No-sew Flower

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Melissa Samuels · 12 Comments

Hey guys! I was playing around with the new Pink Paislee Mistables, and I thought I would share how I made a flower embellishment using the scallop muslin ribbon. You know I'm not big on sewing, so I did it using, my favorite, Scor-Tape.

Mist your scallop ribbon with Glimmer Mist.

Add a small piece of Scor-tape (1/2" ) between each scallop. Then fold/pinch the ribbon between each scallop (as to fold the Scor-Tape in half on itself).

Put a decorative brad through the center, and you have a cut little flower embellishment. Here's a set of cards I made using my little flower, and My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Two Breeze 6×6 paper pad, layered stickers, and decorative brads. Love that collection!

Tutorial Thursday: Card Using Glimmer Mist & Mistables Canvas Ribbon

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Melissa Samuels · 6 Comments

Here's a cute, slightly masculine, card using using KaiserCraft Hunt & Gather paper, Pink Paislee Mistable Canvas Scallop Ribbon, and Glimmer Mist. It's super duper easy.

I started by stamping Pink Paislee Mistables Scallop Ribbon with a script stamp using Stazon ink (use a permanent ink so it doesn't bleed when you mist it).

I Glimmer Misted the scallop ribbon and a doily with Sunflower, and then a little tiny spritz of Chalkboard Decadence. After drying the canvas completely (or the tape won't stick), I applied Scor-tape to the back. I cut cardstock to 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" and folded it in half on the 8 1/2" side to form the base of my card. I cut KaiserCraft Hunt & Gather: Forge to 5 1/4" x 4" and adhered to the front of the card.

I layered my pieces, and used a card cutout from the Hunt & Gather Document Varnish paper.

I added a few embellishments, and done!
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Tutorial Thursday: Quick Distress Stain Tag

Posted on August 4, 2011 by Melissa Samuels · 2 Comments

Here's a super easy and quick way to make a tag using Distress Stains. You'll need stamps (I'm using Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz CMS085 and Prima Paintable Doilie Stamp), permanent ink such as Stazon or Archival, Ranger Craft Tags, Distress Stains, and Stickles (optional).

Stamp image onto tag. Use a permanent ink to prevent bleeding when stains are applied.

I added Wild Honey Distress Stain to the main part of the tag, and Broken China on the flower, leaving the flower center blank. The Distress Stains have a wonderful dabber top that easily dispenses the stain. The flow is controlled by gently squeezing the bottle. I was messy applying mine, because I like that handmade look. You could be neater, because you have a lot of control over the top.

Fill in the flower center with Peeled Paint Distress Stain. I love the soft watercolor effect.

Paint Stickles on with a paintbrush to add a little extra pizazz! It dries much quicker by painting them.
It doesn't get much easier and faster than that!

Tutorial Thursday: Custom Foam Stamps

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Melissa Samuels · 11 Comments

Hey Everyone! It's tutorial time! Today I'm going to show you how to make your own custom foam stamps out of Sizzix dies. I love making these little guys, and they're perfect for stamping with acrylic paint, Stazon, chalk ink, or even Distress Stains. Almost any Sizzix Bigz die will work.

To start you'll need a Sizzix die, thick .20 gauge plastic/acrylic paper, 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of Scor-tape, 9 x 12 sheet of foam, and a Vagabond (Big Shot will work, but you may need a friend to help crank).

Remove only one side of the adhesive backing on the Scor-Tape sheet, and adhere it to the foam sheet.

Cut the foam with adhesive to the size of the die. If you are using the Vagabond make sure no foam is hanging over.

Sandwich the die and foam between two acrylic cutting pads, and run through the Vagabond. You may need to leave about 1 or 2 inches at the end of the pad so that it fits into the machine. Hold it in place, press the button and it glides through. It will work using the Big Shot, but you may need one person to hold the die, and another to crank.

This is what it looks like once it goes through the machine. I now have 3 pieces to make stamps!

Cut an acrylic sheet slightly larger than the die. The blue is the protective coating that keeps the paper from getting scratched, and helps you find it in your scrapbook stash.

Remove the blue coating from the acyclic, and the adhesive backing from the foam to tape together.

If you want to get fancy, round the edges with a Corner Chomper.

The possibilities are endless!! There are so many dies that would be perfect for this. Use them on cards, canvas, scrapbook paper, altered projects, bags, you name it!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and give it a try. It's such an economical way to get more mileage out of the dies you already have! Until next week….

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La Blanche Demo at CHA Summer 2011

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Melissa Samuels · 2 Comments

My strategy when I go to CHA is to spend the first day looking, particularly when finding new vendors, and then going back the second day to order once I've looked at everything and processed it all. The first vendor that immediately caught my eye when I hit the show floor was La Blanche. They are a German company that makes silicon stamps that have amazing detail. I was blown away by the designs and quality of the stamps. The demo and samples were out of this world amazing! I went back to my hotel that evening, and all I could think about was going back to order for the online store (almost in a panic as if they weren't going to be there for 2 more days!). Of course, I ordered, and we'll be carrying a great selections of these stamps at well as the La Blanche Workshop book, which is written in English and German with lots of great step-by-step instructions with color photos. Email me at melissa@melissasamuels.net if you want to pre-order a copy.

Here's a fabulous demo of how to use these gorgeous stamps. A big thank you to Jacqueline for letting us film.