Newspaper weaving - Sanomalehtipunontaa


Mukavaa Jouluaaton aattoa Sinulle,

Minulla on tänä jouluna ollut ilo päästä osallistumaan Minnan DIY-joulukalenteriin, jossa kädentaitajat ovat jakaneet ihania jouluaiheisia askartelu-, leivonta- ja koristeluideoita. Kiitos, Minna, että sain olla mukana ja Hyvää Joulua!



Joulukuun alussa askartelupöydälläni syntyi pino joulukortteja, ja kun joulukortit olivat jo matkalla vastaanottajilleen, oli mukava tehdä jotain aivan muuta: Sanomalehtipunontaa!

Sanomalehti on mainio askartelumateriaali. Sitä on aina saatavilla ja se on paitsi edullista myös yllättävän kestävää ja helposti työstettävää. Netissä on paljon ohjeita sanomalehtipunontaan (katso vaikka hakusanaparilla ’newspaper weaving’), ja onpa aiheen tiimoilta perustettu myös keskusteluryhmiä Facebookiin.

Jotta sanomalehti kestää punomista ja pintakäsittelyä, pitää sanomalehti joko taitella tai rullata punokseksi. Jos valitsee rullaamisen, tulee rullattavan suikaleen leveyden olla vähintään 5 cm. Silloin punoksesta tulee riittävän kestävä. Itse käytin materiaalina tablet-kokoisia Helsingin Sanomien sivuja, jolloin yhden rullan pituudeksi tuli hieman yli 30 cm.

Rullaamisessa hyvä apuväline on pitkä neulepuikko (esim. koko 2,5), jonka ympärille suikale pituussuunnassa hieman viistosti kierretään. Kun rullan kiristää tiukasti puikon ympärille riittää, että kiinnittää suikaleen levittämällä paperiliimaa vain suikaleen päähän. Kun liimaa ei levitä koko rullan pituudelle, säilyttää rulla myös taipuisuutensa punonnassa.

Kun paperisuikale rullataan neulepuikon ympärille tulee rullan toisesta päästä hieman kapeampi kuin toisesta. Tämä on tärkeää, sillä rullat kiinnitetään toisiinsa työntämällä rullan päät sisäkkäin. Kiinnittämiseen voi käyttää liimaa, mutta se ei ole aina edes tarpeen, jos rullat työntää riittävän pitkältä matkalta sisäkkäin.



Tähän huurteisen valkoiseen pöytäkoristeeseen käytin pohjana paperimassakartioita, jotka päällystin rullatulla sanomalehtipunoksella. Paperimassakartion sijaan pohjan olisi voinut pyöräyttää myös tavallisesta askartelukartongista. Kiersin sanomalehtirullat vieri viereen aloittaen kartion alareunasta. Punosten jatkokohdat kiinnitin liimalla. Kun koko kartio oli päällystetty maalasin pinnan kahteen kertaan valkoisella akryylimaalilla. Valkoinen gesso olisi sopinut tähän yhtä hyvin.



Latvatähdet on stanssattu pahvista ja värjätty sinisellä askarteluvahalla. Jokaisen tähden sisällä on grillitikku pitämässä tähteä pystyssä, ja joulun jälkeen tähdet voi nostella kartioiden päältä pois ja laittaa kartiot säilytyslaatikkoon sisäkkäin.



Yhdestä punosrullasta syntyy myös helppo tähtikoriste joulukuuseen: Rulla taitellaan viiteen yhtä pitkään osioon, asetellaan sakarat tähden muotoon ja kiinnitetään päät liimalla yhteen. Samalla voi myös kiinnittää tähden pitkät sivut muutamalla liimatipalla toisiinsa. Kun liima on kuivunut, voi tähden maalata mieleisellään akryylimaalilla.

Tähdet ovat helppoa ja nopeaa askartelupuuhaa vaikka lasten kanssa tehtäväksi.






Rullattu sanomalehtipunos taipuu helposti myös punotuksi tähdeksi:


Joulun jälkeen kannattaa kokeilla myös lahjapaperin käyttöä punontamateriaalina. Kaikki paperit eivät välttämättä kestä työstämistä, mutta vahvemmista käärepaperilaaduista saa varmasti mukavaa materiaalia vaikkapa korinpunontaan. Kierrätystä parhaimmillaan, siis!

Hyvää ja rauhallista joulua toivottaen,
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Great Sizzix project ideas - and a BIG Giveaway!

Hi,
I wanted to share with you a few special Christmas treats Sizzix has put up for you. And yes, they are yours for free!

First of all: Festive Bakes; Free projects and yummy recipes. There are tutorials for four different gift boxes that are perfect for giving your friends some home-made treats. Recipes included!

Follow *this link* to read and to download the instructions





Our second gift is a four-page package of Christmas themed colouring pages. Download them, print them out, and enjoy! The images are also perfect for decorating Christmas cards and gift tags, or for using as beautiful wrapping paper for small Christmas gifts.

Follow *this link* to view and download the pages


Third, I wanted to share with you a great video and instruction sheets by the Sizzix designer Pete Hughes. He shares with you not only one, but 16 (!!) quick and easy Christmas card ideas that are perfect also for making gift cards. Just follow *this link* and enjoy!



And last- but for sure not least:  GIVEAWAY!

One lucky winner will get a brand new Sizzix Big Shot Plus Starter kit. Woohoo!


Wouldn't this make the perfect Christmas gift for yourself!

The kit contains not only a stylish Big Shot™ Plus machine but also a Thinlits™ Die Set, a Bigz™ L Die, a Textured Impressions™ Plus Embossing Folder and more! This kit is perfect for makers of all abilities and is ideal for a variety of project types from cards, invitations, scrapbook pages to home décor, fashion, quilting and much more. Also included in the kit is a lovely paper pad designed by Craft Asylum® allowing you to create straight away.


Follow *this link* to enter! The giveaway is open for all EU residents until Friday 18th December 2015 at 10am GMT. Good luck!

The lucky winner of our November Big Shot giveaway was Oana Ramona. Congrats!


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Merry Christmas Tag for December Take It Make It Challenge


Hi,
Have you already had a look at the gorgeous Christmas projects that have been linked to our December Take It Make It challenge? There is tons of holiday inspiration, but also our design team has put up some more projects for you- just follow this link to see them all.

My second project for December TIMI is a Christmas tag. Stamps are from Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous 'Old Fashioned Christmas' stamp set:



The Santa image is stamped white cardstock, cut out, and coloured with Distress inks. Green leaves are die-cut using Tim Holtz/Sizzix die 'Festive Greenery' from some time back (containing similar shapes than this lovely Thinlits die set).

Holiday themed background paper is from 13 Arts 'Winter Tales' collection, designed by Olga Hedwein. Oh, I love those papers!





I hope you share your stamped Christmas projects using the linky tool at TIMI Challenge blog. You might be the lucky winner of one of our amazing prizes! Challenge instructions can be read here.

Wishing you an inspirational crafting day!
Hugs,

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Christmas card for December Take It Make It Challenge

Hi,
If you have not yet started making Christmas cards, but are yet planning to do so, you might want to see some quick-to-make card ideas, right? Well, here's one you will be able to make without too many special supplies in no time at all:



For the background I cut three hill shapes from scrap paper, and I layered them on the card. I started inking the background sky with blue Distress ink, and once done I removed the hill mask I had on the bottom of my stack. Then I continued inking the edges of the second hill, once done removed again the bottom mask, and inked the edges of the hill on the front. Easy!


The trees I stamped twice; first with black archival ink and then with clear embossing ink. The dark blue embossing powder covers pretty well the black stamped image underneath, so creating a layered stamped image was pretty easy-- no masking techniques needed!


If you already have made Christmas themed projects using stamping somewhere on your project I suggest you share your creation on Craft Stamper Take It Make It blog: At TIMI, December is a 'Take A Technique' month, but as it's nearly Christmas we decided to go with a nice easy theme: 'Sharing The Season'!


We have two prizes on offer this month, the first is our sponsor prize. This winner will be chosen randomly from all of the entries in the challenge, and the sponsor for December is Polkadoodles


http://www.polkadoodles.co.uk/



Polkadoodles is an amazing online store, carrying everything you could wish for to create some wonderful art. And one lucky winner will get a £25 voucher to spend in the shop!


The second winner will be voted by the DT, and the lucky winner will have their winning project published in Craft Stamper Magazine, a GDT slot for an upcoming challenge, and will also feature in their very own Winners Profile blog post!

View all the challenge details here and play along!


Wishing you a wonderful day,

Hugs,
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Getting Ready For Christmas. Scrapbooking Layout for Jehkotar CRAFTChallenge DT

Hi,
Last few weeks have been the very hectic in my work life, and I've not had too many spare moments to update my blog. Sorry for that!
Luckily I've yet been able to steal a few moments to myself and to my dear crafting hobby. Especially during busy times I realize how important this hobby is to me; it reduces stress and helps me to relax which is so important when a tight project schedule needs to be kept!

Last Thursday the December Jehkotar CRAFTChallenge was revealed with a very festive mood board:



I decided not to use the suggested sketch, but made a scrapbooking layout of a sweet Christmas memory from last year:




For the background I used a fairly white paper from SODAlicious, and I decorated it with watercolours, stamped patterns, and gold colour cracle texture paste. Oh how I love playing with those media!


The original photo had too many colours, so inspired by the Christmas themed inspiration photos I removed most of them in Photoshop. The aim was to make a fairly monotonious layout with white, black, red and gold tones. I think I like how it turned out!


The picture is again a reminder for me to keep either the phone or the camera close for being able to store those precious memories. Those daily life snapshots are usually the most cherished moments!

Wishing you a great week!
Hugs,
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Sizzix Blog Hop: Die-cut gift boxes

Hi and happy Sunday!
And a warm welcome to my blog for Sizzix Festive Blog Hop Day 7!



This week Sizzix UK and US bloggers have shared with you inspirational project ideas for using dies from the beautiful Jen Long 'Winter Wishes' collection.

I made two Christmas themed gift boxes, using the lovely Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 7PK - Box, Pillow & Poinsettias. They were really simple to make, using the below supplies:
  • Sizzix Big Shot machine with magnetic platform
  • Sizzix transfer sheet in gold color
  • craft cardstock
  • leftover pieces of white and green cardstock
  • seed beads
  • sisal fibre 
  • white acrylic paint and white gel pen
  • brown ink and an ink blending tool (or cosmetic sponge)
  • brayer
  • little pieces of fabric grid
  • glue


I started making the first Poinsettia gift box by die-cutting the box shape twice from simple craft cardstock. I glued the side pieces together and assembled the box for inking the edges and corners of the box with brown ink. For inking I used a special ink blending tool, but a cosmetic sponge would have worked well, too.
Once done I glued a piece of fabric grid on the box and painted the grid gently with white acrylic paint and a brayer.



For the poinsettia image I used a gold Sizzix Inksheet. I love the endless possibilities of the ink sheets as they turn the thin metal dies into stamps. So cool!

I first transferred the flower image on white cardstock, and then die-cut it using the poinsettia leaf die. For keepin the die still during cutting I placed the stamped image and the matching metal die on a magnetic platform. Then, using the same die, I cut the leaves from green cardstock.


Before layering the flower I gently folded the petals of the die-cut flower which gave the flower a nice 3D look. Under the flower there are some wrapped sisal fibres, and when the flower was glued on top, I finished the box by glueing some metal seed beads on the center of the poinsettia.
Done!


The second box was made in a similar way with die-cut box pieces glued together and edges inked. But before gluing the fabric grid on the box I splashed some white paint on the box front:



The little white flowers are actually the poinsettia center pieces, but they can very well be used without the large flower, too. Green leaves were cut from green cardstock.

Again I decorated the flowers with metal seed beads, and finished the box with gluing down some red berries i.e. wooden beads.


The little boxes are just perfect for wrapping hand made jewellery or other little Christmas gifts. And they are so simple and fun to make!


If you have not seen all of this week's tutorials here's the complete blog hop list for you:


Wishing you a wonderful day!
Hugs,
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Birthday card for December Mixed Media Card Challenge

Hi!
December is here, and so is our new Mixed Media Card Challenge. Theme this month is 'Celebration':





Even if we are entering the festive season with many reasons to celebrate, yet I wanted to make a mixed media birthday card. I was especially pleased with the background of my project; I loved the pattern of Andy Skinner/Stampendous 'Industrial' stamp, and for highlighting it I decided to use simple white die-cut elements on top:







For the background I used a leftover piece of watercolor paper. I started the background with mixing various Distress paints on the paper, and once the paint was dry I added another color layer with white acrylic paint. The pattern was stamped with black Archival ink.






Flower and leaves are die-cut (for flower I used this lovely new Bigz die and for the leaves this Tim Holtz Decorative strip die). Under the flower there's a punched scalloped circle that I glued on the background.
Before rolling the flower I inked the edges lightly with orange Distress ink.






Hop over to MMCC blog to see the entire collection of mixed media cards made by the Design Team. I hope you get inspired and play along!


Wishing you a lovely day,
Hugs,
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