Fiskars Craft

Easter Hat

Seeing it's getting closer to EASTER......and we have had many of our READERS searching through our Blog for EASTER HAT projects....I thought I'd bring this post back to the top of our Blog......

Cindy Hearty created this a few years ago......isn't it a fun hat........maybe you could try making one of these with your kids for EASTER this year...................

xoxo

Lyn Dwyer

........................................................................................................................

Just in time for Easter I've dragged out my Fiskars tools and stash and created a masterpiece !  This gorgeous Easter Hat was the result of an afternoon's work, an empty nappy box, some Fiskars goodies, and a little bit of creativity.

   

To create the 'top hat' style base I used my Super Sized Circle Templates to make the hat brim.  I measured my son's head and found that one of the templates was the perfect size to fit his head; I simply traced around it onto the cardboard and cut it out with my fingertip knife.  The cut-out piece then became the very top of the hat, and the sides were made by cutting a strip of cardboard and bending it around the edge of the inner circle on the brim.  Everything was secured with masking tape.

 

I drew the ears freehand and then cut two from cardboard.  To make the 'fur' on the back of them I used my 'Leave It To Weaver' border punch to punch a heap of strips of thick white paper.  I trimmed off one edge to create a fringe-like effect, then layered and glued them on the backs of the ears.  Trim off the excess when the glue is dry and curl the loose pieces with your fingers.

Kade wanted his hat to be green so we painted it together using acrylic paints and then I decorated it for him. (sorry about the state of his tshirt...I didn't realise how filthy it was until I went to edit the photos LOL)

 

I used :

• FIsiskars Super Sized Circle template
• Fiskars Trimmer
• Leave It To Weaver border punch
• Sunburst border punch
• Fiskars Fingertip knife
• Cloud 9 vellum flowers
• Heidi Grace 'It's My Party' paper (for the hat band)
• Heidi Grace 'A Little Bird's Tale' paper (for the pink on the ears)
• Cloud 9 Raindot Eyelets

FINALLY...a loooong overdue post from me

On Wednesday evening (very late) my ex-partner informed me that seeing as I was "the scrapbooker of the family and better at telling stories [than him]" I was to complete 2 pages in our son Kade's childcare scrapbook.  Oh, and I had to have it done to return to childcare on Friday morning.

Apparently the room Kade is in has a toy frog called Galumph, and each of the children takes turns taking Galumph home for a few nights.  The parents then have to write up two pages describing what Galumph did during his 'holiday' with the child.  Easy enough ??

Well...if you're a regular to the blog, you'll know that I have done absolutely nothing scrap-related in forever !!  Add to the fact that I have lost my scrapping mojo, I've been sick for the past week, and my printer is also out of action...which meant a trip to the shops to print off a few photos that I could normally have done myself at home.  BUT, I couldn't let Kade down, and I knew I wouldn't be happy simply cutting some photos into shapes and adding some journalling.  So....I scraplifted.

THIS is the original layout, and this is my creation (click the pictures to have them open bigger in a new window):

And can you believe that of the hundreds of sheets of patterned paper I have, I didn't have any black & white striped paper !?  I ended up using a chisel-tipped Zig Marker to draw lines on white cardstock.  The alpha stickers I used for the title were lime green, so I used a marker to change them to black before peeling them from the backing paper.

The scalloped edges were all cut freehand using my Fingertip Knife and I used my Fiskars Acrylic Stamp Block to stamp the frame around the title at the top of page 1.  Other tools I used were my Personal Trimmer and Microtip Scissors.

♥ Cindy

Card A Day - Quick card

Firstly, may I apologise for the shocking quality of this photo ?  I didn't realise it was so blurry till I'd removed the card from my camera, plugged it into my card reader and opened photoshop to edit.  Anyway, you get the idea...

Pip (at Head Office) secretly* smuggled me some of these cute little cupcake epoxy stickers AGES ago, and I have been dying to use them.  For this card, I decided to keep it simple and create a smallish card that could be used as either a gift card or a greeting card.

To create the 'dots' around the edge I drew feint lines onto my card and marked where I wanted to punch, then I used the punch end of my Fiskars Eyelet Setter to punch holes in the card.  I've simply matted white cardstock with red, then mounted it onto the pink card.  A simple sentiment stamped onto the card beneath the cupcake sticker finishes it off.

Tools used :

• Fiskars personal trimmer
• Fiskars Eyelet Setter (small)

♥ Cindy

* secretly because she didn't have any more to share with the other girls, so she literally shoved them into the pocket of my apron at a show  haha

Card A Day - Mother's Day Card Class

Last Friday I was lucky enough to help 12 wonderful kids to make cards for their mums for Mother's Day.  Nellie at Relish Mama teaches cooking classes, and last Father's Day and this Mother's Day she has asked me to do a make-and-take with the kids.  The kids have a wonderful time baking special treats and making lovely cards to take home to their parents.

I really enjoy these classes as the kids are always so well behaved, and though they all start with exactly the same kit, their cards are all completely unique when complete.  Nellie is a truly lovely lady and I feel very privileged that she asks me to help her for these occasions.  If you're in Melbourne and would be interested in attending cooking classes, or sending your children to one, take a look at the Relish Mama website for details.

For the Mother's Day class the children put together cards featuring paper flowers with button centers; sparkly butterflies, and a pop-up heart inside.  Here is my sample :

Tools used :

• Heidi Grace 'Flower' palm punch
• Heidi Grace 'Butterfly' palm punch
• Fiskars 'That's Amore' squeeze punch
• Fiskars trimmer

Oh...and as a thank you, Nellie presented me with the most beautiful chrysanthemums I have ever seen!  Aren't they just gorgeous ?!

Card A Day - Where have I seen that before ??

Today I surprised myself and made TWO cards !  "That's not so exciting" you may think, but I have to admit, I have had almost no interest, motivation or desire to scrap in MONTHS.

However, being a Fiskars Ambassador, duty calls and I had no option but to sit down today to try to make some cards.  To be honest, they aren't my best work, but they are cute, and they are done  :D

This little cutie was made after pulling apart something that has been on my desk for a while...do you know what it was ??  Scroll up......see the page banner ?  After creating the banner I wasn't sure what to do with it and today I actually tossed it in the bin...then I thought "hang on, I can use some of that !".  So, I rescued it, dismantled it a bit, and created this card :

Tools used :

• Fiskars personal trimmer
• Ultra Shape Xpress
• Fiskars 'Flourish' template (I used the scalloped border)
• Heidi Grace 'Flower' palm punch

♥ Cindy

Easter Treats

Looking for a cute and practical way to present a small Easter gift to someone ?  Why not make a quick and easy 'sour cream container' or a small gift bag ?

The 'sour cream container' is simply made from a rectangle of cardstock and decorated as desired.  Do an online search and you'll find loads of sites with both written and video tutorials.  I used the scalloped blade on my rotary trimmer to pretty the ends, then crimped them a little with my paper crimper.  Layered cardstock elements make the flower on the top (use pre-made or create your own).

The gift bag (which fits onto 1 x A4 sized page) can be found HERE or search this blog or online for other styles.

I printed the gift bag template onto white printer paper, then cut it out with my fingertip knife, traced it onto the back of my cardstock, and then cut that out and glued it together as per the instructions.  The bunny in the middle of the flower was an image I found online and printed onto cardstock.  I punched it out using my 'round n round' squeeze punch.  I used the scallop blade on my rotary trimmer and cut a length of white, and a length of pink cardstock, then layered them and adhered them to the top of my baggie.

These projects are certainly something that the kids would enjoy, and they're a great way to use up cardstock that you're not-so-fond-of anymore for layouts.

Whatever you're doing over Easter, stay safe, and I hope that the Easter Bunny brings you lots of yummy treats !

♥ Cindy

SPOTLIGHT

Just a reminder that I will be in-store at SPOTLIGHT FRANKSTON this afternoon.  If you're in the area, pop in and say hello, I'd love to see you !

I'll also be in-store on next week, Friday the 18th March from 7pm to 8:30pm.

More details here :

http://fiskarscraft.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/02/speaking-of-spotlight.html

http://fiskarscraft.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/02/when-you-know-how-to-use-it-correctlyit-works-.html

When you know how to use it correctly...it works !!

This is pretty-much my standard reply when I meet someone who owns an Ultra ShapeXpress but doesn't use it because "it's broken".  Yes, unfortunately we will occasionally find that one IS indeed broken or damaged, but generally, the customer simply can't successfully use their USE because they've never been shown how to use it properly.  And THAT's where we come in !

Last week I met a lovely lady called Tracy who came to see me at Spotlight after finding out I would be there through this blog.  She had never been able to successfully use her USE, and came to ask for my help.  After a quick lesson, Tracy cut a butterfly - not the easiest of templates to use for a first-timer - and vowed to go home and play some more...and she did !

I have just received this lovely email from her :

Hi Cindy

Thanks again for your practical instructions on using the Fiskars shape templates and shape cutter at Spotlight the other day.

I have now made two butterflies using them – see the photo attached – and they worked!!!

I did have trouble with the little circle/oval shapes (my blade is a bit wobbly in the orange holder), so cheated a bit and used my punch to make an egg shape and a circle but I will get some new blades next week and keep practising.

No more using the templates as a stencil and cutting them out with scissors anymore!

I plan on using these butterflies to decorate my Feb-10 calendar page but will be making more to decorate some cards.

Thank you again for your help,

Kind Regards

TracyM

Thank you Tracy for taking the time to come and see me, and for following up your visit with this lovely email.  You've done a great job :)

YOU (the customer) are the reason our team of demonstrators and Ambassadors participate in in-store demonstrations and shows.  We WANT to teach you so that you love and use your tools instead of leaving them sitting in a drawer or cupboard never to be seen again.

Some quick tips for using your Ultra ShapeXpress :

• use a Fiskars craft mat under your paper, not a green self-healing mat as they are too soft and your blade will dig into it
• make sure your template has the correct side facing up; you need to be able to read the word FISKARS - if it is back-to-front, your template is upside down  **TIP: I go over the word FISKARS with a permanent marker so I can see it easily at a glance
• always put your USE back into its cap, or on its side on the table - NEVER place it blade-down onto your desk as you will chip your blade
• don't try to turn your cutter to cut in the direction you are travelling...it has a swivel blade and will turn all by itself
• don't press too hard !  You only need to hold your USE flat against the template, no extra pressure is required
• DON'T GIVE UP !  We ARE here to help  :)

There is a video tutorial HERE to show you how to use your USE.  We also encourage you to visit us in-store as Tracy did for some one-on-one training.

I will be at Spotlight Frankston again on the following dates, or check the right hand sidebar for other stores :

Friday February 26th, 7:00pm-8:30pm
Friday March 12th, 1:30pm-3:30pm
Friday March 19th, 7:00pm-8:30pm

Happy cutting everyone !

♥ Cindy

Speaking of Spotlight...

Speaking of Spotlight, I have a few dates lined up for demonstrations at the FRANKSTON (Vic) store, as follows:

12 Feb 2010 to 12 Mar 2010
Scrapbooking Demo - Day

Cindy will be in our store to demonstrate all scrapbooking merchandise.

She will show you short cuts and many great ideas and answer any questions you have.

See Cindy in our Store on Friday February, 12th and Friday March 12th between 1.30pm & 3.30pm.

Location: Frankston

Starts: 12 Feb 2010

Ends: 12 Mar 2010

Cost: Free

For future dates and other stores, refer to the Spotlight classes/events page on their website HERE.

Have you ever seen a tool and asked yourself "how do you use that?" or "what is that for?".  Maybe you've seen a project and wondered how it was created, or bought a product and then been stumped for ideas on how to use it.

I'll have several project samples on hand to inspire you and will be available to answer all of your questions and show you how to use the tools, so if you're in the area pop in to say hello !

**Please note that these are demonstration days only, and as such, there are no classes or make-and-takes scheduled with me for these dates.

Merry " Fisk-mas " oops we mean Christmas!!!

Hi everyone,

We would all like to wish you a lovely Christmas Day!  May you have a lovely time with family and friends no matter where you are around the world! Stay safe and if you are travelling be careful on the roads!

" We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year"

         xoxo          Fiskars Craft Ambassador TEAM