Posts Tagged ‘paper’

Easy Suminigashi Tutorial

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Iron provided by CHI® and Bed Bath & Beyond. Whether taking the wrinkles out of a new bedspread or curtains as the finishing touch on a home décor project, ironing your favorite outfit for a special occasion or flattening paper for artwork the CHI® Electronic Retractable Clothing Iron is the bee’s knees. 

 

SUMINIGASHI!! This marbling technique is so super awesome. It’s one of those projects that doesn’t really require a whole lot of space or preparation. I had everything on-hand for this project, so there was little barrier to entry here. 

HOWEVER, there was a little bit of a learning curve. Check out this little video Hayley and I made about our discoveries through trouble-shooting (the tutorial is at the end if you want to skip to the end there, too). 

In a nutshell, here’s what we found: 

  • Cold water works best
  • You can use soap to help disperse the ink, but you need a large water bath in order to keep the ink from dropping from the surface
  • Use only sumi ink if you plan on using a smaller water bath (we used a kitchen dish for note cards and envelopes)
  • Not all sumi inks work well. Of the sumi inks I have, Yasutomo worked the best
  • We read elsewhere that these colored inks work well, if you want to add color
  • The first paper you pull is often the “first pancake”, don’t stress if it doesn’t work well
  • You can get 3-7 pulls off of one ink application, the ghost images are subtle like Carrara marble

 

Don’t feel like watching the video for the tutorial? Here’s the cliff’s notes version: 

SUPPLIES:

  • sumi ink
  • paper (we loved the crisp results of bristol paper, but anything works!)
  • cold water
  • water container
  • diluted soapy water (only if using a larger container)
  • brush
  • tooth pick or eye dropper
  • the bestest iron ever (yes, a clothing iron)

If you’re doing this project with little people, you may want to add aprons, rubber gloves and a drop cloth to the mix (especially if you’re doing larger ink baths). 

Fill your container with cold water. I chose to use a small container for the video, but I’m on Studio 5 on Tuesday sharing how you can do it with soap and a larger container. So either can be done. 

Get your ink brush wet and load it up with sumi ink. Barely tap the surface of the water and watch the water disperse along the surface. 

Add more dots along the surface, spacing them randomly apart. the longer your brush touches the surface, the larger the dot. 

Get as many dots as you want, until you feel happy with the blank space to ink ratio. 

With a toothpick or eye dropper, drag the tool along the surface to pull and move the ink around. You’ll get little swirls all over. 

Grab your paper and submerse the first paper entirely. 

Pull your print and place on a cookie sheet to dry. If you’re doing envelopes, touch only the surface of the water to the front of the envelope. Hold the envelope by the flap so it doesn’t get wet (otherwise it will seal shut as it dries). 

Now what do you do when the paper dries?? It’s so annoying when papers dry all curly and whatnot. And they will. So iron them! A huge shout out to CHI Heat tools and Bed Bath and Beyond for providing me with a brand-new iron for my sewing and paper crafting. 

I’ve been a Rowenta gal for a long time, but it wasn’t hard to make the switch. It’s light-weight, yet substantial, the plate is silky smooth, the heat time is short, the reservoir for steaming is twice the size of my old one and it has a retractable cord. All wins in my book. If you’re in the market for a new iron, this is it. 

For ironing paper, get a cutting board (something smooth, yet will take heat) and a piece of quilting cotton. Set the iron to COTTON with NO STEAM. Place the cotton over the paper you’re about to iron and press for 15-20 seconds, moving the iron as you go. Flip the paper around  and repeat. The paper may want to curl in the direction of its grain, but it will relax once it cools back down. 

Pretty fun, right? I would recommend doing this in batches to save time. The print or write your desired phrases overtop! 

This post is sponsored by CHI® and Bed Bath & Beyond. All opinions are my own.

Tutorial: Coffee Filter Flowers

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Hello friends! If you’re here from Studio 5, welcome! I hope you take a look around at my printables and tutorials. If you’d like to sign up for one of my local workshops, click here (or the image below). If you’d like to take calligraphy online, check out my offerings here.

On to the tutorial, shall we? 

Many months ago, I made these versatile coffee filter flowers with friends. Elsa brought all the supplies and we made tons. I made enough to decorate Penelope’s birthday party and my Christmas tree. With very little effort. I believe in all, my collection of flowers took 4-5 hours to make. When you batch it with friends, you can make even more! The great thing about these is once they’re made, they last forever and you can use them for just about any occasion. Add some fresh foliage from the yard and you’re good to go! 

Or stick them in a pot with succulents for a little added color. Here’s how you do it: 

Coffee Filter Paper Flowers DIY

First, let’s grab materials to dye the coffee filters. Since you’re not really laundering the flowers, you can dye them with anything. Dye with Rit, watercolor, heck I’m sure you could use food coloring. I like how permanent my results with Rit were. If you want more granulation and variation in the dye, use powdered dye. 

SUPPLIES for DYEING: 

I love using those hospital bed pans. They’re easy to come by and it doesn’t matter if you stain them with your dye. Also, the hotter the water, the faster the dye process. 

Fill the basin about 1-2″ deep, you don’t need it super deep, with the hottest water you can get from the tap. Add dye. If you want a muted color, add about 1 tablespoon of dye. If you want it more saturated, add more! Pull off a section of 20 or so coffee filters. If you want more color variation, use larger chunks of filters in the dye bath. Dip in and pull out. The longer you soak them, the more consistent the color will be from filter to filter. So I like to pull them after soaking for about a minute. Separate filters and place on a towel to try. For quicker dry times, you can put them on your heater vents (if it’s winter), or out in the sun (if it’s summer). 

Now to make the flowers, you need: 

 

Fold your filters in half. Then in half. Then in half. THEN in half again! Cut a round or pointy end. Then halfway down, do it again. These two pieces will be for flower steps 1 and 2.

Cut the second filter the same way. Add feathering if you’d like with multiple cuts on one or all of the pieces. More feathering, more volume it will have. Cut to the center on one side.

Grab the smallest piece and add glue to one side of the slit. Roll it around your wire stem and hold in place. Bring the rest of the petals around and glue securely.

Grab the second largest piece and glue one edge. Hold in place to allow glue to set. You’ll gather and pinch the bottoms of this layer together as you glue to add more fullness to the flower.

See the difference between the steps? It progressively gets more full. IF you want more volume, add even more layers! 

For the last step, complete like the first. Add glue to the center portion of the coffee filter along the slit. Attach to the flower and wrap around. Glue as you go to secure in place. 

Fluff out and add glue drops to the edges for dew drops!

Here’s a video detailing each of the glue steps:

There you go! Enjoy! 

*This tutorial is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without my consent. If you would like to use this tutorial for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!

Hand-Cut Playhouse Silhouette Promo

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Anything in miniature is just irrisistable, is it not? Penelope and I found these little miniature plastic toys at the toy store a couple weeks ago. They’re no taller than half an inch, making them the perfect travel play buddies.

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I’m always trying to find appropriate quiet toys for Penelope and Felix to play with during our church services on Sundays. They can be the hardest 3 hours of the week if I don’t come prepared with ample toys and snacks. Problem is, often times they get bored with the toys they typically play with. The idea struck for Sunday-only toys when I found these little cuties.

They were great last week, but we were missing scenery. The little pouch my friend made is perfect for housing all of the animals and any coordinating accessories so my mind set to work to make something collapsible that would fit inside the little pouch (isn’t it too cute?!?).

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Making little cut-outs with Silhouette’s chipboard did the trick! Designing the scenery was a breeze, too. It was a fun little mommy-daughter activity for us to decorate the scenery together.

I’m not sure I’ve seen this kind of excitement from her in a while.

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Now my only hope is that I can hide these little goodies during the week. She wants to play with her toy scene all the time!

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Yesterday started a huge promotion over at Silhouette. They’re offering huge discounts on not only the machines, but a whole pack of goodies. If you don’t have a machine yet, I advise you get one with this promo. You’ll get so many fun starter goodies you’ll be crafting well into the thick of winter.

Use promo code MELISSA at checkout for this exclusive deal.

Specialty media plus a Silhouette CAMEO® for $269.99 (savings over $120 from retail cost $383.90)

  • 1 cardstock essentials pack (new product)
  • 1 pack printable adhesive kraft paper (new product)
  • 1 pack printable clear sticker paper
  • 1 pack temporary tattoo paper
  • 1 pack printable cotton canvas (new product)
  • 1 pack chipboard
  • 1 pack printable silver foil
  • 1 pack printable magnet paper
  • 1 pack double-sided adhesive

Specialty media plus a Silhouette Portrait™ for $129.99 (savings over $110 from retail cost $263.90)

  • 1 cardstock essentials pack (new product)
  • 1 pack printable adhesive kraft paper (new product)
  • 1 pack printable clear sticker paper
  • 1 pack temporary tattoo paper
  • 1 pack printable cotton canvas (new product)
  • 1 pack chipboard
  • 1 pack printable silver foil
  • 1 pack printable magnet paper
  • 1 pack double-sided adhesive

30% off on all specialty media

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I am a Silhouette affiliate. I wouldn’t blog about their products unless I really loved them. And I do. I receive a portion of sales made with the promotional code MELISSA, so thank you for your support!!

 

Tutorial: Rear-View Mirror Love Notes

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I made a little hanging white board for Chris’s rear-view mirror. Kinda silly, but I can write him all sorts of fun notes and hang them from his car rear view mirror for a little surprise as he leaves for work.

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There are all sorts of ways you can make mini white boards, but I used all things I had on-hand, plus sheets of washi tape (yes sheets!).

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DIY White Board Supplies

  • glue stick, invisible
  • bone folder
  • string
  • washi sheets
  • thick board
  • white paper
  • transparency paper

These supplies worked for me, but you could easily substitute: a popsicle stick for the bonefolder, paper and glue for the washi sheets, a few layers of cereal boxes or the back of a sketch pad for the thick board and clear plastic packaging for transparency paper.  If you’ve got it on hand, use it!

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Glue up your board and carefully place your white sheet of paper on top.

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Use a bone folder or popsicle stick to smooth out any bubbles.

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Around the outside only, glue down the transparency sheet. Make sure it is firmly in place.

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Cut your washi sheet about 1 1/2 inch larger than the width and height of your board. Remove the backing or evenly coat your paper with glue. Place your paper-covered board in the center of your washi sheet or paper.

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In your hand, turn the board and sheet over and smooth out any bubbles with your bonefolder.

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Clip off the corners, but about 1/8th of an inch away from the corner. This will make your corners look neater. Promise.

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Bend the board, making the tape stick to the sides. Press tape neatly over top the transparency. It might want to buckle in spots.

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Pinch down the excess over those corners. Repeat on bottom and sides until the tape is completely wrapped around the front side of your board.

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Punch holes and thread string through the holes. Secure the string.

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Write your message.

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See how cute the back is? It’s such a simple project, but I could see this being a fun little game within a family or tight group of friends.

Write a little love message or compliment and leave it in their car, bathroom, etc for them to read. They can then erase and pass the love onto someone else. A perfect family activity for the month of February, if you ask me.

Washi tape pages provided by Lifestyle Crafts.

 

Sewn Paper Boxes

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I always find that I don’t have any boxes when I need them most. I hardly ever keep boxes or buy boxes just because they tend to take up so much space. And I can never seem to keep the right sized gift boxes in stock! It’s especially the pits when I’m looking for some adorable packaging for a gift. It’s such a pain to run those errands with two kids. I’d much rather make do with what I’ve got at home. Since that’s the case, I’ve found two adorable packaging options with items I always have on hand.

My friend just had a baby girl a few weeks ago & I’ve had a few goodies lying around the house waiting to go to her. Since we were going to be visiting her yesterday, I thought it was high time I wrapped up her gift.

Isn’t that cardigan just so sweet?!? I found the sweater, it was hand crocheted (?) I’m assuming and I made the little onesie. I think they’re just adorable together. I needed a little box for it all so I whipped up the above box lickety split. I thought I’d share with you how I did it! This technique is perfect for little treats & gifts! Hope you enjoy the tutorial!

• S U P P L I E S •

  • card stock or heavy paper. I’ve doubled up two sheets of regular paper before with great success, too!
  • ruler
  • bone folder or scorer
  • paper cutter or ruler & X-acto
  • sewing machine

First, you want to figure out the size of your desired box. I usually just wing it when it comes to these measurements. If you want your side wall to be two inches, you’ll want to measure two inches in from each edge. Makes sense? See diagram below for measurements.

Score along each line. Crease each fold, then match up each corner score. You’ll need to box out the bottom & then crease out to the corner. It’s sort of hard to explain, but in the process of matching the two perpendicular score lines, you create a 45º from the score corner to the corner of the page.

Keep those two score lines together & sew down that score line using your widest stitch. Make sure you test out your thread tension beforehand to make sure it’s tight enough, otherwise you’ll have some loosey goosey stitches in the back of each seam. It’s not pretty. Also, I used a zipper foot in order to sew this seam. I just need a straight stitch & I needed the foot to be as small as possible to get a straighter line.

Trim the excess with pinking shears. Another method which I find a bit cleaner, is to sew the flaps to the sidewall with only a few stitches on each side. The measuring for this is a bit trickier. You have to make sure those two flaps are long enough to overlap in order to sew. So you make sure in your measurements that the sidewall is longer than 1/2 of the length (plus 1/4 inch) of one of the bottom measurements. Example: If I want the box to be 4 inches by 5 inches, I need to make sure the wall is at least 2 1/4 inches tall so the flaps can be sewn together. Make sense?

Check out the video ABOVE to see how I did this.

A big thanks to American Crafts for sending me their CUTUP trimmer. It’s fantastic! Check out the video above to see all of its bells & whistles.

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