Flower Soft Bouquet

If you've never used Flower Soft tiny flower embellishments, check out the little bouquet on the right. It's so easy that I was able to make it as a make-and-take project. Here's how to make a bouquet that can be added to a card or other paper project:

1. Cut out one of the pre-printed Mini Bouquets from Flower Soft, fold, and glue together.

2. Put your colors of flower soft tiny flower embellishments into small containers, and then take a wire, put glue on it, and then pick up some flowers and drop onto the wire. Mix and match colors, if desired.

3. Set aside to dry.

4. Put dried flowers into bouquet.

5. Tie a ribbon and attach to the front.

To see more Flower Soft products, visit my online store at www.injoystamps.com

Mizuhiki Ribbon Fish

I've had a couple of requests for instructions for making the mizuhiki ribbon fish, so here it is, borrowed from the Yasutomo web site.

Supplies needed:


3 strands Mizuhiki ribbon

1 strand silver Mizuhiki cord

1 bamboo skewer

These little fish originated in Thailand and they were usually made with the leaf of the flax plant. When it was introduced in Asia, ribbon was used instead.

After you have made the fish, tie a large knot at the end of the silver cord and bring the unknotted end up through the bottom of one fish and out through the top. Tie another knot a few inches above the first fish and add the second fish. Tie a third knot and add the third fish.

Tie the silver cord to the end of a bamboo skewer or stick.

Use as a decoration or make several strands and create a mobile. The fish can be mounted on a card or made as pin.

For instructions on making the fish, go to www.injoystamps.com/ya-fish3.jpg

To purchase mizuhiki ribbon, go to www.injoystamps.com

Making Mosaics with Grid Papers

Making Mosaics is a fun and popular technique. I first discovered photo mosaics about 2 years ago at the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) trade show. A company called Wish in the Wind sold papers with grid lines that helped you to make your mosaic patterns (the lines help you to keep the pictures straight!). As you can see from the samples below, even though the grid lines allow you to put a 1" square picture on a 12" x 12" page, you could insert larger pictures to vary the look of your page.

So, on the left, you can see a mosaic page that I started. You can see the grid lines in the top right corner of the page. Besides photos, you can add journaling or decorated squares called Cornerstores (also made by Wish in the Wind) with different themes (palm tree, flowers, etc.).

I really like their book, Designing Photo Mosaics because it really gave some great tips for taking photos (in preparation for making a mosaic) as well as for making your pages.

Here are some other scrapbook pages from the Wish in the Wind web site:

One tip I learned is that you can actually select several photos (with a similar color theme) to put on a page and still have the mosaic look seamless!




I also like the fact that you can make all sorts of variations, so you're not creating the same old look every time. you can use your creativity to enhance your pages!














If you make cards and not scrapbook pages, you can try these ready-to-cut card-sized mosaic sheets in 4" x 4" and 4" x 6". You can stamp your design, cut them into 1" squares and then mount them onto the papers. Here are some samples from the Wish in the Wind web site. I haven't had a chance to try the smaller size. Let me know if you have!

Click Here to go to our In Joy Rubber Stamps Online Store to purchase the Wish in the Wind grid paper.

Double-Side Adhesive & Glitter

I just got some Scor-Tape in stock, so I wanted to share some ways to use it. These pictures & ideas are from the Scor-Pal web site.


Inset techniques are done by combining different width Scor-Tape™. Glitter used: Grasshopper, Regal Red and Moss Green on gold brushed cardstock (see pictures below).

Step 1:

Lay down the widest piece of tape. Remove the backing being careful not to touch the adhesive with your finger tips. The point of a craft knife works well for this.

Step 2:

Lay down a narrower piece of Scor-Tape™ exactly in the middle. DO NOT REMOVE THE BACKING.

Step 3:

Glitter the exposed stickiness. BURNISH!

Step 4.

Remove the backing of the narrow width Scor-Tape™ and glitter in a different color. Burnish.

If you want to use 3 widths.

Step 4 would read : Remove the backing of the narrow tape EXPOSING THE STICKINESS. Lay down yet a narrower piece of Scor-Tape. DO NOT REMOVE THE COVERING.

Step 5:

Glitter exposed stickiness. BURNISH!

Step 6:

Remove backing on this third tape and glitter in a third color. BURNISH!

The far left picture shows 1/4" tape with 1/8" tape inset. The 2nd picture shows 1/2" tape with 1/4" tape inset.















This picture shows 1/2" tape with 1/8" tape insert, and the 4th picture shows all 3 sizes used.

















Also, I'd like to suggest trying different colors of glitter, as in this sample below that I made using multiple colors of glitter. Now, I didn't make the butterfly, but I did want to mount it on a card, so I put down 2 strips of 1/2" double-sided tape and then randomly added colors of glitter to match the butterfly.

And, if your tape is heat-resistant, (Scor-Tape is heat-resistant), you could also add embossing powder & heat. And, you could also any tiny micro beads to the tape too!
















I have the Scor-Tape in 1/8", 1/4", and 1/2" widths as well as the 6" x 6" sheets which can be punched and cut for a variety of uses.

Click Here to go to our In Joy Rubber Stamps Online Store to purchase Scor-Tape.

Happy Glittering!

Debbie

Holly Berry House Columbine Egg Medallion Samples

Holly Berry House makes beautiful medallion rubber stamps that you can layer & glitter to make beautiful cards or framed projects! They come in various designs. The samples that I've shown here are the egg medallions. You ONLY need one stamp to make the samples shown.

All you need to do is to stamp the image several times (embossing looks the best). The eggs were embossed in white. The number of times to stamp your image depends on how many layers you want to make. If you look at the sample above with 3 eggs, the egg on the left has fewer layers than the one on the right.

1. Stamp & emboss your bottom layer, which is the entire egg. Add Art Institute Glitter's Designer Dries Clear Adhesive to the parts that you want to have glitter (remember, you won't need to glitter the center part since you will be layering on top of it) and add glitter. Set aside to dry.

2. Stamp & emboss your next layer. At this point, you will decide how much of the egg to cut out. It's really up to you. Just pick one of the outlined shapes and cut. Add adhesive & glitter to this section and set aside to dry.

3. Continue to stamp & layer until you have the number of layers desired. Once the adhesive is dried, use foam tape (thickness of the foam tape is up to you) to put the layers together. You will have a beautiful 3-D egg as a result!

At this point, you decide whether to layer it on various colors of cardstock (as in the sample above, on the left) and give it away as a card, or frame it! You might also find that it makes a great topper for a decorated box or other home decor item. Use your creativity to find other uses for this beautiful project!

I have 3 different egg medallion designs in stock at this time. To find them,

Click Here to go to our In Joy Rubber Stamps Online Store to purchase these medallion stamps.

Have fun!

Debbie
In Joy Rubber Stamps

Kodomo Kimono Paper "Joy" Card

I got this card from Kodomo, Inc., so I can't take credit for it, but I wanted to share it because it's simple to do, but makes a great card if you're in a hurry.

It uses a sheet of paper called Kimono Paper IV and I think it's designed with actual Kimono designs.

The paper comes in squares. There are 2 squares that are similar. Just cut them into strips and them put them together by alternating pieces from each square. There are some designs that match up, and some that don't.

Then, stamp the word "Joy" on a tag (this particular one comes from a set called "Faith Collection". The word "HELLO" was made using one of those tag makers. Of course you can embellish with other accessories.

There are 2 other squares on the paper that have similar designs, so you can use the same technique with those squares as well.

Click here to view the Kimono Paper IV.

Glaze Markers & Outline Stickers

Here's a great way to use your Glaze gel pens. Of course you can use them to write directly on your paper, but did you know that you can use them to color in your outline stickers? They look great! If you put the sticker on acetate (or transparency), the colors are very vivid. Then, you can cut out the sticker and attach to your project. See the samples below. You can find Glaze Pens in my online store.


Click here to go to the online store. or

Click here to go to the injoyrubberstamps eBay store.

Thanks to Jay Schlueter for making the first 2 samples!