Paper Crafting Blog Hop: Brightly Gleaming

Hello and Welcome to our November Paper Crafting Blog Hop, showcasing projects focused on December Holidays. Our group of Global Demonstrators are hopping ‘round the world to bring you inspiration using Stampin' Up! coordinating products. 

If you have just joined me from Terri's blog or as one of my followers, I’m so happy you stopped by!

For my project, I've created a super easy, but yet oh-so-stunning Bridge fold, that was perfected by Lyssa Zwolanek. I’ve used the Brightly Gleaming Specialty Designer Series Paper, and the Christmas Gleaming stamp set for both the greetings as well as the holly and berry that I fussy cut to add just a little bit of added interest to the front of the bridge piece.

The really cool thing about this stunning card is that not only will it literally stand out for the lucky recipient, but since the base paper is 4.25" x 8", it will also fold up nicely to fit in a standard sized envelope! 

I love the new Banners Pick-a-Punch that really allows for flexibility in creating layered banners. It makes it really easy to use up those last 1/2" pieces of cardstock that always seem to end up as scraps. They make the perfect size for a greeting (or journaling strips for scrapbookers). And since they're already 1/2", they slide right into the punch without any additional trimming. 

For the Bridge card itself, you'll start with your base paper at 4.25" x 8" and will score along the long side at 1.25", 2.5", 5.5" and 6.75". You'll want 4 one inch strips of Designer Series Paper to add to the back panels.

Your front bridge piece will be a coordinating cardstock piece that's 1.25" x 5.5". After adding any embellishments as desired, you'll adhere only the very right side and the very left side to their respective panels as shown below:

I hope you enjoyed this mini-tutorial and are inspired to create your own super simple bridge fold card! Thank you for joining me this month! Now click on the image below to hop to Julia's blog to see what fun project she designed.

All bloggers in this month’s hop:

Shirley MerkerTracy Held
Annette McMillan

Sue Boerner

Terri Stewart

                        Amber Meulenbelt (You are here)

Julia Mazur
Sandra Roberts

Sue McDonald

Carol Payne
Sandy Ward

If you are in Canada and do not have a Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator, I would be thrilled to help you get started ordering your favourite supplies. Whether you are shopping as a customer, wish to host your own virtual workshop, or are interested in joining my team to buy your own craft supplies at a discount or as a small business, I am happy to help you out!

Creative Blog Hop - Undefined Donkeys

Today is my turn to post on the Creative Blog Hop … typically these posts are done in the morning, but since I'm not a morning person, I've 'postponed' it until the evening. Thanks to Melva Peters at Stampin With Melva for nominating me. This blog hop doesn't require a commitment - just the one post where you answer a few questions and then nominate two other stampers to carry on next week. It's a sort of creative chain letter ;) 

Here are my two projects:

For both these cards, I used a donkey stamp that I carved with the Undefined kit:

Supplies Used:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

The second component of the Creative Blog Hop is to answer the four questions:

1. What are you working on right now?
My stamping space is cluttered with many different projects - I can never seem to have just one on the go. I'm working on more donkey cards for a donation to The Donkey Sanctuary's upcoming fundraiser, designing samples for my Spring Stamp-a-Stack that will be held in April, and there's even some Project Life page planning for my own album.

2. How does your work differ from others in your genre?
I wouldn't say that it differs all that much… although, I do tend to get a little inky when working on projects (inky fingers mean you're having fun!) And unlike what seems to be the majority of women, I don't care for pink! I'm definitely stretching my creativity when you see projects in pink!

3. Why do you create what you do?
I've never considered myself to be 'artistic/creative', but have always been drawn to memory keeping/photography. Paper crafting seemed like a good fit, with pre-determined stamps/papers/etc. I could tap into my creative side without having to come up with the artwork if that makes any sense.

4. How does your creativity work?
I usually just sit down and start playing... I usually have a specific stamp or tool that I want to work with and then it just goes from there. Inspiration comes from Pinterest, magazines, photos, nature, you name it! If I need to create something and I'm not feeling the mojo, I tend to seek out sketches. 

And now it's my turn to nominate two talented ladies to participate in the Creative Blog Hop next week: Laurie LaRose at Act of Stamping and Shauna Mikuliak at Stampventures. I'm so happy to have met them through Team Canada - they're part of the Inspiration Canada team and truly inspire me with their creativity. Check out their blogs to let them know you've visited - and then come back next Monday (March 9) to see what they've come up with. I know you'll love their projects!

Thanks again to Melva for asking me to be part of the Creative Blog Hop. It was fun!

Happy Birthday Card-in-a-Box

Have you seen a 'card in a box' yet? I've seen quite a number of variations of these, and just had to try one myself - but had to wait for a special occasion - Happy birthday, Kelly! The box itself is fairly quick to put together (I used this tutorial), but the decorating can be as detailed or as simple as you want.

I included the side view so you can see that you just build each section and then attach onto the little tabs you add in the middle of the box. It was super fun to make - the only suggestion I have is to stamp on each piece before punching/cutting it out. The solid coloured pieces just don't pop as nicely as the ones with ink on them ;)

Supplies used -
Stamps: Betsy's Blossoms, Tag It, Mixed Bunch
Ink: Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight
Paper: Calypso Coral, Gumball Green, Daffodil Delight, Pool Party, Very Vanilla cardstock, This And That Epic Day Designer Series Paper
Tools: Boho Blossoms Punch, Blossom Punch, Bird Punch, 1/2 Inch Circle Punch, 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch, 5-Petal Flower Punch (retired), Floral Frames Framelits, Chalk Talk Framelits
Embellishments: Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents, Daffodil Delight Pompom ribbon trim (retired)

Silhouette Birthday - MOJO329

I was trying to come up with some ideas for my upcoming card class for masculine birthdays, and thinking that staying with a neutral colour palette would be a great idea. I looked to the sketch challenge at MojoMonday to inspire me, and this is what I ended up with:



As you can tell, I deviated from the 'masculine' theme. I guess I just got carried away! Back to the drawing board for me :)

Supplies used -
Stamps: Apothecary Art, Serene Silhouettes
Paper: Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Modern Medley Designer Series Paper
Ink: Basic Black
Embellishments: 5/8 Inch Crochet Trim Victoria
Tools: Simply Scored, 1-3/4 Inch Circle Punch, Fancy Fan Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

 

Last Post of 2013 - Blog Candy Winner

Last week I mentioned that I was working on some Christmas crackers and then neglected to actually post the final product ... here's the table decor for our Christmas dinner, crackers included :D

Tonight is New Year's Eve and our relaxing evening will include opening our memories jar that my family filled over the past year (I can't wait to read all the entries)!

And finally, in my Dec 1 pledge to post a project every day leading up to Christmas, I promised some blog candy .... the winner is Kathy & Sue! Send me your mailing address and I'll get it off to you :D Thanks for playing along! 

Happy New Year!

3.5" Square Treat Box

Since yesterday was the last day to mail cards for delivery by Christmas (according to Canada Post), I'll have to finish my last bunch of local ones up and hope they make it in time! Today I'll switch then and show you a box I've made - I've been making boxes, tags, Christmas crackers and other 3D projects. 

	To make your mini box, cut your bottom sheet of paper at 4.5" x 4.5" and score at 3.5" and 4". Turn 90 degrees, and score again. Do this on all sides.
Mark and cut out the three outer squares on all of the sides of your base.
On the little square that's left, cut a slight edge off, to create a tab.
	Fold the remaining sides up and attach the tabs with Sticky Strip to create the base of the box.
	Repeat those same steps with your top piece; the measurements of your starting paper is 4" square. Score at 3.5" and 3.75" For this box, I'm adding in a treat cup, so I've punched out a circle in the lid with the 1 3/8" circle punch.
Fold and cut out the three outer squares (and create a tab, like you did for the bottom section of the box).
	For the insert piece, you'll need another square sheet of paper - this one is 2.5". Fill with your candies or glitter ;) Add some glue to the corners and push it up into the lid until it's stuck.
And now you're done!  Not sure why I didn't take a final pic of the red box with M&Ms ... but, I did take a pic of the green/brown box. I made quite a number of these and must have forgotten mid-process ;) You can decorate the top any way you want - do you like the snowflake addition?

Pop-Up Gingerbread Men!

At last night's card class, one of the fun cards we made was this pop-up gingerbread card. The inspiration for this card came from Julie Davison's floating pop-up card. 

To make it, start with your regular 8.5 x 5.5" card base and then cut it in half so you have two pieces 4.25 x 5.5". Then score each of those pieces at 1/4". Apply sticky strip to one of the sides and then set these pieces aside for now.

Then you'll want to stamp 6 gingerbread men on your Very Vanilla paper with the Baked Brown Sugar ink ... mmmm, I can almost imagine them baking! Cut out all 6 using the gingerbread framelit in the Scentsational Season bundle. We're stamping and cutting 6 men, so that both sides will be stamped - it just helps give that finished look!

Apply some adhesive to the back side of one of the men and put on a strip of plastic packaging material; then attach one more gingerbread man on top of the plastic (you can use a window sheet, or a transparency sheet too). I just cut some strips from plastic packaging to keep it from going in the trash ;) Don't forget to vary the heights of the plastic strips if desired.

Now pick up one of the pieces of Baked Brown Sugar cardstock that you had set aside and pull off the plastic backing to expose the adhesive side. You can just stick the gingerbread men to the sticky part along the edge. You'll want to then press the other piece of Baked Brown Sugar cardstock up against it to seal them in.

I cut a couple small pieces of Very Vanilla cardstock with the Finishing Touches edgelit die to cover any imperfections that you may end up with when you're butting the pieces up together. Put one on both the front and the back of the gingerbread men.

I also stamped the 'num-num' from the Oh, Goodie stamp set .. too funny! Then just decorate the front of the card and you're all set! 

Supplies used:
Stamps: Oh Goodie!, Mosaic Madness, More Merry Messages, Scentsational Season (retired)
Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Very Vanilla, Cajun Craze, Well Worn Designer Series Paper (retired)
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar
Tools: Finishing Touches Edgelits, Simply Scored, Scentsational Season framelits (retired)
Other: Sticky Strip

Hershey's Christmas Trees

I saw this really cool design to make Christmas Trees filled with Hershey's kisses recently (on Qbees Quest blog) and just had to make them for the wrap-up night for the 2012 Christmas Card club.  

I opted not to make the trunk like Brenda had made, as I wasn't sure if I'd be able to find the chocolates to fit.  The other modification I had made was using the Jewelry Tag punch to make the tag on the top of the trees.  If you stick one end of your paper into the top of the punch, you can extend it so that the length is long enough to match your greeting!

They were quite easy to make and really impressive - I loved how the kisses just fit in each spot; it made them really easy to transport!  I think I'll make some more!

Supplies:

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Garden Green

Paper: Garden Green and Very Vanilla Cardstock

Embellishments: Lucky Limeade ribbon, 2012 SAB

Other: Jewelry Tag punch, Simply Scored

Make a Cake Flip card instructions

I'm a couple weeks late with the instructions on how to make the card that I mentioned here ... but better late than never, right?  

Step 1:  Cut your cardstock to 5.5" x 6.75" - you'll end up with 2 cards plus a remaining strip from a regular 8.5 x 11" sheet.  Bonus!

Step 2: On the 6.75" long edge, rest your paper at 5.5". You will cut down from 1.25" to 4.25" See Fig 1

Step 3: Flip the paper 180 degrees and repeat step 2. You will now have two cuts 3" long 1.25" away from each edge.  See Fig 1

Fig 1

Step 4: Turn the paper 90 degrees and measure the paper to 4.25"  You will now make 2 cuts: (1) from 1.25" to 2.75" and (2) from 4" to 5.5"  See Fig 2

Fig 2

Step 5: Flip the paper 180 degrees and repeat step 4.  Your paper should now look like the one in Fig 3 when you turn it back so that the 6.75" edge is at the top.

Fig 3

Step 6: Keeping the cardstock with the long edge at the top, set it onto the Simply Scored.  I put my markers at 2.75" and 4" so I wouldn't lose my place.  You will want to score first at 2.75" just down to the first cut mark.

Step 7: Now score from the lower cut mark to the edge of the cardstock still at 2.75".  I used a ruler to line it up as you won't have the benefit of the marker to guide you for this step.  See Fig 4

Fig 4

Step 8: Flip your card upside down in place so that the 'mountains' and 'valleys' are reversed.  When you normally score paper, you should always fold the 'mountain' (bumpy) side in to give the best crease.  By flipping the card upside down at this step, we're making it so the card will naturally fold in opposite directions to give it that swinging feeling.

Step 9: Score at 4" just down to the first cut mark.

Step 10: Now score from the lower cut mark to the edge of the cardstock still at 4" - again I used my ruler to assist.  In Fig 5, you might be able to see that the scoring marks we're making at the 4" are the valleys and on the other side of the ruler (at 2.75") is the mountain.

Fig 5

Step 11: Once all the cutting and scoring are done, fold the card on the scoring marks and use your bone folder to solidify any creases.  You'll see how the centre piece we cut swings in Fig 6.

Fig 6

Step 12:  Now to embellish however you want!  I stamped a bit on the Midnight Muse with the flourish from Elements of Style (in Midnight Muse) to add a bit of interest.  The Summer Starfruit piece is 4" x 2.75" and the Whisper White piece is 3.75 x 2.5 in my sample (Fig 7).  I also used Make a Cake and Petite Pairs for the sentiment. Depending on the stamp you choose to use, you will need to keep in mind the placement of it for when the card is 'closed'.  You don't want it completely hidden on the left side so you can't see it!

Fig 7

Step 13: On the reverse side (Fig 8), I recommend stamping after you've adhered the layers, only to prevent adhering that piece upside down ... not that I did that or anything ;)

Fig 8

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial ... I'd like to see what you create!

Supplies:
Stamps: Elements of Style, Make a Cake, Petite Pairs
Ink: Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit
Paper: Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Whisper White
Tools: Simply Scored, Fiskars Paper Trimmer (retired - any trimmer will work, with the exception of the guillotine style Tabletop trimmer)
Other: Basic Rhinestone