Little houses doorstop

Hello again - on a lovely summer day. I know it may not last but it does make me plan for days on the patio - sipping long cool drink, and what do you need to help you relax?

A doorstop - OK that may not have been your first thought - but you have to admit when you think about it for a while it is a good choice, because how often does the door blow shut just as you get to it while carrying a tray of nibbles and drinks!!

So here it is -  

Although I say it myself, I really like this - I've been wondering how to use this die for quite a while and now here it is. As you know I'm often finding new favourite dies, and this is one of them.

The die is Houses by Stephanie Ackerman http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/660278/sizzix-originals-die-houses and of course it works with the Big Shot machine -http://www.sizzix.co.uk/product/660200/sizzix-big-shot-machine-only-white-gray

You will need the following to make this -

30cms x 112cm (12" x 44") fabric for the actual doorstop - as I used a lightweight cotton I added a fusible interfacing to the wrong side to stiffen it. If you use a thicker fabric you do not need to do this.

6 pieces of contrasting fabrics each 12cm x 20cm (5" x 8") for the houses.

72cm x 20cm (29" x 8") of fusible web (like Bondaweb or Heat'n'Bond)

Thread for stitching.

Buttons for embellishment

Filling, including something heavy to weight it with.

To start I cut the plain fabric into the following pieces -

1 x 62cm x 25cm (25 1/2" x 10") for the sides

2 x 17cm (6 3/4") squares for the top and bottom

1 x 17cm x 7cm (6 3/4" x 3")  for the handle

Fuse the web to the wrong side of the contrasting fabrics, and then using the house die cut out the houses, hearts and roofs. You will need to cut out another roof, and at least 2 extra hearts from each fabric.

Arrange the house, roofs and hearts along one long side of the fabric and fuse in place -

 

I arranged mine in an irregular line, and then I stitch them in place with a straight stitch on my machine.

Using a mint green thread I created 'grass' along the bottom edge -

and added buttons for flowers -



Join the ends of the fabric together with a 1cm (1/2") seam allowance. Use a pin to mark the 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 points on the top and bottom edges. With right sides together pin the base to one quarter of the side, and stitch in place, then snip the seam allowance on the side fabric (this is so that you can manipulate the fabric and avoid puckers), do be careful not to cut through the stitching.

 

Repeat this so that all four sides are stitched.

To make the handle make a 1cm fold along each long edge and then fold the handle in half, so that the edges are inside. Stitch both folds, and then stitch the handle to the remaining square -

and then stitch it in place, leaving an opening on one side -

 



Turn the doorstop the right way out and fill with your choice of weight and filling.

Slip stitch the opening together and it's ready for use ( and I only hope the sun is still shining)

That's all this week. I hope you can enjoy sun and sewing this week.

Angela





Pink or not ? by Karine

Hello everyone!

It’s Thursday again! Here is a new page, with pink quite everywhere! People often ask me how I manage to use pink on masculine lay-outs. Well that’s definitely not a problem for me! Check this out!

Supply list:

Papers, stickers: Crate Paper

Cardstock: American Crafts

Alphabets: 7Gyspsies

Spray Ink: Studio Calico

Stencil: Pause Créative

Adirondack ink pads: Citrus, Clover, Watermelon

Stamps: Stampin'up, Heidi Swapp, Kési'Art, Florilèges Design

Dies

650515 : Sizzix Big Shot Plus Starter Kit

659963 : Sizzix Bigz alphabet Set 4 Dies-fresh-blossoms-alphabet

660815 : Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 3PK-woodland-leaves

660807 : Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 4PK- Sunny Flowers

656545 : Sizzix Bigz Die-Flowers 3D

This is a summer page! Let’s compare it to a vitamin cocktail! Flamingo, pineapple, flowers and foliage are all the ingredients of a fantastic summer 2015!

I started by gluing my two small pictures. They’re the same picture but one is in color and the other is black& white.

I placed some stickers and printed some stamps all around the pictures.

Now time to use the Big Shot and my favorite dies! Let’s start with pretty leaves cut out of white paper then colorized with Adirondack inks. The 3D flower will be slightly shaded in pink (Watermelon ink).

The word PINK is cut using the marvelous Fresh Blossom alphabet. Each letter will then be stamped with text patterns and shaded on the edges with the Citrus green Adirondack ink.

I also added a small flower from the Sunny Flowers set. As a finishing touch, I used stencils from Pause Créative to add some patterns (flamingo & pineapple).

That’s all for today! I leave you with my very colorful page!

Have a lovely day,

Karine

Bonjour tout le monde !

Une nouvelle page en ce jeudi, toute rose ou presque ! On me demande souvent comment je fais pour mettre du ROSE sur mes pages garçons, j'avoue que cela ne me pose aucun problème ! Regardez plutôt !

Matériel :

Papiers, autocollants : Crate Paper

Cardstock : American Crafts

Alphabets : 7Gyspsies

Encre en spray : Studio Calico

Pochoir : Pause Créative

Encre Adirondack : Citrus, Clover, Watermelon

Tampons : Stampin'up, Heidi Swapp, Kési'Art, Florilèges Design

Dies

650515 : Sizzix Big Shot Plus Starter Kit

659963 : Sizzix Bigz alphabet Set 4 Dies-fresh-blossoms-alphabet

660815 : Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 3PK-woodland-leaves

660807 : Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 4PK- Sunny Flowers

656545 : Sizzix Bigz Die-Flowers 3D

Une nouvelle page estivale en ce jour, telle un cocktail vitamimé ! Flamant rose, ananas, fleurs et feuillages tout les ingrédients de l'été 2015 sont réunis !

J'ai commencé par coller mes deux petites photos, elles sont indentiques mais en noir&blanc et couleur.

J'ai collé tout autour quelques stickers et imprimé quelques tampons.

Place maintenant à la Big Shot et mes dies préférés ! Tout d'abord mes jolies feuilles découpées en blanc, puis colorisées avec des encres Adirondack, la fleur en volume sera légèrement ombrée en rose ( Watermelon)

Le mot PINK est découpé avec le superbe alphabet Fresh Blossom, chaque lettre sera ensuite tamponné avec du texte et ombré sur les bords avec l'encre verte Adirondack Citrus.

J'ai rajouté également une petite fleur provenant du set Sunny Flowers. Pour terminer j'ai rajouté quelques motifs ( flamant et ananas ) à l'aide de pochoirs Pause Créative.

Et voilà pour aujourd'hui, je vous laisse avec ma page haute en couleurs !

Bonne journée

Karine

Foxy Lady!

I am a big fan of the late, great Jimi Hendrix and I am particularly fond of the song Foxy Lady which I once played in a band 'back in the day!'

The song was used to good effect in the movie Wayne's World in a scene which never fails to make my wife and I laugh. With that in mind I thought I'd create a card in her honour.

I have made a few animal cards using the hearts dies alone and I couldn't come up with a convincing fox until I turned my attention to my beloved Framelits Circle dies. My circles are made up from two sets as well as a couple from the Big Shot starter kit so I've got about 14 different sizes to choose from, don't worry, you won't need that many today!

I'm using a rusty orange bazzill card and some plain ivory/cream card to make my fox and to make it a little easier for the instructions I will refer to the circles dies in sizes from 1 to 10. One being the smallest and ten the largest just to give you a better idea

I drew two lines perpendicular to one another on a square of the orange card and placed a circle die (4) as shown before cutting. This will be reversed and used as the foxes face.

 Next, I used a larger circle die (8) and cut away each side of the foxes face as indicated by the white dashed lines below.

Once the orange face was trimmed to size I used the same (4) circle die to cut an ivory circle and attached the face over the top.

To Make the ears I die-cut an orange (7) and ivory (4) circle before placing the same dies back onto the die-cuts thereby cutting two leaf shapes which I matted together before cutting in half using my scissors. Keep the rest of the orange circle as you can use it for the body later.

At this point I thought it best to reach for one of my scalloped Framelits (2) and I die-cut a scalloped circle from ivory card before attaching it to a square of Orange card. I placed my Circle die (4) onto the card as shown and die-cut the circle. Next, I placed the same die onto the circle and cut as shown to create the tail. Now I have all my bits I can start putting them together. I attached the ears behind the head before adding three black adhesive pearls to the face for the eyes and nose.

And here she is! I added a rectangle of patterned paper at the back and created the text using a trusty old Dymo. In truth there are several ways of composing the body/head/tail combo, I just like the graphic simplicity of this one 

Spinning Wheel Liberty Coasters

Hi Sizzix friends! Phew, that month went quick, right? It's June now, so this is usually the time I start to think about my backyard and sprucing it up for Summer, part of which includes purchasing a nice table and chairs for future BBQ's and alfresco dining! I jumped ahead with today's project and immediately got to work on some coasters for my imaginary outside eating space ;-)

Of course they are just as useful for indoor dining too! And Liberty fabrics makes everything prettier, am I right!? 

For this project you will need the following Sizzix Die Cuts:

- Square, 2" Finished #657607

- Circles 2", 3" & 4" #659845

As well, some small fabric scraps, (approx 1/4m total) and batting.

1. Cut (4) squares, arrange them with alternating prints and sew them together in sets of two with 1/4" seam allowance, then join the two rows together to form your four-patch block. Press seams open.

2. Using the largest size of the circle die-cutter, place the four-patch block centred down on the die cut, run it through the Sizzix to cut a circle shape.

3. Cut additional circles of the same size in; batting, interfacing and backing fabric (for the bottom of the coaster).

4. Fuse the interfacing circle to the bottom section circle. 

5. Place the batting, the bottom of the coaster (right sides up) and the coaster top section (right sides down) together. Sew around the edge, leaving a small gap for turning.

6. Clip around the edge of the circle to reduce bulk and ease edges. 

7. Turn right sides out and press flat.

8. Slip-stitch the gap closed, and top-stitch around the edge of the coaster.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, I'll be back next month for more Sizzix sewing - see you then! Jessie

Beautiful fake gold engraved notebook

Hi everybody!

I wanted a notebook with gold engraved texture ... In recent months, I only see gold on kraft, and I love it! But I want a handmade one, my own fake gold engraved notebook

I bought a notebook with kraft cardboard covers, take my Craft Asylum embossing folder (Botany Decoration) and a few more elements (a gold acrylic marker, Archival ink, and a nice stamp), and in a very easy way I could make my exclusive gold and kraft plain notebook.

Here you have a step by step tutorial:

Some details of my beautiful notebook:

I carry it with me everywhere and everyone who sees it is amazed with how lovely it is! Sure you want to do one for you!

This are the Sizzix products used in this project:

660515 Sizzix Big Shot PLUS Starter Kit (White & Gray)

660488 Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - Botany Decoration

Be Happy!

-----------

Hola a todo el mundo!

Yo quería un cuaderno grabado en oro ... En los últimos meses, sólo veo dorado sobre kraft, y me encanta! Pero quiero uno hecho a mano, mi propio cuaderno de falso grabado en oro.

Compré un cuaderno con tapas de cartón kraft, cogí mi carpeta de repujado de Craft Asylum (Botány Decoratión) y algunos elementos más (un rotulador acrílico, tinta Archival y un bonito sello), y de una manera muy fácil he podido hacer mi exclusivo cuaderno de oro grabado en kraft.

Mas arriba tienes un tutorial paso a paso y algunos detalles de mi hermoso cuaderno.

Lo llevo conmigo a todas partes y todo el que lo ve se sorprende con lo bonito que es! Seguro que quieres hacer uno para ti!

Estos son los productos Sizzix usados en este proyecto:

660515 Sizzix Big Shot PLUS Starter Kit (White & Gray)

660488 Sizzix Textured Impressions Embossing Folder - Botany Decoration

Sed muy felices!!

A Little Hello Lay-Out

Hi Sizzix fans!

Today I have a lay-out to show you that features a bright colour scheme and lots of pretty Sizzix dies. I hope you like it! 

Sizzix products:

Sizzlits Framelits Die Set Circles

Big Shot Plus Starter Kit

Thinlits Die Set Floral Wreath

Bigz Die Birds

I wanted to give my lay-out a cheery and happy feeling, so I used a variety of dies that suited this theme perfectly. In the right lower corner of the photo I created a cluster using several pretty dies. I first cut out a bird from pink paper with the Bigz Birds die. After that, I took the beautiful flower die from the Starter Kit and cut out a flower from the same paper as the bird. I adhered it on top of the bird with foamtape. 

For my background I cut out multiple circles with the Framelits Circles dies. I also used the Floral wreath dies set to cut out a few tiny flowers, which I added inbetween the circles.

I further decorated my lay-out with several butterflies and a scalloped border, which were both cut out with dies from the Starter Kit as well. I especially like this large butterfly and wanted to give it a prominent place on my lay-out. I therefore also adhered a chipboard flower to its center to make it stand out even more. 

 Thank you for stopping by on the Sizzix blog today!

Have a wonderful day! 

In Dutch:

Hoi Sizzix fans!

Vandaag wil ik jullie graag een lay-out laten zien met een vrolijk kleurenpalet en een heleboel mooie Sizzix stansen. Ik hoop dat je hem leuk vindt! 

Sizzix products:

Sizzlits Framelits Die Set Circles

Big Shot Plus Starter Kit

Thinlits Die Set Floral Wreath

Bigz Die Birds

Ik wilde mijn lay-out een vrolijk sfeertje geven, dus heb ik een aantal stansen gebruikt die daar goed bij pasten. In de rechterhoek van de foto heb ik een cluster gevormd met een paar leuke stansen Eerst heb ik een vogel uitgestanst uit roze papier met de Bigz Birds die. Daarna nam ik de mooie bloemstans uit de Starter Kit en heb ik daarmee uit hetzelfde papier als bij de vogel een bloem gestanst. Deze heb ik op de vogel geplakt. 

Voor mijn achtergrond heb ik een aantal cirkels uitgestanst met de Framelits Circles. Ook gebruikte ik de Floral wreath dies set om een aantal kleine bloemen uit te stansen, die ik tussen de cirkels heb geplakt.

Ik heb mijn lay-out verder versierd met een aantal vlinders en een geschulpte rand, die beide zijn uitgestanst met stansen uit de Starter Kit. Ik vind vooral de grote vlinder erg mooi en wilde die een prominente plek geven op mijn lay-out. Ik heb daarom ook een chipboard bloem in het buikje van de vlinder geplakt om hem nog meer op te laten vallen.

Dankjewel voor je bezoekje aan het Sizzix blog vandaag!

Fijne dag!

Hello Beautiful

Hello Everyody!

Today, I suggest a page of scrap in the traditional format 12'x12' with a lovely photo of my younger child.

I used the "hello spring" papers collection, downloadable for free on Sizzix website. "

Then I decorated using strips of papers and gilt which works sowell with the pastel of the " Hello Spring " collection.

I used some masking tape in glitter from American Crafts, a paper with hearts and a Swirlcards butterfly of the Orchid collection. To give some relief, I added some labels and a heart in chipboard from Studio Calico.

But what's the most appealing in this page are the cuts of Dies realized in golden paper. I used the butterfly and the tag of the Big Shot Plus start-up kit.

Embellishments are made of a " Hello Spring " collection label, dowries, buttons, brads and a flower in resin. I brought one more time sweetness and relief using the feather and the tied ribbon on the tag.

There is a lovely page, full of tenderness, that I hope would have pleased you!

Items used:

660020: Sizzix Big Shot Plus Machine
660222: Sizzix Thinlits Die Set (4PK) Scribbles & Splat

paper: FREE FLORAL PAPER DOWNLOADS
paper: Swirlcards "Primavera" &"ORchidée
glitter tape: American Crafts
chipboards: Studio Calico
brads: Stamping up
Buttons, rubbon & flower: Scrapboukits

Have a good day!

Isalilou

*************

Hello Beautiful

Aujourd'hui, je vous propose un page de scrap au format traditionnel avec une jolie photo de ma cadette.

J'ai utilisé la collection de papiers "hello spring", à télécharger gratuitement sur le site Sizzix.

J'ai d'abord mis quelques gouttes d'encre bleu et jaune sur un fond de page en cardstock blanc que j'ai maté sur un papier de scrap. 

Puis j'ai décoré avec des bandes de papiers

 de doré qui s'accorde si bien parfaitement au pastel de la collection "hello spring".

Pour cela, j'ai utilisé du masking tape à paillettes de chez American Crafts, un papier à coeur  et un papillon Swirlcards de la collection Orchidée. 

Pour donner du relief, j'ai ajouté des étiquettes et un coeur en chipboard de chez Studio Calico. Mais ce qui donne le plus d'intérêts à cette page ce sont les découpes de Dies réalisés dans du papier doré. 

J'ai utilisé le papillon et le tag du kit de démarrage de la Big Shot Plus.

Pour embellir, une étiquette de la collection "hello spring", des dots, des boutons, quelques brads et une fleur en résine. J'ai donné une fois de plus encore un peu de douceur et de relief grâce à la plume et au ruban noué sur le tag.

Voilà une jolie page pleine de tendresse, qui, je l'espère vous aura plu!

Bonne journée

Isalilou

Decorative owl frame for a baby room

Hi everybody! Elena here.

Do you like owls? They have been a big trend for the last seasons and still are, and today I want to show you a very beautiful owl frame I made for a baby room.

 Supply list:

• 660020 Sizzix Big Shot Plus
• 657694 Sizzix Bigz Die - Owl #2
• White frame
• Blue burlap
• Pattern paper
• White and black card
• Cardboard
• Paper flowers
• Ribbon
• Glossy accents
• White glue
• Hot glue

I love this Owl Bigz Die from the Essentials Range, You can use it in many projects, and as it is a Bigz die, you can die cut a lot of different materials. In this case I have die cut some 2 millimiter cardboard and pattern paper and glue them together with some white glue.

To make the eyelids and eyelashes I have die cut one of the circles with pink paper and cut the circle in half. Then I have glued a thin strip of brown paper and adhered them to the owl's eyes. This gives the owl a sleepy face that I find very funny.

Here you can see some details:

Happy Monday!

..........................

Hola a todos!

Os gustan los búhos? Hace tiempo que están de moda y hoy os enseño un marco con uno que es perfecto para una habitación infantil.

Me encanta este troquel de la línea Essentials. La verdad es que se puede utilizar para un montón de proyectos diferentes y como es un Bigz puede troquelar un montón de materiales. En este caso yo he troquelado cartón de dos milímetros y papel decorado. Luego los he pegado con cola blanca.

Para hacer los párpados y las pestañas, he troquelado uno de los círculos de los ojos con cartulina rosa y lo he partido por la mitad. Después les he pegado una tirita muy fina de papel marrón y los he pegado sobre los ojos. Esto le da al búho una cara un poco somnolienta que yo encuentro muy divertida.

Feliz lunes!

Star Quilt: Part 1

Dies used: Half-Square Triangles, 4 1/2in Finished Square
                  Square, 4in Finished (4 1/2in Unfinished)


Hello again!

I've been promising to make my eldest son, Aidan a quilt for his bed for months and so a couple of weeks ago finally got around to ordering some fabric for it. He gave me clear instructions on the sort of fabric he wanted: travel and transport, strictly no animals or dinosaurs and mostly blue. It's always good to have a client with a clear brief!

The quilt design we chose is nice and simple using just 2 dies in total, with each block featuring an 8 pointed star. The simple arrangement helps to show off the printed fabrics that feature in the centre of each star.

Each block uses:

4 squares, feature print
8 half-square triangles, for points of star
8 half-square triangles, low volume for background
4 squares, low volume for background

Sewing all of the half-square triangles together and then joining the squares together to form rows before joining everything up was the most convenient method for me.

I just chopped enough fabric on my Big Shot Plus to make a block at a time, as cutting with a Big Shot is so quick and convenient it never feels like pausing to cut some more fabric interrupts the sewing rhythm at all.

Two blocks are done so far with a third nearly completed and I have checked with my client that they meet his specifications.

Aidan is trying to get me to commit to a finish date already and so with him cracking the whip there should be plenty of progress to see in next weeks post!