What's Cooking ?

Hi Everybody,

The other day I had a trip to Ikea  and while I was there I spotted these big tubs in the childrens department and they are filled with lots of bright plastic beads

It cot me £5 and there are literally hundreds of these beads in this tub.

So what am I going to do with them?

 I'm going to bake them !!

Pre heat your oven to 200 degrees (It needs to be hot) and while you wait you can space out the beads onto a non stick baking tray.

 They need to be separate with enough space between them because they are going to melt and you don't want them to run together.

Put them in the oven for ten minutes and then take a look at them. As they melt they sink into a doughnut shape.

 If yours are like that then they need to be left for a little longer until all the centre has run together and formed a dome.

Once they are ready take them out of your oven and allow them to cool down for a few minutes

I eased mine from the non stick baking tray with a wooden spatula

And there you have a whole bunch of flat backed dots ready to add to your cards.

There are ten different colours of beads in the tub and I think it is a bargain

If you like to add enamel dots to your cards then these are so cheap you can add loads of them

And when you eventually use up all the beads ... in the year dot ... keep the container for storage

Happy cooking !!

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

More Backgrounds

Hi Everybody,

While I  was playing the other weekend I made several backgrounds with either Brusho Crystals or Distress Inks

I showed you at the end of last week the ones with the Brushos and so here are the ones made with the Distress Inks

The colour combination for this one is Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed and Peacock Feathers

The flowers on all the cards are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the little velvet butterflies are from my "Stash"

The sentiment is the same on all the cards too and has been stamped in black and clear embossed

 This one is Walnut Stain,  Vintage Photo and Spiced Marmalade

Each card has a Hat Pin in the floral display and to get the size I have simply folded an A4 piece of card in half and then cut it in half

You will get two cards which ever way you fold it and the folds will be at the top so that they will stand perfectly for you

On this card I use Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers but I added in some gold to make the difference

Three pretty cards and added to the three "Thank You" cards from the other day, together with the envelopes to fit,  would make a really nice gift for someone to use throughout the year ... and Christmas is on the way !!    Need I say more ??

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Tuesday Tutorial - Spellbinders Alphabet

Hi Everybody,

Alphabets can be used in lots of different ways apart from the obvious. We just need to think outside the box and see what else we can come up with to make sure we really get our monies worth from this ever useful die set

Spellbinders Supplies:

• S6-001 5x7 Matting Basics A
• S6-002 5x7 Matting Basics B
• S6-009 Font One Uppercase
• EL-015 Bricks and Bark 
• PL-001 Platinum Die Cutting and Embossing Machine

Other Supplies:

• Brusho Crystal Colours
• Enamel Dots from Want2Scrap
• Stamp from Make the Day Special

Instructions:

With die #7 from Matting Basics A cut two in white and create a hinged card 

 (Die #1 is always the smallest)

From a bright coloured background and #7 from Matting Basics B cut one panel 

(I used Brusho Crystals - Ultra Marine for my background)

Cut another white panel from #6 Matting Basics A and this is the one we will work on

Space out the Alphabet letters of your choice, face down in a random fashion, onto the correct side of your card and cut and emboss them though your machine

Then remove them from the card but keep the letters for another projects

Also keep the tiny pieces that are part of any of the letters that you have used  like the "O" or the triangle from the "A"

Once you have the dies removed then emboss the panel in any folder that you have available. I used the Bricks and Bark 

Place foam pads around the open spaces to support the card and also add pieces of foam to the back of the pieces that you saved from the previous step.  

Remove the backing from the pads and place it onto the bright background you have leaving a small border around the edge

Replace any of the pieces that you saved from the letters that you cut

Stamp in black and clear heat emboss the sentiment and add some strips of the background card around it then add foam pads to the back of it

I chose to use white enamel dots and I coloured them with a marker pen to match my card. 

They dried mottled which fitted in perfectly with my background. 

Add them randomly to the card

Designers Tip:

Another way to use the panel with the cut out letters is as a stencil and simply ink through the card to create another type of background for your cards

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Box for a Box ...

Hi Everybody,

If you have seen the new videos I have added recently then I am sure you have been wondering how you are going to give this to your recipient

No matter how hard you squeeze you will never get this into an envelope

So I have been busy with a ruler and pencil working out the measurements for a box to put your box into and this is the result ...  Create a Gift Box

In the video I give you the option to leave the box plain and all I have done to it is added some of the extra flowers that I had left over from  making the  Spellbinders Pop Up Box  

I think that this would make a really pretty gift for anyone and it would need to be hand given as it won't fair very well in the post.

But it must be for some one special or you wouldn't be going to these lengths to make it.

This plain variation can be used with either of the pop up boxes that I made

But being me I wanted more so on this one I  have added in  some pattern to the panels and lid

I have dressed  it up with some of the same flowers used in the making of the  Pop Up Box  and this is the version created without using any dies to make it

The flowers on this one are from Wild Orchid Crafts and I have trailed them from the lid down the side of the box.

I have used  dies in the decoration for the outer box and  I have used   Interlocking Love  for the side panels and Majesty for the lid  and then I have lined them with Acetate

Both variations are so pretty once completed and both are easy to do.

The die will save you the bother of measuring as it cuts it out perfectly each and every time but if you can't get the die for whatever reason then you can still get the look yourself without one.

So there you have several links to products I have used and there are three tutorials here also. Click the links to go to the pages and I will also add them to the Video Tutorials tab at the top of the blog

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx

Pop Up Box - and no dies ...

Hi Everybody,

Whenever I add something new to these pages .. be it a video or a supplier for the items or the dies that I use then it will be  underlined   and this indicates that it is a link that you can click. 

Plus I will add the same link to the Video Tutorials section that is in the title bar at the top of the page and that way you will always be able to find it in the future

Many of you seemed to like the  Spellbinders Pop Up Box that I added a few days ago but I know that many of you live in places where you cannot get the die or it is too expensive to ship

I didn't think that you should miss out on such a popular box card that everybody seems to be making right now.

And so I have made a Video Tutorial for this  Pop Up Box  and I haven't used any dies at all. (Please click the links to go to either of the pages for the Tutorials)

What I have done though is fill it full of flowers from  Wild Orchid Crafts  and wrapped it with beautiful lace from the same company.

The little baby bib that I have used at the top of the box is from Mei Flower  but there are many more baby items on their website

Now if you don't stuff yours as full as I have then you may be able to get it into an envelope ... but I have no chance with mine !!

There is another video that will show you how to create a bigger box to put this one into and it makes a really special gift and can be for any occasion and I will add that tomorrow.

So Happy Crafting and I know that you will like the gifts that you are going to make.

Please remember ...

You now have three places to visit for ideas or tutorials ... Video Tutorials at the top ... Tuesday Tutorials in the sidebar to the right ... and  Inspiration  at the top left of the pages.

More tomorrow ...

Hugs xx