Advent Calendar Day #13

Welcome to Day #13 of the 2012 Whiff of Joy Advent Calendar!

Window #13 is opening on Alice's blog today!

Please visit her blog to see her Christmas Creation and for a chance to win a Whiff of Joy Prize!

Advent Calendar Day #4

Welcome to Day #4 of the 2012 Whiff of Joy Advent Calendar!

Window #4 is opening on Alice's blog today!

Please visit her blog to see her Christmas Creation and for a chance to win a Whiff of Joy Prize!

Halloween Cards

Hi! It's Alice here. Halloween is just a couple of days away and here are two cards that I made using some adorable Maya images to share with you.

First up is a card made using the darling Maya - Witch & Kitty On Broom. I just couldn't resist all the cute Maya images! =) The sentiment and bats are from Happy Halloween set and the piece is cut using one of the Nestable Shape - Set of 2 Dies.  The spider charm is from Box of Charm 2 - Halloween Treat.

My second card is made with the lovely Maya's Kitty On Pumpkin and the sentiment is from Happy Halloween set as well. The new challenge theme this time is Boo! Spooked You and these images will be perfect for the challenge.

Hope these have inspired you to create a few last minute Halloween cards to spice up your decoration! =)

Have a lovely day and thanks for stopping by!

hugs,
alice

Halloween Treat Bags

Hello, all! It's Alice here and I am sharing a Halloween treat idea with you today.

You will need:

• Already made mini bags. Or
• Paper measures 7 1/2" x 5"
• Double sided adhesive
• Stamps of choice
• Ink
• Sewing machine
• Decorative scissors (optional)

First, stamp and decorate the paper pieces and paper bags as desired. I kept them simple with stamping only since those bags are very likely to be torn open and small decorative pieces might be dangerous to small kids. Getting to the candies inside safely is more important here. =)

I used the newly released 3? Ghosts and images from Happy Halloween set.

If you chose to use paper sheets, add adhesive to the stamped side of one short sides of the paper.

Peel off the paper backing of the double sided tape and adhere the two short sides together to form a tube.

I then went to my sewing machine to sew the bottom of the tubes together as shown above.

Now you can stuff the bags with treats.

I then sewn the openings of the treat bags shot and trimmed them with either plan scissor or decorative scissors.

And here you have it! You can either tear the bags from the sewing lines or simply rip them open however pleases you to get to the treats. =) This can go very quickly if you chose to use already made paper bags, with a little stamping it just makes them that much more special. Hope you will give it a try.

Thanks for stopping by!

hugs, 

alice

Stamping and coloring on glitter

Hello! It's Alice here and I am sharing a technique that I first learnt from the amazing Jennifer McGuire. Here is how I did mine.

You will need:

• Glitter Ritz Micro Fine Glitter (I have never tried using other glitters for this technique, you can find this glitter here at Ellen Hutson or here at Simon Says Stamps.)
• Double sided adhesive (I used 1 1/2" wide Scor-Tape.)
• Cardstock (I have trimmed it to the size that I intended to use.)
• Stamp of choice (I used the lovely Uru and Bird.)
• Ink (Since I wanted to color my image with Copic markers, I used Memento Tuxedo Black.)
• A pair of scissors (not shown)
• Stamp positioner (optional)

First, cover the cardstock with double sided adhesive.

Take care to line them up and leave no gaps in-between each strips of tape.

Trim off excess tape. If you want to use a die to cut a shape for your project, now is the time to do it.

Peel off the backing.

Cover the piece with Glitter Ritz Micro Fine Glitter. It may seem a lot here, but really it doesn't take much to cover a piece of cardstock that size. The little bottle will last a long time. =)

After tapping off excess glitter, rub the surface of the glittered piece with your finger in a circular motion to burnish it. This is what makes this technique work since once burnished, the glitter stays put and rarely falls off. 

Here is the glittered piece. It's very smooth after burnishing.

Now you can move on to the stamping and coloring part. My image is stamped with Tuxedo Black ink. I gave it a few minutes to dry after stamping. I have used this technique a couple of times and the ink has never been rubbed off while I was working on them. You can certainly use pigment ink with heat embossing to secure the image if you want to.

Skin. You are really coloring on the glitter and not the paper with this technique. The glitter does bleed easier than paper, so go lightly and slowly as you go to prevent bleeding. Any bleeding can also be corrected with a Colorless Blender.

Outfit.

Bird and birdhouse.

Ground.

And here is a look of the card that I made using the image.

This is a fun technique that gives your card/project an amazing shimmer and hope you will have a chance to give it a try. =)

Thanks for stopping by!

hugs,

alice

Wine Tag

Hello, all! I am sharing a simple wine tag with you today. I know there are dies out there that makes making this easier, but it really doesn't take much to make your own. Here is how I made mine.

• A piece of cardstock measures 10 1/2" x 2 1/2"
• Scoring board.
• Patterned paper
• Stamped image of your choice ( I used the adorable Mini Henry Mouse Hugging Heart for my project.)
• A circle die or punch
• Adhesive
• Corner Rounder (optional)
• A small tag (optional)

First, score the cardstock at 2 1/2" and 8" on the long side. I am making a little pocket so that I can tuck a little tag in it for the recipient. If you don't want to make a pocket, you only need the cardstock to be 8" x 2 1/2" and just score at 2 1/2".

Die cut or punch a circle on one side of the cardstock.

Fold cardstock in a Z shape as shown.

Round corners (if desired).

Add patterned paper and decorate as desired.

And here you have it! You really only need a few scraps to finish this or just stamping would be fun, too.

Here is a look of the tag on a wine bottle.

Hope you will give this easy and fun project a try! =)

Thanks for stopping by!

hugs,

alice

No-line coloring

Hello! It's Alice here and I am sharing a card that I made using the no-line coloring technique. I didn't come up with this idea, but I have seen beautiful cards made with it and this is my first time trying it. Here is how I do it.

You will need:

• Stamp of your choice. I used the darling Maya Watching a Ladybug.
• A light/pale color ink. I used Memento Angle Pink since I wanted to color with Copic markers.
• Cardstock for coloring.
• Markers. (not shown)
• A place with good lighting when coloring.

First, ink the stamp well with the ink and stamp on the cardstock. You can see the faint pink image. Just make sure you have good lighting when working on this. I also like to color my images according to the patterned paper that I plan on using for the cards. In this case it's Sidewalks from October Afternoon.

Here is how it looks as I color.

Skin.

Jeans

T-shirt

Bonnet

Hair

Flowers

Grass

And here you have it, a finished image. I did went in with a brown marker and added eyes since you couldn't really see them after coloring. Here is the finished card.

I really like the effect of this technique, it looks like the image was hand drawn and it gives a softer look.

Hope you will give this fun technique a try and thanks for stopping by! =)

hugs,

alice

Die-cutting with Japanese washi tape by Alice

Hello! It's Alice here and I am sharing a fun way to use the very trendy washi tapes with your dies and colored images today.

You will need:

• Japanese washi tapes (the floral ones that I used are from Mark's) or decorative taps (My Mind's Eye, Queen & Company, Target and Michaels now have some of their own designs, too)
• Dies of your choice ( I used Pennants and Bundle of Joy)
• A piece of cardstock
• Die-cutting machine

Starting with covering the cardstock with washi tape.

Take care to line them up without overlapping. If you are trying to build a pattern with your tapes then of course overlap them as you see fit.

I just covered my cardstock in the area that is big enough to cut the Pennants and since I only wanted to use the little heart on the onsie, a tiny piece was enough for it.

Send the piece through your die-cutting machine.

And here you have it. Die cut shapes with pretty prints from washi tapes. This is one more way that you can add those chic and trendy washi tapes in your cards/projects.

Here is a quick and simple card that I made using the elements that I cut out.

I used the sweet Nora with Rose for my card and the sentiment is from General Sayings II set. The teal stripe and pink polka dot decorative tapes that I used on the card base are from Target.

Hope you will give this a try! =)

Thanks for stopping by!

hugs,

alice