Scrap-a-Doodle Stamping

Stencil It On

  Stencils can be used for almost anything! This card is made with Stampin' Up!s new decor stencils called Folk Flowers (#118139). This page is from the current Occasions mini catalog. You can see that the stencil is much larger than just the part that I used. Here's how I did it.

I used regular scotch tape to cover up the pieces that I didn't want painted. I put tape on both sides so that it wouldn't stick to my cardstock. Then I used some acrylic paints and a stiff bristle stipple brush.   Just pull the stencil up and you have your design. When I was finished, the paint washed off the stencil easily in the sink.

To finish this card off, I put glue dots on the back of a leaf from the Sweet Pea Stitched Felt (#117266) and a button from SU! Playground (#116313) Designer Buttons.

You can use these stencils to paint on walls, furniture, fabric, whatever you have. It's so easy!

Finding a Focus

Ever have a time when you just didn't stop stamping soon enough? You just kept on playing with your stamps and before you realized it you had a really busy background. There are times that busy works but most of the time simple is better. Here is a busy background. It's not really that bad. It's just busy & your eyes don't have a place to rest. These stamps are from the Good Friend (#113740) stamp set. The green bird was punched out with the Extra Large Two-step Bird (# 117191) punch in the new mini catalog.

This can be fixed by adding a focal point, something to focus your eyes. I stamped a greeting (Good Friend) from the set in Glorious Green classic ink onto Whisper White cardstock. I adhered it to the bottom right corner. I could add some brads to it if I wanted to give it a bit more interest but I felt that there was already enough "stuff" on the card that it didn't need any more.

I'm not really an expert on design or anything. I've never studied design or color theory. I just enjoy the looks of the things that I do. This is just what I think works. I hope that I give you some good ideas.

Masculine Valentine Container

Here's my last Valentine container for this year. I made this one for my sweetie pie.

I've put a bag of his favorite candy inside a can left over from Christmas. I used some masculine looking patterned paper that I've had laying around for several years now and basically decorated it the same way that I did the others. Check here for the instructions.
I did it a little differently from the others because I didn't want all the cutsie stuff like I would give to one of my granddaughters. Since the background of the paper is a light blue, I used Brilliant Blue classic ink to stamp hearts from the I {Heart} Hearts (#118571) stamp set. After I measured the can & adhered the paper, I had only about 1/2" where the paper didn't meet. I didn't really want to cut another piece of paper to put there so I cut some Bashful Blue 1" Double-Stitched grosgrain (#111848) ribbon and covered up that piece. Then I put some Bashful Blue 1/2" Striped Grosgrain (#110717) ribbon around the bottom edge. I didn't place any ribbon at the top of this container because the lid fits very tightly and I don't think that would be very successful for me.

Here's a shot of all of my Valentine containers and for my older grandchildren (The oldest is 23) I made Valentine cookies.   Of course, all my grandchildren are spoiled rotten because that's what grandmas are for!

So I'm not the greatest at decorating cookies but at least they taste great! Each cookie is 12" in size. And who knows? Maybe someday I'll take a cake/cookies decorating class.

 

Valentine Heart Box

I am soooo annoyed with myself right now! I had a good idea for a project but now I can't find the tools that I need. Somewhere, hopefully in my craft room, are my Magnetic Movers and Shapers (#115953) dies. The heart shaped one in that set would have been perfect for this project. Since I'm not finding them, I had to make do with what I can find, which is my Full Heart (#113693) punch.

I used a piece of Rose Red cardstock and my Box #2 (#114518) die to cut out my box with my Big Shot. Then I folded on all the score lines so the box would be ready to put together.

Using the Full Heart punch, position it on the end with the tab and punch. If you have the Magnetic Movers & Shapers die you can place it more in the center and turned so the box with sit on the bottom. With the punch, it will have to stand on one end. Cutting it any other way will cut off part of the parts that hold the box together.

Cut a piece of Window Sheets (#114323) plastic to 2 x 2" in size. Put adhesive on the inside of the box around the heart area. Place your 2x2" Window Sheet on top of the adhesive. Place adhesive on the end tab and put the box together. Decorate the outside as desired and fill with treats.

Teacher's Valentine Treat

IMO, having spent many years in an elementary classroom, this would be a great fairly simple & easy treat for teachers to give to their students for Valentine's Day.

You can find these cellophane bags in many stores or you can get 50 of them from Stampin' Up(#13104) in 3 sizes.

Choose your color cardstock or use several different colors. I've used So Saffron for this one. Cut out enough Top Note Dies (#113463) for your students to have one each. Remember when you use your Big Shot (#113439) you can cut several at once, depending on the thichness of your cardstock. Cutting 3 or 4 at a time will help to save your time.

Score the die cut in the center like in the picture.

  Then use hearts from the I {Heart} Hearts (#118571) stamp set to decorate the die cut. Remember, when you fold this one side will be upside down. You can also use the Full Heart (#113693) punch to cut one or more hearts for this. My heart is cut from Rose Red cardstock and my stamps are stamped in Real Red. The greeting under the heart is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes (#115370) set.

Fill your treat bag with goodies. Then fold on your score line. Place over the treat bag and staple it on.

  Write the student's name on the heart and you have some quick treats for the holiday!

  

Recycling for Holidays

There are so many containers that you can reuse or recycle that many of us just toss out. If you bought a can of peanuts or soup or a box of cereal, why should you spend more money on containers for treats for your loved ones for Valentine's Day? The larger of these containers is a generic can that had mixed nuts in it and the other is had ready made icing in it.  Either is great for decorating and filling with goodies.

First, I measured my can from inside rim to inside rim. Then I measure around the can. You can use either cardstock or patterned paper. For my project I used Pink Passion cardstock. I cut it 1/16" smaller than the length that I measured and 1" bigger around. For my project, I had to use 2 pieces of cardstock to get the distance needed.

Next, stamp your images on the cardstock while it is flat. You can stamp with it on the can but it's easier to do it before you adhere the paper to the can. I used several images from the I {Heart} Hearts (#118571) stamp set and stamped them in Brilliant Blue.

After I had the cardstock stamped, I placed adhesive on the back. Not only did I put adhesive on the top and sides, I placed it across the cardstock in several places so that this would stick better to the curved surface I was placing it on. Lining the bottom edge up with the bottom rim, I carefully wrapped the paper around overlapping the edges.

Next, I measured 2 pieces of Bashful Blue 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon (#110717) about 1/2" longer than the distance around my can. Then I put adhesive on the back of my ribbon. With the ribbon edge close to the rim, I was able to cover any places where I didn't have the can completely covered.   I made flowers to decorate the can with my 5 petal flower punch (#109041) and my trio flower (#109183) punch. I added 2-way glue (#100425) and Dazzling Diamonds glitter (#102023) to make my flowers sparkle. I scattered the flowers randomly around the can.

To decorate the plastic lid, you need to measure the diameter of the lid. My lid has an inset area, so I measured that part which will leave a black edge on my lid. Using my Circle Scissors Plus (#112530), I cut a circle to fit inside the recessed area of my lid.

As you will be able to see from my pictures, I adhered the circle to the lid next. It actually works better to decorate the circle BEFORE you stick it to your lid. That way if you use any brads, etc. you don't have to make holes through the lid. I did this on the ones that I made and it worked much better. 

 I cut 5 pieces of Bashful Blue 1/2" striped grosgrain ribbon each 3" long. I then wrapped them (see picture) and placed a glue dot on the back of each one. 

  Arrange them into a 5 petal flower on the lid. Here you can either use glue dots to adhere them to the can or punch holes in the ends with your Crop-a-dile (#108362) and insert a brad. Place a final flower made from the punches above in the center and adhere with glue dots or brads.

Add cardstock flowers from the trio flower punch and glitter and you'll have your lid ready to go and your container ready to fill.

Since both of my granddaughters are paper crafters, I not only put candy inside the container, I also filled it with silk flowers and other little embellishments that they can use in their own projects. For my grandsons, I just put in candy. You could also put in small toys that would be appropriate for the age & sex of the child. I'm working on one for my sweetie pie, that I plan to fill with peanut M & M's, his favorite!


 

Embossed Aluminum Foil

Whoo...already one month gone for 2010! It seems to go by faster every year.

I had some fun playing around with aluminum foil and paint a couple of days ago. Yes,this is just the plain ol' aluminum foil that you've got in the kitchen cabinet. Here's how my final product turned out. 

 Now, for how I did it:

Cut or tear off a piece of foil that is about 5 1/2 x 6" to use for this. For this card, I used my Stampin' Up! Perfect Details texturz plates (#115962) to emboss the foil. Layer it with the Texturz Impressions Pad (#114614) and run it through the Big Shot (#113439) die cut machine. 

 You will have one side that is embossed and the other side will be debossed meaning the indentions go down instead of up. Using an old brush or a stipple brush and acrylic paint, dab the paint on to cover the foil on the debossed side. A circular brush stroke helps to get the paint down into the crevices more easily. Be sure the paint fills in the debossed areas. With a dry paper towel, rub or wipe the excess paint off of the foil, leaving paint in the crevices. Carefully, cut or fold the foil to the size the you want it. I found that folding the foil over a straight edge, like a piece of cardstock, worked better than cutting it. The foil does not cut straight, or at least, it didn't for me.
To place the foil on the cardstock, either use glue dots or put your tape runner on the cardstock.  When I tried to apply my tape runner directly to the foil, it had a tendancy to tear.

For the background of the card, I used Going Gray cardstock. I punched Old Olive and Regal Rose cardstock with my 5 petal flower (#109041) punch and placed a silver brad (#104336) through the center to make the flower. The ribbon at the bottom of the card is Pretty in Pink 1/2" striped grosgrain (#113882).

Hope you have as much fun with this as I did. In the next couple of days, I'll post some more cards using this technique and different colors.