Be A Unicorn

Happy Saturday! I hope everyone has had a great start to their weekend! \I am so excited to be a guest designer for Lori Whitlock. I've always been a big fan of her unique and whimsical designs. And I am over the moon thrilled to be able to share with you this adorable Unicorn Card I made using her Center Box Card Unicorn.

To check out my tutorial and to see additional pictures, please visit the Lori Whitlock Blog!! 

Thank you all for stopping by!!

~Mitsy

Creepy Crawly Cupcakes

Hey there, Crafty Friends!! Halloween is creeping around the bend!! What kind of spooktacular plans do you have?? Me... I plan to have a little get together and serve a few of the creepy crawlies!  And decorating them is a cinch!! With these frightfully intoxicating cupcake wrappers from Lia Griffith and DCWV!!

You can find Lia Griffith's Cupcake Spider sets in Joann Stores or online HERE.

And the awesome thing about these sheets are that these come already perforated! There are 20 sheets, they all include 1 wrapper and 1 large and 2 small spiders each!!

You just punch them out and assemble!! I found it easiest and less time consuming, punching out 3-4 sheets out at a time. Just stack them onto one another a punch them out together!

The sheet included are gorgeous shimmery paper. They come white with almost a metallic iridescence to them. And are labeled food safe.

They do, however, take color like a dream! If you are going to color them to match a certain color scheme, use inks that are certified non-toxic. I only colored one side of my wrappers to be on the safe side. I used an ebrush airbrush with markers to lightly spray some color and customize my wrappers. 

Then glued the ends of the wrapper together.

I used mini clothes pins to hold them together till the glue dried (just a couple of minutes). I was doing several at one time so these little clip freed up my hands from having to hold it close while the glue set.

Once the glue dried, I inserted my cupcakes (that I made previously) into each wrapper. 

I bent the little legs on the  "Daddy Long Legs" and perched these creepy crawlies on top of each fluffy top of icing!

And here they are... 

My SCARY SWEET treats!!

These were remarkably easy to make! And if you skip coloring them all together assembly will come together in mere minutes (excluding drying time).

I hope you enjoyed this super quick how-to!!

See you all next time!!

~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

Anchor of my Hope

Hello, Crafty Friends

I'm back again for another week with Craftwell & Latina Crafter!! Today marks the beginning of week #2 of awesome Latina Crafter projects! And, today I will show you how made this "Porthole" window card.

Supplies Used

Cut'n'boss (Craftwell)

Teresa Collins Pocket Dies- Memory Collection (Craftwell)

Teresa Collins Embossing Folder- Diamond Motif (Craftwell)

Nested Circle Dies (Darice)

Xyron Mega Runner 

Seaside Yacht Stack (DCWV)

Glittered Vellum

Red & White Baker's Twine

VersaFine Onyx Black Ink

Spectrum Noir Marker- TB1

Blue Button

Cardstock- Black, White

One of the best inventions ever... clear stamps!! One of the benefits of using clear stamps is one's ability to see exact placement of your images/ and words! I can position or combine stamps in a variety of positions for a variety of looks, expanding and maximizing my stamping possibilities.

First, I positioned my clear stamps onto an acrylic block and stamped the image onto a practice sheet of paper to make sure that alignment is how and where I want it. This way I  minimize waste and saves my "good stuff" for my actual projects. For this card I used Latina Crafter's Anchor set.

Once placement was exactly how  wanted, I stamped my image onto my "pretty" cardstock.

I added shadows to the banner by shading the ends with a Spectrum Noir Marker in TB1. 

For my card front I cut a 4"x5.25" piece of cardstock. I found this awesome anchor paper that matched the theme of the stamps with cute little anchors from the DCWV Seaside Yacht Stack. I embossed it using a Teresa Collins Diamond Motif Embossing Folder through my Cut'n'boss machine using the following sandwich:

I wanted to cut a window but I wanted my stamped image to be centered. To get image centered, I first centered my stamped image using a wafer thin metal die blade side up. I held the die and paper in place with my thumbs and forefingers, then flipped them over. Still holding them together I centered them over my card front mat. Now, when I remove my stamped paper, my die is now positioned blade side down. At this point you can use washi tape or painter's tape to keep in place. and die cut your window.

Then used my Xyron Mega Runner to attach my window to my card A2 sized card base. To complete my "Porthole" window, I centered the next smallest circle die inside the first window and ran it through my die cut machine again.

Then I attached my stamped image on the inside if my card. Centering it on the back lap should also result in it being centered in the window.

Then, I cut a 4"x5.25" piece of cardstock and attached it to the inside/ backside of the window. Then repeated the same step for the front window to the inside. This covers up an adhesive that shows through the vellum and gives the inside of the card a finished look.

To embellish the card I also stamped an anchor and cut it out by hand.

And, die cut the "RememberThis" phrase from the Teresa Collins Memory Collection set. Then ebrushed it using the same marker I used to color the stamped banner. I used a glue pen to adhere it to black cardstock and attached it to my card stock with more adhesive tape.

To finish my card, I used baker's twine topped with a button. and used liquid glue to attach the twine and anchor.

And here is my finished card...

You can''t see the actual sentiment until you open the card...

or press down firmly

I hope you enjoyed today's project!! I really love the quality of Latina Crafter stamps!! And they go so perfectly with my Teresa Collins dies and folders... don't you think??!!

Until next time,

HAVE A CRAFTY DAY!!

~Mitsy

=

Light-up Checkbook Cover w/ Chibitronics and Xyron

Hello, Crafty Friends!! Today we are getting"tech-y" in the craftroom!! The amazing people at Chibitronics have partnered up with the awesomeness of Xyron and today is the last day of our fabulous week long blog hop!

For my project I chose to make something I can take with me everywhere. That's right, take my crafts with me... why not?! And that is why I made this Light-up Checkbook Cover!!

Supplies Used

STEM Starter Kit (Chibitronics) 

Xyron Creative Station Lite

Xyron Mega Runner

Cut'n'boss (Craftwell)

Ebrush (Craftwell)

Fabulous Die- Marquee Text (Truly Mitsyana for Brutus Monroe)

Stephanie Barnard's- Royal Stand-Ups (Sizzix)

Unicorn Die (Top Dog Dies)

Double Sided Cardstock, DIY Project Stack Stencils (DCWV)

White Cardstock (Bazzill Basics)

Silver Foil Cardstock (Grafix)

Sharpie Markers- Pink. Lavender, Bright Blue

Spectrum Noir Marker- TB1, TB3

Gellyroll Pens- Glitter, White (Sakura)

PITT Artist Pen S (Faber-Castell)

Deluxe Paper Trimmer (Martha Stewart)

Score board (Martha Stewart)

2way Glue Pen

Chalklets (EK Success)

Blue Painter's Tape

Pencil

Scissors

I started by using my Cut'n'boss machine to cut out my unicorn from plain white cardstock. This unicorn come with extra mane and horn pieces to layer your unicorn, 

I airbrushed my mane using pin, lavender, and blue sharpies with my ebrush machine.

Then trace my horn with a glitter Gellyroll pen.

I shaded the cheeks with pink chalk and a blending stick and then traced the detail lines with a fine tipped black pen.

I assemble my pieces together using 2way glue.

Lastly, I traced the hairlines and the edges of the mane.

I measure and cut a piece of double sided cardstock at 6"x 6.5". Then scored my cardstock at 3.25" and folded it in half.

I repeated the same steps with a piece of white cardstock. The White cardstock will be my bottom (base) where all the circuits and lights will be mounted. And my double sided cardstock will be the top, where my design will be attached.

I airbrushed the "FRONT" part of my cover (top piece) making sure to tape it off to create a straight line separating front from back of my cover. I used Spectrum Noir in TB3 in my ebrush machine and only airbrushed the edges.

Then I hand drew clouds onto a piece of white cardstock. I fussy cut 4 clouds (2small, 2 big).  Then ebrushed the edges with Spectrum Noir TB1

I also die cut a ornate shape to go as a backer to my unicorn. The one I use dis from Stephanie Barnard's Royal Stand-Ups set. Then I ebrushed around the edges with a pick sharpie.

If you do not have an airbrush system, you can definitely shade using ink and daubers. It is totally up to you, what you are comfortable with and what you have available.

Then I ran all my pieces through my new Creative Station Lite machine.

For a bit of bling without the bulk, I decided to die cut "MY" super fab die out of silver foil /mirrored cardstock.(yup , this is one of my new dies)!! EEEK!! OOOHHH, SO SHINY!!

I attached using my glue pen.

And here is what it looks like with everything attached.

Now, for all the gizmos!! Here is where it start to get "tech-y"!

On my white cardstock I used  pencil and ruler and drew lines on where I wanted my circuits to go. making sure to clearly mark each line with a positive or negative symbol, so I know which end of my LED light needs to touch which line. I also drew dots in the areas I wanted my lights to be placed. By doing all this I pretty much just drew a map of my whole layout. 

I also, cut a 2"x1" piece of paper and folded it on half,  and again marked one side positive and one side negative.

Then, using my Mega Runner, attached my flap down onto my base... Making sure that my negative line leads to my negative side of my flap, and my positive line to my positive side. Now, all I have to do is run the copper adhesive tape along the lines and attached my LED sticker lights onto my dots.

In order for the lights to work the LED must be touching both the + and - copper tapes and both ends mist also touch the battery (one on each side of the battery).

You may notice that there is an extra line that goes clear across my project... that is just there to tell me to stay above that line... below that is where the clouds will be (my horizon) and I didn't want the clouds to block my lights.

To keep the battery from touching the circuit continuously on both sides of my battery, I added foam mounts all around my battery. This does two things...

1) keeps my battery from moving.

and

2) keeps my circuit off my battery until it is pressed down onto my battery.

You can't really see it in the picture above, but you can see it better in the pic below.

I ended up putting a third foam square directly above the battery (right onto the copper tape) to prevent it from shaking loose.

Then I used my Xyron Mega Runner to attach my cover to my base.

Once attached, I used my white Gelly roll pen to draw little stars and a night sky.

If you want exact placement to where your lights are, simply pres down to activate the lights. While the lights are lit, used your pen to mark your points. And tah-dah!! Exact placement!

Now that my cover is finally put together, all I need to do is slip it into a vinyl checkbook cover sleeve. I bought mine a while back from a LSS (Local Scrapbook Store) but if yours doesn't carry them, you can easily find the on Amazon.

And here is my finished Light-up Checkbook Cover...

I hope you enjoyed today's project! I had a blast! Don't forget to head on over to Chibitronics HERE to see what their team created with Xyron products!! 

As always...

HAPPY CRAFTING!!

~Mitsy