Thursday, January 26, 2012

Valentine's Day Sayings




When I need a Valentine's saying for a card or project I usually draw a complete blank. I found this blog post that has many cute Valentine's Day sayings and links to some projects. You may already follow Skip to my Lou; she is a top-shelf blogger and has a mega Facebook page.


Have a great day!
-Molly

The above graphic is Shelly Comiskey's Born to be Wild 

Monday, January 9, 2012

Mini Paper Gerbera Daisies

I made these paper daisies for rings. They would be perfect for cards, tags, etc. The gerbera daisy is the fifth most used cut flower in the world (after rose, carnation, chrysanthemum and tulip).


I fringed a 12" strip of 3/8" wide quilling paper (you can trim a piece yourself using copy paper weight colored paper). If you fringe by hand, try to get the cuts about 1/32" apart. I hand-fringed strips for at least fifteen years before purchasing a fringer - so it can be done!


I added a 1/8" wide strip at the end for the flower center. I didn't measure, they are approximately 2-3" long. Using a slotted tool (Google how to make one with a needle if you don't have one), start rolling at the end with the 1/8" strip.  I added glue to the bottom and let dry before spreading the fringes.

I use metal ring blanks and put a thin glue dot on the disk before using a glue gun to adhere the base of the flower to the ring. Otherwise, I would worry about the glue gun adhesive popping right off the metal base.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!
-Molly

Monday, December 12, 2011

Tall Favor Boxes ~ Easy Peasy!

These are so easy to make, really, much less difficult than I've made it look :) This is an older post, but I want to share again.

You get two boxes from one 8.5x11-inch sheet of cardstock. These boxes are a perfect size for a handful of candy, small toys, money, notes .. just about anything you would like to gift and want a cute presentation you can even personalize.

I made these Christmas boxes for my husband to give at work. I printed the watermark on the sheets before beginning. Four chocolate covered cherries in mini wrappers fit perfectly in each box. I tied a 10-inch piece of raffia on the fronts and BAM ... very easy, inexpensive gifts.



Below, these were made on a whim, experimenting with the embellishing. I used paper from a DCWV Luxury Stack. The flowers are three different size daisy punch-outs from leftover paper, glued and stacked with a bead in the center. I used a circle and square Coluzzle template to cut out the front piece(s) and covered with a piece of scrap cellophane inside.


The template is below. Use a 5.5x8.5 inch sheet of heavy cardstock. If you use a Scor-Pal, put the edge at the 3 inch and you have an exact 1-1/4 inch score mark at 4.25. Move your first score line back to the 3 and score again three more times. It doesn't matter which side of the template the 1/2" flap is located, either side will work. The flap is the first thing glued to the inside of the opposite edge when assembling the box. The only other piece to adhere is the bottom, and BAM .. your box is finished! How easy is that?


I'm a visual person, but if you like instructions here is a short version.  Score the 5.5" x8.5" sheet vertically, four times 1-1/4" apart with each score. Turn the sheet sideways and score 1-1/4" from one end and 1/2" (and 1-1/4" from that scoreline) on the other end.  The blue lines on the template are cut lines. The red dots indicate the pieces of the template that are cut and removed. I used a corner rounder punch for the top flap piece.



Glue the 1/2" flap to the inside of the opposite side. I use a tape runner, it is easy to get the flap lined up with the edge. Glue the bottom flaps down and you have a box!

Alternate Sizes

As I did in the first photo, you can make a shorter box (less area to fill with candy :) by trimming 1" and using a 5.5x7.5 inch piece. I have also made a wider size box substituting 2" scores for the 1-1/4" measurements (again using the 1/2" flap scores). Use a 8.5" x10" inch sheet for the larger size.The cutout in the front is optional.

It is easier than it looks, I promise. Let me know if you make any and what you use them for.

Enjoy!
-Molly

Friday, December 2, 2011

Printable Gift Tags - (more) December Inspiration

Jen of my favorite.megaBlog - Tatertots & Jello - has gathered up 15 sets of fabulous free holiday gift tags to print (and embellish if you want) - the mittens are my favorite. This link also lists her other holiday finds from weeks past on Babble.com. I hope you see something here that you must have or inspires you!




Happy Weekend, Enjoy!
-Molly

Friday, November 4, 2011

Paper Quilling Blog Hop

I found out about a quilling blog hop that started today. Amazing and unique quilled projects across the globe!  I started here at Leesandra Diaz's blog in New York (she put this all together! Enjoy :)



Have a fabulous weekend!
-Molly

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

I Spy Something Orange ...

and square!

This is an oldie but one of my favorite decorations :)

I love INCHIE ART, it is so easy! And the challenge of creating concept art with inch squares of paper is inspiring. Of course, the embellishing is the fun part!



The background is a Rob & Bob coaster by Provo Craft. And the eyeball? It is quilled; yes I like to make odd but practical pieces of quilling. I used black Distress Ink on the 1-inch paper square edges to make them look dimensional.

Have a wonderful end-of-October week!

-Molly

Monday, October 3, 2011

Autumn Card

I don't make many cards for show, but I did make this card over the weekend for a World Card Making Day live web cast. I used paper from The Autumn Splendor Stack (DCWV). The piece leftover after trimming, fit perfectly as the envelope lining. I love it when things like that just happen. I used spiced marmalade Distress Ink to cover the core white edges of the card and layer pieces. The message piece is raised.



Both papers have a gold foil print on them. You can see the shine in the photo below.



I also used quilled sticker leaves from my Provo Craft Stand Out line (no longer available). On my web page I have project ideas using quilled leaf motifs, photos of 8 different shapes and colors and basic instructions how to make the quilled leaves. 


Quilled Leaves Instructions

Have a great week :)
-Molly