Sunday, August 31, 2008

Antique-y 'Flower-Topper' card (with Maria's gorgeous template)


The metal background on this is is the dark faux tin tile that I made in this tutorial with Tinfoil, a Scor-Pal & a Cuttlebug. It's coloured with black Stazon & Stream alcohol ink by Adirondack (Tim Holtz.) The neat thing is that it looks like metal but you can pierce it really easily for faux stitching or real stitching, or to accent the grid with brads.



The flower is made using Maria's gorgeous flower template (that she created in Illustrator; she's my hero! No exaggeration.) Here's how I made this version of it:


1) Printed the flowers out onto Tim Holtz patterned paper (Distressables 0733 "time")

2) Scored with the Scor-Pal along a few line to make it textured

3) Cut them out. Scored a tiny circle of a grid in the middle to mark where to stitch

4) Pierced at the ends of the grid lines & stitched

5) Touched up the circle with a black marker (a sneaky way to make it look evenly round)



The crotchet trim came off of one of a pair of doilies that I got at a thrift store for 49 cents. They were really stained, so I didn't feel too guilty about cutting 'em up. If you want to use lace/crotchet and you wanna shape it, you can use spray starch (laundry section at the grocery store) :o)



What are the odds that I've had this Baja Blue coloured tea cup since I was a kid??? My new favourite new in colour from SU!?! *GRIN* I flipped when it matched, LOL.


Antiquing embroidery thread:

Stick it in your tea! I have a fair amount of embroidery floss but no off-white, so I had to make some. I was drinking tea at the time & just stuck it in there. You can use coffee too. (Or onion skins even, but tea smells better! LOL) Of course you could always use reinkers for colours too...

1) Choose dye (coffee, tea, or reinkers...) Reinkers are great mixed with water or blended to make new colours

2) Put embroidery thread in the liquid

3) Let sit until dark enough (warm tea seems to soak in more readily) I nuked mine. :o)

4) Remove from the liquid & gently squeeze the extra moisture out

5) Dry it (You can use a paper towel and run the thread through it... the friction dries it. You can hang it to dry, or you can use a hairdryer or hair straightener...)




Homemade Antique Paper:


The sentiment is made by punching a square out of this scanned & printed page of a vintage dictionary:

Feel free to print this if you like :o)


Here's how I made the paper:


1)
Took a sheet of Naturals White cardstock

2) Antiqued it by rubbing a damp (used) tea bag over the sheet of cardstock.

3) Ironed it dry

4) Scanned & cropped the antique dictionary page

5) Printed the text onto the tea-stained paper


The sentiment was created by punching with a 1 1/4 inch square punch, edging it with a black marker, mounting it on two punched circles (one silver cardstock & one in Baja Blue.) The Baja Blue circle was fringed first. Then I put it on a Nestabilities scallop circle & stuck it on with Dimensionals.

Thanks so much for stopping by! :O)

Friday, August 29, 2008

Lazy Zombie Stamper takes Day Off

Read all about it. Mel is a whacko (ynuk ynuk!)

The truth is out: I don't sleep. Secretly, I am a zombie who chants "staaaaamps" instead of "braaaaains" teehee.

Actually, I'm wiped out and need to take a day off today. Sorry Dahlinks! I've got wedding invites and Halloweenie-ness and other mysterious schtuff brewing though (heehee)

OXO



P.S. In a Halloweenish mood? Here's a gaggle of ghoulish ideas

P.P.S. If you'd like somethin' else to do, there's this list of all of the Techniques and one of all of the Templates on my blog. I update them every once in a while...Maybe there's something on there for you? :o)

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Love Birdies (& a whack of birdy templates)


How do you spell birdy anyhow? Is it birdie? LOL. I made this for my cousin Lisa's wedding. She's an absolute angel. I used to babysit her, so to this day I get a little happy tear in my eye thinking how she's all grown up.


I drew the birds (I'll whip up a template for you soon, but I'm workin' on some huge envelope templates first.) They're stamped with Versamark & a Paisley stamp (large design category) from Above the Mark (56005 I) onto white cardstock in white (& embossed with clear e.p.) The side panels are stamped with that same paisley stamp but their glittered with Iridescent Ice.

The little ring the birds are holding is a silver jewelery finding I bought on ebay (it's glued on with Crystal Effects.) The stitching is an example of faux French knots (but with the stitching on the front in between the knots instead of at the back.) [Tutorial here & a sample card here]

The metallic background is another example of faux tin tiles (with tinfoil) [previous post with the tutorial here & another example here.] This version is just brayered with gesso & scratched up a little.


A few birdy templates & project ideas:

TEMPLATES:

Recently added:

Bird cage by Godelieve
Bird house box template for PaperTrey Ink by Nichole
Bird template ...
from this Martha Stewart bird mobile (video there too)

home & garden bird template & wreath project
Heather's bird template & a sample project
Michael's Bird template for this beautiful bird mobile
Flying dove template
bird template from this bird puppet craft
Bird templates from this Family fun project
Dove template from Susan
Dove template from Babaganewz
Lisa's bird templates
Dove colouring page
Magda's sweet bird embroidery template (adapt it?)
May's sweet bird embroidery template
Free cross-stitch bird patterns
Simple (cute) bird template (from this project)
Crow template
from Papercrafts magazine: Simple bird on branch shape
From Papercraft inspiration: Stork card template
& their swan, toucan, flamingo & peacock templates
another swam (from Papercraft inspiration)
& their penguin & other penguins
wee bird from here
Cute bird (outline would be sweet)
rustic bird shape template
bird bag
bird template from urbandebris

Martha et al:
Bird template
Bird stockings (wingless bird template)
puppet templates (with a bird) from this project
State Birds (trace shapes if desired)

TUTORIALS:

Carla's bird tutorial
Nellie's stuffed bird tutorial
Zindorf's prismacolour bird tutorial
Vicki's altered chipboard bird
Julie's love birds mobile
Felted ornament (use any template here/cookie cutter)
Bird beak pop-up card

Martha et al:
Crepe paper birds (sculpture like)
Cardinal clip art
bird boxes (no template there but this box & any bird might work well)
birds on candy pouch nest favor idea (no template)
Bird embroidery (adapt patterns for cardmaking/scrapbooking)
Bird embroidered quilt
Messenger bird cards
Faux porcelain bird branch
Glitter bird center piece
Bird atop a crib canopy
bird nest favors
needle felted chicks
monster bird template (heehee)

Birds that put me in a flap:

this sweet wire warbler by Luminatii
this little paper guy whom i think is made by this etsy artist
this birdie and his little house & his musically inclined cousin
this chicken wire chickidee (well sparrow...)
this little felt fella & his sisters

Bird schtuff on etsy
stuffed birds on etsy
bird mobiles on etsy


Thanks for taking time out of your day! :o)



P.S. You can carve your own wee birdy stamps if you like. Here's an example.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Easy- Peasy Blinged up Scor-Pal Stripes (Cuttlebug embossing or other textures)


This is for Stamping Links to Love's challenge, hosted by Zarna: Bling it on! My fabulously creative friend Kim gave me this sweet flower stamp (she spoils me!) I loved using it here cause it was acrylic so it lines up. It's called Blossoms from the Loves me collection by Imaginisce (000469). It colours so nicely too. Thanks Kimmy! :o) I coloured it in with a white marker from Close to my Heart. It's a really easy faux bleach look:


Other schtuff....
  • The leaves were coloured with the white CTMH marker first, then added the glitter gel pen details.
  • To bling it up for Zarna's challenge, I added gems & Silver Ice Stickles in the flower centers.
  • The Butterflies (Merci) and sentiment (CTMH's Blooming Flourishes) are stamped on patterned gesso cardstock & coloured with a baby pink CTMH marker (matches Pink Pirouette!)

Handmade Lotka paper:

This gorgeous dark paper was also a gift from someone who spoils me more than my due: my marvelous m.i.l. Esther. Thank you Esther! OXO! She got me these huge sheets of handmade Lotka paper. It is such a lovely paper to stamp on. (It was difficult to make myself cut into the sheets but I knew it'd look dreamy.) :o) I think I'm going to research paper making and see if I can't recycle all of my little scraps somehow. Anyone tried it?

...and...I can't make a card without the Scor-Pal lately, so I thought I'd bling up the neglected lil' Scor-Pal stripe. (I've seen a lot of the grid technique (which rocks) but I haven't seen too many stripes.)

Bling that Scor-Pal Texture:

Supplies:

A Scor-Pal
Cardstock
Glitter Pen

If you don't have a Scor-Pal but want glittered texture: You could use any dry embossed paper (store-bought or cuttlebugged or done with brass templates...) I'll be makin' a DIY glittery Versamark pad tutorial soon that makes glittering textures speeeeeedy!... :o)

It's pretty pompous of me to call this 2 minute...3 step...thingy a technique (but you know me, everything is a new thrilling technique! LOL.) ;o)

Step 1: Prepare your cardstock:
Cut card & Score at the center line (
Naturals White 11")


Step 2: Make texture:
Make stripes (grid/embossing) I used a Scor-Pal


Step 3: Bling it up:
(I went over 'em with a Sakura Gelly-Roll glitter pen)


Few lil' tips:
  • This works on the raised score line or the recessed one. Of course, it also works on grids or other pattens. If you're doing Cuttlebug embossed cardstock, you can leave the cardstock on the folder to support the embossing while you colour the glitter on.
  • If you slip up at all you can just wipe with your finger or a q-tip right away to remove the line.
  • You can also reduce the amount of bling you get by smudging it like that right after drawing it on.

Thanks for taking time to stop in! :o)

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Dream challenge (A palimpsest pendant)


Created byHand Challenge has a Dream challenge this week and I played along (not sure if I'm on time for it, but I had a blast!) I altered this necklace (with 7gypsies rub-ons.)


I started with this glass bead charm (that I got for &1.50 at a Salvation Army thrift store):


I have a BIG thing for words especially for definitions, so i added rub-on definitions
See the words dream, dreaming.... in there?


When I was done, I had words allover the front, allover the back...

and all over my fingers!

Those puppies really stick. They stick so well that I'm thinkin' I'll use them as a temporary tatoo! Told you I loved words, heehee. Actually they'd look super cool on fingernails! I scraped them eventually. The neat thing about their scrape-off-ability is that I can scrape them off of the necklace if I ever get tired of it and add something else. (Making it a true palimpsest!) :o)

Here are things I dream of buyin' and/or makin' one day:

Flower necklace

Literary necklace
Scrabble ring
Text earrings
pure lunacy t
Graphomania journal
Word bird
Bibliobangle (made that up heehee I'm a dork!)
Fridge magnets
One sentence booklet
Vintage dictionary blocks (I wanna make boxes)
Ouuu here's one! & another! I heart it!
Hand-stamped washer necklace


Happy Craftin'! :o)



Monday, August 25, 2008

Faux Tin Tile Tutorial (with aluminum foil, a Cuttlebug & a Scor-pal)


This is a super easy way to get the look of metal tile. The tinfoil is so inexpensive and easy to work with. It takes embossing & alcohol ink like a dream. The panel above (for the heavy metal card in yesterday's post) was painted with gesso and the scratched with a Scor-Pal tool in the groove lines. Actually, that probably makes no sense 'til you check out the tutorial ;o) so here it is...


Faux Tin Tile

Supplies:
  • Cardstock (great way to use colours you dislike/scrapped pieces)
  • Glue Stick
  • Scissors/Paper trimmer
  • Aluminum foil
  • A Cuttlebug
  • A Scor-Pal
Optional (for colouring):
  • Brayer
  • Gesso
  • or Alcohol ink/Solvent ink (Stazon)
  • or Acrylic Paint
Directions:

Step 1. Cover cardstock with lots of glue stick
(remove any lumpy bits)

This is a great way to make use of scrap cardstock
(with mistakes on it) Or colours you don't like.

Step 2. Lay tinfoil desired side up & smooth
(Most creases will flatten during embossing)

Step 3. roughly trim the tinfoil
(this actually sharpens your scissors)

Step 4. trim it & dry emboss it
(With a Cuttlebug/whatever...)

Step 5. score tile lines in it
(Use as-is, or continue & colour it...)


Step 6. Brayer with white--or a colour:
(Just Gesso/Acrylic Paint/Alcohol ink)
Gesso primes it, so craft inks & e.p will stick!


A Multicoloured Variation:


Step 1. Brayer with solvent or alcohol ink

Step 2. Daub with alcohol ink & blending solution
(I've used Adirondack's Stream by Tim Holtz)

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Rockin' it Heavy Metal Style! (Y.K.Y.R. challenge)


I think I went a little overboard on this heavy metal! Heavy...because this is the weightiest card I've ever made. Maybe 5 pounds? Okay, more likely 3 pounds 5 ounces, LOL. Metal...because this has 7 kinds of metal on it for August's Rockin' it Heavy Metal Style challenge on Deb & Julie's Y.K.Y.R. blog. I wanted to see how many kinds of "metal" I could get onto one card:

Metal # 1

Metallic cardstock (What a cheat, huh?) But this was special cardstock from my aunt & uncle.

Metal #2

Plain old metallic embossing (Light silver embossing powder on the main Basic Gray card & Dark gun-metal silver e.p. on the band across the bottom)

Metal # 3

The newer Faux-Metal Stamping: where you emboss in silver on glittery silver cardstock:


Metal #4:

Altered Brads: I glued some gems to some of these (with Crystal Effects) and layered them with metal flowers. I glittered some brads with Crystal Effects & Dazzling Diamonds. (Lots more on altered brads here.)

Metal # 5

Metal embellishments: I used Platinum Hodge Podge Hardware & the new Stampin' Up! Filigree metal Flowers...



Metal # 6

Scalloped metal mat: made by gluing tinfoil to cardstock & scalloping it. I punched holes in the scallop & added gems And added two embossed lines with my Scor-Pal

Metal # 7

2 kinds of Faux metal Tin Tile (plain tin & tin painted with Gesso.) It's made with tinfoil, a Cuttlebug, & a Scor-Pal. [Tutorial to follow in the next post...]

Tutorial on the Tin Tile technique here.

Happy Stampin' you stampalicious Stampers! :o)



P.S. My Duh, forgot to list stamps used. The flowers in the circle are from Fancy Pants From the Garden. The sentiment uses Warmest Regards (the word "Happy") and Happy Everything (the words "For You"

Saturday, August 23, 2008

CD Pocket Card tutorial & Sewing on Paper Links


I made a mixed CD for someone special and wanted to make a card to give it in. So here it is. A very simple project with one cut and two fold lines.

CD Pocket Card How-to:

1. Cut a piece of cardstock to 5 2/8 inches by 11.5 inches.
(If you're using standard size cardstock then it means you need to make just one cut.) Stamp it, if you like.

2. Score it at 3 inches and at 8 inches & fold.


3. Add adhesive at the very edges (you can place a CD on your project to make sure it will fit later)


4. Embellish your pocket. (I added stitches to tie in with the front.)


5. Add a decorated piece to the front. Lots of layers are great for this since the weight of them keeps the card shut.

Card details:
Cardstock: SU's new in colour pink pirouette & old Olive. Patterned paper AG1254 by Anna Griffin, Riot of Petals background stamp (available in Stampin' Up!s dormant list) coloured with pink pirouette and Old Olive. Vanilla brads from Bazzill Basics Paper.

Techniques:

Sewing on Paper Links:


Stitching paper by feeling stitchy

Stamp and stitch video (try it on cardstock?)

Decorative machine sewing (Creating a stitch guide) by Allyson Bright on Scrap Jazz

Scrap in Style TV (Stitching borders & letters) Click on webisode # 78

Designing your own embroidered cards by Mary

How to embroider a greeting card by Diane

Stitching Cards .com


Julia's machine stitching on paper tutorial

Janome sewing tutorials by Gina K
Sewing on Paper by Julie

Card stitching tutorial by Hinzpired

Sewing to bind books by Cat

The Pamphlet stitch (with ribbon) from Arrowmont

Stitched Christmas cards by Karyn on Cotton Spice

How to make a cross stitched card by Connie

How to sew & embroider on scrapbook layouts from Momscape

Paper quilting by Cyndi


Hand stitched accents or embellishments by Gwyn



Hope your day is stampiferous! :o)