Paper Lantern (lightly decorated)

 

Paper Lantern

 

Here's a fun and easy (really!) lantern project. Here's how to make the basic lantern. You may decorate it any way you wish.

Paper Lantern supplies

 

Paper Lantern steps

 

 

 

 

Paper Lantern

Instructions

Supplies:

Black cardstock
White vellum (or any color vellum you wish to use)
Score-It paper scoring tool (or you can use a ruler and bone folder)
Paper cutter
Scissors
Two sided tape
1 ½” circle punch
Michael Strong Rubber Stamp (your choice)

Steps:
Cut a 3 ½” x 8 ½” piece from white vellum.
Cut a 1 ½” x 8 ½” piece from the black cardstock.
Using the Scor-It, make a score line at ½” from the left side of the vellum. From that score line, score again at 2”.Moving to the right, do this two more time until you have 4 equal panels measuring 2” x 3 ½”. When finished you will have 4 panels the same size (2” wide by 3 ½” tall) plus a ½” x 3 ½” tab on the left side of the vellum.
Repeat this same scoring procedure with the strip of black cardstock.
Fold on all score lines on the vellum and the cardstock. Set the vellum aside.
Using a 1 ½” circle punch, make four “arches” in the four 2” x 1 ½ ” panels of the black cardstock. To do this, hold the punch so you can see the opening. Slide the first 2” section of cardstock approximately half way down into the punch. Make sure the punch is centered side to side. Squeeze the punch. This will make a half circle opening. Repeat this with the other three sections. This will be the lantern base. If you do not have a punch, trace half circles onto the cardstock and use scissors to cut out the arches.
Flatten out the black cardstock lantern base and lay a length of two-sided tape along the inside flat top of the base. (You can see this in the picture). Lay the bottom edge of the vellum along the tape and press to secure, making sure the two ½” tabs are on the same side. Lay another length of tape along the inside of the vellum/cardstock tab. Fold to make a square shaped lantern pressing the taped tab along the inside edge of the other end. Decorate to your hearts content and remember never leave an unattended candle burning. It is strongly recommended you use an electric votive candle with this project.

Longing for Fall

 

It was over 100 degrees here yesterday. That may not seem hot to my friends in Arizona but it's hot for us! That got me longing for the cool Autumn weather. I love the crisp Autumn air and the leaves turning color. This card is made with my new Autumn Cloisonne Cameo stamp. It's one of the stamps in a new set depicting the four seasons. We'll be making this card in a workshop at Stamping Detail (www.stampingdetails.com)in September. I'll be teaching how to make the leaves too.

brush painting

 

Here's the little Japanese style brush painting I did for one of the cards in my "Craftsman Style" class. I used a small flat edged brush and India ink on white cardstock. Feel free to download the image and print it out. I printed it on a soft gold linen-like cardstock. You can see the finished product below in the picture of the cards from the class. I would love to see your variations.

Recycling again - Tealight Card

 

Tealight card materials

 

Recycling again

I haven't shared a recycling project in a while and this one is very easy and fun. We had a backyard barbecue last night to break in my new grill (which is awesome!) We had tealight candles on the table (they come in bags of 100 from Ikea). After the wax has burned away you are left with little aluminium cups. Save them and recycle them! As you can see from the picture, they make really pretty, quick and easy embellishments for cards. Here's what I did.

Materials:
Tealight cups
scissors
Cuttlebug embossing machine or similar
Paisley embossing folder or similar
Alcohol inks
Tim Holtz' alcohol ink applicator (or cotton ball)

Steps:
Make sure the little aluminium cup has no residual wax. After they are used, any bits of cooled wax come right out.
With scissors, cut slits in the sides of the cup evenly all around.
Flatten the cup to make a sunburst or flower.
Send the sunburst through the Cuttlebug inside the embossing folder.
Remove it from the folder and apply what ever alcohol ink you like to the sunburst
Now it's ready to decorate a card. As you can see from my example I cut eight slits in the cup but you can cut more or less for different effects.
Have fun!

In the Craftsman style

 

I'm doing a card making workshop at a few places this month based on the American Craftsman style which grew out of the international Arts & Crafts movement of the late 19th and early 20th century. The movement was a reaction to the Industrial Revolution and the ornate late Victorian style. It's proponents believed that handcrafted was superior to machine made. The style was popular and influenced architecture,interior design and the decorative arts. I love its elegant simplicity. I've tried to give these cards some of those qualities. Come by Stampin' From The Heart in Los Angeles (karen-stampinheart.blogspot.com), JaziCrafts in Oceanside (www.jazicrafts.com) or Memories Live On in San Jose (memoriesliveon.com)and say hi!

My assistant

 

Ain't Nature Grand?

 

It still amazes me that we can throw a few seeds in the ground and get something so beautiful and delicious a few weeks later. Nothing like a home grown tomato. The cherry tomatoes came in first followed by the Early Girls and the Beefsteak will be ready to pick soon. Don't worry Hetty, there should be plenty when you and Raymond visit us in September!

More Dragonflys

 

Here's another card using the dragonflys in the Craftsman style. This card measures 7 1/2" square but you could make a smaller (easier to mail) version using the mini dragonfly stamp.

Craftsman Style Card

 

Here's a card I made for my upcoming class at Stampin' From The Heart www.http://karen-stampinheart.blogspot.com on August 15. The cards are based on the Craftsman Design movement from the early 20th century. The dragonfly was a popular motif so I included one in this example.

Weathered Copper Background

 

 

 

 

Weathered Copper Background

Here's an easy and fun way to make card backgrounds with the look of weathered copper.

Supplies:
Copper embossing powder
Turquoise embossing powder (many shades of green will work such as jade or mint)
White cardstock
Pigment ink (Versamark or similar)
Heat tool

Steps:

Apply pigment ink directly from the pad onto the white cardstock, covering the whole piece.
Sprinkle on copper embossing powder and heat with the heat tool until shiny.
Reheat a small section of the embossed cardstock and sprinkle a little of the green embossing powder onto the hot spot. The green powder will stick to the hot surface. (Use you fingers to pinch the green powder)
Repeat section by section until there is a random patina pattern over the whole piece.
The large piece can now be cut up into smaller pieces and used as background.

Ron's Thank you

 

We got this beautiful card in the mail on Friday from our friend Ron Perry. Had to share. When you get the chance, bookmark Ron's new website which is under construction. Great things are coming! www.artisangreetings.com