Scherenschnitte

This is my last darling card creation that I made as thank yous for my birthday.

This was my inspiration. I found these darling pieces at a garage sale and now they hang in my pink room. They are an example of an amazing German folk art called scherenschnitte, which means paper cutting in German, where a single sheet of paper is cut into beautiful scenery using tiny little scissors, and usually no pattern. My examples are of Hansel & Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood. The detail is incredible.

I wanted to get the same look but with a lot less detail, of course. I started by stamping this sweet little fairy-tale-esque deer onto black paper with a craft ink, and sprinkiling it with clear embossing powder.

Then I heated the EP. This will not show in the final project, so the color of the ink or EP is not important. It will only help you to see the image on the black paper and the EP also makes the paper thicker so that it is sturdier when you cut the details.
Cut it out carefully. I find it is easier to cut the tricky places, like between the legs first so that you still have paper to hold onto when you cut around the thin legs.

The branches are just punched out.

The oval and frame were run through the SU Big Shot with the scallop oval die, and the pink background was also run through the Big Shot in an embossing folder. (Yep, I LOVE my Big Shot!)

The tiny pink butterfly was also die cut, but could also be punched from a butterfly punch.

Finally the black scallop border on top was punched with a border punch.

The deer was turned over and glued so that the embossed side was down, then the branches were glued down.

I just love this sweet scherenschnitte style card!

Paper Posie

Attic Gal Rachelle says:

For my last Stampin' Club, I made these darling little cartons adorned with paper posies. The flowers are so fun to make. Let me show you how I made them.

Start with a 1 inch x 12 inch strip of card stock and give it a scallop edge along one side using a scallop edge punch.

Run the card stock strip through a crimper about 3 or 4 times to get the paper fibers loosened up to make the card stock more malleable.

Then, using scissors, snip about halfway down at every "v" in the scallop.

Punch out a circle from the same card stock. I used a 1 1/4" punch.

I found hot glue worked the quickest for this. Run a bead of hot glue around the edge of the circle punch, and glue down the scallop strip, laying it flat so that the petals are spread out and stick out over the edge of the circle.

Put another bead of glue around of the base of the part of the strip you just glued down, gluing down another row of petals just inside the first row. These petals should not be flat, but should angle up about 45 degrees.

Finally, coil up the remainder of the strip and glue it into the middle of the flower.

While the glue is still hot, arrange the petals to where you like them.

I punched out the leaf, and the tiny little milk carton was die cut from decorative paper using SU's Milk Carton die on my Big Shot. The top was secured with a mini library clip that also held a teeny tiny little tag.

I just think these are adorable!

Happy crafting!

Stampin' Club Swap

Attic Gal Rachelle says:

I host a monthly Stampin Club in my home where I teach stamping and such to a fun group of ladies. It is tradition to have a card swap for our last class of the season where everyone brings cards that they have made to trade. It is so fun to see what everyone has learned, and what they have created.

First, though, as always, we do some hands-on projects that I have designed to learn new techniques.

Here is one of the projects we did since I have been seeing a need in my life for cards that might appeal to teenage males.

(I did a few other darling projects, but I want to show you how, so I will same them for a future post.)

My friend April made this darling card. I love how she folded the corner of the decorative paper up so you can see both of the pretty sides.

My friend Sue made this very pretty card as a baby announcement for her new grand baby. I love the interesting paper folding! I need her to teach me how she does that!

My dear friend Dayna made this Father's day card. She is a punch lover and so a girl after my own heart.

Here is the super cute card she made for my birthday and a thank you. I love the bright colors and the punched pattern paper! So playful and fun (and easy too).

I think everyone's favorite trade was from my very own Mom! She made this super cute box (complete with cookies inside). It was stunning in black and red. SO fun! I love the knotted ribbons as the flower centers. That's my mom. I'm so proud!

For my trade I actually did something a bit out of season. But I was dying to try making these divided boxes with gift tags at Christmas, and ran out of time - so I made them for the trade. They were a lot of work, but I love how they came out using all the fun patterned paper and the ornament punch.

Besides, its never too early to start on Christmas, right? I think I'll make more so I'll be ready for the holidays (they always come sooner than you think!)

If you are a local, and want to learn to stamp, or want to learn some new techniques with a lot of hands-on projects, and personal help from yours truly, as well as getting some free stamps and stuff, and a good time each month with some really great gals, then join my Stamp Club. We will start up again in September.

Thanks for the good times, and the great swaps ladies!!!

Father's Day Ideas

Father's Day is almost here. Do you have something planned to honor your own father, the father of your children or a male that is "like a father" to you?

Remember last year's ideas? If not, link here. I still love that idea. As I was visiting my dad this past May, he DID hang it in his office. Is that cute or what? My 77 year old dad with his older children's' pictures hanging in his office. Loved it!

Just saw this idea today on Roots and Wings Co. blog. What a fun blog! I want to spend more time on it, when I have a chance this summer. Great ideas. Here is their tutorial:


Hands Down Best Dad!

Super easy:
1.
2. Paint your canvas. I like my backgrounds mottled. But you can paint it nicely just one color if you like.

3. Trace your kid's arms and hands onto fun paper. I thought these were fun papers because they had designs in them. The brown one is hard to see, but there is a fun pattern on it too.
4. Oh Mod Podge! Why do you mock us so? I mean who calls it Mod Podge? We all know the name should be Modge Podge, right? Well get out your Modge Podge and plaster the hands down. Make sure you leave enough room to paint your saying on. (I totally have to agree with these gals. Who does say Mod Podge?)
5. Print your saying using cute fonts, onto regular paper.

6. On the back of your paper, scribble with a pencil to make a transfer. Make sure you get all of the back of each letter covered.

7. Put the paper on your canvas. Trace over your saying. It will leave a light imprint for you to paint the words in.
Spray it with sealant or cover with some coats of Modge Podge.


**Little details I added....I loosely *traced* around each hand with some brown paint. I also painted in my boy's names next to their hand. It is small (and blurred out) but it is there.

Thank you Anjeanette for sharing!
I'll blog again soon,
Alysa

Painted Pianos

About a year ago, my friend Sue offered me a baby grand piano (my dream) for FREE. The piano was so scuffed up and looked pretty bad. The insides were good but I couldn't get over the aesthetics of the piece. Plus, I owned a piano -- not a pretty one -- but a piano nonetheless.

I mulled it over in my head for a long time but realized that I'm not too quick about getting projects done and I wouldn't want this big, scuffy, piano sitting in my front room crying out for years to be redone. Plus, I have no clue how to refurbish a piano. I called the Furniture Medic to find out how much to have someone else do it. He said $5,000. Might as well purchase a new one.

Begrudgingly, I called Sue back and said "No". Ugh!!!!

Wouldn't you know about a month later I started coming across blogs that showcased how they painted their pianos. Never thought about it. I did laugh with Rachelle about french pasting that free baby grand but never thought it would look so good painted. Check this one out at the Pennington Point:



So awesome.

Saw this idea again tonight and thinking that maybe I should paint the one I have. Some day. Moral of the story, if you ever have an opportunity to receive a free, good working piano, don't pass it up. There are options.

Rice Cakes!

Attic Gal Rachelle says:

Last week my twins had their annual Blue & Gold dinner for Cub Scouts. There is always a traditional cake decorating contest. This year we made cupcakes that looked like Chinese Takeout. One made the fried rice, and the other made the chow mein.

They really looked like real Chinese food. The fried rice was made with frosting and Rice Crispies, the green onions were slices of sour straws, the egg and carrot were made from fruit chews, and the peas were green skittles. For the chow mein, the noodles were just squeezed two tone frosting, the green onions were more sliced sour straws, the ham was made from pink fruit chews, and the broccoli was made from green fruit chews, frosting, and green nonpareils.

We put each cupcake in a take out box, and put chocolate sauce in a few small bowls for soy sauce.

So fun! My kids did most of the work.

Actually, the hardest part was running all over town to find the right candies.

We found the idea in this book, "What's New Cupcake" the sequel to my other favorite cupcake book "Hello Cupcake" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. We have made several cupcakes from both books and have been thrilled with the results every time. I think the instructions are always easy to follow, and they tell you where you can find some of the harder to find ingredients (like the green nonpareils.) Pick either of the two books up and you'll be amazed at the cool cupcakes that they have come up with.

Here are some of the other very creative cakes the cub scouts made: a pizza, a volcano, a beach with a surfer on a wave, light sabers, a very authentic looking Wolf Cub cap, and an amazing Wii console that stood up straight. Very clever.

We just have so much fun decorating cakes, especially cupcakes, around here. This weekend my twins are having birthday party. Any idea what kind of cake I can make for a Spy party? There is nothing in my cupcake books about that. I guess I will have to do some digging around in my attic to see what I can come up with.

Until then, anyone up for some Chinese take out?