Tickled Pink Stamps Christmas Challenge #4 - Something HANDMADE

Hey TPS fans! Time for our FOURTH Christmas Challenge of the year!! We'll soon have a collection of Christmas-y related projects made up in time for December at this rate!! Less stress when the time comes though, right?!

This month we want to see 'SOMETHING HANDMADE' on your project, this can be anything you can think of, aslong as your fare hands made them! :) Flowers, templates, swirls. If you're a follower of my blog you will know I have been on a journey of mold making discovery. I have been wanting to try my hand at making my own resin and clay flowers and little embellishments, mainly as something to decorate my cards with, but also to sell if I start craft fares in the summer.

Anywho, here is what I came up with. I cut my own tag base from SU! Crumb Cake cardstock and stamped it using a Music Note Standard Wheel from SU! in SU! Crumb Cake ink and added some patterned paper from BG's Jovial collection which I distressed using my Tonic Paper Distresser.

This TPS image is no where near Christmassy, infact, she is Lil' Birthday Kellita available from the TPS Store, but with her present and the right colours she could be giving a little Christmas gift to a special someone. I have cut her out using a nesties oval die and added some Diamond Stickles around the embossed part. The cute little ticket, which is perrrfect for a tag is from a Whimsy Stamps set and die.

Here is a close up of the (close to) gorgeous CLAY 'flowers' 'doileys' call them what you will that I made using a few molds I bought off eBay. They were originally created for sugarcraft, but the woman assured me they were oven safe. I've used Transparent Fimo clay and added my own alcohol inks to create unique colours. The top embellishment was made using Willow alcohol ink from Rangers Adirondack range, and the bottom was made using the colour Pebble. I really like this one, it is sort of a very dark Kraft colours. I've tried all sorts of ink to try and get a Kraft colour, even Old Paper DI re-inker (which for those of you interested turned GREEN, of all colours). I think this Pebble is about as close as my budget is going to allow me to get. There is only so much experimenting I can do! LOL. Perhaps in the next batch I make I will add less drops, so hopefully it will be a lighter colour. We'll see.

I think that just about covers it for today!! Be sure to stop by the TPS challenge blog and enter your Christmas creation this month - I can't wait to see what handmade items you all come up with.

I would like to enter this card into these challenges:
× The Spotlight Challenge - Try Something NEW Challenge - I'm hoping my clay embellishments make the mark with this one? *sweet smile*

× HLSC - Lots of Embellishments

× Crafty Hazelnuts Christmas - Use some Ribbon

× CSAYL - Use a Die Cut as your Main Image

Thanks for stopping by, xo Lou Mac.

Pear Tree Designs #51 - SPARKLE

Hey there!! Thank you to everyone who joined in with our sketch challenge last week - it was great to see everyones interpretations! So fun. Congrats to the winner JEMIMA'S JEMS. Get in touch with Donna to claim your prize.

This week over at Pear Tree Designs we have a super fun challenge for you.. 'SPARKLE'.. we want to see those shimmery/ shiny/ glittery/ sparkly projects. I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Our sponsor this week is Meljen Designs and the DT were lucky enough to play with some of their images, I chose Birthday Cupcake - it's sooo fancy!!

 Here is my take on the challenge..

I wanted to have a go at a CAS card, haven't done one of those for a while.. if ever?! Not too sure how well it went, I couldn't help but to add a few lengths of bakers twine from The Ribbon Girl, the colours were just too perfect. I have used PTI Hibiscus Burst cardstock to make my card base and added a layer of SU! Certainly Celery cardstock which I have stamped with a PTI stamp in SU! Sage Shadow ink.

I have fussy cut the digi and added dimensional adhesive to the back to make it pop off the card. I added a strip of cupcake paper from a MME Lime Twist pack and tied some bakers twine behind the image. I have added some Cotton Candy Stickles around the outside of the green cardstock and some Diamond Stickles to the stars of the cupcake.

I would like to enter this card into these challenges:

× Ellephantastic - Birthday/Party
× The Secret Crafter - #136 CAS
× Totally Gorjuss - Strings The Thing

Thanks for stopping by today, I'm off to get some more of this LAST EVER ASSIGNMENT researched!! I cannot WAIT to get it finished and printed off!!

xo Lou Mac.

Lexi's Creations #41 - Father's Day

Hey everyone, this fortnight over at Lexi's Creations the new challenge is.. FATHER'S DAY. We want to see you celebrate the male figures in your life!!

Here is my take on the challenge..

I have used Squaddie Scruffles, isn't he perfect for Father's Day? So many of Lexi's images are perfect for a Father's Day card, including Golfer Max and Footie Ali!! Check out Fairy Dust Crafts and see which one is your fave. I have coloured Scruffles using ProMarkers - this is one of my fave colour combos for dark brown fur - Cocoa, Henna and Walnut.

I have cut him out using a labels four nestie and stamped the edges with various 7Gypsies stamps in SU! Crumb Cake ink. I then inked the edges with Frayed Burlap DI.

This fab and very hand ticket sentiment is from Stitchy Sentiments. I coloured around the outside with a green PM to coordinate with the rest of the topper.

The sponsor this fornight is Letraset..

..and the winner will recieve a pack of five ProMarkers.

I would like to enter this topper into these challenges:

× Charisma Cardz - Boy Oh Boy

× Aud Sentiments - A Sentiment/ Card for a Male

× Ladybug Crafts - Meow, Woof, Roar, Squeek ~ Animals

× My Time To Craft - Use a Die Cut

× Party Time Tuesdays - Animal Themed

Thanks for stopping by today, be sure to check out Lexi's Creations and see what the rest of the DT have come up with for Father's Day. xo Lou.

..::Enjoy::..

Hey Sassy fans! Thanks for stopping by today guys, I have something a bit special to share with you! A birthday card I made especially for a Sassy lady.. Tracy Payne!! :) It was Tracy's birthday this past Tuesday and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to give her a little handmade something, even if it was just a simple Birthday card.

I used one of my fave stamps from Set 7 - Boho Chic.. she is available HERE from Funky Kits. I have coloured her using PM's to coordinate with some gorgeous patterned paper from Kaisercraft. I have matted the aqua paper with some SU! Certainly Celery cardstock which I have distressed and machine stitched.

Notice me and my sewing machine, Mr Janome, had a little disagreement when I was stitching this card. Well, I was less than impressed to say the least, so that was the only layer I stitched before I lost my temper with him!! You may notice that this card looks very similar to a card I made for TPS earlier in the week, well, you'd be right. The same patterned paper pack and the same layout - I just loved it so much I had to have another go.

The panel behind Boho Chic is another slice of Certainly Celery which I have die cut with a labels fourteen nestie and embossed with a Script EF to lift the image away from the busy patterned paper. I have fussy cut the image out - but you knew that. You could just see it coming, I know.

The horizontal panel of patterned paper had hints of black, so I went along with that and punched a scalloped border on Basic Black cardstock and stitched along the side. I added a strip of SU ribbon, I couldn't tell you what colour it is!! I then added a tiny PTI tag with the word 'Enjoy' and tied it to the ribbon using twine. I think that just about covers it. As always, don't hesitate to ask me any questions!!

I would like to enter this card into these challenges:

× Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes
× Delightful Challenges - Tags
× Paper Romance - Distressing
× The House That Stamps Built - Stitching
× Truely Scrumptious - Anything Goes
× Clear It Out - Use a Colouring Medium
× Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes
× Scrap Creations - At least 2 DP's

Be sure to check out Erica's post today too! Awesome inspiration!! :) xo Lou.

Yippeee!! Some exciting NEWS!!

What a day I had on Friday!! Sheesh. I sat my last exam.. EVER. It didn't go to plan, but let's face it, it never does!! I'm just keeping my fingers crossed my mark isn't as horrendous as I felt.

Anywho, some of you may know that I applied to the Sentimental Sundays DT call a couple of weeks back. I thought it would be an awesome opportunity to create cards where the sentiment was the main focus as opposed to an image all of the time.

Guess what?! Come 4 o'clock-ish on Friday evening I received an email from Ann Vento!! YES!! I got a place on the SS DT!! It seriously made my WEEK!! I couldn't believe it. I cannot thank Ann enough.

Check out THIS post to see the new challenge for this week which is ANYTHING BUT A CARD.. along with the other lucky people who were chosen as DT members. So fun! :) I can't WAIT to get started using Anns awesome sentiments!

I'm off to write a plan of action of all the crafty things I have to catch up with while I have time today! :) Thanks for stopping by to read about some happy news!

THE SISTERHOOD OF SENTIMENTAL FOOLS

The Stamping Bazaar.. ::Party Time Louisa::

Saturday? Already? Woah, this week has FLOWN by!! I sat my last exam yesterday, thank goodness that is all over. Just one more assignment due for 2nd June, but that's easy, right? I do that ALL of the time, and to be honest, I prefer assignments over exams!! Then.. I WILL BE FREE!! Oh, until I actually hear back from the millions of jobs I've applied to and hopefully get one. I digress.

So today, it is my turn to give you all some Stamping Bazaar inspiration!! This time, in the form of Party Time Louisa. I couldn't wait to get this little cutie inked up - she would be perfect for all sorts of occasions, birthdays and new years especially. She is available HERE from TSB Store, and as always has been designed by our very own Marina Neira.

I decided to keep my card a lot more simple than usual.. with just ONE portion of patterned paper.. well.. two if you count the little hearts.. and no sentiment (which I'm doing a lot of lately..). I know!! The card base has been embossed using a gorgeous doily stamp from Waltzingmouse using some Tim Holtz embossing powder. It sort of has sandy bits in it, like.. after you've heat embossed it, which I think you're meant to sand away to create a 'distressed' sort of look, not too sure how that all went?! I think part of the problem was the cardstock I had embossed it on.. it was textured. I don't know, I think a little experimenting is in order. Anywho..

As usual I coloured my image using PM's, I never remember which colours I use so I'm afraid I can't list them. I have really crap PM storage at the moment, so when I am colouring I tend to have all of my pens spread out on my desk and not in individual piles so I find it hard to keep track of which ones I'm using. I'm going to try and write down colour combos which work well together, or rather, the colour combos which I like using and working with - so I always have a reference, which should make the whole colouring experience faster and hassle free! LOL. In theory, at least.

I tried a little 'out of the box' technique with her hat, I think it worked well. This is not the first time I have tried stuff like this, but I'm always a little hesitant with more complicated images, incase I cut too far in and then mess up the lovely clean cut of the nestie. Ahhh, all in due course. I added a few punched hearts with a fiskars punch and added some Cotton Candy Stickles. The patterned paper I've used is from Sweet Threads, one of the new Basic Grey collections. Such cool papers - they actually look textured like material!!

Again, I digress. I would like to enter this card into these challenges:

× Digi Doodles Best - #60 Anything Goes
× DYSU Challenge Blog - #21 Animals ~ She's a Lioness ;)
× Papercrafting Journey - Anything Goes and/or Your Fave.. ~ ProMarkers are my fave colouring medium
× 4 Crafty Chicks - Colour Challenge  ~ I'm hoping the colours of my patterned paper are a close enough match
× Crafting for All Seasons - Anything Goes
× The Paper Shelter - Anything Goes

Just incase you don't know, every Monday over on The Stamping Bazaar Blog there is a break down of the weeks inspiration. I share Saturdays with Susan, and the other talented designers give you a taste of TSB throughout the other days of the week. In addition to that, every Wednesday we also have a Special Guest Designer Spot which is always worth a look. So be sure to stop by the Blog regular to see what we have to share with you.

Be sure to stop by Susans Blog today to see what she has to share with you all. Thanks for stopping by, xo Lou.

Tickled Pink Stamps Challenge #21 - 3 Patterned Papers

This is my third post as GD over at Tickled Pink Stamps!! Woah, time is FLYing! I just hope time doesn't fly too fast as I am loving it. Working along side such a talented DT with the most gorgeous images means we all practically inhale inspiration!

Today over at TPS Challenges we want to see you use THREE PATTERNED PAPERS on your project. The winner will recieve TWO DIGIS OF THEIR CHOICE from TPS.

Here is my take on the challenge using the gorgeous Lil' Birthday Luca, which I have coloured using my Cool Grey PMs, with a few splashes of aqua here and there to tie in with the patterned paper..

The paper is from Kaisercraft Chapter One 6 1/2" patterned paper pack. I gotta say, that was my first encounter with a 6 1/2" patterned paper pack as was it my first encounter with Kaisercraft products. And I liked it! The paper packs have normal papers and speciality papers as well as die cuts, so FUN!! I paired the papers up with some Basic Black and Certainly Celery cardstock from SU!.

Isn't he handsome?! I added some liquid pearls to his buttons and what not, just for something extra, and then fussy cut him out. But you knew that right? I do that with EVERY image I work with these days - I can't seem to get away from it! I've even bought myself some gorgeous Stempelglede stamps to add some details around the outside of images I leave on bigger pieces of paper, but I can't NOT cut images out! LOL. I'm sure it's just a phase *rolls eyes*

This cute little tag is from PTI, I LOVE them for adding tiny accents on cards. I stamped the polka dot detail using SU! Sage Shadow ink and tied it around my card using Lime Green bakers twine from The Ribbon Girl. I think that just about covers it - as always, if you have any questions please to do not hestiate to email me or leave a comment!

I would like to enter this card into these challenges:
× I Did It Creations - Anything Goes
× 2 Sisters - Use a Digi
× Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
× Paper Sundaes - Pop It Up

Thanks for stopping by today! xo Lou.

Clay Creations..

Hey there, thanks for stopping by today. Blogger has been so quiet of late, stupid commenting is broken, isn't it? It seems okay when the comment boxes pop up but if the comment box is embedded in the post it just isn't having any of it! For goodness sake. Let's hope it rights itself soon - I feel lost! LOL.

I have a few pictures to share with you today of my first ever attempts at some clay flowers. I bought some molds (moulds sp?!) off eBay - which were originally meant for sugarcraft, but I emailed the lady and she was really helpful. She said they were suitable for things like polymer clay and resin and oven safe up to 275 

°C. Naturally I had to give it a go.

I used some Transparent Fimo clay, which you can mix with things like re-inkers to get different colours. I bought some Ranger Adirondack alcohol inks to try with - althought it seems to me like the colours are really muted (see green flowers), but I'll keep on experimenting.

I also tried mixing the Transparent Fimo with some DI re-inkers (see dark blue flowers), the colour is much more intense and I was really happy with the results. The bright white flowers and the more turquoise/blue flowers are made using Viva Decor Pardo clay which I bought in those specific colours. The blue colour is just my ultimate fave ever!! LOVE that colour!

Here is a close up of some of the flowers - so much detail. I was really impressed. I'm off to browse eBay for some more! LOL.

I really want to achieve a colour which resembles Kraft, that way I will have a bunch of neutral embellishments I can use with any patterned paper. If you follow my blog you'll know how I am about Kraft, right?! LOL! Perhaps I should try some Old Paper DI re-inker!! *makes mental note*, scratch that *writes in notebook*

There are some gorgeous molds on Etsy which I would love to try, but I don't want to get stung by the Royal Mail for import duty and all that jazz for a few £4 molds, I think I'll keep searching the UK market for now and see how I get on.

Although I have only tried these molds with clay, I have ordered some ice resin stuff, which I'm waiting to arrive. Then I will get to playing! I'll let you know how it all goes. I think this is something I am really going to enjoy. If anyone would be interested I may sell some of these too. Just give me a shout!

Have a good day, whatever you're doing. I'm off to pick a parcel up from the Royal Mail depot later.. which I thinnnnnk is my mini album from Roz! Yiippeeee!! xo

Pear Tree Designs - Challenge #50 - Sketch

Hey guys, I have made two cards to share with you today, following the sketch over at Pear Tree Designs for the new weekly challenge. Thank you to everyone who joined in last week - I'm sorry I couldn't keep up with the comments - you guys join in with these challenges in droves! LOL. But I would like to thank each and every one of your for joining in and making the DTs job of commenting so fun!

Here is the sketch for this weeks challenge.. Don't you love sketches?! You can use as it, or flip it, twist it.. aslong as the basic sketch is still visible on your design.

The sponsor this week is.. 

http://cardmadfairys-creations.blogspot.com/

.. and the winner will recieve a set of 6 new digi images from Jennis site. The DT had the opportunity to use some new images from our sponsor, so be sure to stop by everyones blog to see them all. I used this cute little three flower digi, I coloured it in monochrome grey and added some yellow stitching to the middle flower.

I used Cosmo Cricket Earth Love papers, I had a hard time using the sky paper - as I only have a little left, and it's soo perfect for those 'scene' cards. I distressed and inked the edges and added it all to a Naturals Ivory card base. This isn't my most fave card ever - I had totally ran out of mojo when it came to making this. So.. I apologise.

I added a Postmark sentiment from Whimsy stamps to finish off the sketch and add a sentiment.

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Although I didn't like that ^^^ card, I really enjoyed working with this sketch and this is the first card I made using it, this time with a Some Odd Girl© image, designed by Kristy Dalman. She is adorable, and called Mae Yay. What a dream to colour, using my PM's of course. I used some papers from MME Lime Twist Life of the Party collection - such bright and cheerful colours, perfect for a birthday card!!

I used a doily stamp from a Waltzingmouse set in SU! Melon Mambo ink to create some interest on the card base which is Hibiscus Burst from PTI, and of course I had to add a rounded corner. The sentiment is from another PTI set which I have heat embossed in which onto some dark patterned paper and layered with some more patterned paper from the set which I have die cut using my pinking circles nesties.

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I hope both of these cards have given you some inspiration to join in with the sketch this week! I always think sketch challenges are so fun, and are my fave to play along with. Check out what the rest of the DT have come up with and leave them some love.

xo Lou.

Sassy Sister

[Apologies for this post being a little photo heavy - but there were so many gorgeous things to show you!!]

So how did you lovely lot enjoy our Hop last weekend?! Wasn't it fun!? I really enjoyed reading all of your reactions to the new Steampunk stamps. It is such a grown up set and so set apart from the rest - you just knew you had to have them all as soon as you laid eyes on them, am I right? Heehee.

Well, this afternoon I have a card to show you using a gorgeous stamp from Set 6.. she's called Rapunzel and is available from Funky Kits HERE. A while ago I seen Kellie Winnell stamping with coloured ink onto Kraft cardstock and was amazed with the results - so naturally the technique was filed away somewhere in the depths of my brain for later testing. I decided the time had come to test the technique, and here are the results..

My boyfriend sprang it upon me that he "wanted" a birthday card for his sister, with the specific words 'sister' inside. Well, I had already made a card for her from me, so I had to wrack my brains all over again and come up with something totally different which I thought she would like. Out came Rapunzel, I HAD to ink her up again. After my first few failed attempts at water colouring with DIs (Elaine ;)) I had never let her see the light of day again.

I stamped her in Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink onto SU! Crumb Cake cardstock. I had tried this with Bazzill Kraft before changing my mind, I found the impurities (as much as I love them - they're the reason I love Kraft so..) in that particular cardstock took the attention away from the image. Using the Crumb Cake gives a much crisper image. I then cut her out using nesties Labels Four, one of my all time faves. I LOVE nesties!! I then inked the edges using Frayed Burlap DI to make it stand out from the patterned paper.. which is from Prima BTW.

 

This beautiful bronze charm and brown gingham ribbon are both from The Ribbon Girl. They were the perfect embellishments for this, what I would like to call 'sophisticated' card. I used a little brown bakers twine to attatch the charm and created the bow using my Bow Easy tool.

Here is the inside of the card - I decided to make another gatefold, incase you hadn't already realised.. LOL. I cut the letters to make up 'sister' using the TH Vintage Market alpha die. The letters are the perfect size for cards. The letters are white patterned paper from the Prima pack and they have very light blue music notes on them, oh so pretty. I wish I had taken a close up. NVM. I cut another panel of Crumb Cake cardstock using labels four and stamped a Happy Birthday sentiment from a PTI set in Crumb Cake ink.

Here is the envelobox I created for the card using The Ulimate Pro. Another Crumb Cake labels four and the recipients name in matching patterned paper.

To make the closure I simply cut a little labels four and attatched to the flap using my regular adhesive. To the free area I applied strips of Tombow Mono adhesive and left to dry over night without closing it. This way it creates a removable adhesive strip which is strong enough to keep the envelobox shut but not enough to rip the cardstock when it is opened. Genius. It took me ages to work out a way to do that! LOL! *taps self on head* hollow? Me thinks.

Well, I hope that's enough info for ya all to go along with the mountain of pictures today! Enjoy the rest of your Sunday whatever you're doing!

I would like to enter this card into these challenges:
× Wee Memories - Stamp It
× Card Makin Mama's - Recipe 1 image, 2 papers, 3 different embellishments
× Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
× Prairie Fairy Fridays - More than ONE fold
× Our Craft Lounge - Supply Challenge - Twine
× Aud Sentiments Challenge - No Sentiment
× Cute Card Thursday - Stamp on Kraft

Oh, and as a little side note, I thought I would share another Sassy card I made for a different DT earlier this week..

This time using Pillow Talk, available HERE from Funky Kits. If you want to know more details about this card, see THIS POST.

xo Lou.

The Stamping Bazaar.. ::Marvin the Brown Bat::

Crikey, it's Saturday again *rubs eyes, checks calendar* ..yup, definitely Saturday.. and almost the end of May! Can you believe it?! Where is this year disappearing too? Anywho, I have another gorgeous creation to share with you, using an image from The Stamping Bazaar.

Every Monday over on The Stamping Bazaar Blog Emma and Susan, the DT Coordinators, give a breakdown of the inspirational posts the DT have got for you guys throughout the week. Each one using a gorgeous image designed by our very own Marina Neria for The Stamping Bazaar. I share my Saturdays with Susan, so be sure to stop by her BLOG today too and see what she has to share with you all.

Incase you haven't come across this little fella before, although I don't know how.. he's the cutest bat in blog land, his name is Marvin, and he is over the moon you stopped by today. Marvin the Bat is available here from TSB Store.

I used some of my new nesties I treated myself to a few weeks ago to make an unusual card base. These are the pinking circles and they're so fun, and very versatile - which I'm all for!! I used a slice of paper from the gorgeous MME Lime Twist Life of the Party pack to create a background for Marvin and to create some extra embellishment on this mini card in the form of two banner flags - also cut from nesties and stamped with a coordinating Waltzingmouse stamp. Don't you love it when stuff just comes together and coordinates perfectly - it makes our job so much easier!

I have coloured Marvin with PM's as usual and added some strands of bakers twine around the dips in the pinking circle on the right hand side of him - it adds a neat little embellishment. It would look awesome on a smaller circle all the way around, sort of like a retro doily, if there is such a thing?! LOL.

And finally I added some little white pearls from Papermania for something else. Such a small space to work on and Marvin takes up so much room with his massive wing span! LOL. I love him, and I hope you do too. Check out the TSB Store and see which other cuties catch your eye.

Stop by Susans blog and be sure to check out her creation this week using Louisa the Lioness! xo Lou.

Tickled Pink Stamps Challenge #20 - Distressing

Afternoon everyone, how has your day been? This is a scheduled post – so by the time you’re reading this.. I’ll be heading home from my second last ever uni exam. Ever. Wow. *pats on back* LOL.

Anywho, that isn’t what you’re here for. The challenge this week over at Ticked Pink Stamps is ‘Distressing’. Take that how you wish – I have interpreted it as paper distressing.. as in roughing up the edges of my paper, only in small amounts. :)

I have used the gorgeous Lil’ Birthday Kellita, I LOVE her hair!! Mine used to be that long at one point! :( Until I made the stupid decision to get it all chopped. Silly Me! I have coloured her using PM’s – this image totally highlights the gaps in my blue PM’s! LOL. Never mind, try and look beyond the colouring. Can you see my two little portions of distressing? On the patterned paper behind Kellita I have distressed the edges and created two little tears on opposite sides which I have rolled over. I stamped my sentiment onto some kraft cardstock using Blue Bayou ink and distressed the edges of that too. All distressing has been created using the Tonic Paper Distresser – invaluable little tool, although it creates a lot of mess which makes me nose stuffy!! Boo!!

I have used one of my all-time fave patterned papers (at the moment..) MME and some Baja Breeze cardstock from SU! which coordinates PERECTLY! The card base has been stamped with the Music Notes standard wheel from SU! in Crumb Cake ink. The blue resin flower is from Lisa’s Gifts and Jewellery, the flower and pearls are from Prima and the ribbon is from SU!

I’m still on a blue and brown kick, and I think due to some of the new patterned paper collections I’ve bought, this kick is going to last a while. But I’m not complaining, I LOVE the combo! :)

I hope to see you over at TPS sharing your distressed creation! xo Lou.

Sassy Storage..

So.. the day has arrived.. my FIRST EVER attempt at a photo tutorial. Please bare with me, I did do a trial run before I made the final project, but how well this is all going to go on the actual day.. we will have to see. LOL. I got this idea from Crafter's Companion. Sara comes up with such clever ideas, and I thought this would be the perfect thing to store those Sassy images ready to be coloured up.

I used Winking Student for this project, I gotta say, she is a cutie. I love her pose! She is available HERE from Funky Kits!

Introducing 'Mini Accordian Folder'..

Here is what you will need:

× x1 12"x12" sheet of heavy weight cardstock - I used Core'dinations
× x1 sheet of  medium weight cardstock - I used Rymans 200gsm coated cardstock
× Strong red tape and your normal adhesive
× Paper trimmer
× Score board
× x3 C6 envelopes
× Patterned paper - I used Basic Grey Basics White and Sassafras Indie Girl
× Your chosen Simply Sassy image - I used Winking Student

So, now you have gathered your supplies - let's start at the beginning, it's always a good place to start..

First, take your three envelopes and glue them shut - if you don't want to lick and stick, your normal adhesive would do fine. You then want to cut all three envelopes in half as shown..

Next.. take your medium weight cardstock and cut to 6"x4.5". This strip will form the 'accordian' part of the folder. You will need to score this strip along the 6" side at every half an inch. TOP TIP: score at every inch on one side, then flip over and score at every half inch, this way you will have scored opposite sides and this will help to make well creased mountain and valley folds.

Next, onto the front and back panels.. take your heavy weight cardstock and cut a strip 4.5" wide, continue to cut this into a strip 5.5" long and another 3.5" long.

Take the 4.5"x5.5" cardstock and score at 3.5" and 4.5" along the 5.5" side as shown..

Crease your scorelines, this will form the back panel and front flap of the accordian folder.

This is where you should be now:



Next up is adhering it all together..

Take the 'accordian' base and turn it so the two end panels are pointing up, apply some red tape (any strong adhesive will do) as shown and attach the back panel.

After you have attached the back panel, this is how the accordian base should look - apply more red tape to every other strip, this is where you will attatch the envelopes.

Now that my envelopes have been attached, this is how the folder should look. All that is left to do now is decorate the front cover, attatch it to the folder and glue the tops of the envelopes together to get the 'accordian' effect when you open it out.

I have my supplies out ready to decorate my front cover. I used Winking Student as well as some papers from Sassafras Indie Girl collection, I have stitched strips and added a sentiment on Kraft cardstock. Perfect.

Add a strip of red tape to the last strip on the accordian folder, apply some regular adhesive on the back of the front panel, leaving about an inch at the top to tuck the flap in, and adhere all to the very front envelope. Stand the folder up and ensure all envelopes match up. Apply a strip of regular adhesive along the edge of each envelope to attach them to each other - this will create the 'accordian' effect when you open the folder.

This is the final result.. each section (6 in total) can be used to house different Sassy images. Keep them safe ready for colouring, or you could have a few pockets dedicated to coloured images ready to use on projects if that's how you roll! :)

So there you have it. I do hope you give it a go and test drive the tutoiral for me! If you have any questions, or if the photos aren't clear enough please let me know and I'll do what I can to help!

I'll admit - that wasn't as scary as I thought! Yipee. Keep your eyes peeled for another Sassy tutorial I have coming up very soon! xo Lou.