Hello, Crafters. Earlier this morning I uploaded my video to show how I made this butterfly wedding, engagement or anniversary card.
It's one of the cards I made last week as part of my self-inflicted challenge to use die cuts and coloured images that were languishing in Ziplock bags!
This card was inspired by one of two die cut butterflies I found in the Crumb Cake bag - one solid and one patterned.
I tried to use the patterned butterfly on top of the solid one, but they looked like nothing at all, which is what I probably thought when I'd first die-cut them as I put them in a Zipock bag!
I decided to use the fancy butterfly and today's card is what I came up with!
Yesterday was the second and last day of the Make It Show, and the day was definitely quieter than on Friday.
Even so, I still met and chatted with some very friendly crafters.
I had one lady who wanted to have an info pack (about joining
Stampin' Up!) as opposed to four on Friday, although yesterday I did
recruit a lady back into my team!
I was pleased that I chose to demonstrate the various different ways of using the lady images in the Beautiful You Stamp Set.
This set is clearly the favourite with most visitors to the Stampin' Up! stand!
Visitors were particularly interested in seeing how I did the reflection technique as well as the bleaching technique.
This is the 3D project we made in class at the weekend, and I promised I'd share with you when I made the video...........................so here it is!
Today's
video shows how I've been covering some very plain A7 note pads and
making them into very classy looking note pads that are ideal to slip into
your handbag or back pocket!
One of the ladies in my team found the note books in a
craft shop near where she lives in Glasgow.
Maire knows I'm always on
the lookout for nice gifts I can give to my online customers, as my
monthly hand made Thank You gifts.
She very kindly bought me a large
quantity and couriered them down to me, with a few other goodies, too!
I already have my Thank You gifts for
my January customers, so the timing for these note pads is spot on for
my February customers.
I've already covered a few, but still have quite a
lot still to do. At least I have a whole month in which to make the
rest of them! Many thanks, Maire! It
also means I can carry on playing with different ideas for the embellishments.
I think I've
exhausted the butterflies, so flowers is the next one to try.
As I said
in the video, I keep the embellishments on these pads flat, as I expect
them to be put into handbags, and anything 3D is likely to get torn or
pulled off and will make the note pad look very tatty!
This is a great way to use up large pieces of scrap Designer Series Paper.
I put a piece on the back and the front, and you could also put a piece on the inside, back and front, too!
Whatever size your note pad is, the video will show you how I decided on the width of cardstock (CS) I needed.
To find the length required, take a strip of CS that's at least half an inch wide (1.3cm) and wrap it round your nate pad from back to front, folding it where necessary to go over the top.
Then measure the length, and positions of your folds.
This will get you very close to what you need, although you may need to tweek it slightly!
I hope this helps! I'm off to the hairdressers this morning but I'm not in a rush like I usually am - well organised today! It happens occasionally! LOL! Until tomorrow, happy crafting. JanB.
Yesterday it looked like summer had finally arrived! But it hasn't! It was just peeping its head around the door! At least hubby had a good day in the garden and the front looks lovely. He's out there again today, hoping to get the back garden finished before the rain arrives!
It's not often - if ever - that I use one of our Thinlits Dies for my daily blog but yesterday I decided to have a play with the Baker's Box Thinlits Die.
I was very pleasantly surprised at the size of the finished box. The base is 2 5/8" x 2 1/4" the height to the start of the slanted top is 2 1/4" and the overall height is 4 1/8". It will certainly hold a lot of goodies.
This die set also includes three dies that will cut holes in the top of the box depending what type of closure you want; there are three dies that could be used for labels, tags or for creating windows in the box; there's a heart and also the word YUM! You can see a picture of all these dies on page 191 of the current catalogue.
As this was my first play, I concentrated on making a straightforward gift box. I started with Whisper White cardstock and die cut two main pieces. I really don't think our regular Designer Series Paper (DSP) is strong enough to make this box because the box is too big.
I cut six pieces of a Melon Mambo and Whisper White design from the Pop of Pink Specialty DSP. Using Melon Mambo Ink and the border stamp from the Floral Phrases Stamp Set, I decorated the top of the two pieces that were for the top part of the box and then I decorated the bottom part of the four pieces that were going to go on the bottom part of the box - I love this stamp! I adhered all the pieces in place using Tombow. Then I used a hand held 1/4" circle punch to make two holes at the top for the ribbon. I used the only Melon Mambo Ribbon I have which is retired.
I chose two dies from the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits Dies and die cut them from some Melon Mambo Cardstock - they were the words FOR YOU and the bow, which is the bow I now use for butterflies' antennae!
I was thinking about decorating the other three sides but decided not to as I had added the border all round. I painted the die cuts with my Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Pen before adhering them in place on the box.
The final touch was the butterflies. They're from Papillon Potpourri and I stamped them in Melon Mambo Ink onto Whisper White Cardstock. I punched them out using the Bitty Butterfly Punch and adhered them by their body and added three pearls along their body. I also added a large pearl to the centre of the die cut bow.
I have a couple of ideas what I'd like to do with this die set so they are now on the list with lots more other ideas already in the queue! LOL!
That's about it for today. Until tomorrow, happy crafting.
Hello, Crafters. I hope you've had a great weekend. These are the projects from Eve's birthday party on Saturday that I promised to share. I did find it bit of a challenge coming up with three suitable projects for seven year olds, as well as Eve, who is a very talented card maker. With the benefit of hindsight, I can say these were ideal! We made the basket and the glitter fairy and then stopped for a bite to eat. By the time we were ready to start again, carriages had started to arrive to whisk the guests back home again! I left the prepped packs for the third project with Nicola so she can do them with Eve as and when it suits. I was really amazed at how long the children were happy to stay at the craft table - it was almost two hours! It was a great event - I'd certainly be happy to do it again. The first project is what I call a Molly basket - named after my granddaughter! When I did her seventh birthday (crafting) party, I made a basket for each of the guests and personalised them with their names. I gave them to my daughter who then filled them with goodies for the children to take home. The theme for Eve's party was fairies which meant I had to use several non-Stampin' Up! products. To decorate the baskets I used some 6"x6" squares of patterned fairy paper from my stash. The box was made with a piece of 6"x6" Blushing Bride Card Stock and I was able to cut the patterned paper into 9 x 1 7/8" squares with the top part of the fairy being in the centre of one of the squares, which was great for the front of the basket! For the second project, I used Pink Pirouette Card Stock and the large scalloped oval die from the Ovals Collection Framelits Dies. The butterfly stamps and punches are also Stampin' Up! as is the birthday sentiment and the punch used to cut it out, plus the ink. We also used the Two Way Glue Pen to paint on the reverse side of the acetate to stick the glitter to. I bought the acetate fairies from Glitter Greetings who had a stall next to us when we were at the Creative Crafts Show at Sandown Park recently. It was really lovely to watch the children choosing which different colours of glitter they wanted to use for the different parts of the fairy, they definitely had their own ideas of what they wanted! After the first colour, I gave up on "darkest colours first" and allowed them to thoroughly enjoy the experience - I enjoyed it, too! The card base for the third project was on Whisper White Card Stock with a layer of Melon Mambo Card Stock. Then was a layer of non-Stampin' Up! patterned Vellum. The Hello was die cut out using the Greetings Thinlits on Silver Foil. I stamped the fairy, which was from a set of Nicola's stamps, in Melon Mambo Ink on a piece of Whisper White Card Stock and layered onto a piece of Melon Mambo. I tied a piece of retired Melon Mambo ribbon around the centre of the fairy image and adhered to the card base at an angle using Dimensionals. I'm really pleased that all the parents gave their for me to share some party photographs, too! 1). Eve, second from the right, with 3 of her friends playing while waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive. 2). Everyone at the craft table concentrating on their Molly Baskets with Mum on the left and Nanny on the right. 3). Eve, the birthday girl. I hope you've enjoyed sharing this occasion with me as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you - and as much as I enjoyed being there, too. Until tomorrow, happy crafting. JanB.
Hello, Crafters. I hope you've had a great weekend. These are the Thank You cards I made last Wednesday. I used the design to make a video showing how to get the most out of your Stamp-a-ma-jig. Unfortunately, since making the video, I've thought of something that I've missed out.............so that's one of my jobs today, re-making the video! Hopefully, it'll be ready to share with you on Wednesday! You may remember that last Wednesday was the day I went through my to do box I keep on my desk and finished off several half-baked projects I found languishing in there! This included four Curvy Keepsake Lanterns which hold battery operated tea lights. This is the video which shows how I made them: Curvy Keepsake Lantern. Both the colours I used are retired colours - the yellow one is Summer Starfruit (I loved that colour) and the red is Raspberry Ripple. The patterned vellum was from the Sheer Perfection Designer Vellum Stack that was available during this year's Sale-a-bration. All I needed to do to finish them off was to add the ribbon and butterflies which co-ordinates with the card stock. The butterflies are from Papillon Potpourri and were punched out using the Elegant Butterfly Punch and the Bitty Butterfly Punch. As usual, I haven't decided on this week's challenge yet but I have to choose something that's not too taxing as I'm working this week. I also need to get myself organised for 7 year old Eve's birthday crafting party this coming Saturday. There'll be 8 young ladies, plus mum, nanna and me. The theme is fairies and I know what I'm doing for one card and a 3D project, and I think I know what I'm doing for the second card. Really, I just need to prep for it - I'll keep you posted on how I get on with this! In the meantime, until tomorrow, happy crafting. JanB.
Hello, Crafters. Yesterday, I took the train into London to meet my sister for lunch. We don't see much of each other so we had a lot to catch up on while we were enjoying a really nice Thai lunch. I stopped on my home to do some banking and then a quick bit of shopping. Then it was home and time to think about day 3. Day 1 was layering, day 2 was labelling and day 3 is what I'm calling a window............any suggestions? My card base is Rose Red Cardstock with a layer of Whisper White Cardstock. Using a top layer of Rose Red, I die cut the window using number 3 die (the smaller the number, the smaller the die) from the Deco Labels Collection Framelits. I then embossed this top layer using the Happy Heart Embossing Folder. I used the Blessed by God Stamp Set for the cross and the sentiment. I inked the stamp in Wild Wasabi Ink and then used one of our blender pens to remove the green ink from all the flowers. I then painted the flowers using Rose Red, Perfect Plum and Marina Mist marker pens. Before I stamped the image onto a large piece of Whisper White Cardstock, I huffed onto the stamp to re-moisten the ink. I was very pleased with how clear the image has come out. I put the thin edges of my Dimensionals at the back of the window, placed it centrally over the image and then adhered to the card front. I stamped the sentiment on Whisper White Cardstock, using Rose Red Ink and punched it out using the large oval punch. Then I used the Scallop Oval Punch to punch out a piece of Regal Rose for a layer for the sentiment. Because I was putting two pieces of the same colour cardstock on top of each other, I used my white gel pen to draw some dots in each of the scallops. To finish off, I stamped one large and one small butterfly from Papillon Potpourri Stamp Set using Rose Red on Whisper White. Then I punched them both out using the corresponding punches, adhered their bodies together with Tombow and attached to the card with a Dimensional. As always, I finished off with a row of pearls along the butterfly's body. Other ways this window could be used are by having an acetate sheet immediately behind the window or to stamp the image onto vellum and adhere immediately behind the window. I hope you've enjoyed this week's third project. Until tomorrow, happy crafting. JanB.
Hello, Crafters. I have just uploaded today's video which shows how to make the money bags I showed you here on Saturday - please see the last photograph. This is the video link: EPB Money Bags The boxes are project 2 for my Week 8 Challenge, Different Uses For Die Sets. Yesterday I told you I already knew what I would be doing and that I was really looking forward to it! I use the Stampin' Up! Stamp Storage Boxes for other items of my stash as well as stamps. They are an ideal size and they sit on the shelves along with my stamps. I have one for rhinestones, pearls, candy dots, another one for doilies, googly eyes, epoxy stickers and, would you believe it, one for Owl Punched Body Parts! LOL! (Oh dear! I've just realised I've spelt doilies incorrectly!) I hadn't ever done anything to make my boxes look nice and I thought this would be a great opportunity to do something to remedy that. I also thought, what a great way to use up more of the old style Designer Series Paper stacks - another step closer to being able to order the beautiful new designs! YAY! The DSP is in the front and side sections only. I thought I'd leave the back section open, like the stamp sets, as it's useful to be able to see the contents without actually having to open the box.
The sizes of DSP needed for these boxes in this way, are as follows:
Clear Mount box - 7" x 5 5/8" Wood Mount box full size - 7" x 6 3/8" Wood Mount half size - 3 1/4" x 6 3/8" When you insert your DSP, make sure it is all inside the plastic cover - any DSP that is outside will get damaged with contact use. I used a different colour for each box so it would be easy to remember which box contained what! I printed the labels on my PC using a sheet of Whisper White Cardstock and I added the Stampin' Up! logo.
I used number 1 of the Deco Labels Collection Framelits (the smaller the number, the smaller the die) to cut the label for the front of the box.
I then die cut the layer with size 2 using the appropriate coloured cardstock. I cut the spine labels as thinly as possible using my cutter. I adhered all the labels to the boxes using Tombow glue.
Now I need to put my thinking cap on for project 3! Until tomorrow, happy crafting.
I
hope today's weather is a one-off and not set to stay for the weekend!
Only gardens and ducks appreciate this amount of rain - mind you, good
reason for staying in my studio!
This
money envelope I made using the Envelope Punch Board is the final
project in my week 7 challenge.
I hope you've enjoyed seeing these
projects as much as I have enjoyed making them. I'm using the Tangelo Twist
(orange) envelope as my 3D project in my classes tomorrow.
Inside is a
DIY Bow Maker and two pieces of ribbon.
I was inspired by a swap I
received from Pauline Barnfather at Team Training at the beginning of
the month - thanks Pauline, the bow maker is a brilliant idea!
The
colours I have used are the 2014 - 2016 In Colours and the Designer
Series Paper is from the Designer Series Paper Stack that was available
at that time.
I don't know for sure, but I would imagine if this product
is ordered now, SU would send the latest designs.
I must try and find
out.
The colours are Mossy Meadow (green), Tangelo Twist, Hello Honey
(yellow), Blackberry Bliss (deep purple) and Lost Lagoon (dusky
greeny/blue). The
stamp set I used for the bird on the branch is retired.
The other
stamps sets are Flower Shop, Petite Petals, Papillon Potpourri and
Sprinkles of Life. Although
these are money bags, there are so many other ideas they could be used
for.
My five ideas here are a gift card, golf tees, teabag, bow maker
and card to attach jewellery to (like the box insert I posted here yesterday).
Another couple of ideas are chocolates, sewing kit, shower cap, small
toiletries, money - the possibilities are endless.
It's now time to start thinking about a challenge for week 8!
Do you have any ideas?
If you do, please make a note in the comments box below or email me at janb@janbcards.com - I'd love to hear from you.
Hello, Crafters. I hope you're enjoying a great crafty weekend. When I posted card number one of week 5 challenge, on Tuesday, I said I'd make a video showing how I made the flower. I have just uploaded that video. The challenge was called Other Uses for the Bird Builder Punch. I have thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and I hope you have enjoyed the cards I've made! Please let me know if you have a new challenge for me! This is the link to today's video: Bird's Wing Flower Card The size of the flower is decided by the size of the base circle you use. For example, the Elegant Eggplant (purple) flower you'll see first on the video had a base of 1 1/4" circle and the Marina Mist (blue) flower I made during the video had a base of 1 3/4". My plans for today are to make a video showing the swaps I received at the Team Training I went to last Sunday. It will be quite a short video as there are only about twenty swaps but they are really good and I think you'll be pleased to have had the opportunity to see them! I'm planning to use two of the swaps as ideas for my classes at the end of the month, so that's what I'll be doing for the rest of the day. If all goes well, by the end of the day I should have all three projects ready, including instruction sheets as well as the packs of card stock, ribbons, etc, needed for all the attendees of the two classes. It would certainly be a first if I'm ready two weeks in advance! Let's see how I get on. Until tomorrow, happy crafting, JanB.
This weeks challenge has been nominated by Scrappygirl2010 and the challenge is Different Uses For The Bird Builder Punch.
Today's
different use is a flower. I used Pretty in Pink, which is a retired
colour, for my "prototype". This is what I normally do when I'm
experimenting because, as much as I don't like wasting cardstock, I do
feel slightly better if it's retired! The retired Designer Series Paper
was called Flitatious.
Once
I had finished the pink card, I decided it looked too flat and that it
needed to have the petals (wings) curled - what a difference it makes!
The leaves are also from the Bird Builder Punch. I did paper piercing
around the sentiment and added the butterfly from Papillon Potpourri.
The
colour I chose for the blue card is Pool Party and I used the Designer
Series Paper Stack - Subtles Collection (olde style) for the petals
(wings).
I
am going to make a video to show how I decided where to lay the petals
and which ones to curl. It can be done by guess work, if you prefer.
When
I did the sentiment for this card, I stamped further to the right hand
side so I could tie some Pool Party Baker's Twine around it before
adhering to the card. As with the pink card, I used the Triple Banner
Punch for the sentiment and the layer behind it.
The
stamp for the little flower in the centre of the bird wing flower was
from Pictogram Punch Stamp Set and I then punched it out using the
little flower from the Itty Bitty Accent Punch Set. I am now going to put my thinking cap on for card no. 2! In the meantime, until tomorrow, happy crafting.
Hello, Crafters. 
I tried to use the patterned butterfly on top of the solid one, but they looked like nothing at all, which is what I probably thought when I'd first die-cut them as I put them in a Zipock bag! 
Even so, I still met and chatted with some very friendly crafters.
Visitors were particularly interested in seeing how I did the reflection technique as well as the bleaching technique. 
