Hat Sculptures

I teach an enrichment class called Create and Innovate to 5 through 11 year old kids. I am always searching Pinterest for class ideas and inspiration.  When I came upon this project I just knew I had to teach it! I have never seen anything like them before- and I just love the concept of "hat sculptures"- they are sooooo fabulous!!

When I went to the designers website to find a tutorial I was a little bummed because, I had found an AMAZING blog... but it was in another language... and also another alphabet! I suspect if I spent a few minutes with google translate, I would have been able to change it in English but my artist juju was tingling so I grabbed my scissors and started cutting.

I highly recommend you visit and search this website http://zu4ki.livejournal.com (I wish I could tell you the name).  The artist is really a creative genius!

This hat was my prototype.

 

I wore my hat to last Wednesday's class at Booksin to get the kids thinking and filled their workspace with tons of materials so they could create their own interpretations.  i will be teaching the class again on Monday at St. Tim's and I am excited to see what they do.

These two little cuties from Booksin elementary (last Wed.) decided to turn their hats upside down and they wore them like headbands. They cut embellishments out of construction paper and they added ribbon to the frill. Here are the basic instructions:

• The base for the hat comes from 16" (tall) butcher paper. You can measure the child's head and add a few inches to determine the width.
• Fold one of the horizontal edges over twice (about 1.5") to create the band. Now staple the band on both ends and in the middle so it stays secure.
• Fold the paper in half and then in half again (vertically) making sure that the band is on the outside and visible versus on the inside and hidden from sight. This will make the width divided into quarters and will save you a lot of cutting.  
• Cut strips about 0.5-1.0" wide from the top and stop once you reach your folded band. DO NOT START YOUR CUT FROM THE BAND SIDE  OF THE PAPER.
• Once you are done cutting, open the paper into its full width and cut the larger strips (at the folds) into smaller strips.
• Now you are ready to decorate.  You can use markers, crayons, paint, glitter or glue paper onto paper if you want to add color to your strips.  Be sure to keep in mind that if you use wet mediums to add color your paper, the strips will likely tear if you try to curl them with scissors.
• Since the strips flip every which way, you might consider decorating each strip on both sides.  I am glad I did but it was double the work.
• Cut out flowers, hearts, fish or any other embellishment you'd like to add to the band or on the ends of the strips.
• If you want to get spooky, roll strips of black paper into tubes to make snake bodies, glue a pitch forked tongue sticking out of one end, add eyes, and attach the tubes to the band to make a Medusa looking sculpture hat.
•  Add curled ribbon to switch up the texture.
• You can cut the strips different lengths to add interest.
• Attach a paper plate to the band and add strips on the top.

  

• Fold strands accordion style to get lift and whimsy.
• Skip the strips and go "freestyle".

• If you want to curl your paper strips, practice with the same kind of paper before approaching your hat because the strips tear easily.  I found children scissors to work best and I didn't do the curl all at once.  I worked on sections slowly. It took me a while to "feel" the right angle and pressure to curl without ripping the strand. 
• Switch the direction of your curls from strand to strand!
• Layer circles to make dimensional flowers- staple or tape them onto the band.

 

• Use heavier paper like Dollar tree poster paper to get stronger strips that offer more height.

• Have fun!!

Creating with Multiple Patterns in a Craft Project.

First off - I apologize for being MIA after the kick off of the blog hop.  I got that nasty bug that has been going around and I could not shake it.  Every time I thought I was starting to feel better it would return in a matter of hours. 

I was officially well on Monday, but because I had fallen so far behind in everything, it has taken me 2 days to get to my blog.  I think I am going to write a blog post dedicated to catching up after you or someone you care for gets sick.  It is like falling into a black slack hole and unfortunately, the merry-go-round keeps spinning. If you are hard wired like me, the negative chatter (in my head) that occurs during and after these life lapses can be as miserable (if not worse) than the illness itself.  But enough about that... lets talk about craftiness.

This week's challenge in the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog is "Mix and Match- Use 3 different patterns of paper in a project".  As icky as I was feeling, I just had to participate in this challenge.  The use of multiple pattern papers in scrapbook layouts is one of my FAVORITE design styles.  One of the best multi-pattern-paper scrapbook and Cricut artists I know of is Monique Griffith.  She does amazing things with colorful, vibrant, active palettes.  Visit her website to see her gorgeous creations!

Cricut Cartridge Simply Charmed

For my DT contribution towards the challenge, I used 4 different patterned papers in a 2 page layout. I used the Cricut Cartridge, "Simply Charmed" (page 57 - scarecrow hat) to cut out the hats that coordinated with the hats in the photos (the top photos on the right page). I did the bumble bee and lady bug details by hand.

Working with a paper collection makes multiple pattern paper projects a breeze.  No need to scour your stash to find the perfect hue or complimentary pattern.  When you purchase a collection you can put together dynamic pages with very little effort.  Some of the best collections for this kind of design come from:

Simple Stories

Basic Grey

We Are Memory Keepers

just to name a few.  There are so many great paper lines to work with that sometimes the hardest part is picking which one to buy next!

Blog Hop and Cricut Cartridge Wild Card 2

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog is hosting a blog hop this week!  Follow the links below to see our Design Team's projects and and meet our newest members plus win prizes! Finish up at the FCCB website and submit a project for a chance to win a set of clear stamps from Scrappy Moms.  This weeks challenge is to create a project using a sentiment.

This is my project using the Cricut cartridge "Wild Card 2."  This cartridge is relatively new and is fast becoming one of my favorite.  I love the artwork and the randomness of the projects.  Certainly there are a couple corny card projects but most of the designs are quite clever.  I will be offering more information about Wild Card 2 this week so make sure you pop over to learn more.

And now the details about my giveaway!

The winner will receive a copy of Cricut Mini Albums.  

It is loaded with tutorials and tons of inspiration.  And to make things interesting, I will also be revealing a few additional giveaway goodies on Tuesday! To enter this giveaway you can:

• become a follower (join this site)
• "like" me on Facebook
• pin a project from my blog.  

For each activity you do from the 3 choices you get an entry.  Let me know which activities you completed by leaving a comment. I will pick a name from the total number of entries on Sunday, January 12 at 5PM PST.

Here is the line up for the FCCB Blog Hop:

Amy HS The Stamping Tree

Emily Mollie's Blog 

Faith Scrapbooker PhD 

Heather Scrapping Runner Creations

Jackie Luv 2 Scrapp

Lynn My Cards N Stuff

Michelle Just a Nutter Papercrafter

Missy Quick Chick Designs 

Nikki Crafty Calamities 

Rebecca Crafting Misfit 

Elizabeth Unik by Yes

Cindy Creating with the Heart 

Pam Stamper at Heart 

Karla Creative Love Affair 

LB Cool Beans by LB

Jilliene Jilliene Designs

Joneita Create with Joneita

Kim Kim's Kreations

Pam O Reflections of my Art and Soul

Cricut Cartridge, Wild Card- Table of Contents and Overview

I have had the Cricut cartridge, "Wild Card" for several years and while it isn't my go-to cartridge when I make the quick card, I certainly have enjoyed working with it.  As with most of the card-centric Cricut cartridges, Wild Card takes a while to get familiar with.  Because the projects are so very detailed, expect to do a few rough drafts before you get the final product.  But once you get it right, you will be pleased with your creations.

Here are a few tips before you get started:

• Use scratch paper for your first pass (a single sided pattern is best - see next tip).  I wasted many sheets of nice paper while I was still in my learning curve. 

• Use single sided pattern paper for all of your envelope test cuts and take note which side needs to face upwards on your mat when you cut the layers for your envelope.

• If you want to have a pattern on the outside of the envelope and a pattern on the inside then you will have to use the flip function for one of the cuts.

 

• Make sure you cut your envelope before you cut your card.  You don't want to cut your card at the largest size possible and then not be able to cut an envelope large enough for the card to fit inside.

• Use the "fit to page" function to find out the largest size the envelope can be cut.  You will want to jot that size down so when you cut the card you can turn off the "fit to page" feature and enter the same measurement as you used for the envelope.
• Cut both the envelope and the liner with regular scrapbook paper instead of cardstock so the envelope isn't too bulky. Bulkiness will distort the creases and the overall shape. 

• Make sure you write down all your notes when you cut out card projects. You should write the size inside of your cartridge handbook so the next time you want to make the card you already know the largest measurement option. Write down which layers need to be flipped when you work with pattern paper. This is a fabulous practice to get into when ever you use your Cricut but with project and card cartridges, it is especially important.

Wild card really has a lot to offer if you take the time to look at it closely.  I don't know about you, but I have a tendency to overlook many of the features on project-specific cartridges because I am looking at the primary content.  Wild Card offers cards and envelopes plus 2 phrases, 2 icons, a liner, a blackout for both the card and the envelope and an upper and lower case alphabet for each key/ handbook page.

The frames can be used in a variety of ways other than with the cards.  They are darling and really versatile.

I like the phrases also! They are relevant and practical and they come in nice fonts too. 

The blackouts are a great but, again, beware of bulkiness.  With each layer of paper, the fold expands.  This will prevent your outside layer edges from lining up with your inner layer edges.

The font is really pretty but I think I could only use it if the letters were welded together. 

Actually, I'm hoping you can help me with this.  I have such a hard time using cursive letters individually.  I find that the angles and sizes do not mesh when I am putting them together to create a word.  Do you run into this problem?  How do you keep your words and titles looking neat and purposeful when you lay cursive letters down individually?

Below is a list of all of the images and phrases on this cartridge with their page numbers.  If you find any errors in the spreadsheet, please let me know so I can correct it. If you would like to share this information on your blog, instead of copy and pasting this info, please paste a link to my site.

Cricut Cartridge Wild Card Table of Contents

I'm Sorry Crafters, I've Been Cheating on You

I am very, very sorry.  I didn't mean for it to happen.  One day I was inking, trimming and gluing and the next minute, I was obsessed with another.  Yes, I've fallen in love with Legos.

Our cable and internet was out for a few days and to pass the time, I started sorting my son's tens of thousands of Legos; something I have daydreamed about doing for years.  It was so cathartic that for days after our technology was up and running, I continued to separate each and every piece into a system of organization. 

I found these little drawers at the Dollar Tree!

Picked this cart up at Michael's for 60% + another 20%= $30!

Then Santa brought me my very own Lego set.  I had never built a set of my own so it was new and exciting.

Well, lets just say Legos had me at hello.  I started assembling and my heart skipped a beat.  Tinkering with color and texture and design was a familiar kind of wonderful but the unexpected surprises that came about by following the building instructions was such a rush.  Within a few days I had sore fingers, an amazing mini city with all kinds of cool features and lots of new skills for creating Lego details.

Since that first set, I have taken apart and rebuilt several of my son's sets with a wonderful sense of satisfaction.  It has been a guilty pleasure, but I realize I cannot neglect my craft life any longer.  Without paper, glitter, Cricut and bling, I am not my true, authentic self.  So I am here, hat in hand, ready to create the very best crafts I can.  I will make it up to you, I promise.

Our Elf on the Shelf has a Sense of Humor

We have a lot of fun holiday traditions at our house. Here are just a few:

• Every Thanksgiving Day, we put up our Christmas tree (or at least we start talking about it). 
• Once the tree goes up, the kids put on three ornaments a day so we get to decorate all month long.
• The kids cut out snow flakes and tape them to the walls throughout the month of December.
• We spend at least one Saturday (usually two) listening to Christmas music while doing Christmas crafts.
• We set up a ceramic Christmas town on the coffee table and take turns rearranging it.
• We invent new lyrics to Christmas carols and have a sing off.

We have a two new traditions this year that have really added a lot of fun to the season.  The first is the 12 days of Christmas wall I created for the kids.

The upper row has gifts for Eva and the bottom has treats for Aidan.  Each stocking, bag and pouch has an initial and a number. Some of the stockings and bags are store bought from past Christmases and some are hand sewn and hand made from Cricut cuts. I filled them with little goodies from the Dollar Tree and hand made ornaments I make while they are at school.

The second new tradition is the Elf on the Shelf.  We have had the set for several years but we never got around to playing with it. Eva used the Elf as one of her dolls for a whole year but otherwise the box never made it out of the garage.

This year we decided to see if the Elf on the Shelf thing was real.  I told the kids I was really skeptical and suspected that their friend's parents might be moving the elf each night, but they convinced me to give it a try.

You can imagine my amazement when the elf moved after that first night.  I thoroughly interrogated the children to make sure they did not get up in the middle of the night to move the Elf and they denied it 100%.  I have to say, I believe them. The elf has moved every night since we first put him out and boy does he have a sense of humor.  Check out our Elf and his daily rest stops:

I cannot wait to see where he ends up next!

Ribbon and Paper Christmas Tree Tutorial

I was so flattered when Principal Renken asked me to lead a workshop for the teacher's during their "In-Service" day.  My kids have attended St. Timothy's for the past 6 years and I am so grateful for their contribution in molding my little people into the wonderful humans they are today.  It was such a pleasure to get crafty with them.

This is the project I taught to the teachers.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I just *LOVED* how each person added their own flare to their project.

I purchased the cones from Michael's.  I found them in the wood/ paper mache' section (meaning the unfinished craft paper shapes and boxes).  They had several sizes but the largest was on clearance for $1.29, so I bought them all.

I had both ribbon and paper for the teachers to use to decorate their trees.  I bought some of the ribbon at the Dollar Tree and some at Michael's when it was on sale for 60% off.  Most of the paper was Martha Stewart's double sided holiday collection, but I also offered Recollections Christmas paper (single sided) for those who did not mind having white on the interior of the "paper loop."

To make these trees you need the following:

• styrofoam or paper mache' cone
• strips of ribbon or paper cut into .75 or 1 x 6 inch strips
• glue gun
• green pain and sponge paint brush

The process is quite simple but a little time consuming if you cover all of the cone.

1. Start by dry brushing your cone.  Make sure you spread the paint all over the cone so that it is more like a stain versus a coat of paint.  Use a paper towel to rub over the tree after your 1st coat to remove any extra paint.  This will help your tree dry rapidly so you can apply a 2nd coat in a little while.
2. While you wait for the paint to dry, cut your ribbon and paper into the .75 or 1" x 6" strips.  I prefer the thinner strips but it is just a matter of preference.
3. Go back over your cone again with another thin coat of paint (optional).  Try using a different shade of green to spice things up.
4. Fold your strips of paper or ribbon in half so that the 2 ends meet but DO NOT CREASE AT THE BEND!  Let the fold retain its curl at in the middle.
5. Use your glue gun (or glue dots) to adhere the 2 pieces together NOTE: you can use wet glue, glue dots, double sided tape or a tape runner to adhere the edges together, but we found the absolute best way to ensure the hold was to use the glue gun.  All other forms of glue had at least one or two problems (some a great deal more) adhering together.
6. Once your tree is dry, adhere (again, glue gun is best) the loops to the cone starting at THE BOTTOM. The spacing between loops both horizontally and vertically is entirely up to you.
7. Add extra touches like ribbon wrapped around the cone horizontally and a bow or a star at the top.
8. To make the star, I used m Sizzix to cut out 2 stars which I glued together at 3 points, leaving a hole for the tree top to slip in to.  I hot glued it onto the top of the cone so it would stay in place.

And there you have it.  More fun stuff to come. Jingle, jingle

Cricut Christmas Card challenges

 

This weeks challenge on the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog
is to create a Christmas card.  Last week we had a similar project sans green or red (see below), so I was very familiar with all of the Christmas images on my cartridges.  I have quite a few to work with but I just wasn't feeling inspired, so I decided to do an outdoor scene of Christmas.  I selected the city scape from Formal Occasion,

and I mounted it on dark blue glitter paper.  I put tiny gems along the outside of the buildings to look like strung Christmas lights.  It took forever to get the right arrangement for the Christmas lights and when it was all done, the proportions of the gems to the buildings were too far off. I scratched that card and started working on a different approach.

I loved the idea of a big building strung up with Christmas lights but I didn't have a Cricut cartridge with a skyscraper.  I used my Gypsy to manipulate the cityscape from Formal Occasion but it didn't work like I wanted it to so I decided to cut out a high rise building by hand.

I was really pleased with how the building turned out once it was mounted and had lights draped across it but it was missing a critical element...A Cricut cut!  Then I got an idea. I pulled out a reindeer punch and created a night sky with Santa approaching the building...Rudolph "with his nose so bright" leading the tow.

I used the Imagine Buccaneer cartridge and cut out Yo Ho Ho to make Santa's Ho, Ho, Ho... The cut pulled everything together and lead into the interior text perfectly.  I love it when a series of random ideas formulate into a complete concept. 

So that is how I put together my holiday card and it is a good example of how you can use cartridges beyond their suggested uses.

Now last weeks challenge for FCCB was "Beyond Red and Green" meaning create a Christmas project without the use of red or green.  This is not as easy as you might think, especially when you are integrating a Cricut cut and trying to make an original design.  Thank goodness I had the Winter Wonderland cartridge because there were lots of designs that worked beautifully with silver and gold.

I chose the phrase "Believe" and added a bell.  I used a few different shades of silver, gold and cream to accomplish the look.  I love this cartridge because there are quite a few layers to work with for each image.  This allows you to tinker with the look and feel to best suit your project.  I assembled my layers with adhesive and foam dots so that their was nice dimension.  I mounted the assembled artwork on an Anna Griffin card and voila, Christmas sans rad and green.

Create and Innovate Goes Public

I designed the Create and Innovate program in 2010 after my fellowship with the Institute of Innovation.  We have been teaching this enrichment program at St. Timothy's Lutheran School ever since. It is such a popular program that sometimes the parents stay to do projects along side their kids instead of using the 2 hour break to hit the gym or run errands. I even had the pleasure of teaching a Create and Innovate class to the school faculty last week!  What a hoot!

Today, my partner, Maggie and I learned that Booksin Elementary, a San Jose Unified public school has accepted our program into their enrichment curriculum beginning in Jan 2014.  Breaking into the public school system is no easy task and it is a real acknowledgement of the success of our classes.

I spent the afternoon redesigning our website (above) and creating a online registration form.  It is very exciting!  Pop over to see how it turned out.