Tutorial Time

I have been playing with this new technique I saw online. Honestly I looked at a picture and found my own way of doing it. I am good at that. I like to experiment.

The supplies you need for this project are brushes, ink and paper. Optional painters tape and shapes for masking areas off.  It is a super simple technique and a lot of fun to experiment with.

  So I found a picture online of a pretty card made with brushes and ink. The brushes where ink dusters and I looked them up and tried to find them at the local craft stores and no luck. Online they were more than I was willing to pay so I thought I would just get some regular brushes (on the left). I used them on a few cards and they worked pretty good but I wanted a fluffier brushes still. So I happened upon the make up brushes (on the right) at Target for $1 each. I was happy to find them so cheap and love the way they work even more than the regular brushes.

I used some scrap paper and ripped the edges in different patterns. I used them as masks for the different colors and to produce different shades. Tip~ start the brush on the scrap paper so the strokes are more even.

You can do this technique using the masking scraps above and do different colors, like the top three in the above examples. Or you can use shapes to mask areas off, like the balloon one above. Or you can use them to color that shape. This is what I did with this one. I used Christmas tree cut outs this this tutorial.

 I brushed a small amount of red first just for fun.

I used Tim Holtz Distress ink on this example however I used Stampin up and some other generic ink for the others. So any ink will do.

  This is the first time I used the template to add ink to the shape only. I just add some ink to the brush and stroke the ink on a few times, then more ink, over and few time. I re-ink the brush several times.

Then I used the actual cut outs and some painters tape to cover them up to add the red.

 I however taped the tree on the left on the wrong side so my tree has a white glow around it a bit more than I would have like but its okay.

 I used the paper mask that I made and inked red in different shades all over the card.

 I just brushed over the tree masks.

 I moved the paper around so the pattern would vary.

Here is the red all done.

 Here is the front all inked. This is a very mess technique so make sure you put something under the paper. I used a piece of foam. You can see where my card was on the green foam below. 

Here is the finished card. I added brads to the tree for the ornaments and the star on top. The rest is Inspired Stamps Christmas stamps. I used the holly in the corners from the Poinsettia set. The sentiments stamps are from Vintage Christmas.
Another idea for this technique is just to make your own background paper.

This one I just randomly dabbed and brushed red and green ink on. Then I cut my paper to card front size. I stamped on top of it and colored my image.

 The background came out nice on this card. I added another sentiment from the Poinsettia Set

I added a few red brads and some ribbon to decorate a bit more.

IS Candy Bar Wrapper Tutorial

Do you find yourself looking for a thoughtful gift that doesn't cost a lot of money? I have a great tutorial for you. These are great for co workers, neighbors, etc. I have given these out several times and they are always a hit.

Here is a step by step tutorial of how I make these.
1. Cut out your paper. Each candy bar has different measurements. Leave an inch above and below and enough on the sides to overlap each other.
Thicker paper workers better but I have used cardstock decorated with think scrapbook paper. Sample below.

 2. Add glue or tape as shown in the picture. I prefer the red tacky tape because you don't have to worry about it drying.

3.  Glue the paper around the candy bar. I pull off the red tape and roll the paper around the candy bar.

4. Crimp the ends with a crimper. I you don't have a crimper just glue the ends together.

5. I added brads to the bottom (if you don't have a crimper than I would definitely add the brads to the bottom to keep it together more securely.)

6. Make two hole through the top and add your ribbon. I added a bell and love it!

7. Of course decorate! I used this super cute HLO. This is His Little Ones: Shepherd Boy. I colored him with Copics.

You can make these for any occasion. Here is another example I made for a birthday example.

I used card stock and thin DP on this one. I used HLO Angel on this one. These HLO from Inspired Stamps fit perfectly on these candy bar wrappers.

You can find these stamps and many others at the Inspired Stamps Store.

Inspired Stamps Bottle Cap Magnets

Today I am going to show you how to make some bottle cap magnets that I am working on as gifts.

The supplies you need are paper, bottle caps, Glossy Accents, 1 inch circle punch and 1 inch stamps.
Step 1- stamp your image on some cute paper. Punch the stamped image out with your circle punch. I used Inspired Stamps 1 inch circle sentiments.

Step 2- Add adhesive to the entire back of the circle. I use the sticker maker to adhere my circles. 

***These 1 inch snowmen also go perfectly inside the bottle cap if you want to make these for Christmas. 

Step 3- Add Glossy Accents inside the entire bottle cap. Add in any embellishments you want. I put heart buttons in some of my caps. 

                                      

Step 4- Lay the bottle caps flat and leave alone for at least an hour. VERY IMPORTANT do not move them around while they are drying. 

Step 5- Add magnets to the back. I hot glue mine on the back. 

Step 6 -Decorate however you like. 

Here is a video that I made with instructions on how to make these step by step. My video camera is not making clear videos for some reason. I can not figure out why but you can get the steps anyways.
Don't forget to go to Inspired Stamps and check out all the other wonderful tutorials.

Wine Cork Gifts

These were so much fun to make. Like a puzzle. I had to cut pieces to fit into spots and I used more hot glue than I ever have in my life.

I made 29 of these ornaments. It took several tries and different ways to do it before I figured out the easiest and quickest way. I saw these projects online that people were selling so no instructions could be found. Here is how I did these ornaments.

First drill holes in the wine corks. The make your bows. I tied mine with twine and used my bowdabra to make mine since I can't make a bow very well. 

 After those two above are done I them took twine and looped a bell and beads with it.

 I put the twine through the cork. I used the tool I made out of a hanger to push it through.

 Then I tied the bow on top of the cork very tight.

That is how I found them to be the easiest to make. I tried lots of different ways but made my last ten like this one above. Here are some others I made.

 

 

 

 

 Now what else can I make out of wine corks. I still have A LOT of them. Hmmmm....