Stampin' Up! Sale-a-Bration ends February 28 - don't miss out!

 

Stampin' Up is having their Sale-a-Bration (ends this Friday the 28th - check the end of this post for more information).  They have lots of freebies available to choose from when you make a $60 purchase. One of those freebies was this wonderful set of Trusty Tools Dies (regular price is $37 - what a deal!), and today I've used it to make up a bunch of focal/embellishments to have ready for card making or scrapbooking.  

 

Pegboard:

I started out easy with some pieces that only required one color of card stock and no gluing!  I LOVE this pegboard!  And, I'm SO grateful that they created it without cut edges so that if I wish, I can make it bigger simply by running it through the die cut machine, then taking the die and lining it up beside my first die cut.  When I have the size I want, it's easy to cut around it with my trimmer.  When I actually use these, I might use ink to shade them a bit, but I don't think they really don't need it.

 

Wrenches, screws, washers, and nuts!

Next I tried some that were mostly one color - but the adjustable wrench has a second die to create a different look if you cut from two different colors (here I used a metallic silver with a sliver glimmer paper.  I LOVE having these little screws!!!

 

Tape Measures:

For these I used 3 different colors - silver metallic, silver glimmer, and white (for the tape itself).  It's a little difficult to tell the difference in the photo, but in real life the tape is clearly a different color from the rest and looks really good.

Ball Peen Hammers:

This time I chose to use silver metallic with some primary colored card stocks.  It doesn't show up as well as I'd like in the picture, but I used inks and a foam applicator to shade the handles a bit before gluing the silver hammer heads in place.  It really adds a nice touch.

Tool Box:

Again I used silver metallic and primary colored card stocks.  Again I shaded the primary colored card stocks.  I decided I wanted the look of silver rivets, so backed the holes on either side with strips of the silver metallic before gluing the handle in place.

Pliers:

This time I used silver glimmer paper for the pliers nose & colored card stock for the handles.  After I shaded the card stock with ink as before, I started gluing the pieces together.  First the two nose pieces were glued together (notice, you can choose how open or closed you want to make them based on the angle at which you glue these together.  Then, it's easy to glue the card stock handles in place.  I also decided I wanted to add silver metallic rivets where the nose pieces "join", so used the pieces that were scrap from the centers of the nuts (see screws & nuts above)

Paint Brushes:

The paint brush is only two pieces, so I cut the main one out of silver glimmer paper and the bristles out of a tan.  After inking the bristles pieces, and gluing them in place, I took some Sharpie markers to finish these.  I used silver in horizontal stripes to form the metallic part of the brush, then took a colored Sharpie for the handles.

Pencils:

Once again, there are only two dies to create these pencils.  I cut the main one out of a light tan, and the 2nd one out of other colors.  Again, I shaded those before gluing them in place.  Then, I took a black Sharpie and colored in the point to look like lead.  Then I used a silver Sharpie to color horizontal lines just above the colored card stock to create the look of the metal holder for the eraser.  I was quite happy with the way these turned out.

Drills:

I LOVE these drills!  It's something my DH uses a lot, so having this will help make some great cards for him.  This is also a two-piece cutting die - the drill bit mechanism and the rest of it.  I cut the drill bits out of silver glimmer paper and the other out of colored card stock.  THEN, I cut a couple extra of this second die out of silver metallic card stock.  I shaded the colored card stock as normal & glued the bit mechanism in place.  Then, I took the silver metallic die cuts and cut them apart to glue some of those pieces as you can see above.

These are going to look great on my cards and scrapbook pages!!! 

3/1/2025 UPDATE: Sale-a-Bration is over, but you can currently still get these dies here.  You can also get the coordinating stamps here. 

HD Winter Wildlife of Britain - Rabbit & Field Mouse

Today I have cards made from a 2016 Hunkydory Kit called Winter Wildlife of Britain.   The specific set was called Rabbit & Field Mouse.  Here's what the set looked like when I started:

As you can see, there was one sheet of die cuts and 2 sheets of Adoreable Scoreable (AS) printed card stock.  To this I added some scraps AS, a couple of extra die cuts from the kit, and a couple of Hunkydory Little Book pages to make 8 cards.  I also added a bit of ribbon and some sentiments from my stash.  Here's a look at the set of 8 cards.

It's always a bit challenging to make cards with limited supplies and tools, but that's what this set was.  Hunkydory sets make it easier to make nice cards while working with my Mom in the rehab center, but we're both looking forward to getting back to normal and working with more supplies.  At any rate, here's a closer look at each.

Card #1:

 

This time I made things easier on myself (though perhaps a bit more boring?).  I took each sheet of AS in the set and cut it into four pieces (with a little left over) that were each just a bit smaller than an A2 card front.  Then I set about using each to make a card.  For this first one, I simply glued the AS in place (it came with the border) and then added the largest die cut for a quick note card.

 

Card #2:

 

Next up, was the piece that had a scene printed on it.  This made for a great combined background & focal.  To this, I simply added a die cut border & sentiment from the set.

 

Card #3:

 

Because I was making A2 sized cards, the die cut frames were too big to fit the cards.  No worries!  I simply cut them and added them in various ways.  In this case, you can see a portion of an oval frame is glued as an arch around the focal die cut (one of the extra die cuts).

 

Card #4:

 

This piece of AS had a lovely foiled border already on it.  That was great for the left side! As you can see, I took portions of a frame to add a bit of interest to the right side of the card before adding the focal die cut.

 

Card #5:

 

This time I turned my piece of AS so that the pretty foiled border was at the bottom.  Then I added a partial circle frame die cut to the top before adding the focal die cut. (Again an extra die cut from the kit.)

 

Card #6:

 

The background AS came with the focal picture already on it.  This time I made use of a small strip of AS that was left over from another project to add to the border & fussy cut part of it to form a mat to my sentiment (from my stash).

 

Card #7:

 

By now, I was out of focal die cuts, but still had two pieces of AS and two fancy frames left.  I used one of each for this card, cutting the frame and re-arranging it on the card front.  Then I fussy cut a rabbit from a Little Book page and added it for my focal.  Finally I found a scrap of coordinating ribbon and added it with a sentiment from my stash.

 

Card #8:

 

This last card was created similarly - focal was fussy cut from a different Little Book page, and placed on the AS background that had been decorated with a die cut frame that had been cut in two pieces.  I threaded a scrap of ribbon through a sentiment from my stash and added it with foam tape to complete this card.

More Elizabeth Craft Embellishments

Today I have several embellishments I've created using Elizabeth Craft dies.  

Train Carts: (above) - These were all cut from white card stock.  They were mostly colored with distress inks, though I also used my scroll and brush markers and Sharpie metallic marker for the silver.

Knight's Armor:

 

Most of these pieces were cut from a silver glimmer paper, some from black glimmer paper, and the rest from white card stock - which I colored with distress inks.  I stamped the word "HELLO" on the shield using a stamp from Gemini's Peek-a-Boo Dog stamp and die set.

Peter the Montie:

First, I made a couple up the main way this set was intended - though personally, I bought this set because I thought it would give me an option for making a more normal "boy/man" figure (since the only one I had before this was a gnome and a "prince").  Once again, I cut all pieces from white card stock - then colored them with Distress Ink, Scroll and Brush Markers, and Sharpies.  Unfortunately, as you can see, I didn't put the face down low enough on the large hair piece, so it looks like hair on the chin. (We'll just call it a beard?)

Then I made some up as other figures:

I colored these based on pictures I found on-line that showed a mail carrier's uniform and a London bobby's uniform.  I also trimmed along the hips to give a more normal line, and trimmed the "boots" so they would fit under the pants and look like shoes. 

For the mail carrier, I also trimmed the bottom of the jacket to make it flair less.  Then I took the mountie's hat, left off the trim, trimmed the top to a better shape for the mail carrier, and drew in stitching lines to match the pictures I found on-line.  I also colored the lower pocket flaps in stripes as I saw on mail carrier's jackets.

For the bobby, I trimmed the flagpole and glued to the sides of his pants.  I also trimmed the shoulder strap off the mountie's belt ensemble to create the bobby's belt.  I used two cuff pieces, offset a little, to create the look at the bottom of the sleeves.  As you can see, I added a lot of white buttons.  His hat is the large hair piece colored black and turned upside down - then trimmed a couple of police hat pieces, colored in gold, to finish the bobby's hat.

I think you can see (particularly from the mail carrier) that this set can be adapted to create other boy/man figures.  I think the main part of the coat could be used as a vest with a different color for the "shirt sleeves".  I think this will prove to be a very versatile set.

Mrs Claus:

This die set can make a wide variety of ladies or girls by using different pieces and different colors.

Bamboo:

 

This set of three dies creates several bamboo plants - great for use with my various pandas!  Some of these were cut from green card stock and then inked, but most were cut from white before using a foam applicator to color them.

Daffodil:

 

This set creates two full daffodil flowers - facing 2 different directions - as well as a bud, and a single leaf.  These were all cut from white card stock and then inked with a foam ink applicator to get the colors you see (Distress ink for the green & SU ink for the yellow).

Grasshopper:

 

These critters are cute - but are made from a LOT of parts and take time to put together.

Ladybug:

 

These critters are so cute!  Not bad to put them together either.  As you can see, the ladybugs can be put together in at least two different configurations - and also come with a lucky clover and a small heart. I inked the edges of the clover, hearts, and bodies, but didn't bother with the red and black.  Some of the bodies were actually cut from white card stock and then inked with ink applicator to get the color you see.  The under-wings that you see on the first ladybug were cut from an iridescent vellum.

Ducks:

I colored these similar to what was in the packaging, but, of course, they could be colored differently.  I used a bit of Distress and SU inks to color these and ink the edges.  I somehow lost one of the little yellow duck's beaks so just colored it in with a fine-line marker.

Spy the Chameleon:

This guy is pretty cute IRL - not sure the picture does him justice.  I used a lighter color for the body, a dark green for the head BACKGROUND (what you see through the dots) and a medium toned textured green for the head, stripes, and feet.  Brown for the tree, yellow for the large part of the eye, and white for the rest of it (colored the larger of the two remaining eye pieces with a black Sharpie).  Used distress ink to add shading & ink the edges.

Asian Accessories:

This is a fun set of accessories - from food & tea to koi and bamboo, to lanterns, fan, and umbrella.  Very cool!

Dog House:

And finally, here's the doghouse with it's accessories - which goes great with the dog I already have!

Janie's Girls

 

Here's a card based on Janie's Girls set of stamps from HOTP.  Unfortunately, my water brushes no longer work (no doubt due to the hard water in the area), so coloring this was a challenge.  The background was a leftover piece of AS (Adoreable Scoreable printed card stock from Hunkydory).  In order to have borders top and bottom, I cut off the top border along the scallop and glued it to a piece that was cut to size.  I matted most pieces with black paper.  Pretty basic - except I have GOT to get some new water brushes so I can color the way I want to!

Thailand Pages 36 & 37 (gate fold)

YAY!!!  Because I did a few pages out of order, this is the last set of pages for my Thailand scrapbook.  It takes SO long to make scrapbook pages compared to greeting cards!  I'm grateful to have this keepsake completed.

Page 36:

I had this paper in my stash (I think it's from HOTP?) and thought it was perfect for these pages.  As you can see, I made sort of a mosaic with my pictures and text, matting the whole on a piece of black card stock.

Page 37 - Gate fold Closed:

Here I had to split the page because it is a gate fold.  This is what it looks like when the gate fold is closed.  As you can see, I mostly covered up the elephants on the paper on the second half since it really wasn't about elephants.

Page 37 Gate fold Opened:

This is what you see when the gate fold is opened.  The paper was in my stash - not sure where it came from. 

Page 37 Outer Flaps of Open Gate fold:

As you can see, I matted some of the text on pictures and matted the rest on a darker green.

Center Page when Gate fold is open:

Again I matted the title and journaling on a dark green.  As you can see, I put all of the elements on this page at a bit of an angle.

Thailand Pages 32 & 33 (gate fold)

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel as I close in on the last pages of this scrapbook!  Just one more gate-fold after the ones shown in this post.  

 

Page 32: The page at the top of this post is page 32.  It was a bit of a challenge because I took a full framed 12 x 12 paper and cut it down to create the 10 x 10 (or so) page that held my pictures on the main background for this page.  I used some of the cut off part of the frame to mat the journaling, added the title, and this page was complete.

 

Page 33 AB

 

These pages (gate fold) were again "doctored".  I liked the water for the background, but what you see is actually from two pages - each of which I removed the top part that included beach ball & such that didn't make sense for my pictures.  To get the waves going the right way, I had to tape the two pieces together horizontally before slicing it vertically for these pages.  I found a coordinating striped pattern - from a totally different company - that I used for matting.

 

Page 33 CDE

 

When the gate fold is opened, this is what you see.  I used three different papers here - one split in half for the background paper for the flaps, one was cut to 4 inches and glued to the top of the 3rd page (to cover up scenery that was not appropriate to the theme of the page).  Below are close ups of these pages.

 

Page 33 CE

Here you have a closer look at the two flaps.  

Page 33 D

And here's a closer look at the main inside page.  What a fun time we had!

Thailand Pages 30 & 31

Here are another couple of quick pages - made with simple papers and a bit of card stock for matting.

Page 30:

 Page 31:

Since I have already made the tiger pages (last entries in this post) and the last page (last entry in this post), I just have two more gate fold spreads to complete this scrapbook.  YAY!

Thailand Pages 28 & 29 (gatefold)

I'm getting closer to completing this scrapbook!  I love the paper I used for this layout.  I don't remember who made it, but it is embossed and really pretty.  The right page is actually two pages - a gate-fold that opens up to see this:

These pages used two different patterned papers - from the same set as those above.  Below is a closer look at each page.

Page 28:

As mentioned before - this is great paper.  It was hard to cover part of it up, but of course, adding pictures is the POINT.  :)  

Page 29 AB:

 Here, I split the page in half to fit into the gate-fold page protectors.  As you can see, I fussy cut around the flower in the bottom right corner (using a craft knife) to slip the picture in behind it.

Page 29 CE:

These are the outer flaps.  After cutting strips of the tan patterned paper to go on the blue one - and then cutting in half to fit the gate-fold flaps - I used brown washi tape to border them.  Unfortunately, I ran out of washi tape part way through.  Fortunately, I was able to find card stock in my stash that was essentially the same color.  This allowed me to both finish the borders AND mat some of the elements.

Page 29 D: 

This is the main inner page - created basically the same way as the flaps.