Inking Around

Pizza Box Tutorial

This is the fun project that everyone got to make at my hostess appreciation event.  Those that came on Thursday made the Purely Pomegranate one that I posted the other day and those that came on Monday got to make this Soft Sky one.  These are really fun to make and I have been making them like crazy so I'm going to help all of you make your own.

Start with a piece of card stock measuring 6" X 11".  Next you will score on the long side at 1", 5", 6" & 10".  Then rotate the card stock to the short side and score at 1" & 5".  After you have scored everything then you will take your scissors and cut at the 1", 5" 6" & 10" score lines until you reach the 1" score mark on both sides.  The picture shows the image to this point.

Next turn over your cardstock and put some sticky strip along the six small squares that are created after you make your cuts to the 1" score mark.  You will definately want to use sticky strip to make sure that your box stays together. 

Before you remove the sticky strip to assemble the box make sure you put your stamped image on the front first.  It is much easier to attach your image when the box in not into place.  This will allow you to press the adhesive firmly to the cover.  I use regular adhesive for attaching the image.

Now you will remove the red cover to the sticky strip and start to assemble your box.  I like to do the two outside edges first and leave the middle section until the end.  Once you remove the sticky strip then fold the small square piece to the inside of the box and attach.

Once you have attached all the end pieces then you will move to the final two pieces in the middle.  Now make sure you know where the top of your box is.  You want to make sure that you attach the right piece to make it form a pizza box.  You might say I'm speaking from experience.  It is very easy to attach to the wrong section.  Anyways, once you know where the top of your box is then remove the cover to your sticky strip and attach the small square to the inside of the bottom portion of your box.

Now fill your box with some matching notecards.  I really love using the Fresh Cuts set for this box and the matching cards.  It seems to be the perfect size stamps for the cover and the cards.

Supplies Used: 

Stamp Set:  Fresh Cuts

Cardstock:  Soft Sky, Whisper White, & Blue Bayou

Ink:  Basic Black & Blue Bayou

Accessories:  Black Gingham Ribbon, 3 for You Punch Box & White Gel Pen

To finish off the box I like to tie ribbon around and tie in a knot.  I find that if you don't do this part then the box is too loose.  Isn't this a fun project.  I'm working on doing a local fair next weekend and I've starting making some of these to sell.  I think they make a nice little gift.

So have fun making this box and share your finish projects with me.  I always like to see what everyone else comes up with.

Thanks for visiting.  Have a great day!!!

Bag-A-Lope Tutorial

You can make a bag-a-lope from a medium size envelope.  First you need to seal the envelope and then stamp or wheel on the envelope.  I used the Real Red cartridge and the Whimsy wheel to decorate this envelope.  After you have your envelope decorated you need to cut off 1/2" on one of the sides.

For the next step you need to use a bone folder and fold each side, except the side with the opening, at about 3/4".  I like to use the corner of my grid paper to help me make the folds.

  After you have scored all the sides except the open end you will then open all the folds and stick your fingers in for support.  Push down on the top of the envelope until it levels off at the score marks. 

As you push in the bottom you will see your bag starting to form.  The bottom will have a triangle peak at each corner.

You will then bend in the sides of the bag to actually give you the bag look.  You will want to make sure that all four corner creases are crisp which will allow your bag to stand properly.

You then need to apply adhesive or sticky strip to the tabs on the bottom and push in to seal.

Your bag is ready to decorate.  I used a piece of 3" X 3" Real Red cardstock to make a cover for the bag.  I then used the rectangle punch to make a couple of holes to put ribbon through.

Tah dah!!!  You have the cutest little bag.  The thing that is most important while making the bag is to make sure you get a good crease on the 3/4" folds. That will make sure you bag sits up straight.

I hope you will give it a try and let me know what you think.  Have fun!!!   

3" Box Tutorial

For these boxes you need to start with a 9" X 9" piece of cardstock.  You then need to score at 3 inches on all four sides.  Hopefully, from the picture you will see that you end up with 9 equal squares.

Then you need to do a diagonal score line on all the corner squares.  It is easy to take a ruler and your bone folder and make the score line.  If each square was numbered from 1 to 9 starting in the left corner then you will do the diagonal score in box 1, 3, 7 & 9.

Now you need to fold the corners to the outside on the diagonal score line.  You will do this on all four corners.

Here is a picture of how the box is coming along.  You will just make sure all those corners are pushed out so you can finish the box.

Next you fold the outside corner into the inside and you fold the opposite corner over that piece.

Here you can see both pieces overlap to form the box.  You need to then do the same thing on the opposite side. 

Your final step is to go ahead and staple your handle to the box.  You staple it in the shape of an X.  Just place your staple at an angle and then do another staple over top to make an X.  Staple the handle on both sides of the box. 

You just need to decorate the box and you have a cute little gift to give.  This project idea was shared at convention.  I love when you can walk away with a great idea that you can use through out the year.  Here are the projects that my club made in October.

I've had a busy day, but I wanted to make sure I posted the tutorial today like I said I would.  Hopefully, you will try to make this great project in the future.  The box is really easy to make and lots of fun.

Making a Magnet - Tutorial

I recently gave some magnets to customers in their bags as a gift.  I got lots of questions about how I did it so I thought it would be a great opportunity to do a tutorial.

You will need:

Crystal Effects

Small Clear Gem Stones

1/2" magnet - sold in craft stores - My package says 50 buttons.

3/4" circle punch

Small circle stamps

ink pad

Stamp your image using the ink pad of your choice.  I've used the Little Pieces stamp set which is perfect for this project.  After you stamp your image, use your 3/4" circle punch and center that over your stamped image.  Go ahead and punch out the circle.

Next you put a little crystal effects on the back of the clear gem stone.  You can buy the stones at craft stores.  I find them on sale quite often for $1.00 for a 2 pound bag.  Just keep your eyes open and you will find them on sale soon.  You don't need very much crystal effects.  I just put a small circle on the center of the stone.

You then press the 3/4" punched out image onto the crystal effects.  Make sure that you put the stamped image down so you will be able to see that through the clear stone.  I make sure I press down hard to get the crystal effects to spread and help hold the image to the stone.  I let that dry for just a minute.

After letting it dry for just a minute, you then put another small amount of the crystal effects on top of the stamped image.  You take the 1/2" circle magnet and press that into the crystal effects.  It may slide around a little bit so I set the stone down and make sure I center the magnet in place.

Here is the finished magnet.  These are so cute and easy to make.  The kids at my Mom & Me camp in June made a different version and they loved it.  I hope you try it out and start making your own cute magnets.   

Fun Fold Tutorial

To do this type of card you need a square piece of paper.  I like using double sided paper so that I have a good pattern on the inside and outside of the card.  Your card will end up being half the size of your orginal piece of paper.  I'm starting with a piece of 6 X 6 designer paper & then I end up with a 3 X 3 card.

First step - you fold the paper in half.

Next you open up the paper again & fold in half the other direction.  You will end up with 4 equal squares.

You then fold the paper at a diagonal. 

As I'm folding I like to fold back the paper the opposite direction to make sure I get a good crease.  The important thing at this point is to decide what pattern you want showing for your card.  This is the pattern that needs to be folded on the inside.

The next step is hard to show as a picture, but what you do is fold the corners of the diagonal fold to the inside. 

I find it easiest to grab both corners at the same time and just make the fold turn to the inside.

I then open the card up again & fold one of the squares into the center.  This just ensures that the fold is the right place.  You will actually then re-fold the diagonal corners back to the center & you are going to reverse the fold that you made on the above square.

This is the picture showing it folded up again & reversing the fold to the front.  Now you just finish up the card adding your stamped images.

When you add the stamped image make sure you put your adhesive on the left side that will be attached.  You need the right side of the image free to open up when the corner is pulled.

Finish off your card by attaching a stamped image to the bottom right corner of your card.  This is such a fun card and I love the response that people get when they open it.  I hope you try this card idea and leave a comment letting me know what you think.

Faux Metal Tutorial

This is one of my favorite techniques.  I showed this a couple of years ago at a stamp camp and figured it was time for a refresher.

You need the following supplies:

Versamark pad, embossing powder, heat gun, powder pal, and cardstock for your card.  I used the Classy Copper embossing powder for this card.

Take a piece of paper the size that you want your metal piece to be.  Then put the entire piece of paper in the versamark pad.  You will need to move the piece around to make sure you cover the entire top of your card stock.

After you've covered your card stock with the versamark ink then go ahead and sprinkle your embossing powder over the top.  You will want to cover your entire piece of card stock with the powder.

Heat the image with your heat gun.  This will melt the embossing powder.  I covered a piece of cardboard with some aluminum foil and then put that under a clipboard.  This is a tip to help your powder melt a little faster.  Also, if you are not doing this technique you can clip your image under the clipboard and you won't burn your fingers.

Let your image cool for just a minute and then cover the card stock with your versamark pad again.  Then you will cover the image with more embossing powder.  Shake off the excess powder.

Heat the embossing powder again.  Your powder is now going to be thicker on the cardstock.  You will repeat one more layer of embossing powder.  Cover the piece with the versamark pad & sprinkle your third and final layer of embossing powder.  I have my stamp ready that I want to use for the image and put that into the versamark pad.  That allows the image to release easily and you won't have a problem with the image sticking.

After you heat the powder for the third time place your stamp directly into the embossing powder.  Make sure you use a firm hand because the stamp can slide a bit if you aren't careful.  The best part is if you don't like the image you can just reheat the powder and try again.

Once you remove your stamp you are left with a great faux metal piece that you can attach to your card or project.  This is a very elegant look and I love adding this to all my special cards.

Here is the card that I originally created for the stamp camp.  I love using the classy copper powder on the card stock and then using the copper cording to tie everything together.  I also used the copper encore pad  for the Thinking of You words.

I hope you enjoy the tutorial.  Try the technique and let me know what you think.

Punch Row Tutorial

Okay, everyone loved the last tutorial so I thought I would try another one.  This is a fantastic idea that I learned on the cruise. 

You need to use the Stampin' Up wrapping paper for the project.  The paper is thinner and will allow you to get through several layers of the paper.

Take a strip of the wrapping paper about 1 3/4" wide and fold up the paper less then 1 3/8".  You need to be able to have your circle punch cover the entire piece of paper.

Then fold back the paper making a fan fold.  For this project I only made two folds.  You can do more, but it is harder to get your punch to go through the paper.  The most I've been able to do is four folds.

Next you want to center your punch over the folded paper.  I'm using the Daisy punch for this project.  Then punch out the image.  You will get three daisy punches that you can use on another project.

After you've punched out the image it will look like this. 

Finally, you will place your 1 3/8" circle punch over the punched out Daisy.  I try and center it the best I can, but you need to make sure that you don't punch through the sides of the circle punch.  If you look closely at the picture you can see what I'm talking about.  That is why it is so important that your paper is less then 1 3/8".   Once you have it in place go ahead and punch out the circle.

You will end up with a great punch out image like this.  Then figure out how you want to add it to your project.  I brayered the punched out row with Taken with Teal ink.

Here is a finished card with the punched out image.  It isn't my favorite card, but you get the idea.  This is a fun little image that you can add to so many projects. 

I used Apricot Appeal, Taken with Teal, Basic Black & whisper white card stock on this project. 

The stamp set used is the great Polka Dots & Paisley set from the Spring mini catalog.  I also wrapped a little Celery Grosgrain ribbon around the corners.  I hope you enjoy the idea.  Try this on your next card. 

This is my 99th post.  Definitely come back tomorrow to see my 100th post.  Yeah!!!!

Pop up Card Tutorial

To make this type of pop up card you need to cut your paper to 11 1/2" x 4 1/4".  This will allow your punch to reach into the  center of the card stock.  Fold your card stock in half.

Using your Stampin' Up! Word Window Punch slide the punch all the way in to the side of the card stock.  Center the punch over the fold line & punch out the word window.  Then flip your card stock and punch out on the other side of the card stock.

After punching out both sides of the card stock your card should look like this.

The next step is to simply fold the middle section into the inside of the card.  Just reverse the fold on the very center part, but try to get a good crease on the top & bottom of the fold.  This will allow you to attach your pop up image.

Stamp & color the image that you would like to have pop up.  I used the crab from the set called Crab & Company.  Then I backed the image on a coordinating color of card stock.  To color in the image I used the aquapainter & a few drops of Morning Marigold & Really Rust ink.  I attached the crab with a little sticky strip on the middle section only.  You don't want to glue your pop up in the wrong place or it won't pop up.

Now the next thing you need to do is cover up the hole that is left on the outside of the card stock.  I just cut a piece of card stock to about 4 1/4" X 5 3/4".  This is used to wrap over the top of the card stock to cover the hole.  I then tore the bottom part of the front piece.

Again you have to be careful how you glue this cover piece.  You don't want to glue in the wrong place or your card won't pop up.  Simply glue the side parts & maybe just the little piece that goes beyond the hole.

So here is the outside of the card.  I used the cute little shell from the set and added a couple of little google eyes.  I used the crystal effects to attach the eyes.  I colored in the image with the aquapainter, as well.

Here is the look from the back side of the card.  You can see that the added piece of paper covers the hole from the pop up portion.

Finally, you have the inside of the pop up card.  I added the crab & attached a couple of google eyes on the inside.  I did find this made the card a little bumpy so I'm not sure if it was a good idea.  Anyways, I finished off the card with adding the cute little saying "A pinch to grow an inch" for the Crab & Company set.

So I hope you will try making a pop up card.  They are very easy and so impressive.  Everyone loves to get a card that they know you made special for them.  Enjoy!

This is actually one of the cards that I designed for my upcoming card class, so let me know if you would like to attend.  I have a few openings for my Thursday, May 17th class.