This card exudes a delicate beauty that is delightful to make and is guaranteed to bring a smile to the face of the recipient! It is made with folded circles and swirling flourishes rubber stamped to complement the flowers.
Cut four 1.5 inch circles from your flower petal double-sided pattern scrapbook paper. Follow the folding instructions for the dahlia fold.
Cut three 1 inch circles from your green double sided scrapbook paper. Follow the folding instructions for the dahlia fold but eliminate step 4.
Next secure the flower petals inside the green folds from step two.
Now you can do a test layout. Set your flower buds onto your card face and decide where they will look best with the flourish rubber stamps you have chosen. In the card above we used the flourishes from the Butterfly Beauty clear rubber stamp set. You may even wish to add a butterfly to your design.
Begin stamping the flourishes where you want them. Be sure to move the flowers out of the way so they don’t interfere with the stamp impression during the rubber stamping process.
With the flourishes in place, secure your flowers where you desire.
Add a band of color down the side of your card using the same prints that you used for your flower petals.
Ink the edges in a coordinating color if you wish and stamp the saying you desire using your sentiments clear stamps. We used the thank you sentiment from the Garden Box clear stamp set.
Add a thought or wish inside the card and your are ready to give it to somebody special.
CD’s and DVD’s are such an easy and relatively inexpensive Christmas gift to make and give that we thought we’d share some fun ideas for making your own, custom designed CD holders that can be personalized specifically to suit the recipients favorite colors and themes.
A favorite Christmas music CD holder can easily be decorated using an assortment of winter and snowflake clear rubber stamps. The above CD holder is easy to make just follow the instructions below for a quick and delightful project.
MATERIALS YOU WILL NEED:
1 colored cardstock – letter size
clear rubber stamps of your choice (we used stars from the Stars ‘n Stripes clear rubber stamps
3″ of string or narrow ribbon
sewing machine
ruler
button
embossing ink and powder
heat embossing gun
eyelet and eyelet setter
TO MAKE A CD HOLDER (Instructional pictures below)
Tear a 6 1/8″ x 11″ piece of paper from the card stock. Fold up the bottom edge 3 1/4″. Next make the fold for the top flap by inserting a CD into the fold you just made and measuring down from the top. The top flap will be approximately 2 3/4″.
Using your clear rubber stamps decorate a border along the bottom edge of your top flap using embossing ink and powders. It is fun to use a variety of colors in your embossing to give a little more interest to the project. (You can find the technique for mixing colors in heat embossing at the following link – Embossed Metal Pieces. The technique is the same for metal as it is for paper.)
Decorate the bottom portion of your CD holder using similar clear stamps with larger designs and pictures. Stamp with embossing ink and emboss with the color combinations you used in step 2.
Next fold the bottom flap up into place and lay the top flap open. Sew up the sides of the holder using your sewing machine. Be sure to set the stitches fairly far apart to preserve the integrity of your seam.
Set an eyelet in the center of the top flap about 3/4 of an inch from the edge. Secure a string or narrow ribbon through the eyelet tying a knot or small jump ring on the back side of the flap to prevent the string from being pulled all the way through the eyelet.
Using a secure foam tape, secure your button to the bottom portion of the holder so that the ribbon can wrap around it to the closed position.
Add a printout of the song titles you have included on the CD. Put the name of the CD on the outside of the holder and embellish with handmade paper, stickers, eyelets etc. to complete your project with a personal touch.
Making your own paper has so many possibilities and is a wonderful way to use up paper bits or recycle papers. It is so easy to do that even kids can do it!
There are a few basic things that you need. First off a blender, lots of water, and some large buckets (ice cream buckets work great!) You will also need some screen – the kind that covers your windows, it can be purchased at most hardware stores. If you have the option, choose the vinyl screen rather than the metal stuff as the little metal pieces will poke you as you work and have to be taped with duct tape in order to work with it. Once you have your vinyl screen cut a piece to fit in an embroidery hoop or wooden frame (or both). You will also need a nice absorbent sponge, a sunny day, a 4-6″ deep flat tub and a folding table. Last but not least, of course, you need all your paper scraps!
Wooden paper making frames
In addition to the basics, there are fun things you can use to jazz up your paper. They include glitter, finely shredded paper, colored bits of tissue paper, fabric dyes, confetti of any kind, dried flowers or leaves, pieces of yarn and anything else you would like to experiment with.
Now how to do it:
Soak your paper bits in warm water.
Blending up the paper
Put a small amount of soaked paper (it depends on how thick the paper is) into your blender and and 3-4 cups of water. Blend until you have the consistency you desire. If you are using colored papers and want the colors to show up as flecks throughout the paper, do not blend your mix as finely. Not blending it enough will create chunks of paper that take a long time to dry, BUT even larger chunks can make some neat paper.
Once you have blended up all your paper and put it into your flat bin you are ready to start the actual making of it.
Now comes the tricky part to explain. If you have blended a lot of paper and your consistency is quite thick you will need to add more water, but it is hard to tell how thick it is until you take a cut of paper (unless you have done this before). The simplest way to take a cut of paper is to take your embroidery hoop which has vinyl screen in it (you may wish to trim the excess screen off so all you have is a nice circle/oval shape to keep things neater). Turn your hoop vertically and slide it down the side of your bin and let it sit on the bottom. The screen should be on the top of the hoop. Now lift the hoop straight up through the water to the surface. Allow it to drip a bit. The paper pulp should not be thicker than 1/8-1/4″ on top of your screen and it can be thinner. If it is simply lift the hoop all the way out of the water and turn it over letting just the screen touch the surface of the water and all the paper bits will go back into the mix. If you paper is too thick add more water.
To actually turn this pulpy mass into paper you need a folding table that can be leaned against a deck railing or fence preferably outside on a sunny day so you don’t have to worry about making a mess. Now take a cut of paper let it drip a bit and then place the hoop upside down on the slanted table. Using your sponge begin pressing on the screen inside your hoop. This draws out the water (and sends lots running down the table). Keep pressing until the screen will come away from the paper bits. If it is too wet it will take some time to dry so if you want to draw more water out of your paper simply place a piece of screen over the paper and continue sponging until you can’t get out any more water.
To add the fun stuff: Once you know you have the right consistency you will want to add the fun things to your mix. Simply dump in the pieces and stir them into the pulp mix. If you wish to add dried leaves or petals you can sandwich them between two cuts of paper on your table as follows. Take the first cut of paper and absorb away the excess moisture. Add plant materials where desired. Take a second thin cut of paper (it will need to be transparent) and then place it over top of the first cut with the plant material sandwiched between the two. Dab away all excess water and allow it to dry.
Allow your paper to dry on the table. When it is dry it will come off easily without tearing (unless perhaps it is really thin). Now you are ready to create wonderful creations with it.
Handmade Paper gift Tags
Decorate your handmade paper crafts with clear hobby rubber stamps for card making, scrapbooking and all your paper crafting ideas.
Handmade Paper Butterfly Tag
If you love making paper you will probably be interested in how to use clear rubber stamps to cast detailed images into your paper creations. To learn how visit our Paper Casting with Rubber Stamps information page.
I have seen many variations of the dressy Fathers day cards – you know the ones I mean, the paper is folded to look like a dress shirt, a tie is added and you have a classy card or gift bag – but what if the dressy, professional look is not your dad? Well, we have come up with a casual card that is made to look like a T-shirt. It is simple to make and very easy to personalize to the likes and personality of your dad.
Here are a few quick tips for making this card. This is a 4×6 card with the fold on the 4″ inch side.
Make sure that your card folds the long way – meaning that it is hinged on the short side of the card
Cut a v-shape off both sides to create sleeves. Be sure not to cut the V in too deep or the sides of the shirt will be too sloped and will actually look like a dress rather than a T-shirt.
For the neck, mark the half way point across the hinged side of the card. Open the card flat and cut a half oval for the next opening. Once that is done, but the back portion down just a tiny bit – no more than 1/8″.
For the collar simply trace the half oval you cut out and then enlarge that edge – like as though you were going to mat it with a 1/4″ (or maybe a little wider) mat. Cut out the U shaped collar and glue it to the top of your shirt. Add stitch lines or draw in fabric lines as desired.
Once your shirt is built decorate it using your Fathers Day Clear rubber Stamps. This is an easy way to customize the designs on your card to the personality, likes and hobbies of the card recipient. The card sample above is decorated with the ‘World’s Greatest Dad‘ clear hobby rubber stamp set.
Happy Stamping and Happy Fathers Day to all your Wonderful Dads!!!
This is an absolutely adorable Fathers Day craft idea we found that we wanted to share with you. Tie gift bags are so easy to make and decorate using your clear rubber stamps and best of all you can create them with materials you already have! Ties are easy to customize to your dad’s personality using clear rubber stamps and background paper making techniques.
Tie Gift Bags
By: Kendra Halterman of My Insanity Blog
Materials:
white standard-sized paper lunch bags
scissors
scrapbooking paper
clear tape or other adhesive
Instructions:
Place your present inside the bag before you get started. Fold the top of the bag down (maybe 1 ½ inches) and make a nice crease.
Then, cut the bag at the bottom of the fold on each side, leaving the strips of the bag that can be folded down to make a collar.
Use some clear tape to secure the “shoulders” so that the gift won’t come out. A 3D dot adhesive is nice for the collar wings, but they can be glued or taped as well.
You can use scrapbooking paper (4×6 matting size) to make the ties, always taking advantage of the nice corner of the paper, and then eyeballing the folds mde on either side.
Folding the paper looks more like a real tie. Fold the edges of the leftover paper to make a strip to wrap around the base of the tie to look like the knot at the top.
Then, adhere the whole thing to the top of the bag, tucking the edges under the wings of the collar. If this is too complicated, just cut a basic tie shape out of scrapbook paper and tape it up there. It will be adorable either way.
What will you put in the bag?
Happy Father’s Day to all of the wonderful men out there who have chosen to be Dads!
The twist card is a fabulous card for making invitations as well as fun greetings for any occasion! The center of this card actually flips over as you open the card! If you follow the basic tips and tricks below, you will find this card to be a fascinatingly simple design to create!
First of all, the following video will help you better visualize what this card does. It is 9 seconds long.
Tips for making this card:
Create the inside panel first! Mat it if you like and then fasten it securely and squarely onto your sturdy cardstock. Do NOT mount it any closer to the edges than 1″ leaving more if possible.
Next cut on the solid lines around your matted element as indicated in the template image above. Please note that there is no cut made between the two fold lines. In order to get your fold lines in the right place ensure that your first fold line is positioned exactly half way across the distance of your matted element.
The fold lines should be positioned at least 1″ apart and more if your design element is large.
Carefully fold your card and trim to size as desired.
Decorate the face of your card to introduce the contents as desired using clear hobby rubber stamps and scrapbooking supplies.
If you have any further questions about making this card, feel free to email us at clearlyrubberstamping@yahoo.ca
This has become a favorite heat embossing technique!!! It involves using 3-5 embossing powders per design. Learn how to do this super simple but absolutely beautiful technique on your own!
MATERIALS NEEDED TO DO THIS TECHNIQUE:
clear hobby rubber stamp – medium to large design
3-5 embossing powders
heat embossing gun
cardstock, glass, metal or other stamping medium that is safe to heat emboss on
Peel your clear acrylic stamp from the carrier sheet and place it on the clear stamping block.
Ink the design in the embossing ink and stamp the image onto your surface. If your design requires more than one impression of the image, so all the impressions before proceeding to the next step.
Sprinkle tiny amounts of embossing powder onto the impression(s). Dump off the excess being careful to not allow the powders to slide around too much. Repeat this step with each embossing color you wish to use, covering a small portion of the image with teach color.
Heat the powders and watch them blend together with fascinating results.
With that the embossing portion of your project is complete.
Marbling with two products that resist each other is a wonderful way to add unique and interesting textures to your background paper. In this case oil based paint is used with water to create the most delightful designs on paper crafts. The results are fabulous for using with clear hobby rubber stamps to make fascinating cards and scrapbook designs.
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Disposable cake pan
Water
Spray paints – 2 or more colors)
Stir stick
Cardstock
Newspaper
You may wish to use tweezers or pliers to remove the paper from the water
Paint thinner for cleanup if you get paint on your hands.
TO MARBLE PAPER USING SPRAY PAINT AND WATER
Lay newspaper out on work surface. Ensure that your protected surface is much larger than your cake pan.
Fill cake pan with water about 1″ deep.
Spray the first color onto the water. Do this in short shots of paint in different areas of the pan.
Add the second color, and if desired, do the first color again, until you are happy with the amount of paint sitting on the surface of the water.
Using the swirling stick, stir the colors together until you are happy with the result. Do not over stir.
Drop paper flat onto the surface of the water. If you need to tap the corners down.
Remove from the water immediately using tweezers or your fingers (you will get paint on them though). Lay your paper onto the newspaper to dry.
Add another piece of paper to the waters surface where there is still lots of paint. Repeat this process until all the paint has bee used up.
Begin again with a new set of colors if you like. If you do this, be aware, that a very small portion of the first color is likely still in the water and will show up lightly on the next paper.
Allow the paints to dry thoroughly before adding additional details or sayings with your clear hobby rubber stamps.
Marbling paper with food coloring and shaving cream is a great activity for all ages! Kids will love this, but for scrapbookers and card makers, this technique will open up a whole new world of background papers. The end result of each project is beautiful and unique and makes a great background for clear rubber stamping projects!
MATERIALS NEEDED:
Shaving cream or foam
Coloring medium: food coloring, refill inks, water based paint
Porous paper or cloth
Stick for swirling colors together
Cookie sheet or tin foil
4×6 sheet of heavy cardstock
TO MARBELIZE YOUR PAPER
Protect your work surface with newspapers. Next cover the bottom of a cookie sheet with tin foil.
Spray the shaving cream over an area that will cover your paper (this will depend on the size of paper you are using. Make the shaving cream layer about 1″ thick.
ADDING COLORS: If you are using food coloring, as illustrated,begin dropping bits of color over the shaving cream. You can use 1-4 colors as desired. (If you are using water based paint, thin it down, then you can squirt bits over the shaving cream. You can even use a paint brush to make designs if you wish. If you are using refill inks, you can either squirt lines of ink into the shaving cream or you can add the ink the same way the food coloring is added, drop by drop.)
Once you have added your color, use your swirling stick to lightly swirl the colors together. You want your colors to be sharp and vibrant so be careful not to overmix the colors. Also the colors should stay on the top of the foam as much as possible.
Next lay your porous paper (or cloth) over the marbled design. Press the paper or cloth down lightly. Paper can be lifted off after a few seconds, cloth must sit on the surface for 1-2 minutes to allow the colors to penetrate fully.
Lift paper off the shaving cream mixture.
Next scrape the shaving cream off your paper (or cloth) using the 4×6 heavy cardstock. As you remove the shaving cream you will find that you are revealing the wonderful swirled art that is delightful to use.
You can do this repeatedly with the same shaving cream mixture as desired. The more mixed your colors get the more muted the marbling will be.
Allow your paper (or cloth) to dry. Use your marbleized paper to create fun cards or scrapbook page features. These designs make wonderful backgrounds for rubber stamping scenic art!
This project was so much fun to make, create and of course display. It uses a paper mache book which should be available for purchase at any major craft store. This craft will also work with a wooden book, though the end results will vary somewhat.
To make this project you will need 1 paper mache book such as the one pictured below. Paint, paintbrushes, ribbon, clear rubber stamps for design as well as clear alphabet stamps, ribbon, double sided tape, and embellishments.
Begin by painting your book. We painted ours black with the page edges gold.
Once your paint has dried, choose an image design which you would like to emboss onto the bottom portion of your book cover. The smaller the design, the easier it will be to get a good impression if your book cover is anything less than perfectly flat. Before stamping in embossing ink, lay a strait edge or scrap paper over the areas you do not want the design to cover. Begin stamping your design. Add embossing powder and heat to emboss.
In the next step you will use your clear alphabet rubber stamps to add a title to your book. Before stamping be sure to lay out the letters in such a way that you know they will fit across the cover. Stamp your word in embossing ink, dust with embossing powder, tap off excess and heat to emboss.
Your last step to completing your paper mache book is to add ribbons and embellishments as desired. In addition to the ribbons and charms we added to ours, you might light to add a custom made tag, sequins, gems, quotes or more to perfectly customize and personalize your completed stamping project. When you are done, you are going to love displaying this treasure that can easily be filled with trinkets or treats!
(If you are using water based paint, thin it down, then you can squirt bits over the shaving cream. You can even use a paint brush to make designs if you wish. If you are using refill inks, you can either squirt lines of ink into the shaving cream or you can add the ink the same way the food coloring is added, drop by drop.)
