Friday, July 29, 2022

Country / Rural Address Post / Sign

 

COUNTRY / RURAL ADDRESS POST / SIGN
2 sign/plant brackets, cast iron numbers & letters, metal decorative bear bought from Amazon and/or Aliexpress. 4 pcs scrap wood 3/4 inch thick, cut to size, glued together and pin-nailed. Then routed edges, sanded, and used 4 coats Behr satin finish indoor/outdoor polyurethane to finish. I chose to leave the wood the natural color for contrast, as the bear and letters & numbers are black. To hang, I used eye screws, S hooks, and 3/16 in. x 1-1/4 in. Everbilt solid metal rings.

Thursday, December 3, 2020

Winter Snow Globe

 
















The snow globe, miniature lights, and fake snow are all from Dollar Tree. (These items are all seasonal and can only be purchased during the holiday season.) The top picture is a view from the side and the second picture is a view from the top. The Carolers are an unbranded die set and the poinsettia and branches are from a Spellbinders set I've had for many years.

Let's make it: 

1-    The globe itself has the outer twist lid as well as an inner plastic stopper. To drill the hole, insert the stopper as far as it will go. Twist the cap on, but not too tight, just snug.

2-    Choose a place (consider it the back) to drill the holes. The bulb seams should be on the sides. Using an electric drill and starting with a very small drill bit, begin drilling the hole through the twist cap, stopper and bulb. Be sure to drill slowly and straight in. You don't want to drill up into the stopper or down into the cap. If you try to drill one large hole without starting with small bits, you risk the bit wandering and will most likely break/crack the lid, stopper and bulb.

3     Gradually enlarge the hole incrementally with larger drill bits, until it is just large enough to insert the string of lights.

4-    Carefully twist off the cap and remove the stopper. Clip off or file any bits of plastic around the holes.

5-    Bearing in mind where the front of the globe is, decorate the top of the stopper. A hot glue gun or regular craft glue can be used. I've used both without any issue.

Since I used die cuts, I cut a couple of very small strips of cardstock (about 1/4 inch wide x 1/2 inch long), glued them together at the top of the strips, leaving the bottom unglued. Then glue the glued part of the strips to the back of the die cut figures and split the strips into an upside down "T". You can then glue the split "T" onto the top of the stopper (this will be covered with the fake snow). It is sturdy enough and will hold the figures in place. Space your items so they can be seen. I didn't do such a great job. But, live and learn.

6-    Once the glue has dried, place a small, and I do mean small amount, (about a slightly rounded Tablespoon) of the fake snow into the top of the bulb. Line up the holes in the back and carefully push the stopper into the bulb and make you have just the right amount of snow to cover the top of the stopper. Too much or too little? Simply (carefully) remove the stopper and adjust the amount of snow. Once you are satisfied with the amount of snow, make sure the stopper hole and the cap hole line up with the hole in the bulb.

7-    The string of lights I purchased from Dollar Tree are the miniatures. They only have 10 lights on the string and are operated with 2 AA batteries. The lights come in various colors. Clear, red, blue, green and yellow (Christmas colors). You may be able to get other colors, i.e. orange, and purple when Halloween season roles around.

8-    Carefully feed the string of lights into the hole one at a time. I had to flip each light the opposite direction in order to feed them into the hole. Bear in mind that once you start feeding the lights into the hole you will not be able to remove them. And you won't be able to twist off the cap.

9-    I used my Spellbinders Poinsettia die set to decorate the top of the globe and adhered using a hot glue gun. Decorate around the cap as desired. (I hadn't decorated the cap at the time I took the pictures.)

10-    Carefully settle the fake snow into place, turn on the lights and enjoy. The lights put off a soft glow. But you can also place the globe in the window during the day. These make great little party favors for friends and family during the holidays. And are great make and takes for older kids. I would predrill the holes and let them enjoy decorating.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

Autumn 3D Diorama

 

Although the house die kit did not have instructions, (AliExpress purchase, because I'm not rich), it was super simple to put together. I used an embossing folder to give the house the stone look, then went over it with Distress Ink. The bottom of the house has flaps that can be adhered down. I chose to leave them loose to insert a battery operated tea candle. Tissue paper or parchment paper to back the windows and the door. Except for the house, the other items are adhered to the base and can be folded flat for storage.

The dies for the turkeys are just flat and have no indications where the coloring should be. So, I looked on-line. I was surprised to see just how many different breeds of turkeys there are and the variety of coloration. Most appeared to be various combinations of browns, oranges, white, and grays, with black and white striped feathers. However, there were a couple that were very brightly colored - I mean like peacock feather colors. Just spectacular. Who knew?

This little house is plain, leaving it to one's imagination to decorate for any occasion. Pretty sure I'll be making more of these.


Friday, August 7, 2020

Winnie the Pooh Carousel

 Changed this 3-D Carousel by adding Winnie the Pooh die cut characters instead of what came in the kit.








A Telephone Booth - or, maybe not . . .

 Ok. So when is a 3-D telephone booth die set not a telephone booth? Just received this die set from Andy's Store at AliExpress. Had to turn it into something other than just a phone booth. Well, how about a garden trellis, of sorts. I found this die set to be very versatile. 

The only thing I would recommend is that on the boxes that are 2x2 inches, cut additional (2x2 inch) pieces and adhere to the box openings on both sides. (you will have to cut these pieces yourself, not part of the kit)  By adding these pieces, it adds stability and ensures the boxes are "squared".



Friday, February 28, 2020

Did It Myself Blog Header

My Blog was well overdue for a make-over. I have not been able to find any ready-made Blog Headers that reflect my many crafty interests. However, I was able to find this very cute clip art graphic of a crafty woman. It says it is Royalty Free, however, if it is not, in the Attribution, located at the bottom of my blog, I added the comment: "No Copyright Infringement Intended.' In Blogger, if the Attribution doesn't already exist, add the "Attribution" Gadget to the Footer.

There are numerous YouTube tutorials that will walk you through the steps of how to create your own Blog Headers and Backgrounds. My blog is powered by Blogspot. I found for a "Simple" layout Header, 840 wide x 382 high in PIXELS works very well. Of course the pixel size can be adjusted to fit your layout. To create my Header, I used Corel PaintShop Pro.


Saturday, January 25, 2020

Horse Wrangling

Here's a fun masculine card I just finished for my Nephew's Birthday. I used several different dies and trimmed some of them to create the scene.



Saturday, January 4, 2020

Phoenix From The Ashes

This die is gorgeous. No doubt about that. The die is approximately 8 x 4-1/4 inches, so it's Big. Because the die is so large, I had difficulty with it cutting all the way through in the center. Added a cardboard shim (like a piece of cereal box) to make a deeper cut. Problem solved.

Colored the Phoenix with Pentel Dual Color pens. Which definitely adds a lot of sparkle. Adhering to a black background brings out all the colors.


Warm Winter Wishes

This stamp just might be next year's Christmas card. Very cute.
To create the "steam" from the cup, I simply used a white PrismaColor pencil, coloring horizontially.



























Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Paper Lantern

I apologize as this was difficult to photograph and this picture really doesn't do it justice. It was a lot of fun putting it together. Yes, it did take some time, but is so worth it. To ensure the integrity of the lantern I used a solid color of matching cardstock on the inside and the patterned paper on the outside. If you are using only cardstock, it is sufficient to stand without issue and will have no problem holding the candle. I was able to find A4 size sheets of double sided adhesive at AliExpress. The lantern stands about 8-1/2 inches tall and 4 inches at it's widest. It's very cute when a battery operated tea candle in placed inside. Yup, the crown is removable. This is actually a gift for my daughter's Mom-In-Law this winter season. I found this jewel at AliExpress.com




Deer Scene

This Deer Scene card was made in layers. I cut 2 each of the frame, set of trees and snowy hill. The background is a piece of "sky" scrapbook paper adhered to cardstock. The next 2 layers are a set of trees glued to back of snowy hill, then attached to back of a frame. Separate the layers with foam mounting tape. To create the snowy effect, I used DecoArt Snow-Tex. I found it easier to use a 1/4 inch stencil brush and pounce the Snow-Tex on the cardstock. Follow the directions on the jar to obtain the desired results. Wouldn't this make a great "guy" card or Christmas/Winter card. The actual finished size of this card is a little over 4 x 6 inches. All dies to make this card were purchased from sellers at AliExpress.com.




Ice Skaters

Die cut ice skaters. To make them free-standing, I cut a slit in the "ice", glued two small strips of cardstock to the back of the skate, slipped both strips through the slit and split the strips (like a brad) underneath and glued. Because I used cardstock to stand them up, they have not bent or fallen over. It also helps to make sure they are centered on the "ice".





















Vintage Carolers

Started out as a tag and evolved to an easel card.




Tuesday, October 8, 2019

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Baby Girl Birthday Card

This Bear die is just too cute. I'm using it for my Grand Niece's Birthday. All dies are from AliExpress. The pillows in the chair and the ball are cut freehand.


Saturday, January 5, 2019

Campfire Cowboys


Both the "Cowboys" and the "Desert" dies are unbranded dies from AliExpress. Very simple easel card. Fairly quick to make.

Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Three Wise Men Christmas Card

Mountains and Three Wise Men dies are from AliExpress. To create the radiance of the Holy star, I used a Gelly Roll Clear Star pen before attaching the die cut Holy star.



Hi everyone. I've made a couple more Christmas cards using dies from AliExpress.




Wednesday, August 8, 2018

Monday, August 6, 2018

Believe in Santa

The Santa, Believe and background are all unbranded dies from AliExpress. I used cardstock already in my stash. Black, silver and gold. Super easy to make. Just a little time to die cut the cardstock and adhere together. Made into an easel card and voila, ready to go.