Washi Tape Gift Card Folder

Saturday, 25 May, 2013

Cherry Blossom Shadowbox

Saturday, 27 April, 2013


I live near Washington, DC and the cherry blossoms have just bloomed. I made a 3D shadowbox that keeps the flowers alive all year long.

Die cut craft fun foam using the Borders & Hydrangeas die into two strips. Adhere evenly on acrylic block. Stamp chevrons with white ink all over the outside of the folder.

Place two opposing magnets along the edges of the box so they line up. Run a line of washi tape over the magnet and along the edge as shown.

 Die cut a stack of tissue paper flowers using the smallest flower from the Flower, Layers #9 die. Put a brad in the center of the flower to secure layers. Scrunch all of the petals into the middle and fluff up. Lay the branch where desired and add flowers and leaves to the arrangement. Adhere all elements securely to box.

 

Coupon/Mini Shopping Bag Extravaganza

Saturday, 13 April, 2013


Hi everyone! I just wanted to share some ideas with you for one of the dies from my From the Heart collection. When designing dies I try to create ones that may be used a bunch a different ways because there's nothing I like better than a good bargain!  I think you will see that the Coupon/Mini Shopping Bag die is very versatile.

This die makes a box that will hold eight Sizzlits. I decided to make some to house my collection. Right now I have them stored in a metal bin but every time I want a certain one I have to look through all of them. With these little boxes I can organize and label them according to the collections or theme!

Easter Bonnet

Saturday, 30 March, 2013

I can hardly wait for spring to get here!

Lately I have been really having fun with my 3D flower dies using unexpected materials. See my post on the Sizzix US blog showing how to make a bouquet of coffee filter flowers. You can also see a video of how I created them in my personal blog post here.

There are so many cool things you can make with flowers including home decor items, hair accessories, shoe clips, pins and earrings, napkin rings, embellishments for layouts and cards, and even on clothing.

658053  Sizzix Bigz Die - Flower Layers w/Heart Petals

1. Die cut flowers and leaves from different materials including paper bag, sewing pattern, coffee filters, crepe paper, cardstock, tissue paper, netting, watercolor paper and fabric in coordinating colors.
2. Combine parts from different dies and assemble, creating custom flowers. Color flowers using inks, stamps, paint, mists, pastels, and markers. Assemble with brads 
3. Run a ribbon around the crown of the hat and glue into position.
4. Place into position on the hat and use glue gun to adhere flowers when your arrangement is just right.

Lucky Shamrocks

Saturday, 16 March, 2013


Happy St. Patrick's Day! For my project today I made a box full of shamrocks. At least, they look like shamrocks to me...


Supplies:

Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - Box, Candy Drawer 

Sizzix Bigz Die - Borders & Hydrangeas 

Sizzix Bigz Die - Flower Layers w/Heart Petals 

Die cut 15 flowers from a recycled cardboard box or cardstock. With sponge, apply stamp paint all over the flowers- this gives a rich metallic finish. 

Push out holes in center of flowers and poke a skewer or dowel through the hole. Add a pearl gem to the end of the stick in the center of the flower.

Fold a piece of recycled paper wrapper in half and set the fold just inside of the die line. When you run it through the Big Shot, you will have a double long border. Add glue to back of border and adhere strip around the outside of the box.

Stamp "lucky you" on the box. Tie a piece of twine or hemp around the outside of the box. Stick picks of shamrocks into the foam. If necessary add glue to the base of the stick to make sure it stays in place.


Leave on someone's desk or doorstep- it's their lucky day!

Gift Card Wallet

Saturday, 2 March, 2013


Here's a project using my new Gift Card Folder die. It is a ScoreBoard die so it's designed to cut and score thick material like matboard. But I thought I would experiment a little with a piece of vinyl I found in the remnant bin at a fabric store- a beautiful turquoise color. It was fairly thick but not rigid, so I backed the vinyl with some heavy cardstock to stabilize it.

This would hold a gift card, notepad, business cards or credit cards. Even if there is nothing in it, it makes a nice gift. This is a quick and inexpensive project that looks like a million bucks!

Supplies:

Sizzix Big Shot (655268)
Sizzix ScoreBoards L Die- Gift Card Folder & Label (658054)
Cutting Pad, Extended (655267)
vinyl

cardstock- Jillibean Soup 
sewing machine
spray adhesive

1. Trim vinyl material and a piece of card stock to size- about 5" x 7". Adhere wrong sides together using spray adhesive.
2. Place vinyl facing die and run through Big Shot. You should see a faint impression of the scoring lines on the vinyl- fold over on score lines.
3. Fold the flap over centering the label piece on the bottom front of the folder. Mark two holes on either side. Punch two small holes and insert brads into the labels and secure to the folder.   
4. Sew the seams up the sides of the folder on the sewing machine. (I used white thread because it was in the machine but didn't like how it came out. Luckily, I had a Copic marker that matched the turquoise so I just ran the marker over the thread and it blended right in!)
5. Embellish as desired. I left mine plain because I am going to carry it in my purse, but you could add ribbon, buttons, flowers, etc. to personalize.

From The Heart Blog Hop

Saturday, 16 February, 2013

Hilary Kanwischer: http://hilaryscraps.typepad.com/hilary_kanwischer/2013/02/celebrating-eileen-hull.html

Jan Hobbins: http://janhobbins.blogspot.com/2013/02/happy-valentines-day.html

Jeanne Streiff: http://inkypaws.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/?p=17868

Richele Christensen: http://californiaartgirl.blogspot.com/2013/02/eileen-hull-valentine-box.html

Shelly Hickox: http://shellyhickox.blogspot.com/2013/02/to-eileen-hull-with-love.html

Tammy Roberts: http://paperiesweetness.blogspot.com/2013/02/true-love.html

Tammy Tutterow: http://tammytutterow.com/2013/02/10-things-i-love-about-you/

Tiffany Johnson: http://wp.me/pgUm3-2Ud

ScoreBoard ATC Box

Saturday, 2 February, 2013

I'm ready for spring- aren't you?

Here's a look at a couple of dies from my new collection, From The Heart. I made a ScoreBoard ATC Box from matboard and matching ATC card. The box will also hold candy, jewelry, small treasures, business cards, gift cards and lots of other fun things. There are Movers & Shapers that coordinate but I chose to leave the box plain this time.

658056  Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - Box, Artist Trading Card

658050  Sizzix Sizzlits Die Set 3PK - Hearts & More Set

657721  Sizzix Bigz Die - Borders & Hydrangeas

657119  Sizzix Bigz Die - Leaves

657114  Sizzix Bigz Die - Flower Layers #9

658054  Sizzix ScoreBoards L Die - Gift Card Folder & Label

657184  Sizzix Movers & Shapers Die - ATC & Corners

1. Cover a piece of matboard with some drywall tape. With a stencil brush, using a circular motion rub ink on through the tape, then peel it off. Don't worry about getting even coverage. 
2. Run stencilled matboard through die cut machine using ATC Box die.
3. Assemble box using strong double sided adhesive. 
4. Rub brown ink along the edges of the box.
5. Cut Heart Flower from off-white cardstock. Distress edges with brown ink. Position flower on box and add leaves and zigzag border. Add button to middle of flower. Adhere in place.
6. Cut ATC card from heavy chipboard. Ink with platinum Inca Gold, rub off and buff.
7. Cut leaves, zigzag border, heart flower, label, and hydrangea. 
8. Cut smallest flower from 20 layers of tissue paper. Punch a hole in the middle and secure petals with brad. Fluff up. 
9. Paint hydrangea using blue ink and water brush. Adhere two layers together.
10. Stamp label and tie around box with seam binding. 
11. Place card in box for a special person!

CHA

Saturday, 19 January, 2013

                   

From the Heart

Monday, 14 January, 2013

The title of this weeks blog is also the title of a new collection from the super talented US designer Eileen Hull who was very gracious in her last post complimenting a video demonstration I did for the craft channel using her designs.

I don't think it is false modesty to say that it's easier to do good work when you have the best tools for the job and Eileen's Scoreboard dies are out of this world. As she pointed out, Sizzix are the only manufacturer who offer this stunning technology which allows you to cut and score boxes, bags, card blanks, envelopes etc. from matboard, chipboard and other types of heavier cardstock. This means that you can create beautiful bespoke gifts from rigid materials, you can even cover the card with a decorative paper of your choosing prior to die cutting

These projects were created for The Crafts Channel http://thecraftschannel.com/ to demonstrate just how easy and effective these dies are. Check out Eileen's blog post to find out more about scoreboards.

The picture on the bottom project is of my beloved Grandmother who would have been 100 years old yesterday. Happy Birthday Nana x