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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Tutorial - Christmas Easel Cards

Thank you to everyone who visited during the Inkspirations Christmas Blog Hop (my post is HERE) & thank you all for the lovely comments.  I had a few requests for tutorials on my projects, so here is the first one on the featured easel cards.  I will post the acetate tube tutorial after Christmas (which is only a couple of sleeps away - eeek!!)

I hope the instructions are clear - I've added lots of photos (which you can click on to make larger) along the way!  If you have any queries, please drop me a comment or an email.  :)

BTW, here is a LINK to Amy Rysavy's tutorial on the glitter filled, glass baubles (& yes, you use a LOT of glitter!!)


BAUBLE EASEL CARD

You will need:-

2 white CS circles - 8cm (3.1/8”) across
2 coloured CS circles - 8.5cm (3.3/8”) across
2 SU Medium Jewellery Tag shapes punched from metallic CS
1 Brad (Split Pin)
1 Self-Adhesive Rhinestone or similiar
40cm (16.1/4”) Organza Ribbon


Other:
Stamps/Inks
Sponge
Piercing Tool or needle

Stamp Sentiment on lower half of one white circle.  Adhere stamped white circle onto a coloured circle.  


Score the other white circle along centre & 1cm (3/8”) from one edge (parallel to centre score).   
Crease folds & place adhesive in the smallest section.  


Flip the scored panel over, so the adhesive section is facing downward, & fold the centre crease back upwards, so you are now looking at a semi-circle shape.  Align the top edge of your semi-circle with the top edge of your circular sentiment panel & adhere.

.
This is what it will look like from the side.   


Place adhesive on the semi-circle.   


Decorate your remaining coloured circle.  I have stamped & clear embossed, & then sponged around the edges with ink, to give some dimension. Adhere one of the Jewellery Tag Punch shapes to the top of your coloured circle.  Adhere the second Jewellery Tag Punch shape to the other side of the circle to give a neat finish.  Pierce a hole in the bottom part of the Jewellery Tag Punch shape, going through all three layers. 


Poke a brad through the centre of your ribbon & then through the pierced hole & secure at back. 


Here is the back view.  


With the right side up, tie a bow in your ribbon & trim ends.

Now this is the tricky bit to show & explain without having an extra pair of hands to take the photo! :)

Have the base section of your bauble sitting right way up in front of you.  Take your decorated top section & carefully line this up over the base section, working at the bottom edge.  Once you are confident it is straight & centred, apply pressure to the decorated panel, working from bottom to top to make it adhere to the base section.


Add an element (I have used a stick on rhinestone) in the centre of your base section for the top panel to rest against when the card is open.

Here is a photo of what the card looks like open from both the front & back.



CHRISTMAS PUDDING CARD

You will need:-

1 coloured CS circle for plate - 10cm (4”) across
1 coloured CS circle for upright behind pudding - 8cm (3.1/8”) across
1 coloured CS circle for pudding - 8cm (3.1/8”) across
1 coloured CS circle for custard topping - 8.5cm (3.3/8”) across
Metallic CS for spoon (oops, forgot to put that in the photo!)
Scraps of green CS for holly leaves
Red Button


Also:-
A teaspoon to trace around
Scallop Edge Scissors
Speckle Stamp
Fine Detail Stamp for Plate
Inks/Chalks

On the reverse side of your metallic cardstock, trace around spoon & cut out with scissors.  


Prepare all other elements - Freehand cut leaves from green cardstock with scallop edge scissors & sponge edges.  Crease leaves.
Stamp Pudding Circle with speckle stamp & sponge edges.
Trim bottom edge of Topping Circle in a wavy pattern & sponge edges.
Stamp a pattern around edge of Plate Circle & sponge edges.  You can also sponge your plate so it has a “rim”, by using a scrap of cardstock in the centre of the plate as a mask to sponge around.


Score the Upright (8cm) Circle along centre & 1cm (3/8”) from one edge (parallel to centre score).  Crease folds & place adhesive in the smallest section. 


With the adhesive side down, centre the Upright Circle on the Plate Circle & adhere.   


Fold the centre crease back upwards, so the upright becomes a semi-circle shape & add adhesive.  


Here is a side view.   


Adhere the Pudding Circle to the Upright Circle, aligning the edges.  


Adhere the Topping Section to the Pudding Circle.  Add leaves & button.   


Very gently, run the spoon between your thumb & forefinger to create an upward curve in the bowl part & a downward curve in the handle.  


Work out where you would like your pudding & spoon to sit, then add a dimensional under the bowl part of the spoon to attach it to the plate & hold the pudding section up.


Enjoy!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish every one a wonderful Christmas & Happy New Year!

Helen x

Friday, December 17, 2010

Inkspirations Christmas Blog Hop!

Welcome to Inkspirations Christmas Blog Hop.  You may have arrived from the amazingly talented CARRIE'S site, but if not, just follow your way around the loop to see all the amazing projects.  Enjoy the Inkspiration!

 

I have a couple of things to show you, the first of which is a large, clear glass bauble (80mm diameter):-


which I have filled with stamp pad re-inker & glitter (thanks for the cool idea Jenni):-


But then I have taken it a step further, & personalised them for my sister & her family:-


These baubles came in a pretty unattractive cardboard box, so I have made up some clear cylinders to present them in:-


& here's one filled with two baubles:-


For ages I have been wanting to make an easel card & recently circular ones have started popping up in blogland!  I thought a circular one would look perfect as an ornament & I will be using these as the place setting cards for our Christmas table:-



Our colour scheme this year is purple, silver & white, so I made some matching bon bons (filled with "daggy" purple Christmas hats, yummy chocolates, little purple trinkets, some corny jokes & the all important "snap"):-


Here's a close up of the sentiment on the bon bon (I love this stamp!):-


This final idea popped into my head when I was making the placecards - a Christmas pudding easel card, with a silver spoon resting on the plate to hold the pudding section of the cards upright.....  Hmmm?!


I hope you enjoy these projects, I haven't listed supplies today, but if you would like any details or instructions on any of the above, please email me or leave a question in the comments.  Thank you.  :)

Next stop to visit is the exceptionally clever ILINA!

Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Inkspirations Christmas Blog Hop!

How exciting is this?  Inkspirations is hosting it's very first BLOG TOUR and we want you to play along and join in the fun!
WHEN: Friday 17th December 2010
WHERE: Inkspirations Challenges Website to begin and then many other fun places along the way!
Would you like to play along?
The Blog Tour will display all sorts of 3D Christmas gift ideas, and we would love to see what you have been making this year for you all your Christmas cheer, gift and surprises.
If you would like to play along and have everyone come and see what you have been up to on your blog, please email Makeesha at rmbyl@optusnet.com.au by Monday 13th December 4pm (est) and Keesh will add you to the Blog Tour list....You will then be given a confirmation and the following link after your blog!
The Inkspirations Team can't wait for this fun event and look forward to you joining in on all the fun!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Inkspirations Challenge #51 - Penguin Anniversary

This week the Inkspirations Team have a fun sketch challenge for you:-


I had a bit of a play with this sketch, mirroring it & squashing it into a landscape shape to suit the die-cut hearts that I substituted for the circle.

A little while ago I made a Christmas card (here) featuring our family in penguin personas.  Well, I liked the little characters so much that I have made hubby an anniversary card with the same little penguins, this time in all their finery.  (Yes, I know it's totally cheesey!)

 
Here's a close up of their bling!



Here's a photo of the pieces I used to create the basic penguins & the component details are listed below:-


BODY = Black body from Owl Punch.  Trim away "ears" & feet.
WINGS = Black belly from Owl Punch.  Cut in half vertically & adhere behind body on an angle.
BELLY = White belly from Owl Punch.  Round off top corners.
EYEBALLS = White medium circles from Owl Punch.
PUPILS = Black tiny circles from Owl Punch.
BEAK = Pumpkin Heart from Owl Punch.
FEET = Punch a small scallop flower punch into a piece of waste Pumpkin Pie & discard the flower.  Starting from one of the inner points of the flower, trim out to the edges, angling your cut inwards slightly.  Do this again, with two petal curves in between your cuts.  Adhere the feet behind your penguin's body.  :)

BTW, hubby loved the card.  He is so adorable - he has a stash of all the cards I have given him over the years!  :)

Card Components:
Cardstock:  Whisper White, So Saffron, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie
DSP:  SU Haiku & Tangerine Tango Patterns (both retired)
Stamps:   SU A Word for You
Inks:  Pumpkin Pie
Other:  Two Step Owl Punch, Large Oval Punch, Dazzling Diamonds, Black Pearls, Clear Rhinestones, Scallop Trim Border Punch, Small Scallop Flower Punch (mine has 6 petals), Clear Glaze Pen, Robo

Friday, November 26, 2010

Inkspirations Challenge #50 - Contempo Christmas

It's Friday night, so time to play along with another Inkspirations Challenge!  Keesh has a colour challenge for you, & here are the gorgeous colours:-

 
This week I have made a Christmas card using the SU set Contempo Christmas & the matching ornament punch, kindly lent to me by the lovely Jenni Oliver.  Thanks Jen :) *waving*

I've kept to a really clean, simple design, with lots of white space.  I really like the way it turned out with these non-traditional colours.


The sentiment has been added by way of a tag on each ornament (love this cute little punch!).  I stitched the hanging threads with an iridescent thread over a line of silver gel pen.  The ornaments have been clear embossed to make them shiny & then popped up on dimensionals.  Here's a close up:-


The silver cord is actually hat elastic, which I sealed the ends off with clear nail polish to stop the fibres from fraying.

Make sure you go & check out all the DT Member's creations & have some fun & play along!

Inkspirations Challenges Site Makeesha Brandi Carrie Cindy Helen Ilina Kirsty Lee-Anne Marisa Renée
Card Components:
Cardstock:  Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizazz, Rich Razzleberry
Stamp Sets:  SU Contempo Christmas & So Many Sayings (retired Hostess set)
Inks:  Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizazz, Rich Razzleberry, Versamark
Other:  Iridescent Sewing Thread, Silver Gel Pen, Clear Embossing Powder, Silver Brads, Jewellery Tag Punch, Silver Hat Elastic, Dimensionals

Friday, November 19, 2010

Inkspirations Challenge #49 - Pink Roses

Welcome to this week's challenge for Makeesha's Inkspirations.   Come & play along, check out the DT pieces & challenge entries at the new challenge site which you can find HERE.

This week's challenge is based on the following sketch:-


& here is my card:-


The stamp I pulled out of my stash is a real oldie (from Personal Stamp Exchange/PSX), one of my early purchases "back in the day" as my 19YO son would say.  Back in the day, when he was at kindergarten!

I have stamped this beautiful rose on watercolour paper with archival ink & then watercoloured it with four shades of pink stamp pad inks & Old Olive for the leaves & stems.  I have glazed the greenery to make it look glossy & added a hint of clear glitter to the edges of some of the rose petals.  Here is a close up:-


Instead of using a horizontal strip of DSP on this card I tried something different with the ribbon by tying the knot & then taking both bands of the ribbon back under the rose panel.  This made the knot & tails sit out nicely on the left.  The matted rose panel has been popped up on dimensionals.

Make sure you visit all the other DT members & leave them some comment love!  :)

Inkspirations Challenges Site Makeesha Brandi Carrie Cindy Helen Ilina Kirsty Lee-Anne Marisa Renée
Card Components
Cardstock:  Basic Black, Watercolour Paper
DSP:  Old Olive Patterns (retired)
Stamps:  PSX Hybrid Rose, SU Teeny Tiny Tags
Inks:  Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive
Other:  CM Cutting Patterns (Oval), Clear Glaze Pen, Spica Glitter Pen, Black Brads, Mini Jewellery Punch, Black Satin Ribbon

* * * * * * * * * *
Congratulations to last week's colour challenge Winner Andrea Ewen & Honourable Mention Kerry Steger!

There was lots of lots of eye candy last week, both Christmas themed & not.  I needed a card this morning, so I made one up with those challenge colours.  The crumb cake is there as sponging on the distressed edges of the ledger paper.  Makes it look nice & grubby!  :)


Card Components
Cardstock:  Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White
DSP:  Ledger Paper from 6x6 Hostess Pack (Pear)
Stamps:  PTI Everyday Button Bits (Cherry Stems), SU A Word For You
Inks:  Real Red, Old Olive, Crumb Cake
Other:  CM Cutting Patterns (Circles), Clear Glaze Pen, Buttons, Dimensionals, Real Red Spot Grosgrain Ribbon, Mini Library Clip, Spiral Punch

Friday, November 12, 2010

Inkspirations Challenge #48 - Snowglobe

Wow, what an exciting week it has been with the launch of the new Inkspirations Challenge site here!

This week Makeesha has set a colour challenge with these great colours:-


Well, these colours just screamed "Christmas" to me, so a Christmas card is what I have made.  :)


This card certainly took off in a whole different direction from where I started & I am really happy with the end result.  I have made a shadow-box style card, which folds flat for posting & is then popped open to create a little 3D scene.  (You can see some of my other shadow-box cards here, here & here).

I wanted to try embossing acetate & I added white gel pen dots to the dimples on the reverse side.  This created a great "falling snow" effect, so the snowglobe idea was born from there.

The snowman is a digital image from Michelle Perkett & he has been printed on watercolour paper & coloured with stamp pad inks & an aquapainter.  He has been fussy cut & popped up on dimensionals.  I die cut the border of the snowglobe & the card opening on my Robo.

Here is a close up of the little fellow:-


I did learn an important lesson from this card - "it's really tricky to photograph acetate with dots on it!"  LOL

Come check out the other Design Team members' projects & play along here:-

Inkspirations Challenges Site Makeesha Brandi Carrie Cindy Helen Ilina Kirsty Lee-Anne Marisa Renée
Thanks for looking!

Card Components:
Cardstock:  Whisper White, Old Olive, Real Red, Crumb Cake (Kraft) & Watercolour Paper
Stamps:  Digital Snowman by Michelle Perkett, SU Heard from the Heart & Snow Swirled
Inks:  Old Olive, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Kraft White, Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie
Other:  Clear Acetate, White Gel Pen, Clear Glaze Pen (Hearts), Spica Black Glitter Pen (Hat Band), Dazzling Diamonds, Dimensionals