Archive for April, 2010

This is what your Advent Calendar from Kaiser Craft should look like now that is is assembled.  Now they won’t line up perfectly but that is all right, you are going to be painting and decorating so the little imperfections will not be noticed.

I’m choosing to spray paint my base (white) and then I’ll do the rest of the decorating in paper, embellishments and tin.

The next thing to address is the 25 little boxes that you have to assemble.  After making several of these I finally got a technique down on assembling them.

First, I bend the box on all the pre-scored line.  Now the only reason I numbered these little flaps is so I could use the numbers in my instructions.  There is no need for you to number them.  After you make a couple of these boxes you will find it is pretty simple and you may find another way that works for you to assemble them.

This is the adhesive I used on these boxes.  I needed a line of glue to hold the edges of the chipboard together and I also wanted something that would dry quickly.  If you have a glue that fits that bill then by all means try it and don’t go out and try to buy new glue.

I ran a bead of glue down the edges of each side of the flap as I assemble the  flaps together, and then held it in place until the glue started drying.

As you can see I actually start with flap #3 and adhere that to flap #4 first.

I adhere flap #1 to flap #4.  If you look closely you can see the thin bead of quick dry glue on the edge of the flap.

At this point I place the box with flap #4 on the table and run a bead of glue down flap #1′s and flap #3′s side.  Then I close flap #2 on both flap #1 and flap #3 at the same time.

Here ya go!  Now when you get ready to decorate the pattern paper will run down the side of the little box and you will a great little box for the trinkets.

I have two advent calendars to make so I ended up making 50 of those little boxes.  I’ve got them made but I haven’t started decorating them at this point.  I guess I need to get on the ball so I’ll have them done by Christmas.

When I get them done I’ll post again so you can see them.  I may have to make another trip down to Waxahacie, Texas to get a refresher on how they decorated theirs.  I may have to take my camera so I can get a picture to remember all the different things they did.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure and leave me a comment.

This is one of the stranger plants I have in my flower garden.  This year it turns 3 and this is the first year it has looked healthy.  I can’t remember it’s name, I needed something with a little height and I decided I would try this one.

Those leaves have little sticky thorns on them and it also has some berries that turn blue.  I try to plant things that have berries on them simply for the birds.

Let me tell you with Spring in full swing, so is my allergies.  I didn’t have allergies as a child or young person but in the last 2 years I have started experiencing issues.  Nothing major (thank God) but enough to either make you feel bad or your eyes itch.  That is why I have not posted in a couple of days, is because I just didn’t have any energy to post.

Back a few months ago I told you we would come back to the Advent Calendars that I bought made by Kaiser Craft.  This is a picture of all the pieces that came in the package and there was not one thing that had instructions in how to put it together.

I’m pretty mechanically minded but I thought if you weren’t turned that way this would be a living nightmare to put it together.  This will be a step by step process.  I’ll probably break it up into two post simply because there are so many pictures and it would make the post too long.  I’m still looking for a video camera (I’m also waiting for some additional money to come in to help pay for it).

The back of the Advent Calendar is the board with all the slits.  This will be your starting point.  You will need to break apart all the slats that are connected together and then insert them in the horizontal slots around the perimeter of the back board.

You should have eight sides in all (4 around the perimeter, 4 on the inside).  These slats will create the frame work for the boxes.  The various slats will be different lengths so they can fit together to create the frame work so before you start pressing them into place lay them out to see what goes where.

Here is what the finished frame work looks like once all the long slats are in place.

You can see that two of the shorter slats go on the inside of the frame to make another large box.

Next break apart the smaller slats.  These will inserted in the remaining slats in the frame.

Once you get all of the slats into place this is what the finished frame looks like.

The slats create 25 little cubbyholes for the little boxes that you have to build.  I’ll stop here for now and pick up and finish putting the rest of this together tomorrow.  Whew, this is a lot of effort and then you have to paint it and decorate 25 little boxes and then find little trinkets to put in them…….but I’ll be glad to do it for Gareth and Rylan.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure and leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you.

Remember the tutorial I did a couple of days ago on making flowers and leaves out of cross stitching material?  I found the blog that got me inspired and I wanted to be sure and give her credit.  The website is called “Thoughts of a Cardmaking Scrapbooker” you can see her tutorial on these flowers and leaves (HERE).

I love Michele Kovack’s blog and follow her.  Be sure and check it out and let her tutorial inspire you to venture out and try something new.

My DH plays on an over 55 slow pitch softball team during the summer.  Now let me tell you he is well over 55 but this is a metal list that they hang in the dug out and tell who is what order in the line up.

Over the years the names of the players have changed and he needed it to be updated.  Of course he asked a friend of his if he would do it (he said he asked him because he originally make all the name tags).  I told him he was crazy to ask him because I had everything that was needed, but he said his friend would do it.

Well, you guessed it his friend didn’t have the time and the day was here for them to play their first game.

I told DH I didn’t know how they read the names they were so small.

I took an old magnet schedule from our minor league baseball time and recycled it to make names for those new players that were being added.

I took the old names off of the tags that they had and used the magnetic backs for the new labels.

Pulled out the handy dandy label machine and whipped out all the names in a crisp black and white and in a size that would be easier for everyone to read.

You can see the difference in the old style versus this new style of labels.

The names were done in black and white and the position they play are in black and yellow.

I think it came out very nice and all they have to do is hang in on the fence.

My DH loved it and I was glad to show him that all the stuff I have for paper serves other purposes to and when it comes to doing something for softball, golf or volley ball he will know who to come to first.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure and leave me a comment I would love to hear from you.

Love sweet potato vines, I think it is the chartreuse color that appeals to me.  This is a new plant in one of my front flower pots.  I know that when they start growing they can overtake the area they are planted in but I solve that by planting them in a large pot so I can keep them contained and it is easy for me to keep them trimmed back.

I thought this would be a great way to start this posting since I’m going to show you how I make my leaf embellishments.

I did not come up with this idea (duh!); however, I did elaborate on it and came up with an additional technique.  I have tried to go back and find the originator of this idea but can’t find the person’s name or the video.  So, I have to apologize up front that I can’t give that person the credit.  I’ll continue to search and when I find them I’ll be sure and give them the credit.

I found the Aida 14 count Cross Stitch material at M’s.  I started going through all of my stamps and pulling those stamps that was a good size for leaves and flowers.  Let me say that those stamps that are not too detail seemed to work the best.  I discovered that I finally migrated to a particular stamp for the leaves and I also discovered I could draw a simple draw a leaf that I liked.

I used various color of inks with the flowers and leaves.  I cut out a block of Aida and stamped randomly all over and then I cut them apart.

Also, you want to make sure you use an ink that won’t bleed or run when water is applied to it.  Memento is a great brand to use and I also used Stampin’ Up ink on this project.

Don’t hand trim them completely down to the shape, just yet, cut them apart to separate the elements.

Here is where I started doing a little R&D (research and development) of my own.  I took the stamped leaf and my alcohol ink pens in two colors and started coloring in the leaf.  I put the darker color down the leaf side and around the bottom of the leaf.

I took the lighter color and colored in the right side and went over some of the area on the left side.

Even if the stamping is fuzzy you can still use the outlined to see the shape of the leaf.

I took an alcohol ink pen and drew a line down the center.  This gives it more of a leaf look.  I used the alcohol ink pen to draw in what I missed stamping.

I thought I would try adding some luminare art water colors to add some shimmer and additional color to the leaf.

I also used the water color to add lighter color down the right side and again on the left side to give the leaf some veining.

What I discovered is that the water color bleeds outside the lines of the leaf but this works perfectly because you will be trimming around the leaf and this part will be cut off.

The water color bleeding also helps with the various colors from the alcohol inks and the water colors to blend together and give it a more realistic look……bonus!

Once the leaf dries, I “fuzzy” cut the leaf then  I took Scott’s Quick Drying glue and spread it over the entire leaf.  At this point you can add glitter and shape the leaf.

What is “fuzzy” cutting?  This is a term that refers to cutting just around the outline of the object not cutting exactly on the stamped line.  It usually leaves a white space on the element.  What I usually do is use an alcohol ink pen (Adirondack or Copics) to run around that white area and color it in.

After you cover the element completely with glue,  I like to pinch the leaf together at the base and then turn the opposite end (the pointed) up a little.  This gives the leaf a more dimensional look.  Yes, this is a little messy but it gives the leaves or flowers a great look.

You can do the same thing to the flowers that you cut.  I like the texture the Aida gives the leaves and the flower.

You can mix and match various sizes of flower petals and leaves to get a unique look.  However, I will probably use this technique mainly for leaves and use my other flower techniques (lollipop, baking cut, grunge and spiral cut flowers)  for the flowers.

Be sure and experiment (R&D) and see what you can come up with using various materials.  I just saw a video title on youtube that talked about using coffee filters for flowers.  I may have to check that out.

Leave me a message, would love to hear from you.  By the way my website anniversary is coming up so I need to get busy and get my RAK started.   Also, I know I told you we are trying to get it so I can do video’s.  I’m looking for a good video camera and a reasonable price.  I think I want one that does HD.  We’ll see, right now I just need to see if I can something that doesn’t take all my “play” money.

A couple of weeks ago my 81 year old Mother and I spent the day together making B-cards for my daughters.  This is the card that she made for Daughter #1.

She crocheted the flower and she used TH’s Distressed Ink Scatter Straw to ink a white card.  We pulled some pattern paper from my stash and crimped a piece of scrap pattern paper for the stem.

The ribbon is Stampin Up and we used Copic markers to color the white checks to match.  Yes, that is a MS punch for the border.

Mother does such beautiful handwork and getting one of these cards is a real treasure.

The leaves are made out of Aida 14 count cross stitch cloth and I’ll be showing how to do this soon.

If memory serves me correctly the “HB” stamp is from M’s.  We dressed it up with some rhinestones and a cute little bee.

Probably a better choice for the embellishments would have been gold instead of silver, but Mom choose the center of the flower and I wanted to keep the metal look the same for her.

Very, very cute.  Daughter #2″s B-day is coming up in May.  Mom’s card for her is already made but I can’t show it  until after May 17th.  However, I just finished a sympathy card that I’ll let you see and I did the front several ways.  Leave me a comment, I love hearing from you.

You know me, I love working in the flower garden and my flower garden just happens to be the flower beds at my home.

This is a new knock out rose I planted this year called Peach Drift.  The buds start out peach with a hint of orange and the when they open up they are pink.

I hope you have a blessed Sunday.  I’ve got a project in the works (ok, several projects) that I hope to get posted this next week, but thought today I would just rest and show you a peek into what I get up and enjoy everyday.

I take a cup of coffee and walk outside and check what flower has bloomed.  Then I’m ready to settled in and get something done.  Thank you Lord for your creations, they are breathe taking!

I am one “happy camper”!  This is a 2 year old Columbine that sits at the corner of our garage and it is loaded with flowers.

These are so striking.

This is a close up of the center of the flower.  This is the perfect place for this vine, it runs up a steel pole that has a bird house on top and I can contain the vine so it doesn’t take over the rest of the house.

That was the real thing but here is a hand made flower.

I think this is just as striking and it is made out of my stash scraps.  This is so easy and I thought I would share with you how to make them.  I did not come up with this, I actually found it in March/April 2010 Creating Keepsakes under tips & tricks by Megan Hoeppner.

Take a scrap of paper and on the back side draw a spiral.  You don’t have to be overly neat.

Then just cut the spiral out.  While I’m cutting I move the scissors in and out to make the cutting line wavy.  This adds dimension to the flower when it is finished.

After I get the spiral cut (it reminds me of peeling apples) I go back and cut the corners off keeping the same shape as the rest of the spiral.

Here is what it looks like all cut out and the corners cut off.  Don’t worry about the pencil lines you will not see them when the flower is finished.

I used TH’s Distressed Ink and a daubber to ink the edges.  You only need to ink the top edge that is the part the shows when the flower is done.

Start at the outer part of the spiral and start curling the rest of the spiral around it.  This makes the inner bud.

If you roll the paper toward the inside then the color will show.  If you roll the paper toward the underside the color of the backside of the paper will show.

Once you get it all wrapped then the flower is going to sit in the center of the spiral.

Sorry about the fuzzy picture my DH took it, but this shows how the wrapped spiral will sit on top of the center.

CK tells you to adhere the flower to the spiral’s center.  I tried using a quick dry glue but I didn’t think that worked very well.

I took a 3D glue dot and placed it in the center and then set the flower down on top of it.

Then after I seated the flower on the 3D glue dot and messed with it (this allows the spiral to unwind a little) I then took some quick dry glue and ran a bead around the outside petal.

You will need to hold it in place for a few seconds so it adheres.  The difficulty here is you are only gluing edges of paper so the adhesion is delicate.

Add a little Stickles and it is beautiful.  These are so simple and easy to make.

I’ll leave you with some additional pictures of others I completed.  I even used a mailer card that I found in an magazine to make a funky one.  Pull out your deckle scissors and use them to cut the spiral out, they create an interesting edge.

My #2 Daughter made these cute little lamb cupcakes.  This is a recipe out of the MS Cupcake Book.  The grass is actually eatable.

She got the grass at M’s.

Look at their little faces they are so cute.  She did a great job and she brought them to our Easter Dinner.

I’ve got a couple of new things to show you so be sure and keep checking back.

This picture of my “Woman Cave” was in the first issue of a new bi-monthly magazine called Through the Craft Room Door.  They wanted submissions for craft rooms and I submitted mine.  You can find out more about the magazine here.

Suzanne J. Dean and Marti Wills created this new mini-magazine and I loved the first issue as they reviewed some new products and gave you a little lesson on how to use Copic Markers.  Also, when you order the publication it gives you access to videos and PDF files that take you deeper into the articles.  The best part is you can access them when you want to and as many times as you want to.  It is classes on your time, love that.

So I guess this means I’m officially published, but I intend to be submitting more things.  So do a little blog hop on over to Craft Door Magazine @ http://www.craftdoormagazine.com and see what they have to offer.  Thanks Suzanne and Marti love your new mini-magazine!