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Archive for the ‘Decor Elements’ Category:
A Real Play Day in the Craft Room!
Aloha, all!
What fun I had earlier this week when I got to spend the whole day in my Craft Room decorating a little doll house. Well, it's not like those we made for our daughter when she was a little girl. With those, there were wood and nails and hot glue guns all around as we struggled to put together and furnish a 1" scale house. You can believe that took more than a day to complete!
No, this house was made with the new Chipboard House, Design-a-House, from the 2010 Stampin' Up! Holiday Mini Catalog. As October and Halloween are fast approaching, I decided that my first effort would be a witch's home. But not a scary haunted house. No, just something fun that looked as if a cute little Halloween witch had designed it.
Of course, that good little witch would have to be the one from the Stamp Set, Halloween Hoot. Here she invites us all to come into her parlor (said the spider to the fly!) As we look over the house today, I'll share some of what I did to make this house a fun one to have around my big house for the whole month of October, not just on Halloween.
I began by choosing the colors for the house and roof. That became easy when I found two sheets of papers from the Specialty Designer Series Paper Set, Wicked Fun. The "specialty" part of this paper is that much of it is flocked. But not these two sheets, one of which has Cajun Craze as its primary color, and the other Old Olive. A key to making sure that you get the paper on easily is adhering it to the basic house pieces BEFORE you start to put the house together. Stampin' Up! provides a pattern for you to use to to cut out the basic house and the openings for the windows and door. I chose to lay the pieces of the house out onto the Designer Series Paper and trace around it with my Hobby Blade. Once I got the papers all cut out, I applied them to the house using Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue. While that glue dries pretty quickly, there's still a bit of give when you first lay the paper down to skootch it into place.
Then I shingled the roof – literally! But these shingles were in continuous strips made by punching the Olive Green paper with the Scallop Edge Punch. To get the rows of shingles lined up properly, I used the Stampin' Up! Grid Paper to align them as shown by the arrows. This piece of the roofing is from the part that is on the near front of the house. Rather than applying the shingles directly to the house, I cut a piece of card stock in the shape of that section of the roof and applied the shingles to that, using SNAIL adhesive. Then I applied the entire piece to the roof using the Tombow adhesive. I did this for all sections of the roof, still at the point before the house has been put together.
For the trim around the windows, Stampin' Up! provides a template for cutting. I cut a piece of the Old Olive Designer Paper into a piece 4" x 6", scanned the templates into a 4" x 6" computer document, then printed the template onto the BACK of the paper I would be cutting. Even though the back of this paper is Basic Black, you can still see the printed image very clearly.
Once all the pieces of the house were covered as I wanted them, I then put the house itself together, using Sticky Strip, and began adding all the trimmings! For the roof caps, I just cut strips of Basic Black Card Stock 3/4" wide and long enough for each piece of roofing. The fancy trim pieces were made using the Eyelet Border Punch. Rather than using this to trim the tops of the windows, I just had to use the Bat Punch. Maybe I got carried away with the bats all over the house. But I had fun doing it!
Here are some of the details of the decorated house:
The Frog and the Window Dressing. This little guy wants to turn back into a prince (hah!) so he offers "Free Kisses." He's cute, but I think I'll pass. Now look at the window – those lovely black lace curtains are made with the Raven 1/2" Lace Trim introduced in the Holiday Mini Catalog. I attached them to the inside of the house using some Sticky Strip. And of course, there's the bat decorating the top of the window.
The Owl on the Chimney. This is yet another image from - and the namesake for – the Halloween Hoot Stamp Set. He's such a cutie, and I agree with him wholeheartedly!
Round back by the "kitchen," Ms Witch is cooking up some yummy dinner for her guests! I used Medium Window Sheet material on which to stamp the "bubbles" with Jet Black Stazon ink.
- Even in the bat world someone has to be different. Here's one bat who wasn't content to decorate the tops of windows. He has to go roost under the rafters, upside down.
Lots more details in this little house. I can see that, once I put it out towards the end of October, I'll be making some more additions. Hmmm. I'm thinking now that I need a little landscaping!!! I'll share the final project with you around Halloween time!
If you're thinking that this is a cute project, let me tell you that you really only need two Stampin' Up! products beyond what you probably already have in your supplies: The Design A House (120911 @ $5.95 each); and the Stamp Set Halloween Hoot (111582 wood mount only, $29.95). For the second and more houses, you'll only need the chipboard house! You can use papers and inks that you already have! So much fun for this holiday, and I'll bet you can even get the little boys in your family to work on this project (bats are so cool!).
Whatever you do, have fun with it!
Subscribe to the comments for this postDefinitely Decorating for my Open House!
Aloha, all!
Those of you on my newsletter mailing list know all about my New Catalog/Retiring Product Sale Open House this Saturday, July 17, 2010.
But you may not have paid attention to that part about being able to apply some of those wonderful Definitely Decorative Vinyl products on my Craft Room Walls! Yes, you'll get the chance to help me apply some of that vinyl! That's how confident I am in the product and how easy it is to apply.
This is what I have already done this week to get ready for my 2010-2011 Catalog year. None of the products shown in this picture (in Robin's Craft Room of course) are "new." But they're "new to Robin's Craft Room! Now I have the entire 2009-2010 Stampin' Up! tag line of Inspire-Create-Share up to inspire me!
What we'll be doing next weekend is adding the Manhattan Flower vinyl to the hall outside the Craft Room. I purchased the Certainly Celery flowers, and I can hardly wait to get them up on the wall! So be sure to be at the Open House early to help me out!!
Stampin’ Up!’s 12 Days of Holiday Sales!
Aloha, all! Look at all the Sizzix dies on sale!!!
Just a quick note as there’s a group of stampers coming over this morning for some Christmas Card projects! Stampin’ Up! has announcd a sale that runs from today, December 11th, just until Tuesday December 22nd! I’ll be showing off some projects made using some of the items for sale – especially Big Shot Dies!! – but for now here are links to a list of what’s on sale, and my Stampin’ Up! website if you’d like to order online. Of course, you can always order directly from me by calling (808.854.6145) or e-mailing me!
A Template for the Circle Scissors
Aloha, all!
I read Patty Bennett’s blog this week about how she created templates for the Circle Scissors Plus that Stampin’ Up! is now offering as an accessory. I finally received mine from Hilo’s best FedEx guy this week, and I have been SOOOO anxious to play with it. But there it sat, with its accompanying glass mat, just daring me to open it and try it out! So reading Patty’s blog made me want to get it out of its box and do something–SOMETHING–with it!
So my first try to was make the templates that Patty had made. What Patty did was to make circles of various sizes in pieces of card stock. Have a picture you want to cut in a circle? Try the card stock circle holes to see which one worked! Absolutely the greatest idea!!
My first step was to find several pieces of card stock that I figured I might not use any time soon. My choice was Tangerine Tango. Not because I don’t like this color; but because I’m not seeing much in the way of Tangerine in my near future. And this "In Color" will disappear with the next catalog (rats!) and I have a bunch of it.
With the first piece of card stock, I realized I would need, not several, but only ONE piece of cardstock to achieve my goal. Because once I cut that 6" circle, I wondered why I couldn’t just ratchet the circle size down and cut a 5-1/2" circle inside the 6" circle; then a 5" circle inside that; and so on down until I got to the point where Stampin’ Up! has punches sized to make the circle.
This is what I ended up making: 
8 concentric circles with the outside 1/2" larger than the inside. I stopped once I got to 2" because Stampin’ Up! has a 1-3/4" circle punch, so no need for the Circle Scissors for that.
What you can do with these circles is lay them over a photograph or stamped image–or anything that you might want to cut out–to figure out what size circle you should be cutting. The two measurements that are on each circle are the outside size then the inside size.
And how do I store them? Easy! I have a walll decorated with Decor Elements flowers and several push pins stuck in in various places. In this section, I have several of the Brass Templates for dry embossing. I just added a push pin, and there now hang my Circle Scissors templates, too!
Finally, I have to say that I just LOVE my Circle Scissors Plus, and I haven’t even tried out the Plus (drawing) side! It only took me a few times of cutting to realize that I didn’t need to PRESS on the card stock. This tool just effortlessly cuts circles.
Would you like to know more about this great new Stampin’ Up! tool? Just call (808.854.6145) or e-mail (robin@robinscraftroom.com) me and I’ll answer any questions you might have!
Happy stamping–and cutting!!
Decor Elements and Special Photos
Aloha, all!
Wow, has it been busy here at the Craft Room! I got a BIG box of Stampin’ Up! products delivered last weekend, and I’ve had a ton of projects to do for an assortment of customers! I just can’t believe it’s already Friday! (Well, with the new Daylight Savings Time, it’s probably already Saturday for several of you!)
One of the items that came in that box from Stampin’ Up! was the second of two Hostess items that I’d ordered over the past month (others have been the hostesses other times I’ve ordered products). These are the Level 1 Decor Elements Hostess product called "Flower Finesse." You won’t see this as a hostess gift in the Spring/Summer Catalog–it’s only in the Decor Elements brochure. But you can order it as a hostess gift even if you don’t order anything from the Decor Elements catalog!
What I did with both of these Decor Elements pieces was to cut them in half, so that the flower and the leaves were separated. Then I placed one of the flowers in each of the top corners of the photo set and the corresponding leaves/swirls in the bottom corners of the photo set. You probably can’t tell from these photos, but one of the flowers is Black and one is Chocolate. Originally I had assumed that I’d use the Flower Finesse with other Chocolate Decor Elements item I had. But then I realized the best place for them was with the photos of me and my sister, Andrea, wearing black shirts, which I had framed in Black and White.
Andrea is my younger sister who is slowly recovering from an extremely serious stroke, and whom I’ll be visiting in May. I am SOOO glad that I talked her into having our portraits done when she visited me in 2006. We went to one of those mall places that do photos of children. They were surprised to see two adult women show up for the photo shoot! But we told them to treat us just like kids because we felt like kids. So there we are lying on the floor–just like kids!!
A quick message to all: Don’t forget to stop and enjoy one another even when times are hard. You never know what’s right around the corner that will change your life forever.
And, if you have a special photo that you’d like to set off with something other than a frame–consider a Decor Elements accent! I have lots of suggestions. Just call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me and I’ll get some information out to you right away!
How I Spent My Valentine’s Day Weekend
Aloha, all!
During my New Catalog Open House on Saturday (Valentine’s Day), one of my friends said that she had come intending to purchase one of the Decor Elements items. When I handed her the brand new, Phase 3, Decor Elements catalog, she couldn’t put it down! Oh, my, does she want that tree! (Look at the cover of the Decor Elements catalog to the right–or, better still, click on it to see the whole thing!)
But what she really came to buy was one of our Phase 1 items, Long-Stem Silhouette. She wasn’t sure about the sizes, though. Well, it so happened that I had purchased the Long-Stem Silhouette for myself back in the fall! And it was still neatly rolled up in its cardboard tube. Of course, I had to pull it out so she could determine what size she wanted.
But now–it was out of the tube, and it seemed silly to put it back when I had already decided where I wanted it.
All of the "stems" in the Long-Stem Silhouette are on the Decor Elements backing paper in the shape in which they appear in the Decor Elements catalog. But I wanted to split them and put half on one side of a closet door and half on the other. With the way that Stampin’ Up! makes its Decor Elements, it is so easy to do this.
Above is a picture of the original design: I wanted the four left-most stems for one motif. But I also wanted at least one of the stems in that group to be as high as the highest stem in the right group. So first I cut away the 2 left-most stems and temporarily placed them where I wanted them to be on the wall. Then I took the next stem in and cut it away from the pack. This stem I placed higher than the original design to be about the same height as the high stem on the left. Then I took the 4th stem, cut it away, and put it a bit closer to the first 3 and tilted it a bit so its stem overlapped other stems.
Finally, I just took the 4 stems left on the right, and put them on the right side of door. Below are photos of the finished product. (As in, "That’s how I spent my Valentine’s Day Weekend!)
Oh, and my friend also bought the Rose Kennedy saying, "Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments." She already has, "Live Every Moment," and "Life is good"! She left my house saying she’ll probably have a whole house full of sayings before she’s through with this!
Now that’s a fun thought! So I went to my Decor Elements Catalog, and ordered up a bunch more for my own house. I’m not much on "sayings," but there are lots of great floral motifs throughout the catalog! As soon as they arrive (well, maybe I’ll procrastinate a bit–but not too long!) I’ll share with you what I do with them.
And, as always, if you’d like to join in the Stampin’ Up!/Decor Elements fun–you can order these and any of the Decor Elements online, or by calling (808.854.6145) or e-mailing me.
Oooh–and another fun fact–there’s Decor Elements available for both Level 1 and Level 2 hostess benefits! In fact, once I placed today’s order (including a big order of Decor Elements!), I ordered one of them for myself!
Decor Elements for Christmas
Aloha, all!
I finally had some time to day to start decorating for Christmas! Of course, last week just after Thanksgiving, my grandson and his Grandpa Harry went out into the back garden to cut two Norfolk Pines to flank our home’s front door. And there are more than a few Stampin’ Up! handmade Christmas ornaments on them.
But my real challenge was to figure out what to do with the Park Avenue Ornaments from the Phase II Decor Elements brochure. As I was looking at the Norfolk Pines trying to figure out how I was going to decorate them, I noticed the small area between each of the windows on either side of the front door. Bingo!! That’s where the Decor Elements were going to go.
I have had nothing but FUN using my Decor Elements so far. But these ornaments with all their little lines scared me a bit. How was I going to get them all to lie flat where they were supposed to!!?? But, as they say here in Hawaii, "No worries!" These applied themselves to my walls as if they were meant to be there (and, of course, they were!).
One thing that I’ve personally decided about the Decor Elements is that I definitely do not have to apply them the way they look in a Stampin’ Up! brochure. In the case of these ornaments, I bought both the Olive Green and the Real Red medium size sets (114826 and 114823, respectively), but mixed the colors up a bit. And there were plenty of extensions to make the ornaments "hang" from whatever spot I chose.
There are dozens of great Christmas items in the Decor Elements catalog. If you’d like a catalog, or already know that you’d like to try some Decor Elements, just give me a call (808.854.6145) or e-mail me. And if you’d like to order any time, 24/7, just click here to get to my own online store!
A Trip to the Other Side (of the Snowflake!)
Aloha, from Robin’s Craft Room, where it’s just a gorgeous day in Hawai’i! No snowflakes here!
Well, that’s actually not true. There’s a snowflake right here in this blog post as there was in yesterday’s post. Today I’m showing off the other side of the snowflake ornament on which I started working yesterday.
And, yes, there are Little Felt Flurries (113697) on this side, too! The green print is on the other side of the blue Designer Series Paper that I showed yesterday.
I hope that you’ve noticed with all my postings about the Little Felt Flurries snowflakes, that there are tons of different designs! There are 23, in fact, with a great mix of 3 sizes and 3 colors in the package of 69 pieces. It’s almost as if there are no two alike, just like in real snowflake land!
To finish off the accents on this side, I added a Rhinestone Brad, but this time from the Circle Fire Collection (109110). I’ll bet by the time I’m finished with this year’s Christmas ornaments, I’ll have run out of the Rhinestone Brads! I’m not so sure about the felt snowflakes, though. The pile doesn’t seem to be diminishing at all!
My next project with felt won’t be with the Little Felt Flurries, though. Today I brought home a nice pile of felt from our local craft store, and I’m going to try out my Sizzix Snowflake die to make REALLY BIG felt flurries of my own!
Stay Tuned!!
Missing Hawai’i
Aloha, all!
We’re still in North Carolina, and I’m missing Hawai’i and the Craft Room. But I’ve been having a blast working with my two granddaughters, Morgan and Kiara, to make the baby book (pictures to come next week!) for their new little brother and to make some Halloween Decorations that will stay on the east coast.
To help me feel more at home, I thought I’d share one of the views from the Craft Room. I’m sure you’ll understand why I miss it!
The Decor Elements wall decorations nicely set off the view of Harry’s garden, with the impatiens that BLOOM ALL YEAR LONG! The Atlantic Ocean is beautiful. But I’d much rather be back in the middle of the Pacific!!!
Don’t forget that the October 20th Birthday celebration sale will end soon! It’s definitely not too late to check out the flyer at the right and place an order either online or by calling me to place the order. 854-6145.
Decor Elements – What Fun!
I have been SOOOO nervous about using my small collection of Decor Elements vinyl transfers. But today, as I was decluttering the craft room, I decided now was the time to get them out. My favorite item from Phase I was the "Create" definition. If that doesn’t belong in a crafter’s room, I don’t know where it belongs!! Now Stampin’ Up! is about to release Phase II, which was previewed at the Stampin’ Up! convention. I couldn’t resist using some of the colorful Ginormous Flowers to accent the definition.
You will simply not believe how EASY this was! In the Ginormous Flowers package that I purchased, there are many flowers and accents in four colors: Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, and Chocolate Chip. In this application, I first applied the celery and pink flowers, then applied the pink center to the celery flower and the saffron center to the pink flower. Then I applied the "create" definition, and finally the chocolate flower, then the celery flower on top of it, then the pink center. I rounded off the design with a couple of celery leaves and it was done! Less than an hour for the entire project overall (including trying to figure out which flowers I wanted to use).
I can’t wait to be able to order more from the new Phase II catalog and hope you’re as excited about this product as I am. I have plenty of Decor Elements catalogs, and would love to send you one–just call or e-mail me, and I’ll get one in the mail to you right away! Phase II goes on sale October 1st, and you can be one of the first to order some of the beautiful new vinyl.
And don’t forget about Spooky Spider! Read about her in an earlier post. She goes on my front door next!
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