Ready, Set…CHARGE!

Welcome to my first Echo Park Fresh Face Designer Post! To see this post on the Echo Park Blog – click here!

Project Title- Ready, Set…CHARGE!

Every year, I get caught up in the New Year’s resolution trap!  I either spend all of January feeling that nagging sensation that I have failed to yet again meet my New Year’s goals, or I ignore the process all together and spend the entire month feeling the nagging sensation that I have forgotten to do something.  So this year, I decided to keep things simple, and set one little goal that could help me feel like my life was at least slightly more organized than it was in 2011.

A little vintage inspired charging station created with Echo Park Times and Seasons collection

I don’t know about you, but in our family, cords seem to have taken over!  They seem to be everywhere (and yet often times, nowhere we can find them).  So, I decided to create a handy little charging station to keep all of the cords for our electronic devices in one tidy place. What better Echo Park collection to cover up our technological mess than the beautiful, vintage Times and Season’s collection (no, the irony is not lost on me)?  This was my first chance to break open this collection, and it left me feeling like this resolution might just be a keeper after all!

Here’s how you can create one too!

Materials:

• Echo Park Times and Seasons collection (you will need approximately 4 – 12X12 sheets to complete your project depending on the size of your box)
• plastic or wooden box with lid, large enough to hold a standard power bar
• drill
• adhesive such as Modge Podge or alternative

Ready. Set...CHARGE!

The initial set-up of your box structure will vary slightly depending on the piece you have chosen to alter.  For this project, I started with a basic wooden box that was designed to hold 8 ½” X 11” paper.  To create my charging station, I simply turned over the lid of the box to create a flat surface with a secure edge, and then applied some scrap pieces of wood on the underside of the lid to keep it from sliding around on the box.

I then determined how many charging stations I would need to handle all of our gadgets, and drilled holes accordingly (make sure your holes are large enough to feed the cords through).

A place for everything and everything in its place - for once!

A power bar was placed inside the box, and a hole was drilled at the back to feed the cord.  And then, the real fun began – time to embellish!

The medallions from the Trinkets paper embellished with a bit of Crackle Accents

The best part of this project for me was playing around with the designs from this collection in a way that would compliment the purpose of the altered box, and also play on the idea of old versus new!  The flags, cut from the fantastic Lovely Noteables paper provide a punch of color to the top of the piece, and help to create a practical way to remember just which cord belongs to which device! And the medallion shapes, fussy cut from the Trinkets paper, became a simple, yet colorful “gear-like” accent for the design.

I cannot think of a more beautiful (and ironically appropriate) paper collection for a modern day charging station!

So I’m curious, how many of you are taking on a New Year’s resolution this year?

I love the vintage feel of this charging station - a little ironic, but oh so beautiful!

Starting her early!

The blue snowflake paper designed by my two year old! I let her loose with some Distress Stain and, voila!

It’s CropChocolate.com project time again, and this month, I wanted to share a project that I actually completed with my two daughters!  We were challenged to come up with a family friendly project, so I decided to see what my two year could do if I let her loose with some Distress Stain. To get my 9 month old involved, I used fingerprints to create some stamped snowmen.  Personally, I think the results are fantastic, but I would love to hear what you think!

Here’s how you can do it too:

Materials:

• Any size plain coloured cardstock – Just be aware that this technique does involve a fair amount of splashing, so a larger piece works best!
• Distress Stain – Broken China
• Distress Ink – Broken China
• Jar or container
• Paint brush
• Sandpaper
• Crackle Accents (optional)

Snowflake Paper

1. Using your Distress Stain (Broken China), add a few dabs to the bottom of a container.  Add about 4-5 tbl of water.
2. Take your paint brush and saturate with the watered down Distress Stain.  Using a flicking motion, or by tapping the paint brush, splash colour down onto your cardstock.
3. Using the Distress Satin in the container, randomly dab the stain onto your paper. Use a forceful arm movement so the stain splatters when it hits the cardstock. The harder you hit the dauber onto the paper, the more your splatter will look like a snowflake.
4. Trim your paper down to the size you will need for your project.
5. Using the coordinating Distress Ink in Broken China, use an applicator to swirl ink onto your cardstock.  Start on the outer edges and move inward in a circular motion.
6. Take the sandpaper and run it along the edges of your paper to distress.
7. Using the Distress Ink in Walnut Stain, run your ink pad along each edge of the paper. If needed blend with a foam applicator.  This will give the edge of your paper a slightly “burnt” appearance.
8. Optional step – Using some Crackle Accents, apply generously to the snowflake splatters you have created. Set aside to dry.

Alternative project idea – you could just use this technique to dress up some brown or white butcher paper for unique hand embellished wrapping paper. 

Snowmen Stamps

1. Using Distress Ink in Broken China, simply press a finger into the ink and then place down firmly onto cardstock.  Use different size fingers for each of the levels of the snowmen.
2. Using a jounraling pen or permanent marker, draw in eyes, arms, and buttons on your snowmen.  Add a small scrap of oragne cardstock for a nose.
3. If desired, cover the ink fingerprints with Crackle Accents.  Allow to dry and then assemble your card!

A Stacked Slider Tutorial

It was recipe challenge time over at CropChocolate this month!  The challenge for the design team was to come up with a project that included 3 metals, 1 decorative edge, 3 patterned papers and a fiber of some sort (ribbon, twine, etc.).  The 3 patterned papers reminded me of a stacked slider card that I have been wanting to try out, so I decided to give it a go.

This pretty card was made for my sister in law for her birthday in September.  Here are a few instructions if you would like to give it a go!

Made with Making Memories embellishment paper (Whimsy), this card style has “slid” into top spot for me!

Supplies:

- Patterned Paper- Making Memories Whimsy Embellishment paper (A 12X12 double sided sheet of paper will work great for this project, just make sure that the paper is not too thick as there are quite a number of layers in this card. One sheet will make all three strips, forming the tiers of your card (3 tiers in total).

- Fibers – Celebrate It Basic Narrows

- Ink – Distress Ink (Broken China)

Instructions:

Card Base:

1. Cut three strips of paper to the following lengths:

• 4″X12 (Mark as “A“)
• 4″X10 1/2″ (Mark as “B“)
• 4″X 9″ (Mark as “C“)

2. Take tier C and score at the 4″ and 8″ marks.  Fold.

3. Take tier B and score it at the 3 1/2″ and 7″ points.

4. Take tier A and score it at the 3″ and 6″ points. 

5. Cut a coordinating piece of paper approximately 2″ by 3″.  Fold in half and adhere to the top center of tier A.  This will be the pull tab that the recipient of your card uses to pull out each tier of the card so make sure to use a good amount of adhesive.

To create the first sliding mechanism (use tiers C and B)

6. Using tier C - On the one of the panels created by the fold, place your ruler at the top edge of the tier and measure/mark 1″ from the fold and 1″ from the edge of the paper.

7. Place your ruler parallel to the edge of the paper at one of your 1″ marks and draw a line downward that starts 1/4″ down from the top and continues for 3 1/2″. You should now have a line that starts and ends 1/4″ from the top and bottom edges of your paper.

8. Repeat step 6 with the second mark.

9. Use a paper cuter or utility knife to cut along the lines you have drawn.

10.  Repeat steps 5-8 for tier B.

11. Using a scrap piece of thick cardstock, cut 2 pieces of paper that is about 3/4″ wide and 3″ long.  This piece of paper will be the piece that slides up and down on your card.

12. Take tier B and place it down so that the wrong side of the paper is facing up. Take one piece of your cut cardstock and slide it in between the two cuts you have made (the two ends of the cardstock should be hidden, and you should see an exposed section in between the two cuts you made on the tier).

13. Apply adhesive to the section of the cardstock that you can see.

14. Take tier A, line it up with the bottom of tier B and press down to adhere it to the cardstock slider.

15. Apply adhesive to the top and bottom edges of tier B and close up the folds ensuring that the slider is hidden inside the folded sections.  

16. Repeat steps 10-12 with tier C.

17. Take tier B (which now has tier A tucked away inside of it), line it up with the bottom of tier C and press down to adhere it to the cardstock slider.

18. Close up the folds of tier C ensuring that the slider is inside the folds and apply adhesive to the bottom and top edges to keep it together as you did in step 15.

19. Decorate as desired!  If you would like to include a paper rose just like the one on this card, make sure to go and check out the tutrorial here.

And for those of you who learn visually, I’ve got a video of the process here for you too!

Make sure you come back and visit later this week because I have some fun variations of this card to show you!

UPDATE: Click here for some variations of this card!

Paper Flower Tutorial – PART 4

The repeating pattern on these lovely blooms make me want to fold little squares of paper all night!

MODIFIED JAPANESE KUSUDAMA FLOWERS

Years ago, I used to teach dance – ballet, tap and jazz.  At the end of each year, I would fold paper flowers for my students as a little congratulations for all they had accomplished that year.  I can still remember spending may nights with bright paper trying to figure out origami folds (and getting a few paper cuts too). I was always facinated to see how such geometric folding patterns could be used to create some really organic looking shapes!  So naturally, I decided to see what I could find in the world of paper folding for our floral tutorial series.

Today, I wanted to start by sharing a link with you to a great flower tutorial, and then share with you a way I modified it to use on a flat surface. This beauty,  the Japanese Kusudama flower over at Folding Trees, is a great way to create beautiful flowers for a home decor or altered item project.  But if you need something that will lay a little flatter, try this modification that I came up with:

Made with 5 -2" squares, this makes a great addition to a card or scrapbook layout.

Oh, and don’t forget to come by tomorrow for the last day of our tutorial series.  Let’s just say – it will be worth the wait!

A PDF version of this tutorial will be available soon!  Please check back for updates.