« February 2015 | Main | April 2015 »
Today during our digital "One Buck Wednesday" sale, download the digital Echo Park Paper "Springtime Paper/Element Pack #1" kit for just $1.
Then download the Echo Park Paper "Springtime Paper/Element Pack #2" kit for 50% off.
All of these kits are available at these discounted prices until midnight EST tonight so be sure to download them before the sale ends!
|
Hello, again! It’s Tania back with you. Today, I have a simple project to share along with a really simple tip to help customize some kraft treat bags using the Through The Year Calendar Designer Stamps. The collection I am working with today is called Lucky You and is absolutely perfect to use for small home décor projects, cards and gift-giving occasions.
This collection has some really fun patterns to mix and match making these treat bags come together very quickly. You’ll notice that I kept the theme of a large focal piece paired with a few patterned paper banners flanking the sides of the journaling cards &/or stickers across all three treat bags. Finding a design you like and repeating it makes crafting in multiples a piece of cake, especially if you craft assembly-line style.
Of course crafting anything for St. Patrick’s Day requires lots of green, which is covered in various shades throughout the patterned papers and stickers, but what would St. Patrick’s Day be without lots of gold bling and glitter? Despicable, that’s what! So, I’ve paired the collection pieces with some small pieces of shimmery gold cardstock and some yellow blingy rhinestones. To pull together the theme even more, I’ve stuffed the treat bags with gold-foil covered chocolate coins, but you could easily use any gold-fold wrapped candies, such as Reese’s cups or Rolos. Rainbow colored candies would be darling too since the pot of gold is found at the end of the rainbow.
So, to get started, I used a pencil and ruler to draw lines approximately ¼” apart horizontally across the bottom of the treat bag. I’m a crafter who thrives on creating visual layers on my projects, and I wanted to add a bit of visual layering by stamping a pattern. This is a great way to add depth to a project without adding bulk.
Once your lines are drawn, place your stamps on your block, ink them up and stamp in the space between your drawn lines. You’ll definitely want to use Staz-On ink when stamping on any sort of slick surface like the semi-waxed treat bags. The lines will help to keep your stamping straight across with even spacing between each row. The Staz-On ink dries rather quickly, so once it is dry, simply erase your pencil markings before adding the rest of your layers on top.
When I’m making small projects like this that are going to get discarded shortly after gifting them, I also tend to grab for my mini stapler to save from spending so much on adhesive runners. The banners can quickly be attached to the journaling card/large sticker using a staple or two allowing you to conserve that precious supply of adhesive. We could all use some help stretching adhesive a bit further, yes?
I hope these simple crafting tips will help you in your future crafting endeavors!
Supplies:
TTY76032 Calendar Designer Stamps
SW5501 St. Patrick’s Stickers
SW5502 Lucky You Journaling Patterned Paper
SW5503 Lucky Charms Patterned Paper
SW5504 Lucky You Stripes Patterned Paper
Acrylic Stamp Block
Yellow Baker’s Twine
Yellow Rhinestones
Yellow Shimmer Cardstock
Stapler
Kraft Treat Bags 4 ½” x 7 ½”
Pencil with Eraser
Ruler
Scissors
Paper Trimmer
Adhesive Runner
|
This project was inspired by my friend Melinda Spinks. She basically created this design concept and I am totally in love with it. I have done several seasonal projects like this but I wanted something that would stay up in the girls’ room for a long time so this came to mind! The Bundle of Joy collections are too cute for words and the color scheme is perfect for their room. I cannot wait to make a prominent place for this in their room or to hang it on their door!
The first step is to see what your workable area is. While this frame is “10x10” the area that you will actually see is more like 9 1/4. So keep that in mind when you are choosing the size of your object.
Here is a screen shot of my 7x7” circle. I liked the negative space that it was going to have around it so that looked aesthetically pleasing to me. Draw a circle using the circle tool on the left. Then use the “scale” window (highlighted in blue) to input the exact numbers of the circle so you don’t have to fuss with it.
Now there are two fun ways to do this project. 1: Decorate the circle you cut out and the paste it onto some fun background cardstock. 2: Trace around the edge of the cut out circle with a very light pencil or embossing tool. That will give you your outer line visual to decorate inside of.
My particular assignment was to work in the stamps into my home decor project. No problem! I did this in several ways. First of all: I just stamped the words “Little Lady” onto my paper. That’s what we call our girls in hopes that they will grow up to be little ladies. :)
Another way is to heat emboss the stamp. I used a watermark stamp pad, poured my embossing paste onto it, tapped the excess off and used a heat embossing tool to heat set it.
Now the fun part about the designer die and stamp sets is that the dies match perfectly. So I chose my background paper carefully because I wanted a pink edge showing behind the gold. You can secure your die with a piece of washi tape and run it through your manual die cutting machine.
Here are my sweet little hearts on my project.
I also heat embossed the lamb stamp onto some cute paper using white embossing powder. I then manually cut out the lamb from my paper. *Tip: If you don’t have heat embossing powder and a gun then just stamp the lamb onto a white piece of paper and stamp it again onto the patterned paper. Cut out the parts of the patterned paper lamb that you desire and paste onto the white lamb. Then cut out the white lamb. This is called paper piecing and you will get the same effect if not cleaner. I will show you how to do this on a later post.*
Here is my little lamb finished and on my project. I love the soft, delicate nature.
I LOVED this baby onesie die cut (complete with heart!). What a fun way to get some patterned papers in there!
Now just add, add, add. Stickers, chipboard shapes, die cuts, brads, etc. are all fair game. If you want to make the stickers dimensional simply add foam tape to the back and before you peel off the sticky part use baby powder (or flour works too but is a bit gritty) to de-stickify the rest of the sticker. This was a tip I actually got from Wendy Sue Anderson! Game changer. Love this banner.
That “girl” chipboard just HAD to be on my piece. The way that it is floral patterned so delicately!!?! love it.
Here is a side shot to see some of the fun dimension.
Here it is all finished! Wouldn’t this make a great baby shower gift? I have a baby shower coming up for a baby boy… I think I know just what to do. ;)
Supplies:
BJGT79023 Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl 6x6 Paper Pad
BJGT79014 Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl Element Stickers
BJGT79015 Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl Alpha Stickers
BJGT79022 Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl 6x12 Chipboard
BJGT79020 Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl Decorative Brads
BJGT79028 Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl Enamel Dots
BJGT79035 Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl It’s a Girl 4x6 Stamp
BJGT79032 Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl Baby Onesie Die Set
BJGT79030 Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl Flower Die Set #3
BJGT79033 Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl Little One Die/Stamp
Twine or Ribbon
VersaMark Ink Pad
Gold Embossing Powder
Manual Die Cutting Machine
Heat Embossing Gun
|
Today's the big release of our newest digital collections, Jack & Jill!
The "Jack" papers and elements are perfect for any man in your life whether young or old.
The "Jill" collection is dedicated to girls and includes patterns inspired by nature and icons and imagery any little (or big) girl will love. This sweet collection is perfect for sisters, Mother's Day, and girls at play.
You can purchase the complete collection, or you can opt to purchase any of the kits separately (click here for details).
This weekend only, you can get each of these brand new digital collections for 25% off!
Our digital design team member, Rachael Sheedy, used the Digital papers and elements featured in today's release to create this sweet layout to showcase her beautiful photo!
Remember, you can find ALL of our digital collections by clicking HERE!
|
Hello, friends! It’s Tania with you today sharing another home décor tutorial so you can swap out that Valentine’s Day framed home décor I shared in my introduction post for something more appropriate for the month of March! I like to refer to this frame as my ‘revolving frame’ because the artwork I have displayed in it is continually changing from one holiday to the next. The Lucky You Mini Theme is just the right size for a small project like this. I really enjoy using the Mini Themes and leftovers from my other collections to put together a quick home décor item and once you see how quickly and easily this project came together I may just convince you to adopt your own revolving frame!
First, you’ll need to cut your white cardstock down to whatever size your frame opening is. In my case, the opening is 8” x 10”. This paper is now the background for your project. Spray this background with green mist. I prefer not to mist with the spray nozzle, but instead remove the nozzle and shake the droplets from the end of the uptake tube. If you don’t have a green mist, water down some craft paint at 2 parts paint to 1 part water and splatter using a cheap paintbrush. Do this by holding the brush firmly and parallel to your paper with your non-dominant hand, then tap the brush gently with your dominant hand. Holding it closer to the paper will result in smaller splatters while holding it farther away will produce bigger splatters. Allow to dry for 15-20 minutes or accelerate the dry time with a heat embossing tool.
Cut your papers anywhere from ½” to 1 ½” wide x 5” to 6” long. Notch the ends with a single diagonal cut or a banner notch. To add a bit more color, I mixed in a solid shimmery gold cardstock in the mix along with a piece of adhesive-backed cork. Adhere the banner strips slightly overlapping across the bottom of your background aligning them more to the right-hand side.
Cut the ‘Kiss Me I’m Irish’ journaling card out and tie a doubled strand of yellow Baker’s twine around the card into a bow. Layer onto a paper doily and place a black photo corner on each corner of the journaling card to give it a bit more visual value. Adhere this layered cluster to the background overlapping the top edge of the banners.
Finish off your project by adding the leprechaun’s hat, large shamrock and smaller gold shamrock using foam dimensional adhesive.
Once you’ve done those steps, you’re ready to put your new artwork in a frame and hang it on the wall! Before you know it, Easter will be rolling around and it will be time to do it all over again! Just in time for me to use the new Happy Easter Collection.
Supplies:
SW5501 St. Patrick’s Sticker Sheet
SW5502 Lucky You Journaling Patterned Paper
SW5503 Lucky Charm Patterned Paper
SW5504 Lucky You Stripes Patterned Paper
White Cardstock
Yellow Shimmer Cardstock
Cork Paper
Paper Doily
Black Photo Corners
Yellow Baker’s Twine
Green Mist OR Acrylic Craft Paint & Paint Brush
Foam Dimensional Adhesive
Adhesive Runner
Paper Trimmer
Scissors
Frame
Heat Embossing Tool (optional)
|
Today during our digital "One Buck Wednesday" sale, download the digital Echo Park Paper "Splendid Sunshine Paper Pack #1" kit for just $1.
Then download the Echo Park Paper "Splendid Sunshine Element Pack #1" kit for 50% off.
All of these kits are available at these discounted prices until midnight EST tonight so be sure to download them before the sale ends!
|
|
Hello, again! It’s Tania back with you. Today, I’m sharing a tutorial I put together showing you how to put the embellishments from the Bundle of Joy: A New Addition Girl collection to use on perfectly layered layout. The embellishments in this collection do not disappoint and all beg to be used…so I did just that. With caution. It is really easy to get caught up in using all the pretty things, but it is also really easy to have a visual mess on your hands when you use all the pretty things on one project. Yes? I have a way I like to deal with avoiding ending up with a visual mess that’s so easy to arrive at when using an abundance of embellishments on one project.
For me, the best way to include a fair amount of embellishing without your project looking like embellishments-gone-wrong is to rely on a grid format. When you compartmentalize sections of your layout (or card) you can create individual scenes within these compartments that then work together as part of a whole.
While the layout as a whole might look complex and complicated to duplicate, if you break it down into smaller sections you’ll see that it’s nothing of the sort.
We’ll start in the upper left and work our way around the layout counter clock-wise.
Here’s how:
1. Cut ‘Baby Confetti’ patterned paper to 7” x 3”.
2. Cut a strip just as wide as one row of flowers from the floral side of ‘Baby Elephants’ patterned paper. Trim to 7” and adhere along the bottom edge of the ‘Baby Confetti’ patterned paper.
3. Adhere a ‘chipboard button’ over the center of one of the flowers on that patterned paper strip.
4. Use your manual die-cutting machine to cut a cloud from ‘Teal’ Solid Cardstock using the ‘cloud die’ from the Goodnight Moon Designer Die & Stamp Set. (Alternative Designer Die Sets that you could use a cloud from are: Under the Weather Designer Dies, Sunny Day Designer Dies or Sun & Clouds Designer Dies).
5. Adhere cloud die-cut in upper right and add two decorative staples. Embellish cloud with a single ‘Enamel Dot.’
6. Adhere ‘pink owl’ sticker from Element Stickers to the left-hand side of the ‘Baby Confetti’ patterned paper using foam dimensional adhesive.
7. Adhere ‘purse joy & happiness’ phrase sticker to the right of the ‘owl sticker’ using foam dimensional adhesive.
8. Add three ‘pink heart’ stickers from Element Stickers in random spots on the background.
9. Adhere this embellished compartment to the upper left corner of your 12”x12” white background cardstock.
1. Cut ‘Baby Floral’ patterned paper to 4 ½” x 7”.
2. Cut ‘Alphabet Antics’ patterned paper to 2” x 4 ½”. Adhere to ‘Baby Floral’ paper approximately 2” from left edge.
3. Cut ‘Lt. Pink’ solid cardstock to 3 ½” x 4 ½”.
4. Adhere ‘SWEET BABY’ letters from Alpha Stickers to top portion of ‘Lt. Pink’ solid cardstock.
5. Adhere ‘girl’ chipboard to bottom half of ‘Pink’ solid cardstock.
6. Adhere ‘sweet baby girl’ banner from Decorative Brads between the ‘SWEET BABY’ stickers and ‘girl’ chipboard.
7. Cut white cardstock to 1” x 4 ½”. Use your decorative-edge scissors or border punch along one edge. Adhere this piece to the backside of the left edge of the ‘Lt. Pink’ solid cardstock allowing the decorative edge to peek off the left.
8. Adhere to the ‘Baby Floral’ patterned paper right-aligning.
9. Embellish area along top edge of ‘Baby Floral’ and ‘Alphabet Antics’ patterned papers with the banner stickers from Element Stickers. Add a small green heart to one banner sticker. Add staples to hold banners in place.
10. Add ‘bird’ chipboard piece to the immediate left of the ‘BABY’ Alpha Stickers.
11. Add a cluster of ‘floral’ chipboard and a large pearl brad to the area along the bottom edge of ‘Baby Floral’ and ‘Alphabet Antics’ patterned paper.
12. Adhere this embellished compartment to the center left side of your 12”x12” white background cardstock.
1. Cut ‘Teal’ solid cardstock to 4 ½” x 7”.
2. Stamp background with Versamark (or other embossing ink) using the ‘heart’ stamp from the ‘It’s A Girl Designer Stamp Set’ and sprinkle with clear embossing powder with glitter and set with your heat embossing tool.
3. Adhere a strip of ‘Alphabet’ washi tape across the bottom edge of the stamped cardstock approximately ¾” from the bottom edge.
4. Cut ‘Baby Girl Plaid’ patterned paper to 1” x 7”. Add a decorative edge to one long edge of the strip using a pair of decorative-edge scissors or border punch. Adhere flush with the bottom edge of the ‘Teal’ solid cardstock.
5. Add two ‘green jewel’ Decorative Brads to the right side of this bottom strip.
6. Add the ‘tree’ chipboard to the left bottom corner of the ‘Teal’ solid cardstock. Embellish tree with small ‘pink flower’ chipboard piece and ‘small green’ Enamel Dots.
7. Cut a strip just as wide as one row of flowers from the floral side of ‘Baby Elephants’ patterned paper. Trim to 7” and adhere along the top edge of the ‘Teal’ solid cardstock.
8. Adhere ‘clothesline’ chipboard piece across the top just below the floral strip. Layer a ‘yellow button’ chipboard piece on the dress hanging in the middle of the clothesline.
9. Adhere two ‘teal heart’ Element Stickers side by side in the open space overlapping the stamped hearts.
10. Adhere this embellished compartment to the bottom left side of your 12”x12” white background cardstock.
1. Cut ‘Baby Floral’ patterned paper to 5” x 4 ½”. Adhere to bottom right corner of your 12x12 white cardstock background.
2. Adhere photo just above, but only putting adhesive along the sides and bottom of the photo leaving the top open to create a pocket to slide a journaling card down into.
3. Adhere ‘LOVE’ chipboard piece to upper left corner of ‘Baby Floral’ patterned paper.
4. Create a cluster of banner and sticker embellishments by layering the ‘owl banner’ from the Decorative Brad Set along with the ‘Forever In My Heart’ phrase sticker and a few banner stickers from the Element Stickers Sheet.
5. Add a cluster of ‘light teal’ Enamel Dots to photo above the ‘LOVE’ chipboard piece.
1. Cut ‘Baby Girl Plaid’ patterned paper 2 ½” x 5”. Adhere to upper right corner of your 12”x12” white cardstock background.
2. Cut ‘Lt. Blue’ solid cardstock to 3 ½” x 6”.
3. Embellish top left corner of ‘Lt. Blue’ solid cardstock with ‘plaid border strip’ and ‘button border strip’ stickers from Element Stickers Sheet. Add staples for decorative element.
4. Add a decorative brad to journaling card.
Lastly, cut a 1” x 12” strip of ‘Teal’ solid cardstock and use your decorative-edge scissors or border punch to add a decorative edge to one long edge. Adhere vertically on the layout overlapping the seam where the left-side elements and right-side elements meet.
And it’s as simple as that! It really isn’t that complicated once you see how I tackled the layout in a very methodical way. Are you looking at your embellishing in a whole new way? I hope so!
If you use this method to recreate this layout or try your own spin with this technique using a different Echo Park Paper collection, be sure to share with me on the Echo Park Paper Facebook Page! I’d love to see!
Supplies:
12x12 White Cardstock (Carta Bella)
Scrap Piece of White Cardstock (Carta Bella)
BJGT79003 Floral Dot Patterned Paper
BJGT79004 Alphabet Antics Patterned Paper
BJGT79005 Baby Confetti Patterned Paper
BJGT79006 Baby Girl Plaid Patterned Paper
BJGT79007 Baby Elephants Patterned Paper
BJBT78019 Lt. Pink/Teal Solid Cardstock
BJBT78017 Lt. Blue/Dk. Pink Solid Cardstock
BJGT79014 Element Stickers Sheet
BJGT79025 Alpha Stickers Sheet
BJGT79020 Bundle of Joy Girl Brads
BJGT79022 6x12 Chipboard
BJGT79027 Alphabet Washi Tape
BJGT79028 Enamel Dots
BJGT79035 4x6 It’s A Girl Designer Stamps
BJBT78033 Goodnight Moon Designer Die & Stamp Set
Decorative-Edge Scissors OR Border Punch
Acrylic Stamping Block
Versamark Watermark Ink
Clear Embossing Powder
Heat Embossing Tool
Adhesive
Foam Dimensional Tape
Glue Dots
Paper Trimmer
Manual Diecutting Machine
5” x 5” photo
|
We are excited to share our two newest digital kit releases with you today!
Today is your lucky day! Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with this Lucky You collection!
Includes 6 12x12 patterned papers in JPEG format and 22 elements in PNG format.
This collection will make you RAWR with excitement! Get Dinosaur Adventure before it goes extinct!
Includes 6 12x12 patterned papers in JPEG format and 38 elements in PNG format.
Rachael Sheedy created this dino-mite layout with the new Dinosaur Adventure collection!
You can find these, and all of our other digital collections by clicking HERE!
|
Hello! This is Courtney Lee here with a baby boy card just in time for a baby boy to be born! My friend has a few weeks left in her pregnancy and I hope she enjoys this little New Arrival card!
My focus for this card was how to use washi tape in a fun way! I tried to apply the washi tape to my die cuts in two ways:
1: I cut out the die cut and then covered it in washi tape. I then cut around the die cut by hand. This worked really well, but the edges were only as good as my scissors could work.
2: This is my recommended method. Put the washi tape down first on smooth white cardstock. Then die cut the whole thing. This gave super smooth edges and saved a lot of time.
Pictured above is my scrap sheet of paper where I tried out both methods.
I love the well rounded edges and small pressure indentations from the dies. It gives it a really cool lift around the edge.
Sometimes you need a little something extra but it needs to be subtle. Don’t forget your clear embossing powder hiding in your drawer! I grabbed the two stars from the Designer Die/Stamp set and had such a good time making this background. They stamp beautifully!
I cut a little grass by hand and added it. I wanted to anchor the turtle and the tree was great but the grass helped create a little more of a scene.
I added a sticker from the Element Sticker sheet for my sentiment. How cute is that!? It also served to cover up the line between the two washi tapes so it looks seamless.
Come on, those stars are so darling.
Don’t forget the Bundle of Joy collections the next time you need to make a baby boy card! The colors are so universally darling! Courtney Lee signing out for today!
Supplies:
BJBT78025 Bundle of Joy Boy Dots and Stripes 6x6 Paper Pad
BJBT78023 Bundle of Joy Boy 6x6 Paper Pad
BJBT78030 Bundle of Joy Boy Turtle Die Set
BJBT78033 Bundle of Joy Boy Goodnight Moon Die/Stamp
BJBT78022 Bundle of Joy Boy New Addition 6x12 Chipboard
BJBT78014 Bundle of Joy Boy Element Stickers
BJBT78018 Bundle of Joy Boy Blue/Yellow
BJBT78017 Bundle of Joy Boy LT.Blue/ DK. Pink
BJBT78026 Bundle of Joy Boy Decorative Tape - Plaid
BJBT78027 Bundle of Joy Boy Decorative Tape - Moon and Stars
EPPDIE74 Holiday Tag Die Set
Scissors
Versamark Ink Pad
|
