Tips And Techniques | Catered Crop

Let's go fly a kite . . . Up to the highest height! Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring.
Up through the atmosphere. Up where the air is clear.
Oh, let's go fly a kite!
~ from the musical, Mary Poppins, 1964

Hi again! (Or maybe "High Again?!) We're talking about kites, so it's okay to be high, especially when it's about this adorable, new My Favorite Things (MFT) Pure Innocence stamp set, Aim High.

If you want to get the highest height out of your kite, try a few of these tricks:

Use some sticks to create your kite's spine. I used wood veneer paper and can you guess what else? A toothpick! (Ah, I'm so clev-ah!)
Everyone knows a kite needs a tail for balance. This adorable stamp set comes with a little tail. I thought the bow-tie like tail was so cute, I added it to the little darling's shoes.
No kite can stand still in the wind. (If it does, it's surely about to plummet to a slow, cruel death.) Create a little spring by wrapping some jewelry wire around a wooden dowel and then taping it to the kite. You have to look real close from the side to see it. Now your kite can jiggle! (Yes, I'm a genius.)

Hopefully, the inside of the card looks like a picture window. What do you think?

It's Day 3 of the Teasers. I have loved, loved, loved reading all your sweet comments. Be sure to leave comments as you look around through all the MFT designers' blogs because, yes, there are Prizes!. Here are the details about the upcoming release on July 5 at 10 PM EST:

The My Favorite Things release is on July 5 at 10 PM EST. You can attend the release party from 8-10 PM EST here in the forum for fun, games, and prizes! All the new sets and dies will be available July 5 at 10 PM EST.
The guest designer contest is ON! Check out the forum for details on how YOU can win over $100 in stamp sets and play along with the Design Team for a month.
If you'd like to see all the teasers for today, please click on over to Kim's blog NOW! Be sure to leave comments as you go for a chance to win one of two $10 vouchers being given away daily, just for leaving a comment. Check Kim's blog every day for the winners.

Follow the Recipe

I followed our recipe for the Catered Crop Follow-the-Recipe linking party #15 (FTR15) by using some fun summer colors, polka dots and hearts, buttons, and dimensional adhesives.. Have you played yet? Remember, you don't have to use all the ingredients to join us. Just pick and chose from Crystal's delicious dish and add a few spices of your own. All the details are here.

Here are the My Favorite Things Die-Namics I used to make my card and the rest of the recipe.

Stamps – MFT Aim High
Paper – Some retired Stampin' Up! paper from 2008/2009 (yes, I'm a hoarder), wood veneers, Neenah
Color Mediums – Memento ink, Copics (see below)
Fibers – Stampin' Up! tafetta ribbon, kite string (of course), felt
Embellishments – Toothpick, Stampin' Up! button, jewelry wire
Tools – MFT Die-namics: Sunshine and, Jumbo Scallop, Notched Tag
Sketch – Crazy 4 Challenges C4C93

Hee, hee! Is Mary Poppins still singing in your head? You're not high – it's just kite-flying season!

July 2, 2011 | Filed Under: Encouragement, Heather Ellis, My Favorite Things, Pure Innocence, Spring, Tips and Techniques Tagged With: Copic Markers, Heather Ellis, My Favorite Things, Pure Innocence | 25 Comments

Magnetism, as you recall from physics class,
is a powerful force that causes certain items to be attracted to refrigerators.
~ Dave Berry

I found these fun six-petal bottle caps by Bottle Caps, Inc. at my local scrapbook store last weekend, and they reminded me of how much fun it is to play with bottle caps. Next to them was something called cabachons I'd never heard of before, but am totally hooked on now.

[kab-us-shon] – noun. 1. a precious stone of convex hemispherical or oval form, polished but not cut into facets.

Cool, huh?! Only, my cabachons were acrylic, not precious gems. I love the dimension they add and how they protect and magnify the image underneath. I've used flat-bottom glass marbles for the same purpose, but these cabachons don't have the imperfections the marbles do, and they're less cloudy. Using them is easier than melting Ultra Thick Embossing Powder (UTEE). But, attaching the cabachon can be a little tricky, and I had a bit of trial and error before I got it just right. I thought I'd share some of my trials and errors so you don't make the same mistakes.

To make your bottle cap magnets to attach to a card (or refrigerator), grab your ingredients . . .

BasicGrey Magnetic Snaps. (Please, keep these away from children and pets because any magnet can be dangerous if they swallow them.) They're just 1/32" thick, so they can slip between layers of paper unnoticed.
A one-inch circle punch.
A bottle cap. You can find them with jewelry making or scrapbooking supplies, but also in your refrigerator. Any bottle cap will do. If you use an older bottle cap, just scrape out the cork.
You need a liquid dimensional adhesive that dries clear, like Stampin' Up!'s Crystal Effects, Ranger Glossy Accents, Sakura Crystal Lacquer, JudiKins Diamond Glaze, or JudiKins DG3 Art Gel. I used JudiKins DG3 Art Gel, which worked like a charm.

Step 1 – Hidden within the four layers of this circle, circle/scallop, sentiment circle, and cow circle (just under the cow) is one of the BasicGrey magnetic snaps. Place the other snap under the image you want to put into the bottle cap. (Be sure to test them to make sure you have the positive/negative charges facing in the right direction, so your magnets attract reach other, not repel each other.)

Step 2 – Put just a tiny, tiny dot of your liquid lacquer in the bottle cap.

Step 2 – Place your top layer over your tiny dot of liquid adhesive.

Step 3 – Add a larger, pea-size amount of your liquid adhesive over the image. Thankfully, Copic Markers won't run when you put a liquid adhesive over them.

To avoid air bubbles -

Do NOT shake the bottle.
Do not hold the bottle at an angle. Hold it straight up and let the lacquer fill the tip of the bottle applicator.
Squeeze as much as you need without stopping. If you have to squeeze and release more adhesive a second time, you'll introduce air bubbles.

The trick is to use the right amount of the liquid dimensional adhesive.

Too little gives you shadows:

Too much, and you're more likely to get air bubbles and a cabachon that looks like its floating in a swamp.

You want just the right amount to get a clear image. To help you see the right amount more easily, I highlighted the adhesive on the right.

Some liquid dimensional adhesives will look cloudy while they're wet but dry clear.

Step 4 – Press the cabachon into the bottle cap so the adhesive spreads to cover the bottom of the cabachon. Resist the temptation to play with it for a few hours until the adhesive dries (yep, a few hours).

If you have a 1/16" hole punch, you can punch a small hole in the top of your bottle cap, add a jump ring or split ring, and turn your bottle cap into a pendant for a necklace, bracelet or key chain. Or, you can add it to a card.

So, pop a top, grab a bottle cap, make like a sheep and raise the bahh on your paper crafts. (You knew I was gonna sneak in at least one bad pun, right?)

April 9, 2011 | Filed Under: All Occasions, DeNami Designs, Gift Sets, Tips and Techniques Tagged With: Copic Markers, DeNami Designs, Tutorials | 3 Comments

It's so beautifully arranged on the plate — you know someone's fingers have been all over it.
~ Julia Child

I am so honored to introduce you to Elaine, who, for me, brings to paper crafts what Julia Child brought to cooking, rich gourmet goodness. This weekend I tripped onto Elaine's blog, Magic Boxes, and was immediately entranced. The magic she makes with her exploding boxes is just spellbinding.

When I was able to tear my eyes away from the seductive pictures of those boxes, I also saw her generous tips and tutorials. I had to know more about the genius behind these boxes. Since our Catered Crop party this week gives us a chance to make paper boxes, I asked Elaine if she would be our guest all the way from her London home. She agreed, and our Texas/London conversation began. Okay, you can eavesdrop if you insist.

Catered Crop: How did making boxes become a passion for you and what do you enjoy most about them?

Elaine: Packaging styles, boxes and the different ways they’re constructed have always fascinated me. I love working in three dimensions and graduated with an honours degree in furniture and product design so I’m constantly redesigning things in my head.

My magic boxes came about when I started playing with the traditional exploding box. It just wasn’t three dimensional enough for me. I wanted it to truly explode. I played with paper springs but wanted something less visible, something that made the butterflies really look like they were flying – that’s when I came up with the idea of using acetate strips.

I love making my ‘magic boxes’, I slip into a little fantasy world all of my own. I’m totally engrossed when I’m making one and when it’s finished there’s nothing better than to see the joyfull surprise on someone’s face as they lift the lid and my little world pops out at them.

Catered Crop: Your boxes seem to travel the globe: India, the Orients, Scotland, and one my my favorites, the Tropics. Where do you get your inspiration?

Elaine: I don’t make my boxes commercially, they are a hobby, but I have been commissioned several times simply by word of mouth. Commissions are always for someone special and I am usually given a theme – favourite colour, flower, country, hobby – things like that. I have a passion for nature, wildlife and gardens so this theme runs through most of my boxes.

Catered Crop: How did you learn to make those amazing flowers? Do you have any tips for making paper flowers so real looking?

Elaine: Before I make a flower I study it, even if I think I know it well. Where possible I look at the actual flower, sketch it, photograph it and make colour and texture notes. I hit google images big time and often set the images as a screen saver for the time I’m doing the project. It helps fix the details in my head.

I have a checklist in the back of my mind:
- overall shape and colour of the full flower,
- number, size, shape and colouration of the petals
- flower character – is it petite and delicate, bold and showy, droopy, spikey, they each have their own personality.
- is it single – like a snowdrop or does it work in a group – like a bluebell.
- leaves – shape, colour, texture, size
- stem – shape, colour, texture, size.

I have a five-petal flower punch, which is really useful as a base for a lot of my flowers. Where the punch isn’t suitable I make my own paper pattern.

Looking at my notes and images I start playing with paper to see how I can imitate the three dimensions of the petals and flower. There’s a lot of trial and error before I manage to come up with a paper pattern.

Once I know I have the shape I draw round the elements, scan them into the computer and trace them digitally. This way I have a final pattern that I can size up or down to fit my box. I print the pattern pieces (repeated several times) onto lightweight , appropriately coloured card and cut out. From there I colour, texturise and fix the pieces together, always referring back to the flower images and notes.

Elaine was kind enough to give us an exclusive sneak-peak into one of her sketch books showing how she researches and notates her flowers.

Oh darling crafters, there's more. Tomorrow Elaine is going to give us some more exclusives – some tips for how she gets all those amazing textures and colors and the behind-the-scenes look at the magical box commissioned for HM Queen Elizabeth II and HRH Prince Philip's 60th wedding anniversary. Cheerio until then.

March 22, 2011 | Filed Under: Featured Guests, Tips and Techniques Tagged With: Magic Boxes, Tutorials | 1 Comment