3D Paper Ball with Hearts and Arrows

Beware of Cupid’s shooting arrows! It was a great discovery my first time to use an ink pad on the edges of my paper ball decorations to add dimension. I realized dragging the ink pad across the arrow would make it appear as if Cupid had just let it fly, especially when it caught on the edges.

Version 1 is easy to put together since it’s a single sheet of paper. Simply use beading wire, fishing line, or string to thread from the bottom hole, then thread each arc at the top. A rolled paper straw in the middle keeps the ball fully inflated. A scalloped circle finishes the top and bottom and the beads are optional. Version 2 allows you to combine two different papers, of course.

Part 4 of upcoming Valentine collection on Etsy.

Quilled E Monogram with Fringed Flowers

So I made a monogram for a friend who is turning 40 and requested a no gift policy – well, I'll still be able to say "I didn't buy anything." I wanted to show the flowers bursting forth in different stages of bloom. The "moat" which corrals the quilled flowers ends up hiding the quilled base from most angles; tilting the blossoms on their sides doesn't hurt either. I designed each flower pattern and cut them digitally on the Silhouette.

I’ve just discovered Moxie Fab World through a reader’s post of an intricately quilled heart, by Sweet Spot Cards. MFW have weekly challenges in their side bar, and I was pleased to find the right stuff in my stash for their “Pretty Pastels Color Challenge for Color Inspiration for Card Makers Week in the Moxie Fab World“, shown below:

Baby Shower Card: Spit Happens

It sure looks easy when it’s all done, even to me. So let me record here the behind-the-scenes moments. I first worked on the bib. There is the actual cutting line, the stitching line, and the button hole. Each had to be on their own layer in Adobe Illustrator and their own settings (solid vs dotted, ink pen vs blade). Since the dotted stitching line is not the same size as the cutting line, it off-shifted the result on my first trial. Let’s just say, 4 attempts later, I succeeded.

Let me digress for just a moment. One attempt failed because my die cutter mat was losing it’s tackiness. I had been using a 20 year old roll of airbrushing frisket to gain back some adhesion (I rolled the frisket with sticky side up onto my mat and after peeling wax had a new clean surface), but it sometimes got cut through so it got caught up in the roller and my paper moved, hence attempt #4. I found another method online using Zig 2-way glue (blue when wet = permanent bond, clear when dry = temporary bond). It’s not bad but I find some residue comes off the mat and sticks to my papers.

The text was easy out of vinyl. Each part of the duck was a separate file and pass because they are all different colors of paper, even the wing and body. The orange was so thick it would not cut through even after 8 passes, so I finished cutting by hand. I cut the pupil from the same blue vinyl as text, but it was so small, I thought it didn’t even get cut. Let’s just say, my dreams of making cards to sell and getting rich quick is evaporating with the alarm clock chime – I think I’ll go blind first – but it was certainly worth doing for our new little nephew.

Die Cut Vinyl Transform Ugly Black Pots

I don’t want to buy nice pots because I want to move one day out of the townhouse and grow in the ground. Until then, these free black pots will have to do – but they don’t have to stay ugly! 2 down, 8 to go…

Birthday Card in Die Cut Vinyl

Fell in love with this birthday design sold on the Silhouette Die Cut store – it inspired me to make a similar one for my nephew who just turned 8. I’m lucky enough to know someone who gives me vinyl scraps from their sign shop, destined for the landfill. Too small for commercial work, these scraps are the perfect size for cards. Each empty space is a piece of vinyl that must be “weeded” out by hand – something infinitely more challenging to do when it’s small text. It’s such a thrilling feeling when they say “You made this? I thought you bought it.”

Thank You Cards

 
I was surprised with my gift of a personal die cutter, the Silhouette / Craft Robo. I love it as much as my iphone, which is pretty much top of the totem pole. Of course the first project had to be thank you cards.


Had some difficulty setting it up for a Mac even though I know Adobe Illustrator. The software had to be downloaded (only PC software found on CDs), and their numerous websites were not only confusing/inconsistent but also did not have the latest software. Some even stated it would not work for Macs. The one that finally worked correctly was found here: http://www.craftrobostore.com/craftrobodownloads.html
Each flower was drawn in Adobe Illustrator using bezier curves to define the petal and stamen. My poor adhesive mat was well used very quickly due to so many fine cuts. Instead of making new mats with spray adhesive, I delved into my roll of airbrushing frisket from high school, neglected for too many years. The frisket adhered to the not-so-sticky mat very well because it’s made of plastic. My paper stuck to the frisket almost better than the original matt because as I peeled it off, the flower strips didn’t curl. The only thing was if I cut too deeply or too many times, the frisket would stick in pieces to the backs of my quilling strips. The strips were rolled up using my usual slotted quilling tool.
I had a hard time finding the right paper in Vancouver. Craft and art supply stores carry heavier card stock for scrapbookers. Stationary supplies and even paper mills have limited color ranges. In the end I used alcohol-based felt markers to color in the petals or stamens to give it extra depth and yet stay coordinated. I enjoyed customizing each bouquet for each person. Of course, after I was finished, I found out venders on ebay sell the matching quilling paper in 8.5×11 sheets. My thanks to Ann Martin‘s post on Robert Sabuda‘s pop-up flower for Mother’s Day. It was the perfect floral surprise on the inside.