A Handy Dandy Notebook

My son has become very much into Blues Clues lately.  He loves to run around the house pretending to play the game at home.  I noticed that he was trying to use post-its as his notebook and it wasn't really working out too well, not to mention all the little paper squares all over the house.  So I went to my computer and thanks to an internet coloring page of the Thinking Chair and my Inkscape & Make the Cut software, I was able to design a Handy Dandy Notebook.  I also finally broke down and bought a Zutter Bind It All (gotta love 40% off at Hobby Lobby).

Handy Dandy Notebook

Handy Dandy Notebook - Side View

Handy Dandy Notebook - Inside View

I will try to remember the recipe for you.

Cover:  1 Sheet of Bazzill Cardstock - Black (cut into 4 - 6" x 6" squares)
              1 Sheet of Bazzill Bling Cardstock - Petty Cash (1 - 5 3/4" sqaure)
              1 Thinking Chair cut at 5" out of Bazzill Dotted Swiss Red and Bazzill Black

Inside:  10 Sheets of Yellow Paper cut into 6" x 6" squares

Binding:  Zutter Bind It All with 3/4" Binding

I just adhered two of the black squares together to make the covers and then assembled as shown above.  Let me know if you have any questions and I will send the cut files via private message if you are interested.

Paper Roses

Today I made 3D roses using paper, my Cricut and MTC (Make the Cut Software).  I found this technique on Penny Duncan's website, she has a video tutorial for making these awesome roses.  I am going to give you a quick view of how I did it.

Supplies Needed:

1. Paper (card stock or patterned paper)
2. Hot Glue Gun
3. Cricut
4. PDC Rose SVG file
5. Craft Tweezers
6. Paper Piercing Mat
7. Embossing Stylus
8. Stickles (optional)

Step 1 - Cut out the rose pattern on your Cricut using MTC and SVG file.



Step 2 - Emboss the back sides of each petal set just like we did in in the Paper Punch Flowers in my last post.  Be sure to flip each set over to the right side and emboss the centers to make the petals pop up.

Step 3 - Take one of the petal sets that has the slit cut in it place it underside up and hold it by the the first petal with your tweezers.  Tightly twist this petal around itself.



Step 4 - Place this twisted petal in the center of the second petal and wrap the second petal around the first.  Repeat with all remaining petals.



Step 5 - Use your hot glue gun to lightly glue the bottom of what is going to be the rose's center.



Step 6 - Take the other petal set with the slit cut into it.  Place it underside up.  Place a small drop of glue on the bottom center of the first petal.  Place the rose center we just created on this petal, making sure that the bottom extends about halfway into the hole in the center of the cutout.



Step 7 - Wrap the first petal around the rose center.  Place in the center of the second petal and wrap this petal around the rose center.  Repeat with all petals.



Step 8 - Hot glue the bottom of the completed center with hot glue.



Step 9 - Take the cutout with the large center, place it top side up, and place hot glue around the center hole.  Insert the rose center into the hole and shape petals around.



Step 10 - Take the cutout with the smaller center, place it top side up, and place hot glue around the center hole.  Insert your rose into the hole and shape petals around again maing sure to stagger the petals from the previous row so it looks more realistic.



Step 11 - Take the final cutout, place it top side up, and place a drop of hot glue in the center and insert your rose again making sure you stagger the petals.  Shape petals until the desired look is achieved.



Step 12 - Optional.  I used my Diamond Stickles around the edge of each rose petal to add a little sparkle to the flower.

Here are the flowers I've made.

Paper Punch Flowers

My new technique that I am working on is Paper Punch Flowers.

Supplies needed:

1. Paper (pattern or solid - I am using Tim Holtz Vintage Shabby)
2. Retro Flower Punch - Medium by EK Success
3. Embossing Stylus - Fiskers
4. Paper Piercing Pad - (I use In Stitch'z Jr. by Bazzill)
5. Stickles (I am using Pink and Silver)

Step 1 - Punch your flowers out of the paper (Ink or chalk edges now if desired)
Step 2 - Place flower upside-down on your Piercing Pad

Step 3 - Using the Embossing Stylus carefully shap each petal by rubbing around the edges of the petal and in the center of the petal until desired petal is acheived (careful not to tear the paper). Repeat for each petal.



Step 4 - Flip flower over to the right side and use the stylus to indent the center which will cause your petals to pop up.



Step 5 - Using your Stickles add a center to each flower.

That's it. It is pretty easy and a lot cheaper than buying paper flowers. Below is a flower I made with my Cricut and a file I found online for Make the Cut. I cut multiple size flowers and inked the edges and joined them with a brad and covered the brad with pink Stickles .

Memory Mania University

Today is orientation day and pep rally for Memory Mania University. This is the scrapbooking school that my local scrapbook store offers. I have never taken scrapbooking classes before, but I figured that if I was going to give this scrapbook thing a real chance then a few classes my be smart. Best of all, most of the classes are offered during the day so I can take them while Dylan is at school. Since this is a Pep Rally we were told to bring treats for our "Sorority Sisters" and so I made these cute little cups and filled them with candy. I'm not sure what the other ladies will come up with, but this was the best I could do. When I signed up for the classes I had no idea that they were this serious about the whole "university" concept. I am hoping that it will be fun and that I actually learn something. Plus it is a great way to meet other people and make friends (which I admit I haven't done much of since we moved here). I will check back in later and let you know how it went.

These are the gifts I made for my sorority sisters. I used my Cricut with the Everyday Paper Dolls Cartridge to make the cheerleaders. I used a file I found online with my Make the Cut Software to make the boxes, also with the Cricut. I used Peachy Keen Stamps for the faces along with StazOn Ink in Jet Black. The awesome zebra print paper is Safari Untamed by the Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby. I also used my awesome new ATG gun to hold everything together.