Make Your Own Rub Ons

Sometimes it is difficult to find the perfect Rub On! Sometime it is 10:00 at night and all the stores are closed and you have to have a Rub On. What do you do?

Why make your own of course

Supplies Needed:

1. Transparency paper - I use the Transparency film for ink jets. (Do Not Spend $50 for 5 sheets)


2. Ink Jet Printer


3. Popsicle Stick or other burnisher type item (a bone folder works good too)

Step One

Decide what you want to make into a transparency. Open your word processing program (such as Microsoft Word or Word Perfect) and create a new document with the items you want to make into rub on's on it. Fill the 8.5x11 sheet up leaving about 1 to 1.5"'s between each image or word.

Step Two
Load your transparency film into your printer so that it will print onto the smooth side of the film.

Step Three

Format your printer settings by selecting print properties. Once there select the "Best Quality", "Mirror" or sometimes called "Word Flip" (doing this flips your words and images so they are facing the direction you need once they are rubbed on) Once this is all done select print.

Step Four

Set it aside and DO NOT TOUCH IT as it will smudge

Step Five

Once dry place the transparency face down (ink side down) and using your Popsicles stick or bone folder rub firmly until the image has been transferred.

Note: once you have used up all the rub on's off this transparency sheet don't throw it away. Recycle it (they can be expensive to keep buying them so by all means reuse) just clean off the sheet with a damp paper towel, let dry and it is ready to re-use.

This is the transparency sheet I made

This is my name, upper left corner rubbed onto my white cardstock.

Tutorial ~ Paper Folding - Pine Cone Ornaments

Supplies Needed

• 50+ Pieces of paper cut into 2"x1" strips - I like to use a variety of background and texture paper. Do Not Use Cardstock as it is too difficult to push pins through.
• 2" Styrofoam Ball
• 150+ Straight Pins
• 8" to 10" of ribbon
• Thimble - Optional...but saves your fingers
  

Step One
Lay your one of your 2"x1" strips on the table and fold the left corner down and to the center.

Step Two
Fold the right corner of your strip into the center to meet up with the left corner. This makes a Triangle shape out of the strip.

~Repeat Step One & Two until all 50+ pieces are folded~

Click Here for First Visual Show Tutorial

Step Three
Hold your Styrofoam ball in your hand and place one of the triangle pieces onto your ball (flap side down to the ball) and pin in the tip of the triangle piece.

Step Four

Butt a second triangle up to the first making 1/2 of a square and again pin the tip of the triangle piece.

Step Five
Do this two more times until you have created a complete square out of four folded triangle pieces with four pins holding them onto the Styrofoam ball through the tips only.

Step Six

Pin two of the triangles in the center of the longest straight side. These two triangles should be apposing triangles.

Step Seven
Cross two corners of two triangles over each other and pin. Repeat this for each triangle's remaining corners. This completes the first layer of your ornament.

Step Eight
Now you will be putting on your second layer of paper. This layer is applied differently than the first layer. It is a good place to alter your paper color. These triangles will be applied half way over the first layer. You will place the tip of the triangle down pointing toward the pins in the center of the Styrofoam ball. The longest straight edge of your triangle will span over the overlapping corners of your first layer. For this layer you will need four triangles to make it around the first layer. Pin each of these triangles at each corner only. The second layer corners will overlap.

Step Nine
Following the same process you did in Step Eight, offset the next layer of triangles so your longest flat edge of your triangle is spanning over the overlapping corners of your second layer. The tip of the triangle is once again pointing down and will be positioned in the gap created between the first and second layer. Again, you will be pinning the corners of the triangles only and they will overlap.

~Repeat this step for two more layers~

Click here for the second visual show tutorial

Step Ten
Place one edge of your ribbon in width parallel with your last layer of paper triangles. Pin it down into the foam ball. Pin the other end of your ribbon onto the foam ball on the opposite side. This creates your ribbon hanger. You will be pinning your triangle layers over the ribbon. Continue repeating Step Nine until you begin reducing in size and are at the crest of the top of the foam ball.


Step Eleven
Continue repeating Step Nine until you begin reducing in size and are at the crest of the top of the foam ball.

Step Twelve
The top and covering layer will either be two or four triangles. Depending on what size space you have left to cover. You will start out with your first piece by opening the flaps and pinning only the bottom layer. Once pinned on one side you will refold and cover the pins with the top layer. This step is the most tedious step and requires some dexterity. You will continue doing this meeting in the center with the flat sides of each triangle creating a square peak on top of the pinecone.

Step Thirteen

I like to finish it off by tying the ribbon into a bow that comes down tight onto the last layer of the paper triangles. This helps to cover up any gaps or showing pins. I leave a long piece of ribbon extending in the middle. This will become your hanger.

Tea Bag Folding Tutorial

During this tutorial we will make a tea folded Christmas Tree to be used on a card front or Scrapbook page or other paper crafting item.

Supplies Needed:

• 4 pieces of Background & Texture paper cut into squares of the following sizes: 3", 2.5", 2" & 1.5"
• Bone Folder if you wish (optional)
• Something to adhere to
• Adhesive

Step One: Fold all pieces in half on the diagonal, unfold and then fold again in the other diagonal direction and unfold again.




Step Two: Unfold and then fold again in the other diagonal direction and unfold again.This is what you now have. A tent of sorts.

Step Three: Making a point at the center of your B&T paper and smoosh it in to create a near star, as shown in this picture.
Step Four: Bring the folded edges together pushing in the unfolded side edges and press flat.

This is what you should now have for all four size squares.

Step Five: Pull one of the corners up and fold to the inside.Step Six: Pull the second corner up and meet the first at midpoint and fold it in as well. Now do this with all the squares.

Step Seven: Now working with the largest piece and from the bottom to the top of your tree slip the second largest piece onto the first largest piece and so forth. What you end up with is a Christmas Tree. Now you can move the pieces up and down to adjust your tree size. Play with it a bit and then adhere to your project.

Two Stepping Stamping Tutorial

This tutorial is for a technique called Two Stepping. For this technique you will need a specific stamp set, this would be a stamp that has the outline and a solid (2 pieces) that make up the final complete image. The first is the Solid stamp. It would be a solid stamp that would be the inside fill in to the outline. The second stamp would be the actual outline stamp.

Here is an example:

This first orange sq. is the outline stamp

This second orange sq. is the solid stamp

Supplies Needed:

1. A Two Step Stamp
2. Ink Pad
3. Paper
4. Scrap Paper
   

Click Here to view the Slide Show Tutorial

Step One
Load your "SOLID" stamp with ink and stamp it onto your scrap paper.

Step Two
You will only be stamping the second generation (2nd layer of ink on the stamp) onto your working cardstock. This gives you a lighter solid image

Step Three
Load your "OUTLINE" stamp with the same colored ink. Looking through the acrylix block and stamp line up your Outline image with the solid image and stamp.

Now you can embellish the image in any way you see fit. On this card I used liquid glass to fill in a few of the center leaves to look like the yellow centers on poinsettia's.

Mineral Spirit & Colored Pencil Tutorial

Here is the second tutorial in this series. I used the same card but colored the Poinsettia using the Mineral Spirit & Colored Pencils.

Here is the detail of the Poinsettia using this technique.













Supplies Needed:

1. Outline Stamp Set
2. Standard Ink (will not work with Archival or stazon)
3. Colored Pencils
4. Odorless Mineral Spirit (AKA: odorless paint thinner, Gamsol is a name brand)
5. Blending Stumps (Try and find those made in Taiwan as they have softer paper and work better)

CLICK HERE to view the slide tutorial

Step 1

Stamp your image onto cardstock and color it in with colored pencils.

Step 2

Make sure you highlight and define your image just as you would if you were only using the colored pencils.

Step 3

Using your stumps, dip them into the Odorless Mineral Spirits getting the tip saturated. Rub the OMS soaked stump over the penciled area. This will blend the pencils.

You will see a difference between the standard Colored Pencil technique and using the OMS with them. It still gives you the penciling texture with a more blended and bright finish to it.

Have fun and share what you create with this technique.

Background Embossing Tutorial

I've been working on a card for a large swap. It is a Christmas Card Swap and I though since I was doing such a large qty. I could use this opportunity to get some tutorials created. Using this same card I will be posting tutorials in the next few days on a variety of ways to handle outline stamps.

However, this first tutorial is on doing a little known technique called Background Embossing.

Here is an example of the card.

The technique was used on the Ponderosa Pine Frame behind the Poinsettia.

Supplies Needed:

1. UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) or regular Embossing Powder (I recommend UTEE as you will only need one coat)


2. Craft Heating Tool


3. Versa Mark or other Embossing Ink Pad


4. Paper to be Embossed


5. Stamp set to Emboss with


6. Craft Tray (I like to use a small one to powder in and a large one to heat set in)
   

Click Here to view the Slide Show Tutorial

Step One

Assemble the supplies needed

Step Two

Press your paper that you will be embossing into the Versa Mark Ink Pad & Saturate well.

Step Three

Place into a craft tray and cover with UTEE well. Remove and tap off excess powder. If you are using regular Embossing Powder you will need to heat and add a second coat of Versa Mark and Powder.

Step Four

Using your Craft Heating Tool Heat UTEE until it is well melted and covers paper smoothly.

Step Five

While the UTEE is still wet/hot press your stamp into the hot UTEE and pull it back off again. Being careful as to remove it delicately.