Saturday 28 July 2012

Upcycled Newsprint & Tutorial

Hi there and welcome back! Thanks again for all the lovely comments on last week's hop! It was my very first blog hop I participated in, and I had so much fun!

This week I'm sharing a card I made for the Paper a la Mode Challenge (Saturday Challenge) over on The Outlawz Challenges. Our challenge this week is to create something with everyday packaging/things around the house. Back when I started card making, I came across someone's creation using newsprint and I tried it at the time but haven't used it since. Well, I decided it was just the thing to use for this challenge. This is what I came up with:


Here is the tutorial of how I did it:

You will need:
Newsprint
Round dies/punches (in different sizes - I used my Nestabilities dies)
Buttons/Brads
Distress ink
Glue


Using different sized dies, cut out circles. I cut out four different sized circles for each flower (and I made 3 flowers).

 

Once the circles have been cut, scrunch each one up into a tiny ball and then flatten out again. The newsprint will be nice and crinkled now. Rub each circle lightly with the distress ink, using the pad to paper technique.
The circles will now look like this:

Layer the circles for each flower from the smallest to the biggest, and push a brad through the middle to secure all the layers.
Voila!

Once you've placed the brad and the layers are secure, you can continue to scrunch the 'petals' around the brad, to give it a more crumpled look.

Decide on the layout for your creation and secure with glue. Here is a close-up picture:

The sentiment is from GinaK's Whimsical Spring (illustrated by Theresa Momber) and I heat embossed it to match the shiny brads.

Thanks for visiting!
Hugs,
M

Wednesday 25 July 2012

July Blog Hop Winner

The July Blog Hop winner is:

Verna Angerhofer

A big thank you to everyone who hopped with us during our very first blog hop. If you've become a new follower as well, WELCOME!! 

Hugs,
M

Saturday 21 July 2012

July Blog Hop


WELCOME TO THE JULY BLOG HOP!

Hi everyone!  Thanks for playing along in this new blog hop!  The Blog Hop with Sean & Regina is featuring cards and sentiments celebrating the Christmas/Winter season! Most of us are going through extreme heat right now and we are looking for some relief!  When I think of relief, I think of a crisp winter’s day watching the snow falling and watching the neighbourhood children outside playing and laughing.  I’m starting to cool just thinking about it (even though its Winter over here right now LOL).

We have some amazing creations for you to see and what's even better is that there are goodies you can win!


The cardstock is GinaK Design pure luxury in Wild Dandelion, Black Onyx and White.
The Image & sentiment are from the 'Tree Traditions' set by the Sweet Stamp Shop and it was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. (I masked some of the sentiment in order to just have those two words - the full sentiment is "It's a Tree Pickin' kind of Day".
I coloured the image with a selection of Copic markers and added Glossy Accents, Stickles & Liquid Applique for texture.


Now it is your turn to blog hop with all of our friends!  The rules are simple:


Leave a comment on Sean’s blog first then go down the list of blogs, visiting all of them (see below).  Leave comments on their blog pages to be eligible for bonus blog candy from select blog hosts. Each blog will have the name and blog address for the next hop.  Our number 2 on the list is Regina at http://cardsbyregina.blogspot.com/ 


At the end of the hop, a random winner will be chosen for the Grand Prize and select blog hop hosts for Bonus Blog Candy.  The deadline for leaving comments is Monday, July 23, 2012 at 8pm CST for those in the USA (for the New Zealand participants, it is Tuesday, July 24, 2012 at 1pm). Winners of the Grand Prize and bonus Blog Candy will be announced Tuesday, July 24, 2012.


      The Blog Hop participants are:


      1. Sean
      2. Regina
      3. Zenita
      4. Lee
      5. Lori
      6. Jennifer
      7. Alex
      8. Madeleen --- You are here! :)
      9. Cheryl
      10. Tracy
      11. Ceal
      12. Cheri


Thanks for visiting!  Please hop over to Cheryl's Blog to see what treats she has in store for you! 

Hugs,

M

Tuesday 17 July 2012

Blog Hop & Blog Candy

Hi guys,
Just letting you know: There is a new blog hop in town! My friends Sean and Regina have created a new hop and we would love for you to participate.
When? This coming Friday, the 20th of July.
There will be 12 participants in the hop, and you will have 12 chances at winning blog candy.
Bookmark your diary and hop back here on Friday!

Friday 13 July 2012

Exciting News & Tutorial

Hi there and welcome back!
I have some very exciting news to share with you today: I have been invited to become a member of the design team over on The Outlawz Challenges!! Woohoo! I am really excited about this new development and would love for you to pop over and say hi. I am on the Paper a la Mode Team (Saturday challenge). At The Outlawz Challenges, there are challenges every day of the week and lots of fabby prizes too!

This week's Paper a la Mode (PAM) challenge was to upcycle/remodel a paper bag. Well, since I found a really cool paper bag tutorial on Pinterest (this is the original website: http://kenh14.vn/c34/201253185722405/goi-qua-de-thuong-chi-trong-5.chn), I decided to re do it and give you step-by-step instructions. This is my final product:


Tools & Products:
Scorpal
1x 12"x12" sheet of paper (I used scrapbook paper, but it was very stiff to work with. You can use any paper you'd like, even wrapping paper)
Double-sided tape
Embellishments (ribbon, stamps, cardstock, etc.)
Ruler

This is the process:
I chose a 12"x12" sheet of scrapbook paper and placed it on my ScorPal.

 
Score1 line at 3 1/4" and another one at 8 3/4" (score all the way down to the bottom of the page)

Fold the paper on the score lines and use the bone folder on the folds to make them nice and crisp.

Open up the folds and add the double-sided tape on the inside and fold it back down to stick the flaps down.

Line your ruler up next to the sheet of paper and measure 2" from the bottom.

Make a fold at that 2" mark and again, use the bone folder to ensure that fold is crisp.

Open up the fold and fold the corners to the inside. First do one side and then the other. This will form your paper bag's base.


Fold the one flap up and the other one down. Add the double-sided tape to stick everything down.
This is what the base should look like.


Because I used a 12"x12" sheet of paper, my paper bag was long and skinny, so I double-folded the top bit (see my first picture). You don't have to do that, you can just fold the top over once and add the belly-band or ribbon.

Thanks for looking & don't forget to pop back soon!
Hugs,
M

Saturday 7 July 2012

July Challenge Entries #3

Hi there,
I'm back again with yet another 3 challenge entries - yes, there has been quite a few lately and with it being school holidays over here at the moment, I find I have more time on my hands to participate in challenges (not that I'm complaining LOL).

These cards are for challenges over on StampTV and The Outlawz. The first one is for this week's Mix it Up Monday Challenge (Colours: Lemon Yellow, Orange, Red & Green) over on StampTV:


The image is from Melanie Muenchinger's 'Pressed Flowers' stamp set and I stamped it using Memento's Cantaloupe, Ladybug Red, Pear Tart & Tangelo. I cut it out using Spellbinders Standard Ovals and layered it on Grass Green cardstock cut with Spellbinders Lacey Ovals. The background d/p is from the Lauderdale paper pack by Basic Grey.

For the next two cards, I used the 'Funny Farm' stamp set available from StampTV. The first card is for this week's Free for all Friday Challenge (Animals, insects, critters) over on StampTV:


I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black ink and coloured it using Copic Markers. I cut the image and the cardstock layers using my Spellbinders Labels 16 dies. The twine is Blossom by The Twinery.
I also made a matching envie, using paper from one of the Echo Park 6x6 paper packs:

The second card is for the CAS 2000 Member Party Challenge over at The Outlawz. Again, I used the 'Funny Farm' stamp set for the image and sentiment. For this challenge we had to make a CAS card illustrating where we are from as well as the current season we are in. I decided to make a card representing my adopted country, New Zealand (we have lots of sheep over here LOL) and the swiss dots embossing represents the snow (we're in winter right now). I stamped the 3 sheep onto white cardstock, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink and covered their wool with liquid applique. I also added some glossy accents to their eyes and coloured their faces and legs with a Copic marker. After using the heat gun on the liquid applique to fluff it up, I fussy cut each sheep and glued them onto the cardstock. The twine is by The Twinery.


Thanks for looking!
Hugs,
M

Friday 6 July 2012

July Challenge Entries #2

Hi there,
I'm back today with one challenge entry and some additional cards I'd like to share with you. If you happen to have any questions, please feel free to post them and I'd be more than happy to get back to you. (You'll no doubt notice that I've re-discovered my Swiss Dots embossing folder.) Here goes:

I've entered this one into this week's Live Chat Challenge over on StampTV (Red, White & Blue CAS). I made the pennants using Tami Mayberry's Perfect Pennants stamp set. The ink is Rhubarb Stalk and Potter's Clay by Momento. The cardstock is  GinaK Designs pure luxury in Cranberry Tart, White & In the Navy. The wine is Denim by The Twinery.


I used the Lacy Borders stamp set for this card, and heat embossed the lace border using black embossing powder with Versamark Ink.


This mouse image is by Sweet & Sassy Stamps and its one of my favourite images! I stamped it in Momento Tuxedo Black and coloured it using a variety of Copic markers & sponged some Tim Holtz distress ink in Spun Sugar over the background. The pink & white twine threaded through the buttons is Blossom by The Twinery.


For this card I stamped the butterfly on vellum, using Memento Tuxedo Black and then fussy cut it. I had to use the heat gun on it to dry it (take care when you do this, as the heat gun can burn the vellum, and turn in brownish). The butterfly, flowers & sentiments are from the GinaK Petals & Wings stamp set.

Thanks for looking!
Hugs,
M

Tuesday 3 July 2012

July Challenge Entries #1

Hi there and welcome!
I'm back today with my first challenge entries for July. It's hard to believe that we're halfway through the year! Today was such a wet and miserable day over here, that I decided to sit down and get cracking on some challenge entries.

If you follow the challenges over on The Outlawz, you'll know that this week they're not only having their usual challenges, but they're also having their 2000 Member Party with additional challenges. The first card, I made for their 2000 Member Party Greetings Challenge (Showing your Country):

Although we've lived in New Zealand for 12 years now, I chose to represent my country of birth: South Africa. I used Theresa Momber's 'Wild About You' stamp set (available over at GinaK Designs & StampTV).  I prepared the background, sponging with Memento Cantaloupe and Potter's Clay Tangelo for the sun/sky and Memento Rich Cocoa and Tuxedo Black for the land. I stamped the tree, grass and giraffes in Memento Rich Cocoa. I heat embossed the sentiment, using Versamark ink and clear embossing powder. The image was run  through the Cuttlebug, using Spellbinders Nestabilities Ovals. The ribbon is from my stash.

The second card I'd like to show you, is for this week's Free For All Friday 'White Heat' Challenge over at StampTV. My friend Judy is playing host this week, and the challenge is to heat emboss using white/clear embossing powder.

I decided to use Theresa's stamp set again, this time focusing on the zebras. I made the zebra DP using Versamark on white cardstock and clear embossing it. I then rubbed Memento London Fog over the top of the embossing, but I didn't like the look so I rubbed some more using Memento Tuxedo Black. The stripey background is from the Zoology pack by BoBunny. I clear embossed the sentiment from the same set. The twine is Charcoal by The Twinery. I ran the sentiment through my Cuttlebug, using Spellbinders Nestabilities Ovals. (I'll also be entering this card into this week's Greeting Challenge over on The Outlawz (Anything Goes).)

Thanks for looking and do pop back, as I'll have some more challenge entries to share with you soon.
Hugs,
M
xxx