Lowri - Magnets with Tutorial

Hi Everyone - Lowri here.

We will be announcing the winners of this months Challenge in the next couple of days - so I thought I would share a tutorial that has been a few months in the making! It's also a perfect way to use up scraps of paper and make some unique gifts too.

Couple of disclaimers before I start! This would be fun to do with your kids but step one (cleaning the glass beads) is definitely an adults only activity. You can buy glass domes - but I don't know where - so if you find some let me know. At the end of the post is a cheap and easy way to make lots of magnets without all the fuss!!

I have used the Cosmo Cricket "Upcyle" Collection which is perfect with it's bright colors and fun themes. I also decided I needed somewhere to put the magnets - so I made this fun board too!

These magnets are so much fun to make and you really only need a few basic supplies.

Now - I know you can probably buy these glass domes but I couldn't find anywhere here in New Zealand to get them, so I have "upcycled" these ones from The Warehouse.

Preparing the Glass Domes

1. Buy some cheap magnets
2. Carefully remove backing (definitely adults only)
3. Scrape away most of the glue with a sharp craft knife
4. Use a pot scourer to remove remaining glue

Making the Magnets

1. Cut or punch circles of paper slightly smaller than the flat side of the glass dome
2. Apply Mod Podge to the surface of the paper you want visible through the magnet and glue onto flat side of magnet
3. When dry, apply a layer of Mod Podge to the other side o the paper (outside)
4. Using a strong craft glue, stick a magnet to the underside and leave to dry

Here are some close-ups of the magnets. I made three different sizes here - for the largest I used a 1" circle punch.

The magnet board started life as a really ugly magnetic calendar thingy - so I sprayed the outside edges with some tile paint, glued on some paper and when the glue was dry - I Mod Podged over the top to add some shine and protection.

The wonderful papers from Cosmo Cricket really do all the work - they co-ordinate perfectly and the prints are fun and fresh.

These are the magnets I made last year during our Christmas countdown.

OK - if you want to make lot of these very cheaply - buy yourself a jar of decorative glass pebbles such as these (from The Warehouse again - about $4)

Follow the "Making the Magnets" steps as shown above and you can make a lot of these very quickly. Be warned though the quality of the glass is such that the paper will not be as clear through them - but for $4 why not give it a go and see! I made a few to try- you can see these below.

Post a comment with any questions :-)

Lowri :-)

More Echo Park with Joanne

Happy Friday everyone!

Fridays in my household are happy because my 20 month old daughter is at daycare for 3 hours so I usually get a bit of quiet crafty time in! To make today even happier I had a parcel arrive from Artfull Crafts packed full of new goodies to play with - I even ran out to meet the courier in the driveway! Ive already had a quick play with some Sew Easy products that arrived and already want to order more of the piercer-heads!

Anyway, today I would love to show you a layout I recently made using Echo Park For the Record.

Please click on the photo for a larger, clearer view :)

Products Used: Echo Park Collection pack, American Crafts Thickers and Scrapbook Generation Sketch book Volume 7.

I have had these photos of my Grandfathers shed for over a year and didn't know what I would do with them. It wasn't until after my For the Record Collection Kit arrived that I realised I should scrap them! I have gotten so used to only scrapping photos of my Daughter that I didn't even think to scrap them until I had this range in my hands.

Here's a little close-up....

This was also the first time I have printed on patterned paper using my laser printer. I recently learnt a very easy technique to doing this online and have been embracing it on all of my layouts! All I do is print the journaling first on normal printer paper. Then using non-permanent tape I stick my patterned paper over top of the journaling on the printer paper then run it through the printer again! It really is that simple! One little tip - make sure you have stuck the patterned paper down in all of the corners so it doesn't lift and get stuck in your printer. If you have any questions, please ask and I will answer :)

That's all from me for now. I'm hoping to do another post before our current DT term ends, but just incase I don't get there I would love to thank all of our blog readers for reading and commenting on the posts :) I've had a great year with Artfull Crafts -and- if your still on the fence about applying for the DT I say GO FOR IT!!!! It really is alot of fun and everyone has been awesome to work with!

Joanne :)

The real Miss Nellie projects!

Here are my projects that I have created with the new Miss Nellie Collection ( instore next week!).

Project One:
The first project is a layout using Kaisercraft's Miss Nellie die-cut paper. I looked into my growing photo stash to find Diana and I wearing red and pink - perfect for this collection! I opened up a circle in the middle of the pages and popped the photo behind it, squashing the edges of the paper into position. The Miss Nellie chipboard pieces are chunky and layered with rhinestones on top (and there are quite a few in the packet). I've added Kaiser blooms with some Diamond Dust (can't go past that stuff!!) I've also inked the Flourish Vines and then put Glossy Accents on them. Add a Bird Flourish, a title and journaling and it's all finished.

 Project Two:
 I often walk around the shop looking for Beyond the Page projects that look a bit tired and need to be jazzed up. I found this Kaisercraft plaque dumped in a box and decided to revitalise it. My niece is called Ayla - but I'm not sure if she'll actually ever get this!! Perhaps it can be for Christmas. I've painted the plaque and added the paper on top and then used the huge (huge) sticker on the Miss Nellie Sticker sheet. I stuck it to some Raspberry Splash Bazzill and cut around the edges - leaving a small border. I've attached it to the top of the plaque and then added the painted Kaisercraft 9cm letters. They are white on the sides and pink on top. Then I added some chipboard, blooms and organza ribbon to finish.

Project Three
I do still love cardmaking - it's how I started out in this whole adventure (thanks Clarissa!).The 12x12 Sticker Sheets had such a great selection and sizes of designs - and two different coloured alphas (now that's clever!). I've used the stickers on the top right and bottom left corners and have put foam mounting squares under certain areas to give the appearance of 3-D. I also created the ribbon with some Seam Binding (which we are about to start stocking) and I coloured it with Glimmer Chalks (LOVE those!!)

 
Project Four:
This large card will fit into the new envelopes we finally managed to track down They aren't online yet - but they will be soon!! I've had a play with a Sizzix Die (leaves), doily (with some Glimmer chalk on it), and a bird flourish with Kindy Glitz. I also used the Martha Stewart Cherish Corner punch. Got to love that set!!

So there you have it! A collection of Miss Nellie projects to inspire you. Expect to see these online next week (along with a HUGE number of new Kaiser products! Exciting stuff!)

Project Five:
Another card. This time I've used the Display Frame paper and cut one of the designs out. I think this range of papers will be surperb with the Display Frames. That might have to be another present idea! I've created the flowers using the rolled flower technique (simple tutorial below)




Rolled Flower Tutorial

1) Cut circle and draw a spiral
2) Cut out spiral
3) Fold edges downwards and squish them to loosen the paper's fibres
4) Start rolling from the outer edge
5) When you get to the end glue the final circular piece to the bottom and squash flat.
6) Add some Diamond Dust for some interest!

Miss Nellie Time!

Hi everyone. Liz here. I've been crafting! It feels great to do some pleasure crafting - especially with the new Kaiser ranges which are arriving next week. I have the full collection sent to me from Kaiser each month - with the intention of creating samples for the shop and blog - and this time I've actually done it!!

So I thought I'd get you excited and tell you about the new range. Betsy is going to have a wonderful time creating a card kit with this collection. It's full of colour - probably why I love it so much. There are reds, pinks, greens, blues in pretty floral patterns (reminiscent of wallpaper!).

I have to say it's fast becoming my favourite collection since English Rose! I have created 5 projects so far with it...and there's more to come.

So where are my photos? Well, it's 10:30pm and the lighting in the lounge is less than perfect. The light box I purchased needs some lamps shining in the sides and the bulbs have blown :-(

So you'll just have to wait for me to photograph them tomorrow and load them up for you...

Sorry for the tease - but here's the piccie of the pad so you can enjoy the mix of colours. Good work Kaisercraft!

Sunday Scrapping - Bo Bunny Gabrielle Cards

Hi Everyone

Betsy recently created these gorgeous cards for a SENZ class using Bo Bunny's Gabrielle Collection.

Take a look at some more great ideas from the Design Team members Tina, Shirl and Lowri. Make sure you also take a look a Tina's wonderful mini-album from last week here.

There is till plenty of time left to enter our Challenge and apply for our Design Team!

Cards Temptations Kit
We know there are a lot of you out there that love to make cards. Each month we have a Card Temptations Kit available to purchase. You can see them all in the shop here. They are VERY popular with our customers who come into the shop! All the cards are created by Betsy Clark - our resident Design Team card expert - and these cards are beyond beautiful.

Take a look at the cards she created for our May Kit using the Chapter One Collection from Kaisercraft.

Each kit pack is filled with goodies so you can create cards like Betsy! Each kit has around $40 worth of products and includes a full A4 colour sheet showing pictured of 6 cards that you can create as well as a list of extra tools used. There will be plenty of materials left over to create more cards.
Note - There are no step-by-step instructions with the kits.

The kits sell for $35.

Off the page with Tina

Hi, I'm a bit sad that it's coming to the end on my time on the Design Team here at Artfull Crafts. It has been a wonderful experience. As the saying goes... as one door closes, another one opens. I'm really excited to tell you I made the Design Team for Australian chipboard manufacturer "Words Or Whatever". My Design Team parcel arrived yesterday. Absolutely gorgeous.  I think I'll be up all night creating (I get so much more done when the household is asleep).

This is a canvas I for a mini challenge at Scrapping Outback. We had to use a wooden spoon on a project. I thought I'd make it practical,with a clip for notes and a shopping list.

I had fun using different media, and getting my hands messy!

I coloured my chippy with water colour pencils, and covered with Dimensional Magic.  The colour still wasn't strong enough so I painted over the DM with Alcohol Inks to give me these rich colours.

Hope you enjoyed my post today, and that you can find some time to get creative.

Happy scrapping,

Tina

At last a post from Shirl

HI Everyone!
Its been a while since my last post, as I've been very busy with my new job!
I'm lucky enough to be working for Kaisercraft at one of the 7 outlets they have in Aust.
I'm working in the Geelong store which is also a clearance outlet, we still have the full range of Kaisercraft stuff, but we have lots of clearance items, these items might be deleted BTP items / old stock / some seconds..everyday at work is different & I really love it! and we get to make cool stuff to display in the shop!
So today I'm sharing a few projects with you!

1st up is the New Ornate Frame, I've kept this pretty simple, In just painted this cream and roughly rolled over some brown paint and gave it a good spray with Glimmermist...A few paper blooms, some Timeless rub-ons onto Acetate and bit of lace & a pearl flourish...you may remember Phoebe (my great great granmother) from an earlier Layout!

This a simple yet very effective "sign" I love how it turned out, just used some random paper and the small wooden letters, painted and grunged up a bit!

This is the new oblong display frame, again I painted it brown and rolled over with some cream paint.

The paper is Timeless & up up & away, I used the wooden frames and dress form along with the wooden sign flourish, with a pearl flourish, paper blooms and small doiley & a few pearl brads

(I took Lowri's advice and photographed it outside under our blue gum tree) 

I've got a few more projects to share but I'll save them for another post!

Hope you are all having a good week!

Sketch Time

Where has this month gone!! We have the July sketch here and want to encourage you to enter our monthly challenge. The theme this month is Scrap-Happy. 

 

Thanks to Tanya Leigh for this sketch:
Send us any project you've created using your scraps, or send us a picture of a layout/card that you've created using this sketch as your inspiration. We have an overall winner and a Newbie winner category - so what are you waiting for!! Email your challenge entries by the end of July to:
entries@artfullcrafts.co.nz
APOLOGIES FOR THE POOR PHOTOGRAPHY!

This blurry photo is all my fault. I quickly took the photo and ran out the door... not realising that I hadn't focussed it correctly. This card is what we're creating tomorrow at card class. We're using the very popular Tea at Elsie's (Kaisercraft). Even though it was released a year ago, we still love it for cards.

Have a great day
:-) Liz