Learn to Stamp and Scrap with Lynn Larson

TUTORIAL - Cupcake Box

I think that it is time for another tutorial - what do you think?  Do you want one?  Well, today is your lucky day!

 

How "stinkin' cute" is this cupcake (or muffin) box?  I plan on making some of these during the holidays to give to some friends.  Do you think they will like it?  It was a big hit at the Summer Stamp Fest where I shared how to make this box and a few other items during my "Packaging Pizzazz" demonstration at the Dolce Hotel and Resorts in Basking Ridge, NJ.

So, do you wanna learn how to make one yourself?  Hold on to your hats, here it comes!

Supplies:

Cardstock / Designer Series Paper ("DSP"):

• Old Olive for the Base - 10.5" square
• Jolly Holiday DSP for the Lid - 6 1/8"
• Very Vanilla - strips of scraps to punch scallop edge, scrap for snowflake punch, and  3 3/4" x 3" - for side panels
• Cherry Cobbler (LOVE this new color red - and I am so-o-o not a red person) - 4 7/8" square
• Window Sheet - 4.25" square

Other Supplies:

• Paper Cutter with Scoring Blade
• Bone Folder
• Scallop Border Punch
• Snowflake Punch
• 1" Circle Punch
• Circle Scissors Plus or Container of Brads
• Paper Snips
• Sticky Strip (and Craft Scissors to cut it)
• Cupcake or Muffin (to add inside the box when done)
• Big Shot (I hardly ever create a project without this fabulous product anymore!)
• Clear Circle Bigz Die

**Please note that this box is designed for a large cupcake or muffin.  You can adjust the size of the hole in your insert to accommodate your cupcake.  You can also play around with the size of your box so it fits better too.**

Now on to business...

You will need your piece of Old Olive for the base to start.  Score it at 3.25" on all four sides.  Kind of looks like a tic-tac-toe board when done:))

 

Using your paper snips, cut up the score lines from the outer edge of the cardstock up toward the first scoreline on two sides (either top and bottom or left side and right side).

 
You can see the cut I made on the left side of this photo.  You will then take all four of the corner flaps and cut them on a diagonal.  This helps to keep any extra cardstock from peaking out from the sides of your box.

This is where you will assemble the base of your box using Sticky Strip to adhere the sides.  Once that is done, it is time to decorate your side panels.  I chose to use Very Vanilla cardstock and Jolly Holiday DSP to accent my panels.  Adding these extra layers adds strength and stability to your box (besides making it look nice).

 

Now on to the lid...

Cut your Designer Series Paper for your lid and score it at 1" on all four sides.  You can start punching the strips of Very Vanilla cardstock with the Scallop Edge Punch.  I just punch one long strip and cut it down to the size I need.  My strips were actually long enough for me to get two sides of my lid decorated.

 

Once you have your lid cut and scored, you are going to fold the flaps up on two opposite sides and hold them in place while you center your paper on the Clear Circle Die.  Do the same to the top and bottom by folding the flaps up and centering it on the Die.  Put the Flaps back down so you can run the DSP through the Big Shot.  When the circle is punched out, you have about 1/4" remaining between the sides of the circle and the scorelines.

Adhere your window sheet inside the top of the lid.  Add the scallop edges to the four sides and assemble your lid with Sticky Strip to finish off.

To make your cupcake insert, score it 1/2" on all four sides.  Then you will need to cut a circle in the center of your Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  I chose to use a brad container, trace around it and cut out the circle with paper snips.  You could also use your Circle Scissors Plus to do this.  I find that this paper is just a little too small to hold in place without using a bunch of adhesive to hold it down.

 

Once you have cut out your circle, it is time to punch to half circles diagonal from each other in the insert for the "finger holes".  You don't want to get frosting all over those fingers...okay, maybe you do.  This helps keep the cupcake pretty when you insert it into the box (how's that?).

I use my 1" circle punch upside down to create my finger holes.

 

Are you still hanging in there with me?  We are almost done with this adorable little box!

The insert is cut a little differently than the base and the lid.  You are going to cut the four little corner squares completely off.  (We are not adhering this lid so it attaches together.)  You are going to cut a slight diagonal on all four flap ends so that your finished insert looks like this...

 

 

Fold the four side panels down and slide the insert into your box so it looks like this...

 

Doesn't this box make a fabulous gift presentation?

Punch out four snowflakes from some scrap Very Vanilla cardstock and adhere them to all four sides of your box.  Be sure to attach them when you have the lid on the box so they are centered and not covered by the lid.

 


Voila!  There is your completed cupcake box.  I think I had better run and make some cupcakes to put inside now:))

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial.  Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com

 

 

 

 

 

Do you want a peak at my next tutorial?....

Here it is!

 

Be sure to stop back to get the step-by-step photo tutorial of this fabulous cupcake box.

Lynn
 

TUTORIAL - Flowers, Flowers Everywhere!

Today is the day when I share how to make the fabulous flowers you have been sneaking a peak at on my blog!  Many people thought these flowers were made out of fabric or tissue paper...they are actually made from CARDSTOCK!

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED:

Cardstock

Scallop Circle Punch

Crimper

Paper Piercer and Mat

Brad

Begin by getting out your favorite color cardstock for your flower...then punch out three scallop circles.

Once you have your circles punched, it is time to run the circles through your paper crimper. 

I run the circles through multiple times at different angles.  You will feel the fibers of the cardstock start to break down when the circle becomes more bendable.

After you have run the circles through the crimper - approx. 6-10 times each - it is time to crumple each individual scallop circle into a ball and roll it around.  I play around with them in my hands quite a bit and bend them and crumple them.  You will feel the fibers really break down and get loose.

Once you have manipulated the cardstock and broken the fibers up enough, you can then pick at the edge of your scallop circle and separate the layers of the cardstock so you then have two pieces.

The cardstock should peel apart easily.  If it pulls hard or wants to start to rip, but crumple the cardstock up again and continue to crinkle it and manipulate it.

Stack your peeled cardstock pieces with the fuzzy side up that was from the inside portion of your original cardstock.  You will have six pieces when you are finished.

Stack all six layers together, fuzzy side up, slightly offsetting the placement of your layers so they are not directly lined up on top of each other.  This will give your flowers a more realistic look.

Once piled together, poke a hole in the center with your paper piercer and insert a brad of your choice.  You really won't see the brad when the flower is finished, it is just there to hold the layers together.

Start working each individual layer of the flower up around the brad and crinkle it to start forming your flower.  Do this with each layer until your flower is complete.

When all layers are crumpled you can spread out the layers as much as you like to make a fuller, fluffier flower.

So there you have it, your finished flower!  Aren't they awesome?!  I like to punch out layers and carry them around with me so I can work on them during some down time - either watching TV, while in a doctor's office waiting, during a break or lunch at work...

Check out all the flowers that I made the first time I started playing around with them.  I REALLY like these flowers and have many projects that I am putting them on.  I will be sharing some of those projects with you over the next week or so.

Oh, I should mention that I used the five petal flower to create the leaves.  I just cut some of the petals off the flower, ran them through the crimper and attached them to the flowers using my Tombo two way glue.  So stinkin' easy and so elegant looking!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Be sure to LEAVE ME A COMMENT and let me know how you liked this tutorial.  I would love to hear what you are creating with these flowers!

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com

 

Flowers, Flowers Everywhere - Tutorial Coming!

So many of you have emailed me asking for directions for the flowers that I posted yesterday.  I am planning on posting a tutorial for them.  I have already created and scheduled my blog posts for this week already so my tutorial will be hitting my blog on Sunday.

So be sure to stop by and check out my post on Sunday for the step-by-step tutorial on how to make this fabulous flowers!

Thanks for stoppying by!

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com

TUTORIAL - Black Magic with a Twist using Kind & Caring Thoughts

Are you ready for a technique tutorial?  I certainly am!  I have been waiting to share this technique and sample with you for quite some time now.  If you visited me during the Royal Blog Tour, you saw this Kind & Caring Thoughts card sample using this technique.

I love the technique called "Black Magic".  It is simply creating a colorful stamped image onto a piece of black or other dark colored cardstock (such as navy or chocolate chip).  I like to add my own little touch to this technique by adding my "twist" which I will show you how to do. 

Are you ready to start?  Grab your favorite drink and get somewhere cozy we are ready to begin.

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TUTORIAL:  Black Magic with a Twist Technique

Supplies:

Stamp Set:  Kind & Caring Thoughts

Cardstock:  Basic Black, Whisper White and Brilliant Blue

Ink:  Whisper White Craft Ink

Accessories:  Big Shot Die Cut Machine, Multi-Purpose Platform, Standard Cutting Pads, Textured Impressions Finial Press Embossing Folder, Watercolor Pencils

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Directions:

First you will start off with a piece of Basic Black cardstock.  I measured the wood block of the stamp that I used to stamp with and used that measurement to cut my cardstock. 

 

The next step is to ink up a bold image stamp with Whisper White Craft Ink and stamp it onto the Basic Black cardstock as shown above.  You can either set the piece aside to dry while working on other elements of the card or you can heat the white craft ink with your heat tool so it will dry before going on to the next step.

 

Select the colors of Stampin' Up! Watercolor Pencils that you would like to use on your image.  I chose to use blue for this card but a pink would also look very nice.  I prefer using bright colors on my image because they just pop off the black paper. 

 

After coloring in my flowers and stems, I chose to shadow my flowers with a darker blue pencil.

 

When the image is all colored and shadowed, you will have something like this.  Now it is time to add the "twist". 

 

Using a White Gel Pen, add highlighting to the stems and flowers.  I really like the added white to this technique.  It makes the image much more striking.

Layer your card and add some embellishments and your card can look something like this:

 

My next tutorial will be on Tuesday, August 4th when I share with you how to make the glass votive holder that I shared with you on the Royal Blog Tour.  This is a fabulous way to use your stamp sets and have fun with glass so don't forget to bookmark this site or subscribe to email updates so you don't miss a thing!

 

See you all back here tomorrow.  

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com


 

 

Home Decor Project Video with Shelli Gardner

Yesterday I shared with you a video where you could hear more about how Stampin' Up! got started from our co-founder and CEO, Shelli Gardner.  In that video, Shelli mentioned showing everyone how to make a Home Decor project.  Here is the video where you get to see Shelli made this project!

Thanks for stopping by!

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com

Q&A - Flower Pot Card Tutorial

I have received some questions about my Flower Pot Card samples so I thought I would answer them in a separate post.  I will add to this list as I receive more questions.

Q - How did you make your leaves?

A - I made all of the leaves in the samples I have posted with the Flower Layers with Leaf Bigs Die and my Big Shot. 

Q - What types of things can I make my leaves and flowers with?

A - You could use many different things to create leaves and flowersfor this project including (but not limited to):

• Flower Layers with Leaf Bigz Die / Big Shot
• Stampin' Up! Little Leaves Sizzlits Die / Big Shot
• Stampin' Up! Birds & Blooms Sizzlits 4-pack Dies / Big Shot
• 5-Petal Flower Punch (punched in green and cut petals apart to make leaves)
• Boho Blossoms Punch
• Trio Flower Punch (combined with larger flowers on card)
• Scallop Circle Punch combined with a smaller circle punch to make sunflower or other type of flower
• Any Flower Stamp Set (stamp and cut out)
• Any small to medium flower die / Big Shot (this project isn't that large so be careful not to use too big of a flower die)

Q - What can I use to accessorize my flowers:

A - The sky is the limit when you accent your flowers.  I have used some of the following things on the versions that I have created:

• Buttons #5 Sizzlits Die / Big Shot
• Spring Flowers Set Sizzlits 4-Pack Dies - I would use Designer Series Paper to punch out the flowers.  These flowers also have the centers punch out when they are cut so I would just flip the Designer Series Paper over to have two different colors for my flower and my center section.
• Brads - Rhinestone, Jumbo, Designer or any color regular brads
• Styled Hodgepodge Hardware 3/16" brads in Silver or Vanilla
• Pieces from the Pretties Kit - flowers and half back pearls
• Buttons - Colored, Designer, Clear
• Other Flowers - Fleurettes (crocheted flowers) and Flower Fusion (felt flowers with brads or other accessories mentioned above in center)
• Gel Pen or Stampin' Write Markers to add polka dots or faux stitching to the petals
• Sponge Dauber or Sponge Wedge and Classic Ink (I use Chocolate Chip) to sponge around the edge of your flowers and/or leaves.  I especially like to do this when using lighter colored flowers to make them stand out more.

If you have any other questions, you can leave a comment with this post or with the Flower Pot Card Tutorial post and I will add the Q&A to this list.

If you would like to receive updates emailed to you when I post new information on my blog, be sure to sign up in the box in the left hand column right that says "Get Email Updates" before my photo albums.  That way you won't miss any new updates.  NOTE:  I usually like to update my blog daily.  That isn't always the case but I do like to update frequently so you could get daily email from me.

Happy crafting,

Lynn Larson - Website:  www.learntostampandscrap.com - Email:  lynn@learntostampandscrap.com

TUTORIAL - Flower Pot Card

Here is the tutorial that I promised to share with you on how to make your very own Flower Pot Card. 

Making Flower Pot cards are really very simple.  They are fabulous cards to give for any occasion.  I especially like them for Mother's Day coming up next week.  I have made so many of these cards over the last week, I certainly have plenty of cards to choose from to give away on Mother's Day. 

When deciding on what colors to use for the card, I found it easier to take some Designer Series Paper that you really like and start with that.  Look at the colors in the paper and pick out 2-3 accent colors and a neutral color for the pot portion of your card.  You don't have to use Designer Series Paper on your project if you don't want to though.  You can pick three of your favorite colors along with a green and one neutral color for the pot.  The pot colors that I like to use are:  Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Really Rust and Kraft.

You will also need to have a variety of flowers to use to add to your card insert.  I LOVE using my Big Shot and a variety of flower dies that I have in my stamp studio to create my flowers.  You could also make them using stamped flowers that you have cut out or from a variety of punched flowers.

Now onto the instructions... 

You are going to start off with your neutral piece of cardstock that will be the "pot" portion of your card cut at 3 1/2" x 9".  You will then score that piece of cardstock at 2" and 5 1/5".  Holding your cardstock with the 2" scored portion on top, fold that 2" section toward you then fold the 5 1/2" section away from you.  The 2" section is the lip of your pot so that will be in the front of the card and the fold of your card will be at the bottom of your pot with the back of the card folded up in back.

 

It is now time to trim your 2" section of your pot by using the Scallop Edge Punch (the eyelet border punch also works nicely).  I start by putting the cardstock into my punch and centering it on the pattern guide on the punch.  That way I will be sure to have even scallops on both sides of the cardstock.

 

Be sure to keep the lip of the pot up in the air and not folded down in place for this step in making the card.  You are going to line up the scoreline of that 2" lip into the "track" of your Fiscars paper cutter.  Keeping the base of the card folded you will then line up the bottom right fold line to the 1/2" measure on your paper cutter.  Take a quick look before you make your cut to be sure you have the BOTTOM of your card lined up at the 1/2" mark and the top score line (under the lip flap) lined up in the track.  Doing this will make sure that you have the angle on your pot cut correctly.  Go ahead and cut your cardstock being sure to put a little extra pressure on your blade to cut through two layers of cardstock.

Repeat the same process on the other side being sure to have the bottom of the pot on the 1/2" cutting line and the top score line by the lip lined up with the blade cutting track on your paper cutter.  Now your card base cutting is complete.

You can either leave the base of your card plain by using only your neutral colored cardstock or you can jazz it up a little by adding a piece of coordinating Designer Series Paper.  I then your card over and cut the overhanging Designer Series Paper on an angle using your already cut cardstock base as a guide.  (Note:  I turned the side of the DSP that I would have used on the top of my card over so you can see it better in this photo.  The backside of this DSP happens to be brown.  The red and pink side showed up better for the purpose of this photo.)

 

 

Do not use adhesive on your card other than to add your Designer Series Paper to the front of your pot and to adhere the 2" flap down on your pot to create the lip.  The back of the card that folds back up should NOT have adhesive on it.  You will hold your card together by tying a piece of ribbon the lip portion.

 

You will need a 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" piece of cardstock that either matches the color of your pot or one of your coordinating colors for the backing to your card insert.  The layer on top of that color would be cut in white or other neutral at 2 1/4" x 4 1/4".

One of the most important things is to make sure that you have a Stampin' Up! medium sized (or A2) envelope with you when you make your card.  You need to be sure that when you are assembling your card that you stay within the confines of your envelope.  This will ensure that your card will actually fit inside of the envelope once it has been completed.  (NOTE:  the card used in this photo is another version of a card I created that added gel pen and Stampin' Write Markers to the edges of the flowers.)

 

If you would like, you can also add another contrasting punched border just underneath your originaly punched edged on the lip of your card (as shown on the first photo on this post).  If you are using the Eyelet Border Punch, you can also take that tiny little strip of paper that remains when you are done punching and add it to the bottom of your card to create the "dish" under your pot.  I just add my strip so that it overhangs both sides of the bottom of the card and cut at an angle the distance I like it to end on either side of my card.  I really like this little addition to my cards.  It was purely accidental when creating a card one day that I looked down and had one of those punched scraps sitting on my crafting table looking up at me asking not to be thrown away:))  It was a perfect addition to this card.

White gel pen, buttons and brads are just some of the fun ways to accessorize your card...

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial.  Why don't you grab a cup of tea and head off to your craft area to make a Flower Pot Card of your own?  Please leave your comment or question at the end of this post.  I would love to hear how your projects came out and to help you with any questions you may have about the project.

MORE TUTORIALS...I have many surprises in store for you next week when I can finally share some projects I was holding for presentations I have had over the last month.  Saturday is the final day for "hiding" these projects so next week I will finally be revealing them on my blog along with some more tutorials to go along with them.  Be sure to stay tuned.  You certainly won't want to miss these project ideas!

Thanks so much for stopping by today and I look forward to seeing you all back here tomorrow when I announce the winner of my Blog Candy that I offered on the Blog Tour yesterday.

Happy crafting,

Lynn Larson - www.learntostampandscrap.com

 

Flower Pot Card Tutorial Coming Tuesday Night!

If you saw my Flower Pot Card on the Blog Tour yesterday you saw that I mentioned posting a tutorial so you can make your very own Flower Pot Card.  How's that for the perfect Mother's Day card?!

Anyway, I am putting the finishing touches on the tutorial and will have it posted here on my blog Tuesday night so be sure to check back to see it.

See you Tuesday night!

Lynn Larson - Learntostampandscrap.com

VIDEO - PVC Bin Storage System for Tutorial Tuesday

Since we have been talking about organization the last two weeks, I thought that this video would be perfect to share. 

If you are you looking to simplify your storage needs and make it easier to get more organized, you should check out this video on building your own PVC Bin Storage System.  Someone on one of the groups I belong to shared this link.  I unfortunately saved only the link she shared and not her information in order to give her credit.  It is a great video that is worth checking out.  It is an easy, cost-effective solution to create for your storage needs that makes storing totes or storage bins very accessible and organized. 

Check out the VIDEO HERE.

Enjoy and happy organizing!

Lynn