Christmas Star

You will need : scissors, glue dots, 5 square pieces of paper or card stock.

The above star is Vellum but I used designer paper for the tutorial so you can see what I did more easily.

If you are making your star from vellum or acetate you may want to make a pattern and then cut each square individually with a craft knife so as to not get any fold lines on each section.
Fold you square diagonally in half,
Then in half again,
Hold your triangle with the centre fold towards you so the open corner are away from you.
cut 3 slits from the folded edge towards the open edge, do not cut all the way across leave about 1cm,
when you open it up it should look like this
using your glue dots curl the centre section together as below,
Then flip the paper over and repeat in the opposite direction,
keep turning it over until it looks like this, bend one of the corners to make a flap as below
this flap will be used to attach each coil to the next until you have made a star shape you may want to use something a little stronger than glue dots for this but if you are using a wet glue be prepared to hold it for a while.

Hope that all made sense, any questions let me know!

Abi

Boho punch flower

As promised here is how I made this flower:

I used the Boho Blooms punch with double sided designer series paper using the punch upside down I punched 5 of the large flowers and then one of the 6 petal flowers,
You'll also need a piece of 5/8" gros grain or other wide ribbon and a brad, ( for the brown flower i used a brad and then added a pearl with a glue dot)
When you've punched the flowers cut between the petals almost to the middle of the flower but not all the way through,
do the same thing to all 5 flowers until they look like this,
next using a large ball tool (or the end of a gel pen or round ended paint brush work just as well) and a padded mat ( or a mouse mat works too) rub the ball tool in small circles so that the centre of each flower becomes depressed and the petals begin to stand up,
This will make it easier to form the flower shape,
next you'll need to use your mat pack and piercer to make a small hole in the centre of each flower to push your brad through,

add all 5 flowers to the brad don't worry if your flower goes a little flat that's OK,
next cut two 3" pieces of ribbon and twist them into the leaves as below,
then Pierce a hole so that your brad can go through,
once you've added the leaves use the spare 6 petal flower behind the ribbon as the base, once it's all attached hold the ribbon leaves back so that you can start squeezing your petals up to create the desired shape,
You should have something which looks like this when you're done!

Have fun making flowers!

Scented candle gift box

Here is the long awaited scented candle gift box which I made for my stampers 10 group a few months ago, I had quite a few requests for this tutorial I hope it makes sense.

This box fitted a small scented candle which I found in my local supermarket ( I have since found the candles cheaper in the pound shop :)

Click here for the pdf instructions

Abi

Emboss resist

Five petal flower tutorial.

To make the flower from the card above you will need: 5 Petal flower punch, 1/2" circle punch, large ball Stylus (or another scoring medium with a blunt smooth round end) and or a spoon and some glue dots.
Step 1: cut out 3 flowers and one circle.
Step 2: Make some petal shape score lines on each petal of the first flower, ( you can do the same to each of the other flowers too if you wish)
Step 3: curl the petals on the first flower by running the spoon handle along the petals as if you were curling ribbon
Step 4: second flower, using your stylus/ spoon handle curl one edge of each of the petals in a clockwise direction so that you flower looks almost like a child's windmill toy,
Step 5: Flower 3 curl each of the into the middle of the flower using your stylus or a needle,
then using the end of the stylus hold the flower in the centre and gently squeeze all the petals into the middle so the flower is slightly tighter,
Step 6: Take the small circle and place your stylus in the centre of it squeeze the edges of the circle up towards the stylus to create a messy cone for the centre of the flower
you should now have this:
Step 7: Start to layer your flower up using your glue dots to keep the layers in position, you may want to try this out first without glue dots to make sure you are happy with the shapes of your petals before sticking them together

If your center flower layer flattens out give it a squeeze to get it back into shape.
Hopefully you should now have something which looks like this.

I hope you find this helpful!!

Happy crafting

Abi

Scallops Scallops and more scallops!!!!

So did you know that there is more than one way to make a scallop edge?? you can even use the straight scallop edge punch to make scallop edges on a curved shape!

A few people have asked about this recently so i thought this would be the best way for you all to see what i meant, hope you enjoy the video, ( i was having problems with the camera so hope it'sok!)

Abi

Three for you punch flowers

As requested a little while a go by a few of you here are the instructions for the flowers which i put on my mum's birthday card.

it may take a minute to load, hope they make sense.

Click here for the pdf tutorial

Abi

Scallop frame tutorial.

HI 

I've been asked a couple of times now about how I made the frame behind the flowers so thought I'd add it to my blog for you all.  On this card I used blush blossom card stock although I used whisper white in the tutorial.  (This card also has quite alot of paper piercing which I haven't used in the tutorial but you get the idea.)

Click here for frame pdf instructions

 It may take a minute to load.

Hope you enjoy the tutorial!

Abi

pocket silhouette chipboard card.

Chipboard tutorial part two.

chipboard tutorial part 1

Hope you enjoy this and find it helpful!

Stamping on fabric

1. You'll need some fabric paint I used Dylon Fabric paint as we don't have the Stampin' Up! craft ink's in the UK yet.

2. Cover all your surfaces and wear an apron it can get a bit messy,  Mix the fabric paints until you get the desired colours.

3.  Paint the fabric paints onto your stamps, you can try putting your stamp into the paint but the image will be clearer if you paint the colour onto the stamp,

4.  Make sure you have something under the layer of fabric you are going to stamp, the paint will bleed through, so place a piece of card stock in between the layers.

5.  The layer of fabric you are stamping on needs to be held flat/ taught so that the stamped image will be even, stamp as normal.

6. Leave the fabric paint to air dry, then when it's dry you need to heat set the dylon fabric paint with your iron on hot for 2-3 minutes or as stated on the paint instructions.

When finished the image should be flexible and soft and should launder as a normal garment but check the instructions on your fabric paint.

Happy stamping :)

Knots and bows

This is for those of you that have been asking how to add your bows and how to get neat knots with your ribbons, hope it helps.

Spinner card instructions

Step 1:  Cut a piece of card the desired width same length and or colour as your base card.

Step 2:  Punch two holes either end of your card strip with your 3/4" circle punch, you could draw two lines across your card stock horizontally so that your holes are the same level on the card ( i just eye balled mine)

Step 3: Using a paper trimmer or your craft knife join up the two holes,

Step 4: Remove the strip from the middle you should now have a piece of card stock like step 4,

Step 5: Punch a 1" circle from some card stock, this could match your base card or not it's up to you, and  attach a coin ( i used a 20p for mine)

Step 6: Put the coin and the circle behind your strip of card stock so that the coin and any guide lines you have made on the card cannot be seen.  Then put some dimensional/ sticky foam pads on the back of the image you want to spin.   You need to make sure that the sticky pads are small enough to turn inside the hole you have cut.  stick your coin and the image together sandwiching the strip of card.

Step 7: Turn your strip of card over and add some more sticky foam pads so that there is enough space under the layer of card stock for the coin to spin freely. turn it back over then stick your strip and your base card together.

Home that made sense :)

How to mount those rubber stamps :)

About time too I hear some of you cry.......... OK sorry it's taken so long to do this one, those of you that have been waiting for this one know who you are. :)

Stampin' Up! pocket silhouette mini calendar

Stamp-a-ma-jig tutorial

Here's a short tutorial video on how I stamp the two step stampin' roses from A rose is a rose stamp set, it's so easy when you use a Stamp-a-ma-jig you can even use it on fabric.

One of a kind box tutorial.

This box is made from one sheet of A4 card stock, even the decoration comes from the left over of the A4 sheet.  click the image to enlarge.
Step 1.  you'll need a sheet of A4 card stock, If you want to stamp on it you need to do that now,

Step 2. Hold the card horizontally, then Score the card  four times every 7cm until you have a 2cm flap let at the end,

Step 3.Holding the card stock vertically score in from each edge 5cm,

Step 4.  Cut away the area's shown and cut up to the 5cm score lines as shown in step 4 above.

Step 5.  If you want a curved lid shape the edges before you do steps 5 and 6 using your corner rounder remove the guard so you can use it to make a scallop edge, start in the middle and work your way out.

Step 6. After you have punched your first scallop line your corner rounder up so you can see the corner of your previous scallop inside the cutting area ( you'll see it's slightly darker in the corner on picture 6), continue this around your lid until you are happy with the result.
Step 7. assemble your box by folding  and adding sticky strip to the narrow side flap and by folding in opposite flaps to create a neat base.  Pinch the front and the back of the box together, 

Step 8.  Using a hole punch make two holes in the lid then using a pencil mark the box and punch the holes so you can thread the ribbon through  the box and lid to secure it.

Step 9.  With the left over card stock from the pattern make any decorations for the box that you need, for the one of a kind box i made a large flower and used the boho blossoms punch to cut out 4 smaller flowers to decorate the ends of the ribbon.  I have also previously made a butterfly box in the same way with the Bold butterfly stamp set here.

The size of your lid can be increased if you would prefer a longer flap by reducing the base flaps score line by 1cm  to 1.5 cm and increasing the lid length by the same.

Hope that makes sense.

Abi