Table topper Tutorial

Hi Lovelies,

As promised here is a table topper tutorial.

You will need to have the following:

Cardstock in assorted colours, dies, Nestibilities Scalloped circles (two sizes), D'vine Swirl embossing Folder, glue, glitter, Versamark ink or Clear Glossy Accents.  Plus your die cutting/embossing machine of choice.

Firstly start out by die cutting & assembling the duck (or your die of choice).

Next is to cut a thin strip of card stock & score it at each end about a quarter of an inch (I find scraps c/s good for this) adhere one end to the duck & make sure is sits up well.

 Then it's time to cut & emboss your circles I used a smaller die for the top (light blue) & a slightly larger die for the bottom (dark blue).  I only emboss the the smaller circle.

Once you have done this I like to place the duck where I think it would look good before adhering it to the embossed circle.

Now for the messy bit!  It's glitter time woo hoo.  Adhere the glitter to the top of the raised swirls.  This step isn't necessary but who doesn't like a bit of bling.

Once the glitter is dry adhere the smaller circle(light blue) to the larger (dark blue) circle & you are all done.  The best bit is if you need to lay your topper flat it will lay down & will also sit back up again.

I made about fifteen of these over two days (only because I have snakes kids to wrangle).  The hardest part was waiting of the glitter to dry lol.  These ducks where made for a baby shower, but I could see a princess theme in pinks/purples or a boys theme in these as well.  They'd look amazing don't you think.

Thanks to Paula for a grand tutorial!  

 Doesn't that duckie look cute?  Visit Bugaboo Digi Stamps to pick your duck, character, or friends Stella and Gus out and have them arrive on your electronic doorstep right away!  

Some More Anything But a Card Ideas

Some more anything but a card ideas.

Hi Lovelies,

Here are some more ideas for anything but a card. A tutorial will follow tomorrow.

Cupcake toppers using Hang in there Duck by Bugaboo

Table topper using dies/embossing folders for Cuttlebug.

Thank you to the wonderful Paula for this wonderful idea.  Don't those cupcakes look delicious?  YUM!   Tutorial to follow tomorrow.

Remember to pop on over to Bugaboo Digi Stamps to pick up a cute duck or two.  

Enter the Die Cut Divas' challenge here!

Thanks to Bugaboo Digital Stamps for being our sponsor!

Here's how ...

I store my dies after having seen a little tutorial online about 6 years ago.  And to let you know, I didn't follow it exactly.  Anyway, my base card is about 6 1/2 inches by 9 inches long. (or exactly 16 1/2 cm by 23 cm), which is from a cardboard backing for work requests.  They'd be thrown away and I save them from the trash can.  Good save!

Cover some plain blah cardboard with a thin decorative paper (I choose papers that I know I'll never use and no one else ever will either).  This paper is nice, but I have 4 more 12" X 12" pages of it.

Grab a magnetic sheet.  I've already been using this sheet .

Grab your paper cutter and cut magnetic sheet.  

After the strips are cut, pull back the paper backing and place on decorative paper, holding the strip down for a couple seconds.

This is the finished product.  I've seen some YouTube examples and these people are much more perfect in their application of the magnetic strips.  I wasn't sure what I wanted to put together when I first started, so I thought this placement would do for most of my dies and they do.

My recent purchases and I wanted to know who made what, so I found the in-between spaces worked great for writing the brand and name of the die on a shipping label.

And looks like I have some MORE dies.

I use my Spellbinders Nestabilities Circles & Scalloped Circles all the time and my page is in good condition; the swirls on the paper are deceptive.   The green page was just made a couple weeks ago, however the card holding the circles is about 4 or 5 years old.  I never put these in a binder.  I kept saying I'll do it someday, but I just put them in a shallow plastic drawer and pull them out when I need them.  As I sort through them, I hold out some that I think might work on my project, depending on the size of the die. I'm sure there are videos on YouTube and you can check to see if you'd like to bind your set.  

You may be thinking about putting your dies into CD cases.  One reason I'm not changing to CD holders is that I don't want the bulk of the case.  I may convert these to a binder, but right now they work fine for me.  I hope I've given you something to think about.

Arlene and the DCD team

Flower Tutorial

I found this wonderful Tutorial for some pretty flowers that Heather made.....



"I thought it would be easier to explain in pictures how I made it, so put together a little photo tutorial on the process. The flowers are really easy to make and can be made with just small pieces of fabric - I hope you give them a try!"

Cut 5 circles of the same size out of fabric. I used my Cuttlebug which made it really quick.


Fold each fabric circle in half.


Fold in half again.


Using a running stitch sew along the curved side, a little bit down from the raw edge.


Add the next petal to the length of thread using a running stitch.


Continue adding petals with the running stitch until all five petals have been added. As you can see you don't have to be fussy about doing even stitches!


Holding the two ends of the thread, pull tightly to gather the petals together and knot 3\4 times.


Snip the ends of the thread and add a button, large gem or yo yo to the centre to cover up the raw edges.



Thanks Heather for allowing us to share this tutorial

Dawn and the DCD Design Team

And the Winner is>>>>>>>>

None other than Cornelia......with this beautiful birthday card

Congratulations Cornelia.   I'll be in touch to get your address so we can get out the lovely prize pack from Scottie Crafts.

And don't forget this month's challenge ~ Anything but a card.  Arlene has lots of inspiration in store for you.

and the Divas

Just a folder? You say!

If you have to track it, put some zest into it.  If you have to organize and use paper, use it to your advantage. Since I'm your May hostess, I have had to be quite inventive this month and have had great fun coloring the Bugaboo images.    I've done some pre-cutting, pre-coloring, pre-organizing... and when I've had enough pre- this, pre- that, I sit down to color.  I was off work for a few days and went back to work where I had to do some pre-organizing and pre-considering.  It's true I'm making up words, but that's ok.

This is when I felt the ground shake (not just because I live in California).  I was sitting there at work without anything pretty or silly or remotely FUN to look at while I prepped a project.  UGH... So first thing back from the office... I started typing up what I needed to do for May, while at the same time, making my hostessing FUN!  I now have a folder to keep many of the things I pre-color or print out, waiting their turn in the sunlight.

Now when I'm feelin' down or overwhelmed, I don't have to go far to relieve that stress!  I can be grumpy and grouchy... as you can tell, some of Stella is colored.  But I can also have my happy moments and the darlin' friends are hanging out together with some color in their cheeks and on their clothes.

Be inventive, Be creative, Be YOU!  Visit Bugaboo!  Remember to hop over to claim your Friday Freebie.

(Did you really think I'd give the May schedule away?)  Have fun coloring, cutting, poking, tweezing (tweezing - handling  or extracting with tweezers),  and embossing and die-cutting, you wonderful DIVAS, you!  Make tags, journals, calendars, embellishments or alter something.  There are so many things you can do to make that useful tool, container, whatever into something artistic too.

Arlene and the DCD Design Team

Not until Cinco de Mayo

Another Team Member has the honor of announcing the winner of April's Die Cut Divas' challenge.  The DATE is May 5th.  She's about to pop because she's been holding her breath and she won't tell the rest of us either... we might spill the beans.

Here in California, we'll be celebrating Cinco de Mayo in the California sun!  I'll be wishing the winner a Great CINCO de MAYO too.

Tagged - You're It!

Wouldn't you like to win 7 free stamps, so you too, can have fun creating with Bugaboo Digi Stamps?

Something happened to me... I'm so organized, it's stinkin' sickening....   See my method of insanity below.

I purchased two cubbie units... well - these.  TWO units.

I got the fabric baskets, containers... whatever these are called in cream and kraft colors.  I needed some way of telling what was inside of the containers.   The light bulb turned on and I love my tags!

Gee, what's in this basket?

 

    Must be Stickles here!

                                                          

Maybe there are punches here and scissors.. .  oh my, oh my

.  Or TAPE?  oh, my!

See how tremendously helpful this tag is.  I was forever pulling out the wrong drawer.

My first tag up was the coffee drinkin' Stella.  But for me, I'll have my gal, Stella, drinking Chai.

You can make a tag too, why?  for the May challenge.  I challenge you to make anything but a card!   Remember there are ground rules - read our rules and the particular rules of this challenge on May 1st post.

Arlene and the DCD Team

MAY DAY! MAY DAY! NEW CHALLENGE! MAY DAY!

When I hear the words May Day, I think of someone out on the high seas, holding a microphone, calling MAYDAY, MAYDAY... I hope you're not going to have that sinking feeling when I announce the Die Cut DIvas' challenge for this month....  DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

Anything BUT a Card!

I am not considering an Artist Trading Card (ATC) to be a card this month.  I see all too few of them in the blog challenge entries on any challenge, so please think about making an ATC.  Go to Wikipedia for a definition of an ATC.

Our fabulous sponsor this month is BUGABOO DIGI STAMPS!  Bugaboo is a digital stamp company and they have crazy stamps, cute stamps, and catch your breath, beautiful stamps.  You can search for a specific type of stamp or just bounce around and peek wide-eyed at all the digital images.  I bounced for a time, wrote down stamp names and ordered those "I can't do without that stamp" stamps.  Their stamps are fun to color and sentiments fun to read.  There's a free digital stamp every Friday, so please visit Bugaboo Digi Stamps to catch your freebie!

Remember, you have to use a die-cut or something embossed from your machine.  You do NOT have to use a Bugaboo Digital in your creation.  However, if you use a Bugaboo Digital, I will award 3 chances to win.  If you do not use a Bugaboo Digital, I will award  one chance to win.  You MUST also let us if you are using a Bugaboo stamp or you won't be awarded your 3 chances.   Do remember that Bugaboo has free digital stamps on Friday.

Our brilliant Divas have been busy making a sample for this post.  Let's bring them on!

   

ATCs (the images were free - free from Bugaboo's Free Friday image) by Arlene

Tag with Bugaboo Image by Dawn

Banner with Bugaboo Image by Paula

An Inter-changeable dry-erase calender by Hannah

 If you are new, please go to our Contest Rules Page for full details.

Have fun, Arlene and the DCD Design Team