Diaper Card Instructions

I've had quite a few requests for this template. I've never had it online so I've had to snail mail out the template I use, soooooooo I thought it would be good to make up a tutorial on my blog and thought I'd share it here as well:)

Materials needed:

8 1/2" x 11" paper
ruler
pencil
7 1/4" circle (plate works well)


Instructions:

Turn your paper to work on the horizontal.

1. Working on the vertical (8 1/2") edge of the paper, mark at the left side 1" and move down to 7", do the same for the right side.





2. Mark along the horizontal (11") edge at 2 3/4" and 8 1/4", both top and bottom of the paper.






3. Draw a score line from 2 3/4" and 8 1/4" marks DOWN and a cut ACROSS at the 1" and 7" mark to meet the score line.





4. Using a 7 1/4" circle (plate) line it up with the edge, touching the 1" cut line and move the "plate" inward to approximately halfway. Mine measured 3 3/4" and then trace.



Repeat this for the other side as well.




5. Cut out your template.



Remember to cut out the little piece at the top of both sides.







and the piece on the bottom.





6. Now you're ready to fold up your template.



Fold the bottom up to meet the top




Fold in each side flap to meet in the middle.




7. Punch holes for the "ties" into the end of each flap and only in the front of the diaper.




There is your template, now trace it onto the paper of your choice and you're ready to go :) You can even try it with felt!




A 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" card should fit inside your diaper nicely :)



Have fun and let me know how your's turned out.


Tamara

Shirt Card Using Scor-Pal for Dad

I got the directions for making the shirt from the Scor-Pal website, from designer Cambria Tumbow. The shirt looks like it would be complicated but it really is not, with the use of the Scor-Pal! The shirt would also be cute on a scrapbook page featuring Dad or Grandpa too, not just for a card. If you're not familiar with the Scor-Pal, it is such a handy tool. I use it nearly everyday for my cards and scrapbook pages. It fits papers up to 12x12 and helps you quickly score and design projects, such as this shirt card.
For the shirt, you want a piece of decorator paper that measures 4 x 6. I used paper from the TAC paper collection "Just Like Dad." The paper is not patterned on both sides but that is ok for this shirt because of the way you fold the paper you don't see the white side. Just Like Dad is a nice 6 x 6 paper collection to have on hand for your more masculine themed projects.

Step 1: Score your 4 x 6 paper 1 inch on each side.
Step 2: Fold on your score marks.
Step 3: Score 1/2 inch on ONE side.

Step 4: Fold back on your score line, use your bone folder tool to crease well.
Step 5: To make the collar, fold the top down to meet the fold in the middle. Use your bone folder to help make the crease neat and flat. Flip out the bottom to make the "arm" flaps of the shirt, starting from your center fold out.

Step 6: Fold the bottom back up under the collar and now you have the shirt. I added a strip of blue cardstock for the tie. I layered the shirt on matching navy blue cardstock on the base of matching green cardstock. I cute a strip of decorated paper from the same paper collection as the shirt and stamped "Dad" in black ink on that strip of paper. It's really an easy card to make once you have tried making the shirt card one time. Try practicing the shirt card on some scratch paper to practice the fold.

Visit my blog, Ellie's Stamp Garden, for more paper craft inspiration!

Watercolor with Transparencies Mini

Jana

Tim Holtz Technique based cards

Have you ever seen some of Tim Holtz’s amazing stamping work? He has created some amazing techniques over the years using his range of products but the beauty of his techniques is that most of them can be reproduced using alternative products. I’m going to walk you through his basic technique here and then as a bonus, two other alternatives to his technique that I have seen over the years.

Tim Holtz technique

1. Begin with a piece of white card. Using a versamark stamp pad or an alternative clear embossing pad, ink your stamp and stamp. Pour embossing powder over the stamped image and heat set

2. Next, get out your choice of coloured stamp pad (I chose a pale pink even though the photo doesn’t reflect this) and using either a balled up tissue or a cotton ball apply ink to the card by rubbing it into the surface in a slow circular motion.

3. Continue applying the ink using the cotton ball or scrunched tissue. Ensure that all the tiny grooves around your embossed image are filled with the ink. Don’t be afraid to go over the top of the embossing as this will wipe off when you are finished.

4. Leave for a few minutes to give the ink a chance to dry then rub over with a clean tissue or cotton ball to remove any excess ink that has accumulated on the surface of the embossing.

To finish my panel and of course my card, I then went in and re-inked the edges of my card with a darker pink ink and the same technique as above.

Alternative Technique 1

1. Follow steps one and two of the original technique described above but use a glossy card stock rather than a standard piece.

2. Using a brayer and a multi tone stamp pad, roll the ink liberally over the surface of the card. Re-ink the brayer as necessary, taking care to roll in the same direction each time to keep the gradient effect.

3. Once completely covered, leave to set the ink for 10-15 minutes before rubbing down gently to remove any excess ink. This also gives the surface a kind of polished effect.

4. Attach to your card and decorate as desired. Here is a photo of the card I completed using this effect.

Alternative Technique 2

1. Choose 2 coloured ink pads that will tie in with your final colour scheme. Using one cotton ball for each colour, apply ink to the cotton ball and randomly dab it over the card surface. Repeat with the second colour.

2. Leave to dry thoroughly. Apply a thin layer of talcum powder to the surface and brush off any excess.

3. Next, stamp your image over the surface with clear embossing ink and emboss with clear embossing powder. I chose to stamp flowers around the outside edges of my card because I knew that the centre of the image would be covered.

4. Finally rub ink over the whole surface of the card as we did in the first technique, ensuring you cover the surface completely.

Leave to dry for several minutes before rubbing down carefully with a clean cotton ball to remove any excess ink. Here is the final card I create using this effect –

Note... Try this effect with vibrant coloured dabs and black inking over the top or for a grungy effect, try dripping ink droplets onto the surface and then stamping/ embossing/inking over the top.

Tutorial: Projects Using "Clam Shell" Plastic Boxes

Hello! Today I will show you how to make the following three projects from plastic boxes: a Baby Photo Shadow Box, a Spare Change Box and an Inspiration Wall Hanging. You all know those plastic boxes that embellishments are packaged in...or if you know TAC, they're the boxes (we call them clam shell boxes) TAC uses to package our rubber stamp sets. We all have them....don't throw them away....so many uses available. Here are a few:

Come visit me at my Paper Blessings Blog. Thanks for looking!