a new bag

 Hi friends.

I wanted to make a bag that was smaller than my purse, but that I could fit my phone in and maybe some cash and ID.  So I looked for some ideas and found a cute bag made from old jeans pockets.  I dug through my stash and found an old pair of jeans that had pockets I thought would work.  I cut the back pockets off along with the fabric behind them, which I trimmed close to the pockets except for the top edge, which I needed to attach closure flaps.  

I made flaps from some fabric I like.  Also, I made a long adjustable strap, so the bag could be a crossover.  I used some hardware from my stash as well.  The flaps close with velcro.  I sewed the two pockets together back to back, but I need to do a little hand stitching in a place that would not go through my machine.  

I decided that the bag needed a little bit of decoration, so  near the bottom edge (on both sides), I stamped a butterfly with archival ink.  Because I was stamping on fabric, some of the ink soaked into the fabric, and wasn't very dark.  

I used a tiny brush to paint the butterfly with acrylic paints, working in stages for the different colors and for both sides of the bag.  I used a stylus to put white dots on the wings.  When all the paint was dry, I went over the black outlines with a sharpie marker to darken them.  Then I gave the butterflies a coat of matte gel medium.  

I really love how the butterflies turned out.  And I'm happy with the bag. 

Thanks so much for taking time to visit today.  Have a wonderful day.  

a big M

 Hi friends.  How time flies.  I've been working on something a little different this week.  A few years ago, I picked up a big letter M.  It's 12" across and 12" high.  I think it's made of wood, because it's pretty heavy.  But it's covered in vinyl.  Unfortunately, it was PINK, and I don't do pink.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to do to it, so while I procrastinated, it sat.  

One day I decided to try and paint it, using acrylic paints.  I used blue, but it really didn't cover well, so it sat some more.  

I finally decided that I was really going to do something.  I tried painting over it with brown, but that didn't work either.  Finally, I decided to cover it, so I tore up some old music and proceeded to decoupage it with the music.  I already liked it better, but still, I wasn't what I wanted.  

So I got out my gelatos, and scribbled just a little with blue and turquoise.  Then I grabbed my watered down gesso and a paint brush.  The gesso smooths out the gelatos, but, because it's diluted, it doesn't completely cover whatever is underneath.  This is exactly what I wanted.  

But it was still too plain.  So I pulled out one of my favorite stamp sets, Petal Prints from Stampin' Up and stamped one image randomly all over the letter with ultramarine stazon ink.  Now, I was really liking it.  

But I decided to go one step further and add some flowers.  Daisies and butterflies.  I played around with them for awhile and decided on a layout, but it was late, and I was too tired to do leaves, so I just left it on the table.  When I came down the next morning, the flowers were all rearranged, in a nice neat pattern up and down the legs of the M.  Someone was in trouble!  And since I hadn't bothered to photograph the layout, I had to go through that process all over again.  Then I glued the flowers and butterflies down, and realized that I had forgotten the leaves.  So I cheated.  I punched leaves and sponged the edges.  Once I decided where I wanted to put them, I glued them on right over the top of the flowers.  Then I stamped a few more flowers and cut them out and glued them on top.  Not quite the way it should have been done, but I was not going to try and peel off the first ones.  I probably would have messed up everything, and I had already spent too much time to mess it up, so I just fixed it the easy way.  You can't tell by looking at it anyway, so it's all good.  I gave it two coats of decoupage finish and it's done. 

And I have to say that I really LOVE how it turned out.  

Thanks so much for taking time to stop by for a visit. 

more round boxes

 Hi friends.  Can you tell I like making these little boxes?  I made one for a contest that required a pumpkin.  So... I made the pumpkin... a pumpkin box actually.  

And a better view of the cover.  

I used some silk leaves, which I cut down a bit so they fit better.  I went outside and picked up a few sticks to use as a handle.  They were really dry, so I hope it doesn't break.  But I guess it would be easy enough to replace if it did.  

This next box was a special request by my cousin.  She really liked the floral one I made, so this is pretty similar.  I used a different flower stamp, and the flower on the cover is paper, whereas the other one was silk.  

And here is the cover.  I punched and die cut some different sized flowers, and cut the petal separations deeper.  Then I sponged all the edges with candied apple distress ink.  I turned them over and used a stylus and a thick foam mat to give them more shape and dimension.  Then I glued all the layers together, added some leaves, and glued the flower onto the cover.  

I remembered that I had some decoupage medium (hmmm... actually I have four jars) that would work to give this a nice smooth finish.  Although I didn't check, I'm pretty sure that all the jars have been opened, so hopefully, they are still all usable.  The one I used just needed to be stirred a bit before use.  I normally use matte mod podge, but I only have a little bit left, and I've been procrastinating going shopping for more.  Plus, sometimes it leaves the surface a bit sticky.  I think that may have something to do with the humidity.  I've really been trying to use up what I have instead of buying more.  A while back, I was watching a video, and the girl used a 1:1 mix of water and white glue as a finish.  I absolutely would do that, but I've also used almost all of my white school glue, because I ran out of tacky glue, which is really my favorite for putting this type of project together.  I like it because it's not so runny and dries with less bubbling.  But I found if I use a very thin layer of white glue, that works quite well, too.  

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit.  I always appreciate that. 

and one more...

I really loved the look of the last box I made, but thought a few more details would make it even better.  The last two boxes went to the neighbors, since both of the kids had birthdays.  So I made another. 

If you want details on how I made this, please check my previous two posts.  

Thank you so much for taking time to stop by today.  Be blessed. 

Can't make just one

Hi friends.  You probably know by now that I can't make just one.  I've made a number of these little boxes over the past few years.  Well, I figured that I really needed to make one for the boys.  Yeah.  No flowers or pretties on it.  How about WOOD?  Well, yes, I would if I weren't afraid to use some of those woodworking machines.  So what's the next best thing?  Faux wood, of course.

I use faux wood techniques quite often in cardmaking, so why not on a box.  The basic technique to create faux wood is to drag ink pads down the paper, repeating with several colors - mostly working in browns, but other colors work as well.  

Recently, I discovered a variation from my friend Ann on Split Coast Stampers.  What I like about this technique is the color is smoother than simply dragging the ink onto the paper.  

Please refer to my last post for more details on the basic construction of the box.  

I used a 4"x12" piece of barely banana card stock and smaller pieces for the cover and bottom.  Start by scoring lines every half inch across the card stock.  You can vary the width between score lines if you want.  The next step can be done on either side of the paper.  I prefer to use the bumpy side, because the ridges pick up the darker inks and give board delineations.  The other side portrays those lines as the color of your light card stock.  Either way works.  Put some white glue (I'm using Elmer's school glue) on the paper and use an old gift card to spread it all over the paper.  Then let it dry.  I'm pretty sure you could speed up the drying with a heat gun, but the heat will bubble the glue, so I prefer to just let it air dry.  

Once the glue is dry, drag your ink down the card stock in the same direction as your score lines.  I used distress inks: antique linen, tea dye, vintage photo, and early espresso.  The two lighter colors, you can use a heavy hand when dragging, but you want to go lighter on the vintage photo, and much less with the early espresso.  I also will lightly swipe the edge of the darkest color randomly to add a bit more detail for wood grain.  

Once that was dry, I measured and trimmed the ends to meet without overlapping.  Then I attached the strip around the box, cut wedges along the bottom and glued those to the bottom.  Circles were cut from the faux wood for the bottom and cover of the box.  

I painted the edge of the cover brown to blend in with the wood.  Everything was given a coat of Matte Mod Podge.  

 I see in the photo that I managed to get the seam right in the front, so you can see how that works.  It shows less on the wood grain than it did on the previous box, but I do like the flat seam better than overlapping.

This box went together much faster than the previous box, because there was no stamping required.  Other than drying time, the faux wood is a very quick technique.

Thank you so much for taking time to stop by today.  Have a wonderful day. 

my latest project

Hello my friends.  A friends daughter just had a birthday, and I wanted to make something for her.  Since I do a lot of thread crochet, I have the cardboard spools left from the thread.  I save them unless they are really mutilated.  They make great little boxes.  

Since these are open-ended, it's necessary to add a bottom, and I normally also want to have a cover.  I have a number of circle dies, so I try to find one that fits the diameter of the tube.  Then I use chipboard to cut the circles.  I keep chipboard from cereal boxes, cracker boxes, the backs of paper pads, etc., anything that is sturdy and not all bent.  If necessary, I glue layers together to make it sturdy.  

For this box, I only used a single thickness for the bottom, but the cover is six layers -- three the sit on top and three that fit inside the box to keep the cover in place.   Since it's difficult to cut multiple layers, I cut the circles individually, and then glue them together.  I place them beneath some old encyclopedias, while the glue dries, so they remain flat.  

Then comes decorating.  For this box, I stamped some poppies on a 4"x12" piece of light yellow cardstock.  Then I colored them with watercolor pencils and blender pen.  Over the top of the flowers, I randomly stamped a crackle background and old writing.  I glued the strip around the tube.  Instead of overlapping the strip as I usually do, I trimmed the ends to meet, creating a smoother box.  Along the bottom edge, I cut out wedges, and folded the points over to the bottom and glued them.  I added another cardstock circle on the bottom to cover those. 

I sponged the edges with coffee archival ink, and then sponged on a thin layer of matte mod podge to seal it.  

For the cover, I first glued all the layers together.  I used an emery board to smooth the edges.  I glued cardstock circles to the top and bottom of the cover.  Then I stamped a different poppy five times on some scraps of cardstock, colored them the same as the others, and cut them out.  After stamping the background, I glued the cut flowers around the top of the cover.  I sponged the edges, and added the matte mod podge.  I decided I wanted to add some metallic gold lumiere paint randomly to the whole box, so I used a dry brush technique for that.  It doesn't really show up in the picture.  For the center of the cover, I used some silk flowers.  I put a jewel brad in the center to hold all the layers together.  Then I painted the flower petals with some shimmery paint.  The flower is attached to the box with hot glue.  

One last special touch was to decorate the underside of the cover.  I die cut a fun little medallion and painted it gold for the center, and then I added a special message with die cut letters, because we all need to be reminded.  The letters are actually red; I'm not sure why they look pink. 

Thank you so much for taking time to visit today.  I hope you are staying safe and well.

The SU ink topper

 Hi friends.  Well, I did it.  I spent quite a bit of time yesterday and today putting it together, but I finally finished small rack for the top of my SU ink storage.  I have 15 older ink pads which didn't fit in the main rack, and whenever I wanted to use them, I had to literally dig them out from where they were stored.  Now, they are with all the others.  I store all my inks alphabetically, but for the moment, I'm not going to incorporate these into the rack with the rest, for the simple reason that I've gotten so familiar with the position of the inks in the rack, I don't really have to look for them.  I know certain ones are at the top or bottom, etc.  I may change my mind on that later.  

Since there was plenty of space, I added slots for the ink pads, an open area on the side of those for the few refills that I have matching these inks, and a deeper spot in the center for markers.  

Because there's a bit of a well in the top of the wood rack, I added several layers of corrugated cardboard beneath the new storage rack, so that it sits above the wood.  Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to use the bottom slots.  

Here's the picture.

Thank you so much for visiting today.  Have a wonderful day.

pop up cube card

Hi friends.  You may have noticed that I haven't posted anything in ages.  I think there are days (maybe weeks, even) that I completely forget that I have a blog.  Must be senior brain cells at work. 

Anyway, today I made a couple of birthday cards for the neighbor boy and girl across the street.  They have birthdays on consecutive days. 

I made a girlie girl card for her. 

The stamp is one of the Prima mixed media dolls by Julie Nutting.  I did paper piecing for the dress, shoes and crown, and colored the hair with watercolor pencils and blender pen.  I added some streamers, which were cut with deckle scissors, and added some rhinestones. 

Because he is very involved in baseball, I had to make some sort of baseball card of course.  Some time ago, I made a fun pop up cube box following this video.  It's really a fun card, but the thing I don't like about it is that it isn't flat, so it doesn't mail easily.  I did a little browsing online and found some ads showing more of a wrap than a box, so I decided to figure out how to use that instead of the box.  I did see a video that made a cube inside of a card, but the dimensions were smaller and the girl doing the video used a tool which I don't have, so I would need to refigure all the dimensions, and I really didn't have time to, if I wanted to get the card done today.  Instead, I realized that the 3" cube would fit inside a 3-5/8"x6-1/2" envelope, so I made the wrap 3-1/2"x6-1/4" to fit that, and the cube fits inside flat.  This is the front outside of the wrap. 

This is the back side.  I made a slit and a tab to fit in it, which holds the card closed.  My camera died last week, so I've been using my phone to photograph my cards.  I've no idea why this came out vertical. 

The paper is kraft, so I used a sponge dauber and white pigment ink to press and twist a bit to make the baseballs white.  I heat set them to make sure the ink was dry.  When you pull the tab out, the cube inside literally flies out - really fun.  I think it actually works better than in the box, because if you don't pull the box out quickly, you really don't get the pop.

Here is the card open.  

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

box with a secret drawer tutorial

Hi friends.  I have another tutorial for you.  I thought it would be fun to make a little box with a pull out drawer inside.  I started with a white one, and then added some pretty paper and a flower on the outside of the box.  I also made one from some heavy designer paper with a cream colored drawer inside.  The only tools you need are a ScorPal or other scoring tool, scissors, a 1/2" corner rounder & a 1/2" circle punch.

For the drawer, you need a 6-1/8"x7-7/8" piece of card stock.  Score each side at 7/8" and 1-3/4".  Marked in green on the diagram below.

On the short sides, cut on all 4 scores to the 2nd cross score.  On the long sides, cut on the outer scores to the 2nd cut; cut on the inner scores to the 1st cut.  This will remove the 3 corner squares, creating tabs.  Cuts are marked in black.  The highlighted areas are being cut away. 

The sides of the drawers will be double for added durability.  Cut the tabs and the outer sections at a slight angle.  It should look like this.

Valley fold all scores.  Bring the small tabs to the inside and glue them to the adjacent panels on the ends of the drawer.  Then glue all the remaining panels to the inside of the drawer.  The tabs will be hidden between the layers.  You can add pretty paper to the sides and inside bottom of the drawer, if desired. 

For the box, you need an 8-1/2"x7-1/2" piece of card stock.  On the long side, score at 1", 3-3/4", 4-3/4", and 7-1/2".

On the short side, score at 1", 5-1/2", and 6-1/2".

Referring to the diagram below, cut on the score lines as shown, creating tabs and removing highlighted areas.

Cut the small square tabs at a slight angle.  Valley fold all scores.  Use a 1/2" corner rounder to round the corners on the piece extending at the bottom of the diagram.  (I forgot to do that before taking a picture.) 

Fold the left edge in at the 1st score, add adhesive to that folded panel, bring the right side of box over to the edge and flatten to form a tube.  If you are decorating the outside of the box, it's better to do so before you glue the end closed.  However, it is possible to decorate after the box is all put together.  That's what I did. 

Glue the tabs to the outside of the end panel, and then glue the 2nd end panel over the tabs, hiding them between the panels.

On the open end where the flap tucks in, punch a half circle notch in the top panel.  This will make it easier to open the box and pull out the drawer.

I added a flower and leaves to the top of the box.

And here it is with the drawer tucked inside.

On the second one, I added the same paper to the inside and outside of the drawer.

Here they are closed.  When you open the box, finding a drawer inside is a fun surprise.  The dimensions of the box are 4-1/2"x2-3/4"x1".  The drawer is about 1/8" smaller in each direction. 

I hope you've enjoyed my tutorial and make lots of boxes with secret drawers inside.

Thank you so much for taking time to visit today. 

prism pop up tent card tutorial

Hi friends.  Would you believe I have another tutorial for you?  I saw this fun pop up card in an ad, and I just knew that I had to figure it out and make one, or two, or...  well, you know how that goes.  

There are a lot of photos, because I think it helps to explain things, and I don't have a clue how to make a video.  So, here we go.  

As I figured out the mechanism to make the card work, I also wanted to make sure that it would mail as an A2 card, so that is the basis for all the measurements.  

You will need: 

card stock for the prism part of the card: 4¼"x 8½" (1) - groovy guava used here

card stock for pull tab A: 5¼"x2-5/8" (1) - groovy guava used here

card stock for pull tab B: 5¾"x2-5/8" (1) - groovy guava used here

pattern paper for layers on pull tabs: 5"x2-3/8" (2) - dictionary pages used here

stamped card stock for layers on prism: 4"x2¼" (2) - dictionary pages used here

ScorPal

Fiskars cutting tool (or craft knife & mat)

adhesive

corner rounder 

I made this one earlier in the week, posted it on Splitcoaststampers, and got a number of requests for instructions.  Hence, the tutorial. 

Place the prism piece on your ScorPal with the long side on top and score at 2-1/2", 5", and 7-1/2".  Mountain fold all scores and round the corners.  Although they will not show on the finished card, rounding the corners helps the mechanism work smoothly.  I used a 1/2" corner chomper.  I'm using white card stock for many of the photos, since it easier to see the folds.  I marked them with green. 

Place pull tab B on your ScorPal with the long side on top and score at 1/2". 

On the prism piece, at 1-1/4", 2-1/2", and 7-1/2", cut a slot from 3/4" to 3-1/2" (marked in black).  

Lay the prism piece so the smallest panel is on the right and the folds are valley (this is the inside of the prism).  Adhere the left end of pull tab A to the small panel of the prism, centering the edge along the slot.  For the mechanism to work properly, be sure everything is straight. 

Before attaching pull tab B, it helps if you fold over pull tab A and mark the edges where pull tab B will be placed.  (next 2 photos - note the green horizontal marks) 

With the 1/2" panel of pull tab B to the right, align the fold with the slotted fold on the left of the prism, again centering along the slot (if you marked as above, you will be placing the 1/2" panel between the marks).  Adhere the 1/2" panel to the right of the slot.  

This is what is should look like now.  

And standing up.  

Now is the time to add your layers to the pull tabs.  They will go on the sides that face the center.  Once the mechanism is in place, these will face the front of the card.  I stamped on a dictionary page, using branches and leaf lines (SU sets). 

Tuck pull tab B (left one) through the slot under pull tab A.  

Tuck pull tab A from the outside through the slot on the opposite end and back out the next slot.  

Turn the card over to the front.  You can now see the ends of the pull tabs.  Make sure any directional design is in the correct position when placing the front layers on the card. 

Add your stamped card stock layers to the front of the prism.  I stamped a Hero Arts image on a dictionary page and painted the image with Koi watercolor paints and a water brush.  

Pull both tabs to open the card and stand up the prism.  

This card will stand on its own.  

This is how it looks from the top and the back.  

After I got this far, I decided I wanted to sponge the edges with vintage photo distress ink, so I opened the card back up in order to do the edges of the pull tabs.  Here is my finished card. 

To close the card, you simply push the pull tabs back towards the center and the card will flatten to fit in an envelope.  

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and will try making this very fun, interactive card.  If you have any questions or confusion with the instructions, please feel free to email me. 

Thanks so much for taking time to visit today.