Handmade Embellishments using Templates

I have a design team share today for The Cutting Cafe. We are using templates from various cutting files in different crafty ways. I used two of the smaller hearts from the Layered Stitched Hearts Templates and Cutting Files to create these mixed media embellishments.    

I started by making a mixed media background with ink sprays, stencils and translucent modeling paste. The texture in person is wonderful and for now I simply added a word strip to each heart. You can see my heart templates on the right. Hearts are always a go-to embellishment for me as they are useful on any project throughout the year. I am saving these for my future faith scrapping projects which I plan to start next month. I'll add additional items to each {enamel dots, metal embellishments, etc.} but until I know what I want I decided to stop at this point. 

I would love to make some handmade cork embellishments using several of the templates from TCC. Fabric is another great option and the possibilities are really endless when designing custom embellies to use. For those of us who aren't great at drawing {that would be me} templates are a fantastic way to fake it. 

The design team post will be live on Monday, May 21st so check out the crafty makes by my teamies. If you leave a comment on the post you'll be automatically entered into a drawing to win 3 FREE SETS and Regina will announce the winner on June 7th. 

Good Luck,

Lisa xx

Graphic 45 Fashionista Flip Book

{Front Cover}

Good morning, afternoon or evening wherever you may be! 

I hope every mom in the US had a wonderful Mother's Day with loved ones yesterday. This was the first one in years that I haven't been traveling so it was nice to be home and enjoy down time with my family.

Today's share is a flip book I made for a pen pal in India that loves all things vintage. She also loves Graphic 45 papers so the Fashionista collection was a perfect choice.

Pages 1 and 2

Page 1 

The envelope holds tags for my friend and I decorated the page with Dazzles stickers, fussy cut images from the paper collection and spelled out Diva and Fashionista with Citrus Twist puffy alphas.

I mirrored the image on the inside of the flap and spelled 'tags' with Tim's small chit chat stickers. The tiny word sticker is from The Reset Girl.

Page 2 

More fussy cut images, a gold shopping bag holds a swap tag and I added more Dazzles and tiny word stickers. I tucked vintage papers and a library card in the pocket.

Pages 3 and 4 

Both have pockets and I gifted her a vintage sewing pattern and various doilies.

I love this paper!

I used a Heidi Swapp sticker and the scissors were a transparent sticker by American Crafts (I believe). I fussy cut the lady in blue and the saying as well.

Pages 5 and 6

The lace trim on the left was actually plastic and it was gifted to me by a pen pal. I fussy cut images from the paper collection, added washi tape, Dazzles stickers and some gems.

There are some beautiful images in the Fashionista collection by G45. This one was a favorite of mine and I knew I wanted to use it for Aparna's flip book.

For the final page I added a library pocket and gifted her several journal card size cut outs from the paper collection. 

In addition I gave her goody bags chock full of crafty supplies to create with. She was very happy with everything and that made my day. Aparna has been a long term pen pal of mine and currently she's going through a difficult time. If inclined please lift up a prayer for her, I know she would appreciate it. 

Thanks for the visit today!

Lisa xx

Friendship Card for Pen Pal Swaps

In a recent pocket letter swap I received a friendship card from my dear friend in Germany. On the back she recorded her name, address, birthday, anniversary and her social media links. It's a great way to have that info at a moment's glance and she requested that I exchange one with her. 

For my friendship card I used a designer paper from the Oh My Heart collection by Paige Evans for Pink Paislee. I chomped the corners with a We R Memory Keepers corner punch and inked the edges with jet black Archival ink. On the front I added puffy stickers from the same collection by Paige, washi tape, a holographic bunny sticker and two punched gold hearts. The rubber house is from Crate Paper's Cute Girl embellishment collection. I finished by spelling out BESTIES with Paige Evans alphas from the OMH sticker collection. 

I love the idea of including a friendship card for my pen pals and collecting them as well. I placed my card in a vellum sleeve and it's held in place with a pink unicorn paper clip which I'm sure she'll use in one of her many planners. 

Have a great weekend everyone! For all US moms who are celebrating Mother's Day this Sunday, have a blessed day with loved ones.

Lisa xx

XOXO Flip Book

I have a fun little flip book to share today that has a tri-fold design. It was quick and easy to create and it mailed in a regular envelope with no additional postage required so that's a plus. The photo above is the view of the flip book opened inside. I placed pockets on all three panels and 3 smaller pockets on top of those. On the smaller pockets I did some faux stitching with a black Pilot pen. I tucked a letter to my pal in the middle pocket and the remaining pockets were filled with stickers, ephemera, chipboard, paper clips, washi tape and die-cuts.

For the outside I cut a border of paper with 'xoxo' on it and used a label by Tim Holtz to write 'for you.' A very simple design but it was well received by my pen pal. :)

This is the back of the flip book. I attached a vellum envelope full of ephemera by the talented Paige Taylor Evans with a metal arrow paper clip. 

That's my quick share today and I'll be back on Friday with my first friendship card.

Thanks for the visit today!

Lisa xx

Lip Balm and Chapstick Holder

Hello and welcome to my Monday morning post today, I hope your week is off to a great start! I'm sharing a design team project for The Cutting Cafe using the Lip Balm and Chapstick Holder template and cutting file. 

This template...cutting file is great for giving a gift to a teacher, upcoming Mother's Day here in the US, or for a happy to brighten someone's day. You don't have to include chapstick if that isn't your thing but I love the idea for several of the ladies in my devotion group. I can also see myself giving this to several of the young girls at my church for Christmas with flavored lip balms or chapsticks enclosed. You could also fit a brooch or small compact in the box as well. 

Whether you choose to print the box pattern as a PDF or cut with an electronic machine it is super easy to do and assemble. All you'll need is paper, scissors and adhesive of your choice. I added a paper flower and a gem accent {can't remember which company, sorry} to the front of the box along with 3 liquid pearls in opposite corners. A ribbon was tied to close the box and I added a sentiment as well with twine. Speaking of the ribbon, it's actually mauve with pink polka dots but the sun did something funny to it when I snapped the photo. ;)

This will definitely be a cutting file that I'll use over and over!!!

More inspiration by Regina Easter

Owner/Designer of TCC

Head over to the design team blog post here later today for tons of inspiration using everything in the Lip Balm and Chapstick Holder template and cutting file. Yes, there is a lot more to this set than just the box so check it out. If you leave a comment on the DT post you will automatically be entered to win 3 FREE SETS from TCC and the winner will be announced May 21st in the next design team post.

Don't forget that Regina opened an online paper crafting store called The Cutting Cafe Shop where you'll find crafty supplies plus you can custom order acrylic stamps. Recently she's added custom embroidered items on her ETSY site as well so visit the link for TCC and it will direct you to all that this talented lady has to offer. 

Have a blessed day and sending you crafty hugs,

Lisa xx

Summer Flip Book

Front Cover

I'm back to share a summer themed flip book I created for a pal in Sweden. She needed a pick-me-up after a long winter so I thought the bright, warm colors might do the trick. Happy to report that she loved it! 

Each page was painted with various acrylic paints then I added black spots by thinning black acrylic paint with water and splattering. To decorate the book I used various stickers, ephemera, thickers and chipboard. It was fun using up a lot of my stash and by the time I finished the book it was chunky. 

Pages 1 and 2

Pages 3 and 4

Pages 5 and 6

Pages 7 and 8

Pages 9 and 10

Pages 11 and 12

Page 12 has a pull out so I spelled out a message tiny type alphas.

I love this banner by American Crafts and as my happy mail was a bit delayed I thought it was appropriate. It was definitely made with love!

It was chunky but I kinda like chunky. :)

Thanks for visiting today!

 I'm working to get back into posting here routinely so hopefully you'll be seeing more content.

Have a great day,

Lisa xx

'J' for Joy and 'K' for Keep it Simple

There's a brand new challenge beginning today at ABC Christmas Challenge and Dorte is our hostess this month. We are nearing the mid-point of the alphabet with the letters 'J' and 'K' and to play along create a Christmas themed project using one, or both, of these letters. 

J is for Joy and K for Keep it Simple

For my card above I used glitter letter stickers by American Crafts to spell the word Joy out. I kept everything simple on these two cards using the CAS (clean and simple) design style. The addition of sequins elevates it for the holidays. 

For this card I used the Angel Stickers set by Dazzles. These are great cards to mail out because there are no bulky embellishments therefore no extra postage. That's a win in my book! 

Both card bases were from a blank card set by The Paper Studio. Love having blank cards at the ready for quick card making. :)

Be sure to visit the challenge blog to see more inspiration by my design team mates. You have all month to play along and as long as it is Christmas themed you can enter as many times as you like. 

SPONSORED BY

Crafty Ribbons 

They are offering a gift voucher to their online store.

and 

Digi Stamp Boutique

They are offering a gift voucher to their online store.

Our lovely Dorte also has a prize for the lucky winner so that's a total of three prizes up for grabs. 

That's all for today!

Lisa xx

Accordion Style Flipbook

Hello!

I was due to post this yesterday but that didn't happen. ;) It's been super busy the past 3 weeks but hopefully things are calming down, at least for a while. This sweet flip book went to a dear friend of mine in Germany and she is an avid panda lover. It brightened her day which is the goal of all happy mail so I was tickled!

It is an accordion style flip book which I purchased some time ago and was in my stash begging to be altered. The base is black and I added designer paper mostly by Crate Paper to embellish. 

This is the first set of pages and I added pockets to stash some goodies in for her to use. On the left I gifted stickers and Heidi Swapp acetate words, on the right I gave her planner stickers and SMASH banners. 

On the left I created a pocket using a journal card and added a tag with a handwritten note. The right pocket holds 3D embellishments that she can use on future crafty projects.

The last set of pages has a pocket on left with Pink Paislee ephemera from a Paige Evans collection. The tissue paper on the right had multi colored flecks and reminded me of a unicorn so I jokingly told her it was unicorn tissue paper. She happens to love them and she loved this paper. :)

The panda images are from the web, I fussy cut each one and turned into a sticker using a Xyron machine. 

Under the unicorn tissue paper is a 4x6 journal card from a Simple Stories collection. 

I used MAMBI stickers to spell out a frequent greeting we exchange with each other. 

I love creating happy mail and flip books are one of my fave items to send. I have another flip book to share with you on Thursday so check back for that and tomorrow I'll be back with a design team project for ABC Christmas Challenge so see you then.

Lisa xx