:: Tips and Tricks with Ulrika aka LillBlomman #4 ::

Tips and Trick #4 - Faux Bow

Bows are really nice to add on cards and other projects! But sometimes it´s really hard to get them even and nice. The knot in the middle gets really bulky and not nice at all! We need nice bows so today help is on it´s way crafters! 

Lets´make some faux bows!

 You need some pretty ribbon and mine bow will end up on a christmas card so I use a checkered ribbon. Measure how big you want your bow and cut off the rtibbon after doing as I show you on the photo. I cut my egdes in a inclined angle. 

 When you´re satisfied with the size use a piece of sewing thread around the middle of the bow. Make sure it´s centered. In this state you can choose what side of the bow will be forward or backward. 

 Now you need a short piece of the ribbon to make the knot. 

 Fold the ribbon so the back look like it does on my photo.

 Place the short piece of the ribbon with the flat side down and the side of the bow that will be the front against the back of the short piece of ribbon.

 Use some kind of adhesive to hold the back in place. I think a glue gun is perfect or glue dots. 

Tadaaaa! A perfect and pretty bow!

:: Tips and Tricks with Ulrika aka LillBlomman #3 ::

Okay so what can we do with a pile of really thin paper napkins? When my son had his birthday party I needed only the boxes and ended up with a huge pile of paper napkins. Of course I could use them for dirty hands and wiping my desk at my studio. But hey it´s much more fun to be creative with them! Let´s create one more background together. 

You need Cardstock or some other kind of paper. Some kind of multimedium I wanted a glossy effect so I used Prima 3d Gloss Gel. You also need a flat brush and of course the paper napkins,

The effect I´m going for here are a wrinkled almost fabric feeling. Firs

t you need to add a good amount of the Gel on the Cardstock. Then you add a paper napkin at the end of the Cardstock and use the brush over the napkin so it sticks to the Cradtsock.

Then you push the napkin up and create cute little wrinkles. Keep doing this until the whole Cardstock is covered with the paper napkin. Make sure that you have covered all of the napkin with the Gel. Otherwise it will be wet agin when you use colors that will be the next step. Let it dry.

For my ATC backgrounds I used Acrylic Ink from Liquitex in the color Deep Violet. I added the Ink with a brush. Next step was some stamping. I used a stamp from a Dylusion stamp kit called Background Love. To get even more feeling of fabric I used my sewing machine and used black sewing thread. I also added some Wax on the edges from Prima in the color Vintage Gold. 

:: Tips and Tricks with Ulrika aka LillBlomman #2 ::

Tips and Tricks #2 -  Background with paper scraps

I think we all collect pieces of papers? You know that beautiful leftovers we just can´t throw away in the bin. Today I want to show you what you can do with some of them, 

Let´s make some cute backgrounds! You only need scraps of paper, a sturdy background, a brush and some kind of gel or multimedium. I like to use a matte gel. 

 1. Tear small pieces of your paper scraps. Depending on what you will create you can use similar colors or some with more contrasts.

 2. Glue them to your background. Make sure you cover it up properly. You don´t need to worry about the edges. When it´s all dry you cut the edges from the opposite side. 

Tadaaa! Now you have fun backgrounds to add beautiful embellishments to!

And this is how my ATC turned out with this backgrounds.

:: Tips and Tricks with Ulrika aka LillBlomman #1 ::

I really love to be creative and share my work with the world! I have always been a creative soul and have all my life created art in different ways. For the last eleven and a half years most of my creative time have been dedicated to scrapbooking. I would love to share all that I have learned during the years and maybe my knowledge can be helpful for you?

So from now on I will add short but useful tips and tricks here at my blog.

It can be something for newbies or a trick for us old bags ;) Sometimes I will add a bit longer tutorilas and as today only one photo and a quick tip. 

#1 My first tips and tricks - Framing your work with a pencil

For me the details in my work is what makes it my own LillBlomman style. And a black line around the edges drawn with a black pencil can make a huge difference! Hope you agree with me :) 

:: Whimsical Layout DT work for Pyssloteket ::

Today I have both a tutorial and a layout to show you. Let´s start with the tutorial! 

I wanted to make a whimsical and fun background for my cute photo. I also got some fun supplies from Pyssloteket that I wanted to use. I used a stitched scalloped die from Lawn Fawn and paper from Kaisercraft and Echo Park. I cut my paper so that I got a frame and then I die-cutted a piece of the green paper. I also used my sewing machine around the edges.

Next I took out some Acrylic Paint from DecoArt. They are really god at a very nice price! I also needed some bubble wrap to use for my stamping.

I chose my colors and stamping randomly. I also used an empty tape roll for large circles in white.

I also want some black so I use my lid from the black paint bottle. Now I feel ready to start building my layout. I can always go back and add more if I feel like it.

I bought the 6x6 paper pad called Just Be You from Echo Park. In the paper pad you get this cute heart that I cut out. The paper is called Fololow Your Heart. I also added a piece of the darker Smile paper. I used my 1/2" punch and punched out a bunch of circles with words and cute patterns. I wanted even more circles so I used both small and large Stitched Circles from Lawn Fawn.

Last I sprinkled some black paint and added my title in gold!

:: Jag älskar verkligen min MISTI ::

Today I do my post in swedish because my post is about how you should buy MISTI at Pyssloteket ;) Hi hi I´m so sneaky :)

Jag är den första att erkänna när jag har fel, även om det inte händer så ofta  När några av mina vänner köpte Misti i början av förra året var min första reaktion – Smart grej men inget för mig! I april fick jag den demad på en träff och i maj fick jag prova den hos en vän. Tyckte fortfarande att den var smart men jag stämplade ju ändå inte så mycket längre. Jag hade nästan tröttnat på att alltid få dåligt stämplade motiv och mer och mer gått över till digitala stämplar. Men i somras köpte jag i alla fall en MISTI orginal och jag har verkligen inte ångrat mig! Den är sååå bra och värd varenda krona! Jag måste erkänna att det är den bästa investeringen jag gjort på länge när det gäller min scrapbooking! Ni hittar MISTI original och MISTI mini hos bästa butiken Pyssloteket!

Som en stor ATC fantast tänkte jag nu visa hur användbar MISTI är när man ska stämpla många upprepningar eller när man ska bygga en egen scen. Jag kommer aldrig mer behöva slänga kort som jag jobbat med för att stämpeltrycket blir dåligt!

Jag ska göra åtta likadana ATC till en swap. Min tanke är att jag vill ha en fågel som rymt ur en fågelbur och titeln kommer bli Break Free. Jag vill att fågelburen ska hänga på en gren. Idag använder jag rackarns gamla stämplar som jag rotade fram i en låda men tekniken går ju att översätta med förslagsvis med Penny Black eller Lavinia som kommer i veckan. Och mitt huvudsakliga budskap idag är ju ändå hur BRILJANT MISTI är och inte locka er med stämplar  Jag har blandat ihop Distress Ink Mermaid Lagoon, Evergreen Bough och Peacock Feathers med min Blending Tool. Jag har också använt Lucky Clover över en prickig Stencil. Jag gillar mina Archival Ink så jag använder Jet Black till min första stämpel. Jag är en ”messy” pysslare så jag använder skyddspapper på min MISTI.

När jag börjar lägger jag min stämpel på mitt motiv så jag ser att den hamnar rätt sedan fäller jag ner locket och trycker till. Jag färgar in min stämpel och stänger locket igen. Vips med ett lätt tryck har jag ett helt okej tryck. Stämpeln är lite shabby så hundra perfekt går inte här men jag vill ha trycket lite mörkare så jag färgar in stämpeln igen och gör ännu ett tryck. Motivet hamnar på exakt rätt ställe! Jag blir lika lycklig varje gång 

Nu känner jag mig nöjd med mitt tryck!

Jag upprepar trycket på alla mina åtta ATC och alla blir lika perfekta i rask takt!

Nu är jag redo för nästa steg och placerar ut fågelburen (tryckytan nedåt) där jag vill ha den. Jag fäller ner locket och stämpeln fäster bra på locket. Sedan är det bara att upprepa proceduren. Eftersom jag placerar mina kort på samma ställe och använder magneterna så hamnar fågelburen på exakt samma och rätt ställe hela tiden!

Fattar inte hur jag överlevde förut?! Men jag inser att jag kommer spara in utgiften för MISTI rätt snabbt då jag i snitt slängde vartannat stämplat motiv förut då jag inte blev nöjd! Det är mycket papper det! Så man kan säga att MISTI är miljövänlig också 

Nu har jag mina åtta baser klara och jag ska nu fortsätta dekorera dem. Det gick lekande lätt och jag förstörde inte en enda bakgrund! Ni får ursäkta min hysteriskt röriga plats där jag fotade men ibland är jag sådär spontan och tar foton i flygande fläng!

:: Tutorial Box Folding ::

There are many good tools if you want to make boxes. For example them from We R Memory Keepers called Punch Boards. But sometimes when I want a box in a very specific measure I like to use Marta Stewart Crafts Scoring Boards. For the box I´m showing today I used the Martha Stewart Mini Scoring Board. Decide hos large the base of your box should be and how high your walls need to be. Cut a paper where you have added all your measurements. Score around your base or bottom.

Cut as my image shows in your scored folds. Use a Bone Folder when you fold up all the edges.

I like to use doublesided tape when I make boxes. It attaches immideately and don´t wrinkle the paper.

Make the lid the same way taht you did the box. You need to add about 4 millimeter and make the edges a bit lower. I usually make my edges 1,5 centimeters.

My Scoring Board is in inches so if I need to measure in exact centimeters I only use a ruler. I put the ruler at the vertical end of my paper. Then I fit the paper so I score at the right spot.

Now my box is finnished and the lid fits perfectly! It´s also room for paper that I want to embellish my box with.

Measue all edges on the box and cut out the patterned paper. Attatch with doublesided tape. If you want nice and neat corners dress the long sides of the box first as my photo shows. Then you cut the paper for the short sides and attach them a little bit overlapping.

Now we have a box with a nice outside but I always embellish the inside of the box also. You get a steady box and you can also hide small flaws from the folding. And of course it looks very nice!

I measure and score to get nice corners for the inside of the box. I also use the same technique with the overlapping pieces as I did with the outside of the box.

Alrighty! Now we have a handmade box.Very easy and very personal.

List of supplies

Martha Stewart Crafts Mini Scoring Board 42-05013

Martha Stewart Crafts Paper Trimmer M281055

Scrapbook Adhesives EZ Runner Perm 01644-6

Bazzil Classic White T10-1005

Bazzil Classic Kraft T9-960

My Minds Eye Record It Follow Your Heart 6x6 paper Pad REC111

Martha Stewart Crafts Pink Bone Folder 42-05001

:: So happy over my new assignment at Hobbyworld ::

I´m so happy over my new assignment at Hobbyworld! The girls in the team are so sweet and they are actually all friends of mine so I feel very at home. I got one amazing first box filled with goodises to play with and I have so much fun creating with the supplies!

Today I have a little tutorial on how easy you can give an old cylinder box a make over. I wanted it to have a winter feeling but you can use any color och patterned paper to change the look of the box.

This is how the box looked when I started.

 Start with die-cut different pieces of Sizzix Bigz Tattered Florals.

 Moist them vey lightely with water.

 Cut the middle six petal flowers a bit to get deeper leaves.

 Use a stylus tool to cup the flowers.

 Glue the largest flowers together a bit off centered.

 Continue To add the next sixe of flowers. Use a lot of layers if you want a very filled flower.

On the last flower you bend the petals and glue them together so you get a closed bud.

Materiallista/ List of supplies

WMRK Crafters Tools Stylus Tool 70951-0

Sizzix Bigz Die Tattered Floral by Tim Holtz 656640

Bazzil Classic White T10-1005

MD Creatable Candles LR0243

MD Creatable Holly LR0244

MD Creatable Snowflake LR0185

MSC Floral Medallion Deep Edge Punch 42-70057 

MSC Swirling Lace Punch around the page set 42-60051

Ni hittar allt material hos våra Återförsäljare/Retailers.