Card layout for using up scraps

30 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in Cards, Cupcake Builder, Fancy Flower, General occasion, Punches, Using up scraps

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

So far I’ve focused on little projects and ideas for using up left over pieces of pretty paper.   If you’re anything like me though, you probably have a pile of paper that you have been saving for a rainy day, because it’s too beautiful to throw out, or because you haven’t quite figured out what to do with it.

Today’s post is a suggestion for a simple card layout that can use up some of that gorgeous paper by turning it into cards.   These cards are really easy – if each one takes you 10 minutes I’d be surprised!  Probably more like 5 once you get the hang of it!

This Soft Suede card is 14 cm x 14cm.   The Pool Party background is 13 cm x 13cm and the DSP (from the free Everyday Enchantment set from Stampin’ Up!’s 2012 Sale-a-bration) was 12.5 x 12.5cm.    I added a doily, a Pool Party and Whisper White circle and used the Cupcake punch and matching stamp set to make the centre embellishment.

20121210_154540The great thing about this card layout though is that it can work with pretty much anything in the middle.    Here’s another one with a Fancy Flower in the middle.

20121210_154551

Pretty much any flower, heart or circle punch would work, as would a butterfly.  You could also turn it into an age birthday card by adding some die cut numbers in the middle.   The possibilities are endless really!

Thanks for reading.  I hope you’ve gotten some ideas to try out in your own card making 🙂

Elmo invitation

29 Wednesday May 2013

Posted by in Big Shot, Circles #2, Dies, Invitations, Kids cards, Large Oval, Scallop circle

≈ 1 Comment

The other day I showed you the invitations I made for my son’s 4th birthday party this year.   I’ve already had some great feedback about how excited the kids were to open the card and see a big ball pop up!

That all reminded me of an invitation I made for his birthday party when he was 2 and obsessed with Elmo from Sesame Street.

photo-2

I used the Stampin’ Up! Scallop Circle Die with my Big Shot to cut out all Riding Hood Red circles for the invitations.    The white eyes were cut from the Circles #2 die and I think I used my smallest circle punch for the black centres (you could also use the larger circles from the Stampin’ Up! Owl Builder punch).    The nose was cut from Tangerine Tango (but Pumpkin Pie or More Mustard would also work).    The black mouth was half of the largest circle from the Circles #2 die.

I stamped a basic invitation block on the back and I was done.

photo-3

Too easy – and the kids adored them!

Covered notebooks and matching pencils

28 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in 3D projects, Decorative Label, Gift tags & wrapping, Modern Label, Notebooks, Using up scraps

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , ,

The other day I showed you how to make mini notebooks covered with DSP.  Today I wanted to show you how effective it can be to take ordinary A4 exercise books and decorate them with DSP.

20121207_140453

This was a little present we gave to a family friend who was starting university.   I covered a bundle of A4 exercise books in coordinating DSP and covered some matching pencils.

20121207_140522

I made a label where she could write her name or a subject name for each book.  The larger pink label is punched out in melon mambo using the Stampin’ Up! Decorative Label punch, and the smaller white label is punched out using the Stampin’ Up! Modern Label punch.

20121207_140528

To make the covered pencils, measure the distance between the end of the eraser and the beginning of the wood at the bottom.  Cut a piece of DSP to that width, with enough length to wrap around the pencil 2 or 3 times.    I’ve found it’s easier if you wrap the paper around the pencil a few times before trying to glue it on – it just works a bit better when you come to stick it down if it’s already a little bit “bendy”.    I run a line of Sticky Strip (double sided tape) along the edge of the paper which will be the last to stick down and use Snail adhesive to cover the rest of the DSP and stick it as I wrap around the pencil.

This is a really nice idea for a simple gift for someone – particularly someone like me who loves their stationery!

Thanks for reading 🙂

Peg magnets

28 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by in 3D projects, Beautiful Butterflies, Blossom Builder, Gift tags & wrapping, Notebooks, Tutorial, Using up scraps

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

Here is another idea I borrowed from the very talented Tanya Bell’s blog – this time, making magnets or paper holders out of pegs covered with DSP.

photo-4

These are so easy to do!  Step one, measure the size of your peg (cheap wooden pegs are the best).   Step 2, cut out lots of strips of DSP (this is such a great way to use up tiny little pieces you couldn’t figure out what to do with but couldn’t bear to throw away!).  Step 3, stick onto the peg!   Snail adhesive works well but starts to lose its “stick” after a few months so double sided tape like Sticky Strip is best.

I turned my pegs into magnets by sticking some magnets onto the back side of the peg.   One tip I learned here – if you want to use the peg as a magnet, either don’t decorate the reverse of the peg, or definitely use sticky strip to adhere the DSP to the paper.  Snail adhesive is not strong enough to keep the DSP stuck to the peg once it is stuck on the fridge with a magnet!

Here are a bunch of pegs with the DSP stuck on, waiting to be decorated.

20120605_161653

And here are a bunch more, after being decorated with butterflies, birds and flowers.  I’ve used die cut and punched butterflies, the bird from the Stampin’ Up! bird builder punch, and various flower punches.  Pearls and rhinestones can add some added ‘bling’.

20120605_161643

They can look quite cute packaged up in cellophane bags for a small gift for someone.

20121209_220144-1

photo

Adding some pegs with a little covered notebook (see yesterday’s post) can also look really cute.

20121209_220108So next time you finish a project and have a thin piece of DSP left over, why not turn it into a cute little peg fridge magnet?

Covered mini notebooks

27 Monday May 2013

Posted by in 3D projects, Notebooks, Tutorial, Uncategorized, Using up scraps

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , ,

Hi.  Thanks for stopping by my blog!

I wanted to show you another cute use for some bits and pieces of DSP (designer series paper) or other pretty scrap paper you have lying about.

20120725_081836

I got this idea from the very talented Tanya Bell, who posted some gorgeous covered notebooks, as well as a YouTube tutorial on how she made them.  I get a lot of inspiration from Tanya’s blog, so encourage you to check it out.

I made mine a little differently, but the basic idea is the same.    I bought some little notebooks from a $2 shop (I think I got 8 little books for $3?).   Rather than covering the books just with DSP like Tanya’s tutorial, I wanted to make the cover a little sturdier so covered it with card stock first and then decorated with rectangles of DSP.

To make the card stock cover, I measured the size of the width of the front of the notebook and added 2mm on either side.   This is the width of the card stock you’ll need to cut.    To figure out the length you need to:

1 –  measure the length of the front of your notebook (eg 8cm) and double it (ie, 16cm)

2 – measure the depth of the notebook (ie, the size of the ‘spine’) (eg 0.5 cm)

3 – add 2mm overhang for the front and back (ie, 0.4cm)

The total length would be 1 + 2 + 3 (using the dimensions in my example, this works out to be 16.9cm)

You then want to score the length of the paper where the fold for the spine would be.  (Using these example measurements, you would score at 8.2cm in from either side of the long end of the card stock, leaving a .5cm fold in the centre of the card stock which would go around the spine of your notebook.)

Fold and make sharp creases on the score lines.  I use a bone folder to get a really nice crease line.

Attach the card stock to the front and back covers of the notebook and stick down over the spine.  You can use glue (eg Snail adhesive) to do this, but I found that using Sticky Strip (Stampin’ Up!’s uber strong double sided tape) gives a stronger hold.

To decorate the cover I used some leftover DSP and the snail image from the Button Buddies stamp set, with a button on the snail attached with a glue dot.

I have made these notebooks with all sorts of decorations.   Butterfly punches can make them look especially gorgeous!

photo

photo-5

photo-1 copy 2

I have also used DSP and various punches and stamps to decorate plain spiral notebooks.  These are super easy – just measure the front of the spiral notebook just to the edge of the spiral, then cut and glue on the DSP.

20120727_185607I decorated these ones with the Stampin’ Up! Blossom punch in Daffodil Delight card stock, and I used the wings from the Bird Builder punch to create leaves.  A 1 inch circle punch made the centre of the flower and a cute button in Daffodil Delight finished it off.

These are so easy to make I hope you have a go.   I’d love to see a photo of anything you make!

Thanks for reading

Caro

Updated – some more pictures of envelope gift card holders

26 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in Gift card holders, Gift tags & wrapping, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Hi

I hope you saw my post on Thursday showing you how to make gift card holders out of envelopes.   These are some of my favourite things to make – so quick and easy but always get a ‘wow’ from the person who receives them.

I mentioned in the post I also like to make them out of florals, spots, stripes etc.   I was just sorting through some photos and found a couple of some gift cards I made a year or so ago so thought I’d share them too.

photo-1

Enjoy!

Home decorations with flower punches

26 Sunday May 2013

Posted by in 1 3/4 inch scallop circle, 3D projects, Big Shot, Blossom, Boho Blossoms, Fancy Flower, Home decorating

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

Hi there

Continuing my recent mission on using up paper from my enormous stash, my son and I recently decided to make some flowers I can keep in my office all the time.

photo-5

We used a variety of Stampin’ Up! punches – Blossom, Fancy Flower, Boho Blossoms, and various scallop and circle punches as well as some die cut flowers.   Stick them all together with glue and dimensionals to make flowers, and finish off with a button or brad in the centre.   We used Riding Hood Red, Cherry Cobbler, Bravo Burgundy and Poppy Parade (retired) card stock.

I attached these to ordinary kitchen skewers and put them inside an old vinegar bottle which had lovely leaf designs built into the glass.

Mr 3 is very pleased with the flowers in my office!

A quick Quintessential flower card

25 Saturday May 2013

Posted by in 1 inch circle, 2 3/8 inch scallop punch, Cards, Embossing folders, Mini scallop, Perfect Polka Dots

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

,

I needed to make a birthday card very quickly the other day so I thought I’d show you what I came up with.    It was so easy to make this card I made a few at a time.  I just used various shades of pink C6 cards and added some Whisper White (10cm x 14.2cm) which I’d embossed with my Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

photo

I stamped a bunch of images from the Stampin’ Up! quintessential flower stamp –  in Pretty in Pink, Blushing Bride (retired but about to return!), Rose Red and Melon Mambo.

I then punched out at least one colour each of the various flowers/circles in the image using my 2 3/8 scallop punch, 1 3/4 scallop punch, mini scallop punch and 1 inch circle punch.      Then just mix n match, layering up with Snail glue and dimensionals.    I popped a Glimmer brad and some pink pearls I found at a $2 dollar shop in the centre, but you could also use pearls and rhinestones.

Here’s a close up of some of the flowers.    I think they would also work really well on gift tags or even stuck directly onto a gift wrapped present.

IMG_1357

photo-2

Looking at these pictures I think next time I use this flower I am going to have to put some bling in those little dots around the edge of the widest flower!

I hope you enjoy.

A simple butterfly card

24 Friday May 2013

Posted by in Bitty Butterfly, Cards, Elegant Butterly, Using up scraps

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, ,

Today’s post is a good example of how you can keep things simple but I think still get a very striking result.

photo

I’ve used Whisper White card stock with a rectangle of Blushing Bride DSP (retired, but Blushing Bride is coming back in the new Stampin Up catalogue, yay!) to make the basic card.   I also stuck on some (retired) Blushing Bride ruffled ribbon.

Butterfly card copy

I then stamped a small butterfly image from the Papillon Potpourri stamp set on a scrap of Whisper White, and punched it out with the Bitty Butterfly punch.  I teamed this with a punched out Blushing Bride butterfly from the Elegant Butterfly punch and added the butterfly with dimensionals.    Too easy 🙂

Gift card holders using envelopes and scraps

23 Thursday May 2013

Posted by in 3D projects, Gift card holders, Gift tags & wrapping, Tutorial, Using up scraps

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , ,

You may be sensing a theme here – but yes, here is another post on how I’ve been using up scrap pieces of DSP I can’t bring myself to throw away.

Today’s idea is a gift card holder made out of an envelope.   I’ve used the Stampin Up Whisper White C6 envelopes here as they are nice and sturdy with a good sized flap.  You could adapt the basic design to suit any envelope though.

20121206_143756I can’t remember where I got the original idea for this – somewhere on the internet I’m sure!  It is really simple though and very effective for using up small bits of coordinating DSP.

Step 1: Take a envelope and fold it in half bringing the 2 short sides together.  Score along the fold line to make a nice sharp crease.   Then open it out again.

Step 2: Cut down the fold line on the envelope flap.  I find it’s easier to make 2 cuts about 1mm apart – so you basically make a wide cut along the crease and discard the 1mm along the crease line.

Step 3: Lick, fold down and seal one half of the envelope.    The other half will be the pouch for your gift card.   These pictures show how it will look when decorated.

20121206_143635

20121206_143650

Step 4: Decorate!!!   I also like to add a belly band made of a strip of DSP and some scallop circle/circle punches.

20121206_143826

20121206_143704

If you want to go the extra step it is also quite cute to use tag punches and (more!) scraps of DSP to make little name tags/gift cards.   You could also use the Stampin Up jewellery punch.

20121209_220521

I’ve also made these gift card holders for birthdays out of floral DSP for pretty feminine gift card holders,  out of stripes for masculine gifts and fun spots with cute animal stamps for kids and babies.

UPDATED 26/5 – I found some pictures of some gift card holders I’ve made out of pretty florals.

photo-1

I always feel slightly guilty in giving a gift card rather than a personalised present, but making a nice personalised gift card holder makes me feel much better!

I hope you enjoy making these – they are so easy but really effective.   If any of the instructions aren’t clear leave me a comment and I’ll try and answer.

Thanks for reading 🙂

Caro