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Sunday, October 31, 2010

P3 Challenge 11-1-10 Wineglass Candle Lampshade

Where has this year gone? I can't believe it's November 1 already!
Time for a new challenge at Paper Cubed!
The challenge this month is to create a candle/votive holder, luminary, wrap or decoration of some kind. It can be any theme.
So, whip out your candles and your craft supplies and create a 3D project that shines!
Head on over to Paper Cubed to get all inspired by the rest of the fabulous design team, then upload your project so we can all "ooh and ahh" over it!

Here's my contribution this month, I went with a fall/leaf theme for my friends south of the border who celebrate Thanksgiving this month:
I made a wineglass candle lampshade

It starts with a mismatched wine glass that's just collecting dust.
(You know, the one way in the back of the cabinet that used to be
part of a matching set until you moved and broke a couple?)
Just plop a real votive or battery operated candle inside:
(If using real candles, please don't leave unattended!)

Here's a pic of it lit up, it looks really pretty with the light glowing through the leaves, but it's difficult to capture with a photograph:


The shade is made out of vellum cardstock, which is heavier than vellum paper.
(You could also use cardstock and punch a design out of it to let the light through.)

I dug out my ancient Fiskars border scissors for the top scallops, and sponged it with Sorbet ink. Then I stamped it in Sorbet, Autumn Terracotta, honey and Barn Red with scrolls and leaves from CTMH stamp set B1355 Timeless (available only with the Olivia Workshop on the Go Kit), which were then embossed with clear detail powder because the ink seemed to be taking forever to dry. I added a hand-gathered 1" paper ruffle (pattern paper from CTMH Felicity promo kit) to the inside of the bottom edge, and hid the glue which showed through the vellum with a strip of stitched honey color ribbon. Then I attached the edges of the shade together, overlapping them by about 1/4". I used 1/8" scor tape for the whole project so it won't fall apart. Then I used the same ribbon to accent the stem of the glass, with some curly vines made by wrapping some chocolate waxy flax around a cocktail stick to curl it. Added some fabric leaves from my junk drawer under the glass for an extra pop of color.

These would be really pretty (and cheap) to make for a wedding or any party table.

Here is a template I came up with for this lampshade. I printed it as big as I could get it on an 81/2 x 11" page. You may need to resize it to fit your wineglass.


Join us at Paper Cubed this month for an illuminating challenge! ;)
You could score a $15 gift certificate to Papertrey Ink!

There are also a couple of openings on the Design Team...see P3 blog for details.

Thank you for visiting my blog,
Lorrinda
**********************************************************
EDIT:
I have had many emails requesting help with the ruffle edge:
.
For the box pleat ruffle, I used 3 strips of pattern paper cut at 1"x12", (there will be a bit of scrap ruffle left over from this)  To fold the ruffle, it's basically a valley fold, mountian fold, mountain fold, valley fold (with the valley folds touching under the pleat) for each box pleat. I found a video by the master Tresa Black that shows it for those who need a visual HERE.

To attach it, I ran a strip of 1/8" scor-tape (any strong double-sided tape will work, I just like scor-tape best for curved lines) along the INSIDE bottom edge of the decorated vellum shade, and attached the ruffle box-pleat side down, overlapping the edges of the 3 strips of ruffle to look like one continuous strip (trim off any excess, I had about 3" ruffle strip left over). Then flip it over, run another strip of scor-tape along the OUTSIDE bottom edge for the ribbon to hide the adhesive and uneven edge of ruffle that show through the vellum.  Then, when the shade is fully decorated, run another strip of scor-tape along one of the straight edges, curl the shade, overlap the straight edges by 1/4 inch and stick together. Ta-da! Pretty vellum shade! It is much easier to decorate the shade while flat, then curl it together last.

I hope this helps those who are having difficulty with the ruffle edge! 
Thanks for your comments!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Spooky Halloween Decor

Are you ready for Halloween?

My kids have had their costumes for over a month, and can hardly wait to wear them. I still don't have the treats to hand out, I usually wait until the last minute because they tend to disappear before Halloween in my house. I have no idea why that keeps happening, I even hide them in my craft room. It's truly baffling.

I made this SPOOKY coaster decor to put on my mantle. (The back says WINTER, but I'll post that pic another time).  I love Halloween paper crafts, but people don't usually give out Halloween cards, so this covered coaster decor fulfilled my craft cravings nicely. And I get to use it year after year.


Here are the close-ups:







Wanna hear something really spooky? When I finished making this and was cleaning up, I found 5 candy wrappers...mini Halloween candy wrappers. Reece's Pieces and Candy Corn. I don't remember eating them, and I haven't bought the Halloween candy yet.  Cue scary music....

Recipe:
All Product CTMH.
Pattern Papers: Abundance and Enchanted
Cardstock: Pansy Purple, Autumn Terracotta, Goldrush, Garden Green, Cocoa, Black
Chipboard
Inks: Black, Cocoa, Autumn Terracotta
Stamps: D1442 Thriller, C1323 Who Loves You, D1311 October Word Puzzle
Z291 Hinges
Chocolate Waxy Flax
Black Embroidery Floss
Liquid Glass
Glue Dots

Other tools:
Cricut Cartridges: Storybook, Stretch Your Imagination, Basic Shapes
ATG tape runner
Chipboard coasters cut at 4" with Cricut Deep Cut Blade

I am entering my project in the following challenges this week:
Heart 2 Heart - Halloween or pumpkins
OCC- color challenge
Crazy 4 Challenges - Halloween
Dutch dare - Halloween or color challenge
CRAFT - spooky
Fab n' Funky - things that go bump in the night
Corrosive - Halloween or orange and black
Fabulously Artsy - Halloween linky party


I was inspired by this coaster decor piece from fellow CTMH consultant Jennifer Smith.  Isn't this fabulous? Check out her blog Stampin Stampede.







Thanks for visiting my blog,
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Lorrinda








Wednesday, October 20, 2010

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Do you know anyone who has NOT been affected by breast cancer in some way? October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Hug your mother, your aunt, your sister, your daughter, your friends. Tell them how much you love them, and remind them to check the "girls" regularly, and to get regular mammograms if they're eligible. Here's a cute way to remind them:


The cute little bees were stamped first, then layered with pink vellum cutouts popped up with 3D foam dots.
I am entering this card in the One Layer Wednesday challenge hosted by Jennifer Styles this week. The challenge is to make a one layer card using the birds and the bees or the flowers and the trees. I think my  boo bees fit the criteria, don't you? Check out the challenge...it's fun to make simple cards once in a while, and more challenging than it looks.
I am also entering this card in the Splitcoast Stampers "Hope You Can Cling To" card drive campaign, for challenges HYCCT10(inspired by something on your walk), HYCCT14(use ribbon), and HYCCT17(popped up elements). For more info, check out Splitcoast Stampers HERE.

Thanks for visiting my blog,
Lorrinda

Recipe:
All product CTMH
Card base: White Daisy cardstock
Stamps: W2017 Bee Mine (bees), D1311 Oct Word Puzzle (Boo), D1402 Togetherness (border), D1013 Playful caps alphabet, C1079 Playful lowercase alphabet.
Inks: Z2105 Black, Z2106 Blush
ribbon scrap
white mini brad

Monday, October 18, 2010

Under the Northern Lights

This week's challenge at H2H is to add dry or heat embossing to a project. I went a little crazy with the embossing, (I love embossing!) I used 4 different embossing techniques:

1. Cuttlebug embossing using divine swirls folder on vellum:
Tip: Vellum tends to crack when embossing like this, I found misting it with water first really helped.



2. Dry embossing by scoring a border with a stylus, then sanding the raised edge to reveal the white core of CTMH cardstock:















3. Heat embossed text, using clear detail embossing powder on sentiment while ink is still wet, then melting it with a heat gun. The effect is subtle and hard to photograph, but IRL you can see the shine and feel the raised edge of the font:


4. Heat embossing the main image with white embossing powder, which was then cut out and popped up on 3D squares to give it some dimension:
                                     

And, I put them all together to make this scene: (you can click on the pic for a larger view)
                            
 I made several attempts on scrap paper to get the northern lights effect that I was looking for. If you've ever seen them from Northern Alberta, you know that it is a beautiful sight. I have seen them dance and change colors from pinks to greens, and the ethereal glow they cast on the landscape below is just amazing. However, it is difficult to photograph, much less draw. I used white daisy pigment ink and dabbed it on in a random "dancing" pattern, then while the ink was still wet, I dragged a dry paintbrush through it. Next I used a dry brush to "paint" the colors on with teal and purple chalks. The white pigment ink caught some of the colors of the chalks. The overall effect wasn't exactly what I was going for, but this is as close as I could get to the "image" in my mind!

I then added a Christmas star, embossed it with white daisy embossing powder, then filled it in with some stardust glitter gel, which I also used as glistening snow.  I finished it off with some tiny stars (Northern Lights can only be seen on a clear night) using  a CTMH White Daisy marker. I just love the sentiment, it couldn't be more true!

Isn't embossing fun?! Now, pop on over to H2H for some more fabulous embossing inspiration from the uber-talented design team, then play along and create something using an embossing technique. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Thanks for visiting my blog!
Lorrinda

Recipe:
CTMH products:
Stamp Sets: C1424 Nature's Gift (bear and sentiment)
                  D1305 Gloria (star)
Papers: Cardstock in White daisy(snow and card base), 
                             Twilight(bear),
                              and Outdoor Denim(sky)
            Vellum paper
Embossing powders: White Daisy and Clear Detail
White daisy pigment ink pad
White daisy marker
Versamark ink pad
Summer Soft Chalks
Glitz Glitter gel in Stardust
Tools:  Dry embossing/scoring stylus
           Sanding kit
                Craft heater
           Paper trimmer

Other products:
Cuttlebug and Divine Swirls embossing folder
Paintbrush

Sunday, October 17, 2010

A couple of pumpkin layouts...a la Studio J

It's a beautiful fall day in in east central Alberta, did I spend it frolicking in the leaves with my kids? No. I spent the afternoon detailing my SUV (hey, it probably won't get done again until spring) I drive a Santa Fe, not sure if that's an actual SUV, but it's not a car, or a van, it's one of those crossover thingies. We call it Steve...if you've seen "Over the Hedge" you'll get it. ("I'd feel better if I just knew what to call it, so I'm naming it Steve!"  bonus points if you know who said it.) Anyway, it's now nice and shiny and smells of leather cleaner.  Life is good.
The gorgeous sunshine today reminded me of the October days we took the kids on a pumpkin hunt with their cousins. I have a couple of layouts to share. Would you believe these are digital? Done with CTMH Studio J website:
(click on the pic to get a larger view)
Those 2 in the middle of the 5x7 on the lower right page are mine :)
They were sure cute when they were little.


There they are again, on the right end of the log this time, only they got bigger.

Great thing about Studio J, not only did these layouts get done super fast, these papers which coordinate with the photos so nicely are no longer available. They have been retired from the CTMH catalog, but you can still use them in Studio J!  There are also exclusive Studio J papers and patterns which are not available anywhere else.

Give Studio J a try, it's FREE. Yep, I said FREE. You can access it HERE, and you can play with it until you're happy with your layouts. There are no charges until you order prints, which get delivered to your door, in fabulous archival quality. Pricing starts at $15.00 per 2 page layout, with discounts for purchase of a membership such as $7.00 per 2 page layout (that's just $3.50 per page, I couldn't print my photos for that, let alone a 12x12 layout!) which includes .jpg files for archiving, free page protectors and free shipping.

If you haven't tried Studio J yet, what have you got to lose? It's free to play! I suggest creating an account when it asks you, no charges- you just set up a user name and password which allows you to save your layouts and come back to them later. You'll be surprised at how quickly you can create gorgeous scrapbook layouts, with no mess to clean up.

Thanks for visiting my blog;
Lorrinda

Monday, October 11, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all my readers, I'd like to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving. If you're not Canadian, you probably don't celebrate Thanksgiving in October, but we do, and it's been an absolutely perfect weekend for it. The sun is shining, the leaves are falling, and it's 22C degrees outside (nicer than it's been most of the summer here in Alberta) Last night we had stuffed turkey breast with all the fixings, and Mom's homemade buns. Not quite the traditional turkey supper, but there were only 6 of us so we decided not to do the big turkey this year. Still, turkey with stuffng is my absolute favorite meal, no matter how it's prepared!

The challenge at Heart to Heart today is to incorprate anything to do with leaves and or trees. How fitting, since we spent most of yesterday raking the leaves from under the now bare trees in our front yard. I couldn't decide, so I made one of each.

First, the trees:
I masked the center panel, then sponged inks in bamboo and gray flannel on it. Then I stamped the little trees in gray flannel, garden green and olive to make it look like they are in the distance. Next, I removed the mask, and stamped the big tree in new england ivy over the whole thing. I distressed and inked the edges, then used a piercer to make holes to thread the hemp through in a cross-stitch design on the corners. It was matted onto olive cardstock, then put on a blank A2 card base. I did the corner of a matching envelope to go along with it. I like this card, it's simple to make and flat so it's easy to mail.  I made some with different sentiments...thank you, sympathy, and christmas.

And, one using leaves:
This one was fun. I wanted to have the leaves multicolored, so I used a puddle pad technique. What is a puddle pad you ask? It's a technique I found on a CTMH TV Art and Soul episode, you can view the video HERE to learn how to do this ink technique. It's a bit messy, but very easy and I am thrilled with how the leaves turned out. I stamped the leaves onto colonial white cs, added the veins in desert sand ink, then sponged cocoa and honey around the edges. Stamped the sentiment, then mounted it onto cocoa cs with the corners punched. Add a few more mats and some ribbon, and the main image is popped up on 3D foam squares to give it some dimension.

I can't decide which one I like better, so I am entering both of these cards for this week's challenge at H2H.

Thanks for visiting my blog,
Lorrinda


All product from CTMH unless stated,

Recipe for tree card:
Stamps: D1298 Beautiful Things (trees)
            D1400 Everyday Celebration (sentiment)
Cardstock: White Daisy and Olive
Inks: Olive, New England Ivy, Bamboo, Gray Flannel
Hemp
Paper piercer

Recipe for leaves card:
Stamps: D1232 Nature's Vein (leaves)
             C1424 Nature's Gift (sentiment)
Cardstock: Cocoa, Honey, Barn Red, Colonial White
Inks: Barn Red, Honey, Orange, Cocoa, Desert Sand
Cocoa grosgrain ribbon
(Corner punch from SU)

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Mary's giving away birthday candy!

If you follow the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog, you know Mary. She's the host of the blog, and she's celebrating a special birthday this month (one with a zero on the end). To celebrate, she's giving away this blog candy to one lucky follower:
Pop on over to one of her blogs, On Life and Creating or Ridiculous Lab, and wish her a happy birthday. While you're there, browse around and leave her some love, then enter to win!
Happy Birthday Mary!

Monday, October 4, 2010

A Thankful Month!

In Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving in October, and I have a lot to be thankful for this month!

First, my beautiful family. That's a given! It's a beautiful fall day and I think we'll go out and  rake play in the leaves. My kids are growing up so fast, I remember when they were little and a pile of leaves would keep them amused for hours. I'll be lucky to get their "help" raking for 10 minutes today, they'll want to be at the playground with their friends.

Second, my blog followers has hit 100! When I started this blog in January of this year, I really was thinking it would be used as a place to post my pics to enter challenges. I never dreamed that I would meet so many wonderful and talented people here in blog land, let alone get so many visitors who would want to follow along with me. Thank you all so much for your visits and your comments. They are truly appreciated!

Third, Mary from Heart 2 Heart has invited me to be the Guest Design Team member for this month! Wow!
I have been following the CTMH challenge blog since day one, and I have found so much inspiration from the Design Team and the creative gals who play along each week. I am thrilled to be a part of the H2H blog and just hope that I can give back in some way for all the ideas I have found at H2H. Thank you for inviting me to be a part of the DT for October!

And, on that last note, the challenge at H2H this week is to create a birthday project of any kind.  In keeping with the thankful theme of this post, I want to post a birthday card I made for someone who I am very thankful for...my Mother.  This is a very special card I made for her 65th birthday.

you can click on the pictures to get a larger view if you would like to read the text.


It's more than a card, it's a booklet of world events and pop culture in the year she was born.
It required a bit of research, but it was SO worth it for her reaction! 
She passed it around to everyone, and even took it to work to share with the staff.







I have made these birthday books before,
if you're interested, I posted a very long tutorial with research links HERE.

If you have a birthday coming up that you need a card for, pull out your CTMH supplies and create something fabulous! Then hop on over to the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog and share it for this week's challenge. If you're stuck for ideas, just check out what the uber-talented H2H Design Team and challenge players have for you, there is always inspiration to be found at H2H.


So Thankful for all of you who are
following my blog and leaving comments!
Sending cyber-hugs!
Lorrinda

Recipe:
CTMH products:
Silhouette Level 2 paper pack
Z2105 Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad
Z2103 Bamboo Exclusive Inks stamp pad
Z1218 Brads basic Assortment
Z1243 Pewter spirals
Z1300 Just Blooms White Daisy Variety pack
Colonial White Organdy Ribbon
Pewter Eyelets 
Connections club charms
No stamps on this one :(
other supplies:
Ice stickles
pewter heart brads and cherub charm from my stash
Text done in MS Word 





Friday, October 1, 2010

H2H ABC Challenge

I really wanted to play along with the ABC challenge at Heart 2 Heart this week.

The rules this week are:
A...use an ALPHABET stamp or stickers
B...it must be for a BOY
C...must have the color CHOCOLATE in it

I didn't think I'd have time, so I revived THIS old scrap project that fit with the requirements, and entered it.


Is that cheating? Submitting an old project that wasn't actually made for this challenge? It feels like it, so I found a few minutes to create this card for my nephew who has a birthday coming up:


Recipe:
All product CTMH
Pattern paper from Good Times paper pack
Cardstock in Chocolate, Twilight, White daisy
Stamps: D1432 X-treme
                                     C1263 Charm upper case alpha
                                   C1265 Charm lower case alpha
Inks in Chocolate, Twilight, Sweet Leaf and Buttercup
Techniques: Sponged background, 2nd generation stamping, torn edges
No embellishments! I tried ribbon and brads but they just looked funny on this boy card.


My conscience is clear now,
I've entered a new original project for this week's challenge, 
and got a card done that I actually need.

Thanks for visiting my blog!
Lorrinda