Practice your Vocabulary
Madeline Morcelo shared a fabulous tutorial on the Summer Edition of Inkspiration 4U to make a little folder so that your child or grandchild can practice spelling.
I decorated the outside of my folder using Newsprint Designer Series Paper. I thought that the numbers lent themselves to this “learning” folder. The folder is constructed in Basic Black Cardstock and I have added Very Vanilla mats to the Designer Series Paper. I punched 2 Basic Black 1 3/8″ circles and 2 Very Vanilla 1 1/4″ circles and 2 Newspring 3/4″ circles. I used my paper piercing tool to make a hole in the centre of each of the circles. I attached the Very Vanilla circles to the Basic Black using sticky strip. Then I used a Basic Black brad to attached the Newsprint circles. I used Sticky Strip to attach the circles to the flap and front of the folder. I added a length of Hemp Twine to keep the folder closed.
Madeline used magnetic sheets covered with Designer Paper on the inside of her folder and then added magnets to the back of her letters. Unfortunately I couldn’t source these sheets and decided to pleat some Vellum cardstock to make little pockets to hold the alphabet. The empty pockets at the bottom of the folder can be used to practice making words and even short phrases.
I am still going to try and find magnet sheets or even very thin metal that I can place in the folder to make it easier for little fingers to find the letters. In the meantime I think it will be fun to use with the grandchildren to practice their spelling.
Bye for now, Kris.
Faux Mother of Pearl
I have seen this technique around for a while but when Madeline Morcelo shared her tutorial with us at the Summer Edition of Inkspiration 4U she made it seem so easy.
Since it was my first try I used the same colours as Madeline used in the tutorial and also the same layout. However, I did use different stampsets. I used the Extreme Elements stampset in Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze and Pretty in Pink. The images were stamped onto Glossy White card. Once you are happy with the stamped images, you need to get a piece of plastic food wrapping and scrunch it up. Place a drop of Shimmer Paint (I used Champagne Mist) onto a flat surface and dab the plastic wrap into the paint and them dab it onto your glossy card. Once the paint has dried I sponged Crumb Cake ink all over the Glossy card and buffed with a paper towel. I stamped the Extreme Guitar image using Not Quite Navy ink onto Whisper White card, cut it out and added it over the background. I wrapped a piece of Whisper White 5/8″ Satin Ribbon around the bottom and tied a knot. I added a mat of Crumb Cake with a layer of Cajun Craze which has one edge punched using the Scallop Trim Border Punch and added the whole piece to a folded Not Quite Navy card.
It’s a little hard to show in a photograph how shiny and just like Mother of Pearl the background is. You might be able to just see some of the sparkle in this close up.
Bye for now, Kris.
Create with Connie & Mary
I have subscribed to the Summer Edition of Create with Connie and Mary and I am enjoying the tutorials very much. Just need more time to actually get some of them made. If you haven’t joined yet, then you should pop into Create with Connie & Mary and sign up. Anyway I decided to play along with the Sketch Challenge this week.
I used Whisper White as my base cardstock and added a piece of Concord Crush Designer Series paper from the Level 1 Hostess Designer Series Paper Pack. I punched one edge of a piece of Concord Crush card using the Scallop Trim border punch and added it behind the Concord Crush Designer Series Paper. I wrapped this piece with Poppy Parade 1/2″ stitched poly ribbon and tied a bow. I used 2 more pieces of designer paper from the Paper Pack, one in Pear Pizzazz and one in Poppy Parade. I added Concord Crush cardstock mats to the designer paper. I inked my image from the Pocket Silhouettes stampset using Poppy Parade and Pear Pizzazz Stampin’ Write Markers and stamped onto Whisper White card. I added another mat of Concord Crush card and added the image panel to the card front using dimensionals.
Really a clean and simple card – just my style.
Bye for now, Kris.
An 18th birthday present
I am attending an 18th birthday tonight after my class and I thought I would share the packaging and card.
I purchased a necklace and matching earrings with the help of my daughter. I hope that the young lady in question likes them. However, the packaging was very ordinary and I thought I could create something much nicer. I made a basic 3″ square box from Crumb Cake cardstock. The lid has been cut from Crumb Cake cardstock as well and embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. I cut an opening in the lid and covered it with a piece of window sheet on the inside. I cut my flower using Perfect Plum cardstock and the Floral Fusion Sizzlit. I added a small Clear Rhinestone brad in the centre. I punched a couple of leaves from Certainly Celery card using the Two Step Bird Extra Large Punch.
Of course then I had to make a card to match. This time I used Very Vanilla card with a layer of Perfect Plum card which is punched along one edge using the Scallop Trim Border Punch. I added a layer of Crumb Cake which has been embossed using the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. I stamped the greeting from the Bring on the Cake stampset using Perfect Plum ink onto Very Vanilla card. I rounded the corners and sponged with Perfect Plum ink. I added a flower and leaves made the same as the box. I really like the saying – it says “Not just a year older, but a year better”.
The last thing of course is how to package the present. I started with a C5 envelope (165 x 230mm) which I sealed. Then I trimmed down the length of the envelope to about 6 “. I scored in 1” on the two sides and the bottom. Then you need to open the envelope on the score lines and fold up the little triangle at the bottom to make it sit flat. Open the envelope out flat and leave it to one side while you make the covers. Cut your cardstock slightly wider than the distance between the two score lines on the sides and long enough to be able to punch out the handles at the top above the top of the envelope. I used Crumb Cake card which is again embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder. I scored a line just above the embossing and used the Large Oval Punch to make my handles. (NB punch your handle before the cardstock is embossed.) Once you have embossed, then I just use sticky strip on the envelope inside the score lines. Add the front and back covers while the envelope is still flat, then fold up the triangles on the bottom of the envelope and add some adhesive. To decorate I stamped “happy birthday” from the Perfect Punches stampset using Perfect Plum ink onto Very Vanilla cardstock. I cut the mat from Perfect Plum card using one of the dies from the Lots of Tags Sizzlits. The addition of the little flower and some leaves completes the decoration. I cut a piece of Certainly Celery 5/8″ grosgrain ribbon to tie through the handle.
I love making simple gifts like this. It is so nice to be able to co-ordinate everything.
Well, my ladies will be hear for the class any minute now, I’d best be off.
Bye for now, Kris.
Finally some holiday pages
Last year my husband and I took a caravan trip to Cooktown and I have not scrapped any of the photos – of which there are many. Anyway this week two challenges inspired me to start. Late Night Stampers posted a scrapbook challenge – any scrapbook page – so I used the Sketch Challenge at Sudsol this week.
The page is pretty simple really. I have used Crumb Cake as the base for my page and used Basic Black to mat my photos and the title. I used my computer to print my journalling onto Very Vanilla card. I used Marina Mist and the Tasteful Trim Bigz Die to cut my “ric rac” and double sided “ric rac”. The title is cut from Marina Mist card using the Timeless Type Junior Alphabet.
I really wanted to focus on these amazing birds. We didn’t have our camera with us when we saw the first Cassowary so we were very excited to get these photos at a little place called Etty Beach, just south of Innisfail.
Hopefully I will be inspired to scrap some more photos from our holiday.
Bye for now, Kris.
A new way to use brads
My downline Shirley made some fabulous earrings from Stampin’ Up! brads to swap at convention this year. She posted a link to a tutorial on Rachel Ricks blog. It’s a great tutorial, easy to follow and my presentation box was inspired by hers.
I bought the earring hooks and the jump rings at Spotlight here in Australia. They were pretty inexpensive and all I had to do was add the brads to complete the earrings. These are made with lilac Circle Ice Rhinestone Brads – I know they don’t really look lilac in the picture – blame my photography. My granddaughter took one look at these and said can I have some Nan? – so I thought I had better make a small presentation box.
I found a tutorial ages ago by Kirsten Aune which gave directions to make your own matchboxes. I made my match box from Crumb Cake card. I punched a hole in the cover using the Curly Label Extra Large and then embossed it using the Finial Press Embossing Folder. I wrapped the cover with some Pretty in Pink 1/4″ grossgrain ribbon and added a flower which is made using the Boho Bossoms punch – large flower in Whisper White and 6 pointed flower in Pretty in Pink. I added an Antique Pewter brad to the centre and attached the flower over the ribbon using Mini Glue Dots.
I think it looks very professional don’t you?
Bye for now, Kris.
Is that a button
Yes it is, 30 in fact. I have been wanting to try a button bracelet since I first saw them posted online. I followed a great tutorial put together by Patty Bennett. I found the elastic she mentions at Spotlight here in Australia and I used a darning needle that I had at home because I couldn’t find a beading needle. Anyway it went together very easily. I used buttons from the Neutrals assortment and I think it looks really gorgeous. I have also been trying my hand at some earrings made from brads, so will pop in and show you those later on.
I’d really love to hear what you think of my bracelet.
Bye for now, Kris.
A Little Flower Box
The tutorial for this box was shared by Madeline Morcelo at Inkspiration 4U and also on her own blog The Stamping Studio.
I used Crumb Cake cardstock for the construction of the box. I also used up some of the very gorgeous but now retired Presto Patterns Designer Series Paper. This paper comes white and is embossed with various designs also in white. You need to add colour to see the design. I used Crumb Cake ink and a sponge to add colour to the paper. I added extra colour to the edges of the pieces to give extra dimension. My flower is made using Ridinghood Red Cardstock and the leaves are Always Artichoke cardstock. I cut the 2 each of the large flower and smaller flower on the Island Floral Die. I also punched 2 flowers using the Fancy Flower Extra Large Punch. The leaves were also cut using the Island Floral Die. I separated each of the flowers and the leaves using the bone folder to curl the cardstock on both sides until each of the flowers and the leaves separated into two pieces. Once separated, I scrunched them up really tightly and opened them out again. I stacked the flowers onto a Vintage Brad, first the 4 small flowers, then the Fancy Flowers, then the large flowers and lastly the leaves. I made sure that the petals and the leaves were staggered to give a nice effect. Once I was happy with the flower I used Mini Glue Dots to attach it to the front of the box.
The box is quite a good size but I haven’t decided quite what to do for the inside, so when I do I will come back and show you.
Bye for now, Kris.
Thinking of You
I made this card using two challenges, the Just Add Ink colour challenge and the Clean and Simple sketch challenge.
I started with a base of Perfect Plum and added a layer of Whisper White card. The middle section of the card consists of a Layer of Pear Pizzazz. I punched one edge of Baja Breeze card using the Eyelet Edge Punch and attached it to a piece of Whisper White card. I wrapped this layer with Whisper White 1/8″ Taffeta Ribbon before attaching it to the card. I stamped “thinking of your” from the Three Little Words stampset using Perfect Plum ink. I inked an image from the Silhouette Sentiments stampset using my Perfect Plum and Pear Pizzazz Stampin’ Write Markers and stamped onto Whisper White card. I punched the image using the 1 1/4″ circle punch and added a Perfect Plum 1 3/8″ circle before attaching it to the card. Lastly I tied a bow with Whisper White 1/8″ Taffeta ribbon and attached it to the card using a Mini Glue Dot.
I love the sketches at Clean and Simple and Just Add Ink but don’t always get to play along, why don’t you have a look for yourself.
Bye for now, Kris.
Motorcycle Birthday
I love the single stamps that are available in the new Autumn/Winter catalogue. Today I used the Motorcycle stamp to complete a card using the sketch challenge at Stamping 411 this week.
I started with a base card of Basic Black. I added piece of Tangerine Tango Designer paper from the Brights Designer Series Paper Patterns Stack to the bottom of a piece of Very Vanilla card. I wrapped the join with Basic Black 5/8″ Satin Ribbon and attached it to the Basic Black card. I added a square of designer paper which is the reverse side of the piece I used on the bottom of the card. I stamped the Motorcycle stamp onto Very Vanilla card using Black Stazon ink. I also stamped “happy birthday” from the Bring on the Cake stampset onto the same piece of Very Vanilla card using Black Stazon ink. Then I used my Tangerine Tango Stampin’ Pastel and blender pen to add some colour to both images. Lastly I added a bow tied using Basic Black 5/8″ Satin Ribbon.
Funny thing about the Designer Series Paper Patterns Stacks – my friend Shirley has been telling me for months to buy them and now that I finally have, I can’t believe I waited so long. The stack has 40 sheets of designer paper, 2 each of 2 designs in 10 colours. So now I have designer paper in all the colours in the Brights collection. Fantastic.
This stamp is really detailed and if you love colouring your images, then this one lends itself to lots of possibilities.
I did think this was going to be a male type birthday card, but I think maybe it is a little too girly. Might have a look and remake it in another colour. What do you think?
Bye for now, Kris.
Stamping with Kris 