RubberStampingDiva.com

I’ve gotten a ton of mail and comments lately… and I really appreciate it!  I LOVE hearing from you With so many questions coming in, I figured I’d answer them all at once and maybe something one of these crafters asked, is exactly the question you were scratching your head over!   

Littlest Angel/3-D Punch Art Angel
Debbie D (SCS ArmyMom) says,  “Adorable!  What is the halo made from?”
     Thank you, Debbie!  Her halo is a 3/4” Circle punched out of Brushed Silver cardstock.  Then take a 1” Circle punch, center it over the whole left by the 3/4” punch and punch!  This gives you a washer-like shape…perfect for halos.

Judy says, “Oh, Samantha … this is another awesome project that I know I will try.  Do you know what size coluzzle circle you used for her dress?  Thanks for sharing your creativity!!  Judy”

     Well, thanks Judy. The circle I used is just shy of 3”  across and is the 5th row on the Coluzzle Circle template.  *Hot Tip: Make your Coluzzle easier to use for you and your students…mark each ‘bridge’ using a different color of Sharpie Marker.  This will help when giving directions during a class (ie: “Cut your circle out using the Red channel on the Coluzzle”) and will help everyone avoid “changing channels” while cutting! (This is when you start on the 3rd row but switch to the 4th accidently.)

Julie says, “I LOVE this!! how did you stick the body to the base scallop circle?”

     Hi, Julie!  I ran a bead of 3-M Tacky Glue along the back side, edge of her dress.  This way if any glue squeezed out, it only showed on the back (even though this product does dry clear.)
   

O Christmas Tree
Judy says, “Oh, Samantha … I LOVE THIS BOX!!  (I loved all the boxes you have come up with.)  Can you explain a little more about "double punching" the scalloped circle to make the tree layers?  I would love to give this a try.  Thanks for the inspiration!!    Judy”

    Thanks, Julie!  ‘Double Punching’ is the technique I use to create little slivers of “punchie”.  You start by punching once (in this case with the scallop circle) *Note: In most cases you will not need to punch the entire image…in other words you can punch half off the page.  Then you align your punch near the first so when you press again, you won’t get a full punch, but a sliver.  This technique gave the Christmas Tree it’s branches, the Mermaid her scales, and the Volleyball it’s design.  I also used it to give Rudolph his antlers….only there I used the 1-3/8” Circle Punch and the slivers I punched out looked like crescent moons.

Baa-baa Bad Sheep
Alex says, “I loved your post – thanks for your honesty and making me feel better with all the ugly things I have made and doubted if I would ever learn stamping!
Alex”

    Thanks Alex!  I know I really love the articles in the crafting/scrapbook mags that show a before & after picture of a project and then go on to explain what makes the “after” so much better.  Explaining certain concepts of art can be very difficult and it helps to take it out of the abstract and put it into practice.  Many of you have written, defending the little sheep and I will admit that he is starting to grow on me…but he still is not at ALL what I had envisioned (and I don’t know how to fix him) Oh, well…back to the craft table!

Now for something completely different….

Ok, so it’s not completely different…just going in a new direction with those Triangle Boxes (that I am apparently obsessed with!)  I made one on Thanksgiving Day for my sister out of scrap paper to show her just how easy these little boxes are to whip together…I mean, this one went together in a ’snap’ (bad pun, sorry!)  As I watched her playing with the box I noticed how much it looked like a mouth…the mouth of an alligator!  I made mine cute and sweet but you could make him look more fierce for an older child’s party or if with some extra details he could look like a dinosaur!  I added the little Punch Art fish just for fun.

I know I really should have been doing some Christmas shopping but this was so much more fun!

I hadn’t planned on sharing this…it didn’t turn out at all like I imagined and I really don’t like it.  It’s supposed to a sheep but it ended up looking like a ????  Mouse?  Dog?  Whatever it is, it’s blech!  But in an effort to show everyone that I’m NOT actually perfect and yes, I do make butt-ugly projects (I just choose not to share them!) here is today’s effort:

As a teacher, I think it’s important for beginners to realize that this craft is more ART than SCIENCE…there’s alot of trial and error in what we do (I throw alot of stuff away!) and yes Virginia, I make mistakes too

I’ve given up trying to guess what you guys will love and what you’re not interested in…because just when I think I’ve got a handle on things, y’all throw me a curve ball!  Like this…my son was playing with my scraps and I thought I’d whip him up a little "Punchie Person" to play with while I was working.  After messing around for a little while, this is what I came up with.  As I mentioned before, she is based on a Peanut Butter Cup Witch’s Hat I had seen this year around Halloween….I know, I know…"How do you look at a witch’s hat and end up with an angel?"  No idea….my brain obviously works in strange ways but in this case I was looking at the basic shape.

Her dress is a Coluzzle Circle cut in half, her arms are the small oval punch cut in half.  Her hands are petals from one of the larger flowers of the 3 Flower punches (?) Her head is a 3/4" circle with a 1/2" circle for the bun in her hair, her bangs are part of the 5-Petal Flower punch.  Her halo is a 3/4" circle with a 1/2" circle cut out of the middle.  Confused?  I hope not…once you start playing with your punches you’d be surprised what you can come up with!!!

This little Punch Art angel is based on the Witches Hats that were so popular this past Halloween.  Her body is a half circle made with the Coluzzle and can be wrapped around a Rollo, Mini-Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup or other small, round candy.  I just thought it would be cute to have a whole village of little Candy People for the holidays…maybe 25 to use as a Countdown ’til Christmas? 

Stampin’ Up! has the "All in the Family" set that would be cute to stamp faces and clothes on these little guys…if I owned the set myself I would have tried that already!  Ohhhh!  Isn’t it on sale 50% off until Dec. 1st?  Better grab mine before it’s too late!

Sorry for the delay….I’ve had some re-occurring trouble with my ISP (that’s internet service provider for those who may be wondering )but here is yet another treat box I came up with:

File this under "Well, why didn’t I think of that sooner?!?!"  The shape of the Triangle Treat Box is a natural for a Christmas Tree and you can be as simple or as elaborate as you’d like.  Here I used a 5-pointed flower layered on another flower with a rhinestone brad as the star. 

I double punched the Scallop Circle over and over again to give the tree its texture…of course this could also be accomplished with sponging or dry embossing…the Cuttlebug embossing folders would work for this too!  The ornaments are simply 1/4" circles…but you could easily use a different punch, stamps, glitter…the possibilities are endless…

Are you ready for today’s version of the Triangle Treat Box? 

Anyone tired of these yet? 

I made this one out of retired SU! Wintergreen Designer Series Paper.  Her halo is made using both oval punches and Brushed Silver cardstock.  Her wings are a scallop circle cut in half (again in Brushed Silver.) 

This little angel’s head is a 1" Circle punched from Blush Blossom attached with dimensionals…I added a little blush to her cheeks with pastels.  To create her hair: use half of a Tab punch for the back…her bangs are created by punching a 1" Circle in the hair color…I stick this circle to a Post-It note and use the Post-It to guide the circle into the 5-Petal Flower Punch (this gives you the perfect "V" shape!)  Her arms are Large Ovals (trimmed to create the sleeves) and the Word Window punch folded in half are her hands (sweetly folded in prayer).

If I had to make several of these at once, I would probably skip the eyelet style scallops on the bottom of skirt…but I just love how sweet it looks and the strip of paper along the base of the skirt is simply a leftover scrap and shows the back of this sheet of DSP.

I still might have another idea or two up my sleeve for these boxes so be sure to check back soon!

Once I start thinking about something in a new way, it’s like my brain gets stuck and I end up doing a series of similar projects…variations on a theme.  Those of you that have been around awhile aren’t surprised by this statement but I was surprised by the turn my creativity took last night.  Awake most of the night with a sick child, my brain kept coming up with different variations for the Triangle Box.  Today’s version is Rudolph (Red-Nose and all!)  This is simply the same Triangle Box from yesterday but turned upside down.

Rudolph’s eyes are the Oval Punches (large and cut in half for the lids, small for the pupils) and one of the myriad of flower punches, cut into quarters, give him his long lashes.  His nose is the 1/2" circle punch with a layer of Crystal Effects to make it shiny!  I though the ribbon closure looked like it might be around his neck….

The antlers were tough…I ended up double punching the 1-3/8" Circle to create these "moon" shapes.  These were layered together to give Rudolph a graceful and stylized looking antler.  His ears are the smaller oval punch with a slit cut into the middle, overlapped and glued to give them dimension…the antlers are attached to the back of the ears.

I hope that was a pretty clear explanation…no time for a a formal tutorial between doctor visits and breathing treatments, etc.  But check back tomorrow….you won’t believe what else I did with this little box!!!

Update: After looking at St. Nick ALL night last night, I decided he needed to be ‘tweaked’….

I lowered the brim of his hat (the Word Window Punch) and changed the flower/pom-pom on his hat to a smaller flower….I think I like him better now, but the original is below for you to decide…Cheers!

 I can’t imagine where this came from…I swear I was just trying to clean up my stamping area when this cute little elf just ‘popped’ into my head!  Well, it is NOT the time of year to say ‘no’ to Santa…so, I sat right down and whipped him up!  He is really just a basic Triangle Box (using a half sheet of cardstock cut to 4.25" x 11".)  His face is punch art (it’s hard to tell from the picture, but I did use dimensionals and some sponging to make his face "POP) and the twinkle in his eyes are dots of White Gel Pen.  His belt is a strip of cardstock cut to slip through a soda can pop-top!  Can’t you just see this Jolly Ol’ Elf filled with little goodies and hanging from YOUR tree???  Here’s the original:

*I originally wrote this Holiday Card Making Tip Sheet last year and published it here on my blog in October.  Due to overwhelming requests, I am re-printing it.  I hope everyone finds it as helpful this year, as they did last year…Happy Holidays!!!*

Holiday card making doesn’t have to be a huge production…with a little planning you can add your personal touch to the holidays and show all those around you just how much you care. Here is a basic time line to help make the process easier, whether you’re making 10 cards or 100 (keep in mind this could also apply to invitations for parties, weddings & showers!)

Things to Consider: • Crafter know thyself! This should be a stress reducing not a stress inducing activity! If making holiday cards is going to drive you to start popping bourbon balls, then just don’t do it! • Keep it simple! The more cards you make the easier they should be. Adding one extra step when you’re making 5 cards is no biggie…but when you’re making 50, it adds hours to the process! Try to keep each card to less then 7 steps. • Don’t fret that your cards are too simple…get the basic design done and leave a minor embellishment to add if time permits….try not to sweat the small stuff! • Work assembly-line style, do all the cutting, then all the punching, all the coloring, then all the gluing, etc. This not only speeds the process but breaks it into smaller, more manageable chunks. • Delegate! Even Santa has helpers…have the kids stamp envelopes and ask your husband to print out address labels…everyone can pitch in! • Don’t wait for huge chunks of free time to work on this project (it may never come along!) Simply gather all the supplies in one area or in one container (to avoid search & rescue missions) and be ready to go on a moments notice. You can accomplish quite a bit in the 15 minutes it takes for water to boil or while your on hold with the insurance company! Watching T.V. is another ideal time to sit and work on a portion of your cards….little by little you can get them done! • Finally, remember that every card doesn’t have to be identical. Just as each of your friends is unique, so should their card be….a unique reflection of your heartfelt feelings for them.

*Tip: Before pre-cutting or punching cardstock, make a sample!  Sometimes something that looked perfect in your head or worked in your imagination, doesn’t work out in the real world!  Better to know that ahead of time and of course, ALWAYS measure TWICE, cut once!  (Thank you Deb Bryson for bringing up this very important point…been there, done that, NOT fun   )

•  6-8 Weeks Prior to the Event: • Make a card list (or two! Some crafters make cards only for family members or close friends to cut down on the work load) • Decide on a basic design (including size, color, and sentiment….check back here for class dates and times.) • Compare your supplies on hand to your list of supplies needed • Make a list of supplies to purchase and contact your friendly Stampin’ Up!® Demonstrator. Don’t forget extra adhesive…now is not the time to run out!

• 4-5 Weeks Prior: • Purchase supplies including envelopes, address labels and postage • Arrange supplies in one area or container so everything can be accessed quickly and easily as time permits • Start creating your cards, working assembly-line style • Address and stamp envelopes (you can save time here by using the computer)
• 2-3 Weeks Prior: • Finish creating cards (now is the time to add those additional embellishments to certain cards to personalize them) • Double check these against your original list as you slip your cards into the envelopes • Mail your cards Now sit back and relax with a steaming cup of cocoa and just enjoy the holiday season…you deserve it!

To print a PDF version of these tips, click here: Cards by the Carton Tip Sheet

 NOTE: This was re-edited on November 20, 2008