SWAN GIFT BOX TUTORIAL (WITH CUT FILES)

Hello, family!  I am doing well -- just haven't been around the last few days because I'm really busy getting everything in order for my kitchen remodel.  I can honestly say this isn't  fun! I'm still searching for/deciding on the right accessories and trying to determine what to get rid of (when I  want to keep everything I don't need or have room for).  Then there's trying to find additional space to place kitchen items outside the kitchen before work begins next week.  However tiring this is, it's the excitement of the outcome that's keeping me going... lol!!!

Before I get started I want to say hi, and welcome, to Misty and Angie for becoming new members of our family by following me.  We're glad to have you both and look forward to getting acquainted!

Well it's that time of the month again where today I am the DT "Sassy" designer over at Sheila's.  So if you missed me there, I'm always here to share with you.  My DT project is a swan gift box:

 

I used my swan box as a towel holder and topper to a box of soap roses but, of course, it can be used separately for other small gifts.  I made the cutfile for this box using the Art Noveau and George cartridges (required for cutting files), and I've provided the .cut and gypsy file downloads at the end of this post below, if you're interested.

 

With that said, I began by cutting out the file:

 

 

Once cut, there is the box and 2 wings:

 

 

Please excuse my lines not being straight, however I wanted to provide you a picture schematic of the box folds which are indicated by the black lines:

 

 

These pictures show how the tabs (1) and swans (2) folds will look when bone folded:

 

                                                                                1

 

                                                                                 2

 

Now it's time to glue the box together by gluing the side tabs on each end to the inside body of the swans:

 

 

Once glued, the box will look like the first picture below and the next picture will show where to place the wings (I used pop dots on my box so that the wings would have a 3-D effect):

 

 

The box is now basically done -- just needs to be decorated and filled as desired!

 

For my box, I glued the heads on each side of the box together, and the tails, to give it the look of being one swan; for texture and to give the appearance of feathers, I added dimensional paint.  I finished the effects by adding eyes and highlighting the box with Stickles. Click on the picture for a close-up of these effects: 

 

 

 

My final embellishing was to add a ribbon bow and silk roses at the bottom of the box to complement the rose soaps

 

I hope you like my project, and that you'll have as much fun as I did putting yours together!!!  Now, don't forget to grab your cut file below!  LOL!!!

 

As always, thank you so much for stopping by, hugs, and...

 

I'll be seeing you!

 

 

Project Cut Files:

 

http://dc592.4shared.com/download/q6V8eS5L/swan_boxx.cut

 

http://dc592.4shared.com/download/sEM2FnO8/swan_boxx.gypsy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YOU'VE GOT TO SEE THIS EASY PAGE BINDING!!!

Hello, friends!  Hope everyone is happy and ready for the weekend!

Well, I'm back at  Pam's today with another DT project!  So just in case you didn't catch me there, you know I'll always share with you right here at home!


Let me ask you this, have you ever went to toss something into the trash but stopped because something about what you were going to trash caught your attention?  Well, that's exactly what happened to me and what lead to this project.  It's so funny that I sometimes get the most odd ideas about  a thing that just seems to come out of nowhere!  Who would have thought this idea?!!!

The project is this little mini-book, and you won't want to believe how the pages are bound and with what!!!  LOL!  Well, I'm going to show you, but first let's take a look at and tour my book -- starting with the front and then a few of the inside pages:

Okay, get ready to find out how I bound these pages!!!  Well..., you know those paperstack packs where you have to tear off the cardstock from the perforated tabs at the top of the pack?  Oh you know, the packs that look like this on the inside:

Yes those!  Well, don't ever toss them again!  Those tabs are perfect for binding pages together!!!  And it's just too easy!

After I used all the paper, I removed the front and back covers to where all I had were just the tags (Figure 1).  Next, I cut the number of pages I wanted for my little mini (the page sizes can be any size according to the number of inches in lenght of your paper pack tabs which is 12").  For my mini, I cut 6 cardstock sheets (4.50" x 6"); this gave me a front and back cover page, and 4 inside pages.  After I'd cut my pages, I counted out 2 tabs each for each of the 6 pages (which would be 12 tabs), then I cut the tabs to-size at 6" to fit my pages (Figure 2):

Figure 1

Figure 2

I have a pair of  heavy duty scissors so it wasn't too hard to cut through the 12 sheets.  If you do this, you may need to cut through a few sheets at a time.  Note:  I did not worry about the holes in the tabs because I knew I'd be covering the pages so theyd be covered too and wouldn't show.

Okay, now starting with the first 2 back tabs, I evenly aligned my first page between the 2 tabs and glued the first page between the tabs, like this:

Repeating the same step as above, I took the next 2 tabs (Figure 3) and aligned the second page between those tabs making sure they were also evenly aligned with the first page and glued the second page between the tabs:

Figure 3

I continued this procedure until each page was glued between the tabs and when all the pages were glued between all the tabs my book looked like this:

As you can see on the picture, I didn't do it, but you might want to trim off the perforated edges at the top of the paper when you cut your pages.  But, at this point, my my book was basically done!!!  All I had left to do was add paper for a front and back cover, and cover my pages!!!  How easy is that?!!!  And the design possibilities are endless!!!  You can design it any way you want and add as many pages as you'd like!!!  Now I'm sooooo happy I didn't toss those tabs!!!

Should you try this easy binding method, please let me see.  I'd love to see what ideas you come up with using these tabs!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!!  And, as always...

I'll be seeing you!

A "BLUE ROSE" GIFT TUTORIAL

Hello, everyone!  I'm back with another monthly DT project for  Pam's blog today.

I'm still going through a difficult period right now which isn't allowing me time for crafting and/or blog visiting, but I truly miss you all and I've been fortunate (and blessed) to be able to literally "squeeze" in time to get here for my monthly DT projects, thank God!!!  Please have a bit more patience with me, I promise I'm trying to get back to you as soon as I can!

Unfortunately, due to time restraints, today's project will also be short --but sweet!!!  You'll see what I mean and, judging from past projects like this, I think you'll like it!  I hope so anyway... lol!

This project can be altered to suit a man or woman, and it's soooo easy!  It's a room and/or linen spray (can also be used as a car deodorizer).  These make wonderful gifts -- here's mine:

Once I put together the spray, I poured it into a small plastic spray bottle which I embellished by tying ribbon to the neck of the bottle, adding beads and a rose; for the leaf to the rose I added an oval-shaped crystal gem, and a round gem to the top of the cap cover.  Lastly I added a personalized computer generated label with a blue rose background that I found on the internet to match the blue rose on the bottle.  Maybe this picture will give you a better close-up (or try double clicking on the picture to enlarge it):

Okay, here's the really simple recipe for the spray.  Into a lidded or capped container, add the following ingredients:

1/2 cup rubbing alcohol
1/2 cup distilled or boiled tap water (allow boiled water to cool)
2-1/2 to 3 tablespoons essential or fragrance oil (or your favorite perfume or cologne)
Optional:  If you like color, before adding your fragrance oils to the liquids, add soap dye or food coloring sparingly

Shake the ingredients until the oils and liquids have all blended well; pour into decorative bottles, embellish bottles if you wish.  Let the spray sit for at least 24 hours before using -- the longer it ages, the stronger the scent becomes!!!  Now, it's ready!!!  Enjoy!!!

P.S.  As with most liquids and oils, the oils can separate -  just shake the mixture before use if this happens.

I called mine "Blue Rose" because I used a rose scented essential oil but added just a hint of lavender too!  It smells delicious!!!  Of course, the rose embellishment and the label background is blue... hence the name!  You'll use your own favorite scents, and don't be afraid to try blending different scents together!

Any questions, please leave me a comment and/or email me at audreyfrel@sbcglobal.net.  Due to my circumstance, it may take me a few to get back to you -- but I will!!!

Hugs and love you all!  I'll be seeing you!

JUST THE CUTEST LITTLE "BALLET SHOES" TREAT BOXES!!!

Hello, everyone!!!  I hope all's well, and that every one is happy!

Well, I'm presenting this also as my monthly DT project over at Pam's today.  And I am so thankful I fianlly did figure out something to do to have to share!!!  LOL!!!  My mind was at an absolute blank all day yesterday, and it wasn't looking very good!!!

Well there it was 5:11 p.m. last evening (Thursday), and I was just sitting with my elbows on my knees, my face in my hands, looking down at the floor while thinking of a project to do for today.  I don't  know how long I sat there, but...all of sudden there it was!!!  My project was staring me right in the face!!!  So, do I have your attention as to what I saw?!!!  LOL!  Well, first let me show you my project:

Aren't these just the cutest little ballet shoe treat boxes?  Here they are without the footies:

And here's what I saw that was my inspiration for these adorable "ballet shoe" treat boxes:

That's right!  Right there on my own feet!!!  I have about 4 pair of ballet shoes in different colors because they're comfortable and I practically live in them for leisure wear during the summer!  I won't pull them all out but, see, here's another pair:

Excited over the idea, off I ran to put together these little sweeties that I'm sharing with you today and, of course, showing you how I made them.  For each shoe, I used a 12"x12" sheet of cardstock.  First, I figured out a pattern and drew a really quick cut.file:

I cut out my 2 pattern pieces; the upper shoe and the sole.  The pattern pieces looked like this:

The widest round end of the shoe's sole is the "TOE" of the shoe; the narrowest round end is the "HEEL" of the shoe:

Aren't those the funniest looking tabs on the sole of the shoe pattern that you've ever seen?!  LOL!  I made them round for fun... but mainly because it was fast; however funny, you have to admit they did turn out the cutest little box!!! 

Anyway, I began by first turning up all the little round tabs on the sole, then after locating the middle tab at the "TOE" of the sole I grabbed the upper shoe, found the middle on the top shoe side of it  (the closed end), and glued the 2 middle pieces together:

Then it then looked like this:

Next, starting on one side and, very carefully aligning the edge of the sole to the edge of the upper shoe, I counted out 7 tabs and glued the sole and upper shoe pieces together.  I DO NOT GLUE FURTHER THAN 7 TABS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE SHOE AT THIS TIME.  Next, I counted out 7 tabs on the other side and aligned, then glued the sole and upper shoe pieces together on that side.  This is what my shoe looked like after I'd glued both side pieces together:

Now, from either side (doesn't matter which),  I glued down the back end of the upper shoe to the remaining tabs on the sole but only up to the  middle back tab on the sole, and then I cut off the excess paper; like this:

I then glued the other side of the upper shoe to the last remaining tabs on the sole, then attached the remaining upper shoe end to the upper shoe end on the opposite side making certain to aligned them evenly down the middle (to assure the glued seam down the middle back of the shoe is even and straight); then I cut off the excess paper down the middle of the seam:

Lastly, to cover the unsightly tabs on the inside of the shoe, I cut off  a 9" strip of ribbon, (or you can use a strip of decorative paper); I doubled it, held it together by holding the open ends together between my thumb and forefinger then inserted the closed end of the ribbon into the back of the shoe.  Once in place I glued it to secure it in place: 

And here's the ballet shoe treat box!  

For a pair of shoes, just repeat the procedure to do another shoe!  It's really easy-peasy -- you're really just wrapping and gluing!!!  Now all that's left is decorating and embelling it!!!

A helpful suggestion is to use your glue gun for this project -- you'll get instant gratification! You won't have to hold the pieces together or clamp them until they dry enough to adhere before moving on!  Any hot glue "strings" can be easily removed by just pulling them away once the glue is dy and your shoe is together.

In my project picture at the beginning of this post, I added a pair of ladies footies; however, this little box can be used for soooo many things!!! Let your imagination soar!!!  Try pretty little packaged foot baths, tea bag samplers, babies booties, etc.  Here are examples using toiletries and candy:

I have made available the cut.file (made using the George cartridge) at the bottom of this post.

PLEASE NOTE: Because I did the cut.file on a rush basis to get my project/tutorial completed, this cut.file will only be available for several days.  I will be removing it to make an adjustment/correction to it.  Fortunately, the available file will make the shoe treat boxes; however, as you've seen in the tutorial, you will have to cut them to size in the back of the box, and I want to adjust/correct the file for a more perfect fit.  Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to figure that out in time to complete this project and tutorial -- I went with what I had.  As I may not do this immediately, I am making my file available to you now with the understanding that you will have to cut to adjust the back of the box as shown.  But, I will also let you know when the correction to the file has been made.  Normally I make my cut.files for my own use, and I'm not a professional, so even though I have no problem sharing them, they may not be very pretty to look at at any time!  LOL!!!

This file can be converted to a gypsy cut.file and, if you need assistance doing that, please post me a comment.
 
I hope everyone enjoyed my project today, and thank you so very much for stopping by!  I appreciate you taking the time to join me!

I'll be seeing you!

my ballet treat box shoes.cut

NOTEPAD TUTORIAL - PART I

Happy Saturday, everyone!!!  And hello and welcome to a new family-member, which we all know is a new follower!  Thank you for finding your way home!

 

As I promised, I have put together the notepad tutorial for you; however, I have decided that instead of attempting to do an entire tutorial for the notepad, due to the length of this tutoiral, I will break it down into 2 parts:  Part I today will show how to personalize the inside pages on on your notepad.  (Page personailzation is optional!  If you do not want to personalize your pages with an image, you can skip to where the "Scoring" instructions begin at the bottom of this post); Part 2 will show how to construct the notebook and I will post that tomorrow.

 

This notepad will be 2-7/8" x 5.50".  For the notepad pages you will use 8.50" x 11" regular copy paper (the cheaper the better) as cardstock will be too thick and will not produce good pages.  Let's begin:

• Scan image you want on your notepad pages into  your computer; save and name it into a file you can recall
• Open up WordPerfect: click to open "File" at the top of the document page; scroll down to "Page Setup" and click to open:

 

 

• Look for the "Layout" tab in the drop-down box at the top of box and click to open layout page; scroll down to the "Columns" and change the number of columns to 3; beneath "Columns" change "Rows" to 2; click "OK" to return to document page: 

 

• At the top of document page click on "Insert"; scroll down to "Graphics" and click; select "From File" from the menu to open your directory
• Click on the drop-down button in the "Look in" bar at the top of your directory; locate where you saved your image and open it
• Once your image inserts into your document you can click to highlight it, re-size and move it to where you want it on your page; you can place it at the top, bottom or center.  Once you adjust your image, press and hold your "Control" key down and hit the "Enter" key to progress to the next page then copy your image to paste on each of the additional columm and row pages.  Once you've copied and adjusted your image on each page, your document should look like this:

 

 

NOTE:  Disregard where your margins are set!!!  Your pages will equally divide once cut and image will be atomatically placed according to your adjustments.  If I am centering my image, I go to the format bar and use the "Center" option to make certain my images are centered.  However, it shouldn't be hard to just eyeball it as there are faint outlines on the page to show where your image is located on the page.

 

Now you're ready to print and cut out your pages!  After you cut and score your document, you will have the first 6 pages for your notepad.

 

Scoring:  score with the 8.50 length at 2-6/8" and 5-5/8"; turn paper so that 11" side of paper is across the top and score at 5.50".  I have outlined the scoring below for you to see as an example of what your page will look like:

 

 

Cut along each score line to have 6 separate pages:

 

.
Stack the 6 pages and continue printing, scoring, cutting pages and stacking them until you have as many inside pages as you'd like in your notepad.

 

I'll be back tomorrow with Part 2, showing how to construct your notepad -- this is the easy part!!!  In the meantime, you might want to have all your pages cut and ready, and a sheet of heavy cardstock for your front and back cover!

 

If you have any questions, please comment me; I'll get back to you as soon as I can!

 

Thanks for dropping by, and...

 

I'll be seeing you!

 

IMAGINE IT! CREATE IT! - A POLYMER CLAY HOME DECOR PROJECT

Hello everyone!  Hope all's well!  Wow, just see what I've prepared for you today that's my DT project also over at Pam's!  It's really a very long tutorial but that's because I'm taking you step-by-step what I did, but it's really easy.

This project is just as the name implies as I actually imagined and created it as I was doing it.  I've never really worked with clay before so I wanted to play around with it to see what I could come up with.  I didn't have time to put together a cut-file project and couldn't think of any paper craft, so I decided you'd have to bear with me on this trial project; however, I love the results and I think you will too.  Now don't worry, it really is very easy.  And trust me, if I can do this, you can too.  Here is my completed home decor project:

I have no clay tools at all, so I used common items to complete this project entirely from scratch -- NO CLAY TOOLS!!!  This really is a picture heavy tutorial so let's get started.

Materials I used:

• Sculpey Oven Bake Clay
• Pearl Ex Powdered Pigments
• Large Background Stamp
• Cherub ornament shown below used for mold and molded item ( I found this on sale for $1 at Walmart)
• Item used for frame/cutting (I used one of Buster's empty dog food plastic containers shown below to outline my frame because I liked the octagon shape and the scallop cookie cutter for my molded cherub shape; however, cookie cutters, die cuts or actual shape cutters can be used)
• Plastic bottle or rolling pin ( I used my Crafters Pick Ultimate Glue bottle)
• Mister (containing water)
• Plastic knife
• Small paint brush
• Drinking Straw
• Spatula

NOTE:  Before I began I had ready a sheet of freezer paper covering a small baking sheet to hold my clay mold and clay items which were going into the oven to be baked.

I began by making the mold for the cherub by taking a thick chunk of clay as tall as the cherub and a bit wider around than the cherub:

Using the bottle of glue as a rolling pin I smoothed out the top of the clay and misted it with water before firmly pressing the cherub into the clay (some people use talc to keep the clay from sticking but I found water worked best for me):

After pressing the ornament into the clay, I carefully removed the cherub from the clay mold by gently lifting it along the edges of the clay lifting it out.  Here's what the mold looked like:

I placed the mold on the freezer wrap lined pan and baked it for 20 minutes at 275 degrees (always check time/temperature on clay package); I let clay cool about 30 minutes.

Once the mold was cool,  I took a chunk of clay and flattened it out large enough to fit over the depressed image in the mold  (this piece of clay should be just thick enough to not punch a hole into when pressing into it with your fingers):

Again I smoothed out the top of the clay chunk and mited the mold before placing the clay on top of the mold:

Very gently and carefully so as not to tear the clay -- but firmly -- I pressed the clay into the mold using my fingers and thumbs to get a good impression:

Lifting from around the edges (the same as with the cherub) I removed the clay and here's the impression I got from the mold:

NOTE:  Because I did this as I went along, as an afterthought I used the scallop shape cookie cutter (shown in the picture above of the materials I used) to cut away the excess clay around the edges of the cherub image so it didn't look so rough; because it was a last minute decision I didn't get a picture of it -- sorry.  However, you'd do the cutting around the edges using the cookie cutter just as you would on cookie dough.  You'll see on a following picture what it will look like with the edges scalloped.  Hey, I did say this was a trial project!!!  LOL!

Moving on, I took another chunk of clay enough for my frame (the plaster container); again smoothing, flattening (to about the thickness of a nickel), and wetting the top of the clay; I laid the container on top of this piece of clay and pressed down firmly:

Using the plastic knife I carefully sliced away the extra/excess clay from around the image of the frame:

Here's the impression I had once I'd sliced away the unnecessary additional clay:

I then took my background stamp (I've colored the stamp so you'll be able to see the impression), misted it and placed it on top of the clay frame pressing down gently but firmly to get a good impression on the clay:

Now the fun really began for me!  Using the spatula I carefully lifted the cherub image and centered it on the frame.  Using the end of the paint brush I punched holes into each scallop for decoration and used the straw to punch a hole where I was going to string a tassel:

Using several colors of pigment powders as paint, I started painting the clay until I achieved a color I liked:

Using the spatula I carefully lifted my image/frame and placed it on the freezer paper on the pan, then baked it at 275 degrees for 20 minutes.

Once the clay image had cooled, I decided rub black ink around the edges and to use my index finger to spread some gold Stickles all over the image completely covering it and allowing it to dry.  This is what it looked like:

This is actually the finished piece!!!  Now of course you've noticed I didn't put a tassel through the hole at the bottom as I'd planned; again, as an afterthought, I changed my mind and decided to glue a wire holder for the computer generated words "Imagine" and "Create" before placing the image into the wooden frame.  If you'd like to know how I did the wire, it was easy.  I cut off a piece of 20 guage wire about 4 inches long; using round nose pliers I held the pliers with my palm and fingers facing up before grabbing the very tip end of the wire with the pliers:

Slowly turning my wrist I curled the wire until the tip end and the length of the wire were touching:

At this point, afrer curling the other end with the pliers,  I could take the loops between my thumb and  index finger to continue curling, bending and/or manipulating the wire until I got the shape I desired.  That's it!!!

Now I really have no experience at all working with clay and this really is my first completed clay project, so like I said if I can do this on a first try, you can too.  Clay doesn't have to be hard or intimidating -- jusr play with it!  Anyway, I hope you like this and are inspired to try doing one yourself!  And don't forget to let me see how your's came out!

Thanks for stopping by and...

I'll be seeing you!