Showing posts with label Impression Obsession Pine Branch die. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Impression Obsession Pine Branch die. Show all posts

Monday, December 1, 2014

Repurpose or Alter an Old Candle Jar and a Soup Can

Hello crafty peeps!
I was just thinking about how much I love this time of year and it's about the only time I will pay any attention to television commercials. I think one of my favorite commercials last year was the one put out by Glade with Jordin Sparks singing This is My Wish, Holiday AnthemShe has a beautiful voice and the song is very uplifting both in its words and notes. I went to Glade's YouTube channel and couldn't find the "Jordin" version anywhere. Kind of weird, but fortunately I found it somewhere else and could listen to it.  
 
I did my Christmas shopping earlier this year so I'm concentrating on finishing up my Christmas cards and doing some projects for small favors and gifts. My daughter's 18th birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks too. December is always a crazy, but exciting month.
 
I've got two projects to share with you today. Both were done for the Sketches4ALL 5th Anniversary Challenge Party. If you're interested in an altered/repurposed challenge, I just started one over at S4All today. The challenge will run until December 31st. There are also many other fun challenges from our design team members that are going on right now and an awesome prize for the winner of the 5th Anniversary Challenge Party. So don your creative energy and come on over!
 
I started out with an empty candle jar for my first project. This particular jar has a nice shape, so I didn't want to cover it all up. It also has a wide and straight area around the center so it was perfect for adding paper to.  
 
 
1. Measure the surface of the jar where you want the paper to cover (find the width and height) and cut your clear cardstock. 
I chose to use the clear cardstock so the light from the candle would show through better than regular craft paper, but either will work. 
2. Emboss your paper.
My cut piece was about 10" long which posed an issue since the embossing folder I wanted to use (Darice - Snowflake) is only 5" long. Then it hit me to just do one end of my vellum and then do the other end. Since the snowflakes of the embossing folder are randomly placed, I could do it in two steps and there is no seam or cut off point. It worked perfectly.

3. Adhere your paper to your jar
I didn't add adhesive all the way around, but instead only along the seam on the back. I chose to use a little Mod Podge, because it dries clear and won't be affected by the heat of a candle-flame like tape or hot glue would be.

4. Embellish the jar.
I chose to use my pine branch die by Impression Obsessions. The pine branch gives a nice holiday touch and is intricate and pretty enough to stand on its own. I like a lot of embellishments, but for this particular project I wanted as much candle light to get through as possible and I didn't want to cover up the pretty embossed snowflakes.

My candle looks so beautiful lit up! In person, the clear cardstock looks just like frosted glass.
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I ran into a problem
After I cut my pine branches I coated them with Tim Holtz Adirondack Silver Mixative, which was a mistake. While I was giving them shape by bending the branches around a knitting needle and fluffing the needles themselves the mixative began to flake off.

I chose the mixative because it's gorgeous and very reflective. I've loved it with other projects, but since it sits on the surface you cannot bend it without losing some of it. I decided not to concern myself, because any white showing just makes my branches look snowy, but I will be careful to stay aware when deciding whether it's the right choice for my next project.

To add more reflectivity and some sparkle I ran two rows of Darice rhinestone mesh around the bottom. I had considered placing ribbon here and it looked nice, but once I had the rhinestones in place there was no question that it was the best choice for this candle.

I also added a bow and a tag that says JOY. I got the sentiment from The Cutting Cafe

I love the way it turned out.
 
My second project is a tin can that will hold Hershey's Kisses. The colors I used are teal, aqua and brown which break away from colors normally associated with Christmas and winter.
 
Find a can
I raided my recycling bin and found a La Choy Chicken Chow Mein can. The label came off easily after I ran it under hot water for a minute or two and then rubbed it off with my fingers, but the blue tape on this particular can was another story. Fortunately it scraped off of the very top quite easily and I just left the rest because I knew it wouldn't show from under all the layers I would be placing over it.
 
1. Measure the can.
Begin by measuring the circumference of the can and cutting your piece of white craft cardstock to wrap around it. 
2. Emboss your paper.
I needed exactly 12" of cardstock so to make embossing easy I decided to use my 12" Cuttlebug, Polka Dot embossing folder. 

3. Adhere your paper to your can. 
I used tape. 
4. Embellish your can

 How I embellished mine:
This first step was more involved and honestly I'm not sure that I'm going to do it the same way again.
1. Make the trim for the top edge
I cut the edges (the thicker part) off of two colors of burlap. Then I placed them together so I would have a reasonably smooth edge at the top and bottom of the trim line. I got the look that I was after, but it was labor intensive and the hot glue was not kind to my fingers as I struggled to get all the little pieces to stick down. 
2. Wrap burlap around the center of your can.
I wrapped mine so the fibers were at an angle.
3. Color a 4" paper doily.
Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass
4. Adhere your doily to the front of your can to frame your label.
5. Print out your sentiment
I got the sentiment from The Cutting Cafe
6. Die cut your label
Spellbinders Card Creator-Reflective Moment die pack.
7. Edge the label with ink
Tim Holtz Distress Ink in the color Vintage Photo. 
8. Add twine to the bottom edge of your white craft cardstock and decorate your lid.
I decorated the top by using another 4" doily that I colored with ink. I also added a snowflake that I got from The Cutting Cafe. It's the same snowflake that I used to make my tag (below).

9. The finishing touch
To finish the edge of the lid of the can as well as the bottom edge of the can I hot glued twine to it. I added a pine cone wrapped in some twine to make lifting the lid off easy. 

This was a very enjoyable project to do because I just went with whatever came to mind at that moment. To be creative in that way is freeing.
I can't wait to put the chocolate kisses in.

Project 1 Supplies List

Project 2 Supplies List

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day :)
  Happy Crafting!
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Saturday, November 22, 2014

Greeting Card: Dimensional White Winter

Hello Everyone!
 
I'm in my craft room happily blogging away and right outside the window there is snow on the ground and believe it or not it's pouring rain. It sounds like a waterfall is hitting the side of the house. The weather has seriously gone mad, but on the bright side that means it warmed up. 
 
The greatest part about crafting today is while the sky has been falling outside, I've been busy soothing my soul inside. I'm so happy that I stumbled upon all those YouTube craft videos a year and one month ago. The television has barely been on since and it's kind of nice to listen to the rain :)   

Tonight is a near-by town's Christmas light-up night, with a parade and refreshments. My daughter loves to go and it is quite the experience to see the entire town suddenly glow from end to end. Let's hope the rain let's up and the temperature stays where it's at.

Does your town have a light-up night?
 
Today I'm sharing my first ever all white card. Well, almost all white. Every time I see one on Pinterest or someone's blog, I always think they look so pretty, but no matter how many times I've tried to limit myself to just white paper, my card never quite came together for me like it did today.

This time instead of sitting in front of a stack of white cardstock wondering where to start, I got the cutting dies out for some ideas and inspiration. It worked!
 
My favorite part of my card is the window scene. I also love the little fence as this is the first time I used it and it's just adorable. I will definitely be pulling out the dies again for inspiration.

If you are interested in making this card or using part of it with your own ideas, I broke up the instructions below to make them a little easier to reference.
How to make the bird and branch
1. I wanted something a little heavier weight to make my bird stand out so I used chipboard and cut it with my
Sizzix, Caged Bird, die.
2. I colored the leafless branch and the bird's feet with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Vintage Photo then coated the entire bird in clear embossing powder that has a little sparkle. The embossing powder is an important step because it seals the ink from bleeding into the paint you'll use in the next step. 
3. I used silver acrylic paint for the birds body and then while it was still wet I mixed in white dimensional paint to add texture.
4. For the pine branch I used an Impression Obsessions die and then painted the branch with dark green acrylic paint.  
5. To make the snow effects, I continued to use the white dimensional paint.
 
How to make the main section of the card
1. Cut one piece of white cardstock 10"w x 7"h.
2. Score at 5" and then fold in half.
3. Cut one piece of white cardstock 5"w x7"h. This is a mat that will make your card a bit more sturdy for all that is going on the front of it.
Step 4 is optional
4. Cut a 4 3/4"w x 6 3/4"h piece of white cardstock and use the EK Success Scroll border punch to make a scroll design on the edges of it. Once I was done I adhered it to my mat. I made step 3 optional because honestly it was a real pain in the neck. You would be much better off using a rectangular Card Creator die for the background if you want more details or you can embossing it. Once you've finished adhere this to your mat.
 
How to make the window
1. Use the largest die from the Spellbinders Card Creator, Reflective Moments die pack. This will be the base of your design.
2. Cut a piece of cardstock that measures 3 1/4" wide x 4 1/2" long. Then emboss with the Darice Snowflake embossing folder and tape into place. This will sit right in the center of your Reflective Moments die cut, over the plain rectangular area.

 3. Cut out your front design using the largest die from the Spellbinders Card Creator, Valiant Honor die pack and place the third largest die from the Spellbinders Standard Circles die pack where you want your window to be, (pictured on left). I taped mine into place with a couple of small pieces of Washi tape to keep the die from moving.
4. Turn your Valiant Honor die-cut over to the back and adhere a rough-cut piece of transparency (bigger than the opening to leave plenty of room for tape or glue) to cover your opening.
5. Once your transparency is taped into position add your bird and pine branch to the back of your window by adhering them just to the outside edges of your circle. I taped my pine branch into place and used a dab of hot glue for the bird since I cut it from chipboard. Make sure you don't have any tape or glue showing through your transparency.
6. Once you have your scene in place, adhere the bird scene portion of your card right over top of your snowflake background and then attach it to your folded card base.
7. Use the Spellbinders Wrought Iron die to make the fence.
To give the card a more dimensional look I just hooked each end of the fence to the sides of the Reflective Moments die-cut. You may choose to glue or tape the fence into place, but I found by just leaving it loose it will flatten out to place in an envelope and can easily be popped back into position when taken out.

8. To finish my card I added ribbon to the edges and some bows.

Walla! You have a card with a window scene :)
  
Supplies


Any clear transparencies will work for the window.







 Thank you for stopping by. If you decide to try making this card, as always I would love to see it. You're welcome to share your link to your project in the comment section :)


Happy Crafting!
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