Craftside

Valentine Heart Pop-up Template by Helen Hiebert, Author of Playing with Pop-ups

Last week, I posted a whole week of Valentine's Day projects and it looks like I have a few more to share. Pop on over to author of the soon to be released book Playing with Pop-ups: The Art of Dimensional, Moving Paper Designs, Helen Hiebert's blog for the free download of this pop-up heart card.

If you are a fan of the pop-up you can pre-order Helen's new book available in May:

Playing with Pop-ups: The Art of Dimensional, Moving Paper Designs

by Helen Hiebert

 

...and more tasty and crafty goodness:

Boday Mind Beauty Health

A Walking Mediation to help you reach your goals

Quarry SPOON

Recipe for Nutella Pana Cotta

Whole Home News

How to install a tile backsplash

Rock Paper Ink

Painting with out a brush video

Motorbooks

Steve McQueen's 1958 Porche Speedster Super

Walter Foster

Painting Valentine Hearts from the book Brave Intuitive Painting

 

 

Sizzix Dies and 4 beautiful Where Women Create Books - Holiday Goodness Giveaway

I can fully attest to the joy giving brings to you. Today, I have the pleasure of hosting a second Holiday Goodness Giveaway with another one of my favorite companies-Sizzix!

Author Jo Packham has a fabulous new line of die cuts with Sizzix, and to celebrate we are giving away 2 of her Where Women Cook Sizzix dies- The house box and The milk carton box- and a set of her 4 Where Women Create books.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

I had so much crafting with the 2 new Where Women Cook Sizzix dies.

As a consummate recycler, I have a big stash of Christmas cards, some were given to me and some I have purchased in bulk at the thrift store that I'm sure were part of someone's card stash. That is what I used to make this cute little house ornament.

I used a Thomas Kinkade card with a cute little guy and snow scene to make the sides of the house with the house box die.

 For the roof, I used white glitter cardstock. To make the hanger, I simply poked a re-bent paperclip.

I used the same white glitter cardstock to make the milk carton box.

To add a bow to the box, I punched two holes in the top flaps. And for the tag, I used a Sizzix mitten die cut and another Christmas card.

I'm looking forward to making more boxes for upcoming holidays!

I love to hear what designers and authors have to say about their creative process and business. Take a moment to hear about Jo's world.

 

More about the Where Women Create books:

Pieography: Where Pie Meets Biography-42 Fabulous Recipes Inspired by 39 Extraordinary Women

by Jo Packham

What kind of pie conveys the experience of starting a new job, getting married, becoming a mom? Over 30 of the country's top foodies are here to tell you. Each one has devised a pie recipe that captures the essence of her life. Stir in beautiful photography, short essays, and brief bios, and voilá, you've got more than a cookbook: you've got Pieography. From Espresso Dream Pie to Salmon and Spinach Pie, this collection nourishes body and soul.

 

Everything Goes with Ice Cream: 111 Decadent Treats from Raspberry Sorbet to Cream Cookie Pie Plus Fabulous Handmade Party Ideas

by Koralee Teichroeb

Everything goes with ice cream - yet we understand that the perfect dessert for all of us is not always a big bowl of ice cream. Not everyone loves ice cream, as hard as it is to believe! Which is why Everything Goes with Ice Cream is the book for all of us. It does, of course, have the easy-to-make homemade ice cream, but it also has 176 pages filled with other ideas for making a summertime snack covered in made-from-scratch sea blue candy sprinkles; s'mores and hot chocolate for winter; or an ooey gooey dessert whose magic ingredient is, of course, chunky chocolate fresh raspberry ice cream. Simple projects fill the pages too, including tiny candles made in tea cups, miniature no-sew cake banners, party pom poms, heart-shaped button covers for a special party blouse, and so many more.

Quilters, Their Quilts, Their Studios, Their Stories: With Access to More than 80 Online Quilt Patterns (A WWC Press Book)

by Jo Packham

Hear their stories, see their studios and favorite quilts, and learn how to make beautiful quilts of your own. Quilters, Their Quilts, Their Studios, Their Stories connects you with thirty of the top quilters in the industry, so you can learn the craft from the best.

The Artisan Food Entrepreneur: Profiles in Passion and Success

by Jo Packham

Come along on an artisan food journey with thirty of the top “foodie” entrepreneurs in the industry. Chapter by chapter, you’ll be carried away with beautiful photography, delicious recipes, and inspiring stories from restaurant owners, farmers, beekeepers, bakers, and more. Get valuable advice for your own business along the way. This wonderful collection is sure to nourish your body and your soul with over thirty recipes that you will want to make again and again.

Oh and if you are into winning books and things that cut pop on over to this

Craftside post to get yourself in the running for more books and Westcott Cutting tools.

 

 

Mega Holiday Goodness Giveaway: Westcott Scissors, Rowlux film, and Quayside Books

Who hoo! It's time again for our Double Holiday Goodness Giveaway! This year you can get yourself in the running for two great gift packages filled with Westcott scissors and cutting tools, an assortment of  Rowlux® Illusion Film and Quayside Publishing books. You can get yourself in the running for this first gift package that features copies of Playing with Stencils and How to Make 100 Paper Flowers here

and then pop on over to Craft Gossip Recycling and comment there for the second gift package!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Craft Gossip recycling package:

I had so much fun crafting up some Christmas decorations and altering greeting cards with the Rowlux® Illusion Film.

To dress up my windows and doors, I simply used some Sizzix dies to cut deers for my door and snowflakes for my window. The Rowlux® Illusion Film looks so pretty with light shining through it.

With the remaining outside piece of Rowlux left over from the die cut I used it as a stencil and added a glitter snowflake to a Christmas card.

I simply taped the card and the stencil down to a paper. Then using a stencil brush dabbed the glitter paint onto the card.

Ho Ho Ho and merry good luck to all who enter!

Heart doodled with hearts Father's Day card inspired by the book The Art of the Doodle

Today, I have another Father's Day card tutorial. This one card design is inspired by an idea from the book Art of the Doodle Discover Your Inner Artist - Includes Instructional Book and Guided Journal.

The technique I used was to doodle an image with simpler, smaller doodles. In the book, they suggest drawing a wedding cake made of "x"s and "o"s. I decided to draw a heart made of lots of tiny hearts.

I started to assemble the card elements by first die cutting a pair of wings.

This gave me the placement I needed to doodle heart of hearts.

I stamped on a strip of paper "dad" and I punched out two sizes of ovals and stamped the letter "i".

Yup it's true, I "heart" my dad!

More about the Race Point book:

Art of the Doodle

Discover Your Inner Artist - Includes Instructional Book and Guided Journal

by

Eleanor Kwei

Doodles become art in this beautiful guided art journal.

 

The instruction book, Guide to the Doodle, gives tips on creating doodles, coloring with pencils and markers, and ways to use your doodles—such as for note cards, frames, gift bags, and more. There are six chapters—paisleys, flowers, letters, butterflies, mandalas, and geometrics. Artists will learn to start with a basic drop, then stretch it and squash it, and interlock it with other drops, nestling them all together to make beautiful paisley patterns. Nature will come to life, with tiny flowers blooming and butterflies flitting overhead. Geometric borders will adorn pages.

 

The art journal will provide an elegant place to experiment with all of the techniques described in the instruction book. The book will include elaborate coloring activities, as well as simple guidelines to get started on creative doodling pages. Inspirational quotations will add subtle meaning to the art pages.

 

When the journal is complete, it will be a beautiful book to be proud of and cherish.

Eleanor Kwei (Hudson River Valley, NY) is a graphic designer and illustrator specializing in pen and ink. Her work appears in over 30 published books for children and adults. In the Art of the Doodle, she combines her professional background in drawing and craft with her artistic passion, gently guiding the reader from basic steps towards building a portfolio of expressive and satisfying showcase-worthy pieces.

   

20 ways to draw a hedgehog from the book 20 Ways to Draw a Cat

Today, I have a fun tutorial on how to incorporate cute little drawings (in my case tracings) of hedgehogs from the book 20 Ways to Draw a Cat and 44 Other Awesome Animals:
A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers into a Father's Day card.

So here is how I used 20 Ways to Draw a Cat and 44 Other Awesome Animals:
A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers to make my Father's Day card:

I started by tracing all the hedgehogs on the page from 20 Ways to Draw a Cat and 44 Other Awesome Animals.

They are so darn cute!

I cut two of the hedgehogs out and then glued them onto a light plaid paper.

I glued the hedgehogs onto some father's day paper. And I then cut out a solid colored oval to write "Happy Father's Day." I do need to share my "Craft OOOPS"- I mistakenly grabbed my Omnigrid quilt ruler and used it instead of the cutting plate in the Sizzix die cutter. Needless to say it snapped and broke. :(

One cute card, one broken ruler. No one ever said crafting was safe!

More about the Quarry book:

20 Ways to Draw a Cat and 44 Other Awesome Animals:
A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers

by

Julia Kuo

This inspiring sketchbook is part of the new 20 Ways series from Quarry Books, designed to offer artists, designers, and doodlers a fun and sophisticated collection of illustration exercises. Each spread features 20 inspiring illustrations of a single animal, such as a cat, giraffe, seal, elephant, or whale–with blank space for you to draw your take on “20 Ways to Draw a Cat.”

The stylized animals are simplified, modernized, and reduced to the most basic elements, showing how simple abstract shapes and forms meld to create the building blocks of any item that you want to draw. Each of the 20 interpretations provides a different, interesting approach to drawing a single item. Presented in the author’s uniquely creative style, this engaging and motivational practice book provides a new take on the world of sketching, doodling, and designing.

Julia Kuo splits her time between Cleveland, OH, and Taipei, Tokyo. She grew up in Los Angeles, CA, and attended Washington University in St. Louis for illustration and marketing. Julia illustrates children's books, concert posters and CD covers, designs stationery and journals, and paints in her free time. One recent gallery show featured paintings of street fashion shots from Face Hunter. Julia's clients include American Greetings, the New York Times, the Home Shopping Network, Little Brown and Co., Capitol Records, Tiny Prints, and Universal Music Group. Her illustrations have been honored in American Illustration, CMYK magazine, and Creative Quarterly. Visit her online at http://www.juliakuo.com.