Tag Archives: Paper Crafting Techniques

Create a Beautiful Coral Woven Paper Birthday Card

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by Elina Stromberg

Happy Birthday Card with weave background, flowers, black, pink, grey, coral colors.

DCWV cardstock stack of Textured Pastels contains a lovely collection of soft colors that are easy to match together. I took three sheets of 6” papers, one coral or peach, one light pink and one light gray, and created a birthday card with a woven background. The technique is easy and can be used for decorating various papercrafting projects.

Skill: Beginner
Time: 1 hour + dry time

Directions

Elina starts by measuring out paper with a rule and cutting with an exacto knife.

Step 1

Place the paper on self-healing craft mat. On the backside, measure and rule a border 1 inch from the top and bottom edges. Measure and mark ¼ inch increments along the drawn lines. Cut 16 lines using a craft knife and metal ruler. This will create the base for the weaving.

pink, blue, coral color paper cut into strips.

Step 2

Cut ¼ inch wide strips from light pink (6 pcs) and light gray (12 pcs) papers.

papercrafting weaving together paper.

Step 3

Weave the pink and gray strips along the vertical lines: Always starting from the back of the card, weave under 2 vertical strips and then over 3 repeated across the width of the base card. Push the colored strip right up to the top as far as it will go. Use tweezers to help pull the pink strip on the bottom row. Adhere strip ends on the back of the card using double-sided tape. Cut to size of the card base.

VersaFine and walnut ink used to create flowers and leaves for a papercraft project.
Step 4

Mix white acrylic paint with water and splash on the woven background to create texture. Let dry. 
Stamp flowers and leaves with Onyx Black Versafine on white cardstock. Unscrew nozzle from Java Walnut Ink bottle, and tap a few ink drops on the craft mat. Using a watercolor brush, lightly paint the flowers and leaves, leaving some areas white. Let dry and cut out. Fold the flower petals and leaves before gluing down on the card front. Stamp the “Happy Birthday” sentiment text on white cardstock, cut out and glue on card. Add any other finishing touches you prefer and you are ready to send a friend this wonderful design on their birthday!

beautiful birthday card using versafine ink and paper weaving technique. coral, pink color paper.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • DCWV paper – pastels textured
  • Stampin’ Up! ‘Birthday Blossoms’ stamp set
  • White card base
  • Self-healing cutting mat
  • Craft knife
  • Tweezers
  • White acrylic paint
  • Brush
  • Scissors

Learn to Create Quilled Birthday Cake Gift Bag

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by Jessica Litman

Jessica Litman uses VersaColor and On Point Glue in a paper quilling project. Happy Birthday gift bag. blue, orange, yellow, green.

I always love to wrap and decorate birthday presents, but there are times when I don’t have the time to actually wrap a gift. I need to throw the present in a gift bag and go. That is the inspiration behind today’s blog post. For this topic, I choose to decorate gift bags with quilled birthday cakes! I used On Point Glue throughout this project because it has the fine tip applicator and allows enough open time to move the quilled paper exactly where I want it.

Skill: Intermediate
Time: 30 min. + dry time

Directions

Step 1

Cut pieces of paper into thin strips from blue, yellow and orange paper using a paper trimmer.

Jessica Litman uses VersaColor and On Point Glue in a paper quilling project. Happy Birthday gift bag. blue, orange, yellow, green.

Step 2

Create the top of the cake by taking a piece of blue quilling paper and creating a large oval. Glue ends together using On Point Glue. Begin to create the bottom of the cake by taking another piece of blue quilling paper and adhere one end to the oval.

Step 3

Finish the bottom of the cake by wrapping blue quilling paper to the other side of the oval and adhere. Round the bottom of the paper to create the bottom of the cake. Adhere the outline of the cake to the gift bag. Attach rolled quilling to the inside of the bottom portion of the cake outline. Repeat until bottom portion is filled.

Step 4

Create a large rolled paper and attach that to the inside of the top portion of the cake outline. Using orange paper, roll an oval. Push the top and bottom to create a rectangle. Attach to itself. Repeat to make enough candles as desired. Adhere candle bases above the cake. Roll yellow quilling paper in a circle. Pinch one side of the circle to create the candle flames. Adhere to itself. Repeat until all candles have flames. Adhere above candles.

Step 5

Once dry, stamp Happy Birthday with multicolor Feista VersaColor inkpad and let dry. Tissue paper and gift are ready to go inside this newly decorated bag!

Tip: Clean off stamp using StazOn stamp cleaner. Spray directly onto the stamp. Wipe clean.

Supplies

Imagine
Other
  • Scissors
  • Quilling Paper– blue, orange and yellow
  • Gift Bag
  • Happy Birthday Stamp

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Cutting Class

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Learn some basic on cutting tools for crafters.

If you have been paper crafting for a while you have probably made quite an investment in cutting tools. When starting out one might assume that a nice pair of scissors will do. But there are many different tools that have an array of features that make paper crafting easier, and often more fun! Some devices are made out of sturdy materials so they will last a long time but also makes them expensive. We hope to provide some insight on what to buy and when in order to avoid overspending on equipment you may not need…yet.

Beginner

At the beginning stage, there is a lot to learn about paper, ink, stamping techniques and adhesives used in projects. It is great to learn the basics of composition and design when starting out. Whether making a card, a banner or a paper flower arrangement, most of the learning curve is with the basic layout, color theory, and form. No matter the layout or project, you are probably going to need to cut the paper.

Drawing representing a basic paper trimmer.

Get a perfect edge of the perfect size (almost) each and every time! (User error does cause some heartaches.)

Besides a good pair of scissors, a basic paper trimmer and a few fun punches will be a great start. A trimmer allows accuracy in cutting measurements and straight clean lines. Once a few projects are made using a paper trimmer,  it is hard to go back. Many come with a slide style blade, but there also are guillotine styles. Another beginner essential is a paper punch. These heavy little devices offer basic shapes such as a circle, heart, star or a hexagon and can keep anyone busy for a long time. With a basic punch, the beginner can go crazy on creating paper garlands, adding dimension to a card design or making labels for other projects. 

They are kinda like the ole’ office supply hole punches on steroids.

$ – Paper trimmer $10-20. Do some research and go ahead and get a nice one. This device will be one of your most used tools no matter how long you’ve been playing with paper. Be sure to get one that offers replacement blades. Punches vary from $5-20 each. Beginning investment can range from $35 -$75.

Intermediate

Once the beginner has developed a strong foundation in layout and a working knowledge of materials then it is time to kick it up a notch with more complex designs. One way to do this is with a die cut machine. Die cuts come in basic shapes, basic words and alphabets, as well as more complex designs like flower sets, animal shapes, box templates, edge treatments, etc. The die and paper run through a die cut machine which may be manually cranked or electronic. It acts much like a punch creating perfect shapes. Die cuts can be much more delicate than punch shapes and you can find die cuts that do some really amazing tricks! Using die cuts can be quite joyful, but the price is significant. Once you are ready, invest in the machine and build your die cuts over time. As with punches, think about the variety of uses you will get out of each die when deciding on which ones to purchase.

Hand drawn image of a hand crank die cut machine.

You can get a workout while you create!

$$ – Die Cut Machine $50-$150. Again, do some research and get a nice one. One machine should last you for years. Wait for a sale or a coupon and pick one up. $15-30 for each die set. Your investment could easily reach $100-$200 quickly.

Advanced

Plotting and crafting meet at last! What takes someone from an intermediate to an advanced crafter is debatable. Since the digital machines are the most expensive, we reserve the price point for the advanced level with the confidence that anyone can make millions of great projects without spending at this level. While digital cutting machines are designed for easy use, we feel the advanced crafter will have the background and experience to get the most out of the flexibility and precision the plotter style machines offer.

Hand drawn image of a digital cutting machine.

It’s like having your very own crafty robot.

$$$ – Digital Die Cut Machine $200-400.

Whether you are just starting in paper crafting or have been crafting for years, we hope this review has helped provide guidance on purchasing tools that will match your needs. Of course, buy whatever devices you wish especially if you are on a Treat Yo Self mission! We recommend the above “levels” for the amount of use one can get before moving on to the next purchase!

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Have A Colorful Weekend!

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Amplify! Mono-Printed Dimension Tag
by Heike Linnek2015_april_hl_technique_main

Mono-printing is a lot of fun and offers a wide variety of options to create several layers on a project. Experimenting with this technique using only my craft mat, I found out that Radiant Neon Amplify! is the perfect color to add new dimension and feel to the surface… read more

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air_2015_ig_masculine_projectBirthday Wishes by Isha Gupta

I love creating colorful cards and the same goes if it’s masculine. I get inspired by colors and this fun Kaleidacolor (Blue Breeze) was the starting point of my card… read more

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For a limited time only, receive a special discount on select StazOn Opaque colors at imaginecrafts.com!