Clear Scraps Tutorial Tuesday with Lori

Since it's Tuesday that means it's time for a tutorial!  There was a question on the Cutters Creek Yahoo Group about the Acrylic Sheets from Clear Scraps, so I thought I would share a project and some tips about them.

These clear acrylic sheets are 12"x12", so they are the perfect size for scrapbook pages or decor projects.  They can also be cut with scissors, dies, and cutting machines (see video for cutting machine tips).  There are plenty of ways to take your projects from everyday to extraordinary using these cool clear sheets!  Today I have my most recent project to share with you, as well as a longer-than-my-usual video with more information.  There's just too much information to type out, so if you're not able to watch videos and have a question, just leave it in the comments and I will respond as soon as possible.  Here are two photos of the layout I made:

Looks like an average layout, yes?

But aha, remove the cardstock behind and it's a super-cool clear layout!

This layout looks WAY more cool in the video where you can see the lights glaring off of it.  I think it would look awesome in a floating frame on a wall, but in my scrapbook I'll keep the yellow CS behind it so that whatever layouts are behind it in my album will not show through.  It still has all kinds of awesome dimension just perfect for my daughter's album!

Here's the video:

FYI: I checked and it looks like several of the Doodlebug Designs twine assortments have colors that will match this Echo Park collection so shop away!  (And as always, you can ask Kim any question.  If she's got items in stock, I'm sure she would be happy to color-compare for you.)

Here's a list of supplies I used that are available at Cutters Creek:

• Clear Scraps 12"x12" Acrylic Sheets
• Echo Park Paper, Hello Summer collection (currently sold out, so ask Kim about it if you want one!)
  
• Ranger, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Festive Berries (from Winter LE set), Spiced Marmalade, and Peeled Paint
• Scor Tape, 1/8" and 1/2"
• Making Memories, Scrapbook Colors in Red Wagon and Spotlight (currently on special for half off at Cutters Creek!)

Other supplies used:

• Close To My Heart, cardstock in Sunny Yellow and Twine in Paradise assortment
• Echo Park Paper, Hello Summer chipboard elements (possible special order from CC - just ask!)
• We R Memory Keepers, Crop-A-Dile
• Copic, Multi-liner 0.3 in brown (journaling)

I'll have that layout with acrylic accents done soon, and I hope to have my new video on the clear cards finished by next week (kids home for Summer tend to slow me up some!).  Be sure to head over to my blog and sign up to follow me by email if you want to be notified when they're posted.  There's a simple signup box near the top of the right hand hand column!

Thanks for stopping by today; hope to see you again soon!

Transform Your Die Cuts - Deanna M

I have a Tuesday Tutorial post for you today to show you how you can transform your simple die cuts. I got my inspiration from the trees I could see on the other side of my fence, aren't they beautiful? I decided to make a fall card with leaves and I wanted to incorporate the colors from the trees into my leaves. I started by cutting a leaf from the Straight From the Nest Cartridge at 6" out of white card stock.

Next I pulled out a bunch of my distress inks in fall colors. I chose Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge,  Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick, and Crushed Olive. Using my foam applicator I randomly applied some of the ink to my leaves.

To give my leaves a more realistic look I went into my backyard a picked a few leaves off of a small tree and using my No More Shims Embossing Mat and embossed my leaves using the veins and stems on the leaves from my backyard. Finally I spritzed everything with some Glimmer Mist. I used Rum Punch, Honey Dew Melon, Jingle Bells, Sun Kissed Peach, and Sugar Maple to layer on some additional color and some glimmer to the leaves.

I then pulled some ivory card stock from my stash to make a 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" card base. My mat and  patterned paper are from the My Minds Eye Sunshine Paper Pad. I pop dotted the orange leaves to the card and the attached the yellow leaf to the orange ones. I added my sentiment stamped in Distress Walnut Stain ink. The little nail heads and ribbon are from my stash. I am really pleased at how realistic the leaves ended up looking and love how easy that embossing mat was to use to get this look.

Hang in There-Tuesday Tutorial by Deanna

The tutorial I have for you today uses the Ultra Fine Flower Soft as flocking. I love the dimension and texture it gives to my Cricut cuts.  I started with the monkey from the Create-a-Critter cartridge and cut him at 3". I used my Imagine to color each layer (love that!). The base layer was cut with black. The next I colored to match as close to the flower soft I chose to use.

Next I ran my layers I wanted to flock upside down in my Xyron so the adhesive was on the front of my image.

I used Sand Ultra Fine Flower Soft for the main layer of my image, and Toffee Ultra Fine Flower Soft for the outer outline layer to flock the monkey. I liberally covered my image with the flower soft and patted it down to be sure I had a good covering and then tapped off the excess.

I did the same with the other layer. Here is what they look like now that each layer is flocked.

Once I adhered my layers together with some Flower Soft Adhesive. I put my card together. My card is a standard 4 1/4" X 5 1/2" card. My base is white card stock. I then added a blue mat cut to 4" X 5 1/4" and cut my patterned paper from my scrap bin to 3 3/4" X 5". I used my ATG Gun to adhered the layers together.

The vine was cut at 3" as well and colored using my Imagine. For the mat for my sentiment I used the Elegant Edges cartridge (which Kim can special order for you just ask). I colored the shadow layer with a blue color and left the top layer uncolored as I wanted it white. The mat was cut at 2". My sentiment is from the Wild Card cartridge and was colored with the same blue as my shadow layer and was cut at 4".

I just love the velvety texture I get by using the Ultra Fine Flower Soft as flocking. The Ultra Fine Flower Soft can be used to add texture and dimension to any of your projects. I hope you give it a try.

Fun in the Sun Tutorial Tuesday by Mandie

Glad you could drop by for another edition of Tutorial Tuesday here on the Cutters Creek Design Team Blog! Before I get started I just want to remind you that you can sign up to subscribe to our blog posts and also subscribe to the store newsletter in the side bar!

July is going to be an exciting month for us here on the blog because we have Summer CHA coming up and that means Kim is going to be adding some great new products to the store again... This month we are going to be focusing on the i-rock gems on Tutorial Tuesday and here's the card I made:


First I stamped out the image from The Greeting Farm, Cheeky Beach, and colored her in my my Copics. I've been very slowing expanding my collection so I actually have a couple colors besides the skin tones now! I'm still learning about my Copics too... like use GOOD paper, this one got a bit runny. My coloring wasn't awful but the colors traveled in this paper. But I still thought she was cute enough to use! If you click the close up picture you can see how I added a bit of sparkle with my Stardust Gelly Roll Pen.


Next I made the sandy layer. I started with a tan cardstock for my base then used Yellow Daisy, Walnut Gold and Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist to create the sandy look. Then I grabbed my Echo Park Summer Days 6 x 6 Paper Pad and grabbed the blues for the sea and sky. I tore the paper by hand for the "waves" and I really like how they came out. Once the sea, sand and sky were in place I decided that I needed a big blingy sun! So I cut a 5/8" circle from white cardstock and used the Yellow Daisy Glimmer Mist to color it. Then I grabbed my i-rock and the Hot Rocks Compact and added the yellow rhinestones to my sun.


Finally I stamped "Fun" and "Sun" with some alphas from my stash and wrote "in the" in between for my sentiment. What a fun summery greeting to send! Thanks so much for joining us for another Tuesday! Make sure you check back often, we have a surprise filled month!

Tutorial Tuesday - Faux Leather with Lori

Hi everyone!  It's time for another Tutorial Tuesday, and I'm going to try something a little different today.  I promise that today's technique is really easy, but there are a lot of photos involved.  So, what I'm going to do is post the tutorial here, and post the finished card with all of the other details over on my blog.

Faux leather is an awesome technique, and the look & feel can be totally different depending on the embossing folder and cardstock you choose.  For today, I'm showing you a traditional "country" style.  Here are the supplies you will need to duplicate this technique:

• embossing folder of your choice (I used the Perfectly Paisley folder)
• Cuttlebug or other die-cutting/embossing machine
• medium brown cardstock and coordinating ink
• spray bottle of water (optional)
• embossing ink
• clear embossing powder (I used Ranger superfine clear)
• craft tray
• heat gun

Now, on to the tutorial!  Remember to click on the individual pictures if you need to see things larger.

This step is OPTIONAL!

I first lightly mist both sides of my cardstock with water.  This just seems to make the embossing easier, and makes the embossed areas more crisp.  If you do this step, you can dry it after embossing by quickly heating it with your heat gun on both sides.

Next, place the damp paper inside the embossing folder and run it through your Cuttlebug or other machine.  (After this step, be sure to dry your cardstock if damp.)

This is what the dry embossed cardstock looks like.

Next you need your coordinating brown ink.  It's OK if it's not the exact color; just close.  You will hold the pad in your hand and rub it over the embossed design to darken it.

I went a little dark with my ink to make it easier to see in the photos, but you get the idea.  If you are going to want your leather to look aged, be sure to make your ink coverage uneven, and even leave extra swipes of ink here & there.  I didn't get too worried about perfection on this one (shocking, I know!) because of the country feel I was going for.

OK, now is the time to get together your embossing ink, embossing powder, and craft tray.

Now, you need to press your embossing ink pad over the entire surface of your embossed cardstock.  Make sure you completely cover everything.  (Yes, my ink pad happens to be a Versamark.  Any clear embossing pad, including the Tim Holtz pad in the CC store will work just fine.)  Place the paper in the craft tray and coat it with embossing powder.  Shake off the excess and carefully heat emboss the entire piece.

This image shows the difference in the paper before and after heat embossing.

And here is the finished product!  See, very easy.  Now, what to do with it?  Go check out this post on my blog for one idea; you're sure to come up with more, and we'd love to see them!  You're always welcome to post links to your projects in the comments section here, or send an email to the Cutters Creek Yahoo Group.

Tutorial Tuesday: Custom Stamped Embellishments wihth Lori

Welcome to another installment of Tutorial Tuesday!  This month features stamping, and I thought that this week I would share an unexpected combination of products used to make some cute custom dimensional embellishments.  So, we'll be using stamps (of course) and the new to Cutters Creek iBond cordless glue gun with colored glue sticks!

Have you ever looked at colored glue sticks for glue guns and wondered what on earth you would want to use colored glue for?  Today I have just one splendid little answer for you.  Let's make dimensional embellishments!  But first, I have to say that I LOVE the iBond glue gun - the cordless feature makes it so easy to get things done without wondering how the heck to get that cord out of the way.  In fact, I have several other projects I can already think of that I''ll be using this for this year.

Now, rather than ruin the surprise, I'm going to make you wait until after the tutorial steps to see what I've made.  Just check out these steps:

First, you will need a non-stick surface (the Bazzil splat mat is a good choice) and your iBond loaded with the glue sticks of your choice.  Turn on your iBond and let it rest on the mat.  (Another great feature of the iBond - there's a light at the tip so you ALWAYS know when it's turned on!)

While that's warming up, you will want a few additional items.  Choose a small stamp image, stamping block if acrylic, and ink for your stamp.  You need to ink up your stamp for this process, but most ink will not stay on our stamping surface.  You can just use a clear ink for no color, or Staz On if you want your image colored.  I chose to use a red Staz On for my image, just so it would show up better in the photos.

First step: coil a circle of hot glue slightly larger than your stamp image, making sure your coiled glue lines are touching.  You may want to experiment with the thickness for some different effects.  (I apologize for the odd picture here - it's hard to glue left-handed and take a picture right-handed!)  I tried to keep mine about the thickness of the stream that comes out of the tip.  Colored glue tends to be stiffer than clear, but you should still have plenty of time before it hardens up.

Once your circle is made, quickly ink up your stamp and press it into the hot glue.  Leave the stamp in place for a minute while the glue cools, then you can pull the stamp out of the glue and peel the glue off of the non-stick surface.

You now have two options with your stamped piece: leave it in a circle, as I chose for my card, or trim it down around the image.  A nice thing about using glue is that it trims super easily with a pair of fine-tip scissors.  At left is an example of a trimmed image.  This would look cute at the center of a ribbon bow, or perhaps three in a row on a card front, mounted on circles or squares.  When left whole, these embellishments give the appearance of wax seals, with a lot less fuss.

Now, on to my end product!  I created a card and used my embellishment as an accent piece in my design.

Using a card sketch and some papers from my stash, I got to work!  The cute girl stamp image is Cheeky Howdy from The Greeting Farm and the cherries stamp image is from the Kitchen Classic stamp set from Crafty Secrets.  Cheeky Howdy's outfit is paper pieced (see last week's Tutorial Tuesday!), and the scalloped mat/frame is from the Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge.  I adhered the stamped glue embellishment to my rosette using Glossy Accents to ensure it stays put.  As a finishing touch, I added stickles to the cherries in my girl's hair and the circle cut-outs in the frame.

Items available at Cutters Creek:

• Bazzil Splat Mat non-stick sheet
• iBond cordless glue gun from Imaginisce
• iBond mini glue sticks - solid color
• Tim Holtz clear Distress Ink Pad
• Kitchen Classics stamp set, Crafty Secrets
• Cheeky Howdy cling stamp, The Greeting Farm
• Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge  (not in stock, but Kim can order almost any cartridge you want!)
• Glossy Accents
• Stickles in Xmas Red

Tutorial Twofer Tuesday with Lori

Stamping Your Own Patterned Paper AND Masking

Happy Tuesday everyone, and welcome to our first installment of Tutorial Tuesday for April!  This month we're focusing on stamping, and since I am the self-proclaimed Simple Stamping Guru, I'm jumping right in with two easy techniques today.  Initially, I was just going to focus on making your own custom patterned paper, but I needed to mask an image for my card anyway, and since it's an easy yet oh-so-useful technique, I just added it right in.  Trust me, I don't like doing things that are "hard", require a lot of products, or take a lot of time.  So, make yourself comfortable and see for yourself how easy stamping can be!

Let's start with a technique called "random stamping" to make your own patterned paper.  It's really a misnomer, as it's not random at all, but when you're done it certainly looks that way.  This is such a useful technique, for times when you don't want to search for the "right" paper for a project, or just don't have something in the right colors.  I have been known to be slightly obsessive (OK, maybe not slightly) about my papers matching my pictures in my scrapbook pages; to the extent of making my own patterned papers that match the clothes my kids are wearing in the pictures.  But that's a story for another day...

I'm making a card, because the smaller size makes it easier to learn the technique.  (If any of the pictures are too small for you, just click on them to see them larger.)  To begin, stamp a single image near the center of your paper.  I stamped right on my 5 x 7 card base, choosing to make my entire background patterned.  For this project, I am using a single stamp for my pattern, but as you practice, you can add more stamps, and/or rotate the stamp(s) for more variety.

Next, stamp the image twice more, forming a triangle shape with the three images.  I chose to keep my images all facing the same general direction, but you can rotate for a different effect.

Continue stamping images, creating more and more triangles on your paper.  Make sure that when you approach the edges that you allow the images to go off the edges of the paper where they would naturally fall.  (Ever notice that patterned paper you buy doesn't usually contain only whole images, that shapes run off the edges of the paper?)

Since I used a line drawn stamp, I chose to color my images with Copic markers.  I colored using a very informal style, freely going outside the lines, as it was easy to color each petal and leaf by simply laying the brush tip against the paper for each one.

Don't worry about making your image spacing or your coloring perfect.  Trust me, no one will notice when you're done!  Now, on to masking:

This technique allows you to group images together, making them look like one is in front of another.  There is no limit to the number of images you can combine into a scene, but I most commonly use only two images together.  It looks so much more "advanced" when you mask than if you just stamp the images next to each other.  The only additional supply needed is a Post-It note (or if you don't have any, use a piece of printer paper and adhesive tape.

First, stamp the image you want to appear in the front of your scene on your cardstock.  Then stamp it again on your Post-It note.

Cut out the image you stamped on your Post-It, and stick it directly on the image you stamped on cardstock.

Next, stamp the other image right next to the first, slightly overlapping where you want it to appear behind the first image.

Peel off the Post-It note, and voila! You have a masked scene.  For my purposes, I cut out my masked images, added some extra detail and colored them.

To assemble my card, I also stamped and colored a border and cut it out.  I trimmed 1/4" off the right edge and adhered my border image and some ribbon.  Then I popped up my stamped image on a matted panel, added a custom sentiment, and DONE!

I thought this would make a great card for a  couples shower, casual wedding, or a fun anniversary card.  Just add the additional sentiment to the inside of the card and you're ready to roll.

Products available at Cutters Creek:

• Clear Art Stamps from Crafty Secrets, Kitchen Classics
• Acrylic Block starter set
• Memento Ink, black
• Copic Markers, in R20 Blush and YG07 Acid Green
• Cardstock

Tutorial Tuesday-Peel Offs With Kim B. & A WINNER

I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and here are two examples of cards using peel offs. You can also use peel offs on scrapbook pages to frame titles, mats, pages, etc…

This first card, I made it up a while ago however put it aside as I thought it was missing something. And then I thought, peel offs! So I used the silver corners and borders sheet and added the corners and then added the borders and now I think this card looks done and elegant. This card was made from Flower Soft Toppers, Scenic Windows. I think this turned into a gorgeous Spring card, adding the peel offs to it!

This next example, I did something very simple and turned this simple card from drab into elegant using peel offs. The pansies are from an Ecstasy Crafts Decoupage Book, the sentiment is from the Ecstasy Crafts peel offs (and I used a Y15 copic marker to color the sentiment to tie it in with the yellow of the pansies), the corners from the gold Flower Soft peel offs, and gold borders from another gold peel off sheet option.

I have enjoyed taking you through using peel offs today and hope you enjoyed learning all about these little gems. They will take any paper craft project you made from drab to fab, in a matter of minutes! Please go to the Cutters Creek store website and check out these products and many more!

Products Used:
Flower Soft Peel Offs
Ecstasy Crafts Peel Offs
Flower Soft
Flower Soft Glue
Flower Soft Scenic Windows Toppers
Stickles
Foam Squares
Pink ATG
Ecstasy Crafts Decoupage Book
Copic Markers
Card Stock


We's also like to announce our WINNER of the CHA swag bag is....


And that commenter was....


Congratulations, Bradleysgirl!!!!!!!!!! I will be emailing you for your information shortly! I would also like to say THANK YOU to all of the people who came and hopped for all of the lovely comments, and to all of the design team members for their hard work!

Tutorial Tuesday - Flower Soft with Mandie

Welcome to another Tutorial Tuesday here on the Cutters Creek Blog! We all hope that you are enjoying learning about ways to use Flower Soft in so many projects! Make sure you keep checking back because we still have LOTS of great projects in the works. This weekend will be the Cutters Creek Spring Blog Hop! Make sure you don't miss it!

For today's project I decided to show you that you can use other images besides the Flower Soft Toppers with your Flower Soft. I chose to make a card with one of the three adorable images from the Wedding Bears & Cats diecut set from Ecstasy Crafts. Here's a look at my finished card:


To begin I cut out the backing image and began punching out all of the shapes that belong with it. I love that I'm not trying to cut these shapes, you just need to punch them out (and they punch out great)! Then you add the Ecstasy Crafts Joy! Foam Squares to the back. These are really cool because they are thin and give just enough lift for really nice dimension.


Notice I only added the very first layer to my card before I added my Flower Soft. I thought it would be easier to add my Flower Soft with out the other stuff on there... and there would be less chance of me making a boo-boo :) So I grabbed my Flower Soft Adhesive and a jar of Polar White Flower Soft to add to my tree.


Next I added small dots of glue to the flowers on the trees. You want to make sure you keep the bottle upside-down the entire time you are using the glue. And you really don't need a ton, just make small dots. Then just sprinkle your Flower Soft over the top. You can either use a small spoon or just pinch it with your fingers.


Here you can see I divided my tree in thirds. On the left is the Flower Soft added to the glue, in the middle is just my glue dots and the right is waiting to be done.


Yes, Flower Soft should be "fluffed up" a bit before you use it. Notice how fluffy it gets... yep, I just stuck the lid on top and it went right back on! And no, this isn't a brand new jar! I've actually used this on several projects! You can get a LOT for mileage out of one jar!


Here's the image at an angle, you probably want to click on it to make it larger so you can see the layering. Notice I decided to add some of the Baby Pink Flower Soft to the brides headband and bouquet too.


To finish off my image I added stars to the sky with my Gelly Roll Stardust Pure Glitter Pens. I just made little dots all over. I also added a little glitter to the inside of the flowers but it didn't show up in the photos... it looks great in person tho! Then I simply stuck it to a plain white A2 card base with my Pink ATG!


Here's one more look at the finished card! Don't be afraid to try your Flower Soft on ANYTHING!

Don't forget that every comment this month will be entered into the drawing for the Flower Soft prize package. If you missed the reveal click HERE to see what you could win! You can comment once per post so you actually have a LOT of chances to win if you are commenting on every post this month!!!