Impressed with Spellbinders Impressabilities

Check them out at the spellbinder website here:

http://spellbinderspaperarts.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=impressibilities&x=32&y=13

These are beautiful, intricate, and delicate. They are made out of metal and does so much more then just embossing and debossing. You can use them as stencils, letterpress these with ink and cut them up to use as embellishments.

My crafting gal-pal pointed these beautiful plates out to me at our LSS and I had to pick them up.

Here is a youtube video on how to use them

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjjxmH3LmwM

I have a big shot and never used spellbinder products before so I had to experiment with using them. Here’s what works for me…..

Sorry my pic is a little dark but this is how it's stacked (top to bottom).....

Sizzix impression pad
Sizzix silicone rubber
Cardstock you want the impression on
Spellbinders Impressabilities
Sizzix Cutting pad
Sizzix Spacer platform

Here is what the embossing looks like..

I sanded the paper so you can see the design a little better.

I think these are awesome and I can't wait to play more with them :)

cute little mini backpacks

Paper: Most all were from DCWV grade school paper pack. also g.s.d studios & Bobunny
Fabric fowers: wal-mart Stamps: Stampology (scored these a day before for 1$ at my LSS yah) Ribbon: Most were from chatterbox and wal-mart

I was blog hopping one day and came across a FREE “mini backpack” tutorial. When I saw these cute little things I just had to try it out. I thought they would be perfect to give as gifts to my kids teachers. So I ended up making 10 (my little girl is in pre-school and has a lot of teacher aids). Here is where you can find the instructions on how to make them….

http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/
This particular tutorial is free but the blog does sell some other tutorials. Make sure to check them out while your there. It's some cute stuff.

I played around with the bag and made some little adjustments.

I don’t own the coluzzle cutters (made by provo crafts) they used in the tutorial so I cut out an extra flap, folded it in half, eyeballed a curve, and cut that out. When it was open it came out pretty good so I used the template for each one: traced around the image with a pencil on the actual paper I was using, and then cut it out. I also did the same thing for the smaller flap.

I wanted more room in the bag to load it up with stuff so for the top flap I added a crease 1inch from the tip of the flap. That way the top of the bag would have a 2cm width and not be pinched shut.

For the back straps I used 12inches of ribbon and strung just that one piece through the holes so the two ends were at the bottom of the bag. Then I taped the ends to the inside of the bag with sticky tape. For the top loop I put the holes in after I covered the flap with DSP (designer scrapbooking paper) and put those holes just above the crease.

I mass produced these so when I cut the DSP to cover the fount of the bag I did it like so……..
Bag: 3 x 3½inches
Small Pocket: 1 ½ x 2

One of the things inside are cards. A 2 ½ x 3 ½ inch card fits perfect. My kids helped me dress them up. Here is one my daughter did. Maybe it's a mom thing but I think it's sooo cute!

I hope some of the tips will help you out when you try this cute little bag out. See what works for you. Here is a look at all ten setting on my table.

HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE

Little monster

HI all. I love how cute this little monster turned out to be. This one actually didn’t take that long to make (if you don’t count the time it took for the stitching :)

Cricut: “Wild card” card and saying
American Crafts: chipboard hearts, paper flowers
Plaid: chalk
Hero Arts: “little inkers” ink pad
Wal-mart: gems
Costco: lip stamp

All cricut cuts were done at 5”.

TIP: If you want the biggest card possible that would fit in the coordinating envelope then cut the envelope first with the “fit to page” button on. Watch the screen after you press cut and it will tell you what size it’s cutting at. After you’re done with the envelope, adjust your dial size to that number and turn off "fit to page". Than cut card.

I don’t have a stitching template for the kind of stitch I did around the border; I also don’t have a fancy ruler with piercing hole in it “But I want one”. So I just took my good old plastic ruler and pierced every half centimeter right up against the ruler. It came out pretty even. I just glued a piece of paper in the back so you can’t see the stitching.

I wanted to add a little sassy to the sweet so I added buns to my monster and a little kiss
on the a**. LOL

The saying was perfect for the card and I love the envelope. This one just makes me smile I think I'll give it to my husband.

Flower notebook

Over at Paper craft Planet the BIA/Zutter group had a “flower challenge”. You had to make a creation in a flower shape using your BIT.

Cricut: Flower “storybook”, leafs and bee “walk in my garden”
BazzillBasicsPaper: Formal Flourish In Stitchz Templates
Zutter: Bind it all and O-wire

I added the bee as like a book marker. Just cut out bee & embellishments then did the same thing with the flip button on. Tied rick-rack to the wire and glued the bees together with the ribbon in the middle.

For the leafs I wanted it to look 3Dish (is that a word?). So I cut out the leafs with shadow and then overlap and glued the ends.

When I first saw these BBP flourishes I had to have them. I mostly just use the ends as you can see above. Go check these out they add a nice touch to any project.

TIP: You use this with a paper pierce and self healing mat. After poking the holes it gets kind of confusing with dot everywhere. What I like to do is pierce from the back then connect the dots with a pencil so I know where to put my stitches.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY

When I asked my oldest niece what she wanted for her birthday this year (she turns 14 today) she said she wanted pens and for me to make her a notebook. No one has ever asked me to make them something. She made me feel so good. I love her. Anyways, this is what I came up with I think it fits her and I hope she likes it.

I thought this paper was so perfect. It's american craft and the line is called "TEEN"

Zebra ribbon and gems are from wal-mart.

Used cricut for the turtle (walk in my garden) and Saying (wild card)

journaling block stamp autumn leaves

pens are galze and gelly roll clear star by sakura

For the giant circle I traced around a mixing bowl on black paper, cut it out, glued it to pink paper and when the glued dried I cut the pink paper with decorative edge scissors fallowing the black edge.

If you need help decorating a composition book, I did an instruction on this blog. Look up "Altered Composition Books" on the side bar :)

This is the inside cover..............

We took a picture together earlier this month. SORRY blocked it out, It's cute though.

For the picture I had an old 4x6 picture album that broke so I trimmed off the end that attached to the album. Taped the pic. to paper, and slipped it in the holder. I taped the paper to the inside of the holder just so it wouldn't fall out.

Paper is american craft

ribbon and gems wal-mart

Stamps is autumn leaves (heat embossed)

Pens are glaze and souffte by sakura

For the date I stamped the letters and numbers with my PC stamper with black ink, cut out each one, stamped each piece with light brown chalk ink and inked the edges with dark brown and black. It gave it a weathered look.

This is the notebook I made with my zutter. I love that thing.Letters are cut with the cricut (alphalicious)

Altered Composition Books

When I first wanted to make an "Altered Composition Book" I had no idea what I was doing. So after playing around this is what I came up with. Hope this helps you :)

What You Need
Composition Book
Paper
Decoupage
Paint brush
Embellishments

When ever I use decoupage or paint I like to put down some paper to work on. I’m a very messy girl. Freezer paper is awesome and that’s what I like to use but anything is find.
OK lets get started covering the book. You could cover the book two ways. One is to cover over the Black spin and the other is to put your paper right next to it. I like option #2 don’t know why I just do (wow that rhymes).

NOTE:You never want to completely cover around the spin because the paper will get distorted when opening and closing the book.

Composition books are 9 5/8 inches long. If you’re covering the spin your paper width will be 7 1/8”, if your not it will be 6 5/8”. If in doubt always cut a bigger piece. You can always trim off the excess.
When you have your paper ready lay down a coat of decoupage, attach paper and smooth it out so it lays flat. Some people use sponge brushes with the decoupage but I like a regular paint brushes.

NOTE: When painting your book make sure you open it flat so that only the side your working on is painted (you don't want the pages to stick together).

Now open the book and trim the extra paper off. Around the corners and if you have a little extra paper on the sides.
Next I lay down may flat paper embellishments. I use just glue for this, whatever you like to use when gluing. You can also paint and stamp at this time. After decorating with my flat embellishments I decoupage over everything.

Next I finish the front with my 3D embellishment. And that’s it. I like to do the back cover and the inside front cover just so it looks finished. You would just fallow the same steps with out the 3D on the back.

Ok well, hope you enjoyed and remember nothing in crafting is wrong because everything is an original.

Mothers Day for my Mommy

Ok so, I know I'm posting my mothers day gift a little late but I finished it up late Saturday night and took the pics right before we went over to my parents house. Procrastinators unite. Anyway so here it is......

The Bag

Medium note topped purse template
Heidi Grace Designs double sided pattern paper (Reagan's closet)
Versa color ink (pinecone)
Crop-a-dile
Wal-mart eyelets
18gage wire
Pearl beads (fake of course)

I love my cricut and although I have several bag cuts I had to give this non-cricut one a try. I found this cut little bag when I was blog hopping one day. If you don’t know about this site http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/go check it out. Lots of ideas you’ll love. So the way I did it was to first print out the templates on cardstock. I printed it on cardstock because it holds up better when tracing and when I’m done with the project I can file it away for when I want to use it again. Here’s the templates…

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12298213#post12298213

You scor and tape the bottom of the bag as shown. For the handle I put two eyelets half-an-inch down the center of both sides of the bag. The beads are repurposed. Someone had given me an old gift bag that broke, and just like my mom would, I saved the beads. I put one end of my wire in the eyelet and twisted the end with needle-nose pliers, enough so it won’t go through the hole. Then made a loop about an inch and a half up the wire (so the beads stay in place), beaded the beads and then put another loop at the end of my beads. Then cut the wire (give it some room so it’s easier to work with) Put the end through the eyelet and twist again. Tada a handle.

For the top I decided to use the reverse side of the paper. Cut it out using the template then inked the sides. I creased the top of the paper twice just so it would have a snug fit. Glued just the part that would sit on the back of the bag and then added a glue dot in front to keep it closed.

You can put anything you want in it but watch the weight it is paper after all. I filled this one up with doves dark chocolate, my moms favorite. The bag is super simple and easy to make and it comes out looking awesome.

The Frame

MDF frame
American Craft paper flowers
Heidi Grace Designs double sided pattern paper
Costco dragonfly stamp
Fancy Pants design background stamps
Stazon ink
Sakura Glaze pen
Fiskars edge punch
Hero Arts pearls
Wal-mart paint, gems, & buttons
Inkssentials Glossy accents
Plaid Royal Coat Decoupage Finnish

My mom and I took this picture earlier this month and thought it would make a good mothers day gift. I got the frame from my LSS for around two dollars and dressed it up. For me, I like to cover the whole paper base with Royal coat. It adds a little shine to it and makes it more durable. So I Royal coated the paper to the frame, added the edge punch with a paper strip from the other side of the paper I used on the frame (with a tape runner), stamped, painted, and added the Saying that I got at http://www.quotegarden.com/I can never think of the right words thank-you Quote Garden. I then put down a layer of the royal coat over all that. I added a little something to every flower with a little glue. The ones with paper centers are ones I cut out from Another Heidi grace designs paper that coordinates with the one I used for the frame (The line is called Reagan’s Closet). I added Glossy Accents just to give it a little something something. For the dragonfly I just stamped it twice, cut both out and glued it down the center. Totally stole the idea from creating keepsakes may 2009 issue. Can’t remember what brand the stamps are but I got them in a set at Costco. If anyone knows please let me know. Used 3D tape for some of the flowers just to add depth. Used my glaze pen to put false stitches around picture hole. I love my glaze pens. Added my picture and that’s it.