Ribbon Flowers

While out there in blog land I stumbled across a post by another SU demo that lead me to this great tutorial by Trina Kuriger on how to make melted ribbon flowers.  Check it out here.  

In an effort to avoid procrastinating i.e. adding the idea to the growing pile of ideas and never actually trying them, I had a go!  Good on me!  

This was my first attempt.  I'm thinking I'll try satin ribbon next time (that's what Trina used). But I wanted to try it with grosgrain because I love Rich Razzleberry. 

One thing I learned;  it's vital that you use Sticky Strip Adhesive Sheets.   Sizzix Big Shot Multi Purpose Adhesive Sheets are not sticky enough to hold the ribbon.  I tried them first and failed :-((
Since I don't have SS adhesive sheets, I punched out the circle with cardstock in Rich Razzleberry and covered it completely with Sticky Strip.  It was a bit tedious, but the end result was the same.

Hope you have a great week!

Karen

Card Purse

This is a super quick post, I'll pop back with details later.

I've been dying to make one of these and finally found some time yesterday while my friend Lee was over.  

I dug out some retired paper......Urban Oasis I think.   What do you think?    It's super cute and would make a lovely gift.  I put four cards and envelopes inside.  

I feel a stamp camp coming on!
Ciao for now!
Karen

Grandma's Coffee Table Brag Book

While visiting Mum & Dad at the weekend, I picked up a small photo album that mum keeps on the coffee table and flicked through the pages recalling the wonderful time we had when we lived in San Diego, CA a few years back.

I covered the plain box and lid in patterned papers that would coordinate with Mum's living room.

The book is an accordian style, and quite heavy chipboard

Some of the pages need a little re-sticking!

I made the book for Mum's birthday while we were away.  It's stood the test of time quite well, despite the fact that it has been on the coffee table for nearly 5 years now!  And afterall, it's only paper!!

The book itself was plain chipboard, as was the box and I bought them both from Michael's - a must to visit if you ever go to North America.  It's a crafter's haven, and by far my favourite store in the world!  The only down side is that they don't sell Stampin' Up!  Well, you can't have everything.

Now, I'm no scrapbooker, by my own admission, so be kind with your critique, even if it's silent!  Someone looked at this picture and asked me where was Lana's head.  It was that funny stage where she didn't like her picture taken so she always looked like a headless shorty!!

One of the things that made this scrapbook so easy was the variety of stickers available that were perfect for each event.

Hayley is holding fluffy the snake.   I'm not entirely sure how I even took the picture, I'm terrified of snakes!  Nice colour matching with the paper though, eh?!

A very simple page letting the picture speak for itself.  OMG, hardly any embellishment...tsk tsk!

Seems I was going through a phase of trimming the photo's.  Bizarre!

I like the playfulness of this page.  The coloured stars and brads match nicely and the sticker is perfect, yet again.

Hayley, almost airborne.  Ah to have not a care in the world!

Our first halloween in America.  What a treat! Pardon the pun.  We had a wonderful time walking the streets surrounded by beautifully & scarily decorated houses.  And collected so much "candy" in our pumpkins we had stomach ache for days!!

A favourite picture of mine & Lana's.  This page doesn't really need anything else.

No scrapbook would be complete with a collage of pictures - and it's usually at the end when you've run out of pages but can't bear to leave anything out!  Yes, that's what happened here.

Lastly, the back cover.  Don't forget to date & sign your name here.  Especially if you want these little family memories to be passed on.  It's so easy to forget the small details.

Funnily, I'd forgotten all about this book.  But I'm feeling quite inspired to go make something else like this.   I might have to start a project.....now, which drawer did I stash all that sort of stuff into?!

Go on, make something!
Karen

Mojo Monday 227

This is a bit of a stretch!  I've spent ages fussing over this truly ugly card.  I deliberated about posting it, but I figured that there's a yukky project every so often and it shouldn't be excluded from the blog.   What, you think I only post the pretty one's?!!

I'm not entirely sure what I was trying to achieve when I made this, however, let's just say it doesn't fit my vision.......laughing hilariously here.....but the point is, have a go regardless!  It's about the process and all the more fun when it makes you laugh.

Happy mid week, go ahead, laugh a little!
Karen

Mini Milk Carton

Poppy Parade is a red that I'm slowly getting used to.   There's something about it that's a bit garish when I see it next to Real Red & Cherry Cobbler.  Yet, on it's own, it's very pretty. 

This is a smaller-than-usual card using the vase of flowers from Button Buddies.  Our buttons are designed to coordinate with this set and the little flower ones from the Brights collection are perfect.  Everyday Enchantment was used to make the narrow border on the bottom of the card and the 2 1/2" circle behind the vase.  Pool Party ruffled ribbon completes the look.

The Mini Milk Carton is made using the die by the same name for the Big Shot.  This looks complicated, but it's super easy and you only need a small amount of Sticky Strip to hold it together.  The tag is from SU some years back.  I didn't stamp directly onto it because the metal edge makes it a bit touch and go to get a good finish so I stamped onto Very Vanilla, punched it out and stuck it on with snail.  The Trio Flower Punch (R) was used with Calypso Coral and Pool Party and tiny pearls from our Basic Jewels are the centres.
Happy Tuesday.
Karen

Valentine's Day En Francais

As much as I love making cards, I find it very difficult to make something for my husband for Valentine's Day because he's not really my  "handmade" style.  Despite that, I do always make something for him hoping that it won't turn out too girly!

Last week's class had us making Valentine's Day cards inspired/cased from a Stampin' Up! project in our latest in house magazine.

Here it is:

I like the simplicity and especially the colours - Wisteria Wonder is my fave In Color right now.  The glimmer paper is just gorgeous and so easy to work with because the glitter doesn't come off.  Great if you're averse to walking around with glitter on your face all day!

En Francais is a wonderful background stamp too.   Check out this card I made - totally different look & purpose but so delicate and pretty.

Yes, those are the SAB papers, Everyday Enchantment.   The Lucky Limeade "ribbon" was done by taking a strip of cardstock and scoring it at intervals then folding it accordian style.  My piece measured 1.8cm by 20cm & was scored at 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, 14, 15, 17 & 18 cm.  The card base is Calypso Coral & I've used the stamp from Pretty Postage that I inked with markers.

Go make something!
Karen

Individual Spin

I love the way people interpret things differently.  It's endlessly fascinating and if you take the time to question why (in any scenario), it's quite an eye opener to discover what motivates people to do things.
Of course, if you look deeply, you'll find answers that go beyond basic likes/dislikes.  Some are complex, some are not.

That said, I'd like to share a photo of one of the projects we made at class last night.   It shows how each person has put their own spin on the card.  I can tell you there was a lot of giggling going on.......no names mentioned, you know who you are!! 

Top of the challenge list for a lot of people is the torn paper technique.   It takes a while to become comfortable with the "messy" or random shapes that torn paper creates, and in fact, despite the actual tearing activity, I still believe you need to create a finished piece that looks balanced.  But is that a contradiction?  We also discovered (in class) that having long nails affects the end result.  Who knew?!

Here's the pic.    I won't ID the makers - they know who they are.    But pay attention to the differences.  After tomorrows class I'll post a pic of my sample.   We are very interesting, us crafters!

Stay out of the rain!
Karen