How to use Google Reader Video Tutorial

You have the wider version here

Hope it will be very useful as it is for me
Jana

Xmas mini Accordion Tutorial

This little boot can make a great mini for a fast album, I have all step by step pictures and template here to download.
Enjoy !
Jana

Making Butterflies using Flowers

I saw these done a couple of years ago but maybe some people have never seen them so I decided to show you how to do it...

I will show you pics of how to do it using 3 different shapes of flowers:

Snip one petal off...
And you have a butterfly!
With a 4 petal flower, simply trim off the tips of 2 petals
and tadaa...a butterfly!Here's another one.Just trim off 2 petals and there's a butterfly!Sorry about the poor quality of pics but it's so dark and dreary here this morning. The weather is sooooo yucky today.

Here's card I made using one of the flower butterflies!

Hope you liked the tutorial!

Happy Holidays!

Deanne

Customised Felt Embellishments!

Foam stamps have the advantagd of being much "thicker" designs - much bolder, I mean. They don't have a lot of detail at times, which is not so good for paper scrapping but quite handy for stamping on to fabric or felt.

Using felt has become the latest scrapping craze but it can get a bit expensive. If you have a Cuttlebug , Cricut or Sizzix you can run felt through it but that relies on the Dies you have, which can also be a bit costly.

Most craft shops have kids foam stamps for a very small price and they often have fantastic designs.

For this tip I have used some "Animal Crackers" stamps found in my local Spotlight store which cost 99cents for a packet of 6 designs.

You need:

Bold design foam stamps

acrylic paint

square tipped foam brush

felt

container of water to wash out your brush.



Step One:

You can either cut out your individual felt areas to stamp or you can stamp on the whole felt sheet. Paint an even, slightly thick layer or acrylic paint onto your foam stamp .



Step Two:

Press the foam stamp onto the felt firmly and leave on for a second or two. Don't press too hard or the excess paint will squelch out the sides of the stamp. Don't press too lightly or you won't have the entire image.



Step Three:

Leave your stamped felt to dry at least 1/2 an hour before cutting it out. Preferably longer if the weather is cool.





Now all you need to do is cut out the felt shape and use it in your scrapbooking page. There are many ways you could alter the shape even more - I have stitched around the outside of my shapes using a plain chain stitch, but you could also use a blanket stitch - especially is you stamped in pastel colours onto white felt - that would be perfect for a baby layout!

Here's my example:



There are so many different types of foam stmps out there that the mind boggles with how many different custom-made felt embies you could make.
For many more tips and techniques for your paper and digi scrapping, please visit my Blog Leonardo's Apprentice - I'd love to see you there!

Have fun and happy scrapping!

Sares x

I have had many emails and requests for making embellishments for cards and scrapbooking layouts.. so in view of demand lol i will show you how to make a snowman family. It is slightly different from the earrings , and i have also made a tutorial of the holly and berries , i did have a little help from you know who too !

Now if i was to send a card with fimo on , i would definatly put it in a strong box for posting .. fimo is delicate and i wouldnt think it would survive being shoved through a letter box !
Also if you was to use it on a layout i would make sure nothing heavy goes onto of your scrapbook.



So here goes ! REMEMBER TO WASH YOUR HANDS BEFORE AND WHEN YOU CHANGE COLOURS.
1. roll a ball of white fimo
.

2. Roll this into a sausage shape .


3. Next we are going to cut the bodies and the heads , The first is the dad snowman body - cut roughly about 2 cms , then the head 1 1/2 cm . Mum - body 1 1/2 cm head 1cm , child snowman -body 1cm , head just alittle over 1/2 cm. These measurements are only a guide , so long as it looks in proportion , thats ok.


4. Keeping them in order- ie - dads body , dads head etc .. roll each one into a smooth round ball.


5. next we have to taper the ends of each body. Place the pad of your finger just on top but on the side of the ball and roll back and forth until the end looks like a tear shape.
Flattern this with your finger and then gently press the head onto the body - just use alittle of the taper end or he will look a bit neckless !

6. now we have all three snowmen , its time to add the hat . first roll a red ball of fimo , flattern slightly with the pad of your finger and cut in half. Place one half onto the top of the head - tap gently to secure. With the other half left over roll this back into a ball then into a tear shape (just like we did for the body ) Cut the end of point off and gently push onto the hat - tap to secure - and remember also it needs to be flat against your surface. This is shown on the picture as 1- ball, 2 - tear shape - 3 cut off point.







7.its time to add the scarf . first roll a small ball of white fimo and then asmall ball of red fimo . Roll each of these into a thin sausage shape . Pick up both ends with your thumb and index finger and lift up so it dangles . Using your other hand , twist the fimo from the bottom- becareful not to over twist as it will break off.


8. Cut off a small piece and wrap around the front of the snowmans neck.


9. cut two smaller pieces for the scarf. Then roll a very small ball of red and gently tap this onto the scarf join.Repeat for the other two snowmen.


10 , Using some orange fimo , roll into a ball , then a thin sausage shape. Cut out 3 tiny triangles for noses and using your knife to gently pick it up with, place on the face and tap gently.



11. For the mouth -Now take your straw and cut the end off at an angle - so it looks like a half moon shape. Test the shape on a piece of spare fimo , once your happy with the shape gently push into the face - you can position them with different smiles - ie at the side.


12 - The eyes- for the eyes i used a cocktail stick - gently push in and twist it as your taking it out .... hmmmmmm i appear to have lost mine ..........
WHERE IS IT MISTER ????

THANK YOU CALVIN MOUSE !

Right back to crafting !

13.Place your dad and mum snowmen together. gently tap the sides so they stick to each other.
Because there is a gap underneth the child it needs to be filled to keep it the same height as the other two. Roll a small ball of white fimo and place this just between the mum and the dad.

14. Now place the child ontop.
15. For the arms. - roll small sausage shapes and gently tap onto the sides. For dads hand around mum , roll a small tear shape and press gently over her shoulder .



Now all three are ready for baking . I bake on a tile or plate (not used for food) and bake as per instructions on the clay packet.
ONCE baked - leave to cool . On the video i show you how to make the holly and to make your snowmen look furry. Its not the best vid in the world lol but it gets alot clearer at the end.
.

There is a video on my blog http://madimaginations.blogspot.com/
on how to make the holly leaves and make your snowmen look furry !

love maddy

Making a " Heart" Tree Card

Here's a quick & easy tutorial that I did on my blog (Paper Blessings) a few years ago and thought I'd bring it back out for your holiday-making projects. We'll be making a "heart" tree card from three heart shapes ... so cute and so fun! Remember, if you need to "pause" the slide show, just place mouse over picture. Thanks for visiting today!

For

Tutorial: Corner Bookmarks

Last week I shared a tutorial on how we could RE-USE the inside of a #10 envelope. Today I'll share what to do with the outside of envelopes (especially during the holiday season when we get so many greeting cards!) Well, if we cut off the two bottom corners of envelopes we can make some wonderful corner bookmarks. So simple,huh? I put together some ideas for you on my SLIDE show below. Remember to place mouse over picture to "pause" the slide show.

I would like to invite you to visit the Inspirational Craft Blog where you'll get blessed with all the inspiration shared by many artists and where I'm honored to have a few tutorials featured. Thanks for dropping by stampers!