Gorgeous birthday girl

As many of you know, I lead a wonderful team at Feline Playful - a blog site where we track papercrafting challenges from across the blogiverse - and because of this, every once in while I get a special opportunity. Today, I'm thrilled to be a guest DT member at Party Time Tuesday's! Make sure you visit their blog to see the DT creations - they are quite wonderful!

 

The theme at Party Time Tuesdays is anything goes with Kraft. I was provided with 2 wonderful digital stamps from Crafty Sentiments to work with. I decided to show just how incredibly versatile and easy to use digital stamps can be by paper piecing Rosey - super easy to do, just print off the image and then using removable tape attach patterned paper scraps over the various parts of the image; then run through the printer for a second time and cut out the individual pieces.

Isn't she adorable? Unfortunately you can't really tell in the photo but Rosey is also very 3-dimensional. I cut itty-bitty pieces of foam tape to make her face, jacket and hands pop up, and the ticket itself (from Crafty Sentiments' Ticket just words set 1 printed onto light kraft card) is curved so that it appears to wrap in front of her. 

Supplies:

• Crafty Sentiments images
• Prima canvas flower
• Simple Stories "Baby Steps" patterned papers
• Kraft card stock

Challenges:

• Catered Crop - kraft
• Fashionista Challenge - anything goes for girls
• Love to Create - anything goes
• Oozak - anything goes
• Paper Crafting Journey - 3 or more patterned papers (2 PP for girl, 1 PP for ticket, 2 PP background)
• The Crazy Challenge - girly
• Through the Craftroom Door - your favourite technique (paper piecing and 3D elements)

Make-it-yourself Prima-type Flowers

I had the opportunity to try the ideas from Valita's blog to make some prima-type flowers. I played around for awhile and ended up with the following flower. I think it worked out pretty well!


Supplies:

Cuttlebug
Embossing tool
Embossing pad
Handmade cardstock
Cuttlebug cutting dies - Flowers and/or Asterisks*
*(you could also use flower punches)


Directions:

1. Cut out your flower shape on the Cuttlebug. Use the standard sandwich of A+B+die+paper+B.




2. Score lines down the center of each petal section then fold up in order to give a good crease.



3. Lay your flower on an embossing pad or piece of foam. Move the embossing tool (larger ball end) in a circular motion all around the edges of the petals. You will see the petal edges start to curl inwards.



4. When you are happy with the amount of curling, turn the flower over and press firmly in the center to make the flower “pop up”.

Variations:


If using a thicker cardstock like Bazzil, crumple the paper well, then smooth flat, prior to cutting out your shape (see picture to right).

If using a thicker cardstock you can also try peeling the paper apart into two layers.


Thanks to Valita of “Valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com” for the initial idea. Check out her website for tonnes of great ideas!

Making your own Prima-type Flowers

I was cruising the internet (hiding from the kids) and came across this great idea for making your own prima-type flowers. http://valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com/2008/02/make-your-own-prima-flowers.html So cool and it seems so easy. I'm going to go try it out as soon as I can!

I'm in love with Core'dinations cardstock

I have spent some time using the Core'dinations ColorCore Cardstock with my Cuttlebug and I am sooooo thrilled with the results. After embossing the image on the cardstock, I use my sanding block and voila! I love how the interior of the paper is a lighter shade which really highlights the embossed image.

This first card isn't quite finished - I have to decide on a sentiment. But I love how the image coordinates with the prima flower. I used a paper scrap to create the "ribbon" behind the image.



These are among my favorite Christmas cards. Very simple design but still impactful. I used the Cuttlebug Winter Houses folder for the main image. The "HoHoHo" text was embossed (on the Cuttlebug) using a metal tag. I used the Holly folder to create the accent (after embossing the holly, I cut out a single cluster and gently sanded) and a few spare beads stolen from the kids' stash.