Andrea's Stampin' Moments

Tutorial Tuesday - Christmas Ornament

  Now I know that I am probably the last one to try making one of these ornaments, but it is one I have been going to try for years.  So I went in search of some easy instructions to help me through, and I found some absolutely beautiful ones you would not believe!

Some were quite large and I knew that I wanted smaller ones, and some even used a die to cut and emboss - how fantastic would that be!  It would certainly make them a lot quicker, which is why I only made one.

Firstly I had to work out how big to make the centre triangle.  So punching my circle using a 1 3/8" punch I took my ruler and measured across approx. 1/3 of the way down the circle.

Using this measurement I cut out a triangle of equal sides, but found it was still a little big, so I trimmed each side down until the triangle sat inside the circle.  You need it to sit in the circle so that when you use a bone folder to score, the points of the triangle meet.

Punch out 20 circles in total, score them all using your triangle, and decorate if you like - I have used a star stamp and some AED White Fizz glitter.

To begin joining them it is very simple.  You need to form a top and bottom using five for each.

Then take the final 10 and join them as in the picture.  I found the glue pen made this very easy.  Work your way around with the top and bottom, remembering to put some thread in the centre to hang!

I am without a camera for the next few days - taken on camp by our son, but in between the Christmas cooking I hope to make a few things, so expect to be bombarded over the weekend!

Have a great week!

Tutorial Tuesday - Box measurements

  Firstly, I have to give a huge thank you to everyone that left a comment on yesterdays card, you are all so kind with your words, and taking the time to write them.

Today I had been asked to give a bit of a description on how to put a box together, and although I don't make complicated boxes, I think you can dress them up to be very special.

To work out what size I am wanting, I write down the inner base size that I would like - I draw either a little square or rectangle and put beside each side the length.  Then I decide how deep it is going to be and I write that down in each corner.  The box today is square - 12cm x 12cm with 4.5cm sides so I need a 21cm square piece of cardstock scored at 4.5cm in from each side.

I then simply clip in to the score line on two sides.

Add some adhesive and you are done.

To work out the lid I take the centre measurement and add 2.5mm so in this case it will be 12.25cm x 12.25cm so that it easily slips over the top.  I like the sides of the lid to be shorter so that I can see the base for a bit of contrast, but you don't have to.  With this box the sides of the lid are 2.5cm, so I will need a square of 17.25cm and I would score in from each side 2.5cm.

This particular designer paper was very sturdy so it didn't need any additional support, but when I use a lighter weight paper I add double the border so that I can fold it over twice to give the sides strength....hope that makes sense!

I still had some of this paper over which is why I thought I would use it to make a matching box, and I had such fun with the Touch of Nature set, it made the decision easy.

Have a great day!

Gift of Love

  I have used a technique today, called grid technique, and it is simply scoring lines in you cardstock. 

I like to score the lines first, either on an angle/bias or at right angles, both give a different look.  In the Christmas card I have then stamped the SU! background Linen in River Rock and sponged the edges.  You can of course stamp an image on your cardstock first before scoring and then stamp another image after to show up the score lines.

There is a lot you can do with this simple technique, and I thought I would show another card I made a little while ago that I may have posted, but it shows the grid at right angles.  Once again I have stamped the image after just so the score lines are highlighted, but here I could have stamped the image and then scored, and highlighted the grid by sponging extra colour on.

I hope you are having success at the races today!

Tutorial Tuesday - Christmas Decoration

When I first saw this decoration on the JustRite web site, I knew I had to make it.  So when my long awaited order arrived yesterday this was the first thing I did....well after I unpacked and put aside other peoples orders and found room on my floor to spread the stock out...then I made this.

This beautiful ornament was designed by Kellie at Polished to Perfection.  People amaze me with their creativity, and Kellie has made some incredible things using the JustRite products.  Pop on over and take a look for yourself!

A decoration is not the easiest of things to take a picture of when you don't have a Christmas tree out to hang it on, but I hope you can get the effect of what has been done.

 

This is the Harmony Classic Circle Stamper III and one of the borders from the Christmas Stamp Ensemble.  I have inserted the border in to the stamper and then stamped the image twice in Moulin Rouge Palette Ink.  I have repeated this process with a different border and stamped the image twice with Jardin Moss Palette Ink.

 

To cut the circles I have used my Cuttlebug and Spellbinders, and rather than facing the cutting surface up as they suggest, I have turned everything around, with the cutting mat on the bottom, then my paper, the spellbinders and lastly the 'C' placemat.  This gives me a better view of where the cut will be made.

Repeat this with all of the stamped borders.

 

For the centre I used my new complete Brayton Font  (25pt) to make the words and personlise it.  I stamped this image twice and cut out the circle that is one step down in size from the centre so that it will hang freely.  Decorate as you like and then taking a length of fishing line or gold/silver thread fol in half and secure in the centre.

I have used a bead at the top and bottom to help hold it in place.

If you are using double sided designer paper like I have used here from Stampin' Up!, you need only cut two scallop pieces and the same sized centre as the borders, but if you are using single sided then cut four.

Taking two of the same borders adhere them to the designer paper and fold in half.  Fold the single borders in half also.  Hopefully from this photo you will see how it all comes together - had a bit of bother taking photos and holding the circles in place!  Adhere half the green border to the back of the half red border, and move around till you have all four pieces in place, but do not fix off the last section until you have inserted the centre pieces.

I hope this all makes sense, and I am off to make two more for the others!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Tutorial Tuesday - Bandana Technique

Sorry for the lateness of this post, we have had visitors and all sorts of things going on this week - and it's only Tuesday!

When I first saw this technique I thought of so many applications you could use to make it different.  Today I have done it in the traditional way (as far as I know), but the same could be applied to a plain sponged background, a brayered background, or using glossy cardstock.

The stamped image is from the Inque Boutique set 'French Quarter' and the words from Papertrey Ink.

The cardstock is Old Olive from Stampin' Up!

Starting with a plain piece of light cardstock tap your piece of sponge on your stamp pad to pick up some colour, and using a circular motion apply the ink to your cardstock.

 

Work randomly across the cardstock selecting different co-ordinating colours, until the cardstock is completely covered.

 

Next, selecting a solid stamp andblack ink, stamp the images across the cardstock.

 

Now all you need to do is decorate the stamped image with a white gel pen to give the 'bandana' look.

See you tomorrow with another look at Christmas.

Tutorial Tuesday - Bag-a-lope

Sorry for the lateness of todays post, but we have been out suit shopping/hiring.  Yes, they now wear suits to Year 10 formals, and they learn all the dances, which is fantastic.

The bag-a-lope is a great little idea if you are stuck and need something put together quickly.  You can use just about any size envelope to make it, and I find it is handy to have the C6 for smaller items, and the C5 - I think the next size up is C5 - for larger gifts.

Now some of the shots were out of focus as it turnded out, so I have some gaps between each photo, but I shall do my best to explain.

In the main image I have used a stamp from the Inque Boutique set 'French Quarter', and coloured the stamp with Stampin' Up! waterbased markers.  The ribbon is from Papertrey Ink.

Today I have used a C6 envelope, and because the seam runs the length I have sealed it.  Trim the top by cutting about .5cm in, or use decorative scissors.

 

Score the three unopened ends - here it is 1.5cm in from the edge - but you can alter this depending on how wide you would like the sides to be.  Make sure you fold the score lines well in both directions to make the next step a little easier.

  

Put your hand inside the envelope and gently crease the score lines and push the bottom up.  You should end up with the bottom looking a bit like the photo with two triangles at each end.  Place a piece of double sided tape on each and seal underneath.

 

Finish by decorating and making two holes at the top for the ribbon.  I have left the top open on this one, but you can also fold it down and then tie off with ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Tutorial Tuesday - Pouncing

This is  a great little technique because you can use so many different mediums with it, and each will achieve a different result.

Today I am going to use Liquid Pearls, because it will also give some dimension, as well as colour and shine!

I have used two stamp sets here, the Christmas Tree is from Kitchen Sink Stamps, and the sentiment from Stampin' Up!

The ink is the Palette Hybrid colours Moulin Rouge and Giverney Green, both of which should be in stock any day now!

I paper pierced the red cardstock under the words and added a dollop of the Ruby Red Liquid Pearls above the trees.  The main cardstock colour is 'Kiwi Crush' from BBP.

I use an ice-cream container lid for these messy jobs, because I can take it away to clean and leave my work space ready to go on!  You will also need glossy cardstock cut to the finished size, and two pieces of scrunched up glad wrap.

Place a dollop of each colour Liquid Pearls you are going to use on your work surface.

Dipping your plastic wrap in the lighter shade you are going to use first, 'pounce' the colour on to the glossy cardstock in an up and down motion, getting more colour as needed.  Leave some white spaces for the second colour.

Repeat with your second colour and allow to dry.

 

The Ruby Red covered really easily, so next time I will use a little more of the Gold Pearl and see what that looks like.

Have a great day,

Tutorial Tuesday - Folded Gift Box

  I know I have probably said this before, but I love taking a piece of cardstock and turning it in to something more than just a piece of paper.

This box is the perfect size for little goodies, and with the Christmas theme I have used today you can see what I will be using it for.

The stars were cut using the star dies from Spellbinders, and yes this is the first time I have used them since I bought them at the beginning of the year - I knew they would come in handy!

The words and centre star are from the SU! set Wishing You, which was one of my favourites for last season.  The cardstock is Wild Wasabi, and I have stamped it with the Holiday Spirit set.

Start with an A4 piece of cardstock and decorate to suit the occasion.

 

I am using my Scor-Pal so I will be using inches.  I have scored 2 1/2" in from both of the long edges.

 

Turned my cardstock and scored in from both edges 4 7/8".

 

Using a bone scorer crease all of the score lines in both directions.  If you fold both ways you will find it much easier to assemble.

 

With the wrong side of the cardstock facing, fold the side across and line the centre crease up with the side crease ( hard to describe!!).  Hopefully the pictures will help.

 

Repeat with all corners.

 

To form the box, fold the sides flaps across, (a little piece of tape inside here to hold it together helps).

 

Using a hand held punch, punch two holes in the tops of both sides and thread ribbon through.

 

This side view may make it a little easier to see.

Thanks for stopping by today.  See you tomorrow!

Tutorial Tuesday - Faux Stitching

  How time flies!  This was started yesterday ready for Tuesday morning, but I have only now completed it.

Todays very simple technique is called faux stitching, and if you have never tried it, you will love it.  You can have any colour thread for this because all you need is a marker and you are good to go.

I usually use this more often with a white gel pen (I love the white stitching on darker cardstock), but decided to give a coloured marker a go this time.

 

Stamp your image on the finished size piece of cardstock.

 

Using a ruler and paper piercer, as well as a piercing mat (to protect you work space), work your way along the edge of the cardstock, and repeat on all sides.

 

 

Using your marker, run along the holes to form the stitches.

 

With this card I have then lightly sponged around the edge,...

 

...and used a paper distresser along the edges.

 

If you like the Lizzie Anne Design stamp set drop me an email as I am about to do another order for this company!

Thanks for stopping by today,

 

Supplies :  Stamps - Lizzie Anne Design - The Little Online Card Shop;  Ink and designer paper- Inque Boutique;  sponge, paper distresser, piercing mat and tool - The Little Online Card Shop

Tutorial Tuesday - Diaper fold gift pouch

When I first saw this a few years a go now, I loved how simple, quick and easy it was, and how lovely the end result looked.  And it can suit just about any occasion, and with Christmas now creeping closer these little ideas are good to draw on for simple gifts to give.

You can change the size of this to suit what you are putting in, as long as you start with a square you can't go wrong.  This one was made with a  21cm x 21cm square sheet of double sided designer paper, but stamped cardstock can be used as well, as long as it is not too thick. 

The flowers were stamped with a Papertrey Ink stamp set using Inque Boutiques ink pad 'Savoy Green', cut out and  FTI  brads from the Wintertime collection to finish off the centres.

If using double sided designer paper, decide which is to be your right side, and fold in half diagnally.

Take the bottom folded corner across to the other side and crease.  I found that this works best if you aim for just above half way, but play around with it until it looks right.

Take the opposite side across and crease.

Then fold the top down and over, and decorate.

How easy was that?

Have a great day,

Tutorial Tuesday - Watercolour with markers

Watercolouring with markers is a quick and easy way to get the watercolour look, and most of us probably have some sort of water based markers we can use.

I have used a stamp from the Stampin' Up! set Bloomin' with Beauty and designer paper from Inque Boutiques 'Cabana' series.  The brads are from FTI and also available from TLOC.

To begin stamp your image on water colour cardstock using a permanent ink like Staz-on.

Using your marker lightly shade where you want the image to have shadow or appear darker.

You can use a paint brush and dip it in water or an aquapainter to move the colour on your image.  I like to draw the colour out to where it needs to be in straight strokes, and to give a graduation in the colour.

With the flowers I coloured them completely using a light colour.

I then added the darker colours I wanted to give to the flowers.

Using your paint brush once again, spread the colour outwards and blend.

I have added some shading to the base and side of the vase as well using a soft grey colour.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies :  Stamps - Stampin' Up!, Papertrey Ink;  Cardstock - Desk Top Papers, Stampin' Up!;  Accessories - SU! markers, Inque Boutique DP.

Tutorial Tuesday - Emboss Resist

I had intended to do Crayon Resist today, but some how I had Emboss Resist on my mind, so that is what I did!

Emboss resist is a great technique, that can lead to some beautiful backgrounds.

I started with a plain white piece of cardstock and stamped my image using Versamark.

I coated the image using clear embossing powder, and heat set it. (At this stage you could brayer or sponge a light colour over your entire piece of cardstock, using a tissue or paper towel to wipe off excess ink on the embossed image, this will show up the colour of the cardstock underneath.  Then repeat the process of stamping an image with Versamark and heat setting clear embossing powder.  Then brayer or sponge another colour over the top.  This makes for a spectacular back ground.)

With this image I have next stamped the stems first inking my image with Versamark and then the colour ink and then stamping, coated with clear embossing powder and heat set.  I did this so that the stems wouldn't be 'lost' once I brayered colour on.  I also place a post-it-note so that the image was only stamped where I needed it to be.

This is the image with my brayered colour on.  I then finished the scene by drawing on some grass at the base of the flowers.  Punched some small round centres and flowers for the grass.  The Ric-Rac is new stock I have in from FTI, and I simply knotted it in a couple of places to add some interest.

Stamp sets used today were Mini Cabana from Inque Boutique, and Shapes by Design from Papertrey Ink.

Have a great day,

Tutorial Tuesday - Aged Tiles

I love the 'Aged Tiles' effect, and thought this would be a great little tutorial for today.

I need to apologise however as my camera did not like taking these photos and played up terribly leaving the final image a variation of colours.

Once again I wanted to keep the card simple, and this set from Papertey Ink does that beautifully.  I have used Smooth White from AED and Close to Cocoa from Stampin' Up!

You start by simply stamping an image and cut it to it's finished size.

Cut your finished picture in to various sizes, there is no right or wrong size.

Then using a sponge or dauber gently sponge each piece of cardstock with a co-ordinating ink.

Piece back together on another piece of cardstock and finish your card.

I hope you have enjoyed this. 

Happy stamping,

Supplies :  Stamp : Papertrey Ink; Cardstock : Alison Ellis Design, Stampin' Up!; Ink : Choc Chip, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive - SU!; Accessories : ribbon, fti dimensionals.

Tutorial Tuesday - Boxed Bag

As I was doing a bit of a blog hop the other day I came across a blog here, by Dianna Gibbs via a favourite of mine Cambria Turnbow.  Is'nt it wonderful how the blogging world goes round!

Anyway, they had made these beautiful box bags, and I just had to try one for myself and share the instructions with you all.

I apologise up front for using my store name in the monogram - a shameful plug -, but I really didn't have any one to give this too at the moment, and I wanted to see how much I could 'sqeeze' in to the JustRite stamper.

I have used a border from the C-45 Monogram set, the little alphabet and the 'Curlz' set.  I have then cut manually around the border rather cutting a circle, for something a little different.

So to begin cut a piece of cardstock 41/2" x 41/2" and score in from each side 1".  Trim to the score line on two sides.

Fold in and secure with tape.

Take a piece of double sided designer series paper 51/2" x 11" (right side shown).

Flip it over to the wrong side and apply double sided tape along one long side and one end.

Place the box bottom on it's side and start 'rolling' keeping the boxes bottom edge and the paper alined.  When you are near the join seam, peel off the backing strip to the double sided tape and join seam.

  

Next cut a strip of cardstock approximately 2cm wide and 28cm long and decorate the edge, either using scissors, punches or torn.

Add a strip of double sided tape on the reverse side.

Punch two tab shapes, or anything that you might have, fold in half and punch with holes.

Attach to the top of your bag and thread with ribbon.

And there you have it, a very simple bag from someone with an incredible imagination!

Until next time, happy stamping,

Supplies:

Stamps : JustRite Monogram Stampers

Cardstock : Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip

Tutorial Tuesday

I thought I would make a start with regular Tuesday offerings of ways to do things.  These will be qiuck and simple techniques, that I hope you enjoy.

To start I couldn't decide what to do, and as I have done a few backgrounds with my brayer just recently, I thought that would be a great place to start.

I stamped an image and have then coloured - you can use any colour medium here you like, I have used some Copic markers I bought for myself a little while ago - you then completely cover the image using a Versamark pen.

The Versamark is used here so that the clear embossing powder will stick to the image.

Sprinkle the clear embossing powder over the image and shake off excess.  Set using a heat gun.

This now protects your main image from whatever you choose to do next, whether its to brayer on an image, or sponge on colour like I have done here.

The Spellbinder die also acted as a mask when I was sponging, which leaves the outer rim of the oval white.  You've just got to love those Spellbinders!

The Versamark pens are available here.

Happy stamping,

Supplies :

Stamps : Papertrey Ink

Cardstock : White Linen, Stampin' Up! Groovy Guava and Wild Wasabi.

Accessories : Versamark pen, FTI foam adhesive, X-press It double sided tape, ribbon - Stampin' Up!, Copic markers