Die Cuts and Dimensional Magic

Whoops......I only realized I'd forgotten to put any text with this picture when I checked that it had posted late last night.......and then decided I'd rather go to bed and fix it in the morning......and it is still technically morning.

Its a lovely time of year and I've just come in from the garden where we have an abundance of berries to pick this year.  We didn't have so very many last year and totally neglected the plants with a view to removing them this winter.....obviously this is the key to success as the strawberries, raspberries,  and currants (black, red and white) are all outdoing themselves this season, with lots of bramble berries to come (if we beat the birds to them).

Anyway (who can tell I'm in holiday mode?) this is not "Garden trek" but "Papertrek" and this weeks sample are a couple of little motifs made with a combination of Cuttlebug die cuts (from thick cardboard/chipboard), and Dimensional Magic.  I've used scrapbooking paper on the top one, and Kaiser pens (I assume any alcohol marker would work) to add colour to the bottom.  the end result is quite a solid little ornament that could be adapted for jewellry or to hang on the tree next year!

PATTERNED PAPER AS INSPIRATION

There have been a lot of lovely patterned papers around lately.  Quite apart from various ways they can be used in their own right , sometimes they can provide the inspiration for other projects.  The thought process for these quick cards was provided by Kaiser's Sweet Pea range - even although they haven't really ended up as "obviously related".  As you can see, I'm loving the look of  stamped Versamark Dazzle on Botany/Kraft paper for backgrounds at the moment.

DIE CUT FOAM STAMPS

Super-easy "background in a hurry" idea - three thin foam die cuts (using an old Cuttlebug die set) stuck to a clear block, inked up with Versamark dazzle and stamped at various angles onto Kraft card - about 5 minutes work, even including cutting out the stamps.  I really must experiment more with using die-cuts with ink and paint - if only the Time Fairy would wave her magic wand and create a few more hours in the day!!!!!!

CARDS WITH WOVEN FEATURES

"FREESTYLE WEAVING"

"FORMAL WEAVING"

Here's a different style of paper weaving using slits cut into the middle panel of a 3-panel card as the base.  The fist example is fairly random, and the strips are torn , with the ends visible.  I've just added 3 die-cut shapes across the panel to finish.

The second example is more formal, with the ends hidden on the back and the border emphasized with different sizes of diecut daisies.

In both cases, after weaving, I added tape to the back to make sure everything stays in place.  The messy back is hidden when the third panel is secured over the top.  These examples have both been kept monochromatic - they are made from Botany (Kraft) card, (browner than they appear on screen)  but it would be fun to experiment with different colours.

FOLDING EMBOSSED PAPER

ORIGAMI CARD AND BOOKMARKS

I love paper folding so this is not the point of this weeks post - its was, rather finding out whether this highly embossed and somewhat stretchy paper could be folded.  The answer is "yes" although I wouldn't try models that involved a lot of sharp creases as the embossing tends to tear, nor any models that need too many folds as the embossing adds thickness.  HOWEVER.......simple folds like this are fine.  Just make a waterbomb base (a square folded in half with the sides squashed in (http://www.origami-instructions.com has clear diagrams if you need them).  The next step is to lift one side on the front and squash it flat, turn over and repeat on the other side.  That's it!  Place four side by side to make the motif on the card.  Make and package a few more to give as a gift - they slip nicely over page corners to make bookmarks.

PRINTING ON BOOK PAGES

PAGE TAPED TO A4 PAPER 

CLOSE VIEW

Its easy enough to combine images using software such as Elements, but it never looks quite the same as the "real thing".  I have a few old books that I use for various projects and wanted to experiment with printing out some clip art onto the pages.  The only problem was that being a very old (and cheap) paperback, the quality of the paper was poor and I didn't want it shedding "bits" in the printer, plus it was an odd size which isn't a major issue but still a bit annoying.  The solution was to use a couple of tiny pieces of thin double sided tape to secure the book page to an ordinary piece of white A4 copier paper,  The floral picture was placed in the middle of an A4 document, and then printed out onto the taped book page.  It all worked rather well except.........I knew which side of the paper the printer printed on but obviously now realize that I didn't know which way up it printed as it ended up being upside down - something you can't get away with when using text!!  Oh well, the point of this blog is to try different things each week and work out how to improve my efforts the next time around!!  (P.S. The pretty picture of the lily was free clipart but I didn't reference where it came from - sorry- I'd love to add the appropriate attribution if anyone recognizes the source).

PAPER EARRINGS-

Here are some earrings made with cardboard and paper and I think quite wearable.

I cut six circles of the same size out of very thick card with my Cuttlebug. I then stuck some text scrapbooking paper to another piece of the the card with double-sided Jac paper, and cut two more circles.

The circles were then divided into two groups and stuck together with Jac paper to form a really thick base.

A thick coating of Dimensional Magic was put on top of the patterned paper, and when it was dry, and earring post was glued to the back.

I decorated the top of a paper mache box with a book page, and smudged some brown ink over the top.  The rosette is made with layers of punched  flower shapes secured in the middle with a split pin, and the packing is scrunched up book pages.

PAPER COVERED BOXES

BOX WITH EMBOSSED PAPER AND PAINTED EDGES

BOX WITH HANDMADE PAPER WITH LEAVES AND FIBRE

 Marvin has been out in the shed making me some MDF boxes so I can experiment with different finishes.  I'm not totally happy with any of these examples but I have learnt quite a bit along the way, and they aren't so bad that they can't be used.

The first box was edged with gold paint and covered with a highly embossed paper. I used doublesided Jac paper to stick the paper, which worked really well.  The only issue was that as the paper was quite highly raised, it didn't sit nicely on the bits where it joined the wood.  A lot of sanding with an emery board and retouching helped a lot but I think gorgeous as this paper is, I'll use a flatter one in the future.

The second box was a real surprise.  I had some small squares of  different coloured handmade papers with leaves and fibre that were not big enough to cover any of the panels.  I didn't think obvious joins would look good so I ripped it into small pieces (with hindsight not the easiest thing to do to paper with so many "solids"), and stuck them to the box with Mod Podge, each slightlty overlapping the other.  The "surprise" element was that whilst the coloured papers covered the surface, the the white paper disappeared completely once the glue was applied, so that the "raw" box was visible with the leaves etc appearing to sit directly on the surface.  It added a really interesting element.  I finished off with about three coats of Mod Podge.  I hadn't really factored "disappearing paper" into my plans but will now test all papers if I'm gluing them on to a particular surface.  If I can find enough of the paper I might have another go at this one as it has potential.

The third box is painted, and decorated with a Kaiser wooden flourish.  The "paper" bit of this one is the lining - simply suede paper applied to very thick card and cut to a very snug fit so glue is unnecessary. I did this in case the lining needs to be replaced at some stage.  (Its not sitting quite straight in the photo but it just needs a little push on the front edge to fix it).  The edge of the cardboard looked surprisingly brown (I just used packing board) so I ran around the edge with a marker (permanant) in a green to match the box.

PAINTED BOX

SUEDE PAPER BOX LINING.

COLOURING VERSAMARK STAMPS

VERSAMARK AND KAISER PENS

Yes I know this is very "ordinary' colouring of an otherwise very nice Kaiser stamp HOWEVER fortunately I wasn't trying for a masterpiece of  colouring technique.  I was, rather,  experimenting with the idea that if I stamped in Versamark I'd be able to see the outlines clearly enough to colour without them being too obvious afterwards.......in other words, to make the images look more "drawn"  and less "stamped".  It works best on coloured "dyed through" papers but it does work, as shown in this example

WOVEN PAPER BABY CARD

PAPER WEAVING

 I hate to see things thrown away that could be useful, but began to doubt myself with these little strips that were in the paper bin at work, until I began to weave them together.

The end result reminded me of old-fashioned white wicker baby bassinets, so I put the panel under a Regal teddy bear cut-out  to make an interesting base for a baby card

I soon worked out that the easiest way to do this was to anchor one row of strips with double sided tape on one side of the aperture of the card with a small space between each piece.  Then run another row of tape at right angles and anchor each of the subsequent strips (running the other way) as I went, leaving the ends of each  unanchored until the weaving was completed to make it easy to adjust . When everything is neatly in place, run normal tape around all the edges to secure (It will be hidden under the third panel of the card.)
I will probably add a bow to the teddy's neck and an appropriate greeting to complete the card, and for the time being, the the little white strips have saved themselves from a second trip to the rubbish.

WOVEN TEDDY BEAR

DIY COLOUR SCHEMES

COUNTRY LANDSCAPE

SPRING

AUTUMN

I have a bit of a tendency to use fairly "safe' colour schemes, and think that maybe its time to branch out a bit.

All I've done here is use the eyedropper tool in Elements to select a few colours from each photograph, by way of inspiration.

The country and spring colour schemes are fairly conventional but the autumn example throws up some fairly interesting combinations.

The next step of course, is to stop playing with the charts and actually translate the colours into papercraft projects!!!!

CATHEDRAL WINDOW CARD

Pink squares set into blue circles, with the edges folded over, make a faux "Cathedral Window" quilt.  I've added a bit of lace and ribbon to make a new baby card, but I think if I was actually making it "for real", I'd skip the fiddly bits and just cover an entire square card with the folded circle/square units as they are quite decorative enough on their own.

FRAMED WALLPAPER

FRAMED WALLPAPER

A visitor asked me why I had a frame with nothing in it when she saw this picture on my wall.  Had she been wearing her glasses, she would have seen these samples of gorgeous vintage white wallpaper which have pride of place at the top of the stairs.

HEAT FOAM STAMPS

STAMP FROM EMBOSSING FOLDER

I've had a heat foam stamp for ages and was sad to find that they were no longer being made (at least the sort I had).  I was instantly happy again when I read on the back of the new Rub-it Scrub-it packet, that the reverse side of the Rub-it-Scrub-it pad could be used in the same way i.e. you heat it with your craft heat gun and then press something with a texture into it.   After that you use it as you would a normal stamp until you want a change, then just heat it and re-use.

The example on the left was done with the Rub-it Scrub-it and an embossing folder.  The example below was made with my old heat-foam stamp with the imprint of a crystal dish.

STAMP FROM CRYSTAL DISH

TEALIGHT CANDLE HOLDER

TEALIGHT CANDLE HOLDER

We've been playing with our new(ish) forstner drill bits.  Marvin (the pseudonym preferred by my husband for the purposes of this blog....."dreadful, isn't it") made this tealight holder with cut-outs for the candles and for glass cabochons  We put some lovely blue-green paper with silver detail underneath the glass.  The photos don't really do it justice but the metallic pattern glints beautifully when the candles are lit.

FLAG CARD

FRONT OF FLAG CARD

 A flag card is easy to construct and has high impact "looks".  All I did to make this one was to make an accordion fold spine and sandwich it between the covers (using double sided tape to secure).  Stick one lot of "flags"to the top and bottom of one side of each fold and the other to the rear between them.  When you open the card up they pop out in different directions.  You can vary the size of the "flags" and the number etc.
Because I was making this one as a sample, I cheated and used some paper sample swatches for the "flags" and just popped on a punched shape to decorate.  In other words I wouldn't actually plan to give this to anyone, although I do prefer to keep the cover plain when there is an interesting middle.

As I was making it, it did occur to me that a slightly larger version of the flag card would make a great little mini album.

INSIDE OF FLAG CARD

BRUSH MARKERS AND STAMPS

BRUSH MARKERS AND STAMPS - EXAMPLES

I'm still making myself explore different ways of adding colour to images.....who knows it might grow on me.

I have used my new set of Art Stamps Australia brush markers for these images.  These pens are water based (i.e. not alcohol based like the new Kaiser pens or Copics).

They are suitable for colouring straight onto stamps before stamping BUT they work best on rubber rather than acrylic.

The solid "LIFE" (Kaiser) stamp was the worst result - the colour beaded and went distinctly splotchy.....I guess if you're after a distressed result it might have applications.  The butterfly outline stamp (also Kaiser) was a bit patchy but worked OK.

I wasn't overly keen on the results on the rubber (Rubbadubbadoo) trees either - once again the ink seemed to bead.  this might have been my fault, however, as I think I might have used too much ink.  A lighter touch on the strawberry (also Rubbadubbadoo) worked much better.  Finally the result I was seeking!!!!

The best outcome though was actually colouring in a prestamped image (Judikins).  I just put a tiny bit of colour on each petal of the flower and dragged it using a damp paint brush and "ta da"...instant shading!  I think this is how I'll be using the markers from now on.

RUBIK'S CUBE NEVERENDING CARD

I did a demo at work this week with a 70s theme.  I'm not sure that anyone else liked this, but it was my favourite - an adaptation of the "Neverending Card" as a Rubiks cube card (and yes I know I've forgotten the orange!).

There are lots of different instructions available for the neverending card - some can be horribly confusing.
 http://www.victorineoriginals.com/images/samples/instructions/neverendingcard.html has great easy to follow steps.  Obviously there are more conventional ways to decorate these cards.

ORIGAMI SHIRT CARDS

ORIGAMI SHIRT CARDS

Not all origami is highly three dimensional or huge.  There are lots of models that can be either used "as is" or easily adapted for use on cards.

This shirt is one of my favourites as it can be modified in lots of different ways to suit the particular occasion - add buttons or brooches, ties or scarves, colour in various ways etc.  Add a pocket and fill it with various items (hankies, tools, pens etc.etc.  There are a so many things you can do.  I've just made a couple of quick examples.

This shirt pattern is from Start Origami by Mark Bolitho but lots of other variations are available on-line

DISPLAYING ORIGAMI

ADD TO AN EXISTING DISPLAY

 You have probably gathered that I really like paper.  I find folding it to be a very relaxing thing to do, and I love the tactile aspect of many papers.  The problem (such as it is) is what to do with the end results as (much like this blog) its the doing rather than the end product that is the main attraction for me.

I rescued the dictionary from which these examples are made from the bin at work, and rather liked them, so I'm putting my mind to thinking about how to display little bits of origami around the house in such a way that it doesn't look like a tip.

DECORATE YOUR POTPLANTS

Here are a couple of ideas .


The motif is made from interlocked waterbomb bases with a split pin in the middle.

The butterfly is the Yoshizawa butterfly.  You'll find lots of instructions on-line if you want to make your own.

BREAD TAG MONSTERS

BREAD TAG MONSTERS

 Bread tag monsters are everywhere at the moment (just do an image search and prepare to be amazed).  Just looking at them gave me a hundred and one ideas of different things to do.

I promised to do a couple of kid's cards for an upcoming demo, so here is my version. I've kept it very basic.  The white ones have two eyes, the red ones one eye and the blue ones three eyes.  You could do all sorts of "educational" things to do with counting, colours and storytelling, but just making them is fun.

If sticking the googly eyes on is too difficult adhesive pearls would be fine and/or if really little people might eat them you could draw them on with a permanent marker.  ( Be aware that bread tags could be swallowed too!)

CABOCHON NECKLACES FEATURING PAPERS

IDEAS FOR BEZEL & CABOCHON PENDANTS
I've been experimenting making pendants with bezels and glass cabochons,  I think some work better than others but all of them are wearable.  Plus, I had lots of fun playing!!!

KAISER FUSION MARKERS ON DIFFERENT SURFACES

SOME THINGS TO COLOUR WITH KAISER FUSION PENS 

I've just treated myself to some of the new Kaiser fusion pens.  I haven't really played around much with  alcohol markers before so I'm still at the experimental stage.

So far.....they work well on peel-off stickers and silver rhinestones but the colour is affected by the surface so in this case both turned out several shades lighter than the tomato red marker marks on white paper.

The colour was "truer" on the gold split pin, although this was harder to colour than I had anticipated - there may have been a coating on the metal??  Some "blingy" trims (Green Tara) coloured really well (and yes I did use purple for the second one, it isn't a weird colour effect!

Overall I was pretty pleased with the results but have made a note to myself to colour test first if I'm colouring an unusual surface to make sure the results will be what I'm seeking.  I'll be experimenting more in the near future.

SHAPED MASK STAMPING

CIRCLE MASK

This is what I did with the circle shape I cut out last week to make the circle stencil, and its just as easy.  I was tempted to say that I attached the circle to the page with repositionable tape but actually I just held it in place and worked around my fingers..so however you want to tackle it...Put the circle or shape  you want to use as a mask wherever you want it to be on your card front and just stamp over it.  When the circle is removed a blank area remains for decoration or a greeting......too simple!!

CIRCLE STENCIL STAMPING

CIRCLE STENCIL STAMPING

An extra simple technique this week - just die cut a circle from thick paper, place the latter over your card front and stamp over the hole with a background stamp (the one I've used is from Kaiser).  Next week I'll post the example of using the circle as a mask!

EARRINGS

NIB EARRINGS

This is quite probably more accurately paper-related rather than papercraft as such but........I was rather pleased with these earrings - just made with an iron ore bead threaded onto a beading post which is then threaded through a hollow nib.  (This one is designed for use with a Pergamano tool).  A jump ring and posts are added to finish - literally five minutes work from start to finish and yes, I have worn them several times and no, I haven't skewered myself on the pointy ends yet!

CHALK/EYE SHADOWS ON BLACK CARD

EYESHADOW/CHALKS ON BLACK CARD

Just when you thought I'd put the eye shadow away.....I didn't expect much in the way of impact when I tried the eye shadows on black card (chalks will work the same way) but was pleasantly surprised.  The real thing has a slightly dreamy feel to it and the colour is quite subtle but it is there.  I used an embossing folder in my Cuttlebug as decoration - embossing on black alone doesn't show up particularly well because of the abscence of shadow but the chalk/eye shadow highlighted it nicely without being over the top.  I added the text on the computer as it looked a bit bare and I didn't have time to make a "proper card" but hopefully you get the idea.

EXPRESS SCRAPBOOKING

Scrapbook Express

I was a day late posting (first time ever in over a year) last week.....partly because I was working on this week's offering.
We had a weekend in Melbourne and rather than consign the photos to the "Gunnadoo" pile I decided to do something with them straight away.  I'm not at avid scrapbooker but quite like the concept of mini albums which in my household are more likely to be looked through than 12 x 12 epic productions.
Luck (good or bad I'm not sure which) would have it that I only took my little pocket camera with me and somehow in re-setting the light sensitivity I also changed the image quality to small.....no more that about four inches at 300dpi.  That meant I didn't have to agonize about appropriate sizing - basically everything was edited to 2 x 3, 2 x 2 or 3 x 3 (inches). This also made layouts simple as the pages were cut to fit these sizes  I used textured ivory off-cuts. I kept to a simple colour scheme - ivory, black, red and silver.  As the aim was to undertake this project  immediately while events were fresh in my mind and before it became just another thing on the "to do" pile I decided to try and finish within a week (bearing in mind I work full-time so we are talking evenings).  As a consequence rather than play around with fancy binding I made a template to ensure that all the holes were cut  in the same place and simply punched a hole in the corner of all the pages and fixed them together with a screw post.  I used my Cuttlebug to die-cut the front page title but other than that all the rest of the journalling was handwritten.  (This was actually the biggest challenge as I always feel that my writing is never neat enough even although intellectually I know that this is not the point).  I used my score board to score lines onto ivory card before writing so that I could keep the text more or less straight and I didn't ruin a whole page if I made a mistake. I cut most of the journalling blocks with a 2 inch square hole punch.  
Everything that would fit went onto the pages- over 100 photos, footy and movie tickets, boarding passes etc and yes......it was finished withing the week!!!  It won't win any prizes for neatness or originality and I won't be bringing it out to show the visitors........but I didn't make it for them.  In 10 years time hopefully I
can browse through the pages and remember a really lovely weekend away.  So my advice to myself is don't always put it away until I have time........JUST DO IT!!

DREMEL AND CHIPBOARD

CHIPBOARD WITH DREMEL DECORATION

This is a little sample I did to answer the question of whether or not I could use my Dremel heat tool to scorch a design into chipboard (without setting it on fire!!!).  The answer is obviously "Yes I can" which opens up a whole new set of ideas to explore!  (And as must be obvious from my rather dodgy example.....new skills to practise!!)

EMBOSSED SOFT DRINK CAN

EMBOSSED SOFT DRINK CAN

This is cheating a bit, as its not paper as such, but soft drink cans emboss beautifully in the Cuttlebug......just cut the top and bottom off with kitchen scissors.  I'm a little bit cautious about scratching the folders so whilst I have done this without, I think its a good idea to sandwich the aluminium between a couple of pieces of kitchen toweling to be on the safe side.  I've coloured this one with Sharpie pens, but any solvent based pens would do.  The finished panel can be mounted on the front of a card as a background or as the main feature.  If it insists on curling and can be "tamed" with some split pins to the corners to attach.  It would also be a nice box top or tag.

CROCHET WITH FILTERS

PHOTO OF CROCHET MAT

EMBOSS FILTER

GLOWING EDGES FILTER

PHOTOCOPY FILTER

STAMP FILTER

I've spent the last couple of weeks making a couple of crochet mats, so most of my papercrafting has been work-related HOWEVER when I took a picture of one of the finished mats it did occur to me that it would make a great background for a greeting card, and that it was ideally suited to playing with the Photoshop Elements filters.  I've used different colours for each of these examples but other than that its a straightforward application of the filter as captioned to the original image.  I can't wait to get the time to print some of these out and use them!