Friday, December 26, 2014

Christmas Stickers

©Michele Emerson-Roberts  2014


You probably get lots of mail this time of year asking for donations for this or that cause. I sure get my fair share and have to pick and choose who to support. Often the requests come with “free” cards (you already know what I do with some of those) or stickers that I don’t always want to just toss. These 4 cards are another example of what can be done with some of the “stuff” that others think of as junk or trash, in this case Christmas stickers.


Supplies:

  • Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits
  • Microwave, heat gun or a sunny window
  • Blender, small strainer, cello sponges
  • Iron and pressing cloth
  • Westcott™ personal paper cutter, scissors
  • Scor-Pal
  • Spellbinders™ Grand Calibur 
  •  Grand Calibur
  • Beacon ZipDry™ Adhesive, double sided foam tape or dots
  • Scraps of white and red paper or cardstock (think junk mail, etc.) Remember: ALWAYS save the scraps.
  • Envelopes for a 4 ¼ x 5 ½” cards (or use the AG template to create matching envelopes)
  • Christmas stickers
  • Dies: Spellbinders™ easel frame
  • Christmas themed embossing folders

Instructions:   

  1. Follow the direction for paper making and casting found in any of the Arnold Grummer paper making kits or books to make slurry from the white scraps.
  2. Create numerous sheets of thick white handmade paper. (Think card stock weight)
  3. Make red slurry and create several sheets each of thick red paper. (Think card stock weight)
  4. Allow the papers to dry.
    NOTE - If you want the thick white paper to be smooth as I did, iron it using the pressing cloth.
  5. Cut the sheets of heavy white paper in half.
  6. Score and fold to create 4 ¼ x 5 ½” cards.
  7. Emboss the fronts of all the cards with Christmas themed folders.
  8. Die cut the easel frame shape from the thick red paper.
  9. Attach the Christmas stickers to the back of the easel frame with Beacon ZipDry™ adhesive.
  10. Attach the easel frames to the front of the cards with tiny pieces of double sided foam tape of dots.

I work on these and other repurposed Christmas cards all through the year. Just think how many cards you can have ready for next year.


Friday, December 19, 2014

Repurposed Christmas Cards

©Michele Emerson-Roberts  2014


December is one of my favorite months of the year. There is a feeling of peace and love starting with the Thanksgiving celebration that sets the mood for the month of December, and the anticipation of the new year.

In keeping with my philosophy of re-purposing items that most people toss, here are just a few of the more than 100 Christmas cards that I will be mailing out soon.



Supplies:
  • Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits
  • Microwave, heat gun or a sunny window
  • Blender, small strainer, cello sponges
  • Iron and pressing cloth
  • Westcott™ personal paper cutter, scissors
  • Scor-Pal™
  • Beacon Quick Grip™ Adhesive, double sided foam tape or dots
  • Scraps of white, olive green, red, dark red, tan and Christmas green paper or cardstock (think junk mail, etc.--except for the white I am using scraps left from other projects – and remember to always save the scraps)
  • Envelopes for a 4 ¼ x 5 ½” cards (or use the AG template to create matching envelopes), envelope for 5”square card
  • Christmas card sent to me some years ago
  • Dies: Spellbinders™ Ornaments, scalloped ovals and shaped square
          Impression Obsession Pine Branch
         Sizzix Tim Holtz Pinecone
         CheeryLynn™ Fringe
  • Christmas themed embossing folders 
  • Spellbinders Grand Calibur™ Machine
  • Bow Easy™
  • Small amounts of various sheer, velvet and Christmas cotton ribbon

Instructions:   
  1. Follow the direction for paper making and casting found in any of the Arnold Grummer paper making kits or books to make slurry from the white scraps. Create numerous sheets of thick white handmade paper. (Think card stock weight) Make the different colored slurries and create a sheet each of green, red, olive green and tan. (Or use scraps left from other projects as I did.) (Think card stock weight) Allow the papers to dry. If you want the thick white paper to be smooth as I did, iron it using the pressing cloth.
  2. Cut most of the sheets of heavy white paper in half, and score and fold to create 4 ¼ x 5 ½” cards and one 5” square card.
  3. Emboss the fronts of all the cards with Christmas themed folders.
  4. Die cut ornament shapes from the fronts of old Christmas cards.
  5. Die cut lots of pine branches from the green paper.
  6. Die cut lots of (fringe) evergreen boughs from the olive green paper.
  7. Die cut pinecones from the tan paper.
  8. Die cut some verbiage from the inside of old Christmas cards using scalloped ovals and shaped square dies.
  9. Die cut a larger dark red shaped square.
  10. Die cut a larger red scalloped oval.
  11. Use the paper cutter to cut a message for the front of some of the cards.
  12. Refer to the photos to assemble the cards.
  13. Attach the pine branches, ornaments, layered shaped squares and oval dies cuts with double sided foam tape or dots.
  14. Attach the evergreen boughs and pinecone with Beacon QuickGrip™ adhesive.
  15. Use the Bow Easy™ to tie bows for the cards out of various ribbons.
  16. Write a personal message inside your hand made cards.


Friday, December 12, 2014

Christmas Tea Light

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2014


It is never too early to start on Christmas gifts or decorations. I love the battery operated tea lights and use them several places in my home for ambiance. We have a lovely log home in the Arizona White Mts. And I wanted to add some rustic touches to the Christmas decorations. I think you will agree that this project fits that perfectly. 

Supplies:

  • Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits
  • A sunny window
  • Blender, cello sponges and soft towels
  • Westcott™ Personal paper cutter and scissors
  • Beacon QuickGrip™ Adhesive
  • Scraps of tan paper (think brown paper bag), olive green (think junk mail, etc.)
  • AG #555 Champagne Glass Lampshade template
  • Wooden candle stick or tall wine glass
  • Battery operated tea light
  • Dies:   CheeryLynn™ fringe and Sizzix Tim Holtz pine cone 
  • Large embossing folder 
  • Die cut machine: Spellbinders™ Grand Calibur

Instructions:
  1. Follow the directions found in any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits to make tan slurry.
  2. Use the lampshade template to create one lampshade (this should be fairly thick.)
  3. Make one sheet of thick tan paper.
  4. When the sheet of paper is dry die cut the pine cones.
  5. Make olive green slurry, then make one sheet of olive green paper.
  6. When the paper is dry die cut the fringe (evergreen pieces.)
  7. When the lamp shade is dry emboss it with the embossing folder.
  8. Slightly overlap the edge of the shade and secure with the QuickGrip™ adhesive.
  9. Follow the die directions to assemble the pine cones and the fringe (evergreen pieces.)
  10. Use the Beacon QuickGrip™ adhesive to attach the evergreen pieces evenly around the top and bottom of the lampshade.
  11. Nestle and attach the pine cones evenly in the evergreen.

Turn the tea light on. Place the tea light in the wooden candle stick or inside the tall wine glass. Enjoy.

Think of all the different ways you could create these lampshades. You could change them out with the four seasons or create them to match someone’s décor -- great gift idea.

Friday, December 5, 2014

Giving Thanks Cards II

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2014



The Grummer company and family have always promoted using “stuff” you have on hand that otherwise might just go into the trash; whether it’s using onion skins to make gorgeous paper, using those dried needles from your Christmas tree as inclusions, or just not wasting your resources. I am a firm believer in “waste not want not” and re-purpose whenever I can. Join me in this adventure - I would love to see what you come up with.



 Supplies:
  • Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits
  • A sunny window
  • Blender, cello sponges and soft towels
  • Personal paper cutter, scissors
  • Scor-Pal™
  • Beacon QuickGrip™ and ZipDry Adhesives, double sided foam tape or foam dots
  • Scraps of golden toned papers (think junk mail, etc.)
  • Dies:  Spellbinders™  - pumpkin, gourds and cornucopia, small frame
          CheeryLynn™ - “Happy Thanksgiving” 
                       Die- Versions™ - Indian Corn    
  • Various Autumn themed embossing folders
  • Spellbinders Grand Calibur™ Machine
  • Scrap of autumn toned junk mail or scraps of autumn toned cereal boxes
  • Scraps of tan chip board (back side of cereal boxes)
  • Kaleidacolor™ Creole Spice and Cappuccino  ink pads
  • ColorBox™ Stylus handle and soft tip
  • “Happy Thanksgiving” stamp to fit the tag die
  • Fall leaf stamp
  • A2 envelopes (or make matching envelopes using the AG envelope template)
  • Autumn toned scrap ribbon
  • Bow-Easy™


Instructions:

  1. Follow the directions found in any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits to create several sheets of golden toned heavy weight paper (think card stock weight.)  
  2. When the sheets of paper are dry, cut the sheets in half (8 ½” x 5 ½”).
  3. Score at 4 ¼” and fold in half to create the card bases.
    (Save one half sheet of the golden toned paper for the stamped saying and small frame.)
  4. Use autumn themed embossing folders to emboss the fronts of all the cards, or randomly stamp leaves onto the fronts of some of the cards with Creole Spice ink.
  5. Stamp “Happy Thanksgiving” onto scrap of golden tones handmade paper (this will be placed inside the die cut frame) with Cappuccino ink.
  6. Die cut and emboss the frame from the golden paper. (Always save your scraps for other projects.)
  7. Die cut and emboss the chip board cornucopia, gourds and pumpkin. Leave these three items in the dies for now.
  8. Die cut the words “Happy Thanksgiving” from the chipboard (back side of the cereal box).
  9. Die cut the Indian corn from autumn toned junk mail or cereal boxes.
  10. While the cornucopia, pumpkin, and gourds are still in the die, use the Stylus™ tip to apply Kaleidacolor ™ Creole Spice ink through the stencil portion of the dies.
  11. Apply bits of color to the frame.
  12. Apply the Creole Spice ink randomly to the die cut words.
  13. Use the BowEasy™ to tie tiny bows with the scrap ribbon.
  14. Attach the bows to the Indian corn with QuickGrip™ adhesive.

Assemble the cards:

Cornucopia” card:

  1. Attach the inked “Happy Thanksgiving” die cut words to the top of the card with ZipDry™ Adhesive.
  2. Attach the cornucopia, pumpkin, and gourds across the bottom of the card with double sided foam tape or dots.

 “Blessings” card:

Attach the die cut Indian corn to the left side of the embossed card.

Frame” card:

1.      Attach to stamped words to the back of the frame with ZipDry™ adhesive.
2.      Attach the frame to the front of the card with small pieces of double sided foam tape.
3.      Attach the Indian corn with double sided foam tape to the left of the frame.


Refer to photos. These completed the 50 Thanksgiving cards I need for next year, since I did several of each design - and ALL were made from “stuff” that someone else would have tossed! Silly people. Smile.

Giving Thanks Cards I

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2014


I love working ahead, and will often start creating for the next year’s holiday a day or two after this year’s holiday. Take a peek at some of my Thanksgiving cards for 2015.

The Grummer company and family have always promoted using “stuff” you have on hand that otherwise might just go into the trash, whether it is using onion skins to make gorgeous paper, using those dried needles from your Christmas tree as inclusions, or just not wasting your resources. I am a firm believer in “waste not want not” and re-purpose whenever I can.

Join me in this adventure - I would love to see what you come up with. Here are just a few Thanksgiving cards created with “stuff” that someone else would have thought of as “trash”.



Supplies:

  • Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits
  • A sunny window
  • Blender, cello sponges and soft towels
  • Personal paper cutter, scissors
  • Scor-Pal™
  • Beacon™  ZipDry™, Double sided foam tape or foam dots
  • Scraps of rusty brown paper (think junk mail, etc.)
  • Dies:    Spellbinders™ fall leaves, decretive tag
CheeryLynn™ words “Happy Thanksgiving” and pumpkins
Dreamweaver™ oval
  • Autumn themed embossing folder
  • Spellbinders Grand Calibur™ Machine
  • Paper sanding block
  • Scrap of autumn toned paper
  • Scraps of autumn toned magazine pages/ junk mail etc
  • Scraps of glossy white card stock
  • Scrap of golden colored handmade paper (for the decretive tag)
  • Scrap of chip board large enough for the “(Happy Thanksgiving” word dies)
  • Ink pads:   Kaleidacolor™ Creole Spice
                     ColorBox™ dark brown and olive green ink pads
  • ColorBox™ Stylus handle and soft tip
  • Large “Thanksgiving” word stamp (or computer generate it)
  • “Happy Thanksgiving” stamp to fit the tag die
  • A2 envelopes (or make matching envelopes using the AG envelope template) 

Instructions:

  1. Follow the directions found in any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits to create several sheets of rusty brown/burnt orange heavy weight paper.
  2. When the sheets of paper are dry, cut the sheets in half (8 ½” x 5 ½”).
  3. Score at 4 ¼” and fold in half to create the card bases.
  4. Use autumn themed embossing folders to emboss the fronts of all the cards.
  5. Stamp the large “Thanksgiving” word onto the scrap of autumn toned paper with dark brown ink.
  6. Stamp “Happy Thanksgiving” onto the scrap of golden tone handmade paper with the Kaleidacolor™ Creole Spice ink.
  7. Apply Creole Spice inks to scraps of glossy card stock with the Stylus™ tool.
  8. Use the Stylus™ tool to apply the olive  green ink to the scrap of chip board
  9. Die cut the decretive tag from the stamped golden scrap.
  10. Die cut the oval from the stamped autumn toned scrap paper.
  11. Die cut the fall leaves from the inked glossy card stock.
  12. Die cut the pumpkins from the scrap magazine pages/junk mail
  13. Die cut fall leaves from the scrap magazine pages/junk mail
  14. Die cut the words “Happy Thanksgiving” from the inked chip board
    (Always save your scraps for other projects.)
  15. Use the paper sanding block to lightly sand the inked glossy card stock die cut leaves.

Assembling the cards:

Attach the die cut words and the pumpkins with ZipDry™ adhesive. All of the other pieces are attached with small pieces of double sided foam tape or dots.


Refer to photos for ideas. These completed 25 of the 50 Thanksgiving cards I needed. I did several of each design, and ALL were made from “stuff” that someone else would have tossed!

Next up: “Giving Thanks Cards II”