Be Brave Journal Page Tutorial

Hello everyone! Today, I am happy to be a guest at the Simon Says Stamp Store blog again, and I made a fall art journal page.

Here's a sneak peek. I worked in my Dina Wakley Media Journal, and used lots of different surfaces and textures. As always, the techniques work well on many types of projects. You will find the full project and the stepped tutorial on the Simon Says Stamp Store Blog.

Thank you for stopping by today! I will see you again tomorrow.

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin 

Party Decor Birthday Dogs Tutorial

Hi everyone! Today, I have a Sizzix party decor tutorial, with some really fun dogs that I made for my sons. However, the techniques can be used for many types of project.

These four fun birthday dogs were made with the 3-D Dogs Sizzix die, by Where Women Cook. The dogs can be made in so many different variations and you could make enough to fill a whole table. Just imagine, how fun it would look with these little dogs standing at each seat around a table. They could also be customized with the names of guests or birthday kids.

The bigger dogs, with the hats on, are about 4.5 in high and the small ones are about 4 in.

Start by die cutting four dogs and their legs from mat board. I also die cut four hats, but only included one in this photo. Use this sandwich: Cutting Pad, die facing up, mat board, second Cutting Pad. You can also die cut the dogs from other surfaces, such as cardstock or chipboard, but mat board is very sturdy and the white surface takes inks really well, which makes for quick coloring.

Smear two shades Distress Ink on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Press the dogs into the ink and repeat on both sides.

For the two smaller dogs I used orange and green. You could also make all the dogs the same color.

Add caption

Color the party hats in the same way.

I wanted the dogs to be covered in either numbers or letters and stamped them in tone-on-tone colors, using Archival Inks.

I didn't aim for a perfect impression, but rather for a distressed look.

The dogs can be arranged in many different ways. The little dogs can stand up against a cupcake, a little gift, or decor of some kind. I used two small glasses from IKEA.

The dogs are easy to assemble. Since the mat board is so thick, I used a little bit of hot glue to make sure they wouldn't fall apart when handled. Be very careful not to burn yourself when using hot glue.

On the hats, I glued a rhinestone on each side, as well as a number Label Letters sticker. These can be changed as the years pass.

I glued Small Talk sentiments on each side of the dogs, picking birthday messages and uplifting thoughts.

I made one set of dogs for my oldest, picking colors that he likes.

The googly eyes also add a fun touch. You could decorate these dogs a lot more, but I wanted to keep them fairly simple.

Leo got a green and a brown dog for his next birthday, with cheerful hats.

Using different background stamps on each dog is a quick way of making each one unique.

If you want to use the dogs for a different occasion than a birthday celebration, just use different sentiments and perhaps also different background stamps. Hearts would work great for Valentine's Day, for example. Or you could make winter dogs for Christmas, by stamping them with snowflakes.

The brown dog has my favourite alphabet background stamp instead of numbers, for variety.

The little hats are such a fun extra detail, but you can also leave them out if you rather prefer the dogs without hats. They could also hold someone's initial.

I had fun placing the dogs in different ways while taking these photos, as if they are having a conversation.

The dogs could also be made as toys for a doll house or to someone who really loves dogs. Or they could become ornaments, rather than party decor.

Thank you so much for visiting today!

I hope you will have a lovely weekend!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

Sizzix Bigz Die - Dogs, 3-D [ SZZ ] Sizzix Little Sizzles [ SZZ | SSS ] Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps SCHOOL... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps ... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Cling Rubber Stamps SIDESHOW [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology OCCASIONS Small... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology SMALL TALK [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology LABEL LETTERS [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad ANTIQUE... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad GROUND... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad TWISTED... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MOWED LAWN [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MERMAID... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad PEACOCK... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SPICED... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad RUSTY HINGE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MUSTARD SEED [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad CANDIED APPLE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad WILTED... [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad CRACKED... [ SSS ] Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival POTTING... [ SSS ] Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival... [ SSS ] Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival LEAF GREEN [ SSS ] Ranger Archival Ink Pad MONARCH ORANGE [ SSS ] Sizzix Big Shot Machine Only (White &... [ SZZ | SSS ] Sizzix Accessory - Cutting Pads,... [ SZZ | SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium MATTE [ SSS ] Tim Holtz DISTRESS SPRAYER [ SSS ] Ranger Inkssentials Non Stick CRAFT... [ SSS ]

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.