random.on purpose.

Tutorial: "BOO"bbles

I haven't done a tutorial in quite a while, and I had a brainstorm walking through the dollar store, triggered by this cute project.  While it's true that kids love to put stuff on their hands and smear it around, I wasn't enthused about hand sanitizers (which is good, since our Bath & Body Works was out of them anyway) and was looking for a fun alternative.  Here's what I found:

These were in the wedding department of Dollar Tree.  Yes, one is missing - I forgot to take a picture before I started my project.  Here's what I made with them:

These are "BOO"bbles.  I hesitated to call them that because it could be misconstrued, but figured if I capitalized the BOO it would be read properly...

WARNING:  The bubbles themselves and the items used to create this project include choking hazards.  Please make sure these are given only to older children!

Here's what you need to make them:

• Mini bubbles (these are 2 1/4" high, and about 1 1/4" across)
• Black felt - 2 pieces approximately 2 1/2" high x 5 1/2" across for each bat
• Lightweight white fabric - 5" square for each ghost
• Roll of 2 1/2" wide gauze - approximately 12" per mummy
• Google eyes - 4mm-5mm for ghost, 8mm for mummy and bat - two per bottle
• Bat template
• Sticky strip or similar adhesive
• Glue dots (the thin, small ones)
• 1/8" wide ribbon in color of choice

GHOST:

This is the easiest one, so I'll start with this one.  Cut a 5 1/2" circle (I used pinking shears) out of lightweight white fabric.  You can just tie a ribbon around the neck of the bubble bottle (which is also the neck of the ghost - handy!), but if you have extra thumbs like moi, you can cinch the fabric first with one of these:

Then tie your bow and add some google eyes and you're done!

BAT:

Cut two batty shapes from black felt, using the template (click to get correct size, then print):

Put sticky strip or ScorTape or whatever as shown below:

Stick the other piece to this one, then slide the bubbles down inside:

Here's what it looks like laying down:

Add some google eyes:

And a bow if you want to:

MUMMY:

This one takes the longest and has the most steps, but it's still easy.  Adhere google eyes onto front of bottle as shown (I used thin glue dots):

Put a strip of adhesive down the back of the bottle and around the edge of the bottom (uderneath).  With one edge even with the top of the bottle, wrap 2 1/2" wide gauze around the bottle, covering the eyes and sticking the excess to the adhesive underneath as you go, then trim gauze, leaving enough to overlap where you started:

Put a strip of sticky tape or other double-sided adhesive on beginning edge, then stick the trimmed edge down over it.  Add bits of tape or glue dots to adhere the excess on the bottom, too.

Here's what it should look like so far:

Using pointy scissors (a technical term), clip a couple of the threads over the eyes and tuck the gauze around them to tidy things up:

Cut a couple of  1/4" - 3/8" strips from the gauze (I didn't measure, but they're probably about 9" long).  They don't have to be perfect - it'll probably look better if they aren't:

And wrap those randomly around the bottle to add dimension and make it look more "mummified", sticking the ends down with thin glue dots or whatever:

I made sure to wrap the neck of the bottle to hold the top edge of the gauze in place, but you could also tie a ribbon around it, if you want:

And that's all she wrote!  I may get enthused enough to make a little gift package for these guys similar to the one that sparked these ideas, but we'll see how my week goes...  Meanwhile, if you decide to make some of your own, please link them up in the comments so I can see!

Here's the group shot again:

Have a great Monday to start off a great week, and thanks for stopping by!

Not So Grim, After All...

I decided that it would be a good idea to show the digital stamps on a card or something if/when I post them to sell, in addition to just a pic of the stamp itself, so I set about playing with a couple of them today.  Here's the first one:

Stamp: RandomBliss digital Not-So-Grim Reaper; Paper: Core'ordinations Black Magic, DCWV green and black textured cardstock; Accessories/tools: DIY texture plate, Martha Stewart graveyard border punch, Recollections ribbon, colored pencils, Gamsol

I used the Gamsol Magic technique to color my reaper.  It just seemed like he should have an acid green aura, so I went with it...  Curious about the embossed/sanded bats in the background?  Read on:

Remember this post, where I shared how I made my own texture plate?  Yeah, I forgot about it, too, until I read a thread about making them on Splitcoast a couple of weeks ago...  I decided that I needed to make one with bats for Halloween (after all, I have new digi stamps that need company), so I got a Ritz cracker box and my Martha Stewart bat punch and made this:

Here's a closeup of the texture:

After I ran the cardstock through the Cuttlebug with my new texture plate, I sanded the surface to expose the color core (in real life it's yellow, not white).  I got to use some fun Halloween ribbon I bought on clearance last year, and an as-yet-unused Martha Stewart border punch, too!  I didn't really think the card needed much else, so I left it alone.

And that's that!  I have a witch all colored and ready to go, too, but I'm not sure when I'll actually get the card made.  I didn't want to hold up this post waiting on that card ('cuz I'm just so excited to share what fun I'm having, don'tcha know?), so...

Thanks for stopping by, and please post a link if you decide to make your own texture plate - I'd LOVE to see what you come up with!  G'night!

Tutorial: Punchy Bunnies

It's been awhile since I did a tutorial, and it's also been awhile since I've played with my punches - heck, it's been awhile since I posted anything fun!  So, without further ado, I bring you tutorials for THREE punchy bunnies:

The first one was inspired by the shapes of a bunny I saw on a card online.  It was a stamp, not a punched bunny, but I took note of the shapes and how they were arranged, and came up with this:

 

To make it, you will need:

 

• White cardstock punched as follows: 1- 2" round circle, 3 - wide ovals (EK Success, purchased through Stampin'Up! - the pic only shows 2, the third one was AWOL when I took the pic), 4 large ovals (Fiskars large oval squeeze punch)
• Pink patterned paper punched into 4 - medium ovals (Fiskars medium oval squeeze punch)
• 1 small pink heart brad
• 2 black mini brads
• 1 smallish bow

If you don't have the same punches I used, you can obviously use what you have on hand, including Coluzzles or whatever - just sort of pay attention to the sizes in proportion to each other, and you'll be fine!  Start by sponging ink around the edges of all of your white pieces:

 

Next, take two of the large ovals and adhere them to the side and slightly behind the circle (sorry the pic is blurry - forgot to hit the macro button...):

 

Adhere the pink ovals to the other two large ovals with regular adhesive, and to two of the wide ovals with dimensionals as shown below:

 

On the remaining wide oval, poke a hole in the center (vertically), but slightly to the left of center (horizontally), then two more holes to the sides, with the one on the left being slightly closer to the center hole:

 

Insert heart brad into center hole, and black mini brads into other two holes to create eyes and nose, then draw a mouth and eyebrows, if desired (it's cute without them, too...)

 

Pinch a little dimension into the base of the ear pieces (large ovals w/pink centers adhered w/regular adhesive), and put a dimensional into the pinch:

 

Adhere to the back of the head:

 

Turn head over and put a narrow strip of dimensional foam on very edge of "chin":

 

Then adhere to top of body section:

 

Adhere feet with dimensionals, overlapping toes a bit:

 

Add the bow, and you're done!

If that was more ambitious than you're in the mood for, here's an easy one that I discovered on Cindy Motherway's blog:

   

I changed it up just a bit, but I can't really take credit for the idea, because it's obvious where I got it!  For this one you just need a scalloped circle, two ovals and a pom pom:

 

I inked up the edges again, and also pounced a little ink where the tail was going to be, so it'd have a little dimension, too:

 

The just adhere the ears behind the scalloped circle and stick the pom pom on with a glue dot!

The last one is just a rabbit's head, and is something of a "Wild Hare":

 

For this one, I just punched a heart with my Fiskars squeeze punch, and two of the large ovals, inked them up, added a brad nose, doodled some eyes, eyebrows and ear outlines, then added a bit of pink chalk to the inside of the ears.  Voila!

Since it took me all morning to make the bunnies and tap out the tutorials, I don't have time to make any cards to show you these guys "in action", but I'd love it if you'd link pics of ways that you might happen to use them!  Gotta go make a dollar or two now!  Have a fab day and thanks for stopping by!