just helen

It's Back to the Red and Pink!

Love, sweet love.  Everyone needs a little love in their life.  It looks like Christmas got put away at my house in the nick of time because Valentine's Day seems to have gotten into my schedule with a vengeance!  It is a time to express our heart-felt sentiments to a sweetheart, family members and friends.  While there isn't a mandatory color palate for Valentine's Day, for now I'm leaning heavily on the reds and pinks! 

 
I already have a big jar full of my paper arts flowers, so I added the K & Co. brad from last year (or the year before) and it worked perfectly with the current release.

 
 
If you're looking closely, that is bright pink twine from The Twinery.  I got some of all their colors.  LOVE the brights!

 
 
I think a little red zigzag stitch is a nice touch.  The die-cut lace tag was inked with an Antique Linen Distress Inkpad by Tim Holtz.

I have always loved heart-shaped doiles and now is a great time of year to bring them out.

 
 
Hint on using doilies and making hearts to fit nicely in the center...WARNING: it requires the sacrifice of one doily.  Fold the doily in half, down the middle and cut a heart out of the center being careful to cut an even distant to the edge.  You can use the cut-out as a pattern to trace onto a solid or patterned paper.  Next, cut the heart out and paste in the center of the doily.  Caution: I placed the heart on the doily and then on the square of patterned paper BEFORE zigzagging the edge.  Doilies are fragile and might not survive the "feeding" of the sewing machine.  Another tip: This pack of cut-outs (K & Co.) comes with 2 of each design...one glittered and one plain.  You can add your own sparkle with a Star Dust Stickles.

 
 
The seam binding is gathered "as you go" onto a strip of red-line double sided sticky tape.  Don't forget to "pop" your die-cuts with foam mounting tape!

 
 
I know...Valentine's Candy Corn?  Found it at Walmart (Zachary brand)and couldn't resist.  It's so pretty and it was the freshest candy corn I've ever had!

 
A quick little gift tag and last, but not least, a little gift enclosure card.

 
 
I know, I know...maybe tomorrow I'll make an attempt to avoid the RED family of colors!  But with such yummy paper...I couldn't resist!  One K & Company pad of specialty paper and one pack of die-cuts (from Michaels) could EASILY make dozens of cards PLUS a few layouts.  I have to share the love...of pretty papers, of course!

A Home for My Flower

 
It's all about the application...so here's a card for my flower.*  I think I'll make another one a little later. 

The boys are off white-water rafting, so I'm not cooking dinner!  If anyone is interested and has a Pei Wei near you, today, July 26th, 2010, they are having their customer appreciation day and you can get two entrees for $10...maybe we will see you there!  Go here to find your coupon.  Sorry...the coupon is expired!

*I would like to say that this can be sent through the mail, but not in an envelope.  Try delivering this in person or in a small box.  It is definitely a dimensional project! 

The Flowers are Back

 
And I'm going to show you how to make them.  I have been promising this for ages, but the truth is that I have had and CONTINUE to have...technical difficulties!  This video tutorial is far from perfect, but it will have to do for now!

For anyone that I have showed before, I have reduced the count from 16 papers to 12...it's a little less bulky, but beautiful still.  If you want a super full flower, keep to 16 papers!

Here are a few more flowers/views.  I will show more steps for variations in the next few days! 

Isn't the variegated color wonderful?  I love how spraying the two shades of color over each other makes such a spectacular hue.

This last flower was made from yellow baking cup liners and sprayed after constructed and "fluffed".  I love this, too!

I have to say it once again...I love these flowers!  Have fun and let me know if you have any questions.  I'd love to hear from you! 

Welcoming Spring from a Paper Addict's POV

Spring is here!  Bouquets of flowers are always welcome at my house, but if a trip to the store is not in my time schedule or budget, I'll just make a few of my own!  Not that I need spring as an excuse for making flowers!  They're never as wonderful as the real thing, mostly because they have no fragrance and I'm not as patient with the intricacies, but I sure love making them.

 
These sweet little flowers remind me of Bachelor Buttons.  Making one layer is great for scrapbooking or card making, but for a more dimensional project, making two and putting them back to back will do the trick.  The first couple took a while to make, working out the steps, but once that was mastered, just a few minutes will do.  You can get the directions here.

Just imagine how cute these would look on a card or a scrapbook page...okay, if I didn't have to bake for the Senior Bake Sale, clean house, prepare for a wedding, 3 baptisms and a reception, not to mention out-of-town company, maybe I'd do that right now.  As it stands, I'll just have to wait until next week...oh wait!  Next week I'm working on cleaning my workroom.  Great!  It will be summer before I get back to these!  Well, we shall see!