Autumn Leaves

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2014

Autumn has arrived in Southeast Arizona! Cooler temperatures and the beautiful colors of changing leaves - yes, there are trees here, at the base of the Huachuca Mountains, anyway. I love making fall cards to cheer up friends and family. I hope you will enjoy this card as much as I did creating it.

Supplies:

• Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits
• AG Large 4 Petal Fold Envelope (card) template #553
• A sunny window
• Blender, cello sponges and soft towels
• Personal paper cutter, scissors
• Scor-Pal™
• Beacon ZipDry™ Adhesive, double sided tape
• Scraps of light green paper (think junk mail, etc.)
• Tiny dried flower petals and/or spices and iridescent sprinkles
• Verbiage stamp and black ink pad or computer generated saying
• One half sheet of ivory vellum
• 18” of ½” sheer ivory ribbon
• Oak leaf punch or die and Spellbinders’ Grand Calibur machine
• Envelope to fit the card

Instructions:

1. Follow the directions found in any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits to create light green slurry with inclusions.
2. Use the template to create one (or more) light green 4 petal envelope/cards.
3. When the paper is dry, score three sides of the envelope/card.  
4. Stamp the saying onto the vellum, or use a
   computer generated print of the saying. (If you
   are making several of these cards, print all of the sayings at once. I will often do many different related saying at a time and save them for later projects.)
5. Punch or die cut an oak leaf at the top of the card (the part that was not scored). You will use this leaf on the inside of the card.
6. Cut the vellum to fit the top arch and center of the card.
7. Punch or die cut one oak leaf from the bottom of the printed velum.
8. Punch or die cut several leaves from the leftover velum.
9. Attach the vellum to the inside of the card with ZipDry™ adhesive.
10. Layer and attach a velum leaf, the green leaf and two more vellum leaves at the top of the card.
11. Use the double sided tape to attach the ribbon to the outside of the card.
12. Add a personal message.

Dragonfly Dreams

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2014

I love dragonflies. They are one of the most beautiful of insects. They predate the dinosaurs with fossils showing wing spans of over 2 ½ feet, and today there are approximately 450 species in the US alone. In mythology the dragonfly symbolizes lost loved ones and rebirth.  

Supplies:

·        Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits

·        Mold:  Arnold Grummer Dragonfly, # 703

·        Microwave, heat gun or a sunny window

·        Blender, small strainer, cello sponges and soft towels

·        Beacon Quick Grab™ and ZipDry™ Adhesives, double sided foam tape or dots

·        Scraps of off white and yellow paper (think colored junk mail, etc.)

·        Dried flower petals and/or spices

·        Several twigs and dried Eucalyptus leaves

·        8 ½ x 11” Easel Frame

·        Rust Brown suede matt board, cut to fit frame

·        Gold PearlX™ powder, small brush

Arnold Grummer

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 off white scraps.

2.      Cast one (or more) of the dragonfly molds.

3.      Dry the castings in the microwave, with the heat tool, or place in a sunny window.

4.      Create two sheets of yellow handmade paper, and one sheet of off white paper – add a small amount of tiny dried flower petals or spices to both slurries.

5.      Allow the papers to dry.

6.      Fold and tear the yellow paper to create a piece approx. 6 x 8 ½” and a piece 4 x 4”.

7.      Fold and tear the off white paper to create a 5 ½ x 7 ½” paper.

8.      Layer and attach the dragonfly casting to the 4 x 4” yellow paper with the double sided foam tape.

9.      Attach the twigs and the leaves to the off white sheet of paper with Beacon QuickGrab™ adhesive.

10.   Layer and attach the 4 x 4” yellow paper to the 6 x 8 ½” off white paper with Beacon ZipDry™ adhesive.

11.   Layer and attach the off white sheet of paper to the 6 x 8 ½” sheet of yellow paper.

12.   Insert the rust brown sued matt board into the slot of the easel frame.

13.   Attach the layers to the matt board.

14.   Highlight the dragonfly casting with the brush and gold PearlX™ powder.

(Reminder - save all your scraps for other projects)

I have created many of these castings and given them as remembrance gifts to people who have lost someone they loved. The castings are beautiful in different colors and mounted to the tops of boxes, the front of cards or handmade journals or framed.

Here Kitty Kitty

©Michele Emerson-Roberts  2014


I love October! Fall colors, cooler weather and one of my favorite holidays, Halloween. I’m not into witches and goblins but black cats are great. We have a wonderful black kitty named “Bitty”, who we rescued from under our porch 13 years ago. She is precious and rules the roost, keeping the two dogs in line at all times. My card today honors Bitty and all the kitties in our lives.

Supplies:

• Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits
• Molds:  R320 Cat With Heart (available from AG)
• Microwave, heat gun or a sunny window
• Blender, small strainer, cello sponges and soft towels, paper cutter, scissors, bone folder
• Beacon Quick Grab™ and ZipDry™ Adhesives, double sided foam tape or dots
• Scraps of yellow paper (think colored junk mail, etc.)
• 1 sheets of black 8 ½ x 5 1/2” cardstock
• Envelope for a 4 ¼ x 5 ½” card (or use the AG template to create a matching envelope)
• Dies: Stamp Doctor Center Step Card, Cheery Lynn Chasing Rainbows Doily
• Spellbinders Grand Calibur™ Machine
• Punches: small cat foot print
• Bow Easy^TM
• 12” yellow 1/8” satin ribbon
• Small flat backed yellow heart cabochon
• Fine tip black Sharpie™ marker, yellow gel pen

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 yellow scraps.
2. Cast one (or more) of the cat molds.
3. Dry the castings in the microwave, with the heat tool, or place in a sunny window.
4. Create a sheet of yellow handmade paper. Allow the paper to dry.
5. Cut one yellow doily.
6. Cut two strips of yellow scrap to go behind the punched foot prints. (Save the scrap for another project.
7. Cut one of the center step cards from the sheet of black card stock.
8. Fold the card and use the bone folder to get a good crease.
9. Punch kitty foot prints along the outside edges and the two bottom corners of the center step card.
   
   

Assemble the card:

1. Carefully color the kitty with the black Sharpie™ marker.
2. Tie a tiny bow with the yellow ribbon.
3. Attach the bow and the heart cabochon at the neck of the kitty.
4. Use the ZipDry™ adhesive to attach the yellow strips behind the kitty foot prints and to attach the doily to the center of the card.
5. Use double sided foam tape or dots to attach the kitty casting to the center of the doily.
6. Write a Happy Halloween message inside the card with the yellow gel pen.

Tag…You’re It!

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2014

I love creating small gift items for special friends and family to include with a handmade paper card. These tag necklaces can be made ahead of time and stashed away for later gift giving.  Since I make dozens of sheets of paper at a time and always have scraps, I will often use leftover handmade papers and simply draw around the template and cut the tag shape with scissors. Great way to use up leftover papers and beads too!

Supplies:

• Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits
• A sunny window
• Blender, cello sponges and soft towels
• Arnold Grummer tag template #360
• Personal paper cutter, scissors
• Scraps of white or ivory paper, scraps of colored paper (think junk mail, etc.)
• ColorBox™ Ink pads in various dark colors to match the hand made tags
• Decretive stamps (patterns for the covers… words would be great for the inside pages)
• Clear embossing powder
• Heat tool
• Standard size round hole punch
• Four feet of soft metallic cord (for each tag necklace)
• One large bead, two medium beads and six spacer beads (for each tag necklace)

Instructions:

1. For each tag necklace, follow the directions found in any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits to create two heavy weight tags for the covers and 6 light weight tags for the pages.  
2. When the tags are dry, stamp designs onto the covers, and emboss with clear embossing powder and the heat tool.
3. Stamp the words onto the inside pages (encouraging words for a friend who is going through a rough time are a nice addition.)
4. Punch the hole at the top of the covers and pages.

Assemble the necklace:

1. Fold the metallic cord in half, insert the loop into the stacked tags and tread the loose ends through the loop.
2. Place one spacer bead, the large bead and one spacer bead onto the loose ends of the cord.
3. Tie a loose overhand knot approx. 8” from the ends of the cords.
4. Thread one spacer bead, the medium bead and one spacer bead on each end of the cords.
5. Tie a knot at the end of each cord.