Nestabilities and Frames

Nestablities make the most super frames to highlight an image.

I made this card for a love theme challenge.
The image is stamped on white card in red ink and then cut out and mounted on a Nestie label embossed with the D'vine Swirls folder. Next, I stamped the image again in black stazon on acetate and cut a second label. Using two inks gives a great effect, but you do have to take care matching the two images.

Now you need a frame. If you have not done this before, you will find instructions here.

To finish the card all that is needed is to attached all layers, add your roses, ribbon and gems and you have a very stylish embellishment.

I wanted to make the embellishment the main feature, so to the Charcoal Glimmer cardstock I just added score lines to frame the frame!
I think this say "LOVE", don't you?

You can see more of my crafting and tutorials over on Ikki's Cuttlebug Cupboard. I'd love have you visit!

Mens gift wallet tutorial.

We see many lovely gifts for women, and the blogs are awash with crafty makes full of blooms and ribbons, but rarely anything for men.

I have had many requests to share how I made the men’s paper wallet a while ago, so here is a tutorial to help you make one yourself. They would make an ideal gift for a guy, and you can put whatever you want in them.

For this tutorial I used thin card, as it will be covered both sides with paper. Glues used were a strong stick glue (Tombo), and UHU for the extra strength needed in parts. All measurements are in inches. For a closer view of the details and written measurements, please click the imake for a larger view.

Ok then, firstly cut a piece of thin card 8 ½ x 5 ½ .



Then choose two pieces of patterned paper and cut both of these the same size. These will be your inside and outside of the wallet.



Glue your paper to either side of the card, then lay your covered card in front of you with the inside of the wallet facing upwards.



Next you need to make the score lines so the wallet can fold. Mark the measurents shown on the photo below, then score down the wallet at these points.



Now fold your wallet inwards from both ends, making sure you fold all four score lines. Don’t worry if the folds tear slightly on the outside when you fold them….



This can happen if the paper or card is quite thick. However I actually like it when this happens as you can ink it and use it as a distressed look.

Now flip it over so the front of the wallet is facing you. If you want, now could be a good time to decorate the front. Here I’ve just inked the edges, used a few stamps, added a few eyelets here and there and finished it off with a popper closure.



So that’s the outside cover done. Now for the inside, for the purposes of this tutorial I will call it the “inlay”.

Take another piece of paper and cut it 7 7/8 long x 4 ¼ wide as shown in the picture below. Add a tab ½ in wide either side and at the bottom of the paper.



Turn your wallet back over again so the inside is facing upwards. Now glue the tabs and stick the inlay onto the inside of the wallet. Remember you will have only the sides and bottom glued down. The top is open so you can put money in it.

Tip: be aware of where you insert closures when you decorate the outside of the wallet, you’ll see here I stuck a popper button right where I wanted the inlay to go, hence the cut-out part around the closure.

Once you’ve stuck the inlay in, go over the previously scored fold lines so they now include the inlay…..like so…..



Next you need to cut 2 strips of paper ¾ in wide, and as long as the inlay. Then cut 5 strips of paper ¾ wide and as wide as the inlay…..like so…..

These strips will make up the frame for the pouches for the wallet. Turn them over face down and arrange them into a frame as in the picture. Starting from the left, I have marked the measurements at where I stuck my bars on the frame. They should not line up with the wallet folds.



Now we need to make the pouches. All we do for this is glue a piece of paper, slightly smaller than the frame, at each part of the frame. As you look at the paper I have just glued, note that I have only glued along the top, bottom and left side edge. I can’t explain that any better so heres a pic…

Now for the second piece of paper that fits across the next part of the frame….this time glue only along the top, bottom and right side edges of the paper.

Turn your frame over, and now you see the inside of the wallet…..and theres why you didn’t glue all those edges just now…..you can stick things in it now! Please note that how you arrange your “frame” and pockets is up to you. Some of these pockets here are more for effect, but still work to a degree.



Now theres one frame that’s empty at the moment isn’t there….this is where you cover it with plastic. I cut up some plastic packaging for this. Just do the same as you did before with the pieces of paper, glue and fit it inside the last part pf the frame. As you look at the picture below, you’ll see I have glue 3 sides, top, right and bottom. This allows you to insert business cards, photos etc.



Now then….time to stick the pocket frame directly onto the inlay. However before you do this, I did a Calvism and took the pics the wrong way around, so just rotate the frame so the plastic business card end is at the left side….then stick the frame straight onto the inlay, remembering to only glue the frames bottom and sides….like so…..



Now for a few finishing touches, here I have drawn false stitching on with a white pen. Do this on the outside of the wallet too.



Now fold it closed and this will fold the insides nicely....

Check the top opens ok….



Lets see if the closure works…..you can use whatever you like for a closure, Velcro, buttons and ribbons, eyelets and ribbons…..anything….



So there you go…..one mens wallet! Not the quickest or easiest tutorial, and I’m sure there are others out there that are easier….but I am just showing people how I did mine. Hopefully it will inspire you to change it or do something different with it.



Hope you found this usefull....thanks for looking.

Calv.

Felt Cover Mini Album Video Tutorial

Thank you
Jana

APRIL IN PARIS

Who remembers the songs "April in Paris" and "I love Paris in the Springtime"?

I don't know why, but there just seems to be something especially exotic and romantic about Paris... particularly at this time of year. Paris, the City of Lovers...

So here's my take on it.

THE POSTCARD:


Paris Postcard
Copyright Susie Jefferson

1stFloorFlat
& BladeRubberBlog

• The stamped background postoid text and the Eiffel Tower are both from Tim Holtz's I See Paris sheet.
• The postcard is a natural, flecked, handmade paper.
  
• The background was stamped in Ranger Archival ink in Sepia, and the Eiffel Tower in Brilliance Graphite Black onto white linen-effect cardstock.
• Tear round the Eiffel Tower image and colour it Direct-To-Paper style, using Versacolour pigment inks in Old Rose & Opera Pink, with a touch of Sky Blue.
• The image is from a photo in my private collection. If she isn't French, then she certainly looks it!
  
• Both Eiffel Tower and photo are layered over torn vintage French text from an old dictionary.
  
• I used a clear alphabet to stamp out April in Paris, using Ranger's Sepia archival ink again, and drew over the letters by hand with a red glitter pen. I also coloured in the lady's lipstick with the red glitter pen.
• Her cheeks were coloured with a cottonwool bud (carefully) with the Old Rose pigment ink.
• Finally, I drew over the lips with Ranger's Glossy Accents, to really make the lipstick "pop".

THE TAG:



Paris Tag
Copyright Susie Jefferson

1stFloorFlat
& BladeRubberBlog

• Crumple a manilla tag then smooth it out again. Do this a couple of times.
• Swipe the tag with Distress ink in Mahogany and spritz a couple of times with clear water, so that the ink runs.
• Allow to dry naturally, or hurry it up with a heat gun.
• Flatten with an iron (on Dry setting) if you hate the creases.
  
• Stamp the Eiffel Tower in Ranger Archival Sepia ink and tear around the image.
• Use a cottonwool bud to tint the tower with a touch of Old Rose Versacolour ink.
• Scuff round the torn edges of the image with Distress ink in Black Soot.
  
• Stamp the alphabet as described above and draw over the letters with Glossy Accents.
• Tint cheeks & lips as above.

Two easy-peasy and FAST projects for when you're in a hurry. These can both be done as a production run (I made around 20 postcards for a swap I was in). I like doing the tags to give away as bookmarks (you can never have too many bookmarks) and must have made around 10 or so of these as well.

If you'd like to know more about how to hand- tint your own photographs, click on this link to my Techniques page.

Make Your Own Fabric Flowers

I got tired of buying those little jars of flowers for 9.99 at the big craft stores. I had to make 200 wedding favors and decided to make my own flowers.  You just pull them apart and put a brad in the center.  Easy peasy!

Here's the flowers when I was done.  The yellow flowers are all from big bouquets.

Don't forget to visit my BLOG for other goodies too!

EASY CARD FOR A MAN

A nice, easy monochrome image - men are always difficult to stamp for, and I think are often frightened of colour!

This card works well for birthdays, anniversarys (I made it for Father's Day last year - and my poor husband will probably be given it again this year, lol).




















With Love copyright Susie Jefferson at 1stFloorFlat and BladeRubberStamps

How I did it:

• I used just one inkpad throughout: Brilliance ink in Starlite Black.
• The background is the huge trefoil stamp (stamped twice onto white card) from the Weathered Textiles sheet by Tim Holtz.
• The main image is Classic Couple from Stampsmith (also stamped onto white card) then torn round 3 of the edges and ink rubbed on straight from the pad.
• I punched two holes at top and bottom left-hand side and threaded fibres through, then used double-sided tape to mount the piece to the background.
• The text is made up from an unmounted ransom-style alphabet set.
  

I hope you enjoy my very first project for Inspirational!

Quilling A Bear

How to quill a cute bear that you can place on cards or scrapbooks.

Don't forget to visit my BLOG for other great goodies.

Cuttlebug and Border Folders

Using your Border Folders
This was always a problem for me because I kept getting the lines of the folder on the card, which I did not like. I know from the mail I have received that many other peeps are experiencing this. So, after many trys I came up with this method that I find works every time, (perhaps I shouldn't say this because there is always going to be "that" time when it doesn't).

1. Making a Modifying Folder Pad (MFP). The MFP as you will see is slightly smaller than the folder so that pressure is only put on the pattern and not on the edges, which is why you get lines on your cards. The MFP is made of thick card, taped together to make a thickness that resembles the thickness of the B plate. It's a bit time consuming, but once made can be saved and used again. PLEASE, take care here, keep testing, better to start thin and build up - if you make it too thick it could break your beloved machine.




Once you have the MFP you are ready to start embossing.

2. The equipment that I used:

A Plate, B Plate, Cardstock, Frills Border Folder, and the MFP which replaces the 2nd B Plate

You will also notice that I'm embossing straight onto my cardstock. But, you can emboss on a piece of card to use for matting and laying. I always try to emboss with the back of the card NOT wrapped round the folder. I feed this part through the CB first. I think you will see the blue card on the picture. The reason I do this is twofold. It helps to avoid creasing on the card, and also I feel looks better, but this is just a personal thing!

3. Here is the finished card

You will see that I have added a second border, using the same method

These are a few samples of cards made with the fancy corner folders - the MFP method works just the same, only a different shape.





Now are you ready to make a card using this method - go on try it out - I challenge you.

HOWEVER, I feel that I must state that I'm not saying that my way is the correct and only way, it is just my way and it works for me and hopefully will work for you so you too grow to love your bug and find out just how versatile it is. But, I stress again never force anything through your bug, better and safer to build up your MFP.

You will find more Cuttlebug and Nestie tutorials on my blog ikki's Cuttlebug Cupboard

I hope you will come and "Cuttle with me" again.

Quilled Bunny Tutorial

Quilling a cute bunny just in time for Easter.Visit my BLOG for more videos and tutorials too! Enjoy!

Attaching charms with jump rings and chain

I use forceps (medical ones that I picked up from a medical suppliers) but any pointed nose pliers will do the trick, tweezers won’t work as they are not strong enough. I use cheap silver plated jump rings and chain which I get from the jewellery section in Hobbycraft but I would think you could pick these supplies up at any bead/craft store.

Hold the jump ring with both sets of forceps/pliers with the join uppermost.
Twist the right hand forceps/pliers towards you – DO NOT PULL IT OUTWARDS, all this does is misshape the jump ring, By twisting it forwards to open and backwards to close the ring remains a perfect circle and does not distort.
Repeat with the other end of the chain and feed this jump ring on to the brad to secure to your flower.


Thanks for looking,

My Blog

Egg shell texture technique

This is a little Tutorial on how to create a Textured back ground like i have on this Altered book. Dont forget to check out my blog Here for more ideas.

Flower Soft Tutorial

I had posted a card in a previous post using Flower Soft. I wanted to do a short tutorial on how easy it is to use it. Enjoy!

Don't forget to sneak a peek at my BLOG for more tutorials.