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December 02, 2017

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2017 - Day 2 with Julia Stainton and Keeway Tsao

12-tags-challenge-day02-julia-fw50Welcome to Day 2 of the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2017! I'm so excited to be hosting day two and participating in this fab creative tag event that Ellen hosts yearly. If you've never created a tag then this is the time to get creative and join us for some creative time. Tags are so easy to create and they can be as simple or as complex as  you like.

12-tags-banner-designer-juliastaintonToday's challenge is one that immediately popped into my mind. Silver & gold, silver & gold... Pretty sure I've heard a song about that before and while it's a lovely holiday tune, it's also a stunning metallic color combination that is beautiful to create with. Here's a little inspiration photo I found...

Silver and gold

Image via Pinterest

So beautiful, right? My challenge to you is to create a tag that incoporates silver and gold in it. You can be inspired by the above photo, or pair up these gorgeous metallics with other colors like I've done for my design. I always like to design with a feminine touch so I'm going romantic and pink for a sweet combo.

Holiday-tag-vertical

For today's tags you'll find that we are featuring MFT Stamps! One of my very favorite companies to design with and each day of the 12 days we'll be featuring a different company to share the holiday love.  I'm excited to mix some recent releases from MFT, with an Essentials by Ellen set to make a sweet holiday door, complete with mail slot. Just because I'm not creating a card it doesn't mean I can't have an envelope!

Tag1

So let's get started. First of all the tag base. I've die-cut it from pink card stock using the MFT Stamps Stitched Traditional Tag STAX. I seriously use this set over and over and over.

Tag2

Next up is to create the illusion of a door on the front of the tag. I've used more of the same pink card stock and cut 2 - 1x1.5" rectangles and 2 - 1"x2.5" rectangles. Before adhering them I've sponged the edges with some Spun Sugar Distress Ink to help define them. I like to layer on a lot of embellishments and don't want this subtle detail to get lost in the mix!

Tag3

The Mail Delivery Die-namics set is so adorable and works great for cards as well as this tag as there are so many fun and interactive ways to use it. I've combined both silver and gold foil card stocks to create a mail slot that really pops. Just die-cut from both colors of metallics and then adhere together.

Tag4

The smaller rectangle in the set perfectly cuts out a mail slot that you can layer over top of. I've held it in place on my tag to cut out the rectangle using washi tape and then ran it through my Big Shot.

Tag-5

Here's how it will look...

Tag6

Then adhere the mail flap on over top of the opening.

Tag7

What's a mail slot without a little holiday mail! I hope you get lots this year!

I've created this tiny envelope from Crate Paper FALALA 6x6 Paper Pad and the MFT's Mini Mail Die-namics set.

Tag9

I love Glossy Accents as an adhesive and have carefully used it here to adhere the envelope.

Tag8

Since the theme is silver & gold...let's do snowflakes in both! The new MFT Let it Snowflake Too Die-namics has gorgeous classic snowflakes that look great die-cut from anything!

Tag10

The sweet little envelope gets accented with one of these snowflakes and buttons and sequins from the 28 Lilac Lane Winter Wonderland Embellishment Bottle.

Tag11b

Julie Ebersole's Modern Christmas stamp set and dies get a vintage style makeover when stamped on vellum (see the holly) with Delicata Golden Glitz ink. This is my favorite gold ink as it's easy to use and has a gorgeous shimmer. When stamping it on vellum you MUST heat set it to keep it from smearing.

Tag11

All those pretty snowflakes I die-cut earlier give this card a holiday feel.

Tag12

Finally, some hemp twine and a hinge clip top off the tag while some pretty Maya Road Paper Flowers and metallic jingle bells finish off the embellishments.

Tag13

I'm loving the gold and silver look! It's so pretty for the holidays and now I'm inspired to a) make more gold and silver designs and, b) pair up silver and gold for my holiday decorating at home!

Holiday-door-tag-mail-box

So there you have it! An easy holiday door tag for the base and then lots of extra silver and gold goodies to bling it up for the season!

Holiday-door-tag

Thanks so much for joining us as we celebrate creativity and wrapping up Christmas! I hope you'll be inspired to create your own holiday tags and I wish you all the joy and hope of this beautiful season!

 Julia's Tag Supplies:

12-tags-banner-designer-keewaytsao KeewayWe are ecstatic to welcome Keeway Tsao back to the CLASSroom today! Keeway constantly charms us with adorably colored critters and ingenious inking! There's no doubt that you have seen her beautiful creations for MFT, Neat & Tangled, Pretty Pink Posh and more. Make sure you check out her blog, Kiwi Koncepts, for more inspiration!

Keeway Tsao 01

Keeway Tsao 02

Keeway Tsao 03

Keeway's Tag Supplies:

25 Store Credit 2017Thank you for joining us once again this year for the second day of our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series! Simply leave your appreciation for the beautiful tags of today's dynamic duo, Julia and Keeway, and you will be eligible for the random drawing of the $25 gift certificate to our store www.ellenhutson.com. Leave your comment here before noon on December 18th to be included (one comment per person please.) Be certain to return tomorrow to see what our next team will have to inspire you!

Posted at 06:00 AM in 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist, 28 Lilac Lane, Christmas Inspiration, Dies, Embellishments, Essentials by Ellen, Maya Road, My Favorite Things | | Comments (127)

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April 07, 2017

Life is Better Card featuring Art Grip Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils by Julia Stainton

It's Friday and welcome to the CLASSroom! This week at Ellen Hutson LLC we've been featuring colored pencils and lots of wonderful techniques with them. Today I'm sharing a card and a look at how to use watercolor pencils, in particular, the Faber-Castell Art Grip Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils.

Pencil-promo-blog

Colored pencils take a fun twist with watercolor pencils. It's a combo of both a colored pencil and a watercolor pigment so that there's lots of fun ways to use them!

Life-is-better

I love the look you can get from adding water to watercolor pencils and it really makes blending a breeze. I've used them to color this sweet watercolor paper panel which is a fun and quick way to create a great card focal point and sentiment at the same time.

Taylored-expressions-watercolor-cards

These sweet Taylored Expressions Watercolor Panels are what I used to create my design. They are perfect for card or ATCs or scrapbooking accents. You can even slip them inside a card as a little gift. You can color them with markers or regular colored pencils, etc. but the watercolor paper really lends itself especially well to watercoloring. There's a few different styles and packages of these great panels available so be sure to check them out. I've used the Inspire package for this project.

Pencil-color-palette

These eco-friendly pencils are patented to prevent breakage and have an ergonomic soft-GRIP® dot design.  Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils allow you to add watercolor painting effects to your projects. Simply use a wet paintbrush (included) to brush over your design and the water-soluble leads turn into soft, rich watercolor. Apply a wash of color to stamped images or create beautiful backgrounds for cards and scrapbook pages. Unlike other pencils, Art GRIP® pencils are glued the full length of the barrel for long-lasting break resistance and have comfy GRIP® dots and stylish triangular shape. The watercolor pigments dissolve completely and are permanent, waterproof and lightfast when dry so you can create layer upon layer of beautiful watercolor effects that will last a lifetime!

Coloring-step

Creating the project is simple and these watercolor pencils make it super easy and portable to watercolor on the go. Simply use the watercolor pencils to color in the areas you wish. You can even blend colors together by coloring an area with one color over another. The points on the pencil make it really easy to get pigment exactly where you want it.

Add-water

Once you are done coloring, all you need to do is add a little water to blend.

Water-on-pencils

I wanted to add a little more color and depth to some of the areas so I started experimenting with how best to do that. You can see how I've added extra pigment to the bottom half of the larger block letter words. I found the best way to do this was to use your pencil just like a brush! Simply dip the pencil in water and  you can actually draw on the areas with the wet pigment and it lays down a LOT of color at once!

Watercolor-pencil-looks

Here's what it looks like. The first area is a dry scribble of a dry watercolor pencil. The second area is the same scribble only it has been mixed with water afterwards and then blended out. You can see how you can get an easy graduation of color. I really love how well these Faber-Castell Aquarelles blend out. I've tried watercolor pencils in the past that did NOT work well but I'm loving how well these ones work!

Area three is a simple dry pencil line and it is show to contrast with how the next area looks. When you dip the pencil first in water and then draw a line, in area four you'll see just how much more pigment you can lay down for an accent.

Watercolor-pencil-tip

And while I didn't use this method in my design, I also want to show you another way to use these pencils. You can first scribble a lot of pigment onto some scrap paper to create a palette. I've added water to this section, then picked up the color with a wet brush and then used it to watercolor a simple flower. In this way you can use the pencils more like traditional watercolors if desired.

Pencil-detail

To add further detail to the text, I pulled out a White Uni-ball Impact Gel Pen to add in some highlights to the design.

Detail

Once the image panel was finished, I matted it and adhered it to my card base. The card base itself looks almost embossed with a tone on tone die-cut layered on it. It's also from Taylored Expressions and is called the Leafy Vine Cutting Plate.

Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I hope you've enjoyed yet another look at colored pencils and how to use them to create your own special works of heart!

Julia

Supplies:

 

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Posted at 05:31 AM in Cards, Color Pencils, Dies, Faber-Castell, Maya Road, Taylored Expressions, Watercolor | | Comments (0)

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January 26, 2017

Love Flip Flop Valentine Card by Julia Stainton

One of the best ways to take a card from great to amazing is to add an interactive element to the design. These elements can be as simple as you want and don't necessarily have to take forever to create! This week we are featuring MFT Stamps and their fab interactive card elements. These dies make what used to take a long time to create by hand a breeze and I couldn't be more excited!

Flop-card-front

Today my valentine card features an exciting flip flip die from MFT Stamps. They have an amazing line of them..a square, rectangle, circle, oval and now even a heart! I've included links to most of these down at the end of the post in the supplies for easy access.

Flop-card-die

While these dies don't look like much...the end product is wonderful and they are so much fun to design with! Today I'm showing you exactly how I like to use them and just how easy they are!

First of all, those little metal tabs need to be cut to make the die into two separate pieces.

Mark-card

Next fold an A5 card from half a sheet of card stock. I've used Solar White Card Stock and once it's been folded, open it back up again to its full 8.5" x 5.5" size. From the left edge lightly mark out 2 1/8" from the left side of the card stock. The fold should be an equal distance to the right. Mark both top and bottom of left panel.

Flop-die-position

Next use some washi tape to hold the die in place. The top and bottom bits go lined up directly on top of the marks. These sections will score the card for you. The shaped jut goes to the right and will form the flip flop flap.

Post-cut

Once the die is put through the die cutting machine it should look like this. Scored sections to the top and bottom of the card and then the shape cut to the right.

Fold-the-flip-flop

Fold back the left side of the card along the scored strips while not bending the shape. It should stick out. When you pull the card open by the left edge, this section will flip flop to the inside of the card so you get to see it twice!

Add-paper-layers

You can then decorate the card in any manner you choose. I love to use patterned paper and here I've used the stunning Authentique Adore 6x6 paper pad. However you design the inside panel, remember that you will see almost half of it when the card is closed. My large text layer was die-cut with the large stitched rectangle from Blueprints 13 Die-namics. The dark pink/red layer was die-cut with the stitched square layer that was trimmed off the original die and the other rectangle and square where just cut on my paper trimmer.

Add-embellishments

Once the layers were all sponged with Distress Ink, I adhered them and moved onto embellishing the card. The beautiful love die-cut is from the Essentials by Ellen line, Brushstroke Love by Julie Ebersole. I've also die-cut sweet little text print leaves using the MFT Stamps Layered Leaves Die-namics set and paired them up with some sweet Maya Road Paper Flowers. As you can see the front looks so pretty...

Open-card

...and it also looks lovely flip flopped to the inside of the card design.

Love-card-with-product

It's a great way to make your valentines special this year...or any other card design as well!

Love-valentine-flop-card

Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I hope you'll have fun giving creative and interactive designs a whirl!

Julia

Supplies:

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Posted at 09:01 PM in 28 Lilac Lane, Adhesives, Cards, Dies, Essentials by Ellen, Maya Road, My Favorite Things | | Comments (1)

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January 12, 2017

Light Up My World Chibitronics Lights LED Card by Julia Stainton

Now and then you create something so new and fun that it has you gasping for delight. The Chibitronics Chibi Lights have done that for me. Imagine! You can light up your card with the press of a button. It's a little simple science that's easy to do with the Chibitronics Starter Kit and I couldn't be more excited. In fact, I'm not only creating art but making an interactive project that's sure to delight. This entire week in the CLASSroom we've been focusing on this amazing LED product and I hope you'll be inspired by the projects and tutorials to try it out for yourself.

You-mean-the-world-to-me-card

Today I'm creating a fun light up my world card by pairing up Chibitronics with a great Altnew stamp set, Big World. I can't wait to share all the details so let's get started.

Chibitronics-set

First of all, the starter kit. Chibitronics has put together everything you need to make it so easy. It shows you how to create interactive paper projects and shares simple circuit diagrams to get you started. And to make it EVEN easier, I've included lots of step outs and tips to share with you. Even if you bombed physics or have two left thumbs...you can do this! Trust me!

Sponge-background-distress-ink

So let's start with the card design as that's what we want to plan around. I've sponged a space/sky background using Distress Ink and a blending tool.

Sponged-sky-background

Completely blend the inks until you get a beautiful rich colored background. I've used Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks by the way.

Star-background

Once that's done I wanted to create a starry sky that would allow the beautiful light to peek through. You don't always have to die-cut the background, but when using a dark background, it really lets the light shine through better. I love the Taylored Expressions Starry Nights Cutting Plate for this and so many other designs as well. Die-cut the inked layer to get your stars.

Vellum-layer-backing

I've lined the back of the layer with a piece of vellum the same size as the layer and adhered it. This still lets the light through but covers up any peek of the inner workings that might be there such as the copper tape.

Die-cut-circle

Now here's an exciting detail about this card...seriously. I'm tickled about this idea. I wanted the world to pop and instead of using foam dots, I've brainstormed a way to light up all around the earth to really make it the highlight of the design. MFT Stamps has a cool new circular shaker pouch that is fab for easy shaker elements but let's think out of the box and use it under the world stamp!

Foam-strips

Die-cut a circle in the front of the star layer where you want the world to go. THEN adhere the shaker pouch well into that negative space. Make sure the circle is large enough to insert the pouch but not too big or it will fall out.

Once that's done, add a DOUBLE layer of foam strips around the card. You need this extra depth to account for the depth of the battery.

World-stamp-set

Now for the world! Isn't this stamp set awesome! I love how it has different sections of the globe to stamp...so perfect if you don't want your image to feature North America as there are more options for you.

Stamped-globe

I've die-cut another circle...just a tiny bit larger than the circle opening so that it is covered up. Then the world has been stamped in Avery Elle inks of Aquamarine, Celery and Lemon Grass. Don't worry about that white edge...we'll cover that up.

 

World-sponged

I've pulled out my blending tool again and sponged around the edges with more Distress Ink. It gives the earth a more dimensional look and allows it to blend into the space background.

World-adhered

At this point I gave it a quick test to maker sure everything was lining up and going to work as I'd envisioned. I'm loving it so it's time to make it shine!

Lay-out-circuit

On a white cardstock layer (4" x 5.25") I penciled in where I wanted the LED lights to go and the button to make it work. Planning it out before adding the copper tape makes sure that everything goes in the right place.

Circuit

The copper tape circuit looks harder than it is. I've cut the copper tape in half to make it thinner. This makes it go further as well as making it fit better into the small card size space. A little flap is made for the batter to sit in and then I've created a parallel circuit. When you use more than one LED, you'll need to create this type of circuit to get them all to light up. Adhere the copper tape lines side by side so that they don't touch but are still close enough that you can place the + and - sections of the LEDs over them and get them to complete the circuit. I like to really press the copper tape in place with a bone folder and then adhere the LEDs over the tape at the points I marked.

Led-card-circuit

Press the flap on the battery down and the LEDs should light up. If you run into issues, do a little troubleshooting by first checking to make sure the Copper tape and LEDs are sercurely adhered together. Another quick fix is flipping the battery over. You may have the negative and positives mixed up.

Lit-globe-check

I couldn't have been more excited to put it all together and find that the Shaker Pouch gave me just the glow look I was looking for!

Vellum-stamping-detail

Now that the "hard work" is done, there are just the finishing touches left. The sentiment was stamped on a strip of vellum card stock in two segments. The WORLD was stamped in red pigment ink and then clear embossed before stamping the rest of the sentiment in Jet Black Archival Ink.

Wink-of-stella-flecks

 The vellum is adhered around the enclosed LED layer and then the entire thing is adhered to a card front. I've added in Sparkling Sequins and Crystal Star Buttons to accent. To add a little more shine, the entire card is flicked with the brush of a Wink of Stella Glitter marker.

Oh! And I can't forget the red die-cut heart! I've layered it over the battery section to show where to press to light it up!

 

World-lit-ellen-blog-size

IF the above picture doesn't light up...just click on it to open it up and you'll see how my card lights up. So cool right?!

You-mean-the-world-to-me-flat

This card is going to my sweet hubby for Valentine's Day as he definitely mean the world to me. I know he'll love it. He's an electrician and gets a kick out of how much I enjoy putting together a simple circuit. I didn't even ask for his help!

Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I hope you'll try lighting up your creative world with some Chibitronics!

Julia

Supplies:

© Bell Canada, 2017. All rights reserved.

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Posted at 09:01 PM in Adhesives, Altenew, Cards, Chibitronics, Dies, Maya Road, My Favorite Things, Taylored Expressions, Tips and Techniques | | Comments (6)

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December 30, 2016

Gold Foil and Acetate by Julia Stainton

One of my favorite techniques of 2016 has got to be gold foiling. It's so lovely and that shine and glam look make me so happy. Add that to the fact that it always seems a little like magic when you use a heat foiling technique, I'm always looking at new ways to use it.

Minc-cards

Recently I've been intrigued to try foiling on other materials and I wanted to try foiling on acetate sheets. Adding the foil to the shine of the clear layer really looks awesome! Today I have two cards to share using foil on acetate, one a simple layer and the other made into a shaker card.

Screen-print

First of all I pulled out a Heidi Swapp Art Screen to try out as well. These screens can be used with paint on paper or other surfaces but I wondered how it would work with a toner pen, the Heidi Swapp Minc Toner Pen.

Minc-pen

To use the art screen peel it off the backing carefully and adhere to the front of the acetate sheet. I'm using the Heidi Swapp Minc Acetate Sheets but others may work, so if you want to use a different acetate just test it carefully first. The Art Screen comes with adhesive on the back to make it easy.

Once the toner pen was primed, I colored in the sentiment through the screen print.

Screen-print-marker

Once it was totally covered I carefully peeled away the backing.

Screen-removed

And this is what it will look like.

*Important Note* The toner pen ink may clog the art screen. I carefully cleaned the toner ink away with some paper towel and some Copic Blender Solution.

Foil-on-acetate

Just like any foiling project, cover the toner area with foil...gold side up...and run through the Minc.

Foil-layers

I then designed the lovely gold foiled layer as the top section of the card held together with a gold bulldog clip. The patterned paper is the beautiful C'est la Vie 6x6 paper pad and I've die-cut it with the Taylored Expressions Stitched Rectangles Stacklets Dies.

Beautiful-self-card

Once it's all together I finished off the card with some sweet Maya Road Small White Paper Flowers and lovely buttons from Lilac Lane.

Love-you-card

My second card was created in much the same manner except for two new features. One, I hand drew on the love you sentiment with the Minc Toner Pen on the Acetate. This is create for personalizing a project and don't worry too much about your hand-writing...the gold foil makes it all look great!

Love-you-shaker-card

I've used some of the same papers here and the same rectangle dies to make the shaker card element. You can use two of the rectangle dies to make a die-cut frame from cardstock, then line the layer with the foiled acetate. Behind this layer is lots of pretty sequins and they shake within the panel that has been raised and adhered by dimensional foam strips.

Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I wish you all a very Happy New Year and that 2017 will be filled with blessing and creativity.

Julia

Supplies:

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Posted at 08:23 AM in Cards, Crystal Clear Plastic, Dies, Embellishments, Maya Road | | Comments (1)

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December 02, 2016

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2016 - Day 2 with Julia Stainton & Kay Miller

12-tags-challenge-julia

Glitter-deer-tag

12-tags-banner-designer-juliastainton

Welcome to day 2 of the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist 2016! I love creating for this CLASSroom feature each holiday season. It's truly amazing how many different and unique ways you can create a holiday tag.

I'm also excited to bring you a new challenge and one that is always fun for the holidays. Glitter and glam just seem to go hand in hand with lovely Christmas creations and it goes with so many different styles! Today's challenge is to pull out your glitter and create a wonderfully festive tag.Glitter in all its forms is welcome from glitter pens to loose glitter, from glitter paper to paint.

To create my sweet vintage styled tag I've paired up some stunning My Favorite Things Stamps dies and two Essentials by Ellen die sets to create a special gift tag with wonderful texture. I can't wait to add it to a gift this holiday season.

Craft-a-board-deer

I love adding glitter to die-cuts and the main focal point of the tag is this lovely Leaping Deer Die that I've die cut from Craft-a-Board. I really like using this heavier product for stability and dimension on projects.

Inked-deer

When adding glitter to die cuts, I like to either die cut them from the same color as the glitter or ink them up with that color. Around the edges of a die-cut it can be sometimes difficult to get complete coverage and doing this quick step really adds to the finished product. The Delicata ink is a gorgeous warm gold that is also wonderful for stamping with. I find that drying it with a heat tool is a good practice to ensure the ink sets well.

Gold-rush-glass-glitter

This pile of glitter is actually covering the deer. As you can see after adding a lot of liquid adhesive, I've really piled on the glitter to ensure good coverage. I like to leave this a long time to make sure the glitter is really dried on well to the surface before shaking it off.

If you've never tried glass glitter you are in for a treat. It is absolutely beautiful and rich looking in person and especially looks great with a vintage styled project. After all, glass glitter is the original classic glitter and it sparkles like crazy.

Glitter-deer

And once it's all dried, here's a peek at the deer all prettied up with glitter.

Stamped-tag

I mentioned above how wonderfully the Delicata ink stamped and you can see that here. I'm using lots of my favorite MFT Stamps product on this tag and the new Lined Up Dots Background is beautiful for any project, any time. It's stamped in the gold ink onto a Stitched Tag STAX Die-namics tag that can been die-cut from Salt Water Taffy card stock.

Snowflakes-on-tag

Once that's done I've started adding in my layers. This stunning snowflakes from MFT Stamps are the new Stylish Snowflakes Die-namics set. They are so finely detailed and pretty and are sure to become a classic winter favorite. I've die cut them from Solar White Card Stock and carefully adhered them over the tag.

Quick Tip: When arranging stamps or die-cuts, start with the largest items first as the smaller ones are easiest to place in and around them.

Glitter-deer-tag-detail

Next step is to die-cut a Stitched Star STAX Die-namics from vellum card stock and adhere it. Notice how it goes off the edges of the tag. You don't always need to stay within the lines, especially with a tag when it doesn't need to fit in an envelope!

I've also die-cut a lovely circle frame using the MFT Stamps Stitched Circle Scallop Frames Die-namics from Pink Champagne card stock.

Joy-detail

The sentiment on this tag adds more beautiful texture using Taylored Expressions felt and is die cut from the Essentials by Ellen Holiday Words Die Set by Julie Ebersole. I've adhered it with liquid adhesive. Just add a few dots to the back of the die-cut and place as desired.

And finally, to finish it all off I've added some pretty embellishments. The Tim Holtz Pine Twine is twisted around a pencil for a corkscrew like effect and then adhered. A sweet Maya Road Vintage Paper Flower adds a feminine touch to go along with all the pretty details of this tag.

Glitter-deer-tag-feminine-touch

Thanks so much for joining us as we celebrate creativity and wrapping up Christmas! I hope you'll be inspired to create your own holiday tags and I wish you all the joy and hope of this beautiful season!

Supplies SmallJulia's Tag:

12-tags-banner-designer-kaymiller

Kay 2

We delighted to welcome Kay Miller back to The CLASSroom! We are always charmed by her colorful and sweet creations! Make sure you check out Kay's blog, My Joyful Moments, to see more our her amazing work! Kay 01

 Supplies SmallKay's Tag

  25 Store Credit 2017Thank you for joining us once again this year for the second day of our 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist series! Simply leave your appreciation for the beautiful tags of today's dynamic duo, Julia and Kay, and you will be eligible for the random drawing of the $25 gift certificate to our store www.ellenhutson.com. Leave your comment before noon on December 17th to be included (one comment per person please.) Be certain to return tomorrow to see what our next team will have to inspire you!

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Posted at 12:00 AM in 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist, Christmas Inspiration, Craft-a-Board, Dies, Embellishments, Essentials by Ellen, Gift Packaging, Maya Road, My Favorite Things | | Comments (150)

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November 03, 2016

Inchie Little Village Vignette by Julia Stainton

I've long been a fan of Inchies. These sweet little pieces are perfect on cards and other paper items but for today's project I'm so excited to try out a NEW Inchie product, the Inchie Arts Little Village. There are actually two of these little villages being released and they are perfect for mixing and matching. And you can do everything you normally do with Inchies, but this time in little shapes to make up a village. That means you can do all kinds of paint, ink, stamping, mixed media, etc. on this village to make it your own.

Shabby-inchie-village

I decided to go shabby chic with this little village as it's one of my favorite styles to design in and I've also gone "out of the box" or actually INTO the box and not made a card but instead, a wood vignette with the village. It's full of sweet little embellishments and it's all painted up for a cute project. Creating one of these little boxes would make a great gift for someone and a wonderful way to share your creativity!

Inchie-village

To start off with, let's take a look at how the Little Village comes. If you don't already know, Inchies are made from museum grade Matboard and are wonderful sturdy little pieces to create on. The Little Village comes with one ATC sized panel to place the village onto and also has little buildings that you can arrange.

Distress-paint-inchies

For the shabby look, I love matte acrylic paint and so I've painted my ATC Inchie and little village pieces with different Distress Paint colors...Picked Raspberry, Spun Sugar, Crushed Olive, Evergreen Bough and Black Soot.

Gold-paint

The little moon shape was painted with a gold paint from the Kuretake Gansai Starry Colors Set...

Gold-paint-splatter

And once the black paint was dry, I flicked some of the gold paint over the surface to create some shiny stars in the sky.

Vignette-box

To create the wood vignette portion of the project, I used a Tim Holtz Vignette Box. They are so much fun for altering.

Gesso-on-box

To give it a lighter shabby style look, I lightly painted the entire thing with Gesso and allowed it to dry. I love how that rough wood texture shows through!

Once the paint was dry I adhered a piece of Pink Paislee C'est La Vie paper to the inside of the box to add a little "wallpaper" to the vignette.

Sand-edges

Before adhering the ATC panel into the vignette, I first sanded all the edges of the inchie village to add to the shabby and worn look. It's easiest to create the village on the ATC and embellish it before adhering the entire thing into the vignette box. I adhered it on foam squares to add further dimension to the project and make the village pop a little more.

Some sweet embellishments add so the scene such as little stickers, paper flowers from Maya Road, the Do What You Love gold sticker sentiment from PinkFresh, Stickles on the roof tops and a cute little Ken Oliver Clock Charm is painted with the Spun Sugar Distress Paint as well.

Inchie-vignette-top-view

To add a little more pink to the project I brushed on some pink accents along the outside of the vignette with Spun Sugar Distress Paint. Finally, the Tim Holtz Tinsel Twine looks delightful adhered around the edges of the box.

Inchie-village-shabby-vignette

Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I hope I've inspired you to get creative!

Julia

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Posted at 09:00 PM in 28 Lilac Lane, Inchies, Maya Road | | Comments (1)

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October 07, 2016

Craft-a-Board Note Pads by Julia Stainton

It's Craft-a-Board feature week here in the CLASSroom and I couldn't be more delighted. I've been a huge fan of Craft-a-Board for years and there are just so many wonderful things you can do with it. If you're just joining us, Craft-a-Board is an off-white chipboard type paper product that is fabulous. It die-cuts beautifully and it's a lovely light color unlike traditional blah dirt-grey chipboard. Soooo much fresher looking!

Craft-a-Board is a wonderful heavy weight that makes it perfect for projects where you need more stability. That's why today I wanted to show you an easy project that really highlights this strength. With the holidays around the corner, I've been thinking about gifts a lot lately. It's NEVER too early to start and I decided some hand made notepads would be great to give this year. That and the fact that I NEED a lot more organization in my life.

Craft-a-board-notes

I put these sweet notepads together with Craft-a-Board and lots of fab goodies that I had on hand. By using patterned paper and mixing and matching it, I love the fun and unique looks. I chose to use the Pink Paislee C'est la Vie 6x6 paper pad as I adore the prints. You can use whatever you want to. It's even a great way to use up scraps of paper that you have on hand.

Craftaboard

First of all to start, I cut the Craft-a-Board into 4"x6" pieces using the Tonic Guillotine Paper Trimmer. I love this paper trimmer and the guillotine tool makes cutting through Craft-a-Board cleanly, a breeze. I suggest making a bunch of these at once as it streamlines the process.

Supplies

I also cut my patterned paper and white card stock (for the pages) the same size. Lots of card stock or other note paper and two sheets of patterned paper for every cover as I like to adhere it to both sides of the Craft-a-Board for a finished look. So for every note pad...

  • two Craft-a-Board covers
  • four sheets of patterned paper
  • lots of inside pages

Punch-holes

The Tim Holtz Ruler is fab for marking out even segments. You can line up the interval lines along the edge of the note pad and mark off the center and then the other holes as well. I used my Crop-a-dile Punch to punch out the holes to bind the notepad. It will punch through almost everything making it a very valuable tool staple to have on hand.

Tim-Holtz-Mini-Book-Rings-ADTH93272_image1__22363.1458767951.1280.1280

Once the holes are all punched the Tim Holtz Mini Book Rings hold it all together.

Simple-note-pads

And I like to finish the note pads off with a sweet gold clip. It's great for clipping on receipts or other little notes that you don't want to lose track of.

I love how clean and fresh these notepads look on their own without lots of embellishing and have left these ones as is.

Note-pad-trio

I did however, want to show you that you can also step things up a little and really add lots of fun goodies on the notepads if desired. This would be more of a notepad I keep at home or write special thoughts or quotes in. It's too pretty to trust to the inside of my large purse that I drag around everywhere.

Notepad-insert

One of the things you can do to step it up is to add dividers, or special vellum or acetate pages in your notepad. I adore this gold foiled vellum from Pinkfresh Studio and how it really glams it up!

Detail-shot

And to glam up the front I added a die-cut banner piece and layered it with so many gorgeous buttons from Lilac Lane and paper flowers from Maya Road. I like to adhere the really big embellishments with hot glue to keep them in place.

Detail

 Thanks so much for stopping by the CLASSroom today! I hope you're inspired to get creative with Craft-a-Board and don't forget it makes amazing 3D projects as well.

Until next time!

Julia

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Posted at 05:36 AM in 28 Lilac Lane, Adhesives, Craft-a-Board, Embellishments, Essentials by Ellen, Gift Ideas, Maya Road | | Comments (2)

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August 11, 2016

Burnished Velvet Love Wedding Tag by Julia Stainton

Ready for some more glitter? Today I'm finishing up the week with one more Burnished Velvet Technique. I love the look of glitter but am the first to admit I don't use it often enough. It's so lovely and shiny and really amps up the elegance factor on any project.

  Tag-2

I decided to think outside the box on this project but couldn't quite decide what to create for this theme. The idea didn't actually come until I was sitting in my craft room looking through my stash. I find that if it isn't in view I often forget to use things and so I use a lot of open shelving. I decided to pair up the Burnished Velvet Technique with some of my favorite patterned paper and then a fun little twist came to mind.

Stencils.

Would they work with the adhesive and the Burnished Velvet Technique? I've never seen it done before. As you've already seen the finished project, I'll leave you to answer that and I'm really excited with the result. Here's how to do it...

Tag-layers

First of all I gathered my basic supplies that I wanted to use. I decided a tag would make a great addition to a wedding gift that I'll be giving and chose the largest tag die from the MFT Stamps Tag STAX die set. I've listed three different sets at the bottom of this post. Traditional, Pierced or Stitched edge, it really doesn't matter on this project. The patterned paper is from the Pink Paislee C'est la Vie 6x6 paper pack and is soooo lovely.

Tag-dies

The adhesive that works best with the Burnished Velvet Technique is the Be Creative Tape Sheets. Before cutting out my tag, I trimmed a panel of adhesive to a size that is slightly larger than my tag shape. Before cutting out the tag with the die-cut machine, I removed one piece of backing from this double sided adhesive and adhered it to the patterned paper. Then lay the tag die onto the paper/adhesive combo and die-cut.

Tag-adhesive

You are left with a tag shape once it's been run through the machine. Carefully remove the adhesive backing from the patterned paper to expose the adhesive. Be careful not to touch the adhesive or get it dirty.

Stencil-with-burnished-velvet

Now the FUN PART! Lay a clean plastic stencil over the adhesive and press down well on the surface of the tag. I've used the Tim Holtz Lace Stencil but any pretty stencil would look lovely.

Glitter-stencil

Cover the exposed adhesive areas with clear transparent glitter and press into the adhesive. Carefully removed excess glitter and place back into container to reuse. Remove the stencil slowly from the adhesive being careful not to smudge the glitter pattern.

Glitter-pattern

I'm not sure how well you'll be able to see it in this image but the glitter has only adhered to the areas where the stencil was not.

Gold-glitter-layer

Then place the fine gold glitter over top of the adhesive tag. Press gold glitter over the entire surface of the tag. It will only adhere in the areas where the transparent glitter did NOT coat the tag. As before, carefully remove excess glitter and put away into container.

Burnished-velvet-stencil-technique

The stencil pattern is now very visible and adds another beautiful layer of sparkly pattern. Burnish the glitter into the adhesive with a bone folder and then your finger to get a beautiful soft velvet-like finish.

Craftaboard-tag

Backing the tag makes it stronger and more durable. I love the Craft-a-Board product from Ellen Hutson LLC. I've used it for years and years. It can be used just like chipboard and the lighter color is much prettier. I die-cut the tag die from Craft-a-Board and then adhered it to the back of the technique tag.

Heart-charm

Adding in the embellishments is always a finishing touch. I love this sweet Tim Holtz Heart Charm. It comes with sticker hearts to choose from. Adhere it to the center of the charm and then finish off with the heart epoxy sticker.

Sponge-sentiment

I've clipped it and the sweet white Maya Road tassle to the project with Bronze Mini Safety Pins.

To create the love sentiment I've die-cut the Brushstroke Love Die from Essentials by Ellen from Solar White Cardstock. After adhering it to the front bottom, I lightly sponged the die cut with Magenta Pigment Ink and the Jumbo Dauber. I just can't get enough of these daubers and add a few more to each order I place. Having a wide range of them to use with different colored inks is a great way to stencil or add subtle color.

Love-tag-detail

 As others this week have already said, the photos just don't do the projects justice with how beautiful the sparkle is on these projects. I hope you'll be inspired to give one of the variations of this technique a whirl! I know you'll love it!

Glitter-love-tag

Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom!

Julia

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Posted at 09:00 PM in Adhesives, Craft-a-Board, Dies, Embellishments, Essentials by Ellen, Glitter, Maya Road, My Favorite Things, Tim Holtz, Valentines, Wedding | | Comments (5)

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July 29, 2016

Mason Jar Love by Julia Stainton

It's canning season and what better time to celebrate the sweet trend of mason jars! In this case, I was actually inspired by my photo props as I had this set up for other projects. I went down to my craft room and started creating and imagine that, a blue mason jar and some wood elements. It can be a little crazy just how your mind works even when you aren't consciously doing it!

Have-a-ball

I've long been a fan of mason jars and I use them for so much more than food. Did you know they even make great crafting storage? The clear jars keep things organized but allow you to see what's inside at the same time. Pretty AND practical.  I'll cease my ode to the humble mason jar as I'm sure you love them too. Let's get started!

Cut-apart

First of all the die set. I often start creating with dies or a die set and this sweet set from Mama Elephant has lots of great elements to it. Framed Tags - Park Avenue comes as one piece so you need some die snips to cut it apart. Snip carefully to prevent injury.

Mason-jar-tag

Once the die set is apart I die-cut the flag banner tag from watercolor paper and then stamped it with both the mason jar and the Have a Ball stamps. I love using Jet Black Archival Ink when watercoloring as it is very permanent and always gives a crisp impression.

Watercolor-palette

For this project I've used Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers. To get a soft fluid color I scribble the market onto a palette and then pick up the color with a a wet brush.

Watercoloring

You can also go back in after and add more color along the edges if desired direct from the brush. I've added in blues and greens for the mason jar for subtle variation and also to hint at greenery in the jar.

Pink-edges

Once the jar is finished and mostly dry, I went in with a pink watercolor pigment and added in a background to tie the design together.

Layers

The die-set previously used also has a great border that fits perfectly onto an A5 size card front (4.25" x 5.5"). I cut a piece of patterned paper from the Authentique Utopia paper pad that was just a little smaller than card front size and adhered it to the card front before layering on the frame. By cutting it slightly smaller you won't have any edges showing past the frame.

Flower-detail

Once the layers and tag were adhered I started my embellishing. Some sweet white paper flowers accent the top of the jar.

Stamped-wood-slices

I was also so excited to try out these new Maya Road Wood Slices. They are so natural looking and fit in really well with the down-home feel of the mason jar.

Wood-accents

They've been stamped with images from the stamp set in Jet Black Archival Ink and White and Magenta Pigment Inks. Heat set with a heat gun.

Ball-card

The final step was to add a sweet mix of Taylored Expressions sequins with Glossy Accents.

Have-a-ball-card

Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom!

Happy creating!

Julia

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Posted at 12:18 PM in Cards, Dies, Embellishments, Mama Elephant, Maya Road, Paper Blossoms, Paper Smooches | | Comments (2)

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July 15, 2016

Mini Pallet Mixed Media Art by Julia Stainton

How about a little mixed media art? Today I'm excited to share an altered mini wood pallet that I've created with lots of beautiful layers of crafting products. Mixed media is all about layering, texture and making use of this and that. This project has a fun and unique look as it alters a wood pallet to create the art piece.

Pallet-art

I'm loving the new Maya Road wood pallets and they are perfect for altering and home dec projects as well as mixed media. I love using them just like I would a canvas. The pallets come in two sizes: 4" x 4" and 6" x 6". I've used the larger size here but the smaller size makes a darling project as well.

Painted-pallet

To start off with, I've primed the wood surfaces with a light coat of gesso. I wanted the wood texture to show through into the final design. Gesso seals the wood and allows it to easily take paint or other textures or pigments.

Texture-paste

Next step is to add in some texture. I love this Mesh Stencil by Tim Holtz and I've used a palette knife to apply the Whipped Spackle through the stencil.  Remove the stencil and allow to dry.

Stamping-on-pallet

I love creativity quotes and I've stamped one here from the Tim Holtz Perspectives Stamp Set. This set also includes a huge gorgeous butterfly that I've stamped onto the pallet and texture.

Gelatos-on-pallet

I turned to Gelatos to add color to this design. I love the pastel colors. You just scribble them on and then work into the gesso with your finger or a paper towel to blend them.

More-texture-paste

Add in another layer of texture paste using the Tim Holtz Bubbles Stencil. This one is one of my faves as it's soooo versatile. Once again, allow to dry.

Paint-on-metal

The Quote Bands are metal charms that have really fab quotes on them. To make it more shabby chic like my project and to help the sentiment stand out, I painted the entire face of the charm with Gesso. While it was still wet, I wiped away the gesso from the surface, leaving it in the depressions of the text.

 

Dream-pallet

Adding a little gold to the design makes it shine and I simply dry brushed on a few areas with the Dina Wakley Gilt Paint.

Pallet-details

One all the background layers were done, I added in the embellishments. The quote band was adhere and tied on with twine. You'll also see vintage buttons, some sweet Maya Road butterfly transparencies and vintage paper flowers. There's also some leaves I die-cut from the Bold Blossoms Stand Alone Die Set from Essentials by Ellen.

Paintbrush

Lastly, check out this SWEET charm from Ken Oliver Crafts. It's so lovely and is perfect for creativity projects! It's called Vintage Art Supplies and please forgive me, I missed linking it below but you can click on it here. And just so you know, if you're looking for more detail...click on the first or last images and they'll enlarge!

Pallet-mixed-media
Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! Have a fabulous weekend and make it creative!

Julia

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Posted at 11:58 AM in Altered Items, Backgrounds, Dies, Embellishments, Essentials by Ellen, Faber-Castell, Maya Road, Mixed Media, Paper Blossoms, Tim Holtz | | Comments (3)

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June 16, 2016

Wanderer Vignette Panel by Julia Stainton

Anyone feeling the travel bug right about now? It's summer-time and while I can't go wandering right yet, I thought I'd take a little creative journey instead. I love creating altered projects and things besides cards. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE cards but it's great to stretch your creative wings now and then and try something unique and fun. So while this project may be card-shaped, it is definitely NOT A CARD.

IMG_7761

So what is it? It's a Vignette Panel from Tim Holtz and I've created it as a gift as a little wall or desk accent. Don't be afraid to create on things that aren't paper. You can take those same supplies and make so many unique projects with them!

Wood-panels

I love these new Tim Holtz Vignette Panels. They are real wood and pre-finished so you can get right to making something awesome. Of course, you can change them up a little and paint them for different effects but this beautiful wood grain is so natural and lovely that it makes a great base! The package comes with three sizes of panels and I chose the largest one to create on today.

Layers

The new Authentique Explore line is absolutely gorgeous and perfect for travel themed or masculine designed projects. I've chosen a few unique papers to use in this project. Two of them are shown above. One (the map) was trimmed and then the edges and surface sanded for a distressed look. The striped paper was die cut with the Stitched Banner Duo Die Set from Pretty Pink Posh.

Panel

I adhered these papers to the panel with Distress Collage Medium. It adheres the paper to wood remarkably well and very quickly. I was thrilled that no buckling occurred with this product.

Adhere-layers

On top of these layers I added in a Twinchie covered with more patterned paper from the pack. Using the chipboard thickness helps give visual weight to a smaller layer and also makes things a little more dimensional and interesting.

Pocket-watch-detail

The main embellishment on this creation is the Tim Holtz Watch Cameo. I really loved the map print and used it again to line the inside of the cameo. To do this, I adhered the epoxy clear beveled sticker to the paper and then trimmed carefully around it. This makes it easy to get the perfect size to fit in the cameo.

Embellishments

I love layering embellishments and here I've added in a strip of red washi tape, leaves, a flower and a Tim Holtz Quote Band. Around the edges of the design I added in sweet little word accent using the Chit Chat Stickers.

Wanderer-top

To finish it all off a flicked the final design with some brown watercolor paint to add a distressed look.

Wanderer-quote

The Vignette Panels can stand alone, be placed in a frame or in a Vignette Box.

Wanderer-closeup

Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! Have a fabulous weekend and don't forget to take your own creative journey!

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Posted at 09:00 PM in Adhesives, Dies, Embellishments, Maya Road, Tim Holtz | | Comments (3)

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April 08, 2016

B is for Baby Card by Julia Stainton

Every project begins with some sort of inspiration. It may be an image, a sketch, nature, an advertisement, all of those things, none of those things. It really doesn't matter where it comes from but you need an idea to get started.

Baby-card

Often for me new product provides the inspiration as it did in today's project. It's a sweet baby girl card fashioned from some lovely patterned paper and some great embellishments. Keep reading and I'll give you the details.

The Inspiration:

Baby-paper

First of all, the inspiration. I think when you see these darling little prints it's pretty self-evident. They are just SOOOO adorable! I just had to put together a baby card! The paper pad is from Crate Paper and is called Little You - Girl. That means of course that there is ALSO a boy version. I have it as well and it is just as adorable! You could totally recreate this card with a few tweak in a baby boy version. I've linked and listed all the products used in the supply list at the end of the post.

I've got my paper layers all picked out but let's put them to the side and do something else first. We'll come back to this later.

The Charm:

B-accent-in-paper

Okay! We are creating the charm first because it needs to dry. As patience is NOT my best character trait, putting the charm together first lets it begin drying while I finish the rest of the project.

As part of the Little You - Girl pad, there are some absolutely darling accent papers. I want to make my charm out of one of these images or sentiments and I chose the B for baby.

B-charm

I'm using some stunning new Maya Road Wood Stackable Frame Charms to create my custom embellishment. They come in two pieces with three shapes in each package. Adhere the patterned paper to the solid wood charm section and allow to dry. You don't need to be too perfect on cutting it out as the top frame will cover the edges.

B-charm-together

Then you can adhere the frame section of the wood charm over top of the lower one and allow to dry.

B-charm-with-accents

You can leave it bare but I really wanted to add a little shine. I filled the frame section with a nice generous layer of Crackle Accents. This will take awhile to dry to put it to the side and leave it alone. It should self-level and as it dries, it will slowly cure to a lovely crackle finish.

The Layers:

Stability-layer

Adhere the patterned paper layers onto a card front created from Solar White Card Stock. The sweet animal layer is so cute that I wanted to feature it and adding a little dimension to the feature layer is a great way to make it stand out. Often though patterned paper is not as heavy as card stock. As I'm adhering it on foam strips I don't want the paper to sag in areas. A great way to firm it up is to adhere a layer of neutral card stock behind the patterned paper. If you like you can make the layer a little larger to mat it...but I really like the clean look of a card without too many layers. Matting each layer can be a bit visually overwhelming.

Rhinestone-tape

In this picture the layers are all adhered and I'm adding in a big pop of bling! This gorgeous product is from Maya Road and is called Ballet Pink Self-Adhesive Rhinestone Trim. Imagine adding all those rhinestones in one easy step! It is also available in Sparkle Silver and Coffee Brown. And yes, I ran it right across even the stepped up layer. It's really awesome and sturdy stuff.

The Sketch:

B-is-for-baby-sketch

A sketch? Why not?! Here's the layout of this project. You can Pin it or save it for future reference and other projects. Enjoy!

The Rolled Rose:

Rolled-flower

I'm on a rolled rose addiction lately! This one is the gorgeous Rolled Blooming Rose from MFT Stamps. I've die cut it from some of the patterned paper from the pad.

Rolled-flower-detail

Starting at the outer petal, start rolling the rose inwards. Adhere on the center circular area when the rose is completely rolled up.

Rolled-flower-complete

It's a beautiful and quick way to make your own embellishments!

Putting it All Together:

Embellishments

To put it all together adhere the sentiment on foam adhesive. Adhere all the embellishments together into a cluster. Add a bow made from twine and insert Pearl Pins.

Baby-card-top

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

Julia-signature-wide

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Posted at 01:43 PM in Adhesives, Cards, Dies, Embellishments, Maya Road | | Comments (1)

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October 09, 2015

Watercolor Fabric Background by Julia Stainton

I'm always up for exploring new products and techniques. Recently the Prima Water Soluble Oil Pastels caught my eye and I just had to order them and give them a try. One of the things that intrigued me about this product was the the oil pastels were water soluble. I'd always been taught that oil and water don't mix. Of course I had to try them to see if they worked!

Dream-layoutOne of the things I wanted to try using the oil pastels on was fabric. Today's project shares a scrapbook page created from a watercolor oil pastel background on beautiful embossed canvas. I love all the texture this creates and the resist is so pretty.

Oil-pastels-prima

To start off with, I chose a few colors of pastels to create my background. These pastels are so vibrant and have a beautiful texture.

Color-on-fabric

The color is easy to apply to fabric or paper just by scribbling it onto the layer. Add in colors where you want them. This background is so easy that anyone can do it.

Fabric-with-watercolor-past

To blend the colors on fabric, simply add water. You can use watercolor brushes or mist the pigments to blend them together. For this project I actually used both to get my colors blended the way I wanted them. This will leave the canvas very wet. I had placed a Craft Mat under my project to protect my work surface. Blot up excess water with a paper towel and allow to dry. I actually hung my canvas on the line for an hour. You can also press the fabric with an iron at a very low setting to flatten it well.

Print-layer-detail

My next step was to add a photo area to my canvas. The She Art Coffee Filter Sheets are perfect for this and I adhered a 6x6 piece (with top edge torn) to the right side of my canvas. Multi Medium works great for this and I love how some of the color shows through the coffee filter layer.

Plastic-coating

I always love adding lots of embellishments to my projects. One of the things I used on this one was some plastic Basic Grey Capture Photo Frames. These came with a plastic protective coating on them that you just peel off.

Dreams-detail

Arrange all the layers to suit you and then adhere them to the canvas. When adhering things to fabric, I often use either a sewing machine or a hot glue gun.

Follow-your-dream

Gold accents are always a fun way to glam up a project. I love this gold hastag sticker and the gold glitter text on the vellum envelope by Cosmo Cricket.

My journaling was adding in on the sweetest stitched tag from Studio Calico. Isn't it darling? And I didn't even have to pull out my sewing machine!

Dream-layout-final

Have fun getting creative with different watercolor looks!

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

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Posted at 08:38 AM in Altered Items, Backgrounds, Cosmo Cricket, Maya Road, Prima Marketing, Scrappy Pages, Watercolor | | Comments (3)

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September 10, 2015

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?

Shine-duo

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.

Nail-boards

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.

Star-boardThis 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.

String-board-with-twine

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.

Tied-string

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.

Twined-board

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."

Finished-star-string-board

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?

Star-board-angle

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.

D-charm-detail

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

Star-string-boardSee how fabulous it looks for very little work?

Wood-stitched-accent

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.

Wood-stencil

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.

Card-layers

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.

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

Shine-card-with-board

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

Julia-signature-wide

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Posted at 09:00 PM in Cards, Cosmo Cricket, Home Decor, Maya Road, Tim Holtz | | Comments (6)

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August 28, 2015

Creative Organization by Julia Stainton

I'm not sure what your house is like but mine, well, it's like Grand Central Station some times. Everyone is coming and going with different schedules. It can make things chaotic and disorganized when what I really want is for my home to be loving, peaceful and beautiful.

I decided that what I needed to do was to make a creative project. When in doubt, create!

Magnetic-board

Did you know that there's a super cool metal sheet in the Ellen Hutson shop? I've been wanting to create something with it for quite some time and since I'm needing to solve some organizational woes, this seemed like the perfect time. The metal sheet is 12 inches square making it easy to find a picture frame for. Simply remove the glass from the frame and insert the metal sheet into the frame and you have a lovely classic magnetic board to keep you organized. If you like to keep things ultra simple, stop here.

Magnets

But if you want to have some creative fun, why not make some custom magnets to go with it? I made seven of my own to go with the board. I created a bit of an eclectic mix just to give you some ideas on creating magnets with fun crafting supplies.

Basic-grey-magnets

To start with you need magnets to place on the back of each creative piece. I used the Basic Grey Large Magnetic Snaps. You can also use the smaller sized ones as well but I wanted to make sure they could hold anything I threw at them this school year. In the above image you might have noticed these come with + and - symbols on them. This is just important if you want to use them as snaps. You can adhere either of them on the back of your magnet projects and they will work. They come with an adhesive on the back but to keep things really holding well I used a hot glue gun.

Wood-token-detail

My first magnets are super simple. These would be fun for the kids to make with you or if you like a clean and sassy look. I love these Wood Tokens from Maya Road. They are adorable and trendy and you can hot glue magnets on the back of these in seconds.

Token-magnets

Flair also works great as magnets. The sweet little chalkboard flair magnet is from the American Crafts DIY Adhesive Chalkboard Badges. I've linked it here as I missed it in the supplies below. Oops!

Facet

So let's step it up a bit. I love acrylic embellishments and this Tim Holtz Facet piece is beautiful. To add some color I simply adhered some patterned paper to the back of it with Glossy Accents. It doesn't take long to dry and then you can trim away the excess paper.

Create-fragment

To make it even prettier, I added on a sentiment with some Tim Holtz rub-ons. If you've never used rub-ons they are super easy. Just cut out the area you want to transfer, remove the backing, rub on the top of the image firmly and then peel the top transfer sheet away.

Paper-magnets

You can also get a similar effect just by covering some chipboard with patterned paper and rub-ons.

Butterfly-magnetFor this pretty magnet I used up some embellishments I had on hand and layered them together from largest to smallest. Hot glue holds it all together.

Tag-magnet

My last magnet is a tag shape that's been embellished with layers of goodies.

Tag-die

It's another chipboard piece magnet but this time I've created my own with a die cut machine, the Tim Holtz Tiny Tabs & Tags die. Craft-a-board is a great chipboard product that is carried in the Ellen Hutson store. I love how it's lighter than the traditional grey chipboard it's great for die cutting!

Tag-magnet-detail

To put the tag together, I also die cut a piece of patterned paper and adhered it on top. Like the other magnets, I've simply layered all kinds of embellishments together for this vintage look.

Magnet-board-detailCheck out the supplies below or use up some of your own embellishments to create this project. I love finding new ways to use them and getting them off the card and onto a home dec project is always fun!

Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom!

Supplies:

 

Posted at 09:34 AM in Altered Items, Craft-a-Board, Dies, Essentials by Ellen, Gift Ideas, Maya Road, Tim Holtz | | Comments (5)

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August 13, 2015

Folio Journal by Julia Stainton

Some of my very favorite projects to put together are for memory keeping or altered art. I love switching things up in paper crafting. Most of the time I create cards but there's something so wonderful about making something for yourself now and then. Something to treasure and keep.

My-journey-folio

Today I'm excited share this new project I've created. It's kind of a multi-purpose project. It's a bit of memory keeping and journaling and little bits of treasures all mixed together. And actually, the project that you will see really isn't finished yet. It's just the beginning. I plan to fill it with inspirational quotes, a bit of journaling, photos and just random bits and pieces of my life.

Folio

To start off with I am using a Tim Holtz Folio. These come in two sizes and the one I'm sharing today is the larger sized one. It's such a great and unique way to store ideas or memories, to art journal or even a little porfolio. The Folio is held together with elastics and you unfold it to open it up.

Folio-insert

Inside the Folio you find the binding piece. This can be left loose in the Folio or adhered. I suggest not adhering it before you are done as this makes it easy to pull out and embellish or even stitch, like I did.

Pocket-papers

You can use any kind of paper or ephemera in this Folio but for this project I used some of the great Tim Holtz Pocket Cards. There are a TON of cards in this pack and I mixed and matched prints and sizes throughout my folio project.

Folio-gather

There's really no right or wrong way to create this project so I'm going to give limited instructions on it and let a LOT of photos do the talking. After all, they are worth a thousand words are they not?!

My first step when creating my folio was to gather bits and pieces of things and layers that I thought would work well together in my project. You may notice that not everything in the above picture made the final cut but most did. That's often how it works. Go with the flow.

Folio-front-detail

I decided to keep the exterior detail to a minimum on my folio. This was for two reasons. 1. This way it can store easily on a shelf and not collect dust. 2. When you keep the outside simple, it's like a wonderful surprise to open it up to find all these layers of wonderful things.

Stitching-detail

Many of the embellishments on the cover are repeated throughout the folio. I love adding machine stitching to my projects. It gives them a sweet feminine look and it's also a great way to adhere lace so that it doesn't fall off.

Folio-open

Here's what my folio looks like opened up. The fun idea behind the folio is to layer and stagger the layers so that you get little peeks here and there of what lies beneath. Each panel or layer is adhere along the stitched spine and forms a flap.

Folio-inner-panel

Inside the front cover is a great creativity quote from the Tim Holtz Pocket Cards. It's also embellished with a Tim Holtz flash card and a Maya Road Travel Token.

This is a very interactive project so make sure when you are adhering things that you use a very strong adhesive. Hot glue, a strong liquid adhesive or Ranger Adhesive Strips are good options.

Envelope-detail

Too add to the peek-a-boo features of this project I've used some sheer and translucent layers. First of all I used an Avery Elle Vellum Envelope on one of the top pages/layers. It's also a great place to tuck in little mementos.

Folio-2

As you lift each flap more and more of the project becomes visible.

Folio-3

I plan to fill in the spaces with notes and musing and photos. This is one of those projects that will keep growing along your journey.

In this photo you can see that for one of the pages I've stitched some White Dot Acetate to the create the layer. I love how it shows you some items from the other side right through it.

Flower-detail

Each page has little touches and embellishments adhered to it. Some have flowers, buttons, flair, stitching or trims.

Folio-today-page

This page has some sweet Tim Holtz Photobooth images on it for a vintage touch. Don't you love old photos?

Folio-noted-page

This project is very much a creative experience in collage.

Folio-dreams

When creating your folio make sure you repeat some of the design elements throughout the project to give it cohesion.

Folio-end

That brings us to the last page/layer. Now it's all ready for me to fill up. I suggest using a Copic Mulitliner or other permanent marker or pen as this will be a project you'll want to keep and treasure.

Butterfly-detail

Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I hope you've been inspired to try out a folio of your own!

Happy creating!

Julia-signature-wide

Supplies:

 

Posted at 09:01 PM in Cosmo Cricket, Maya Road, Mixed Media, Scrappy Pages, Tim Holtz | | Comments (2)

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May 08, 2015

Creating a Pocket Letter by Julia Stainton

We are so excited to share today's post with you! Julia discovered Pocket Letters™ a couple of month's ago and shared her find with me. After a little research we discovered Janette Lane, the creator of Pocket Letters™ and Pocket Letter Pals™! We thought it would be fun to collaborate with Janette and share this trend along with two ways to use identical Kelly Purkey and Maya Road products and a few other goodies that these two fabulous designers have in their stash! 

I asked Janette to share a little bit about herself so that we could share her background with you :)

Janette LaneHi there, my name is Janette! I'm the author of Janette Lane Blog, a papercrafter, and a snailmail enthusiast! I live in California where I lead a simple and blessed life with my wonderful husband, Justin (aka Lovey). I'm also the creator of Pocket Letters™ and Pocket Letter Pals™, an organized and artistic way to send penpal letters around the world. I love anything having to do with creative correspondence (couldn't resist the urge to complete that alliteration) blogging, and arts and crafts. I also have a penchant for planners, journaling, photography, hamburgers, and thrifting. I'm inspired by the world around me and I always try to look for the humor and beauty in every day life.I believe it's the "little things" that make life BIG!

You can find Janette in the following places:

Janette Lane Sneak

Please join Janette today on her blog, Janette Lane, to see the special Pocket Letter™ she created and be certain to leave a comment there before May 16th. You won't want to miss out - we have a special thank you awaiting one lucky random winner! 

THANK YOU Julia and Janette for sharing your creative genius with us and we hope that each of you enjoys today's collaboration! -Ellen

Recently there's been a very intriguing trend that I discovered on Instagram. It's called the Pocket Letter™ and it's a fun way to get creative and share your art with others. It intrigued me as it's a) a throwback to my childhood and the penpals I used to have b) it's a new way to be creative and c) I usually can't resist trying something at least once!

Ellen and I thought creating a pocket letter would be a fun project to share with you in the CLASSroom and so we decided to look into this pocket letter thing.

Pocket-letter

Today I'm sharing a pocket letter with you that I've created for the CLASSroom but what exactly is it? A pocket letter™ is made from a plastic sleeve that holds baseball cards or other paraphernalia. It's a simple concept. Just fill all nine of the little pockets with paper, notes, art or whatever, fold the pockets into thirds and mail off to a friend. Once it's swapped the plastic pocket letter can be put into a 3 ring binder to keep or you can use the items in the letter to create your own projects.

The Pocket Letter™ was first created by Janette Lane and we thought it would be fun to plan a little blog hop with Janette today. 

Make sure you stop by Janette's blog here to see the rest of her pocket letter and for more inspiration!

Pocket-letter-julia-stainto

How to Create a Pocket Letter™:

  • start off with a 9 pocket page protector
  • fill each pocket with something - use your imagination
  • fold page protector into thirds and put in envelope
  • send off in the mail - note: make sure you go to the post office as the envelope will be a little thicker than normal so extra postage will be required

Pocket-letter-in-sert

Each pocket will fit an ATC sized piece of cardstock or other papers. That means you can use any ATC sized product. Because of the popularity of pocket scrapbooking there are a ton of wonderful products on the market that will fit in these sweet little pockets. I start off by cutting 9 pieces of paper to 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches in size and then add layers and embellishments from there.

For this pocket page I was playing around with some of the new Kelley Purkey line for Hero Arts. It's a fun mix of stamps and notes that are great for planners but can also be added to lots of crafting projects as well. That's one of the things I love so much about crafting...the ability to make ideas work across different mediums. I've also paired it up with some of the fun new papers from the Basic Grey South Pacific 6x6 paper pad, some sweet Maya Road goodies and of course, some of the Ellen Hutson dies.

Design Notes:

  • Each pocket is different but using a product line or color scheme across the project helps tie it all together
  • The fun little Kelley Purkey post-it notes are perfect for my planner but also fun additions to a pocket letter
  • Stamp details onto patterned paper, notes, tags or other accents to personalize it
  • The kraft mini bag in the center pocket has been stenciled with Avery Elle Ink and the Kelley Purkey Window Pane Stencil
  • The Tim Holtz Pocket Cards make fun and easy layer accents for pocket pages
  • Pocket Letters™ are a great way to use up lots of little bits and pieces you have laying around your work space
  • Sending off pocket letters™ is a fun way to stay in touch or to make new friends
  • Pocket letters™ can be created in your own unique style or you can think about your recipient and create something specifically for them

Pocket-letter-top-rowPocket letters™ can be a little tricky to photograph so I've pulled out each of the inserts so that you can take a better peek at them. Each insert is unique and for the most part, just using simple layering and stamping techniques to add interest.

Pocket-letter-middle-panel

Don't worry about making each insert too complex. Just have fun creating!

  Pocket-letter-final-three

Things That Can Be Included in Pocket Letters™:

  • tea bags
  • craft supplies
  • paper clips
  • sequins
  • gift card
  • photos
  • travel ephemera
  • pressed flowers
  • letters
  • die-cuts
  • embellishments
  • post-it notes
  • stickers
  • tags
  • mini art
  • inspirational quotes
  • pocket calendar
  • ATC's
  • anything fun or unique!

Pocket-letter-tiedTo finish off your pocket letter™, just fold it into thirds and place in a legal sized envelope. I always like to tie mine up just to make it easy and it looks cute too.

If you're looking for people to swap pocket letters with, it's easy to find them at the Pocket Letter Pals™ web-site!

Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom!  I hope you take the time to try out a pocket letter™ and share your art.

Have a creative day!

Julia-signature

Supplies Small 

Use the 9-Pocket Pages or create your own "Hot Li'l Pockets" using the Fuse Tool and our Storage Pockets or Pocket Pages! Be certain to sign up for our newsletter (just head over to our home page, scroll to the bottom and enter your name and email address!) You are not going to want to miss what Julie has cooked up for May 15th!!!

Posted at 09:00 AM in ATCs - Altered Trading Cards, Essentials by Ellen, Hero Arts, Maya Road, Tips and Techniques, Trend Talk | | Comments (18) | TrackBack (0)

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April 09, 2015

Fresh Feathers Card by Julia Stainton

I've been loving die cuts these days and it seems that they just keep getting better and better. The other day when creating I decided to pull out some new dies that I just couldn't resist ordering and have some creative fun.

Fly Free Die Cut feather card by Julia Stainton for the CLASSroom

This Fly Free card is what I came up with. Die cutting is a fun technique and it can be as challenging or as simple as you wish. Today's die cutting is really simple because the beautiful dies do all the work.

Stitched-rectangles

I love all things sewing and stitching. If you've seen my designs before you probably know that. I've done hand stitching and machine stitching, stamped stitches and even tried faux stitching techniques. I have to say that I think these sweet dies are going to give my sewing machine a run for its money! So easy to die cut the stitching right into the die cut in one step and it's a beautiful clean crisp stitched look. I'm hooked! Especially when all the shapes nest together perfectly.

Die-cut-stitched-rectangles

My first step was to cut out a few layers to mat my card design using the My Favorite Things Die-namics, STAX Stitched Rectangle. I used Solar White and Desert cardstock and then decided to try die cutting a dotted acetate sheet for a fun layer. Acetate can be a little trickier to die cut and I used a metal shim to get a crisper cut. Run through the die cut machine a couple times to ensure a good clean cut.

Die-cut-feathers

Next die set I pulled out was the My Favorite Things Die-namics, Accent It - Feathers and Arrows. It's not particularly a new release and I've had it for awhile but I've been inching to open the package and try it out. I love all the beautiful die cut feathers. While I didn't use all them in my final design, I love die-cutting extras while I have a die out to make creating at a later time a breeze. An easy way to get different looks from the same die is to switch out the material that you are die cutting. Here I've used patterned paper, gold glitter paper and cork to add interest.

Layered-feathers

Before moving on, I just HAVE to mention the GORGEOUS prints in the new Maggie Holmes Confetti Paper 6x6 pad. Stunning and they are all different! No repeats! I'm very tempted to order an extra pad just so I won't run out of my favorites. There are so many.

Fly-free-pin

Once the feathers have been adhered, some with wet adhesive and the top ones with dimensional foam squares, I move onto finishing the design with embellishments.

The Jute Twine is just wrapped into a circle lasso style and knotted.

To create the pin, I took a Maya Road Kraft Flag Pin and covered it with gold striped washi tape, then trimmed away the excess.

Tim-holtz-big-chat

To add in the sentiment I pulled out this fun sticker book of words from Tim Holtz. It's called Big Chat and the words are fun to mix and match. They come in both black with white text and vice versa and are perfect for card sentiments, journaling and mixed media projects.

Fly-free-flat

The card was then finished off with some sequins, one of my new favorite trends as well. They were adhered with Glossy Accents.

Fly-free-top-view

I hope you enjoyed this peek at some fun new products and trends and that it inspires you to find some time to create! Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom!

Julia-signature

Supplies:

 

Posted at 09:01 PM in Cards, Maya Road, My Favorite Things, Sizzix | | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

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March 27, 2015

Gelatos Canvas Block by Julia Stainton

I think I may have found my new favorite surface for mixed media art! I've been absolutely loving the new Just Add Watercolor line from Cosmo Cricket. Last time I was in the CLASSroom I shared a couple projects using the Just Add Watercolor 8x8 paper pad. I admit to having such a crush on it that I've purchased pretty much the entire line!

Gelatos and Canvas Mixed Media design by Julia Stainton for the CLASSroom

Today I've been busy creating with a watercolor canvas block to make this bright and fun mixed media altered art piece. Stay with me while I share all my step outs and tips to recreate it yourself.

Canvas-block

This simple and very humble look white canvas block is from Cosmo Cricket. It's covered with watercolor paper so you can use it to watercolor your own designs with. I decided to think outside the box a little and see how well it would work with other medium as well.

Stamp-with-canvas-block

The first step was to stamp on it. This block is nice and firm and this makes it ideal for stamping on! I just can't get enough of the new Bold Blooms stamp set by Julie Ebersole and it makes a perfect set for a mixed media project.

Embossed-block

After stamping my surface with Versamark ink, I clear embossed it to form a resist. The embossed areas resist pigment and prevent it from adhering to the canvas.

Color-on-gelatos

Now for the fun part! Adding in the color! Just scribble on the Gelatos to the surface. Don't worry about how it looks...just get it on there. For the first layer of color I used a wet paintbrush to move the color around and cover the entire background. The colors I used in creating this project are Snow Cone, Guava, Margarita Mix, Green Tea and Bubble Gum. If you've never tried Gelatos they are a beautiful medium of a solid gel mixed with pigment. They can be thinned with water to paint with or applied and blended while solid.

Canvas-rubbed-color-gelatos

Keep adding layers of color and blending them together. You can use a sponge dabber but I just used a piece of paper towel to smear and blend the colors together. This step also helps remove any excess pigment from the embossed areas.

Color-top

When altering a 3D block I always think it looks more finished to add color to the sides of the block as well. Once again I've scribbled on color and then blended it in to get a rich and subtle blend of color.

Gelatos-stencil-step

One of the latest releases from Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft is the Mixed Media Stencils, 101. To add an additional layer of color, I used the circle stencil to apply dots over the surface and edges of the canvas. The sponge dabber tool that is included in the Gelatos Tool Kit is perfect for this.

Stamping-on-gelatos

You can also add layers of stamping on top of the Gelatos pigment. The Art Journaling Stamp Set from Maya Road is full of great words to use on mixed media projects. I've stamped a couple on the surface using the Black Pitt Big Brush Pen which has a wonderful India ink formulation that is perfect for adding to mixed media designs. I've also brushed the edges of the canvas with this marker to emphasize them and visually frame the design.

Gelatos and Canvas Mixed Media design by Julia Stainton for the CLASSroom

 Thanks so much for joining me today in the CLASSroom! I hope you'll be inspired to try out some new mixed media techniques in your creative projects!

Supplies:

 

Posted at 08:42 AM in Altered Items, Backgrounds, Cosmo Cricket, Essentials by Ellen, Faber-Castell, Maya Road | | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

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February 13, 2015

Sweet Chipboard Designs by Julia Stainton

With it being Valentine's weekend, I wanted to create a few more "love"ly projects to share today. Each design features chipboard items from the gorgeous Crate Paper Kiss Kiss chipboard sheet. I just love how starting with pre-made chipboard elements makes for some quick project ideas and also inspires the card designs.

Sweetheart-chipboard-cards

While you can use these chipboard sheets just as they are, I always like to make them "my own" and add little touches to make them special and unique.

Kiss-kiss-chipboard

Isn't this chipboard stunning? I just adore the gold glitter accents. If you're like me and love the look but not the mess, this is definitely the way to go!

One thing to note is that while this IS a Valentine/love theme line, you can use it for more of the year than just February. We all have people we love that would love to hear how much we love them. I frequently send my daughter who is away at college little love cards and care packages. As I look at the chipboard I can easily see some of it being used for all kinds of celebrations such as birthday, wedding, engagement, anniversary...and even missing you cards or get well wishes.

 

My-love-card-julia

My first card design starts off with a tag with the gold glitter accents on it. It's so pretty I couldn't wait to use it.

My-love-card

My quick and easy technique for this piece of chipboard was to simply sand the edges. First of all, it takes off any stray edges where it may have been attached to the sheet and it gives the chipboard a lovely soft and distressed look.

Design Notes:

  • vellum makes a great layer to add a soft layer and still not totally cover up the pretty paper underneath
  • attach the vellum with adhesive in the middle where it will be covered with the chipboard accents
  • fold three layers of twine together before tying a bow to get a lovely full look
  • use sandpaper or a sanding block on the chipboard edges

Follow-your-heart-card

My second design is not necessarily for Valentine's Day. Why not follow your heart all through the year? This pretty chipboard technique features stitching and layered chipboard.

Doily

Have you ever tried machine stitching on chipboard? Seriously, it works and it's easy! The Kiss Kiss chipboard pieces are adhesive backed which makes them super easy to use. We do run into a problem with the adhesive when using the sewing machine so my solution was to die cut a doily and adhere it to the back of the large heart chipboard sticker.

Chipboard-stitching

It is then easy to place the chipboard under the presser foot and stitch away. Be sure to stitch slowly and carefully to keep the stitching smooth and accurate.

Follow-your-heart-detail

Once the chipboard is stitched you can adhere it to the card front and then layer on more chipboard and embellishments.

Design Notes:

  • use a metal shim with intricate dies such as the doily to get a nice clean die cut
  • cut up the follow your heart sticker to make it fit the design better
  • notch one end of the sentiment sticker to create a banner look
  • adhere sequins with Glossy Accents for a clear and strong adhesive

 

Hello-love-card

Finally I wanted to create a sweet card design using the tall and narrow hello love window chipboard piece.

Hello-love-card-detail

With all the windows in this piece I decided to fill each window with bits and pieces of embellishments and vintage buttons. It's so simple I'm not sure you can call it a technique but more of just a pretty idea.

Design Notes:

  • card measure 7"x3.5" in size
  • gather twine into a circle of 3-5 layers and then tie
  • adhesive gold sequins add shine and glitz
  • adhere a strip of gold washi tape to add interest to the background

  Chipboard-kiss-kiss-designs

Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom! Happy Valentine's Day!

-Julia

 

Supplies:

Posted at 01:09 PM in Cards, Cosmo Cricket, Dies, Essentials by Ellen, Maya Road | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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January 30, 2015

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.

  Altered Linen Heart Valentine Decor by Julia Stainton for the CLASSroom

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.

Tulle-trim

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.

Heart-stamped

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.

You-chipboard

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.

You-glossy

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.

Glass-glitter

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.

Chipboard-heart

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.

Layered-heart

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

Altered Linen Heart Valentine Decor by Julia Stainton for the CLASSroom

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

Cut-hole

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.

Altered Linen Heart Valentine Decor by Julia Stainton for the CLASSroom

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.

Altered Linen Heart Valentine Decor by Julia Stainton for the CLASSroom

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.

Altered Linen Heart Valentine Decor by Julia Stainton for the CLASSroom

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

-Julia

Supplies:

 

Posted at 09:57 AM in Glitter, Hero Arts, Home Decor, Maya Road, Melissa Frances, Valentines | | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

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January 01, 2015

2015 Mini Folder Album by Julia Stainton

 Happy New Year! I'm excited about all 2015 has to bring. How about you? I decided I'd kick off the new year with a sweet vintage style creation that has me anticipating all the wonderful things 2015 will bring so that I can fill it up.

2015-mini-album

Today I'm sharing my 2015 mini album that's created from mini manila file folders. I plan to fill it with notes, quotes and photos. Mini albums are so fun to create! I love anything mini sized and because I have the mini ready for my experiences, I have no excuses not to add to it over the course of the year.

Mini-folders

These little manila folders measure 3" x 3.75" in size. I've used 6 of them to create my mini album. There's 12 per package so why not create two at once and give one away as a gift?!

Punched-folder

I've used the Tim Holtz Binder Punch to punch my file folders. It's a great little punch and the folders fit into it perfectly and are very easy to line up. You can also use a Crop-a-dile or other hole punch to create your mini album.

Stamped-folders

Once my folders were punched, I stamped them all with beautiful vintage stamps by Impression Obsession and Hero Arts. You'll find the links below. Invariably, I always miss one link and today is no exception. The text background is stamped with the Hero Arts Newspaper Background.

Stamped-folders-angle

Each folder is stamped on the front, back and inside with random images and then the edges are sponged with Distress Ink.

Misted-album

Next I've added in some random accents of color by misting areas of the folders with Mr. Huey's Mist. Ledger transparencies are also punched and added into the mini album for a little extra interest and more places to add photos. The mini album is held together with circle clips that I picked up at the office supply store.

2015 Mini Album create with Mini File Folders by Julia Stainton

After putting the album together, my favorite part of any project is embellishing the cover. The Maya Road chipboard is the main element that ties it all together. I've colored in the chipboard with the Celadon Copic Marker. You can choose any color you wish. Aqua and green just happen to be one of my very favorite color combos I turn to over and over as I love them so much.

2015 is created with some gold glitter letters. To add some more bling, a stunning Maya Road button accents the design along with vintage roses and vintage buttons.

Mini-album-top-view

I also can't get enough of the Cosmo Cricket wood accents and for this design they add in some journaling sentiments as part of the mini album cover and the tabs on the side. On the top ring I've added on one of the cutest camera charms I've ever seen by Maya Road.

Open-mini-album

And here's my mini album open and just waiting to be filled with memories this year.

2015 Mini Album create with Mini File Folders by Julia Stainton

 Thanks so much for stopping by the CLASSroom today! I hope I've inspired you to create a little mini album but even more so, some wonderful memories this new year of 2015.

Happy New Year and happy creating!

Julia-signature

 

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Posted at 09:00 PM in Impression Obsession, Maya Road, Mini Books, Mixed Media, Punches, Scrappy Pages | | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

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December 19, 2014

Shiny & Bright Cards in Two Styles by Julia Stainton

We're counting down the days til Christmas! How about you? Today I'm in a festive mood and have created a couple more Christmas cards to share with you. I hope they bring you some holiday joy!

Shiny and Bright Ornaments Cards in two styles by Julia Stainton for the CLASSroom

Today's projects are all about using one stamp and one die set and creating with them in two different styles. I love the flexibiliy of creating and especially love investing in product that can be used in many different ways and styles. If you're anything like me, you too love a) great value b) high quality and c) exploring your creativity in many different ways. I just wouldn't want to be pigeon-holed into creating in one style each and every time!

Stamp ornaments on white cardstock using colored pigment inks. Die cut with coordinating dies and adhere to card using 3D foam squares.

My first design approach uses a clean and crisp modern style. This is a great style for any time but especially the holidays. Keeping it clean and simple makes designing and mass-producing quicker. It also cuts down on postage as the cards tend to be less bulky.

I've used the Taylored Expressions Shiny & Bright stamp set and Shiny & Bright die set to create this design along with some beautiful Avery Elle pigment inks.

  1. Create 4.25" x 4.25" white card base using Solar White cardstock.
  2. Emboss 4" square piece of white cardstock using embossing folder. Adhere to card base with 3D foam squares.
  3. Stamp ornaments on white cardstock using colored pigment inks. Die cut with coordinating dies and adhere to card using 3D foam squares.
  4. Adhere Mirrored Stars as accents.

Joy Ornament Holiday Card by Julia Stainton for the CLASSroom featuring Taylored Expressions stamps and dies

For my next design, I've used the exact same dies and stamps from Taylored Expressions and the same inks and colors as well. By adding in some stitching, distressing and lots of layers, you get a totally different look to the exact same images.

Joy-ornament-card-top-view

  1. Create 4.25" x 5.5" card base from white cardstock.
  2. Adhere 4" x 5.25" piece of text patterned paper.
  3. Adhere 3.25" x 4.5" piece of pink patterned paper. Stitch layers as desired.
  4. Stamp Library Card stamp onto white cardstock. Trim and adhere.
  5. Adhere kraft tag to white cardstock leaving excess around edges. Trim with pinking shears. Adhere to card front using 3D foam squares.
  6. Stamp ornaments on white cardstock using colored pigment inks. Die cut with coordinating dies and adhere to card using 3D foam squares.
  7. Tie tinsel trim into a bow and adhere.
  8. Ink wood bingo piece with pink ink by rubbing surface onto ink pad. Adhere.
  9. Adhere mirrored star accent.

Note: to add to the vintage/shabby chic look, sponge edges of all paper layers with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink.

Ornament-vintage-detail

Which project did you like the best? Are you a "pile it on crafter" or a "less is more girl"? The beauty of it is that you can be both depending on how you feel that day. Enjoying creativity is a wonderful thing. A gift!

Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom! Wishing you and yours a wonderful (and creative) Christmas and holiday season!

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Posted at 05:05 PM in Avery Elle, Cards, Dies, Maya Road, Prima Marketing, Taylored Expressions | | Comments (10) | TrackBack (0)

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November 07, 2014

Merry & Bright Holiday Card and Sketch by Julia Stainton

As the weather turns colder, I'm enjoying my cozy craft room more and more these days. It's a wonderful escape, creative outlet and if it helps me get ahead of the holiday rush...so much more the better!

Merry-and-bright-card-by-Ju

Today I'm sharing my latest card project for the holidays. It's based on one of my favorite, go-to sketches and some fun new holiday project. Let's take a look...

Merry-and-bright-papers

Here's a few of the Pink Paislee Merry & Bright line. I love the gorgeous traditional patterns mixed up with some bolder more modern prints and colors. Black and grey give this a really cool and unique look for a holiday line. Love it!

Circle-sketch-by-Julia-Stai

Here's the very basic and traditional sketch. I love it because it works so well for so many different styles. It's an amazing way to use up scraps of paper, a great way to mix and match patterns and it's also a wonderful way to use small stamps.Besides that, circles are always, always, always a fun design element!

Punched-circles

To recreate the sketch for my project, I've used layers of punched circles. You can also die cut them. For this particular project I've used 1.25" & 1.5" circle punches and layered them for more visual interest. I like to adhere them together, lay them on the card into a grid and then adhere them onto the card for perfect placement.

Merry-bright-die-set

To create the sentiment I've used this beautiful new Essentials by Ellen Merry & Bright stamp set by Julie Ebersole. I've been dying to try it out and it's as beautiful to use as I'd imagined. I chose the Merry and Bright words from the die set as my sentiment before I even looked at the name of the die set. I also had forgotten that the Pink Paislee paper line I was using was called Merry & Bright. What a fun, happy accident. I'm sure I could never do that again if I tried!

Quick Tip: I find that with intricate dies, putting an extra layer of cardstock underneath the one I'm cutting makes for extra crisp die cuts.

Silver-buttonLately I've been enthralled with the Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brushes. What a gorgeous, quick, easy and mess-free way to add glitter and color to embellishments!

Merry-and-bright-top-view

One thing to notice about the sentiment is that I've mixed up the die sets a little. To add some more detail and interest, I've used the ampersand from another die set (the Icons Albums Made Easy set) mixed with the merry and bright dies. I love how the change in color and font really pumps up the fun factor in this design.

Merry-and-bright-flat

To finish off the design, I always love to add some embellishment detail. Little accents are added with Mirrored Stars, the glitter brushed wood button, a black die cut and a patterned paper cover chipboard heart.

 I hope you enjoy the sketch and have fun getting started with your holiday crafting! Have a wonderful and creative weekend!

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Posted at 01:36 PM in Christmas Inspiration, Dies, Essentials by Ellen, Lifestyle Crafts, Maya Road | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

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May 23, 2014

Sweet Shadowbox Book by Julia Stainton

 Many of my all-time favorite projects are altered projects. I love papercrafting off the page and away from the card to create a treasure that can be displayed. Yes, they can be time-consuming but the end result is always worth it. It's a labor of love.

Configuration-inside

 

Today I'm excited to share a new project with you using the Tim Holtz Mini Configurations Book. I love many things about this book.

  1. It's a shadow box AND a book. The front cover can be closed for easy storage or mailing and it also a prop to help the shadow box stand up. And did I mention it's a book?! How can you not like a book? Fellow bibliophiles unite!
  2. You can rearrange it. All those fun little boxes that can be embellished...they can be removed and reconfigured. Hmmm...how interesting. No wonder it's called a Configurations Book!
  3. It you prefer to work in small projects, this works great. With 6 little boxes to design, this project can be completed in small increments. Bonus!

  Shadow-box-top

To start off this project, I decided to line each of the boxes with patterned paper and trim the edges and side walls with Tissue Tape. Even the outside of the book area of the box is trimmed out with tape for a cohesive look. There's lots of tape on a roll of Tissue Tape though, so don't worry, you won't run out. When choosing the inside paper colors, I used all prints from one pad of paper to make it easy and then varied and balanced the colors throughout.

Large-box

Starting off with the largest box I layered in paper, a wood ATC panel and then filled a metal book plate will all manner of pretty embellishments.

Mini-boxes

The tiny square compartments are perfect for buttons, flair and other mini embellishments. Because this is a dimensional project, layering up your elements not only adds more interest but really helps the elements stand out in each box.

Key-box

This key looked cute along in the little box but layering it on top of a chipboard tag, tying it with hemp and then adding on a button really makes it pop.

 

House-spool-shadow-box

Finally, the last box layers together some painted chipboard, wrapped spools and pins and flowers. To keep the pins in the large spool from moving around, I placed a large daub of hot glue in the bottom of the spool, then set the pins in to dry.

Shadow-box-interior

Additional Design Notes:

  • You can adhere the boxes into the book once the project is completed or leave them as is to change things up now and then. The tension fit will keep things in place.
  • Use hot glue to adhere the standing embellishments so that they don't move around in the box.
  • The box compartments are 3/4" deep. Keep the embellishing under that measurement so that your book will be able to close if desired.
  • Mix it up...this is a great project for using up lots of wonderful bits and pieces.
  • This book would look darling altered as a seasonal display, a mini wedding album or as a sweet accent for a child's room.
  • Deciding on what you want to put in your box will help with designing the orientation of the compartments.

 Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom! Have a creative day!

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Posted at 09:00 AM in Altered Items, Maya Road, Mini Books, Paper Blossoms, Prima Marketing | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

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April 25, 2014

Golden Mom Card by Julia Stainton

 With Mother's Day just around the corner, I thought it would be timely to create a Mother's Day card in an updated-shabby look. Today's card combines stamping, sequins, gold accents along with a little wood and paint to make a fun creation.

Sequin-mom-card

The beautiful wooden Prima ATC is the focal point of the design. These wood atc's are so beautiful and come in a package of 10, each one unique.

Wood-atc

The wood is beautiful plain but I wanted to give the design a subtle touch of color so I brushed on some Shell Pink Paint. By lightly brushing the paint over the surface, I was able to add color and still preserve the beautiful the etching marks.

Distress-crackle-step

To age it a little and add another layer of interest to the ATC, it was then brushed with Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. I love the subtle texture this achieves.

Layers

The background was created by stamping the Zig Zag background stamp with white pigment ink onto some cardstock. Next layer is the vellum mat.

Tip: Vellum makes a great mat layer as it is soft and subtle the adhesive is easily hid by the layer above.

Gold-letter-tiles

These beautiful gold tile letters were used to create the sentiment. Often when personalizing a card, we don't have the stamp to say what we need to. Alphabet stickers are the perfect solution. These ones come in two big beautiful sheets.

Diecut-vellum-leaves

Many of the embellishments on this design are pre-made but I wanted to add in a little vellum to tie in with the vellum mat layer. The leaves were die cut using the Sonora Rose Memory Box Die and are a beautiful classic. I love classic dies as they are a good investment and can be used for years.

Tip: Die cut two layers of leaves at once. 1. this gives you leaves on hand to use at a later date and 2. the extra thickness presses the vellum into the center leaf detail to subtly emboss them.

Sequin-detail

To finish up the design, I added in some sparkle with these beautiful gold sequins by Studio Calico. They are easy to adhere with Glossy Accents. To add a sequin accent to the pin detail, I slid on some sequins onto the pin and fixed them from slipping down by adding a drop of hot glue to the pin.

Tip: Alter the way you add the sequins onto the pin so that they don't all cup together.

Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom! Have a creative day!

 

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Posted at 10:36 AM in Hero Arts, Maya Road, Memory Box, Sizzix | | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

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March 13, 2014

Folded Circles Background by Julia Stainton

I've always been a fan of those linked circles geometric patterns. So beautiful! It's also a pattern seen in quilting although the name of it is eluding me right now. Today I'm sharing a tutorial on bringing the pattern into your paper crafting projects with simply some paper and a circle punch. It's a lot of fun to do so I hope you enjoy trying it out.

Edited to add: It's the Cathedral Window quilt pattern. Thanks Tammy for the help!