A Busy Month, A Tutorial And A Great Deal

This is a long post, but bear with me, It ends with something good!

The next month is a busy one for Stampin Up. Make sure to put these dates in your diary, better still, opt to follow my blog (link is on the right hand column) and you will be notified when there are new updates.

• Sale-A-Bration ends TODAY. I will be accepting orders until 9pm AEDST.
• The retirement list is released TOMORROW. Make sure you check my blog for the full list. Items on the retirement list are available only while stocks last, so make sure you get your order in early. I will be able to update you daily on the quantity available from Stampin Up
• MARCH 31st is the last day to order from the 2008-2009 catalogue and summer mini catalogue
• The new 2009-2010 catalogue will be released on APRIL 1ST, 2009. Email me for your copy

Now I did say earlier in the week that I would do a tutorial for the Crop-A-Dile, so here it is! let me give you a tour first:

This is what we are talking about – The Crop-A-Dile, other wise know as ‘The Weapon’ from the gals at my last workshop lol. Its a hole punch and eyelet setter. It can punch through chipboard, tin, and multiple layers of paper with ease.These a some of the eyelets available from Stampin Up. On the Left we have the Jumbo Pewter eyelets, and on the right we have the Basic eyelets that co-ordinate with some of the Stampin Up colours. They come in the plastic containers you see, which is really handy. More eyelets can be found on page 145 of the 2008-2009 catalogue

*NOTE: March 1st 2009 , the small eyelets are on the retirement list, and have sold out, Sorry
First thing to know is that there is a top and a bottom, and so you don’t get confused, Its written on both sides of the crop-a-dile. ‘Base’ is the bottom and the top has a little symbol and an arrow facing down. The crop-a-dile can silently set many sized eyelets, and that’s where the black squares come into play. Its a little hard to tell, but each side of the black squares have either a number or letter.

On both sides (the picture only shows the bottom one being rotated) the black squares can be pulled and rotated until you find the one you need.

Be sure to keep the instructions of the back until you become familiar with which ones you use. It tells you which letter and number combination to use for setting different sized eyelets.

On the side of the crop-a-dile, you will find one side which reads 1/8th of an inch, and the other is 3/16th of an inch. This decides the side of the hole you will punch. 1/8th is smaller, while the 3/16 is the larger of the two. You will also find a sliding gauge, which can be changed to suit how far in on the paper you want to punch your hole. This is great if you need the eyelets to line up straight. Just twist the round knob and slide it up or down to suits your needs.

So that’s the basic in’s and out’s of the crop-a-dile, now how do you use it?

First thing you need to do, is punch a hole for the eyelet to fit through. For the smaller eyelets that Stampin Up sell, you will need to use the 1/8 inch side. Just slide your paper in the space and squeeze the handles, and presto, you have a hole!

Once you have your hole, put the eyelet in.

To set this eyelet, I am using the combination of ‘C’ on the top, which has a little ‘pointy stick’, and ‘3’ for the base which is for small eyelets. Position the crop-a-dile over the eyelet

and SQUEEZE

and would you believe that is it?! No need for hammers or other noisy setters. This does it all for you, silently and with relatively little force

If you would like to order this ‘Weapon’, I am offering a special for the month of March.

~10%off the price of the Crop-A-Dile when you purchase it from me during the month of March~

Click HERE to email me with your order

And if you don’t want to use it as an eyelet setter, it works great as a wrist strengthener lol!

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Origami Box Tutorial

Be warned, this box is addictive! Once you make one, you want to make more, in lots of different sizes. As promised in my last post, this is the picture tutorial for the origami box I made at Melany’s workshop.

You need a square piece of paper. Any size you like. The one from I made at the workshop was 21cm squared. This one I am using a 6 inch x 6 inch square.

Step 1. You need to mark the middle of the paper. You can do this by either folding the paper in half, then folding it in half in the other direction (I did this at the workshop). Or you can measure out the centre and put a dot with a pencil which is what I did for this tutorial. Either one works fine.

Step 2. Fold all the corners into the middle point

Step 3. Fold one of the edges to the centre point

Step 4. Then fold the opposite edge to meet the other at the centre point

Step 5. Unfold the 2 edges and fold the remaining edges in the same way. Once you have done that, your paper should look like the second picture below.

Step 6. Fold out two (2) of the triangles

Step 7. Bring up two (2) of the long sides to make a ‘boat’

Step 8. On one end you need to bring the 2 points together. This part can be a bit tricky the first time.
Step 9. Fold the end over back into the box, and repeat for the other side.

and presto, you have a box!

For the lid you have 2 options. The first is to cut another piece of paper the exact same size as the base and fold exactly the same EXCEPT when you fold the edges together towards the centre, leave about half a centimetre from the centre (picture below). This need to be done on the four edges that fold horizontally to the centre. This will allow the box to be slightly bigger and fit over the base.

Or you can cut a piece of paper 1 centimetre square BIGGER than the base and fold EXACTLY the same. I just happened to have two 6 inch x 6 inch papers on hand, so i just left the half centimetre gap when I folded.

This is the finished product, very easy to decorate, and so simple to make. Let me know how you go with making an origami box. If you like, leave a link in the comments section so we can all have a look!

Stampin’ Up! Supplies:
Cardstock: Whisper White (white band around box), Old Olive (Scallop Circle)
Paper: Bali Breeze Designer Paper
Punches: 1 3/8 Circle, 1 1/4 Circle, Scallop Circle

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Paper Flowers

A quick tutorial for today! MAKING PAPER FLOWERS.

I would love to say this is an original idea, but it’s not. It an idea from the Kaisercraft website.

Lets gets started. Here’s the supplies you will need, 2 punched/cut out circles (I have used 2 Scallop Circles), some scissors, and a brad.

The first thing you will want to do is mark the centre of the circle with a pencil, it doesnt need to be exact, but close enough. Then you will need to make equal cuts around the circle, not quite to the centre. The scallops make it REALY easy to know where to cut. Do this to both of the circles.

Next take one of the cut sections between your fingers and ‘fold’ them in half. Continue to do this for all sections on both circles. (sorry the pictures are small) Put a small hole in each of the circles to put a brad through, place the circles on top of each other and place the brad in.

And thats IT. Here is a card I made with the flowers. (I plan on using them on a scrapbook page SOON. They are very quick and simple, and so effective. They give a ncie amount of texture to any project.

If you would like to try making another Paper Flower , Check out my latest tutorial HERE

Stampin; Up! Supplies:

Cardstock:Whisper White, Real Red
Paper: Rose Red & Certainly Celery Print Designer Paper
Stamps: Friendship Blooms- for the leaves (retired set), Fast and fun Notes (Happy Birthday Wishes greeting)
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Snail adhesive, Scallop Circle, Scallop Edge, Old Olive Marker

Non Stampin Up Supplies: White Brad

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