Tuesday Technique: Salted Background

Wow...  this technique looks so cool.  I will have to remember to try this one again.  So pretty.

Altered Stampin' Up!w Wood Blocks: Snowman

Recently I converted a bunch of my wood mounted stamps to clear mounted stamps.  During the process I started to wonder what I was going to do with all the leftover used wood blocks?  Stampers never throw anything away.

I thought about making some kind of decorative piece for my craft room and so I researched on Pinterest and came up with this adorable snowman (see photo below that inspired this project).

First, I cleaned up the blocks by removing any leftover foam (heat the block with your heat gun for 2 seconds and the foam peels right off).  Then I looked through my pile of leftover blocks and picked out 4 blocks...  two large ones for the body, one for the head and one for the top hat.  I wanted a tiered snowman.

I measured the blocks and cut pieces of white card stock accordingly and wrapped the blocks and secured with red sticky tape.

  

 

Since the blocks are tiered, I had to cover the top of the blocks so I glued the block down onto a strip of white scrap paper using the Tombow Liquid Glue (green bottle).  After the glue dried, I trimmed around the edges.

After all the white blocks were wrapped and covered, I stacked them to see how they would look and then I glued them all together (all block except the black top hat).

Then it was time to make the top hat. I measured and cut a piece of black card stock and wrapped the block.  Then I cut a piece of black card stock for the rim (cut the piece a little bigger than the block and I rounded the corners).  I glued the black block on top of the rim piece and added my ribbon and flower.  I also added a little dimension to make the hat look worn by sponging white craft ink around the edges.

 

The eyes and buttons were all done with black card stock and circle punches.  The nose was cut free hand using Pumpkin Pie card stock and I sponged the edges.  I used Bird Builder and Itty Bitty Accents Punches to make the flower.  I drew the mouth free hand and I added the Real Red stripped ribbon.  I popped up the eyes, buttons and nose with Dimensionals.

I felt the snowman needed a base or stand to keep him steady so I used a piece of  cardboard that comes with every 12 x 12 DSP pack (the back piece that is sturdy).  I cut the piece just a little bigger than the block and rounded the corners to match the blocks and the hat.  If you don't have any cardboard, you can cut out 3 pieces of regular card stock and glue them together for a sturdy base.  Just make sure all 3 are exactly the same measurement.  

Finally, I sponged all the white edges with gold craft ink to give the snowman more dimension.  I'm sure you can use Crumb Cake ink if you don't have gold and it will give you the same results.

I found this picture of snowmen on Pinterest which was the inspiration for my creation.

Organizing Stampin' Up! Clear Blocks

I'm always looking for new ways to organize and manage my stamping supplies and today I am sharing a new idea for organizing your Stampin' Up! Clear Blocks.

I used to keep my blocks in a Stampin' Up! blue tin on my desk, but the tin has a lid and it was a little cumbersome getting the blocks in and out.  I am usually switching from a big block to a small one and if I kept the tin open, it covered my punches on the wall.  It was not working to my liking.

So I came up with a new, more efficient way to keep the blocks handy.  I found this great desk organizers at Staples and it's perfect.  I have duplicate block sizes and this tray holds all 18 blocks. The best part is it takes up less room on my craft table.  Love it!

Mesh tray measures 2 1/2" H x 9 1/2" W x 7 1/2" D with 6 compartments

Black Wire Mesh Deep Draw Organizaer from Staples (with smaller removable insert tray)

Flowering Flourishes Thank You Cards

I whipped up these quick and easy Thank You cards for a friend.  I used Stampin' Up! Flowering Flourishes stamp set and I made a set in Night of Navy, Eggplant Envy and Lost Lagoon (featured).  Simple and pretty.

Christmas Decoration from Regional Meeting

This is a sample featured at a regional meeting a few years ago.  I love the way this demonstrator did the J O Y  I especially like the little snowman peaking out here and there...very clever and cute.  I wish I knew her name to give her the credit.

Converting Wood Mounted Stamps - Continued

Last week I posted step-by-step instructions on how to convert your wood mounted stamps to clear mounted stamps.  Today I am sharing how I made the sleeves for the newly converted stamp sets.  You will find the link to download your own form at the bottom of the post.  I really love the way they turned out.

Completed conversions from wood mounted to clear mounted

Sample of forms/sleeves printed.  Add stamp name, # of stamps and stamp image (copied from google)

Trim sleeve to fit in the clear case - cut lines are indicated on form

Trimmed sleeve

Side view

Back view

Below is the link to download your own "Blank Clear Mount Insert" sleeve.  The file includes fillable fields.  In other words, the form is black and you will need to add:  NAME of the stamp set, NUMBER of stamps in the set and a copy of the STAMP IMAGE.  I googled the name of the stamp set and got multiple images... copy and paste to the front.

Click to download Blank Clear Mount Insert Sleeve

Technique Tuesday: Paper Piecing

Paper Piecing is such a great technique that makes any card or project look so special and elegant.  Love the way it comes out on this flower.