Embossing Class this Saturday!

Just a quick reminder that the 4th Saturday is this Saturday and time for our monthly card class. This month we are exploring many different ways to emboss. Class will be held at Perfect Day Scrapbooking in Huntington Beach. Come back tomorrow for a peak at the fun you will have.

Cupid Strikes Again!

 

I love each of these projects! Let me just say WOW! Within my home each hoping they would be the recipient. The best part while these projects look hard they are really easy. The most difficult was cutting the Rhinestones for the mailbox flag. On the left we see a Ghiradelli Box and a Valentine Card is in the center.


The Button Boutique has the best self adhesive rhinestones AND they can be used in the die cutter, a punch and cut like butter. Being a skeptic I couldn't believe that with a pair of scissors I could cut the rhinestones, it cut like butter - so easy and you can see that they have shimmer and sparkle.





This box holds Ghiradelli chocolates and you can see one just waiting to be pulled out and eaten! I cut out the box in cardstock, scored it and then added my rhinestones! My class loved it. You can use any pattern of the rhinestones for the lid and box. I used black rhinestones around the edge of the lid and on the base piece the box sits on. This is just breath taking in person. The boxes hold approximately 12-15 Ghiradelli Squares so bee on the look out for sales!

To create the card you will need:

• a  piece of white cardstock 5-1/2" x 8" and folded it in half 
• cut the pink shimmer cardstock so it measures 4" x 5-1/4"
• a strip of the Lipstick Rhinestones measuring 1-3/4" x 5-1/4"
• red and blue mirrored cardstock
• Memory Box Die of Cupid
• Dynamics 4 Doily Die
• Embossing Folder
• A single strip of red rhinestones

I used the pink Aspire Cardstock and adhered it directly to the white folded cardstock using a strong double sided tape. The Aspire Cardstock is slick and glue stick or a regular tape runner will not give a lasting bond. The fun Lipstick Rhinestone strip was adhered directly to the pink cardstock by peeling the back off to expose the adhesive backing. (This Lipstick pattern is also available with a black background.) Using some red mirrored cardstock and the cupid die run through your die cutting machine. Using the blue mirrored cardstock cut out the small doilies and select one of them for your card. I used foam tape to pop up the blue doily and also your cupid. Open your card and place a strip of red rhinestones along the card edge. You can see it a bit in the top card. Below is a picture of the card laying flat to show you the card from a different perspective.

The little metal mailbox has been available the last few years and I stocked up! I got them at Target and they were available in red or white when I purchased mine. Both ends of the mailbox come off and the flag can go up and down. 

As you can see the flag is up and has five vertical rows and 7 horizontal rhinestones on each side of the flag. I used red rhinestones for the mailbox itself and a double row of the rose print to go around the edge of both lids. On the front I used my left over rose print rhinestones. To go around the flag (which was not removable) Above the 10th row I made a lit and cut out 2-3 rhinestones which allowed the rhinestones to go behind the flag. 

The rhinestones are self adhesive and so easy to stick on. My advice is just take the backing off the adhesive a little at a time so you can get them on straight and the way you want them. I had to pull it up  a couple of times and it had really adhered to the tin! So heed my warning and don't take all the backing off at one time. I'm not sure which is my favorite the Ghiradelli Box or the mailbox!

Just a Little Bit Of Bling

I had fun last week embellishing all sorts of things! 

I have a friend that loves fortune cookies so how fun would it be to receive a handcrafted non-edible one. 

I used zebra felt and  cut out a 4" circle. I cheated and used my Cricut. Felt does not stick well during the cutting process if your mat is not sticky. Lesson learned! You could also use a Sizzix Circle Die or Framlit to cut it out. Lately in a number of areas I find I am reverting to the good ol' old fashioned way and used a pencil to trace around a plate. Then I took my Red Rhinestones from The Button Boutique and laid them at the outer edge of the circle. I let it sit overnight with a heavy book on top as the felt was not the best medium for the bling - but it looked so pretty!

In the morning I folded the circle in half with the zebra print showing. Then I pushed the center of the folded edge toward the outside edge while using my fingers to push the outer folded edge so they touched. Had I been using paper I would have had a cute fortune cookie; however, since this was felt, and I did not want to use a hot glue gun, I used velcro to keep the two sides of the fortune cookie touching. I added a personal fortune and slipped it in one side. My girlfriend loved it.

Next to the fortune cookie is a coaster. I picked up a non-glazed tile at my local hardware store, using a Prima Stamp I stamped it with Color Box Frost White Pigment Ink then used white embossing powder from Stampendous and embossed it. (If you did not want to emboss it you would need to heat set this ink.) The tile got very let me say VERY HOT! So use tongs to hold it or something so you do not burn your fingers. There are flowers peaking out of the bustier which is atop sheet music and there is a teapot in the foreground on the right. The left forground is blobs. I wonder if it was to balance it out. I used the Rhinestones from The Button Boutique on the side edges of the coaster. I really like this look. Add felt cut to the size of the tile makes it table safe!

This little birdouse was created at one of the craft groups I belong to and the pattern came from:
 http:/allfreecrafts.com/recycling/cards/christmas-card-bird-houses

You can print out the pattern you want for free. I just held the rinted pattern to teh paper and cut adding abou 1/8" to the printed flaps. Some of the ladies traced the pattern to the cardstock first or you could use repositional tape to keep the pattern in place. I used the Christmas Card one I made as a gift. I placed a gift certificate inside the birdcage and then placed some tissue in the hole so that you couldn't see inside the birdcage. I decided to dig through my craft box and created this birdhouse. The roof is the reverse side of the cardstock. The hole was created using a die. If I had wanted a small circle or square I could have used a punch but for a one directional shape a die is needed. While it was cute...I added black rhinestones on the top and red rhinestones on the top and bottom edge of the birdhouse. It was the perfect eye catcher! All of the rhinestones came from The Button Boutique. They are self adhesive and come in a large rectangle sheet.

Valentine Cards

In the blink of an eye it will be Valentines Day! What could be more exciting than taking the recepients breath away with a card that you created!

 

In the past spinner cards were always just in a staight line. That is no longer true. My 1st  Valentine Card shown above was created using Graphic 45 cardstock. It is from their calendar collection. If my memory serves me right it was the same piece of cardstock and I used both sides of it.  But I could be wrong and if so was from this same collection. Then I used 2 different sizes of a Spellbinder die of circles and the piercing circles. The die collection I used is Celebrations by Richard Garay. By using two diffenrent circles I was able to create a tract for the heart to rotate around in! And it does! I was very skeptical doing it and was excited when it worked! I have taught this in two classes and in each the students enjoyed creating it, were all smile when it worked and were looking forward to sending it to one of their Valentines.

My next Valentine Card is a Shaker Card; pictured above. These are always fun to create and to receive.  I didn't realize that this picture had so much glare to it until now. I apologize for the glare. The background sheet is a printed glitter cardstock from a Michaels. It was on sale for $0.19 for a 12x12 sheet. How could I pass it up at that price! 

This is a Memory Box Die and it has been used it for other cards where the die cut right into the front of the card. An example of that is in the previous post -Wrap It Up. For this card the ladies die cut the heart then had to cut the shape of the heart out around the die cut out. The wider the border was cut  around the heart the easier it was to attach the acetate and the foam tape used to had depth. 

Prior to attaching the acetate a white heart was cut out which matched the shape of the silver heart. The white heart was attached to all but a small area which was used to insert the beads and some hearts. Then that open area was also sealed. Before attaching the silver shaker heart I shook it many times . I was checking for any holes that may let the beads escape. Once I was sure the heart was completely sealed I used foam tape and adhered it to the glitter cardstock. Next I tied the ribbon in a knot around the glittered cardstock and adhered it to a piece of white cardstock.  Then foam tape was added on the back of the white piece and placed it onto the white card. 

Wrap It Up

      I invite you to Drop In (anytime during store hours) @ Perfect Day Scrapbooking  Sunday, February 8th, for Wrap It Up! 

Lots of goodies to help you Wrap Up Valentines Day! Make one or many fun & easy Valentine Cards. Need some Valentine Wrappings? Bags, Boxes, Wrapped Candy &/ Notepads each $3.00 or 4 for $10.

Need a great little valentine treat for co-workers, classes & or even yourself?

Then have fun decorating a patty mint & make a ribbon pocket for candy or other treasures. Both for $1.00.  A variety of general papers & stamps, to choose from!
Some supplies may be limited. The picture is a teaser of some of the things you can make tomorrow.

Since Wrap It Up is designed as a Drop everything is quick and easy! 

I hope to see you tomorrow for Wrap It Up! Sunday Perfect Day is open 11am-3pm

Remember to save the 4th Saturday of each month for Our Monthly Card Classes. This month we'll be exploring many different ways to emboss! Classes do overlap so choose 9-11am or 10am -12pm. Let us know which time when you reserve your spot, 714-369-2862!

       Perfect Day Scrapbooking 9552 Hamilton (at Bushard  in 7-11 strip mall) in Huntington Beach

New Product Alert!

Have you ever wished you had something that allowed you to use your dies and embossing folders as stamps?  Well  if we can dream it....Sizzix introduced Inksheets and when using the sheets with your wafer thin die an Inksheet Transfer Pad which is a must. The Inksheets come in black, white, gold, and silver.  They even won an award at the 2015 CHA Winter Show as the Hottest New Product of the Show!

Stephanie Barnard used the Inksheet and the Inksheet Transfer Pad in her Card Class at CHA. My friend, Laurel Pierce, had used them in the Card Class and at the Sizzix Booth on the Show Floor and could not stop raving about them ! Sadly I had heard about the Inksheets at the show but did not have the opportunity to play with them until just recently...I can't wait until they are in our local scrapbooking stores so I can get them in every color. This is a must have, in my humble opinion!





For this card I used a wafer thin Flip Die designed by Stephanie Barnard. Not only do they cut the card base it also offers choices for layering too. One could easily ink the edges of the card base and/or the layered cardstock. This wafer thin Flip Die comes as a set which includes the dies to cut the  upper layers so the scallops match. Imagine if I had inked all of the edges how it would change the look. In most cases I prefer a clean look - meaning I don't ink the edges.

This  wafer thin flip die set allows you to create a flip card in the blink of an eye. Without touching a stamp I created a stamped look by using a triplet die of images. Look at the sun and the word hello and judge for yourself  the result of  the Sizzix Inksheet.

Flip Cards

Flip cards are fun to make and fun to receive! If you use one of Dies created by Stephanie Barnard then they are a piece of cake! The hardest part is deciding what products you want to use for the card!

This is truly a 5-minute card and is being used as a thinking of you card! Or maybe I'll create another to send for Valentines Day...

The Recipe:

• I used the Heart Flip Card Die by Stephanie Barnard. 
• A piece of 5-1/2"x 7-1/4" Best Creations Embossed Glitter Bella Cardstock as the main piece.                  

While I liked it I thought it was a wee bit bright and perhaps busy. Hmmm....

•  A  3-1/2" x 5" rectangle of  White Rowlex Illusion Film centered over the heart and touching both edges. 
• I inked the edge of the cardstock heart and then layered the Rowlex Illusion Film Heart over the cardstock heart and used just a dab of liquid glue only by the top and bottom edge of the cardstock. The strip adds stability to the heart and gives the Illusion that it is floating above its base.
• At the horizontal base of the card I added  a butterfly edge that I had punched out of Best Creations Glitter Adhesive sheet.
• Any saying could be stamped and punched out then added to the back of  the heart (positioning it so it doesn't show when the card is closed as in picture) or on the back of the card.

I was introduced to the Rowlex Illusion Film last year at CHA by Marisa Pawelko, also known as the  Modern Surrealist. I really like working with this Film and have used it as an embellishment on many different projects since introduced to it.

Another Holiday Card

Before I turn to thoughts of Valentines Day I wanted to share one last Holiday Card that I taught last year. This card was fun and features a Christmas tree that the students built! Those that received one loved it.

This card has a total of  9 punched triangles on it. There are three of each pattern. The triangles are layered onto white cardstock in the shape of a tree. Play with the layout of the triangles so it is pleasing to your eye. I added a piece of brown scrap for the trunk and then place in an embossing folder and emboss. (You could adhere each of the triangles to the cardstock but because of embossing it you don't need to.) 

The embossed piece is added to a green mat which was on a white cardstock card. I used foam dots between each layer. A gold star was added as a tree topper and a small banner was stamped in brown ink to match the tree trunk and placed at the bottom of the tree above the trunk.

Winter CHA 2015

The Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) held its winter 2015 show at the Anaheim Convention Center. The showroom floor opened its doors on Saturday, January 10th and this incredible show ran until Tuesday, January 13th. This show is only open to the trade; new products and collections are revealed! It is a whirlwind of activity, classes, demonstrations and reconnecting with friends. As usual it was fabulous!

Although this was held in Sunny California our poor out of town guests experienced some much needed rain. While locals didn't like driving in the rain many out of towners reminded us a little rain was much better than freezing snow. I look forward to sharing some of the make and takes I did and products used in the future.

A Fast, Easy and Elegant Holiday Card

Last year I started teaching Holiday Cards in the summer with the idea that by Thanksgiving my students would have created 48 Holiday Cards, if they took a class each month! Each month there were 3-5 different designs and they created an average of 3-4 cards of the same design. I wanted the classes to be fun and still teach or fine tune their skills.

Working from the bottom up: This card was created on a card base that has a shimmer to it and  for that reason it is important to use a strong double sided tape (like Red Line, Score-Pal etc.) Otherwise there wasn't a good adhesion and your layers wouldn't stick over the long haul. We next used a silver shimmer cardstock and embossed it with a snowflake embossing folder. I love how elegant this looks.

I used the same blue shimmer paper to create a mat for my stamping image and punched a scallop as a mat for the saying. Using a silver ink pad I stamped the trees and saying on white cardstock. The white cardstock with the trees is adhered directly to the blue shimmer paper mat and then foam tape is used for dimension. The Joy of Christmas was stamped then punched out with a circle punch and popped onto the blue scallop circle which is also popped up.

Tips: We heat set all stamped images to prevent smearing without having to wait for them to dry. Because the blue scallop circle overlaps the trees I placed a double layered of foam tape toward the bottom half of the scalloped circle and the top half rests on the popped up on the stamped tree image without any type of adhesive. Inside I adhered white cardstock so a message could be written.

For a WOW effect stamp the trees and saying then emboss them with clear embossing powder.

As we begin 2015 it is full of possibilities and potential! I am challenging myself to grow and one of the ways I can do that is by committing to a blog! I hope you will join me on my Creative Journey! I love paper crafting and have enjoyed scrapbooking, mini books, wall art, altered art, card making etc. I enjoy teaching classes in many area of paper crafting and especially cards. To watch students grow and develop is very rewarding to me. I hope you will be able to attend one of my classes in person and if not than virtually.