Monday, December 26

German Bells Blog Candy Winner

Hello crafty friends!  Sorry it's been a while since my last update.  We're still busy with family visits and holiday celebrations.  So this is going to be really quick.

Well, I was hoping for more German Bell entries... but I'm still very glad that the few people who tried the tutorial thought it was pretty easy.  Just in case you're curious, you can check out my German Bell tutorial by clicking here.

And the winner for the German Bell blog candy is:

SHERRY BROWN

Congratulations!  Please email me your mailing address so I can mail your goodies as early as tomorrow (the PO is closed today).

Enjoy the rest of the week, everyone... 'til next blog!

Friday, December 23

Christmas Chaos

Hello crafty friends!  Sorry I wasn't able to update for a while.  I was busy preparing for relatives visiting for the holidays.  Now, every room in the house is decent, except for my planet:


I'll worry about that later.

But for now, let me show you my latest Christmas card:


It's my first time to play with Cheery Lynn dies.  Actually, the only one I have is the English Tea Party die.  I really love the detailed design!  It's nice to have other choices for wafer thin dies.


Materials used:
cardstock/dp:  Wassau, Cloud 9 Designs, leftovers
image/sentiment:  Inkadinkado
ink:  Tsukineko, Ranger
tools:  Cheery Lynn Designs, Spellbinders, Janome Sew Mini, Stampin' Up embossing folder, heat gun
embellishments:  ribbon, brads
misc.:  Ranger embossing powder
adhesive:  Scotch, mounting tape

By the way, I'm giving away blog candy on Christmas day.  All you need to do is make a German Bell ornament.  You can get more details by clicking here.

'Til next blog!

Friday, December 16

And Yes, Some More Christmas Humor...

I am sooo behind on my Christmas cards and presents.  Well, aren't we all???  I'm planning to finish all my cards today and mail them all tomorrow.  And just like the past years, I'll promise to write those cards as early as possible.  I'm sure though, that history will repeat itself.

Anyway, here are 5 more Christmas humor cards I made.  Hopefully it will make you chuckle a bit.  And again, I don't mean to offend anyone.  I guess, we could use some humor despite the busy holiday season.  Cheers!

 





You can see the rest of my Christmas humor cards by clicking here.

And by the way, I'm giving away some Blog Candy on Christmas Day.  All you need to do is make a very easy to make German Bell ornament. The tutorial is right here.  You can see the blog candy by clicking here.

'Til next blog!

Wednesday, December 14

German Bells Blog Candy

So I mentioned some time ago that I will be giving away some blog candies this month of December.  Sorry it took a while as I was busy with my new job and such.  But I haven't forgotten about my promise!

Two days ago, I first blogged about the German Bell, which was shared to me by another crafty friend.  In fact, I just made another four from a sheet of 12x12 cardstock:


Yesterday, I made a German Bell Tutorial, which you can see here

And today, you will start making one. 

I have said several times already that it is VERY EASY to make a German Bell.  That's why I'd like you to try to make at least one.  And then post your GERMAN BELL BLOG ENTRY LINK (do not post your entire blog's link) to the linky tool at the bottom of this blog post.  I will only allow ONE ENTRY PER PARTICIPANT, as the blog candy will run for only two weeks.  I will draw the winner via Random.Org on December 25. 

Embellish it, twist it...  I'd love to see what you'll come up with!

And yes... the prizes.  They can be something you can use to preserve those precious Christmas 2011 memories:

Christmas 8 x 8 Portfolio/Scrapbook Album
by Making Memories

Christmas Garland Kit
by Making Memories

Christmas Clear Stamp Set
by Making Memories

Deadline to share your very own German Bell will be on December 24th at 11:59 pm.  I will announce the winner on Christmas Day.  And the prizes will definitely be mailed the following Monday, December 26th.

I can't wait to see your take on this project.  How exciting!


Tuesday, December 13

German Bell Tutorial

As promised here's the tutorial of the German Bell I made yesterday.  I will just show you how to make the base ornament, as there are so many ways to embellish once the base is done.

But before that, let me show you my friend Sabrina's German Bell.  She adhered fabric on cardstock, before folding and assembling the ornament.



As mentioned yesterday, this project is really easy.  You only need three materials:

6 x 6 cardstock

9 - 10 inch string and a bead

The bead will serve as a stopper for your string.  You can use other things as your stopper, like a small button for example.

Let's work on the string and the bead first.  Thread the string through the bead and tie a knot.  Make sure to leave the knot real close to the bead.



Now let's work on our cardstock.  I prefer scoring my cardstock first before folding, as this will give you a nice and clean fold.  Let's begin.

Score halfway down your cardstock, vertically and horizontally, on the RIGHT SIDE where the design is.  I marked the scores in red so you can see better.


Score diagonally as well, just like so:


You might find the next step a little tricky, but really it's not.  We are going to score from one corner down to just HALF AN INCH from the center line of the cardstock.  I marked the score black so you can see better.  Also if you are doing this the first time, it will be helpful to LEAVE A MARK on the areas where I wrote ".5".  You will find out later why as we go along.



This is how I scored it using my Martha Stewart scoring tool:



We will do the same on the opposite corner:




And we will do the same on the opposite side:


Remember, we have to make these scores in all four sides of the cardstock.  Once you're done, this is how the scores should look:


You might think it's complicated seeing all the lines, but really it's not.  Once you get the hang of it, the scoring will come as a breeze.

Now it's time to PRE-FOLD.  Let's fold according to the order of our scoring.

First, fold the scores marked in black.  Remember to UNFOLD every time you fold each score.



Then fold the scores marked in red.  Remember to UNFOLD after each fold.



Make sure you FOLD ALL THE SCORES.  That will make it a lot easier to create the ornament.

Once you're done folding and unfolding, we will apply adhesive on just like the photo below.  I used red tacky tape so it will be easier for you to see.


Now it's time to fold our German Bell.  Remember earlier I asked you to LEAVE A MARK on the areas where I wrote ".5"?  This is where they will come handy.  With your thumb on one side and the fingers on the opposite side, hold your cardstock like the photo below.  The fold should be where your mark is.  In my case, it's the ".5" mark.  Fold until the edges meet and adhere together.


This is how it should look like from the inside:


Then we'll do the same on the opposite side of the first fold.  This is how it should look like from the inside:


Then we will fold the other two sides together, where you can see the two remaining marks.  In my case, the ".5" marks.


And when you "squeeze" it all the way, this is how it should look.  BUT DO NOT SQUEEZE IT SHUT YET.

Because we will insert the yarn-bead combo first, making sure that the bead and the knot is inside:


Once the yarn-bead combo is secure, then we can squeeze our ornament shut:

And that's it.  The ornament is done.  Yey!

This is how the ornament looks in different angles:




Hope you enjoyed this tutorial.  I'd love to see your take on it.

'Til next blog!

Monday, December 12

German Bell

Hello crafty friends! I wouldn't let 2012 pass without making a Christmas ornament. I'm excited to share with you this one, which another crafty friend also shared with me. It's called the German Bell.  You know what I like about this ornament? It only requires 6 x 6 cardstock, so you can make 4 ornaments in one 12 x 12 sheet. Exciting!



Top view

Bottom view

Promise, this is a really easy project to make. And once you make one, you wouldn't stop making more. And guess what? I made a tutorial which you will see tomorrow.
See you then!

Friday, December 9

Joy to the World

One of the Christmas songs that I first learned in my lifetime is "Joy to the World".  That song is never out of the repertoire - from when I was a kid carolling with playmates around town, to singing with the choir from elementary to college.  Even just a couple of weeks ago, we were singing it during a Christmas fund raising dinner.  It's funny how I still remember the lyrics, despite not singing it for a long time.

Anyway, here's a card I made with the same sentiment, using a stamp by Our Daily Bread Designs.  This is for ODBD's current Stamping In Time Challenge (SNTODBD49).
 



Materials used:
cardstock/dp:  The Paper Company, Martha Stewart, Recollections
image/sentiment:  Our Daily Bread Designs
ink:  Tsukineko
tools:  Spellbinders, Martha Stewart around the corner stamp, Janome Sew Mini
embellishments:  pearl stickers
adhesive:  Scotch, mounting tape

TGIF, crafty friends... 'til next blog!
 

Thursday, December 8

Guess What? More Christmas Humor Cards!

Believe it or not, I was able to make a bunch of these.  The bumper sticker book I bought had 96 pages on it, and I still have a lot left to make cards with. 


Again, I would like to reiterate that I don't mean any harm or to offend anyone.  I just thought that making cards out of this bumper sticker book would be something more fun, and hopefully bring out a smile somewhere.






You can see the rest of my Christmas humor cards by clicking here.

'Til next blog!