the CLASSroom

Day 6: Nested Dies - Butterfly Mobile

When conceiving the idea for the nested shapes I really wanted to have some options that would allow for unique and different styles of projects, such as shaped cards, books, etc. One idea that has been "floating" around in my head is a Butterfly Mobile and today seemed like the perfect day to share that idea. Well... unfortunately I ran out of time - what a surprise - LOL! So on our sixth day of Christmas we only have three butterflies... what's a girl to do?

So rather than share the "mobile" I will instead just share the concept behind how YOU can create one.

 

Imagine the above in a number of different ways (pretty please with sugar on top.) I hope that I see some marvelous mobiles appearing on the internet soon. This idea could also translate to those "groovy" curtains we had hanging in our doorways in the 70's - LOL!

There are so many different ways to fashion a mobile, but I am going to provide you with a link that shows how to create one - this link will take you to a wonderful site, Design "Sponge", (one I truly love to visit when I have the time) and shows you how to make a simple origami mobile.

 

To begin cut two butterflies of each size from Craft-a-Board. As you can see I used my Copic Markers to add color to the outside edges. This helps make the final project look more complete.

 

Next, you will need to cut two butterflies from decorative paper. I first cut and emboss a butterfly with the decorative side of the paper face up. Once this butterfly is complete I then flip the paper over and cut my second one with the white side of the paper face up. I bet you are wondering why I go to this length. It is to make certain that all the pieces fit together precisely. This butterfly is not completely symmetrical and so you will not have the pieces align perfectly if you do not do it this way. Another option would be to fold the paper, being the Nesties will cut through two sheets of this decorative paper simultaneously. Unfortunately I cannot see the second side of the paper this way and so I'm not certain about the placement with the paper design. It is easy for me to hold most papers up to the light and make certain that I have my butterfly in the correct position before beginning my second cut if I do them separately.

For this "mobile" I used the brand, spankin' new Sugardrop - it arrived around noon today. So needless to say it has not gone up on our store yet and probably won't make it there until the new year. Sorry for the delay, but it is so important to us that we get your orders out to you as quickly as possible, so that is our number one priority right now. When I saw the pattern that I used for the top butterfly I just couldn't help myself and had to use this new paper for this creation.

 

I attach the decorative paper to each Craft-a-Board piece using my Perfect Paper Adhesive. I quickly use my finger to smear the glue over the entire surface. Next I use my 2-way Zig Glue Pen to outline each butterfly. I empty my container of glitter into a tidy tray and then dip my butterfly in to my glitter. It adds such a beautiful sparkle to these little creatures.

 

Next I added my Gemstones and Twinkle Stickers. For the two larger butterflies I used the Gemstones and for the tiny one I used the Micro Twinkle Stickers. I love that each size seems to work so well with the different sizes of butterflies.

A tip that I learned a long time ago is to use my Craft Knife to cut the "thread" of glue that holds all the twinkle stickers together in a straight line. Then using the tip of your knife lift the jewels from their packing surface and transfer to your project.

 

Next I used my ATG gun to run a strip of adhesive down the center of one side of the butterfly. I pressed this directly to the sparkley organza ribbon, positioning all three butterflies. I started with the largest on the top and worked my way down to the smallest. There are SO many different ways that you could position your butterflies, but for speeds sake I just went with easy Ü

Next I applied adhesive to the coordinating butterfly shape and attached it to the butterfly that was affixed to the ribbon.

 

There is SO much more that I would have loved to do with these, but I figured that you would all see my dream come to life with this little creation. Add some beads, tie knots in your ribbon, interchange the sizes in various different ways - the list just goes on! Use felt, sticky back canvas, clear plastic, stamped papers, sentiments, circles, ovals, labels - my oh my I do get carried away, don't I?!?

There is something oh so magical about a mobile. Create one for your own child or grandchild. When my girls were babies black, white and red creations were all the rage. Check out the most current mini-trends and see what you can come up with.

I truly hope that this gives you yet one more idea in which to use your dies - dies I envisioned would bring new levels of creativity to what it is that you do! Don't forget to leave your comment on today's blog candy being I would love to hear which set of dies is your favorite. New ideas are coming together in this old brain of mine - it takes me far too much time to get them out sometimes, but I so appreciate the support you have shared. Thank you so much for the incredibly supportive comments that you have left for us. If we are ever having a "bad day" we know exactly where to go to give us what we need to just keep on, keepin' on'.

Have a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve and I'll "see you" as we begin the dawn of yet another year that will make history and memories for each of us!

On the Sixth Day of Christmas...

my goodie box could be:

• Six Dies to Cut With
• 

(Be certain to leave an answer on each post to be included in that day's drawing!)

• Five Fab Fine Art Fixings
• Four Piercing Pieces
• Three Cornish Scrapblocks
• Two Soldering Starters,
• ... and Ellen's Favorite Scoring Tools!

To participate in this random drawing please leave your answer to the following question as a comment to this post. Please limit yourself to one comment only. The last day to submit a comment to this post will be January 6th at Midnight. We will post the winners (which will be drawn using a Random Number Generator) for all twelve days on January 7th.

I have really enjoyed designing most of the Nestabilities and seeing your response to them. Which of the shapes is your favorite and why? Leave your answer in the comments section and you will automatically be included in our drawing. Good luck and don't forget to be certain to participate in the five previous drawings!

Day 5: Claudine Hellmuth Studio Line Inspiration, Resist Stamping/Painting

On the Fifth Day of Christmas your goodie box could be... Five Fab Fine Art Fixings - how's that for a mouthful (LOL)... (Be certain to sign up for all of the blog candy we are giving away - 12 days worth! All you need to do to join in the fun is to leave an answer to the questions on each giveaway. We will do the random drawing on January 7th Ü)

Are you singing along with us yet? I thought about loading this song to play when you arrived at the CLASSroom, but then decided it would most definitely drive you all away if you had to listen to it for 12 straight days - LOL! We are absolutely thrilled to see you stopping by and enjoying our 12 day celebration. Over the years I have learned that it takes time to get comfortable using new products and so I decided to just keep with my exploration of the Studio Line of products and see what types of creations I could come up with. I am truly excited for a couple of upcoming ideas I have floating inside my head, but before I go there I wanted to share this project with you so that I could showcase one of the techniques that I saw Claudine demonstrate at CHA Summer.

This resist technique takes on a completely different look than some of the other resist options I have explored as a rubber stamper due to the nature of the matte medium. I absolutely love how variegated the look is that comes about from using this process.

 

I used the Sticky Back Canvas (which I apologize for running out of yesterday during our sale - hopefully we will have more in by the beginning of next week) to create this flower. As you can see from the shape of the flower above it is quite maleable - which made it so fun to create with.

 

To begin I used brushed the Matte Medium over the surface of the Distressed Grid Scrapblock.

 

I immediately stamped my Sticky Back Canvas using this "gluey" stamp. As you can see I continued to use the piece of canvas that I had created my Christmas tag on. It is wonderful to know that you can continue to cut and use pieces of this canvas as you need it without any problem whatsoever. After stamping I promptly went and thorough cleaned my Scrapblock with warm water using an old soft toothbrush to remove all the "glue" from it's surface.

 

Once I had allowed the medium to dry I then mixed up my paint. Being an impatient artist I did use my heat embossing tool to help speed the process. I don't know that I can or should recommend this, but it did work just fine - whew!!! 

The beauty of the Studio Line is that the paint is buttery smooth in the containers - it is really thick and gives excellent coverage. For this purpose I wanted a much more "watery" paint to work with and so I just added some water with my paintbrush and thinned the paint in to a much thinner "glaze".

 

As you can see from this picture the canvas has a tendency to curl when wet. I am showing this to you so that you don't worry - it will be just fine Ü

 

A little more warmth (don't overheat it or you might ruin the sticky part of this canvas) and my canvas was ready for me to create my flowers.

 

I ran it through my die cutting machine using the Nested Flowers. As you can see not all the edges cut smoothly, but it was easy to use my snips to finish the cuts. I then realized that perhaps I should have applied my backing before cutting them out - it was a rather "duh" moment for me. So I set about preparing yet another option to share.

 

I selected a lightweight cotton fabric and inked the surface of the Victorian Pattern using the same Modern Red paint. This time I did not thin the paint. I just brushed it on to the Backgrounder surface and then stamped directly on the fabric. Once again I immediately washed my Backgrounder using a old, soft toothbrush to remove the paint from the crevices. Once again I quickly dried the surface and found that the fabric was (is) still soft and maleable - yippie - it doesn't feel scratchy at all. I am thinking we might be able to create some wonderful little quilt blocks to make pillows, or... more testing to come - that's for certain!

 

This time I adhered my altered Sticky Back Canvas directly to my painted fabric and then sent it through the die cut machine. Once again it did not cut cleanly all the way around, but the snips cut the remaining portion easily. This method was a LOT easier than adhering the Sticky Back Canvas to the second fabric and cutting around the entire image. I hope this helps you avoid my little time consuming mistake. As well I found that I needed to use the Matte Medium to hold the Sticky Back Canvas in place being it lost some of it's "grip" after I did the whole scissor cutting method - LOL! This turned out to be a good experiment though because I have learned that by adding the Matte Medium I did receive a more "sturdy" product. It wasn't quite as maleable as the flower petals that I cut at one time with my die. Hopefully this all makes sense - I begin to babble when I get tired - LOL!

 

To complete the flower I sewed the layers together using an Urban Prairie Button as my center. I then shaped the canvas to make it more "blossom-like." Experimenting with products is SO much fun - I encourage you to give it a try. It does something for the soul - it makes me feel perhaps just a little bit like a pioneer woman - LOL! OK, not really - but it truly is fun to explore and see what you can find Ü

I finished my card by using the Urban Prairie Paper and a cute little tag with Kim Hughes "For You" sentiment stamped on it. We are so excited about your response to our endeavour to brighten these days following Christmas and would like to encourage you to participate in our drawings. You can only receive the goodies we are offering if you leave your comment. Thank you again for stopping by the CLASSroom and sharing in our explorations.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas...

my goodie box could be:

• Five Fab Fine Art FIxings
  • Sticky Back Canvas, 8 1/2"w x 11"h
  • Sky Blue
  • Painterly Pink
  • Yellow Pastel
  • Studio Brushes

(Be certain to leave an answer on each post to be included in that day's drawing!)

• Four Piercing Pieces
• Three Cornish Scrapblocks
• Two Soldering Starters,
• ... and Ellen's Favorite Scoring Tools!

To participate in this random drawing please leave your answer to the following question as a comment to this post. Please limit yourself to one comment only. The last day to submit a comment to this post will be January 6th at Midnight. We will post the winners (which will be drawn using a Random Number Generator) for all twelve days on January 7th.

What is the favorite aspect of our store? Customer Service, Shipping Times, Variety of Stamps, Papers, Tools, Education, Inspiration, Other -  Leave your answer in the comments section below and you will automatically be included in our drawing. Good luck and don't forget to be certain to participate in the four previous drawings!

On the Fourth Day of Christmas...

my goodie box could be:

• Four Piercing Pieces...
  •     Ornare Vellum Embossing/Piercing Stencil, Flowers and Circles
  • Ornare Corner Template, Flower
  • Ornare Piercing Tool, Vellum
  • Ornare Piercing Pad  

(Be certain to leave an answer on each post to be included in that day's drawing!)

• Three Cornish Scrapblocks
• Two Soldering Starters,
• ... and Ellen's Favorite Scoring Tools!

To participate in this random drawing please leave your answer to the following question as a comment to this post. Please limit yourself to one comment only. The last day to submit a comment to this post will be January 6th at Midnight. We will post the winners (which will be drawn using a Random Number Generator) for all twelve days on January 7th.

Do you share the resources here on the CLASSroom with others? and if so how do you do so? Leave your answer in the comments section and you will automatically be included in our drawing. Good luck and don't forget to be certain to participate in the three previous drawings!

Day 4 - pierced engagement card by cindy lyles

 

Do any of you have a sibling that you thought would NEVER get married?  Well, my 38-year old brother and his girlfriend, whom I have known for 25 years, got engaged this holiday - everyone is super excited!  Today's card is their 'congrats on your engagement' from our family.

With my brother and I growing up near Amish country (near Kutztown, PA) the Pennsylvania Dutch folk art still runs deep in our veins, and I knew my brother would 'get' this card, and Kath, my future SIL, would like the colors.  The Lockhart Folk Heart was the perfect image for this card, and it coordinates beautifully with Basic Grey's Urban Prairie 6x6 papers and the Ornare Piercing Border Template.

 

Using masking tape, the piercing template, an Ornare Piercing Tool and an Ornare Piercing Pad, I selected a portion of the template that would fit within the width of the card.

The Ornare Piercing Pad is nice and deep, allowing the quality Ornare piercing tool to do its job.  I'm using a strip of Basic Grey's Urban Prairie paper here to pierce through.

 

Once piercing was complete, the pierced layer was mounted to the card front using pop-up Glue Dots, to show off the design and add a nice shadow to the piercing.

 

The Lockhart Folk Heart was stamped in Palette Noir ink onto white cardstock, colored with Copic markers, then carefully cut out and mounted with pop-up Glue Dots.

 

Card base is Memory Box Sugar Plum - finished size is 4-1/4" x 5-1/2".  'congratulations' sentiment is also from Lockhart Stamp Company.  Thank you for joining Ellen Hutson on the 4th day of Christmas and good luck!

Count Less Promotin Reminder - Monday, December 29th Only

Yes, it's true - counting inventory is NO fun - LOL!

This is just a little reminder for those who would like to take advantage of the special promotion we, Ellen Hutson LLC, have starting at midnight tonight Pacific Standard Time. On Monday, December 29th for 24 hours only we would like to help you (by offering you a 20% discount) to help us (by reducing our inventory.) All you need to do is remember to enter this special promotion code when you reach the checkout page:  COUNTLESS

Please note that upon completion of your order, the promotion price will be listed on the individual product line and not at the end of the invoice. Once an item is no longer visible on the store that means we are currently out of stock and we won't have to count anything (yippie!) - so shop early for the best selection!

Day 3 - Scrapblock Sheep Hello, by Sharon Harnist

 

I guess I should have remembered to check the 12 Days of Christmas song and coordinated my card to include three French hens but I didn't think of it until just now, so you'll have to settle with one sheep, LOL!  But a he's such a darling sheep, drawn by Kim Hughes and included in a very nice, new large stamp set (26 images) called Sweet Spring. 

Now I DID use three Scrapblocks on this project -- can you spot them all?  I gave the sheep a curly coat by stamping the Scroll Scrapblock onto Neenah Natural White cardstock.  Then I inked up the sheep with Memento Rich Cocoa and stamped him twice -- once on the Scroll pattern and once on the plain Natural White cardstock.  I cut out just the sheep's fluffy coat and popped it up over the plain sheep image.  The sheep's head was colored with Copic R00 Pinkish White and then he was die cut with Spellbinders Labels One Nestabilities die.  (I'm sorry, I see the store is currently sold out of the Labels One die set, but the Labels Two Nestabilities set would also work very well for this project & layout). 

TIP: Before die cutting, I inked the die with brown chalk ink.  The cutting and embossing process transfers the ink onto the cardstock, creating a colored embossed edge to the die cut.  This technique is known as Reverse Stenciling.  Just remember to clean your die well afterwards.

Using Ranger's Adirondack Shell Pink dye ink, I inked Fine Houndstooth Scrapblock and stamped it onto more Neenah Natural White cardstock and die cut it using the same Reverse Stenciling technique, just a larger die in the set (second largest).

  

The card base is a Memory Box Begonia notecard.  I stamped Perfect Plaid Scrapblock onto another piece of Begonia cardstock, die cut the lower edge using Spellbinders Long Scalloped Rectangle MegaNestabilities and then adhered it to my card base.  Alternately, you could just stamp the bottom portion of your card base with the Scrapblock, but I salvaged this scalloped piece from another failed project! 

The nice thing about the large 6" x 6" size of the Scrapblocks is that they will fit all the way across a standard A2 (5.25" wide or tall) sized card.  This can be helpful in cardmaking because you can turn the Scrapblock in either direction (if it has a specific pattern), to fit your card width or height.  And, of course, the larger 6-inch size is great for your scrapbooking, too.

The button was customized by stamping the Perfect Plaid Scrapblock with a darker brown ink onto Begonia cardstock, punching it out, and then adhering it to the bottom of a Clear Card Button using Ranger's Glossy Accents.  It's tied with cream embroidery thread.

The "hello" sentiment is also from the Sweet Spring stamp set; lace is yardage from Hobby Lobby.  I hope this project gives you a few different ideas on how to use these versatile Scrapblocks!

On the Third Day of Christmas...

my goodie box could be:

• Three Cornish Scrapblocks
  •   Daisy Chain
  •   Fiery Floral
  •  Old Typewriter

(Be certain to leave an answer on each post to be included in that day's drawing!)

• Two Soldering Starters,
• ... and Ellen's Favorite Scoring Tools!

To participate in this random drawing please leave your answer to the following question as a comment to this post. Please limit yourself to one comment only. The last day to submit a comment to this post will be January 6th at Midnight. We will post the winners (which will be drawn using a Random Number Generator) for all twelve days on January 7th.

Which of our "discoveries" (products that we have been sharing educational information on) have you enjoyed the most and why? Possibilities may include - Nestabilities, Copics, Inchies, Soldering, Piercing, Studio Line, Pergamano, other - you name it! (You may talk about more than one if you would like.)

Day 2: Lucky to Be Me: Soldered Charm by Debbie Olson

It's the Second Day of Christmas at the CLASSroom, and since I didn't have any turtledove stamps, I thought I'd share a soldered charm with you.  I started with a stamp from the CHF Shoe Boutique set, as well as some Basic Grey 6" x 6" Eva papers. I chose the "Lucky to be me" stamp and some 1-1/2" square Memory Glass pieces to serve as the base for my finished piece.

I stamped the image three times, once on the bottom floral pattern, once on a solid pink pattern, and last on a dotted pattern (with some modifications, shown on the left). I cut the heart shape from the solid pink pattern and layered it on top of the small floral background, and then masked off the dots inside the shoe so that I could stamp a patterned paper shoe. What worked best for me was to stamp the shoe on the sticky side of the Eclipse tape, cut it out right inside the line, place the mask on the rubber, ink the stamp, remove the mask, and then stamp the dotted patterned paper. 

I did not get a perfect line after removing my mask and stamping, but a few strokes with a Copic Black Multiliner fixed the shoe lines. 

I then cut the shoe out and layered it on top of a second piece of glass, adding a tiny bit of adhesive to the back to hold it firmly in place. 

 

Here is a picture of the layers, in order from left to right.

Next, I wrapped the sandwiched layers in 5/16" copper foil tape.

 

Finally, I soldered the edges and added some bling in the form of Decorative Victorian Filigree, jump rings, a pink chandelier crystal, and a little butterfly bead that I'd found in the beading section of a superstore. (I'm still not sure if I like the butterfly or not. He may get pulled off yet!)

This was a fun little project and went smoothly except for a couple of hitches with the attachments.That means that I need more practice, right?  If you are looking for specific instructions on how to solder, you can refer to these posts:

Soldered Ornament Card Presentation

Simply Soldered Stamp "Stuff"

Itty BItty Lavendar Soldered Charm

Also, click here for the CLASSroom soldering projects. Have fun!

On the Second Day of Christmas...

my goodie box could be (sing along now Ü):

Two Soldering Starters...

 

Simply Solder Creative Art Kit

 

Locking Hemostat Pliers

... and Ellen's Favorite Scoring Tools! (Be certain to leave an answer on that post to be included in the First Day of Christmas drawing!)

To participate in this random drawing please leave your answer to the following question as a comment to this post. Please limit yourself to one comment only. The last day to submit a comment to this post will be January 6th at Midnight. We will post the winners (which will be drawn using a Random Number Generator) for all twelve days on January 7th.

It's time to share your work! Leave a link in the comments section below to a project you have created using either Lockhart Stamp Company or Cornish Heritage Farm images. It can be posted on your blog or on a stamping forum such as Splitcoaststampers.

Day 1 - Using the Scor It and Teflon Bone Folder to Create a CD Holder

Thank you for sharing a little of yourself with us; with me. I have SO enjoyed reading the comments on our blog candy below. It absolutely thrills me to know that you are enjoying the creative process and that so many of you find it to be a source of stress relief in this crazy, busy world we live in!

Being I have so enjoyed reading your responses, I thought I would share a little of myself with you and reflect on my creative journey. As a young child I didn't realize the value of the creative process, but I do know that it was a respite for me even then. At that point I would use different tools then I use today to try and "find myself". Playing the piano would allow my mind to escape in to a different world; as well my mom taught me to crochet, knit and sew - I value those "lessons" so much now. I would also doodle, draw, and paint - sometimes successfully, but most often in a way that would allow me to explore as to "how close to reality" I could come. It never would come that close though - LOL!

With life's way of leading I have been given the opportunity of exploring this creativity on many different levels. I am truly blessed to have found another level that is so very satisfying to me. When I injured my hip I really had no idea that it would lead me to a new life experience; this experience! As a child my parents taught us that God always has a plan for us, even if we don't know what it is. Many times I haven't known what that plan is and more often than not I truly wonder what that plan is; but I have learned to just "go with the flow". Sometimes it is easier than others to "go with the flow", but as I read through your answers it brings tears to my eyes to know that so many of you appreciate the "flow" that life has now led me to.

My form of stress relief is now sometimes stressful (due to the demands I place on myself,) but it still brings me so much happiness. It is with gratitude to each of you that I write this post. It is your belief in what it is that I have been able to share with you, your belief in the products that I have helped develop and discover, your belief in what it is that I do - this is why I think that I create. I so want to bring happiness to others - I want to help provide a respite from the stress of everyday living. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me this opportunity that provides my soul with a sense of happiness!

Today I want to share why it is that I love the Scor It and Teflon Bone Folder products. We are giving these away below, so be certain to visit that post and leave an answer to the question in the comments section to be included in the random drawing for these fantastic tools!

To showcase these tools I decided to create a CD Holder. WIth the celebration of Christmas 2008 completed in our household I thought it would be fun to put together a CD of some of the pictures from this holiday season. My hope is to create a CD that includes some of the special moments from this year as well as season's past to keep these photos together to give to my girls when they are grown. So following are directions with a PDF file and measurements included at the bottom of this post.

I am a person who likes precision; perfection I guess you might say - LOL! The Scor It, Mini Scor It and Teflon Bone Folders lend themselves to creating a project that is so much more precise in nature than I can achieve when using other tools. Over the years I have used numerous other scoring products and none give the same mountain and valley effect as I obtain when using the Scor It. The Scor It score allows me to fold my paper without cracking! Even when using white core paper I can achieve a beautiful fold.

 

To begin your CD holder cut a 12" x 12" piece of two-sided Cosmo Cricket decorative paper down to 6" x 12". Then score and cut your lines as shown on the template below. Please note that you can print a copy of this file out using the PDF file at the bottom of this post to aid you when creating your own CD Holder.

 

After I have completed scoring all of my lines I then use my favorite cutting tools to help give me clean, straight cuts. If I need to make a cut in the center of my project I pull out my "Tim Ruler" (using the side that has the metal edge - I prefer this over the metal ruler because I use the grid to make certain I have my project properly aligned), precision cutting mat and cutting blade. I then carefully cut along the scored lines.

I always love it though when the cuts come from the ends of my project, so that it works to use paper cutters to create my straight cut lines. I have found that by aligning the scored line directly beneath the blue plastic piece that holds my paper in place on my Carl Cutter I can then cut exactly on the score line (please see photo above.) I simply watch from the side how far the blade needs to run and stop when I am almost at the finish point. I then snip the remaining small segment with my scissors.

 

For cuts that are smaller then 8 1/2" in length I use my small Tonic cutter. This is my "go to" cutter that is always on my work surface when I am creating cards. I have found that by firmly holding the safety bar in place using the extended plastic "oval" shown above, it keeps my paper project securely in place and allows me to get an accurate cut. Yes, precision is my vice Ü

 

Once all my scores and cuts are completed I then firmly fold the flaps of my project in to place using my teflon bone folder. Why a teflon bone folder? It does not create a "shine" on your paper when you press it firmly to your project!

 

This is a photo that I took quite some time ago when I first started using the Teflon Bone Folder. It is difficult to see in this photo, but I wanted to share it to show that how I used the Teflon Bone Folder on the left side of the fold and a regular bone folder on the right side. In real life the shine on the cardstock on the right side is extremely noticable. No more shine on this girls projects since beginning my little "love affair" with this tool Ü

Not only is the Scor It great for creating fold lines it is wonderful for creating a decorative surface. In looking back on my creative "history" it has been a LONG time since I have been creating dry embossed surfaces using a scoring device. This project was one in which I discovered that the grid on the surface of my old Fiskars paper cutter made a perfect dry embossing tool.

 

Since that time I have continued to explore ways to add texture to the surface of the projects I create. I have discovered that by using my Scor It together with a clear grid ruler such as a quilting tool or Tim's Ruler I can create a scored line with precision.

In the photos above (and below) I have shown how it is that I place these tools on my non-slip Scor It surface. I then use the wooden tool that is attached to the Scor It (yeah - I can't loose it this way!) to begin scoring at any point on my project.

As you can see in this photo it was easy to create a square grid on the face of my project. It truly helps to define the cover of this CD holder. 

 

Here again I wanted to share how it is that I can use my quilting tool to act as a guide for those awkward diagonal  projects. The combination of these tools make it so very easy to add detail to your projects!

  

The last stage of creating your CD holder is to add the interior pieces.

  

Simply cut out two additional pieces of accent paper using the sizes indicated above and in the PDF file below. To create the little "cut-out" circle simply used a handheld punches, a nestability or any diecut shape of your choice. In my creation above I used one of my older Stampin' Up! punches that I still treasure. I added a few score lines for detail, a tag and some decorative brads and then completed the cover with the addition of some ribbon and a festive Christmas Stocking and my project is complete. All I need to do is now load my pictures to the CD and put it in a safe place for the future.

Thank you for stopping by to share in our celebration! Be certain to return tomorrow for yet another opportunity to learn and leave a comment on our Second Day of Christmas give away and be certain to tell your friends if you think they may be looking for something to brighten their spirits as well!

Download CD Booklet Cover

Download CD Booklet Inside

On the First Day of Christmas...

my goodie box could be (you must provide your own tune to the Partridge in a Pear Tree Ü):

One Mini Scor-It...

 

... and a Teflon Folding T-Rib Tool

We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas together with family and friends. Sometimes the days after a special holiday can be somewhat of a letdown and so we here at Ellen Hutson LLC want to add some fun to the next twelve (12) days. We have some wonderful surprises in store for you during this time, so be certain to visit us every day for some fantastic projects using the products we are giving away as well as some wonderful releases! (more to come on this later Ü) 

To participate in this random drawing please leave your answer to the following question as a comment to this post. Please limit yourself to one comment only.The last day to submit a comment to this post will be January 6th at Midnight. We will post the winners (which will be drawn using a Random Number Generator) for all twelve days on January 7th.

Who do you create for? Leave your answer in the comments section and you will automatically be included in our drawing. Good luck everyone!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a very Merry Christmas! I hope this finds each of you surrounded by the love and warmth of family and dear friends.

 

Wishing you all the best - from all of us here on the CLASSroom and at Ellen Hutson LLC.

curly thank you card by cindy lyles

 

With all the ice here in NJ, I'm ready for some spring colors!  Iris and Parsley Memory Box papers were used to create a hinge-style card. 

  

Memory Box cardstocks have a white backing, and I folded the card (5-1/2" x 4"1/4", folded) with the colored sides facing each other, then scored the card front in half and folded it back upon itself (see above photo).

The inside of the card was stamped randomly with a leaf image from Kim Hughes Cute Curls set, then I heat set the images with clear embossing powder to make them 'pop'.

 

Using Nestabilities scallop circles I cut and embossed one from white cardstock and cut one from Licorice.  Curly bird was stamped with Palette Noir ink then colored with Copic Markers.  Citron bling was added to this adorable little birdie.

 

May Arts ribbon.  I'm making a note to myself to remember these would be a great card to mass-produce. 

Somebirdy Special by Debbie Olson

It's cold and snowy here tonight--what better reason to stamp a spring card? I chose the Kim Hughes Pretty Birds set and some Basic Grey Urban Prairie paper, neither of which I had played with before. I stamped the bird and branch in Memento black ink, and then colored him with the following Copic markers: W1 and BG11 layered, YG03, E55, E57, and YR21(with the Copic Airbrush System).

After coloring the bird and branch, I cut and embossed the image with a Plain Nestability Square die, leaving the image in the die for the next step. I then stamped a bird mask on Eclipse paper, trimmed it, and applied it to the bird before airbrushing the focal image with a Copic YR21. (I didn't need to mask the branch or leaf because a bit of pale yellow wasn't going to hurt them. It would have made the bird look green, however.)

This is what the bird looked like after I removed its mask, and before I added the dimensional wing. TIP: When you trim a mask, always trim very closely--right on the inked edges. If you cut on the outside of the inked line, you will generally leave a little white space between your image and the airbrushed background.

Next I used a punch (SU) to create a track for the ribbon to run through my focal image. TIP: When you need a tied ribbon to lie in a certain direction, keep in mind that you can always tie the bow separately and attach it with a mini glue dot, saving time and patience! I added the little pink pearls on the upper right to help balance out the ribbon on the lower left.  Although I tried several positions for my sentiment on the outside of the card, it seemed to distract and create imbalance. Finally I stamped "Somebirdy Special" on the inside of the card.

Spring may be a long way off in reality, but on my desk, it has arrived! Thanks for visiting.

Debbie Olson, for the CLASSroom

howly jowly christmas card, by Cindy Lyles

Oye! The holidays are around the corner, and I'm still catching up on a few last-minute cards.  The versatile set U R A Hoot from Kim Hughes was a blast to play with for a large portion of my holiday cards this year.  (The wood-grain tree branch is from Kim's set, The Landing Pad.)

I first created a mask using Eclipse paper.  To do this, stamp image to color onto cardstock, then stamp image again onto Eclipse paper.  Cut out image from Eclipse paper then peel away backing.  The temporary adhesive on the back of Eclipse paper is very similar to the sticky edges of Post-It notes.  Lay mask over stamped image on cardstock, then stamp with wood-grain tree branch. 

Peel away mask, revealing your new image... then, let the coloring begin!  Here's a step-by-step:

 

step one and two:  Using Copic markers, color branch with YR31 and YR24, then with E57.  Color entire owl with T1.

 

step three and four:  shade owl with T3, then a hint of T5.

 

step five and six:  blend entire owl with T1.  Add YR24 and YR31 to beak, then outline owl and branch with BV31.  Add the BV31 to the tops of the owl's eyelids too.

 

step seven and eight:  blend branch with YR31.  Color owl's claws using E55, E79, then blend using the blender pen.

Using Memory Box Vanilla Bean card base, and Memory Box holiday paper as a layer on the card, added ribbon and sentiment from Kim's URA Hoot set with black ink.  Layer owl image onto Vanilla Bean cardstock.

The owl's holly hair accessory was created by by stamping the holly leaves from Kim's URA Hoot set onto Memory Box patterned cardstock, then cut out.  Holly berries are Dew Drops, adhered with Glossy Accents.

Merry Christmas Sticky Back Canvas Tag

The possibilities of the Sticky Back Canvas intrigue me! I thought I would try something different today and really played with some out of the box ideas using the new Claudine Hellmuth Studio Line. This first idea came together quickly once I had this project in mind.

I began by formatting a picture of the girls with Santa from a couple of years ago. It is one of my all-time favorite Christmas pictures. Using Photoshop Elements I changed the picture from color to gray scale. I then sized it to be three inches in width and let the height just be what it was. 

 

As you can see I used a brush tool on the edges of the photo to lighten the edges, but I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do and so I didn't remove them completely. I printed the photo directly on to the Sticky Back Canvas using the t-shirt transfer setting. This flipped the photo on me, but it printed well on this "fabric-like" product. I then used the Blank Canvas Studio paint to brush the entire tag surface, except the portion with Santa and the girls, with paint. Using an almost dry brush to blend the paint in to the picture around the edges of the focal point as shown below. I then cut out the tag so that I would have my final shape.

 

Then I used the ink blending tool, along with the following colors of Distress Ink, to age the picture and add a soft hint of color - Antique Linen, Tea Dye, and Fired Brick. As I blended the ink in to the canvas and the painted surface I found that the ink picked up the areas where the layers of paint met with the canvas, making for a very fun/funky background!

I stamped images from the Beautiful and Primitive Christmas sets using Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo. Before "setting" the inks I used my blending tool to soften some of the areas and blend them. I then lightly heat set the inks being I was in a hurry. Using the Fired Brick ink and a brush tip Fantastix applicator I colored in the hearts. Next I mounted the sticky back tag to a wonderful Cosmo Cricket paper and cut out my paper tag, distressed the edges, inserted an X-Large Toasty Tin Eyelet and threaded it with leather cording.

This tag is a little "gift" in itself. I am so tickled with how it came out and it gives me more thoughts of ways to use the Sticky Back Canvas in the future as well - how about creating some mini-scrapbook pages with photos printed directly on them, or a framed piece of wall art. Hmmm - maybe even create some flowers with pictures on them, or... WOW, the possibilities are limitless!

Important Annoucement

Update - Friday, December 19. Thank you so much for your patience! We are in today and getting everything shipped, we hope that it will arrive before Christmas Ü Now I must get busy and make some projects to share!

I want to quickly let you know that we are not be able to make it in to the office today, due to weather conditions here in the Seattle area. We truly apologize for not being able to ship any orders that arrived yesterday afternoon and today. We will do our best to make it to our office tomorrow and get your packages out to you as soon as possible. Thank you so much for your patience and support.

 

O Holy Night: Polished Stone with Copic Various Inks, by Debbie Olson

 

Do you enjoy experimenting with alcohol inks? I'd like to share one more use for those fabulous Copic re-inkers, otherwise known as Various Inks! It's been a while since I played with this technique rather than doing basic stamping, but when Ellen mentioned a focus on inks this month, I wanted to try a polished stone technique again.

Supplies:

• large cotton ball
• Copic refills/re-inkers in two to four coordinating colors (more about choosing colors later)
• blender solution or 91% rubbing/isopropyl alcohol (works better than the 70% alcohol)
• white glossy cardstock
• optional: metallic ink such as Brilliance Gold (I have even used a gold or silver paint pen in a pinch)
• optional: rubber gloves (Trust me on this one. I don't usually bother to find mine, and my fingernails looked awful!)
• optional: spray bottle (hairspray bottle works fine) of alcohol or blending solution

I began by looking for a sentiment, knowing that I wanted the background of my card to show. In the CHF Christmas Expressions set, I found the sentiment, "O holy night, the stars are brightly shining" and knew that it would be perfect: I would choose purples and blues to make a night time sky punctuated by stars.

Next, I cut a sheet of glossy white cardstock into four quarters; the control freak in me prefers working on a smaller surface rather than a whole sheet. I generally make two polished stone panels at a time: in case one doesn't look great, I have the other to fall back on without having start back at the beginning. This is a technique of chance and (hopefully) happy accidents. I've thrown away a few panels over the years because I let them get too muddy in color, but you can almost always rescue polished stone by adding either alcohol (91%) or blending solution, or by adding more color. I also like to have a spray bottle of alcohol handy; I'll show you why a bit later. 

On choosing colors: I generally choose two or possibly three shades of one color, and perhaps one different but coordinating color. It is possible to succeed with complimentary colors instead, but you run a strong chance of ending up with muddy color if you let them mix too much. If you stick with similar colors but different values, at least until you conquer the technique, you will probably be happier with your results. If the colors are similar rather than complementary (complementary meaning across the color wheel from one another), you can keep adding color and alcohol until it works for you. If you are using complimentary colors, however, (such as red/green, or blue/orange), you may have to start over if it gets ugly. I choose BV02, BV04, BV08, and B29. (These are sitting on a finished panel--ignore it for now until we walk through the process, please.)

Saturate a cotton ball with alcohol or blender solution. Add two or three drops of each re-inker to different spots on the bottom of the saturated cotton ball, and proceed to pounce or dab--not rub--the cotton ball on the glossy cardstock. (Sometimes I lightly spray the cardstock with alcohol before dabbling the ink on, so that I get interesting puddling when the ink hits the surface.) Every experiment with alcohol inks will look different. I'm going to show you some pictures of mine as it evolved.

First, below you will see what it looked like right after I covered the whole quarter sheet with ink by pouncing/dabbing up and down. In fact, I got impatient with the cotton ball method and started dripping inks directly onto the cardstock. See the white spots? That's where I sprayed with alcohol to push the re-inkers aside and create texture. This piece is very wet and consequently hard to focus, but I'm including it so that you can see what to do and what not to do.

 

Next, below is the same piece overworked. I went back to the cotton ball and dabbed some more, eventually dabbing too much. It's not horrible, but it's not as dramatic as I wanted for a night sky. Also, you can see that I've dotted on some gold pigment ink from a Brilliance Gold re-inker. I was trying to spread it a bit, and that is what caused the rest of the piece to be overworked.

 

Remember that I told you that alcohol inks can almost always be rescued with the addition of either alcohol or ink? Here I added some more drops of ink and then sprayed once again with my alcohol spray bottle. (My bottle is old and doesn't spray very well; rather than getting a fine mist, I get a spatter that you'd hate for your hair, but that makes very cool textures on alcohol-based inks!) The reddish color must have been some kind of reaction between inks and alcohol or gold pigment. I did not add any pink. This is starting to look more like a starry night sky to me--maybe as seen from the moon without that pesky atmosphere to interfere. . .

 

To put the card together, I trimmed my polished stone panel and matted it with a gold metallic cardstock, edged in gold paint pen. I stamped the sentiment from Christmas Expressions on a lighter shade of metallic gold cardstock with Versamark, and heat embossed it using a detail gold embossing powder. I trimmed and edged that cardstock with gold paint pen as well, and then ran a ribbon treatment around the words. (I'm still debating whether the ribbon is too much; I'm almost thinking that I'd have preferred just the sentiment.) For stars, I used some clear rhinestones, placing them near gold ink, if possible.

 

Polished stone is a great technique to try with Copic Various Inks. With approximately 100 colors carried in the store to choose from, who could ask for more?

Thank you for visiting!

Debbie Olson, for the CLASSroom

masked family tree card by Cindy Lyles

 

In today's post we are playing with masks!  Ellen carries a full line of masks, and I've used Tim Holtz's Flourish for today's project.

 

To begin, I selected a piece of Winterberry patterned cardstock from the 6x6 pack, and placed the mask over the patterned cardstock.  Use whatever ink you feel coordinates with the patterned paper, and blend the ink over the mask using a blending tool. 

With Tim Holtz's masks, they are clear, allowing you to see exactly what you will get when applying ink.

Leaving mask in place, stamp Aged Sheet Music using brown (dye or hybrid suggested) ink.  Wipe mask clean with a soft cloth and remove.

 

Stamp Family Tree using same brown ink, and add a gray 'grounding line' to the image using a gray marker. 

Insert the front of a Vanilla Bean card base into a Cuttlebug embossing folder and emboss using a die-cut or embossing machine.  Then, sand the embossed card front using a sanding block.  Memory Box cardstocks have a white core, allowing the surface color to be abraided away for a fun effect.

Add ribbon (May Arts), stamped tag (Hero Arts sentiment, tag from Staples) and a felt snowflake.  Beautiful blue bling completes the tree and tag.

I love how the flourish mask gives the feeling of the flurry of snow!

All materials, components and tools, except where noted:  Ellen Hutson, LLC

Christmas in the Northwest

Before I begin today's post I want to let you know that the highly sought after Label One dies are now back in stock. Please place your order promptly being they appear to not stay in stock for long Ü When coming up with this summers die releases I knew this was a good one, but you have all amazed me with your response to these dies. I am so glad that you are enjoying the new designs I came up with!

Leave it to Karen Lockhart to once again share an out-of-the-box idea with me! I could hardly wait to give this a whirl and share it with you. Karen and I are always trying to generate ways to use your "regular" stamps out of season. When you purchase a stamp from us, we truly do want it to go the extra mile.

Here in the Pacific Northwest snow comes on rare occasions, but when it does arrive the white blanket it lays down is truly exquisite!

 

Karen suggested that the IB Wreath may fit on the Adirondack Chair and sure enough - it looks pretty good Ü

 

As you can see in the picture above I colored the chair, so that it would pop off the background. I elected to use the green tones being here in the Northwest everything is SO green throughtout the winter months. I should have selected my papers and ribbon before selecting my colors, because I ended up needing to tone down the citrusy, yellow-green. If I would have been more focused on the entire project I would have done it right, but I was just so excited that I quickly stamped the image and colored with no papers or background in mind. Definitely putting the cart before the horse - LOL! Lesson learned, yet again!

 

Next I stamped, colored and then cut out the IB Wreath. I find it easiest to use my craft knife to first cut out the interior of the wreath and then use my fine-tipped scissors to cut around the exterior. I also cut out the chair being I did not want a lot of additional white on my card front.

 

I piled up the snow using Liquid Applique and glitter. Apply the Liquid Applique and while it is still moist, sprinkle it with glitter. Allow it to dry and then heat using a heat embossing tool. Using a long scalloped rectangle I cut out the Gingercake background and finished up my little Northwest scene with an accent stripe and some pretty satin ribbon. It is thrilling to know how much you each appreciate the little bit of thank you ribbon that we include in your orders! You all make me smile from ear to ear. Thank you for being such wonderful customers.

I hope that this post inspires you to think of other ways to use your "regular" stamps during the different holiday seasons. Thanks for stopping by the Classroom today! -Ellen

Sleigh Ride, by Sharon Harnist

 

It's almost time for that infamous sleigh ride -- just 2 weeks away!  You can make this one for your holiday decorations or use it on the dinner table for a place card.  It's all made from one die set, Spellbinders Sleigh Ride.

 

You'll need to die cut two of the sleighs.  I did this with the Reverse Stenciling technique -- just ink the die with a chalk or pigment ink before die cutting, and the die cutting/embossing process will transfer the ink to the cardstock, leaving the embossed areas the original color of the cardstock.  Here, I used a silver metallic cardstock and ColorBox charcoal fluid chalk ink.

Next, cut and score a piece of cardstock to the dimensions  listed below (click on the photo for a larger image).  I didn't note on the photo that you also need to score each long side 1/4-inch and cut where the score lines meet, as shown in the photo.  This will become the bottom for your sleigh.

 

Then, use an aggressive glue along those 1/4-inch sides, to attach the bottom to the sleigh sides.

 

You can add a die cut wreath or other decorative element to the back of your sleigh, if you'd like.  The packages were made from 1-inch square wood blocks (found at Michael's), covered with matching cardstock.  The present & bow on the front are dies included in the Sleigh Ride set -- the present is exactly 1-inch wide and fits perfectly on the block!  The embossed areas of the present (stars on the red, and green bow details) were colored in with olive and red Copic Spica Glitter pens.  You could place this sleigh between two dinner guests and write their names on the gifts, to use them as place cards.

Enjoy your holidays! -- Sharon Harnist for the CLASSroom

ornament angel card by Cindy Lyles

 

Today's post features the lovely Lockhart Ornament Angel and a fun technique:  sanding cardstock!  Let's get started:

This is an Anna Wight layout.  To begin, create a card base from Vanilla Bean and add a layer of Winterberry patterned paper.  Next, insert a 4" x 5-3/8" piece of Water cardstock into a Cuttlebug embossing folder and emboss with a die cut/embossing machine. 

  

Sand embossed cardstock with a sanding block - this will reveal the white core.  Memory Box cardstocks have a white core, allowing this effect.

Trim embossed/sanded cardstock to 2" then trim with a scallop punch.  Attach two brads near the right then adhere to card front. 

 

Wrap velvet ribbon (May Arts) around the card front, adhering ends on front.  The ribbon ends will be hidden.

Stamp Lockhart Ornament Angel onto white cardstock using a Palette Noir pad.  Layer onto Water cardstock then Vanilla Bean.  Edge Vanilla Bean layer with a silver Krylon pen. 

I'll go step-by-step for coloring with Copic markers:

Step one: Color select parts of image using B41 and BG72.

Step two:  Continue coloring, shading, using slightly darker tones - BG75 and B95.

Step three:  Blend the darker tones using lighter toned markers from step one.

Step four:  Add skin color using R11, light blonde tones to hair with YR31, and shade left side of image using C1.

Step five:  Add darker blonde tones to hair using YR24 and small details to dress and bow using R89.

 

Step six:  Add Turquoise and Baby Blue Stickles to the ornaments and Diamond Stickles to the angel's wings.

Aren't the turquoise and light blue, combined with the chocolate tones yummy?  (sentiment - A Muse).

All supplies except where noted:  Ellen Hutson, LLC

Butterfly Kisses Tutorial by Debbie Olson

Today I'd like to share a simple technique that I used with my new Cornish Heritage Farms Vintage Butterflies set. While I'm a huge fan of patterned papers, once in a while it's fun to go back to one's stamping roots. I started with some watercolor crayons in a magenta, purple, and royal blue. (You can use any two or three colors that are similar enough not to get muddy when they combine, and you could use water-based markers or even Twinkling H2O's if you prefer--any water-based medium should work.)

I started by spritzing the largest butterfly stamp with plain water and coloring directly to the rubber with the watercolor crayons. (You might have to spritz more than once to get the color to stay if you are using newer rubber that hasn't been conditioned/roughed up a bit yet.) After coloring the butterfly, mist the rubber again and stamp. You can re-mist and re-stamp a few times before needing to add more color to the rubber, though each subsequent stamping will be a bit lighter than the last. Also, I always start with my largest object in any collage background. If you can fit the larger objects onto the paper in a pleasing way, it's simple to work the smaller ones into the spaces left over. I stamped one large butterfly on the Natural White cardstock as well, saving it to use later with the sentiment.

Next, because I was using a mid-toned Kraft background, I added a bit more contrast by coloring in the unstamped spaces lightly with a white Prismacolor colored pencil. Although I didn't take a picture of my next step, I used the Canvas backgrounder, along with Antique Linen Distress ink, to add more texture in the background and tone down the butterflies so that they wouldn't compete with the main image.

I stamped the quotation in a magenta ink on vanilla cardstock before trimming it with a Labels 1 die, and matting it with some Memory Box Raspberry cardstock. For the Wisteria band, I stamped the music backgrounder in Versamark. . . which didn't show up on a soy-based paper, of course!(Ellen says that the new shimmery Versamark pads show up better on the Memory Box cardstock; I haven't tried one yet.) I then heat-embossed with clear embossing powder, and then sponged on some wisteria ink to accentuate the background. On the butterfly, I used a small glue pen to color glue only in the clear areas, and then accented with glitter. Ribbon is some May Arts silk.

If you try this golden-oldie technique, I'd love to see a link! Thank you for visiting,

Debbie Olson, for the CLASSroom

Claudine Hellmuth Studio Line, Poinsettia Brooch

I LOVE fine art products! I'm not certain exactly when I began to dabble with art, but I do remember in 10th grade (which was a VERY long time ago-LOL!) taking a correspondance art course that provided me with an opportunity to use all sorts of different products. Over the course of the last 5-10 years I have tried numerous different techniques - gel transfers, paper collage, working with glass - you name it I have experimented with it. BUT I have only been a "dabbler" in the fine art field.

This summer when attending CHA I was giddy to see that Claudine had put together a fabulous line of products that were sized and packaged in a format that I just knew would turn this in to a new "adventure" in to creativity for me. The buttery consistency of these paints lends them to be used and mixed in SO MANY ways. Rather than try and perfect it and then share with you I am going to stumble through this experimental process right here and figure out exactly how it is that I can use the new Studio Line of products in my stamping. I am so excited!

Claudine has been so gracious as to share several emails with me, leading me to resources that she has created. She has given me permission to share that information with you here in the CLASSroom, as well as adding links to the products in the store, so that you will be able to easily find this information in the future. We still need to accomplish the later task, but I do hope to get to that sooner rather than later.

The first thing that I want you to know is that although there are "only" 15 colors in the line you have the option of creating 100's of colors to use in your projects. Claudine has created a mixing guide to share 51 colors that she has created by combining two different colors. I find that this chart is really helpful in that it shows a wonderful jump off point for preparing your own new colors. I have printed off the chart below and have laminated it so that I can have it sitting on my work surface - it's my own little color mixing "cheat sheet." Ü Thank you Claudine for providing these resources to us!

Download Claudine Hellmuth Studio Color Mixing Guide

Claudine Hellmuth YouTube Video showing how to use the Color MIxing Guide

At Summer CHA Claudine had created these wonderful little "brooches" using the sticky back canvas. Then she shared a post that she had created for Hero Arts and I just couldn't stand it any longer. It was time to start the experimental process! Her tutorial was a HUGE help in getting me started.

The project above is TOTALLY inspired by Claudine's post. I have been wanting to know how the paint will work if applied directly to my stamp surface and then applied to the sticky back canvas. The poinsettia has been beckoning me since it arrived here at our warehouse - it was time!  What better way to put it to use than to create a beautiful brooch for the holiday season!

 

I painted the surface of the stamp using Dash of Red. It is important to apply a thin even coating, otherwise you end up getting "globs" of paint when you apply the stamp to your surface. You are going to want to clean your stamp immediately after finishing. This will allow you to clean up with ease. It's kind of like doing the dishes - if you wait it can turn into hours of work, whereas if you just do it, it will only take seconds Ü

 

As you can see I stamped the poinsettia three times - I started with the poinsettia on the right. You can see how I did a little better with each try. I do think that the look above has potential, but it wasn't what I had in mind. I wanted more color, and variegated colors, so I pulled out my brushes and using the stamp as my guide I began to "color" within the lines.

 

I found it absolutely exhilarting to feel like I was an artist!!! LOOK at how BEAUTIFUL each one of these layers was coming together!!! OMWord - I'm an artist :) I began by applying the Dash of Red. While the paint was still wet I went over the top with the Modern Red. By working quickly I was able to mix these two colors right there on the canvas surface. I also had a small white plastic color palette that I used to mix color. The key is to experiment without worry. You can always give it a second try if you mess it up!

As you can see by the flower on the left I started by filling in the petals with the darker red on one side of each petal. I then added my second color to the petals and finished by adding a little of the darker tone again on the opposite side. I used the smallest of the paint brushes to help me place my colors precisely.

 

I have taken a picture of the paint brushes and colors that I used so that you can see that I only used two colors to achieve my final results. Adding Modern Red together with Dash of Red brought my colors together with the papers I had selected in a beautiful way. I used three of the brushes that are included in the Studio Line. I found them to work so well! No fibers left on my projects and tips that are just the right sizes for all the different techniques I tried.

 

If you read Claudine's post you will note that she used this fabulous polka dot fabric for the back side of here blowers. I didn't have any beautiful fabric here at my studio - all I had were some basic colored chintz and canvas fabrics. I added some elegance to my canvas by inking my Scroll Scrapblock with Encore Gold (this is a pigment based ink - pigment inks do work well on fabric). I wanted the fabric to shimmer, otherwise I could have taken one of the yellow/gold pigment paints and used it on the fabric. Once completed I heat set the ink into the fabric.

 

I LOVE the sticky back canvas! I have worked with paint, stamping and fabric before and have always needed an iron, and some special fabric adhesive - this was SO quick and simple!!! Simply peel the adhesive backing from the canvas and apply to your other surface; in this case my canvas fabric. This picture also shows you how I painted (or colored in) my poinsettias only completing the portions that I would be cutting out.

 

Using my fine-tipped scissors I cut out each poinsetttia and then applied gold gouche (this is something I will talk about at a later date). You could also use a gold leaf paint pen, but being the quoche has been beckoning me for some time I just couldn't resist using it.

 

I used the handle of my brush to curl up the tips of my layers and then using the "stick end" of the paint brush applied some Matte Multi-Medium as my glue to affix the layers. I use the stick end because it is so simple to wipe clean with a paper towel - no scrubbing necessary Ü

 

I then applied my pin - just like Claudine! She's a good teacher - LOL!

 

I next created a little tag to use as my pin base. I first cut the tag from Craft-a-board and then applied Wassail decorative paper using Perfect Paper Adhesive. This adhesive is one that doesn't buckle your paper - it is so light weight. In hindsight I wish that I had tried the Multi Medium because I am thinking that it may be an ideal product for adhering paper to paper. Hopefully by saying this out loud I will remember to give this a try soon!

Using the largest hole on my Crop-a-dile I place it so that the head of the pin would set in place and I could fasten it on the outside. 

 

This allows me to place the pin head through it and fasten the pin without bending the surface. I then just applied a piece of removable tape to hold it in the position above. I was thinking that this might make a beautiful little ornament as well. Just apply decorative paper to both sides of the craft-a-board and you will be able to then hang your gift right on the tree!

 

Now here is where it gets kind of funny. In putting the card together I had planned on "hanging my ornament," thus balancing the reds in a more consistent manner. OOPS - plan B - I had put my papers on with the fold of my card on the wrong side - LOL! Oh vey! That's what happens when I get too excited. 

 

SO, by some interesting placement of my red stamped greeting I was able to pull it all together (sort of Ü).  So this is my first foray into the ideas that are brewing inside my head. I hope that you will join me in this experimental process and we can learn together.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that your weekend is filled with the fun of this holiday season!

Scrappy Winter Fridge Magnet, by Sharon Harnist

 

Scrapbook page or refrigerator magnet?  You decide!  I really enjoyed having THIS page displayed on my refrigerator this Fall, so I thought a Winter one was in order now.  With the 6-inch square size, it can either be a brag book page or with magnets on the back, it becomes useful artwork for our fridge -- to hold up all those important school papers:

  

I began with a 6-inch square piece of Craft-a-Board that I covered with Memory Box Frost paper, in tones of soft teal, sage green and brown to bring out the brown in my girls' coats.  After adhering the paper to the Craft-a-Board with liquid glue, I rounded the corners with Zutter's 1/2-inch corner rounder -- this thing cuts through the Craft-a-Board like it's butter!

 

The large snowflake embellishment was made with a stamp from CHF's Joyeux Noel set.  I stamped it with Versamark ink onto some more patterned Frost paper and then heat embossed it with Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel.  While the UTEE was still hot, I sprinkled transparent iridescent glitter on top -- I really liked the added dimension and shine the UTEE added.  Then I adhered the embossed snowflake paper to Craft-a-Board and cut out the snowflake.

 

Tim Holtz's serrated scissors make this job very easy.  The Craft-a-Board gave the snowflake and the "Unique" tag wonderful, sturdy dimension:

  

The "Unique" sentiment on the tag is also from the Joyeux Noel stamp set, as is the small snowflake on the tag.

 

Unique was stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink onto more patterned Frost paper, and the snowflake was stamped with Ranger's Adirondack Lettuce dye ink.  I added Clear Copic Spica Glitter pen to the lettering, to give it a little glistening sparkle:

 

The tag was die cut with Spellbinders Tags 5 die and then adhered to another tag I die cut from Craft-a-Board.  I didn't have a good color match of ribbon for the tag, so I colored white ribbon with Copic BG93 to get a perfect match:

 

I also didn't have a green button to match this paper, but I did have a white one:

So I airbrushed it with the same BG93 Copic marker, and got a perfectly matching button!

  

The 4.75" x 3.75" photo of my daughters was framed by cutting Memory Box Vanilla Bean cardstock twice with Spellbinders Long Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities and piecing the two together, to make a taller scalloped rectangle mat.

I hope you'll think about displaying your photos in this manner -- I know I will enjoy looking at my two bundled-up cuties on my fridge each day this Winter!  -- Sharon

Soldered 3-Layer Ornament

Oh how I wish I had more, more, more time!!! I have been wanting to share a 3-layer soldered ornament for some time now. Yippie - today is finally the day!

Everything must always come in order so that I can share and teach different techniques in steps. I find it easier to learn if everything moves in sequence and so I always try and do that when teaching some of the things that have been on my mind. But with so many things I do get a little scattered - sorry about that!

A couple of years ago I shared some Christmas ornament projects that were paper collage oriented. As you can see I did a LOT of experimenting to determine what it is that would work best to create these beautiful little pieces of "art" on glass. Here is a second post. At that time I was teaching in local stamp stores and I did not want to reduce class attendance at the stores in which I was teaching by sharing all the information on my blog. Well now this is my CLASSroom, and so I am excited to begin the process of sharing some of my old favorites with you now. I hope that you find them as exciting as my students of old did and will be tempted to just give it a try!

I will do my best to get the paper Microscope Slide holders up in our store asap. They have been sitting on my shelf gathering dust and it is time for them to be put to good creative use. With our new Studio Line, amazing stamp lines and so much more I am giddy to see what it is that you will create!!!

I would also appreciate private emails if you would like having access to the more "everyday" items such as the glass paint, Lumiere and other products that I use in this process - please send any thoughts to [email protected]. I don't want to have items that you already have in your stash, or you can purchase with coupons for a lot less at other places, because I want the dollars you spend with us to be the best value for you. Unfortunately I just can't compete with big box stores and so I would love to hear whether or not these would be items that you would like me to have online to include in a one-stop shopping experience even if it would cost you a little more.

 

I apologize for the state of this picture. This glass is actually transparent, not frosted. With the light hitting it I just had a really hard time getting the camera to focus and shoot a decent picture.

To begin I am going to direct you back to my simple dreams post - Gold Leafed Wise Men. I have shared some tips and techniques in that post that I believe you will find helpful when using gold leaf.

 

I wanted this ornament to have subtle dimension added on each layer. I find that Palette inks are by far my favorite choice for working on glass. Above I used the Burnt Umber to stamp the glass with the Aged Music Scrapblock. I don't know how I lived without a musical background for so long. I BEGGED for this piece - LOL! So I am thrilled to finally have one available to use Ü I simply lay my glass straight down and lightly press over the entire surface making certain that all notes are inked, but not squished, in the process. The small glass will typically suck down on to the rubber and so I will lift up the backgrounder or scrapblock, turn it over and gently use my finger nail to ease the suction, dropping the glass on to my work surface (inked side up - if all goes well Ü)

It is important to give your glass time to dry - being impatient Ellen I will typically heat seat it with my heat embossing tool. Be certain not to touch the glass though, because it gets REALLY hot!

 

Next, I inked the sleigh with my glue pad and stamped directly on the glass. Being the glass is not porous, it does take longer for the glue to set and dry. Apply your gold leaf in a similar method to the Gold Leaf Wise Man post. It would be best to allow this to dry for at least a half hour before proceeding.

 

Using a soft bristled, yet firm, brush remove the excess gold leaf, burnishing the surface in a circular motion with your brush.

 

To create the top layer of glass I used the star from Primitive Christmas. Again stamp the star using Palette ink and heat set before painting. I like to use contrasting paints on glass and so I use a mixture of Transparent, Iridescent and Matte paints to complete this process. You will find the Delta Glass Paint - 8 Transparent Colors and 8 Iridescent Colors, available at Michaels. I typically start by applying the transparent color, followed by the iridescent colors. Allow the paint to air dry between applications. This paint is considered heat safe and so I had no problems during the soldering process with the paint becoming "gucky.

I then completed the painting process by using one of the new Studio paints. This matte like finish provides a nice contrast to the shiny, brightness of the glass paints. I LOVE the creamy smoothness of this paint and will be sharing a lot more over the next few weeks showing you how to incorporate these wonderful fine art products in to your creative process. A little of this paint goes a LONG way and Claudine has created some fabulous resources that I will be sharing with you! As you can see I did not fully cover the stars being I wanted the layers that were below to show through.

 

I created the middle layer of glass by stamping the Rejoice image from Winter Signage. (I can't link to it right now because we are currently out of stock, but hopefully it will arrive tomorrow or the next day. Then if I remember I will come back and link it Ü) One of the steps I forgot to photograph is key to this project. Sometimes I get so excited about the next step that I forget to pull out my camera. Arrgh!

The next step was to airbrush the Rejoice slide with the brush tip end of my Copic Marker. This gave a lovely cranberry colored "spritz" or "splatter" effect on the back side of this glass layer.

Follow along with the soldering lessons Debbie and I have shared and this should get you through the next steps of putting the ornament together. I found that using three pieces of glass was not a problem with the width of the wavy tape.

If you are not in to the whole "soldering" process, then Ranger Memory Frames and Slides (they are on the first and second page of our Odds 'n Ends section) are a wonderful alternative.

There are so many ways to add additional layers to your glass "sandwiches". Hopefully I will be able to share the paper collage portion with you soon. I would LOVE to see any projects that you create for the holidays. Link us up ladies - we are so curious to see what you create with the information we share!

Wishing you a creative and productive day! -Ellen

New Copic Airbrush Technique Part 2, Teardrop Ornament

ETA: Ornament PDF File is located at bottom of this post.

WOW does time fly! Finally here is the second part of the Copic Airbrush Technique I promised back in this post. Sometimes I just have TOO many things I want to share - LOL!

 

Remember the extra sheet that I didn't show (if not please read the first post again) - well now I'm finally showing it Ü. Using my craft iron I had ironed the two sheets together. While they were still warm I pulled them apart. I found that the section that I heated and ironed more thoroughly showed a lot more color and transferred a lot more detail. The top right corner where I only skimmed the paper with the iron transferred less powder and ink. By varying your ironing pattern you can select how much detail you want to transfer. I then took a second sheet and repeated the process - this time the upper corner transferred more color and embossing powder. You can repeat this process several times until there is nothing much left to transfer.

The texture that is on this paper surface was now really "cool!" (Yes, I guess I am a girl from the 80's being that is the only word that comes to mind right now.) I then got the idea to embed fine glitter in to the embossing powder that had transferred to this new page. 

 

I heated the paper lightly with my heat embossing tool and as soon as it glistened I poured fine glitter on to the surface. Be certain not to overheat it at this point or you will completely melt away the embossing powder. As it hardened it emcompassed the glitter in to the embossed detail and added the most beautiful shimmer and shine. Texture, shimmer, shine - what more can a girl want?!?

 

I then sketched a couple of ornament shapes and using my light table determined the best shape and placement for cutting out my shape. One tip I have when drawing a symmetrical image is to only draw one side. Then fold down the center and using a light table (or the old fashioned method of holding your paper up on a window that is backlit by sunlight) trace the other side so that you end up with a nice symmetrical shape.

 

To make the ornament "topper" I used my McGill label punch.

 

Using a decorative blade I trimmed the bottom of the label and using my straight blade I removed the top of the label.

 

The sentiment is from the Mona Lisa Moments Christmas Expressions - I love the versatility of these sets! Some Wassail paper, pearls, velvet ribbon and an uncooperative sewing machine and I am finally finished with my teardrop ornament card.

Download Ornament Template - to change the size of these ornaments simply reduce or enlarge on your copy machine.

Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom today - have a wonderful day! -Ellen

Stamp of the Month, December

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... There are boxes ALL over our house - LOL! This year we have ventured into the world of new traditions. We no longer have a "real" tree. After being sick from the moment we brought our Noble in to the house last year, until we removed it the day after Christmas, we decided it was time to enjoy the holiday season and purchase a "fake" tree. So the tree is up and it is AMAZING how real it looks. No stuffy noses yet either :)

This month's packet and creation were designed so that they could be multipurpose. What better way to say happy birthday to a family member or friend than with the adorable Holly Cupcake?!? It also works as a wonderful thank you for any holiday parties you may be invited too. It is quick to make and so very cute in it's simplicity. (At least I think so - LOL!)

 

To begin I stamped the Holly Cupcake image on Natural White using Memento Tuxedo Black.

 

I then used the following Copic colors to "prime" my surface - Y21, YG91 and R20. By quickly covering your image with the lightest colors it helps define the area. Next I added depth to the cupcake wrapper using a second and third application of Y21. Remember that you can always achieve new colors just by layering your color in areas you would like to highlight.

To the holly and areas "behind" the holly I added YG63 and YG67. The berries were then darkened using R27. I did come back over top of of my Copic colors with Prismacolor color pencils (Goldenrod and Dark Green) to add texture to the surface of the paper.

The tooth on the Neenah paper picks up just enough color to add yet another layer of depth to the image. Using a 2 1/8" Nestability circle die I cut and embossed my image.

Next I cut a Red Pepper strip that measures 1 1/4" x 5 1/2". Using my Scor-It board I then created two score lines on either side of the twill ribbon for additional texture.

To add texture to my Memory Box Meadow note card I stamped it using the Pretty Pattern backgrounder together with Versamark Dazzle Champagne. I am thrilled that these ink pads leave more of a watermark effect on the soy based ink cardstock. Versamark alone does not leave a watermark on these notecards and so to finally have the opportunity to have this effect with the new pads tickles my fancy :) Unfortunately I do not see much glimmer at all - I keep hoping that when the reinkers come out that I will get better shimmer results. The only technique that I have found that works to create shine is the direct to paper method, but to have the watermark result on the soy based ink is a HUGE plus in my opinion!

Assemble the card and the finish the berries off with a tiny amount of Fired Brick Distress Stickles. Make certain to set these cards some place safe to dry, so that you don't do like