Crafts and Me Stamps Challenge: Roses

The Dynamite Digi design team over at the Crafts and Me Stamps' challenge blog wants to see your roses.  Crafts and Me Stamps is sponsoring this challenge and offering THREE digital images to a randomly selected entry. You can find out more about this challenge here.

I've used a digi image named Christmas Robin, designed by Crafts and Me Stamps' newest artist Sue Rundle-Hughes.  This fabulous snowy scene is loaded with gorgeous detail for your coloring pleasure.  You can get your own Christmas Robin here.

Here's a closer view of my Copic-filled image.  I die cut my image using an old Sizzix original scalloped tag.  I added some glimmering texture to the background snowy areas by using a microtip applicator to pounce tiny amounts of Adirondack Metallics Acrylic "Pearl" paint over some areas.  I added Marvy Uchida Liquid Applique' over the flower pot in the front.  Copic Opaque White acrylic paint defines the falling snowflakes.  Whew!  Lots going on here!

I created my own robin charm by printing the full image onto Grafix Ink Jet Shrink Film.  I used Copic colors to fill in the robin, cut it out, punched a hole to hold a jump ring then shrunk it using my heat tool.

 

 

I've layered Memory Box Yuletide collection papers with Bazzill cardstock and Bo Bunny's double dots in yellow to form my easel card.  I added a border of faux stitching with a Zig Pure Green marker.

 

Using Quilled Creations Blooming Roses dies to die cut my swirls, I rolled three sizes of coordinating roses.  A few swipes of Adirondack Metallics Acrylic Pearl paint across the tips of the rose petals gives the appearance that snow fell on the petals.  Cheery Lynn Designs Mini Fanciful Flourish and McGill pine branch punches surround my image and bird cage.

Here's a view of my completed card front showing how I've added roses to my card using the digital image called Christmas Robin by Sue Rundle-Hughes.  I've die cut Tim Holtz idea-ology grungepaper using a Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Caged Bird die and painted over it using an Adirondack Metallics Acrylic Silver paint dabber.  A Darice Favor gold bell is tied on using Michael's Metallic Cord. A Lifestyle Crafts Antique Doily rests in the background.

 and a view of the base showing an Inkadinkado sentiment die cut with a Sizzix Tags Scallop Combo #2 . . .

 



 This pic shows both parts of my open easel card . . .

 

 

 

 

You've just got to hop over to the Crafts and Me Stamps Challenge blog to see how the amazingly talented Dynamite Digi girls have shown their roses while using Crafts and Me Stamps digital images on their fabulous projects!

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:
Creative Inspirations "Christmas in September" (here)
Fab-n-Funky "Things with Wings" (here)
Divas by Design "Lovely Layers" (here)
Cute Card Thursday "Christmas in September" (here)
Paper Play "Fancy Folds" (here)
Moving Along with the Times "Shrink Plastic" (here)
Stampin' for the Weekend "Starting Christmas Early" (here)
Digital Tuesday "Things with Wings" (here)
Creative Craft "Anything Goes" (here)
Monthly Copic Oz Challenge "Winter-theme" (here)



Copics used:
robin head - T9, T6, T0
robin wings - W5, W3, W1
robin body - YR07, YR04, YR20, Y17, swept over lightly with W3
holly leaves - BG93, BG96, BG99
berries - E02, E04, E07
clay pots - E33, E37, E39, E02
trees, door - E31, E35, E47
rock wall - C1, C3, C5
trees, bushes - G82, G85, G99
smoke - C6, C4, C0
windows - Y00
house - E40, E41, E42, 0
airbrushed background - B32

"Top 3" Sept. 19, 2012 Moving Along with the Times

"Top 3" Sept. 21, 2012 Stampin' for the Weekend

I'm so glad that you stopped by to visit!

~ Rose

Handmade Dimensional Flowers using EK Success Quilling Punches

It makes me happy when my embellishments coordinate with my projects. There’s something special about the polished look of a card, layout or other paper crafting project that includes handmade embellishments that blend with the rest of the project’s elements.

EK Success has recently added another fabulous punch line to help me get that beautifully coordinated look that is so appealing to me.

I’m going to share some photos of samples that I’ve made for my favorite local scrapbook store, The Scrappers Cove in Milltown, NJ, using the latest EK Success Quilling Punches.

Each of the flowers shown here were created by first punching two 12” strips of double-sided paper. The bottoms of the strips were adhered to each other, allowing the flower petals to overlap each other. I like to use a thin line of Zig wet glue pen because it gives me enough time to shift the paper slightly and make sure the edges match up, where needed. These quilled punched flowers are about 2” diameter and stand about 1” or less tall.

The top border of each tag shows the detail of the punched strip before it’s curled into a full quilled flower.

The soft, rounded petals of this purple flower is made by using the Carnation punch.

This fun, pointed petal, variegated black and tan flower is made from the Dahlia punch.

The petals of this great orange-toned flower are shaped by the Doily Petals punch. Here, I’ve included a Studio112 adhesive pearl in the center.

This pretty blue flower is made from the Gerber Daisy punch.

This photo shows the four flowers made by using the recently released EK Success Quilling Punches:

I’ve painted a thin layer of Diamond Stickles over each petal of these flowers for some added glamour.

While these dimensional flowers may be a bit too large for cards or layouts, they’ll be beautiful additions to tags and other projects.

I did attempt to make the flowers smaller by overlapping two 6” punched strips. My thoughts about ½ the strip size resulting in ½ the flower size were proven wrong. The flowers made from shorter strips resulted in quilled punched flowers slightly less than 2” diameter and standing about 3/4” tall. Not much difference at all in size, just fewer petals.

If the bulk doesn’t bother you, you’ll enjoy using these quilled punches on your cards and layouts as well as other paper crafting projects. It’s always fun when you have to stop and admire your own work! It’s really great when you can’t help but exclaim “Wow!” at your own special creation.

As for the other elements of my tag samples, here’s what I used:

QuicKutz rounded tag die cut using piece of manila folder
Stamped with Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection Festive Sounds
Edged using Distress Inks Vintage Photo, then Walnut Stain
Dymo Label Maker attached using Tim’s Tiny Attacher stapler
Spellbinders Floral Flourishes
Punch Bunch Dahlia Leaves


I'm entering this project into the following challenges:
Crafty Creations "Dies n Punches!" (3+ different) (here)
Charisma Cardz "Anything Goes" (here)
Cute Card Thursday "A Pinch and a Punch!" (here)
Paper Play "Make Your Own Flowers" (here)
Moving Along with the Times "Handmade Flowers" (here)
Totally Paper Crafts "Not A Card" (here)
Wags 'n Whiskers "Anything but a Card" (here)

 

 

"Top 3" Sept. 8, 2011 Moving Along with the Times

 

 



Magnolia Stamps Sampler Mini Book, Continued (III)

I thought it would be appropriate to add a new baby image to my Magnolia Stamps Sampler Mini Book to bring in the New Year.  Here I used Magnolia's Sleeping Baby Tilda and the New Baby text from the 2010 Cozy Autumn Collection.

As my background paper is American Crafts I Do Gerber Daisies, I filled my image using Copic markers in coordinating colors.  Here's Sleeping Baby Tilda with her golden angel wings . . .

Her wings just weren't golden enough for me so I added a thin layer of Ranger's Stickles in Gold.  Ahhh, now they're more angelic-looking.

I used QuicKutz Cookie Cutter Oval nesting dies to die cut the image then airbrushed around the die . . .

After adhering a light blue satin ribbon and bow with a dangling pacifier charm, I outlined the edges of my scalloped page using Ranger's Stickles Star Dust.

I spread some Diamond Stickles on the surface of some McGill pine branch punches, QuicKutz leaves, and some quilled leaves and yellow flowers.  The quilled flower strips were first fringed with angled and straight fringing tools.  Then the fringed paper strips were quilled as usual.  I love the swirly look of the angled flower.  A touch of Gold Stickles fills the centers of two of the flowers.

Here's the completed full page . . .

Here's how this New Baby Tilda page looks in my Magnolia Stamps Sampler Mini Book . . .

You can find the cover and page 1 of my Magnolia Stamps Sampler Mini Book here.  Page 2 is here.  Click here for page 3.
Copics Used:
Skin:  E000, E00, YR00, R20
PJs/Cap/Pillow:  BG13, BG15, BG18
Eyelet Lace:  BG000, 0
Wings:  :Y13, Y26, Y28
Grounding:  T6, T0, 0
Airbrushing:  R20

Layout Challenge: Suspended Frame in a Wreath of Bo-Bunny Olivia

I love the results of suspending a frame in a wreath of die cut chipboard pieces.  The latest Scrappers Cove layout challenge kit provided the perfect supplies for such dimension.

Here's the products included in the kit:  Bo-Bunny's Olivia Stripe and Ambrosia double-sided heavy weight paper, green and rust Bazzill cardstock, a weaved/braided shapable ribbon, a pack of BazzillBasicsPaper walnut self adhesive jewels, a large sugar coated brad and two die cut curling roses.

I used the Sizzix Flower Layers #5 to die cut nine small and nine large flowers out of medium weight chipboard.  I also used the Sizzix Rectangle Frame to die cut one chipboard frame.

Using the same Sizzix flower die, I cut a variety of flower shapes from both sides of the patterned paper and some of the cardstock.  I adhered the paper to the chipboard then sanded and inked the edges.

Temporarily placing the frame in the center of the background page allowed me to align these flowers into a wreath surrounding the frame.  A 3/4" striped border on each side of the layout helps to anchor the wreath.  I adhered all of the flowers using glossy accents then set the frame aside.

Using an xacto knife, I cut out the center of the background page, leaving a small border around the inside edges.  I saved the center piece to use for diecutting the frame's cover.  That was sanded and inked too.

It's easy to adhere a piece of transparency to the back of the layout, creating a clear inside layer.  Glossy Accents secured the chipboard frame to the front of the transparency.  Any 3" x 4" photo can be placed on the back of the transparency.  I used a portrait photo here but a turn of the layout easily allows for a landscape shot.

I applied a jewel to the center of each flower and aligned five jewels to the upper left corner of the frame.  I used the weaved/braided shapable ribbon to create a bow and adhered it to the frame bottom using glossy accents.  I used my slotted quilling tool to curl the roses, secured them to the base (included at the center of the die cut), and airbrushed each with Copic E19.

Here's the completed layout that shows a frame suspended in the wreath.

This layout will be placed in an album so I'm not paying attention to the back of the page.  When a similar layout with a suspended frame in a wreath will be displayed on an easel, I have traced the opening from the front onto another cardstock to use as a back page to hide the adhered transparency.  Another chipboard frame for the back will allow room for another photo or a place for extra journaling.

Handmade Quilled Folded Roses

I like being able to create handmade and coordinated embellishments for use on my projects.  Quilling folded roses is fairly quick and has a very big WOW impact.

Here's how I make them.

I like to use WorldWin DoubleMates cardstock because it has two different colored sides and generally both sides show in quilled objects.  Patterned paper is usually thinner but can also be used.

I use my Purple Cow guillotine paper trimmer to cut 5/16" wide strips that are 12" long.  The samples here are Belgium Blue and Fairy Tale Pink.

I begin by folding the end of the strip, from about 1" into the strip, up and away from me.  I guess the first fold is at about a 15 degree angle.  I like to crease the fold with a bone folder.  Here's how it looks:

I hold that fold firmly then bring the long side of the remaining strip toward me for another fold.  I try to follow the angle of the first fold, so this fold is also at about a 15 degree angle.  I like to crease this fold with a bone folder too.  Here's how it looks:

Holding those two folds firmly and still, I take the long side of the strip and fold it away from me.  The angle of this fold is a little bigger, at about 130 degrees.  This is the last fold that I crease with the bone folder.  Here's how it looks:

Now I begin curling from the short end of the folded strip, into the folds, toward the flat longer strip.  The curl has to be a very tight curl.  Here's a peek at how it looks as the curl begins, very loosely:

Holding the curl, very tightly, I begin to fold the flat strip, away from me, at the same angle, allowing a spot of the other side of the paper to show.  Here's how it looks:

Curling as I move along, I continue folding the strip, away from me, until I reach the end of the strip.  It's very important when quilling, that the curls be held tightly as the fibers in the paper warm and stretch to hold the curled shape.  Try not to let go so the paper strip doesn't unravel.  If that happens, don't worry about it, just start at the beginning and re-curl.  Here's how it looks so far:

When I reach the end of the paper strip, I use a thin line of glue on the inside . . .

 and hold it tightly for about 60 seconds to ensure the bond is secure.

These handmade quilled folded roses look stunning just as they are.  I like to add some shimmer by smearing a blob of rock candy stickles over the surface of each rose.  Every rose is different!

If the center of the completed rose is a little bigger than I'd like it to be, I'll cut a 1" piece from a 5/16" strip and roll it very tightly then insert that rolled piece into the center hole to fill it.

You can use strips of paper that are wider than 5/16" to make your roses too.

Enjoy!  I'd love to see how you use your own handmade quilled folded roses.

See my Card Art with Copics and Quilled Folded Roses project here.

Card Art with Copics and Quilled Folded Roses

The massive area of an easel card is so much fun to decorate and embellish.  There's even room for a hidden tag!  (see how-to post on making easel cards by clicking here.)  I want this to be a loving Christmas card without using the traditional Christmas colors of red and green.

I've prepared this easel style card using Bazzill dark blue and Basic Grey eskimo kisses in snow globe and thin ice.  All edges were pierced then stitches drawn with Copic atyou Spica sky blue.

This time I added a pocket and tag in the unused space located under the easel.  I hand sewed the edges of the pocket to the background matting piece to allow a little more space for the tag to slide in and out more easily.  Check it out . . .

I used the lovely Magnolia brother and sister stamp with the intention of changing the perception of that image to represent the young love of girl/boyfriend or endearing love of wife/husband.

It always makes me so happy when I can easily find Copic markers to coordinate with my papers.

I created quilled folded roses and smeared rock candy distress stickles over the surfaces of them.  The leaves are punched from a punch bunch multi-punch.  A Making Memories ornament charm hangs from the ribbon on the card front.

Here's another view of the completed easel style card, with hidden tag pocket.  I hope it clearly expresses that I feel my husband is a gift to me and that "all I want for Christmas is . . ."  I might even tuck something special in that hidden tag pocket for him.

Copics used:
Skin:  E000, E00, YR00, R20
Tilda Hair/Edwin Shoes:  E11, E15, E18
Edwin Hair:  E31, E34, E37
Overalls:  B91, B93, B95
Dress/Socks:  RV93, RV95, RV99, G82, G85, G99
Tilda Shoes:  T0, T6, T8
Edwin Shirt:  E04, E07, E09
Ground:  W7, W5, W3, W1
Airbrushing:  R21, BG11

Quilling for the Holidays

With the holidays fast approaching, it'll be fun to quill some pieces that will add special handmade effects to your paper crafting projects.  The color of the paper strips you use will help to ensure that your quilled pieces coordinate with whatever you're working on.

These candy pieces are made from quilled circles that are pinched and squeezed into different shapes.

The quilled circles of this gift were made from graduated color paper strips.

Quilled fruit will make a sweet addition to your projects.

Wouldn't a quilled bunny, made of fringed paper strips, make a nice friend for snow people?

For more ideas of fun quilled pieces to add to your holiday projects, see:  Quilled Flowers, Leaves and Sun, Quilled Things with Wings, and Quilled Insects and Other Creepy Things.

Quilled Flowers, Leaves and Sun

The team over at Ellen Hutson's Classroom (here) is having a week long Flower Parade.  They're inspiring creativity for using flowers in projects and encouraging everyone to leave comments on participants' blogs.  Two winners will receive a $15 gift certificate to use in Ellen's online shop.

I've quilled a variety of flowers.  Each is as beautiful as another.  There are simple pom-pom type flowers made by using a 90-degree fringing tool.  Some have a quilled closed coil center.  The longer the strip of paper used, the more full the flower.  There are also twirly type flowers made by using a 45-degree fringing tool.  All of the flowers have a thin layer of glitter glue rubbed over the surface to add some extra sparkle. (Click on photo for a closer look.)

Expecting that I might also need some leaves, I began to quill and husk different shades of green.  Varying the length of the paper strip results in different sized leaves.  Pinching and squeezing those quilled circles creates the shape of the finished leaves.  The husked leaves are sized by placement of straight pins in cork.  A thin layer of stickles was added to the leaves wherever possible.

I've husked a red heart and placed it above a quilled stem and husked leaf for a flower with a loving touch:

It's easy to give every flower the sunshine it needs with some simple quilling and pinching:

Finally, I used only some of those flowers for my project and made a few more to coordinate.  Here's my version of a Marie Browning card containing stamping along with quilled flowers and scrolls. Look closely to see quilled flowers layered on top of punched flowers for a delicate and very detailed handmade card art design.  The card front is very basic and almost any sentiment can be added for many occasions.

I'll save my other quilled pieces for decorations on another project.  My quilled insects (here) and quilled winged things (here) may find their place among some of these quilled flowers, leaves and sun.

Do you have your flower on?  I'm looking forward to seeing you at the Flower Parade . . .