Thursday 29 November 2012

Deck the Halls


Last May I was lucky enough to spend a week as the guest of Rayher who are based in Laupheim, Germany. I was demonstrating at their open house show where all of their Retailers go to find out about new ranges and pick up a few techniques and tips along the way.

While I was mooching about I saw a mini workshop where people were making the most gorgeous Christmas decorations from pearlised paper. One of the decorations I was particularly enamoured with so I filled it away in the old memory banks for later.

Last week my wife asked for a few ideas for decorating the windows of her office when the idea came back into focus, I hope you like it, it's a great activity for older kids to do as well and it looks really classy, you can just imagine it in the window of a posh department store at this time of year..... anyway I'll stop waffling and let you decide.

Start with six squares of pearlised paper ( I'm going with 13mm square) and I'm using Inspire me papers 160gsm Ivory Pearlised paper which is perfect for this project. Fold it in half along the diagonal and half again. Next, take a pair of sharp scissors and cut from the folded edge straight up the centre, stopping about 5-10mm from the edge.



After making the first cut make two more either side making sure that they are equally spaced, you don't have to measure though it's not that crucial!



Once you have finished cutting unfold the square. Take the two arrows in the centre and fold them back over each other and secure with a staple, the smaller the stapler the better, I use the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher er Stapler which is ideal. Turn the square over and repeat with the next two arrows and repeat a further twice turning the square over each time.



You should end up with something like the first box below, these look great by themselves strung together in a variety of sizes. make a further 5 shapes and pinch them together by the tips before securing in the centre with a staple. Go around the shape with your stapler
joining them together. Finally, we should have a magnificent snowflake.



For the finishing touch, what better than the Sizzlits Decorative Strip Snowflake Rosette by
Tim Holtz. Simply cut from the same paper, decorate with a few adhesive pearls and pop it in the centre.



Quick, easy and above all great to look at. these are great if you make them in a few different sizes and colours too.

 

Triangle Heaven



Last week I was at the Knitting and Stitching Show at Harrogate demonstrating the Big Shot machines and dies, with Cotton Patch,  it was hard work but a lot of fun.
I really enjoy showing of the Big Shot and it reminded me again of why I like this cutting system so much.
I must have cut hundreds of these 2" finished half-square triangles.  Using die 657607  I was able to cut 32 triangles at a time , so quickly and precisely.
I  love this machine! 
So now I have ready cut pieces for my next scrap quilt, and I might even be able to start it before Christmas - alright that might be a little fanciful - but I have got the beginnings of a new quilt with very little effort
So I'll say goodbye for this week and show you something else next week.

A cute layout !


Hi everyone!

Today let’s get back to layouts! Here is a layout with my big boy named "Cute Boy“.



Please find below the list of the dies I used:

657559 Framelits, Frame Shield with crown & wings
658039 Placa Ornamental

Supply List:

Cardstock: American Crafts
Papers: 7Gypsies
Alphabets: American Crafts
Stickers: Pebbles
Embellishments: American Crafts
Wood Stars: Studio Calico
Washi Tape: 7Gypsises
Ink sprays: Glimmer Mist Tattered Angels
Ink: Distress Vintage Photo
Masks: Pause Créative, The Crafter's Workshop


I had fun working on my background using a mask from The Crafter's Workshop and ink sprays. I also added hexagon shapes with a Pause Créative mask and Distress Vintage Photo ink.

Once my background is done, I cut out two typically masculine large accents in pattern paper with my Big Shot. I inserted the first one under the picture; the second one is truncated and glued on the edge of the lay-out.
To make my paper accents stand out, I outlined every detail with a thin-tipped black pen.

Then I used my Distress Vintage photo ink to add some shades on the whole layout, which makes it even more masculine.

As a finishing touch, I added some 3D and wooden embellishments and made some neat splashes with Indian ink.






I hope you like my layout! See you next week with another new creation!

Karine

Bonjour tout le monde !

Aujourd'hui le retour des pages avec une page sur mon grand garçon intitulée "Cute boy" !

Voici la liste des Dies utilisés ainsi que la liste du matériel

657559 Framelits, Frame Shield with crown & wings
658039 Placa Ornamental

Matériel :

Cardstock : American Crafts
Papiers :7Gypsies
Alphabets : American Crafts
Autocollants : Pebbles
Embellissements : American Crafts
Etoiles en bois : Studio Calico
Washi Tape : 7Gypsises
Encres en spray : Glimmer Mist Tattered Angels
Encre : Distress Vintage Photo
Pochoirs : Pause Créative, The Crafter's Workshop

Je me suis amusée ici à retravailler mon fond de page avec un pochoir Alphabets de la marque The Crafter's Workshop et des encres en spray. J'ai également rajouté des motifs hexagonaux avec un pochoir Pause Créative et de l'encre Distress Vintage Photo.

Une fois mon fond prêt j'ai découpé à la Big Shot deux larges décorations typiquement masculines dans du papier imprimé.La première est glissée sous la photo et la seconde est collée en bord de page et tronquée.
Afin de bien faire ressortir mes décorations en papier, j'ai souligné chaque détail avec un stylo noir fin.

L'ensemble de ma page est ensuite ombrée avec de la Distress Vintage photo afin de rendre ma page encore plus masculine.

Quelques embellissements en volume et en bois sont rajoutés pour terminer ainsi que quelques fines éclaboussures à l'encre de chine.

J'espère que ma page vous aura plu, RDV la semaine prochaine pour une nouvelle création !

Karine

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Corrugated cardboard and Christmas wrapping paper: December Daily album covers!



Happy Wednesday everyone,

Can you imagine that we are already reaching December at the end of this week?!? Time really flies, doesn’t it.

I’m sure many of you are planning to make a ‘December Daily’ – a mini album for storing precious Christmas memories. This year I decided to create one for my family, too. However, I’m not even aiming to document each day of December, but to make a few scrapbook pages of some of our Christmas preparation traditions.

The covers for my album I made myself from corrugated cardboard. For covering the front and back I upcycled some Christmas wrapping paper – isn’t this a nice way of using your last season leftover papers?

I have to say that I’m quite happy of how this project turned out, and I’m sure these covers will keep on inspiring me to fill the album with holiday season memories!

Front
Back


Items used:
How to make:
  1. Cut two rectangles (15 cm x 20 cm) of corrugated cardboard
  2. Cut 3 cm wide strips of Christmas wrapping paper. Fold in half.
  3. Using Christmas wrapping paper strips weave two 15 cm x 20 cm sheets; one for front cover and one for back. Sew around the woven edges with zigzag for securing the strip ends. Glue the woven sheets on the corrugated cardstock pieces. Trim the edges.
  4. Paint both sides of the back and front covers with white gesso or acrylic paint. Let dry.
  5. Die cut a large Fancy Label of scrap paper. Ink the edges of the album covers (front and back) using the die cut image as mask. Decorate the corners with stamped snowflakes (Merry Christmas Tree stamp set).
  6. Tape or glue a piece of Christmas wrapping paper on scrap paper. Die cut a title panel with ‘Ironwork’ Framelits die. Glue to the bottom of front cover.
  7. Die cut title with Decorative Strip Alphabet Die using old book pages and dark brown cardstock. Assemble the letters and glue to Christmas wrapping paper panel.
  8. Die cut a large 'Fancy Label' from cream cardstock. Ink the edges with purple stamping ink and doodle with white gel pen. Glue to album cover.
  9. Die cut a Christmas Cardinal image twice; once from old book paper and once from dark brown cardstock. The bird will have the book page pattern and the branch will be of dark brown cardstock.
    Ink the bird with purple stamping ink. Glue the bird on top of the branch. Glue on the Fancy Label.
  10. Punch the holes for book rings to the front and back covers and the album pages in between.

Have a nice and inspiring week.
Love,



Tuesday 27 November 2012

Tag & circle fun!



Hello everyone!

Today I would like to show you a fun and textured layout, made with simple dies that you can use in very different ways.

This is what you'll need to create this layout : 





First of all, round the edges of your first patterned paper and glue it on your black cardstock.

Cut a 5x12" piece of paper into a second patterned paper and glue it on your background.

Then, the fun begins! :D

Grab a piece of white cardstock and play with Distress inks. Simply rub one color on a piece of plastic, or a craft sheet if you have one, spray water on top and then dip your piece of paper into the ink. Dry with your heat gun and repeat the previous step several time until you are satisfied with the way your background looks.

Dry the paper with your heat gun.

Then run it through your Big Shot, using the Tag L Die. You can also stamp on it to add more visuals elements.

I then cut my three pictures with the Framelits Circles and added a metal circle around each photo.

To finish, I created my own embellishments with both the Framelits Circles and the Framelits Scallop Circles.

Mix them all together and you get a fun layout!
Take care!
Céline

Monday 26 November 2012

Waiting for Christmas



Good afternoon everyone! How are you?
Yesterday I have taught a Christmas workshop :) Using sizzix products is so fun and you can create really amazing things! Today I want to show you something from my mini book :)



Materials you need:

Here some shots about my mini, really fun and really easy! I had a lot of fun using the mebossing folders and the embossing w stamps folder, they give a real cool touch to your projects!

HOW TO MAKE IT:

I have created a pocket folding in a half a white bazzill cardstock and kraft cardstock for the inside. size 13cmx30,5, fold them in half and sew on the left and right side. I have added two little tags and stamped "december" and add a maya road white flower with the hot gun glue.




for the inside of this mini album I have created many lovely and tiny journaling cards with a lot of details. the size of the little cards is 6,5cm x 8,5 cm.

Take a look:




Stay tuned because I'll post something more about this lovely mini in the following days :) so follow me:)


Sunday 25 November 2012

Thrift Store Makeover



I love finding pieces in thrift stores and bringing new life to them. Here is a little shelf that had great trim but the backing was pretty ugly.


I decided to make a mosaic of matboard tiles embossed with my Sizzix Textured Impression folders to back it with. 

  • Gather matboard scraps in coordinating colors. 
  • Cut a stack of of 2 1/2"squares.
  • Emboss each square by running through Big Shot die cut machine using Sizzix Textured Impression folders (I used folders that I designed :-)). Distress each square using a blending tool and brown ink, shading the edges darker and leaving the middle light.  
  • Cut matboard backing boards to fit each of the three shelves. Distress them with brown ink. 
  • Line up squares in alternating rows, staggering the positioning. Cut where needed to continue pattern from shelf to shelf.
  • Use an ATG gun to adhere squares to backing board. Start with the middle row and work out to the sides. I added some thin matboard strips to each side to fill in extra space on the sides.
  • Adhere mosaic panels to the back of the shelf using ATG gun.


This was a fun project- I always love rescuing a piece and giving it a second chance.

Does anyone else like to recycle old furniture using craft supplies? Thanks for stopping by!

Eileen


Saturday 24 November 2012

Quilting Blog Hop - Day 6




Hello everyone!!!! Finally it's my turn and I was so so excited, I couldn't wait to post my project! Finally is Saturday and I am soo so happy! This Blog hop is a blast and I am so honored and happy to can be part of it! Have you seen all the other amazing projects over here? It's so fun to can hop from a blog to another and to see many fantastic ideas to use:) Don't you find?





Monday 19th November - Angela Southey
Tuesday 20th November - Tacha Bruecher/Fat Quarterly
Wednesday 21st November - Katy Jones
Thursday 22nd November - Hadley Gordon
Friday 23rd November - Lynne Goldsworthy
Saturday 24th November - Lory Bucaria

To be in with a chance of winning a Big Shot machine and a selection of our quilting dies worth over £130, click here! Closing date: Wednesday 28th November 2012 at 10am GMT.




Ok let's start, as I said above I am so excited! I am not a professional sewer but I enjoy so much to use fabrics in my projects and to create something so colorful and sweet to fill my scraproom or my home or to donate to one of my lovely friends:) hihi ^__^

Today we will create a lovely christmas pillow:) I adore how much it is soft!!!

Materials you need:

How to make it:

first of all choose the fabric for your pillow, I have chosen the red one with pink dots.
I had some christmas fabrics with trees drawings so I thought to create a sort of puzzle with the hexagons to remake that drawing.

Cut a stripe of 70 x40 cm and fold it in half.

I have Cut many different hexagons from the christmas trees fabric and I have rebuild the same subjects assembling the hexagons like in the  next figure:




Place the hexagons and the embellishments you would like to insert on the pillow front to try how they will look together before to sew them to the background fabric.


Now you have to sew the hexagons on the front of your pillow cover, one at a time. After cut three medium hexagons from the second fabric, I have chosen a green fabric to mix the colors. Sew them as well. Finally handstitch a wood button, sew the felt label "joy" and a piece of ribbon through a christmas bell. everything on the front cover of your pillow.



At the end make a sort of pocket for your pillow, sewing the two sides , the left and the right on the reverse of your fabric.

insert you ikea pillow inside the bag you have just created and sew the top side with a normal stitching point:)



You will donate it or enjoy it for christmas :)
Have you had fun with it? I hope you like it :)

Love, Lory


For more information about the Sizzix patchwork and quilting range, click here

Friday 23 November 2012

Creative fun with Ornaments and Frames


Hi friends!
Sometimes you look at your die collection and you have the feeling you want to do something really different, maybe a bit crazy? You look at your dies and then...that's it, you have an idea that simply HAS TO BE DONE!
That's what happened to me last days - the stubborn idea came to my head and what could I do? Just let it happen I guess :) I created a journal page inspired by Russian folklore and fairy tales based on 2 ornamental Sizzix dies. The named it "Maria Morievna, beautiful princess"  - ok, ok I know :) My imagination went a bit too wild :)


maria moriewna

Here are the supplies I used for this project:
- 657735- Sizzix Sizzlits Die - Baroque Ornament 
- 657736 - Sizzix Sizzlits Die - Frame, Renaissance 
- gesso - Ranger
- Liquid Pearls - Ranger
- Glossy Accents - Ranger
- Dylussions - Black Marble - Ranger
- Luminarte - Silks acrylic enamel - gold, red, orange
- soft pencil
- washi tape
- Crystals - Prima Marketing
- dimensional sticker
- old pages from 2 books (one in Russian), 
- patterned paper in shades of pink, orange, red (Domestic Goddess - 7 Dots Studio)

How it was done? Very simple!

- First I cut out 2 ornaments from patterned paper and prepare the background: I glued the russian text on the top of a slightly bigger book page, added some washi tape here and there and covered everything with a delicate, semi-transparent coat of gesso. 

- When it was dry I cut out my face from the photo, a dress from patterned paper and glued on the background on the right side of the journal. Then on the opposite side I glued 1 part of Baroque Ornament, which I'd cut in halves before.


maria moriewna det 1


- I composed a crown from Renaissance Frame and necklace from the remaining part of the Baroque Ornament. I added a dimesional sticker I had in my stash which I'd cut into smaller pieces.

- Time for painting  I added some tea splashes, Dylussions splashes and painted the crown and necklace with my fingers using "Silks" from Luminarte. 

- Finally I added some Glossy Accents, Liquid Pearls and I used a very soft pencil to create shades, which give extra "depth to the page. And it was done :)

maria moriewna det 2

I hope I inspired you to look again at your dies and think about how to use them in a bit different way:)
Have fun creating!
Finn



Thursday 22 November 2012



Hey!

Here I am again today with new cards that can be realized in the twinkle of an eye!

Here are the two dies used today:

Butterflies4-658290

Papers: 7Gypsies
Tape: 7gypsies
Stamp: Craft Origine
Ink: Black Versafine
Spray ink: Tattered Angels Rum Punch
Others: Lace, cloth

Cut your papers in size 20x20cms. Then fold them in half to obtain cards which size is 10x20cms. I like working with this size when making cards

I chose the simplest decoration possible and worked with cloth.

The cloth, which was white at first, has been coloured with "Rum Punch" Glimmer Mist spray. Once it is dry, I cut two different shapes out of it: a fringed flowers trio and a butterfly.

The Flower die is absolutely perfect for cloth cuts. However the butterfly shape was first "printed“ in the cloth with the die, then cut out with scissors.

Then I embellished my cards in the simplest way possible to make my cut shapes stand out.








See you next Thursday!

Thanks,

Karine

Bonjour,

De retour en ce jeudi avec de nouvelles cartes à réaliser en un clin d'oeil !

Voici les deux dies utilisés aujourd'hui :

Butterflies 4-658290

Papiers :7Gypsies
Scotch : 7gypsies
Tampon : Craft Origine
Encre : Versafine noire
Encre en spray : Tattered Angels Rum Punch
Divers : dentelle, tissu

Les papiers sont au format 20x20cm ils sont ensuite pliés en deux pour avoir des cartes au format 10x20cm, un format que j'aime beaucoup travailler en carterie :)

J'ai choisi la décoration minimaliste et de travailler le tissu.

Le tissu blanc à l'origine est coloré avec de l'encre en spray Glimmer Mist couleur "Rum Punch", une fois le tissu sec j'ai découpé deux formes, un trio de fleurs frangées et un papillon.

Le die Flower est parfait pour les découpes tissu. Par contre pour le papillon je me suis servie du die pour imprimer simplement ma forme sur le tissu, j'ai ensuite découpé avec des ciseaux.

J'ai ensuite décoré mes cartes le plus simplement possible en mettant en avant mes formes découpées.

A jeudi prochain !

Merci

Karine

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Ideal home show for Christmas


Last week I was invited to participate with a presentation at the Christmas Craft Theatre at the Ideal Home Show in London. The Ideal Home show is an event that takes place at the Earls Court exhibition centre and while the Christmas event takes place in November and it is a recent addition, the original Ideal Home show takes place in March and has been going on for more than a hundred years!
Of course I chose to showcase Sizzix! These were the projects I demonstrated:


They are all made with tim Holtz dies as the brief was Christmas crafting, I choose some of his latest dies. One of them is now part of my ATFCP - All Time Favourite Craft Product! - the Tattered Poinsettia die with the matching Texture Impression embossing folder.

You can see as well that I did some boxes using another of my favourite dies from the last release, which is the Pillowbox, also one of Tim's designs. It makes making a pillowbox a treat rather than something time consuming and hard to achieve.


One of the poinsettias ended up as a candle decoration. I attached the fabric (green polyester and white 100% cotton coloured with red distress inks) to cardstock to give it a bit of stability.

 

The lovely Leonie Pujol was the demonstrator just before me. I have known Leonie for quite a few years now, but since she moved out of London I havent since her that often. It was so great to get to see her in action in real life (and not through the TV!) She is so talented and such an inspirational person, one of the true greats of our little craft industry.


And on Sunday, Leonie was off, so Laurence Llewelyn Bowen did his thing just before me. The man is so funny and such a show man. I enjoyed it! But it was a bit daunting going on stage after him.


The show has such a lovely Christmas feel to it, with many Carol singers including a gospel choir.


The view from tthe first floor was amazing. Now I am full in the spirit of the Season!