Paper Star Ornaments

I've gotten several questions about how I made the paper star ornaments I love.  Here you go!

Paper Stars Tutorial

Items needed: 

1 piece of 12 x 12 double-sided paper

Hot glue gun

2 sheets of cardstock in a complementing color to your 12 x 12 paper

String or Thread to hang the ornament, approximately 2 inches

2 Buttons, beads, or other embellishments

Paper piercer tool and piercing mat (if needed)

1.       Cut your piece of 12 x 12 paper to strips of 6" x 1 6/8”.  You will have 14 pieces total.

2.       Use a bowl, lid, or other item to help you cut one small circle out of cardstock, approximately 2” in diameter.

3.       Cut 2 strips of 1x9” cardstock and score every quarter inch.  For more information, review the rosette tutorial on this blog from September 30^th http://artsyacorndesignstudio.blogspot.com/2013/09/pleated-rosette-how-to.html.  Turn each strip into a rosette, to make 2 rosettes total. 

4.       To make the star points, start with 7 pieces of your strips of paper from your 12 x 12 sheet.  You will want to wrap the strip of paper around on itself so that the two top tips on the strip of paper wrap around and meet to make a V and the bottom.  See the diagram to help with understanding how to do this.  Use a strip of hot glue to hold your paper cone together (its easier and holds better than other adhesive).  Repeat the process 6 times, making sure to fold the paper the same way each time so each paper cone matches. Also, make sure you are keeping your folding consistent so each piece is similar and not tighter or looser than the others.  This will help keep your star uniform and will be easier to assemble!

5.       You will now need to assemble to other set of paper cones to make a star on the other side of your ornament.  Since the paper is double sided, you can reverse the paper and have the other set of paper cones that comprise your star a different look on the other side.  This is up to you on how you want to make your ornament.

6.       After assembling all 14 paper cones for your stars, set these out on your work surface to resemble a star.  This will help you with assembly later. 

7.       To start putting together your stars, you will glue one paper cone to the center of your cardstock circle with the point facing outward.  The circle will but used as a base to glue all your pieces together, but shouldn’t be seen in the final ornament. 

8.       Continue to glue your paper cones on your circle with the point facing outward until all are on your ornament. At this point, you will need to use extra hot glue to keep together the pieces by gluing cone sections together, using extra glue to reinforce the paper cone to the circle base, or flattening the cone a little to make sure you don’t have any space remaining between segments.

9.       Flip your piece over so the star is on the bottom and the circle base is facing you.  You will now glue your other star to the back of the piece.  Use the points on your already glued on star as your guide or where to glue the other pieces- this is so your paper star lines up and matches front and back.  Repeat the process of using additional glue to keep each piece together and ensure that no space is visible between each section.

10.   Glue a pleated rosette to the center of each star.  Once secure, add a button or other embellishment to the center of the rosette for a final touch.  Repeat this process on the opposite side.  Remember, the each side of your paper ornament should coordinate but does not have to be identical.  You can use a different color rosette or embellishment if you want to add character to your paper star!

11.   Punch a hole using a paper piercer tool into the top of one of your star points and loop a piece of string through your hole to help with handing your paper star.   Cut the string to the length needed and tie into a knot.  You can hide the knot of the string in the hole you made in the star point- a tiny bit of hot glue will hold this in place easily.

12.   Add glitter, crystal effects, dazzling details or any other embellishment you choose for some extra oomph to your star!

13.   Give as a gift or enjoy for yourself!

Grateful

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and although it is normally a busy time, I stop and think about how blessed I am to have amazing family and friends, and to be able to do what I love.

This month has been hectic with craft shows (sometimes two!) every weekend since the first of November.  I've had several people ask how I have time to work on things and even one person remark "you obviously don't have kids!", but in truth, my ability to craft is partially because I try to stay organized.  I am grateful for a break right now, but the past weeks has started with organizing and planning on Sunday, having a list of everything I need to do each night, and some things to work on during lunch each day.  This was great because it helped me stay focused with what was at hand, and also make sure I could replenish anything needed for the next week.

I will be posting some tutorials soon on some things I've made and want to share, but until then, here are some pictures of ideas to share!

 I made "bags of tags" where ten tags were in a cute bag ready to decorate a present!  I also made several bunches of bows, that are also ready to go on a present.

The "Merry" and "Thanks" banners were made with the build-a-banner kit from Stampin' Up using scraps and other bits from other projects.  I just love being able to make something new out of something I already have.  The gift card holders below are a great way to make a simple card a little more snazzy and impressive.  What's better?  They are easy!  Stay tuned for a future tutorial on these!

Presents and Pine cones!  I pre-decorated some large boxes and made them super cute to match whatever great present would go inside.  The pine cones were were hand painted, glittered, and be-decked to make any tree beautiful!

Candy purses uses a top note die cut and are great stocking stuffers.  Above, jumbo clothespins are perfect for holding a picture or a recipe, notes, or being a paper-weight.  I sell a good amount of these at each show, which tells me people love them as much as I do!

And the paper stars?  I love these!!!  Stay tuned for a tutorial on how to make these. :)

Crafting for Christmas

Time has been flying by!  In just a few short weeks, I will have my first of several back to back craft shows to kick off the holiday season.  I have to admit, I'm a little overwhelmed with all of the ideas running through my head, from cards to ornaments and whatnots.  But, everyone has to start somewhere and I started with some cards.  Here are a few I've been working on!

Spook-ilicious

I am fortunate to have a work environment that supports my creativity, and so I was elated when I was able to start a lunch time craft group called "Crafting and Camaraderie."  Our first project?  Fun treat bags in time for halloween.  These are so very easy!  The bags are from Stampin' Up!  and come in a pack of 10.  The accents on the bottom are Witches Brew designer washi tape.  A ribbon around the top, some more washi tape and a punched out sentiment using the tags 4 you stamp set, basic grey ink, and label bracket punch finish it up.

Pleated Rosette How-To

I love pleated rosettes, especially when I learned how easy they were to make!  There are several tools out there to help you with this from a cricut cartridge, die cut machine, simply scored tool, or even the scoring blade on your personal trimmer.  For this particular tutorial that is accompanying the book wreath, I went with the simply scored tool from Stampin' Up!  Before we get started, here are some other things I have made using an old candlestick and some dowel rod.  These normally sit on my dining room table.

So now are you excited to learn how to make a pleated rosette circle?






1.Cut a piece of card stock in half, creating two pieces that are 11 x 4 1/4".

2. You will take a scoring tool or a scoring blade on a personal trimer and make a score line every 1/2 inch.  Repeat with the other piece until your strips of paper resemble the lines on the sheet pictured.




3. You will then create a zig zag with folding these pieces of card stock.






4. Once complete, glue the ends of two pieces together to create an extra long pleated piece.  Make sure the piece will pinch together to make a circular piece.  Not big enough for you?  Add another strip of card stock.







5. When the pleated piece is the size you want, glue the piece end to end, so it looks like a tube.  You'll then pinch the ends together of one side and glue a small circle of the same color card stock.  This will let your pleated circle stay together.

6.  Add your pleated circle to the book wreath, a banner, or any other project you have to add some pop!

Feeling Bookish

Two weeks in the new job and I am loving working and being helpful to others!  Before I started, I felt the need to decorate my office (since to a crafter, this is almost as important as the job itself!).  I made a wreath out of a vintage atlas of coordinates I found at a thrift shop.  Here is the finished product!

Now here is how I made it!
1. Tear out several sheets of the book.  I used 25 sheets for the larger outer ring and then 20 sheets of the smaller rolled paper for the two smaller rings.
2. Roll the larger rings by starting in the top left corner of the paper. Continue the roll until you have the edge of the paper wraps around the side.  Take a hot glue gun and secure the edge of the paper with the glue.  I don't recommend tape, since I had a hard time getting this to stick. Complete this with all of your large cone pieces.

3. Cut a large circle out of card stock.  This will become the base that you glue your cone pieces to in order to make the wreath.

4. Place your cone shaped pieces of paper together with the smallest ends facing each other centered on the piece of card stock.  This should allow you to form a circle out of the pieces.  Pick a piece up once at a time and hot glue them to the circle base.  Once finished, you will likely need to glue some of the pieces to each other to give more structure to the overall wreath.

5. Start rolling your smaller cones.  You will start in the same top left corner and make a tighter roll (see picture).

6. You'll want to glue these pieces together with hot glue as well, being sure to make sure it is glued together from top to bottom (see step 7 and it will make sense!)

7.  You'll need to cut the small cones into a 2/3 section and 1/3 section respectively.  If the piece is glued from corner to corner, then it won't fall apart when cut.

8.  Not start your pattern with the 2/3 cut smaller roll.  These were staggered between the larger pieces between the cones and hot glued down.  Don't worry if there is a little space in the center of the circle that has a gap- it will be covered by the pleated circle piece.

9. Take the 1/3 size pieces and stagger in between the 2/3 pieces, making sure to make the circle smaller as you go.  Hot glue these down.

10.  Create a pleated circle for the center (a tutorial on how to do this are included in my next blog!)

11.  Glue your pleated circle to the center of your wreath.

12. Add any additional touches to the center of your circle.  Here, I took two fancy flower punched pieces (one in a black and white typeface and the other on glitter paper) and layered them under a bottle cap and vintage button with twine.

13.  Finally, glue a loop of ribbon to the back of the wreath.  I glued mine along the spine between two of the paper cones.  Now you are ready to hang and enjoy!

The real world is calling

I'm about to start a full time job again, which means my escapades of crafting and piddling with things at will are going to be over sooner rather than later.  So, I make a list of several things I want to accomplish before starting work again so I don't have as much on my plate.  I have been painting up a storm and making all kinds of things lately!  My apartment looks like a science experiment.

First, what crafter can't bring some homemade goods to their new workplace?  I have set out to make a wreath made with antique book pages.  I've made the cones at this point, and have a pile on my living room chair.  Stay tuned for pictures on a how-to!

I also found some 25 and 50 cent old frames at a thrift shop, which I painted this weekend.  I found that since 2 of my walls are cubicle style, I will be able to just stick these up with some velcro!  The frames are painted and ready for some inspirational quotes (and I'm waiting for inspiration to hit me to find something).

Finally, I'm getting ready for a large charity crop for the Rape Crisis Center this week, which means putting together freebies for the goodie bags, a raffle giveaway, and a make and take.  While those are together, I still need to get out my items for the display table and figure out what the heck to make myself?  I'm thinking of some Christmas card ideas (I know it's early) to sell at craft shows coming up.

I leave you with another card I made with the undefined stamp carving kit.  I thought about how I loved the bird, and it really needed a nest.  So, I made one!  Keep in touch and I will have pics of all these in progress projects soon!

Here comes the bride!

Call me a romantic, but I just love everything about weddings!  I especially love making wedding presents, and found this idea on Pinterest a while back.  There is just something about a customized wedding gift that is so personal and really shows thought and intent on the givers part.  While the technique and font came from me, I just loved the idea of telling a the couple's love story that features three dates- first date, the proposal date, and wedding date.  This idea can be used for other things too- what about down the road making one with date's of your children's births, or even dates for big occasions like a job promotion, or a big travel trip?

Here's how I went about this.  I first sketched my idea and practiced my font and layout on a piece of paper.  I wanted the numbers to be roughly twice the space as the sentiment written below since the feature for me was telling the story in numbers.

Next, I went canvas shopping, and because I don't like to buy anything that isn't on sale, found a good deal of these guys in a 2-pack.  I prefer the longer rectangular canvas, but go for whatever you prefer or will fit with your decor.  These are 10" by 21" and I've used larger before depending on the space etc.








Materials used in total for this project:
-Scratch Paper and pencil
-Ruler
-Eraser
-Canvas of your choice
-Heavy acrylic white paint
-Small artist trowel
-Burnt Umber acrylic paint
-Super Sharpie with fine tip
-Medium artist brush
-Paper towels
-Acrylic painting spray sealer

I love the look of plaster, and wanted to add that texture to this canvas.  To achieve that look, I first took acrylic white paint and the trowel and covered the entire surface of the canvas.  I didn't want the paint very thick, but I wanted enough to take away the texture of the canvas.  Don't worry about this being even and neat- the little peaks and imperfections in the trowling work is what gives the finished piece character!

I normally let this dry overnight.  I then like to take some burnt umber or any brown acrylic paint you have around and mix with a little water to create a wash.  Using the brush, I apply this to the surface of the canvas, then use a paper towel to gently wipe of excess.  Only do a section at a time so you don't have a spot drying while you are working.  This takes some time to do because you want to make sure you have a relatively even color, which might mean reapplying a little of the wash in areas again.  Warning: avoid creating light spots by going over your paint again before it dries.  I've found that if I try to make an area darker when the paint didn't have a chance to set, I ended up wiping all of it off and messing up.  Just play around with this until you get the color you want.  Then let it dry completely for a few hours or speed it up with a fan or hair dryer (these things are a multipurpose tool for a crafter, aren't they?)

Next, measure out and mark your canvas.  I wanted extra space at the bottom for an embellishment, but needed to make sure everything else was even.  My final pattern was a one inch top, 4 inch numbers, 2 inch sentiment, then numbers, sentiment, numbers, sentiment and bottom piece.  In essence, you need to mark lines lightly on your canvas to make a grid to follow.  I used a ruler or yard stick for this and a pencil.  After my grid was complete, I outlined my sayings and numbers.  Do this as lightly as possible so you can see your lines, but not have too much to clean up later!

The lettering and numbers are with a sharpie.  I found I could write this out much better than painting it, so this is a personal choice.  I colored my numbers and letters in.  Make sure you have a steady hand and take your time.  I've run into two issues that might help you:  One, work from left to right, and top to bottom letting each item dry before moving on.  Sharpie dries a little slower on acrylic paint, and you can accidentally get some on your arm and transfer it elsewhere on the canvas if you aren't paying attention.  Two, beware of those pretty trowel lines you made earlier.  They can make keeping a nice line for your letters or numbers a little more tricky if you aren't steady with your hand.

Once all writing is finished, I like to spray the canvas, including sides, with an acrylic sealer so it is easy to dust and maintain.  Do this outside or in a well ventilated area and give plenty of time to dry.  Pay attention to how you want the end result to look since these sealers come in gloss, satin, matte etc.  I usually use a satin unless I really am looking for a different look.

Voila!

Down on the farm

As I write, I am sitting in the bright kitchen of my aunt and uncle in Virginia.  I come from a long line of dairy farmers, so being on the farm surrounding by rolling fields of corn and hay really feels like home.  While I've been up here, we've gone on a few adventures, and have had fun crafting!

On Wednesday, she and her "peeps" got together in their craft sanctuary to work on scrapbooking.  I have to admit, it felt a little like heaven to be surrounded by shelf after shelf of craft supplies.  I worked on holiday gift tags to come up with some ideas for making sets to sell or give as gifts as well as some snowflake ornaments.  Both are still works in progress, but I did post a picture of the in progress snowflakes on my facebook page (www.facebook.com/artsyacorndesigns).

Yesterday, I cleaned out and helped organize my aunt's craft space.  I am one of these unusual types that gets a kick out of cleaning and organizing, so it was fun for me!  I labeled and sorted all her items and had lots of containers to add materials.  I ended up creating stations so to speak: one for her cricket and accessories, one for paper, one for stamps and ink pads, one for embellishments like embossing powder, stickers, and ribbon, and so on.  My favorite is her feature wall where she is showcasing finished projects and then underneath it in bins are all her projects in progress.  There is nothing like having a dedicated space for creating, no matter what type of project you are working on!

All Jeweled Up

I have to admit- I'm addicted to jewelry.  It's one of those things I don't leave the house without, and love to collect.  Lately, I've had fun making some different pieces too!  It all started when I became a Stampin' Up demonstrator last December as was looking for something unique to do with the fabric in the catalog.  Of course, now that I came up with something, they now longer sell fabric.  But, I still can use this idea with all kinds of fabrics I discover.  My thinking was this- why not use it to make a necklace?  I cut the fabric into strips, braided them, and added embellishments.  Here is my latest crop!

 They're funky and eclectic, especially given that the fabric has some twist and movement to it and is a little frayed around the edges.  Below is a close up of some of the stands.  i also had an extra strip left over after making each necklace, so I also made a matching bracelet for each.  How did I make these, let me tell ya.

I found some fat quarters I really liked that coordinated with each other (or in the case of the one above, I used just one fabric design instead of two).  I cut about 1 inch strips lengthwise across the fabric.  

Once this was done, I really wanted to make some pieces longer since I prefer longer necklaces, but you can adjust to your taste.  To get the longer pieces, I tied two strips of fabric together, essentially doubling the length of the strip of fabric.  I did this to three total strips to give me three long strands to braid together.  Cut off the extra bits of fabric from your knot (and don't worry about those knots- you will braid them in and you really can't see anything once the entire strand is braided).  For some super long pieces, I even tripled the length, tying one strip to the end of another strip, then tying another strip to the end of the last piece.  It is all depending on how long you want it.  

Once your strips are to the desired length, tie them together at one end so you can braid.  I usually stick this end knot under a book or something heavy so I can anchor it to easily braid away.  Once you finish your strip, I usually hot glue to tie off the other end so the braid doesn't unravel while I work on others. I also usually clean it up a little by cutting off some of the fraying "hairs" or strands of fabric that are a bit excessive.  Although I admit, a little of the fray showing really adds to the charm of this necklace.

When all braids are completed, you'll tie the ends of your pieces together to make a loop out of your strand.  Or, if you are like me, you hot glue the ends together and then cut off the excess knot pieces.  You'll hide the tie or the hot glue with a leftover strip of the fabric you used.  If you are like me and you wanted a staggered or tiered look to your necklace, I did a combination of doubled and tripled strands to give a layered look.  Whatever you do, gather your looped braids together with the tied or hot glued ends together.  You'll then take your extra strip of fabric and tightly wrap around your ends.  Tie this with a knot and tuck the knot under part of the fabric strip so you don't see the knot.

And now for my favorite part- the bling!  I took earring wires and some beads the matched, and strung them through the braid.  Once through, I cut the excess off and used jewelry pliers to loop the metal around the braid to the bead.    I hope you enjoy!