Tutorial: Coffee techniques by Jenifer!

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial, I can't wait to see how it's inspired you!

Tutorial: Alcohol inks & water by Sandi!

Hi everyone, Sandi from Slightly Off Center here with a pretty cool tutorial on a new way to use alcohol inks.  I saw this on You Tube and it is sooo easy and produces such pretty results that I wanted to share it with you.

First of all you need:

A plastic tub of cool tap water, a selection of alcohol inks, a craft mat (or in my case since I don't own one yet, I used wax paper) and some paper......I used some manilla shipping tags.

Add some drops of alcohol ink to the water in a random pattern:

Then I took my tag and slipped the whole thing in the water and pulled it out.  Both sides will receive a beautiful, colorful random pattern of ink.

Let your paper or tag dry on wax paper or a craft mat and use it on a project.  Here is my tag used on a birthday I recently made for my baby sister:

Thanks for following along and I look forward to seeing your creations using this quick and easy technique!

Tutorial: Paper Cone Wreath by Holly!

Holly here today with a tutorial on how to make Paper Cone Wreaths. I love these wreath 'cause they're bold, make a statement and are super easy and make!

Gorgeous papers, right?   The papers are from the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Kit by American Craft that Cassie from Paper Issues sold through her Paper Shop.   Love these papers, it was hard to cut them up.....sigh....but totally worth it don't ya think?

Supplies Needed:

Hot Glue Gun

8-12x12 sheets of double sided pattern paper

Liquid chalk or ink

1-12 inch cardboard circle

Cut patterned paper into 6x6 inch squares.   Roll them into cones and hot glue together. You'll need to make approximately 17 cones for a 12" wreath. Ink the edges of the cone as desired.

Pencil a circle template in the center of the the cardboard to use as a guide. Hot glue the cones on the cardboard following your template lines.

For the wreath's second layer, cut  patterned paper into 4x6 inch pieces. Roll them into cones and hot glue together. You'll need to make approximately 17 cones also for the second layer. Ink the edges of the cone as desired.

Hot glue the 4x6 cones to cover the gaps between the first cone layer.

Ahhhh....now Smile at your creation!

For the center of the wreath, I added an 8 inch scallop circle and shadow cut from Cricut Elegant Edges and used a sentiment from Gypsy Wanderings cut at 3.35 inches.   I laced Hug Snug seam binding ribbon throughout the scallop circle and stuck in a couple of cute leaf stick pins. These fun embellishments also came from the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan kit. So Yummy!

Here are a few more examples of Paper Cone Wreaths that I've made.....

Giving Thanks

Ornament Wreath

I hope this tutorial inspires you to make a paper cone wreath statement!

Tutorial: Create your own chipboard embellies by Kate!

Sometimes I like to create 'faux chipboard' elements for my pages when I don't have the right embellishment for a page. Here's how.

1. Cut out 4 or more of the same shape from a piece of cardstock. I used my silhouette Cameo. You could also use a Cricut or even hand cut the pieces. I chose to do scissors.
   
   
   
   
2. I cut the shape that I will be using as the top layer into 3 sections to make it look more like a pair of scissors.
   
   
   
   
3. I pierced holes around the edges and then hand stitched all the way around the top layer piece to add a little interest. I chose to use yellow thread to make it stand out as much as possible.
   
   
   
   
4. Last, I stacked all the layers on top of one another and glued them together to make one thick piece.
   
   
   
   

Here's the completed layout that I created for Let's Capture Our Memories, a fantastic online scrapbooking store. I used Crate Paper's Story Teller line.

Here is a close up of the scissors.

Thanks for following along. I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. To find out more about this layout, please visit my Blog at www.scrapsation.com.

Tutorial: Folded paper flowers by Abby!

Tutorial: "Re-sticky" your Cricut mats by Caroli!

We all hate when we are cutting a complicated shape on our Cricut and the paper suddenly gets loose and everything gets ruined, isn't it? It has happened to me lots of times, until I came out with this simple idea that worked perfectly for me.

You will need the Cricut spatula, repositionable glue pen and of course the used non-sticky cutting mat.

let's start by cleaning the cutting mat using the spatula. Usually tiny pieces of paper are adhered to the mat, so you must try to clean it as much as possible and remove all the paper from it.

Once the mat is clean, start applying the repositionable glue on it. I have used the Zig Memory System 2-way Glue Pen because of its extra wide tip and also due to the excellent quality of the glue. Appy the glue uniformly all over the mat.

Once you applied plenty of glue all over the mat you must wait until it is completelly dry. The waiting time will depend on how much glue you used, but just to be sure let's wait about 10 minutes and voilá! The mat will be sticky again! As for my experience, after this treatment my mats are even better than when they were brand new, so give it a try. Thanks for visiting us! :)

Tutorial: Teacher Gift by Sara!

Its hard to believe that summer is getting closer and that means school will be coming to an end as well.  Its time to start thinking about those end of the year teacher gifts. This year I have come up with a creative and cute gift card holder for my son's teacher. 

  I am going to show you how to make it!

I started off with a paper gift bag (about the size of lunch bag) and this adorable sign I printed off from Eighteen25 blog in a 5x7 size .

I found some scraps of paper that coordinated with the colors in my printed sign. I folded the bottom of the bag about 1/3 of the way up.  Cut a piece of paper about 1/4 inch short of that size of the fold and adhere to the folded part of the bag.  Then stitch both sides and the bottom with a sewing machine.

 This will create a 'front' pocket for your project. 

Use another piece of scrap to mat the sign.

 I cut a peice of note book paper (you could use any kind) down to fit inside the top of the bag - this will be for you or your child to write a message to the teacher on.  I also cut a cut little tage out of ledge paper and added an apple die cut. 

I put a alphabet sticker strip around the middle of the font pocket. Then slip the note book paper and sign into the top of the bag.

  To top it off it tied a double stitched red ribbon on around the bag, slid the tag under and added a  a little 'teacher' embellishment. 

Now you can write the teacher a note and slide a gift card into the front pocket!  She will love this! 

Tutorial: Shabby Chic tag by Theresa!

Tutorial: Faux Rustic Chipboard by Jenifer!

Hope you have enjoyed my video tutorial, thanks for taking a peek!!! I cannot wait to see how it has inspired you!!!

Tutorial: Puffy clouds by Sandi!

Hey there....Sandi from Slightly Off Center with another one of my quick and easy tutorials.  This time I am making some puffy clouds.....just in time for your spring and upcoming summer layouts.

First off you will need 2 identical cloud shaped die cuts, a needle, some embroidery floss and a couple of cotton balls.

Next, put the two die cut clouds together and just do a blanket stitch 2/3 of the way around the clouds leaving enough of an opening to stuff your cloud with cotton balls.

After stuffing your cloud and making sure to get it uniformly puffy, finish your blanket stitching.  I usually just cut off the embroidery floss on the back and tape down the loose edge on the back of my project.

The finished product:

Isn't it cute?  I used it on a card for a friend....I love the texture!  This is one card that will definitely need a padded envelope for mailing! 

Wouldn't a bunch of these puffy clouds look adorable on a spring/summer layout?