Thanks-a-Daisy

Using up more scraps! This one is for today's demo challenge as SCS. Part of that challenge was NOT to use white or vanilla, which I found remarkably difficult.
What's really neat about these petals is that you can use your Large Oval, Wide Oval, or Round Tab punch to make them! You'll get slightly different petal shapes with each, so choose your favorite.

Ingredients (all SU!):
Paper: Regal Rose, So Saffron, Bashful Blue, Barely Banana, Urban Garden
Stamp: from Short & Sweet set
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Pink Passion, So Saffron, Kiwi Kiss, Creamy Caramel
Punches: Large Oval, 1" Circle
Other: Pretty in Pink 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, antique brass brads, sponge daubers, stampin' sponge wedge

Here's how to make the petals:
--Cut a strip of cardstock about an inch wide and score a line lengthwise down the center. Fold away from the score. This will create a little bump on the inside of the fold, which will resemble the center rib in a daisy petal when you're done.
--Put the folded cardstock in your punch with the folded edge inside the punch. If using an oval punch, line up the fold ABOVE the half-way point, and punch!

It's okay if your petals are slightly different sizes--that adds to the organic realism!



Thanks for visiting!

A Tulip (or two) For You

I was chatting online with my youngest sister, Erin, on Saturday about papercrafty-type stuff (she used to be a demo, too), and she mentioned that she never uses black cardstock. And that got me thinking... Hmmm... I don't use black much either. I have a whole pack, but I don't remember when or why I purchased it. So I sat down to stamp, determined to include black in my design. And this is what resulted.

Actually, I was also intent on using the tulip, too. I'd made it last week, and still had yet to do anything with it. I checked a flower-meaning site and found that tulips are general purpose flowers. They don't really mean anything in particular, just make people smile. Hence the generic 'For You' sentiment.

I managed to use a single stamp set (Fresh Cuts) for the whole card. Five stamps come in this set, might as well use them together, right? I used three of the five.

Ingredients (all SU!):
Stamps: Fresh Cuts
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, Basic Black, More Mustard, Very Vanilla, Urban Garden
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Orchid Opulence, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Basic Black
Punches: Wide Oval, Large Oval, Small Oval, Tag Corner
Other: Top Note die, Chocolate Chip marker, pewter jumbo eyelent and mini brad, sponge daubers, 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon

And just because I know you'll appreciate it, here's a mini tutorial on how I made the tulip.

What you'll need:

• Wide Oval punch
• Large Oval punch
• Small Oval punch
• Scrap of flower-colored cardstock
• Scrap of stem/leaf-colored cardstock
• Sponge daubers and ink for shading

1. Punch one of each oval in your desired bloom color. Here I'm using So Saffron.
2. Put the wide oval punched shape back in the punch as shown, and punch out a DQ-type shape that is about 3/4" at the widest point of the curve.
3. Snip the middle out of the small oval punched shape.
4. Grab a sponge dauber and an ink pad and shade the edges of your pieces as shown. Here I've used Apricot Appeal.
5. Glue your large oval shape onto the wide oval shape, centered in the U made in Step 2, and with the bottom edges even. (You can see that I also added darker 'veining' with Really Rust and an aquapainter)
6. Glue the small oval 'ears' to the back, centered in the V's created by the two larger oval shapes.
7. Cut a straight stem and two leaves from your green cardstock (I'm using Kiwi Kiss). My stem is 1/4" by 3" (or thereabouts). For my leaves, I cut a 2"x3" rectangle, folded it in half length-wise, and cut a long curve through both layers first on one side, then the other.
8. Use a sticky note (cut a hint of a curve on the sticky side) to shield half of a leaf so you can ink the other. Repeat with the other leaf, and add shading to the stem.
9. Assemble your tulip.
Tadaaaa.....!


Here's a super-simple alternate tulip. Not as 'WOW' as the tulip above, but still a tulip. I plan to do a dozen of these along the bottom of a two-page scrapbook layout. Basically, you take a Wide Oval shape and punch off the top with your Scallop Edge punch as shown below. Easy!


Thanks for visiting!

Love You Lilies

My son used to love origami, so we would sit for hours making swans and frogs and cups. It's a terribly good use for a small square piece of paper! The flowers on this card are inspired by those paper-folding sessions. It's SO easy, I'm sure someone else has done it before--essentially it's just the start of a balloon fold on a scallop square punched from cardstock. I've put together a photo tutorial for you--find it at the end of this post.

Here are the card details:

Ingredients (all SU!):
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Bella Rose
Stamp: grass from Inspired by Nature
Ink: Apricot Appeal, Bashful Blue, Kiwi Kiss
Punches: Scallop Square (flower), Scallop Circle (sponging clouds), Scallop Edge (edge of layered piece), Small Oval (sentiment), 3/4" Circle (collar thingie on the flowers), Ticket Corner
Other: Sponge dauber, Stampin' Sponge wedge, Regal Rose marker (hand-written sentiment), Styled Silver hardware, 5/8" Old Olive grosgrain ribbon.

And check this out! Love this photo.
Since the flowers are 3-dimensional, I decided to try them in a little vase. Instead of folding down just one 'flap' (step 6 below), I folded down both. Poked a hole in the point, stuck a wire through, and finished each flower with some Garden Green cardstock. Last, I finished the vase with some Celery and Pretty in Pink ribbon.

Now... as promised, here is the short photo tutorial.

1. Punch out a scallop square from your desired bloom color. Here I'm using Pink Pirouette. Ink the center with a contrasting color (I used Apricot Appeal). This will be the inside of your flower. Score carefully from one diagonal corner to the other and from second scallop to second scallop, as shown by the blue lines in the photo. (Scoring is not absolutely necessary, but if done carefully, makes for a crisper finished flower.)
2. Turn the scallop square over and score on the back side as shown.
3. Fold in half diagonally on scored line so that the inked side is out (mountain fold).
4. Open and fold in half on one scored line from Step 2, making a rectangle, with inked side in. Open and fold again on the other scored line from Step 2, again with inked side in (valley folds). Open.
5. Holding the scallop square ink-side up, push diagonal folds up and to the center while collapsing the blossom, as shown.
6. Fold down one 'flap' on the remaining score line created in Step 1. This is the front of your flower, and your flower bloom is now done. All it needs is a stem! As a stem transition (i.e. 'collar thingie'), I cut a 3/4" green circle in half, folded a half into quarters and glued the edge closed to make a cup. Then I glued the pointy tip of the flower into the cup.

Thanks for visiting!

Punched Posy Tutorial

I thought I'd put together a quick tutorial on how to make the cute punched posy from this card. Here's what you'll need:

• Five-Petal Flower punch (punch two from your flower color and one from your leaf color)
• 3/4" Circle punch (punch one from your flower center color)
• Ink pads & sponge daubers for shading
• Markers for details
• Scissors
• Liquid glue
• Straight-edge and scoring tool

Now here's step-by-step instructions (click on photos to see larger):

1. Punch one five-petal flower from your leaf color and trim as shown (I'm using Kiwi Kiss).
2. Punch two five-petal flowers from your flower color and trim ONE of them as shown (I'm using Blush Blossom).
3. Punch one 3/4" circle from your flower center color and trim as shown (I'm using So Saffron).
4. Grab a sponge dauber and an ink pad in a darker color than your flower color (I'm using Cameo Coral). Daub ink on three adjacent petals on the full punched piece, making it darker toward the center and leaving the tips of each petal uninked. Do the same for both petals of the cut piece.


5. With your marker in the same (or similar) color as your 'daubed' color, add details to each petal.
6. On your full punched piece, you're going to fold the two uninked petals down over the inked petals. To do this, you can use a straight edge and scoring tool to very carefully score from outside 'v' to outside 'v' and fold the top, uninked part down.
7. Unfold the flower again and turn the piece over to the back side. Use your sponge daubers and marker to add shading and details to the two petals that will fold down. On this side, I added a bit of So Saffron to the very center with my sponge dauber, along with the Cameo Coral.
8. Refold the petals down, and dab glue on the underside. Fold the petals down and hold for several seconds until the glue adheres.

9. Snip the remaining two-petal piece in half. You will adhere these pieces to the back of the flower between the three lower petals. Just a freckle-size dot of glue and a bit of finger pressure is all that is needed. Find your flower-center piece and ink the edges (I used So Saffron carstock, and inked with Saffron and Caramel ink), then dot in details (I used a Cocoa marker for the dots). Glue flower-center to your flower.
10. Fine-tune the shape of your leaves with scissors, then add veins and details with a marker.
11. Cut a slim stem from a scrap of cardstock the same color as your leaves. Assemble your flower.
12. Add the flower to a card or scrapbook page!

Thanks for visiting!

Pocket Card of Goodness

That's what I'm calling it, since Hot Pocket was already taken. This groovy little 'card' has two pockets on the inside to hold a packet of soup and a packet of hot cocoa. I have several set aside for teacher gifts. Here's a pic of the (potentially) warm num-yummy goodness contained in one little card:


I made two prototypes for this thing, one with separate pockets that you glue on, the other all one piece where you glue down a couple of flaps. While gluing the pockets was a lot easier on the one-piece design, cutting it out and scoring it was a royal pain in the rumpus. So I stuck with the three-separate-rectangles design. Gluing the pockets is a little fiddly, but overall it took a lot less time. Here's the cut and score measurements for each piece:


Snowflake stamp is from Season of Friendship. 'For You' stamp is from One of a Kind. D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder by ProvoCraft. Snowflake border punch is by EK Success (same company that makes SU's punches).

Thanks for visiting!

Snowman Cocoa pouch

This is a super-easy project, so much so that our PTA might make these for our 85 teachers and staff. You can get two pouches out of a single sheet of cardstock (and if you're making more than one, it's better to score first, then cut it in half). Here's some measurements for you:

Once you've got your cardstock stamped and folded, you'll only need a stapler, a cocoa packet (or a soup packet), and a scrap of colored cardstock run through your crimper:

Here's some how-to pics on the creation of that paper bow:


Snowman stamp is from the long-retired SU set Let It Snow ('arms' hand drawn). He's colored with a combination of markers and aquapainter watercoloring.

Thanks for visiting!

Paper buttons video tutorial!

I got a new digital hard-drive camcorder and made my first blog video tutorial on how to make super-inexpensive, super easy buttons that match your cards or scrapbook pages EXACTLY! Please tell me what you think of the video! I'm using the software that came with the camera (CyberLink PowerDirector Express). Not as impressed with it as I am with Pinnacle Studio (which I don't have on this computer or I'd use that!), but it may be because it's just... different (and not as fully featured, but it's the Express version).

The music in the video is Maroon 5's 'Makes Me Wonder'. Here's the YouTube version:


You can get a smaller, but better-quality Windows Media File version by clicking here.

Making the template: I cut one circle from scrap cardstock, fold it in half, mark where I want my holes to go, and pierce through them. I make a template for each size button, so when I make a bunch, the holes on all of them are reasonably the same.

Gluing the stack: I put glue on only three of the four blue circles. Then I stacked them with the non-glued one on top.

Five-Petal Punch Chrysanthemum

Hey! Welcome to my blog! This post is getting a LOT of traffic lately, and I just wanted to invite you to check out the rest of my blog (at least be sure to check out my Chrysanthemum card here). If you use this technique, I truly do appreciate that you give credit and link to my main page. Thanks! --Stacey ;-)

The idea for this punch flower (about 3" in diameter!) actually came from the large flower stamp in SU's Fabulous Flowers set. It's a large mum, and all the petals are basically the same shape. I got to looking at it and had one of those eureka moments where I had to run excitedly to my craft table to try it. And it worked! The first one I made is pretty basic, and appears on my 'Sisters' layout, which I will post later for the July 15 Demo Scrapbook Challenge. For this tutorial, I've kicked it up a notch.

Here's what you'll need for one Five-Petal Punch Chrysanthemum:
-Five-Petal Flower punch
-Scrap of SU cardstock (I'm using Pretty in Pink)
-At least one ink pad in a related color (I'm using three: Apricot Appeal, Pretty in Pink and Cameo Coral)
-Quarter or sixth of a stampin' sponge
-Paper snips
-Liquid glue (I prefer Tombow's Aqua to the Multi for this)
-Piercing tool and pad (I use a pushpin and thick piece of fun foam)

And here's what to do:
1. For a flower with three 'layers' (as I am doing), punch FOUR Five-Petal Flowers. For a four 'layer' mum, punch SEVEN.
2. Find the center of each punched flower and pierce a hole. (The white piece is my template that I use over and over.)
3. Sponge some color into the centers of the flowers. As you can see, I used Apricot Appeal on one (for my central layer), Pretty in Pink on one (for layer two), and Cameo Coral on two (for layer three).
4. Set your central layer flower aside for a moment. For the remaining three flowers, snip them into petals by starting in a 'V' between petals and snip to the center hole. So you end up with one unsnipped flower, and all the rest snipped into petals (be sure to keep them separated if you use different colors).
5. Apply a small dot of glue to the inside points of the petals for layer two. Quickly press them ink-side up to the back , so that they are centered between the petals of the unsnipped flower.
6. Continue with a third layer of petals, applying a small dot of glue and adhering petals. If desired, continue with a fourth layer.
7. Here, I've added a Boho Blossoms punch flower in Apricot Appeal and secured it with a small brad from the silver Hodgepodge Hardware.
8. Here, I've added Small-Oval punch leaves (cut to a point with papersnips).

Here's a link to a card I did using a 7-layer version of this flower:

DIY Designer Paper

Click on any image to see a larger version!

I saw a beautiful designer paper recently that came in a large pack of rather mediocre paper. So instead of buying the entire pack (for $20+), I decided I could replicate the general feel of the paper fairly well with stamps and ink. So I gave it a try and am very pleased with the results. This is nice heavy paper (since it uses SU! cardstock), so it's great for scrapbook page bases. It takes time, but cost me nothing (I already had the supplies), and it was so EASY! So easy, in fact, that I made another design, AND put together a very quick tutorial...

Here's what you'll need four two sheets each of two different designs:
-Four sheets of white (or other light colored) 12x12 cardstock
-At least three ink colors. I'm using Bordering Blue, Old Olive, and Rose Red
-Quarter of a Stampin' Sponge
-Stamps. I'm using Baroque Motifs
-'Sanded' background stamp
-Stampin'Around wheel, handle, and ink cartridge. I'm using Baroque Border with Not Quite Navy
-Wheel guide (optional but REALLY handy)

Paper One:
1. Sponge Bordering Blue around the edges of two sheets of white cardstock.
2. This is about what they should look like when you're finished sponging.
3. Stamp your design in bold colors. Here I've used Old Olive ink. The paper looks nice just like this, but I wanted something a bit more colorful.
4. I've added two more rows, one Rose Red and another Old Olive, and now I'm using my Sanded background stamp to distress the paper. I'm just bouncing the stamp on my Bordering ink pad, not bothering to ink the entire surface, and pressing it into white spots on the paper.
5. I've added Bordering swirls using the same stamp that I used for the Olive and Rose stripes. However, I stamped off once onto my workmat before stamping the image onto my paper (so the color is more subdued).
6. A close-up of a portion of the finished design.

Paper Two:
1. Assemble your Stampin' Around wheel in the handle with the ink cartridge and roll out rows of designs. The wheel guide is super handy for this.
2. Again, I distressed with my Sanded background stamp, using Bordering Blue and the same willy-nilly technique.
3. Again, I added muted swirl designs in Bordering, stamping off to tone down the color.
4. A close-up of a portion of the finished design.

Give it a try!

Scallop Punch Mum tutorial

One more flower tutorial today. Click on the pic above to see a bigger version.

1. Assemble your materials and punch one scallop punch and one five-petal flower. (Also whatever flower center you want to use, if any).

2. Ink your punched shapes as desired.

3. On the back side of your scallop punch, use a straight edge (a scrap of cardstock works great) and a pencil to lightly draw lines from from each 'v' between scallops to the 'v' directly opposite. Snip each line about one centimeter (about half way to the center).

4. Locate and pierce a hole in the center of each of your pieces. You can see my five-petal flower template in the pic.

5. On your scallop-punch piece, gently curl every other petal down, or toward the back, with your fingers. Curl the remaining petals up, or toward the front. Gently curl all the petals of the five-petal piece up.

6. Stack and hold it together with a brad.

Hope you enjoyed this!

Loopy Punch Flowers tutorial

Here's a quick tutorial on how I did the loopy flowers on my scrapbook layout 'She's Got Talent'. You can click on the pics below to see a slightly larger version of it.

We'll go ahead and punch all our oval loops for both flowers. To start with, punch ten small ovals in your cardstock, leaving enough room between to punch the large oval around each. You can use the punched-out ovals for another project (I keep all my extra pieces like that in a soon-to-be-altered Altoids tin).

Now, before we punch the large ovals around our small ovals, we're going to need two different punch styles. For our loops-only flower, we'll need seven oval loops punched off center, so that there's more cardstock on one side than the other. For the remaining three, we need the oval loops punched centered over the smaller oval. I hope the image above makes it a little more clear than my explanation.

Using the Large Oval punch, make SEVEN off-center loops, and THREE centered loops. Set the three centered ones aside for now.

Pierce a hole in the center of the thicker end of each of the off-center loops. If you're using a larger brad (which may be necessary, depending on the thickness of your cardstock), you may want to use the 1/16" circle handheld punch to make these holes.

Punch various pieces for your flower center, locate the center of each, and pierce/punch a hole. I have templates for each, so that I can consistently find the center of a whole batch of little flowers.

Now start to assemble your flower, first stacking your flower centers and inserting brad.

Arrange your loops as you put them on the brad. SU cardstock is really thick, and you'll end up with nine layers right at the center, so you won't have a whole lot of brad left to bend over. If it happens that you have NO brad left to bend over, take your loops off and dab a tiny spot of glue over the pierced hole of every third piece or so as you put them back on, and then a dab of glue on the end. Let dry. The glue will hold the pieces on your brad. You might also want to put a tiny dot of glue in various places where the loops overlap, to keep them in place (so they don't spin out of place on the brad's post).

Here's the finished version of this loopy flower. Lets make the other one.


Retrieve the three 'centered' oval loops you punched earlier. We'll also need a five-petal flower punch and some flower centers.

Cut your loops in half and add some color with sponge daubers, if desired.

Find and pierce the center of your five-petal flower, then turn it over. Adhere five of the half-loops, as illustrated in the picture above. Assemble on your brad with your flower centers.

Here's the finished version of that one.

You can also add five more 'loops'.

DIY Chipboard Shapes (or 'Faux Chipboard')

I've grown partial to chipboard shapes for cards and scrapbook pages lately. They come in various large assortments (from SU! anyway), but what if you want 30 large chipboard photo corners for a scrapbook class? You'd have to order six packs of OnBoard Blossoms and Basics at $15 each. YIKES! And you'd have a whole lot of extra shapes that you'd need to figure out how to use.

This was my dilemma recently. I'm certainly not spending $90 for 30 chipboard photo corners, so I had to come up with another solution. I really didn't want 'flat' photo corners, but.... What if I stacked up four or five punched shapes and glued them together like plywood? That would give me the bulk of chipboard without the expense. All I'd need would be my photo corners punch, a bottle of glue, and three sheets of kraft cardstock.

IT WORKED!

Here's How I did it: First assemble your supplies (I'm using scraps for now), and punch out four identical shapes.

Now apply liquid glue to top of one your pieces. Not too much or it will squish out the sides. Be sure to dab glue in any corners. (I prefer the Tombow Mono Aqua glue over the Tombow Mono Multi for this project. The Aqua dries STIFF and non-tacky, more like chipboard. The Multi remains flexible and sticky.)

Now carefully lay another punched shape on the glue and slide around so that it is exactly on top of the previous shape. Repeat two more times. You'll end up with a thick, rigid shape, very much like chipboard.

What's cool about this is that it works with just about any punch you have (obviously the corner rounder, ticket corner and such won't work).

(Incidentally, I don't plan to glue all 30 photo corners. I plan to put the punched shapes in the kit bag and have each participant glue their own.)

Give it a try!