Sara Jane's Studio

Honeycomb Ornaments - for Easter perhaps?

2012-04-01T09:49:00-04:00

I spent my winter holiday break between Christmas and New Year's crafting like a madwoman, because I had had so little time to sit in my little studio during the previous 6 months. One of the things I made was a series of honeycomb ornaments. The instructions can be found here, on Splitcoaststampers. I made a few and gave two away as Christmas gifts.

This particular ornamnent (and the ones described on Splitcoast) are quite large- about 5 inches tall, and 4-1/2" in diameter. So you need a REALLY big Christmas tree, or just an ornament display, like mine, above. Of course if you use a smaller die to cut out your pieces, then the ornament will be likewise smaller.

One critical note: You MUST use a lightweight paper. I tried my first one out of some heavier weight scrapbook paper (not even cardstock) and I could not open the ornament more than halfway. (Not to worry: I did keep it, and am going to mount it in a frame, for a 3D Christmas decoration for next season. So for my next few ornaments, including the one above, I went shopping for some lighter weight, handmade papers. And those worked quite well.

So why am I sharing this now?? I realized that you could make some very pretty egg-shaped ornaments for Easter. They could be hung, or placed in a bowl with your other Easter egg creations.

I make no promises, but if I do find some time amid my other projects, I'll give it a try. If you have time to try, let me know, and I'll post your creations here!

Keep creating!

Easter Eggs!

2012-03-25T09:49:40-04:00

If you celebrate Easter with your family, and you love to craft, you should check out this post from Joggles. It is about felted Easter eggs. They are covered in beautiful colors of felt, with embroidery, beading and lace adornments. There is a video, but if you scroll down you can also see still photos of her basket-full of beautiful eggs!

Keep creating!!

Snow People

2012-02-25T07:45:00-05:00

Over the Christmas holidays I had a lot of fun making a family of snow people. They were inspired by a project offered by Joggles, a really fun multi-media online store. There was not stamping involved in these cute creations- but boy were they fun! I think the best part was figuring out how to dress each one up.

The bodies are simple clear glass or plastic, and range in height from 3-1/2" to 6" tall. Some have long necks, and some have no necks.

The heads are made from Creative Paperclay, which is an easily moldable, air dry clay. It only takes a 4 oz package to make three heads like these. Brads are used for the eyes and mouth, and the carrot nose is created from a small piece of copper sheeting. After letting the heads dry overnight, they were covered with Aileen's Thick Designer Tacky Glue and "Diamond Dust", a large, chunky, plastic glitter-like material.

This lovely ladies' hat started from a wooden wheel (for a little car?) painted silver, and covered with Diamond Dust. Silver eyelash trim, wired beads and a pink flower topped it off.

She was further embellished with wired, pink organdy ribbon, and a white leaf trim, as well as some wired beads, and a rhinestone on a bow at her neck.

The bodies are partially filled with a mixture of inexpensive plastic pearlized beads - and in my case I added some micro beads in mica flakes in either pink or blue.

On the outside I smeared some clear Stickles glue.

This handsome gent has for a hat a pastry decorating tip!! It's covered with the same Diamond Dust, and a large rhinestone embellishment.

Here is a closeup of his hat. You can also see his "earmuffs" which are made from silver bead caps, held in place by a hat pin with a pearl on the end.

Around the base of his had and at his neck is some silver eyelash trim. And I added a piece of wired blue organdy ribbon.

A rhinestone trim was used down the center front.

Finally, this well-dressed snowman has a hat, also made from a small wooden piece painted silver. It's topped by two bead caps, a clear bead, and a hat pin with a pearl on the end. A piece of black 1/8" velvet ribbon is wrapped around at teh base.

His neckware is a combination of wired silver trim and silver leaf trim.

Down the center are pieces of rhinestone trim, bordered by black 1/8" velvet ribbon. And around the base is some Washi tape, also bordered by the narrow velvet ribbon.

Of course the skies the limit with the personalities you could make!! I had a lot of fun making mine and I know that I will bring them out year after year to ward off winter's cabin fever.

Winter holidays

2012-02-18T05:06:00-05:00

Yes, it's a little late for Christmas, but this card would work anytime during the winter for a celebration. I CASED this design from Ellen Hutson's site; it uses an Inkadinkadoo tree stamp, and some microfine red glitter. The blue (Baja Breeze) cardstock and ink and Whisper White cardstock, Versamark ink and clear embossing powder, and Signo White Gel Pen were all from Stampin' Up! You also need Sticky Strip (or Red Liner) tape in addition to your SNAIL adhesive.

I started by cutting my white cardstock for the image to size (4-3/4" X 3-1/2"). The tree image was stamped in Versamark ink and then embossed with clear powder. Make sure your Versamark ink is VERY clean so the image stays bright white. Take a scrap piece of cardstock and tear a wavy line across it; then used this torn edge as a mask to create the drifts of snow. Stipple with blue in very lightly, building up to the right amount of color as you go. It should be somewhat darker near the horizon line and lighter as you go to towards the top of the image. Use the white gel pen to dot snowflakes, and add an appropriate sentiment as shown.

Sticky Strip is one of the best ways to apply glitter so that it will stick. On this card I cut a piece of cardstock to 5" X 3-3/4", and applied a 1/2"-wide piece of sticky strip along each of the four edges. The finished image was centered on this, leaving 1/8" of bare Sticky Strip all around, and ted glitter was sprinkled around all of the bare Sticky Strip. This approach did three things all at one: 1) & 2) the same piece of Sticky Strip adhered both the image and the glitter; AND 3) applying the cut image on top assured that there was a perfectly straight line around the image.

The framed image was mounted onto a piece of Baja Blue cardstock (5-1/4" X 4"), and then this was attached to a standard A2 card (5-1/2" X 4-1/4").

If you wanted it for a general sentiment for the winter time, you could use it as is and change the sentiment, or you could use a pale blue glitter for a monochromatic look.

Keep creating!!

Quicky Valentine

2012-02-14T06:32:00-05:00

This little package comes together very quickly, thanks to the Petite Pocket Bigz XL Die, the new Heart Framelets Dies, and Stampin' Up!'s small cellophane bags.

To make this little treat holder, I used the Bigz die to cut out the petit pocket from Cherry Cobbler cardstock. Then, I used SNAIL adhesive to temporarily attach the Heart Framelits die to one of the cutting pads for the Big Shot, and positioned the pocket over the die to cut the heart window.

From there, it's easy. Stamp the line of hearts repeatedly across the front using Cherry Cobbler ink. Use Sticky Strip to close the sides of the pocket. Add some treats to a 3" X 5" (small) cellophane bag, and put inside the pocket. Stamp the "Sent with Love" sentiment and punch out with the 1" circle punch, adhere to the flap with a Stampin' Dimensional. Wrap Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine three times around the pouch, tie in a bow, and you are done!!

Valentine Treats

2012-02-13T18:09:00-05:00

As you have surely discovered by now, the Big Shot is a great way to make fun and creative packaging- either for one special someone, or for a whole party. My Stamp Club made two such cute gift packages at our January meeting.

The first is a little gift box that uses the Pillow Box die.

We used the P.S. I love You stamp set (from the Occasions mini-catalog) and the Distressed Dots background stamp. The pillow box is made from Pear Pizzazz cardstock; and you'll also need some scraps of Whisper White, Early Espresso and Crumb Cake cardstock. For ink, you'll need a Crumb Cake ink pad, and the Early Espresso & Cherry Cobbler Stampin' Write Markers.

You'll also want the 1/2" Cherry Cobbler Scallop Dots Ribbon, Early Espresso Baker's Twine, and Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details. For tools, you'll need the 1-3/8" circle punch, the Jewelry Tag punch, and the 1/16" hole punch.

Once your pillow box is die cut, stamp the Distressed dots using Crumb Cake ink. Stamp the circle with the heart border with Crumb Cake on white, and punch out with the large circle punch. In the center, stamp the strawberry image, also with Crumb Cake. Use the markers direct-to-rubber on the strawberry, coloring the top half red and the bottom half in Early Espresso, and stamp on a scrap of white. Cut this image out, and attach to the circle with Stampin' Dimensionals. Add some Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details to the red part of the strawberry and set aside to dry.

Make the ribbon trim element by attaching each piece directly to the pillow box, and then layering the next piece on top. This method assure that everything is the right length and will lie flat. Start by adhering a piece of the scallop dot ribbon. Then layer on a piece of Early Espresso that has been cut so that only the scallops of the ribbon show underneath. Then add a piece of white that has been repeatedly stamped with the line of small red hearts. You'll have to trim very close to the edges of the hearts to make a strip that is narrow enough.

Finish by creating a tiny tag from Crumb Cake, and adding a piece of Early Espresso Baker's Twine, and you have a very special package for a very special someone!!

For your Valentine

2012-02-12T18:09:05-05:00

At our January Stamp Club we had fun making three kinds of Valentines- one is a card, and the other two make a great presentation for some sweet treats or a small gift.

The first is a 4" X 4" square card, perfect for a special valentine. It uses Cherry Cobbler cardstock, Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details, Creative Elements and Valentine Love stamp sets, and the Lace Ribbon punch. You also need a piece of Blushing Bride and Very Vanilla cardstock, and ink pads in Cherry Cobbler and Soft Suede. You'll also want to grab some sponges to distress some edges, and the Color Spritzing tool, together with a Soft Suede Stampin' Write Marker.

Start by stamping the large flourish image from Creative Elements with Cherry Cobbler ink on the Cherry Cobbler card base. Then trace the image with the Cherry Cobbler Dazzling Details. Stamp the butterfly from the same stamp set with Cherry Cobbler on a scrap of Blushing Bride cardstock. Fussy cut the butterfly, and then apply the Dazzling Details to the wings as desired. Set both of these aside to dry while you work on the other elements.

Punch out a strip of "ribbon" with the Lace Ribbon Punch from Blushing Bride, and distress the edges with Soft Suede ink. Cut the "ribbon" in half, lengthwise. Stamp the frame from Creative Eelements using Soft Suede on Very Vanilla, then stamp "LOVE" from the "Valentine Love" set in the center, and cut very close to the long edges of the image. If you have the Color Spritzing tool, you can add a little more distress to the sentiment by spritzing on Soft Suede ink, very lightly. Adhere one half of the lace ribbon to the back of each long edge of the "LOVE" sentiment.

Once your butterfly is dry, attach three small pearls from Basic Pearls embellishments. Adhere the lace ribbon element to the card using SNAIL, as shown, and then add the butterfly using a Stampin' Dimensional, bending it's wings up to let it fly.

Yes, it's a teeny bit fussy, but isn't it beautiful?!?

Sweet Hello

2011-06-18T20:29:39-04:00

Recently I needed a batch of thank you cards, and didn't have any suitable ones on hand. I had had some surgery that required me to be house-bound for a couple of weeks. I couldn't drive the first week, and wasn't supposed to go to work for two more weeks, but I compromised by working from home for one of those two weeks. Sooo many folks offered their help, and came over to visit me and help me with shopping and little things around the house. They also helped me to entertain my new Golden Doodle puppies, Tia and Jasper!!

Of course I had to write thank you cards. As I mentioned, I did NOT have a stash on hand that were suitable for the purpose. BUT I did have a package of the Simply Sent kit from Stampin' Up! called "Sweet Hello". These were perfect for my needs.

The kit is shown below:

It includes 8 cards preprinted with the pretty flourish, and the blue border. Separately you have little fabric flowers that have adhesive backs, and of course 8 envelopes are included. You can add any sentiment that you like. I chose "Kind Thanks" from the "Thank You Kindly" set, and stamped it in Old Olive to match the green flourish design.

So it made my task of writing and sending multiple "Thank You" cards managable and enjoyable, and allowed me to say (at least a little bit) that I made them, too!

If you like this design, you need to hurry to place your order, because this particular kit will retire with the 2011 catalog on June 30, 2011. (But never fear: there are 3 beautiful new Simply Sent designs coming in next year's catalog.)

For Dad

2011-06-16T22:40:03-04:00

I don't know about you, but masculine cards always seem to be a challenge. I find that with the right colors (neutral or jewel toned) and geometric embellishments (here, star brads) you can hardly go wrong!

This card was inspired by something I saw on SplitCoastStampers, but I ended up taking it in a different direction. It started with an embossing folder designed by Tim Holz ("Patchwork"), and I took the opportunity to play around with applying ink directly to the embossing folder.

I used Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla cardstock, and ran it through my Big Shot with the Patchwork embossing folder. (See below for more ideas on how to use ink during this process!) The image was trimmed, mounted on Basic Black, and then on a card base that is Early Espresso. The ribbon is 5?8" grosgrain in Early Espresso, and the copper colored star brads were from my stash.

The sentiment is from SU (All Year Cheer II -retired), stamped with Early Espresso on Very Vanilla, and then "antiqued" with Soft Suede and a sponge. I cut a piece of Soft Suede slightly larger than I needed, tore the edges, and then sponged them with som Early Espresso. I did the same with the Basic Black matte, but instead of inking, I gave it a little spritz with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz.

And then I added the little gold crown from my stash. Just a little teeny bit of bling!

I found that I liked this card so much, I made another one right away to give to a good friend of mine.

The playtime associated with this card consisted of trying out different ways of applying ink to the embossed image. Three examples are below.

This look was created by sponging on Early Espresso ink, with a light hand, after embossing. See how the edges of the raised portions are darker? Plus it's somewhat uneven. Not right or wrong, or bad or good, it's just what you get.

This one was created by applying Soft Suede ink with a sponge directly to teh embossing folder itself, prior to embossing the cardstock. Why hadn't I thought of that before?!? The folder is plastic, so it is easily rinsed under running water when you are done. In this case, the ink is applied much more evenly, and the edges of the images are not darker.

And this one, not surprisingly!, is a combination of the two techniques. I inked the embossing folder, then embossed, and then used a sponge to wipe on a darker ink. This is the piece that I used for the card itself.

So, have fun with it!! Try multiple colors, try applying it evenly, or unevenly. Just play!!

Amour

2011-02-14T08:08:00-05:00

I think this card would make a great Valentine for that special man in your life. It's interesting but not girly, and the image of the Eiffel Tower and the word "amour" (which, of course, is "love" in French) are perfect to convey your Valentine sentiment.

This design was made using the Artistic Etchings stamp set, and the Mostly Vintage Stencil. The cardstock colors are Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Whisper White.

I started by sponging the image from the stencil with Crumb Cake ink towards the right side of the white cardstock. Then I added, randomly, the images from Artistic Etchings with the same color. Some were "stamped off" - meaning I inked the stamp, stamped it once on a piece of scrap, and then stamped it on my card without re-inking. The second image is fainter, and gives you another design tool.

I stamped the circular image in Early Espresso ink on the upper left corner of the Early Espresso mat used for the Eiffel tower image. The Eiffel tower itself was stamped in Soft Suede. The edges of both stamped images were distressed with the Cutter Kit. (Yes, you can do it in other ways, but the distressing tool makes it SOOO much easier!)

The ribbon is the new 1/8" taffeta, which I ended buyin in every single color! "Amour" was stamped using Early Espresso ink, just above the ribbons.

Don't you agree, it's the perfect card for the perfect guy?

Blue Valentine

2011-02-13T22:08:08-05:00

This is the Valentine that I gave to my best friend this year.

The design is shown in the Holiday Mini from 2010, and spotlights the Filled with Love stamp set. It is on a 4" square base of textured Baja Breeze cardstock. The red is Riding Hood Red. I used the largest and the smallest heat punches to cut out two of the hearts; they were mounted on the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

And since I did not have any blue brads of the right hue, I added three small drops of Versamark Reinker directly to the card (under "Be My Valentine", covered with embossing powder, and then heat embossed. It was a good substitute in a pinch!

ChalkBoard Calendar and Memo Station

2011-02-08T15:10:58-05:00

Where, or where does the time go?!? Here it is already February, and Valentine's Day is just around the corner. I love making Valenine's and can't wait to get to them - but for now, I wanted to share a ChalkBoard Calendar and Memo Station that I just put together.

I've beem wanting to do this for a while. I bought a metal base from Strano Designs - it's a generous 18" square, they call it their Swag Inspiration Board - and they can be gotten on sale for $9.95. They will hold magnets, and you can use a dry erase marker on them. You could also use a piece of galvanized metal from one of the big box home improvement stores, or you might find something at a big box craft store.

I added one of Stampin' Up!'s Decor Elements that has a chalkboard finish, so I can change the calendar dates for each month.The chalkboard base is the medium-sized Curly Sign, which is 12" square. I applied it very easily according to the instructions that come with each applique. (For a short tutorial, click here to see the application of a large element to a glass jar.) On top of it, I direcly applied the large Decor Elements Calendar. Now, you can see that my application was a little cock-eyed....The most challenging thing about this project was trying to get this on straight!! You really have to be cautious, because you only get once chance for application - once a piece of the applique touches a surface, it is pretty much committed. I'm still trying to decide if I can live with this, or if I need to remove it and start again. :)

I'm going to make the months from the Full Calendar stamp set - I've only done February, with the rest soon to come. It's basic stamping, with a strip of magnet tape on the back to hold it to the board. Of course I am planning on making a little box to keep all of the months in it - I'll share it when it's done!

Here's my new calendar and note station in it's place- which right now is a window.

I'm going to have to find a new location as soon as the nice weather hits!!

Gratitude in Silver

2010-12-23T09:23:00-05:00

Here are two more uses of the Day of Gratitude stamp set suitable for the holidays, or even just a winter momento or gift.

This first version uses the largest image from the Day of Gratitude set stamped in silver, and embossed in silver, on brushed silver cardstock. It was then cut to a 3-1/4" circle. I added a large clear rhinestone brad in the center, and some smaller self-stick rhinestones around the outside.

The bling at the bottom is a combination of elements from the retired Pretties Kit, and some beads from my stash.

The purple ribbon is also from my stash of goodies.

The image was mounted with Stampin' Dimensionals on a second circle, approximately 3-3/4" in diameter.

The second version of the same design uses white craft ink and white embossing powder on the same silver cardstock. I finished it with little self-stick pearls. It reminds me of a doily....

I may have to try this one again, using all white: cardstock, image, and ribbon. Oh, if you can see the little specks of bright color on the white image, below, it is some iridescent glitter that was mixed in with the white embossing powder.

I think this would be great as a gift tag, which could then be used year after year as a decoration on a Christmas tree. And it would be great for January or February birthday, too!

Gratitude Cubed

2010-12-22T09:05:00-05:00

I knew when I saw the large image from the Day of Gratitude set that it would be great for so many things beyond a fall-themed card or decoration. Here, it's stamped in blue and turned into a pretty ornament or decoration for gift packaging.

I stamped the largest image from Day of Gratitude six times with Marina Mist ink on Whisper White cardstock, and cut each image out right along the edge of the image. Gently, I scored each one, four times, across the base of the outer "petals" (see below).

A snowflake, either punched out or made with the Northern Frost die strip, was attached to the center of each image using a small, blue Square Ice rhinestone brad.

Then I started putting them together.

I used Tacky Glue on two petals, and adhered it to two petals on a second piece. I put four pieces together to create a cylinder of sorts.

The last two images were used to create the cube. I incorporated a piece of the 1/8" Taffeta Ribbon in Marina Mist in one corner before closing it completely.

It's pretty and elegant, and suitable for gifting. And not hard to make!! Try it in red and green, or even white on white (using embossing powder on the image). It will be pretty no matter what you do.