Spring Bunny Basket Tutorial

I've had a few requests for a template for the Spring Bunny Basket that I made this afternoon, so I thought I'd share the directions with you all.

Punches Used for Bunny:
Circles~ Body: 1 3/4",Head: 1 1/4", Muzzle & Feet: 3/4", Tail: 1/2", Eyes & Nose: 1/4"

Ovals~
Ears: Small & Large

Basket Base~
Step 1: First, cut a piece of cardstock to measure 7" x 7" square. Using your scoring blade, make score lines 2" in from each of the four sides. (If you click on the picture below, you will probably see my score lines better.)

Step 2: Using your cutting blade or scissors, cut along the scored lines as shown below. ONLY to the centre square, though. For the tabs, I folded the middle part back and then cut 1" off the two end pieces to create the tabs. Then, with my scissors, I freehand cut the diagonal pieces to finish the tab design. On the bottom of your box, add double-sided tape to the tabs. If you're using plain cardstock, it won't matter which is the top and which is the bottom.

Step 3: With the double-sided tape facing down, fold up the sides of the box at the pre-scored lines. Remove your tape and form a box by folding the corners in to meet each other. Your diagonally cut tabs should be on the inside of your corners as shown below.
Patterned Paper~
Cut a strip of patterned paper that measures 12" x 1 1/2".  Apply double-sided tape to the back side and adhere to the top part of the pink basket base.  I also scored the sides so that it lays smooth against the basket base.  I suggest wrapping it around so that your seam is hidden behind the bunny.

Scalloped Edge~
Cut 2 strips measuring 1 1/2"  x 8 1/2" of Pink Pirouette (SU) cardstock.   I used my diamond scallop border punch.  You can get two sides from each piece.

After you've scalloped all the borders, cut your pieces so that the top edge measures 3".   Make a score line 1/2" from the straight edge.   Trim the sides with your scissors so that they taper towards the score line.  Add double-sided tape to the back side and fold over to make the finished edge for the basket.  Fold in half and attach to the basket base over the patterned paper.  As you can see, I used Terrifically Tacky Tape or red-line tape on the outside of the scalloped border to make sure it stayed down.  

Basket Handle~
Cut 1 strip measuring 1 1/2"  x 8 1/2" of Pink Pirouette (SU) cardstock.   Add double-sided tape to each of the ends as shown in the picture and attach to the inside of your finished basket base.   Using a thumb tack, poke a hole in each side of your basket base though the handle so make a hole for your jumbo brad.  This will secure the handle to the box quite well.

I hope you have fun making this Spring Bunny Basket!  Again, I have to thank Mercedes Weber for the original design, I've just helped with a few pictures for those who prefer visual tutorials.  I hope this is easy for everyone to follow!   Have fun!  :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Faux Leather Wallet

I had a great night on Sunday making this faux leather wallet with my girlfriends.  They came over to my place since I'm still not feeling very well and still unable to drive.   Unfortunately, Kim wasn't feeling well this time, so she didn't make out to my place to make these with us, but she was kind enough to send all the supplies for us to make them.  Thanks, so much, for getting this awesome project together for us, Kim and I look forward to seeing you soon! 

I've seen these on line before, and have wanted to try one, but never got around to it so I'm so glad we made these.  They're much easier to make than I had expected.  We used this tutorial by Yvonne Hagane on SCS.  Her tutorial shows lots of step by step pictures with are very easy to follow.

Here's an angle to show you the accordion sides to the wallet.

Here's a view of the inside of the wallet to show you the beautiful patterned paper that I used.  Don't look too closely at my poor sewing job, though!  The thread kinda bunged up on the top-right corner. Oops!   lol  :)

To make this Faux Leather Wallet:
1. Cut out a piece of cardstock for the outside (5 1/4" x 8 3/4")
2. With remaining piece of cardstock, cut out the pieces for the accordion sides. (2 - 2' x 3").  Score them every 1/2" across the 3" length and mountain fold each of them.
3. Choose a co-ordinating piece of patterned paper for the inside of the wallet and cut it to be slightly smaller than the outside piece of cardstock. (5 1/8" x 8 5/8")
4. Use a corner rounder punch and punched all corners of the wallet's outside piece of cardstock and inside piece of patterned paper.
5. Decide on a style for the embossed pattern for the outside.  (I used the Distressed Diamonds by ProvoCraft.)
6. Distress the embossed pattern with Tim Holtz Distress inks.  (I used Fired Brick to go with my Indian Red cardstock.)
7. Apply VersaMark over the entire embossed side that you've just distressed.  Completely cover with clear embossing powder and then by carefully holding your cardstock by it's edges, use a heat tool to clear emboss it.
8. Apply gluestick to the backside of the patterned paper and adhere to the back side of the embossed cardstock.
9. Sew around the entire edge of the wallet.
10. Attach your accordion sides with very tacky tape to be sure they stay put.
11. Attach your button/brad embellishment for your closure.  I opted to add my button to the side to mask the poor job I did with sewing!  Actually, I kinda like the button on the side - it seems to make it look more elegant!  See, all mistakes are just an opportunity to embellish! lol :)
12. Use self-adhesive velcro dots for the closure of the wallet as shown in the picture above.
Have fun!  :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Four Seasons Waterfall Card and a Tutorial

I was asked by a co-worker if I would make her a couple of these waterfall cards, so along with making them, I opted to throw together a quick tutorial on how to make these fun-fold cards in case you'd like to give one a try. Here goes:

Cut a standard A2 Style Base Layer (Blue Bayou) - 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and fold in half.
and a layer to put on top (River Rock) - 4" x 5 1/4"

Now, cut the following pieces of cardstock from more Blue Bayou cardstock:
4 - 2" x 2" (4) - These are for your mat layer for your stamped images.
9" x 2" (1) - This is for your waterfall piece that you attach your images to.
3/4" x 4" (1) - This is the strip at the bottom to pull your waterfall piece through.

Now, you'll need some ivory cardstock measuring 1 7/8" x 1 7/8" (4) to stamp your images onto.

Colour in all your images (that's the most time consuming process of this card) and add some Stickles for the snowman and snow on the ground. I let the Stickles dry overnight and then assembled them onto the blue pieces of cardstock.

These are the four seasons images all watercoloured.

The Spring image is on the top, pull the tab to start the waterfall and reveal the Summer image.

Keep pulling the tab and the waterfall effect continues to reveal the Autumn image.

When you pull the tab out fully, you reveal the final Winter image.

Here's a close up of the sentiment.

To see a full tutorial on how to assemble this card, I followed this tutorial.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: A Tree for all Seasons (SU), Curvy Verses (SU)
Cardstock: Blue Bayou (SU), River Rock (SU), Ivory (Staples)
Ink: Jet Black (StazOn), Creamy Caramel (SU), Old Olive (SU), Really Rust (SU), Ruby Red (SU), More Mustard (SU), Close to Cocoa (SU)
Watercolor Wonder Crayons (SU): Brocade Blue, Night of Navy, Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Regal Rose, Rose Red
Tools: Thumb Tack (to poke holes for brads), Terrifically Tacky Tape (ProvoCraft)
Embellishments: Antique Brass Brads and Hodge Podge Hardware (SU), Diamond Stickles (Ranger)

Bunny Box Basket Tutorial

Hopefully, with Spring on it's way soon (...I'm hoping the Groundhog doesn't see his shadow today!), I thought I'd do up a tutorial for a cute little bunny box basket that I designed. The girls and I had fun making these yesterday and they're super easy to make.

Bunny Box Basket:

Step 1: First, cut a piece of cardstock to measure 7" x 7" square. Using your scoring blade, make score lines 2" in from each of the four sides. (If you click on the picture below, you will probably see my score lines better.)

Step 2: Using your cutting blade, cut along the scored lines as shown below. ONLY to the centre square, though. For the tabs, I folded the middle part back and then cut 1" off the two end pieces to create the tabs. Then, with my scissors, I freehand cut the diagonal pieces to finish the tab design. On the bottom of your box, add double-sided tape to the tabs. If you're using plain cardstock, it won't matter which is the top and which is the bottom.

Step 3: With the double-sided tape facing down, fold up the sides of the box at the pre-scored lines. Remove your tape and form a box by folding the corners in to meet each other. Your diagonally cut tabs should be on the inside of your corners as shown below.
Bunny Ears Template (Just click on the picture below and you can print it off in full size from there.)

Step 4: From the template provided above, cut out your heart. (Note the circle is there just to show you how you attach the ears to the head.) Trace the heart onto white cardstock and cut it out. (I placed my heart template on pink cardstock below so that you could see it.)

Step 5: Punch out 1 - pink 3/4" circle, 1 - white 1" circle (I used my Creative Memories punches) and 4 - white small ovals - 1 3/8" x 1 7/8" (using the blue blade with your second smallest Creative Memories Oval Custom Cutting Template.) Use a fine marker of your colour choice (I used mauve) for the toes. Follow the pictures below to make the toes for the right and left sides as the strokes are facing different directions for each side.
Step 6: Cut out the Inner Ear template from the template provided. Trace it twice onto pink cardstock and cut each of them out.

Step 7: Using your Cuttlebug and your second largest Classic Circle Nestability, make one circle diecut on white cardstock for the head. Now, punch out 2 - mauve circles using a basic office hole punch and adhere to the circleto make the eyes. Adhere the pink circle for the nose (that you punched out already) and freehand draw the little mouth and whiskers. Adhere your pink inner ear pieces to your white outer ear piece (the white heart that you cut out earlier in Step #4.) Adhere the heart with double-sided tape to the back of the circle that you cut.

Step 8: Now, using double-sided tape, you may adhere the finished bunny head to the box that you finished in Step #3.

Step 8: Using Terrifically Tacky Tape by Provocraft, attach the handle little handle to the box to form your basket. Adhere the white cotton tail to the back of the box.

Step 9: Using double-sided tape, adhere the feet to the right and left side, paying attention to the direction of the toes so that they're facing down.

Step 10: Fill the basket with your choice of candy or goodies and you're done!

Wow, I didn't think it would take that many steps to make up this tutorial, I guess it's partially because I'm rather long-winded! lol :) This really is a super easy project to do, your kids will love it! Have fun!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Chocolate Truffle Pouch Tutorial

I've had several people ask me for the measurements for the little Chocolate Truffle Pouch that we made at our SU party a few days ago. I thought I might as well share them with you all, so here they are:

Pouch Directions:
~For the base, you'll need a piece of plain cardstock, we used (SU) Bashful Blue - 1 1/4" x 2"
~For the sides of the pouch, you simply punch out two (SU) Scalloped Circles using a coordinating patterned paper. Attach them to the bottom of the base piece, with exactly 6 scallops on the bottom of each side, adhered with double sided tape.
~At the centre of each of the two scalloped circles, add an eyelet about 1/4" from the edge for the lace closure.

Truffle Wrappers:
~Cut a piece of patterned paper (the same as you used for the scalloped sides of the pouch) - 1" x 3". Add a piece of double sided tape to one side and wrap your Hersey Chocolate Truffle with it, with the seam at the bottom.


Place the wrapped truffles in the base of your pouch, feed sheer ribbon (12" in length) through the eyelets from the inside out and then tie it in a bow on the top.


So, that's it! Ta-da! You're done! How easy was that? Have fun with these and try not to eat too many truffles while your getting the supplies ready! lol :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Altered Valentine Heart Box

I've been an altering fool again over the past couple of days, making this cute little Valentine's Box for each of my daughter's teachers for a little gift. I asked each of my girls what they liked about their teacher and I put the sayings on the accordion style heart insert inside the wooden container. I saw this idea on Nichole Heady's blog, Capture the Moment. I love to see what Nichole is up to, she does such amazing work and she always has such creative ideas to share. For her Valentine tin, she used one of her exclusive PaperTrey Ink heart tins, but I saw these little wooden, hinged boxes at Michaels and thought I would try them for the task. I love to alter things, so this was right up my alley! :) Nichole's has a wonderful tutorial on how she made her tin, you can check it out here. While you're at it, you can check out all of PaperTrey's tins that you can alter here. That's if you're an altering fool, such as myself! lol :)

First you need a 12" x 12" piece of cardstock, cut it down to 2" x 12" and then make score lines every 2" (5 in total) to make 6 sections. I actually had to use a 10" piece of cardstock instead as the pink colour that I wanted to use, wasn't quite long enough. So, I ended up having a 2" x 10" piece, scored 4 times to make 5 sections. Make a heart template and use a temporary adhesive to adhere to the front of the folded piece.

Use a pair of sharp scissors and cut out around the heart so that the edges of the folds hold all heart together. Then, use a background stamp to stamp each heart. I masked off each heart and stamped them one at a time.

This is the insert with all the sayings added. I used MS Word and typed up the sayings using 10pt Comic Sans font. Printed them off onto white cardstock and used my Creative Memories oval cutting system to cut each of them out.
This is the view of the back of the heart tin. You can't see the hinges, but they're just below the ribbon, inset into the box.
So, that's it. Now, it's your turn to go make one! Have fun! :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Cardstock: textured Pink (Dollarstore), Flat White (CRS)
Patterned Paper: Paperbilities by Rhonna Farrer (Autumn Leaves - stack)
Ink: Passion Pink
Stamps: Soft Swirls (SU), Heart with flower in centre - Daisy Crazy (SU)
Tools: Custom Oval Cutting System (Creative Memories), Scissors, lots of Terrifically Tacky Tape (Provo Craft), Wooden Heart Hinged Box (Michaels)
Embellishments: Wine Velvet Ribbon (Michaels)

World Teacher's Day Gift

Tonight's projects were two Photo Wallets (identical) for each of my daughters to give to their teacher as a little thank you for World Teacher's Day on Friday. I wanted to give them a little something crafty and this is what I decided on. I hope they like them. It's hard to make gifts for people that you really don't know, not knowing their likes and dislikes. But, each of their teachers are wonderful people whom my daughters always speak very fondly of. That's what World Teacher's Day is all about...celebrating those wonderful teachers for making an great impression in your life and making the school year as enjoyable as possible.

This first pic is of the photo wallet closed with the slide-off closure in place.
Shown here is the slide-off closure removed, but the wallet is still closed.

These are pics of the wallet open. The first pic shows all the cards tucked into their little pockets. The 2nd pic shows how you take the little card that will hold a photo, out of it's pocket.

Stamps: Baroque Motifs (SU)
Ink: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip (SU)
Tools: Corner Rounder, 1" & 1 1/4" Circle Punches (Creative Memories), Thumb Tack, Lots of Double-Sided Tape, Sea Sponge
Embellishments: Jumbo Antique Copper Brads
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Vanilla, Caramel (Bazzill)
Patterned Paper: K &Company 12 x 12 KO Verbana Gold Ornamental Embossed Paper

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)