Thursday, February 18, 2010

Squigglefly Baby--Towels & Teensy Bathmat tutorial


Don't tell the hubby (as if he isn't painfully aware) but this image makes
my ol' maternal clock go...

...from tickity-tickety-tickety to
TICK-TICK-TICK-TOCK!!!!
Well, I am gettin' on the old side, I tell ya! ;o) bwahahaha.

My imaginary baby has his towels all nice &
fluffy for his bubble bath:

squigglefly baby with towels detail mel stampz
giggle giggle.



1...Digital Stuff: Baby Bathing image from Squigglefly
2...New & Nifty/Enabler Alert: i love SRM stickers
3...How to make this card

-1-


This cutie is that digital image from Squigglefly again... love him!
(but this time I used the version you get with it
that's flipped the other way than this)

(Baby Bathing) by artist Eline Pelinkhoff.

-2-

ULTRA
nifty SRM stickers

This Sweet Baby Boy sentiment is not stamped; it's made with...



...Stickers!!! and not just any old ordinary stickers, but the stickers of your dreams--(like when you were a kid, and had that one particular favourite puffy-scratch-n-sniff-glitter sticker, only even better than that because we may be nostalgic about the glitzy sticker, but now we're oh so refined) ;o) Yeah yeaaah, that's the ticket. heeheehee


the store & the design team blog


Love these SRM stickers because of this stuff:
  1. They're quick! (and I find sentiment stamping SO tricky sometimes)
  2. They make you look like you're the world's most perfect word-stamper
  3. The sheen is a lovely matte (not shiny) so they're lovely and subtle
  4. The backing is surprisingly easy to remove--even if you cut them apart
  5. The sayings are HOT! (& even give you ideas for cards when you're stuck)
  6. They're acid-free (made for scrapbooking/cardmaking specifically)
  7. Copics go on them like a dream (colour in letters or the whole thing, but just don't over-colour or the black fades :o) If you want you can stick them on vellum & colour the back in gorgeous ways with Copics or alcohol ink/markers...or colour the paper you want to stick them on....
Well, there's a whole lot to love about them... Can you tell I like em?
P.S. FTC-ness: I don't sell these or anything but I did get some to play with for free. :-D

-3-

...make a baby in a bathroom:
(Oops! THAT doesn't sound like what I meant to say at all!) ROFL





embossing the digi baby
(and colouring etc)



Step 1)
Print Squigglefly digital image Bathing Baby & heat emboss it: Print baby on Paper Temptress Quartz metallic cardstock in an inkjet printer & heat emboss him with clear embossing powder over the wet printer ink. For how to do this digital embossing, please see this post (or scroll through my archives, if you like; there are many methods described therein.) ;o)

Digital heat embossing works great on vellum cardstock as well, or many metallics & you can use Matte Medium or Gesso to treat any paper and make it heat embossable from an inkjet printer... Of course each method has its variables, but it's so fun to experiment with.



Step 2) Colour baby with Copic markers.



Step 3) Add crystal lacquer to the soap & the water (in the tub & under it.)

Set it aside to dry & then do some bathroom redecorating... ;o)


bath decor



TILE A)
Cut a distressed circle of patterned paper, mask a floor line with low tack tape, & colour the floor with Copic marker (or some other type.)



TILE B)
Draw on tile lines with a Sakura Souffle gel pen (These are the vertical lines--in sakura souffle pen) I made the lines roughly to look like tile grout, but you could use a ruler, if you prefer.



TILE C)
Add horizontal tile grout lines.



TILE D) Cover the tile with Versamark ink.



TILE E)
Sprinkle the wet Versamark ink with embossing powder & heat it with a heat gun. Depending on your type of e.p. heating fairly gently will keep a dimpled texture like ceramic tile.



TILE F) Remove the tape (you can see by this hairy tape that I made it removable by repeatedly sticking it on the fabric of my pants to get it less sticky.)



TILE G) Cut baseboard from a strip of cream cardstock, score a couple of lines in it, and distress it with acrylic paint.

It gives you baseboards...

...with a distressed paint texture



TILE H) Adhere the baseboard to the floor line (no nail gun required.) ;o)



TILE I)
Trim the baseboard to the shape of the circle & pierce and stitch around the circle (if you like sewing.)


towels & accessories



A) Adhere Baby in his tub to the decorated bathroom & add hair: I used dimensional foam tape to attach baby to the card, so I could slide the bath mat under the tub image) Cut little bits of embroidery thread & glue them on to give baby a funny little hair-do.



B)
Glue a wee piece of towel (cut to look like a washcloth) hanging over the edge of the tub. This is just a wee scrap snipped from a thin cotton towel from the dollar store.



bath mat



MAT A)
Glue on a cut square of towel for a bath mat & pierce holes along the sides of it to sew fringe on the mat



MAT B)
Double thread a needle with white embroidery thread, tie a knot, & trim the end of it.



MAT C) Thread the needle through the image so that the knot is on the front & its end makes a section of fringe on the bath mat.



MAT D) Repeat, adhering the end on the back (or come up to the front again & tie and cut it, if you're comfortable with stitching and knotting on your image.


bubbles



Glue on Dew Drops & pearly seed beads. (I like to use Tombow Monomulti & move the beads around with the pointy tip of a paper piercer.)


basket of towels



I also wove my own minuscule basket, LOL. Naw, I never did take that "Under-water Basket Weaving 101" course. This little wicker thinger is made like this...

A) Cut a piece of cardstock in a teeny basket shape & Colour it with a marker
B) Use a paper piercer to score lines on it (in a basket weave style)
C) Curve it with your hands as "shaping tools"
D) Glue handles of hemp twine to the back of the basket shape
E) Cut little scraps of towel & scraps of cardstock
F) Glue the towel scraps around the pieces of cardstock (to look like rolled towels)
G) Glue the rolled towels to the back of the basket

Here's a view from the basket from the back:

and here it is glued onto the card:


Makes you wanna have a bubble bath, no?


sticker sentiment

last but not least, the sticker sentiment



Step 1)
Cut SRM stickers to make separate words (These are from the #52001 Baby Boy set.)

\

Step 2) Adhere the trimmed sticker to a piece of cardstock & cut (Cutting the width of the word tag now lets you position the sticker on the other side of it to make a double-sided tag.



Step 3) Hold the strip with the sticker up to a light or bright window to position the 2nd sticker on the other side of it so that it's perfectly aligned



Step 4)
Cut tags to size you like & stitch them on (or glue em if you prefer)

The frilly white card was made by folding a piece of 100lb white cardstock, cutting it with a circle cutter, adhering the image, & randomly snipping the fringe with scissors. I thought it might mess with the structure of the thing, but it actually seems to help the card to stand. :o)

...and that's it:

click-able Blogger photos



Thank You so much for stopping by!
Hope your day is a bubbly one,


P.S. Next Post: Assuming I can load photos, I'll have a Caardvarks post to share with you on Saturday. :o)

44 comments:

Barbara said...

I love this tutorial!!! :)

Ruth said...

Oh Mel, what can I say but that this is a work of art! You have so much patience as well as skill, it's just fantastic!! Ruth x

Juls said...

stunning!! Love how you have udreated the bath towels and the bubbles! Thanks for showing the "how to" Hugs Juls

Holly Young said...

I am chuckling at your comments about underwater basket weaving and making a baby in the bathroom, but man oh man is this just something else! I really LOVE that you gave this little baby some hair - so cute! The little bath mat is darling and the basket of towels - you just think of everything! I really love the baseboard too - I think that's something that would have totally slipped my mind - they slip my mind when I'm cleaning house too!
Wonderful, magnificent, spectacular, and awesome Mel!

Jeanette (Forest Ranger) said...

WOW!!! What a beautifully stunning creation. I am in awe! Thank you so much for the detailed tutorial!

Maria Matter said...

this is darling, love all the elements you've added!!!
Fabulous step by step tut!!!
blessings, Maria

lisa808 said...

Unbelieveable!!!

Beth Norman said...

Stop it!! You're killing me over here! OMG your rug and laundry is OUT OF THIS WORLD (way to Mars too). Girlfriend, you sooooo rock blog land with your ubber talent. Seriously, teeny tassles.

This is what I think. Stop paying Blogger and move to Wordpress, and add a tutorial page like Zindorf has with photos of each project. There are times I want to refer to a particular project of yours and having a page set up like this will help us all out. Ya never know when I am going to sit down and make teeny tiny mats and tassles.

Anita said...

Wow! This is amazing! The towels are an amazing touch.

Suzi said...

I'll never make this. It's too intricate for someone as uncoordinated as I, but I may read the tutorial over again just cuz you make me smile! Thanks for sharing and for the grins and giggles!

Merry said...

Oh you have such detail on this card it is just beautiful. It wasn't until half way through the tut that I realised I have this digi image.....lol. Thats how different it looks. Love how you created the tiles.

Joanna said...

this is just soo adorable! Loove the bubbles!

mudmaven said...

OMG - this is just too adorable! Love it and thanks so much for sharing the "how-to" with us. ~chris

Linby said...

wow this is an amazing piece of work
Linbyx

Unknown said...

oh my!!! this is just awesome!

Dawn Edwards said...

Mel, I just love your cards and whats even better is you explain how to replicate. Your such an inspirational crafter. Thanks So Much.

Dawn said...

hahahahahha...I don't know where to start... hmmmm....

maybe the "new" condo and kitty will get you both "indamood" wink, hey, if the bathroom works, try it! LOLOLOL

omword girl..it's pure genius as usual! love the tile floor, wicker basket, bath rug, washcloths...bubbles! you're AMAZZZZZZING!!!

xoxoxo

Cindy Lietz, Polymer Clay Tutor said...

This is just way too awesome! The details are amazing! The little towels in the basket are so cool I can't stand it. What a treasure!

The Wired Angel said...

okay.. so I'm running out of adjectives to describe how talented you are!! You continue to amaze me.. THANK YOU for all of the inspiration you give me! Huge hugs, and be well, Peggy XOX

Anonymous said...

Absolutely Adorable! I love it... I always love coming to your blog. The little bath towels and bath mat are too cute, and the bubbles..

Ms. Jen said...

Lord Almighty but you are one talented girl! I'm so glad I ran across your blog. I really enjoy reading your postings and seeing all the little details come to life. I believe I found you through a candy giveaway. Thank goodness for those gives me a path to browse along. I seriously thought you bought a 3D sticker pack when I first saw your card. Dang.....I'm speechless. It's so different yet the same as your last one with this image too. Can't wait for the next post!
Hugs - Jen

Jana Weaver said...

You have again blown me away with your incredible ingenuity!! and this just goes to show you there's more than 1 way to make a baby in a bathrrom!!! LOL

Rufus said...

"and that's it" like you've just done I don't know what! This is incredible! All the details are amazing. OMG, you fringed the rug!!!!!!!!!!!! The little basket of towels just kills me. This is just beyond words.
R/

Erum Tasneem said...

PURE GENIUS! this is all I have to say!

Dotty Jo said...

Mel, you are a 'hoot'! Great card and a wonderful step by step tutorial! You have such amazing creative vision. Thanks so much for sharing this, Jo x

Laura said...

this card is soooooo cute!!!! You have such wonderful creative ideas :) I love stopping by your blog for inspiration

Hugs,
Laura

ScrapIdées said...

This is normal, everything you create is so beautiful and your tutorials are so well explained.
Thank you for sharing your creativity.

ScrapIdées

Heidi Brawley said...

O M G!!!!!!!!!!! You are just awesome and spend A LOT of time making 1 card. It is simply amazing!!! Have a great weekend!
~Heidi B.

Tatanky said...

WOW this is stunning love it you truly are an artist love all the detail you put into your work thanks for sharing all your ideas.

Joy said...

WOW! WOW! WOW! Absolutely adorable. Your attention to detail is amazing!

Debbie said...

Mel this is absolutely stunning - the amount of detail you have put into it is well worth it!! I may even pinch your idea for my baby announcement cards!! :D

Hugs
Debbie
x

Kristin said...

This is an amazing card and fantastic tutorial! You are gifted!

Kate said...

So much work but well worth it for such a beautiful and professional result ** Kate **

Coleen said...

Beautiful blog Mel.
Just changed the name of my blog. I'm following your blog. Would you follow mine? Then I can get directly to yours from mine.
Thanks,
Coleen
http://vintageterrace2.blogspot.com/
http://franksukraine.blogspot.com/

Priscilla said...

This is so cute Mel, I could never make this but I am amazed by all the little special touches you do.
Bath mats complete with fringe. Thanks for the great Tuts and all the giggles too!
Priscilla

Lynn said...

How fantastic is your tutorial ..I just love the expert detail you have put into it..I'm running off now to make one..(hear my footsteps)..a card that is.Lol - See Ya :)Lynn

farmhouse-story said...

totally a work of art-wow! so much creativity in one adorable card!

Tracey said...

Absolutely stunning Mel! Thanks for all your tutorials & inspiration :-)

Hugs
Tracey
x

Starla said...

O....M.....G!!!! What incredible details!!

Diane Jaquay said...

I saw this card on the Caardvarks website and had to pop over here to tell you how much I LOVE it! The craftsmanship in this is AMAZING! So many incredible details, I am in awe and bow down to your talent ;)

Kathlene said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this card so much, Mel! I had to give it a try. I did find out that Glossy Accents kinda warps vellum, but other than that, I'm so happy with how it came out. Could never have done it without your incredibly detailed tutorial. Thanks once again for being so generous with your art. You're one of a kind!

Kathlene said...

P.S. I posted it on my blog with all credit to the master (or mistress). :)

Marjan said...

Wow, this is so lovely!! All the details! You have put so much work and love in it!

Rhonda Van Ginkel said...

This tutorial is fabulous! Love all of your little details and this is just up my alley! You are so funny!

Thanks for the fun inspiration!!