Clown Shadow Box and David the Clown

I've been wanting to use one of these 3x3 shadow boxes for a while, so I took advantage of today's Sunday Stamper clown theme to use one. I apologise for the photo, I think I had the camera on a bit of an angle - the frame really was square! Don't even get me started on the dotty shadow around the edge, that wasn't intended either, LOL

No new techniques here, just the old faithfuls of stamping, distress inking and promarkery.

While I was uploading this post, I had another idea for the Sunday Stamper clowns theme - a fun way to use the new Tim Holtz David Head stamp! It only took 5 minutes to knock it together, but I'm really inordinately pleased with it! LOL Feedback welcome, as ever, click on the image to see a larger view! :)

Freebie #46 - Grungepaper Roses

[I've started to make my files available from my blog again and am adding a new set each week. Check out the "Cutting Files" tab at the top of the page to see which ones are available for download.]

Many of you will be familiar with these grungepaper flowers by now, they're all over the internet. I thought it was time for a cutting file that was custom designed rather than using a regular flower shape and then hand cutting it to get it right. I designed these files to elimate all the cutting, not just cutting out the flower shapes, but removing petal segments and cutting a hole in the centre once they've been glued in shape. You can, of course, cut these from regular cardstock, but if you can get hold of some grungepaper, please try it, the end result is SO MUCH better!

This is what the pieces look like after they've been cut on the Cricut.

I've coloured the pieces with promarkers and stamped a dotted design over the top. You could use paints, inks or even glue patterned paper to the grungepaper pieces.

On the 3 largest pieces, overlap the end petals and glue into place with glossy accents or some other strong adhesive (I've used my ATG gun here, which is ok as long as you don't get it everywhere). Roll up the smallest piece and glue. Form the remaining piece into a cone, overlapping the edges slightly and glue in place.

Curl the petals on all pieces and then assemble, glueing each piece into place. If you find the hole in the centre of a piece is too small, just snip it larger with scissors.

Let me know how you get on, I'd love to see your completed roses!!

Please remember you are only allowed to download this file for your own use and may not distribute it to others in any form. I spend a great deal of time creating my designs, please respect the terms under which they are given.

Again, this template will be "live" for 1 week. Next week it will be taken down, and new ones will replace it. Don't forget, if you have any requests, pass them on! I can't promise, but I will take suggestions into account when planning future templates.

These files may not be uploaded to a group, forum or website for sale or redistribution, or shared among individuals. They are expressly for the personal use of each person that downloads them from this blog.

There is only 1 file but I have put it into a zip file to make downloading easier. After saving it, open in the usual way, and drag the file out onto your desktop or wherever you wish to save it.

There are 2 versions of each template:

• An SVG version which can be imported into the Sure Cuts a Lot or Make the Cut program and then cut out on your Cricut.
• A DXF version which is Craft Robo friendly, and ready to be imported into your Robomaster software (I'm not a Robo user, so if there are any problems with this, please let me know!)

Simply click on the appropriate button below to download the file!

Any feedback on the templates is more than welcome, and if you have any suggestions for possible future templates you'd like to see, please let me know! If you make anything using one of the templates, please post a link to it here so that others can be inspired by how you've used them!

I hope you like the templates - let me know how you get on! :)

Templates © dan99crafter@gmail.com 2009

Grungepaper Rose

Well, I saw that bandwagon truckin' on by, and I just had to jump on it, didn't I? LOL

Here is my take on a grungepaper rose. It's the first one I've made, and I need a little more practise in folding the petals just right, but I don't think it's too bad all things considered! LOL The rose shown is cut from cardstock, inked, stamped, assembled and rock candy stickle-d. I have also cut one from grungepaper but I haven't assembled it yet, so will add that one later!

And here's the grungepaper version, a much better result, I think you'd agree!

I can see now why these are usually made from grungepaper, it's much easier to work with, more forgiving and gives a much better curl on the petals!

The Shock of the New

I make no great artistic claims for this tag and my head was pretty devoid of any direction I wanted to go with it while I was making it - my aim was simply to try out some new stamps, new cutting files and rock candy crackle paint, to see how they performed.

The bike chain stamp is part of a set I bought a while back from Technique Tuesday. When I created my cog files I didn't have my cricut with me, so this was my first time of actually cutting them. Some of the cogs are from the set I gave away here a week or two ago and some others and the game spinners are designs I created later, which are now available on my other site (google "My Crafty Files" to find it). It may not show up too well, but the crackle paint is on the red door.

I hope you like it, click on the image for a better view :)

Freebie #45 and Sneaky Peek Revealed!

Well, after a LOT of work today, here is the completed project that I gave you a peek of yesterday!

It was inspired by a beautiful journal cover made by Judi Riesch in Lynne Perrella's book "al-pha-bet-i-ca". (Thanks to Dyan Reaveley from Art From the Heart for recommending the book - it's full of some great inspiration!)

Judi made her cover using lots of brass letter stencils. I didn't have any, and wasn't inclined to go out and buy them, so, of course I turned to my trusty Cricut! All of the pieces cut from 2 sheets of A4 or 8.5x11 cardstock - 1 for the stencils and 1 (in blackout mode) to cut the tiles for the bottom layer.

I've created mine by stamping and colouring with promarkers and Distress Inks, but you could just as easily make one using patterened papers and cardstock! Here is a clearer view of how all the pieces fit together once they've been cut:



There are 2 files, on at A4 size and one at 8.5x11, ready to be cut on your Cricut or Craft Robo.
Please remember you are only allowed to download this file for your own use and may not distribute it to others in any form. I spend a great deal of time creating my designs, please respect the terms under which they are given.

Again, this template will be "live" for 1 week. Next week it will be taken down, and new ones will replace it. Don't forget, if you have any requests, pass them on! I can't promise, but I will take suggestions into account when planning future templates.

These files may not be uploaded to a group, forum or website for sale or redistribution, or shared among individuals. They are expressly for the personal use of each person that downloads them from this blog.

There are 3 files and I have put them into a zip file to make downloading easier. After saving it, open in the usual way, and drag the files out onto your desktop or wherever you wish to save them.

There are 2 versions of each template:

• An SVG version which can be imported into the Sure Cuts a Lot or Make the Cut program and then cut out on your Cricut.
• A DXF version which is Craft Robo friendly, and ready to be imported into your Robomaster software (I'm not a Robo user, so if there are any problems with this, please let me know!)

Simply click on the appropriate button below to download the file!

Any feedback on the templates is more than welcome, and if you have any suggestions for possible future templates you'd like to see, please let me know! If you make anything using one of the templates, please post a link to it here so that others can be inspired by how you've used them!

I hope you like the templates - let me know how you get on! :)

Templates © dan99crafter@gmail.com 2009

Sneaky Peeky!

I was hoping to show you this project in it's entirety tonight, but I didn't get much time to myself today to get it finished so here is a sneaky peek at the work in progress!

Each frame was cut on the Cricut using Sure Cuts a Lot and then inked/promarkered/stamped/written on/vintage photo-ed to within an inch of it's life! :) Hopefully I'll get a chance to finish it in the next couple of days (fingers crossed!).

Alice Through the Iron Gates

Another oldie today - I could have sworn that I've blogged this before, but after a thorough search, it appears not!

I used layers of chipboard to form a compartment, which I gilded with metal leaf on the inside. It contained some Alice-themed playing cards and a mini-book with part of the story and some of Tenniel's classic illustrations.

Chipboard doors were added with metal hinges and fastenings.

Click on an image if you want to see a larger version. ! :o)

[Edited to add - Google is telling me I blogged this in Oct '07, but I can't find the post! I can only think I deleted it at some point, but for what reason I can't imagine! Ah well, here it is again, lol]

Freebie #44!

Matchbook Madness

[I've started to make my files available from my blog again and am adding a new set each week. Check out the "Cutting Files" tab at the top of the page to see which ones are available for download.][Edit to add - there seems to be a problem with Google Documents, where I save my files to share them. It's asking people without an account to sign up, even though I have checked the "no need to sign up" box for my files. Until this is sorted out I have gone back to where I used to store them. Apologies if you had a problem earlier, but all should be well now!]

Like a few of (what I consider to be) my better freebies, this one arose because it was something I needed for a project I'm working on.

There are so many uses for this fun matchbook. I carry one with me to my local craft shop, with samples from all my inkpads in it, 4 to a page, so I can easily match up cardstock and embellishment colours. Cut in a larger size it would make a great purse-sized brag book, perfect for a cute way to present and bind a mini-book too! I've made the pages perforated so they can be torn out (which is what I needed), but if you don't want that feature, just cut them in blackout mode to lose the perforations and you'll still have a little nick at each side of the page to show where to crease (and it won't be seen, it's hidden by the front flap!)

At regular matchbook size it can hold around 9 pages (depending on the thickness of your cardstock). Cut it at a larger size and you have room for more pages! 2 of the examples in the photo were punched with a cropodile and held together with brads, the middle one used the more conventional stapled binding. You could also just glue in the pages if you wanted!

There are 3 files, the outer, a page, and a group of 1 outer and 9 pages, ready to be cut from an A4 or 8.5 x 11 sheet of cardstock. If you want to cut your own outer and pages, just be sure you keep the proportions and size the page just a touch narrower than the cover to get the best look!

Please remember you are only allowed to download this file for your own use and may not distribute it to others in any form. I spend a great deal of time creating my designs, please respect the terms under which they are given.

Again, this template will be "live" for 1 week. Next week it will be taken down, and new ones will replace it. Don't forget, if you have any requests, pass them on! I can't promise, but I will take suggestions into account when planning future templates.

These files may not be uploaded to a group, forum or website for sale or redistribution, or shared among individuals. They are expressly for the personal use of each person that downloads them from this blog.

There are 3 files and I have put them into a zip file to make downloading easier. After saving it, open in the usual way, and drag the files out onto your desktop or wherever you wish to save them.

There are 2 versions of each template:

• An SVG version which can be imported into the Sure Cuts a Lot or Make the Cut program and then cut out on your Cricut.
• A DXF version which is Craft Robo friendly, and ready to be imported into your Robomaster software (I'm not a Robo user, so if there are any problems with this, please let me know!)

Simply click on the appropriate button below to download the file!

Any feedback on the templates is more than welcome, and if you have any suggestions for possible future templates you'd like to see, please let me know! If you make anything using one of the templates, please post a link to it here so that others can be inspired by how you've used them!

I hope you like the templates - let me know how you get on! :)

Templates © dan99crafter@gmail.com 2009

Twinchie Time

I wanted to have a play around today with a lot of different techniques, mainly because I'm working in unfamiliar surroundings right now, with unfamiliar stuff, and wanted to put it all to the test :) Twinchies were the order of the day as there was no need to produce larger pieces, it was the process that was important rather than the end product! I hope you like em, click on the image to see a larger view :)

Promarking Time

Forgive me, dear reader, for I almost lied to you! I know, I know, you're thinking "that's not like Dan!" and "Dan would never lie to me!" and things like that. Which, by the way, is pretty kind of you, and I appreciate it. More than I can say. You're actually a really nice person, aren't you? People should appreciate you more. I daresay it's difficult for you, labouring on day after day, hiding your light under a bushel, full of goodness and good deeds, only to have them go undiscovered and unrecognised. Well, they've been discovered now, and I see you for what you truly are! Anyway, anyway, you've distracted me, not intentionally I'm sure, but that's not the point. You'll need to try and stop doing that in future, it makes my blog posts much longer than they really need to be! Come to that, what was the point, I'm losing my grip here. Ah, yes, lying! I was about to say "here's a tag I made while messing around with promarkers and some new stamps tonight". "Where's the lie in that?" I hear you ask. The lie is that the David head is the only really new stamp here, in that I've had it for a week now. The rest of the stamps are almost 6 months old, having languished unloved and forgotten in a drawer, waiting impatiently to be mounted on EZ mount foam.

Please forgive me, I'll try to do better in future. Oh, and I hope you like the tag :)

Sleep Alone Book

This is based around a song by the 1 woman band "Bat for Lashes", and I've wanted to make a book of it for ages but only had the chance to start it today. If you haven't heard of the song and want to hear it, it's on youtube here.

The pages differ in style, but I tried to keep the blue/night/twilight feel consistent throughout. It's not bound yet, I need to get some chipboard to make covers for it. Some of Tim Holtz's new stamps lent themselves very well to this project! I hope you like it :o)

You know my darling I can't stand to sleep alone

No sweetheart in the dark to call my own

You’re my own, you’re my own, I can sing it, I can groan
But the darkness is a stranger and I'm lonely, lonely, lonely low

Last night's parties and last night's horrorshow
Smiling and whirling and kissing all I know

Give my soul, give my soul, sing it free across the sea
A lonely spell to conjure you, but conjure hell is all I do

They say for every high (high) there must be a low (low, low, low, low)

From every sun ascending a lonesome moon will grow (grow, grow, grow)

Drive my heart, drive my heart, into the fire of a burning heart's desire
A lonely spell so you be seen, do you hear me coming in my blue dream

Lonely, lonely, lonely
Cause my mama told me
The dream of love is a two-hearted dream

Trading Places!

Last week I spent a few days staying with my friend Linda and in the midst of a long day of crafting, we set each other a challenge - I had to make something that looked as if Linda had made it, and she had to make something that looked as if I had made it. This is my attempt!

Although I've had some grungepaper for ages, this is the first time I've ever used it! The biggest problem is that the butterflies should have tiny beads along their bodies, and though I knew this, it was just one step too far outside my comfort zone for me to do it! LOL Having said that, I don't think I did too badly! If you're not familiar with Linda's style, check out her blog

http://acraftingjourney.blogspot.com/

and let me know how well (or badly!) I did :o) You should also be able to see her "Dan tag" - Did she capture my style? Like the beads on this tag, she also did one thing on hers that I would never do - can you spot what it is? It was a lot of fun, as was the whole visit - thanks to Linda for being such a great and fun host, and to her partner John for some delicious meals! :o)

Freebie #43!

A Freebie Eggstravaganza!

[I've started to make my files available from my blog again and am adding a new set each week. Check out the "Cutting Files" tab at the top of the page to see which ones are available for download.]
A couple of days late, but hopefully better late than never!

It's that time of year again.... Christmas and Valentine's Day are out of the way, which means Easter isn't far off! Use these fun egg designs on cards, layouts or for easter themed home decor, the choice is yours!

Please remember you are only allowed to download this file for your own use and may not distribute it to others in any form. I spend a great deal of time creating my designs, please respect the terms under which they are given.

Again, this template will be "live" for 1 week. Next week it will be taken down, and new ones will replace it. Don't forget, if you have any requests, pass them on! I can't promise, but I will take suggestions into account when planning future templates.

These files may not be uploaded to a group, forum or website for sale or redistribution, or shared among individuals. They are expressly for the personal use of each person that downloads them from this blog.

There are 2 files and I have put them into a zip file to make downloading easier. After saving it, open in the usual way, and drag the files out onto your desktop or wherever you wish to save them.

There are 2 versions of each template:

• An SVG version which can be imported into the Sure Cuts a Lot or Make the Cut program and then cut out on your Cricut.
• A DXF version which is Craft Robo friendly, and ready to be imported into your Robomaster software (I'm not a Robo user, so if there are any problems with this, please let me know!)

Simply click on the appropriate button below to download the file!

Any feedback on the templates is more than welcome, and if you have any suggestions for possible future templates you'd like to see, please let me know! If you make anything using one of the templates, please post a link to it here so that others can be inspired by how you've used them!

I hope you like the templates - let me know how you get on! :)

Templates © dan99crafter@gmail.com 2009

David Card 3

Another day, another David card... I LOVE this stamp! lol For that reason, I'm taking a leaf out of my friend Linda's book and entering it in this weeks Sunday Stamper Challenge, which is themed "Love".

The head was stamped in black Versafine and coloured with Antique Linen distress ink. It was then masked off and the background was coloured with Fired Brick and Spiced Marmalade distress inks and stamped with the Wendy Vecchi alphabet background stamp.

I made a mask for the shading areas on the nose, eye and cheek and stamped a Wendy Vecchi text background stamp with Brushed Corduroy distress ink. Finally I painted out the white of the eye with acrylic paint. Click on the image for a larger view! :o)

David Card 2

Another card today made with Tim Holtz's new David stamp. I stamped the head and then masked the background and stamped the waffle pattern (Wendy Vecchi stamp) on to the face. The head and coloured part of the eye were then coloured with Promarkers. The white of the eye was painted in with acrylic paint.

The head was masked and distress inks applied to the background with a foam pad. TH's scratches stamp finished off the background.

Simple, straightforward but effective I think! Click on the image for a larger view :o)

David Card 1

I think the "david head" stamp on one of Tim Holtz's new unmounted sets has to be my favourite new stamp of recent times. It's HUGE, and it's so rare to get really big stamps that aren't background.

Nothing too complicated going on with this card, the head was stamped and then coloured with promarkers. The head was then masked and the stripes were stamped with a Cardinal Ancient Page ink pad.

That's all for now, click on the image if you want a larger view! :o)

Love Me, Do

Stampotique have launched the Stampotique Originals Challenge Blog, and the first challenge is to make a love themed card.

I stamped the edges of the card with a Wendy Vecchi text background stamp and then applied Shabby Shutters distress ink to colour the card. The flourishes were from one of Tim Holtz's new stamp sets that were launched at CHA recently, and were highlighted with a Ranger white pen.

The large heart was cut roughly by hand and splodged with white and red acrylic paint which acted as a resisit for the Brushed Corduroy ink I applied once the paint was dry. It was matted onto a heart cut from brown card and then matted again onto a white card heart that was stamped with parts of a Wendy Vecchi gingham stamp, masking each part before stamping the next. The small gingham hearts were punched out of white cardstock and stamped with the same gingham stamp.

The little man was stamped on white cardstock and then coloured with Promarkers. He was cut out and mounted on the card using 3d foam. His heart was punched and mounted with foam too. And that's about it! I hope you like it, click on the image if you'd like to see a larger view! :)

Believe Tag 2: Armed and Dangerous

Well, not so much armed and dangerous as a sequel :) A long while back I posted a tag here that I'd made for a swap I was involved in (see it here).

At the time I said I wasn't very happy with it and would give it some more thought. I've only just realised that I forgot to post the final version, so I'm correcting that omission now! I almost (but not quite!) like the back better than the front, LOL Click on either image to see a larger version.


Front: The Santa stamp is one of Sir T!m's, the "BELIEVE" was printed from the computer. The bookplate was gilded and sanded. The "25" was cut on the Cricut and then inked and stamped. The baubles were cut with a circle punch, the hanging loops on them were cut on the Cricut. The toy soldier was cut from a piece of PP. The snowflakes in the background were stamped and embossed in white then the 2 shades of distress ink blue and black were applied with foam.

Back: Stamps by Elements (a Canadian company who were going to let me spend a day with them when I was in Vancouver, observing how stamps are made, but our diaries never matched up!). Coloured with Distress Ink pads applied with a water brush.

Citizen Kane ATC

Another trip down the dimly-lit staircase into the archives, this also hasn't been seen on here before.

Back in the day (you know, in the days of yore), I was on a forum that had an ATC challenge every Friday evening, and one week the theme was "favourite movie". Citizen Kane is one of those movies that always comes top, or near top, of the movie polls, but that no one actually likes. I must be the exception, I LOVE this movie, so it was a clear choice for this project!

I made a triptych ATC (you don't even want to know how much work it took to get those shaped doors to match up with the images on both sides of them!). You can see it closed and open here, along with the sleeve pocket I made to store it in. Obviously, this is another of my pieces before I started stamping! I hope you like :) Click on the image for a more detailed view, comments welcomed!

Contest Winner!

The winner of yesterdays contest was....

Rockin Robin Caldwell!

Congratulations Robin, if you email me we can sort out your prize!

Thanks to everyone who took part, and for your kind comments!

The Line, The Cross and the Curve

Today we are continuing our trip through past projects that I have never blogged. I'm so pleased to finally show this one here, as it's one of my favourites, and was a LOT of work! LOL

Well over a year ago I was invited by Scrapbook Sisters (a great store by the way, that runs some great classes!) to be guest designer on their blog. They sent me a Melissa Francis kraft paper covered chipboard box with concertina book, and after several days, this was the result!

I covered the box with my favourite cardstock of the time, which was one from a collection from Costco, then sanded and inked it to distress it. The copper bookplates were distressed with acrylic paint and sanding and stamped images were inserted to represent the line, the cross and the curve. The inside of the lid was primed with red paint and then gilded, while the inside of the box itself was painted a deep, rich red.
The book is loosely based around the idea of dreams, and the words used on the book cover come from the Kate Bush song "The Red Shoes" which was featured in her movie "The Line, The Cross and the Curve" and they say:

"With no words and no song,
you can dance a dream with your body on.
And this curve is your smile.
And this cross is your heart.
And this line is your path."

There are too many pages to write about each one individually, so I'm going to let the photos speak for themselves! Click on any image to see a more detailed view.

Moo Frame Gift

Not the greatest of photos, but hopefully clear enough for you to see what's going on here. I really must do something to try and improve my cameraphone skills!! LOL

I made this aaaaaaaaages ago as a Christmas present for a friend, but couldn't blog it in case they saw it, and then life got in the way and the photos have just been languishing on my computer, staring glumly at my mouse pointer as it kept passing them by! LOL

My previous framed moo projects used deep frames that I got from Tesco, but they stopped selling them and I had to start looking around for other frames to use. It's not easy to find frames with enough space behind the glass to add dimensional elements, but eventually Ikea stepped up to the plate with this square frame.

Using a different frame meant designing a different mount to fit it, which I duly did in Inkscape and cut with SCAL. This time I also cut a 1 inch border frame to go on top of the mount, which I think makes it look a little more "finished", don't you think?
Each individual panel was stamped, inked, embossed etc and then fixed to the back of the mount. The bird with the secret compartment where you can hide little embellishments was designed in Inkscape and cut on the Cricut, and then stamped and inked. Mort with his pin curl was placed behind glass in a copper memory frame and attached to one of Tim Holtz's keys, which had been rubbed with a little white acrylic paint on my finger to make the lettering pop.

Thanks for taking a look, I hope you like it! :) Click on any picture to enlarge it.

Freebie #42!

Top Gear(s)

[Edit - I've started to make my files available from my blog again and am adding a new set each week. Check out the "Cutting Files" tab at the top of the page to see which ones are available for download.]

I know it's only been a couple of days since my last freebie, but I want to get back to my regular schedule of posting the files at midnight on Fridays each week, so an extra set for today was called for to get back in sync!

I have to thank a nice lady called Diane for this idea. She emailed me asking if I had any SVGs of cogs for a project she had in mind - I didn't, but decided to go with the idea for this weeks freebie. I've got some fun ideas for further things I can add to this set too, so hopefully I'll get to work on those soon too!

Obviously great for guys/boys projects, be they cards or scrapbook pages. I think these would look really cool cut from acetate too, giving a nice bit of shine to a project :)

Please remember you are only allowed to download this file for your own use and may not distribute it to others in any form. I spend a great deal of time creating my designs, please respect the terms under which they are given.

Again, this template will be "live" for 1 week. Next week it will be taken down, and new ones will replace it. Don't forget, if you have any requests, pass them on! I can't promise, but I will take suggestions into account when planning future templates.

These files may not be uploaded to a group, forum or website for sale or redistribution, or shared among individuals. They are expressly for the personal use of each person that downloads them from this blog.

There are 4 files and I have put them into a zip file to make downloading easier. After saving it, open in the usual way, and drag the files out onto your desktop or wherever you wish to save them.

There are 2 versions of each template:

• An SVG version which can be imported into the Sure Cuts a Lot or Make the Cut program and then cut out on your Cricut.
• A DXF version which is Craft Robo friendly, and ready to be imported into your Robomaster software (I'm not a Robo user, so if there are any problems with this, please let me know!)

Simply click on the appropriate button below to download the file!

Any feedback on the templates is more than welcome, and if you have any suggestions for possible future templates you'd like to see, please let me know! If you make anything using one of the templates, please post a link to it here so that others can be inspired by how you've used them!

I hope you like the templates - let me know how you get on! :)

Templates © dan99crafter@gmail.com 2009