Ashwin Accordian Album

Little Ashwin hit 1 month and learnt how to smile.  I wanted to mark this momentus occasion. I watched a video by Karen Burniston using a Sizzix die to make a 3-D accordian flip album.  I was not sure whether I wanted to buy this die so I made one without the die.  

As with all their dies, when you are viewing information about this die on the Sizzix website you can see a sample photograph of something made with the die and usually a line drawing of the die blades.  I followed the line drawing to make this card.  Still not sure if I want to buy this die, but it should be noted that what took me at least 5 hours to make could have been made in under half an hour if I used the die.

My accordian album is 5"x5". The pages use coordinating digital scrapbookking papers printed onto cardstock (if I had to do it again I would print the cardstock on both sides).  This is the front.  The letters were cut using the Tim Holtz Word Play die using scrap matte board which I then coloured using some Tim Holtz distress ink.  I added a felt/wood embellishment of a star with a rocking horse as Ashwin translates to "star" in Sanskrit (trust these young folk to give their kids exotic names).

The accordian album is rather nifty as it folds down flat enough to slip into an envelope, yet opens to quite an impressive size. You can make your album any number of pages; I chose 4.



On the internal pages I added photos of little Ashwin's smiling face which I printed onto cardstock.  The frames were cut using 2 different sizes of Sizzix Bracket Window dies using a blue cardstock.

Red Flower Pop-up Card

Using the Sizzix basic Pop n Cut die I cut both the inner card and the outer card using cardstock from a recycled report cover (the government report was about rare and endangered wildlife species).  I embossed  half of the outside card  using a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

  

For the inner decorative elements, I cut flowers with the Tim Holz Tattered Florals die and the Sizzix Flower Layers #5 using some scrap papers I had left over from other projects.  I attached the flower layers to the pop-up base using a brad.  The leaves were cut with the Tim Holtz Tattered Pinecone die from a postcard advertising a garden lawn service.

This card isn't intended for anyone in particular.  I like to keep spare cards on hand for last minute situations.  Thus, the inside is a bit bare, but I'll add specific things once I have an intended recipient.

Chest of Drawers

I recently purchased the Sizzix Candy Drawer Box die. I've seen a few posts on the web where people have combined a few of them to create a set of drawers and thought they looked great.  My sister's birthday is coming up.   She makes jewellery and always has lots of little bits and bobs that need organizing.

I had a bunch of matte board sitting around from the cut-out portions of an art series I  framed.  I cut 6 sets of drawers and constructed them.  For the drawers to line up I found it best to stick to the same material for all drawers.  Also important is to place the double overlapping sides of the cases along the same edges.

I covered the fronts with decorative paper (printed digital scrapbookking papers onto textured sketching paper).

Using the same matte board I cut pieces to form the outer top, bottom, sides and back.  I sanded and distressed the edges with distress ink. To construct the boxes I used double-sided tape, but for the outer pieces I used wet glue to give me a longer set time.  This required the use of clothes pegs for clamps and weights.

For the drawer pulls, I raided by button bucket.  I punched two small holes in each drawer front and tied the buttons to the drawers with thin leather cord.

Because the drawers are all the same size, they can be rearranged to suite your design and colour fashion whim.  Happy Birthday Della!

Wedding Card

It's wedding day for my neice Morgan and I've made a card/gift folder for the occasion. It's a standard 4x6 card with an opening flap on the right.  For the card base I cut, scored and folded an old file folder.  I then covered the various panels with pieces from a 12x12 sheet of double-sided scrapbook paper from the Susan Winget K&Company Specialty Paper.  I selected this sheet as red and gold are auspicious colours to the Chinese. 

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After gluing all the pieces onto the blank card I used a corner round punch on the short panel edges.  Then I sanded all the folds and edges and added some gold distress ink.

In keeping with the bird theme on the paper I added a gold bird cut from scrap matte board using the Tim Holtz Bird Branch die.  This I added using foam dots to raise it a bit (and to allow for the cord).

The card was to serve as a gift holder, so I cut a shape using half of the Tim Holtz Ornamental die and added it using foam dots to allow for the thickness of the intended cheque.

I cut  from scrap white card using the Sizzix Leaves die, wrote "Welcome to Married Life" and our names and attached it to the inside of the card with a heart-shaped paper clip.

I stamped with gold ink a red envelope with the happy couple's names and added another bird to tie it all together.

To keep the card closed I used a length of gold stretch cord saved from a Christmas past.

Once the cheque is removed and the leaves unclipped, the card can be regifted.

Wedding Guest Book

Inspired by Sizzix and Jonathan Fong, I made a wedding guest book for my niece's upcoming wedding. I printed all the papers using digital scrapbooking files, onto a slightly textured light sketching paper which I trimmed down to 8-1/2x11 and ran through a laser printer.  The papers were then trimmed to 8x8.  The cover papers were printed on sticky-backed label paper which I adhered to a recycled cereal box also sized to 8x8.  All the matte board used was saved from a framer's garbage bin.

For the bride and groom's names on he cover, I matched the colours of the cover and printed brown lettering onto a light blue background.  The font for the names is Scriptina, a free font from the internet.  The frame was cut using a maroon matte board .  I first used the Tim Holtz Ornamental die, then cut out the inside using the Mini Tickets Set.  I then embossed the frame with a Cuttlebug flourish folder.

For the front inside page I printed black text onto a tourquise background onto card stock.  The frame was cut using the Sizzix Frame die.  I embossed the frame with the same Cuttlebug embossing folder and added some distress ink to the raised areas.  I added a die cut of the Tim Holtz Bird Branch behind the frame which I coloured with various colours of distress ink.

For some of the pages I wanted to have photos of the happy couple. 
For this page I started by printing a photo of the happy couple onto card and on the reverse printed a mustard colour similar to one of the colours on the background paper.  I carefully cut the photo using the Sizzix Bag with Scallop die, but instread of folding on the creases to make a bag I folded in half.  I trimmed the bottom edge using a corner round punch.  I then embossed the front and added a light bit of distress ink to the raised areas.  The little leaf that keeps the "card" closed is cut from brown card using the Tim Holtz Autumn Gatherings Sizzlet die.  I used a brad to attach it to the paper with a cardboard "washer" in between to allow the leaf to turn.  The flowers are cut from the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die.  The maroon larger flower was cut from card that I printed to match the leaves on the background paper.  The top white flower was embossed with a Sizzix dot embossing folder.  The flowers were attached using foam dots to add some dimension.

Some of the fancier pages. 

For this page I used the Sizzix Flourish die and the Tim Holtz Mini Hearts Set to cut matte board and tried to echo the feel of the background paper.   The hearts were again embossed.  The frame for the photograph was cut using the Tim Holtz Tag and Bookplate die and coloured with distress ink.

The background paper for this page had green birds and branches, so I die cut birds using the Tim Holtz Caged Bird die and embossed.  The birds were cut from card that I printed to match the green in the background paper.  The frame for the photograph was cut using the Tim Holtz Alterations Tag and Bookplate die and coloured with distress ink.

The frame for this photo started with the remaining cut out piece from the cover (Tim Holtz Mini Ticket Set) with an added cut out using the Tim Holtz Mini Hearts Set.  The flowers were cut from card left over from pervious pages and uses the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers die. The top flower was embossed using a Sizzix dot folder.  The flower was attached using foam dots to add some dimension.

I created about 10 signing pages which were not as embellished as much as the other pages. 

The flowers on the this page were cut using the Tim Holtz Tattered Flowers.  Again I used card that I had printed for previous pages.  The flower was attached using foam dots to add some dimension.

The flowers on this page were cut using the Tim Holtz Tattered Floral Garland Sizzlet die.  The little white flowers were embossed with a Sizzix dot folder. The little green backing for the flowers was the remaining cut out piece from one of the previous photo frames.

Once all the pages were assembled, I bound the 8x8 book with my Rubicoil binder with a white spiral binding.

October 29 update: This post has been so popular, I made another guest book for a nephew.  You can view it in a later post.

Wedding Shower Card

I made a wedding card for my neice's shower.  I die cut the bottom front edge with the Tim Holtz Art on The Edge Scallops die.  Then I embossed the card front with a Sizzix embossing folder.  I die cut a dress form using the Tim Holtz Alterations Movers and Shapers Mini Sewing Room set.  To make the dress itself I first added a boddice using a piece from a paper doily.  White tulle and lace was glued to the dress form to make the dress.

Singing Bird

I'm loving die-cutting, it's the complete opposite from doing digital graphics, so much more hands one.  This little singing bird sitting on my fireplace mantle is made from recycled matte board and card, a shadow box I had hidden in a closet, a frame corner sample, acrylic paint and stamping ink.  The dies used include the Sizzix Bird Branch, Tattered Florals, Word Play and Flourish.

First I cut some matte board to fit into the shadow box and a trangle piece of matte board to fit into the frame sample.  I gessoed the matte board and pressed a Sizzix embossing folder into the wet gesso to add some texture. I painted both with acrylic paint.  I added a portion of a stamp that had a music score in the upper right corner with some permanent ink.

I added distressed inks to colour the bird and branch.  I trimmed the branch so it would fit flush with the frame but fall below the matte board down over the shadow box frame.

I embossed the flowers with some dots to give some texture and painted them with acrylic paint.  I added a small punched red circle to the centre of each.
The letters were cut from maroon matte board.  I over-painted with white crackle paint and added some red distressed ink after it dried.
The flourish was cut from the same maroon matte board which I left as is.