September SUSIE-Q FUN TIP–Spooky Mini Book


Well, it’s September already and time for another SUSIE-Q FUN TIP tutorial from me, Susan (susiestampalot).  Something ya’ll may or may not know about me is that I LOVE to make stuff for Halloween AND I LOVE to make little mini books from unlikely items. 

One thing I know about YA’LL is that ya’ll LOVE to get more use out of your dies and use them in different ways other than the obvious.  With that in mind, how about a little tutorial on how ya’ll can use the POCKET DIE SET and CLIP IT DIE SET for the basic “bones” of a little mini book?  If you’re not so much into the Halloween theme, I hope you glean the info about making the book anyway, and you could decorate it to fit any theme!

Ok, off we go….


All we need to get the actual book made are the two die sets mentioned above, some cardstock, Scor-tape (or other tacky tape), and 2 binder rings.

First, die cut the Pocket Die for as many “pages” as you want.  I did 3.  That may not sound like a lot, but once you fill it and decorate it, it’s plenty.  I like big books and I cannot lie.  But it’s up to you, just be sure your binder rings are big enough!  (These look like t-shirts to me at this point…hmmm…another mini book, perhaps?)


Here’s where it starts getting cute (and FUN)!  Use the border dies that come with the POCKET DIE SET to make interesting edges.  This will be the sides to your pages.  Make them all the same, or change it up!  I like the variation!


Don’t forget the little card inserts for your pockets.  Cut these to match the number of pages you made using the rectangle from the CLIP IT DIE SET.  Don’t ya’ll love my spoooooky colors? 


I’ve got a plethora of pockets now.


See how cute these are?  I love the little zig-zag on the kraft pocket the best.  He will now be my first page.  He wins.


LEAVING THE INSERTS OUT OUT and OUT, stack and line up all three pockets along the straight edges and punch two holes for your binder rings using a Cropodile. I just eyeballed it.  I’m fun like that.  Or depending how strong you are, wait and punch these holes after you have all your background papers adhered. 


I’m always too impatient and want to put the basic book together just to see how it will look.  This is when I decided what pages would go in what order and what color inserts I wanted in each to make it most cohesive.  Then I took it all back apart to finish the decorating.  It’s just easier.

So that’s basically how the book comes together!  
Now on to the finishing touches…


Now is when the magic starts to happen.  I wanted to be able to pick and choose what to use on each page, so I just premade a bunch of stamped images and sentiments, and die cut a bunch of doodads from various YOUR NEXT STAMP Halloween stamp sets and dies.  Here’s a few links to some of what I used:

Spooktacular (ghost and sentiment)
Trick or Treat (pumpkin and sentiment)
Happy Haunting (haunted house and sentiment) 
Then I went on and adhered the papers to each of the pockets on the fronts and backs.  
Front measurement:  2 3/8 X 3 1/8
Back measurement:  3 1/8 X 3 1/8
Don’t forget to re-punch your holes as you do each side of your pockets if you already punched them.
Then I went to town and fixed up my book using just about ALL of the stamped stuff I made and a few other embellishments from my stash!  This is the front cover.
Here are the card inserts, ready for pictures!


The finished pages, 2 and 3 (if you count the front as page one!).  I “colored” the witch, pumpkins and the haunted house on the next pages with orange and black Stickles in order to keep up my color scheme.  Neat trick. Or is it a treat?


The finished pages, 4 and 5.  The chipboard frames on the cover and each right side page are some I picked up from Michael’s.  This one was a little large, but I still used it, overlapped my binder ring holes and repunched them with my Cropodile.  No problem!


And the back.  I added a ton of ribbons and twine (maybe too many, the pages don’t lay flat when I open the book) to the binder rings for texture.  It looked great with them off as well, but I really wanted to use that skeleton ribbon!  ACK!  It’s so fun and I’ve hoarded it for a long time but thought it was perfect for this!  And before ya’ll ask (because I know ya’ll will), it’s pretty old, from Cosmo Cricket.

Ok, that concluded today’s episode of my SUSIE-Q FUN TIP tutorial.  Did ya’ll like it?  I can’t wait to hear what you think…


Before ya’ll go, I have a little bit of news.  Unfortunately this will be my last SUSIE-Q FUN TIP unless I just can’t stand it anymore and want to come back to visit ya’ll on occasion!  I’m scaling back on my stamping commitments and having to do some re-arranging of my time, as my kiddos are highly involved in sports and school.  I’ve loved having the opportunity to share what little I know about the craft and give ya’ll a laugh here and there along the way!  This has been a fun ride and Karen has blessed me beyond measure to let me get to do what I do for Your Next Stamp.  She’s a class act.
Until next time, find me on my blog, 

Thanks to ya’ll, my stamping family for listening to me ramble!
HUGS AND LOADS OF LOVE!! 
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August SUSIE-Q Fun Tip–Summer Sparkle Series #3–Glitter Borders


Well, it’s the first of the month, and ya’ll know what that means!  Time to pay bills.  Well, that may be true, but it’s me Susan (susiestampalot) and I have something way  more fun than that–it’s my monthly SUSIE-Q Fun Tip Tutorial!

It’s the last one of my very glitterfied 3-part  
“Summer Sparkle Series”
Today we are going to play around with using YNS dies to create a GLITTER BORDER or outline on our cards and projects.  This one is SUPER FAST and easy and has limitless possibilities.
 OFF WE GO!….
This month, all we need is a few things…GLITTER (A#1, since this IS a glitter tutorial), A YNS Die of choice (I’ve chosen the largest one from the BOOKMARK/TAG DIE SET.) and a glue pen.  I love this one from Martha Stewart.  Oh, and three cheers for SOPHIE, my little Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader, for helping this card come together.  Go Cowboys!
Like I said, this is super EASY…almost TOO easy!  By the way, I didn’t just invent this, I’m sure it’s been done before, but I have wanted to try it with my YNS dies for quite a while now, so WHY NOT share it with ya’ll??  Your welcome.  
What we are going for is an outline of the die in glitter.  It can be any die, just depending on what you’ve got envisioned.  So decide what die and where you’d like your outline for your particular project.
Ok, once all that’s decided, just hold it in place and TRACE the outline of the die using your glue pen.  Told ya’ll it was easy.
Glue outline!  This is what that particular pen line looks like.  It says “fine-tip”, but it’s going to leave about a 1/8″ line.  The sooner you get the glitter on here after tracing the better, just fyi.
Silver glitter makes me happy.  Again, I glittered over a creased piece of copy paper to make a trough that my excess glitter could easily slide down and back into the container.  “Put that thing back where it came from, or so help me!”–Mike, Monsters Inc.  (I’m easily entertained and sidetracked.)
OOHH, pretty and so so sparkly!!  Tap off the excess and stare at your beautiful almost-finished creation.  Take a break and have a cookie for a self-congratulatory party.
For my card, I die-cut another shade of blue using the same BOOKMARK/TAG DIE.  Then I ran it back through my Big Shot to emboss it with the dots.  It needed to be a bit shorter for my design, so I cut the bottom end off.  (Wish I could just cut my bottom end off.)
Glued it down to finish off that panel.  
Here’s a closer look at my finished card.  
Did I say, GO COWBOYS? 
 
Well, I hope ya’ll have enjoyed my
“Summer Sparkle Series”!
What should I do next?  Let me know!  
Don’t forget to leave me a comment–
There’s going to be a RANDOM DRAWING on August 5th 
to win some YNS goodies! 
  
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July SUSIE-Q Fun Tip–Summer Sparkle Series #2–Scrabble Tile Sparkle


Well, can ya’ll believe it’s the first of July already?  Me neither.  Lucky for ya’ll though, that it means it’s time for another SUSIE-Q Fun Tip from me, Susan.  Today I’m sharing my second glitterfied tutorial in my 3-part

 “Summer sparkle Series!”
I’m going to show ya’ll how to use the YNS Letter Board Die and add sparkle to the letters from the “negative” tile part.  I know–you’re thinking, “WHAAATTT?”  Just follow along and don’t worry.  I took lots of pictures!

OFF WE GO!…


All we need to get started is the YNS Letter Board Die, some packing tape, and of course, GLITTER!!  Helping me out today also is the delightful ice cream sundae loving girlie from the Total Sweetness cling set.  If you really think about it, you could use almost any die’s negative cut for this technique.


Since all twenty-six letters are included in the die, you are free to make thousands of words with it.  That’s a lot of bang for your buck if you ask me.  Today, I’m just spelling the word “sweet” to go with my ice cream girl.  Die-cut the letters of your choice.  We are only using the tile part (negative cut), so the actual letters are yours to rearrange and make as many words on the table as you can with them in thirty seconds after this tutorial is over.


Next we need to make the recessed letter opening be sticky from the front side.  The letter tiles happen to be just a little larger than a 1/2″ square, so that’s a good size to cut the tape into.  Do this and stick it on the BACK SIDE of each letter tile.

Here’s what the back of the tile should look like with the tape pressed onto the back.


Now we glitter!  Sprinkle a lot onto the FRONT side of the tile, so that it sticks to the sticky side of the tape showing through.  Remember to glitter over a fresh piece of copy paper that’s been creased to create a trough for the excess glitter to slide back into the container.  Goggles optional.


You’re going to want to use your finger to press the glitter onto the tape, then wipe off the excess as best as you can.  This is your chance to add more glitter if necessary and repeat the pressing/wiping part.


I’ve found using an old paintbrush works wonders in getting off the little extra tidbits of this fine glitter.  I keep one especially for this purpose so that if I paint, I don’t end up with unwanted glitter in my paint.


Ok, my letters are all done and super SPARK-A-LAY!!!!


And, here’s my image all ready to go and I’m envisioning the letter placement here.


A closer view of my finished card!


I cannot say “I did” and I cannot say “I didn’t” have to go buy and actually eat some ice cream during the making of this tutorial.  You’ll have to check my facebook status from last night to find out.

Well, I sure am having fun finding and sharing 
NEW ways to play in the GLITTER with ya’ll!
I know you’re going to want to try this tutorial because 
it’s so EASY!
DONT’ FORGET to leave me a comment— 

  There’s going to be a random drawing on JULY 5th from all the comments to win some YNS goodies!    


Ready, set, GO and I’ll see ya’ll next month

when we will get glitterfied again!!!!!
 

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June SUSIE-Q Fun Tip–Summer Sparkle Series #1–Glitter Die Cuts


Well, it’s me again, Susan (susiestampalot) here with another SUSIE-Q Fun Tip tutorial.  So are ya’ll ready for SUMMER?  I know we are and my girls and I can’t wait to have some crafting fun.  Several of ya’ll have asked for some GLITTER tutorials, so today I’m giving you the first installment of three tutorials involving just that!  Let’s just call it the

Summer sparkle Series!”
Sound fun?  It won’t be anything too hard, I promise.  We all have glitter that’s just waiting to share its sparkle, so let’s get GLITTERFIED!  For my tutorial today, I’m sharing a SUPER SIMPLE way to “glitter” (can it be a verb?) die cut shapes.  
Off we go…
This is by no means my original idea, but I wanted to share the fact that even the most intricate die shape like the YNS bike die (which I LOVE) from the Cute Bike and Kite Die Set is easily glittered (v.) using this method.  You’ll need Glitter (I used a fine glitter from Martha Stewart), cardstock (preferably a close color to the glitter), your trusty Xyron “X” machine or other sticker maker, and a die.
Obviously, your choice of sticker maker will depend on your size of die.  Cut cardstock to fit and run it through the Xyron machine. 

That leaves you with a strip of “sticker cardstock”.  Yay.  Peel off the clear side, but leave the wax side attached for now.


What we are basically making is a sticker, but with the sticky side on top, so that the glitter will have something to stick to.  It’s important to cut the die out with the wax side of our sticker facing the “cut-side” of our die.  Otherwise, you’ll have just a die-cut sticker and all you’ll be able to do is “stick-her” down.


Run it on through your machine.


NOW peel off the wax paper from the TOP of your die cut shape.


You can kind of see the sticky side is UP.


Use a blank piece of copy paper and pour some glitter out on it (Reminds me of the Def Leppard song, Pour Some Sugar on Me.  Don’t ask.)  Tip:  Before pouring out the glitter, slightly crease the paper down the center to help create a “ravine” for the leftover glitter to be poured back into its container.


I had to do this every time.  No big deal.  This is where your fingers will get very glittery.  You may want to wear safety goggles.


OMG, this makes me SO HAPPY!!!


So then I had to make some more.


I love the trendy “ombre” look (where light colors fade to dark).  Add chevrons and glitter to it and it equals a “SHUT THE FRONT DOOR” creation!


Here’s another closer look.  I have to tell you, this is super spark-a-lay!!  Oh!  I almost forgot to give a little shout-out to my fabulous YNS CLEAR sentiment stamp set, Awesome Journal Words.


Wasn’t it EASY??!!
I know I had a ton of fun playing in the glitter!
(I’m pretty sure I’ll have it all over me for days!)
Is there anything else “GLITTER” related that ya’ll want to know or see me do?  
Just let me know!
DONT’ FORGET to leave me a comment— 

  There’s going to be a random drawing on JUNE 5th from all the comments to win some YNS goodies!    


Ready, set, GO and I’ll see ya’ll next month
when we will get glitterfied again!!!!!

 

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May SUSIE-Q Fun Tip–Heat Embossing on Buttons


Well, it’s me Susan (susiestampalot)!  Welcome to the May installment of my YNS SUSIE-Q Fun Tip!  Most of ya’ll know that I’m not usually a very “technique-y” stamper.  I like to stamp something, maybe color it, add some papers and embellishments and go from there.  However, I still get caught up in the MAGIC of heat embossing and using embossing powders.  (Have ya’ll seen the new NEON ones lately?  I want, but where would I put them?)  Seeing the powder change to a shiny texture when the heat gets to it just makes me happy!

So, for today’s tutorial, I’m going to show ya’ll how  
I used stamps and a few other supplies 
 to heat emboss onto a button.

Let’s turn up the heat and get started…


First, joining us today is one of the newest stamp sets from Your Next Stamp, Fun With Borders.  You’ll see how I used it in just a minute.  First, gather your supplies.  The buttons can be any kind, as long as they have a flat side to them to stamp on.  A border or background stamp works best.


First, it’s very important to use an embossing buddy on your button, just as you would a cardstock surface before applying embossing ink to it.  It takes the static away and keeps stray embossing powder from being where you don’t want it.  If you don’t have one, cornstarch inside a thin baby sock works fairly well from what I understand.  Just rub the embossing buddy all over the button, including the sides.


Next, ink up your stamp with embossing ink.  Versamark works well as long as the inkpad is nice and juicy, but I LOVE my dauber style ink from Stampendous.


Next comes the tricky part.  Leaving the inked stamp right side up on your desk, gently press the button onto it where you want the embossing to be.  (Yes, I see my typo…grrr.)


Pour/douse/smother the button with the embossing powder and tap off the excess.  Don’t dip it in the powder.  Be sure and have a scrap piece of copy paper on your work surface to catch the excess.  (Rub the embossing buddy on it, too, and it will slide perfectly back into the powder’s container.)


Ok, now it’s time for you to turn on your Disco Inferno song by The Trammps and use your heat tool to melt the embossing powder onto the button.  Let it melt completely, but be careful not to melt the button itself.  Burn, baby burn!  (don’t blame me if that song is stuck in your head all day now…welcome to my world.)

LOOK HOW CUTE!


Here’s a couple of other buttons I did with some transparent glitter embossing powder (often referred to as EP) and other YNS border stamps from that same set.


Here’s a closer look at my buttons in action!

 
Ok, so I guess ya’ll noticed some YNS stuff you’ve never seen before, eh?   
Stay tuned this Friday, May 3rd for an exciting NEW RELEASE that bears watching for…something Your Next Stamp has never carried before!  Any guesses as to what it is?

I hope ya’ll liked my Hot as a Button embossing tutorial!  It’s fun and EASY!  I love reading your comments, so feel free to give me a shout out.  I’m dying to do something with glitter…what do ya’ll want to see?

DONT’ FORGET to leave me a comment— 

  There’s going to be a random drawing on MAY 5th from all the comments to win some YNS goodies!    


Ready, set, GO!!!!!
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April SUSIE-Q Fun Tip(s)!


Well, it’s me, Susan (susiestampalot) and I’m back again with my monthly ramblings/tips/tutorial.  This time, I thought  ya’ll would like to see what’s in my drawers!  Yes, we YNS design team members have been chatting behind the scenes about our craft spaces (I’ve been mostly drooling at some of the other girls’ spaces!), so I thought it would be fun to “bare all” and show ya’ll where I work.  (Warning–this post is picture HEAVY, so I hope ya’ll don’t mind.)  This will also act as a “SHOUT OUT” to all of you that don’t have a craft room per se and just have a small space like me.  I craft from a corner of our master bedroom.  I still call it my craft room, and we just happen to sleep in there!

Anyway, I hope someone gleans something from my keen organizational skillz…Let’s go.


Welcome to my world.  I basically take up an entire wall in our bedroom and have a couple of other storage pieces you’ll see in a minute across on the other side of the room.  Because of my limited space, I have to be quite “crafty” in how I store everything (and keep it clean). 

Here’s where all the action takes place for the most part.  Copics, glue, scrap basket, trimmer, Prima self-healing mat and I couldn’t live without the grid paper to work on!  Oh and see the little bucket to the far right?  I keep all my white/cream/kraft scraps here to stamp images on.  Just mark the paper type with a pencil very lightly in the corner to know what you’re about to work with (Neenah, PTI, Georgia Pacific–I use the first letter of each.)

 
This magnet strip from IKEA has been the BEST THING

 
Ok, moving to the right of my desk is my cardstock/12×12 paper storage.  The cardstock sorter has been the greatest thing…cost me a nickel (long story).  My 12×12 paper is stored above it in the plastic boxes (mostly solids and a project kit I want to make), and the paper I use all the time is sorted in the shelves by new, whole paper collections, polkadots (A MUST) and older papers.  I keep my heat gun plugged in all the time as I heat set all black ink (paranoid) and I just hang it in that bucket.  I like buckets.


One of the sections in this sorter is for my larger cardstock scraps.  I cut down some plastic dividers I found at a garage sale to fit the cubbie.  This is where I look first for cardstock when making a card or project.  It’s my favorite.

 
I love my dies too, so when I switched from a Cuttlebug (which I kept on the floor and shlepped it up on my desk when I needed it) to a Big Shot, I needed a little table to put it on…also from IKEA, just wish it had drawers.  I also keep my tool caddy here.  It has ALL of my essentials.  I have to be portable, because I take this to work every weekend (I work at my local scrapbook store.).  I’ve learned exactly what I need and don’t need by doing this.  My trimmer goes right in the middle of it.  The best part?  One of my besties gave it to me AND it turns like a lazy Susan (hey, who ya’ll callin’ lazy?).


Are ya’ll still with me?  Like I said, I have to stay “portable”, but at the same time, I don’t want to carry a bunch of stuff.  So here’s my die situation.  NOT ORGANIZED, but all in one place!?!?  Nestabilities are kept in this CD case and ALL my other dies (except one other company…I have my reasons) are kept loosey-goosey in this zipper case with a clear front.  I have an extra one to do a little “sorting” with, but haven’t got to it yet.  I don’t like to spend a lot of time on organizing.  I’d rather be crafting with that time.  Can I get an “AMEN“?

 
Ok, let me whisk you across the vast expanse of my room to the other side…Here’s where I have my most important stamp sets in the Elfa Cart, and who knows what lurks behind those doors of that armoire.  I DO know, I just don’t want to think about it.  It’s stuff like extra embellishments, more ribbon, alterables, wood-mounted stamps and stamps from other companies who I don’t design for, glitter, Mod Podge–I really need to clean it out.  Who wants to come help me?


Back to more important things–now it’s time to see in MY DRAWERS!  (I’ll show you mine, if you show me yours!)  Let’s start with my white sewing machine desk.  Buttons sorted by color make me happy.


Behind my sewing machine, are my favorite ribbon organizers from Michael’s.  When I got these, I knew I would never keep my ribbon in anything else…


…except this drawer and oh yeah, over in that armoire across the room.


Another thing that keeps me sane in my tiny space–if I didn’t use this bucket, I’d have a big mess pile all the time of new things/things that need to be put away.  I just got those markers on Friday and can’t wait to try them!  I see some YNS that needs to find its friends, too!  This is where I also keep current stuff and stamp sets I need to use for design work.  It gets cleaned out about once a month.

A couple of the other drawers in the white desk.  These are to my immediate left when I’m working, so they are super handy to have close by because I use this stuff A LOT.  I don’t even have to get up from my chair to find things here!  Again, NOT ORGANIZED in any way, just thrown in there.  Ain’t nobody got time fo dat!

 
Moving back “home” to my little solid maple blue desk.  It has a special place in my heart.  It used to be my sisters’ desk where they would do their homework as teenagers, then I saw it in my brother-in-law’s shed and gave it new life several years ago (fought off a swarm of hornets getting it out, too!).  I did the crackle paint job to it (when crackle was cool) and hand-painted several things on the top, front and sides that you just can’t see.  Someday it will have a nicer home and I can have it on display again!).  Ok, so did I distract you from seeing my TERRIBLY DIRTY acrylic blocks?  That’s how I roll.


Doodads.  In a drawer.  ‘Nuff said.  Except I do LOVE those little trinket boxes from Making Memories.  Not only do they close, but they “lock” shut with little slider thingies on the front.  If they are dropped, they won’t fling open (unless they shatter, of course).  My floor is stained concrete.  It could happen.


This is the drawer right in front of me at my desk.  It holds, well, you know, the essentials…who DOESN’T have a Spongebob notebook?

 
Well, since I showed ya’ll all the other stuff, I thought I’d share the other most “permanent fixture” in my craft space–ME!!  Time to stamp, ya’ll!!!

Again, I hope that wasn’t TOO SCARY, seeing my drawers and all (or my face)!  And I hope everyone who has a tiny craft space especially, found something fun to help them out in their organizational journey!  If ya’ll have any questions about anything you see here or even something I didn’t talk about, I’d LOVE to  hear from you!

DONT’ FORGET to leave me a comment— 

  There’s going to be a random drawing on April 5th from all the comments to win some YNS goodies!    

Ready, set, GO!!!!!
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March SUSIE-Q FUN TIP!

Please scroll down to meet our March Guest Designer!

Well, it’s me, Susan (susiestampalot)!  Can ya’ll believe it’s March 1st already!?  I’ve got a super easy tip/tutorial today.  Raise your hand if you’re in love with WASHI TAPE as much as me, but don’t have a clue what to do with it.  Ope!  You, and you, and you!?!  Ok, well today I’m going to share a fun way to use it along with some of your favorite dies from Your Next Stamp!  This is seriously one of my favorite things!!

Let’s get taping….

 
I had some sort of “star” card idea in my head, so I found this sweet little sentiment from the Welcome Baby Sentiment stamp set.  However, I wasn’t thinking babies, but of my Show Choir Diva daughter, Lindsie and their 2ND PLACE WIN from this past weekend’s choir competition and how proud I am of her.  I thought this would be fun to give her for that!  Therefore, I definitely needed a sparkly Polaroid frame from the Insta-Love Polaroid Die set, and a little patterned paper for a good foundation. 

Then for the stars, some matching washi tape and my Whimsy Layered Star Die set (which is really all you need to just try out the technique by itself).

Let’s back up and start with a little “edjumacation”:
Raise your hand if you don’t know what WASHI TAPE even is?!  It’s ok, we don’t judge…
WASHI TAPE is a sticky backed tape that originated in Japan and is made with natural fibers, barks of different native trees of Japan and feels much like delicate paper but is quite strong.  I don’t know if some of it nowadays is actually a thin strictly paper tape (that would be my guess) or not, but it comes on little rolls and in a variety of tempting patterns and colors.  Surely you weren’t thinking it was a spicy Japanese condiment for your sushi and getting it confused with WASABI!  Welcome to your new addiction…

 
What we need to do first is make some “washi cardstock”.  Simply create whatever patterns you want by pressing strips of the tape onto some white cardstock.  I choose white since the tape is a little bit see-through and I want the colors to be vivid, but you can play with using different cardstock colors which will change the hues of your washi tapes.


Time to cut your stars out!  I run mine through my Big Shot, but a Cuttlebug or other manual die cutting machine will work.

                             YOU LIKEY??????

 

 I even love the little layered washi tape look!!

 Look here…

So now that we have the elements of our card all made, it’s time to put it together.  Here’s another little trick I like to use, especially for these kind of random, clustery cards…To help me remember placement, angles, etc., I lay it all out the way I like my card, then take a pic with my phone before gluing anything down.  That way, I have something to refer back to when I have to start building the card from the bottom up.  
Cool, huh!  Your welcome.
Here’s a little detail shot of our stars in action!
 And now our little star card is all grown up and ready for the RED CARPET!!!
So what’d ya’ll think?  

Be sure and leave me some lovely comments as to your thoughts about this and let me know what else you’d like for me to cover next month!  
DONT’ FORGET— 

  There’s going to be a random drawing on MARCH 5th from all the comments to win some YNS goodies!    

Ready, set, GO!!!!!
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February SUSIE-Q Fun Tip!

Well, it’s me again, Susan Liles (susiestampalot), and I’m here to serve ya’ll up some fun with my monthly installment of my SUSIE-Q FUN TIP!  Makes sense, right?

Ya’ll know I LOVE to get lots of mileage out of my dies.  So when Your Next Stamp came out with these YNS Lollipop Cover dies last month, I TOTALLY knew these had to be transformed somehow into OWLS!  WhoooOooOO wants to see how I did it?
Let’s rock-n-roll….

 
There’s no stamping involved in these, so all I had to do was gather my YNS dies:
YNS Lollipop Cover
YNS Insta Love Polaroid Die Set (inside oval only)
YNS Whatnots Season One Die Set (Heart, Sun, Loopy Circle Chain)
plus a regular hole punch (1/4″ or so).
**I found Tootsie Roll Pops fit perfectly in the Lollipop Covers.


Go ahead and cut all the pieces at once with the dies as shown above.  Don’t forget to cut 2 hearts for each set of wings.  Since the loopy circles make 3 sets of eyes, you may want to go ahead and cut three sets of everything else and have enough for 3 complete owl pops.  Just sayin’. 


Next, cut the Loopy Circle in sets of 2 for the base of the eyes, and snip off a point from the sun for the beak. 


Here’s where you and your little “X” Xyron maker become best friends…
If you don’t have one of these, I highly recommend it.  Turns stuff into stickers.  Magic.  Use a coupon at Mike’s or HL and it’ll only be like $7 bucks.


Run these things through the machine.  Feel the magic.  Ok, really if you don’t have one, you can just use glue or a glue pen for the tiny things.  Tweezers are helpful either way for the next step.


Build your owlie’s eyes.  Still with me?  Here comes the REALLY fun part!!


Assemble, assemble, assemble!  Cover the holes in the “face part” of the lollipop cover with your newly made eyes.  (wish I could get some of those for real.  I NEED to get my prescription re-done!)


Then fold along score lines.  Insert the lollipop, stick first, into the large hole.  You may have to scrunch the wrapper down on the stick so that it fits right.  Glue the face to the body with the lollipop inside.  You can use Scor-tape.  I’m not sure if it’d stick well enough, but you could try a temporary adhesive here, so that it can still open. 


Tie some cute ribbon or twine around the stick on top of the owl’s head and add any embellishments you wish.  I ran the pink heart through an embossing folder and stuck it on his belly with a pop dot. 


These would be awesome projects for kiddos or fun to do up all “Valentine-y” and give as treats to your favorite peeps!  WhooOooOOO wouldn’t LOVE one!?!?

I’m so VERY glad ya’ll enjoy 
my ramblings/tutorials every month.
 I check the comments often and 
LOVE to hear what ya’ll have to say!!

Be sure and leave me some lovely comments as to your thoughts about THIS PROJECT and let me know what else you’d like for me to cover in the coming months!
If you’d like to reach me by email,
feel free to find me on my blog, susiestampalot.com!  
DONT’ FORGET— 

  There’s going to be a random drawing on February 5th from all the comments to win some YNS goodies!    

Ready, set, GO!!!!!
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January Susie-Q Fun Tip

 Well, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  I hope ya’ll all had a safe and fun evening last night.  Contemplating any New Year’s Resolutions?  I’m hoping to use my Your Next Stamp stamps more often!  Anyway, I’m back today with another mini-tutorial (that almost didn’t happen–my computer died!) on a fun project that will bring a little smile all year round.

I’ve created a cute frame with a little tether line across the front of it to clip things to and change it out for each season or holiday.  Wanna see how EASY it was?  Come with me.  This won’t take long and it won’t hurt a bit…


First I gathered a few supplies…

But you’ll also need a little hot glue, background paper, and some sort of cord or wire.  I used hemp twine that I purchased in the jewelry department at Wal-Mart (even though it pains me to go there, and they also have a fabulous dark brown color of this twine as well.  It lasts a long time, so hopefully I won’t have to go back very soon.)

The plan is to have two banner pieces for each season/holiday–one for the main image and the other for the sentiment.  You know…“Happy ________” fill in the blank.


Speaking of happy, that’s what these make me.  Also a Wal-Mart find, the smaller of two small sizes found in the office supply department.  Buy both, so you won’t have to go back to Wal-Mart for a while.


Cut paper to fit inside the frame.  I did this by cutting the paper the same size as the frame’s fake girl picture (i.e. the incredible marketing strategy to get me to buy the frame in the first place.  She’s so pretty–I’ll take it!).


Then, without cutting the twine from the whole ball of it, tie a bow in the end of it.  Then figure out how long it needs to be against the frame, and tie another bow right there.  Then cut it off from the mother ball. (hehe.)

Hot Glue the bows to the outside of the frame where desired.


Make your cute little banners and clip them to the twine line.

 
This time, special thanks goes to the Winter Fairy from the Seasonal Fairies stamp set gliding around in her little snow globe (Tall Dome Globe stamp and Die).  The banners are also embellished with the Whimsy Layered Stars Dies and the snowflake from the Whatnot Seasons Set One Dies.  I want to make a whole set using all the fairies!  Ok, I’m headed to Target today…see ya’ll soon!

So what’d ya’ll think?  

Be sure and leave me some lovely comments as to your thoughts about this and let me know what else you’d like for me to cover next month!  
DONT’ FORGET— 
  There’s going to be a random drawing on JANUARY 5th from all the comments to win some YNS goodies!    
Ready, set, GO!!!!!
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December SUSIE-Q Fun Tip!

 

Well, it’s me, Susan (susiestampalot), and I’m back with another fascinating tip/tutorial.  Today I’m going to share something that may seem to some as mudane, but I tell ya’ll, when I heard this snazzy little tip from a friend, I had never thought of this method before!  It’s a unique way to make those swell fishtail banners that are all the rage.

Here’s a sample of what I’m talking about.  Let’s roll…

As always, we have an idea of what we are going to be using.  My favorite little “robin” from the Winter Fun Robin set will be joining us today.  Right now, he’s naked, but I am going to be coloring him red with a sickly green tummy here shortly.  (I wish I had made his belly ivory or something.  Not a happy with the green, but I was too far into it to start over, in my book!)

If you’re into yoga, you’ll know this phrase, “find your center”.  Do exactly that at the bottom of where you want your “flag-end” or fishtail.  You can measure and get all precise on me or just eyeball it with your “special eye”.  Make a cut vertically however deep you’d like the fishtail angle to be.

Here’s the result of the first cut.

I made dotted lines on the paper strip, just for ya’ll to see where I’m cutting.  At this point (no pun intended), all you do is cut from the corners to where you ended the first vertical cut.

Here’s a little look at what kind of difference this could possibly make.  If nine times out of ten your fishtails look like the one on the right and you have to end up fixing it a bunch to even it out, this method is for you.  Your welcome.

Here’s the Cliff Notes version.  

So what’d ya’ll think?  
Be sure and leave me some lovely comments as to your thoughts about this and let me know what else you’d like for me to cover next month!  
DONT’ FORGET— 
  There’s going to be a random drawing on DEC 5th from all the comments to win some YNS goodies!    
Ready, set, GO!!!!!
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