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.