A Simple Paper Wreath Tutorial

Hello Happy Scrappers!

Here's a simple paper project idea for ya. I saw it on the TipJunkie's blog. I love that blog! They have a lot of freebies and tons of great ideas. This is a rendition of one of their many tutorials on paper wreaths. It looked simple and guess what? It was! I had this puppy finished from top to bottom in under 2 hours. Can you believe it?!

As you can see in this photo below, I used a very rigid piece of cardboard that I kept from the backing of calendar packing. I nearly went through my entire kitchen looking for just the right size circle. Every plate, pot lid and salad bowl. Finally, I got the right size for the outside of the circle and then a lid from a pot for the inside of the circle. I just eyeballed it as usual, penciled around the edges and cut it out with my kitchen shears.  

TIP: I cut the large circle all the way through for easier and more accurate cutting, then taped it up when I was finished. The tape will be covered up by the circles anyway.

Below you will see the stash I chose. I was just looking for things with like, harvest colors. Nothing too modern or rigid, but more softer natural things. I didn't use all of this stuff, but thought you might be interested in the process of choosing embellishments for your projects. This is how I do it. Tip: I group all of my papers and embellishments in some kind of color order and style set. Stickers, ribbons, letters, frames, etc.

I used a gorgeous paper from this fantastic collection from Simple Stories.  This was one of those collections that I saw in a magazine, Creatief Met Fotos and I had to have it.  Someone on their staff made a brilliant scrapbook using this collection and I plan on pretty much swiping the entire idea. It was brilliant! This is an excellent sample of all the goodies you get in the set. For me, it was a must have. As you know, I rarely buy anything that is not on sale, but I just couldn't resist.

Here are all of the papers I used.  When choosing my papers, I took the Destinations pack with me to my enormous Pamper's box full of papers, Tip: which is conveniently organized by rainbow colors for faster searching. I pulled colors out of the collection that were as close as possible to those in the collection and chose the gold for a bit of blingy glamour and warmth.

Below you can see the cardboard circle is nearly covered by the brown and burgundy circle base. Notice the pattern? Over and under. You can choose any pattern you like or none at all, but I played around with it and thought this pattern looked the best.  I used double sided tape, right in the middle so that it wouldn't go over the edges and stick to everything else.  It also leaves a lot of room if you choose to slide another circle slightly under another.

You can see the design paper from the collection. Most of the papers are plain for this project and I wanted one, good, design paper that would help make it pop. I used my handy, Fiskars shape cutter which cut a ton of time off of the project. (Punny, eh?)

Here are some of the embellishments for on the wreath.  Some are from the Destinations package (The heart, 100% Real Life Ticket and the Good Times Ticket.) and some are from my own stash. All keeping with a Fall theme and all warm and cozy colors.

 The wreath is really coming along nicely. All of the circles have been cut in various sizes and with different, coordinating papers. I thought the circles with no centers was a neat touch and I only used a few. The base was planned and thought out, but for the rest of the layering circles, I just moved them around until I got the look I liked. I did the same binding technique as I did for the base circles so I could slide underneath another circle.  I fooled around with the few embellishments I used until the desired look was achieved and designed the two circles that dangle from the top.

Also displayed for you are the adhesive supplies I used. In the bottom right hand corner is my center-less circle with tiny Glue Dots. Just make sure that the Glue Dots end up adhering to paper. TIP: If ya goofed a little, which we all do at times, then rip off a small piece of the paper backing from the Glue Dots and stick on the dot or part of the dot that is not adhered to paper. This way it won't stick any more.

Choose a ribbon to dangle or hang. A wreath hanger could work or use a few Glue Dots to hang your wreath. It's really, really light. Voila!

 If you want to add a more personal touch to your craft, then add some family photos like I did here, below.

Thanks again for checking out my blog.  I also have a FaceBook Page that I keep up to date, daily.  Feel free to comment or post on my wall.  Hope to see you there and join us again for a new blog.  I have a super, duper, girly purse I made that poses as a mini scrapbook.  You have to check it out!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Cherry-On-Top/322708647766995?ref=tn_tnmn

www.tipjunkie.com

www.gluedots.com

http://simplestories.typepad.com

http://www.creatiefmetfotos.nl

http://www3.fiskars.com

Thanks for hanging with The Cherry!

Up-Cycling A Fun Circular Mini Scrapbook with Just a Few Supplies

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

Up-Cycling is recycling by taking garbage or unwanted things and turning them into something stunning. I am a total up-cycler. I have such a limited budget that it is absolutely necessary to do this. I'm also kind of weird about wasting stuff and find artsy potential in just about everything. Wow! The world is my oyster. Even the world of junk. Hehehe...

To the right you will see a...a...round thingy. I will call it a flyer that I received when visiting...a family help center. (My youngest son has Autism and my older son is also currently being evaluated. So, times getting testy around here.) I was immediately brain scrapping when I saw this thing. I couldn't wait to get started on this project and I did something I rarely ever do. I got started immediately!

Here was my template.

These are the separate pages of my boys and their new pup.

 

I started with the smallest circle.  Using my handy, Fiskars shaper, I cut out all of the circles. Make sure you use fairly sturdy to sturdy card stock paper for this project. At least for the basis of your circles. I also strongly recommend using embellishments that are not too thick. Especially, if you plan on using a brad to bind your circles together.

The color pallet is quite simple. This particular paper is Lime Rickey from Basic Grey. (My all time favorite supplier.) I got it on a clearance rack in one of the few local, craft stores here, in Belgium. The second to last page is my favorite. The silver paper is so hip and eye catching. Everything you see is just circle punched or hole punched and glued on. Super, eh? It shines and matches great with the ring I used to keep it all together.

Above you can see that I used a brad originally, just like in the sample. It gives a totally different effect to your end result. There are some draw backs when using a brad (split pin). Your embellishments need to be very flat.Use your embellishments preferably, around the edges that do not rub the above circle. You can go crazy on the last circle, around the edge because nothing will touch there. I considered punching holes, eye letting them and tying ribbon through each hole. I love the idea of using journaling as well. Below you can see how neat it is to spread out your pictures. However, you can't see the top of most of them. So keep this in mind as you design your pictures to the circles.

When using a ring you have a lot more freedom. The embellishments do not snag as much on each other.  ou can also add more flair with various ribbons around the ring and use the same ribbons in your designs for a cohesive look. I considered papering up the back of each, but you really do not see the back anyway.  So, I saved time and precious supplies by not doing that and I'm glad with the result.

The effect with the ring when spread out is completely different, but equally as beautiful.  You can see more of the picture with the ring as well. I would recommend using eyelets on each page where the ring would go through. I can't find my eyelet tool at the moment. So, I didn't do it or otherwise I would not have thought twice. It really helps reinforce your circles and keep them in good shape and from tearing.

I put this book together in about 2.5-3 hours. It goes so well when you have an idea in your head.  I went through all of my papers looking for just the right combination. Then through matching embellishments and it all just clicked right away. It isn't always like THAT! Hehehe...A super fun project, inspired by junk, turned out to be excellent therapy. Keep on scrap'n! It helps keep the coo coo out! Hehehehe...

Thanks for checking out The Cherry.

Happy scrapping!

Crazy Accordion Paper Scrapbook Mini with a Step by Step Tutorial

Welcome to The Cherry On Top.

It's finally here! It's finally finished! The one and only, Crazy Accordion Book. It really didn't take me all that long to put it together, but it did take a while to get it here on my blog. There were many projects in between. Those will work their way on here too, eventually.

As promised and upon request. I shall present to you the making of this super, fun book. Nearly all of the materials here are from a collection by Echo Park, Happy Days. How could I go wrong with a title like that? "Doe Ne Keer Zot" is how you say, "Do Something Crazy" in Dutch. As is our lives here in Belgium. We speak "Flinglish" which is the catchy phrase I coined for our mix of English and Flemish that comes spewing out of our international mouths.

OK, I don't want to mess around too much with lengthy explanations because this blog is gonna be a big one. If you have any questions at all, feel free to leave them in the comments or hit me up with an email.

Here are some of the supplies you will need:

glue and or craft dots

blue glitter paper

double sided tape
foam tape (for dimension)

wax pencil (for drawing on pictures)

pencil

exacto knife

corner rounder

tiny detail scissors

Above are small and large hole punches, red

glitter paper and a small circle punch.

Below, is a tape dispenser, glue pen (my favorite) and rhinestones for extra bling.

Shiny black paper, various chipboard letters, green and white glitter, blue glitter goo, ribbon, extra embellishing paper for background that was not in the kit and a black, Sharpie are next.  It's one of the few markers that doesn't bleed as much.

The first step is to cut your card stock to the size you would like your book to be, width wise. Be careful not to go too wide or your book will not balance proper if you choose to want to stand it up as a display method. Small is good, but keep in mind the size of pictures you want to use as well as the size of your embellishments in the kit. Some are quite large and won't fit on your page if it is too small.

The second step is to have at least two of the same size card stock sheets as pictured above. Same width, same length. I simply folded a piece of card stock in half, the long way and that decided the width of my book.  It also saved on paper. Otherwise, you need several pieces of card stock to make your book. I simply taped the two pieces together, end to end with regular tape because I knew I would cover over it with other paper. The tricky part was folding it just right so that all of the pages came out the same size. (Mine was not perfect.) Once you have the accordion look and the pages are as even as you can make them, weigh something heavy on it and let it sit over night. I used an old, huge scrapbooking book for the job. You can make the book as long as you like by adding/taping more lengths to your book, but it looses stability. Especially if you want to crank out some serious embellishments. All things to keep in  mind.

You can see the papers I chose for the background of the cover (which is where I started).  I decided to cut the picture out, leaving out the background so that you could see more of the precious paper. The border is provided in the E.P. Kit. However, I blinged it up by using my tiny hole punch and some awesome, glitter, card stock paper and my Elmer's Craft glue pen to adhere. The letters are also provided in the kit and I put them on a black background to make it pop. Pow! The "Silly" tab on the side is provided in the EP kit and fits  like a glove in this book. The red, glitter circles are from the paper and circle punch, simply glued partially under the letters.

I started to work a bit backwards here. When you adhere your designed paper to the card stock, always make sure that it goes slightly over the fold or crease in the book.  I used a combination of glue and a lot of double sided tape to adhere the design papers. You have to be really careful that you get it just right. If this intimidates you, then simply use glue because it allows for mistakes. TIP:  I often peel back half of the double sided backing, make sure I have it lined up just right, adhere, then peel back more.

I continued with the horizontal lined paper on the next page, used my Fiskars shape cutter for the circle picture as well as the glitter circle, then my circle punch for the gum balls making sure to use the same colors in the candy dish on the embellishments provided in the kit. Then the rounded corner punch for the black background. I chose to use black as a contrasting color in this book and you will see it often throughout to help with cohesion.

(The green paper just makes it easier to see my project.)

You can see I have six pages on each side of the book.  I had so many funny pictures. I think I will make a 12 x 12 book and incorporate the same silly scenario. Below is the other side of the cover. I adhered the two tabs from the kit together on a rigid, junk scrap then used double sided tape to adhere it to the book, then just papered over the top. This side is fun polka dots. I kept the red dot thing going, but added more bling with my glitter paper and circle punch and just snipped the circles in half and used glue dots to stick them for the effect you see here. The letters are from the kit and are on top of a plain red scrap of paper then again on a black paper for a framed look.

What an easy way to make a border, right?

Next to the Funny Farm, I used the flower paper and overlapped it a bit with the polk dots. You can see it covers two squares and goes slightly over the fold on the next page. It's just easier that way. I cut out the pictures, used flowers, the bottle cap and the journal cloud all from the kit. I added the extra bling as on the supply list and even used the sample page as embellishments. TIP:  Give your projects dimension by layering up the flowers like on the second page and use the sample sheet from your kits. That's like free embellishments. Reinforce them by using heavy paper underneath like old cereal boxes or the backing from embellishment packaging. Frugal scrapbooking, for sure.

As you can see below, I simply line up my next paper I want to use, then mark how far I want to go over and slice.  You can get out your ruler and measure everything to the 1/8th of an inch, but I've got better things to do! Hehehe...

Measured up in length and width...

 <--This is the back of the red, polka
dot sheet.  Shown is the double
sided tape I used to glue it on.

>There you can see I only wanted enough for one page.

 <Here, I'm measuring up the width with my pencil, of the yellow, scalloped border as a means to separate the pages.
>I'm cutting the border with an exacto so as not to waste.

 <To the left is a picture from the sample of the kit.  I reinforced the back for strength with heavy scrap paper then added the glue where I wanted the extra bling.
>To the right sprinkled on the glitter for pizazz!

Below, is the glittery, reinforced car applied to foamy tape for dimension and a black background for added poppage.

Here is the the finished page, below. You apply your picture where you like. I put it just next to the scalloped border, slightly higher. Then added yellow, checked scrap paper to look like a ribbon. Applied the word stickers from the kit to some polka dotty paper I had in my scrap bag that matched, lined them up with the edge of the picture and adhered. The black and white border under the car is also from the kit. Make sure that your embellishments are not too close to the folds of the book.

Above you will find the next page. The picture was really big and I didn't want to waste all of my good paper from the package, so I measured up and used old scraps from my scrap bag. That's the blue with polka dots. The bottle caps are from the kit. I cut out the top with the fine scissors as you can see and only used one page with a little extra over the crease. I used more from the sample page with this flower,  added my own bling and used their orange flower as well as the word, "Adventure".  The chipboard letters are from a discount store. I glittered them up and used the shiny, black background again. They just looked kind of blah without it. It wasn't easy, but the effect was great!

I love the picture above. This is the Lego Shaquille and that is a foam sword. Hehehe... There is a black, diamond border from the previous page that is provided in the kit, measured up and stuck. More red polka dots and the left overs from the bottle caps as another border to the right of the new page. That was simple! A funny quote for a funny book will bring smiles if not a chuckle. I smeared in some added color on the journal note to cover up a small fault. Hehehe....

Turning the book to the other side (again) and continuing...More black diamond border from the kit, an enormous picture, all overlapping just slightly, then red ribbon so that you cannot see where every fold is and where all the new pages start.

Rolling The Dice is super simple, yet I really love it! You will find the diamond paper from the Happy Days kit is being used as the background for this page. More shiny, black paper to form a border. The red, glitter paper to form a frame (which BTW, never comes out perfect when I make it.)  TIP:  I use my paper cutter, take the picture and measure it up on the back of the paper I want to use as a frame and simply move in a few millimeters from the mark as I cut. It's kind of lazy, but it goes really quickly that way. The dice and sticker are from the kit.  I followed suit and framed and black backgrounded it. There is a lot of depth on this page.

Man! That Crazy, Man Bag page was a toughy and I only kind of like it. It took me forever to clip out the flowered pocket just right. That's all it is though. A clipped out pocket from the floral page in the kit, doubled sided with tape only on the button and glued slightly on the side, but not the top, to form a pocket for the tag and picture specifically cut to fit. A little Happy Days lettering from the kit, of course and BOOM! Finished! Horizontal, lined paper with polka dots on the back was used as the basis for this tag. The "Fabulous" tab on one side and the "Hello" tab on the other side. Black, shiny paper cut out with the circle punch, then cut in half, glue dotted to the bottom of the cornered picture then pimped up with the hole punch sized red, glitter paper. The other side of the tag is blinged out a bit more with added embellishments from the kit, hole puncher with glitter paper and a button for sensitive viewers. Hehehe...This side coincides with the other side of the book.

The last and final page was the continued use of the black and white paper from the kit, blue glitter paper for some super POW, repetitive use of the red glitter paper with flower punch and more blue, glitter paper for the center of the flower made by the tiny hole punch. A few more embellishments from the kit and even more glitter with the blue, glitter goo, over the original white lines of the flower from the kit. The bottom, left picture provides a pocket for me. Hehehe...Backgrounds are used on both pictures for some contrast and layering and scrappy circles to add color and happiness.

Hey!  That wasn't all that bad. I thought it would take me all day to get this thing done. I sure hope someone out in Blogland will be able to use this. LOL! Share pictures of your accordion books or funny pictures. I like funny....

Thanks for check us out.

Happy scrapping!