Paper Crafts » Judy Nolan

Clover Flower Frill Templates giveaway

May 142013

Decades ago, when the elementary schools in my hometown of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin organized summer recreational activities, I was introduced to many types of arts and crafts. If it weren’t for those programs, in fact, I suspect I might never have learned about many of the crafts I enjoy today. We wove lanyard keychains, pounded and rolled clay to make animals, filled easel paper with poster paint drawings, soaked reeds in water to weave baskets, and paper machêd balloons with strips of newspaper and paste to form bowls. Between one craft activity and the next, we played softball, freeze tag and box hockey; held tourneys for ping pong. chess and checkers, and acted out skits. We made homemade kites, threw water balloons at each other, and played hop scotch and four-square. One day there was a corn roast after we soaked the cobs in barrels of water and wrapped them in foil to cook over hot coals. My mother, who was a stay-at-home photographer who specialized in retouching negatives for wedding photos, likely needed some quiet time to get her work done. She sent the two older kids, my brother and me, to the summer school playground while the younger kids, eight and ten years younger than me, stayed home. She got something out of the arrangement, and so did my brother and I. They were glorious summers, ones I probably would not have had a chance to enjoy, for left to my own devices, I would have sat at home all summer and read books.

Left to right: Mark, Monica (in my mother’s lap), Rick and me. This photo predates the summer playground years by a couple of years, but it is one of the few photos in which all four children in my family are pictured.

One summer we made hundreds of crepe paper flowers for a 4th of July playground float. We folded layers of crepe paper squares into quarters, and then folded each half of the quarter once more. We rounded off the open, unfolded edge with scissors, cut a tiny hole into the tip, and threaded a pipe cleaner into the hole to form stamens on one end, and a flower stem on the other. Then we wrapped the flower “stem” with green floral tape to secure everything together. With our fingers, we fluffed out the crepe paper folds. In just a short while, we had a beautiful flower that was easy to assemble.

That folding method—taking a square and folding it into eight parts, then rounding it to form a scalloped circle—is the principle behind Clover’s Flower Frill Templates, which come in three sizes: Mini, Extra Small, Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large. Each package comes with two templates of each size, presumably so that when you wear one out, you have a spare. I am not certain why Clover did not laminate these card stock templates the same way that maps are laminated for durability, but I am guessing that this is their way of anticipating future sales!

Clover Flower Frill templates come in Mini (2″), Extra Small (2-1/2*), Small (3″), Medium (4″), Large (5″), and Extra Large (6″).

So, how do the templates work? The instructions that come with the tool are the same for every size. You cut squares of fabric (such as muslin, batik, organza, lightweight crepe, lightweight satin or Georgette), medium weight paper (no heavier than 24 lb.), tissue paper or basically any crisp but not-too-thick material. Fold your squares in half. Ahead of time, thread a needle with some strong thread at least 18 inches long, and tie a knot on the end. Then:

Fold the template in half with the folded fabric sandwiched between both halves. The white half of the template should be on one side of the “sandwich,” and the colored half of the template should be on the other side.
Fold the template in half again, with the number “2″ sections facing each other.
Fold the number “3″ sections on one side together so that they face each other.
Fold the number “3″ sections on the other side together so that they also face each other.
You are now finished folding, and should have a wedge of fabric with one curved edge. With fabric scissors or pinking shears, cut the fabric along the curved edge of the wedge, making sure not to cut the template.
Insert the threaded needle into the point of the wedge, and pull the thread all the way through the fabric, leaving a few inches for tying later.
Remove the template.
Repeat Steps 1 through 8 as many times as you wish (Clover suggests 15 to 25 times), adding wedges to the thread according to your personal preference to form the petals of a Frill Flower.
Remove the needle and tie the two ends of the thread together with a double knot.
Open up the fabric folds to form your flower. If you like, add a bead, pearl, brad or button to the center of your flower.

If you prefer visual instructions, you can view the Clover video below.

Here is a mini gratitude journal I embellished with a cream paper flower using the Clover Mini Flower Frill Template. I originally tried to use lace fabric, but didn’t like the results.

The instructions called for squares measuring 2.75 x 2.75 inches, but after I cut my paper, I crumpled it to give the petals a more distressed look. Then I uncrumpled the paper, folded it in half, and continued with the template instructions. I threaded 10 “petals” onto a length of buttonhole thread, then cut a circle of heavyweight stabilizer that I glued onto the back of the flower using Fabri-Tac™ Permanent Adhesive. This glue is a great alternative to using a glue gun, especially since the adhesive is flexible when dry. I sewed a button to the center of the flower, then opened up each petal and fluffed it a bit. Then I walked over to my kitchen sink, got my fingertips wet, and drizzled water liberally over the flower. I crumpled the paper a little more, opened it up again, and then dried the flower with a heat gun. Yes, there are lots of steps to this process, but it was fun because I didn’t really know what the outcome would be.

You can use Flower Frills not only for paper crafting, but also for hair ornaments, corsages, wedding decorations, home decor and more. You can visit the Clover site to download project templates found HERE.

Making these flowers was definitely an adventure. I suspect every flower turns out differently, and that’s part of what makes it fun for me. It was so much fun, in fact, that I’d like to share some of that enjoyment with a giveaway that includes a complete set of Clover Flower Frill Templates in all available sizes. To enter the giveaway, tell me in the comments below about a craft you learned and enjoyed during childhood. I will announce the winner this Friday, May 17th.

More ways to modify vinyl sleeves for your papercrafting tools

Organization Tips, Paper Crafts, Tool Talk

Feb 152013

In the last couple of weeks I have been organizing my paper crafting tools, moving them from plastic shoe boxes to three-ring binders to make them more visible and accessible. In previous posts I discussed how I used a variety of vinyl sleeves to store acrylic and rubber cling stamps, as well as cutting dies. These sleeves can be purchased at office supply stores.

This last week I transferred all of my embossing folders and Fiskars Texture Plates into binders. I used a standard-sized three ring binder for Cuttlebug™, Lifestyle Crafts™ (formerly QuicKutz) and Sizzix® embossing folders, and a smaller 7-1/2 inch x 9 inch binder for Fiskars Texture Plates.

Because I already had an unused box of vinyl sheet protectors, I decided to use them for the embossing folders. However, they had to be subdivided into 2 sections to hold two embossing folders, side by side. Ahead of time, I sliced a sheet of 8-1/2 inch x 11 inch card stock in half, cutting it 1/16th of an inch shy of a half-sheet. Then I inserted it into the sheet protector, and used the edge of the card stock as my sewing guide. In almost no time at all, I had a thick stack of pages ready to insert in my binder. Instead of labeling the embossing folders, I stuck labels to half-sheets of card stock. Why? Sometimes I apply paint or embossing powder to the plastic embossing folders. You don’t want to adhere paper labels to something that will get washed later.

Some of my embossing folders come in varied sizes, particular when I have bought them as a set. I had to sew customized pockets for them, which was surprisingly easy to do. I took a sheet of thin chipboard (the kind you find in a package of sheet protectors—no big surprise there!) and slid it inside the sheet protector. Then I used a metal ruler as a cutting guide, and sliced through the vinyl with a Slice™ ceramic cutting blade. You can use any blade that is handy, to be honest, but use a light touch. You don’t want to cut through your chipboard to the back side of the sheet protector! Then I sewed the open sides of the pockets. The sheet protector shown below has four pockets.

I discovered that the lightweight pages in the binder have a tendency to droop, and was afraid this would result in torn pages where the binder rings went through the pages. To remedy this difficulty, I just wrapped an elastic hair band around the binder. This worked nicely.

My next challenge was customizing the sheet protectors to fit 5-3/4 inch x 7 inch Fiskars Texture Plates. This took more work. Initially I sliced off 1-7/8 inches from both the top and bottom of a sheet protector, and 2-7/8 inches from the right side. Then I took what was left and tried to stitch the bottom and right edges to form a pocket. This didn’t work because the two layers of vinyl were too slippery. You can’t pin vinyl, and I didn’t want to take the time to stabilize the two layers by “pinning” them with paper clips. Instead, I sliced off part of the bottom, then stitched it closed right away. Then I sliced off the right side of the page, and stitched it closed, too. Doing it in stages seemed to keep the vinyl from slipping. You’ll notice that I used a permanent marker to dot where holes need to be punched to fit the page inside the binder.

Left photo: Trim bottom edge of sheet protector and stitch it.
Right photo: Trim right edge of sheet protector and stitch it.

The finished pocket holds a Fiskars Texture Plate snugly. I hole-punched the left side of the page to fit inside the binder.

As I was punching holes in the customized pockets, I learned that if I was even slightly off in my measurements, the page didn’t line up with the binder rings. My choices were to be more careful, or use a more accommodating punch. I used my McGill Badge/Slot Punch, and that worked much better.

I know it sounds like a lot of work to customize vinyl sheet protectors for your embossing folders and texture plates, but I got the job done in one evening—not too bad!

New Fiskars® AdvantEdge™ punch system

Paper Crafts, Tool Talk

Feb 102013

Everyone who walks into my paper crafting studio realizes right away that I’m a tool junkie, but also that I love Fiskars® products. If you enter “fiskars” in the search box for my Web site, you’ll see multiple posts in which I discuss Fiskars® toys. Well, I’m sitting in front of my computer this evening to tell you about another one, the new Fiskars® AdvantEdge™ Punch System. This system, when you pull everything out of the box, includes a frame that holds your paper and punching tool in place, an adapter for Fiskars® Interchangeable Border Punches, and one AdvantEdge™ punch called Flower Garden.

You can, of course, purchase additional punches that will work with the system, but they need to be AdvantEdge™ Interchangeable Border punches or standard Interchangeable Border punches.

On the left is a design produced by the Flower Garden punch. On the right is Ironworks.

The Fiskars® AdvantEdge™ Punch System features what the company calls “lock-and-slide technology,” which basically means that you lock both your punch and paper into the frame, punch the paper, then slide the punch over to the next spot and punch again while your paper is perfectly aligned. Using the Flower Garden punch that comes with the system, you can see that your first step is to insert the punch into its carriage. You lift up a magnetic paper rail, slide your paper beneath it and into the punch slot at the same time, then drop the rail that locks your paper into place. Then you push down on the handle (which does take a bit of effort), and your first punch is done. The carriage slides to the right to a notch in the frame and locks into place, at which point you push the handle down again, extending your punch design. Repeat this process for the full width of your paper, and your design is finished.

If you have a smaller standard sized Interchangeable Border punch, you can insert it in the orange adapter. On the bottom are some “wings” that you need to open up. Drop this into the adapter, and insert the adapter into the carriage of the punch frame. You’ll notice a notch on the left side of the frame, which is where the left wing of your punch needs to fit inside. If you forget to do this and start punching, your punch will not be properly aligned, and you will likely break off a wing. I know this because my husband, who also loves gadgets, tried to use the punch this way, and did indeed break off the wing. (He felt badly and replaced it right away!) From this point forward, the procedure for punching your design is exactly the same as the procedure for the larger, heavier AdvantEdge™ punch.

The smaller standard-sized Interchangeable Border punches produce an edge design. The one below is called Lacy Doubles.

In a previous post, I discussed using a clear vinyl over-the-door shoe organizer for paper crafting tools. This is where I put my punches. You’ll notice, however, that the punches are stackable; there are handy notches that keep them in place. Because the AdvantEdge™ punches are heavy (1 pound, 10 ounces each), you’ll want to make sure the surface on which they are stored is sturdy. Be careful that you don’t drop these on your feet, either—I’ll bet you could break a toe pretty easily if that happened!

You’ll also notice that the handle for the frame stands up when not in use, making it inconvenient for storage. For now, I wrapped a wide rubber band around the frame to fold the handle flat for storage, but I will likely replace it with a cloth-covered elastic headband.

So, what can you do with these punches that you can’t do with others? Well, I’ll admit I was a little skeptical about purchasing the Fiskars® AdvantEdge™ Punch System at first. Yes, even I, a confirmed Fiskars-lover, was unsure. The price, at $49.99, was not cheap, and the price of the AdvantEdge™ punches was a little scary at $29.99 a punch. What clinched the sale for me, however, was a 35% off discount at Archiver’s on both the system and the punches, the ease of use, and the results. No one else that I know designs a punch with a design this wide (2-3/4 inches). You can use the punched borders to decorate a package, scrapbook page or card, and wrap candles, a bar of soap, a glass jar, small bags or tiny gift boxes. The narrower standard-sized Interchangeable Border punches produce what is essentially a ribbon, which has a wide range of applications.

You don’t have to use the entire border, but can instead cut apart elements and use them as scrapbooking, card or journaling accents.

I discovered through trial and error that you can fold up to 3 layers of aluminum foil inside a folded piece of typing paper, and then punch a design. When you’re done, you have a pretty, shiny design! Be aware, however, that the Fiskars® AdvantEdge™ Punch System is designed only for paper or card stock, not other materials, so you are using the tool at your own risk when you experiment with anything else.

I can imagine using a punched design as a stencil, spray misting, chalking or sponging over it. The “stencil” can be re-used as a design element. I’ll bet these punched designs would work well with mono printing, too, if you have a Gelli pad.

Though I do like my new tool, I must admit that there are both pros and cons to the Fiskars® AdvantEdge™ Punch System. You’ll have to decide for yourself if the pros outweigh the cons.

Pros:

The system is easy to learn how to use.
The lock-and-slide technology makes it easy to align both your paper and your punch for consistent results.
The wide AdvantEdge™ punch is unique on the market (so far), punching deep, double-sided borders.
The system accommodates standard-sized Interchangeable Border punches at a reasonable price of $11.99 each (even cheaper online!), giving you a nice range of designs from which to choose.
There are lots of creative ways to use the border punches.

Cons:

The price of the system and individual AdvantEdge™ punches is steep (but can be overcome if you shop for sales or look online).
Improper insertion of the standard-sized Interchangeable Border punches will break them.
The handle on the frame does not fold down and lock into place, making storage tricky unless you bind it with a rubber band or elastic headband.
The AdvantEdge™ punches are heavy, so you need to handle them with care. You’ll definitely want to keep them out of reach of young children.
AdvantEdge™ punches are a little difficult to remove from the carriage. However, I discovered that if you turn the frame around, you get a better grip on the punch and can more easily remove it.

Embossing with Fiskars texture plates and your Sizzix® Big Shot

Paper Crafts, Tool Talk, Tutorials

Feb 052013

Over time, I have collected all 3 sets of Fiskars Texture Plates (18 double-sides plates in all), a wonderful collection of textures that includes such names as Stones, Fabric, Waves, Leather, Honeycomb, Basketweave, and more. Who can resist using these in paper crafting or mixed media work?

The challenge in using these plates, originally intended for embossing card stock, thin metal, lightweight chipboard and similar materials, is that it’s a tedious process. Fiskars originally came out with a couple of manual tools for embossing that leave something to be desired, both in terms of consistency and the muscle power it takes to make an impression. Fiskars advises, “To help you emboss smoothly and without ‘scratching,’ use a piece of wax paper and rub the paper to be textured or the tip of your tool.” Honestly, it’s not worth the effort unless you are doing a texture collage and are combing different textures in the same piece.

My preference is to use my Sizzix® Big Shot, which greatly speeds up the embossing process with a minimum of effort. The challenge, however, in using the Big Shot with Fiskars Texture Plates, is that the Big Shot was not designed to work with them, but instead with its own Texturz™ Texture Plates that are not quite the same thickness as the Fiskars plates. Sizzix suggests building a sandwich of specific layers that you slide beneath its rollers to produce an impression in your card stock. This is a good starting point, but doesn’t yield the best results if you are not using their texture plates. Since I already had one mishap involving a too thick “sandwich,” resulting in a broken Big Shot, I was determined to do some research before putting the Big Shot through its paces in connection with Fiskars Texture Plates.

What I discovered is that some methods suggested on the Web do not produce crisp embossing results. The best results are generated when you mist your paper with water, and then emboss it, but when the paper dries it is not always flat. And sometimes it’s not desirable to mist your paper, particularly if you have treated it with a non-water resistant coloring method. (Sometimes that gives you interesting results, though!)

In any event, through trial and error I finally discovered that if you layer materials as follows, you’ll get reasonably good results. From bottom to top, here’s the stacking order.

1. Open your Sizzix® Multipurpose Platform to Tab 1. If you prefer, use can instead use your Solo Platform with the Solo Shim clipped in place.

1. Open your Sizzix® Multipurpose Platform to Tab 1. If you prefer, you can instead use your Solo Platform with the Solo Shim clipped in place.

2. Place your Fiskars texture plate on the Platform with the design side facing up.

3. Lay your card stock face down on the Fiskars Texture Plate.

4. Place a Sizzix® Texturz™ Silicone Rubber pad on top of the card stock.

5. Place lightweight chipboard (about the same thickness as a cereal box) or 3 sheets of 65-67 pound card stock on top of the silicone rubber pad.

6. Set a Sizzix® Texturz™ Impressions Pad on top of the sandwich.

Slowly, run your sandwich through the Big Shot machine. If you encounter undue resistance, STOP! Use either thinner chipboard or fewer sheets of card stock (see Step #5), then try again. From experience, I can tell you that it is possible to break off the handle on your Big Shot. Slow and easy gets the job done.

Your results should look like the one shown below.

I played with various textures, and discovered to my delight that the results were pretty consistent.

If you experience some slippage between your Fiskars Texture Plate and your card stock, just attach the paper with a few pieces of blue painter’s tape to the plate. It works really well!

Got another method that works with Fiskars Texture Plates and the Sizzix® Big Shot? Let me know about it in the comments below.

Modifying a vinyl pocket to store long, narrow & thin cutting dies

Organization Tips, Paper Crafts, Tool Talk

Feb 032013

It’s Super Bowl Sunday, and my secret’s out. I’m not watching the game, but instead am completing the labeling of my cutting dies. This last week was very productive in terms of paper crafts organization.

I stopped at my local scrapbooking store this afternoon, and asked the manager there if she had heard of any clever solutions for storing thin cutting dies, the kind that measure about 12 inches long and are about 1-3/4 inch to 2-3/8 inches wide. I actually had a plan in mind before I asked this question, but was hoping there might already be a convenient product out there that would make my job easier. The store manager told me that a friend of hers stored her long, thin cutting dies in a three-ring binder inside 12-inch-long negative sleeves. Sadly, these negative sleeves had been discontinued in her store.

Well, that was pretty close to the solution I had in mind. I had already put my smaller thin cutting dies in trading card, photo and CD/DVD pocket sleeves—the same solution I’ve been using all week for acrylic stamps, rubber cling stamps, stencils and templates—but I suspected there wasn’t a readymade sleeve for long, thin cutting dies. Since the negative sleeves weren’t available, I had an alternate plan that involved the use of my sewing machine and legal size clear vinyl pockets. The ones I found were punched for 3-ring or 4-ring binders, and were 5 millimeters thick—durable, in other words.

Because the pocket was just a little too long and would have extended both above and below the top and bottom of my binder, I had to slice off 1-3/8 inches. I took this off the bottom of the pocket, since I needed the extra length at the top, and it really didn’t matter if the pocket extended past the top of my binder.

Then I stitched the bottom of the pocket closed, using a machine stitch length of 3.5 on my Pfaff sewing machine (8 stitches per inch). No special Teflon presser foot was necessary; I just used my standard multi-purpose foot and stitched across the bottom of the pocket.

Next step was to cut myself a sewing guide from scrap card stock, 2-3/4 inches wide, that I would be able to insert in the pocket and stitch beside it to form a narrow pocket for each cutting die. It didn’t really matter that the guide was “scrappy” itself; you can eyeball a straight stitching line pretty easily.

I stitched down the length of the pocket twice more, each time inserting my card stock sewing guide into the pocket for the next compartment.

As you can see, the pocket holds my cutting dies perfectly. I have both QuicKutz® dies from Lifestyle Crafts, as well as Tim Holtz ones, and the 2-3/4 inch width seems to accommodate both types of dies.

On the reverse side of the pocket, you can see the paper inserts that accompany the cutting dies. This makes it easy to remember what results to expect from your dies.

As I did last week, once more I recycled some old calendar pages for the front and back cover of my three-ring binder that holds my cutting dies. You can see how the long, thin dies extend past the top of the binder. This doesn’t affect the way the binder sits on the shelf, so I don’t mind.

Have you discovered an alternate method for storing long, thin cutting dies? If so, I’d love to hear about it.

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