KISS (Keep It Simple Saturdays) with Michelle ~ Ribbon Die Cut Tutorial

Happy Saturday to you!

Last weekend was a Victoria Day long weekend; an 'official' start to the Summer season. Although relaxing and fun, this past week was super crazy busy. This week's post will focus on creating super fun, ultra quick and really cool embellishments using your ribbon scraps, Big Shot machine and die of choice.

I apologize in advance if you do not own a Big Shot. This is the only type of die cut machine I have that will cut through fabric. I am not sure if this will work with other machines like the Cricut, Cuttlebug or Quickutz (I know this will not work for the Slice die cut machine).

Here are the tools and supplies you'll need for this project:

• Big Shot machine with its cutting plates
• Die of choice - it is highly recommended to use steel-rule based dies as they are best for cutting through fabric
• Ribbon scraps or strips of the alike
• Cardstock scrap
• Scissors
• Adhesive - it is also highly recommended to use strong adhesive that will hold the ribbon in place on the cardstock while putting it through the Big Shot machine

Here is your recipe for this creation:

1. Cut your scrap cardstock piece to desired size dependent if you want to create several die cuts or just one. Do not worry about the color of cardstock as the entire sheet will be covered in ribbon.

2. Apply adhesive to the entire side of the cardstock.

3. Place strips of ribbon in any order of choice going one way across the cardstock. Do not worry if your ribbon ends overlap the cardstock piece - this portion will not be die cut through the Big Shot.

4. Lay your ribbon covered piece of scrap cardstock onto the die.

5. Run through your Big Shot using the usual stack recipe (as per Sizzix).

6. Enjoy and use your newly created embellishment on desired project such as on a card or scrapbook page.

Tip: Use a heavy-weight cardstock such as 80lb or higher for support and durability of the finished die cut embellishment.

Tip: Measure the biggest portion of the actual shape on the die itself if you choose to create just one embellishment. That way you are not wasting anymore cardstock or ribbon unnecessarily.

Tip: You may have noticed that the top and bottom of the ribbon strips were not touched by the die therefore was not cut by the Big Shot. To me this is okay because I will save the scrap for another project. However should you wish to have a particular ribbon be part of your embellishment; ensure you place those pieces closest to the centre of your cardstock sheet.

Tip: If you see any ribbon ends fraying after the die cutting process, simply cut these ends off using a sharp pair of scissors and then apply strong-hold hairspray when complete. The hairspray will prevent further fraying to occur (and yes this method works like a charm).

Here are some cards I created using this method:

Well I hope I have inspired you to use your ribbon and/or ribbon scraps in a whole new way. Some of the DT gals have shown other fabulous ways to use ribbon. Just type in ribbon and you will find all sorts of posts to help you create with this fabulous crafting supply.

Have a great weekend crafters! KISSes and Hugs

Michelle

Fun Friday - Post-It Note Holder

Welcome to another Fun Friday! This week is another simple project for newbie stampers. We're going to make a Post-It note holder. These are quick to whip for quick little tuck-ins or spur of the moment gifts.

                                           

You will need just a few simple supplies:

• Heavyweight cardstock for base or liner
• Designer paper or decorative cardstock
• Your favorite adhesive (I used my ATG gun)
• Ribbon
• Embellishments of choice
• Post-It notes

Step 1 - Cut heavyweight cardstock to 7" x 3.25"

Step 2 - If using the Scor-Pal, move the cardstock to the 1/4" line, score at 3.5" and again at 4".

If using this layer as a liner, add your decorative cardstock to the front. Attach ribbon, then attach your decorative front. Adhere your Post-It note to the inside between the scored lines.

That's it.  A quick, easy, fun little gift!  Perfect for a Fun Friday.

Charlene

PDSS CLSC14 Winner - CC Designs

Our entries for our last card and layout sketch challenge were ALL so VERY amazing! Thank you SO much for playing along with us we LOVE seeing your work!!! Now for the winner of challenge PDSS CSC14 via random.org goes to..... 

Winner: #11 jenny_oul
Prize: CC Designs Leisle & her Wheelbarrow Stamp 


Congratulations from all of us! Please email me (Nini) and I will get your prize out to you as soon as possible. Be sure to get in touch with me by Saturday.

Tutorial Thursday with Kim

Hi girls!

This week I have a long tutorial, but when you'll see the result you won't regret!

Let's start with a cardstock of 6" by 12". (Keep the other piece for later) Fold it at 4" and 8". You'll get this.

Now you need a trapezoid shape. So cut a diagonal line from the fold line to the outter corner. You'll get this.


Take a piece of another cardstock. (It must be an untextured cardstock or patternless paper) Cut a 4" by 6" into it. (Keep the unused for later) Cut a diagonal line in the middle. Like this.


Now glue the two triangles like this.



Take a pattern paper and cut it 3.5" by 5.5". Repeat the last step and glue them on the cardstock. Don't forget to leave a margin around your paper.

If you want you can fix a nice ribbon across the card.


With my Cricut I cut two dies, I've stamp an image on a white paper and with a piece of my paper I've keep before I've made another die a little bit larger. Glue them together.


I coloured the stamp with my markers and added some Flower Soft glue. Cover the stamp well.


Use your Flower Soft like you would use glitter or velvet powder. Here's the result. Cute isn't?


Wait until the glue is completely dry. Now put some 3d dots beside the die and fix It onto the card.


The card is finished. But the project is not quite done yet!

Take again your piece of cardstock left behind. Cut a piece of 3.75" by 5". Cut the corner to make a tag. Take another patterned paper and make another tag and glue them together.

I've added a little cardstock piece to add some text. I've fix It after. (mine is 3" by 3".) I've had an eyelet and a cute ribbon too.


The card and tag is finally done. It's a great card to Mother's Day isn't?

I hope you enjoyed this very long tutorial! Hugs and kisses!

Kim @ KLDezign

PDSS CLSC15 Challenge - Webster's!!!

Hi everyone!!! Holy smokes what a great kick off to our newly added layout sketches! Such fabulous layouts and cards were submitted, thank you everyone for rockin' our challenges!

I have also made some changes to the sidebar I have added both current sketches plus basic info on how to play along with us!

Here's what you'll be working with for the next 2 (two) weeks! We cannot wait to see more of your wonderful cards & scrapbook layouts!

**Please note that you may enter twice by creating one project per sketch (card AND layout) or enter once by picking the sketch you'd like to play with (card OR layout)... It's all up to you! :)

Card Sketch 15:

Layout Sketch 15:

You can flip, rotate, resize or do whatever your crafty heart desires as long as we can still see the original sketch in your creation then you're good to go! These challenges are on a bi-weekly basis, so that means you'll have two (2) weeks to get your creations completed, loaded and linked up!

For this challenge Posh Designs Scrapbook Store is giving away... 3 Packages of Webster's Pages SPANKING NEW Fabric Ribbons from their brand new collections: Lullaby Lane, Garden Gala & Seaside Retreat!!! (5 fabric strips per cards - 18" each design).

All you've got to do is participate by creating anything with the sketch in mind. Submit your creation to Mr. Linky below by typing your name and leaving a direct link to your project. Here's some inspiration from our lovely DT to help you get started!

Amy (layout)

Charlene (card)

Kim (card)

Lynne (card)

Melissa (card)

Michelle (card)

Deadline: May 31st @ 11:59 PM EST Canada. Please type your name & direct link to your creation in the Mr. Linky box below.


Thanks & Happy Crafting

Brag Book Challenge ~ Distrezz-It All Tool

Wanna win a DISTREZZ-IT ALL TOOL our HOTTEST selling product to date, be sure to sign up and play along with us! Second & third winners receive a 25$ Gift Certificate to use in our store! (No purchases are necessary!)

Current members please visit our "Challenge Section" over at the PDSS Interactive Community Ning site! Brag Book Challenges posted every Monday and you've got 10 chances of winning!

Alter It Monday ~ Ribbon and Button Wreath

This sun inspired ribbon wreath is a quick and easy project to do.

You will need a bunch of ribbons, buttons, a sheet of chipboard, a stapler, and some fast drying liquid glue.

I cut my chipboard into a giant "O" that was about 3/4" thick.
My ribbons were roughly 5 to 6 inches long.

To assemble, I stapled the ribbons around the circle as if they were awareness ribbons.
Once I filled up my ring, I glued the buttons over the staples.
I added a length of ribbon at the top for hanging.

There you go!

This wreath can be made with all sorts of ribbons, scrap ribbons, etc. A variety of textures would be fun!

Have a wonderful week,
~Amy

Crafty & Frugal Storage Jars

You want to beautify your craft space, but you don’t want to spend your hard earned dollars on storage. I’m with you on that one…….given the choice; I would rather buy scrappy goodies than the containers to put it in!!

Here’s my take on the fancy & expensive jars you can buy, to store your buttons, bling, pins, etc.


I used condiment jars. I won’t mention the brand, but suffice it to say that Cheez might have something to do with it!! But you can use any jar that has a lid. Large or small, the process is the same. It’s just the measurements that will be different.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Paper or fabric
• Edge punches
• Quick dry glue
• Scissors
• Twine, yarn, etc
• Embellies of your choice

Begin by choosing your papers, and trimming them to size width wise. Keep in mind that when you punch the edges, you’ll lose some of the width.


Once you’ve chosen which punch you want to use, go ahead and punch one or both sides of the long edges. Don’t worry about the length, we will trim that later. I did both sides on this sample.


Now take you widest strip of paper, and wrap it around your jar. Once you are happy with the placement, trim the length, so that your paper overlaps about 1 inch. Re-wrap the paper around the jar, and holding it tightly, you can glue it in place. Don’t worry about adhering the paper to the glass, it will stay put.

You can now add a second smaller strip over top, by following the same procedures as above. I chose to add a third piece.

Note: Although I didn’t mention this in the materials needed, I used spray paint on the lid.
However, you could use fabric or paper to cover it.

Now wrap your twine or yarn around your jar several times, and tie off at the front. The backside is where your paper overlaps.

You can embellish the jar even further, by adding flowers, buttons, or anything else. Just glue to the front of the jar.
Here are a few more containers that I made. I used lace on the jar at the farthest right, to get a different look.

This project is simple, fun & easy to do. You’ll save money by using scraps & you’ll feel better about re-purposing a common household item!!

Thanks for looking and happy crafting!!


Lynne

KISS (Keep It Simple Saturdays) with Michelle ~ My SIMPLE Craft Nook Tour

Hello Everyone!

Well we've had a blast of cold weather lately here in Eastern Ontario and it came as such a shock. So when deciding on what to post for this week's blog, I recalled one of my many conversations with my friend Nini (Owner of PDSS) and asked her if it would be cool if I showed my craft space? Nini agreed as this would be a first for this blog. One of the things I enjoy to see are craft rooms/spaces out there, either on video or blog. I guess it is for my never-ending quest to be uber-organized or when I get frustrated because I can't 'find' something; whatever comes first *laughing*. Nevertheless, I hope my tour will find some simple ways for you to organize your stash. Are you ready... Okay let's go!

1. This is the view looking into my space. I have a modest nook in the basement which is raised from its foundation. This enables me to enjoy lots of natural night, see the waterfront (yes I live along the lakefront, I am a lucky gal) plus take a peek seeing my boys outside whenever they give me a chance to craft in peace. Most of my containers were purchased from Wal-Mart over time and they are all from the Sterlite brand. My aim is always to make my space as inexpensive as possible because I don't know if I'll keep the same configuration of drawers the same. These drawer units are stackable and interchangeable which works perfectly for me. Plus I wanted a clean look to my space, it gives me a sense of calm when I enter.

2. Starting from the right side of my nook, there are these 4 stacked large drawer units that mainly house all my stamps (wood mounted, acrylic or cling mounted rubber). Each drawer is separated from one another into categories such as alphas, images, sentiments, occasions, elements and so forth. Here is a peek into one of those drawers:

3. As you can see I house all my wood mounted stamps into these plastic containers from Scrap-Organizer. These containers are just slightly larger than the 8-1/2 x 11 size of cardstock and they are deep enough to hold my wood mounted stamps in place. There are certain instances I would separate a certain style of stamp from the others within a separate container and for me those are my Birthday and Thank-You stamps.

4. The top drawer of this unit (located closest to my main crafting desk) houses my blocks, brayer and stamp-a-ma-jig (aka my most used stamping tools):

5. Next to these sets of drawers are 2 large towers of 12 x12 drawer units which are bought as 1 unit of 3 drawers. I store all my ink pads and markers in ROY G. BIV order starting with White in the top units, then Black and Grey together which leads into the Reds, Oranges, Yellows, etc... The left units stores my ink pads. The right units stores my markers and other ink pads like Staz-on:

On top of those units house my Scor-Pal, my scrap folder for cardstock and 3 individual containers ~ all my Christmas supplies, finished cards and layout pages in progress.

6. Now we are along the window wall of my craft nook. Starting from the right corner, I have a set of 3 JetMax cubes. These are the 1 drawer units with the lil' cubbies inside the drawer. My specific use for this type of drawer are for my punches:

These JetMax cubes are stacked and on top houses all my current 12 x 12 stash of cardstock and patterned papers inside those Cropper Hopper containers. The expandable folder beside my cardstock houses my speciality 12 x 12 cardstock like glitter, bling or other textured styles like dots (again in ROY G BIV order).

How I store my patterned paper is fashioned after how my brain looks for paper. I go with either a theme or look I want to achieve like soft and pretty or masculine even playful and young. Hence that is the way all my patterned papers are stored in those like categories. If I have paper pads I store them as a whole within the category that suits that paper's theme. This has worked like a charm for me.

I also store themed like papers/embellies together like Baby, Halloween, Travel within the mini Cropper Hopper containers.

7. The unit next to my paper and punches are for my ribbons. Again stored in ROY G BIV order(can you see a pattern here?) for easy retrieval :

8. The unit beside my main craft table houses my embellishments in the first 4 drawers then in the deeper drawer units store my misc. tools such as other adhesives and tools not used on a regular basis:

9. Now the work-horse of my craft nook... My crafting table. It is old dining room table that has been re-purposed into my space. Along the back of table houses my fishing tackle box with all my smaller embellies:

Below my crafting table are my idea books, magazines and catalogues plus a rolling carte that houses my 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of cardstock. Top crate holds my usual cardstock (in order of ROY G BIV) and the bottom crate houses my speciality cardstock and papers:

10. Next to my tackle box is another 3 drawer unit which houses my most used tools separated in this order - cutting, adhesive, larger units of adhesive regularly used like my ATG gun. I keep my piercing pad, stamp cleaner pads and my Big Bite out beside this unit:

11. In this tool box, I store my smaller regularly used tools like rulers, paper piercer, pencils, and such here. My baby wipes for easy clean up are close at hand which sits on top of a box that is empty:

12. The back unit is an old microwave stand which again got re-purposed for my craft nook. On top sits my embossing tools, misc stuff, acrylic stand for taking photos and my inspiration box to create projects with my Slice machine. In the middle unit of the stand holds more misc stuff not frequently used. The bottom unit (which you can't see in the photo) stores all my chipboard - bought and recycled plus my vinyl sheets:

13. Last but not least, my long white table has been dubbed as the cutting station. What you see in the open and above these drawer units are pieces of memorabilia I need to scrap with, my trash can (how exciting I know, ha.) and huge pile of leather and suede sheets to use with my Big Shot. You can see my Big Shot and Slice on top. The drawers on the left hold all my tools and supplies for those machines like dies, design cards, tag maker and frames. Actually the 1st drawer houses my Slice supplies. The bottom two drawers holds all my Sizzix tools and it is filling up fast:

The unit on the right holds all my not so frequently used crafting related tools and supplies such as paints, re-inkers, thread, coloring pencils and chalks, etc:

Well that it. That's my craft nook tour. Thanks for coming along for the ride! If there are any questions, please let me know. I would love to see your craft space. Post photos as a blog post in the PDSS Community Site or start a discussion in our SCRAP ROOMS AND ORGANIZING TIPS section and share your area of creativity.

Have a great week crafting!

KISSes and Hugs ~Michelle