Family Challenge - Soot Stamping

Judy picked out this very cool technique for our latest family challenge:

She makes it look SO easy - haha!

Hmmm, I’ve invested time in the past to making my candles NOT spew forth ribbons of black soot. This challenge had me working hard to get that candle to billow extra soot.  What I learned is that if I held the glass jar on a great angle, allowing the flame to lick up the side then I was rewarded with enough lovely soot for this project. 

 

 

SUPPLIES:

Candle

Fixative Spray

Stamps

Cardstock

Stick on Letters

 

I chose to use a few new stamps I treated myself to last weekend - a Lost and Found Acrylic of an old time camera

and an Imaginisce Acrylic stamp of… a sunshine - but I just used some of the “rays” to create the effect of a flash going off. 

 

And added these Teeny Alphas letters by Glitz for the sentiment! 

I don’t know about you but I’m clearly excited to hop on over to my sister Nina’s and sister in law Judy’s blogs to see what creative ways they came up with for this uber-cool technique.

Technorati Tags: Stamp,card making,handmade card,greeting card,Mrs Miles,soot,soot stamping

Beautiful Rose Vinyl Card

As you know if you visit here often, I’m rather obsessed with vinyl for making cards.  I love the flexibility of it and how you can make very precise cuts - even teeny tiny … if you are don’t mind working slowly and carefully.  I enjoy being able to scale the graphics to sizes that fit any project I choose. 

I wanted to make my Mother in Law a card to celebrate a milestone birthday so I went looking for a perfect image.  I found a lovely coloring page image at THIS site. 

Coloring page images make terrific cuts if the lines are solid.  This image had everything I liked.  I did not provide the actual image here because I don’t know if it’s copyrighted, however you might trace it yourself.  If you are new to the Silhouette Designer Edition Software you might watch the following video which will explain to you about the different types of tracing images and how you can trace.

 

Great video which explains which images trace better than others and how to do this!

Here is how my card turned out:

Supplies:

Textured Cardstock

Designer Paper - Recollections

Vinyl - black

Arches Watercolor Paper - 140 lb

Watercolor Pencils & Aqua Brush

Modge Podge

Glitter

Stamp - whatever theme you wish

Twine

Methods:

For the Modge Podge/Glitter step you can visit THIS previous post.

For the Vinyl shape - I simply traced the rose and transferred it to my watercolour paper. 

I hope this has been helpful to you and you create some lovely cards using vinyl.

Technorati Tags: Silhouette,Silhouette Cameo,vinyl,handmade card,greeting card,DIY,Mrs Miles

Random Photo - "Trashy Santa"

Hmmm...

Most of us, when we were children, were cautioned that if we did not behave all year then we would find our stockings filled not with treats and small gifts, but with lumps of coal.  But times have changed - and after visiting our local landfill yesterday I'm left wondering if there might be something more interesting happening in "Bad Kid Stockings" these days.  Like electronics that look ok but are totally broken something.  I dunno, its just where my mind wandered. 

Another Family Challenge Card!

Thanks to Judy for choosing this challenge.  It’s a “Family Thang” - once in a while my sister Nina and I and Judy up and try out something new.  We don’t have any formal order about who’s next but somehow it all works out. 

Judy invited us to try out the stamping technique demonstrated in this video:

Masked Stamp Technique

The lady who is speaking here sounds uncannily like my friend Pam!  Oh how I ♥ an accent!

And here is my take on this technique:

Supplies:

Designer Paper - Crate paper Pad - “my story”

Stamps:

fiskars (what’s up?)

Studio G (Say what?)

Ink - Stampin’ Up

American Crafts (chevron)

Ribbon: Offray

Ok, so I took a couple of liberties with this challenge. 

Technorati Tags: Card,Cameo,Studio G,Stampin' Up

The first being I used an oval shape (paper cut for a mask) rather than the exact shape of the stamp.  I just felt it would be too busy if I did it exactly as the video did.  I stamped the chevrons all around, leaving a space for the “what’s up?”  I actually stamped in purple as it is the complementary color to yellow but it just made it gray, which actually worked quite well.

And I added an embellishment because it looked kinda naked.  A simple ribbon, bow, a tiny flower cut with my CAMEO and a square gem!

I hope you will take a moment to visit both Judy and Nina to see how their cards turned out too!

Chip Bag Flower Card

You read that right.  Part of the following card is made using a bag from chips… potato chips/crisps - whatever you call them where you are. 

 

Supplies:

Designer Paper - (cardstock) Hero Arts - Hero Hues

Stamp - Fiskars

Chip snack bag

Pen - Gelly Roll - Clear Star

Embossing folder - Cuttlebug

Glass Beads

Modge Podge

 

I despise throwing away chip bags.  I will often save them for at least marinading food, they work perfect for this.  I like the shiny inside though, too and considered how I might at least get ONE extra use out of them.  Do you know that if you hold them close to your eyes you can actually see right through? (looking at a bright light or the sun) 

At any rate, I decided to make sort of a window card using a flower cut as the window and the chip bag as the backdrop inside this.  I designed and cut the flower shaped 4.25 x 5.5 card face and a small 1/2 inch circle of the designer paper.  I washed the bag, dried it and cut a square big enough to fill the flower with a little extra room for taping it down. 

 

 

After I secured the chip bag foil down onto the card base (positioned where the flower would be) I added the card face cut onto that with glue and tape.  I added the center circle in.  Next I brushed the silvery petals with Modge Podge and sprinkled it liberally with teeny glass beads.  I let this dry. 

I added on the silver gem in the center and finally…

 

 

I added a sentiment and, the last touch was to take the Clear star Gelly Roll pen and connect some of the swirls in the cardstock pattern to pull the sentiment together with the flower in the middle.  Its sometimes the littlest touches that “make” the card. 

I hope you’ll visit again - there are photos and inspiration daily and a project every third day.

Technorati Tags: Card,Card making,handmade card,greeting card,DIY,recycle,Mrs Miles,Barb Derksen,Barbara Derksen

“Such a Deer” Card

I bought this sweetest designer paper when my sister Nina was visiting this summer and knew right away that I wanted to do a deer theme. 

Isn’t this deer just so… durn DEAR???

Supplies:

designer paper - KaiserCraft “Tiny Woods Collection” 

cardstock - We R MemoryKeepers

canvas

tiny “googly” eye

 

The KaiserCraft paper is one printed with various cute critters on it so I trimmed out the deer first, matched it up with the random floral print scrap I had from another project - selecting all papers I wanted to use. 

I trimmed the floral DP with a deckle blade on my Fiskars Rotary cutter.  I trimmed some canvas type material to make the DIY “bow”. 

I created the font sentiment in my Silhouette Designer Edition Software and made my Cameo do my bidding and print it to JUST the right size.  I cut another bit of cardstock (might even be a paint chip, I use those a LOT because you can get JUST the right shades to go with ANY project) 

Then I glued some, sewed some etc to assemble - added foam tape to the back of Bambi and stuck him on and well… AWWW! 

Thanks for visiting and stay tuned for another project in 3 days!

Technorati Tags: Mrs Miles,card,greeting card,handmade card,DIY,Craft,paper craft,Barb Derksen

Brilliant Lollipop Themed Card & FREE .studio Cutting file!

I’m just a “sucker” for simple and bright card and I am on a real kick for using vinyl lately so I decided to try out a simple design I had in mind. 

I am the queen of frugal, (because I choose to stay at home and try to live out my dream to create, create and create but it does not make me rich by any means)  When I make it to “real” high end craft stores I can often but drool over some supplies I’d like to have but accept that within my budget its not going to happen.  Out of this is born so many of my greatest ideas and designs. 

One of the wonderful things I felt attracted to in the stores were the Elizabeth Craft Designs Peel off Stickers.  They are fun and wonderful and I totally think they are worth the asking price.  I have bought a few packages when my Mr. came with me and he said I should treat myself. 

They are wonderful to stick and fill with ultra fine glitter or even just paint or ink.  But there are two limitations I found (besides the price for me)  The first thing is they are all sort of the same size - so here’s me who likes to custom tailor almost everything…

and the other thing is there are only so many designs (which are very nice, indeed) but again, I’m a rebel and I like a huuuuuge variety and I like to size it to fit whatever project want to do. 

So… I have been playing around with vinyl! 

Supplies:

Designer Paper - I used a Colorbok Specialty Paper Pack - Bright

Watercolour paper - Arches 140 lb

Vinyl - black

Ribbon - random

 

Lillipop Card

4.25 x 5.5 inch

 

Ok, so I’m telling you right off the bat my card is not warped, my photo of the card is warped… and I’d given the card away in the meantime. But you get the picture (pun intended) 

I designed this simple vinyl cut, and I use a high quality watercolour paper to transfer it onto - 140 lb arches in this case.  I cut the vinyl image, then I “weed” out the bits I don’t need and I use Contact Paper (the clear kind you can line shelves in your kitchen with) to transfer the image to the arches paper.

You must work delicately but you definitely get a pretty fine image!  I save (and have friends save) old credit cards or gift cards that have been used up and use them to smooth my vinyl over the paper.  First I position it over the paper where I think I would like it and then I fix one end down and slooooooowwwwly stick it down to the paper, all the time smooshing it in a straight path with the long side of the credit card.  After you have done it a few times and you gain confidence it becomes easier.

 

 

Once you have the vinyl outline stuck on then you can paint.  Now, once again I must stress that your finished product is only as good as the materials you use - and so in this case, though you will pay a healthy price for both arches paper (though it cuts down into many MANY projects) and a good set of watercolours or watercolour pencils - I believe these are essential.  The colors are so brilliant! 

I like to use an aqua brush, it means you don’t have to constantly rinse brushes out etc.  I simply swipe mine on a rag in between colors. 

I began painting in the middle and worked out, changing colors and blending them together into a little bit of an overlap to achieve a rainbow effect. 

 

 

The finishing touch is a pretty pink bow, a perfect touch for a sweet little girl. 

You might also (which I will be showing in an upcoming tutorial, use fine scissors and trim around your lollipop - turning it into an element which you could then “pop” up with foam tape. I have created this file to be sized for a standard 4.25 x 5.5 card, if you were to make “elements” from this file the vinyl might get pretty tiny to work with.  You may have to experiment.

I sincerely hope you enjoy this project.  I’d love to see what YOU make and feature your project here on my blog

LOLLIPOP .studio FILE

(personal use unless you seek permission from me for any commercial use)

DOWNLOAD

Technorati Tags: Mrs Miles,Mrs Miles Freebies,Mrs Miles FREE,Barbara Derksen,Silhouette,Silhouette Cameo,Silhouette SD,Silhouette Portrait,Cutting files,.studio

Baby Announcement Project and a FREE Giraffe cutting file!

I wanted to make something special and unique for a little feller who was recently born into my circle of friends and family, so I decided to cruise around on Pinterest and I found a baby announcement project someone had made and it inspired me to make the following project:

Vinyl and Canvas Baby Announcement

Supplies:

10 x 10 inch canvas on frame (I painted over one I bought at a yard sale)

Designer Paper

Vinyl - I chose primary and brights for lettering, brown & orange for Mr. Giraffe

 

Method:

I painted the canvas with black acrylic craft paint and let it dry.

 

 

I opened the Giraffe file and cut out the giraffe and his spots.  While he was on the transfer paper I chose the designer paper I thought would complement him. Once I chose which one I wanted I trimmed it to size and used Modge Podge to fix it to the canvas.  I let it completely dry.

I drew a 10 inch square in my Silhouette Designer Edition Software and then I  placed the giraffe into position so that I could get an idea of the space for the other info. I typed out and adjusted the text to the size and angle I desired.   I then took each piece and cut it out separately… a bit tricky but worth the time and effort. 

Once everything was ready I assembled it all on the canvas.

 

 

At the very end I decided to ad a big googly eye to him. 

I am tickled to share this giraffe file with you for your own fun projects… I’ll tell you, if I had a looooong roll of vinyl I could totally see making a wall growth chart with this image.  I hope you enjoy - for your personal use projects.  I appreciate your crediting me and linking back when you post projects using my files.  (donations for my time and generosity greatly appreciated too)

MR GIRAFFE

(.studio file_)

DOWNLOAD

 

Check back in three days, another fun project lined up for viewing!

Technorati Tags: Vinyl,Freebie,Free,Mrs Miles,Mrs Miles Freebie,giraffe,Silhoutte Cameo,Cameo,.studio,.studio file