3D Embossed Bows

Scrappassion01 on YouTube had a video about a card she made using new products from The Greetery and she was showing all she used to make her card and her how-to's and then she showed the back of her card. She had used the Lisa Horton Crafts "Blooming Bows" 3D embossing folder on foiled card stock for her card back. Having to want this folder now the search was on..... 

I had ordered from Joggles.com in the past so I started with them and they had the folder in stock! So I ordered that and when it arrived I embossed some foiled card stock to show the details of this folder. Here is the photo of the packaging:

With the folder:

First sample is foiled card stock (from a pad at Mike's) - camera thinks it is blue but it is a dark purple:

In other colours but foils:

and a brushed gold card stock:

The embossing folder is 5x7 so a nice size. All the foils and the brushed card stock did well with the 3D embossing - no cracks or tears.  Joggles.com has very fast shipping and good prices... they also have specials so be sure to sign up for those! Happy Scrappassion01 (Betty) shared her card showing this pretty embossing folder!!

Nicole Silhouette

Nicole Silhouette is a designer that designs many of the dies we see all over YouTube. She designs for KS Crafts, Scrap Diva Designs, Scrappy Boys, etc.. She recently posted a video on YouTube that she had designed small dies with KS Crafts that she was selling under her brand and this die set is called "Doodle Dies Volume 1" -- these dies are random and as she explained in her video the photo on the packaging showed some of these dies:

This die set has 29 dies in it and it would be available to order for a two week period. On the photo for the packaging it shows at the top her ruffled dies, her layered bow dies, then the butterfly die, and at the bottom an eyelet border die. She said she had told KS Crafts she wanted no plastic packaging for this release and when my order came the dies were wrapped in tissue in a card board box. Here is the photo of the packaging and the dies:

 

I cut apart all the dies and put them on magnet sheets so they are all together with the photo packaging for future use:

She included the shorter and longer ruffled die pieces, flowers, leaves, branch dies, bow dies with layering pieces, a butterfly, and three ornate die pieces - she explained she had designed dies for journals, albums, books, etc so these dies can be used as brackets or corner pieces, and the bottom ornate die has a key hole in it perfect for a book or journal or album. 

Since this is Volume 1 we knew there would be more.... she has already said the next "Doodle Dies" die set will be for Halloween items..... Using the layered ruffled dies will bring a shabby chic feeling to any project and the flowing ribbon die will match that perfectly...... 

3D Double Self Closing Gift Bag

Scrapdivadesigns.com had a sale over the weekend and happy me my order arrived today... I bought three die sets and the self closing gift bag is the fav - - here is a photo of the die set:

This die set has dies to make two bags - the one on the left will die cut a top of the bag having a heart edge and the die set on the right has a curved edge. This die set also offers pieces if you want to make a shaker piece for the front of the bag and also a heart die to add to your bag. As soon as this arrived I made two bags - the one bag with the heart border on the left I made a bag using Valentine's Day card stocks. The curved bag on the right I made for a Fall treat holder. Here is a photo of the bags:

At the top of my bags I cut a piece of printed card stock 1/2" wide by approx 2 5/8" long. (There is no die in the set for that piece). Here is the back of the self closing bag:

To make my bags I die cut out the bag pieces twice from solid card stocks - one piece for the bag front and one piece for the back. This die embosses the score lines onto the die cut pieces. I set these bag front and back pieces aside. Using printed card stocks from the stash I cut out the triangles for the front of the bags and the little triangles for the sides of the bags. I put all the die cut triangles on the bag front and back die pieces using liquid glue while the bag pieces were flat. Once they were dried I then folded the bag pieces on the scored lines using the bone folder. I put the front and back bag pieces together using tear and tape. Closed the bottom of the bags also using tear and tape. 

These treat holders go together quickly and are free standing. Another easy treat holder to put together and to decorate - they stay closed on their own but a clothespin could be decorated and added to the top to add interest. And again a good use for printed scrap card stocks. . .

Stash Stuffs - Fall Treat Bags

Wanted to work on projects I have wanted to make for awhile using stash items. Happy me that My Creative Time held a sale so I was able to buy their die set "Etched Edge Dies" for the first project I was making. Waiting for this die set to arrive gave me time to put together everything else from the stash I was using. 

I used the Spellbinders/Nicole Sphor  "Scare A Crow" die set for my project. The bag die set I used is the Favor Bag die set from Mama Elephant. For my scarecrows I used all scraps - solid and printed card stocks. Here is a photo of one of the bags I put together using stash items, scrap card stocks, and the new Etched Edge die set:

To start I began die cutting the scarecrows from the scraps. Then I decided on what colour solid card stock I would cut the bag from for each scarecrow. Here is a photo of what this Favor Bag die set from Mama Elephant looks like at the top when you cut it out:

The die cuts the top of the bag with a tiny scallop edge with stitched lines below that. I wanted my project to be more rustic so I cut all the bag pieces out and used the trimmer to trim off both the stitching lines as well as the scallop edge so the bag is now plain at the top:

With all the bag pieces cut for the bags I then used flat recycled card board and I cut out a frame from the Etched Edge Frames die set. Then I used cream card stock and cut out a smaller frame from that die set. Both frames were sponged on the edges using a brown ink and a dauber. Wanted to have a piece of green grass at the base of the smaller cream frame piece so I cut a piece of scrap green card stock a bit larger and wider than I would need for the grassy piece. Once cut I used a M Stewart grass border punch and punched the top edge of the green scrap for grass. Then I used the same frame die that I cut the cream frame with to cut out the green grass piece. This way the green grass would have the same etched bottom and sides as the cream frame piece had. Once die cut, I sponged the edges of the grass piece using green ink.  Put the green grass piece at the bottom of the cream framed piece then put them on the larger brown framed piece using liquid glue. Once put together I put these on the bag fronts while the bag pieces were flat and the bag was not yet assembled.  Once done I then assembled the bags. Set these aside. 

For the scarecrows I die cut all the pieces and used a dauber to sponge the edges of the pieces using inks to match. Assembled the scarecrows using liquid glue. This die set embosses the face of the scarecrow so you know where to put the eyes pieces and nose. With all of the faces done it was easy to dress the scarecrows. Put each scarecrow on the bag framed fronts using pop dots. Added leaves that I made using the leaves border punch from M Stewart and scrap card stocks. I sponged the edges of the leaves. Put those on the framed bag front using mini glue dots. 

I wanted a pumpkin on the bag front but I did not want to use a pumpkin die/punch. So instead I used a 1/2 inch circle punch and punched out three circles. Sponged the edges of these circles and stacked those using glue dots. Free hand cut a pumpkin stem from brown card stock and put the stem on the pumpkins. 

"Happy Fall" greeting at the top of the bag is a stamp from the Fall Sentiments stamp set from Pretty Pink Posh and I stamped that using brown ink. I cut it out using an oval punch and used a larger oval punch for the solid card stock piece behind the stamped piece. Used liquid glue to layer the ovals. Put these on the bag front using the ATG.  Now the crow in the Scare A Crow die set - the packaging shows this crow on the shoulder of the scarecrow but the crow is large and did not fit on the shoulder of my scarecrow so I put the crow on the grass next to the scarecrow - I cut him out of scrap black #110 weight card stock and put him on the bag front using glue dots. Here are photos of the other Fall Treat Bags I made:

Cute project to put together and I have used the Favor Bag in the past for an Easter treat holder as it holds a nice size bag of treats and it is free standing. Happy this project used printed and solid card stock scraps as that is always a good thing.... This project is in my Fall project notebook for things I wanted to make so happy I was able to use more of my stash for these......

Sale order and craft room - - -

Happy that My-Creative-Time recently had a 30% off sale so I picked up a few dies I had wanted but had not bought yet. Here are the dies:

Here is a photo of the titles of these dies:

Not often we see a great sale as 30% off anymore so I was happy to pick up these four die sets.

Cleaning up all the Easter supplies, dies, etc from projects I made and I finally decided how to store my treat holder die sets and larger dies that keeps them all in one bin and they all fit. Had reorganized my card stock awhile back and had an empty bin with the hanging file folders so I decided today would be the day I organized these dies. I had my treat holders/larger dies laying flat in plastic bins with lids but whenever I wanted to make a treat holder or use a larger die I would have to search through the plastic bins to find a die set. 

With the empty bin and hanging file folders I decided this one bin idea would work out well. Got out the label maker and the bins the dies were now in and started to make labels for the dies. I used scrap pink card stock to put the labels on for the label tags for the hanging file folders. As I looked through the bins I sorted the dies into groups of what they were. Printed out the labels and put them into the label holders. I laid these label holders out on the craft table in alphabetical order and when done making the labels I put all the label tags on the file folders in alpha order. Once that was done I then put all the dies into the folders for each section:

Having only the one bin now it will be so easy to just open that bin and see the treat holder dies I have for projects. Easy to find the die sets and easy to put them away when done. A lot of the folders only have one die set but having that folder labeled will help me to find the die set I am looking for to use. Happy this project is completed and glad it did not cost any monies since I had this stuff in the craft room already from another storage use. This is a project I have wanted to do for some time so happy it is done and it will certainly save time when making treat holders or searching for a large die set......

Shopping stuffs - - -

Putting things away in the craft room and one of the recent orders needed to be die cut before putting it away for future use. Whenever I buy a word die set I always die cut it and keep a piece of card stock with these die cut words with the die set. This way in the future I can easily read what words I have dies for. This sample is a word die set I recently bought from ScrapDivaDesigns:

I used a piece of thinner white card stock and pink scrap card stock for the die cuts. I die cut the words (not shadow pieces) and used liquid glue to put the words onto the white card stock. I put this sample piece in with the die set for future use so at a glance I will easily know what words are in this die set:

Also over the weekend I was die cutting a coverplate die for a card front. This is a detailed coverplate so when I cut out those dies I use my older plates on the die cutting machine. Even tho the die and die cut piece come right off these plates sometimes the smaller pieces from these dies will remain on the plate when I remove the die and die cut card stock. The little brush that Sizzix has that  you run over the die to remove small card stock pieces gave me the idea - rather than try to get all the little pieces off these plates any way I could,  I went to Lowe's Home Improvement store and picked up a set of metal brushes for this reason. Here is a photo of the Sizzix die brush and the metal brushes I picked up for the die cutting plates:

                           

With the bristles on the Sizzix brush being softer I did not want to use it on my plates because it could cause damage to that brush. The metal brush does the trick in one pass over the plate and no little card stock pieces are left behind. (Had to buy the 3 pack as it was cheaper than the larger size they had in one in the pack). 

Also -- while I was at Lowe's..... when I entered the store on that aisle by the door were bins with different products for sale. There was a bin that had these white bins with lids for $2.00 each. Here is a photo of the SKU label:

These bins are approx 10" long by 7" wide by 3" deep. They are sturdy and stackable. I recently went to a Restore that I usually don't get to stop at since it is not near me but I was happy to pick up a white countertop shelf unit for $3.00. Brought it home and wiped it down and decided I would put it on the counter where I have my beads/jewelry making supplies. I had my divided boxes for beads and such stacked on the counter but had to move things around whenever I wanted anything since the cases were stacked on each other. Here is a photo of the new to me shelf today:

On the bottom of the shelf are 3 of the Lowe's bins and also a stack of three other bins I will be using on another counter for something else in the craft room. Happy I found these bins and for $2 ea.... Lids will keep things dust free and now I will have to get out the label maker so I can find everything easily when I am working on projects. . .

                                                  

6x6 Paper Projects

For Easter projects I wanted to use more of the 6x6 card stock pads in the stash. For the first treat holder I used a piece of 6x6 card stock and made a sour cream treat holder. There are lots of videos and patterns on YouTube showing how to assemble a sour cream treat holder. If you do not have a crimping tool for the top and bottom of the treat holder you can always use your scoreboard and tool to mimic the lines the crimper makes. 

This next treat holder is for 2x2 Post It Note holders. From one piece of 6x6 card stock you can get three Post It Note holders. Here is a photo of a couple of the holders I made:

For this pattern I had seen this shown on a video by Sandra Ronald on YouTube long ago and since then this is the pattern I use for the 2x2 Post It Note holders. Here is a photo of these holders open to show this pattern gives you enough card stock to make a flap for the front pieces to make them stronger with the Velcro dot closure:

For my 6x6 card stock I used double sided card stock so it has a design on the back side which you can see when you open this holder. Once my holders were cut and scored, I used liquid glue for the two end flaps folded to the inside of the holder where you put the Velcro dot closure. The flaps make the holder sturdy for use.  Here is her pattern:

Cut card stock 2" x 6"

Score this at:

3/4,  1 3/4,  2 1/8,  3 5/8,  4,  5 1/4

Once scored use a bone folder to crease all the lines. Glue the two end flaps to the inside of the holder. Put tear and tape on the back of the 2x2 Post It Note pad at the top where the sheets have their adhesive. I used a corner rounder punch to punch the corners on both end flaps. Remove the paper from the tear and tape and put the paper pad on the holder. Fold on all score lines. Mark the center of the inside front flap with a pencil and put your mini Velcro dot over that. Close the holder with the Velcro dots (top and bottom Velcro dots are already together in the package) in place to have the front and back Velcro pieces line up. With the holder closed I used a large glue dot to add the circle gem on the holder front and I bought those long ago from the Dollar Tree. I used these because they are flat:

For my Post It Notes I used their brand so I knew they would fit my holders. Another great use for the 6x6 paper pads in the stash and very easy to put together. You can save time if you are doing multiples by using a full sheet of the 6x6 paper and score this sheet as one. Once all the scored lines are made then cut it into the 2" strips for your 2" x 6" piece and you will have 3 scored pieces for 3 holders all at once. Very easy holder to put together and something that can get tossed in a purse for notes along the way.....

Easter Treat Bag and stuffs - - -

Took a couple of photos of some of the bags I made for Easter. The first one:

Decorated a white paper gift bag from the stash. Used all printed card stock from the stash. The ruffled white trim at the top I picked up from a recycle craft store. Both "happy" and "Easter" are dies from my stash. Used a large scallop border die for the top piece on the bag. The glittered purple butterfly I made is on a mini clothespin that I covered with floral washi tape. Inside this bag:

The bag on the left is a die set from ScrapDivaDesigns. The bag on the right is the 3D Spring Bag die set from KSCrafts. The purple sour cream treat holder in the center I made using a piece of 6x6 card stock. The little Post It Note holder in blue on the lower right was also made using a piece of the 6x6 card stock. Here is another bag in a different colour theme:

The little peep bunny on the sour cream treat holder is a die from the stash and I just added a pompom to it for the fluffy tail. All the bags I used different papers in different colours so the bags do not match. Fun projects to put together!

3D Spring Bag from KSCrafts

I used the small 3D Spring Bag die set from KSCrafts for this Easter treat holder:

This KSCrafts die set cuts out this bag and it is free standing but the bottom of this bag has a curved piece. To make this bag I went through printed card stock scraps and found a print for the front of the bag but for the back I used a piece of dotted card stock. I cut out the bag from light blue card stock. All the layering die pieces I used printed card stock. Before I assembled this bag I used liquid glue and added all the layering printed pieces to the light blue base while these pieces were flat which is very easy to do:

You need to cut out the base piece twice - one for the front and back of the bag. Now for the bottom - here is a photo to show this piece cut out:

I have other die sets that cut out the bottoms of treat holders and they also have these little die cut tabs... but even with folding the tabs to the front and back of the piece to help break the fibers in the card stock even using a bone folder does not make these tabs even or to lie flat.... so after I folded them to the front and back for this treat holder I folded them to the inside of the die piece - the way they would be attached to the treat holder for the bottom - and I decided to run them through the die cutting machine. I wanted this piece to be totally flat so I used the two plates for my machine that I use for embossing folders only. Ran this bottom die cut piece through the machine and it pressed all the tabs flat and even:

Using liquid glue I attached the bag front/sides to the bag back piece/sides. On the end tabs of this curved bottom piece I used tear and tape and added liquid glue to the tabs on one side of the bottom and put this into the formed treat holder bag piece. Pressed that in place and then added glue to the other tabs and pressed that onto the bag back. Here is a photo of the bottom of one of the bags:

To curve the bottom die cut piece with the tabs before I added it to the front/back pieces I ran it over my fingers curving it so it would bend easier to the shape of the bag:

This is the smaller Spring Bag and it holds a lot of treats for Easter or would hold a small gift easily. Happy to use more of the printed card stock scraps and the new butterfly embellishments clip onto the top of this bag easily.....

Tried Michaels again. . .

The closest Michaels store to me is a smaller store and they do not carry everything I see on videos and blogs from other card makers. Recently crafters have shown new products for paper crafting that Mikes is stocking but I have been to this store twice and they only have a few of the newer items...... then I saw a video on YouTube from "Eve Ara" and she was making butterflies using the Butterfly die set from KSCRAFTS. . . . 

On her butterflies she layered the wings and she used acetate sheets from Creatology, which is a brand at Mikes and this brand has lots of craft kits and supplies for kids. Well, I knew I wanted to pick up some of these acetate sheets but rather than go to the smaller store I decided I would go the largest Mike's in our area and see if I could find these sheets as well as see all the new items I have seen shown on YouTube at Mikes.... I was happy to see that this store had all the new items, supplies, stamps, die sets, embossing folders, tools that Mikes is now carrying in the paper crafting section that I have seen on YouTube videos and other crafters blogs.... I picked up two of their new die sets that I wanted:

Off to the Creatology section of the store -- this store had two full aisles of this brand/products. Walked up and down these aisles twice looking for the acetate sheets.... found nothing..... I saw a clerk walking by and I asked her if they had these sheets and if not could she check another store for me? She looked up the product and said they are on another aisle -- so there they were.... next to clay supplies.... WHY they were there I do not know but certainly happy to find them! I picked up two clear packs - one in pinks/yellows and one in blues/purples and a pack of the darker colours:

When I got home I made up some new butterflies using scrap printed card stocks and these acetate sheets using the ScrapDivaDesign Butterflies die set:

The acetate sheets cut with one pass in the die cutting machine and I assembled the butterflies:

Added paper roses from the stash to finish the butterflies:

And all together:

The acetate layers bring a lot of sparkle/shine to the butterflies - here is a photo of the first butterflies I had made using this die set before I used these new acetate sheets:

Still a pretty butterfly but the acetate brings a whole other layer to these butterflies. Happy to have seen these sheets in use from "Eve Ara" on her butterfly embellishments!

One Buck Bunny Easter Card

Early February I attended the stamp show in Columbia, SC and since I was going to SC anyways I made a stop in Greenville, SC at the ReCraft Creative Reuse Center store where they sell craft supplies that are new or gently used that have been donated to them. This is the store I bought the Distress Oxide ink pads still in sealed packages. Once I picked out the ink pads I looked through the other supplies they sold and I found this Layered Bunny die set from Simon Says Stamp:

This die set was $1.00 and the Simon Says seal was still on the back of the packaging so I do not think it had ever been used. I did look it up online and it sells for $19.99 so paying only a buck for this layered bunny die was a good deal! Used him on my Easter cards:

For this card I cut and scored light blue card stock for the base, scored at the top. Cut a piece of green card stock for the card front. For the white decorated front I cut out the Frantic Stamper die "Star Quilt Card Panel" die. (Frantic Stamper is going out of business but has a lot of her own designs/brands still for sale). With those all cut out I set them aside. 

Cut a piece of plain white card stock to fit behind the Star Quilt Panel. I ink blended light green ink at the bottom of this piece with light blue ink from the green ink up to the top of the panel with it being a little darker blue at the top. Used liquid glue to put the decorated panel onto the ink blended piece. Set it aside to dry.

For the bunny I die cut that out of white card stock and used gray ink to sponge the edges of that. Cut out scrap pink card stock for the ears. I also cut out his base face die piece from a darker gray card stock and that gave me the base for his face which is for his eyes. Used a pink marker for the nose. Assembled him with liquid glue.

The flower die set used for the flowers and greenery is the "Layered Posies" die set from IO Stamps (which is Impression Obsession and they closed their doors late last year). I used scraps for the flowers and the greenery. For the two carrots next to the bunny I used the carrots die set also from IO Stamps and orange card stock and I sponged the edges of the carrots using a dauber and orange ink. The carrot tops are scrap green card stock and I sponged those with a darker green ink. Used liquid glue to put the flowers/carrots together. 

Assembled the card base with layers and then added the flowers with greenery and the carrots on the lower edge of the card. Put the assembled bunny on the card front using foam tape for dimension. I added a few extra flowers on both sides of the bunny. For the greeting "Happy Easter!" I used an old cling stamp set from North Coast Creations "Easter Basket".  (They used to be affiliated with Our Daily Bread which is now Divinity Designs). I stamped it onto scrap white card stock and used a banner die from the stash to cut that out and put it on the card front using foam tape. 

The bunny die is very easy to work with because all the dies in this set are on one piece of metal so one pass through the machine cuts out all the pieces. These dies also emboss the lines for placement of the belly, feet, face, ears and lining things up is very easy. Cute bunny for a buck and glad I was able to put him to use on this Easter card!