PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Purses and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

I'm happy to report that I'm back after a three-month break in blogging! I have been on quite the roller coaster ride during that time, but thankfully, my determined husband is successfully making his way back from having a stroke on April 29th. Life is so precious and I hold that thought in my heart and mind even more now. My family is immeasurably grateful for all the love received from friends and family that cheered us on and up during these past months!

My 93-year-old friend's birthday is this month and I wanted to make this purse for her that I saw on Pinterest, of course!

You can find the tutorial by clicking HERE.

The finished size is quite large and makes a stunning box to hold a little gift or some candy. Here's my version:

White leaf die used was:

FLOURISH THINLITS by Stampin' Up

My mind is spinning with all of the possibilities for purses year-round using holiday double-sided paper, and boy oh! boy, do I have stashes of that kind of paper squirreled away!

Here are a few more versions that I made while everything was pulled out and my craft room already looked like a bomb had gone off!

The scoring is a bit difficult because you can't put your paper on a score board to create the diagonal scoring. I used a straight edge and a ruler on top of some craft foam and that worked beautifully!...but then the light bulb in my head went off and I realized that you can fold up the bottom third of the paper after it's scored and then you can use your Fiskars scoring tool perfectly!

Use the metal wire to line up the score line:

Open the ruler to the right and locate the

score slot at the top of the scorer

to start the score line:

When the Velcro closure of the flap is lifted up, the purse opens like an explosion card and this is what the inside of my purse looks like:

Top Sentiment = My Computer

Lower Sentiment = SU Balloon Adventures

Visit Lizzie's blog HERE to see the step-by-step tutorial pics and view the explosion effect. I hope you make someone happy with your paper creations soon. It sure feels good to be able to do that again!

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Cool Cards and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

These gorgeous double-sided step cards with floating butterflies and fantastic step-by-step instructions caught my eye:

Original Pin HERE
or
http://tinyurl.com/doublestepcard

This is my version:

The floating butterflies are made possible by using thin strips of acetate attached to each butterfly from the inside of the right and left panels. They actual look like they are suspended in mid air!

....and I also learned how to make tunnel

cards recently:

The original card idea was featured by Frenchie on her Stamp and Scrap blog with these two posts HERE and HERE:

She included a video for the snowman card above on her blog and demo'd two versions of tunnel cards via a live stamping event. Here are the measurements for the landscape and portrait versions.

Landscape Tunnel Card

• Card Base: 4 1/4" x 11" score at 5 1/2"
• Inside Insert: 4" x 9 1/2" score along the 9 1/2" side at 3", 6" and 9"
• Cut along 1/2" section to create 3/4" tabs at the top and bottom (Frenchie's video HERE shows how to do this)

Portrait Tunnel Card

• Card Base: 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" score at 4 1/4"
• Inside Insert: 5" x 6 1/2" score along 6 1/2" side at 2", 4" and 6" or
• Inside Insert Version 2 for snowman card: 4 3/4" x 5 3/4" (see note below) score along 5 3/4" side at 1 3/4", 3 1/2" 5 1/4" NOTE: 5 3/4" is correct even though Frenchie posted 5 1/2" on her blog. She does state 5 3/4" in her video tutorial. 
• Cut out 1/2" section to create tabs at the top and bottom

Check out this variation of tunnel cards with a tutorial posted on Splitcoast Stampers HERE:

The inside insert measures 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" scored along the long side at  2 1/8", 4 1/4" and 6 3/8".

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: The Very Best of Recent Pinterest Pins

CARD CHICKS REUNITE!

The projects we made last week included a few modifications to Pinterest pins I recently added to my boards. The first was a simple EXTRA gum craft:

I purchased the gum packages from Costco and the decorative corner punch is by Martha Stewart. The base was created on my computer and the Chicks stamped the "SWEET" (from Michael's Dollar Bin) then added embellishments. It was fun to see all of their creativity as they were all different when completed ^_^

HERE is the Original Pin:

Then they made a simple tri-panel card (using Stampin' Up's banner punch) that can be modified to fit any occasion. The card folds up and fits into those standard envelopes sold in drugstores or dollar stores. (The actual box of envelopes is shown below in the last photo for this project):

INSIDE VIEW

Inside Sentiment: SU You Are Loved

Outside Sentiment: Michael's from Dollar Stamp Bin

MEASUREMENTS:

6" by 9 3/4" DSP

Along the 9 3/4" side,

score at 3 1/2" and 7" then use a 

decorative punch on the far right edge

 Here's a birthday card I made using the same idea:

...and a thank you note:

NOTE: You get 80 envelopes in one box!

TIP: Line the envelope with matching paper

For the third project, the Chicks made a simple embossing folder card using the SU Bird Builder Punch:

Outside Sentiment:

Express Yourself (SU)

Inside Sentitments:

You Are Loved (SU) and

Heard from the Heart (SU)

HERE is the original Pinterest pin:

The last project was the Valentine Kitten Treat:

The details were explained HERE in this previous post. Here are some final Card Chicks pics that made me smile:

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Candy Dispensers

Original Pin HERE

The candy dispenser above is made using a computer cutting machine that I don't have, so I took a look and designed one using a simple scoring board. Here are the pics of my finished boxes - a large and small version:

To add candy to the boxes, I placed them upside down and loaded them in through the opening. (I made the sentiment on my computer.) Here are my measurements for the small box:

Start with a medium-weight DSP that measures 8-1/2" x 7-1/2":

*Along the 8-1/2" side, score at 2", 4", 6" and 8"

* Along the 7-1/2" side, score at 3/4", 2-3/4", 4-3/4" and 6-3/4"

Draw in all cut lines as shown in the pictures above.

NOTE: If you want to make several dispensers, it is very helpful to cut out one to use as an overlay template to outline all of the cuts with a pencil.

For the larger size dispenser, start with a piece of

10-1/2" x 9"

* Along the 10-1/2" side, score at 2 1/2", 5", 7-1/2" and 10"

* Along the 9" side, score at 3/4", 3-1/4", 5 3/4" and 8-1/4"

NOTE A: I used TomBow Mono Liquid Glue on all flaps. NOTE B: I prefer the smaller dispenser size, and to view more candy dispensers and templates on Pinterest, click HERE.