Sunday, January 30, 2011

Pretending Spring has Sprung

I will not look outside.  You can not make me.  It is 1 degree.  You read it correctly.  1.  Gets better, according to the news, it feels like -15 with lows tonight predicted at -25.  That is RIDONCULOUS! So in protest I have decided to think Spring by posting more pictures of items made for my Stampin' Up friend.  (see last post for her website) Unless otherwise stated, all products used were from Stampin' Up.


This is a simple Ikea mirror stamped with black Stayz-on and an awesome birdhouse stamp from the new mini catalog.  I trimmed it out with blue and cherry bias tape ribbon, topped by one of SU's new bezel slides.  Underneath the slide, is a stamped egg from the same set and a tiny butterfly embossed die.  In the corner of the mirror, you will see a decorative element made from the corner punch and then run through an embossing folder.  The brown ribbon in the bottom left is not part of it, it is just sticking up from another project.


This is a plain wooden plaque that I base coated in an edelweiss blue.  I tore the bird and nest out of a piece of scrapbook paper and edged it in old olive ink.  Using my watercolor crayons, I gave the bird a little color.  The eggs were already that glorious blue, so I used some mini pearls to "jazz" them up.  The word Chirp was cut from old olive cardstock and a pearl was used to dot the i.



This was a paperweight I got at Hobby Lobby for a great clearance price after the 4th of July.  It had a strange rooster with fireworks in it, so I tore that off and replaced the backing with chipboard.  The background was another piece of scrapbook paper.  I used an alphabet set from the catalog to stamp the word Create and free hand cut it out.  I used a little bit of the water color crayon on the flowers and then glammed them up with a little gold smooch ink. 


This started out as a wooden cut out one of my friends was getting rid of.  I rubbed several colors of craft ink from the rich regals collection on the wood to color it.  I then "fussy cut" some of the left over scrapbook paper to cover the edges.  The saying was embossed onto cardstock and then cut out.  A little glitter always adds some fun, so I rolled the edges in the new chunky vintage glitter.  Slap a magnet on the back and the pear has a new life. 


These blocks were floating around my craft room.  I think that I got them from Oriental Trading originally.  They were already white washed so I simply cut squares for the front, one of the bird house and two of the birds and mod podged them on.  I added strips for the sides.  Using the same alphabet die as the Chirp, I added the words.  Small finishing touches, wrapped the Dare block in ivory bias ribbon and brought the ends up through the center of a flower that I had stamped.  After they were through, I threaded a button onto them and tied the ends.  The whole set of blocks took about 20 minutes. 


This one also started out as a simple piece of wood with scrapbook paper podged on.  I cut a topper out of old olive and used the lace edge punch.  I wanted a little subtle dimension, so I stamped the edges with a floral scroll stamp and then stamped and embossed the hummingbird from the same set.  The word Fly was cut with the Big Shot. 

These are what I have so far, however, I have many more ideas floating around in my brain.  Hope you enjoyed a little taste of spring while winter is howling around outside. 

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A Rose Wreath by any other name....


     I have been trying to get back in the groove of posting on this blog.  I have been holding back because of several reasons, some stupid, such as not having step by step pictures, and others not so stupid like my son being sick for so long. 
     I even toyed with the idea of letting it die.  But I would kind of miss it.  It really is a creative outlet for me.  So, one of my goals this year is just to post and trust that if anything is not clear, you will just ask.  Many of you email me privately anyway instead of commenting, so let me know if that works for you. 
     Many times just looking at a picture will spark creativity, so I am going to just try and get my mojo back by going at it one step at a time.  Some posts will have instructions, some just a few pictures and a thought.  Hope you enjoy.  Happy 2011. 

     Dipping a toe into the blog pond today with a quick wreath I created in about 30 minutes for a friend of mine.  She is a Stampin' Up demonstrator http://www.ddstamps.typepad.com/ and lent me some goodies to experiment with.  She was doing a display and wanted to have some out of the box uses for the new products from the mini catalog.  Let me tell you...so much fun.  This was right up my alley, no restrictions other than I use their products.  I will post some of the other things I did later, but I wanted to get this one up. 
Items used.

Green floral wreath from the Dollar Store
Muslin
First Edition Designer Series Stampin' Up paper (SU)
Old Olive Card stock SU
Cherry Cobbler Card stock SU
1/4 Hole Punch SU
Scallop Circle Punch SU
Ornament Punch SU
Table Setting Die (Big Shot) SU
Old Olive Ink SU
  Cherry Cobbler Ink SU
Elements of Style Stamp SU
Cherry Cobbler Button SU

Other: Stylus, hot glue gun


I tried to give you  a close up of the flower. 
Let's break it down into steps
  1. Tear muslin into 2 inch strips and hot glue around the wreath to cover the green. I left mine a little frayed.   Tear one strip 2 1/2 inches wide and form the loop for hanging.  Glue the two ends together and then decorate with the button.  You can sew it if you like, but this time I just glued.
  2. Punch 3 ornament shapes per flower (9 total) out of the old olive.  If you don't have that punch, free hand a leaf...just think of a long heart. 
  3. Using the stylus I "carved" lines into the leaf, no rulers, you want it to look natural.  I then inked the edges/lines with the old olive and stamped the floral image background from the stamp set over the whole leaf for dimension. Continue for the next 8 leaves.  I promise it goes quickly!
  4. With the Scallop punch, I cut 6 scallops from the cherry cobbler.  Set 3 aside.  Lay the other 3 out because they are the bases for your roses.
  5. The table Setting Die has a spiral cut circle on it that you can use for the rose.  If that item is not in your toy box, simply cut three 4 1/2 inch circles out of the First Edition paper (looks like a dictionary paper.- lurve it!!!)  Then simply cut them in a spiral and ink the edges.  Don't get hung up on them looking perfect.  We are creating a flower and want it to look natural. 
  6. Now the fun begins, start at the middle of the spiral and pinch the end to form a bud.  Continue to curl and twist the paper around to form a flower, adding judicious bits of hot glue as needed to hold in place. When the flower is formed, glue to your cherry cobbler base.  Make two more flowers.
  7. You may notice gaps here and there.  This is where your other scallop circles come into play.  Simply cut them apart into petal groups and use your stylus to break the stiffness down.  You do this by laying it on a mouse pad and rub the stylus in circles on it.  You will notice your card stock change texture and curl a little.  Use a dab of glue to fill any gaps in the flower. 
  8. In the home stretch!  Place three leaves in a triangle and glue a flower in the center.  Using your 1/4 inch punch, add a few circles in the center of each flower.  I chose to break those down with the stylus as well. 
This really was easy peasy...promise! 
Hope you bring a little spring into your winter and give it a try!