Aloha!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
A Forest of Christmas Whimsy
A colorful collection of paper Christmas trees adorned with tiny snowflakes will brighten up any holiday table. Won't you join me in creating a whimsical grouping of Christmas trees of your own?
Begin by making the support system. Four cones made from graduated sizes of cardstock half-circles are needed for each tree. The easiest way to make half-circles is by first making a complete circle and then cutting each in half. Done this way, each circle that you make will provide you with support for 2 trees.
Cut the following circle sizes out of cardstock:
2"
2-1/2"
3-1/4"
4"
Make a notch in the center on the straight edge using a hole punch. This helps the cone to fold over neatly. To form the cone, overlap the straight edges approximately 1/8-inch and tape in place. You can use glue to close the cone if you wish, but tape is so much faster and does not show in the final product.
You will need the following strips of cardstock for each tree:
6" x 1-1/4"
8" x 1-5/8"
10" x 2"
12" x 2-1/2"
Score each strip at 1/4-inch intervals.
Pierce the paper strip using a needle tool about 1/8-inch in from the edge. Try to keep the holes centered between each score mark. Do this on one edge only.
Accordion fold the strip of paper. Glue both short ends together with tacky glue to form a tube. Load a sewing needle with strong thread and run it through the premade holes.
Pull the thread tight to form a pleated cone. Tie securely in a knot before cutting thread.
Add tacky glue to the outside of the support cone. Place the support cone into the pleated cone as far up as it will go. Hold it in place for a few minutes until the glue gets tacky and holds both pieces firmly together. Complete these steps with the remaining 3 cones.
**Please note that going through the extra effort to make the holes and sewing each of the strips of paper may not be necessary for everyone. If you are able to glue the pleated circle around the cone with ease, then please consider doing it that way instead. It will save you a lot of time. No matter how much I try, I cannot make this method work, even while making flat rosettes. So, out of necessity, sewing is my preferred way to do it.**
Start at the base and begin stacking the completed cones in ascending order to complete your tree.
The white tree is the basic tree. If you'd like to give a fancy edge to the tree, use a decorative scissor or border punch while the paper strips are still flat. A decorative scissor was used to create the scalloped border on the printed Christmas tree. A snowflake paper punch was used to create tiny snowflakes. The snowflakes were glued onto the trees with tacky glue.
Okay, now for the fun. These trees are interchangeable, meaning that because the individual cones have not been glued together, you can arrange and rearrange them to your hearts content. I love the look of an almost solid tree with just a punch of color on the third layer.
If you get tired, just change it up again.
Create a unique winter wonderland of your own.
You can use a border punch on one side of the paper strip for a lace edging. You will need to compensate by adding additional width to the strips of paper depending on the type of border punch you are using. You will lose between 1/4" to 1/2" of the edge depending on how much the punch takes away. Experiment on a scrap piece of paper first.
A colorful gathering of lacy trees.
Add snowflakes if you wish or leave it plain.
You can mix the colors for a two-toned effect.
Mix it up again for a patchwork look.
Have fun with this tutorial. I'm off to make a few more printed trees.
Aloha!
Begin by making the support system. Four cones made from graduated sizes of cardstock half-circles are needed for each tree. The easiest way to make half-circles is by first making a complete circle and then cutting each in half. Done this way, each circle that you make will provide you with support for 2 trees.
Cut the following circle sizes out of cardstock:
2"
2-1/2"
3-1/4"
4"
Make a notch in the center on the straight edge using a hole punch. This helps the cone to fold over neatly. To form the cone, overlap the straight edges approximately 1/8-inch and tape in place. You can use glue to close the cone if you wish, but tape is so much faster and does not show in the final product.
You will need the following strips of cardstock for each tree:
6" x 1-1/4"
8" x 1-5/8"
10" x 2"
12" x 2-1/2"
Score each strip at 1/4-inch intervals.
Pierce the paper strip using a needle tool about 1/8-inch in from the edge. Try to keep the holes centered between each score mark. Do this on one edge only.
Accordion fold the strip of paper. Glue both short ends together with tacky glue to form a tube. Load a sewing needle with strong thread and run it through the premade holes.
Pull the thread tight to form a pleated cone. Tie securely in a knot before cutting thread.
Add tacky glue to the outside of the support cone. Place the support cone into the pleated cone as far up as it will go. Hold it in place for a few minutes until the glue gets tacky and holds both pieces firmly together. Complete these steps with the remaining 3 cones.
**Please note that going through the extra effort to make the holes and sewing each of the strips of paper may not be necessary for everyone. If you are able to glue the pleated circle around the cone with ease, then please consider doing it that way instead. It will save you a lot of time. No matter how much I try, I cannot make this method work, even while making flat rosettes. So, out of necessity, sewing is my preferred way to do it.**
Start at the base and begin stacking the completed cones in ascending order to complete your tree.
The white tree is the basic tree. If you'd like to give a fancy edge to the tree, use a decorative scissor or border punch while the paper strips are still flat. A decorative scissor was used to create the scalloped border on the printed Christmas tree. A snowflake paper punch was used to create tiny snowflakes. The snowflakes were glued onto the trees with tacky glue.
Okay, now for the fun. These trees are interchangeable, meaning that because the individual cones have not been glued together, you can arrange and rearrange them to your hearts content. I love the look of an almost solid tree with just a punch of color on the third layer.
If you get tired, just change it up again.
Create a unique winter wonderland of your own.
You can use a border punch on one side of the paper strip for a lace edging. You will need to compensate by adding additional width to the strips of paper depending on the type of border punch you are using. You will lose between 1/4" to 1/2" of the edge depending on how much the punch takes away. Experiment on a scrap piece of paper first.
A colorful gathering of lacy trees.
Add snowflakes if you wish or leave it plain.
You can mix the colors for a two-toned effect.
Mix it up again for a patchwork look.
Have fun with this tutorial. I'm off to make a few more printed trees.
Aloha!
Monday, December 6, 2010
It's That Time of Year Again!
While the holiday season moves full steam ahead, I have fallen way behind the pack. I've managed to get our tree up this weekend but that is about it. Most of my shopping has been done but another trip to the mall is still in order. I keep telling myself not to stress, but you all know how that goes!
Amongst the chaos, I did take some time to make toffee. It tastes divine, if I may say so myself. You can find the recipe HERE if you'd care to give it a try.
I am currently in the process of organizing my craft supplies. I have managed to accrue quite a bit of scrapbooking related items this year and my craft room is about to explode. I have decided that it is time to get rid of some of my old stuff in order to make room for the new.
This is my paint in it's before state. Over time, I have managed to collect over 300 bottles and it was taking up way too much space.
It is much lighter now after tossing over 100 bottles.
I have taken all of my glitter and placed each of them into clear glass salt and pepper shakers. I've placed all of the shakers onto a lovely silver platter.
I love the reflection of the glitter against the shiny glass and the silver platter.
There is still so much more organizing to do. My goal is to have it done before January 1st. Nothing like starting the year with a clean slate, or at least a clean craft room.
Thank you, everyone, for stopping by and for leaving me such sweet comments. I hope that you are all doing well and aren't stressing too much over the holiday hubbub. I'll be back soon with a holiday-themed tutorial!
Take care!
Aloha,
Amongst the chaos, I did take some time to make toffee. It tastes divine, if I may say so myself. You can find the recipe HERE if you'd care to give it a try.
I am currently in the process of organizing my craft supplies. I have managed to accrue quite a bit of scrapbooking related items this year and my craft room is about to explode. I have decided that it is time to get rid of some of my old stuff in order to make room for the new.
This is my paint in it's before state. Over time, I have managed to collect over 300 bottles and it was taking up way too much space.
It is much lighter now after tossing over 100 bottles.
I have taken all of my glitter and placed each of them into clear glass salt and pepper shakers. I've placed all of the shakers onto a lovely silver platter.
I love the reflection of the glitter against the shiny glass and the silver platter.
There is still so much more organizing to do. My goal is to have it done before January 1st. Nothing like starting the year with a clean slate, or at least a clean craft room.
Thank you, everyone, for stopping by and for leaving me such sweet comments. I hope that you are all doing well and aren't stressing too much over the holiday hubbub. I'll be back soon with a holiday-themed tutorial!
Take care!
Aloha,
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Rosette Gift Tags
It has become very clear to me after doing several rosette projects like this and this, that if I wanted to continue making more, I would need to find an easier way of doing so. The old ruler and stylus scoring was getting old and tedious and took way too much time. I just couldn't see going on this way.
While doing some Internet shopping, I decided to order the Martha Stewart scoring board. I had hoped that it would be a dream come true for a rosette lover like me. And it was!
I adore this thing. It is so easy to use and makes very straight and even score lines which is an added benefit to making pretty rosettes.
Here are my gift tag prototypes that I put together this morning. With a little polishing of my technique and changing things up a bit, I can see that this is going to work out great for me.
If you are wondering, the big white space in the center of the berry on the left is going to be used to mount the gift recipients photo. I thought that this would be a fun way for them to identify their gift.
The use of a lattice paper edger adds a lovely, frilly border to the rosette. The edger was used after the lines were scored.
Here is a glimpse at the backs of some of the tags. They are very simply done with the aid of a scalloped paper punch, rubber stamps, and ink.
I just love it when I find something that makes my life a little easier and really does work as the product advertises.
Over the past week, I have done quite a bit of Internet shopping for craft supplies. Because shipping can be costly, I was wondering if I should just wait until the early part of next year to continue my quest for more supplies when I visit Las Vegas. I am wondering if anyone knows of any good craft related shopping in Las Vegas that is in the vicinity of Downtown or The Strip as I would be accessing them by taxi. I would love to get my hands on some of the Prima and Tim Holtz product lines and also see them in person before buying.
Thank you for dropping by. I hope you have a fantastic day!
Aloha!
While doing some Internet shopping, I decided to order the Martha Stewart scoring board. I had hoped that it would be a dream come true for a rosette lover like me. And it was!
I adore this thing. It is so easy to use and makes very straight and even score lines which is an added benefit to making pretty rosettes.
Here are my gift tag prototypes that I put together this morning. With a little polishing of my technique and changing things up a bit, I can see that this is going to work out great for me.
If you are wondering, the big white space in the center of the berry on the left is going to be used to mount the gift recipients photo. I thought that this would be a fun way for them to identify their gift.
The use of a lattice paper edger adds a lovely, frilly border to the rosette. The edger was used after the lines were scored.
Here is a glimpse at the backs of some of the tags. They are very simply done with the aid of a scalloped paper punch, rubber stamps, and ink.
I just love it when I find something that makes my life a little easier and really does work as the product advertises.
Over the past week, I have done quite a bit of Internet shopping for craft supplies. Because shipping can be costly, I was wondering if I should just wait until the early part of next year to continue my quest for more supplies when I visit Las Vegas. I am wondering if anyone knows of any good craft related shopping in Las Vegas that is in the vicinity of Downtown or The Strip as I would be accessing them by taxi. I would love to get my hands on some of the Prima and Tim Holtz product lines and also see them in person before buying.
Thank you for dropping by. I hope you have a fantastic day!
Aloha!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
An Interesting Adventure
After months and months of actively looking at photos on the Internet of well organized craft spaces and finding out that many of the organizational pieces used were old items found in thrift shops, I decided to venture into the world of thrift store shopping.
At the end of the day, I walked away with 5 interesting pieces. After a thorough cleaning, I was very excited at the possibility of incorporating these pieces into my craft room.
When I found this piece, I knew that it had a definite function in it's first life. There are holes that were once used to organize something and the top level spins. Hubby thinks that it was once used for holding test tubes. Of course, thinking like a true crafter, I thought that it once held craft supplies. Either way, it was in tip top shape with little sign of wear.
The next step was to figure out what to do with it. Even though the investment of $2.99 was minimal for this piece, I knew that it had the potential to be of huge organizational value to me. So, there it sat on my table for a few days while I thought of every possible item that would fit into those 7/8-inch holes.
A couple of years ago, I emptied my collection of small beads into these bead organizers.
I was left with a slew of empty bead containers. To my delight, they fit perfectly in the holes.
I slowly developed a plan to pretty up my newly acquired organizer. I wrapped the tubes in pretty scrapbooking paper to hide the labels that were securely attached to the tubes. I used ink on the edges of the paper to give it an aged feel, and tied ribbon to the holes in the top of each of the tubes. Since the handle of the organizer was black and teal and was made of rubber, I knew that I couldn't paint it without the paint eventually chipping off. Ironically, the colors of the tops of the bead tubes were teal and lavender. So, by default, my color scheme was born.
This is the base of the unit. The plan was to paint it and to give it a crackle finish. Although I haven't painted anything in more than a decade, I think it turned out pretty well.
Going for a vintage look, I inked a paper doily and decoupaged it onto the center of the base. Ink and shimmer stained lace glued around the perimeter of the base seemed to be the perfect addition and completed the look perfectly.
I am sure that you already knew what was coming. Flowers, of course. I decorated the top of the unit with handmade flowers and embellishments.
I used lots of ink, shimmer mists, and a gold paint pen to add color and highlights to the flowers.
I love the bright, luminous effect of the shimmer spray on the flowers.
This is the finished piece. It turned out even better than I had imagined it would.
Now, to figure out what to put into each of the tubes.
Hmmmm.....I think that this may be the perfect organizer to hold my embossing powders and Perfect Pearls.
Something tells me that this organizer was originally made to hold these bead tubes as they fit so perfectly inside the holes.
What do you think?
I hope that you're having a fantastic weekend!
Aloha!
Post edited on 11/21/10 at 5:51pm
At the end of the day, I walked away with 5 interesting pieces. After a thorough cleaning, I was very excited at the possibility of incorporating these pieces into my craft room.
When I found this piece, I knew that it had a definite function in it's first life. There are holes that were once used to organize something and the top level spins. Hubby thinks that it was once used for holding test tubes. Of course, thinking like a true crafter, I thought that it once held craft supplies. Either way, it was in tip top shape with little sign of wear.
The next step was to figure out what to do with it. Even though the investment of $2.99 was minimal for this piece, I knew that it had the potential to be of huge organizational value to me. So, there it sat on my table for a few days while I thought of every possible item that would fit into those 7/8-inch holes.
A couple of years ago, I emptied my collection of small beads into these bead organizers.
I was left with a slew of empty bead containers. To my delight, they fit perfectly in the holes.
I slowly developed a plan to pretty up my newly acquired organizer. I wrapped the tubes in pretty scrapbooking paper to hide the labels that were securely attached to the tubes. I used ink on the edges of the paper to give it an aged feel, and tied ribbon to the holes in the top of each of the tubes. Since the handle of the organizer was black and teal and was made of rubber, I knew that I couldn't paint it without the paint eventually chipping off. Ironically, the colors of the tops of the bead tubes were teal and lavender. So, by default, my color scheme was born.
This is the base of the unit. The plan was to paint it and to give it a crackle finish. Although I haven't painted anything in more than a decade, I think it turned out pretty well.
Going for a vintage look, I inked a paper doily and decoupaged it onto the center of the base. Ink and shimmer stained lace glued around the perimeter of the base seemed to be the perfect addition and completed the look perfectly.
I am sure that you already knew what was coming. Flowers, of course. I decorated the top of the unit with handmade flowers and embellishments.
I used lots of ink, shimmer mists, and a gold paint pen to add color and highlights to the flowers.
I love the bright, luminous effect of the shimmer spray on the flowers.
This is the finished piece. It turned out even better than I had imagined it would.
Now, to figure out what to put into each of the tubes.
Hmmmm.....I think that this may be the perfect organizer to hold my embossing powders and Perfect Pearls.
Something tells me that this organizer was originally made to hold these bead tubes as they fit so perfectly inside the holes.
What do you think?
I hope that you're having a fantastic weekend!
Aloha!
Post edited on 11/21/10 at 5:51pm
Monday, November 8, 2010
Almost There
Hello my friends! I do hope you all have been doing well. I am still here. I haven't combusted (stress!!!) and disappeared into thin air yet. Just one more week until this flurry of making things is over. The Pineapple workshop has been progressing at marathon speed. I'm overwhelmed. Calgon, please, I beg you, take me away!!!!!!
Containers are being stacked in every place possible. Hubby is very kind and never complains about it. Gotta love him!
Here is a bin of hair pins that I've recently completed.
Yummy yo-yo key chains. A colorful feast for my weary eyes.
Sorry for the quality of my pictures. I am in a rush (not unusual) as I am expecting my nieces baby to arrive any minute. Baby sitting is very trying when you're busy-out-of-your-mind, but that is just how it is sometimes!
Have a wonderful day. See you soon!
Aloha!
Containers are being stacked in every place possible. Hubby is very kind and never complains about it. Gotta love him!
Here is a bin of hair pins that I've recently completed.
Yummy yo-yo key chains. A colorful feast for my weary eyes.
Sorry for the quality of my pictures. I am in a rush (not unusual) as I am expecting my nieces baby to arrive any minute. Baby sitting is very trying when you're busy-out-of-your-mind, but that is just how it is sometimes!
Have a wonderful day. See you soon!
Aloha!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Progress
Just finished putting the final touches on my fabric tissue covers a couple of hours ago.
They're all stuffed full of tissue packages and are ready to go.
One more down and it's beginning to feel like I am finally accomplishing something!
Have a nice day!
Aloha!
They're all stuffed full of tissue packages and are ready to go.
One more down and it's beginning to feel like I am finally accomplishing something!
Have a nice day!
Aloha!