Category Archives: 3-D

Frankie’s Eyes

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I saw this idea somewhere…and of course, you know where this is going.  I’ve looked and looked but I have no idea where I first saw it:

Frankie's Eyes

  • Basic Black, Concord Crush and Old Olive card stock
  • Big Shot and Top Note Bigz die
  • 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 inch circle punches
  • Basic Black (Neutrals) brads
  • Small Cello bag
  • Eyeball candy

I looked far and wide for eyeball candy.  The sample that inspired me had foil wrapped chocolates with eyeballs printed on the foil, but I couldn’t find those anywhere on Maui.

We’re basically a small town on an island.  We have a few Big Box stores and our grocery stores and a number of smaller shops, but we don’t have the Target Dollar Spot or the huge selection that larger Mainland towns have.  What’s more, because shipping takes time and money, things arrive – and sell out – in a hap-hazard fashion.  The rule here is if you see it, buy it – because next time it won’t be there.

I saw these (gross) eyeballs and jumped on them.  (Quit laughing, I didn’t really put them on the ground and stomp – you know what I mean!)  They were a perfect solution for me because they’re those revolting gummy candies that I am not tempted to eat at all.  (OK, true confession, I ate one just to be sure.  They are disgusting.)  This is not the case with M&M’s or Reese’s Pieces or (especially) Ghiradelli squares.

Look at Frankie’s mouth.  He tried one too.

 

 

Frankensniffles

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Cheryl and I had lunch a week ago to celebrate her birthday, and SHE brought ME a present:

Frankensniffles

So CUTE!!  He even has “bolts”.

This is a simple project that can be adapted to any season, decor or other whim – check HERE for instructions!

But what you really have to see is what happened after lunch.  Cheryl was all ready to bring her Big Shot into the restaurant because she wanted me to help her figure out a technique, but we decided our waiter wasn’t exactly the paper-crafting type and that we’d better try it in the parking lot.  Little did I know that she was ready to rock and roll:

Cheryl's Mobile Big Shot

Who else do you know that carries a folding table in the back of her van WITH her Big Shot?  There we were, crafting away in the parking lot.

Cheryl with the Mobile Big Shot

Honestly, you’ve got your Food Trucks, how about Big Shot Minivans?  I see a new business opportunity!

A red-eyed bat

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You may have seen this on other blogs – it’s a shameless CASE but I love it:

Red eyed bat

What did we do before the Big Shot? (and if you don’t have one, you can have one for FREE when you purchase the Demonstrator kit in October)

We did an awful lot of measuring and scoring and back-to-the-drawing-boarding, that’s what!

This is the Petal Cone die, with the top flaps cut off and a pair of sides attached as wings.  Those wings got a little Spider Web treatment (anyone remember Classy Brass and the Light Box?  SOOO much faster!)  This silly fellow has Red Glimmer Paper eyes and Shimmer White fangs, and of course a little Champagne Mist shimmer paint on his wings.   So easy to make and so much fun – he’ll have company before Halloween gets here!

A fabulous Holiday Mini

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The Holiday Mini catalog had my head spinning when I saw it for the first time.  There are so many products that I can really use!  Our new 1 inch by 8 inch cello bags are a perfect example:

Owl Trick or Treats

Stamp, stamp, punch, punch, stick, stick and you are DONE!

The challenge is getting the candies into the bag and not into my mouth.  And if you’re wondering, that little masquerading owl is from the Warmest of Wishes Holiday Mini Hostess set.  Like I said…

Cobwebs in my hat

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My little ghosts and goblins are mostly grown up.  At 17, my son (the “baby”)  isn’t very interested in costumes or carving pumpkins, and I’ve had to re-think Halloween.   I’m not such a fan that I’ll go all-out Martha style, but I’m enjoying putting together something for the entry to my home.  Here’s a simple start:

 

Witch's hat

 

 

  • House of Haunts stamp set
  • Basic Black and Whisper White card stock
  • Pumpkin Pie textured card stock
  • Pumpkin Pie Classic ink pad
  • Blender pen and Basic Black Stampin’ Write marker
  • Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint and Sponge Daubers
  • Big Shot and Petal Cone L and Scallop Circle Bigz dies
  • Spider Web Textured Impressions Embossing folder
  • Decorative Label and XL Oval punches
  • Stampin’ Dimensionals, Sticky Strip and Mini Glue Dots
  • Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon

The hat is really simple – a petal cone assembled and inverted on a scallop circle.  I used a sponge dauber to highlight the Spider Web with Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint (an absolute MUST HAVE product).

If you purchase a demonstrator kit during the month of October, you’ll receive a Big Shot from Stampin’ Up! absolutely free!  Already have the Big Shot?  You can choose $100 worth of Stampin’ Up! product (think of all the dies you could get!) and pay nothing – not even tax or shipping!  Check out the details at my Online Store.

Using the right adhesive makes a huge difference.  Stampin’ Up! sells loads of different products and there is always one that is right for the job.  I use Sticky Strip whenever I assemble 3-D items to be sure they keep their shape, and I like to use Stampin’ Dimensionals to attach layers to cardstock that has gone through one of our Texutred Impressions Embossing folders.  Do you want to know the biggest secret for making this project stick together?  Assemble the Petal Cone die, being sure to Sticky Strip the flaps closed on the top of the cone.  Then use Mini Glue dots to attach the cone to the Scallop Circle.

If you do the math, you may be surprised to find that our adhesives are really cost effective.  Stampin’ Dimensionals are a penny apiece (ok, they’re 1 1/3 cents each if you want to be really technical) and Mini Glue dots are just under 2 cents each.  Once I sat down and figured that out I quit being so stingy with them – I use Mini Glue dots for everything now.  They’re REALLY sticky (just get one stuck to your fingernail and you’ll see what I mean!)

Why don’t you treat yourself to a fresh box of Mini Glue dots?  You deserve it.

 

 

 

 

 

My Paper Garden

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Look what’s growing in my garden:

Spice Cake Flowers

Easy, too – Spice Cake Designer Series paper, buttons, ribbon, twine – and of course my Simply Scored!

Here are a few tricks:

  • Score the paper every 1/4 inch.  I’ve tried scoring every half inch on one side, then flipping it over to score in the middle of each half inch on the other side (that creates every 1/4 inch alternating mountain and valley), but in my opininon it’s not worth the trouble.
  • Cardstock is harder to fan fold than Designer Series paper, so practice with the DSP – just be sure not to press so hard that you tear instead of score
  • Your paper doesn’t have to be tall – maybe 1 or 1 1/2 inches – but longer is better.  If it’s too short, when you try to fold the fan around to make a circle the top edge has to stretch too much and it will “lampshade” on you.  Mine are two pieces (8 1/2 inches) each stuck together with Sticky Strip.
  • To get a secure fan, I use my piercing tool and mat after I have scored to pierce a hole in the center of EACH panel at the bottom edge of the strip.   Then I use a big needle threaded with Linen Thread and stitch through the holes.  I leave the holes on either end for the last step:  when all the other holes are threaded, I attach the two ends of the paper strip with Sticky Strip and thread the Linen Thread through that last hole.  Then I can cinch up the fan and tie it off.

I know, I know, it sounds complicated.  The first one feels complicated.  After that, they are mindless.  Trust me.  I have a basket with pieces of these fan-fold flowers in varying states of completion, and when I have a couple of minutes I’ll work on them.  They are a perfect finishing touch!

The 2-4-6-8 box: An old friend made easier with Simply Scored

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Simply Scored makes short work of that old stand-by, the 2-4-6-8 box:

Spice Cake 2-4-6-8 box

  • Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set
  • Pool Party, Pear Pizazz, More Mustard and Early Espresso card stock
  • Spice Cake Designer Series Paper
  • Spice Cake Designer Buttons
  • Pear Pizazz Classic ink pad
  • Simply Scored
  • Medium Jewelry tag punch
  • Hemp twine
  • Dazzling Diamonds

Those are some humangajangous buttons!!  I’m going to set up my neglected sewing machine and have some fun with buttons and fabric – it’s been a long time since I’ve done any real sewing.  (We’ll see how far that goes!)

Like my crazy haircut fringe?  I’m not sure what posessed me to do that but it was fun.  I just scored a strip of cardstock so that each side would be 1/8 inch shorter than the corresponding Pool Party side.  Then I snipped that goofy fringe and used SNAIL to stick it to the inside of the box.

Spice Cake Box from the top

The 2-4-6-8 box is a simple concept and easy to adapt.  The basic concept is to score a piece of cardstock across the 8 1/2 inch dimension at 2, 4, 6, and 8 inches.  That gives you 4 panels each 2 inches wide and a little tab that’s 1/2 inch wide.  Turn your paper 90 degrees and score 1 to 2 inches from the bottom, snip and fold up the bottom, and you’ve got a simple open-top box.  If you turn your cardstock to the 11 inch direction, you can easily adapt the box to a rectangle.  For example, score at 2, 5, 7 and 10 and trim the last inch to a half inch and you’ve got a 2 inch by 3 inch box.  Clear as mud?  Try it, you’ll see how easy it is.  Or Google 2-4-8 box as there are loads of tutorials out there.  I’m not into re-inventing the wheel by documenting a technique someone else has already covered!

Needless to say, the Simply Scored tool makes this project super simple.  I’m finding myself reaching for it more and more, and I can’t imagine how I lived without it.  It’s like the Big Shot that way – once you’ve used it, you can’t imagine using anything else!

 

Re-use, reduce, recycle

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We make a real effort to recycle in the Maui Stamper household.  I spotted a great way to re-purpose a couple of Stampin’ Supplies, and the best part was that this little trick solved an annoying problem for me.

I’m not a fan of the way our Linen Thread and Baker’s Twine are packaged.  You know, the ones wrapped around the card and stapled into a cello bag.  This nifty solution appeared on a number of blogs:


Yep – those are little embellishment containers.  I can’t bear to throw them away because they just seem so useful!  They’re just right for dispensing twine and thread.  Do you see the eyelet on the side?  The Crop-a-dile punched a hold in the side of the container with no problem, and I set the eyelet there just because.  I confess to still having a couple of containers full of eyelets even though we don’t offer them in our catalog any more.  (Boo.)

Here’s the container for the Linen Thread:

Linen thread container

I had to dress it up a little bit, and the little tags with the name of the thread are for those late-night stampin’ sessions when things get a little giddy.

Inside the linen thread container

Aha!  Double recycling!  I used an empty ribbon spool (this one is from the new In Color ruffled ribbon) to hold my thread so it wouldn’t snarl.  I cut the cardboard ring from the ribbon spool down to fit inside the container – unfortunately, there isn’t a circle punch that fits right, so I used the 1 3/4″ circle and then trimmed it down.  I put some pretty DSP on top with a little Tombo to dress it up, and when I punched the circle out of the middle of the DSP I saved it and stuck my needle through it.  I always keep a fat needle with my Linen Thread and my Baker’s twine, and having it inside the container means I’m less likely to stick myself with the needle while rummaging in my drawer.

The little puka on the side for the thread

I’ll bet you have a couple of these little embellishment containers sitting around.  If you don’t, you have two choices:  hurry up and use a whole mess of buttons or brads or spinner arrows or whatever so you empty out a container, or order a set of 6 of them for $3.95 (#103649).  You can still recycle the ribbon spool 🙂

Composition Books the Maui Stamper Way

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I love to write, and I’m addicted to notebooks of all sorts…but I prefer it when they’re interesting (I was going to say “pretty” but that sounds like an 8 year old girl.)

Last weekend I made a very quick trip to Portland, Oregon for some training with Weight Watchers.  I was meeting three other Hawaii WW staff there, and I wanted to bring them a little “something”.  What could be better than some “interesting” composition books?

Katie's composition book

This one was for Katie – and of course, there had to be a coordinating pen.

Shawndra's composition book

I love this page of Designer Series Paper, but you can see that Shawndra’s scallops got a little mashed in my suitcase.  They’ll be fine with a smidgen of Tombo.

Kim's composition book

Blue and green for Kim – my favorite color combination!

Anne's composition book

Well, yes – yes, I did make one for myself!

These all use the Pocketful of Posies Designer Series paper.  I have loads of gorgeous papers right now because DSP is  Buy 3 get one Free!   You can get some too, but just through August 31 (I just did the knuckle trick to be sure that was right!)

A special order

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Last week I was asked to design pocket cards to coordinate with an internal promotion a local business was doing for its sales staff.  The manager at the store wanted something that would set this promotion apart, and she gave me a sample of the card that her employees would receive.

I had a fabulous time playing with this project!  The sample that I received was trendy but very classy – much like the merchandise in this store.  The employees are all female, so I was free to encourage my feminine muse.  Here’s the result:

Marina Mist flower card holder

Because this project is sized to hold the equivalent of a business card, I was able to make it stand up.   It’s like a greeting card that opens from the top instead of the side, but there’s a pocket on the front to hold the card.  It looked GREAT with the enclosure inside – but I can’t share that with you.  This was such a fun More Is More project!

I used the Creative Elements stamp set with Shimmer White, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake and Marina Mist as the color palette, and I’m sure you can figure out the rest.

Here’s the flower embellishment up close:

Marina Mist Flower Embellishment

I heard they were a big hit with the staff – that feedback was music to my ears.  It’s one thing to love what you do, but when you create something for someone else and they love it too, that’s incredibly satisfying.

Come back tomorrow for another adaptation of this project!