Wedding: Pen Jar

My sister had a theme wedding. As a world traveler (she’s been to all but one continent and all of the states), she wanted to bring her passion to travel to her wedding.

We made place cards using map paper to help people find where in the world they will be sitting. Each table was a different place she has visited … (more on the centerpieces to come).

In leu of a guest book, she bought a map and pens for guests to sign. Naturally I couldn’t let the pens just “hang out” on the table, so I made her a coordinating little jar to hold them in.

The label was a little large for the jar, so it had a few wrinkles, but it turned out really cute, don’t you think? Here’s how I did it:

My secret weapon is Elizabeth Craft Designs Clear Double Sided Adhesive. If you’ve followed me before, you know how much I love this stuff. It sticks to anything, is crystal clear and comes in all sorts of sizes. I applied it to the back of the map paper (Authentique) and then ran it through my Big Shot with a Tim Holtz label die. This way, adhesive wouldn’t show from one side of the jar to the other.

I then added a black stamp die cut, also from Tim Holtz/Sizzix, to each label. I topped it off with a sticker from Little B.

And, on the other side …

I finished it off with a bit of ribbon from American Crafts and some travel charms from Art C.

I sure hope she enjoys this journey!

Cutting Tips

Some of you may have noticed that Mosaic Moments dies leave a little bit of a mark on your photos.

That’s normal. It’s how the die-cutting machine works. It’s on all of my pictures, but I don’t think anyone notices. However, some scrappers do see it and it bothers them.

If you have the We R Memory Keepers Evolution Advanced machine, you can dial down the pressure and you will not get the marks.

But, if you’re like me and you have a Sizzix Big Shot or Vagabond and you love your machine and do not want to buy another, you have to deal with the marks.

Fortunately, I recently had a customer who came up with a solution. And, I made a video to show you how to avoid that mark with the crease pad. You can watch how to do it, here: https://youtu.be/wQV4mhVmfhk

And, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask away!

 

Die Cutting Tip

Dies that have a long horizontal or vertical side to them can be difficult on your die-cutting machine and cutting plates.

Here’s a quick tip to save on the wear and tear on your machine.

 

Birthday Card in a Box

My baby girl turned 21 on Monday.

I wanted to celebrate with something a little more special than just a simple card. So, I made her a card in a box.

I got the directions/measurements for making the box from Amanda Sevall Designs. Click here to get the directions.

I used leftover paper to cover the box. I added an anchor die cut and anchor washi tape because she anchors are special to her (they remind her of her brother who is in the Navy).

I stamped 21 with a Close To My Heart stamp set and then used a circle punch to cut them out. The Happy Birthday stamp is from Just Rite; the flowers and leaves are McGill punches; the feathers are from Bella Blvd.; the flourishes are from a Sizzix die and the heart is from Linnie Blooms.

 

A Jar of Gifts

A friend asked me if I would make up a gift certificate for one of her customers. I wanted to make something really special, so I came up with these …

Aren’t they adorable?!

Here’s how I did them …

I started with the Canning Jars 3D die from Sizzix. I wanted to make a card with the die, rather than just cut out the jar image. So, I folded and scored a card and positioned it with the fold just inside the left side of the jar, like this…

 

Because this is a thick, steel-rule die, it will cut through two pieces of heavy cardstock at the same time, making this completely doable!

Next, I cut out the jar lid out of Ranger’s adhesive-backed foil and attached them to the front of the jar.

The lid is slightly larger than the card, which left a little bit of sticky on the backside. To fix that, I applied a little bit of baby powder to the edges to eliminate the sticky.

I then inked the edges of the jar with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

The gift certificate that I made barely fit in the jar so I made a little strip of paper and used the Tiny Attacher to attach the edges to the card. Then, the certificate just slips inside and is held in place. Perfect!

I added a bit of lace from Stampin’ Up to the front with Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Adhesive. The trick here is to put the dots of glue on the flowers, set it on the cardstock and leave it be for 5 minutes to allow the glue to work. Then, you can flip it over and trim off the edges to fit the jar.

I tied a bit of bakers twine to the front side of the lid and then created a label. I cut cardstock 2″ x 1″ and then rounded the edges.

 

Next, I stamped Just For You (from Stampin’ Up) and two dotted stripes from Tami Potter’s stamp from Impression Obsession.

 

I added a little ink on the edges and adhered them to the lace.

And, it all fits inside of card-sized envelope.

Who wouldn’t want to receive a gift card like this??!!?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Valentine’s Make & Take

Every Saturday, Capture A Memory in Flint Township offers a make and take for a small fee — usually $2 to $5 (free for members).

The projects are designed by staff members and this year, I will be taking a turn each month. My “normal” make and take will be the fourth Saturday of every month, but in January I swapped so I will be hosting the make and take this Saturday.

I plan to incorporate techniques into my projects as much as possible. So, for my first one, I decided to work with vellum. I used an embossing folder to create the pattern on the vellum and used the Tiny Attacher to adhere it. I added some ribbon from May Arts and a stamp from Just Rite. Inside, I also included some paper to cover the back side of the staples.

I hope you will stop by the store from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday to make a card of your own!

 

Stained Glass Window

This was an experiment that worked!

I started with the new Gothic Window dies from Memory Box/Poppy Stamps. The frame of the window is one die; the center is a separate die (and there are several patterns available).  I cut out both dies with black cardstock (American Crafts).

Then, I took the leftover part (the insert from the frame) and coated it with 24K Enamel Powder. This acts as a light source behind the Cool-Set Enamel Gels that I used to color in the glass. I left it to sparkle through in a few places, too …

Finally, I colored in the image with Piccolo’s Cool-Set Enamel Gels. These are more like liquid plastic than paint and they provide a durable, flexible, shiny finish that is rich in color.

Once that was all assembled, I embossed a piece of cardstock with bricks (Tim Holtz/Sizzix) and added a bit of Distress Ink for dimension.

I love the final result! It is a beautiful card you could easily use for sympathy, baptism, thank you and more.

 

Technique Thursday: Fall Leaves

Today’s technique is an oldie-but-goodie from Tim Holtz — used to create these fabulous fall leaves.

 

Tim calls this Wrinkle-Free Distress.

To start, you need your non-stick craft sheet, a mister of water, a piece of cardstock and a few Distress Inks.

The type of cardstock you choose will make a difference in the final outcome. I used plain, white cardstock and the inks soak right in. If you use a treated surface, like Manila tags, your colors will be more vivid.

Next, swipe your ink pads across your non-stick craft sheet so they are close together, but not touching.

Now, spritz them with water — a lot of water — until the color beads up, like this …

At this point you are ready to swipe your paper through the ink. Tim says to just lay the paper flat on the craft sheet and press it down to absorb the color. I dragged mine through the different colors to mix it up a bit.

Then, I dried the paper with my heat gun and did it again. On the second time through, I used a bit of Dusty Concord and Mustard Seed to help brighten it up a bit. Had I used a manila tag, the inks would have been brighter on their own. After drying, this is what mine looked like …

Next, I used the Tattered Leaves die by Tim Holtz/Sizzix to cut out my leaves.

Before attaching them to my tag, I took a bit of Brushed Corduroy and Walnut Stain inks to the edges. And, I thought they needed some sparkle so I spritzed them with Perfect Pearls Mists in Heirloom Gold. I bent them a bit to add dimension and adhered them to my tag.

For the rest of the tag, I applied a saying from We R Memory Keepers, wrapped around a bit of twine, and added some ink. You could easily apply the same technique to a card or scrapbook page.

If you’d like to try the technique out for yourself, I’ll be at Capture-A-Memory in Flint Township from 2-6 p.m. today. Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trick-or-Treat Canvas

My how time flies when you are having fun!

I have so much to do right now, I get overwhelmed, cannot figure out where to start and end up doing nothing. Do you ever have that problem?

Well, one thing I did manage to finish this week is a Trick-or-Treat Canvas. It is my first attempt at making a canvas and I love how it turned out!

This project was inspired by Jen Starr’s canvas, here …

I ran into a few problems … did you know Perfect Pearls Mists and Distress Inks will not work on treated canvas? Glimmer Mists will, so that is what I used on this one.

After spritzing and spraying Glimmer Mists until I liked the result, I added black paint to the edges and a bit of dry brushing to the front side.

The houses are cut from Tim Holtz/Sizzix die cuts in both cardstock and Shimmer Sheetz. The Shimmer Sheetz are then embossed with texture folders and I added a bit of alcohol ink to the silver ones.

The little bits behind the windows are cut from Reminisce paper and covered in Glastique to give them a bit of sheen. I then added some ribbons, buttons, lace, etc.

The witch is cut from Graphic 45 paper. I coated her with a thin layer of Glastique, too. It gives her the look of a canvas painting.

 

The letters are chip board from Maya Road.

I started by adhering them with Removable Glue Dots onto my non-stick craft sheet.

Then, I used Ranger Archival Ink to color the tops. This time, I didn’t want any color on the sides of the letters, so the ink pad worked well. (Don’t use Distress Ink for this — it will react with the Glastique).

Then I added a thick coat of Glastique to the top. It goes on white, but dries crystal clear.

As a final touch, I made a few dots and stripes with Liquid Pearls, added a bit of twine and Dew Drop from Robin’s Nest.

The bats are actually cut from a strip of ribbon.

I think it turned out pretty cool. It is going to be for sale at a resale shop that sells home goods in Argentine — between the Police Station and Seymour Road, on Silver Lake Road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Autumn Beauty

Perhaps it is the cool, fall-like weather we have had for the past week or the fact that Halloween and Christmas papers have been arriving at the scrapbook store, but whatever it is, I have been in the mood to scrapbook autumn.

Fortunately Bo Bunny’s new Apple Cider line arrived just in time …

These are some “rejects” taken a few years ago when we were taking my daughter’s senior photos. Even though they weren’t senior photo worthy, they are still beautiful photos that capture so much of Korie’s personality. They definitely deserve a place in a scrapbook, so this is what I created: (click on the image for a closer view)

I only had one of each paper in this collection, so I cut two of the papers in half and used them on each side to make it coordinate. I added a strip of another paper over each seam and then a larger stripe across both sheets to serve as photo mats.

I used Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain Distress Inks on the edges of the papers and the die cuts (Tim Holtz Tattered Leaves).

For the letters, I used Word Play by Tim Holtz. I cut them out of Grungeboard, then painted them with Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio Paint, stamped them with a background stamp by Studio 490 and then coated it with Glastique for a shiny, epoxy finish.

I also cut out a bit of the pattern on the paper I used for the mat and slipped the photo under it:

On the right side, I included a couple of cropped photos:

 

Then I created a little grouping using dies, pins, burlap, twine and pieces cut from some of the papers in the collection. Here’s a closer look: