the CLASSroom

Season to Sparkle by Sharon Harnist

(Click on any photo for a larger view)

Oh.My.Goodness. I have not had this much crafting fun in a while!  A light up Rudolph holiday framed art piece?  Yes, please!  I just couldn't help but put a red light-up nose on Julie's adorable new Essentials by Ellen Leaping Deer die!  

Here's a video of it working -- turn your sound up or down, depending on if you want to get in the holiday spirit or keep things quiet!

Here's how this 4" x 6" framed piece came together:

First, I dry embossed a piece of 4" x 6" Neenah Solar White 110 Lb. cardstock with Taylored Expressions Twirls and Swirls Embossing Folder. 
Then I die cut the Leaping Deer from American Crafts Pow! Gold Glitter Paper, positioned him on the swirl background, and pierced a small hole where I wanted his nose to be. 
Next, I positioned all the pieces in my Misti, using the large snowflake stamp from the new Essentials by Ellen Season to Sparkle stamp set as a placeholder for the die cut snowflake that will be on the front of the framed art piece, which will be the "button" to push to make Rudolph's nose light up!

Next, I removed all the elements except the stamp from the Misti, and replaced the swirl background with a blank piece 4" x 6" Solar White 110 Lb. cardstock, then stamped the snowflake.  This piece will be my background template, which will be hidden underneath the art piece, and serve as a place to build the circuit (shown below).  I also used a pencil to lightly mark through Rudolph's nose hole onto the template, so I would know where to place the LED light (you can see the small dot in the photo below, at the top of the copper foil tape).

Then I did just that -- started building the circuit by using the copper tape found in the Chibitronics Chibi Lights Starter Kit:

A full instruction book comes with the starter kit, along with a sampling of different colors of LED lights to work with.  You can find a great beginner single-circuit tutorial video on any of the Chibitronics product pages here in the Ellen Hutson store, and Julie made a wonderful Hello Monday 10.24.16 video also showing how to make a one-light single circuit.  These LED light kits are so much fun!  Choose from several different LED Light sticker pack colors -- Tropical, all white, primary colors, or even special effects! 

In the photo above, the lower right shows where I stamped the snowflake -- this is where the battery will go. To hold the battery in place, I placed a small piece of scrap cardstock (approximately 3/4" x 1-7/8", scored at 7/8" from each end) to create 1/8" "book-binding" type of fold, to allow for the bulk of the battery:

I taped the battery holder in place, over the snowflake. Since the bottom side of the cell battery is the negative (-) side (the top is marked as the positive side), your copper foil tape runs up from the battery (the copper tape runs underneath the battery, on top of the battery holder cardstock), to the pointed negative side of the triangular LED light (marked with the blue arrow on the right below).  You must leave a space between the positive and negative foil tape pieces underneath the battery -- the two cannot cross, or they will short-circuit and the light will not work.  My tape is a little off center under the light (marked with the red arrow below), but as long as the back sides of the LED light sticker come in contact with the copper foil tape, it will work:

Then the copper foil tape runs from the positive (+) wide end of the LED light (marked with the blue arrow on the left above), down to the battery holder. The tape must run over the battery holder cardstock, onto the inside so it comes in contact with the battery:

When the battery holder is pressed closed, the circuit is complete and the red LED lights up!

To finish the template, I placed X-Press It Foam Tape around the battery to hold it in place, building up the layers until the tape was higher than the battery/holder -- it took three layers.  I'm sorry I didn't not get a photo of this -- I was too excited it all actually worked and couldn't wait get it all put together!  After placing three layers of additional foam tape on all sides of the template, I topped it with the swirl embossed background.

So now when the large snowflake is pressed, Rudolph's nose lights up!

The Essentials by Ellen Season to Sparkle snowflake was heat embossed with Ranger Silver Super Fine Embossing Powder and die cut with its coordinating Season to Sparkle die, then popped up on foam tape over the battery. 

The pretty "Tis the season to Sparkle" sentiment was also heat embossed -- with super-fine silver on top, graduating down to Gold on the "Sparkle" word! The sentiment was die cut with a Taylored Expressions Label Stacklets 8 die, then Krylon Gold Leafing Pen used to color the edges; it is also popped up on foam tape.  Lastly, the piece was placed in a 4" x 6" silver frame and Taylored Expressions Build a Scene Christmas Sequins (white and silvery snowflakes) scattered across the background.

I hope you'll give Chibitronics Chibi Lights a try -- they are so much fun and very addictive!  Think of the fun a young child would have with this holiday decoration ... I know my teenagers were playing with it most of the evening after I made it and it always received a giggle (and they thought it was cool)!

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Season To Sparkle by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Season to Sparkle by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Leaping Deer by Julie Ebersole

Taylored Expressions Dies, Stacklets - Label 8

VersaMark Ink Pad

American Crafts, Pow! Glitter Paper, 12x12 Gold, 2 pk

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Heavyweight, Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb, 25 pk

Chibitronics Chibi Lights Starter Kit (668133)

My Sweet Petunia MISTI Laser Etched Stamping Tool

Taylored Expressions Embossing Folders, Swirls & Twirls

Little B Magnetic Piercing Tool

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, Gold

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, Silver

Inkadinkado Embossing Magic Bag

Hero Arts Embossing Gun

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

High Tack Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape, 1/2"

Krylon Leafing Pen, Gold

Taylored Expressions Sequins, Build a Scene - Christmas

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte Mini, 1/2 oz.

Watercolor Blocks by Julia Stainton

Hi everyone! I'm back from CHA and super inspired and excited to get back to creating and back to the CLASSroom! What I've been missing most as I've been away is my watercolors and it seemed like a great place to start by creating a few watercolor projects to share with you today in the CLASSroom. There's just something wonderful about all that fabulous color!

I've been hoarding some beautiful Cosmo Cricket Just Add Watercolor Canvas Blocks and it's way past time to get them out and get creative with them. One of my resolutions for 2016 is less hoarding and more crafting! So let's get to it!

Here's my finished projects, just so you can see what I'm making. The Cosmo Cricket Just Add Watercolor line is a stunning line of products with watercolor paper. There's something for everyone. Cards. Tags. 12x12 papers. And of course, canvas watercolor blocks that I'm using today.

They come pre-printed with beautiful embossed and gold foil accents so that you can easily make your own art. All you need to do is just add watercolor. These are a great project for any age as you really can't mess them up. Just add whatever colors you like and it all looks artistic!

In this shot you can see the areas that are gold foiled and clear embossed. The clear embossing repels the pigment so that you'll have a lighter area in these points.

My favorite watercolors are the Peerless Watercolors. Pgiment infused papers that have beautiful colors and the color picks up on your brush like a dream. I've used the Joanne Sharpe edition here on this project. The colors are bright and beautiful and if you're looking for a place to start, this set is well-priced to try them out!

When picking up the color, I always like to try it out on some scrap paper. Pigment can sometimes be deceiving and this allows me to check the hue as well as gauge the intensity of the final color.

The hardest part of this project is adding in the initial color. Just load up your brush and get started. When using watercolors, make sure you have lots of water on the brush so that the color will flow.

I traced the You portion of the sentiment using shades of watercolor. The colors will blend well if you work wet-in-wet which means you don't allow them to dry in between adding them together. Use a tissue or paper towel to blot off the excess pigment and reveal the embossed area.

To create a background, I like to add lots of water to the area first and then add in the color. This makes it spread out and blend well.

Once the painted areas were almost dry I added in some flecks of watercolor by loading up my brush and then flicking the area with paint. You can use a heat gun to dry the watercolor and finish it up or allow to dry naturally.

You can do whatever you like with these canvases. Add whatever colors and make it as simple or as complex as you wish. Hang it up and enjoy your art!

While I was creating, I thought it would be fun to create this little accent for Valentine's Day as well. Once again, it's simple to just add watercolor.

I missed taking a picture but to create the ombre stripes I just brushed color across the top of the surface, then added a little more water to my brush and created another stripe. Add a little more water each time without adding pigment and each stripe will get a little lighter.

It's also easy to blend your own watercolor hues with colors you have on hand. I took a yellow and a pink and mixed them together on the Ken Oliver Best Craft Mat to create a yellowish orange.

I used this new color to highlight the o areas and give them a little more definition.

And that's it! Fun and simple!

Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom! Have a fabulous and creative weekend!

Supplies:

Cosmo Cricket Just Add Watercolor, Canvas Block, XOXO (Retiring)

Cosmo Cricket Just Add Watercolor, Canvas Block, Beyoutiful

Peerless Watercolor, Joanne Sharpe Edition, Set of 15

Ranger Artist Brush Set (7 Piece)

Collapsible Water Cup

Ranger Heat It Craft Tool

Hero Arts Embossing Gun

 

#TexturalTuesdays - Pillow with Fabricolor Markers by Lisa

Hi everyone!! It's Lisa with you and it's Tuesday so that means *drumroll*, yep...#TexturalTuesdays!! YAY!! I'm really excited about today's episode because I was able to experiment with a new (to me) product and they were so much fun to use!! So, without further ado, let me tell you a little about what I'm using today and what's so cool about it.

I worked with the ZIG® Fabricolor Twin Markers. This pen has two different size tips: a 2 mm tip for detailing and outlining, and a flexible brush tip for more complete coverage. These markers are EXCELLENT for working on fabric and become permanent after ironing! (I also used the White ZIG® Fabricolor Marker with one tip.)

More information from the Ellen Hutson, LLC Store:
* water-based pigment
* non-opaque
* light-fast
* odorless
* Xylene free
Designed for fabric, but can also be use on paper projects.

Cool, right? So, I decided to try my hand at using a really graphic Dina Wakley for Ranger stencil with these markers on a canvas pillow square. How fun would these be to make for Christmas?! So this is how it turned out:

I ironed the pillow square first to make sure that it was completely flat. And I had some pieces of cardboard to fit inside the square since I had no idea whether these pens would bleed through or not. Plus, it also helped to keep the surface of the square super flat. The canvas material is quite thick, so it does take a bit of time.

The colors that I used for this project are as follows: Turquoise Green, Cobalt Blue, Orange, Light Green, and White. The White pen is NOT dual tip and only has a nib tip which must be shaken, pushed down, and scribbled before first use. It is a very vibrant white, though, and quite liquid. If it seems to dry up as you're using it, just repeat the steps of shaking, push, scribble.

(Brush Tip)

I started out by using the brush tip of the pen since it says above "for more complete coverage.."etc., THAT being said on this particular surface of the thick canvas? The nib tip works much better. The difference between the sections that I did with the brush tip and the ones that I did with the nib tip are pretty noticeable. I won't show you, though. You need to think I'm perfect. HA!! 

It is super important to keep your hands on the stencil AND the canvas pillow square. If it shifts at all, it can affect how things turn out. So be patient with yourself.  If you look at my finished pillow above you'll see that I used different parts of the stencil and didn't over do it. I mixed and matched the colors for a more graphic outcome, as well. I DID use low-tack tape to "attempt" (ha!) to hold the stencil in place, but that was not a huge help. Just go slow and enjoy the process.

I think that a set of four or five of these markers, a stencil, and a canvas square would make a GREAT Christmas gift for a crafty friend. Or make some pillows yourself for a few people on your Christmas list. Just don't forget to iron them before you give them away. :)

Here's a little close-up for ya:

I'll be back on the December 8th for an extra special #TexturalTuesdays! See you then.

ZIG Fabricolor Twin Marker, Orange

ZIG Fabricolor Twin Marker, Cobalt Blue

ZIG Fabricolor Twin Marker, Light Green

ZIG Fabricolor Twin Marker, Turquoise

ZIG Fabricolor Marker, White

Ranger Media Stencils, Grande Arrows by Dina Wakley

Canvas Pillow Square, 14x14

Gobble Til You Wobble by Sharon Harnist

Happy November, everyone!  Wouldn't this sweet little turkey make a cute accent to your Thanksgiving holiday table as anything BUT a boring hot pad/coaster?  :)

Mr. Turkey is made from felt and measures 7-3/4" tall x 7-1/4" wide.  Taylored Expressions' generously-sized Sack It-Turkey die makes this project easy ... here's how to make him (all bold products are linked below in the supply section):

1. Die cut the Sack It To You base from Camel WoolFelt. You'll notice a crease in the felt below the turkey's shirt collar die -- that is where the die cut would normally be scored and folded to form the bottom of the sack. This is where the turkey "body" would normally end, but I left the excess to make his body a little larger. (You'll also see some excess scrap felt on the left side of the Sack It base, which will be trimmed off later).

After cutting the Sack It base, I die cut the hat from Black WoolFelt:

2. With coasters or hot pads, I like to keep the felt totally flat, so dishes/mugs won't wobble over/off, so here's how I do that:

As opposed to the felt pieces (eyes, nose, collar, tie, etc.) being glued on top of each other and the face/sack base, I die cut those item spaces OUT of the base first, then inlay those other colors of die cut felt parts back INTO the sack base. The photo below shows the eyes, nose, and half of the collar already cut out of the base. Then since there is only one collar die included in this set, you'll need to flip the turkey base over to die cut the other half of the collar:

3. Next, since the bow tie would normally be on TOP of the collar, I inlaid the white collar pieces back into the base and die cut the bow tie OUT of those pieces:

4. Next, the black die cut felt bow tie and Gold WoolFelt nose are laid back into their spots and the snood (apparently that is what the piece hanging over a Tom Turkey's nose is called!) die cut OUT:

5. After die cutting all the pieces in their colors of felt AND die cut OUT of the base, I die cut an additional darker Chocolate WoolFelt Sack It To You base on which to assemble all of the die cut pieces:

6. Using Fabri-Tac, start gluing all the felt pieces into place:

7. To finish the turkey, turn him over and glue on his tail feathers:

8. To finish the back nicely, and to provide stability for the turkey as well as additional heat protection, I die cut two circles from cork:

and glued them on:

Now Mr. Turkey is ready for your coffee mug:

Or hot dish:

Fortunately, Taylored Expressions has a whole line of adorable generously-sized Sack It dies which would make ANY dinnertime (or breakfast or lunch!) more enjoyable (AND functional)!

Wishing you a very happy Turkey Day!  ~ Sharon

Taylored Expression Dies, Sack It - Turkey

Taylored Expressions Dies, Sack It To You

WoolFelt, 12x18 Chocolate (35%)

WoolFelt, 12x18 Camel (35%)

WoolFelt, 12x18 Gold (35%)

WoolFelt, 12x18 Black (35%)

WoolFelt, 12x18 White (35%)

WoolFelt, 12x18 Mulberry (35%)

WoolFelt, 12x18 Baby Blue (20%)

WoolFelt, 12x18 Hallows Eve (35%)

WoolFelt, 12x18 Moss (35%)

Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac Permanent Adhesive

American Crafts DIY, 12x12 Cork (Retiring)

Satur-YAY! 10.31.15 Gourd-jus For Fall

Hey everyone!  It's Carissa and I'm so excited to be here for another Satur-YAY!  Satur-YAY is all about celebrating the weekend by getting our craft on.  And today we're going to get gourd-jus for fall!  I have a couple of projects that are quick and easy and will be perfect for Thanksgiving or any fall celebration.  Let's get going...I have a lot to show you!  I'll walk you through both of these projects in the video tutorial below, so be sure to check it out!

I'm starting with the Essentials By Ellen Gourd-jus die set.  I love the hand sketched feel of these dies.  The images are perfect for fall, but I also spy some images that can be used year round.  I think the pumpkin is my favorite.

I used the Gourd-jus dies to cut some watercolor card stock.  When I was cutting, I was careful to allow the die cut to remain within the negative space of the paper.  This makes it easier to quickly watercolor all of the images at once using some Distress Stains.

 

Once the images were cut, I used some clean water to wet the entire surface of the watercolor paper with the images in the negative space.  Then comes the fun part!  I dabbed some Distress Stains right on the paper.  I used several colors in fall tones to create some beautiful watercolor pieces for the front of my card.  I used Fossilized Amber, Wild Honey, Peeled Paint and Frayed Burlap.  The damp surface of the card stock allows the colors to mix and blend as you dab them on to the paper.  If you want to soften any areas, you can go over those areas with your damp paint brush.  To intensify areas, just add more stain.

You can either allow your die cuts to air dry or hit them with a heat tool.  Let's be honest, I'm a busy girl AND I'm inpatient.  I hit those babies with my heat tool to speed the process along.  I've got places to go and people to see. ;)

To add a touch of elegance and shine to my die cut pieces, I edged them with some gold embossing powder.  To do this, you can dab the edge of your Versamark ink pad directly to the edge of the die cut pieces.  If you prefer a little more control, or if you really want to get in every nook and cranny, you can use a makeup sponge to dab the Versamark ink on to the die cuts.  I then sprinkled on the Ranger Super Fine Detail Embossing Powder in gold and heat set it.  This adds a a bit of glam to these very organic images and dresses them up for the holiday.

To create my sentiment, I used the Thankful stamp set.  I chose to cut the sentiment stamp so I could just use the thankful part.  However, if you're not crazy about cutting your stamps, you could always mask the stamp instead.  I stamped the greeting on some Essentials By Ellen vellum in Versamark ink.  I added the same Ranger Gold embossing powder and heat set it.  I love that repeating the same gold on the sentiment and the die cut images really pulls them together.

For both of my projects today, I used the Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangle Dies.  These dies are so versatile and the stitched detail really adds just the right touch to any card.  I used the largest rectangle in the die set to cut my card front.  I used the second largest rectangle to cut my place cards.  To add even more detail to my card front, and to give my grouping a grounding point, I de-bossed a label shape on to the card front.

Finishing the card was easy from there.  I attached my leaves to the card front using some liquid glue.  I attached the punkins using some foam adhesive.  To attach the vellum sentiment, I used a tiny bit of Multi Medium Matte behind the embossed greeting where the adhesive would be disguised.  I embellished with some sequins from Pretty Pink Posh...and voila!  A quick, easy, Gourd-jus card for fall.

I hadn't originally intended to make place cards, but I had to make use of the leftover shapes I had.  The Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies were still laying on my desk and the idea hit me like lightning.  

I cut five of the second to the largest rectangles in the die set for the place card base. Luckily, I listened in math...and I was able to divide 2 3/4 inches by 2.  If math wasn't your forte, no worries...I've already done the work for you!  Just score these rectangles at 1 3/8 inch to create your place card.  And don't forget to tell your kids to listen up in math class!  One day they may be making place cards and need to divide fractions!  ;)

Now, I'll admit, I tried really hard to hand write the names on these place cards...but I'm just not crazy about my handwriting.  So I cheated.  I printed the names on some vellum using my laser printer.  I used the Euphoria Script font, in case you're wondering.  I then used my Minc Mini to apply some Rose Gold Deco Foil.  The slightly muted gold was a beautiful addition to the place cards.  I didn't walk you through the entire Minc process in the video below...but you can check out this previous SaturYAY to see exactly how to use the Minc.

To finish the place card, I slid the name banners right underneath the grouping of die cuts and attached them with some Multi Medium Matte.  Then, just like the card above, I finished the place cards off with some Pretty Pink Posh sequins.  And I just LOVE the hint of sparkle these will add to my Thanksgiving table.  I may have to make these for the Christmas table using the Poinsettia and Pine Die set too!

Don't forget to check out the video tutorial below.  I'll walk you through these projects and give you some extra tips and tricks along the way!  I've also linked the supplies below so you can quickly find them in the Ellen Hutson store!

So there you have it...some Gourd-jus fall projects, just in time for Thanksgiving.  These projects came together quickly and could easily be replicated over and over again!

Now it's your turn to get YOUR craft on!  Put on your stretchy pants, grab a cup of coffee and dig in your stash and start creating!  I'd love to see what you're making this weekend.  Be sure you snap a quick pic and share on social media using the hashtag #EllenHutsonSaturYAY so I can check them out!  I can't wait to see what you're making!

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you've been inspired to create something...anything...this weekend.  I'll see you next month for another SaturYAY.  Until then, I hope you have a fabulous day!  

XOXO
Carissa

You can watch this video in HD on our YouTube channel by clicking HERE.  Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss any of our fab tutorials.

Supplies

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Gourd-jus by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Clear Stamps, Thankful by Julie Ebersole

Essentials by Ellen Designer Dies, Poinsettia & Pine by Julie Ebersole

Lawn Cuts Dies, Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables

We R Memory Keepers Shape Dies, Nesting Frame 9 (DC0287)

VersaMark Ink Pad

Ranger Distress Stain, Fossilized Amber

Ranger Distress Stain, Wild Honey

Ranger Distress Stain, Frayed Burlap

Ranger Distress Stain, Peeled Paint

Ranger Artist Brush Set (7 Piece)

Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. Vellum, 25 pk

Essentials by Ellen, Woodgrain Embossed #110 Cardstock, Tan, 10 Pk

Ranger Watercolor Paper, 10 pk

Strathmore Watercolor Paper 9X12

iCraft Deco Foil Transfer Sheets, Rose Gold

iCraft Deco Foil Transfer Sheets Value Pack, Rose Gold

Heidi Swapp Mini Minc Foil Applicator, 6 -inch

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, 6mm Autumn Harvest Mix

Pretty Pink Posh Sequins, 4mm Cupped, Metallic Gold

Powder Tool Adhesive Deactivator

Ranger Super Fine Embossing Powder, Gold

Hero Arts Embossing Gun

Ranger Multi Medium, Matte Mini, 1/2 oz.

Quilled Creations Precision Tip Glue Applicator Bottle 0.5 oz.

Be Creative Tape, 5mm (1/4")

Scotch Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape

Tombow Stamp Runner Dot Adhesive Runner & Refill

Tombow Stamp Runner Dot Adhesive Refills, 2 pk

ATG Kit, Advanced Tape Glider

EK Tools, Precision 5 Inch Scissors with Sheath

Tim Holtz Tonic Retractable Craft Pick

Teflon Bone Folder

EK Craft Tweezers

Martha Stewart Scoring Board, Mini

Fiskars SureCut Deluxe Craft Paper Trimmer (12")

Sizzix Texturz, Silicone Rubber Sheet

Sizzix Cutting Pad, Standard

Sizzix Accessory, Magnetic Platform for Wafer-Thin Dies

Sizzix Big Shot White & Gray

Sweet Deer Holiday Decor by Julia Stainton

It's never too soon to start getting ready for the holidays. If you start your holiday crafting soon, then there's no rush down the road to get it all done in a few short weeks. As the days get colder, I'm finding it easier and easier to spend more and more time tucked away in my craft room making pretty things.

 

Today's design came together in a couple different ways. A couple months ago I ordered some Cosmo Cricket Gallery Blocks to create with. I was actually thinking I could use the solid reverse sides to begin experimenting with a new art medium, encaustic. It turns out that I should take more time to read the product description and not just jump to conclusions about what I'm getting as these sweet little blocks have a nice hanger on the back-side. I had been planning on flipping them but that was no longer an option.

It turns out they are actually little blocks that can be covered with fabric for easy DIY home dec projects. Super sweet and what a great concept. And yes, had I read the product details it was very clear in the wording. Ellen Hutson LLC does a great job at this, so if you're in doubt, please check out the product info or contact customer service. They are always happy to help!

As I knew I'd be able to find a wonderful use for these blocks, I set them aside to think about it. It turns out they make fabulous little shadow boxes. You can stack them or use them separately. Each side has some GREAT sticky adhesive on the sides. This is perfect if you cover them with fabric or whatever else you with to use.

To start off my project I was inspired to make a little holiday decor accent using some new holiday goodies, the Basic Grey Juniper 6x6 paper pad, some darling Boxwood Twine and Trophy Antlers from Tim Holtz. To create the wreath, I just snipped off a length of the boxwood trim and then twisted it into a wreath. It's a double wrap and the wire in the trim holds it nicely into shape.

The Basic Grey Juniper paper is a gorgeous new paper pad. I used it on a few elements of this design. The first use it to cut 4 strips of paper that are 1" x 4" in size. Remove the adhesive backing along the sides of the wood frame and cover with the patterned paper strips.

Glass glitter is the epitome of glitter in my opinion. It's so beautiful and shiny and has a wonderful heavy texture. Be careful with it though, as it IS glass. This is the Prima Sterling Glass Glitter and it's perfect for the holidays.

To apply the glass glitter to the front of my wood shadow box I liberally coated the edge with Glossy Accents. Sprinkle with glitter and allow to dry before shaking off the excess. A Tidy Tray works great for keeping this glitter in one place as you definitely don't want it on the floor.

 

The sweet Tim Holtz Trophy Antlers are so much fun and play off the big trend of the past couple years. It's a resin embellishment and I wanted to give it a frosty feel. Some more Glossy Accents to the rescue, along with some Rock Candy Distress Glitter and he looks properly festive.

Since creating this project, the store is now sold out of the sweet little Antlers. To get a similar look, why not try die cutting a dear image from chipboard and then cover it with white glitter? The Essentials by Ellen Prize Stag die would be amazing as a substitute or simply just have the wreath with a lovely sentiment banner.

To put it all together, a 3" square piece of patterned paper from the Juniper paper pad lines the inside of the wood frame. The antlers needed to pop out a little more so that they wouldn't hit the frame so I created a little extra layer from some patterned paper and a piece of Craft-a-Board. It was cut 2" square and then covered with the paper.

To finish it all off, some sweet twine and jingle bells accent the wreath and a little hanger is formed on the back of the wood frame from some tape measure trim.

Have fun getting in the festive mood for crafting this year!

Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom and have a fabulous and creative weekend!

Supplies:

Imagine Crafts Craft Mat

Cosmo Cricket Gallery Block, 4x4

Funnel Tray

Prima Marketing Art Ingredients Glitter, Sterling

Ranger Distress Glitter, Clear Rock Candy

Ranger Accents, Glossy Accents

Basic Grey Juniper, 6x6 Paper Pad

Maya Road Ribbon, Vintage Tape Measure Trim, White, 2 yds

Lawn Fawn Hemp Cord, Aquamarine

Jingle Bells, 1/4", Silver

Essentials by Ellen, Craft-a-Board 6x12, 12 pk

Tim Holtz Boxwood Twine

Tim Holtz Trophy Antlers

Tim Holtz Pine Twine

Shine On Gift Duo by Julia Stainton

Do you love paper crafting? I do! In fact I love all kinds of crafting. I guess that makes me an equal opportunity crafter. That means I'm always up for trying new things. Or old ones for that matter.

Remember string art? I had some fun with it as a child and it was always so much fun. When I saw some darling string art boards by Cosmo Cricket last January at CHA, I knew one had to go on my wishlist. It's been awhile since January but yes, I'm finally getting to the project. As long as you get there eventually, right?

Having fun with the string art board was fun and it inspired this gift duo. I started off with the string board and then created a card that coordinated.

The Cosmo Cricket String Art boards come in three different patterns. Star, heart and anchor. These boards are super cut finished wood and are 8"x8" in size. They make great decor accents and are so easy to do. There's no right or wrong way to add in the string. In fact random looks fabulous and fun. As I created mine my younger boys were very intrigued and as it is something that young or old can do, I think I'm going to be purchasing a few more for them to craft with as well.

This is also why the string boards are so awesome. No black thumbs from hitting them with a hammer and no scratches from nails. The metal pegs on these boards are smooth and wonderful.

I found some wonderful twine in my stash. It's the Jute Twine from Prima and comes in a myriad of colors. I've linked the Teal jute that I used in the supplies below but if you like other colors, be sure to do a search in the store as there are some really pretty ones.

To start your string art, simply pick a non-conspicuous peg and tie the end of the jute to it. I double knotted mine and then trimmed away the tail.

From there just start wrapping twine around pegs until it it nice and full. I made sure that each peg had at least a couple wraps around it to "tie it all together."

This is what it looks like when finished. I love it in the teal but it would be sweet in red or green for the holidays, or how about three stars of red, white and blue?

Here's a peek at the side of the project. You can see how I've kept the string up towards the top of the pegs to highlight the texture and dimension.

To create a little personalized touch, the Tim Holtz Typewriter Charms make a cute accent.

See how fabulous it looks for very little work?

From there I wanted to design a matching card. Inspired by the star shape and the teal twine, I thought of an adorable hand stitched wood accent for the focal point of the card. These sweet wood pieces are from Maya Road and you can stitch on anything you wish. I created a five point star just by stitching my needle through the holes.

This kraft cardstock layer mimics the wood base of the star design. It was easy to create by stenciling on a woodgrain pattern with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink.

To put the card together I layered on my paper layers. The top ephemera map is adhered with foam tape to add some extra dimension. I choose cardstock to match the jute twine and went with a more masculine theme for this project.

By adding in the wood embellishments with the woodgrain background it really gives a fun and unique look.

Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I hope you feel inspired to get your craft on!

Supplies:

Cosmo Cricket Wood Charms, Tiny Text

Cosmo Cricket String Art Board, Anchor

Cosmo Cricket String Art Board, Star

Cosmo Cricket String Art Board, Heart

Maya Road Vintage Wood, Stitch Scallop And Circle

Maya Road Vintage Wood, Stitch Heart And Arrow

Prima Marketing Jute Trim, Teal

Tim Holtz, Heart Charms

Tim Holtz, Typewriter Charms

Tim Holtz, Mini Paper Clips

Tim Holtz Stickers, Big Chat

Ranger Distress Mini Ink Pad, Frayed Burlap

Tim Holtz, Ephemera Pack, Expedition

Tim Holtz, Memo Pins

Tim Holtz Stencils, Woodgrain

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Environment Desert Storm, 25 pk

Neenah Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pk

Bazzill Card Shoppe Cardstock, Candy Necklace, 25 pk

High Tack Double-Sided Foam Mounting Tape, 1/2"

 

Love You Vintage Valentine Decor by Julia Stainton

 With Valentine's Day in just a couple weeks, I'm busy crafting and decorating for the upcoming holiday. I love creating in a shabby and vintage style and Valentine's is always a great time to design in that manner. Today I'm excited to be back creating and sharing here in the CLASSroom and have a fun decor piece to share with you.

 

I'm loving all the pretty ruffles and details and it's now hanging on my kitchen dresser-turned-sideboard. Another creative project that I took on a few years back. This project is easier than it looks. You truly DO NOT need a sewing machine! Keep reading and I'll share how I created it.

To start off with I've used a premade stitched linen heart (you can find everything in the supply list at the end of the post). It's already two layers stitched together so it's easy...no stitching. The grey trim comes pre-ruffled so all I did was take a piece of it and adhere to the back of the heart project.

Next step is to stamp the front. I've used some pretty Hero Arts stamps and Ranger's Jet Black Archival Ink. Archival inks are my FAVORITE for stamping on fabrics and other porous surfaces. You always get a nice clean impression.

Onto the chipboard steps: I wanted to cover this you chipboard with glass glitter. I love the look of glass glitter, especially on vintage style projects. It's sooo pretty and nothing else seems to compare. When covering chipboard with glitter I like to color it first with a coordinating color so that if you have spaces in the coverage, it's not as obvious.

Glossy Accents works great for adhering so many things but I especially love it for the glass glitter. Just squeeze it on and then I smear it to totally cover the chipboard surface.

It's always good to be generous with glitter when covering anything with it. I like to dump large amounts over the item and allow the glue to dry. Shake off the excess glitter and it's fine to put it back into your jar to use again.

To cover the chipboard hearts I used some new and beautiful papers from the Crate paper Kiss Kiss line. Adhere the papers and trim the excess as close as possible. Then sand or file the edges for a nice finish.

To start layering the embellishments I used hot glue to fix them to the linen.

When adding in embellishments I start with the largest and then slowly build up the layers until I'm happy with the result.

To this point, I've left the heart flat but wanted it to be more three-dimensional. To open up the back I carefully cut a slit in the back layer so that it could be stuffed with pillow batting. I admit I didn't have any on hand so I found some soft ribbon that I no longer needed and stuffed the heart with that. If you want, you can sew the seam shut but I simply hot-glued it closed for a quick and no-sewing project.

To finish off the project I used a gorgeous Melissa Frances hanger and clipped it to the top sections of the altered linen heart. It's embellished with a vintage button and a Tim Holtz Mirrored Star.

Here's a close-up of the embellishment details. The wood bingo piece has been inked with Avery Elle Orchid Pigment Ink to add color to it.

Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I hope this design inspires you to get creative and make something yourself!

-Julia

Supplies:

 

Maya Road Linen Heart Pieces

Art of the Card Cling Stamp Set, Forever, 6x8

Melissa Frances Glass Glitter, Pure Silver

Ranger Accents, Glossy

Maya Road Chipboard Set, Shot Through the Heart

Crate Paper Kiss Kiss, 6x6 Paper Pad

Melissa Frances Clip Hanger, 6" Flower

Maya Road Vintage Tape Measure Trim Pack

Maya Road Vintage Heart Box Key

Maya Road Velvet Pleats, Black and White

Maya Road Vintage Wood Ribbon Spools

Maya Road Wood Bingo Motifs, Alterable

Avery Elle Ink Pad, Orchid

Ranger Archival Ink Pad, Jet Black

Maya Road Vintage Findings, Mama's Doilies

Maya Road Ribbon, Tulle Pleat Trim, Earl Grey

Maya Road Vintage Trinkets, Lustrous Button Jewels

Precision File Set

Tim Holtz Tonic Non-Stick Micro Serrated Scissors

Maya Road Trinket Pins, Vintage Button

Patriotic Luminary by Sharon Harnist

I saw a cute idea on Pinterest for a patriotic luminary and wanted to re-create it for the upcoming U.S. holiday, with the supplies I had on hand . . . These were the results!

I think we all have a stash of jars either on hand or in the recycle bin, so this is a great way to recycle them AND make a cute gift for friends, neighbors, family OR to add a prettier flare to your summertime patio mosquito repellent candles! My jar was a hamburger dill pickle jar, about 5" tall and 3" in diameter.

There are probably a lot of different ways this project could be accomplished, but here's what I did, like I said -- with supplies I had on hand:

1. After throroughly scraping off the jar label and washing the jar, I wiped it down with alcohol to make sure all sticky residue was removed. Then I masked off the top and bottom of the jar with 2-inch 3M Post-It Labeling Tape (any area I did NOT want to be painted white). I left about 1/4 of the back of the jar "open"/unpainted just so a little more candle light would show through it, but you could certainly paint it all around (click on any photo for a larger view):

I painted on one coat of Gesso, let it dry, then painted on another coat in the opposite direction (just to try and avoid streaking). I like the slight "linen" look this yielded. (Photo below shows the first coat drying):

2. Again, with what I had on hand, I found this My Favorite Things Waves Stencil in my stash.  Had I planned better and wanted to be perfectly "American Flag correct", I may have used any number of straight line stencils Ellen carries, but I like that mine looks like it is waving in the wind!

3. After the Gesso dried, I made about a 2" x 2" square mask from the 3M Post-It Labeling Tape and applied it to the upper left of the white area (this is the area that will be painted blue later).

4. I taped the wave stencil over the whole white area and then airbrushed Copic R27. This is one of the beauties of flexible stencils ... they will bend around most anything!

5. Next, I removed the wave stencil (rubbing alcohol will clean it up quickly) and 2-inch square mask, and then masked around the square so I could do the blue airbrushing.

6. Airbrush the square area with Copic B37.

Next, I'll tell you what I thought would work (but didn't!) and what I did to fix it! I die cut masking tape with MFT's Scattered Stars Die-namics and then used it to apply paint through:

I placed the star mask over the blue airbrushed square and painted on another coat of Gesso. Either my mask wasn't stuck down well enough, the Gesso was too gloppy, or my brushing skills are lacking/too messy (most likely!), because somehow I ended up with globs instead of nice crisp stars!  Soooo to fix that, I quickly wiped off as much of the Gesso as I could and re-airbrushed blue back over the square.

Seeing all those tiny stars still stuck to my die cutting plate above, I decided to lift those off and stick them to the blue airbrushed square (yes, each individual little one!) . . . it worked perfectly!

To make sure the stars would stay stuck to the luminary (since they are cut from a removeable paper), I sealed them on with a coat of Ranger Gloss Multi Medium.

To finish the luminary, I tied Tim Holtz Silver Tinsel Twine & Winter Tinsel Twine (Red) around the neck of the jar, then tied on a Jenni Bowlin Vintage Cream Button with blue striped twine.

Here's a look at the luminary lit up in a semi-dark room (along with my summertime framed subway art!):

I hope you have a lovely upcoming holiday and are enjoying your Summer!

~ Sharon 

3M Post-It Labeling Tape, 2 in x 36 yd	3M Post-It Adhesive Roll, White, 1x400 in	My Favorite Things Die-namics, Scattered Stars	Faber-Castell Gesso
My Favorite Things Stencils, Waves	Copic Airbrush Kit, ABS-3	COPIC Sketch Marker R27, Cadmium Red	COPIC Sketch Marker B37, Antwerp Blue
Ranger Multi Medium, Gloss With Brush, 1 oz.	Tim Holtz Tinsel Twine, Silver	Tim Holtz, Tinsel Twine, Winter	Doodle Twine Assortment, Primary
Jenni Bowlin Vintage Sew-On Buttons, Cream

InLinkz.com

Vintage Holiday Hanging by Julia Stainton

It's time to deck the halls and add some lovely holiday touches around the house. How about a project in a simple vintage style? I think it makes a sweet addition to an old dresser I salvaged, painted black and now use as a sideboard in my eating area.

 I've been DYING to use this stunning Meliss Frances hanger for SO long. It's so beautiful and the exciting thing about it is you can clip it to almost anything. As it's easy to remove and reclip, you can change up your design projects throughout the season and display them. {love}

 

Black and white is very popular right now and it also has a great vintage look to it. It seemd like a no-brainer to pick the color combo right from the hanger. A black and white and grey Christmas project? Hmmmm...it's different but I really love the look.

 

I've created my hanging project using Craft-a-Board. If you've never tried it, you really should. Put it on your to try list. The possibilities are endless and I love the soft vanilla color. So much nicer than grey chipboard.

For nice clean cuts, I adhered the patterned paper to the Craft-a-Board BEFORE cutting it with my Tonic Guillotine cutter. It makes really nice clean edges. If you're into exact measurements, the base is 4"x5.5" and the grey layer is 3.5"x5"

Likewise, I die-cut after the paper is on and die cutting the grey paper covered Craft-a-Board layer makes some sweet negative snowflake shapes. This is super easy to do with Movers and Shapers dies by Tim Holtz for Sizzix and the Magnetic Movers and Shapers tray. You'll see in later photos that at this point the layers are glued together and then stitched on my sewing machine. Yes you CAN stitch two layers of Craft-a-Board very easily on a sewing machine. Stitching is always a nice subtle detail and also has the added benefit of making your project extra sturdy.

Onto the sentiment...I've used some of my favorite chipboard letters and altered them with some Picket Fence Distress Crackle Paint. Love, love, love Distress Crackle Paint and how it crackles as it dries. It's perfect for any vintage themed project. My tip for you...just be patient and let it dry natural for the best crackle effect.

I wanted to add a little extra pop with these letters so while the paint is wet, I sprinkled on some Vintage Glass Glitter. It's another great vintage touch.

Next I needed a piece of cardstock to stamp my sentiment onto. Soft pink is always pretty with black and white and I need a subtle pop of color. The problem was that I didn't have the color I wanted. What to do, what to do...

Make my own of course. Yes you can color your own cardstock with Copic Markers. Alcohol based inks won't pill the paper the same as waterbased markers and you won't get streaks. The key to coloring your own paper is to saturate it well with the marker ink. Go over and over it in a circular motion until the paper is all one uniform color.  You'll want to wait until the ink is very very dry and then you can stamp on it.

My next step is a tip I learned from a student when I was teaching a class last year. It's so easy to make your own notched banner ends with a simple pair of scissors.

1. Notch your banner strip at the end where you want the "v" to be. Just cut in at 90°
2. Cut from one corner to the end of the notched cut.
3. Cut from the other corner to the end to form your notch.

It's so much easier and more accurate than trying to cut your angles right off from the start.

Here's a detail of the dried and crackled letters and I've wrapped the sentiment banner over them from the back on the left side.

I just couldn't resist a picture of the beautiful vintage style hanger. It makes it super easy to make any project gorgeous.

I loved creating this project and can't wait to create more to span the seasons. If you're not into creating home decor, you can create a holiday card by just creating this project onto a card base. It's the perfect size for that as well.

Have fun creating for the holidays, have a fabulous weekend and thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom!

 

Supplies:

Melissa Frances Flower Hanger	Tonic Paper Trimmer Guillotine, 12x6	Krystallos Vintage Glass Glitter	Essentials by Ellen: Craft-a-Board 6x12, 12p
Tim Holtz Mirrored Stars	A Cardstock, Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, 25 pack	Tis the Season 6x6 paper pad	NEW Archival Ink Pad, Jet Black
Distress Ink Pad, Brushed Corduroy	Accents, Glossy	Sizzix, Tim Holtz, Movers & Shapers Magnetic Die, Mini Snowflakes Set	Movers and Shapers Base Tray
Sizzix Big Shot Machine, Powder Blue & Teal	Lisa Chipboard Alphabet	COPIC Sketch Marker R20, Blush

InLinkz.com

 

The Shabby Burlap Canvas by Julia Stainton

I'm a big fan of mini canvases.

I'm a big fan of burlap too.

That being said I just couldn't resist checking out the new Tim Holtz Burlap Panels.

I was pretty excited to get them and love how my first creative journey went with them. I made this sweet little mini canvas with one of the canvases. There's four in the package and that has me looking forward to creating more!

Here's what the burlap panel looks straight from the package. The texture is amazing! This panel measure 3"x4" in size.

To highlight all that gorgeous texture, I started off by brushing on some gesso. I like to put just a little on a brush and lighting brush it across to that you just get the tops of the fibers to make them stand out. Gesso dries really quickly so you can be onto the next step before you know it!

I like to use the Studio Multi-Mediums as an adhesive with mixed media projects. I've torn out a bird from some printed tissue. I like torn edges in mixed media as straight cut edges seem a bit hard and interrupt the flow of the design. This particular tissue by 7 Gypsies has recently sold out of Ellen's store but you'll find a link below to the Tim Holtz Melange tissue which is really very similar in style and works great as a substitute.

Another of Tim Holtz's new products that I just had to order and try is the new Fabric Packs. I love fabric and these swatches are going to get lots of use from me. They are perfect for paper crafting but I'm pretty sure my sewing machine will be coming out soon too! They come in 6x6", 8x8" and 12x12" sizes. I've used the 6x6" Eclectic Elements Pack.

Here's a piece of one of the prints cut out of the fabric using pinking shears.

Fabric is wonderful added to mixed media projects and it can be applied easily with the Studio Multi-Medium. I like to brush lots of the back of the fabric and in this case I've brushed it over the top as well once the fabric was adhered to the burlap panel.

Here's where I started experimenting a little. Rummaging through my stash looking for paint, I found some Ice Stickles and thought a little glitter and glam might be just the ticket on this project. I simply squirted a blob of it onto my work surface and spread it onto the burlap with my finger. Really truly, it wasn't that messy as fingers wipe clean easily and I was able to press it into the texture of the burlap exactly where I wanted it.

I found this a really great way to get the glitter into the project and not have it flying all around the room.

Next step in my canvas, I added in a little color using some Classic Teal Studio Paint. You'll see light touches of it here and there in the finished project. I still had a little on my brush when I painted the chipboard frame with white gesso and I love the hint of color it gives.

I like it so much that I just had to brush a little on the petals of these sweet paper flowers.

 I think these sweet mirrored stars are my absolute favorite product that Tim Holtz released at the recent tradeshow. I had to add one of them to the design as well.

The frame was adhered to the burlap panel and then all the pretty embellishments were adhered to finish off the design.

Lastly, here's a little closeup of all the fabulous texture on the edge of the burlap panel. When creating a canvas, don't forget the edges. Adding interest to them will finish off your design. If you'd like to see more detail on any of the images, just click on them and they'll expand in your browser.

With Christmas around the corner, this project has me thinking. Some little burlap panels would make a lovely and creative gift. What do you think?

Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom! Have a safe and creative weekend!

Supplies:

Studio Gesso	Tim Holtz Mirrored Stars	Cosmo Cricket Canvas Brads	Ornate Tags Chipboard Set by Maya Road
laraine pearl white flowers	Melange Tissue Wrap	Tim Holtz Burlap Panels	Studio Multi-Medium, Matte
Studio Artist Brushes	Vintage Pale Pink Pearl Ball Pins	Ice Stickles Platinum	Studio Acrylic Paint Mini, Classic Teal

InLinkz.com

Shabby Chic Assemblage Clock by Julia Stainton

Ever feel like there are just so many projects you want to try and just not enough time? I think most of us feel that way. I think the key is prioritizing and making a list of what you want to accomplish.

I've been keeping a crafting-must-try list lately and at the very top of it was the Tim Holtz Assemblage Clock. When I first saw it in the CHA Winter release previews, I gasped and knew it was going to be going into my shopping cart. I love all things to do with clocks and this clock/altered display item...well, it had me at hello.

When I first got my Assemblage clock, I was really impressed with how well made it is and how large it is. It's 7 inches tall. For some reason the photos I'd seen of it made me think it would be more like 5". I was thrilled with the larger size as it gave me a larger work area.

The back panel easily snaps on and off for altering. I decided that it would add extra dimension to alter the glass front of the clock as well as the inside and started off by adding rub-on transfers to the clock face. To apply the rub-ons, cut out the designs you wish to use and remove the backing. Apply to the surface you wish to transfer them to and then rub them on using firm pressure and a popsicle stick or the Basic Grey Rub-on Roller.

To create my background, I removed the back panel and traced the circle onto a piece of Craft-a-Board. You need something sturdy to support the embellishments and this does it well. After cutting the circle out, it was then covered with a piece of patterned paper. I went with a neutral paper and that works well as most of it gets covered up with the layers.

Next step is to add some layers. The kraft tag was stamped using some Shell Pink Paint Dabber and a Hero Arts Background stamp. I've used the same paint to coat the chipboard butterfly.

The coordinating solid butterfly from the same set was covered with patterned paper and the edges filed with the Basic Grey Precision File Set.

I like to keep adding layers until the design is balanced and it just feels right. The left side of the design is fairly simple, a large flower, as the rub-on on the front glass covers that area. I find using a hot glue gun works well for adding in all these heavy embellishments, especially when the design is going to be upright when on display.

You'll notice that I've repeated the rub-on transfer motifs throughout the design. You can see little butterflies and postage marks on the back layers near the top of the design. My favorite use of them is to embellish these sweet little wood spools.

Rub-on transfers are so versatile. This project uses them on glass, paper, paint, wood and even fabric. The little linen tag took the rub-on application perfectly and makes a sweet final accent.

Hope you've enjoyed this sweet timely project and that inspires you to make your own. Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom and have a wonderful weekend!

 

Supplies:

InLinkz.com

Spring Canvas by Sharon Harnist

I was feeling extra Spring-y this week, with all the pretty sunshine (preceeded by a few nice days of rain!) and all the Texas Bluebonnets starting to bloom along the road sides, so I wanted to capture that feeling on canvas and here are the results:

After a few trial and error attempts, I came up with this successful method when wanting to stamp and color with Copic markers onto a stretched canvas frame. Sometimes a detailed stamp like this one is difficult to get a crisply stamped image when trying to stamp onto a stretched canvas over a wood frame.

To begin, I stamped the Hero Arts DesignBlock Flower Text (measuring a nice 6" x 4-1/2") with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Sticky Back Natural Canvas-8-1/2" x 11" 

Then I started coloring . . . Here are the step-out photos of each flower and its corresponding Copic Sketch colors used:

1. I feather blended together Y18 and YR16 (start by coloring with the lighter Y18, then flick the YR16 from the center of the flower outward):

2. YG25 and G17 for the the leaves:

3. V04 and V06 for the purple flower:

4. The same greens and yellow from the first flower:

5. For the center flower, I used B02 & B05 for the flowers and a little bit lighter green combo of YG03 & G05 for the leaves, just for a little variation:

6. As a final coloring step, I decided to go back over the stamped lines and deepen the color with a Copic Multiliner 0.8 (from the Broad 4pc Set). This was just personal preference -- I really like how it made the flower colors pop! The right two flowers below have already been outlined, but you could skip this step if you wanted a more natural flower look like the purple flower on the left that still had not been outlined -- it has a more "painterly" look:

The final step was to trim the Sticky Back canvas to the size of my 5 x 7 Chunky Stretched Natural Canvas (the Sticky Back canvas trims very easily with your paper trimmer or scissors), peel off the backing and stick the colored canvas to the front of the stretched canvas frame (ahem -- thus covering up a previous non-successful stamping attempt!):

The finishing touch was to tie on some pretty Springy May Arts Parrot Green Crochet Ribbon around the left side:

I hope this project helps put you in the Spring spirit and encourages you to get crafting this weekend!

~ Sharon

{Supplies}

Edited 4/9/13: I see you all scooped up the remaining supply of of this great Hero Arts large DesignBlock stamp! If you are looking for a similar stamp, I recently found these while browsing through the Warehouse Sale section of the store (which means great prices!):

Hero Arts Words & Flowers (set of 4):

Three Quirky Flowers:

I hope that helps! ~ Sharon

Hero Arts DesignBlock, Flower Text	Memento Ink Pad, Tuxedo Black	Natural Studio Sticky Back Canvas 8.5x11	Copic Sketch Markers
Copic Multiliner 4pc Set, Broad	Canvas Corp Chunky Stretched Natural Canvas, 5x7	May Arts Crochet Ribbon, Parrot Green

InLinkz.com

Butterfly Mobile by Susan Roberts

It is such a pleasure to welcome Susan Roberts back to the CLASSroom today as she has prepared a fabulous guest post for us! THANK YOU Susan for creating this magical project and sharing the amazing details on how you created this beautiful mobile! It is absolutely stunning!!

---

After my daughter-in-law saw a few butterfly mobiles on the internet that she loved, I decided to come up with one for her to hang in my newest little granddaughter’s nursery. It uses many of the wonderful tools and products from Ellen’s store.

The mobile begins with the solid inside pieces of 3 different sized embroidery hoops.

The surface of these wooden hoops was very porous, so they were sealed on all sides with Gesso and Acrylic Paint.

To connect the hoops, 3 strands of fishing line were tied across the largest hoop.  To secure each knot a glue gun was was used, and the excess fishing line was cut off.

Again using fishing line, the 2 smaller hoops were tied to the fishing line on the largest hoop.  Each knot was again hot glued and the excess fishing line was cut off.

Next, 18  3’ strands of fishing line were cut and tied to the hoops spacing 6 strands per hoop.  These strands were also hot glued to the hoops and the excess part of the knots was cut off.  To leave room for the ribbons (shown later) the strands on the middle hoop were placed close to the cross sections of fishing line.  (The length of the strands varies on the finished mobile as they were cut once the butterflies were in place.  The number of butterflies per strand also varies.)

Using Mod Podge, strips of Neenah Classic Cream cardstock were adhered to the inside and outside of the hoops, and 12" Pearl Strips were placed around the outside of the largest hoop.  (A temporary loop was tied around the center of the nylon strands crossing the hoops to hang the mobile while putting on the butterflies.)

The butterflies were made using cardstock. You can use light pink, medium pink, dark pink and classic cream or change it up depending on the color of your child's room.  We have many different varieties of butterfly dies in our store to select from. Just follow this link to find ones that appeal to you. This mobile uses approximately 22 dark pink, 22 medium pink and 20 light pink butterflies. 

 

Since the colored cardstock used in this post reverse side is white, and because part of this reverse side would be visible on the finished butterfly, dye ink was applied using an Ink Blending Tool on the white side of each piece to give them a creamy color to match the Neenah Classic Cream cardstock that was also being used.

Oh and I have to mention something about The Vagabond! Being able to use Ellen’s studio and the Vagabond was incredible. It made cutting out even the most intricate lacy butterflies an absolute dream.

The butterflies were assembled using a Quickie Glue Pen.  (In those areas on the butterfly which were large enough, double sided tape was used.) Once the butterflies were assembled, they were attached to the mobile by making a hole in the center of the butterfly’s body with a paper piercer and then threading  one of the strands through that hole from the back to the front.

Using a ¼”Circle Punch, circles were punched and then adhered to glue dots.   These were then adhered to the back of each butterfly over the strand of thread one per butterfly matching the cardstock of that particular one.  This holds the butterfly to the desired location on the strand of thread.

Once all of the butterflies were placed and secured,  the strands were cut approximately 4” below the lowest placed butterfly on each strand. Next, two self-adhesive pearls were added to the end of each strand placing the sticky sides of the pearls together to form a round pearl.

Finally, six 12” 1-1/4” May Arts Silk Ribbons were cut and tied to the middle of the three hoops- one to each of the 6 sections.  From the hoop to the knot on each ribbon was approximately 3”.  (Note:  If I were to do another mobile, I would add the ribbon before putting all the butterflies on the strands.  Working around the butterflies was needlessly cumbersome…)

The ribbons were all placed on a 1” fastener ring at the knots and gathered together on the bottom half of the ring.

Clip the ring shut and voila!

Land of the Free Mini Canvases by Julia Stainton

Independence Day is coming up and inspired by the new Maya Road Star tins, I thought a patriotic project might be a fun one to work up for my American friends. I hope you enjoy it!

Mini Canvas Frames have to be one of my all-time favorite products in the Ellen Hutson LLC store. They are 4"x4" in size and are the perfect size for making fun altered canvas projects and just right for experimenting on. A great feature of these canvases are they are triple primed meaning you can get right to the fun stuff. As well they come two in a pack, are super high quality and as the canvas wraps right around to the back, you don't even need a frame for them. Unless you want one of course.

 

Today's tutorial has lots of photos to take you through all the steps. A picture is worth a thousand words, right?...so I've taken a few to make it easy to follow. The first step is to paint one of the canvases with blue Studio Acrylic Paint.

While that is drying, you can stamp a nice collage of images onto the other canvas. It's already triple primed as I mentioned earlier so you can just stamp away. I like using the Ranger Archival Inks for stamping on canvas and then heat set the ink for permanence.

Creating stripes is easy to do when you mask off an area. Tissue Tape makes a beautiful accent but it also works perfectly to mask with. Apply the tissue tape on the areas you want to remain white and paint the rest in red.

After the paint has dried, you can remove the masking tape and your canvas should look like the above photo.

While that continues to dry, it's back to the blue canvas. Once it's surface is dry you can stamp on it with paint applied to a background stamp. I love doing this with an Adirondack Paint Dabber as it makes it super easy to cover the area. Stamp canvas and set aside to dry.

Once both canvases are dry you can add a lovely crackle finish if you like the vintage look. Apply Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint over each of the canvas and give it an hour or so to dry.

The Distress Crackle layer will add a beautiful vintage distressed look. To highlight it, sponge the surfaces with some Distress Ink. If you'd like to check out the detail, just click on the above photo to enlarge it.

Finally we get to the Maya Road Star Bottle Cap that inspired the project. Most paints flake off metal so I've painted the inside of the bottle cap with Gesso. I've filled the inside of the star with a knotted length of burlap tirm and added some other sweet embellishments.

Here's a detail of what the star canvas looks like finished.

To complete the striped canvas, I've painted some chipboard letters with the matching blue Studio paint and adhered them to the canvas.

You can display these canvases horizontally as in the first photograph but after completing the project, discovered that it looks great arranged vertically as well.

Hope you've been inspired to create some patriotic art for your home this summer.

Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom and have a wonderful weekend!

Supplies: White 4"x4" Canvas Frames, Studio Gesso by Ranger, Snow Cap Adirondack Paint Dabber, Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint, Dash of Red Studio Paint and Smidge of Blue Studio Paint by Ranger, Studio Artist Brushes, Jet Black Archival Ink, Vermillion Archival Ink and Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink by Ranger, Cling Music Background,  Large Newspaper Background DesignBlock, Basic Grey Carte Postale by Hero Arts, Patti Mini Alphabet Chipboard Set by Maya Road, Star Bottle Cap, Vintage Paper Roses, Linen Burlap Trim and Ticket Transparencies by Maya Road, Heart Trinket Pins, Crystal Star Trinket Pins, Kraft Flag Trinket Pins and Wood Bingo Motifs by Maya Road, Love Banner Clear Stamp Sheet by Maya Road

"Faux"berge Easter Eggs

Easter is right around the corner and I thought I would share an idea that has been brewing in my head for some time. I figured I'd best get busy and share it if anyone is to have time to play with it this Easter season.

It was as I thought about the many ways to use adhesives that these ideas popped into my head. I cannot lay claim to the clever title of these eggs. Julia E, here at work, is so very clever with words!!! After sharing my idea she just popped out the word "faux"berge and I started to laugh - it was perfect!

Glitter, foil, pearls, gemstones, Be Creative (Sookwang) tape, embossing powder, Distress Stain... the list of products in our studio that can be used to embellish an Easter egg is LONG. It is so fun to think of different ways to use these products!

I would like to recommend that you blow out the insides of your eggs before beginning, but due to limited time I just went for it being VERY careful not to drop it as I worked. Sadly these eggs would not smell very good if I were to actually put them out on display, so I keep peeking at them in the fridge from time to time - LOL! Next time I will definitely be blowing the insides out!

The first idea was to use the beautiful Design Adhesives we carry. The smaller designs are simpler to use because you do not need to worry about them overlapping themselves when you adhere it to the rounded surface. Cut out an individual shape and burnish on to the surface of your egg.

Gently peel back the protective coating.

Apply glitter and press glitter into adhesive with your fingertip.

Pour off the excess glitter and burnish the glitter into the adhesive, just as you would when doing the burnished velvet technique on paper.

Remove excess glitter with a soft brush.

These glittery eggs are absolutely spectacular! Use one color or many colors of glitter for a variety of looks.

The larger adhesive designs are a little more difficult to work with on the rounded surface. You will need to slightly overlap the design, but I found the look to be worth the extra effort.

Apply the Designer Foil to the sticky adhesive surface and gently rub the foil into place making certain all adhesive is covered with foil.

Peel it back and the foil remains attached to the adhesive.

If you have little gaps left exposing the adhesive simply apply a little Microfine glitter. You can use a coordinating color or contrasting - just think of all the options this leaves you!

Not only can you use Design Adhesive for this technique but you can create your own adhesive shapes using your dies and Be Creative (also known as Sookwang) tape! You must use the sheets which have the protective backing attached.

Select a design that would compliment the shape of an egg and cut it out. Dies that are extremely intricate will not work for this technique because the adhesive will stretch as you remove the backing and apply it to your egg. Select your dies with this in mind.

Begin to peel back the protective backing and attach this to your egg. Remove a small portion at a time and adhere to your egg surface.

Once you have it attached apply a light pressure over the entire design to make certain the adhesive is adhered to the egg.

Remove the backing and apply your glitter, burnishing it in to the adhesive.

Add additional embellishments to glam up your egg!

As with all things crafty one things leads to another --- what would Distress Stains do to an egg? I simply applied the stain to my egg and used a soft tissue to remove the excess.

Eggs are so very interesting - the striped appearance just happened naturally!

Using the dots from my previous experiment with diecutting Be Creative sheets I covered my egg. You could easily use Glue Dots if you were simply applying glitter or foil, but if heated Glue Dots will begin to bubble, whereas Sookwang tape can be used with heat.

Remove the backing and apply white embossing powder. Heat the embossing powder to melt.

You could create so many different patterns using tape - stripes, plaids, chevrons, mixed dots and stripes, more die cut shapes - my oh my the list is endless!

How cute is the polka dotty egg?!? These would make awesome little decorations on your Easter table!

I hope that you try making "Faux"berge eggs this year!!!

adhesive: Design Adhesives - Leaf Nouveau and French Swirl, Be Creative Tape Sheets

accessories: Grasshopper Microfine Glitter, Limeburst Designer Foil, 3" Nest, Circle Borders Lifestyle Crafts Die, Smooth Clear Round Gemstones, Opaque White Embossing Powder, Peeled Paint Distress Stain

Photo Transfer to Canvas by Sharon Harnist

Hello and welcome to the CLASSroom! With Valentine's Day approaching, I wanted to do something "love" or Valentine themed with some recent photos I had taken of my daughters.  After stumbling across a photo transfer to canvas technique, I decided to combine the two ideas into this fun home decor craft!

(Photo credit: Susan Karlsson from Five Days Later Studio)

You will need these supplies:

1. A photograph copied or LASER toner printed (NOT home inkjet printed) onto regular 20 lb. copier paper. It is the toner in regular (or color) copiers and laser printers that makes this transfer technique work. Just remember the photo will be reversed, once transferred, so if you want your canvas to turn out exactly like the photo, you will need to print the photo in reverse.
2. Stretched canvas on a 1.50" wood frame, any size you wish to work with -- Ellen has several to choose from. I used the triple primed (white) kind like these 4x4 Pair. Ellen also carries these sizes 10x10, 4x6, 5x7 of natural canvas (unprimed). I have to assume they would work just as well since I know this technique also works on the same type of natural canvas FABRIC (See **Note at the bottom of this post).
3. Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Multi-Medium Matte (or I used Gloss) 
4. Paint brush,
5. Scraper to smooth out any bubbles 
6. Mister filled with water
7. Sponge, soft cloth or your fingers!

Since I was going for a Valentine look, I turned my photos a sepia color and then re-colored the red accents so they would stand out. (You can find a quick tutorial for that here). You can use sepia, black & white or full color photos -- whatever you like, it doesn't matter.

Once you have the photo copied and trimmed to the size you want transferred, paint a generous amout of the gel Multi-Medium all over the canvas.  You want enough gel so that the photo is thoroughly saturated, but not so much that it's dripping down the canvas!

Next, place the photo face down onto the Multi-Medium and smooth out any bubbles or wrinkles from the center, out, with the scraper. Be careful not to pull or tug too much, as the thin copier paper might tear easily. Make sure all areas of the photo are "adhered" to the canvas well (click on any photo for a larger view):

My original photo is on the right above, left is the canvas painted with Multi-Medium and the photocopied photo smoothed and "adhered" to the canvas.
A word of warning here: If your scraper picks up any gel Multi-Medium that may ooze out from under the edges of the paper, wipe the scraper off and DO NOT spread it around on TOP of the copied photo! With gel medium on top AND under your photo, this will cause a white spot where the paper is really "glued" to your canvas (I had a few of those spots)!

Then, let dry!  It will probably take a few hours, depending on the size of your photo and how much gel medium you used. To be safe, I let it dry overnight.

Once the Multi-Medium is dry, generously mist the paper with water and start to carefully wipe/peel away the paper with a soft cloth, sponge or your fingers -- whichever works best for you. But "carefully" is the keyword here -- if you rub too hard, you will rub off the photo! But having some of the photo rub off isn't the end of the world -- I think it makes the canvas look like it is a real "painted" look and some of the image missing gives the canvas character!

I started with a soft cloth in the first step but then switched to my fingers in later repeated rubbing (see below).

Water is your friend here -- if the paper is stubborn and doesn't want to peel off easily, re-wet it and let the water soak in, then try gently rubbing the paper off again. Let the canvas dry again.  

If it dries looking "cloudy" (like the photo above) you may have to repeat the process a few more times, to work off all the layers of paper (this is where my fingers could feel the paper better and work it off easier, so not to rub off the photo!).

Once thoroughly dry and you are satisfied with your results, paint a final protective sealing coat of the Multi-Medium over the top of the canvas. Don't worry, it will dry clear!

I added my girls names with painted chipboard letters. To do this, I painted the letters with a base coat of Claudine's Studio Painterly Pink acrylic paint (that's my drying canvas in the top of the photo below!):

Then I used Claudine Hellmuth's Modern Red acrylic paint (it's a little more on the peachy orange end of the red scale), because it matched the red colors in my photos:

and painted it onto Hero Arts Antique Brocade Cling Stamp and stamped over the pink painted letters, for a two-toned pattern look:

The finished letters were glued onto the canvas with Glossy Accents (you can also see the great canvas texture you get with this technique!):

Here are close-ups of the completed canvases -- oldest daughter:

And youngest daughter:

NOTE: For a different look, try using Claudine Hellmuth's acrylic paint COLORS for this transfer technique ... Claudine says they work, too! You can find a tutorial Claudine did HERE.

** NOTE: After completing my project, I discovered both Julia and Ellen have used this same basic technique here in the CLASSroom before (great minds think alike)! You can find Julia's Dec 2009 project HERE where she used a black & white photo on a FABRIC canvas album for a lovely vintage look. And Ellen created an adorable photo pennant banner HERE with fabric canvas -- she had success using a color copy of her photo she printed with her home inkjet printer!

I hope you'll have as much fun with this technique as I did!

~ Sharon

Additional Supplies:
Maya Road David chipboard letters,
Claudine Hellmuth Painterly Pink & Modern Red Studio Acrylic Paint
Hero Arts Cling Stamp-Antique Brocade,
Ranger Glossy Accents,
 

Framed Snowglobe Shaker Decor by Sharon Harnist

             (Click on any photo for a larger view)

Hello and welcome to the CLASSroom!  Today I have this framed snowglobe shaker home decor piece to share with you.  This 4" x 6" framed artwork was easy to create and I love that it's interactive . . . people will walk by this piece on my foyer table and shake it all season long!  Here's how to make it:

1. Stamp this year's Lockhart Stamp Company-2011 Limited Edition Nicholas Sings Carols image with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Copic X-Press It Blending Card and color with these Copic Sketch Markers:

2. Stamp the image again, positioned on a 4" x 6" piece of Authentique 6x6-Wonder patterned paper where you want the shaker to be. Using a craft knife, cut out only the globe, leaving the base of the globe on the patterned paper. Color the base with Copic T4 and T6:

3. Cut a 4" x 6" piece of Ellen's Crystal Clear Medium Weight Plastic and adhere it to the back side of the patterned paper you cut the snowglobe out of, using Copic's High Tack Double-Sided Tissue Tape. The plastic helps give the patterned paper extra stiffness so it will sit up over the stamped image well:

4. Next, using 3D Foam Squares, build a barrier around the hole you cut in the patterned paper.  Stay away from the edge of the circle, so the foam tape won't show from the front.  Be sure all the edges of the foam tape are touching, so your "snow" won't escape from the shaker! This will also make the patterned paper/plastic piece sit up over the stamped image and hold your shaker material (snow) in place.  Here, I'm using chunky Twinklets Diamond Dust.  It only takes a very small amount of the Diamond Dust -- a lot less than you might think:

5. To create the banner across the top of the frame, I covered three of Maya Road's Mixed Scalloped Triangle Banner pieces with more Wonder paper.  Those little scallops can be tricky to cover, but Basic Grey's Precision File Set makes it easy.  I've had this file set for almost 5 years -- it was one of the very first things I bought from Ellen's store when it first opened!

6. Next, I colored Maya Road's Noah Alphabet chipboard letters with Ranger's Adirondack Cranberry and Snowcap Pigment Inks and clear heat embossed them:

7. The banner was attached to the top of the frame with Doodlebug Assorted (Red) Twine and Craft Glue Dots:

The final embellishment is a Maya Road Mini Chipboard Snowflake, colored with Versamark Frost Dazzle ink and clear embossed.

You can find previous years of these darling Lockhart Limited Edition Christmas globe stamps Ellen still has in stock here:

2010-Auntsy Nancy Reads to Nicholas,
2009-Nicholas & Kitty,
2008-Nicholas First Train,
2007-Grandpa & Grandma Flurry with Nicholas,

Each deeply-etched red rubber wood-mounted stamp is hand colored, signed, numbered and dated!  How cute an entire set of these framed snowglobe shakers would look on your holiday mantle!

Happy crafting!  ~ Sharon

Stamps: Lockhart Stamp Company-2011 Limited Edition Nicholas Sings Carols,
Paper: Copic X-Press It Blending Card, Authentique 6x6-Wonder, 
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark Frost Dazzle; Ranger Adirondack Pigment Inks-Cranberry & Snowcap,
Copic Sketch Markers: B0000, C1, R20, R22, R24, R29, T4, T6, YG61, YG63, YG93, YG95, YR12, Y23, Y26
Accessories:  Essentials by Ellen-Crystal Clear Plastic Medium Weight; Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares Mixed; Flora Craft Twinklets Diamond Dust; Doodlebug Assorted Twine; Maya Road Mini Chipboard Sets: Snowflakes, Mixed Scalloped Triangle Banner, Noah Alphabet; Basic Grey Precision File Set; Ranger Clear Embossing Powder & Heat It Craft Tool; Copic High Tack Double-Sided Tissue Tape; Craft Glue Dots;
Other: 4" x 6" dollar store photo frame 

The Journey with Susan Tierney Cockburn

 

Life is a Journey and like Dorothy, I am thankful for the friends, I’ve met along the way, who have taken this journey with me.  This concept is key when I was inspired by Eileen Hull’s “suitcase” die cut by Ellison/Sizzix and, like Dorothy and the friends she met along her way, I’ve found my way back home thanks to my friends. These last eighteen months, after losing our daughter Kelly to breast cancer, it’s been my friends who have given me support, helped me find love in my heart again, and shown me courage to help me continue on my journey.

One of my dearest friends, Ellen Hutson, who I’ve come to lean on considerably, has even designed a ruby slipper to complete this profound project of mine.  I’m in awe of every one of her shoe creations, but I have to say, this ruby slipper is the best ever!  It became the perfect “vessel” to show off my red poppies--the ones that put Dorothy and her companions to sleep and the symbol of my state of mind after such a great loss.

Lastly, I have to mention Graphic 45’s “Magic of Oz” paper that finishes the project.  The gingham design for Dorothy’s suitcase is a perfect match and the “cards of the characters” gives the box a familiar look to enhance the story.  However, it’s not just a story I’ve watched on television as a child based on the book, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, but a greater meaning I’ve discovered watching it as an adult.

These little suitcases can hold the most wonderful “treasures”!  And, just like my mother, I love chocolate, and always have a stash when I need some!

The Scarecrow’s Suitcase--he thinks he lacks a brain, but his common sense helps guide this unusual group and develop a plan to save Dorothy in their quest to reach the Wizard so she can return home to Auntie Em and Uncle Henry in Kansas.

The Cowardly Lion--a sweet character, afraid of his own shadow until his friends need him.  He has the courage to help Dorothy in her most perilous situations.

The Tin Man--probably my favorite, who longs for a heart from the Wizard.  However, he has the biggest heart of all and puts his friends first when they need him. I felt as if a piece of my heart was gone when Kelly died and relate to the Tin Man seeking one.  My friends have put warmth back into my heart as I continue on my journey.

I hope you all think about the friends in your life that you take with you on Life’s Journey when you look at this project--I know I do and feel so blessed by their presence.

Ruby Slipper Downloadable Template with PDF Instructions - coming soon!

Eileen Hull’s Suitcase die cut by Ellison

Ranger: Foil Tape Sheet

Distress Ink: Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain

Cherry Veneer Paper

Craft-a-board by Ellen Hutson

Crinoline fabric (about 1/8 yd), Raffia, Sculpy Clay, Viva Pearl Pen/Black, Masonite box, Montana Gold Acrylic Paint/7090 Coke, Brads - Copper, Silver, Bronze, Red

Graphic 45 - “The Magic of Oz” Yellow Brick Road and Journey to Oz

Flower Soft - Shamrock Green and Ultra Fine Black 

Crafter’s Pick “The Ultimate” glue

Copic Markers - R14, R29, 100

Poppy:  Punches - Punch Bunch: Medium Begonia Petals, Small Alpine Snowflake, Small Sun, Small Grape Leaf

Neenah Solar White Cardstock, Green & Black cardstock

Kraft Bag Advent Calendar by Julie Ebersole

*click on the pics to en-biggan*

My house isn't decorated for Christmas just yet, so you'll hafta pardon the wrinkly tablecloth back-drop. *wink*

Every year, I think I'm going to create an Advent Calendar and every year I don't. There are so many absolutely darling ideas out there, but usually, the ones I fall in love with would take more than I have time for as a busy, working mama. I need something I can do in about an hour or two max. If you're anything like me, then this is the advent project for you!

*see supplies & materials list below*

Before I get started, I would like to mention that I don't currently have any number stamps or stickers, BUT I just happened to have a numbers die that worked, so I used what I had.  But, it did take a bit of time to glue each of the numbers all down.  This project actually would have gone faster, if I'd had stamps or stickers. A set that would work well for this project is the Hero Arts Garamond Numbers.

The first thing you want to do is stamp your little ATC Kraft bags--they are so stinkin' cute--one package will provide 25 bags, but you might as well pick up an extra package while you're at it, because after you're finished making the advent calendar, there are all kinds of other projects these babies are fun to use in. Trust me.

TIP: Whenever I'm stamping something like a bag that will have some uneven areas due to the bottom flap being folded up on the back side, I like to insert a piece of card stock into the bag to help create a nice flat surface under that front side. This helps me get the nicest, most even impressions.

When the bags are all stamped, just set them aside to dry while you work on the next part of the project.

Punch out 24 1-inch circles from some pretty patterned paper--I love this red ledger style patterned paper from the Wonder 6x6" Paper Pad by Authentique, and I was able to punch 24 circles from just one sheet.

Apply your numbers (or stamp them with black ink).

Now mount the number discs to the bags, atop the stamped snowflakes.  I wanted a little dimension, so I popped them up with foam mounting squares.

Figure out what you want to tuck inside--little trinkets are cute, and candies are fun, as well--just consider whether or not it will hang above a blazing fireplace because you wouldn't want any CHOCOLATES inside to melt.  Ask me how I know. 

String up your festive twine (twine ended up being 7' long, to leave enough length for tying, etc.) where desired, fold the tops of the bags down and clip them to the twine--I hung mine by the corners and let them overlap as you can see.

OK, seriously, aren't these teeny clothespins just the cutest things ever?! Eep! Um, yeah, I always get 2 packages because, just like the little bags, they are gobs of fun to use on other projects.  Just sayin' . . .

•••••••••••••••••••

Supplies & Materials:

Hero Arts Clear Design Snowflake Stamp Set
3D Foam Squares, Mixed
Adirondack Pigment Ink Pad, Snow Cap
Authentique 6x6 Paper Pad Wonder
ATC Mini Bags, Kraft 25 pk
Little Clothespins, 25 ct
Doodlebug Twine, Primary Assortment
EK Success 1" Circle Punch

Other:  Numbers die cut from black card stock

Very Vintage Christmas by Julia Stainton

I'm not sure if it is all the new and fabulous Christmas product in the Ellen Hutson LLC store or whether is was Julie Ebersole's stunning Holiday card found here on the CLASSroom earlier this week, but I've been so inspired to create for Christmas! If you're feeling the same way, why not join me today for a tutorial on creating some sweet and vintage Christmas ornaments. If you're not quite there yet, that's OK, file the idea away for closer to the holidays.

One of my very favorite styles to design in is vintage. For me, vintage and Christmas just go hand in hand. I love creating holiday cards but I really thought it would be fun to create some vintage-style Christmas tree balls that I could pull out and use each year.

First I started off with a clear glass ball I picked up in my travels. If you have small children in the house, you can even do these with plastic or paper mache balls and get the very same look...just a little more child-friendly. Can you tell I've had more than my share of children who LOVE redecorating the tree? It's not always pretty.

The Claudine Hellmuth Studio Gloss Multi-Medium is an all-round great product. It's perfect for decoupage and adhering things as well as so many other uses.I've just brushed it onto the glass ornament and then laid on torn pieces of tissue paper and then smoothed it out with more Multi-Medium and my paint brush. To easily hold onto the ball but keep my hands clean, I just placed my finger down the neck of the ball.

Once it's all smooth and well-adhered, I applied another generous layer of Multi-Medium and then sprinkled it with some Krystallos Vintage Glass Glitter. It's absolutely stunning looking glitter! Allow to dry before moving the glass ball.

One thing you may want to notice is the Non-Stick Craft Sheet I am working on. It's perfect for messy projects using liquids such as glue, paint or mists. It just wipes clean and totally protects my work surface.

The ornaments are simply beautiful on their own but it's always fun to add a sweet tag. It makes it easy to give these away as a gift. I've created my own little tags using the Sizzix Tiny Tabs and Tags die. I always love cutting a bunch of these from different cardstocks while I have my die out and storing these sweet tags to have on hand. It's so much easier and quicker that way.

Each tag was inked and then embellished. I've tied on some silk ribbon and some beautiful Maya Road Dangling Chandelier Beads.

On the other ornament tag, I decided to stamp some beautiful Christmas images from the Graphic 45 Christmas Emporium Stamp Set 3.

And here's a final closeup. Anyone in the mood for some Christmas crafting?

Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Supplies: glass Christmas ornaments, Paris Collage Tissue paper by 7 Gypsies, Claudine Hellmuth Gloss Multi-Medium, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Artist Brushes, Krystallos Vintage Glass Glitter, 1/4" white silk ribbon, Tiny Tabs & Tags Die by Sizzix, Non-Stick Craft Sheet by Ranger, Dangling Chandelier Trinket Beads by Maya Road, Wood Vintage Snowflakes by Maya Road, twine, Jet Black Archival Ink by Ranger, Christmas Emporium Stamp Set 3 by Graphic 45, Vermillion Archival Ink by Ranger, Snowcap White Pigment Ink by Ranger

A Most Happy Haunted House with Susan Tierney Cockburn

It is such a pleasure to once again welcome Susan Tierney Cockburn here to the CLASSroom! You can find Susan creating some of THE most delicious baked goods on her blog My Mother's Apron Strings, so if you are tempted by wonderful desserts and loving stories you will most definitely want to visit her blog and leave her a comment on one of her delicious creations there! Susan's fine eye for detail ALWAYS amazes me - I hope you enjoy taking in this beautiful haunted house. Yes, I have to laugh when I say it, but it IS beautiful, while still being haunting. Thank you Susan for sharing this marvelous creation and story with us! -Ellen

This is the second house I have made using Eileen Hull's house by Sizzix and I find so much inspiration evoking in this case, a childhood memory, into a project I can share.

I was almost eleven and a dear friend had decided to have a Halloween party at her grandparent's old house before the family had it torn down. I helped with re-creating a haunted feeling --- adding spider webs, vats of gelatin, wooden coffins, etc. It was as authentic as anyone our ages could make. We had a great time when the rest of our classmates came for the party and I really hated to see the house get demolished a month later.

After that occasion, I saw haunted houses differently, knowing the family that had actually resided there. This replication I did for my Halloween table centerpiece reflects that feeling --- a little spooky, but also joyful. The urns, lining the path to the front door, with its "Welcome" sign, are full of brightly colored chrysanthemums. The smiling Jack O' Lantern on the fence looks mischievous!

Jack the crow on the branch of a "Tim Burton-like" tree acts as the watch dog to anyone approaching, the pumpkin patches surrounding the house waiting for pies to be baked, and the graves with the familiar "pushing daisies" symbol, marks past ancestors --- Emma Gonner and Heidi Osamigo.

Kale, maple leaves, sunflowers and all things beautiful we find in the fall surround the decrepid structure.

All the colorful fall beauty down to the tiniest of lady bugs on one leaf in memory of my daughter, Kelly. When I showed the house to my 3-year old grandson, he asked "Where's the Ghosts, Mimi?" I said, "Ari, this is a Happy Haunted House!" and left it at that. -Susan

Eileen Hull's Sizzix 3-D House Die Cut, Precut 3-D House

Dreamweaver Translucent Embossing Paste

Ranger - Distress Ink -- Black Soot, Pumice Stone, Bundled Sage

Punch Bunch Punches: Medium Begonia Petals (Kale), Mini Sunflower (Chrysanthemums and Daisies), Mini Maple Leaf (pumpkin vines), Mini Oak Leaf (fall leaves), Mini Ivy (ivy trailing up house), Small Sunflower (sunflowers by the fence), Small Tri-leaf (side bushes)

Martha Stewart Punches: Spider Web border (shutters), Mice border (mice running across back of the house)

Neenah Paper for Chrysanthemums, Sunflowers, Daisies

Double-sided Mulberry Paper for leaves

Copic Markers: Chrysanthemums - YR09, Y19, V15, RV17; Flowering Green Kale - BG93, YG63; Purple Kale - V15, BV08

Copper Foil - "silver side" used to create smoke stack

Viva Pearl Pen - Red berries and ladybug, Black for ladybug

Flower Soft - Christmas Green and Sage for the landscape; Koala Grey, Sand and Earth for the path to the door and grave sites

Styrofoam sheet to cut tombstones, then wrapped in mulberry paper and colored with Distress Ink

Fantasy Film - Dandelion for the window panes

Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic Pen - Gold to make Jack O'Lantern face

Faber Castell - XS Black pen to outline the face

Sculpey Clay - to create flower urns/gray and crow?black (baked as directed 275 degrees for 15 minutes, then brushed with Sculpy's Satin glaze to seal)

Witch hat is a gold charm covered with mulberry paper, then sponged with Bundled Sage Distress Ink and finally Metallic Rub-ons in Olive

Glue - The Ultimate

Spider webbing stretched finely to recreate webbing around parts of the house

Floral Supplies: Sycamore pods for the tree, moss in lichen for roof, honeysuckle vine twisted to construct the tree trunk and branches, as well as small wreath above the front door, flower pods that resemble pumpkins

Colorblocked Custom Canvas by Sharon Harnist

I'm still on a canvas kick (loving it!), so I decided to try something different and came up with this Fall color blocked custom canvas/wall hanging:

It's pretty simple to create one in whatever color combo you'd like, to match your home decor or the season ... here's how:

I started with a piece of Ellen's Craft-a-Board and cut it into a 6-inch square and then rounded the corners, using Crop-a-Dile's Corner Chomper.  Alternately, you could use a shaped piece of chipboard, such as this pretty Melissa Frances 7" x 9" Label Backdrop.  Next, I took Ranger's Sticky Back Natural Canvas ATCs and color washed them with Ranger's Adirondack Color Wash in Sailboat Blue and Wild Plum:

You'll want to be sure to use this product away from anything you don't want colored, as it could wreck havoc with your carpet or furniture!  I used an old shipping box to contain the spray, but Ellen has this nifty Color Catcher that works great with color sprays:

After letting the canvas pieces dry, I lightly sanded each piece, to remove a little of the color and let the natural canvas texture show through (the left piece of canvas below has not been sanded yet, while the right piece has):  

Then I just peeled off the sticky-back liner paper and started placing the pieces of colored canvas in a random color-blocked pattern onto my piece of Craft-a-Board.  Using Tim Holtz Non-Stick Micro Serrated Scissors, trim off any excess canvas hanging over the edges of the Craft-a-Board.

Next, I stamped a random pattern of flowers onto the canvas, using Hero Arts Layered Flowers, with black and white pigment inks. I also sanded the edges of the Craft-a-Board/canvas, to fray it a bit ... I like how it made the canvas look a little like blue jeans!

To finish my piece, I also colored some white Sticky Back Canvas with Lettuce and Butterscotch Adirondack Color Wash and die cut it with Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals die (I left the backing on these pieces, as well as the sentiment tag, to give them stability). I used Copic E35 marker to lightly color the edges of the Butterscotch flowers and define the petals, then I layered the flowers together with a large brass brad. 

The Hero Arts sentiment was stamped onto another piece of the Natural Sticky Back Canvas ATC and hand cut into a tag shape.  You could also add a favorite photo to this piece, and it becomes a wonderful scrap page or scrappy wall art!

I hope you'll try making your own canvas piece -- get creative and choose some different die shapes and seasonal colors!  

~ Sharon 

Stamps: Hero Arts ClearDesign-Layered Flowers & Made With Love, 
Paper: Ranger Sticky Back Natural Canvas ATCs & 8.50" x 11" Studio Sticky Back Canvas (white),  
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Adirondack Color Wash-Sailboat Blue, Wild Plum, Lettuce & Butterscotch, Archival Ink-Jet Black, Adirondack Pigment Ink Pad-Snow Cap; 
Copic Marker: E35, 
Dies: Sizzix Tim Holtz Bigz Die-Tattered Florals, 
Accessories: Essentials by Ellen Craft-a-Board OR Melissa Frances 7" x 9" Label Backdrop, Sanding Blocks; Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper; Tonic Tim Holtz Non-Stick Micro Serrated Scissors; 
Other: Brass brads 

Framed Stencil Flower by Sharon Harnist

Today I wanted to show how you can easily create an easel frame for any sized project.

I started this framed piece of artwork with this fabulous Hero Arts Cling-Stencil Flower stamp.  I stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Copic's X-Press It Blending Card and colored it with the RV series of Copic Sketch Markers listed below, which matches the smaller flowers on the patterned paper I chose. I cut out the flower and then stamped and colored an additional flower, which I cut out only the center of, and stacked it with foam tape on top of the whole flower.

I loved this piece of Webster's 6x6 Petite Trendsetter paper and wanted to used the whole piece -- as opposed to cutting it down to fit into whatever sized frame I might have on hand (and probably not the right color!).  So this is what I did:

I rounded the corners of the 6-inch patterned paper using Crop-a-Dile's Corner Chomper.  Then I cut 6.25" pieces of Ellen's Craft-A-Board and the fabulous new Core-dinations Color Core Cardstock-Black and adhered the black cardstock on the Craft-a-Board, to create a sturdy base.  The patterned paper was matted with a 6-1/8" piece of Neenah Natural White cardstock and then adhered with foam tape on top of the black base.

To create the easel for the back of the frame, I just used a photo frame I had on hand and traced the shape onto Craft-a-Board and cut it out:

 

If I had thought far enough ahead, I probably would have used brads to secure the easel to the back of the Craft-a-Board frame before adhering the patterned paper to the front, but I didn't!  So instead, I scored 1/2" from the top of the easel and then used Ranger's Mini Glossy Accents to adhere the easel to the back of the frame -- this stuff will hold ANYthing with a fabulous permanent bond!

Make sure to line up the bottom edge of the easel with the bottom corner of your frame, so it will stand up correctly (mine IS aligned -- it just appears not to be, because it's folded up a little).

To create the small glittered frame around the "be true" sentiment printed on the patterned paper, I used two smaller Spellbinders Labels Thirteen Nestabilities dies and die cut a frame from sturdy cardstock:

Then I used the same YG63 Copic marker I used on the flower and colored the die cut cardstock frame -- be sure you color the outside as well as the inside edges of the frame, for a nice finish.  This just ensures that none of the white cardstock frame base will show through the glitter.  Then I ran the frame through my Xyron machine, covering it in adhesive, and applied the Glitter Ritz Opaque Micro Fine Chartreuse Glitter glitter.

The frame was popped up with foam tape over the sentiment and the large flower accented with Ranger Star Dust Stickles.

Now just think of all the different sizes and shapes of easel framed artwork (or scrapbook pages!) you can create . . . Enjoy! ~ Sharon

Stamps: Hero Arts Cling-Stencil Flower,
Paper: Copic X-Press It Blending Card, Webster's 6x6 Petite Papers-Trendsetter, Core-dinations Colore Core Cardstock-Black, Neenah Natural White cardstock
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black,
Copic Markers: RV13, RV14, RV17, RV19, YG63, T5
Accessories: Essentials by Ellen Craft-A-Board, Spellbinders Labels Thirteen Nestabilities dies, Glitter Ritz Opaque Micro Fine Glitter-Chartreuse, Ranger Star Dust Stickles and Mini Glossy Accents, Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper, Tonic Tim Holtz Non-Stick Serrated Scissors, Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares,

Spring Photo Tray by Sharon Harnist

Time for an update of my seasonal Photo Tray for Spring & Summer!  You can find my other seasonal Photo Trays here (Fall) and here (Christmas), if you care to get some other ideas of how this tray can be used.  I use temporary adhesive on each of the 4" x 6" panels within each tray section, so they can be removed and the tray used over and over again!  I used this gorgeous new Prima 6x6 paper pad-Madeline, for an easily coordinated tray.

In the top left section, I used Spellbinders largest Labels Large Nestabilities die to cut the photo of my oldest daughter (showing off her new glasses!) -- notice that pretty embossed edge of the photo!  I love using dies to cut my photos into unexpected shapes -- I think it gives my scrapbooking a nice professional touch.  

The flower accent was cut from coordinating Madeline paper using Tim Holt Bigz Die-Tattered Florals.  It's quick and easy to cut all the coordinating flower pieces you need in just one die!  I stacked the pieces together with 3D Foam Squares, and accented the center with a Hero Arts Medium accent pearl.

In the upper center section, the bird cage was die cut from a sheet of cork that was backed with a sheet of Be Creative tape:

Then I just cut away pieces of the adhesive backing from where I wanted the cork to adhere to the butterfly patterned paper in a curved dimensional shape.  The adhesive sheet helps give the cork more stability, to retain its curved shape and makes it super easy to adhere to the paper.  Then I just trimmed the patterned paper around the cage and laced it up with Brown Twine, and walah . . . caged butterflies!

This Tim Holtz Caged Bird die contains two images:

Here's how I used the bird in the upper right section:

For this sweet bird die cut, I adhered Creative Imaginations Real Cherry Wood Cherry to Craft-a-Board to give it more stability and then die cut it -- I love the texture!  It's popped up on foam tape.  I loved this wonderful scalloped sentiment piece that is from another piece of the Madeline paper. It says: "True beauty lies within. I know that yours will shine so brilliant it will be blinding."  Something I hope my beautiful daughters learn in life.

 
My favorite section is fabulous dress I created!  I used Tim Holt's Bigz Die-Sewing Room dress form to cut Craft-a-Board, which was then sponged with Antique Linen & Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks:

Then I adhered a large Prima Cherry Rose Trim to the dress form -- one flower was all that was needed of this gorgeous trim:

I trimmed the flowers to fit the dress form, and then finished it with a Hero Arts Small Accent Pearls necklace.  My oldest daughter said she wants a dress like this!

The final two sections on the lower right were accented with huge Spellbinders Nested Butterfly die cuts.  I cut the largest butterfly in half and adhered the halves in each section and then topped it with the middle butterfly die that was adhered on top of the section divider and finished with Hero Arts Medium accent pearls.  Some Maya Road Cream Small Organza Rose trim was used in each section, to help tie them together.  In the left section, I used pieces of the fuschia Tattered Flowers die cuts that were left over from the top left section, topped with one of the small organza roses.  The small label cut out in the left section is from another piece of the Madeline paper, cut in half:

The photo of my youngest daughter was cut with a circle die.  I hope this tray helps to give you some ideas of different ways you can use this wonderful 7 Gypsies Black Photo Tray!

~ Sharon Harnist

Paper: Prima 6x6 paper pad-Madeline, Magenta Cork sheet, Essentials by Ellen Craft-a-Board, Creative Imaginations Real Wood Cherry-Thin,
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks-Antique Linen & Brushed Corduroy, Ink Blending Tool; 
Tools: Sizzix Tim Holt Bigz Die-Tattered Florals, Caged Bird & Sewing Room; Spellbinders Nested Butterfly, Labels Large Nestabilities & Circle Nestabilities die sets
Accessories: 7 Gypsies Black Photo Tray, Prima Cherry Rose Trim, Hero Arts Medium & Small Accent Pearls, Maya Road Cream Small Organza Roses, Jillibean Soup Brown Twine, Be Creative (Sookwang) Sheet adhesive, Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares, Glue Glider Pro Repositionable tape, 

Easter Lily Cake Box YouTube Videos, with Susan Tierney Cockburn and Ellen Hutson

We thank you for your questions, patience and interest in the video we did for this month's newsletter. Many of you have tried to view the video, but due to computer, browser, and who knows what other issues you have had difficulty viewing the entire video. In an effort to make certain that we don't leave anyone out we are redoing the entire post here in the CLASSroom. We have now uploaded the video to YouTube in three segments due to the length, so please view each segment individually below. Thank you again for your willingness to learn with us and for your patience! So let's begin with "Take #2!"

We have also announced the winner of the Easter Lily Blog Candy here - congratulations go out to Shelley Smith. Please contact us at [email protected] with your snail mail address so that we can get your goodies right out to you.

How many of you are passionate about flowers and/or gardening? How many of you can no longer garden the way that you once did? It has been too many years now since I have been able to climb all over my hillside gardening. Before my hip injury I was passionate about my flowers and covered my hillside in beautiful perennials. Some still remain, but they are not in the same "shape" as they once were, so perhaps this is the reason paper flowers appeal to me so much. I can make these in my craft room without squatting AND at any time of the year :-D

One of my greatest blessings in life has been the friendship and bond I have had the good fortune of developing with Susan! It is such an honor to have her join me for today's lesson in paper flower making. Susan has pioneered the art of paper flower making for the past 15 years. Her work is such an inspiration and it is always so much fun to collaborate with her on projects!!!

 

This beautiful cake box is the project we worked on together for this month's newsletter. We hope that you enjoy the video we created to share with you today and that it empowers you to give flower making a try. In this video Susan will teach you how to create the beautiful lilies showcased above and below, sharing many wonderful tips throughout. Please grab your favorite drink and settle in for this 45 minute class with Susan as she shares many of the fabulous techniques she has innovated to bring this art form to us. 

 

 

  

Step-by-step written instructions for creating beautiful lilies are included in Susan's first book The Paper Garden. I cannot begin to tell you how helpful her books have been to me as I learn to create beautiful blooms! If you are a visual learner like me you will also find this book a wealth of information.

CREATING THE CAKE BOX

Now that you know how to make the flowers for this project I am going to share just a few basics regarding the construction of the cake box.

I prefer to attach my decorative paper to the Craft-a-Board before die cutting the pieces using the 3-D Cake Box Die. By affixing the paper to the Craft-a-Board with Be Creative (Sookwang) tape I am assured that I will have a perfectly covered project.

To create today's project I used Lilybee's 12x12 paper. For the scalloped top and base I applied decorative paper to both sides of the Craft-a-Board before die cutting. 

For the cake sides, decorative paper was applied to only one side of the Craft-a-Board. Being careful to position the paper so that the decorative side is cut all the way through, and the Craft-a-Board only scored, is important. To do this place the paper, decorative side to the die, and then send the die through your Vagabond or Big Shot using the crease pad. This will give pieces as shown above and below.

Carefully bend each piece along the score line before attaching them together to get a more uniform look.

 

You will also need to cut and score three pieces of cardstock to hold the cake pieces together. Using a strong adhesive affix the cardstock to the die cut pieces on the back or Craft-a-Board side as shown above.

 

Attach each piece one at a time.

 

When you have all three pieces attached, form the piece into a circle, affixing the last edge.

 

Next you will need to attach the base - the piece with the four tabs. I find it easiest to insert this piece from the top. Push it down through the center until it is firmly positioned in the bottom of the circular piece. Using a pair of needle nose tweezers insert a Glue Dot behind each of the flaps and affix these to the cake tube.

To adhere the scalloped top and base I prefer to use Ultimate Glue. The base is easy to affix due to the large surface you will be attaching it to. Apply Ultimate Glue to the base of the cake and position the scalloped piece holding it in place for a few seconds until you feel it is firmly in place. The cap or top is a little trickier. I run Ultimate Glue all the way around the top of the circular form and then position the scalloped top in place. The glue allows you to move it slightly until you have it in the desired position, then hold it for a few seconds until the glue grabs hold. Allow to dry for at least 30 minutes before continuing your work on the base.
 

To add interest to my cake base I attached a strip of white silk ribbon and then added pearls to either side of it. I also ran a strip of pearls around the top.

I wanted to include just a few close-up photos of the finished project so that you could better see the detail on these beautiful Easter blooms. 

The lily was one of Susan's first punch designs back in 2006. Sadly there are others who have taken Susan's work and called it their own, but the truth of the matter is that these designs, the techniques and wording, are copywritten by Susan --- I am so proud and honored to share her designs with you. With Easter right around the corner and spring knocking at our doors it has been a thrill to be able to share this beauty with all of you. Thank you so much for joining us! 

 
ink: Copic Markers -YG00, YG63, YG95, YR14, Y15, Y17

paper: Lilybee Designs 12x12 Picket Fence and Stationery Designer Paper, Craft-a-Board

accessories: Punch Bunch punches - Mega Lily, Large Alta Flake, Mega Big Sky Flake, Small Caladium Leaf, Small Birch Leaf; Punch Bunch Papercrafting Tools and Magnum Power Punch Aid; The Paper Garden, Sizzix 3-D Cake Box Die, Faber-Castell PITT Pastel Pencils - #104 and #170, Flower Soft - Earth, Toffee, Russet Red, Sunshine Yellow; 12" strip White Pearls, 1/4" White Silk Ribbon, Be Creative (Sookwang) 4 1/2" Tape or Sheets, The Ultimate Glue

Paper Lilies Dress Up Art Parts

I am hoping that you have had time to head over to Kim Kesti's blog and share some love with her - if not please do so, she is an absolutely remarkable woman! That sweet, sneaky girl changed up my desire to share our love with her in the "comment" section and turned it around where you have shared your words with us here at Ellen Hutson LLC. Your words of kindness about the amazing women who I have the privilege to work with here and in the CLASSroom, as well as your beautiful words about who I am as a person bring tears to my eyes. Yes, I am passionate about sharing creativity with others because I truly believe that creativity helped to save my sanity and I want to share that with others - so thank you from the bottom of my heart for your love, financial support (through your purchases) and kindness - it is appreciated more than you could ever know!

If you haven't had the opportunity to enjoy the incredible video Susan helped us make I would like to encourage you to visit this post over on In Touch (our newsletter archive blog) and leave some love for her there as well! Today I would like to share a much more "simple" project for those who may be creating paper flowers for the first time. Sometimes one very simple element can make a huge difference on a project and I think that the paper flowers do just that, so I hope that you enjoy this simple twist.

 

This project is created for yet another woman who has supported me over the past couple of years with her kindness. I felt that the words were so powerful and applied so strongly to the support she has shared with me. My desire is to share my appreciation with her through this project.

 

As Susan stated in her video I did challenge her to work with white paper only :-D. As someone who places a huge value on resources, my desire is to always try and share more ways for you to utilize the tools you may already have in your craft room and in this case I was thinking specifically about Neenah paper, the many Copic markers and now the new Faber-Castell products you have purchased from us. So hopefully here is yet one more way for you to use these awesome markers, pencils, pens, etc.

Before beginning a project in which I am trying to achieve natural coloration I google the flower I am trying to mimic. In this case I found this gorgeous lily picture.

 
I used the smallest petal on the Lily punch to create this little bloom. Begin with the lightest value marker and stroke up from the base of the petal to the tip. After adding the darkest value, color back over the entire petal with the lightest color to blend the colors. 

 

I have really been enjoying the Pastel Pencils to add additional veining and depth in my flower petals.

 

As shown in the video I used the sponge to mute the color somewhat. Isn't it amazing how well the colors work with the Cosmo Cricket papers!

 

Due to the small scale of the calyx on this bloom I simply cut the Alta Flake down in size before adhering the petals.

Just a quick shot of all the colors I used in creating this lily. 

 

As you can see I have added little flecks of color to the petals to mimic the real life lily. The ubber fine point on the Faber-Castell Artist pen is perfect for adding this element.

Susan also taught me an alternate way to make stamens for my lilies and I would like to share it with you. I simply colored a small rectangle of paper. Snipping it down and leaving it connected along the base.

I then used my quilling tool to roll it. I realized after the fact that I forgot to snap a second picture after changing my mind and creating a second stamen with the pistil's colored in E08 - oops.

For detailed directions on creating a lily I would like to encourage you to watch the video in this post  - Susan's work is simply magical.

 

For the remainder of the project I simply covered Art Parts and the Sewing Dress Craft-a-Board base with decorative paper, added my sentiment, a chipboard cameo (made using Maya Road pieces painted with Studio Paint) and some other simple, yet elegant embellishments and my piece was complete.

My desire is that one little bloom will show my appreciation. Thank you for once again visiting us here in the CLASSroom and don't forget to head over and leave some love for Kim Kesti and Susan Tierney Cockburn AND win a chance at some fun little goodies!

 
stamps: Tim Holtz Stuff to Say

ink: Jet Black Archival, Antique Linen Distress Stain, Antique Linen Distress Ink Pad, PITT Artist Pen - #133 and PITT Pastel Pencil - #193, Copic Markers - YR30, R81, R83, R85, YG00, YG63, YG67, YG95

paper: Cosmo Cricket Upcycle 6x6 Paper Pad, Craft-a-Board

accessories: Punch Bunch Mega Lily, Slotted Tool, Sample Pack Art Parts, Maya Road Cameo Mini Chipboard, Vintage Black Pearl Pin, Tim Holtz Mini Tassel and Ornate Book Plate, Hero Arts Foliage Dots, Everyday Ribbon, Studio Matte Multi Medium, Studio Painterly Pink Paint, Eco Green Crafts Clam Shell Paint, Ultimate Glue, Flower Soft - Earth

Emboss Resist by Sharon Harnist

Today I wanted to cover a few different ways to accomplish the emboss resist stamping technique (even with your Copics!) with this 8-inch Spring wall art:

 

For the base of my wall art, I used a square 8-inch piece of scalloped acrylic I had on hand but any of these 8-inch fabulous shapes of Maya Road chipboard backdrops Ellen carries would make great bases, too! 

    

I covered my base with this gorgeous Graphic 45 Springtime 8x8 paper -- SO pretty, I love all the patterns in this collection, especially these whimsical fairies!

 

The "spring" letters are Prima's Ivory Textured Alphabet Stickers, airbrushed with Copic YG63 marker.  The flower was die cut from more Springtime paper, with Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals Bigz die.  This flower is quick and easy -- I used one piece of the Primrose Cottage Graphic 45 Springtime paper and die cut all the flowers on this die.  Then I simply flipped every other flower over and used the reverse "newspaper" printed side.  Each layer is stacked with EK Success 3D Dots thick foam tape.  A cream button, also airbrushed with Copic YG63 marker, finishes the center of the flower.

Doilies are a hot trend in papercrafting right now, and Ellen has put together some fabulous sets of her own paper doilies that you could also easily use for this project:

   

But for those times that you may want a patterned doily, what better thing to have than a die that you cut whatever color or pattern of paper to make your own doily!  Ellen carries several dies that will do this -- you can find them listed in the store HERE. 

Today I used Spellbinders Eyelet Pendant die to cut some coordinating turquoise Springtime paper and then used Copic BG72 marker to color the raised embossed areas around the outer edge of the doily, before removing it from the die:

 
 
The green dotted scalloped piece was cut with Spellbinders Big Scalloped Border Petites dies and then green sheer narrow organdy ribbon was threaded through the holes in the border, and finished with a Jenni Bowlin Cream Vintage Sew-On Button.  A pretty Zva crystal swirl accents the left side of the wall art.

 

On the right side of the wall art, I stamped this sweet Hero Arts Essential Messages sentiment with Adirondack Espresso dye ink on more floral patterned Springtime paper, die cut it with Spellbinders Labels Thirteen Nestabilities die (I trimmed the right side off), and then added a little leftover Zva bling that I trimmed off the swirl from the left side of the wall art.  Maya Road Small Organza Pink Roses accent the sentiment.

 

Now for the emboss resist!  For any emboss resist technique, you will need to begin by stamping your image (I chose this adorable Hero Arts Cling-Dancing With Flowers) with a watermark ink -- I chose Versamark (shown above).  Then use any color of heat embossing powder you would like -- I chose Clear Embossing Powder, and heat set it. Normally, most emboss resist techniques are done on solid white or neutral cardstock and then colored ink rubbed/sponged around the embossed image.  But I wanted to try the look on patterned paper, so the pattern would show through!

 

I sponged Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink around the image.  When you are finished sponging the ink, be sure to use a clean tissue to wipe the excess ink off the embossed image.  Or you may opt to cover the image with a sheet of clean copy/printer paper and with an iron on low setting, heat the image until the embossing heats up enough to melt off and onto the copy paper.  This method may be especially helpful when using the Copic marker technique below.

I also wanted to see if I could accomplish this technique with Copic markers, so I airbrushed Copic Y28 marker all around another stamped/clear embossed image:

 

and then sprayed Copic Colorless Blender Solution in a Mini Mister on tissue, to wipe away the marker from the embossed image (or you may use the iron heating method described above, to remove the embossing).  This was the result:

 

I was pretty excited this worked so well . . . think of the possibilities!  To finish the focal image, I trimmed the image and then machine stitched it to a gingham Springtime patterned paper, timmed with pinking shears.  I hope you enjoy trying this technique!

 

Stamps: Hero Arts Cling-Dancing With Flowers & ClearDesign-Essential Messages,
Paper: Graphic 45-Springtime 8x8 paper pad,
Ink: Ranger Adirondack Espresso dye ink & Tim Holtz Distress Inks-Brushed Corduroy; Tsukineko Versamark ink pad,
Copic Markers: BG72, YG63, Y28, Colorless Blender Solution,
Tools: Sizzix Tim Holtz Bigz die-Tattered Florals; Spellbinders Eyelet Pendant & Big Scalloped Border Petites dies, Labels Thirteen Nestabilities die; Ranger Heat It Craft Tool.
Accessories: Maya Road chipboard backdrop, Copic Airbrush System-1 & Sparmax Windstorm Airbrush Compressor, Prima Ivory Textured Alphabet Stickers, Ranger Ink Blending Tool & Mini Mister, Clear Embossing Powder & Heat It Craft Tool; Maya Road Small Organza Roses-Pink, EK Success 3D Dots thick foam tape, Jenni Bowlin Cream Vintage Sew-On Buttons, Mini Glue Dots, Zva crystal swirl,
Other: pinking shears, light green narrow sheer organza ribbon, sewing machine + ivory thread,

Valentine Chandelier by Sharon Harnist

I must admit this wasn't my original idea -- I recently came across this wonderful Valentine Chandelier and wanted to make my own version of it -- a little more vintage-themed one, so here's my take on it!  Sorry these photos are not better -- it's hard to get a good photo of things that are constantly turning and twisting!

For the base of the chandelier, I used one chipboard heart "page" from Maya Road's Heart Chipboard Album:

These hearts are a nice size -- approximately 6.50" at the widest point and almost 6.25" tall.  With eight "pages", you can either make a lot of these type of projects, or a very full Valentine album!  Alternately, you could use some of Ellen's Craft-a-Board or Crystal Clear Plastic to fashion whatever shape you'd like your chandelier to have.  That's what I was originally going to do, until I saw how nice and large this heart album was!

I covered the chipboard heart with patterned papers from 7 Gypsies' Lille 6x6 paper pack -- I love the warm tones and vintage collage style of these papers!

The 6-inch paper will not quite cover all of the heart chipboard -- it must be turned at an angle into the corner of the paper and then just some tiny slivers of the chipboard will still show.  The rose trim I used around the edge of the heart chipboard shape finished covering the chipboard just fine. But if this bothers you, the Lille papers are also available in a larger 8-inch size!

 

I trimmed the edge of the heart with Cream Small Organza Roses, adhered with Copic's X-Press It Double-Sided High Tack Tape (shown below is the top side of my paper-covered chipboard heart, untrimmed and the bottom side, shown trimmed with the cream roses):

 

For the photos, I used Ellen's fabulous selection of Assorted Doilies:

See those cute heart doilies in the pack?  They are the perfect size (approximately 4" x 4") for about a 2.50" x 3" photo!  So I made them into "frames" by cutting my black & white photos into heart shapes and adding some Zva Clear Swirl Crystals to dress them up: 

 

I backed the doilies with patterned paper, to give them more stability & weight, and make them pretty on the reverse side, too!  I sponged some Antique Linen Distress Ink on the white doilies, so they would match the vintage patterned papers a little better.  Instructions for the red tissue flowers are below with the Bingo card and the little "love bird" was die cut with Spellbinders smallest Nested Bird die set.

 

I used a Jenni Bowlin Red Adore Mini Bingo Card and since the back of it is plain white, I machine stitched more of the Lille paper onto the back and then trimmed the edges with pinking shears.

 

To accent the front of the Bingo card, I made a tissue flower by die cutting several layers of red tissue paper with Spellbinders Nested Peony dies.  After die cutting, just stack the layers of tissue paper together and secure them in the center (I used Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher) and cover the staple with a large pearl or rhinestone.  Then fluff up the layers of tissue paper -- quick and easy!  Alternately, you could use a brad to secure the center of the flower.

The "wonky" hanging hearts were die cut with Tim Holtz's Heart Wing Bigz Die (shown below): 

from Memory Box Cranberry cardstock (solid heart) and then topped with the swirly heart die cut from Lille papers (these are two separate shapes on the die):

 

More solid hearts were die cut from Memory Box's Red Biscotti cardstock, aged with Antique Linen Distress Ink so they would match the Lille papers better, and accented with red gemstones. To make it quick and easy to die cut matching images (that you want to have a nice front and back), fold the cardstock in half (Memory Box is colored on one side and white on the back), so the white is on the inside. After die cutting, just adhere these two mirror images together and you'll have a colored heart on both sides! To adhere smaller die cuts like the swirly heart above, I like to use a mini bottle of Ranger's Glossy Accents -- it's a great liquid glue!  The bottle is easier to hold, the small applicator makes it easy to control the "glue" in tight spaces, and it dries quickly.  The double heart at the bottom of the photo above was cut on the fold of the cardstock and then opened up and backed with another piece of patterned cardstock.

 

If you've never used any of Tim's or Sizzix's Bigz dies and don't have either Sizzix's or Tim's die cutting machines but have a Cuttlebug, these dies work perfectly and easily in it!  I just use a Cuttlebug B plate on either side of the die and get perfect cuts every time, even with cardstock doubled like I've done here.

 

The birds were die cut with Spellbinders Nested Bird die, again from doubled Memory Box Cranberry cardstock, and I made the wings from Tim Holtz's Heart Wings Bigz Die!

To assemble the the chandelier, I lined up all my elements in four different columns and played with the placement.  Then I threaded an embroidery needle with fishing line and strung each of the four lines separately, leaving enough fishing line at the top and bottom of each string to allow for tying.  Using my Crop-a-Dile, I punched holes at the point of the heart and on the top of the heart, at each of the curves.  A piercing tool was used to place a hole in the center of the heart for the fourth line.

NOTE: When adhering the heart and bird fronts and backs together, I only placed a strong adhesive on the edges and not in the middles, so I would be able to string the fishing line through the centers of the double-sided cardstock shapes.  These "sandwiched" shapes were then easy to slide up and down the fishing line, to determine good placement and then stayed in place very well.

To anchor the doily heart frames to the fishing line (since I had not thought ahead and glued all of the photos and backing papers to the doilies and didn't leave a space through the middles!), I sewed the fishing line through the bottom of the front of the heart, along the back, and then back through the top of the heart to the front side.  Until the exact placement of the frames was determined, this let me slide the frames up and down the fishing line easily:

   

Once the proper placement was determined, I placed Mini Glue dots on the back of the heart frame where the fishing line was "sewn" through the cardstock.  To make the Glue Dot a little prettier, I sprinkled Glitter Ritz Warm Highlights Transparent Microfine glitter over them!

To weight the ends of the fishing line, I used these beautiful Melissa Frances Diamond Chandelier Drops:

 

The Chandelier Drops also help to weight each line, so they hang nicely.  And the darling butterflies are Jenni Bowlin Vellum Embellished Butterflies in Red! 

Finally, to make the hanger at the top of my chandelier, I used ivory satin ribbon threaded through each of the three outer holes (knotted separately on the bottom of the heart base) and knotted them together at the top. I hope I've explained the construction of this chandelier well - if not, please let me know if the comments and I'll answer your questions! Thanks for visiting the CLASSroom today!  ~ Sharon

 

Paper: 7 Gypsies-Lille 6x6 paper pack, Memory Box Cranberry Cardstock & Cranberry Biscotti Cardstdock; Essentials by Ellen Assorted Doilies, 
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink-Antique Linen,
Copic Markers
Tools: Tim Holtz Bigz Die-Heart Wings; Spellbinders Nested Bird & Nested Peony die templates; WRM Crop-a-Dile, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher,
Accessories: Jenni Bowlin Vellum Embellished Butterflies-Red & Mini Bingo Cards-Red; Maya Road Chipboard Album-Heart; Prima Small Organza Roses-Cream; Melissa Frances Chandelier Drops-Diamond; Hero Arts Assorted Gemstones-Red; Ranger Ink Blending Tool & Mini Glossy Accents; 3/8" Glue Dots; Glue Glider Pro with Perma Tac adhesive, Copic X-Press It High Tack Double-Sided Tape; Zva Clear Swirl Crystals, Glitter Ritz Warm Highlights Transparent Microfine glitter,
Other: fishing line, red tissue paper, pinking shears, sewing machine + ivory thread, embroidery needle

A Sign of Love by Julia Stainton

It's January and by now, the Christmas and holiday decorations are all packed away. Spring seems so very far away but don't worry...Valentine's Day is just around the corner to heat things up.

While I love making Valentines for my guy, I love to think of Valentine's Day as a day to celebrate with my whole family. After all, love is a wonderful thing and meant to be shared. I thought it would be fun to create a wall-art decoration for the holiday. I like it so much, I think it just may hang in my craft studio all year long.

To start this project, I used a Melissa Frances Label Style Backdrop and covered it with some beautiful Parisian Anthology paper by Pink Paislee.

It has a beautiful embossed finish on it that reveals itself when you add ink. I've sprayed this paper with some Viva Pink Glimmer Mist to add color and interest.

The Pink Paislee Artisan Elements are fabulous for adding detail and are wonderful to personalize. Here I've used a RV91 Copic marker to highlight the center of the embossed flowers. Trim off the excess pieces of the embellishment and store back on the sheet for another project.

To create the sentiment, I've used some Tim Holtz Grungeboard letters. The Brushed Pewter Distress Crackle Paint gives the letters a beautiful metallic finish. Clean up is a breeze with the Ranger Craft Sheet.

Once the letters are dry, adhere them to the project with Ranger Glossy Accents.

I thought a mini frame would be a fun addition to the wall art piece. Some Webster's Pages papers are simply trimmed and placed between two sheets of 2" glass before inserting into the Ranger 2" frame.

Adhering lots of elements to a hanging piece can be a challenge, especially if they are not paper. I've used the Tiny Attacher to staple on some of the elements that will be partially hidden such as the heart doily and the crocheted doilies.

The frame was the difficult obstacle to overcome but I found a really fun solution in my stash. The Tim Holtz Hitch Fasteners can be inserted though a hole in the chipboard making a very strong hanger to support the frame.

Here's a shot of the final project.

Supplies: Label Style Backdrop by Melissa Frances, Viva Pink Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels, Parisian Anthology paper and Circle Artisan Elements by Pink Paislee, heart doily by Ellen's Essentials, Brushed Pewter Distress Crackle Paint by Ranger, Grungeboard Minis by Advantus, RV91 Copic Marker, twine, Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink by Ranger, Ivory Silk Ribbon by May Arts, Hitch Fastener by Advantus, 2" Memory Frame & 2" Memory Glass by Ranger, Glossy Accents by Ranger, Hollywood Vogue Journaling Cards by Webster's Pages, Tiny Attacher by Advantus, Sweet Taffy Pink Embellishments by Prima, heart trinket pins by Maya Road

How do you decorate for Valentine's Day? Do you decorate? Create cards?

Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom and happy creating!

12 Days of Christmas: Day 5 - Stamping with Paint By Becky Olsen

I have to admit that sometimes I feel a little intimidated by larger sized projects. Am I alone in that, I sure hope not! Filling a larger space takes more planning and preparation for me and I can find the process overwhelming. Maybe that I why I love card making so much. Whatever the reason may be, I am not going to let it stop me from trying new techniques, or media. A 4" x 4" canvas can be a terrific starting place for playing, and if you are like me, you might find an entirely new way to express yourself! After creating this tiny masterpiece, I have plans to make a couple more that will compliment it and give them to my mom for her birthday in a few weeks. She is a seamstress, and I think she would really enjoy a little art cluster for her sewing room.
It simplified my decision making process to use a few products that are all meant to work together, with the stress of decision making gone, I was free to play and enjoy!

What I used:

4" x 4" Canvas, the Claudine Hellmuth Studio Line paints, Paint brushes and Sticky back Canvas, Claudine's Stamps, Archival ink in black, Hero Arts Friend Definition Cling stamp, a Mini-Mister, and of course my handy-dandy Non-stick Craft mat!

The first thing I did was get my Painterly Pink Studio Paint onto the mat and loosened it up with water from the Mini-Mister. This let me put a nice light color onto the canvas.

I did the same thing with Modern Red, but didn't loosen it quite as much so that the coverage would be a little more opaque. I used the stamp from the Domestic Foam stamp set to get a fun background pattern. I also stamped the scallops from that set onto each of the sides of the canvas.

While that was drying I worked on my top layers.

First I stamped the dress form from the Domestic Foam set with Landscape green onto some Sticky Back Canvas, then stamped the Hero Arts Friend Definition with Archival ink over the top. To add a little punch I used the little dots from the Domestic Foam set in the Modern Red over the top of the definition stamp. When it was dry, I stamped it with the Domestic Clear and then fussy cut it out and set it aside. I then stamped the little birds in Sky Blue over the top of the definition and when it was dry stamped the outline from the Domestic Clear set around them and then cut them out as well. I stamped the birdcage in the Modern Red as well and after it was dry stamped the outline in Archival on it as well.

When the base canvas was dry I stamped the thick and thin rectangles in Yellow Pastel, I let that layer dry and then stamped the Domestic Clear outline over it and the scallops on all the sides as well. Then I peeled the protective backing from the Sticky Back pieces and adhered them in place.

There it is! A finished canvas that is as cute as can be! I learned a few things while playing, and the most important of those was to relax, have fun and don't be afraid to make a mess!  :o)

So what do you think? Are you ready to give these little gems a try? A great size for a quick project, and there is always room for something so tiny and cute!

B-

On the fifth day of Christmas my goodie box could be:

• Creative Layers Dwelling Clear Stamps
• Creative Layers Dwelling Foam Stamps
• Studio Line Brushes
• Studio Line 8 1/2" x 11" Natural Sticky Back Canvas
• Studio Matte Multi-Medium

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 for each goodie package. 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.

Please share your 2011 crafting resolution - if you don't have one then make one up :-D 

Remember to visit the following 12 Days of Christmas blog candy drawings --- be certain to post a comment to the question on each individual post to be included in that drawing!

• One Stampin' Treasure
• Two Melting Tools
• Three Copic Goodies
• 3 Stamps + 1 Color Sampler = Four Memory Box Treats

12 Days of Christmas: Day One - One Stamping Treasure

Welcome to our 12 Days of Christmas! There is no partridge in the pear tree here, but we will be putting flowers in a tea cup. Remember to read through to the end of this post and leave a comment to be eligible for today's blog candy! You may also want to visit previous year's 12 Days of Christmas posts for some wonderful inspiration.

During our 12 Tags series I asked what you would like to learn about. Many of you answered that you wanted to learn more about Ranger's Color Washing sprays. Well... they finally arrived and so today I am hoping to share with you some of the beautiful things you can create using these ink sprays.

 

Most of the color in today's picture is achieved by using the Color Wash sprays. To begin I want to share with you the special feature that these sprays are rather permanent when heat set! They are PERFECT for use on fabric and so today I am sharing some of the little treasures I tried them on.

Before beginning I made a trip to the fabric store. I hope to have future posts to share the use of some of the other fabrics I purchased, but today I'm going to focus on the products I picked up from behind the cutting counter. The Joanne's, which is a 15-20 minute drive from my office, was my stop for these goodies. Be certain to pull your number early in your quest on any trips during this busy time of year and soon you will have your turn.

Purchase all sorts of "odd" things! Crinoline (used to make those poofy skirts - yes, it is behind the cutting counter so insist they look!), Pellon, Fusible Lining, Tulle, Linen, Cotton. Any 100% natural fiber fabric will take the dyes of these sprays well and you will be able to create some beautifully colored projects. Experiment with the man-made fibers as well because you will achieve some interesting results!

I have to admit that I am so grateful for the textile training I received during college. It has come in handy on so many occasions as I experiment with the wonderful stamping products we have - but experimentation is the key to discovery, so don't be afraid to try new things!

 

Today I used both Crinoline and Pellon. Use the Tattered Florals Die to cut out three sets of fabrics for each flower.

As you can see I used two products today - Cranberry Color Wash for the dark tones and Viva Pink Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist for the lighter color. I needed a lighter color and wanted to see how these two products would mix. Incredibly is my answer!

First I sprayed one set with Cranberry Color Wash. 
 

Next I sprayed a set with Viva Pink and then placed these petals into the Cranberry spray droplets that remained on the non-stick craft sheet. Gorgeous combinations of color were the end result.
  

I just had to share this next series of pictures. I am in LOVE with the Craft Scrubbie. No longer do I worry about getting inky fingers - head to the sink, scrub your fingers using the "Scrubbie" and voila --- clean fingers!!!
 

Now it's time to cut the petals to create your flower. For each flower:

• Cut down between two petals, to the center - then cut a small circle in the center.
• Cut out one petal and then cut a small circle in the center of the petals.
• Cut out two petals and create a small half circle where the center once was.

You should now have five pieces as shown above.

 

I prefer to cut down the petal before gluing each section together as shown in the photo above. Be certain to leave enough room to attach the opposite petal to form a circle (or cone.)

 

For the two petal and one petal sections roll the crinoline, pellon, or fabric of choice before applying the adhesive.

I prefer using Beacon Adhesives FabriTac for these types of projects. It holds extremely well and dries quickly!
 

Prepare petals and allow to dry.

 
You should have five pieces completed as shown above for each flower.

 

Start with the largest piece as your base. Place adhesive around the open circle as shown.
 

Insert the next smaller section as shown above. Be certain to offset the petals from the first piece for a natural look. Add adhesive and repeat until all pieces are used.

 

Upon completion I allow my flower to sit base up so that the adhesive can dry without sticking to things. Flower should look similar to the one in the background upon completion.

 

As you can see the smaller, pellon flower takes the spray in a completely different manner. The pellon almost looks like felted wool once dry, BUT let me tell you... this is so much easier than felting! The petals shown above is pellon sprayed with Cranberry Color Wash. It is interesting to see how the man-made fibers take the spray. Experimentation is key!
 

Next I want to share how you can use the gorgeous stick pins as flower center. I began by using three petals. Apply adhesive around base of petals and wrap.
 

Off-setting the petals, add three more petals.
 

For this dainty style flower I mixed pellon and crinoline - alternating the layers. Creating these flowers is the same as for the first flower above, the only difference is that there will be more layers and therefore more cuts. Cut the petals as stated below:

• Pellon - Cut down between two petals, to the center - then cut a small circle in the center.
• Crinoline - Cut out one petal and then cut a small circle in the center of the petals.
• Pellon - Cut out two petals and create a small circle where the center once was.
• Crinoline - Cut out three petals and create a small circle where the center once was.
• Pellon - Cut out four petals and create a small half circle where the center once was.
• Crinoline - Cut into three sections of three petals.

Glue as in first example and then insert pin with petals as shown in the photo above.

 

To create the tea cup Sizzix recommends folding the second tea cup back against the score line as shown in the photo above. I have found that this comprimises the design and so rather than cutting my second teacup using the crease pad I simply cut it out and then on the correct side I score through one layer of the Craft-a-Board. Compare the two looks and you will see why I am particular - LOL!

 

I have found that acrylic paint makes a WONDERFUL resist to inks.  For this teacup I used the Pearl Dabber to ink these fabulous crochet stamps. I masked the handle and stamped my teacup with the trim pattern.
 

Allow the paint to dry and get prepared for some magic!
 

Spritz with Lettuc Color Wash. The Craft-a-Board absorbs these colors in an absolutely delicious way. With a little finessing I think that you could achieve a wonderful gradient effect, but for this project I simply spritzed the exterior and interior.
 

I use a paper towel to dab the excess Color Wash from the paint stamp design to allow it to pop even further.
 

TIP: Bend pieces so that interior of score lines are exposed. Spritz and allow to dry.

Paint the handle, cup lip and saucer edge using Aged Gold Metallic Paint. Allow to dry.

 

Apply adhesive as shown on instructions. I applied to one side of the teacup only and then prepared my styrofoam fill.
 

Trace shape and cut out styrofoam. Spritz the top of the styrofoam and allow to dry.
 

I also prepared some mulberry leaves using Butterscotch Color Wash and Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist.

I pulled apart one of the brand new Webster's Pages Floral sprigs and attach some of my flowers to the wire stems. I added wire stems to all of my leaves as well. Insert the wire stems and pins into the foam. Your flowers will be firmly in place. Add a little FabriTac adhesive to some petal edges as shown above and then sprinkle with Twinklets Diamond Dust. Shake off excess.

Insert styrofoam into teacup.

 

The Butterscotch color wash was also used to dye the tag to emulate a tea bag. The sentiment was stamped using Palette Noir ink. Palette ink is one of my all-time favorites for utilizing on "odd" surfaces.

This little "pretty" can be used at a tea or luncheon to decorate each place setting or give as a gift to "warm" someone's day if they are not feeling well. So many possibilities!!!
 
stamps: Studio 490 In Love with Art, Inkadinkado Inchie Greetings

ink: Adirondack Color Wash - Cranberry, Butterscotch and Lettuce; Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist, Viva Pink Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, Palette Noir

paper: Essentials by Ellen Craft-a-Board

accessories: 3-D Teacup Die, Inkssentials Craft Scrubbie, Webster's Pages Waiting For Santa Floral Pick,

 ***Please note - please check in the alterable items category at www.ellenhutson.com, shortly for precut teacups, and other Sizzix die shapes. We realize that many of you simply don't have the resources for all of these dies and may only want to create one or two projects using some shapes. We (my daughter Maddi is cranking away :-D) are currently working on preparing some kits especially for you. So check back soon!

We can't have the 12 days of Christmas without some gifts ;-D So start humming the tune...

On the First Day of Christmas my goodie box could be...

• Just So Artsy stamps to play with!

 

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 for each goodie package. 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 new discoveries have you made or techniques have you learned by visiting us here in the CLASSroom? Knowing that we do make a difference helps give me the energy to just keep at it ;-D

Christmas Photo Tray by Sharon Harnist

Remember when I made this Fall photo tray project?  I promised a Christmas version and here it is!  When I made the Fall tray, I used repositionable adhesive to hold each panel in the tray.  That made it easy to remove each section and store them until next Fall, enabeling me to change out this tray seasonally!

 

Once you decorate one of these trays, you'll be hooked -- they are so much fun! Here's how I created each section, starting at the top:

 

On the top left is Spellbinders Wreath die, cut from a Memory Box Dill Notecard.  I sanded the embossed areas of the die cut, then added Christmas Red Stickles for berries.  Jillibean Soup Red Twine ties up the the wreath that is adhered with  EK Success 3D Dots.

 

In the center of the wreath, I placed our family monogram using Ellen's Traditional Seasonal Alphabet Digital Download -- a red letter H tied up with a bow coordinated perfectly with these gorgeous Webster's Pages Waiting For Santa Petite Papers I used!  The darling Christmas Wish List in the center section is a fabulous Melissa Frances Retro Printed Chipboard piece!  I thought it might be fun to have my girls write their wish list to Santa here!

 

For the top right section, I made a Tim Holtz Paper Rosette and topped it with another piece of the Retro Printed Chipboard.  The Christmas tree is a fabulous dimensional Melissa Frances resin Christmas Tree that I airbrushed with these Copic markers:

 

The YG63 was used to base airbrush coat the tree, then YG97 used to add depth directly with the brush tip.  These colors were still a little too bright for the papers, so I finished the piece with a light airbrushing of E25 to give it a more antiqued look.  The tiny tag in the middle far right side, tied with red twine is another MF chipboard piece!

 

On the bottom left section, I hand trimmed a letter "A" ornament from the Webster's paper (both my girls' names start with an A!) and popped it up with foam squares on top of a Martha Stewart Large Snowflake punched piece of cream Webster's paper.  The center section has another Melissa Frances Retro Printed Chipboard snowman that says "Holiday Memories" and is accented with a Melissa Frances Candy Cane.

 

The photo of my girls was framed with Spellbinders Snowflake Frame, cut from more Webster's Waiting For Santa paper.  The bottom right section has another Retro Printed Chipboard "the Season's Greetings" large postage stamp adorning the Webster's paper.

 

Thanks for visiting the CLASSroom today -- I hope this Christmas home decor piece puts you in the holiday spirit on this almost first day December!  ~ Sharon

Paper: Webster's Pages Petite Papers-Waiting For Santa, Copic X-Press It Blender Card, Memory Box Dill Notecard,
Dies & Punches: Spellbinders Wreath & Snowflake Frame; Sizzix Tim Holtz Paper Rosette Decorative Strip Die, Martha Stewart Large Snowflake punch,
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic Markers: YG63, YG97, Y26, R39, E25
Accessories: Copic Airbrush System, 7 Gypsies Black Photo Tray, Melissa Frances Christmas Tree Applique, Retro Printed Chipboard & Candy Canes; Traditional Seasonal Alphabet Digital Download, Ranger Stickles-Christmas Red, Jillibean Soup Red & Brown Twine, Sanding Block, EK Success 3D Dots, Glue Dots-Mini & 3/8",

Christmas Past Wall Hanging

So happy you took some time to join us in the CLASS room today!

I have a fun holiday decor item that I would love to share with you. The Christmas Past collection from Graphic 45 has so many beautiful patterns and colors that work seamlessly together, those along with a few bits and baubles from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology line came together to make a wall hanging that would be great for a focal place on a wall, hanging from a special door or placed on a wreath hanger for your front entryway.

I used Craft-a-board as the base and various sheets of paper from both the 8"x8" pack of Christmas Past and the 12"x12" as well. All the pieces were inked with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink with a foam applictor around the edges and the holly leaves and berries were cut out by hand, inked and then had Distress Stickles applied for extra texture and dimension.

Punch a hole in the top and set an eyelet, use Jump Rings to attach Muse Token and a Swivel Clasp with the Typewriter Charms spelling "JOY".

Attach Game Spinners to Timepiece clock face with a brad and then adhere in place.

To create the wire hanging piece I used Vintaj 28 wire on the spool (the finer gauge, if you want it be sturdier use the 18 gauge) and cut four pieces of the length that I wanted and then twisted them together. For the coil that is over the top I wrapped the wire around a small paint brush handle and then threaded it over the twisted wire piece. Then attach to the Hinge Clips by threading through the holes and then twisting into place.

Use Scrapbook Adhesives Dimensional foam adhesive to attache the leaves and berries and any other little bits you may want to add, I used some Blank Canvas Studio Paint to fill in the letters on this Philosophy Tag and then attached it to the project with a Trinket Pin.

  
I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend that maybe allows for a little personal crafting time :o)

B-

Printer Tray Family Collage by Debbie Olson

Welcome! Today I have an altered item to share; I had ordered one of the black Printer Trays several weeks back but wasn't sure what I wanted to make with it. When the new Cosmo Cricket Circa 1934 line came out, I knew that the vintage office look would be perfect with my printer tray.  

I started with the printer tray, an assortment of Circa 1934 papers and elements page, and some snapshots that I had taken one beautiful October day in our back yard. (The pictures were taken with a digital camera, converted to black and white in Adobe Photoshop Elements, and sized roughly for the openings before being printed with a Canon Selphy CP760 printer.)

Tip: Be sure to measure carefully before you cut your pictures; sometimes the shapes are 1/16" more or less than a standard size. Leaning on my woodworking husband's advice, "Measure twice, cut once." 

 

After you have the photographs in place, fill in with bits and pieces of patterned paper, buttons, string, tags--whatever your heart desires!

I considered leaving my photographs and papers just tacked with a bit of adhesive so that I could change the pictures seasonally, but I ended up using Ranger's Matte Accents to glue the pieces thoroughly. I'll just order another tray. . . or two. . . Christmas presents for grandparents, anyone?

Thanks for visiting the CLASSroom today!