Mmmmm Cupcakes!

When I saw the cupcake challenge over at the Pink Persimmon blog I knew I has to do it! I never met a cupcake {stamp} I didn’t like and while I am vegan (egg and dairy cupcakes are few and far between) I can enjoy all the cupcake stamps I want and best of all they are calorie free!

Digital Stamps: (cupcakes) Lindsays Stamp Stuff, Rubber Stamp (happy birthday) Stampin Up, Die Cuts: Cricut (Accent Essentails) Cardstock: DCWV

To make the box I used my Cupcake Tree digital stamp and this weeks mini Pizza Box Tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers. The plain box only took seconds to make with a scor pal and a 6″x11″ sheet of cardstock.  I think I will keep this pattern handy to display and gift my handmade jewelery in.

Mini Pizza box is 4"x4"x1" and a snap to make!

I used another digital cupcake stamp on the card too.

Cupcake Stamp: Lindsay's Stamp Stuff

I love the embossed edges of the cardstock. I did that by cutting a 3 1/2″ scallop square (shift lock pressed) with my cricut and the Accent Essentials caridgete then I cut the same shape with the shadow button also pressed then used a bit of glue stick to stick the smaller shape to the back side of the larger and I ran it through my Big Shot manual die cutter with a couple sheets of rubber gasket. Here is a diagram of the sandwich I used. I don’t have a cuttlebug but the sandwich should be similar, The cardstock method works great in the big shot, you will have to experiment a bit with other machines.

Here is the sandwich I use to emboss with cardstock in my Big Shot/BigKick. You may need to adjust it a bit for other die cut machines but use this as a starting point. If you are not getting a good impression you can shim it with a sheet or two of cardstock between the rubber and the bottom plexiglass cutting plate.

Now here is a cool trick. Say you have some digital stamps all printed out or stamped images from a friend, you can still cut them into shape with the cricut (this method works on photos too!) first load your mat and scratch paper into the cricut and cut the shape you want. Unload the paper and remove the cut shape and lif up the leftover piece but do not remove it all the way. Center your stamped image that you want to cut under the empty cutout, remove the scrap paper, load the mat and cut the same shape again! Easy Peasy. However if you are using a traditional rubber stamp it is easier to cut first stamp later 😉

Thanks for stopping by…I think I might have to whip up a batch of vegan cupcakes (or stamp a few more at least)…till next time happy crafting!

Cheap embossing & last minute teacher gifts!

The countdown is on! 2 more day of school til summer, I’ll miss my 3 hours of “alone” time in the morning but I WILL NOT miss dragging the kids out of bed 😉

Last night I helped my kids make gifts for their teachers. We made decoupaged clothespins, I’ve wanted to try this for quite an while and they are easy enough for my 4 and 6-year-olds to do. I think they turned out adorable:

Stamps: Plaid (ruler), Stampin Up (alpha background wheel), Inque Boutique (boy) paper: Autumn Leaves

Tip: I used the cellophane bag theat clear stamps come in to package the clothespins! (See, told ya I never through anything away!)

Here are the finshed clothespins (not dry yet) don't worry about blobs of glue, they will flatten out when they dry)

OK, I admit I made the bag topper but the clothespins were all their handiwork! To make them is easy but when crafting with kids have EVERYTHING ready and laid out before you begin. You will need: wood clothespins (a pack of 50 was $1 at target), white glue or decoupage medium, a foam brush for each child, pretty paper scraps trimmed to fit the clothespin (about 3 1/4″x 5/16″), waxed paper to protect the work area and for the clothespins to dry on, and a couple of small containers to pour glue in (plastic lids work great for this). Simply brush a thin coat of glue on the clothespin with the foam brush, place the paper on top and brush a layer of glue over it. Let dry then repeat on the other side. you can glue magnets on them if you like or leave them as is, they are handy for closing chip and produce bags, in fact we have some plain ones holding out chip bags closed, I’ll have to get the kids to spruce them up!

So I told you I had a cheap embossing solution for you. This is so easy and looks so cool I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before.

A close up look at the embossed circle. Read below to see how I did it without an embossing die!

This technique will work with any shape you can cut out either by hand or punch or die cutter. First cut the shape the size of the embossed area (mine was 2″) then cut a larger circle (2 3/8″ and I stamped on it) then using my Big shot I placed the spacer, cutting plate, 2 sheets of rubber gasket, my larger stamped circle face down, the smaller circle centered on that and the top cutting plate and I cranked it through. Viola an embossed circle! I inked the edges to make it stand out, can you believe it is that easy? If you don’t get a good impression you can add a sheet or two of cardstock between the rubber pad and the bottom cutting plate. Too much pressure and it will cut/crack the paper rather than emboss. It may take a couple of tries to get the right combo but when you figure it out you can emboss any shape! I’ll post a card tomorrow using a fancy bracket shape that I cut with my cricut and embossed and who knows maybe a freebie too. Until then happy crafting!