Paper Mache Quilt Shop

This is the quilt shop I made for a swap I participated in way back in August of 2014.  I altered a paper mache house from Hobby Lobby.  The porch and window I added in the front was made using a tutorial from Laura Denison Designs — I altered one of her Maple Street Shoppes (the Tea Shoppe) to fit my little house.

All the paper I used to cover it is from Graphic 45’s Secret Garden collection.  I used several doll house miniatures to add realism and I even added a little needle-felted robin on the roof.  I found the robin on etsy and he came all the way from Russia.

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The sign is computer generated and mounted on a Spellbinders Label shape, but I don’t recall which one I used.  I named my shop Quilty Pleasures.  You can see some of the miniatures I used — the cat and package by the front door and the iron in the window. There is also a miniature quilt book in the window that I found on etsy — it even opens. In the next photo you can see the book a little better.  I made the bolts of fabric using fabric from my stash.

I used two different Martha Stewart border punches for trim on the shop.

WindowCUI handmade the rug that is on the front porch – a tedious and time consuming undertaking.  I used strands of embroidery floss that I braided together.  Once I had a long strand I started forming it into the shape of the rug.  I cut an oval from cardstock and glued on the back of the rug.

Rug

The next three pictures will be of the windows on the sides and the back of the shop.  I printed some cute bear quilting clipart I found on the internet and put them behind windows that I cut out with my Zing using a svg file.

RSide2

LSide

The roof is made from a piece of fabric that I printed a quilt design on using my Brother garment printer.

Back

The roof lifts off and I covered the inside of the house with paper – a mini album fits inside.

Inside

This was such a fun project and I love how the Secret Garden collection looks on the quilt shop.  I ended up making two mini albums, which I will post separately.

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  • Paper mache house from Hobby Lobby
  • Graphic 45 Secret Garden collection
  • Laura Denison Designs Tea Shoppe pattern
  • Martha Stewart border punches
  • Spellbinders label die
  • Assorted purchased miniatures
  • Handmade braided rug
  • Scrap lace and fabric from my stash

Frozen Christmas Cards

I made Christmas cards for three sisters and used the same theme throughout — characters from Disney’s Frozen.

The first two cards are shakers cards.  I got to try some of my Papertrey Ink shaker dies making these — love how the dies make shaker cards so easy.  I added Martha Stewart snow inside — and some sequins from Doodlebug Designs.  The banner and the sentiment are also from Papertrey Ink.

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The snowflakes are from Martha Stewart border punches — I used two different punches to get the different sized flakes.

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The third card is a scraplift — when CBC Scrapbooking posted her card on Facebook, I fell in love with it.  The card uses cut files from Little Scraps of Heaven Designs.  I used Warm Hugs and Ice Princess to make the card.

The tag is from a die by Jaded Blossom Stamps — the Tag 2 set.   The snowflake frame is from Spellbinders.  I again used some of the punched snowflakes on this card.

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  • Papertrey Ink – Shaker dies, banner die and sentiment stamp
  • Little Scraps of Heaven Designs – Warm Hugs and Ice Princess cut files
  • Jaded Blossom Stamps – Tags 2 die
  • Spellbinders – Snowflake Frame
  • Martha Stewart – snowflake border punches
  • Doodlebug Designs – sequins

Birthday Cards

World Card Making Day was Saturday, Oct 4, and I actually got a couple of cards made. Well, I made one card on Saturday and the other one on Sunday, so it was a weekend endeavor.

First up is a birthday shaker card.  I love shaker cards and this one has a birthday cake on the front.  I used the Arched Top Card Base and Party Shaker Tags from svgcuttingfiles.com to make this card.  The stamps are from Jaded Blossom — Birthday Treat Tags and Birthday Candies.  I also used one of the  Mini Tag 2 dies to cut the sentiment circle.  I heat embossed the sentiments.

The pattern paper is from SEI and I used Doodlebug Design sequins inside the shaker.  I outlined the candle flames with Stickles.

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The next card I made for our dog, Fifi, to give to Steve for his birthday in a couple of weeks.  Steve doesn’t look at our blog, so I don’t have to worry about him seeing the card.

I used the Dog Bone Shaped Card and the Pomeranian Pup files for this card.  Fifi is a mix of Pomeranian/Chihuahua, but she looks like a Pom.

I used the computer to generate the sentiment and cut it out with one of the Flag Dies from Jaded Blossom.

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I am entering both cards in svgcuttingfiles.com’s monthly challenge, which is a Birthday Card Challenge.  I’m also posting them to the Cricut Circle Message Board, where Sara is hosting a challenge for World Card Making Day.

  •  SVG Cutting Files – Arched Top Card Base, Party Shaker Tags, Dog Bone Shaped Card, and Pomeranian Pup
  • Jaded Blossom Stamps – Birthday Treat Tags, Birthday Candies, Mini Tags 2 die and Flag dies
  • SEI paper pad
  • Embossing powder
  • Doodlebug Designs sequins
  • Stickles
  • Baker’s Twine

Birthday Shaker Card & Nugget Box

It took me about a year to break my Zing cutter out of its box and give it a try — and now I am kicking myself for waiting so long!  I love it — it is cutting paper that I had trouble cutting with my Expression.  The paper that gave me problems was usually textured.  I had some Bazzill that the Expression would refuse to cut — it looked like it tried to gum its way through.  So far the Zing has cut everything I’ve thrown at it.

What I am really loving is cutting svg files.  svgcuttingfiles.com has some of the cutest designs and I love that jadedblossom.com has coordinating stamps for many of the cut files.  For this project I used two cutting files and two different sets of stamps.

I made this birthday card and matching box that holds little Nugget candy bars for my niece.   I love shaker cards and when I saw the Party Shaker Tag file, I had to buy it.   I made the candle card — there are three other shakers in this set.  I used the Birthday Treat Tags stamps to heat emboss the design in the shaker.  Of course I used my favorite embossing powder, from Lindy’s Stamp Gang.   I think the color I used was Cleopatra’s Copper.

CardCandy6

The patterned paper is from the Secret Garden collection by Graphic 45.  I used a Martha Stewart punch around the page set called Vintage Floral.  I stitched around a couple of the mats, added some lace trim at the bottom, along with a satin bow made using one of my favorite tools, the Zutter Bow-it-All.  The roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the sequins in the shaker from Doodlebug Designs.

I used two Cuttlebug folders, Dotted Swiss and Charles (for the flames).

Card1

For the box, I used the Candle Nugget Box svg.  I wrapped each nugget and then topped it with a circle sentiment from the Birthday Candies stamp set.

Candy1This set was so much fun to make.

Birthday Tag — NSD 2014 Challenges

Since time is running out to enter the challenges on the Cricut Circle Message Board, I made this tag to enter into two different categories.  Actually, I think it qualifies for three.  The first is the XO Three in a Row, the second one is Everything’s Coming Up Rosettes, and the third is All Mixed Up.

For Maria’s XO Three in a Row challenge, you have to pick three items from a Tic Tac Toe board and incorporate them into your project. I chose the bottom row, which is Flower, Ribbon (or Twine), and Stamp.

For Colleen’s Everything’s Coming Up Rosettes, you have to make a project and use a rosette on it.

For Di’s All Mixed Up challenge, you need to use a piece of fabric on your project.

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I covered the tag with sticky back canvas and then inked it using Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.  I stamped the images on the canvas using the same ink.

I used this tutorial from Tammy Tutterow for my tag, because I wanted to make the flower out of crinoline and she has step-by-step instructions.  I used a Tim Holtz rosette die to cut the crinoline and then sprayed them with Lindy’s Stamp Gang’s Starburst Sprays to get the beautiful colors.   The leaves are from a Spellbinders die, also cut from crinoline.  I stamped a butterfly on vellum and added it to the flower.

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All that was left was the sentiment and bow, which I made using my Bow-it-All.

  • Ranger Sticky Back Canvas
  • Tim Holtz rosette die
  • Crinoline (from Jo-Ann’s)
  • Distress Ink
  • Lindy’s Stamp Gang Starburst Spray

Stick Pins and Stick Pin Book

I made 10 stick pins for the swap on the Cricut Circle Message Board.  It was my first time altering a paper mache box and also my first time making stick pins.  I wanted my pins to fit inside the book, so I went searching on the web for some type of pin holder.  I found some tutorials on vintage needle books, small books that hold sewing needles.  I figured one of these books would hold my stick pins just fine.

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These are very easy to make, requiring very little sewing.  Most everything is glued together.  This is the tutorial that I followed to make my book.

The fabric, wool felt, and lace are all from my stash.  The pearl trim and small roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts.   I used Fabri-Tac by Beacon Adhesives to hold everything together.

I machine embroidered my partner’s initials on a piece of wool felt and cut the design out with a Tim Holtz bottle cap die.  I added some Stickles around the edges. The book closes with seam binding ribbon.

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This is inside, showing the first of the stick pins.

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Page 3 of the book:  You can see there is a piece of felt that separates page 3 and 4.

P3

Page 4 shows a close-up of the pins.  Those are eggs hanging from the chicken and rooster pins 🙂

P4

And the last two pages:

P5-6

Because my pins are so chunky, I couldn’t add any more to the book and have it fit inside the altered paper mache box.  So I just added some sewing pins to the final page.  Those are lace pockets at the very front of the book and the very back of it.

Here are some close-up pictures of the rest of the stick pins.

StickPins

StickPins2

The beads are from Michaels, Joann, and some vendors I found on etsy and eBay. The peeps bunny is from a shop on etsy called TreasuresInClay.  She did a special order for me where she drilled the holes in the bunnies vertically instead of horizontally.

  • Fabri-Tac adhesive
  • Wild Orchid Crafts – roses and pearl trim
  • Wool felt
  • Scraps of lace, ribbon, and trim

 

Altered Book Box and Stick Pin Swap

I just participated in an altered book box and stick pin swap on the Cricut Circle Message Board.  I had never altered a paper mache box before, so this was a new adventure for me.  My partner (Maria) let me know some of her likes — I knew she liked bright colors and owls.  Since I like owls too, I decided to use that for my theme.

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The first thing I did was primer the book in gesso.  Then I applied two coats of Martha Stewart  Mother of Pearl paint.  I let the last coat of paint dry overnight and then I brushed on a layer of Tim Holtz Rock Candy Crackle paint on the spine and the inside edges of the book.  When that was thoroughly dry, I sponged on some blue and brown distress ink over the crackled paint.

Spine

The title was printed on the computer and adhered on the spine using Liquitex Gloss Medium & Varnish.  I added a couple coats of the gloss medium over the crackle paint on the spine and on the inside.

Spine2

I used Ranger Sticky Back Canvas for the cover of the book.  Since this was my first time using it, I wasn’t sure if it need to be primed with gesso.  I decided to go ahead and gesso it, but first I stuck the canvas to a piece of cardstock and sewed around the edges. After the gesso dried, I stamped a scene of the moon and some trees using Versamark and heat embossed it using white embossing powder.  The stamp set is by Sheena Douglass and called Lakeside Shore.

Then I sprayed the canvas with several different colors of Starburst spray by Lindy’s Stamp Gang.  As you can see, the colors are nice and bright. Since I had used gesso on the canvas, it acted as a resist to the sprays and I found they would easily wipe off.  So I let them dry and then sprayed a coat of gloss varnish (Krylon) over the canvas to seal it.  I was happy to see that I didn’t lose all the pretty shimmer when I sprayed the canvas with the sealer.

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I purchased the crocheted owl from Tatiana, who I first found on the Cricut Message Board.  She now sells her beautiful crocheted pieces on her Facebook page, Created  By Tatiana.   I picked the colors for this owl to match the book and also ordered several other owls in different colors.

I added a branch and some leaves that I cut from white cotton crinoline using a Martha Stewart punch. The leaves were sprayed with Starburst spray. The flowers and foliage at the bottom were also cut from crinoline using Martha Stewart punches and colored with Starburst spray.

The book has a ribbon closure.

Front2

The back of the book is my attempt at humor, a pun on the Looney Tunes “That’s All Folks”.  The paper is from Doodlebug Designs and the owl is some clipart I got from the now defunct PC Crafter website. The image at the bottom is stamped and heat embossed using Lindy’s Stamp Gang’s embossing powder.

Back

The inside of the cover is also Doodlebug Design paper and I added a clipart bookplate to it.

Bookplate

This is looking inside the book, showing the fabric book that I made to hold the stick pins.  Since this post is so long, I am going to do a separate post for the stick pin holder.

Inside

I included two extra crocheted owls for my swap partner.  The cards they are on were stamped with the Button Boutique stamp set from Papertrey Ink and cut using the coordinating die.

CrochetOwls

 

  • Paper mache book box from Hobby Lobby
  • Doodlebug Design paper
  • Ranger Sticky Back Canvas
  • Lindy’s Stamp Gang Starburst sprays and embossing powder
  • Tim Holtz Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint
  • Tim Holtz Distress Ink
  • Crocheted owls from Created By Tatiana on Facebook
  • Sheena Douglass Lakeside Shore stamp set
  • Button Boutique stamp and die set from Papertrey Ink
  • Martha Stewart craft paint — Mother of Pearl
  • Martha Stewart punches
  • Liquitex Gloss Medium & Varnish
  • Cotton crinoline purchased at Joann.com

Sympathy Card

This is a sympathy card I made for a friend who lost her mother unexpectedly. I used white cardstock and colored the background pink using Lindy’s Stamp Gang’s Starburst spray. I stamped the Dandelion Frame from Hero Arts using Versamark and then embossed it using white embossing powder.

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The flower is a stamp from Hero Arts called 3 Dotted Flowers.  I stamped it on vellum, again heat embossing it in white.  I layered the 3 flowers together and added a pearl for the center.  The butterfly is from two Memory Box dies (Pippi & Isabella), one for the filigree layer and one for the solid layer.  The sentiment is computer generated and cut with a Spellbinders tag die.

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  • Hero Arts stamps:  Dandelion Frame, 3 Dotted Flowers
  • Lindy’s Stamp Gang Starburst spray
  • Memory Box dies:  Pippi and Isabella
  • Spellbinders tag die

Valentine Mini Album and Card

I’m finally getting around to posting pictures of the Valentine mini album and card I made for a swap I participated in on the Cricut Circle Message Board.  The card features an embroidery design I purchased from Embroidery Library that is made for cardstock.  The scalloped frame was cut with my Cricut using the Elegant Edges cartridge.

Card

I found a mini album on Graphic 45’s blog that I really liked.  It is made by Gloria Stengel and she calls it a flip album.  And lucky for me, there is a tutorial on how to make it.  I loved the papers she used, and since I had many of them on hand, my album is almost exactly like hers.  I had to change a few of the dimensions on the album because mine was turning out to be a bit too chunky.

Front

All the patterned papers are from Graphic 45, most from the Place in Time collection.  The pretty red print on the cover is from the Bird Song collection.  I love how you can combine their collections and they coordinate so well.

The roses were light pink and I sprayed them with Starburst spray from Lindy’s Stamp Gang to get the colors I wanted.  The shimmer shows up pretty well in the pictures.

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The album has an organza ribbon closure.

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The dark red lace doily was cut from a Spellbinders heart die.  

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Here are two pictures that show an overview of the album.  It is an interesting album, with all its interactive pages.

Open

Open2

This is what it looks like when it is first opened.  The frame on the right is made with a Martha Stewart punch-around-the-page combo set.  I think it is called Cherish.  

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The front pocket holds a photo mat.

6

This is with the first page flipped out.  The wings are from a Cuttlebug Embossing Plus die called Vintage Collage.  The heart borders are from Martha Stewart punches.  The scalloped frame under the wings is from a Spellbinders die.  

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This is after you flip open the page with the wings.  Another scalloped frame from Spellbinders, the heart is from a Martha Stewart die and the key is from Graphic 45.  I think the “love” is also a Martha Stewart punch.  

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And another flip:

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Here is a gate fold that opens to the back of the album.

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 And this what it looks like with the left gate open.

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And here we are at the back of the album, with a photo mat held in place with a corner embellishment.

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This was a fun album to assemble.

 

  • Graphic 45 paper and Ornate Metal Key
  • Cricut cartridge:  Elegant Edges
  • Spellbinders dies
  • Martha Stewart punches
  • Cuttlebug embossing folders and Vintage Collage die

 

 

Christmas Mini Album for Cricut Circle Stocking Stuffer Swap

I participated in the Cricut Circle Stocking Stuffer Swap for the first time in 2013.  I figure it’s about time I posted the mini album I made to send to my partner, Sherry (Octoberbeauty).  I’ll warn you — there are lots of pictures.

This is the second mini album I’ve made and I again used a tutorial from Cathy, whose etsy shop is called So Much Scrap.   For this album I used her All Hallow’s Eve tutorial.  I really like her tutorials because they are very detailed and easy to follow.

I did something a little different on this album than what the directions call for.  I made the spine and binding system using only chipboard and book binding cloth — I didn’t use any cardstock in the construction.  I am happy with the way it turned out — the binding system is very flexible.

The patterned paper I used throughout the album is from My Mind’s Eye Merry & Bright collection.  The solid cardstock is all Basis 80#.  The edges of the chipboard are painted with Martha Stewart pearl paint.  I covered the outside of the spine in wool felt and added some ribbon, lace and metallic rick rack trim to the edges.

Front10B

Front12B

Back2

I made the charm on the spine using stardust jingle bells, crystal snowflake beads and a deer pendant I got from eBay. I made the bow using my Zutter Bow-It-All.  I’m really liking the bows I can make using this handy tool.

Charm

Here are some close-up details of the album front.  The poinsettia is made from the Layered Poinsettia die by Spellbinders, sprayed with Lindy’s Stamp Gang’s Starburst spray, and I added glass seed beads to the center.  The snowflake is from the Tim Holtz Snowflake Rosette die and is coated in coarse glitter.  The album closure is a ribbon that wraps around a brad on the front cover — another of Cathy’s wonderful ideas.

FrontPoinsettia

CoverDetail

Pages 1 and 2:

P1-2

P1B

The pocket opens up to reveal a photo mat inside.  I made all the tabs for the photo mats using my We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board and embossed the tabs with my Cuttlebug.

P1TagB

The ornament is cut from a Memory Box die.  The edges on the pocket flaps were done with a punch — I think it was an EK Success Bracket border punch.  The flaps close with a magnet — there are lots of magnetic closures used in this album.

P2

I made the small tags using Tim Holtz’s Tag & Tie die.

P2Tags

Pages 3-4:

P3-4

P3Tags

P4

Page 4 opens and has a photo mat inside the pocket.

P4Open

P4Tag

Pages 5 and 6:

P5-6B

The pocket closes using an elastic hair band and a brad.

P5B

P5Open

Page 6 has an accordion fold feature that folds up and is held closed with a ribbon.  The snowflake trim is from a Martha Stewart punch.

P6

P6Open

P6OpenB

Pages 7 and 8:

P7-8B

The ornament is embossed with Lindy’s Stamp Gang embossing powder.  I can’t remember what stamp I used for the ornament — that’s what I get for waiting so long to post this on our blog.  The ribbon hanger is a Memory Box die.

P7B

P7TagsB

Page 8 has a waterfall feature.

P8B

P8OpenC

P8OpenB

P8Open

Pages 9 and 10:

P9-10B

P9

P9OpenB

P9TagC

P10

P10WTag

Thanks for checking out my Christmas album.  I have a Valentine mini to post next — I hope it doesn’t take me two months to get it written up, like it did with this album.

Front6B

  • My Mind’s Eye Merry & Bright paper collection
  • Basis 80# cardstock
  • So Much Scrap (etsy shop), All Hallow’s Eve tutorial
  • Tim Holtz dies: Snowflake Rosette and Tag & Tie
  • Memory Box ornament and bow dies
  • Spellbinders Layered Poinsettia die
  • Lindy’s Stamp Gang embossing powder
  • EK Success Bracket edger punch
  • We R Memory Keeps Envelope Punch Board
  • Zutter Bow-It-All
  • Martha Stewart pearl paint
  • Cuttlebug