Blog candy

Stacy from scrapwithstacy.blogspot.com is having a birthday giveaway with some lovely blog candy. So take a look & have some fun!

Tutorials

There is a stand alone page on this blog titled tutorials but I also wanted to have some of the posts labelled as well so it is easier to go to where you want to see them together. I hope this will make things a bit easier and that you find them helpful.

Gift Card Box

This gift card box makes a great gift for someone or you can just keep it for yourself and have a supply of gift cards on hand. They can be themed or blank general cards. I mix & match the colours & papers & embellishments so each design is different but still look good together. 2 sheets plain cardstock makes 8 cards at 20x10cm each. Another piece of plain cardstock is used for the matting & I use 2 sheets patterned paper for the top layer. Embellishments & stamping decorate each card.

 Start off by painting a small square box-this one is a 12cm square paper mache box. Two layers of paint give good coverage. You can ink or spray ink the box if perferred. The top of the box is decorated with paper & embellishments. A ribbon can be adhered around the rim of the lid &/or the box.

 The cards are made in a production line manner. Cut all the cards, then the mats then the top layer.

 Double sided tape works well & I tape all the pieces first.

 All the embellishments are assembled & any stamping is done. Then I tape the mat pieces on followed by embellishments. Sentiments can be stamped inside the cards if you wish.

 Any themes can be made or even a box of different occasion cards can be assembled.

These take a little time to make but they are lots of fun to do. You could also make up a mixed box by using up some of the scrap paper stash.

Handmade Flowers

I spent a morning making some flowers that I have been wanting to do for awhile but never had the time until now. I experimented with a few different materials and there were some that turned out better than others.

These gold swirl flowers were made from a 3cm wide 2m long ribbon that was twisted as it was coiled around the center which was made with a knot at the end of the ribbon. I cut out a circle of card & adhered double sided tape over all of it. (A glue gun would work as well but mine is still packed & I'm not sure which box it is in!) As I twisted the ribbon I stuck it down as I went. Buttons were stuck in the center.

 These green stripe flowers were made by cutting 5 x 5cm strips of ribbon that were folded in half then had a running stitch along the bottom. I didn't cut the thread after each one but threaded the petals on as I went and gathered them up when all the petals were on the thread. A couple of stitches secures the petals together and a button was sewn in the senter before cutting off the thread.

 The organaza flower have 2 x 3different sized circles(6 layers). VERY carefully singe the edge of the circles using a tealight candle. I did mine on the draining board of the sink so I was close to water if things got a bit carried away. Some materials are quite flammable so you need to be extremely careful. Once this was done all the layers were put together with a brad in the center.

 The pink organza rolled flowers were made the same way as the gold ones but small beads were used in the center. The organza didn't stick very well to the double sided tape so when I find my glue gun I will use that to hold it in place.

 These lacey flowers were made quick and easy by gathering cotton lace, joing the ends then sewing a button in the center.

 Lastly are the material flowers made by cutting out circles (finished size depends on the circle cut). Sew a running stitch a few millimeters in from the edge & gather up.This edge will tuck under & tie off the thread. Sew a button in the center to finish.

With all these wonderful flower embellishments you can make it will seem like Spring has come early!