pattern background stamp. Rhonda suggested it could be a lip balm holder. I had to lengthen it, but it worked! Well, I really didn't want to stamp that 20 times, so I took apart the one I had made and converted it to standard measurements. I even wrote them down!

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.

I used sticky strip to adhere the box together; two of the sections overlap to form the box. The punched holes make notches to hold the ribbon in place when you tie the ends of the box shut. 8" of ribbon is the perfect length for each end.

I'm going to stamp the star from the coordinating stamp set, Scandinavian Season, and emboss it in gold for Shirley to use as a little tag.

I think this would also be cute to hold a lipstick or some small candy.

Happy stamping!

Heat & Stick Powder tutorial

Today on SCS, someone was having trouble with Heat & Stick powder. It can be a little tricky to use at first. That made me think I should do a tutorial. I think I already did one, but it was pretty lame. I think this one is much better! Hopefully, you will agree.
Heat & Stick powder is basically a granular glue that melts when heated. It comes in a little jar like embossing powder. The grains are larger than EP, and it tends to clump but the clumps break apart easily.

I keep all of my EP, glitter and Heat & Stick in plastic containers like the one shown above. This allows me to hold my cardstock or chipboard over the container. I use a little scoop to cover the item, and all of the excess falls right back into the container. It doesn't totally eliminate the mess, but it is greatly reduced!

Now, on to the tutorial. For this card, I will be covering a chipboard heart in glitter.

Step 1: Coat the chipboard well with VersaMark. I don't just give it one tap into the pad; I smoosh it if possible. Notice how shiny and well-coated the chipboard is in the above photo.
Step 2: Pour on the Heat & Stick powder and shake off the excess. Step 3: Heat the powder just until it melts and turns shiny. Don't overheat it! Notice that mine still looks grainy. It's okay if it doesn't melt totally. It's better to underheat than overheat.
Step 4: Pour on the glitter. Tap off the excess. Heat again briefly to set the glitter down into the glue. That's it!
Card details: I watercolored the monkey with ink and aquapainter. "Just for you" was stamped with Chocolate Chip craft ink. I used Mono Multi to adhere the twill tape.
Supplies (all SU): Stamps: Sock Monkey, Sanded; Paper: Confetti White, Rose Red, Close to Cocoa; Ink: Black StazOn, Close to Cocoa, Rose Red, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip craft; Accessories: On Board Basics (retired), fine cosmo glitter, Heat & Stick powder, heat tool, cutter kit, scallop border punch, aquapainter, twill tape
Happy stamping!

Rickrack tutorial

Is it ric rac or rick rack? I just looked it up online, and it appears to be one word. Rickrack is preferred with ricrac secondary. Now you know!
Anyway, here is a tutorial on making rickrack using the new scallop border punch. Let me say up front that this punch is a little tricky when you are punching long strips. That's because once one end is punched, it gets a little wobbly. Look at the right end of the Baja Breeze strip, and you can see where it was a little off.
For the kraft strip, I started with a 1" strip of cardstock, and for the Baja Breeze piece, I started with a 7/8" strip.

The key to getting a good strip of rickrack is to start the first side with the edge of the cardstock lined up right where one scallop starts. In this photo, I've lined it up on the left side. (In case you are wondering, only the part that is on the top of the punch is what punches. The bottom part is a guide for lining up the scallops when punching multiple times in a row. It's hard to see in the photo, but there is a measuring guide along the bottom edge of the guide. This is great for centering your scallops on a piece of cardstock!)
Here you can see the punched scallops aligned with the scallops on the guide. I usually turn the punch over to look and make sure I didn't move the cardstock too far. I don't want to goof it up!
After I've punched the entire first side, it's time to do the other side. MAKING SURE YOU ARE USING THE EDGE THAT STARTS WITH THE FULL SCALLOP, line the edge up in the MIDDLE of one of the scallops on the guide.
Sometimes when I'm at the end of a strip, I turn the punch over and check that the scallops line up correctly in the punch. Like I said, the strip gets a little wobbly when you get to the end.

The big news from the SU convention yesterday is that SU has teamed up with Sizzix to carry the Big Shot. SU will also carry quite a few of the dies, and some of the dies will be made exclusively to match SU stamp sets. It will be available at the beginning of September.

Happy stamping!

Cropadile Refresher

Last week's 3D demo challenge was calendar bookmarks. Some genius on SCS came up with these little calendars and was able to fit 5 on a page! I decided to stamp over each month with the little flower from Fresh Cuts, and I used the new In Colors. 2008 is on one side and 2009 is on the other. The white piece is 7 1/2 X either 2 1/8 or 2 1/16 depending on the piece. The Kraft cardstock is 8 1/2 X 2 1/2, so I got 4 of those from one sheet. I used the scallop border punch on the corners. Got that from Andrea Walford's blog. I used the Cropadile to punch the hole at the top and set the eyelet. (See photos below) Then I added 12 inches of Kraft taffeta ribbon in place of a tassel. I'll be giving these to all of my regular customers along with their new catalog. Hopefully, they will be shipping any day now (*fingers crossed*)!
Here is the Cropadile. The big part in the middle is the eyelet setter. Notice that the left side says "top" and has a little picture of an eyelet on it to show you which way the eyelet goes. The right side says "base"; it is the part that rolls back the flanges on the eyelet. The black cubes in the center are adjustable for different sizes of eyelets as well as for snaps. I saved the backing from my package so I have the reference for the different settings. The things on either side down by the handles are hole punches. One is 1/8" (for regular eyelets) and one is 3/16" (for jumbo eyelets). They are labeled with the size, and each one has an adjustable guide. In this photo, they are both set at 1/2". This is great when you want to line up a row of holes or when you are using it for dry embossing.
When you squeeze the handles together, it sets an eyelet as well as punches holes on both sides. This baby can punch through tin and CDs!
Tip of the day: When setting a jumbo eyelet, I squeeze the handles twice. The first time, it rolls the flanges partway down like in the above photo.
When I squeeze the second time, it rolls the flanges down more. You can give it a really good squeeze for this one. (Sorry for the blurry photo!)
If you have any Cropadile questions, please comment or e-mail me!
Happy stamping!