Thursday, September 29, 2016

Snowflake Tri-Fold & Gift Bag Tutorial

Hello everyone! I have a tutorial up on the Sizzix blog, for a tri-fold Christmas card and a matching gift bag. My first Christmas project of the year, which seems fitting today since we have stormy weather outside. I am hoping Anton's sunflowers will survive the wind since they just bloomed. which we had been waiting for. They are really tall so they are catching the wind pretty bad.

Layers of ink - Snowflake Tri-Fold & Gift Bag Sizzix Tutorial by Anna-Karin, with Snow Place Like Home
Both these projects were made with new dies by Lindsey Serata, from her Snow Place Like Home Collection. I used: Snow Place Like Home stamp and die Framelits set, Snowflake Tri-fold Card, and Bag w/lLayering Flaps & Seasonal Tags. There are lots of extra dies in each set, which will be great for other types of projects too, such as gift tags and scrapbooking layouts. The snowflakes on their own are stunning and so detailed.

For the background, I used kraft cardstock and stamped it with a Tim Holtz stamp and Ranger Glacier White ink, for a subtle pattern.

If you head over to the Sizzix blog, you can see the full tutorial.

Thank you for visiting today! I have another Halloween tutorial coming up soon.

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:





Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial

Hello friends! I have a Halloween tutorial to share with you today, made for the Eileen Hull Inspiration Team. This month the team is focusing on holiday projects, as an Holiday Jump Start inspiration. I made a little book to document Halloween memories in.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin


Last year, Anton and I went to look at a Halloween parade, but instead ended up walking in the parade and had a great time. I haven't developed the photos yet, but thought I'd put them in this album, as well as this year's Halloween photos. 

The album was made with Eileen's Sizzix Passport Book die, which makes it very easy to do a minibook. I used Tim Holtz stamps to embellish it. 

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Start by die cutting two covers and the spine from white mat board. This is an XL die, so you need the Extended Cutting Pads.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Stamp the spooky building on the front cover and a mix of stamps from the Regions Beyond and Mini Halloween #5, also on the inside covers. 

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Colour the images with Distress Markers.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Stamp the house and the owl on Eclipse Masking Tape and cut out. Mask the house and owl. Ink the background with Distress Ink and and ink blending tool. Also ink the inside of the spine. 

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
With the masks still in place, splatter some water on the background to create texture.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Stamp the covers with the Webs background stamp and Watering Can ink, and with a script stamp and Forget-Me-Not ink. 

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Apply Distress Collage Medium Matte on the spine and then place Design Tape on top. Add another layer of Medium on top of the tape. The medium makes the tape stronger and adhere better, which is important since it is on the spine of the book.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Now you can remove the masks, and add some shading. I smeared Crazing Medium along the edges, also of the spine.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Let dry and then rub a brown Distress Crayon into the cracks. Use a slightly moist cloth to wipe away some of the crayon.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Apply a strong adhesive, along the flaps of the spine and attach the covers. I used Wonder Tape. As you can see, I stamped and applied Crazing Medium to the inside covers too.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Die cut six inside double-pages from manila cardstock. You can easily fit even more pages into the book. As you can see, the die both scores and punches holes in the pages, which makes assembly very easy.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Smear Distress Inks on your craft sheet, mist with water and press the papers into the ink. Repeat on both sides, of all the pages.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
When the ink is dry, stamp the pages with a variety of Halloween and background stamps. I used Shadow Grey, Watering Can, Forget-Me-Not and Jet Black Archival Ink. Some of the impressions are second generation. This is my favourite way of making mini-books and I love to sit surrounded by stamps, stamping away.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Use two pages for each signature and tie to the spine with a piece of string.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Make knots on the outside of the spine. 

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
I tied a key to the top of the spine, by making an additional hole with my Crop-a-Dile. Distress Paint had been rubbed into the key to age it. 

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
From the cover, a spider is hanging from a string. I first planned to glue it, but then let it hang lose.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Sentiments from Regions Beyond were stamped on Materialize patterned paper and cut into strips. 

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
The cool bird comes from the Mini Halloween #5 set.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Here's a look at the back cover. I really like that owl stone statue stamp.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
This script stamp is a favourite of mine, and it is not only for Halloween.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
Most pages have a lot of open space, but I started the book with a skull stamp, which I know Anton finds fascinating. As a title page.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
I'll just show you some of the pages, otherwise the post gets very long.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
You can also make the inside pages of mat board, as I did in my Brothers Crackle Album.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
If you stamp most of the images at the edges and corners, there is plenty of space for journaling and photos. 

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
A soft background patterns gives interest without overwhelming text and photos. This is the same Damask stamp that I used on yesterday's Double Embossing tutorial.
Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
This row of trick and treaters is one of my favourite Halloween stamps.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
And I love this funny skeleton. 

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
I applied orange and black Deco Tape to the pages, as an extra embellishment, and for some bling. 

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
The back spread has another skull stamp. There is a piece of Deco Tape at the top of his hat.


Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
I had a little helper when I photographed this project and when I was almost finished, he discovered that there were moving parts on the book and a little hand came into the picture.

Layers of ink - Halloween Stamped Passport Book Tutorial by Anna-Karin
And here he is, and my red kitchen chair that I use for a lot of my photos. Leo loves to walk around outdoor exploring.

I hope this post inspired you to make some mini-books. They are great as gifts too. If you use different stamps, you can make it work for any theme. Check out my Brothers Crackle Album for another example using the Passport Book die.

Thank you so much for watching!

Happy Crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies: