Well, did I mention that I have become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator? I joined earlier this year as I love, love, love their stamps, dies, ooh, everything! My wish list from the current catalogue is an arm long and I have to keep gradually chipping away at it otherwise I would break the bank!
On the front of the current Autumn/Winter catalogue is this ornament:
Isn't it gorgeous?!!!
I just had to have a go at this so after buying the necessary stamp set and die plus paper, tulle ribbon, twine and so on, this is my version:
I was really pleased with how it turned out, despite all the mistakes I can see so clearly in the above photos! But hey, it's a prototype and I can only get better with practice, right?!!!
If you want to know more about the ornament, see the tools you need and get a link to a video tutorial, then just go take a look at my Stampin' Up! blog http://www.heavenlycrafts.com/stampinheaven/.
It took a couple of hours to make the ornament with all the die cutting but it was definitely worth it and it actually passed the hubbie test, as he said he would put it up in the house at Christmas!
Look see what I got to play with this week:
When I first saw this, I thought, "hmmm, a hunting kit, well,....". I really wasn't sure whether or not I would be able to do anything with this, but when you open the collection up, there are some amazing elements in there:
- Deer, stags, bear, eagle, rabbit
- Grenades (which you can turn into Christmas ornaments......)
- A tree (or a Christmas tree in my case ;))
- Leaves
- Ribbons
- Mats
- Stamps
- Jeep
- Binoculars
- Buttons
- Targets
All you would need, in fact for a hunting kit and more beside. So what do you do when faced with a kit like this? Obviously, you make some Christmas and birthday cards with a little bag to put them in!!!
I made in total seven 3" x 3" cards with plain white envelopes (made all by myself using my Stampin' Up! Simply Scored Scoring Tool (and try saying that quickly ;)!!! So, here are the birthday cards:
That is my attempt at a make birthday card! The Happy Birthday was made using the alpha from the kit and then covered with glitter glue after printing. The whole base of the card was actually printed and I cut out two extra deer to make a slight 3D effect. I also used distress ink on the sides of the card background.
Then I did the more girly cards using the mats and papers in the kit?
And this is the close up (don't you just love those mats?!!!):
Then the Christmas cards:
You can see I used the grenades as ornaments and covered them with glitter glue. Well, I really didn't want to do a hunting card so Christmas ornaments seemed like the next best thing ;). The base for the first card was printed out hence the pins on the grenades...do you think anyone has noticed them?!! I also added glitter glue to the background as you really can't have a Christmas card without glitter, now can you?!
Here's a close up of the tree card:
Not bad from a hunting kit, eh?!!
I then used some red card stock to create a plain bag to hold all seven cards and their envelopes (made from plain copy paper cut down to 5" x 5" and scored diagonally at 2.25" on each side):
The bag was so easy to use as I just printed a template I found on the Split coast Stampers website and cut it out. I made the handles from the scrap card stock and attached them using brads in my stash.
So, next time you see a kit and you aren't too sure what you can use it for, just remember the possibilities are endless. I reckon you can use any kit for just about any theme as this has shown!
Well, it's late Sunday night now and a glass of red wine is loudly calling my name, so I'm off to drink it!
Happy scrapping!
Yesterday, I was supposed to finalise a set of accounts and fun a payroll but oh, boy, I really didn't want to. after all, it was Saturday why should I have to work on a Saturday? Saturday is a time for playing...............so that is just what I did (Ssshh! Don't tell my hubbie ;!) ).
I spent the afternoon messing in Photoshop using the following kit from Armina Designs and Laitha's Designs:
I was actually given the full collection bundle to work with as I fell in love with the accent clusters (shown in the centre of the collection bundle preview below)when I saw them:
But actually, when I downloaded the kit and took a closer look, it was absolutely gorgeous. I'd not seen any of Armina Designs' work before and I have to say it is really lovely. The papers are amazing, truly amazing and really, the preview just does not do them justice. I dream of being able to create papers like some of the ones in this kit, so go take a look, I can promise you that you won't be disappointed!
I knew before I got the bundle that I wanted to make some cards using the accent clusters but I could not resist using the papers too. So, I made a set of eight cards and have had dreadful trouble trying to photograph them - I actually spent. less time making the cards than I did taking the photos! Despite photographing some of these outside this morning, I just could not get it right. Probably the damp, misty morning and using my purple stamping pad didn't help, so I had to discard those. Then I tried inside my office (100% artificial light :(). I managed to get this one:
However, you can see that these are far from perfect so I tried again just taking a shot of each card....the following close ups are a mixture of the least worst photos!
See what I mean about the papers:
I know it has come up with a purple tinge, but isn't that one of the most gorgeous papers you've ever seen? All I had to do was add ribbon and the card didn't need anything else. And take a look at this one:
I used a Stampin' Up! stamp and punch for this although really, it didn't need it as the paper speaks for itself!
For the accent clusters, all I did was print the cards and add some Stampin' Up! Dazzling Details Silver Sparkle (silver glitter glue in other words!):
It is such a quick and easy way to the clusters and make a simple but effective card. For the cards made using the clusters, I just added pearls and gems:
Genuinely, it has taken longer to take the photos and blog about the cards than it did top make them! If you've ever had any doubts about your capabilities as a card maker, then just try doing something similar yourself, it is so quick and easy with a digital kit, and if you have some ribbon, brads and so on in your stash, you can really make the printed card pop!
I have my eye on another kit now, so am off to ban that one! Have a lovely Sunday afternoon, and if you do make some cards, let me have a look! I'd love to see them :)
Happy scrapping!
I've been busy with craft fairs again and seriously need more hours in each day to get some Christmas cards made! Why is it that time just drags when I'm preparing accounts yet flies away when I start crafting?!!! Hubbie is forever coming into my office to see what I am up to and it is only then that I realise several hours have passed since the "I won't be long" comment I made to him when he asked me what time I would finish..... Seriously, someone needs to put him in a time warp or something for me so that as soon as I say a time, he goes into the time warp or time capsule or something so that he only comes out when I've finished yet thinks only 5 minutes or half an hour has passed! That way, I wouldn't get into trouble for saying I'll only be ten minutes and then taking two hours to finish up.......
Anyhow,this is the latest project I have been in trouble with for not time keeping properly:
Please excuse the poor quality of the photos. I reckon I must definitely need new glasses as they most certainly looked like they were on focus when I took the photos!
This is a one page album made using a single sheet of kraft cardstock and this amazing kit from Digilicious Designs:
Isn't it gorgeous? I love those colours and that parrot is so cute! Even better, it is currently on sale at only $9 for the whole bundle - a real bargain ;).
I matted the album with kit papers and, of course, had to use my distress inks too...I don't know how you feel about Kraft card stock but to me it just seems to cry out for a bit of distressing. I don't think I could use it without getting some ink on it! The ribbon was added before I adhered the paper to the front and back cover - I have learnt from experience to think first, then stick, as I have been known to leave the ribbon until I've almost finished an album and then have problems trying to cover up the fact that I should have placed the ribbon under the paper, not on top!
Anyhow, this is the inside of the album:
As you can see, I made pockets for all the pages except the first one (but there were also pockets between the album pages due to the way I cut and folded the card stock) and then created some tags in Photoshop (there were none in the bundle). I made the label using my ever faithful Stampin' Up! round tag punch (unfortunately, this is now retired :( ) and rounded the corners. I must confess, I did have to trim each tag slightly due to me being somewhat overenthusiastic with the glue when sticking the edges of the pockets down but I take the view that this is a prototype album and therefore I definitely have room for manoeuvre when it comes to making mistakes!
Here's a close up of the tags:
The clock looks really effect (imho) on the tags and I was so pleased with how that brad turned out (on the tag second from the left at the top). It is actually just cut out and stuck to the tag using 3D foam pads but it looks so realistic in the photograph and oh dear, I've just noticed from the above photo that I've managed to leave a bit from the top of a 3D foam pad underneath the parrot...you just can't get the staff, can you?!!!
Let me know what you think and please, have a go yourself at this as the one page album is really quick (well.....that would be quick in my idea of time, and you only need to ask hubbie how inaccurate that can be ;) ). Well, I'm off to finalise a set of accounts now and with a bit of luck I'll be able to get some more crafting in later on.
Happy Scrapping!
So, as I mentioned in my last post, I am now on the creative team for Nibbles Skribbles (woohoo!) and the first kit I chose to work with was a mini:
As I mentioned in my last post, I was going to use an empty coffee tin for this but decided to use that old standby, a toilet roll holder. Very exotic! I cu the base of the top hat from cardstock and then adhered this to the roll using the printed paper. I used some lace form my stash to decorate it, and made some flowers using a die to arrive at this:
And this is the other side:
I wasn't quite sure what to do about the top, so I ended up using part of the toilet roll trimmed with paper and ribbon. I then added a small mini album made using two of the Stampin' Up! Christmas Ornament dies. I've been longing to use these and this is the first chance I have had! So please excuse the blurry photos and take a peek inside the top hat First the top:
The album is in the shape of a Christmas Ornament and fits nicely inside the hat:
For a first attempt, it's not bad but I know I can see all the flaws and mistakes here, especially where the cutting out isn't quite perfect. I can also see how I could have done the top of the hat differently, especially after my husband very kindly told me what he would have done....after I had finished it!
Anyhow, it just shows that you can do just about anything with a digital kit if you put your mind to it, so why not give hybrid a try yourself? If you do, I would love to see what you make so feel free to post a link here,
Happy Scrapping!
Well, here is yet another album, this time made from just one sheet of cardstock. I used this kit:
Isn't it gorgeous? I love the vintage feel of this kit and that is such an adorable bicycle! It's a collaboration between Aimee Harrison Design Studios, Digilicious Designs and Snips & Snails Designs and they have done such a good job!
Anyhow, I started with the sheet of kraft cardstock which I folded in half length ways and then again width ways. I then folded each half in again to make the four pages. Each page was matted with papers printed from the kit, and then decorated using kit elements:
I added the organza ribbon to fasten the album together, and decorated the album using kit elements. The flowers were taken straight from the kit, I just printed out two or three and cut each out individually before arranging. the buttons/brads are also form the kit. I just resized them to fit my 3/4" circle punch to save having any wobbly edges when hand cutting!
The tags were printed to fit the album and then I rounded the corners and added a tag at the top of each one using the Stampin' Up! round tab punch.
I've been busy making stuff for craft fairs recently and will try and get photos of those posted. I've made post it note holders, small pencil boxes, seed packet wraps, and calendars (trying to get a start on stocking fillers for Christmas ;) ) and have plans for lots more. The trouble is, that whilst there is so much you can make and so many free tutorials out there, the one limiting factor I have is time. There just aren't enough hours in the day or enough days in the week, so if you have any to spare, feel free to pass them along!
Then whilst I managed to take a weekend off to take my daughter back to Plymouth where she is at University, I actually managed to forget to take my camera. I remembered half way down the M5 but how I managed to leave my camera behind is beyond me because it's like forgetting to take my right hand with me! I always have either a camera or a laptop with me when I am out and about! It must be old age setting in so I dread to think what I will be like in a couple of years!
Finally, some news! I am really excited as I am now a member of Nibbles Skribbles Creative Team and I am really looking forward to creating some hybrid items for her. I have my first kit downloaded, I just need to print out the papers and so on as I have an idea for something I haven't made before. I'll be altering a coffee tin, so watch this space to see what I come up with!
Happy scrapping!
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