Paper Flower Tutorial

First let me say, that the Dinner with Cosmo Cricket contest is still open. Read my previous post for your chance to win.

Now, onto today's business. Natasja Verbeek, one of our design team members, makes these absolutely beautiful paper flowers. I asked her if she could teach me how to make them...... I need all the scrappy help I can get..... she told me she learned it on the internet and that she would find me the link. Well, she couldn't find the link. Instead, she went above and beyond the call of duty and made me a personal youtube tutorial. I am so in love with these flowers, that I thought you might like to learn to make them too. So, I asked Natasja if I could post her video. It took a fair bit of coercion (she did not intend for it to be public) but she is a really good sport and agreed. And, I am so glad she did...... I just love her!

Now I have started making my own flowers. Here is a layout I am working on with my first paper flower. I wanted my flower to be made from our printed cardstock, but the paper seemed a bit thick so I peeled the top layer away from the bottom layer. I love this look. It makes very delicate looking petals.

Paper Tree Tutorial

Remember that darling paper tree sent to us by Sarah the other day? Well, some of you asked me how it was made and I said that I would look for instructions. I didn't find any. But, after looking closely at Sarah's tree, I thought I'd give it a go. Mine did turn out a bit differently. I think these are not only great for decorating, but also for holding a gift for a friend.

PS: I apologize for the dark photos. I did this last night by the light of a lamp. Not great for photography!

Here's what you'll need:
1. Two sheets of green cardstock. I used "Wrapping Paper" from our Oh Joy Collection.
2. Brown cardstock for the trunk. Mine is 4x6", but depending on your cylinder, you might need to adjust the measurements.
3. A cylinder. I would have used a tube from a roll of paper towels, but I didn't have one. Funny, but I'm more likely to have a cylindrical Hot Chocolate container than a paper roll tube.
4. Something cute for the top. I used a star from the Oh Joy die cut sheet and matched it up with the chipboard star from our Buck Naked Ornaments.

Here's what to do:
1. Cover lower section of tube to make the trunk of the tree.


2. Cut a bunch of long triangles for the tree. Mine start out 2" wide at the top, tapering to a point and they are 4" long. It looks to me like Sarah's are skinnier than mine. I cut them smaller as I went up the tree. By the time I was up to the top of the tree, the triangles were 1" wide at the top, still 4" long and still tapering to a point.


3. Use a paintbrush or smooth pencil to curl the ends of the triangles and adhere to the tube.


4. Go all the way around the tube, one layer at a time.


5. Continue all the way up the tree, using smaller triangles as you get towards the top.


6. Now for the tricky part! Make a cone for the top of the tree. To do this, I took my second piece of cardstock, flipped it to the backside and measuring from one of the corners, I made a mark 6" down from the corner. Then, I made a mark 6" across the top from the same corner. Continue measuring from that corner down, in between the first two marks until you have enough points to help you draw a smooth curve. Cut out along this curve. Run double stick adhesive down the first edge and roll into a cone. It helps to cut the corner off the top of the cone. It also helps to fold up the edge of the cone with the adhesive on it (before the adhesive is on it) about 1/4" in from the edge. I used the end of a paintbrush inside of the cone to put counter pressure against my hand as I pressed the seam down tight.


7. After the cone part is made, cut the lower edge into a pointed fringe so that you can curl it up and mimmick the layers on the rest of the tree. I cut as far as 2" up from the bottom edge. (I neglected to get photos of the cone as I made it, but you can do it! Give it a try, you'll see.)

Fill your cylindar with goodies to give as a gift, or just place it out as a cute accent piece in your home. If using a paper towel tube, you can make a bottom for it out of cardstock if you want to fill it with treats.

The Bird Holder Tutorial

Ok ladies, I have had many requests for this tutorial. But first, today's winner is.......Rachel @ 11:07am. Congratulations Rachel, send your address to Krista@cosmocricket.com and we'll send you your prize!

And Second, did you know that Monday is Digital Scrapbooking Day? Well, according to scrapblog.com and Digital Scrapbooking magazine it is. So, how many of you do the digital thing? How many of you do hybrid stuff? How many of you have never tried anything digital?

I guess you could say that I am a hybrid girl, but only because I design all the paper and stuff I'm using on my mac before I use it. And, I guess I also take all my photos digitally, import them into Photoshop, play with them a bit and then print myself. But, I have never really done a digital layout. How about you?

If you are into the digital thing or would just like to give it a try, here is a contest that might interest you! Now through Nov. 1, users that log in or sign up on scrapblog.com and design their digital holiday greeting cards, tagging them as “DSD” will be entered in a contest for 50 printed Scrapblog greeting cards featuring their designs and a free one-year subscription to Digital Scrapbooking Magazine. There is no cost to participate and users can enter as many holiday card designs as they’d like. There will be five winners.

Now, for the tutorial!!! Hopefully it makes sense and you can tell what I was doing in these photos..... they're not the best. Oh well...... wire is hard to photograph........ especially in a basement!

Start with some sturdy wire (I'm sorry, I don't know what gauge this is) and needle nose pliers. Pinch about one inch in from end.

Twist wire around like in photo.

Squeeze together as shown.

Bend wire so that you can repeat the process.

Like this! Make three front toes by repeating these instructions.

Once you have your three toes, pinch the wire about 1 1/2" away from what will be the center of the foot, as shown.

Bend the wire around to make the back toe.

Pinch it together, like with the other toes.

You'll notice that your back toe is wider closer to the foot. If that doesn't bother you, continue, but if you like, bring your wire up between two of the front toes to finish the first foot.

You'll want the wire to be about twice as long as your finished leg length. Estimating that length, fold the wire down to make the second leg.

Following the same steps as before...... even in the same order, make the second foot. Then clip wire.

Pinch leg at about center point (this depends slightly on how long you want the leg to be).

Fold foot up as shown. Then, repeat on other side.

After you bend both legs, flip it over and you should have this. (Are you still with me?)

Pinch in center of the front part, as shown.

Bend it up and then repeat on other side. (If this looks confusing, skip down to the next photo, and I think you'll get the idea).

TaDaaa. You should now have a completed wire holder that looks like little chicken legs! Make some cute cards to fit in there and enjoy!!

Paper Bead Tutorial

I love making hand made gifts for people. I don't know that my friends and family necessarily love receiving them, but I love making them. Why? Well, because when I make something for someone, I think about them the whole time. I imagine how much they are going to love what I give them. I imagine how they'll say, "This is beautiful. Thank you so much. I love that you put so much time and effort into my gift." Do they ever say this? No. But, this year, I am sure..... absolutely sure.... they are going to!!! (I was sure last year and the year before that and the year before that..... and, you get the idea.)

So, if you would like to make a really cute gift for someone or just for yourself, here is the perfect idea! Paper Beads!!! They are fast, easy and inexpensive. Here's what to do:
1. Gather your supplies.

You'll need paper (I used Hello Sunshine Berries, my kids used Oh Joy, but even newspaper or pages from magazines can make beautiful beads), Ultra Thick Embossing Powder (UTEE), child's paint brush, embossing heat gun or melting pot and glue (I like Tacky Glue for this project). You will also need a little aluminum foil or something similar as a work surface so that you don't end up embossing your countertop!

2. Cut Paper.

The way you cut your paper will determine the shape of your beads, but generally a long, skinny triangle is what I use.

3. Roll Paper.

Using the end of the paintbrush, wrap your triangle starting with the wide end.

4. Glue.

When you get near the end of wrapping, put some glue on the end to hold it in place. I use more than needed so that the extra glue spreads out giving the bead more strength.

6. If you have a melting pot, simply dip your beads in melted UTEE. If you don't and you don't want to purchase one..... read on.

Using the Tacky Glue, coat the bead with a thin layer. I dab it on as shown, then use my fingers to spread it out into a very thin allover coating (almost wiping it all off). If your glue is too thick, it will make the embossing powder foam. You just need to make the bead tacky enough to hold the embossing powder to it.

7. Dunk in UTEE.

With bead still on end of paintbrush dunk it in the UTEE. If there are some areas that don't get coated all the way, don't worry.

8. Melt the UTEE.

Using your heat gun, with the bead on the end of the paintbrush, heat the UTEE. Continually turn the bead. When the UTEE starts to melt it will look like little beads of water. Continue to heat it until they run together and start to coat your bead. If you are like me, you'll want a super glossy and smooth bead. In that case, when the bead starts to look coated, re-dip it in the UTEE. Then heat again. I do this 2-3 times depending on the bead and look. When you get more than one or two coats of UTEE, it will want to run and drip so make sure that you continually turn it until it is cooled. Don't worry if your bead looks like it is glossed onto the paintbrush, when it is cooled, your be able to just twist it off.


9. Make lots more.

String your beads on ribbon or elastic to make cute bracelets and necklaces. It's so easy, even a six year old can do it. Here is Abby's bracelet. I didn't let her use the embossing gun, since I didn't want her to burn off her little fingers, but she rolled the beads all by herself and strung the bracelet.

Ten Blackboard Tips

Today I thought I would post some tips for using our Blackboard shapes. Take these ideas, use them as your own and become a scrapbook superstar!

1. Rub on the rub-ons! This is a fast and easy way to make cute Blackboard embellishments. One piece of advice, if your rub-on of choice is going to hang over the edge of the Blackboard shape, trim it off before starting to rub.

2. Stamp your Blackboard with chalk ink. I love this look!

3. Edge your Blackboard with a white pen, it really makes the edges POP.

4. Wrap your Blackboard with wire, thread, string, staples or fibers.

5. Glitter and Blackboard, one of my favorites! The polka-dots are made by putting down glue dots and then glittering. The dashes are glue dot dashes (imagine that). I also like stamping with glue and then glittering (wash your stamps immediately afterward).

6. These look like they are just plain, and although Blackboard is nice plain, it's also great with Glossy Accents! I love the cogs from the Cogsmo Blackboard done this way. In fact, so much that I've used them all and didn't have any on hand.

7. Use gold leaf with your Blackboard. I use gold leaf much like I use glitter. The leaves are done with glue, but the dots....... you guessed it, glue dots.

8. Paint your Blackboard. I love the metallic paint by Folk Art, but any kind of paint works. I've even used nail polish!

9. Get out the pastels. I have used oil and chalk pastels. These examples are chalk. It's fun to blend and shade, just use a fixative over the top when your done (aerosol hairspray will work in a pinch, but I doubt it's acid free).

10. Cover them with their matching diecuts. The new lines diecuts are even adhesive backed (stickers) so you don't have to use glue or anything! Sometimes I like to offset them so that I have a black shadowed edge showing, like on the bird above.

See Lindsay Paint on Blackboard

See the full sneak peek here.

This is the close up of Linday's painted album page. Which, I do have to admit turned out better than my own. Lindsay added the white rub-on after the paint dried. This is a border from our new Happy Go Lucky rub-ons from the Get Happy collection. Our new white rub-ons are double-reinforced white. This means that they show up crisply white even over dark colors like black.

Robot Wars

Can Lindsay build a robot faster than me? Not likely, but watch the race to find out!
See the full sneak peek here.