Domino Ornament Tutorial

Filed under Guest Designers, Tutorials, Gifts/Decorations

by Teri Calia

Supplies:

• Mini Dominos
• Metal Arms and Legs
• Cat Head Bead or Two Moon Cabochons
• Prima Flowers
• E6000 Glue
• Super Glue
• PVC Glue
• Paint Pens
• Thin Silk Ribbons
• Misc. Decorations

Instructions:

Gather your supplies on a clean hard surface. You may want to use a non-stick craft mat, as you will be using strong glue. Choose two dominos, two arms, two legs and a piece of 12 inch ribbon for each ornament you want to make. Place a domino face down and apply a layer of E6000 glue to cover the top of the domino. Fold your ribbon in half and make a knot in one end. Lay the knotted end in the middle of the domino. Lay your arms on the domino in the position you want them to be when finished. Layer on a little bit more E6000 and place the other domino, dot side up, on top of your arms, legs, ribbon, glue and domino “sandwich.” Let the glue cure for at least 12 hours. If you’re worried about your “sandwich” sliding around you can use a clamp, but it’s not necessary.

When your “sandwich” is cured, get out your paint pen and color your ornament where ever you’d like. I like to use Zip Painty Twins in green/burgundy.

While you wait for the painted bits to dry, choose 2 Prima flowers a glue them together with PVC glue so they form a pretty collar for your ornament. When the glue has dried punch a hole through the middle of your collar big enough to thread your ribbon through. Thread the ribbon through and glue your collar to the top of your ornament with Super Glue. If you are using the cat head bead, just thread the ribbon through the bead and Super Glue the head on to the collar. If you are using the moon cabochons, you will need to carefully glue the moons together with the ribbon sandwiched between. When everything has dried or cured you can add decorative details such as a ribbon bow or a Dresden crown.

Angels & Saints + Lots of Papers & Ribbons

Filed under Collage Sheets, Rubber Stamps, New Products

Angels and Saints Collage Sheet Page

8 new collage sheets on a new page with Renaissance angels, Madonnas, cemetary statuary, William-Adolphe Bouguereau paintings, postcards of children as angels…

There’s a new Madonna Card Rubber Stamp by Tracy Roos (shown at right). (And the Round Madonna Rubber Stamp added last month.) And two Saints Medals (the Infant of Prague and the Virgin of Guadalupe).

There’s also a new Folding Angel Musician Card (a reproduction of a vintage folding card with envelope) and an accordion-folded Angel Garland, with images of Renaissance angels. Each panel could be cut apart and used in a collage (4″ tall).

New Scrapbook Papers

Countdown to Christmas Paper Set.
3 single-sided sheets. The numbers (1-25) would be fun to turn into an advent calendar.

Peppermint Paper Set and Ticket Booklet.
5 heavy single-sided sheets. Really pretty, soft colors for Christmas (or not for Christmas, if you ignore the subtle reindeer & tree print on the green sheet). Coordinates with a perforated Ticket Booklet. The tickets are printed cardstock and are 3-1/4 x 1-3/8″.

4 Metallic Scrapbook Papers and 3 Rub-ons.
All 4 papers are printed with metallic ink and use vintage wallpaper patterns.

3 coordinating Rub-ons in black, gold & copper. The gold and copper use metallic ink.

New Ribbons

5 Crushed Velvet Ribbons.
Beautiful muted colors. 5/16″ wide. From left to right: Salmon, Amethyst, Dusty Rose, Orange and Olive. Imported from France.

5 Sheer/Metallic Ribbons.
The three iridescent sheer ribbons on the left are 1-1/2″ wide (they’re soft and easy to crush down to weave thru a pendant or an ornament). The two 1/4″ wide ribbons on the right are woven of metallic threads (and will crimp/bend/stay put if folded). Colors from left to right: Olive, Turquoise, Blue, Copper, Gold. Sold by the yard.

5 Dark Red Ribbons.

Beautiful deep red ribbons. From the top down (in the photo):

• 1/2″ iridescent red seam binding. Similar to “regular” seam binding, but the cross-threads are black.
• 2″ wide sheer ribbon. Soft and easy to crush down to weave thru a pendant or an ornament.
• 1-1/2″ wide iridescent ribbon. Less opaque than the 1/2″ seam binding.
• 1-1/2″ wide satin with sheer gold borders. The satin is lightweight and almost sheer.
• 1-1/4″ wide silk. Very nice.

Miscellaneous

2 Collage Sheets for New Years
Exclusive to Alpha Stamps by Altered by Design. One includes some odd little elves and some animated liquor bottles.

Lots of Christmas Collage Sheets on Sale
Just in time… unless you started months ago.

Ornate Silver Snowflakes (Sets and Singles)
Like the copper snowflakes sets. Set of 6 (2 each of 3 designs with matching brads). 2 large designs are 1-1/4″ diameter each, the smaller design is 3/4″ diameter.

Copper Fern Leaves/Brads
Set of 3 with brads.

Da Vinci Stickers
5″ x 12″. (The individual stickers are round and 1″ diameter.)

2 postcards: Pinecone (A reproduction of an odd vintage card) and “Better gnomes in gardens.”

New York Postcards & Correspondence Cardstock
2 double-sided 9″ x 9″ sheets.

Jesus Tape
Yes, this is in bad taste, so just move on.
This is printed packing tape (standard 2″ wide clear packing tape on a dispenser). 82′ long.

New in the Gallery

Filed under Guest Designers, Gifts/Decorations

This amazing ABCs of Christmas recipe card set is by Guest Designer Shannon Sawyer, using the Holiday ABCs Stickers. There are lots of ideas for ornaments and gifts in the gallery.

Stamps, Pendants, Ribbons, Books

Filed under Back in Stock

Stamps

Deco Queen of Hearts Rubber Stamp

Pretending to be a Normal Person Rubber Stamp

Fall Leaves Clear Stamp Set

Measuring Tape Rubber Stamp

Books

Simply Soldered Book

Mini Ephemera Book/CD

Pendants

Silver Single-Loop Rectangular Pendants

Silver Curved Bracelet Links

Silver & Copper Mini Single-Loop Round Charms

Large Lightweight Silver Pendants

Silver 1-Loop Square Mini Charms

Silver Square Mini Bracelet Links-Double Loops

Large Silver Round Pendants

1/2 Inch Brass Disks, 1 Loop

Ribbons

Green Sueded Leaf Ribbon

Black Puffy Bat Ribbon

Seashell Twill Tape

Miscellaneous

Metal Blossoms in Tin

Gold Bird Scraps

2 Inch Square Copper Frames

Large Copper Jump Rings

French Holiday Cards & Beautiful Ribbons (amongst other things)

Filed under Rubber Stamps, New Products

The new items are very varied this week. More holiday cards, card-making supplies and gift ideas. And new stamps from Tracy Roos. And quite a few new metal embellishments…

Paper Things:
Postcards/Dresden/Scrapbook Papers

French Postcards/Gift Tags

Being in that no-man’s land of “we’re past Halloween but not supposed to be thinking about Christmas yet” I’ll suggest that these boxed sets of postcards or tags would be a nice present for yourself.

Paris Gift Tags in Tin
36 die-cut heavy cardstock tags with romantic, vintage images of Paris. The backs are blank for writing a message. 6 each of 6 designs.

Joyeux Noél Glitter Postcards in Tin
Reproductions of gorgeous postcards with fine silver glitter. 12 postcards (2 each of 6 designs). Postcards are 3-7/8″ x 5-7/8″. The backs are printed with a vintage “Postcard” graphic (with the normal space for writing notes and address).

Christmas Cards

Strange Christmas Cards
A booklet with envelope to mail to all your odd friends. Reproductions of some strange cards like terriers chasing a rat with the message “Wishing you a very happy Christmas” and the answer to an unasked question (Where is Christmas?) “Welcome to Christmas” which appears to be a cave inhabited by owls.

Santa Red Envelope Message Postcard
Embossed postcard with a red envelope (with mini notecard) attached. Comes with an envelope for mailing. Message on front says, “A Letter from Santa Claus.”

Scrapbook Paper

Harlequin Scroll Paper
A pretty sheet. It could be used for Christmas as the pattern uses red & green (subtly… with aqua and overlaid swirls).

Blue Paisley Paper
This design was used in a past Cherub set of papers, so you may remember it. It has a vintage wallpaper or whitewashed tin tile look.

Dresden/Scraps

Full-Color Fall Leaves Scraps
12″ x 9″ sheet (only half the sheet is shown here). Die-cut and embossed.

Black Sitting Cat Scraps
Cats with bows. The same design as the gold cats.

Green Dresden Borders
With a little paint, these could look like beautiful copper patina.
Each strip approx. 1/2″ wide.

Beautiful Ribbons

French Ribbon Sets (on wooden spools)
Beautiful, imported French ribbons (taffeta with metallic edgings or threads woven into the pattern). 3 color combos. Each set has 3 ribbons (5/8″, 1″ & 1-1/2″ — 1 yard of each) wrapped on a wooden spool. As you can see, the ribbons are in 3 widths so you can layer them (or use them separately).

Tan/Black Music Notes Twill Tape
1/2″ wide cotton twill.

Cream/Black 1/4″ Mini Gingham
5 yard roll of a miniature gingham check.

Ribbon Stitch Long-Reach Punch
Different vendor than the old long-reach ribbon stitch punches, but the same dimensions (and cheaper!). Reaches up to 3-1/4″ into the paper you’re punching. Could also be punched along the outside of cardstock to create cards that lace together.

Metal Embellishments

Muse Tokens
They’re like artist’s subway tokens (nicely done, with embossed text and cut out initials). Antique-colored tags in 3 colors (nickel, copper and brass — 4 in each color for a total of 12).

Metal Clock Faces
Set of 12 in 3 sizes; numerals are printed.

Arrow Brads
4 each in 4 colors (plus matching brads).

3 Styles of Card Holders
Ovals and 2 sizes of rectangles in a faux-antique brass color. Pendant sample using the ovals is by Teri Calia using Dragonfly and Leaf brads.

Round Antique-Colored Picture Hangers
A mix of antique copper, pewter and brushed gold hangers, with half circle shaped moveable loop on the end. Set of 25. They can be slid onto paper, and held in place with a mini brad/fastener. A fun way to hang, latch or tie on other items.

Ornate Corner Protectors
4 corners per set.

Antique-Colored Mini Safety Pins

Corner Protectors in Tin
Bronze photo edges.

Copper & Black Ball Chain
By the yard or 2 pre-cut sets with connectors.

Leaf Brads
Set of 12 metal brads in 3 different antique colors.

Stamps (Red Rubber & Clear)

Happy New Years and Winter Girl
2 new stamps by Tracy Roos.

Borderline Clear Stamp Set
Some nice borders… from map edges to a little scallop that looks like the front of an awning. Set of 11 (skinny) border stamps.

Hardware Clear Stamp Set
Hinges, a key, keyholes, doorknobs, a padlock, and other architectural details…

Miscellaneous

Diorama Boxes
Heavy chipboard boxes with glass inset into the lids (the lids lift off and are the same depth as the boxes; the chipboard is covered with black faux-leather grain paper on the outside and white paper on the inside). Perfect for making little, framed shadow boxes. These are also used for mounting insects for scientific display. Beautiful Palmistry sample using the Large box is by Shannon Sawyer.

Glass Glitter
8 colors. Real glass… not for young kids to play with. Catches the light beautifully. The Pumpkin, Gold, Silver, Chestnut, Penny and Aqua are “pure” (the glass shards are colored after the glass is crushed, so the color coats all sides of the shards).

Vamp Stamp News — Nov ‘08 Issue
The November issue has an article with lots of diagrams on making cards with pockets. There’s also part 2 of last month’s article on temporary stamp-mounting techniques. And tips on layering embossing powder. As always, the cards on the front and back covers and in the centerfold galleries have full instructions.

Sheer Snowflake Blank Books
These thick, high quality non-PVC sheer books come with 8 pages on a chain (punched once like a swatchbook). Easy to paint or embellish, and the transparency of the pages lets you play with (see/preview) the images on following pages.

Clear Die-Cut Snowflakes
In 3 sizes. Sturdy yet thin enough to be bent or stitched.

Noel Color Rub-Ons
Little booklet with four 4-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ sheets of rub-ons.

Shell Beads
The shells are drilled with a hole for stringing. Approx 5/8″ long.

Wire Cutters
Cut your bind-it-all wires or ball chain, etc. 4-1/2″ long.

Dresden, Playing Cards, Ribbons…

Filed under Back in Stock

Metal

Philosophy Tags

Pronged Seahorses

Large Metal Game Spinners

Ribbon

Orange Halloween Twill

Tan/Black Ruler Twill Tape

Drapey Light Lime Ribbon

Dresden

Gold Tassel Dresden Strips

Black Dresden Party Cats

Black Swallow Scraps

Playing Cards

Gypsy Witch Deck of Cards

Preposterous Playing Cards

Deviant Moon Tarot

Miscellaneous

French Dictionary ATC Cards

Mini Ephemera Book/CD

Diamond Glaze Bottles & Samples

Alice in Wonderland Bracelet

Filed under Guest Designers, Alice in Wonderland, Tutorials

by Kriss Cramer

Supplies:

• Alice in Wonderland Collage Sheets
• 1" Memory Frames, Antique Copper
• 1" Memory Glass
• Toggle and Head Pins
• Jump Rings
• Beads

Instructions:

1. Cut collage sheets to 1" x 1", place between two 1" x 1" Memory Glass, and put inside Memory Frame. Link frames together and add toggles.
2. Create dangles with beads and head pins and attach to bracelet between each frame.

Another tutorial by Kriss.

Paper Dolls, Papers, Dresden & Cats

Filed under Rubber Stamps, Paper Dolls, Alice in Wonderland

Paper Dolls

I’ve been collecting vintage paper dolls since before I was a costume designer (that’s 2 careers ago). I’ve scanned and retouched 9 Paper Dolls from an Alice in Wonderland series first printed in WWI (plus a Queen of Hearts set from another series). The older dolls are wonderful as they stand up and have costumes for the back as well as the front of the characters. Most include instructions and a little sketch of how the doll should look when finished (warning: some of the instructions are not for the faint of heart… easily accomplished by an adult, but children who’ve only seen more modern paper dolls might be baffled).

There’s also a new “Fantastiques” paper doll book with die-cut heads, arms & legs (and a few separate, heavier sheets of objects that could be bodies) to make collaged paper dolls. Includes instructions and ideas for adding the doll parts to found objects and greeting cards (and little phrases along the bottom of each page to put in your dolls hands). Characters include a skeleton, a pirate, a dragon, the King of Hearts, a jester, many animals, and the Mad Hatter and White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. Just pop out the pieces and attach with brads. Even the holes for the brads are pre-punched.

New Scrapbook Papers

Tea & Silk Paper Set.
12 doubled-sided sheets (2 sheets each of 6 designs). Beautiful patterns (the tulips sheet is just gorgeous). This set comes with a bonus set of a few paper flowers and a bit of pink ribbon. Coordinating Paper Flowers and Decorative Brads.

Once Upon a Time 8″ Paper Pad.
A fat paper pad of 48 sheets of 80# printed cardstock. Most sheets are glittered. Includes pastel and muted colors, swirls, fairy wings, crowns… Shannon used these papers in the lovely sample at left.

Cargo Scrapbook Paper.
A geometric pattern that also looks like stylized cabbage roses. Kind of a tan/green/khaki color. Printed with faux distressing.

New Dresden Trims

Orange Borders.
Perfect for Halloween. Matte finished and embossed (and thicker paper than some of the metallic scraps). Used by Teri in the sample at right.

Silver Borders.
Border strips and some beautiful double-sided snowflakes (a small portion shown at left)

Ornate Gold Borders.
Antique gold color. Almost heart-shaped designs. 2 strips per set. Each strip is 7/8″ x 7″ (wider than our other borders).

Violet Thin Borders.
Small enough to be used on “inchies.” Set of 6. Each 3/16″ x 11″.

3 Bronze Borders.
3 differents widths (and designs) in a new, beautiful darker metallic color (one is shown above, next to the Turquoise from the last newsletter, which is a great combo).

Cats… Lots of Cats

The Dog Did It Rubber Stamp.
What a mischievous little face! Licensed from the fabulous Teri Calia.

Kittens/Snowballs Rubber Stamp.
A little maniacal, but adorable, 3 little kittens.

Boxed Cat Christmas Cards.
Reproductions of vintage cat cards in a die-cut box. 8 cards with envelopes. Cards are 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″. Even the inside of the cards are printed with greetings in the style of the card’s era.

Folding Kittens/Top Hat Cards.
Reproduction of a vintage, embossed and die-cut card that folds out and includes a loop for hanging. Opens to 19 inches.

2 Kitten/Cat Postcards.
A sweet Kitten with Cake and an Odd Black Cat Postcard

Full-Color Cat Scraps.
Victorian reproduction.
12″ x 9″ sheet. Die-cut and embossed.

Back in Stock:
Set of 10 Black Cat Cards.
Set of ten die-cut 4″ to 5″ Black Cat cards with blank backs (they don’t fold open like greeting cards). Envelopes included.

Miscellaneous Supplies

Wider Wired Chocolate on Green Ribbon.
The printing (teaspoons, text and flourishes) are printed in a (cocoa) brown ink on a lime (pistasio?) colored taffeta. The edges are wired (but can be easily removed if you like). The pattern lends itself to folding the ribbon in half (to bind the edges of a project).

Longer Black & Silver Rosary Chain: 22″.
Black glass beaded rosary link chain with sterling silver-plated clasp. A little longer per many requests.

Boxer Rub-Ons.
Little booklet with four 4-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ sheets of rub-ons. Pretty, full-color flowers and swirls.

Cavalier Ribbons.
1 yard each of 5 ribbons. Includes a printed twill and a velvet ribbon with lace trim.

Autumn Painted Brads.
Three shades of green, gold, brown and a pale sky blue. Set of 180.

Scallop/Fan Blank Books.
Like the other Board Books, these have blank (unvarnished) heavy white pages (about matte-board thickness, so they can take some abuse). Pre-cut into a pretty fan (or scallop shell) shape. Approx. 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″