Create Shimmery Greetings From Outer Space

by Jennifer Vanderbeek

How about a little out-of-this-world fun while playing with the color of the month: Pebble Grey. While deciding what to do for this prompt I was reminded of the aliens known as Greys, so created this sky scene with shades of grey and silver and drew up some simple saucers to decorate the skies. In the video, you’ll also see how I fixed a goof and rescued the card front from a galactic disaster!

Skill: Advanced
Time: 1 hour

Directions

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Watercolor Paper
  • Cardstock – Pale Green
  • Paintbrushes
  • Staedtler – Combo Circle Template
  • Pickett – Isometric Ellipse Inking Template
  • Pencil
  • White Eraser
  • Acrylic Block
  • Studio Calico – Make a Wish stamp set
  • Uniball – Signo White Gel Pen
  • Fiskars – Paper Trimmer, Scissors
  • Wooden spoon
  • Post-It Tape

Create Quick and Easy Advent Calendar Gifts

by Roni Johnson

Create Quick and Easy Advent Calendar Gifts

It’s never too early to start preparing for the holidays to help avoid the rush. Today I have a fun and easy upcycled project for the little ones in your life – a Toilet Paper Roll Advent Calendar. Now I just have to save up 20 more toilet paper rolls!

Skill: Beginner
Time: 1 hour

Directions


Step 1

Buy or collect 25 paper rolls for the 25 days of the advent calendar.


Step 2

Bend the ends of each roll towards the center to make a “pillow box”.


Step 3

Spritz the rolls with Lady Bug, Bamboo Leaves and Wedding Dress irRESISTible Texture Spray. Let dry before moving on to another color.


Step 4

Dye rayon seam binding with All-Purpose Ink in Spring Green and Red Delicious.


Step 5

Stamp white cardstock with a variety of Christmas-theme images using VersaMagic inks. Die-cut circles from the stamped cardstock. Stamp a large number stamp in the center of each circle using VersaFine Clair ink.


Step 6

Sprinkle the circles with clear embossing powder, shake off excess and set with a heat tool. Die-cut scallop circles from Rinea Foiled Papers.


Step 7

Fill and assemble each pillow box with a treat; affix the ribbon around the box using Tear It! Tape and top it off with the number.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Paper Rolls
  • Rinea Foiled Paper – Ruby/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper, Emerald/Gold Glossy Foiled Paper; Emerald/Emerald Starstruck Foiled Paper
  • Rayon Seam Binding
  • Rubber Stamp Tapestry Peg Stamps – Gingerbread Man, Gift, Candy Cane, Stocking, Holly Club Scrap – Number Stamps
  • Cardstock

Create a Reversible Naughty or Nice Christmas Stocking

by Jennifer Vanderbeek

Create a Reversible Naughty or Nice Christmas Stocking

Getting a head start on the holiday crafting rush, I decided to sew up a quick stocking and decorate the linen cuff with Fabrico markers, All-Purpose Ink, and some heat-embossed accents. While deciding just how I wanted to do the embossing I tried out a lot of products: VersaMark, Delicata, and Creative Medium to name the top three contenders, but I decided that the fine details that On Point Glue afforded made it the best choice for this project. Because of the heat embossing, you want to make sure that the area you’re decorating is a fabric that won’t melt when you hit it with the heat tool. Linen, cotton, canvas, or wool (the natural, sheepy stuff, not the polyester kind) should all work just fine, but you might want to test a small piece before getting too far into decorating your stocking.

Skill: Advanced
Time: 1 hour + dry time

Directions

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Stocking blank (or materials to make your own)
  • Pencil
  • Watercolor paper
  • Darice – Heat tool

Create and Color a Beautiful Trumpet Flower Card

by Jennifer Vanderbeek

Create and Color a Beautiful Trumpet Flower Card

After spending several hours carving the stamp for this card (because I had an idea but not the right stamp available—DIY to the rescue), I wanted to make sure that the flower and banner image got the best possible color treatment I could give it. At first glance it’s a simple card, but the layers of color that went into creating it and the attention to detail (like coloring the cut edges of the fussy-cut image to blend with the stamped outlines) in finishing it, hopefully, show how an otherwise simple card can stand on its own without a lot of embellishments.

Skill: Advanced
Time: varies due to hand-carving element

Directions

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Cardstock – White, Black, Green embossed
  • Fiskars – Scissors, Craft Knife
  • Xyron – Create-a-Sticker 500, Adhesive Pick-Up
  • Acrylic Block
  • Studio Calico – A to Z stamp set
  • Speedball – Speedy Carve Blocks, Linoleum Cutter

How to Create a Metal Stamped Look with Creative Medium

by Jennifer Vanderbeek

How to Create a Metal Stamped Look with Creative Medium in Silver and Gold

I’ve been pondering puzzle pieces lately—as a craft medium and metaphor for life. Somewhere along the mental stroll, I was reminded of the old Girl Scouts song “Make New Friends” which goes

Make new friends
But keep the old
One as silver
And the other gold

Today’s project was inspired by the way friends fit into our lives like puzzle pieces, the song, and the best friend necklaces I swapped with those close to me back in the day. Metallic silver and gold Creative Mediums and letter stamps were a perfect combination to turn a couple puzzle pieces into jewelry charms.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Puzzle Pieces
  • Wooden Spoon
  • Sticky Dots
  • Paint Brush
  • Darice – Heat Tool
  • Contact USA – Letter Stamps
  • Cornstarch
  • Craft knife
  • Jewelry findings
  • Satin cord or ribbon

Create a Stencil Echo with VersaColor and All-Purpose Ink

by Jennifer Vanderbeek

Create a Stencil Echo with VersaColor and All-Purpose Ink

Stencils are an amazing tool in the craft room. They are not limited as to what medium you use them on or with and, depending on the multitude of combinations, can produce results from shabby chic to cutting-edge modern. In today’s project, I decided to play around with the placement of my stencil to create—instead of a shadow of the original image—an echo. The combination of the Hyacinth VersaColor ink on a navy background, highlighted by Platinum All-Purpose Ink, gives the pattern a moonlit look, but other color combinations would be equally as striking.

Skill: Beginner
Time: 30 minutes

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Cardstock – Navy
  • The Crafters Workshop – Dancing Leaves stencil
  • Studio Calico – Make a Wish stamp set
  • Acrylic Block
  • Darice – Heat Tool