The second class I taught this weekend at the Ready Set Crop Winter Wonderland Retreat is a Valentine's Day card class featuring the Marbled Elegance Double Sided Specialty Paper and Hearts of Elegance Stamp set from Stampin' Up.
This card class featured a technique called "Stack, Cut and Shuffle" that I found through Pinterest and YouTube. For this technique you use 4 pieces of DSP and/or cardstock that are 4" x 5 1/4" in size. You stack the pieces one on top of the other and then make 2 cuts to the stack - I cut first from the top left to 2/3 down on the right, I then took the larger remaining stack and cut again from the center of the long side to the bottom left corner. This gives 3 stacks with 4 pieces in each. You then shuffle the pieces around and put back together like a puzzle on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card front.
For these cards I used 3 patterns from the Marbled Elegance DSP and 1 piece of cardstock that I embossed using the Eyelet 3-D Embossing Folder.
To embellish I die cut some hearts of different sizes, added a sentiment banner along with some pearls to finish each card. The hearts and stamped sentiment were done using the Hearts of Elegance Stamp Set and Die Set.
We did 2 sets of this technique in the class to make 8 cards total.
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I hope you like this layout. Thanks for stopping by!
I am spending this weekend as a vendor at the Ready Set Crop Winter Wonderland Scrapbook Retreat. One of the fun things I enjoy during this weekend is a chance to teach some classes. The first class I taught was a scrapbook layout class featuring the Snowy Scenes Double Sided Patterned Paper and Snow Day Stamp Set.
I got some inspiration for this layout from Pinterest plus I wanted to be able to show a couple of techniques to the class participants. Each person got 1/4" of a pack of the DSP - 6 12"x6" pieces of paper plus 4 sheets of Basic White 12"x12" cardstock, 2 sheets of Garden Green 12"x12" cardstock and 1 sheet of Pool Party 12"x12" cardstock.
We started by cutting the strips of the stripe and snowflake patterns then "fussy cutting" the village pattern paper. We took 2 of the Basic White sheets and tore them into strips and inked the edges with Pool Party ink. The layout was first built on the other 2 sheets of Basic White which were cut down to 11"x11". The torn and inked white strips were layered over each other to create the snowy background. Once this was done these pieces were adhered to the Garden Green base cardstock. We fussy cut some snowmen, penguins and trees from the other sheets of paper to make the embellishments and then stamped the title on Basic White using Garden Green ink and the Snow Day stamp set.
If you are interested in joining me for one of my Scrapbook with me events make sure to Like and Follow my Facebook page to get updates on upcoming events.
I hope you like this layout. Thanks for stopping by!
I taught a class at a recent Ready Set Crop scrapbook retreat on how to make these 2 treat bags from one sheet of double sided patterned paper plus a few pieces of coordinating cardstock. The fun thing about these bags are that they both follow the same scoring and cutting diagram and assembly, the difference lies in how you "pinch" the sides of the box when you close it.
You will find a link to the downloadable PDF with the full directions for cutting, scoring, and assembling both versions at the end of this post.
To start creating these 2 bags you will need to take 1 piece of 12" x 12" patterned paper - I used paper from the Sweet Memories collection for this. Cut this in 1/2 into 2 6" x 12" pieces. For both pieces you will need to score them according to the following diagram. Score along the 6" side at 2" from the bottom. Score along the 12" side at 1", 3 3/4", 6 1/2" and 9 1/4".
Fold along the score lines and cut away the bottom left piece in between the 2" horizontal score line and the 1" vertical score line (as shown in the diagram). Cut up each of the other vertical score lines from the bottom to the 2" horizontal score line to create the tabs for the treat bag base.
Place strong adhesive on the front of the treat box along the 1" side tab and the rightmost bottom tab as shown.
Place strong adhesive on the back of the treat bag box on the 2 bottom tabs closest to the 1" side tab as shown.
Remove backing from adhesive on the 1" side tab and adhere behind the rightmost side.
Turn the bag upside down and fold the tabs in starting with the back tab followed by the sides and finish with the front.
Turn the bag right side up and "pinch" the sides either out or in depending on the box shape you want.
Using a piece of cardstock for a closure, fold it in 1/2 and placing adhesive on the under side of one 1/2 adhere this to the back of the treat bag. Holding the bag and closure closed, punch holes through all layers.
Add a sentiment strip and some stamped images to embellish the front of the bag. I used the Heartfelt Thoughts Stamp Set + Thin Cuts for mine. Feed some ribbon through the layers starting with the back and tying a bow in the front. Fill with some treats and give to your family and friends.
Click here for the link to the downloadable PDF with the directions for the treat bags.
I hope you like these treat bags. Thanks for stopping by!
I created this layout featuring the Evergreen collection for a class I taught at a recent Ready Set Crop retreat weekend. I did this class to teach the layout as well as to teach a few techniques to the group.
The inspiration for this layout came from the Silver Bells Scrapbooking Workshop. This was the first thing I taught in the class - how to reuse an existing workshop and change it to work with a different collection. I always advise people to make sure to download the cardmaking and scrapbooking workshop directions from Close To My Heart during each catalog as these workshops are a great source of inspiration for other projects.
The second thing I taught was to look at the workshop directions and see if there are some ways to save paper when you cut the pieces out. For this one we saved paper in three ways:
1. The large background matted piece on the left hand page is cut from 1 10" x 10" piece of patterned paper and one 10 1/4" x 10 1/4" piece of cardstock. I changed this to 2 4" x 4" pieces of patterned paper and 2 4 1/4" x 4 1/4" pieces of cardstock. I cut each of these squares along the diagonal into 4 triangles. These triangles were then placed 1" in and 1" down (or up) from the edges of the base page.
2. The 3 vertical strips on the right page are cut from cardstock at 2 3/4" x 11". What I did instead was to cut 3 pieces that are 2 3/4" x 1 1/4" and 3 that are 2 3/4" x 1 1/2". The 1 1/4" pieces I used at along the top and I dovetailed the 1 1/2" pieces and used them along the bottom.
3. I used a technique called "gutting" on the 8 1/4" x 8 1/4" cardstock mat on the left hand page. To accomplish this what you do is basically cut out the inside of a piece of cardstock using your trimmer or a ruler and craft knife to create a frame. What I did was align the edge of the cardstock up on the 1/2" line on my trimmer and using the cutting blade cut from the 1/2" mark to the 7 3/4" mark - as shown.
Once you cut one side, rotate the cardstock 90 degrees and repeat this cut 3 more times. Once complete you will have a "frame" with the center of the piece that you can use for another project. We used this piece for the 4 1/4" x 6 1/4" photo mat on the right hand page.
To complete the layout I added some pieces from the Evergreen Digital Art Collection I cut with my Cricut along with some elements stamped using the Evergreen Scrapbooking Stamp Set.
I hope you like this layout. Thanks for stopping by!
Ok, I know I have been doing a lot of paper crafting this season but I cannot help it! I created these "cracker-shaped" treat boxes to share some Christmas goodies with my coworkers. I created 2 versions - one with 4 2" sides and the other with 8 1" sides. Both versions begin with a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock as the base. These are perfect for this time of year along with many other occasions!
You will find a link to the downloadable PDF with the full directions for cutting, scoring, and assembling both versions at the end of this post.
To start take a piece of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock and score as shown in the following diagrams depending on the number of sides you want.
For the 4-sided version score along the 8 1/2" side at 1/2", 2 1/2", 4 1/2" and 6 1/2". Next score along the 11" side at 1 1/2", 2 1/2", 3 1/2", 7 1/2", 8 1/2" and 9 1/2".
For the 8-sided version score along the 8 1/2" side at 1/2", 1 1/2", 2 1/2", 3 1/2", 4 1/2", 5 1/2", 6 1/2" and 7 1/2". Next score along the 11" side at 1 1/2", 2 1/2", 3 1/2", 7 1/2", 8 1/2" and 9 1/2".
Fold along the score lines as shown. Make sure for the 2 1/2" and 8 1/2" score ines you are folding forwards to create the area to tie with ribbon.
For both versions you will need to cut diamond shapes along the 2 1/2" and 8 1/2" score lines. To do this, using a ruler and pencil make marks on the back side along these horizontal score lines in between the vertical score lines. For the 4-sided one make marks 3/4" away from each vertical score line - will give 1/2" in between. For the 8-sided one make marks 3/8" away from each - will give 1/4" in between.
Fold along the vertical score line and using scissors cut from the adjoining score lines to the marks. Repeat for each vertical score line.
One optional step is the use a border punch or decorative scissors along both of the 8 1/2" sides to add some additional decoration to the cracker.
To assemble, place some strong adhesive along the front of the 1/2" tab. Before you adhere this to create the cracker you would want to decorate the side panels. For the 4-sided version you will need 4 pieces of patterned paper 3 3/4" x 1 3/4" and for the 8-sided version you will need 8 pieces that are 3 3/4" x 3/4". Adhere the tab behind the last panel.
Fill with treats and tie closed with some ribbon! I added some stamped images and sentiment banners using the December Stamp of the Month - Christmas Snow Globes. I stamped these with Intense Black Exclusive Ink and colored in with Triblend Markers. To give the snow globe some additional decoration I used a Clear Shimmer Brush to give the look of snow.
You can view my process video on my YouTube Channel here:
Click here for the link to the downloadable PDF with the directions for all the projects from this workshop.
I hope you like these treat boxes. Thanks for stopping by!
