Easy flower-drawing card

Hi everyone! I made this card in 35 minutes because I stopped every few steps to take pictures bit you must trust me this won't take more than 20 to 30 minutes and can be painted any color. I think flowers are very easy to draw but you can make clusters of flowers with greenery that are fancy and easy too. I'll make another one with this option too.

Check the video below

https://flipagram.com/f/kGGLFgoIwa

Baby bling shoes - totw!

Tip of the week: my mom got this cute inexpensive shoes and my daughter pull out the flowers mote than once, so the petals were a bit damaged.

Using Scraps #2

There's something about using scraps. I can't toss anything away, I feel that I would regret it if I do, so I keep them. I have lots of scrap, but my new philosophy is to work with the scraps I left behind as soon as possible. 

I made this cards the same day and turn out great. I also used the other half of the background cardstock for this mini cards. They are very self-explanatory. Just cut in half the circles and lay them out differently on each card. What have you done with your scraps recently?

Pattern Paper Collage

Pattern paper... it's a love - hate relationship. Love the colors, the patterns but hate I don't know how to mix and match, don't know what to do with it. I spent almost two hours making this card. I know, a lot of time, but I challenge myself to use five pattern papers, two circle dies and no stamp (only sentiment). That was hard! But I love it, it turned out great and so bright. Here's the how to:

TIPS:
- When using pattern paper try to use a single paper pad. Mix and match will be a breeze.
- Keep it simple. When colors and shapes takes over, single color paper or cardstock brings everything together.
- Save the scraps for another card, you won't have to think about mix and match.
- Break the pattern (circle pattern on the background) with another shape or changing the direction (like the banner, that is rectangular and diagonal) This way the element will stand out.

Using Scraps

Late post tonight. Today my hubby was home all day :)

So as promised, here's what I did with the remenants of this card. So remember to save those scraps specially those bigger than 2 cm. Sooo tell me what have you done with your scraps! see you on monday!

 

Lovely Postcard

Love is in the air. With my hubby everything is great. Next weekend is our monthly anniversary :) So I made this postcard for him. Pattern Play uses lots of beautiful patterns and I wondered if I could make my own. Guess what, I can and so do you.  I'll be sharing some techniques I use for make my own pattern paper. Let's begin.

This first one is super simple, all you need is paper, stamps and embossing powder. I made this one with clear embossing powder, but I'm thinking metallic embossing powder or even clear embossing powder over colored paper to create an incredible tone on tone paper, super "in" right now. 

How to left the perfect space for the word Love in color? You can stamp this first (that would be the easiest way) or calculate placing the stamp over the card and stamp it next to it and go from there up, down, and side by side... I finished it with baker's twine. So, how I did? Think I'm getting better :p Share yours on the comments.

Stamps & Pattern Paper

Happy birthday to you! Look at the colors. I used two patterned papers from the same pad. This tip was gave on Pattern Play class and is sooooo obvious and we probably never do it. Well, I think it's kinda busy with all the yarn, stamps and washi tape, but I'll get better.

One of the tips on Pattern Play was use patterns in different sizes so it blends together and use one bold or busy pattern with another one more simple or "blah" (Amber's Words) I failed here: I used two bold patterns, and using the stripes in different directions wasn't the best idea :(

Here's the how to

 

I'll keep you posted on how to use pattern papers as I learn myself. But practice will make me better, I'm sure of it. For now, are you willing to give me some advice? Comment below! And thanks for laughing with me and not of me :p

Braided Charms Bracelet

Braided Charm Bracelet - Click to see larger image.

This time I wanted to make some jewelry. It's very easy and you can use as many color combinations you like. I made mine with 3 bright colors (you know I love bright colors) and golden charms. Here's the step by step. I have a facebook page now (again) so make sure to check it out for some last minute tips on other topics as makeup or food ;)

If you want to know how I make the second braid look at the video at the end of the post :)

1. Cut your string desired length and attach clamp. 2. Braid. 3. Attach charms between strings. 4. Add lobster clasp and charm (I love using jingles) And done!

TIP: if you want your charm to have movement use 2 jump rings, one for the charm itself, other to join the first jump ring to the string.

TIP: if you place the jump ring around the braids instead of into the braids all your charms will move to the bottom when using it.

Combining bead colors with strings will make the bracelet look more stylish and sophisticated. When in doubt place both gold and silver charm and jump rings into your bracelet to see which one looks best. 

3-Window Card and Template

Trendy alert! 3-windows on a card either round or square

This can be found on many cards today. There are also many dies that cut out the 3 shapes at the same time, but if you don't have this die, like me, you can download this pattern that will fit a 5.5" x 4.25" card (landscape or portrait). You can use this template for circles too.

1. I used coordinated patterned paper. 2. Cut out the template and cut out some stripes of paper. 3. Draw the template on the back. 4. Cut out as shown. 5. Transfer the template to the card. 6. Stamp your images into the card.

I stamped the sentiment at the bottom and use baker's twine in blue to contrast (look for additional colors on patterned paper or on the coordinates on the same pad). You can color your images or not.

Download the pattern below (at the end) and share your creations! Just leave a comment with a link to your card. Did you use it rounded or squared? Do you think of any other way to use this pattern? Comment, comment, comment!!! We all want to know what you did :)

Download below!

 

Click to open, right click to download to computer

Mini Card or Tag with Scraps

Hello everyone! I've been very busy but I'll be posting all I've been up to! ;)

This is one of the cards I made last week. I meant to make "regular size" card, but the stamp was small and I decided to turn it into a tag, using scraps as color. Never toss any paper bigger than 1cm x 1cm, a smaller size might not be useful (and I said might).

Stamp Carving Tutorial - Details

I'm here again with another tutorial on stamp carving. I just want to let you know that it's been less than a year since I started carving stamps, but I think the results are best when done this way. So here we go:

This are my tips when carving small pieces, thin lines or curves:

- MOVE SLOW and use light pressure, the less you remove, the easy will glide and you can fix it (if needed) later.

- I advise to start and end one stroke at a time, when a "line" makes a 90˚ angle STOP, lift your carving tool and rotate your stamp, now continue carving.

- Curves are easy if you rotate the stamp while carving, if you move your hand while making pressure you might not control directions very well.

- If a thin line is "as thin as your tip" carve on top of the line, but if the line is wider, then your carving tool should be placed aligned with one of the borders of the line, then carve the other side.

- If your tip is too big, use a syringe needle!

- I only use an xacto knife to "divide" what I want to carve from what I don't. I lightly press the xacto into the carving block and make sure it get about 1 or 2 mm deep.

Hope this help, please let me know if you have any questions or if you have another method for stamp carving! Share your knowledge : )
The template of the stamp of this video can be found below for free! And a picture tutorial on how to carve your stamps can be found here.

For My Mom

Well, this Friday is the International Women's Day but I don't want to wait that long to thank you for stopping by my blog and specially my mom for giving me everything including "super-mom cheers" for every project I do or post or give or show her =p So I dedicated this card (now two) to her. I love u lots mom.

I get the inspiration from Amber at Damask Love, and you can see the link here. Sometimes you see a card and instantly picture something else, well that's what happened to me when I saw Amber's card. I don't have many flower stamp (weird right?) so I decided to make my own.

For everyone that wants to carve a stamp I recommend you to go here, but I'll share a mini tutorial of this petals probably in video next week. Besides carving, I wanted to show you how I made the flowers on the card. I don't have fancy ink or paper, but I'm sure you can achieve such a great results with blending ink or using a resist technique which you can find here thanks to Jennifer McGuire.

Repetition is key! In the video I try my best to place the stamp where I wanted, but in real life I move the paper, here I didn't so the pictures/video came out right. Most flowers are NOT perfect at all, but the final result came out ok. I didn't edit the flowers, so you can see they look super cute. I bet you can do it better with time and patience.

Remember to subscribe to post, the newsletter will be available in two weeks and will be published every two weeks =p.

PS. New changes are coming to my blog, so bear with me. In the time being, you can see some of them and let me know what you think. Also if you want to share your custom carved stamp please leave a comment with the link or email me so I can add it along with your website (if you have one) for everyone to share!

Foundation Organizing System

Easy to find Foundation System

If you storage your foundation in a drawer or box like me, you probably need to take every bottle out so you can find the one you want or... Use this simple system to find the color from the cap. The color might slightly change because of the texture of the sticker, but you will know very easily which color you need. Let me know how it goes!

Apply a small amount of foundation on sticker

Rub it and let it dry

Adhere to your foundation cap

Now you can find your foundation when stacked vertically.

Handmade Cookie-cutter Shaped Soap

Shaped Soap

 New year, new techniques. This time I joined with Natalia Cruz from Enjabonarte to show you an easy way to modify a bar of soap for a gift or just to have some mini shaped soap bars at your guest bathroom.

For mine I used this recipe: 
(5 min preparation, 20 min waiting time)

- Opaque Glycerin Soap Base

- Soap dye 2 colors - Pink and Green

- Essential Oil for Soap - French Vanilla

- Alcohol (spray alcohol after you pour the soap to remove bubbles)
Melt glycerin on microwave, mix all together, pour on container, let it harden.

For the recipe Natalia has a lot of options available at her website that you can order thru paypal, and for this tutorial she gave us a promotional code where she give you 15% cashback when use paypal as your paying option. Just type HURRY at checkout (at comments to seller). This is a limited time offer, so HURRY and take advantage of it. 

Natalia also have other tutorials for body cream, splashes, lip balm and many other projects that you can find on her website and blog. She offers finished products and material for making them.

Hope you enjoy getting yourself submerged on a new technique this year! Let me know what did you try on the comments below.

Christmas in a Hurry - Day 3

DAY 3 - HANDMADE ORNAMENTS, COLOR SCHEME AND TREE DECOR

WITH FREE DOWNLOAD

Tired of the same tree decoration? This year I decided to make my own ornaments (again) but not the traditional "ball" but shapes and characters. As you know I make each video the same day I post it, I started making the ornaments with daylight and ended using lamps at 5pm. Everything you see was made in one day including the photos and still got time for the video. Also I have a template for my felt ornaments, you know I love felt and Christmas was the best excuse to use it. (download it at the end of the post)

TIPS:

1. COLOR SCHEME:

Christmas in a Hurry - Day 2

 DAY 2 - CHRISTMAS TREE AND LIGHTS SET UP

Today we are covering the basics and not so basics on how to set your Christmas tree and lighting. Have you ever wonder how many boxes of lights you should buy? Or spent hours moving the lights up and down to make it look super bright? Or even worse, when everything is up you pull the plug and... YES, half the lights won't work!

I got you covered. I spent several hours searching this information for you and got it all here. The best thing is, once you have all the info and materials you can set up your Christmas tree in a few hours! I recorded this video in the morning, eat lunch, take a nap, edit the video an shared it with you the same day. I did this because I want you to do the same, if you follow this tips you might have a Christmas tree with lights and decor in less than 3 hours. Mine took less than an hour, with the recording process and everything!

I know the decor isn't up yet, that's because my next video is about handmade ornaments, garlands and how to set them up. Still, you will have all day to work on your ornaments and spent only minutes setting them up on your tree. So, let's get started.

TIPS:

1. When setting up the tree, don't worry about empty spaces, once you have finished all the decoration you can move the branches or ornaments to fill in the spaces.

2.  Want to know how many lights your tree needs? Measure your tree height. A tree uses about 100 mini-lights per vertical feet See the table below. (Note: this values are approximated. Depending if you wave or wrap your lights it might use 25% to 50% more lights.) Information from http://www.christmaslightsetc.com/pages/LightCalculation.htm

3. When lighting a bulk tree, also add 30% more lights than the listing above.

4. TRY THE LIGHTS FIRST, then place them on the tree. Check them one by one, then connect one to another, sometimes the socket is the problem and you can use this one at the top (use it last, see below).

5. It's best if you start at the bottom and work your way up, if you have too many lights at the top, work them down and back up if you need to connect to the tree topper to a power supply. IF your tree topper has a female end, then start from the top.

6. Depending on the brand and type of lights you can use up to 6 light extensions. CHECK IT FIRST at the back of your box or check them online. Never mix brands or type of lights, the voltage might be different.

7. To give more depth run your lights from the center to the end of each branch and back to the center.

8. When buying mini lights keep in mind that depending on the "method" it uses more or less lights but, it's recommended when wrapping to look for mini lights with larger spaces between lights, this will help wrapping.

9. If you want brighter lights I recommend LED. Available in many colors, white, yellow and multi-color, specially if you love to have your tree lighted up for hours, won't heat and save on electric bill. (This lights are very safe, but check with your local department store or craft and decorating store).

10. About LED there are many shapes from traditional to c9. If you decided to use mini lights I prefer the wide angle bulb, it diffuses light better.

I gather all the information from the web and from personal experience. This is my personal opinion and how I set my own tree and lights. You don't have to do it this way, it's just a suggestion. Quantity is approximated, in doubt, ask when buying.

Christmas in a Hurry - Day 1

DAY 1 - CHRISTMAS PAPER TREES VIDEO AND DOWNLOAD 

Hello everyone! welcome back to my blog. I've been working very hard to re-do this blog, and for the premier I decided to make a series called Christmas in a Hurry. I know, this happens every year, you said you'll start November 1st. with Christmas decorations, and finished the gift list next weekend so you can buy them on black friday or so... Never happens!

Well, this year I did start on November, but on the 28th and someone promised me he'll help me, but I did all by myself. Good news, even though I was on time to the holidays I did get all my presents, all Christmas decor and even make some food in a week. YES  A WEEK, and I've got some extra time to share everything with you =)

Join me this week to find out how you can also make your Christmas in a Hurry, and get everything done right before Christmas. I know it sounds impossible but few hours a day will get you there in a couple days. This is what you might find in this series:

- Christmas decor: Handmade Christmas decor such as ornaments, paper trees, garlands, tree skirt.
- Gifts and Packaging: Mass production cards and gift tags, super simple yet beautiful cards and packaging with everyday products you can find right at home.
- Food Recipes: some quick and delicious food recipes you can make ahead, so you have more time to make some gift or cards.


Let's begin with some easy, affordable and cute home decor for small spaces (can be used over a chimney, on the coffee table and even on your buffet or dinner table).

Embroidery Floss Organizing Update

After a few days I finally get my threads organized. I have "cheap" thread (no brand at all) that I use for small projects or for household needs. Then I have DMC and Omega threads. I had too much of those, so I had to separated them in two boxes. One with reds and pinks (I don't know why I have a lot of these colors) and the rest of the colors. Check how to do this clicking here!

My threads organized!

I wrote down the code on one side of the chipboard. This way I know what color I was using. I also write DMC XXX or OM XXX. Both brands are in the same box. Show me yours! Remember to subscribe or comment if you know another way of organizing floss.

Organized by colors and type. I have "cheap" thread and DMC and Omega

Cheap ones fit in one case.

DMC and Omega were separated in 2 boxes by color. You can see OM code