the CLASSroom

Merry Kissmoose by Debbie Olson

When I first saw this moose in the Kim Hughes Christmas Critters set, I knew that I needed the set. I can almost imagine him raising his eyelids a few times at some passing girl moose!I stamped the moose in Memento Rich Cocoa ink, and then colored it with the Copic markers shown below. (He's fun to color!)

 

For the background, I was feeling the love for patterned papers and stitching tonight. I chose several patterns from the Basic Grey Wassail pad, as well as a Wassail brad. I used a Fiskars Threading water punch to get a scalloped edge, and the added some red Stickles inside each dot. The holly berries have Ranger Glossy Accents applied for shine, and the moose's eyes have Sakura Black Gelly Roll Glaze pen. I used a vanilla embossing powder for the "Merry Kissmoose sentiment, and then sanded or applied antique linen distress ink to all of the edges. Both the moose's nose and the holly are cut out and raised with foam tape for added dimension. This image was simple to color and a joy to work with.

Thank you for visiting!  Debbie Olson, for the CLASSroom

ladybug birthday cards by cindy lyles

 

Today's post features Basic Grey's Urban Prairie 6x6 paper pads, and tips on how to use sheets in these pads that don't necessarily 'speak' to you...

I'm using Sugar Plum card bases, folded to 4-3/4" square.  We're making four birthday cards to have on hand - lots of birthdays in November - if yours is one ... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Using two purtty sheets of 6x6 Urban Prairie paper I cut each down horizontally to just under 4-3/4" in height, then cut each in half vertically at 3".  This created four pieces of decorative paper for each of the four card fronts.  Adhered each then tied a length of celery grosgrain ribbon (May Arts). 

 

The ladybugs from Kim Hughes' Cute Curls set were stamped onto white cardstock, then punched out with a scallop punch (EK Success via SU).  Colored with Copic markers adding bits of grass.  A large clear dome sticker was placed over each ladybug, centering on the scallop.  Adhere each dome-covered scallop to a 2" Licorice cardstock circle punch (Marvy).

 

Sentiment on fronts and insides are from Mona Lisa's Birthday Centers.  Here's a pic of the card interiors - try layering some of your paper scraps into birthday cake layers!

For the envelopes, here's where you can use up more of those paper scraps, and any of those 6x6 papers that you don't forsee using on a card front:  Use them up for envelope linings!  Depending on the style of envelope flap and location of the envelope adhesive, you can just cut strips, like I did here. 

You can also use up the 6x6 decorative papers by cutting them down and using them as inserts inside your cards, as a protective layer between the card front and the inside of the envelope.  The United States Postal Service mechanical sorters often can rip an envelope that house a card with a dimensional embellishment, so that extra layer inside can truly protect your card.  Also, you can write 'hand cancel' on the outside of the envelope and hope your post office complies with your wishes.

supplies:  all from Ellen Hutson unless otherwise noted.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for being a part of my life again this past year. Your support of what it is that I (we) do means so much to me. Your care and concern for my well-being as I have struggled through surgery, and who knows what other goofy predicaments I have found myself in, warms my heart and tells me how much you care. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!

I would also like to thank those who work for me! The girls here at our office - Beth, Cathy, Malin, Carina, and Shirley - they are such wonderful women and work so hard to make certain that we provide you with top notch service. Thank you girls SO much for all you do to help make this business a success! This week has been a tough one for us being it is our second anniversary sale and I haven't even been at work, due to a few shivers and shakes going on (hate it when my body doesn't cooperate with what my mind has an agenda set for!) They have worked so hard to stay on top of everything, without me there to even assist this week. Thank you all SO VERY much! I hope that you are each enjoying a wonderful day today with family and friends!

Debbie, Sharon, Cindy and Trudee - your support, creativity, energy and enthusiasm are appreciated more than you could ever know! Thank you for working together with me - I could not ask for a more incredible team of designers to help educate our customers how to use the products we carry in our store. I could not ask for more thoughtful, caring individuals to stand beside me. You all never cease to amaze me - thank you!

Above all, I would like to thank my team for your friendship! It is this that I value the most!!! Please know that your support, thoughtfulness and kindness do not go unnoticed. I appreciate each of you so very much! I would like to publicly acknowledge each of you, because my life would not be the same without any one of you. I am thankful that you are a part of my life!

So now you just have to envision a pretty card here being my trip to the office to make one ended up with me just turning around and coming home - LOL! No eye candy - just a few "sappy" words expressed from my heart.

I am blessed by so many other things in life, but it is family and friendship that means the most to me. Thank you for stopping by today. I wish you a peaceful and healthy year ahead, one in which you are surrounded by the love and support of family and friends. Thank you for giving me this feeling of warmth - I appreciate you and am thankful for having you in my life!

Evening Angels, by Sharon Harnist

I've been wanting to make this door hanger for my daughter's bedroom for quite some time.  I'm sorry I wasn't able to get a good photo of it actually hanging on her door, but my lighting was horrible!  So just imagine it hanging on her pretty white door, okay?  :)

I started with Lockhart Stamp Company's Star Angel -- I stamped her with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Neenah Solar White cardstock and colored her with Copic markers.  Please forgive me for not remembering exactly which blues I used to color the angel, as I colored her several weeks ago.  If you choose three shades within the same Copic color group, with just two or three number differences (such as B00, B21 and B23), you'll achieve a nice smooth blend just like I did here.

 

After choosing this lovely patterned paper from Memory Box's Frost collection, I decided to airbrush the background of my angel with a greener BG10 marker, to tie it to the colors in the paper better.  I left the angel image in the Petite Classic Oval Nestabilities die while I airbrushed.

 

I love how this leaves the embossed edge of my image white.  I backed the angel image with Craft-a-Board, to give it stability on the door hanger (as opposed to popped up on dimensional foam tape) and also to give the image some prominent depth.  If you need to trim your Craft-a-Board, like I did here in order for it to fit through my Wizard die cutting machine, be sure to use some sturdy craft scissors such as Tim Holtz' Micro-Serrated snips.  The board is sturdy enough that it will dull your normal scissors and you'll probably have a little bit tough time gettin them to cut through this material.

 

The Memory Box patterned paper had this lovely scalloped border down one side of it, so I die cut two pieces of that pattern by placing them in the largest of the large set of the Mega Nestabilities Long Scalloped Rectangle die and cutting/embossing them.

 

My door hanger base is Bare Elements by Creative Imaginations, but you could cut one yourself from Craft-a-Board. 

 

To edge the door knob cut-out nicely, I made a scalloped frame using Classic and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities.  You can place them together onto your Spellbinders Magnetic Placement Mat -- just be sure all of the edges of the dies are flat on the mat, with no edges overlapping, or you could damage your dies.

If you are purchasing this magnetic mat for the first time, you may want to consider purchasing two of them . . . as you can see, I've cut into mine by mistake and I'm sure at some point you will, too!  It's always good to have a spare one in reserve.

All the paper was adhered to the door hanger with glue stick, the edges sanded and then lightly inked with Ranger's Antique Linen Distress Ink.  The Lockhart "Light fades, stars appear, evening angels gather here" sentiment was stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink.  Some beautiful white silk ribbon finishes it off this project.

 

Don't forget you can do some shopping in Ellen's store over the Thanksgiving holiday, through this Friday November 28, and receive a nice 15% discount on everything you see in the store . . . just check out this post for the discount code to use!  Happy Thanksgiving to our U.S. friends!

-- Sharon Harnist for the CLASSroom

Classic {Guy} Cards by Debbie Olson

It seems that every time my husband asks for a "guy-card," my stash is depleted. Does this happen to you too? Today I thought that I would get a set of three masculine cards ready, keeping them fairly generic so that I could stamp inside whatever I needed to stamp next time he says, "Jim's birthday was yesterday. Should we send a card?"

I try to keep masculine cards fairly clean and simple--low on the frill-factor. So I started with a Basic Grey Granola 6" x 6" pad and some Granola buttons. I chose Mona Lisa's Birthday Centers sentiments and some 3/8" natural twill--all guy-approved items. I paired my papers and cut them so that I'd have that 1/3 and 2/3 ratio that is visually pleasing, and then sanded all paper edges. (A sanding block gives you the least expensive "layer" that you can add in a white-core paper!) next I embossed my sentiments in a detail white embossing powder, trimmed them, and tacked them with a light touch of adhesive to the card front before sewing the edges. (You'll want to avoid getting adhesive where your sewing machine needle will go through it and get sticky.)

For an added detail, I folded a short length of natural twill and attached it to the sentiment strip before gluing on a threaded button. That's it--a simple trio of undeniably guy cards!

Thank you for visiting, and don't miss the SALE post below this one!

Debbie Olson, for the CLASSroom

Please note: You can click on any of the pictures and get a larger view.

Ellen Hutson LLC Second Anniversary Sale!

It is our Second Anniversary!!! I cannot believe how time has passed so quickly! As our way of thanking you for your continued support, we are offering you a 15% discount on EVERYTHING currently in stock in our store, Ellen Hutson LLC. Upon checkout, please type in the following promotion code exactly as shown to receive your special discount - CELEBRATE2

In addition, we have a new Red Hot category. This area contains items that we have purchased extra inventory, items that we are discontinuing, and just a myriad of different things for you to purchase at a reduced price. Remember that you get an additional 15% off these items as well! They may not always remain in this area, so get them while you can.

This sale begins tonight at midnight (Pacific Time) Sunday, November 23 and will run through "Black Friday", November 28. It will be first come, first served. Please note that if an item is no longer visible on our website that means we are currently out of stock - so shop early since this sale is on in-stock items only!

One last little reminder - our system is just simply weird - LOL! Your discount will not show at the end of your invoice, but instead the discounted price is simply noted on each individual line. If you have any problems or concerns please give us a ring on Monday morning, we will do our best to help you!

butterfly notebook by Cindy Lyles

We're getting close to that gift-giving season!  This notebook makes a quick gift and is easy to package in a bag or quickly gift wrap.  I originally showed this notebook in Ellen's In Touch newsletter using Craft-a-Board, and wanted to show the versatility of the template using cardstock.

You can use any 12x12, heavy cardstock for this project - single or double sided, it does not matter. The glittery cardstock used here is DCWV, cut to the dimensions in this template.  The 5x8 notebooks are from Staples, reasonably priced in packs of 12. 

Once the cardstock is cut according to the template it will look like this.  Cut a 5" x 8" piece of coordinating cardstock (Memory Box Mango used) for the notebook back.  Cut another 5" x 3" piece of patterned cardstock to cover the notebook header. 

Score according to the template and create the pocket using a strong adhesive.  Adhere the notebook header and the pocket cover and your project will look like this.

Adhere the 5x8 piece to the notebook back.  Don't forget to stamp or sign your work - someone else may see it and want to order a dozen!  

Now is where you can spend as much time as your schedule allows:  the notebook cover.  I punched a scallop Nestabilities die from white cardstock and airbrushed (or sponge) a 1-1/4" circle in the center.  Stamped a CHF Mona Lisa sentiment (Motivational Centers) in black ink.

Applied a thin layer of Glossy Accents to the airbrushed circle.  Added glitter to mimic the glitter flowers from the patterned paper and allowed to dry.

Stamped the butterfly from Kim Hughes' Little Gal four times with black ink onto Mango cardstock (same as notebook back) and cut out.  Adhered a paper flower and a wire threaded button shaped like antennae to three butterfly cutouts, then adhere using double-sided foam to the scallop circle.  Adhere scallop circle with double-sided foam to notebook cover.

Adhere the fourth butterfly to the inside!

All supplies except where noted:  Ellen Hutson

Cowboy Boot Paper Template

I'm not certain I have told you this little tidbit about my background and so I thought I would share a bit of my past with you. My major in college was Education, with a minor in Interior Design. I came to find out in my senior year that - oops, the state of Washington would not certify me to become a teacher with a supporting minor of Interior Design. I ramped it into full gear and switched my minor to a major in Home Economics. So I learned to cook and sew, in addition to learning all about the Principles and Elements of Design - LOL!

One my sewing classes required us to design our own patterns - voila, template design. Yes, I do love to sketch, draw and fiddle :) Last year I created a special ensemble for Paper Crafts, You Go Girl magazine. Being that magazine is no longer available and I get many requests I wanted to now share my template with you here in the Classroom. I ask that you not post this document in other places around the internet and if you would like to use this for purposes of making money selling it you need to contact me first, but please feel free to download it and make oodles of these in all sizes to share with your friends and family.

I am hoping that this link to my PDF documents will allow you to download this pattern and create your own cowboy boot gift bags, place cards, or whatever else you would like to dream up as a use for this little boot.

Download Cowboy Boot Template here

To create the cowboy boot below I actually reduced the size of this template by 77%. Be certain to use the same program or copy machine when reducing these templates so that you reduce them both by the same amount. You can also enlarge them and use 12" x 12" paper. You may have to piece the papers together, but that is the fun of "playing" with the template size. This little boot measures approximately 4 1/2" from toe to heel and is approximately 5" high. I have made my largest boot approximately 7 1/2" long by 8" high.

 

The name Urban Prairie was one I just couldn't resist - LOL! It sounds so "country." I used this wonderful paper collection to create my boot and coordinating card.

 

To begin I simply cut the paper down to pattern size and adhere it using temporary adhesive to my actual paper. In this case I used a piece of 6x6 ebony colored decorative paper.

 

Being that the boot top is too large to fit on a single 6"x6" piece of decorative paper I went ahead and cut it in two. You will note though that I left extra room on the piece on the right to make certain that I would be able to add a "flap" on to adhere it to the other piece.

 

I do love my 8 1/2" Tonic Guillotine cutter. It is the one that I always keep on my work surface to "perfect" my cuts. I typically will use it to cut my small straight edges because I know the blade positioning so well.

 

As you can see I extended the right side as shown above and then using a pencil I added my cut line. I use my little snips (I have two - they are identical only one is black and the other pink - that's for when I loose one and don't want to look through my stacks of paper in progress. LOL!) to cut out the remaining portions.

 

Next I position my piercing template on the boot toe top. Piercing is such a key to making these boots look more authentic. I love the difference this detail adds!

 

Here is a closeup of the pierced detail with the fun addition of the rose pearls. Gotta make that boot totally glam you know :) You could also easily use the coordinating Urban Prairie brads or buttons to get a totally different look and feel.

 

Next I score all the dotted lines. As you can see I leave my template in place as I score. This allows me to really see exactly where I need to score my lines. I prefer my Scor It for this job because of the true scored line it creates. It is critical to keep your score lines as accurate as possible being it will be difficult to put the pieces together if your score lines are off. I acutally have two Scor It's being I am one to have to test everything. I have found that I can't live without my large one and I keep it up right next to my Carl Cutter. This Mini Scor-It is a tool that I keep at my work station. It is a convenient size to have on your work surface, but if I could only have one I would select the larger. Unfortunately at this time we are completely sold out of the larger size, but we are hoping to get some in within the next couple of days. I will add a live link to the larger size so that you can make a visual comparison at a later date.

 

Next I fold all my score lines and do a thorough job of adding that crease with my teflon bone folder. If you haven't had the opportunity to try one of these I am SO in love with this tool and have been for a number of years. It does not leave shiny spots on your paper as true "bone" folders do.

 

As you can see I have now applied the adhesive to all the parts of the boot bottom. This is where I made my mistake. It has been so long since I have made one of these boots that I forgot to apply my adhesive to the interior (or the other side) of the boot base. The picture following the one below will show how I made up for this, but I can tell you that it is SO much easier to use your ATG tape runner to apply the adhesive at this point in time.

 

I then put my boot base together. It is best to give this a try before applying the adhesive so that you know how the folds fit together. I start by putting my toe piece in place and then affixing the top of the toe. I then bring the base up and put the heel together starting with the back and then the heel front. The final step is to place the boot base as shown above.

 

This is the part that I had to come back to do. Never fear - there is always a way to get it put together, but being I did not want to mangle what I had already done I simply applied red liner tape at this point. As you can see I couldn't get it to follow the edges exactly, but it was close enough to really keep the boot put together.

 

In inserted the boot top (which was already adhered at the seams at this point) into the boot base and once again using my teflon bone folder to help me I attached the top to the base.

 

The final addition to this little project were boot tabs. I love the look of boot tabs and so using my Stampin' Up! label punch (I think that is what it is called - sorry, but I don't remember the technical name) I punched out two tabs and then pierced them as well.

 

Pick and choose the part of the design that you want to use. That is what is so wonderful about piercing templates - YOU get to choose what it is that you are going to pierce. One last little pearl on each tab and my boots were complete.

Being that I only had white tissue paper I quickly pulled out my Copic markers and my airbrush system and sprayed some coordinating tissue paper. With loads of time you could actually airbrush a wonderful design on your tissue paper, but this post was already overloaded with information and so I kept it simple. Go figure - me, simple???  LOL!

 

To complete the card I knew I wanted to use the Lockhart boots. I have always had a fettish for boots and was so tickled when Karen created these. A girl can never have enough boots Ü Being I couldn't leave well-enough alone I wanted to create a suede finish on my Urban Prairie paper. This is an old technique that I haven't seen done in a LONG time and so I thought I would share it with you once again.

Ink your brayer with dye ink. I used Memento's Angel Pink for this project. Then squirt Liquid Applique over the surface of your paper in a fairly quick and random way. Immediately use your inked brayer to spread a thin, even layer over the surface of your paper. I quickly snapped this picture and then went and washed my brayer. Do not ink your brayer again until you have a clean one if you want to add more color because you don't want liquid appique all over your ink pad!

I then let this dry momentarily and followed with up by using my heat embossing tool. At this point I found that I hadn't added enough pink to my project and so I brayered it once again with more pink ink and reheated. I'm so disappointed to realize that I forgot to take a picture at this point.

I stamped my boots with Palette Noir and cut them out.

 

Being I had my little Scor It on my work surface I decided to add detail to my card front by setting my patterned paper between scored and pierced lines. I love the combination of scoring and piercing - there are so many different looks that you can create by combining these two textural effects.

 

A few more pearls and I now have the cutest little gift "boot" with a coordinating card for any upcoming emergency gift giving opportunity. I think that young girls and those of us more "mature" girls will both love this little gift ensemble.

Canvas Poinsettia, by Sharon Harnist

 

At least I hope this flower I created somewhat resembles a poinsettia!  Nevertheless, I used a great new product to create it and I wanted to share my results.  I used the new Sticky-back Canvas paper from Claudine Hellmuth for Ranger Industries.  This was one product from this summer's CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) show that really stood out for me and I couldn't wait to try it with my Spellbinders dies!

I used Spellbinders new Sunflower Set Two to cut the canvas -- or at least try.  Here are my findings:  The more detailed dies with more cutting edges (I also tried Snowflake Wonder) didn't cut through the Sticky-back Canvas very well -- I had to finish cutting parts with my scissors.  But I did find that if you remove the paper lining from the back of the canvas (it's there to protect the sticky adhesive), then most Spellbinders dies cut through the canvas better.  Honestly, I don't think the adhesive on the back of this canvas paper is very useful -- it's a very low tack and if I were to adhere something cut from the canvas to any other surface, I would be sure to use a more secure adhesive.  However, it did help the canvas stay in place while I airbrushed it a few steps below, so that was nice!

I had fewer cutting problems with larger, more open dies like the leaf from this Sunflower set:

 

The leaf die cut through the canvas (with the paper backing removed) very nicely and you can see the die also embossed the canvas very well.  But one thing I also discovered in another step below, is that if you soak the embossed canvas with ink or dye, it's fabric-like tendencies shine thru and most of my embossing disappeared!  A simple fix was just to re-emboss the dried canvas by putting it back in the die and running it through my Wizard machine again with the Spellbinders tan embossing mat.

Once I had two flowers successfully cut out (I skipped the embossing step), I airbrushed the flowers all over with Copic Sketch R29 Lipstick Red:

 

Next, I airbrushed Copic R39 Garnet in the centers and on some of the interior petals:

 

Then I added just a little of Copic R85 Rose Red airbrushed to the tips of the petals, just to give a little depth and variation of color and to finish covering any of the white canvas that was still showing.

For the center of the flower, I decided to try another product -- Ranger's Adirondack Color Wash.  It's a spray on dye-based color developed for use with fabric, paper, fibers and more.  This soaking of the canvas is what made my embossing disappear!

After re-embossing the dried canvas, I gave the flower center some depth by dotting some Krylon Copper Leafing pen onto scrap paper (that blob next to my flower center below!) and then picking up some of the color with Ranger's Ink Blending Tool and wiping it onto the surface of the canvas. 

 

The metallic leafing gave the center a nice glow.  To bring out the embossed dots in the flower center a little more, I dotted Krylon Gold Leafing pen on each embossed dot.  The flower center was popped up with dimensional foam tape and here's the finished look:

 

The colored canvas petals are still nice and pliable (I gently bent them into the shape you see) and have that wonderful canvas texture to them.  Best of all, the canvas isn't bulky and will lie flat on the card for mailing purposes.

My 5.25" card base is Memory Box Crimson cardstock and the papers are BasicGrey's Wassail.  I cut coordinating patterned paper with two different sizes of Classic Square Nestabilities, matting them with more Crimson cardstock. 

The sentiment is from Mona Lisa Moments' Christmas Expressions.  I love the sentiments in this set -- the fonts are beautiful and there's a wide variety of sentiments for just about any holiday need.  I stamped it with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto the Crimson cardstock, cut it out with a Classic Square Nestabilities die and then outlined the embossing with metallic gold gel pen.  It's popped up with dimensional foam tape.

Some gold Dew Drops in three corners finish off this holiday card.  I hope you'll try out this new canvas on some projects and report back to us what you've created with it.  I know I'll be playing with it some more!

-- Sharon Harnist for the CLASSroom

Pierceability Update

Yesterday we received our first shipment of Pierceabilities from Spellbinders, and I must tell you that the Pierceabilities shipment that we received does not meet my standards for product quality. After opening several packages and testing the dies, I have come to the decision that I must return the dies to the manufacturer. I found that the hole dimensions are inconsistent and therefore difficult to create with. In addition, the Clear Guide Template is missing from the products shipped to me.

In their current state, I simply cannot sell the Pierceabilities products that were shipped to us yesterday to any of my customers. If the manufacturer is able to resolve my product quality concerns with Pierceabilities in the future, I will decide whether I will offer the Pierceabilities product line for sale to my customers at that time.

Please know that I will continue to work hard to bring you innovative and functional products, and that I will always try to make decisions that are best for you.

New Copic Airbrush Technique using Scrapblock Stamps

I was recently asked how it is that I come up with my "unusual" ideas - my answer was "experimentation." Just trying techniques that are old, in new and different ways, results in some very fun findings! Sometimes they work and many times they don't - LOL! Today's project is not new or unsual - it is how it is done that is different and so the end results are unique from previous projects of this variety.

The product I would like to focus on this month is Backgrounders and Scrapblock stamps and show some different things that we can do using them.

 

I am so thrilled with some of the new designs from Cornish Heritage Farms. Lisa and I love to talk "trends" and some of these new designs are so dead on! She had me jumping up and down with glee with some of these - LOL!

 

To begin I stamped the Fiery Floral using VersaMark ink on Solar Crest cardstock. I then covered it with UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel.) I opted to use this thicker powder because I wanted to be certain to have good coverage of the design for the next step.

 

As you can see I heat embossed the powder, melting it into a glistening surface.

 

Then I pulled out my airbrush system. Typically this background look is achieved by sponging or brayering dye ink over the image, but I was in an "experimental" mood and wanted to see what the end result would be with the airbrush system. I love the soft look that the airbrush gives, and the fact that I already have almost 100 different colors to choose from, and they will coordinate with my colored projects was the icing on the cake! I immediately used a soft paper towel and lightly burnished over the embossed surface removing some of the ink, but leaving most in place.

I then used my Clover craft iron to iron the surface of a clean piece of Solar White cardstock against the embossed, airbrushed surface. I am not going to reveal the image that I achieved when I pulled these two pieces apart, being I am creating a whole other project with this piece. You are either going to have to go and give it a try and see the results for yourself or wait for my next project. Yeah - I know - I'm a BIG tease Ü (It really is cool and so I dare you to give it a try! Send me a note and a link to your project if you do it.)

The card above was created with the original background piece. I repeated the ironing process a number of times using  scrap paper to remove the excess embossing powder. When it appeared that my background was no longer shiny I then used my heat embossing tool to heat the surface one last time. This brought the remaining embossing powder to the surface, once again creating a soft sheen. I wish I would have snapped a picture at this point, but was so excited about the next step that I forgot - LOL! I heated my cardstock until there was no longer a sheen visible. Be certain not to hold your heat tool too close to your project or you might brown your paper. I learned this lesson a long time ago and fortunately I haven't forgotten it. 

 

Another way that I used my airbrush system for this project was to alter the color of the wide twill tape. I really wanted an ultrawide ribbon to use with the gorgeous Prima flower I have had in my stash for a very long time, but didn't have the correct color. So I placed the RV34 in my airgrip and first added the pink to the twill, following up along the edges with a little E47. 

I have shared the picture above to show you the change in color, as well as to show you how I used my craft iron to create a nice smooth fold in my twill to help it lay flat on my project. Be certain to use a piece of scrap paper between the iron and the twill, being the scrap paper does pick up a hint of the Copic color and my guess is that it might make the surface of your iron sticky if you use the iron directly on the altered twill.

 

I then stamped Happy Birthday over this background using Rich Cocoa Memento ink. As you can see there still was a little "resist" effect on the lettering, but not a significant amount. Be certain to test your image on a small scrap that you cut off before beginning, to make certain you have most of the embossing powder out of your project. Add a few Chocolate Pearls, some Infuse patterned paper, mount it on Begonia cardstock and your project is complete.

There is another completely different project that I have shared on Simple Dreams, my very neglected and lonely blog, using this same technique. I will do my best to try and get the reverse image project completed and up here shortly so that you can see the very cool surface that was created on the opposite side!

Thank you for stopping by and wishing you a happy Monday!

Follow Your Dreams by Debbie Olson

Good morning, and welcome to the CLASSroom! Today I have a simple but elegant card to share with you. I received a Fiery Floral Scrapblock this week and wanted to use it; when I looked for a focal image to fit it, one of the Mona Lisa Motivational Centers seemed like a perfect match.

I stamped the Fiery Floral image onto a piece of red cardstock using Versamark ink, then heat embossed with a clear embossing powder. I added a bit of Vintage Photo Distress ink to the edges of the red panel to help draw the viewer's eye toward the center of the cardstock, and then edged the cardstock with a gold paint pen.

For the focal image, I stamped the quotation in red ink, and then die-cut with a Curved Rectangle, again distressing the edge (Antique Linen Distress ink) and adding gold paint. It seemed to need a mat or frame, so I created a frame layer by nesting two of the curved rectangle dies on the magnetic mat to keep them from slipping. I placed my cardstock on top of this, then my cutting pad upside down on top of the cardstock. Please note that it is important that the dies not overlap if you are using two of them at once. I edged the frame with the gold paint pen.

Next I tied an ivory silk ribbon around the card front and then added my focal image and frame, raising them on foam tape. I finished it with two small ivory pearls and mounted the card front on an ivory (natural white) base.

Thanks for visiting today!

Debbie Olson, for the CLASSroom

olde williamsburg card by Cindy Lyles

If I could visit anywhere, it would be Williamsburg, Virginia.  I remember going on a historical tour there as a very little girl with my parents - maybe eight years of age.  One of the lady workers, dressed in full Colonial period regalia, asked me to take an enormous black skeleton key to another worker.  Maybe that is why I am so enamored with keys???  mmmm... 

When I saw Cornish Heritage Farms Primitive Beginnings, my mind ran back to that memory at Williamsburg, and I knew I must create a colonial house!  With a stone walk!  Let's go!!!

Stamp house and sentiment onto a 4-1/4" x 2-1/2" piece of white cardstock, and the house again onto a piece of cardstock scrap. 

For the house on the cardstock scrap:  Color windows using Y19 and Y21. Use R59 for the door (and a fine gold metallic pen for the door knob) and W1 and W3 for the house siding.  Cut house out.

For the house with sentiment:  Highlight sentiment 'home' with Copic Y19, then add a grounding line on each side of the house, and a few sprinklings of grass with a black Copic Multiliner.  Add a stone walkway using Copic W3, and grass along house and ground line using YG00, YG91 and YG95.

Add dimensionals to the back of the house cutout and adhere, lining up houses.  Mat house unit onto a piece of 4-1/2" x 2-3/4" Memory Box Licorice cardstock. 

Prepare a 6-1/4" x 4-1/2" white cardstock card base.  Center and adhere a 4-5/8" x 2-7/8" mat of Memory Box Parsley.  Wrap and adhere a 5/8" striped ribbon (Strano Designs - Sally), then adhere house unit over Parsley cardstock using dimensionals.  (interior sentiment - A Muse, with a few cardstock scraps...)

Cuttlebug heart die was used on red wool felt, adding a threaded button. I love it when a card takes one back to when one was little!

All supplies except where noted:  Ellen Hutson

Framed Angelic Ornaments, by Sharon Harnist

   

Karen Lockhart's sweet Ornament Angel is the center of attention on this holiday card.  I stamped her with Tuxedo Black Memento ink on ivory shimmer cardstock and colored her with Copic markers Y00, Y21, YR23, E15, E00, YG 93, YG95, R46, R35 and shadowed her with W1.  Clear Spica glitter pen accents her hair and wings.

The angel was cut with Spellbinders Classic Circle Nestabilities.  The gold frame was made from metallic cardstock -- I cut the Classic Scalloped Circle Nestability first, then centered the Classic Circle within the Scalloped, to cut the frame.  Holes were punched in each scallop, then sheer ivory ribbon threaded through the holes.

The frame was popped up over the angel piece, onto this beautiful Webster's Pages paper.  The top red piece of paper was embossed and pierced with the Victorian Pierceabilities die (hopefully arriving very soon to the store).  Card base is 5.50" square Neenah Classic Cream.

Thanks for stopping by today . . . I hope this gives you some more Christmas inspiration!

Simply Elegant Wedding Notecards

I remember when I got married - I wanted everything to be simple, yet elegant. Unfortunately there were SO many things to do and fortunately I didn't know anything about card making back then - LOL! Otherwise I would have probably tried to put together my own invitations or at least thank you notes.

 

Kim Hughes new I Thee Wed is truly stunning! As soon as I saw this elegant silhouette bride and groom I knew exactly what I wanted to share with you! Arturo notecards have such an incredibly elegant appearance to them, with their soft deckled edges. To make this notecard above, I simply stamped the image using Versamark Ink on to the Celadon Green and embossed the image using Pearl Embossing Powder. I used the Wedding Bells on the corner of the envelope. I think that this creates a truly beautiful and easy WOW card.

 

Simply select a notecard that is similar to the couples wedding colors or use white or soft white. Create a set of these for the bride and groom in VERY little time and gift them with a set of ready to go thank you notes that are simply elegant!

Merry and Bright Trees by Debbie Olson

How are your Christmas cards coming?  One of the things that I enjoy about blogging is that I am compelled to keep churning out cards, helping the stash to grow! By the time I need to mail them, I usually have a pretty good variety of cards ready to go. Today I'd like to share a card made with the Kim Hughes Heart Warmers set, along with some Basic Grey Wassail paper. I though that I'd also show a progression of piling on the details--we all like the details, right?

I started by choosing three different pieces of patterned paper and deciding upon a shorter flap on my card front so that I could showcase papers inside the card as well. I then stamped my focal image in Black Memento ink on white cardstock and colored it with the Copic markers shown below. In choosing markers, I let the patterned paper be my color guide.

Next I added some red Stickles to the heart image, as well as two strips of torn white cardstock to the bottom of the focal image as snow. I used a glue pen to add fine lines of glitter to the left edge of the trees as well as to the torn edges of the snow layer. A red rhinestone atop the main tree, along with some paper piercing to frame the image and separate it from the snow,finished my focal image.

For the inside of the card, I chose a lighter layer of patterned paper so that the sentiment (from Mona Lisa's Christmas Expressions set) would show up and so that I could sign out names legibly. Ribbon is SU Mellow Moss taffeta. It's a little difficult to tell from the angle of the photos, but the left edge of my card stops about 3/4" short of the right edge so that the focal image hangs over and leaves the layer of snowflake paper on the inside exposed.

Thank you for visiting today!

Debbie Olson, for the CLASSroom

Thinking Bird, by Sharon Harnist

"Thinking of you" cards are always good to have on hand . . . they can be used for a number of different occasions.  This card began with this great palette of rich colors from BasicGrey's Urban Prairie collection of 6-inch patterned papers.  The bird in the paper pattern made me think of Spellbinders' new Nested Bird die.  Sweet birdie needed to have something to sit on, so I chose the new Nested Flower die to cut some coordinating papers from the same Urban Prairie collection. 

I used the largest two flower dies from this set and my card is 5.25" square, so that should help give you a good idea of the size of the nice, big size of these dies.  I popped the flowers and bird up on dimensional foam tape . . . this really gives the card a lot of great dimension and depth.

 

The card base is Memory Box Lagoon cardstock -- it matches the blue in the paper perfectly!  The "Thinking of You" sentiment is from Mona Lisa's Classic Essential Expressions and was stamped with Tsukineko's Tuxedo Black Memento ink on more of the Lagoon cardstock, then die cut with Spellbinders' Double Ended Tags. 

Light blue crystal gemstones accent the tag and bird's eye.  I lightly sponged Rich Cocoa Memento ink on the bird, tag, largest flower and card edges.  Thanks for stopping by today!

red birdie notecards by Cindy Lyles

Michelle Wooderson created a versatile gift set (original post/idea here) using a quarter piece of cardstock.  I adapted it using Kim Hughes' Pretty Birds (Cornish Heritage Farms) set and the new, highly addictive, Basic Grey's Sugared 6x6 papers.

This is one of eight finished notecards and envelopes.  A gift set of eight cards and envelopes is perfect for Mish's idea!  These will make wonderful gifts for teachers, neighbors next month.

Step one:  Punched and embossed 2" circles from white cardstock using Nestabilities circles.  Stamped the birdhouse onto white cardstock, then colored in using Copic Markers (used R59, YG91 and YG95).  I didn't want to color the stamped birdhouse on the notecard, as the Copics would bleed through the cardstock - so I stamped then colored them on a white cardstock scrap, then cut them out to adhere later.

Step two:  Stamped the birdhouse image once at the lower portion of each notecard.  Added a oval gray shadow (A Muse) and a few blades of grass with the brush tip of Copic YG95.   Adhered the colored birdhouse cutouts.

Step three:  Stamp birdie onto each scallop circle, then colored in using Copic markers.  Blend, blend, blend using the Copic blender pen.  Since the dark R59 is so much darker than the pale pink R81, I blended the two using a swipe of R59 onto an old CD, re-dipping the blender as needed.  Added gray shadow under birdie.

Step four:  added dark yellow to beak and feet, and a pale lavender shadow around birdie then blended.  To blend shadows, I prefer to use a Copic BV31 first, then blend the sharp edge away using a custom Copic marker of a blender pen mixed with about 20 drops of BV31 reinker.  This concept is from Debbie Olsen.  Trim top 1/3 of scallop circle, then adhere Strano ribbon snippet and secure with a vintage gold brad.

Adhere a 1-1/2" x 4-1/4" strip of patterned paper as a header to each white notecard base, then follow with decorated scallop circles.  White notecard bases are 4-1/4" x 5".  The reason they are 5" in height is the ribbon extends 1/2", and with the total height including ribbon being 5-1/2" it still fits neatly into an envelope.  Envelopes were stamped using this same Pretty Birds set.  Kim did an awesome job with these adorable images!

Packaging:  A band of Memory Box Raspberry was scalloped using a SU punch, and a button flower and pearl bling complete the embellishment.  For more info on the green felt leaves please see this post.

All materials (except where noted) - Ellen Hutson

Nested Flower Mini Album

Back when I was envisioning these new nested dies I had an idea that I could hardly wait to share with you. In fact many of the designs come from thoughts of what it is that I will be able to create once the dies are manufactured and ready to roll. Today's post is to share a little album idea that I shared with some teenage girls - they were absolutely giddy with the thought of creating these with and for their friends. With technology what it is, this could easily turn into a birthday party event that would have the girls dressing up, posing and then completing their albums.

Maddi picked a few pictures of her close friends and emailed them to me here at work. What I realized when printing the pictures is that it is truly best not to crop and resize the pictures, but to look for ones that have some "space" around them. It was easier to use the entire photo as I did with the photo on the left. Being I didn't have a lot of options you can see how I pieced patterned paper behind the photo on the right. The patterned paper does add a fun new dimension, but does require that one extra step.

These pictures bring back memories of the fun times our girls have shared together. Believe it or not they still like to play "dress-up" even now at the ripe old ages of 13-15. Look at those modelesque beauties on the right - they are ready for the runway - LOL! Being time is of the essence I always end up cutting my projects short. I would in time like to create several more pages and add them to this little album - showing the girls at different ages throughout their years of friendship.

 

The most important tip I can share with you as you create your own album is to mark your die with a Sharpie marker. As you run each piece of Craft-a-Board,patterned paper or photos through your machine mark each with a very light pencil mark on the coordinating side - this makes it SO much easier to assemble your album upon completion and orient your pictures correctly. 

You will also want to think about the "front" and "back" of each page as you create your ensemble. If you end up having to flip your paper over it will then not line up with the edges of your previous piece, so be certain to position your patterned paper and photos on your die knowing which side of the Craft-a-Board you will be adhering it to.

To complete the project I used my Bind-it-All, white O-wire, pink gemstones and flower gemstones, spring flowers, and "Bloom with Abandon" sentiment.

These little flower mini-albums will also make the sweetest baby books. Just think of the variety of gifts you will be able to make using this die!!! I can hardly wait to share my next idea with you using the nested dies! So much to share - so little time Ü

History in the Making

I just wanted to share this little card that I made this afternoon (It should have been quick, but I was just having a time of it today, nothing seemed to come together for me. So please look at it with a not too critical eye - LOL!)

The election process this year has been one that I have found very interesting. Today history is being made, no matter the outcome and I find it fascinating to have watched. We are so blessed here in America (it is hard for me to draw a line at the border having been raised in Canada and now living in the United States) and so the reason for saying America.

 

This little card is just to say thank you - thank you to all those who serve this beautiful country! Soon we will see which "eagle" has landed.

Frosted Cookies

Cookies, cakes, bagels, and treats, oh my! We are being treated to some of the most amazing goodies here at work and so my brain is stuck on food - LOL! Working with women can be so wonderful, yet dangerous to the waistline!!!!

 

Kim's cookies were beckoning to me today. I wanted to create a thank you note for some of the delicious goodies that we have received. I love the idea of a single layer card but rarely make them because I also delight in all the texture of layers. Today I decided to try something a little different to create some texture and so I decided to keep the design simple.

Being I wanted to use the sentiment "thanks a bunch" on the interior I went with stamping the two cookies from the Baked with Love stamp set repeatedly on the left hand side of this card. I then colored the cookies using E31 and E27 for the "brown" parts and RV11 to enhance the cardstock beneath the pink "frosting"

Liquid Pearls are SO much fun! (BUT don't use them if you are in a hurry - LOL!) I first applied the pink pearls and then sprinkled the tops with sugar dust.

 

As you can see in the picture above the bottom cookie is simply colored with RV11. Then the next pink cookie on the right shows it with the Petal Pink Liquid Pearls. The remaining two cookies show the cookies sprinkled with Sugar Dust. I am looking in to finding this product being it is something I have had in my stamping "aresenal" for years and I absolutely love it. I'll be certain to let you know when I have it to share with all of you!

The remaining cookies received White Opal Liquid Pearls and Sugar Dust. As you can see I "wrapped" the cookie design around to the back side of the card just to give it a little more pizazz. Needless to say it took a while for the Liquid Pearls to dry and allow me to add my chocolate ribbon Ü I even took my heat embossing tool and tried to speed the process along, but did so VERY carefully - LOL! So my post is late today! Hopefully the sweetness of these little treats will sweeten this post just enough to make this simple card memorable.

Peace on Earth: Faux Quilting

Last week I showed a simple paper quilting method; this week's is even simpler! If you don't have time to cut and piece, you can always choose a paper that has a pieced look already and simply add stitching or even faux stitching for a warm, quilted look. All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

I started by choosing a stamp, the Lockhart IB Christmas Tree image, then choosing paper, two patterns from the 6" x 6" Basic Grey Wassail pad. From the paper, I chose my marker colors. I colored the quilted tree image with the Copic markers shown below, then used some glitter with a glue pen to add a bit of snow. (I tried Liquid Applique first, and it seemed to overwhelm the image. Glitter enhanced without overpowering.) The Y21 was used to airbrush a pale yellow background over the tree while the tree was still in its Spellbinders Rectangle Nestability, leaving a white frame.

After finishing with the main image, I gave the patterned paper some attention. I chose a pattern that had a pieced look already, then used a narrow zig-zag stitch and some cranberry thread to sew down the white lines. Below you can see swatches of the paper before (left) and after (right).

Next I added stripes at the bottom and a strip across both patterns on which I had embossed in white embossing powder a sentiment from the CHF Christmas Expressions set. I stitched the cranberry strip on top of the strips and triangles, then added three large brads from the Wassail Brads collection. Finally I mounted the card front on a base. That's it--one more Christmas card for the stash!

Thank you for visiting.

Debbie Olson, for the CLASSroom

Stamp of the Month, November

I find it so hard to believe that it is already November! It is now down to the last minute card making efforts for this holiday season. I put together a fairly simple project this month that should not take too long for you to complete. What I love about this design is how the ribbon pulls it all together.

 

I began the color scheme based entirely on the colors in this ribbon.

 

As you can see I defined the Snowy Tree image using the Copic colors above. If I were to create all ten cards included in this kit at the same time I would do each step on all ten images at the same time. You will be amazed at how quickly you can color when following this method.

 

I then added the depth, or layers, to the colors. I used the colorless blender to soften the edges of the blue on the snow and added my darker colors into the "recesses" or shadows of the images. I then came back in with my light colors to soften the edges.

 

To add a little texture and "fuzz out" the edges on the greenery I used my Prismacolor LimePeel pencil. What I mean by "fuzz out" is I color in tiny little circles going "outside the lines". This really helps fill in those spaces that might feel empty and it gives the whole image a soft feeling. I also added just a hint of Goldenrod to the birds being the second layer of Y21 didn't add quite enough "zip" to the birds and I didn't want them to get too dark. I often bring out my Prismacolor pencils just to complete an image. I love the combintaion of Copics and Prismacolors.

When you focus in on the photo above you can see the Liquid Applique that has been added to the snowy sections of the tree. As you can see a TINY amount goes a LONG ways.

 

Immediately following, before the applique has time to dry, I sprinkle on a dusting of Crystal Snow Glitter.

 

After allowing it to dry for only a couple of minutes I hit it with my heat embossing tool and puff up the applique. The longer you allow your applique to dry before heating it, the better it will be at holding it's own after puffing it up. So if I were to send this out in the mail I would probably let it sit overnight before hitting it with heat. Being I was in a time crunch though I just popped it up almost immediately. A wonderful tip for those who accidently "squish" down the applique is to reheat it. It will bring life back in to it immediately.

An additional little touch that just didn't photograph well was the texture that was added to the lower portion of the Holly Berry notecard. I inked the Victorian Pattern backgrounder using Memento red ink and stamped the image directly on the red cardstock. This subtle addition of color on the lower half does add a beautiful additional layer of pattern that is not overwhelming to the card.

The last thing I did was to run the Dill cardstock through my Swiss Dot Cuttlebug Folder. This is my all time favorite embossing folder and I am assuming that most of you have it. If it is something that you see a need for and would like me to add these to our store please just drop me a line ([email protected]) and we will see what we can do to help you obtain these. I'm only guessing that there are plenty of places that you order from, but I could be wrong - LOL!

I hope that you enjoy making this month's special packet. If you get bored with using only the tree you can easily replace it with the Cranberry and Popcorn or Della Robbia images.