True Friend Wall Art- Xyron + Waffle Flower Blog Hop

Hey there, Crafty Friends!! I am so excited to be participating in this week's 

Xyron + Waffle Flower Blog Hop!!

 We are continuing the week with amazing projects from both the Xyron and Waffle Flower Design Teams!

There is awesome Blog Candy to be won too!**

Both companies will be giving away FABULOUS PRIZES!! To enter the Xyron Giveaway all you have to do is head on over to the Xyron Facebook Page and "Like" and "comment" on any/ all of the Waffle Flower project posts.

And, Don't forget to head on over to Waffle Flower Blog to see even more awesome project from the Waffle Flower Team.

**Disclaimer: This giveaway is in no way sponsored, associated or indorsed by Facebook or it's subsidiaries. 

For my blog hop project I made wall decor for a really good friend of mine. She and her family have shown what true friendship really means. They have been there for me through storms (literally and metaphorically). 

This pass June has been one of trials and tribulations. My town was hit with flash floods and tornadoes, one which ripped through my backyard. My friend, Christina Rust, and her husband (James) came over on two separate occasions to help us clear a tree that was knocked down from the storm, it laid across our yard but was still attached to the trunk. James, with chainsaws in hand, removed that and other surrounding trees. Then the following weekend they hauled off all the debris.

Shortly after that storm, I received shocking news that my baby brother had suffered from a massive heart attack which ultimately took his life. And there was Christina. She gave me a sympathetic ear, a shoulder to cry on, and endless hugs and reassurance that it was going to be ok. Her husband took care of the main food being served and their whole family manned the kitchen during my brother's funeral. They have done so much for me and my family and I am eternally grateful!

So, out of appreciation, I made her this shadowbox wall art for her home. 

I know this in no way will show her how much I truly appreciate her but I thought it was a great start. 

I knew I loved the quote and I felt it really encompassed our friendship. 

And the perfect companion to this quote and what really made this framed piece pop was this 3D Diamond Template Die from Waffle Flower.

 I wanted to stress that our friendship is a rarity, like a diamond. And I hold I cherish it dearly. And   

 I love the way that this die emphasizes the diamonds.

To make the diamonds, Waffle Flower suggests using a cardstock with a weight of 65 lbs or less for easier folding, but I used this paper that looked like mercury glass and has a weight closer to 110 lbs... this is on the really thick side.

First, I cut out all the diamonds from my cardstock. 

Then, I folded along the crease lines. Because this was a very thick cardstock, and because I wanted the folds to we defined, I used a bone folder to make those crease lines crisp.

Then I used a bit of liquid glue to attach the flaps.

Just a heads up... the back flaps attach to the little triangular tabs around back, not the long flap that goes across the top.

For those of you who need visual assistance, Waffle Flower also has an instructional video on youtube to help you assemble this template. You can find it HERE.

For the quote, I opened my computer software and electronic cutting machine. I used fonts already on my computer and typed out the quote in a bold print font, Then cut it out on my machine using black cardstock.

I removed the inside die cute letter and  used the entire negative cut-out.

I matted this piece with more if the same mercury glass paper.

Then used a corner chomper and gave the corners a ticketed edge.

Next, I ran the black/quoted cardstock through my Xyron Creative Station with a 9" permanent adhesive cartridge.

With the protective plastic still attached, I traced around each letter.

Then peeled the protective film and adhered it to the mercury glass cardstock mat.

Then,once again, ran it through my Creative Station.

I had purchased a 11"x 14" shadow box frame. I took it apart and attached my quote directly onto the canvas insert that came with the frame. Once secured, I glued three 3D diamonds below my quote. I To help with alignment, I used a T-Square Ruler and lined up the top edges with the tops of each diamond and used liquid glue to secure in place.

Once the glue was dried, I inserted the mat into the shadowbox frame.

And here is my finished project. A very special gift for a very special friend!!

WHO'S A TRUE FRIEND & A REAL JEWEL!

Closer View

Close-up of 3D Diamonds 

Supplies Used

3D Diamond Template Die (Waffle Flower)

 Creative Station w/ 9" Permanent Adhesive Cartridge (Xyron)

Black Cardstock- Black, White, Cream Stack (DCWV)

Mercury Glass Stack (DCWV)

Personal Die-cut Machine

Electronic Die-cutting Machine and Software

11"x 14" Shadowbox Frame (Studio Decor)

Stylus 

T-Ruler

Bone Folder

Clear liquid adhesive

I hope you really enjoyed my project for today! 

 DON'T FORGET...

To enter GIVEAWAY on the Xyron page by COMMENTING on any/all the Waffle Flower project posts!!

AND...

To stop on by the Waffle Flower Blog for even more amazing projects.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!

AND THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY!!

Oh gosh... Just a bit of an FYI (For anyone interested)... Xyron is also having a 25% OFF ALL PRODUCTS SALE. This is good till July 31, 2016 using
 COUPON CODE: SUMMER
at checkout.

Hope you all have a great SUMMER!! And Enjoy the rest of the BLOG HOP!!

~Mitsy

Sanding You Warm Wishes

Hi Crafty Peeps!! It's summertime! It is hot and humid! And I really wish I lived close to the beach right about now!!

But, as luck has it, I'm several hundreds of miles away from the nearest beach. That just stinks!! Oh well... if I can't go to the beach I might as well bring the beach to me, right! Right!! Because I'm in a "beachy" mood today!

Supplies Used

Sunkissed Greetings (Pink and Main)

Hello Sunshine (Pink and Main)

Stitched Greetings (Pink and Main)

Stitched Greetings Dies (Pink and Main)

Stitched Rounded Rectangle Dies (Pink and Main) 

Scallop Waves Die (Pink and Main) 

Stephanie Barnard's Card Scallop w/ Greetings Drop-Ins Die (Sizzix)

Watercolor Stack (DCWV Inc)

Pastel Stack (DCWV Inc) 

Ebrush (Craftwell)

Cut'n'boss (Craftwell)

Creative Station Lite (Xyron)

Mega Runner (Xyron)

Color Pencils (Spectrum Noir) 

Alcohol Markers (Spectrum Noir) 

3D Foam Adhesive

White Gel Pen (Sakura)

Momento Onyx Black Ink (Imagine Crafts/ Tsukineko)

Low Odor Mineral Spirits

Blending Stumps

First, I stamped my image on white cardstock using Momento tuxedo Blank Ink. I usually stamp several images at once and then color them all at the same time. I also like to stamp "extras", just incase I make a boo-boo along the way. You never know when an accident may occur... like those instances where little hands wander onto your work area and snatch your work. It's always good to just be prepared!

I like to coloring my images with color pencils and blending out with low odor mineral spirits and blending stumps. Especially on smaller images it's really hard to color and shade, so I find that a well sharpened pencil tips fit perfectly into those hard to color areas. Once done coloring my images I hand cut the images out. If I have the matching dies for the images I will use those.

For my card base I used this scalloped card set by Stephanie Barnard. Because I used a faux watercolor type technique of my images I chose to use pastel colors and muted tones for the card base and mat. I found that if I  use bright and bold colors while using this coloring technique, it seems to was out the images and the colors in the image will not show up true to the actual colors. 

So, for the card base I used DCWV 's Pastel Stack and for the scalloped mat I used patterned paper from DCWV's Watercolor Sstack.

The scalloped card die set didn't come with a plane mat die. Instead it has word cut-outs. I really wanted to have a matted front... so I used Pink and Main's Stitched Rounded Rectangles Dies. The third largest die makes a great mat for for my cardbase. The width was perfect, unfortunately, the height wasn't.

To make my rectangle seem taller, I cut out 2 rectangles. One for the sand and one for the sky.  Then overlap at the ends.

I ebrushed the edges of my leafy paper with my Spectrum Noir DG3 alcohol marker, the light blue paper with SN TB1, and The sand colored paper with SN TN3. 

Then, I ran the scalloped mat  and through my Xyron Creative Station Lite.

Next, I stamped my sentiment from the Sunkissed Greeting set, using Momento Tuxedo Black ink. I also stamped the stitched oval from the Stitched Greetings set around my sentiment. Then cut out using the matching Stitched Greetings Dies Oval Die.

Lastly, I added adhesive foam for dimension under some of my elements and adhered all the pieces of my card together to create this super cute beach scene.

And here is my finished card...

You can see how just how much dimension the foam adhesive adds to the card.

I hope you really enjoyed the summer beach card project!!

 Have a beautiful, sunny, beachy, type of crafty day!!

~ Mitsy

Teresa Collins Cityscape Card- Craftwell/ Clearsnap Collaboration

Hello, Crafty Friends! It has been a while since I've been in my craftroom... and I am super excited to able to bring you these ULTRA CHIC products from Teresa Collins. The awesome people of Clearsnap have joined together with our fabulous Craftwell team to bring you some inspiring projects for the month of July.

Featured Teresa Collins Products

 

Teresa Collins Cut'n'boss (Craftwell)

 

Teresa Collins Embossing Folder- Design Grids (Craftwell)

Teresa Collins Pocket Dies- Noteworthy (Craftwell)

Teresa Collins Glitz Gold (Clearsnap)

Teresa Collins Loft Black (Clearsnap)

Teresa Collins Wood Mount Stamps- Downtown (Clearsnap)

Other Supplies Used

Black, White, Cream Cardstock Stack (DCWV)

Creative Station Lite (Xyron)

1.5" Sticker Maker (Xyron)

Clear Embossing Powder (Judikins)

Glossy Accents (Ranger)

First, I started by creating a mini city. I used the Teresa Collins Downtown rubber stamp by Clearsnap. I stamped my image several times on bright white textured cardstock using Glitz Gold and Loft black pigment ink pads. I could have stamped my image on smooth cardstock, which would have given me a smooth and even impression, but chose to use textured cardstock because the inked impression would stamp only the raised texture... leaving the depressed areas white... and mimic the look if lit windows in my buildings.

Next, I dipped my freshly stamped images into clear embossing powder and heat set them with a heating tool. 

Then, I hand cut each cityscape out and cut a few into smaller pieces. Then I ran all my little building through my Xyron "X" sticker maker.

I used one solid (uncut) piece as my front, and then randomly layered the smaller pieces behind it, creating a tiny city.

For my card front, I used the "Be Golden" die from the Teresa Collins Noteworthy set... not for the phrase itself but for the circle shape. I found that this die was the perfect size to create a A2 mat (4"x 5.25") sized card window. This is a wonderful way to stretch the use of your die. I also set aside the cut-out to use on another project for later.

Once my window was cut out, I embossed it using the Teresa Collins Design Grids Embossing Folder. I turned my card front at a 45 degree angle and ran it through my Cut'n'boss machine. This gives me a diamond pattern instead of a square patterned impression.

Because this card front is heavily textured I ran it through my Creative Station Lite for maximum adhesion. This will hold it securely to my card.

I applied it to a A2 sized card made with glossy black cardstock. I cut another piece of bright cardstock slightly smaller than my windowed mat and layered the two together. Then attached them to my glossy cardbase.

For my sentiment, I used the " Love These Moments" die, also from the Noteworthy set, and die cut it from more white cardstock. I cut out 2 of these. Then, replaced one back into it's negative and inked the entire sentiment with Glitz Gold pigment ink. Placing my words back into it's cutout helps to keep it in it's place and help prevents tears on my delicate pieces.

Then, I dipped my inked sentiment into clear embossing powder and heat set it. Now my sentiment coordinates perfectly with my stamped image.

I layered the heat embossed sentiment over the white one and adhered the two together with Glossy Accents. Then used more Glossy Accents to attach to my card front.

The result is this ULTRA CHIC and FABULOUSLY MOD card. 

Very Clean and Very Simple!

Perfect card to give to those who love the city and/or city life.

Hope you enjoyed my project for today!!

Hope you have a very crafty day!!

~ Mitsy