Advent Calendar (Helmar)

Well, it is really beginning to look like Christmas! Next weekend I will officially be starting to fill the boxes in my new advent calendar. I altered the Dusty Attic chipboard advent calendar with a lot of various distress inks and metallic stains to give it an antiqued look.

My trusted Helmar's 450 quick dry came to the rescue to hold all of the the boxes together and the Premium craft glue was very helpul too with the paper "layout" insert and embellishments. The papers are Fabscraps' gorgeous new Christmas line.

Here is another view. I used Helmar's decoupage paste to adhere the paper to the front of the boxes and sanded the edges before assembling them. I wanted to reveal all the grooves for a rustic feel - instead of simply covering the entire square surface with paper.


A close-up of the left - it really shimmers in real light. I used a mix of Dusty Attic and Fabscraps chipboard pieces on here.


A close-up of the right - I just love how perfectly the Fabscraps lamp post fits!


All together this was about a 10-hour project to complete (but worth it!). I even taught an 8-hour workshop for Paper and Lace on this project (mind you the frames were pre-built and the box numbers had to be adhered after the class). Thanks again to all the wonderful ladies who attended (and some even drove from far away in the snow!).

New Pion Collection!

Play Time is a newly released Pion Design collection - love the retro look of these papers!

For capturing the sunniest of memories, Pion Design is now releasing the paper collection Play Time. This irresistible collection features 12 patterned papers in a fun-filled design that will bring back childhood memories for all of us.

There is nothing sweeter than the sound of laughter and play, and with the sophisticated sweetness of this adorable collection you will all be able to capture some of those magic childhood moments. Cars, airplanes and paper dolls are just a few of the images, and the subtle shades are accented with brighter hints of red, blue, green and yellow. With its playful colors and images, Play Time will surely brighten your day and offer you plenty of crafting occasions.

Play Time consists of 12 double sided papers in the size 12x12” as well as 6x6” and is ready for immediate shipping.

Christmas Display (Meg's Garden/ 2Crafty/Helmar)

With Remembrance day past, I am now in full Christmas swing! Here is a bracket shaped display I made that I will hang with a ribbon on the inside of one of my doors (instead of a wreath this year). I used an older paper line from Meg's Garden - A Vintage Christmas (specifically the sheet of paper "Santa's Garden"). Using Helmar decoupage paste, I adhered the beautiful paper to a cardboard bracket shape that I had traced.

Next, I added a 2Crafty chipboard baroque corner and some Green Tara flowers and sprays using Helmar 450 quick dry glue. Meg's Garden carries a variety of gorgeous embellishment products.

On both the corner and the title chipboard I inked the chipboard grey and then roughly covered it with gesso but letting some of the grey uncovered. I used Clearsnap chalk ink on the chipboard and also an the edges of the bracket shape.

I wanted to let this pretty paper shine without covering it up too much. It is truly my favorite paper from the "A Vintage Christmas" paper line!

Helmar sketch contest!

Don't forget to enter Helmar's November challenge! Create any type of project based on this sketch and post your creation at http://www.flickr.com/groups/helmarlive to be entered to win some amazing glue!

Here is a layout I had made based on this sketch (I used the sketch upside down).

This project was created with the special help of Helmar Adhesives - my two favorites: the Premium Craft glue for paper and 450 Quick Dry for embellishments.

Good luck to all that enter the contest!

Pion Design - sketch contest!

Pion design is hosting this fabulous sketch contest on their blog based on this beautiful sketch using Pion papers. You have until Sunday, November 25th to enter for a chance to win some gorgeous papers. Create and card or a layout and post it on their blog HERE!

Good luck to all that enter!

Swirlydoos November Kit Blog Hop

Welcome to Swirlydoos' November "Nouveau" Kit
Reveal and Blog Hop Block Party!

If you came here from Lisa Gregory's blog, then you are on the right track. If not, go back to Swirlydoos' blog and start from there. We have some amazing projects for you to see today. Also, as an extra special twist, one of our designers is also hiding a secret prize on their blog too! Make sure to leave a comment on all of the blogs for a chance to win. Check out Swirlydoos on Facebook and Like Us too!

Today I begin by sharing a layout about my grandfather (my dad's father). He immigrated to Canada from Portugal when my dad was 7. He sent my grandma, my dad and my aunt a year before and sent money for them to live with relatives until he could join them. I adore this Creative Imaginations IOD collection!

Please click on images for larger views.

Here is a close-up of the gorgeous kit flowers and 2Crafty chipboard (chipboard from my stash - title and flourishes). On the chipboard I used the gorgeous teal Silks paint in the main kit and gesso.

Next up is a wedding picture of yours truly and my hubby almost 11 years ago! The Dusty Attic chipboard (frame/flourish) is in the kit and the Fabscraps title chippy is from last month's kit (I didn't get a chance to use then). The large handmade flower is part of my tutorial in the next post. Such pretty Kaisercraft paper in this kit!

Here is a close-up. On the chipboard I simply stippled on white acrylic paint - that's all!

This wedding layout was inspired by the amazing kit sketch this month.

I have been saving the little brown kraft envelopes that Krissy sends my Swirlydoos flowers in each month and decided to turn them into generic "unisex" gift bags (for those gift-giving moments that sneak up and you).

 I did some different background stamping on each bag and easily embellished.

Don't you just love these IOD papers? - so so so gorgeous!

Here is a peek at the main kit but there are so many gorgeous add-ons too that you need to check out over at Swirlydoos!

You have until midnight, eastern time, on Wednesday, 11/14 to complete the hop. Winners will be announced on the Swirlydoos Blog on Thursday 11/15. In order to qualify to win here is what you need to do:

1: Visit all of the blogs and leave a comment on each. This way we know you were there. Become a follower if you're not already. Take your time. There are REALLY beautiful things to see along the way.

2: Before you leave each blog, look for the “special” words and write it down. Once you have visited all the blogs and collected all the special words, they will create a sentence. 

3: Finally, go back to the Swirlydoos blog and leave a comment letting us know how much fun you had, tell us the sentence that was created with all of the special words you collected. Can't wait to hear from you.

My special word is : Spirituality

The party ends back over at the Swirlydoos blog. Have fun!

Tutorial: DIY paint or mistable fabric flowers

It's been a while since I've posted a new flower tutorial. I have had this one sitting in my head for a while... making your own fabric "mistable" flowers (like the Pink Paislee ones) that you can mist, paint, ink, use gelatos, etc. Best of all - NO SEWING REQUIRED!

Supplies needed: 

- 4 squares of fabric (I used old heavy cotton IKEA drapes but old tea towels work great too)

- a button (or a penny)

- small fabric covered elastic (white is best)

- mist, paint, ink or gelatos (I used a pink gelato by Faber-Castell and a peach mist)

- a water mister

- strong, fast drying adhesive (I used Helmar's 450 quick dry)

Here is what the flower would look like if you don't paint/mist it (reminds me of the Pink Paislee mistable flowers).

Step 1: Hand-cut or use a die cutting machine to get 2 large, 1 medium and 1 smaller flower. Mine are about 5-inches for the large and 4-inch and 3-inch for the others. You can use this simple kirigami technique to hand-cut your flowers like I did.

Step 2: I created a paste by smearing a pink gelato into a plate and spritzing some peach mist into a plate.

Step 3: I dragged the flower edges in the paste, lightly misted the fabric with water to disperse the "paint" and crumpled the fabric to work the color in and make the edges shabby. I put less color on the 2 small ones (middle of flower). Let the petals dry now.

Step 4: I layered my dry flowers petals and put a thin dab of Helmar glue in the middle of each layer (off setting the petals) and adhered a button to the middle of the top layer.

Step 5: I gathered the layers and fastened the elastic to the bottom and put some 450 quick dry glue over it to keep it in place and let it dry.

Step 6: I flipped it over and ruffled into place.

Here are a few more I made with different fabrics by adding more water to my paste and creating a mist with my gelato mixture. Dryer sheets definitely soak up the mixture more than fabric does, and cream canvas and linen made it look much darker than white cotton.

Let me know what you think of these flowers!
Here is one of them on used on a layout...

Turn tags into cards (Helmar/Pion Design)

Last year I made these Pion Design paper tags as gift toppers for my two boys (aged 6 and 8 then) using the "Waiting for Santa 2" collection. Rather than throw them out after Christmas, I decided to save them and turn them into masculine cards for this year (for those times when you're in a hurry for a card :)  I used Helmar Premium Craft glue to adhere the tags to a beautiful piece of Core'dinations core-impressions cardstock (a Helmar preferred partner) and used their "Sand it Gadget" for a perfect fine grit sanding of the embossed clocks.

I covered the tag holes with brown bows and tucked plain white petal flowers to embellish a bit more.

On this one I tucked an extra flower petal layer in the corner too.

Check out the Helmar blog from now through November 10th for awesome creations from the design team using Core'dinations products!

More Swirlydoos Projects (using OUAS/2Crafty/Helmar)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I have three more projects to reveal today that I created using my left-overs from my October Swirlydoos kit (since the blog hop reveal a few weeks ago). Up first is also a DT project reveal for the November Once Upon a Sketch (featuring some awesome 2Crafty chipboard and Helmar glue too).

This is my attempt at doing a negative space layout - difficult for me! I used the OUAS sketch upside down as shown below. The journaling on the back reads: "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey, you'll never know dear how much I love you, so please don't keep my sunshine away". My son adored this song as a baby - so I sang it to him every night. This is a picture of his first Halloween. Check out the November reveal for the OUAS challenge details and so many fantastic prizes to be won!

Here is a close-up of the pretty flowers in the kit and my reverse faux crackle finish on the Corine's Swirl (chipboard from my 2Crafty DT stash). To achieve the reverse faux crackle: I first stippled with gesso and once dry stippled on white acrylic paint. This created a nice bumpy surface. Once all dry I gently dipped my finger onto my chalk ink pad and gently rubbed the raised surfaces.

Here I simply put some diamond dust on the chipboard title I painted in white using some Helmar acid-free glue - to give it some texture and sparkle.

Here is a card I created for Sketch Inspiration - Swirlydoos is sponsoring them this week. Play along and you might win an October Swirlydoos kit!

Here is the sketch:

Last but not least a little matching tag to the card above.

NOTE: All of these projects were created with the special help of various Helmar Adhesives - especially my two favorites: the Premium Craft glue for paper and 450 Quick Dry for embellishments.

A sneak...

I spent a full day teaching a Christmas advent calendar class yesterday and would like to thank the wonderful group of ladies who joined me for this workshop. Here is a peek at what we did. The full reveal of this project will be on Friday, November 23rd here and also on the Helmar blog.

Card in a pinch! (Pion Design/Helmar)

Pion Design papers makes it so easy to pull a quick card or tag together. There are so many beautiful images in all of their paper collections - like this one from the new "Silent Night" collection. I paired that paper with background ones from the "For Father" collection. That's what I love about Pion papers, the collections blend so seamlessly and are so versatile for any kind of paper crafting.

I used my one of my favorite Helmar glue on this  - the Premium craft glue. It is great for papers layers and embellishments. Don't forget to enter the Helmar Facebook contest to win some gooey goodness!

Helmar Facebook - win a PRIZE!

Helmar is giving away LOTS of glue!

FOR NEW FACEBOOK FANS: How about we offer a little incentive to join, a little gift of free prouduct to try for our future fans numbered 5200-5204. We'll let you know who you are when we get there! 

FOR EXISTING FACEBOOK FANS: For those of you who are already here I think we need a little challenge for you to complete. How about naming your favourite Helmar glue, why it is your favourite (short & sweet, we don't need a novel) and which Helmar Designer used it on the Helmarlive Ustream channel? Five random winners will be chosen!

Visit http://www.facebook.com/HelmarUSA to enter and... Good luck!

Getting off the page - canvas purse (Helmar)

I am a scrapbooker by nature but once in a while I get a desire to create OTP projects. Here is a step-by-step on how I altered this canvas tote using my favorite Helmar adhesives and some fantastic preferred partner products. For Breast Cancer awareness month I went with PINK - my favorite color anyways :)

My mom gave me this 10x10 inch canvas purse she bought for $2 at a dollar store and said "Can you make something with this?".

So, I started to mist it (outside) and realized I was going through A LOT of mist without the result I wanted. It looked so "blah". Then, I remembered the awesome cross promotion products my Helmar DT received from Faber-Castell this summer. 

I started to play with a pink gelato and a green stamper's big brush pen. I made a pink paste in a plate with a gelato (scrape off a chunk of gelato and add a bit of water) and a green puddle with a big brush pen (scribble and mist some water) and painted them on with paintbrushes (pink paste and green puddle) for nice vibrant colors.

I then stamped with the green and used the brush pen directly on the stamped image to darken it. Next, I created a handmade flower (tutorial to follow soon) and glued it to the canvas using my all-time favorite Helmar product - the 450 quick dry. This stuff is better than any hot glue and won't yellow (or burn you). It's great for heavier items like this canvas flower or metal.

I also used thin gesso and a stencil for smeared writing and then added some water to my left-over gelato paste to create a mist. I misted the script stencil  for crisper pink letters. I next added some gorgeous lace from Green Tara using Helmar's Premium Craft glue. Works great on delicate fabrics - you can't see the glue and it won't yellow the lace.

Lastly, I gave this finished purse a spray of Helmar's Krystal Kote Matt to seal the colors in. It won't be washable so I wanted it a bit resistant to dirt. Because it is canvas I may even give it a water resistant spray too (like you would for canvas or suede shoes).

Merry and Bright (Meg's Garden/ 2Crafty/Helmar)

It feels a bit strange to be designing for Christmas before Halloween but I couldn't resist when I received the beautiful new "A Musical Christmas" collection from Meg's Garden. The glorious colors, the detailed graphics  - OH MY! I think I say it every time but these papers have such a beautiful hand stamped quality to them that you don't need to do much other than add fun embellishments.

This is a picture of my boys a few years ago posing in front the of the Christmas tree. The funny thing is that my own tree is decorated in a similar style as the graphics on this paper - dark red, white and gold (and a touch of pink). I instantly wanted to design with this particular paper. I actually used mini papers from the older "A Vintage Christmas" line for the photo mats since the collections blend so seamlessly.

I added some gorgeous 2Crafty chipboard (title and santa sleigh) and limited the flowers since it is a boy layout. Here is a close-up of the music notes on the paper behind the chipboard. On the chippies I dabbed texture paste to give it a snowy effect and then added some diamond dust (glitter glass would work wonders too). I actually clipped the third snowflake off the title and added to the top of the tree. For this one I simply used gold glitter glue on top of the clear diamond dust to give it extra sparkle.

Here is a close-up of the Santa sleigh that I primed with gesso, added texture paste and lightly inked the edges. Look at that beautiful hand stamped feel of the papers!!!

All of these projects were created with the special help of various Helmar Adhesives - especially my two favorites: the Premium Craft glue for paper and 450 Quick Dry for embellishments.

Before you go, don't forget to enter Meg's Blog Candy Giveaway at the end of the new DT announcement and good luck!