Re-Post from 7.09 - Freezer Paper Stencils Tutorial

I while ago on the old blog I wrote a tutorial for making freezer paper stencils on your die-cut machine.  I thought now would be a great time to bring it back out and show it to you again.

This is one of my all time favorite projects.  We did a Girls Camp craft that year using freezer paper stencils to put the girls names on their camp t-shirts.  I've used them quite a few times and every time I just love it!

This is a great project for kids to help out with.  You'll need to do the preparation and the ironing.  They can do the painting and even the removing of the stencil.  I imagine you'll need to do the cleaning up, too, if your kids are anything like mine.

Cutting and Using 

Freezer Paper Stencils

Freezer paper stencils are so fun and easy to use 

you’ll wonder why you didn’t try it sooner! 

1. Create your design.

Method A: If you want your letters to be the part that is painted, create a border around the letters of some kind. In this example, the word Samantha will be painted and anything outside the scalloped border. The white parts will be the paper stencil. For this method, you may want to choose either a stencil font or create bridges to connect the centers of your letters to the outside. Otherwise, you’ll have to save the centers of your letters and iron them on in place.

Method B: If you want the letters to be unpainted with a field of color, create a decorative border around the letters and a second border around the decorative one. In this example, the letters will not be painted, but the scalloped rectangle around it will. Optionally, anything outside the plain rectangle can also be painted. The white parts will be the freezer paper stencil.

2. Place your freezer paper shiny side up on your cutting mat. Cutter shown is the KNK Maxx, but any cutter will cut this material. It’s important that the shiny side is up because the shiny side won’t stick to your cutting mat very well and may shift during cutting.

3. Open your design in your software and “mirror” it so that it is backwards on your screen. This is so that when you cut it out it will be forwards when you iron the shiny side down on your material.

4. Cut your design.

5. Remove the paper from the cutting mats, saving the parts you plan to iron down to your material.

Method A: If you didn’t use a stencil font, be sure you save the centers of your letters so you can iron them down in place.

Method B: Be sure to save the dots of for each “i” or “j” and any punctuation so you can iron them down in place.

6. Iron all the relevant parts for your stencil down to your material. Grown-ups should do this part! Be sure you have the shiny side of the stencil down or you’ll iron it to your iron! Use an iron set to medium-high and press down for a few seconds without moving or rubbing.

7. Paint all the areas you want painted with fabric or other appropriate paint.

8. Kids will want to decorate the rest of their project, too!

9. Allow the paint to dry completely. If you try to remove the stencil before the paint is dry, you may blur your edges and they won’t be clean and crisp.

10. Carefully peel the freezer paper off your material. A pin or tweezers will help get any little bits left behind.

11. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions on both your garment and the paint for laundering.

12. Enjoy your new wearable art project!!!

Try combining these two methods in one project like the shirts below!

Here is an compact and easily downloadable version of this tutorial. Just click on the image to open it larger to read and/or save it. It's slightly abbreviated but the essentials are there.  You can pin this, too, for later!

We loved these shirts so much that the girls wore them all the time.  We recently passed them down to some friends with little girls about the same distance apart in age.  They wore them to Disneyland and got so many comments on how cute their shirts were!  I'm thinking I need to make a new batch!

Time to get crafty, people!

Make Your Own Monday: Shrink Charms

It's here isn't it?  Thanksgiving week!  Aaaaaaaahhhh!!

I sound so negative don't I?  That's terrible!

We're visiting my parents for Thanksgiving and I'm really excited about it.  So, why the negativity, you say?  Well, I've been saying it for a while... time is going by way too fast and Thanksgiving week means only just a few more weeks until Christmas.  I had hoped to have Christmas gifts put together to take to my family this week.  Nope, it's just not going to happen.  At the rate I'm progressing, they'll be lucky to get something by Valentine's Day.  

With that said, I'm probably not going to blog much this week.  I've definitely got a little something planned for Black Friday though, so stay tuned for that.  Other than that, this will probably be it for Thanksgiving week blogging.  There, I just rid myself of one thing on my to-do list.  I feel better already.

I couldn't let the week go by without mentioning the good happenings around our house.  Next Sunday is Hailey's 6th Birthday.  Happy Birthday, Hailey!  The poor girl was cursed to be born during the holidays.  That means that partying for her birthday is always last minute.  We decided last week that the only way we were going to squeeze a party in would be to do it this past Saturday.  I'm so blessed to have a wonderful best friend, Heather, who also makes amazing cakes.  So, I begged her to make me one.  She consented and I immediately regretted it when Hailey announced she wanted a Dinosaur Train cake.  Great, fondant dinosaurs? Heather is going to kill me!  Luckily, I found a motorized train set with some figurines and Heather was able to use that to decorate the cake.  I'm glad it relieved some of the pressure of decorating a last minute cake for me.  We called all of Hailey's friends on Friday and surprisingly 12 out of the 14 we invited were able to come!  We did dino face painting, jumped on the trampoline, whacked the crap out of a dino pinata, ate yummy cake, and opened presents. Before we knew it, the time was up.  In the end it was fun even for a last minute party.  Hailey was thrilled.  I'm not sure I can really believe that she is going to be 6 years old.

Aren't they just two of the cutest dinosaurs on the planet?

Happy realization for me?  Remembering that we have an every other year party rule... no big parties next year!  Yippee!

Okay, on to some crafty stuff.  I've been noticing a big resurgence of things made out of shrink plastic lately.  Remember Shrinky Dinks when you were a kid?  Well, now it's graduated from kids stuff to a "legitimate" crafter's material!  I have enjoyed using it for some time now.  I was just thrilled to discover a couple of years ago that my KNK MAXX digital die-cutting machine would cut the stuff!  An endless world of opportunities for shrinking cute things down to minuscule size opened up before me.  I thought I'd share one quick and fun technique for shrink plastic with you.

Today you will learn to make your own... Shrink Charms

Pin It

The charms shown above are approximately 1" across.  Cute, aren't they?

A few notes before we get started:

I'm using my Itty Bitty Charms and Pen Doodles - Autumn Leaf digital cutting designs.  You can do your doodling by hand if you want.  You could even cut your charms by hand it you want.  The cutter is optional but makes this lots easier.

I'm using Transluscent Shrink Film by Grafix.  I love how it cuts.  Nice and smooth.  For a pen, I'm using a plain old fine point Sharpie marker.

For software and cutter I'm using the KNK Studio MAXX software with my KNK MAXX cutting machine. You'll want to check to make sure your cutter can cut shrink film before you try this.

Materials:
Shrink Plastic
Fine Point Permanent Marker
Die Cut Machine
Sticky Cutting Mat
Itty Bitty Charms (Optional)
Pen Doodles - Autumn Leaf (Optional)

1. Open your charm cutting design.  Make your charms the size you want them to be when you are finished shrinking them.

2. Size everything up 200%.

3. Overlay your pen doodle design on top of your charms.  I deleted out the parts I didn't need and moved a few things around.  Let your doodle design be larger than your charms so the lines spill off the edges.

4.  Get your machine ready.  Test cut your shrink plastic and draw with your pen tool so you'll know exactly what settings you need before you start.  Be sure you've got the pressure set correctly for your pen or you will squish the nib of your pen.  I've done this... sad!

5. Draw your doodle design with the permanent marker.  Position your starting point so that the rollers won't roll over your doodles.  It takes a while for permanent marker to dry and it will smear if the rollers go over it.

6. Cut your charms out.

7.  Carefully remove them from the mat.  The ink will be wet!

8. Shrink them via the manufacturer's instructions.

9. Ta Da!  Cute little guys aren't they?  Let them cool before you touch them.  They will be hot!

I also wanted to add that you can color these with Copic markers.  You'll have to wait until after they are shrunk though.  I tried a sample piece before and it just dissolved the marker lines.  After shrinking it worked fine!  If I get a chance to color some, I'll post a finished photo.

Here's a little portable version of this tutorial. Pin it or save it... whatever works for you!

Pin It

Coming up... Some fun things happening on Black Friday!  There will be a freebie and giveaway this weekend along with a fantastic sale!  50% off everything Sam & Hailey!  See ya then!

Time to get crafty, people!

Make Your Own Monday: Chevron Paper

Happy Monday!  My house is so quiet right now... just the clickety-clacking of my keyboard. Silence fuels my creativity these days.  It seems like my mornings are the best time.  When the kids get home we immediately start hustling to get things done, then my piano students start arriving.  Then there's that horrible moment when I realize it's 5:30 and I have no idea what I'm making for dinner.  But mornings... ahhh....  it's my time to think and be creative.

Time for a little Make Your Own fun!

Today you will learn to make your own... Chevron Paper

Pin It

Chevron patterns are popping up all over the place.  Even here!  Check back tomorrow for my upcoming Trendwatch article about the popularity of chevron patterns in design and crafting.

I was looking through my own papers and realized, I have not one single piece of chevron paper! What?  It could be that it's been a while since I've purchased new paper.  The trend in paper seems to have just arrived.  That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Anyway, since I didn't have any chevron papers, I decided, why not make my own?  And that's what I did!  It took a little experimentation and turning my brain on to figure out the best way to do it.  But eventually I figured it out.  And now I'm going to share the secret with you!  I've got two methods, using horizontal striped paper (or vertical depending on which way you hold it) and diagonal striped paper.  The diagonal striped paper is definitely easier and wastes a lot less paper.   You'll get a larger piece of paper in the end by using diagonal stripes, too. Why don't I share that with you first, then!

Chevron Paper from Diagonal Stripes

Materials:
One or Two sheets of 12x12 Diagonal Striped Paper
Paper Trimmer
Adhesive

1.  If you only want to use one sheet of paper, first cut your sheet into 6x6 squares.  You'll only need two squares and will get one sheet of paper about 5.5x10 in size.  If you use two 12x12 sheets of paper, you should be able to get two large sheets of paper at least 10x11.5 in finished size.  For these photos, I'm using two 6x6 pieces of paper.

2. Cut one of your squares of paper into strips.  I made mine about 1.25" wide.  The wider your strips of paper, the wider your chevrons will be.  Here is the really, really important part so listen up.... You must turn your second sheet of paper 90 degrees before cutting it!  You want your stripes to be going the opposite way or when you glue them together you'll end up with paper that is still just diagonal stripes!  Look at the two sheets sitting side by side up there in that first picture to see what I mean.

3.  Lay your strips down in an alternating pattern.  See the chevrons starting to show up?

4. Glue your strips together overlapping them slightly.  You'll want to make sure your patterns match up as you go along.

 5.  Tada!  Now go and trim the uneven edges off!

Here is my finished piece of chevron paper. Mine turned out about 5.5x10.  Remember, this is from one sheet of 12x12 paper.  You'd get a much larger result if you used two sheets of 12x12 paper.  I realize now that over there on the left hand side I should have trimmed about 1/4" off so that the pattern matched.  Looks cool though, doesn't it?

Here's your "to-go" copy of this tutorial.  Click on it to grab it, save it, or why not pin it?

Pin It

Okay, that's method #1.  Method #2 uses horizontal/vertical stripes.  It's probably the more common paper to use.  If you are looking for a decent sized piece of paper at the end to do something other than cardmaking with, I'd suggest you use TWO sheets of 12x12 paper rather than taking one and cutting it into squares.  You can still do that, it will just be a much smaller end result.  This method is a little trickier because you'll have to cut part of it by hand with either scissors or an xacto knife.

Chevron Paper from Horizontal Stripes

Materials:
One or Two sheets of 12x12 Horizontal Striped Paper
Paper Trimmer
Scissors or X-Acto Knife
Adhesive

1.  Start with two sheets of 12x12 paper, or cut one sheet into 6x6 squares.

2.  Cut one of your sheets in half, diagonally, from corner to corner.  You'll probably find this won't fit on your paper trimmer.  This is where those scissors or xacto knife come in handy.  I folded my paper in half and used a pair of scissors to cut along the fold.

3. Cut your paper triangles into strips.  Since I used a wide stripe, I decided to use my paper trimmer and just cut as narrow as I could without damaging my paper.  This turned into about 3.75" wide.  Since I was using a wide stripe, this was just fine.  If you are using a narrow striped paper, you'll probably need to use that xacto and a ruler to cut those strips.

 4.  Cut each strip the same size.  Discard any little leftover bits.

5.  Do the same for the other piece of paper.  Before you run off and do this, you must listen up here!  You have to turn your second piece of paper 90 degrees before you start cutting.  If you don't, this will not work!  You'll just end up with diagonal stripes and then you'll be all mad at me.  It won't be my fault if you don't listen!

6.  Lay your paper together, alternating the stripe direction.  You'll want to use your longer center strips for this.

7.  You can make smaller pieces out of any shorter sections.

 8.  Glue the strips together with some tape or other adhesive.

 9.  Overlap the edges, making sure you match the stripes up exactly.

 10.  Here's your finished piece... almost!  Trim up the edges so you have a finished rectangle.

Now you have a finished piece of chevron paper!  Mine turned out about 8.75x14.  You may get different results depending on how wide your stripes are and how wide you decide to cut your strips.

Here's your portable format!  Just click to enlarge and save.

Pin It

Now, run off and make yourself some stylish and trendy chevron paper!  Don't forget to stop back tomorrow for my Trendwatch Tuesday article about chevrons!

Time to get crafty, people!

Linked at:

Linked at:

Make Your Own Monday: Embossing Mats

I said to my husband this morning, how can the first week of November be gone already?  I'm starting to enter pre-panic mode.  That's where I think about panicking but don't actually.  It's one of those internal struggles.  I tell myself, "Get going!  Those Chirstmas presents aren't going to make themselves!" and then I tell myslef, "Self, just be quiet and eat another pumpkin muffin... you know you haven't even decided WHAT you are making for Christmas presents so there's no point in running off to make something!"  At which point I eat another pumpkin muffin and wonder what to make for Christmas presents this year.

Here are some ideas on my short list:

Photo Magnet Boards...  ok, who am I kidding, I did these last year.  BUT I didn't post the instructions on my blog so you know that will be a future Project Wednesday coming your way.

Christmas Countdown Blocks...  I'm pretty serious about making these.  I've even got a set half made.  We did these for our Super Saturday crafty day with the Relief Society ladies at church. Guess I should get those finished up and make three more sets!  I suppose I really only have a couple of weeks to get these done before it will be too late.

Stockings... My girls need christmas stockings!  I made them some when they were babies, but I have never liked them.  I'm thinking something cut out of felt on a felt stocking.  I feel a new cutting file coming on!

There will be something made with heat transfer vinyl on T-Shirts... just don't know what yet.

Re-useable clothes-pin gift tags.  I'll explain later... I'm just tired of buying gift tags every year. Think a set for each of our families would be fun.

Hmmm.... need more ideas!  Help me out here!

So, speaking of ideas... It's time for a very frugal Make Your Own Monday!

Today you will learn to make your own... Embossing Mats

If you have a digital die-cut machine, like a Silhouette, Pazzles, KNK, etc., perhaps you've wondered about trying an embossing tool in your machine.  Well, I'm here to tell you, I've tried it in my KNK Maxx, and it works fantastically!  Perhaps you've considered purchasing a special mat for embossing.  Pazzles has an Embossing Mat you can purchase for around $15.  That's a little pricey for something I might not use that often.

A while back, I decided to try making my own embossing mat and found it quite successful! Here's how I did it:

Materials you'll need:

A piece of chipboard or an old cutting mat.  I used the back of a paper pad.  Free!
A piece of self adhesive craft foam.  You can get this at a craft or discount store for less than $0.50 a sheet.
Krylon Easy-Tack spray adhesive.  This runs about $5-$6 a can.  I have a can anyway to re-spray my mats.  One can lasts you forever.  I consider this Free for this project since most of us with cutters have it around anyway.  {Please don't tell me you've been running out and buying a new mat whenever yours becomes un-sticky.}

 1.  Stick the craft foam sheet down to your cutting mat or chipboard sheet.

2. Spray with Easy Tack and let dry.

3. Stick your material on the mat and an embossing tool {appropriate for your machine} in your cutter and emboss away!

Make sure you run some tests before you go crazy on  your material.  Start with the lightest pressure and work your way up.  That way you won't poke through your material instead of making pretty embossing lines.

Also, if you want a raised "embossed lines" you'll want to mirror your image before cutting it.  If you don't, you'll get "debossed lines" instead.  Which I quite like, so it's your choice.

Here's a project I did a while ago for Samantha's Kindergarten teacher that uses this technique.  I embossed {really debossed} the title on a sheet of metal for the cover.  Nice look, if I do say so myself!

I also used this same method on some swirly ornaments.  I used much lighter pressure on these.

Now, don't you want to give this a try?  Here's a tutorial you can save for later.  Just click on it to open it larger to reading and saving.

Time to get crafty, people!

Linked at: