Easter Woodgrain Basket Weave

Good Morning and it's an early post from me today to bring a basket of Easter goodies.  Shame these are not all chocolate eggs!  I saw this weave technique someone else had used and immediately thought of the Woodgrain background stamp and making a wooden basket from it.  Having started it earlier today I cannot believe how easy it was.

For my basket I took a piece of crumb cake the size I wanted my basket to be and then stamped it in Soft Suede ink with the Woodgrain background stamp.  This is one of the background stamps which are so useful as they are an instant card front, but can also be used for accent elements.  I trimmed my woodgrain image down in strips of 1.5cm each to match the panel of lines on the image.  I then stamped a second piece of crumb cake cardstock and made this into thinner strips of 1cm each.  I used a sponge dauber to give the edges of the wood strips a little more definition and I think it makes them look more realistic.

Now to create the weave.  I laid the 1.5cm strips down horizontally and then alternately fed the 1cm strips vertically into them over and under each 1.5cm I came to.  As I did this I re-adjusted the 1.5cm horizontal strips to keep them together if they were disturbed.  I started the next 1cm strip the opposite of the previous, i.e. over first or under first the 1.5cm strip. If adjusted each time to keep the strips tighter I found after the first couple of vertical strips it started to hold together.  All done, this gave me the woven basket.  I folded the ends of my strips round the card edge and stuck them down and covered them and the ends of the ribbon wrap with another woodgrain stamped panel.

Now, can you see the green grass fringe poking through the top of the basket?  How easy is fringe cutting when you have the Fringe Scissors?  These are a new addition in the Spring/Summer catalogue and they make easy work of fringing.  You can make grass of course with these, perfect for springtime projects, but you could also make flowers by rolling the fringes, or even just a decorative border.

I nearly forgot the eggs!  There's no egg shape punch for these, just the Extra Large Oval Punch. The papers I have used for mine are the Afternoon Picnic designer papers. Now I have to admit, since taking the photo I have added a pearl to the centre egg, I just could not resist!

The 'Happy Easter'?  Well what stamp set have I been saying is useful for just about most occasions through the year?  Have you been paying attention?  It's the Delightful Dozen stamp set!  I've lost count of the times I have used this for my projects this year by now.  I have made a custom tag by cutting the sentiment down and then feeding the strip centrally into the Scallop Tag Punch to make the label end and hole.  I then rounded the corners at the end of the tag with the Corner Punch.

I have another project all ready to show you so make sure you come back to check on the details for that one too.  I have been playing with card layouts.

For my Easter card I used:

128763 Woodgrain (stamp)
131390 Afternoon picnic
133325 Fringe Scissors
128547 Delightful Dozen (stamps)
119859 Extra Large Oval Punch
119871 Corner Punch
133324 Scallop Tag Punch
121685 Crumb Cake A4 Cardstock
106550 Very Vanilla A4 Cardstock
131290 Pear Pizzazz A4 Cardstock
122981 Taffeta Ribbon - Pink Pirouette
126969 Elegant Eggplant Classic Ink Pad

Hope you like my Easter basket, I think there may still need to be some Easter bunnies or chicks coming soon though...........

Suzanne
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Spooky Wishes with Halloween Banner Kit

It's getting spooky in our house ready for next week. Today I have the Halloween Banner Kit to show you from the Autumn/Winter Catalogue.  The pennants themselves come in the Build a Banner Simply Created Kit which appeared for the first time in the Autumn/Winter catalogue.  My little one picked out the Halloween banner in the catalogue when we were looking through it so I decided we would definitely need to have one hanging in our house during the hours of spooky celebrations.

The kit is all you need to start making your own banners; There are 18 canvas pennants in 3 different designs, jute twine and most importantly there are the image stencils for 3 designs of backgrounds and the alphabet lettering.  It is all you need to make your own Birthday, Christmas, occasion banners.  The canvas pennants with the eyelets already set in them make putting your own messages so quick and easy and durable for multiple use year after year. You can also buy more pennants when you need them making the number of banners you can make endless.

For my Spooky banner, I have added the Halloween Banner Simply Created Accessory Kit (available separately) to instantly transform my Spooky banner with glitz, glamour and a little spookiness too of course!  Now, I wanted to show some close ups to see the detail, but as my photography skills are pretty lacking, they still do not show the banner in it's full glory.  

The Skull, bat and spider pieces are made of durable plastic (of some sorts) and sparkly black glitter.  There are buttons and ribbons all included in the accessory kit and all the designer papers already scored ready to fold and stick into rosettes.

Not in time to order and make your own Spooky banner? Don't despair, there is also a fantastic winter wonder Christmas Banner Accessory Kit available too for your extra sparkle christmas messages. Remember though you can create your own totally unique worded banners from your own products and papers using the stencils in the kit and the spritzer sprays included, just add your colour using ink (ink refills available separartely).  Alternatively you can sponge the colours of your choice with the stencils as I have done.

Inspired by my Spooky banner hanging in my craft room I have been busy with treats for the visitors who are going to come knocking on our door.  I had seen an idea for a stationery trunk on Elizabeth's Craft Room and I started to think of a treasure chest of coins on a smaller scale.  Having a boy, there is a lot of talk of pirates in our house! I had seen some Halloween chocolate coins in John Lewis so I knew exactly what to fill the chest with - and I was going to have a willing recipient to eat the contents too!

Elizabeth's site is a wonder of ideas, videos and templates, but I am afraid I winged it and made up my own measurements and method as I went along - I think I could have saved myself some pain by purchasing some instructions!

The picture is of the finished chest along with some witches broomsticks made with blackcurrant liquorice pieces.  The wood-effect on the chest is stamped with the Woodgrain background stamp and the Happy Halloween is from the Delightful Dozen stamp set - my favourite all-year round set which has seen many outings. My batty and ghostly ghoul friends on the broomsticks are from the ever-adaptable Owl Builder punch.

To place an order, book a workshop in your home or come to a class, just drop me an email at craftyinkbuds@sky.com. Remember you can now order online at anytime too.

How To: Petal Cone Basket

Well I promised a pictorial instruction on how I made my Easter Basket for my chick and here it is (albeit a little later than anticipated).  This little basket can be used all year round for all kinds of occasions to hold sweet treats, paper flowers, gift toiletries or small gift items so it's a great all rounder and the petal cone is not just for cones!

First of all the base colour card was Crumb Cake which I used for two cuts of the Petal Cone Die with the Big Shot.  I then folded all the die made score lines to give me the pieces ready to make the basket. 

To make the fold lines to create the bottom of the box, I used the top score line of the petal cone (at the base of the semi-circular piece as it is when folded down) to line up on the Simply Scored tool (or you could use the paper trimmer) and scored at 6cm and 9cm to create fold lines parallel to those created by the die.  I then cut off the very tip of the cone at the 9cm line to give the pieces as shown above.

I then used Sticky Strip to stick the box together as this is the perfect strong hold to make sure it can hold any heavier contents without coming apart.  At this stage I stuck the two pieces together along one of the vertical tabs.  I then stamped across both pieces on the side which was going to be the outside of the box with the Woodgrain background stamp in Soft Suede to make my wood-effect on the basket. In the picture above, you can see I have already flipped the box over and attached the crumb cake scalloped semi-circles too to two of the flaps (alternate flaps).

 

On the reverse side of the petal cone pieces (with the pieces all laid flat as above), I have stamped the woodgrain background again to decorate the semi-circle pieces which will fold back down over the front edges of the box.  I have then added DSP paper scalloped semi-circles again over the top in the Birds of a Feather DSP.

I added sticky strip as shown in the above picture, ready to complete the box.  Before sticking, if you are adding a basket handle like I have, remember to punch your holes on the top semi-circles first.  Fold the semi-circle down and punch through this and the side panel, making sure you distance the same on each side. 

Next, fold the box up and stick the two side panels together first using the long tab.  Once that is secured you can stand the box upside down and fold over the bottom pieces and stick them together.  Fold one flap with the sticky strip over, remove the backing tape and then fold the opposite tab over (with no sticky strip on) and then repeat.  Make sure you are holding the box square when securing the bottom flaps so the basket is not wonky when complete.

All that's left to do is create a strip for your handle and punch holes at the ends to attach with brads through the holes you made in the side of the basket.  I decorated my handle with DSP matching the basket sides and also created a shaped end to the handle using the scallop border punch.  I wrapped one of the pre-cut banner pieces round a cocktail stick and used the 'Happy Easter' sentiment from the Delightful Dozen stamp set for the sentiment.  I finished off with some Boho Blossom flowers.

The Delightful Dozen stamp set is a fantastic reliable addition to any craft room, with 12 stamps in it for occasions throughout the year - Birthdays, Easter, Mother's Day, Get Well wishes, Congratulations, Valentine's, Thank You's, Halloween and Christmas.  You are bound to use this over and over through the year and even if you used each stamp just once a year, which I very much doubt, that's only £2.50 per stamp for each stamp in the wood-mount set!

 Images © Stampin' Up!

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