Happy Holidays Everyone…

Well the days are going fast now and before we know it, it will be Christmas.

Maybe you are stuck with ideas what to give to someone or just running out of time. Well then this might just be something for you!! This cute little

“One sheet mini book “is so easy and all you need is one 12×12 cardstock and some scraps and a few embellishments.

( I would like to give full credit to Anna Bowkis from Scrapbook Magazine for the idea of this mini bookl ) .

Ok so what you need is

1 sheet of 12×12 cardstock as the base

Some scraps of pattern papers and some embellishments

And smaller size photos.

Double sided tape

I choose to make this for mum and dad as a little reminder of this years Christmas photo session that didn’t go to plan ;0)

Just wasn’t the right day to get 4 people sitting still and looking into the camera!!!

Have fun !!

xx Tina

i will be showing you how to make a rose wreath
Credit goes Tonya Dirk
I used double sided paper for this not too think though or it will be harder to cut
First off cut 3 squares i used 3″ (the smaller rose) 4″ 5″ and 6″
Fold the first square into a triangle and another triangle and another triangle (first pic)
Now cut the top off into a cone shape and snip a small bit off the bottom.
unfold your flower and start cutting the petals
taking the first flower cut 2 petals off, 2nd flower cut 3 petals, 3rd flower cut in half and on one of the half flowers cut one petal
so your petals should look like the 3rd image.
I inked the edges,now taking the larger flower that has 6 petals glue together to make the rose and do this to all except the ones that have one petal and two petals.
when dry take a tooth pick and roll the top edge of all, now roll the 1& 2 petals like a bud.
Now place and glue all the flowers inside each other
and presto your rose is completed.

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a very simple Christmas decoration

REQUIREMENTS:

1 x 12 x 12 double sided paper, cardstock, or glue two patterned papers together, ( I glued ‘doodlebug’ glitter & spotted patterned paper) paper trimmer or a ruler & craft knife, Strong Double sided tape or glue, scissors

INSTRUCTIONS:

Step 1. Cut 12 strips 2.5 x 30 cm ( 1″ x 12″)


Step 2. working with 6 strips only

find centre and adhere 2 strips to form a cross

Step 3. Adhere a strip either side of the centre strip

Step 4. weaving the strips under,over,under adhere either side of the horizontal centre strip

Step 5. take two outside strips & glue together to form a peak
on each corner

Step 6. Set aside & repeat the previous 5 steps , now you have a matching pair

Step 7. place wrong sides together on the diagonal forming an 8 peaked star shape

Step 8. thread the straight pieces through the star peaks, glue & trim, brads can be used to hold together

Step 9. decorate to your pleasure using kindy glitz, gems etc

punch a hole in top peak, thread a ribbon to hang

hope you enjoy making and hanging your Christmas star.

Hi girls!!

Recently I went to a class & discovered this fantastic technique!!  I loved it so much that I just have to share it with you, its a quick & easy way to change the look of your lace/ribbon & allows you to customize it to suit your project perfectly.

You will need…

* assorted lace/ribbon – white/light colours work best

* felt pens – non permenant

* water spritzer

* paint brush

& here’s how to do it…

Firstly cut you ribbon/lace to length you require, using a spritzer bottle dampen ribbon/lace (or wet it under the tap in the sink & gently squeeze excess water out)

Using felt-pens colour in all of wet ribbon/lace with choosen colours.  You colouring in doesn’t need to be perfectly to the edges of the ribbon/lace.

Using a wet paint brush, paint over coloured in lace/ribbon.  This will blend the colours & result in a  soft/muted finish.  *If your prefer your colours brighter don’t paint over with wet paint brush.

Blot finished lace/ribbon between to sheets of paper or old towel to remove excess water & ink.  You can also add more colour to the water painted ribbon if you feel you need to brighten the colour tones by simply colouring with the felt-pen again.

This is the ribbon as it was…

& the ribbon coloured…

I’ve used both foam centered ribbon & lace, both worked well.  I do suggest you try this technique on a small piece of your ribbon/lace before committing to colouring the entire length.

Try experimenting with the colours you use also, for example…

The centre of the flower I coloured pink, purple on the inner petals & then pink again on the outer petal.  See how the colours blend together perfectly, giving you a beautiful mix of colour.

The heart centres I coloured pink & outlined using red.

The possibilities are endless!!  Just imagine what you can do!!

So get out those felt-pens & some boring lace/ribbon & turn it into a beautiful custom piece!!  Give it a go…I assure you – you will LOVE it.

You will never look at a white piece of lace/ribbon the same again…

Happy colouring.

Kylie xx

Flocking had been a topic in the Question of the Day in the forum recently and we found that not many of you have ever tried flocking as you didn’t know how to use it.

Today I am going to show you a number of various ways of using flock – stamping, on chipboard and stickers.

You can also do the exact same using loose glitter too.

Flocking powder is made by a number of companies.  It is a very fine fiber medium available in a variety of colours.  I am going to be using the Doodlebug flocking assortment, which is available in the store.

These are just a few things you will need for this technique

I have above A4 sheet jac paper, doodlebug assortment flocking, Glue Pad, Doodlebug double-sided adhesive stickers.

The easiest way for applying flock is to have yourself the Glue Pad by Tusienko and following these steps.

1.  Using your glue pad just as you would an ink pad, stamp your image on your project.

2.  Sprinkle the flocking on the image

3.  Press lightly and let dry briefly

4.  Gently tap off excess flocking powder.

It is the same with all products being the glue pad, stickers and jac paper.

Flocking using double sided adhesive stickers.  These are offered by a number of different manufacturers too, today I’m using the Doodlebug double adhesive stickers which are available in the store.  They come with letters, shapes, phrases, flowers, flourishes and many more!

1.  Apply the double faced adhesive sticker direct to your project or peel off (one side only) leaving one side if you don’t know where you will be placing on your layout.

2. Sprinkle the flocking on the top of the sticker image

3. Press lightly

4. Gently tap off the excess flocking powder.

You can also use your Cricut machine, Sizzix, Big Shot etc to cut out lettering, shapes etc.  Here you can use jac paper and adhere to your cardstock prior to putting through your die cut machine so it cuts both at once.  Your cardstock shapes or letters will be ready to adhere to your project as you have just made it into a sticker.

Using the same principal as previously, stamp your shapes or letters with your glue pad and repeat the above steps.

1. Cut out desired accent with your die cut machine

2. Cover surface with glue using your glue pad

3. Sprinkle the flocking on the image

4. Press gently

5. Dry briefly

6. Tap off excess flocking

adhere to your layout or card.

As jac paper is double-sided adhesive in a A4 sheet you can use your punches and punch out and flock them exactly the same way as the steps above.

Ok, now lets try flock with chipboard.  As chipboard has a chunkier nature on a layout and with having so many shapes to choose from, sizes and words and the end product is a fantastic way to accent any layout or project.

Using the same simple steps as previously

1. Stamp your chipboard image with the glue pad

2. Sprinkle your flocking powder on the top

3. Press lightly

4. Dry briefly

5. Tap off excess

You can also mix your colours to get the colour that is just right for your project, as I have done below with the possum, I mixed black and white flock together to get the grey colour.

You don’t have to paint your chipboard first but if you do it will intensify the overall look.

You can also heat emboss which will also intesify the colour and coverage of the flocking by following these steps.

1. Stamp image or colour in image with embossing ink pad

2. Sprinkle embossing powder in the same colour as your flocking

3. Apply heat to melt the embossing powder

4.  When melted sprinkle the flocking onto the surface.

5. Wait for it to cool

6. tap off excess.

Now that I have shared all these various ways to use flocking you can now give all these different ways a try and add a different dimension to your layouts and projects.

You can purchase the flocking in the store doodlebug assortment, the doodlebug stickers, jac paper (add to the comments when going through checkout along with the glue pad).

Here is a layout I have done using the flocking products, glue pad, stickers, chipboard.  I have flocked the flourish stickers, alphabet title “always”, chipboard heart/flourish and bird.

Hope you enjoy!!

Love Ness

Sewing is such a simple technique, and yet it can be extremely effective. It is a quick technique that can instantly add some pizzazz to your creation.

You can choose either hand sewing or machine sewing. Both are fun and easy.

Hand Sewing : The basic equipment required is embroidery thread, a taylors awl or a thumb tack, embroidery needle and double sided tape.

I find it easier to find make the holes for your sewing using a taylors awl or thumb, and following a flourish, plate, flower or metal ruler (or any thing else that is the shape you require) as a template. Just remember to space the holes out evenly and not too far apart.
Once the holes are made thread the needle with the thread (I often use 2 strands – it depends on what you want). Push the needle through the first hole, leaving a tail hanging through. To secure the thread, place a piece of double sided tape across the tail on the reverse side of your layout. Tying knots really isn’t effective, as they can easily pull through the hole in the paper. Sew along your holes, keeping the tension fairly constant. When you get to the end, secure that end of the thread on the reverse of your layout using double sided tape. You can jazzy up your design by sewing in cross-stitches or adding jewels or pearls to help cover up the hole marks.
You can use hand sewing to attach flower centres. I have used french knots and cross stitches in the example.

Machine Sewing: A simple technique to add to your layout is to sew a pattern on your layout without using thread. This leaves the holes in the layout, and can add a subtle effect to your creation.

When sewing with thread on the layout, it is best to keep the stitch length set to long. As paper and card is not as manouverable as fabric, the longer stitch length works best. When you have finished sewing your pattern, place a piece of double sided tape across the ends of the threads on the reverse side of the page, to secure the threads and prevent them from pulling out. Many sewing machines have all sorts of settings for fancy stitches, so why not give them a go. Just remember to do a test run on some scrap paper first.

Sewing is also a very effective technique to secure paper and cardstock. I usually adhere it first with some double sided tape to prevent it moving around in the sewing machine.

So why not give it a whirl.

We all know how much the flowers can cost us and we all love to use flowers.  I have a great way to make your own roses using coffee filters.

Supplies needed:

1.  Glimmermist

2.  Glue dots or Pritt glue

3.  Heart punch or heart die (4 sizes required) you could also use the cricut machine, free hand or in my case punch 1 and then scan and adjust the sizes manually on the computer.

4.  Coffee Filters (oops forgot to add the coffee filters into my photo LOL!!)

5.  Hole punch

6.  Brad

You can make these a big as you like depending on the size of your coffee filters of course or as small as you like, so you can make a heap of various sizes to use on your layouts.

Step 1

Cut out 4 hearts of each of the 4 sizes from the coffee filters, and punch a hole just above the point of the heart.

Step 2

Lightly Glimmer mist the hearts, do not saturate unless you want more solid colour. Allow to dry

Step 3

Start with the smallest heart and start stacking them onto the brad, prong side up, and place a tiny glue dot or pritt glue near the brad so that the hearts are stabilised and don’t move aroun the brad.

Step 4

Stack the next 2 sizes.  The largest heart is stacked last.  This will end up being your bottom layer.

Step 5

Turn your rose up the right way.

Step 6

Start scrunching up the top layer, then take each of the next layers and scrunch up around the top layer.

Open it up and hey presto!

You can also just curl your the edges of each petal.

Use any kind of brads, I have used stickles on the brad above.

You can also ink the edge of your roses or use kindy glitz or stickles around the edges of the petals for different effects.  I have added stickles to the edges of this rose.

Add more layers for a fuller rose or remove the larger layer of hearts for a smaller rose.

Now, give this technique a try, you will be quite surprised at the result and add to your stash of flowers.

Here is a layout I have done using different colours of these roses.

Lindy

I just love a tree to add something special to a layout.  Ness has some gorgeous chipboard trees available in the shop, but have you ever thought of making your own?   Here are a few easy steps to make a funky tree embellishment to use on your layouts.

What you need

1. plain cardstock for backing
2. paper for the tree trunk/branches
3. contrasting paper for the leaves
4. small flowers, or bling/pearls
5. sewing machine
6. 3d foam dots
7. glue
8. ink

Step 1

Hand draw your tree shape on the paper you are using for the trunk/branches.  If you are not confident drawing the tree freestyle, you may wish to use an illustration, or a chipboard tree as a guide.

Step 2

Cut around the tree outline, leaving 1/8″ around the edge. Do not rub out your pencil lines – you will be stitching over them later.

Step 3

Trace the tree shape onto the cardstock, and cut it out.

Step 4

Cut some leaf templates from the cardstock. I have used 3 different shaped leaves. Trace the leaf shapes onto the back of the paper you have chosen for the leaves. I have cut 8 of each leaf shape, 24 leaves in total.

Step 5

Cut out each leaf, crumple each leaf, and then ink the edges of all the leaves.

Step 6.

Crumple the paper tree trunk. Add some 3d foam dots to the cardstock in places. These will be spots you can stitch around to form features on the tree trunk. Stick the crumpled tree to the cardstock using only the foam dots initially. Using a quick drying liquid glue, work your way around the tree, adding leaves to the branches, and sticking the paper tree and leaves to the cardstock. Save a few leaves to add after the stitching is done, and maybe a few to scatter on your layout.

Step 7

Using your sewing machine, choose a coloured thread that will stand out on your tree trunk. I have chosen a brown thread on a green tree trunk. Slowly and carefully, stitch the outline of the tree along the pencil lines you drew in step 1. Add interest to the trunk by stiching little circles around the foam dots.

Step 8

Further embellish your tree by adding a few more leaves, and some tiny flowers and/or bling/pearls.

And there you have a funky stitched tree embellishment.

Here is the layout I created with this tree.

Make your own flourishes and extend on the one’s you have already bought.

These are the supplies that you will need for this technique

1.  Flourishes you have in your stash that are still attached to the clear backing

2.  Liquid Pearls – These can be purchased in the online shop

(you can also use Stickles and Puffy paints).

3.  Transparency sheets

4.  and of course your scanner and printer

Step 1

Put your flourish face down on your scanner.  Scan and save to your computer.  Print this sheet out and this will be your template.  You can also change the sizes of your flourishes too.

I have scanned a couple of different one’s to use today.  Keep these templates to use in the future.

Step 2

Place your transparency sheet over the template and start dotting with the Liquid Pearls.  If you over dot don’t worry, just wipe off with a wet one and start again – too easy no mistakes plus you can always cover with a flower or other embellishment if needed.

Step 3

Allow to dry.  Once dry trim around the flourish and place on your layout.

I love this technique and the colours are endless really.  I did a heap of them all at one time so I have plenty to use for awhile and I still have heaps left in my bottles of liquid pearls to continue making more when I need to.

You can also use more than 1 colour for a different look.

Here is a layout that I have done using this technique.

I have also done a heap of others ready to use on other layouts, some of them I have used more than 1 colour to make them a little different.

why not give this a go yourself?  very easy and if you don’t have any liquid pearls drop into the shop and grab some and give this a go.

click here to see the colours available in the store.

Love Ness