NEW Stampin' Up! Decor Elements - Tutorial!

So here it is... My very first home Deor Elements image. Of course, it was easy to choose this CREATE image (114079) to start with. Perfect for my craft room! I hope you enjoy this step-by-step tutorial!

My DH Rod helped me with my first wall decor so that I could take step-by-step pictures of the process and let me tell you... it really is fast & easy to get these beautiful images on your walls! And, they look FABULOUS!

Step 1: Determine the perfect spot for your wall decor image. Take a damp cloth and wipe the area clean to remove any dust or particles that might create bumps in your working surface area. I let my area air dry.

Step 2: Measure your area from top to bottom and side-to-side to ensure your wall decor image is positioned exactly where you'd like it in your space (in case you are wondering... these are not my hairy arms. Rod loves to measure things & bascially didn't trust me to get this perfectly straight :o)

Step 3: On a flat surface / table, place your image facing down so that you see the back grid paper side and using the Decor Elements applicator (114285), lightly swipe over the image from the center to the outer edges. This will transfer the image from the backing sheet to the transfer sheet.

Step 4: Carefully & slowly peel the backing sheet off, working from one side to the other. Peel on an angle. As you are peeling the backing sheet off, make sure you are watching that your image is transferring properly to transfer sheet. HINT - if you order the 'Create' statement, the only thing I really had to watch for were the 'dots' or 'periods' as they were smaller images

Step 5: Gently place the image on the transfer sheet within your marked corners on your wall space (be careful not to touch the sticky part / image on the transfer sheet or let the sheet fold over onto itself). I used my hands to get the image/transfer sheet to get its initial stick, then grabbed my applicator tool and began running over the image to transfer it to the wall. I used light swipes from the center of the image to the outside edges again.

Step 6: Here comes the FUN part !! Carefully & slowly peel the transfer sheet off the image, pulling straight back at a bit of an angle if you can. Make sure that your image has transferred to the wall as you continue to pull the transfer sheet off. If any part of the image did not transfer, carefully replace the transfer sheet over the image again and rub until the image is completely adhered to the wall. If you've tried our rub ons on your cards &/or scrapbooking - it is essentially the same process for the home decor...just larger images!

Step 7: YOU'RE DONE ! I gently QC'd my work by ensuring every word was securely adhered to the wall & that there weren't any bubbles. Perhaps more needed for the word images, due to the amount of smaller 'individual' images (ie. the letters)

If you have any questions on this tutorial or wish to order your very own Decor Elements image for your special space - email me at lisaburns@rogers.com and I would be happy to help. I have a very special offer & gift for anyone that places their Home Decor Elements order with me by July 31, 2008! If you are on my customer email distribution list - watch for those special details coming to your inbox this weekend!!

2,4,6,8 Candy Bag Tutorial

Crazy eh - 3 posts in one day!!

As promised, here are some better (more visual) instructions on how to make the 2,4,6,8 Candy Bag from our recent MEGA event! I was just going to post a picture of the template but thought to myself... why not try a picture tutorial and show the making of the bag from beginning to end. WOW! Now I know why I don't do these tutorial very much - they take some time to create, edit and publish BUT I hope it is all worth it because I love these bags and I'm very thankful that you come by to see me by way of my Blog!!

You'll start with a piece of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock and cut it into 2 equal 1/2's (8 1/2 '' x 5 1/2 '')

Then, you'll need to score as shown below at 2'' then 4'' then 6'' then 8'' - if you have an 'arm' on your cutter, you'll be able to use it when you get to the final scores!

Flip the cardstock lengthwise and score at 2''

Here's the visual. The dotted lines are score lines and the solid lines are where you cut

I tend to stamp my cardstock before cutting - its a bit easier that way

Here's what the cut & scored version should look like

Next, you'll want to start taping. TIP - using the picture above as reference, start taping on the right side where I've folded the first flap up a bit.

Work your way across, taping all squares of the base one-by-one until you get to the last square and small flap piece. Tape well - putting some tape on the flap piece also. The flap will fit inside to secure the box.

Fill with candy/snacks/chocolate - whatever you want! TIP - only fill about 1/2 way as you'll need some space at the top of the bag to finish.

Fold in sides so that the front of the bag wall and the back of the bag wall meet evenly. Apply some tape on the insides of the front/back walls to secure the bag. The will help when you go to thread your ribbon.

Using your crop-a-dial, punch 2 holes for the ribbon. The crop-a-dial works so well in this case because you're punching thru several layers of cardstock.

Using coordinating ribbon, thread through holes and decorate the rest of the bag as you wish (tags or sayings).

That's it - you're done! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that you come back to visit often :o)

Crayon Resist Tutorial Sample

My brother-in-law has a birthday in January so I made his card this weekend but I'm hoping it is masculine enough? Carolyn - his lovely sister - might very well be out there looking in on my blog...what do you think Carolyn?

I taught this technique at my class last Monday night - Crayon Resist! Here are the steps to creating this look:

• Start by using Glossy White cardstock
  
• Then stamp an image using a dark ink - I used Black Staz On so that I wouldn't worry about it smearing or blending. Good idea to let it dry for a few minutes though


• Next, take a white crayon and color in any areas that you'd like to see highlighted or in this case, to appear like snow


• Use your Brayer to roll a lighter color over your stamped & crayon'd image - I used Bashful Blue to keep the winter theme alive. If you don't have a brayer, you can try using your sponges to apply the colour


• The final step requires you to take a paper towel or tissue paper and wipe over the stamped & crayon'd area to expose the white crayon

Because crayon is wax, the ink won't stick to it so it comes right off on your paper towel to leave the white highlight! You can experiment with all sorts of color combinations etc.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial - have fun trying it out!

Versatile 12x12 Scrapbooking Layouts - Tutorial

Happy Holiday Monday Everyone!

Thought I would focus my first tutorial on scrapbooking layouts as it seems to be one of the more challenging aspects of scrapbooking. So many of my customers tell me that they struggle with layouts - particularly with 12x12 albums because there is so much space to fill. These 2 examples provide a simple example of similar layouts but with an entirely different feel to each.

Let's start with the Baroque page - one of the fastest layouts I personally have ever come up with. Truthfully, I used part of the designer paper (Brocade Background) page for my Sympathy cards so I was just looking to use up the other 1/2 of the paper and it was 12 inches length-wise so I popped it on some 12x12 Always Artichoke cardstock (desiger paper on the left of the page). Just before doing that, I wanted to try out my new Jumbo Eyelets so I used the end of one of the papers natural swirls to do that! Added some ribbon (beige & brown), and 3 sections for photos on the right. That's it!



The second layout follows the exact same pattern but change up the colours and add some extra embellishments and viola - another page completed! I wanted to create a more dramatic title on this page so I used Stampin' Dimensions to pop out 2 of the letters (the M & the R). I left a bit of space on the Very Vanilla for either journalling or a photo, followed by a bit of a 'summery' theme & saying at the bottom. Added the ribbon (beige & blue) and again 3 sections for photos to the right. I spend some extra time cutting out some butterflies and popping them out on the page for more dimension.


Scrapbooking is all about what works for you - like the first page illustrates you can go simple and still achieve the look you are going for. Or, like the second page illustrates, you add more detail to enhance any page!

Hope you like it - let me know what questions you have - or what you think!