Xyron-Simple Stories Project - Fourth of July Home Decor Tutorial

Hello all! Today I am excited to share an up cycled home decor project using the Xyron Creative Station and Simple Stories Stars & Stripes set! We have lots of construction going on around our neighborhood and there are a ton of wood scraps being discarded.  I picked up a few as I was walking the dogs one day in hopes of using them in a project.  I also used a wooden heart that was dismantled from a pair of unpainted wood bookends. I am excited to share my first up cycled project!

 Xyron Products Used: 

Xyron Creative Station, Xyron 9” Permanent Adhesive Cartridge.

Other Products Used:

Simple Stories Stars & Stripes, Scrap wood block, Gesso, Wooden Heart, Ranger Distress Ink Vintage Photo, Ranger Blending Tool/Foam, Ranger Paint Brushes, Ranger Distress Paint Pumice Stone, Ranger Heat Tool, Tim Holtz Scissors 

Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Paint a base coat of white gesso onto the wood block, after wiping with a damp rag and sanding the edges. Set aside to dry.

2. Paint the wood heart also with a layer of white gesso and set aside to dry.

3. Paint the sides of the heart with Pumice stone Distress ink (or a color that compliments the paper you choose).

4. Dry with a heat tool.

5. Trace wooden heart onto Simple Stories patterned paper using a fine-line marker. 

6. Cut out traced heart shape carefully with scissors.

7. Run the heart shaped Simple Stories  patterned paper through the Xyron Creative Station loaded with 9” Permanent adhesive cartridge. Rub top and around edges of heart and peel of top protective film.

8. Carefully adhere the paper heart to the wooden heart shape.

8a. Distress the edges of the heart with vintage photo distress ink, using a blending tool.

9.  Trace the wood block onto striped patterned paper using a fine-line marker and cut out.

10. Run the shaped patterned paper through the Xyron Creative Station  loaded with 9” Permanent adhesive cartridge. Rub top and around edges of and peel of top protective film.

 

11. Carefully adhere the patterned paper to the wood block. 

 12.  Mark the area on the wood block where you will place the heart (centered) with pencil for a guide.

 13. Heat up a glue gun and apply glue to the area where the heart will sit onto the wood block.

14.  Carefully place the heart onto the hot glue area to adhere. Hold it place for a few seconds. 

A couple up close pictures of the finished project- what I really like about the project is it stands on it's on because of the sizeof the wood block I chose to use.

I just LOVE this patterned paper from Simple Stories Stars & Stripes , it coordinates so well together.

Thanks for checking out my tutorial and be sure to visit both the Xyron site as well as Simple Stories for these fantastic products to make your own Fourth of July decor!

Loves Rubber Stamps Sensational Sunday Hop!

Welcome to the Loves Rubber Stamps Sensational Sunday Blog hop! The Design Team has created some gorgeous projects for your inspiration. Check out each link and leave a comment. If you get lost along the way, each top has a full list of all the links. One of the Design Team posts is the hop's Sensational Sunday Sweet Spot and a name will be drawn from that list of comments to be in a monthly drawing for a $20 Loves Rubber Stamps Gift Voucher!  We will draw the winner of the voucher the first Sunday of each month from all the comments left on the Design Team blogs! Remember you have until 8:00 pm CST Saturday to leave your comments.

It's summertime and there's nothing better than a little ice cream to cool you off on a hot day- or any day for that matter! Love this stamp set from Paper Smooches! I used texture paste (colored with Distress ink) to give the actual ice cream scoop it's texture and of course had to add some sprinkles!

Supplies:
Paper Smooches Hey Sugar
Distress Ink Worn Lipstick
Distress Ink Spiced Marmalade
Distress Ink Gathered Twigs
Distress Reinkers
Distress Embossing powder
Versamark Ink
Ranger Non-stick craft mat
Ranger Gold Embossing powder
Neenah Solar White Card stock
Sizzix Embossing Folder

I am your last stop on the hop so I hope you have enjoyed all the inspiration! Remember to comment on all the Designer's blog including mine below for a chance to win the $20 Gift voucher - you never know which stop is the Sweet Spot so be sure to visit them ALL!

• Laura Love - Loves Rubberstamps Blog
• Dangina Martinez
• Nina AKA PaperDaisies
• Lydia Evans - Video Designer
• Denice Bartucci
• Rebecca Billard
• Wendy Nicola Jackson
• Nick
• Jennifer Greco
• Pam DeChellis - YOU ARE HERE
• Loves Rubberstamps Store

Friends & Wine Technique Junkies Showcase

Good morning Junkies! I have been playing a ton in the studio with all my new TJ stamps that I picked up at the Springfield Heirloom show and have I got a treat for you today!  I just love the June release Wine with Friends- it's a huge set of 10 stamps with so many great sentiments and a fantastic background block.

I definitely got carried away creating with this set and I am sharing two different projects I created. 

The first features an alcohol ink background on glossy paper over which I repeated the background block to create a fantastic note card.  I made a bunch of these using different combos of colors of alcohol inks- here are two:

I love how the background looks like patterned paper!

For my second project with this set I created a watercolor (stencil mono print) background and featured the sentiment "Friends & Wine Get Better with Age."

I complimented the sentiment with the small wine glass from the set, stamped with Dusty Concord distress ink and covered with clear embossing powder.

This is my favorite set from the June release-check them all out here!

Thanks for stopping by this week and keep checking back for all the great inspiration from our talented TJ design team!

Cheers!

Pam

Cut it up Challenge DT Inspiration!

TGIF! This week flew by and it's time for another Cut it Up Challenge.  This week's challenge is Stuck on You Challenge #74, where the project needs to include a sticker and of course a die-cut! Check out all the DT inspiration on the Cut it Up blog and be sure to join in the fun!  Can't wait to see what you create.

For my project I made a vintage valise (similar to the one from my Technique Tuesday post), this time I used Tim Holtz salvage stickers as the accouterments for the valise!.  Kinda looks like my Vagabond, lol! 

Check out my post from Tuesday for a step by step tutorial on how to make the background- inking an embossing folder.

This time I even added a little luggage tag, made from Kraft glassine along with the handle.  I love how this looks like leather.  I applied a bit of Mushroom alcohol ink to the Kraft glassine to give it a more vintage tone. 

The stickers, the ribbon and the postage stamp die-cuts were adhered using my Xyron 1.5" Sticker maker- such an essential tool for adhering small items like this!

Hope you join in the fun this week!

Technique Tuesday with Pam Honey Bee Scraps

Good morning everyone! Welcome back to another Technique Tuesday! I just returned from a weekend road trip to Maryland for a family wedding so of course I thought it appropriate to showcase the Honey Bee Scraps No Place Like Home stamp set today! The technique is a simple one but super versatile - I will be showing you how to ink your embossing folders for a little extra color and added dimension to dry embossing!

Here's the super cute suticase I made!

To create the embossed background for the suitcase itself- follow these simple steps below- this can be done with any embossing folder and any non-permanent ink.

Begin by opening the embossing folder and inking gently with the ink pad the raised portion of the embossing folder.

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Carefully place a piece of 4.25" x 5.5" card stock (for this project I am using Neenah Desert Storm) inside the embossing folder.

Close the embossing folder carefully so the card stock does not move within the embossing folder.

Run the folder through your favorite die cut machine to dry emboss the paper.

Remove the card stock from the folder and depending on if you inked the negative or positive side of the folder you will have ink on the debased portion or the embossed portion.

Be sure to clean the ink off your embossing folder as well- with a wet paper towel or baby wipe so not to contaminate future projects.[/caption] I love how this technique gives extra depth to the dry embossing- I used Vintage Photo Distress ink here to give the suitcase the "grungy" vintage look as well.

I finished off the project by stamping a few of the sentiments from the No Place Like Home stamps set onto die-cut mini postage stamps- to give the look of old stickers on an old valise! I used my Xyron 1.5" Sticker Maker to adhere both the ribbon and the postage stamps!

I also added the ribbon for a strap and made a "leather" handle from Kraft Glassine paper.

Hope you enjoyed taking this journey with me today and hope you give this technique a whirl!

Embrace Imperfection!

Pam

Loves Rubber Stamps Sunday Hop: Creative Visions

Welcome to the Loves Rubber Stamps Sensational Sunday Blog hop! The Design Team has created some gorgeous projects for your inspiration. Check out each link and leave a comment. If you get lost along the way, each top has a full list of all the links. One of the Design Team posts is the hop's Sensational Sunday Sweet Spot and a name will be drawn from that list of comments to be in a monthly drawing for a $20 Loves Rubber Stamps Gift Voucher!  We will draw the winner of the voucher the first Sunday of each month from all the comments left on the Design Team blogs! Remember you have until 8:00 pm CST Saturday to leave your comments.

Today I am featuring a great sentiment stamp from Creative Vision stamps.  I wanted to do something unique with this sentiment so I decide to create my own background stencil using my Sizzix Eclips.  I chose a font that coordinated with the sentiment font, cut out the stencil;  "Fifty50" and applied Ranger Distress Paint-Picket Fence through the  stencil. After drying I applied several colors of Distress ink for a bright rainbow pattern, using the background as a resist! 

Supplies:
Creative Vision Stamps Fifty the new F Word
Ranger Distress Ink Barn Door
Ranger Distress In Spiced Marmalade
Ranger Distress Ink Mustard Seed
Ranger Distress Ink Mowed Lawn
Ranger Distress Ink Mermaid Lagoon
Ranger Inkessentials Blending Tool
Ranger Inkessentials Non Stick Craft Mat
Ranger Distress Paint Picket Fence

I am your last stop on the hop so I hope you have enjoyed all the inspiration! Remember to comment on all the Designer's blog including mine below for a chance to win the $20 Gift voucher - you never know which stop is the Sweet Spot so be sure to visit them ALL!

• Laura Love - Loves Rubberstamps Blog
• Dangina Martinez
• Nina AKA PaperDaisies
• Lydia Evans - Video Designer
• Denice Bartucci
• Rebecca Billard
• Wendy Nicola Jackson
• Nick
• Jennifer Greco
• Pam DeChellis - YOU ARE HERE
• Loves Rubberstamps Store

GIVEAWAY TIME!! Tim Holtz Fresh Brewed Blueprint Stamps

Happy Saturday all! I am blogging from Bethesda, MD today-weekend road trip for a family wedding. So in lieu of a post I am hosting a giveaway! This is my first Rafflecopter giveaway so let's see how it goes! To enter just follow the steps below and a winner will be chosen on Tuesday when I return!   Since I just LOVE coffee as all of my readers know-I am giving away the Tim Holtz Fresh Brewed Blueprint Stamp set!  Here's a sample of a card I made from the set:

Good Luck everyone! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fourth of July Series : Creative Vision Stamp Showcase

Happy Wednesday everyone! What a beautiful day today! I am heading out to go Stand Up Paddleboarding and before I do I wanted to do a quick post for my 4th of July series, featuring Creative Vision Stamps!

This card features the  Statue of Liberty and Sparkle Star Group stamps from Creative Vision.

I love how the Star Cluster stamps can be used to look like fireworks! Here I stamped in white acrylic paint and created the stars as a resist before applying Ranger Distress stain over top and then stamping Lady Liberty in Archival Black.

Be sure to check out the entire line of FANTASTIC Creative Vision Stamps over at the online store and be sure to stay tuned to my blog for more samples and inspiration!

Technique Tuesday with Pam (Honey Bee Scraps)

Happy Tuesday! Welcome back for another Technique Tuesday with Pam. Today I am going to create a simple "night sky" background with Distress Inks, which pairs perfectly with the sentiment "I Love you to the Moon and Back" from the Honey Bee set Not Too Shabby.

   

Creating a night sky is super simple and you can can get such fabulous results, different every time.

Let's get started:

 

Start by applying a dark shade of purple Distress ink (Dusty Concord) to the center areas of white card stock (4.25" x5.5").

One of the best things about Distress Ink is it's blendability!

 

Continue by adding various shades of blue Distress ink to edge areas with mini ink blending tool and blend with purple.

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The final result using 3 colors of Distress.

Try using different colors of Distress to creating varying "night skies" or even add some yellow, orange or pink hues for a great sunset.

 

To add the twilight stars effect spritz a splatter brush with Hero Arts Unicorn white spray ink.

 Tap the brush gently to add tiny dots of white color to your night sky. 

Dry thoroughly with heat tool.

I just love the tiny dots you can achieve with a splatter brush.

To add more dimension, spritz water into your and flick onto the background.    

 

Because Distress Ink reacts with water you will se these drop;gets lighten and remove some o f the ink creating the dimension. Dry with heat tool. Distress ink is so reactive with water- amazing droplet shapes are created with this technique (from Tim Holtz "spritz and flick")

Now you have created this simple night sky. I encourage you to experiment with different colors of distress, perhaps adding a bit of a sunset as well. You will be amazed at the results when you just "play".

To finish off the card I added a die cut moon and the sentiment (stamped in Versamark black and embossed with clear embossing powder). I also matted the background with a silver lining to match the background paper.  This is so easy to create even if you don't have metallic paper. Check this out:

 

Apply Versamark watermark ink to the edges of your white card stock.

 

Sprinkle Metallic Silver embossing powder over the areas covered with Versamark. 

Melt the embossing powder with a heat tool.

This is such a great way to created a matted background when you do not have metallic card stock! Great technique that I learned from Jennifer McGuire.

To finish off the card I adhered the layers together, popped the sentiment and moon with dimensional tape.

 

Thanks again for joining me this week for another Technique Tuesday!  Be sure to leave a comment below and let me know what other "techniques" you are interested in seeing here on the blog! Yes, I am taking requests!

Embrace Imperfection!

Pam