Odds and Ends

Disclaimer - No punch art today

But if you come just 'cause you like me and my blather, I do have something else to show you.

I mentioned that I "saved" my hubby a bunch of money at a 40% OFF sale.  This box is one of the things I got

It started out as a plain white shiny box and in just one afternoon I got it all "fancy" and cute for my desk to fill with odds and ends.

VERY little of this is SU product - but I wanted to use up some "other stuff" and I wanted to use something that I wasn't tired of seeing all the time - so I dug down in the stash a few inches (or feet or yards - I'm not telling how deep the stash really is)

One of the things I like best about SU is the coordination of colors - if you have paper - you have ink that will coordinate.  So this little box was a little more work than I'm used to - and a little frustrating at times but that just made me use my thinking cap.

Three of the papers I used were part of a line of paper so they coordinate but the frogs, the red flower and the brown dots were just odd bits that I added in.  Pretty brave of me and I'm very happy with the result.

I used up some retired chipboard pieces to frame some of the handles and I used a BIG piece on the back

Don't ask me what happened to the color  - my daughters are not jaundiced at this point in time - and I didn't change the lighting from the first pictures (haunted camera, I guess).  That chipboard heart is hiding the seam in the paper where I had to piece things - there is another piece point but it wasn't as obvious so I left it.

I left the "top" open on the back so I can swap out photos if I want to.

Here are some tips if you ever decide to tackle covering a similar box:

It was GLARING white so I tried to ink the "edges" to distress them.  Ink didn't "stick" to the gloss - so I got out my sanding block and roughed up the shine and sponged on some ink BEFORE I covered it in paper.

Go for a distressed look because it hides your boo boos

To attach the paper - I cut then applied mod podge (matte finish) to the back of the paper with a foam brush (1 inch wide throw away kind).  Start in the middle and brush out to the edges.  Stick onto the box and you have a few seconds to "move" the paper to the correct spot.  Then take your bone folder on its side and burnish your paper down.

Now I need to go fill up the drawers with all my little embellishments that I forget about and start using them!

Happy Birthday Little Blog

I never thought that the Inspiration Fairy would hang around for a full year, dropping ideas right into my punch drawer - but SHE DID!  So today, I'm celebrating the completion of one year of blogging.

It has been loads of fun having an appreciative audience admiring my bits of paper.  I didn't realize I had this immense need for external validation. 

Thank you for all your comments, emails and words of support.  Many thanks to those of you who encouraged me to start this - you know who you are.

Melanie gets 10 points for the best suggestion to commemorate this day.  As she suggested, we are having

 Cake and Punch!

OK, it's really punches on paper cake...

OK, the truth?

I'm going to be eating fudge snack cakes (yes plural, who can eat just one?) and drinking Diet Coke.

I couldn't find the punch bowl.  (I didn't look)

Besides, it is too early to spike the punch.

And I've always wondered, if you have "spike" why bother with the punch?

Anyway, wipe the cake crumbs off your chin, grab your beverage of choice and raise a glass ...

Here's to the I-Fairy and to the Blinkin' Blog.

Happy Birthday Little Blog!

********

Template for the cake can be found at Victorine Originals (look under patterns).

I used the scallop punch to create the frosting and the two sizes of scallop circles to make the flower on top.

It takes 12 of these slices to make a whole cake - how cute would that be?  You can see half a cake created by Karen Graff-Povis right HERE.  So many options for decorating - try it out!

Triangle Box

Yes, occasionally I play with something besides punches.

Yesterday, I took a little on-line class to make triangle boxes taught by the very fun and fabulous, Shari Dudek.

I know these have been around awhile but I just never bothered to try one.

WHY NOT?  They are so cute and so easy and so fun!

Here is what I made - with vanilla cardstock, the new vintage wallpaper embossing folder and some new Chantilly lace - it just looks so "wedding-ish". 

Just a 4x8 piece of cardstock and it comes out so ELEGANT!

No, there is no announcement coming with this project.

Hubby and I celebrated 26 years of not killing each other just last week.  And my girls are NOT serious with any one in particular (that I know of!)  This was simply a little play time and wedding is what came out. 

But maybe it is an idea YOU can use.  It was SUPER easy.

How cute would it be with a tag hanging from the lace ribbon with the monogram of the happy couple or the date of the big event?

Here is a link to the box directions and a gallery of ideas on Splitcoaststampers.  There are some "punch art" creations in this box gallery - so have fun poking around there!

Gift Frame

I have a friend who's faith is very important to her - and this frame scripture project was for her.

You could do something similar with favorite quotes

 or spell out something like "friend" and have a flower or stamp with each letter.

Use your imagination!

3D flower Wedding Card

I'm a little behind the trends sometimes  - OK, most of the time. 

I have seen some fabulous, FABULOUS flowers made out of punches.  Rhea has an awesome one from my precious ornament punch.  Well, I'm sure she used HER ornament punch since mine never went missing, but you know what I mean.

Then my online buddy, Patrice, showed me how to make flowers from the scallop circle punch here.  And I immediately went and tried it - too easy!  And these are my first three flowers - I had to play with sizes!

The one on the card has 8 punches - the smaller two have 4 and 6 and they all look fabulous.

I followed Patrice's directions except my middle name is "impatience" so mine were still a little damp when I assembled - that was OK - I think it made it easier to do the last scrunching.

This card uses my fave embossing folder, the new Square Lattice, and also the lovely Finial Press.  And I think everything is popped up on dimensionals.  Obviously this has to be a "hand delivered" card so why not just keep on adding dimension?  Well, that was my thought process, anyway.

The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes (my current go-to sentiment set) and I stamped with Sahara Sand ink because I wanted the monochromatic look - I tried Soft Suede but even that was too dark.  Wishing SU still sold Organdy ribbon - that was perfect for wedding and baby cards....

Paper Flowers

Mother-in-law's birthday is next week.  I decided to 'recycle' my red Valentine's flower vase with some flowers that will last a LONG time to brighten her room.  This is a hodgepodge of two dies in the Big Shot - Daisies #2 and Flower Layers.  I matched them up willy nilly and put them on bamboo skewers.  Quick and Easy. 

Colors are Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal and Basic Black - these match (hopefully) the colors in the clown pictures she has.  She loves clowns and bright colors. It is definitely cheery!

I'm melting...

This is not the gift for the Wicked Witch of the West (melting and all that mess)... But if you need a little more "adult" looking treat holder for someone next week (Yes! Halloween is next week!!) this might work for you.  The tutorial and template for this darling watering can can be found here on Splitcoast.

So easy and quick - just print the template on the back of your paper, cut, score, adhere and embellish as desired.  I used Stampin' Up!'s Night and Day Specialty paper from the mini catalog.  The tag sentiment is from Grateful Greetings (also in the mini).  The spider is from the set From the Crypt and is stamped in Versamark Ink for a subtle spooky feel.  Black Hemp is retired but you could easily substitute black grosgrain ribbon.  Mine is filled with candy corn in a small cello bag from SU - just the perfect size for this container.

Here is the first watering can I made - the day I saw the tutorial.

Tip - you can see the print on the inside of the handle if you use the template as is.  So instead of using the handle from the template - I suggest you just cut a strip of paper the same size.

A girl with a reputation...

I am a girl with a reputation ......

I've gotten credit a couple of times now for things I didn't do.  Most recently, Keersten Jensen thought I was the one that came up with the cute little elf from the ornament punch.  That was  Andrea Walford  originally and  the Country Rose (splitcoast name) who added a body.  Now that is the kind of reputation you dream about having.  Woo hoo, I was flattered!                  . 

But what Keersten really wanted was for me to try out an idea she had - to use the pointed end of the ornament punch as a witch hat (like the point of the elf hat) - Great Idea!   So as soon as I had a free minute I pulled out the punches and tried it.  (ahem, I had to try it for her - she hasn't bought the ornament punch yet - have you?) 

Sadly, I was unable to make it work to my satisfaction,

However, the effort resulted in.....

I turned the pointed end around and made it into her pointy chin!  And I'm very happy with this one so THANKS to Keersten for getting me thinking witchy thoughts.  Sorry I couldn't make the hat work - why don't you buy that punch and figure it out for me?  hummmmm?

Happy Birthday to Me! (& a guest share)

Hey girls! 

Today is my birthday and since I think that it ranks up there with National Holidays, I'm taking the day off.  But I did want to take a minute to say           thank you      for all the support and positive feedback you have given me as I've gotten this blog going.

I absolutely LOVE sharing this stuff with you and I appreciate your kind words more than I can tell you.

While creating and sharing is fun, creating tutorials is WORK.  I will work up a tutorial for the mouse since it has been requested over and over but not on my birthday.  No WORK today.  Give me a couple of days and I'll have it for you.

But even on this "holiday" I am still going to provide you with a great project idea.  I have mentioned before that I have a very talented upline, Jenifer Lange.  Here is a box that she made: 

But wait until you see the inside!

Like that?  I know!  It is impressive and WOW WOW WOW in person.  The O Christmas Tree Pop Up die is available in the mini catalog.  But by putting it in this box it doesn't pop up - it stays up (like some people's trees are still doing mid-January).  My only contribution was assembling the star for her and taking the photographs.  If you like it, you can leave Jenifer a comment here.

Please note that her original inspiration was a box made by Sharon Field here (3d box tutorial).

Avast ye scallywags...

Notice the unusual copyright info on this photo?  I belong to a yahoo group SUStars (only for demos) and the list mom is a Pirate Freak   (Sorry Shari, there is just no better word)  She loves Capt'n Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) and all things pirate. 

Since Saturday was "Talk like a Pirate" Day - Shari challenged us to share things made with all the cool pirate stamps that SU has this year.  (She thought she died and gone to heaven when the catalog came out)

I have none of those stamps so I dressed this peanut candy up for a night of Halloween pillaging and looting.  After I did it, I realized this is a little sick - Candy going Trick or Treating?  Wouldn't that be cannibalism or something?  Come to think of it - his expression does look a little less than enthusiastic about the task at hand...

Oh well, maybe you can still use parts of the idea in some of your projects.

The patch came from the butterfly punch. Since that is my current "craze", I was cutting it into pieces to see if the Inspiration Fairy would stop by and she did. To be honest, that is how this pirate candy fellow came to be. I "saw" the eye-patch then remembered Shari's challenge. Pretty convenient timing, eh?

I thought the sword was rather clever and some of you might have scrapbook pages to use this idea on (Fencing lessons, perhaps?)

For the blade - wide oval punch - then punch it again close to the oval hole to get just a "slice"

For the handle - slot punch - punch around the slot punch hole with your word window - reinsert into the word window so that you are just "surrounding" the slot hole

The other part of the hilt that I have no clue the real name for - the part that protects your hand  -3/4 circle - cut in half

You could use the sword in a title - stamp all your letters but use the sword as an "i" or "l"  or... well you get the idea.

Did you spot the "sunglasses" between the butterfly and the eyepatch? - store that in your memory bank, you might need it someday - maybe a movie star M&M?

For basic candy directions see this post.

Mr. Bones

Look what I made!  Isn’t he just the cutest spookiest? I got the inspiration from a rub-on on a card by Maren Benedict in the September/October 2009 issue of Papercrafts magazine (pg 40).  My Mr. Bones is rather large for a card – although I’m thinking he might fit in one of those long business envelopes (don’t make me think of the number for the size). Or, if you just have to put him on a standard size card, you could just make HALF a skeleton (pick the top half – in most cases it will be more effective)



I think you can tell how to make him - all SU punches, a standard hole punch and thin strips from your paper trimmer.  There are only a few "sneaky parts".  His head is the designer label punch with one end cut off.  (If you round it off, it will still look like a skull even if you don't add the hat.)  The hat is similar to the one for the crow (see Sept 5th post )  the difference is a rectangle instead of circle punch for top of hat and have the hat band wrap around the top of the hat - instead of just leaving the small oval like I did on the crow.  His nose is the tip end of a slot punch. The "Elvis Pelvis" is the fatter heart in the Heart to Heart punch with a notch punched in for both hip joints. That same punch is used for the feet - I just snipped off one side of the heart. Hands and feet were the hardest part to come up with on old Mr. Bones, if you have better ideas please share.

This gift bag is my first skeleton project but, of course, not my last.

Besides the obvious Halloween theme…

If I took up tap dancing I could have him on the page, right? (Not going to happen.)

If I break a bone, I can tear one of his bones at the appropriate place… (Let’s hope that doesn’t happen!)

How about a BOM layout “Make No Bones About It” and discuss the adages that I hold to be absolutely true? (Might work...)


I have some pictures from my New Orleans trip I could use - this guy kinda has a Mardi Gras feel doesn't he? - I might have to change his flower to purple or green... hmm...

How about when I reach my goal weight? I can do a layout about being “just skin and bones!”



Now I'm just sitting here dreaming that I can create that layout in the "not too distant" future - better get up off my "you know what" and go to the gym.

Holiday 3-D

Jenifer Lange (pronouce the "e") is my very talented up-line. ( For those of you who might not speak "SU", up-line means the demo who I joined the company "under"). She works full-time, does face painting on the side, builds and paints scenery for the local theater group, and does cards for troops and other charity fundraising – in addition to her Stampin’ Up! business, leaving her no time for a blog (a loss for all of us). So I will occasionally be showing you some of  Jenifer's fabulous work – particularly when I get inspired to do something similar.

This is the Big Shot Die Box #2 (might as well put it on your order now) made up normally EXCEPT she didn’t fold on the score line to make the lid. She put two of these boxes back to back and punched a wide oval handle making this darling tote box. Embellished with die Leaves #2 which were sponged and veins embossed with a stylus.

The sentiment stamped on the twill tape is from Teeny Tiny Wishes – don’t you just LOVE IT?

Believe me, I brought all of the pieces home from her house so I could have one of my very own. And I also cut an extra couple of Box #2 so I could create on my own tote. (yes, that die is on MY next order, too) Here is what I did:

You knew it would have punches on it, didn’t you?

Wide Oval – head

½ Circle – nose

Heart to Heart – whites of eyes

Standard hole punch – black in eyes



And the antlers? That is from the die Build a Flower with one of the petals cut off! Sometimes I just amaze myself. I never thought I’d turn a flower into antlers – I thought I’d use the new snowflake punch for reindeer antlers this holiday season but they just weren’t BIG enough this time around.  I think candy will be the filler for this little tote - but not now, I'm watching the carbs and don't need the temptation.

Apron Recipe Holder

How cute is this?  Wouldn't it make an awesome little hostess gift filled with Holiday recipes?  This idea came from a share by Liane Peden on the yahoo group StampinUpLNStampers.  I loved her idea so I gave it a few tweaks to make it my own. 

I know you are going to want to make one, so I just went ahead and created a tutorial.  (Idea was Liane's but this tutorial is all Ellen's - Liane probably has a much easier way to explain/create this) 

Chocolate Chip Cardstock  -  5 ¾ x 11

Score at 10 ¼, 5 ¾, 5, and ½ inches

Turn paper and score at 5 inches

Snip the scored lines – up to the last score line (you are snipping up ¾ of an inch). This is what forms the bottom of the apron box.

Cut away 2 ½ inches from the top of the apron box EXCEPT for the 4 ½ inch wide front of the apron.

To get the curve, I traced the curved edge of my tape dispenser – (you could eyeball it for one side – then lay the piece you cut off on the others side, trace and cut so that the two curved edges will match.)

Cut your designer series paper for front of apron. If white core shows on the cut edge of the paper just run a marker along the edge

Attach two jumbo eyelets with crop-a-dile. Insert approximately 7 inches of red 5/8 grosgrain ribbon. Secure with tape. Cover the ribbon ends on the “inside” of the apron with square scrap of cardstock approximately 2 inch square.

Assemble box using red sticky tape on the bottom flaps and the ½ inch flap.

Adhere ribbon around the “waist” – tie a separate bow and attached it to hide ribbon ends.

I used a pop-up glue dot to secure the bow.

It took approximately 12 inches  of ribbon to go around the box and 14 inches to form the bow.

Decorate at desired. I used the pine-cones from the Autumn Days set – inked with marker so I could have brown cones and green needles – punched with circle punches.  I used the small tag punch for the pockets (sponged in old olive).


Here is a photo with a 4x6 index card so you tell the size.