Fiskars Craft

Halloween Wreath

Designer: Laurie Cinotto

Difficulty rating: Beginner

Dress up your door and frighten your houseguests with this gauzy, ghostly, Halloween wreath!

You just need a few materials and a little bit of time to create this easy, creepy project.

Begin by dying 5 yards of cheesecloth a dark gray tone using fabric dye according to the directions on the dye package. Twist it and tie it in knots for a mottled look.

Once the cheesecloth is dry, pin one end of the fabric to the wreath and begin loosely wrapping it around the form. Work your way around the wreath until you reach your starting point. Anchor the end with a second pin.

Take your scissors and randomly cut holes in the cloth. Fray the ends, and make it look tattered and worn.

Gather some bits to work into your wreath - like moss, lichen, twigs, bats, bones, skeletons and rats. Anything Halloween-ish or dark will do.

Tuck the bits into the holes and attach them with glue or pins. I had some tiny skeletons to work with, so I glued the bones to the foam first and added some lichen and Spanish moss around them.
Next, punch a few autumn leaves out of black cardstock and add them to the wreath.

Use your paper trimmer to cut a strip of twelve inch by one inch from a Halloween-themed paper. Use adhesive letters to spell “Happy Halloween” on the strip. Attach the strip across the center of the wreath and trim it with a few black cardstock crows.

I found this great Halloween Project over at http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting/Project-Gallery/Holidays-and-Seasonal/Halloween-Wreath .......it's worth popping by over there if you are looking for some Inspirational Craft Projects.

Fiskars Tools Used:

xoxo

Lyn

No-Sew Halloween Costume

Designer: Kim Garner

Difficulty rating: Beginner

You know what LBD stands for right? LBD = Little Black Dress. You know – the dress that goes with everything, that you can wear anywhere and it looks great? Well, if you are wondering what a little black dress and Halloween have in common, then you are in the right place! Halloween is a great time for dressing up, and deciding what you want to be for Halloween is a big deal for kids. For some, it is hard to decide. One week they want to be one thing, and then next week it is a whole different costume or theme. But it isn’t always the little ones that have trouble deciding. It can also be the adults! This is where the little black dress is perfect for Halloween. Once you have the basic costume, you can add the finishing touches to make it something completely new and different!

The Little Black Dress for this costume includes a black dance leotard & a simple black tutu. The tutu is easily made from tulle. You need black elastic, tulle, & a safety pin. (Remember this is no sewing!) Simply measure the length that you want the tutu to be and double it! (Example: If you want the tutu to be 10 inches long, but a strip of tulle 20 inches.) Fold it in half and slip it around the elastic, and pull the ends through so it is attached to the elastic. Continue to do this until you have filled the elastic. Attach the ends of the elastic with a safety pin.

Little Miss Muffet

After you have the LBD portion of you costume, then the sky is the limit with different themes that you can create!

How about a spider princess? Each costume has a coordinating head band that is embellished with ribbon, feathers, and bling! For extra costume creativity, add a belt to coordinate with the same theme. This spider is cute: it’s made with pompoms and pipe cleaners, but you could also go for a scarier look if your little monster wishes. Go the extra mile by adding spider rings on her fingers, in her hair, and maybe a scarf or necklace.

Good Witch

Dress up the traditional witch costume with some glittery fun! This headpiece started with a small witch hat and is embellished with feathers, ribbon, and tulle! There are also added ribbons to coordinate in the tutu.

Don’t forget the broom!

Now are your creative wheels turning? What if you created a skeleton steam punk costume? Or maybe an Audrey Hepburn lookalike from Breakfast at Tiffany’s?With the Little Black Dress as your start, you can create almost any Halloween costume easily!

I found this great project idea for Halloween over at http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting/Articles/No-Sew-Halloween-Costume and thought it a great idea if you are into dressing up for Halloween or getting the kids to dress up......

Do your kids do the whole Halloween thing? Mine never have....and I have never really been into Halloween...but I do love seeing all the orange and black bits and pieces appearing in the craft shops at the moment....maybe my grandkids will get into it in a few years time.....I hope so....then I might get to play with some orange and black to make some fun costumes.

Are you you making anything special this year for Halloween?

xoxo

Lyn

fun activity for the Kids

Bottle Cap Magnets

Designer: Tania Willis

Difficulty rating: Beginner

Making a set of trendy bottle cap magnets is a super easy do-it-yourself project that is sure to boost your creative self-esteem. Besides that, they make a lovely, unique gift for that person who has everything! It’s a simple as gathering some scraps of your favorite colors of patterned paper, a small amount of cardstock and a few matching gems, beads, and bottles of glitter.

In the scrapbook embellishment section of your local craft supply store you can find bottle caps in nearly every solid color you’d ever want – patterned ones even! But, on the off-chance that you can only find the plain silver caps and you want colorful ones, or if you’d rather recycle caps you’ve collected from your beverage of choice, keep in mind that you can turn those caps into whatever color you want by simply giving them a coat of spray paint.

While these bottle caps may appear to be a bit more in the mixed media arena, don’t let that scare you off from trying something new. I’d like to show you how easy they are to duplicate.

First, you’ll need to gather your supplies and narrow your focus down to a coordinating color scheme. I’ve chosen to focus on turquoise, lime green, and orange (with a few hints of purple and yellow).

For each bottle cap you are altering, punch one circle from cardstock, patterned paper or glittered cardstock using your Medium Circle Lever Punch. This is a 1” circle. This size has worked for nearly all varieties of bottle caps I’ve tried.

Adhere one circle inside each bottle cap using a strong, fast drying adhesive. My adhesive of choice for this type of project is Diamond Glaze. Glossy Accents by Ranger is a good alternative if you can’t find Diamond Glaze.

Once you have a circle adhered to each bottle cap you can work on putting your punches to use to create a masterpiece inside each cap.

Here are three ways to use some of your Medium Lever Punches:

1. Punch four flowers from coordinating cardstock, using the Poppy Medium Lever Punch. Using your fingers, crumble each flower to give it a bit of dimension and to make the paper more pliable. Use a push pin or needle to poke a small hole through the middle of all four flowers. Thread all four flowers onto the prongs of a medium-sized brad. Open the prongs to secure. Gently scrunch up the top flower close to the center brad. Continue to manipulate each of the four levels until you have something that represents a dimensional blossom.

Adhere the flower to the center of the circle using a small drop of Diamond Glaze. Allow to dry. Once it is completely dry, apply small amounts of Diamond Glaze to the outside edges of the blossom. Sprinkle a coordinating color of ultra fine glitter on the flower. Allow time to dry, and then turn bottle cap upside down over a trash can to allow any excess glitter to fall back off.

2. Punch three flowers from white cardstock, using the Flower Medium Lever Punch. Use a push pin or needle to poke a small hole through the middle of all three flowers. Thread all three flowers onto the prongs of a medium-sized brad. Open the prongs to secure. Gently manipulate the three flowers so the petals are spaced out giving a fuller appearance to the flower. Adhere the flower to the center of the circle using a small drop of Diamond Glaze. Allow to dry.

Once it is completely dry, apply small amounts of Diamond Glaze to the tips of the petals. Sprinkle white sanding glitter on the flower. Allow time to dry, and then turn bottle cap upside down over a trash can to allow any excess glitter to fall back off.

3. Punch two butterflies using the Jenni’s Butterfly Jenni Bowlin Lever Punch. Adhere one butterfly flat inside the bottle cap on top of the patterned paper. Bend wings upward on the second butterfly, and then apply a very small drop of Diamond Glaze to the body of the second butterfly taking care not to get glue on the wings. Place directly on top of the body of the first butterfly and allow to time to dry. Once dry, you can manipulate the wings to give them more dimension.

Then, apply a thin thread of Diamond Glaze all the way around the inside of the bottle cap. Sprinkle small beads into the cap. Allow to dry, and then turn bottle cap upside down over a trash can to allow any excess beading to fall back off.

Most of all, have fun experimenting with adding a variety of layered punched shapes to your bottle caps. If you need to place a single bead or decide you don’t like the look of something and need help getting excess beads removed before the Diamond Glaze dries, you might find the Fingertip Tweezers quite helpful in completing the task.
Once you have all of your bottle caps embellished, you can use a thin coat of Diamond Glaze on the backside of your bottle cap to apply your magnets. Be sure to keep bottle caps at a good distance from each other when drying to keep them from pulling toward one another and pulling the magnet loose from the bottle cap before it’s had time to dry.

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I found this fun activity over at http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting/Project-Gallery/Kids-Crafting/Bottle-Cap-Magnets thought it might be a great activity to do with the kids these holidays.

 

Here's some of the Tools that Lead Fiskateer Tania Willis has used in her project :

Halloween Headbands

Designer: Laurie Cinotto

Difficulty rating: Beginner

Want to dress in the spirit of Halloween, but don’t want to wear a full-on costume? Well, here’s an easy solution for you – make a Halloween headband! Below you’ll find three styles to choose from. Pick one that best suits your style, and craft away! They’re great for children and adults, too!

Kitty-Cat

Use your paper trimmer to cut two strips of adhesive-backed felt, measuring two inches wide and six inches long.

Remove the paper from the back, wrap the felt strip around the top of the headband, slightly offset. Line up the two ends of the felt and press together.
Cut the squared-off end into a triangle. Create a second ear using the other felt strip.

Cut two small triangles from a lighter color felt, and adhere it to the center of the ears.

Cut a strip of crepe paper measuring two inches by four inches. Fold the strip and gather in the center with a pipe cleaner to make a bow.

Place the bow near one of the kitty ears, and wrap the tail of the pipe cleaner around the band to secure.

Decorate the center of your bow using a couple of punched shapes, stickers or embellishments.

Witch Hat

Cut a four by eight inch strip of adhesive-backed felt. Peel the backing off the felt, and place “sticky-side up” on your work surface.

In the top center of the strip, place a couple feathers and curled pipe cleaners. Place the headband in the center, fold the strip closed. Smooth and trim rectangle into a triangle. Be careful not to trim away your feathers or pipe cleaners.

Cut a small five inch by one inch strip to create a hatband. Decorate your band using a seasonal border punch, ribbon, or washi tape. Add a few punched shapes or embellishments to finish your witch hat.

Miss Spider
Take a small and medium styrofoam ball, brush them with glue, and coat with glitter. Set aside to dry.

Cut eight four-inch black pipe cleaner segments. Bend each in the center at a forty-five degree angle to create a knee, and bend a quarter inch from the end to create a foot. Insert four legs into each side of the spider body. Glue two googly eyes to the spider’s head.

Cut two small circles measuring four inches in diameter – one out of black cardstock, and one out of adhesive back felt. Remove the paper backing from the felt, and adhere it to the cardstock. Cut a slit to the center of the circle. Over-lap the cut edges to form a short cone and glue overlapped sections together.

Take one yard of six-inch wide black veil netting and fold two over-lapped loops at the end. Twist a pipe cleaner section in the center to bundle the netting. Use hot glue to attach the netting to the top of the cone. Glue the spider on top of the “web”.

Attach the cone, spider and web to the headband using hot glue.

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I found this project over at http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting/Project-Gallery/Holidays-and-Seasonal/Halloween-Headbands and thought some of our readers might like to give this a try with the kids this year.

Fiskars Tools used include:

So are you getting craftry this Halloween?  If you are making something fun for the kids and would be happy to share with us.....then we'd love to see your Projects!

xoxo

Lyn Dwyer

Fishy Father's Day

Designer: Laurie Cinotto

Difficulty rating: Beginner

If you flip through my family’s photo albums, in nearly every one of my father’s boyhood pictures, someone is holding a string of fish. They spent many weekends and holidays outdoors - mostly by the lakes and rivers of the Midwest- and fishing was an activity loved by all members of the family. They were proud of the fish they caught, enjoyed the time they spent together as a family, and it showed in these photographs.
So, when I think of my father and Father’s Day, fish naturally come to mind.

I don’t think I’m alone. I think in the lives of many children, bonds were built with their dads while baiting hooks or casting lines. I suppose this is why it’s such a popular theme in Father’s Day cards.

I created these fish projects for the family to make together. Each member can make a fish or two and add it to the string for the garland, on a line for the fishing pole centerpiece, or on a gift or card.

To begin, gather a selection of coordinating decorative papers and card stock in colors and patterns that Dad may enjoy. This is a great project to use up those little scraps.

Now, gather the family around, and start making your fish.

To make the garland, start by printing out your FISH TEMPLATE. You can reduce and enlarge your template to create different sized fish. Cut out the fish template, trace around it using a marker or pencil on your cardstock or decorative paper, and cut out your fish.

Break out all your favorite Fiskars squeeze punches, border punches and paper Edgers to decorate your fish.

Grab a few stickers, a couple rolls of Washi tape, some embellishments too.

Be creative and have fun with your fish! Border punches work great to create rows of scales on your fish. Bands of washi tape make great stripes. Use your paper shapers to cut out some fish fins.

When you’re all done with the front of the fish, flip it over and decorate the backside too. They’ll spin when they hang, so it’s important to decorate both sides.

 

Once you’re done decorating the bodies of your fish, add an eyelet for the eye. There’s a great tutorial on attaching eyelets HERE.

Punch a small hole in the nose of the fish, and run a fishing swivel or a lanyard hook through the hole.

Cut a length of string or bakery twine - you’ll need 7 inches for each fish you’ve made. Every five inches or so, make a loop and tie a knot.

String your fish by hanging one from each loop on the line.

Fishing Pole Centerpiece

To make this simple fishing pole centerpiece, begin using the first steps of the instructions above to create one fish for each pole in the arrangement. Cut a length of baker’s twine roughly twelve inches long. Run one end of the twin through the nose of the fish and knot. Tie the other end of the twine to the end of the fishing pole. Punch a few circles of varied sizes and colors out and glue them back-to-back on the fishing line.

Create bands along the end of the pole using coordinating Washi tapes. Use the same colors of tape to make bands along the top of the vase. Arrange your poles in the vase and display.

Fish Gift Wrap

You can continue the fish theme by wrapping Dad’s Father’s Day gift with more strings and fish!
Wrap your gift using a solid-colored wrapping paper. Take a spool of baker’s twine or string and wrap around your package several times. Create a few tiny fish and string them to your twine. Punch out several circles and glue them to the string and add a “Dad” to the package using adhesive letters.

Fishy Father's Day Card
Of course you’ll need a card to accompany your gift. This is an easy one to make – just punch a couple of holes in a card and string a string through. Add a few fish, and a little text. A bubbly border makes a nice detail on the card.

Creating all these details in honor of Dad will surely make him feel special. They’ll add color to the celebration, and surely brighten his day! And working on these projects as a family, can bring everyone together. I think Dad will like that too!

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I found this article and project whilst surfing the net over at

                   http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting

Lots of fun Father's Day and other Projects being shared over there....and this one is a great project for the kids to be involved with.....it's nice to let the kids create something like this for Dad.

Don't forget that Father's Day is only about 11 days away here in Aus and NZ.....September 2nd

So make sure you check out all the other fun and funky crafty projects that are being shared by the Fiskars Team over at   http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting/Project-Gallery

Now is a good time to craft with the weather being a bit colder in Australia and New Zealand....get those UFO's done and dusted.....and those tools off the shelves and out of the drawers.....it's

                                        TIME TO CRAFT !!!!

 

xoxo

Lyn

Photobooth Father’s Day card

Designer: Emma Jeffrey

Difficulty rating: Beginner

I love the fun photobooth trend that is so popular right now so I decided to make my own version with handmade props, my two willing children and some basic photo editing skills. We decided on a Father’s Day theme for the photos, so that we could make a unique and simple Father’s Day card that is sure to put a huge smile on my husband’s face.

I started by sketching a beard and sunglasses onto tracing paper. I have poor drawing skills but after several attempts, I was eventually able to get the shapes I wanted. If I can do it, you can too!

I also printed out a simple sign for the kids to hold saying ‘We heart dad’.I have always thought that one of the brackets on the brackets template looked like a mustache, so I used that to draw around and create my mustache shape.

I then placed the tracing paper on top of some black cardstock face down, and by retracing over the pencil lines I was able to transfer the sketch lines onto the cardstock. Next, I cut out the shapes. I found my swivel tip craft knife especially helpful when cutting out the beard and its curvy lines.

I decided to laminate my props (who knows, they may get plenty more use aside from this Father’s Day card!) so I took them to my local teacher supplies store who has a laminating machine that costs just a few cents per foot, to use.

Back at home, I cut around the shapes and adhered some wooden skewers to the sides with a glue gun.

With the props complete, I moved on to creating my photobooth backdrop. I did this simply by hanging a piece of ironed fabric to the wall with tape and draped a felted heart bunting (made for us by a friend) across it. I knew my photos were going to be black and white so I kept my backdrop simple and subtle.

Next came the fun bit - the photoshoot. I was surprised how enthusiastic my children were about participating in this shoot, but there’s nothing like a couple of funny props and silly faces (as well as the occasional bribe) to help things along. I snapped away for about 20 minutes trying to let them try out their own poses and allow their different personalities to shine through.I used Picasa to edit my photos into a photobooth style. First I changed the images to black and white and adjusted the contrast between the highlights and shadows to get a sharp look. I also cropped the photos to a square. As an example, here is the unedited photo as well as the photobooth clip it became:

I then selected four of my favorite photos (this was hard to do because I loved so many of them, so I ended up making two different strips - one portrait and one landscape) and arranged them into a collage in Picasa. I had them printed at the store and on getting them home, cropped them at the sides with my paper trimmer to create the long photobooth strip we all know and love.

We are going to want to keep these photo strips forever, so I mounted them on cardstock cut slightly larger than the photos. I cut 4 diagonal lines so that I could feed the four corners of the photos through the slots, thus making them completely removable from the card after Father’s Day. I’m thinking we’ll frame them eventually.

I finished the card with a simple handwritten greeting and, of course, little messages and notes from the kids to their amazing dad, in the inside.

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I found this fabulous,fun kids project over at http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting/Project-Gallery/Holidays-and-Seasonal/Photobooth-Fathers-Day-card ......and thought it would be great to share here.......to view more fun crafty projects....pop on over to http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting

xoxo'

Lyn

Back Yard Olympics

Designer: Laurie Cinotto

Difficulty rating: Beginner

Once the Olympics start, it’s so easy plant yourself in front of the television from the opening to the closing ceremonies.

Why not take the spirit of the games, and host your very own back yard Olympics?

Invite your guests to join you for an afternoon of athletics on a lazy summer day. Serve healthy snacks and beverages, and plenty of water. Encourage them to dress for play – come in a tracksuit, wear sweatbands and sneakers.

Make your yard festive and put your guests in the Olympic spirit by creating several flag garlands to swag around the yard. To start, reference the Olympic Official Website to find out which countries are competing. To get detailed photos of their flags, visit the World Flag Database.

Gather several sheets of colored cardstock, paper glue, scissors, circle and star punches, and a paper trimmer.

For each flag, cut a piece of cardstock measuring four inches by eleven inches. Fold the cardstock in half (the long way) and crease. Cut stripes or bands, punch circles or stars to decorate your flags. Once you’ve made all of your flags, cut a length of bakers twine and hang the creased end of each flag over the twine. Stick a piece of double sided tape between the two layers of the flag to secure.

Once the guests arrive, divide them up into teams - each team will represent a different country. To help keep track of all the teams, make flag lanyards for each member. Follow the steps and links above but reduce the size and make tiny flags to slip inside a plastic badge holder and attach to a lanyard.

There are all sorts of games from the Olympics that can be adapted for backyard play – like ping-pong, volleyball, and many track and field events, swimming and diving if you happen to have a pool. You can also have a torch relay race! Set your course around the yard or block. Instead of passing a baton, pass a torch.

To create your torch, wrap a styrofoam cone in gold or glittered paper. Secure the paper to the cone using a hot glue gun.

For the “flame”, cut two strips of crepe paper (one orange, one red) measuring four inches high and twenty-four inches long. Cut “V” notches down the length of each strip using a pair of pinking shears. Roll the strips together and tightly wrap the flat end of the roll with a rubber band. Carefully bore out a small hole out of the top of the styrofoam torch, drop in a little hot glue, and place the secured end of the flame inside. Once it’s had a chance to cool, fold open the flame like a flower.

Another game you can try is the Olympic Ring Toss. It is a simple game to make, and it’s fun for both kids and adults to play. Take six empty bottles and wrap them with a band of cardstock. Tape a “V” of striped washi tape to create the ribbon, and punch a circle from gold foil paper to create the medal.

For the rings, take six small embroidery hoops, and remove the inner ring. Paint each inner ring to match the colors of the Olympic logo using acrylic paint.

To play the game, each player takes a turn tossing the five rings. The player who lands the most rings around the bottlenecks is the winner.

Of course, the winners of each competition must be rewarded with medals! To make the medals, use an XXXL Circle Punch to cut out your medal form gold, silver, or bronze metallic paper. Add a “2012” using a rubber stamp and ink, a marker, or press-on letters.

Punch out a dove and glue it to the medal. Finally, take 5 hole-reinforcement stickers and place them on the medal, arranged like the Olympic logo. Be sure to make enough medals for the winners of all the events.

Cut a length of wide, striped ribbon and join the ends using your hot glue gun. Next, use hot glue to attach the medal to where the ribbon ends join.

In ancient Greece, laurel crowns were presented to the Olympic victors. This paper version would be perfect to crown the big winners of your Backyard Olympics.

Use your paper trimmer to cut two strips of green cardstock measuring 1.5 inches by 12 inches. Overlap the ends and staple together to create one long strip.

Use your XL Circle Punch to punch out your “laurel leaves” from two 12 x 12 sheets of textured or two-toned green cardstock.

Fold each circle in half, and make a crease in the bottom half of each circle. One by one, staple the creased end of leaves to the strip, working your way towards the end. When the strip is completely covered with leaves, join the ends together with a couple of staples.

Cut two more 1.5 x 12 inch strips from green card stock and glue them inside to line the crown and cover the staples.

Wrap up your afternoon with an awards ceremony. Pass out your medals and laurel crowns to the victors. Count up the number of medals won for each team, and announce which country was the big winner in your Back Yard Olympics!

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After being overseas for a month I have been surfing the net and found this over at

 http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting/Articles/Back-Yard-Olympics ........so thought I'd share with you all.......I love the Olympics......I love watching the SWIMMING and DIVING......not long now and we'll all be able to immerse ourselves in OLYMPIC FEVER........LOL!

XOXO

Lyn

Beryl's BOM # 5 - project finished!!!

                                               

We have just received Beryl's last block.......in her BOM......so click on this link to see her  PDF file of the finished project.....thanks Beryl for sharing this with us all here at Fiskars Craft!!!

Download Fiskars BOM #5

It's nice to see that you were inspired by Smitha Katti and her quilting project!

You can also find Beryl's PDF file in our Make and Take Section on here.....I'm in the process of adding a few more projects over there........

xoxo

Lyn

 

Burlap Invitations

Designer: Emma Jeffrey

Difficulty rating: Beginner

There’s nothing I like more than a crafting challenge, so I was excited to get started on making something with all the items on the challenge list and nothing more. In the design world, usually anything goes, so sometimes it feels good to have your creative projects follow a few rules every now and then!

I decided to use the items on the supply list to create a set of party invitations and envelopes. I used a bright red burlap that I found at my local fabric store – I was surprised at the range of colors available – and coordinated it with some white and red cardstock.The first step was to cut the cardstock to size with my paper trimmer. I cut 4 squares of red cardstock measuring 5” x 5” and 4 squares of the white measuring 4.5” x 4.5”.

Next, I pulled out my Fiskars Birthday Cheer Stamps. These stamps are typically orientated towards embellishing birthday cards, but I wanted to show how, with a little tweaking, they can also be used for party invites. I stamped ‘One year older…’ at the top of the white cardstock squares. Next I used the ‘Let’s Party’ stamp and covered the word ‘party’ and stamped ‘Let’s” underneath.

From the off-cuts of the red cardstock, I cut 4 rectangles measuring 1” x 4.5” and stamped the word ‘Celebrate’ on each of them and with my glue, stuck them onto the white cardstock squares under the word ‘Let’s’.

I pulled out a couple long strands of burlap twine and tied them around the white cardstock squares as a little embellishment, before mounting the whole thing centrally on top of the red cardstock and gluing down.

Next I made the envelopes by cutting 4 pieces of burlap measuring 6” x 11”. I folded up 3” and glued it closed to create the envelope casing.

I embellished the envelopes with a little gift tag which I made by using scraps left over from the white cardstock. I stamped a little star celebration design and pierced a small hole with the tip of my scissors (reluctantly and deliberately NOT using my small hole punch to do this, since it was not on the list!)

I placed the invitation inside the envelope and folded down the top flap. I pulled out a few more strands of burlap to tie around the envelope to keep it closed, and finished it off by tying on the small tag. Finally, I stamped ‘Birthday Party’ and a balloon on the front of the envelope.

Using my measurements, you are able to make 4 of these fancy envelopes and invitations. Plus, there’s space on the back of the invite for you to write the party details, time and place.

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I love surfing the net for crafty ideas with a difference and found this project over at

      

                           http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting

Thought you might like to see it also...............the FISKARS DESIGN TEAM have really been busy this month creating some amazing projects!

xoxo

Lyn Dwyer

Crafting with Arthritis

Author: Stacey Kingman

I have struggled with mild pain in my hands for over 15 years. Since the sporadic discomfort has mostly occurred when I do crafting projects that involve squeezing plastic paint bottles, using scissors for long periods of time, and using paper punches, I have either avoided those activities when possible or worked though the pain and token plenty of ibuprofen.
After several years of pain and frustration, I decided to talk to my doctor, and I was surprised to hear him say that my pain was caused from arthritis. When I received this diagnosis, I was afraid that my crafting days would be limited. Fortunately, I was able to control the occasional discomfort with anti-inflammatory medication and careful monitoring of the pain in my hands, changing activities or stopping at the first sign of pain. I did retire myself from the fabric painting hobby I had enjoyed for many years (so much squeezing of plastic paint bottles!), which left more time for scrapbooking, card making, and paper crafting.
When I was asked to join the crafts design team for Fiskars, I was elated, yet apprehensive. I wondered if I would be able to work with a company that had so many tools...especially paper punches! What I didn’t realize then was that Fiskars had completely changed the paper punch as I knew it. The Fiskars Squeeze Punch required much less force to create an image, and Fiskars had lots of fun, creative punch designs that were so easy to use.
Since I began working with the Fiskars Squeeze Punches, I have punched literally thousands of shapes with absolutely no pain in my hands. One of my favorite scrapbook layout designs involves repeating a punched shape over an entire 12-inch X 12-inch page. I’ve used this technique over and over with different shapes for the background. Not only is punching an economical way to use paper scraps, it’s visually interesting, and for someone who used to avoid paper punching because of arthritis pain, it’s just fun!

I’ve created a variation of my favorite design here, starting with a patterned paper covered in printed circles. I punched about twenty circles using the medium Fiskars Round ‘n Round Squeeze Punch and arranged them around my photos and another piece of cardstock that I cut to 8.5 inches by 7.5 inches. I punched round corners into the top of this smaller paper using the Fiskars Around the Bend Squeeze Punch to echo the circular nature of the other page elements.

When I was happy with the placement of the punched circles, I adhered everything and printed a small journaling box, again rounding two corners, and added the title. I always like to add a little bit of my own handwriting to my scrapbook pages, so when I figure out when these photos were taken, I will hand write the date where I left a small amount of space at the bottom of the journaling box.

Several years ago, I would not have considered punching all those circles for one layout because the resulting discomfort wouldn’t have been worth it. But this layout was quick and fun, and punching the circles was effortless and completely painless.
Since life is just full of paper-crafting opportunities, I’ll share something I recently volunteered to do in my Sunday school class. With a few friends, I am making cards to send to class members on a weekly basis, just reminding them that they are being thought of and prayed for during the week, remembering birthdays, and celebrating anniversaries. To get started, we are making about two hundred cards.

With four busy kids at home, I sometimes wish I had more time to just be crafty, especially when it comes to making cards. The busier I get, the more I try to duplicate cards if I manage to find a creative moment. Instead of making one card for someone, I’ll make five or ten of them. This method of mass-production is working well for the Sunday school card project. Since we are making twenty-five copies each of eight to ten designs, a mass-production plan is necessary. Since the Squeeze Punches don’t require much effort from my hand, this massive card-making event isn’t going to cause extra pain, and that’s a priority for me.

To mass-produce the card shown here,

1. Cut one 12-inch by 12-inch piece of cardstock into three pieces, each measuring 12 inches long and 4 inches wide. Repeat until you have your desired number of card pieces.
2. Fold these pieces in half so that each card is 6 inches long and 4 inches wide. Using the Fiskars Around the Bend Squeeze Corner Punch, round the corners on the opposite side of the card’s fold.
3. For each card you plan to make, cut a solid (or almost solid) blue piece of patterned paper to measure 3 inches tall by 4 inches wide.
4. Punch a tree top using the Seal of Approval Squeeze Punch. Do this for each card.
5. Punch a tree trunk for each card.
6. Print the sentiments using a 14-point font and 1.5 line spacing so they can be easily cut into strips.
7. Assemble cards with the blue piece starting 1 inch from the fold in the card, adhere all pieces.
8. Admire the growing stack of cards!

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Did you know that FISKARS have other tools that have received awards from the Arthritis Foundation? To see further info and fun projects make sure you drop by over at http://www2.fiskars.com/Activities/Crafting/Articles/Crafting-with-Arthritis