"Upcycled" Cosmo Magnets & Tutorial

Hi Everyone.  It's the end of the school holidays here and it has been a fun but COLD two weeks off.  I have a fun tutorial to share today. I have seen several variations of this idea on-line but here is my version.

I have used the Cosmo Cricket "Upcyle" Collection which is perfect with it's bright colors and fun themes.  I also decided I needed somewhere to put the magnets - so I made this fun board too!

These magnets are so much fun to make and you really only need a few basic supplies.

Now - I know you can probably buy these glass domes but I couldn't find anywhere here in New Zealand to get them, so I have "upcycled" these ones from The Warehouse.


Preparing the Glass Domes

1. Buy some cheap magnets
2. Carefully remove backing (definitely adults only)
3. Scrape away most of the glue with a sharp craft knife
4. Use a pot scourer to remove remaining glue

Making the Magnets

1. Cut or punch circles of paper slightly smaller than the flat side of the glass dome
2. Apply Mod Podge to the surface of the paper you want visible through the magnet and glue onto flat side of magnet
3. When dry, apply a layer of Mod Podge to the other side o the paper (outside)
4. Using a strong craft glue, stick a magnet to the underside and leave to dry

Here are some close-ups of the magnets. I made three different sizes here - for the largest I used a 1" circle punch.

The magnet board started life as a really ugly magnetic calendar thingy - so I sprayed the outside edges with some tile paint, glued on some paper and when the glue was dry - I Mod Podged over the top to add some shine and protection. 

The wonderful papers from Cosmo Cricket really do all the work - they co-ordinate perfectly and the prints are fun and fresh.

Post a comment if you have any questions :-)


Lowri

Echo Park "Fresh Faces" DT Call

Hi there and Kia Ora from New Zealand if this is your first time visiting my blog!  This post is my application for the Echo Park "Fresh Faces" DT Call -  I hope you enjoy my ideas. You can see all my blog posts using Echo Park Products here.

I am quite new to the Echo Park products and I think their prints are really fresh - which along with the great paper quality offers something for everyone.  The 6x6 paper pads feature scaled down versions of the 12x12 prints and they are double sided, making them one of only a couple - if not the ONLY company doing this - awesome for non-layout scrapbookers like me!
Here are my projects....

1. Travel Themed Card/Stationary Set

I thought this cardset would be fun to give to a friend who was moving house or moving away. I have made a set of cards, some gift-tags and a notebook to tuck inside this handmade folder.

This collection is so versatile - it has many different yet coordinating papers and heaps of great stickers too.

This photo of the inside shows the little cards I made on the right and the notebook and gift-tags on the left.

I LOVE these tags! I just took a pack of tags from the newsagent and added a square of paper and some decorative elements from the "Borders" and "Noteworthy" papers.  The note book was covered in some "Stamp of Approval" paper and I used a decorative strip from the Alpha sticker sheet and some rhinestones for extra sparkle.

The cards are super simple and use a few really fun bits and pieces from the Elements sticker sheet and "Noteworthy" paper. I just added a couple of rhinestones and a strip of ribbon down the side.

This ruler print from the "Borders" paper is really neat so I used it on the inside and outside spine of my folder. I made most of the embellishments for the front cover, using a Sissix die to make the chipboard frame and the little chipboard house is from Australian manufacturer Dusty Attic. I painted it and then used paper and stickers to decorate the roof and behind the windows.

I made the stamp using pieces from the "Noteworthy" and "Advertisement" papers and mounted some of the embellishments on pop-dots for a 3-d effect. I then added the Congrats sticker onto a base cut from the "Noteworthy" paper. I used a small circle punch to create the ticket shape simply by removing the corners!

You can see more photos on my original blog post here.

2.Valentines Favors

OK - I admit it - I am not a PINK person, but these papers from the Echo Park "Be Mine" Collection were so gorgeous I used them to make some fun and simple Valentines Favors.

Making these little bags of goodies really was as simple as it looks! This idea can be so easily adapted for Christmas, Halloween, Baby Showers - you get the picture! Echo Park has a wonderful range of collections to suit all these occasions and more!

To make these, all you need is some cello bags, some plain pieces of card for the background and then some lovely patterned paper such as these for decoration. I cut some shapes from the plain card using a Labels die from Spellbinders then scored through the middle, folded in half and stapled them to the top of the cello bag. I then cut a smaller shape with a smaller die, folded again and glued this paper over the top of the larger piece - covering the staples.

I have then added some simple decoration with a punched heart mounted on pop dots with some rhinestones for extra sparkle HINT: To add even more dimension to hears, butterflies etc - simply bend in the middle and angle the sides up. So easy and looks fab!

You can see more photos on my original blog post here.


3. Family Frame
My third project to showcase also features the fabulous "For the Record" Collection

This gorgeous frame is from Australian manufacturer Scrapware and I decided to leave it unpainted to let the gorgeous Echo Park papers stand out.

It was easy to measure the small pieces of paper required as I just measured inside each frame and added a 1mm border around each side to ensure they were big enough.
I have handmade the embellishments using chipboard and embossing powders but I think the kite is my favorite.

To make the kite I have used the reverse of the "Fancy Floral" paper from the 6x6 pad (my favorite print from the whole collection) to cover a chipboard kite. I have sanded the edges for definition with a fine grit sandpaper and then used a white pen to define the sections of the kite.

I love how this little frame turned out - it's such a fun way to display pictures and paper - without having the daunting task of having to create a 12x12 layout!

You can see more photos and instructions on my original blog post here.

Something Extra - Mini Album

This mini album technique is one of my favorites and is an album made from one single sheet of 12x12 paper. The reason I have shown this extra project is I wanted to show how the "Noteworthy" Paper from the For the Record Collection was perfect for creating a special little notebook

I am a listmaker - so these little titles from the Element Sticker Sheet were perfect for accenting the front of the album! The elements from the Noteworthy paper fit perfectly inside the 4"x3" size of the finished album.

 

Each page has a spot for a list, note or little photo

 

You can see more photos on my original blog post here.


Tutorial for Folded Album

1. Take a piece of 12”x12” paper
2. Trim off four inches from one side, leaving 1 piece 12”x8” and 1 piece 12”x4”
3. Take the 12”x8” piece and fold in half length ways and width ways
4. Fold up the two shorter sides to meet in the middle, making 8 segments all  3”x4”
5. Using a sharp knife – make a cut as shown through the paper
6. Fold the paper at the remaining intact fold and using the folds as a guide create a book!
7. Glue pages together as shown at a, b and c to create 3 pages of double thickness paper and 2 covers of single thickness
8. Take your remaining 12x4” piece and glue to one side of the book
9. Turn book over and crease at the spine of the book firmly before gluing the other side of the cover. This will ensure a neat finish and mean there is enough paper over the spine to allow the book to open freely
10. Trim off the excess paper from the cover with a sharp knife
11. Your book is complete and ready to decorate
12. IDEAS – you can round the corners, or before gluing the centre pages together, cut out a shape using a die cutting machine or punch and place acetate between the pages for a window.

Whenever I try a project like this for the first time, I use scrap paper so I can mark up right sides, wrong sides, measurements etc. I can play around with it and experiment without ruining any really nice paper!

So - there you have it - my application for the Echo Park "Fresh Faces" Design Team Call.  Wish me luck and please post a comment with any questions.

Lowri :-)

Travel Cardset with Echo Park - For the Record

Hi Everyone

Another Echo Park project to share today – and it’s one of my favourite projects to make – a card/stationary set.  I thought this set would be fun to give to a friend who was moving house or moving away....

This set was so much fun to make as the papers in the collection are gorgeous – saying that this collection only consists of paper and stickers so it was a little more challenging than some previous sets I have made – but that just makes it more fun!

This photo of the inside shows the little cards I made on the right and the notebook and gift-tags on the left.

The cards are super simple and use a few really fun bits and pieces from the Elements sticker sheet and Noteworthy paper. I just added a couple of rhinestones and a strip of ribbon down the side for a little bit of extra interest.

I LOVE these tags! I just took a pack of tags from the newsagent and added a square of paper and some decorative elements from the Borders and Noteworthy papers.

The note book was covered in some Stamp of Approval paper and I used a decorative strip from the Alpha sticker sheet and some rhinestones for extra sparkle.

This ruler print from the Borders paper is really neat so I used it on the inside and outside spine of my folder.

I made most of the embellishments for the front cover. I used a Sissix die to make the chipboard frame and the little chipboard house is from Australian manufacturer Dusty Attic.

 

I used some more of the elements from the Sticker sheet to make the stamp and cut a stamp shape to make a background. I mounted some of the embellishments on pop-dots for a great 3-d effect.

Hope you have enjoyed this along with my other Echo Park projects. I will have a compilation post later this week as I am entering an Echo Park challenge - so stay tuned!

Lowri :-)

Tile Coasters and Mini Album w/ Echo Park

Hi Everyone - a couple of fun projects to share today. 

Tile Coasters

Not only fun, but this first one is super cheap and definitely one that you can do with older kids too.  Take a look at these coasters - they look "designer" but in fact I reckon you could make a dozen of these for less than $20!

I was going to make a tutorial for these, but I quickly realized I could not possibly improve on the fabulous tutorial shown on the website where I originally saw this idea which was here at the Cottage Home Blog.

I have used papers from the Echo Park "For the Record" Collection (available here in New Zealand) and if you have not seen Echo Park's 6x6 paper pads I definitely suggest you check them out. They have the scaled-down designs like many manufacturers BUT they are also double sided which gives you many more options for use.

I followed the instructions shown on the tutorial above, with a couple of exceptions. I used Spellbinders squares to cut my squares (I am somehow challenged when trying to cut squares with a paper trimmer!) and instead of felt pads I bought a pack of cork circles to adhere to the bottom ($2.99 from any hardware store)

The steps are basically:

1. Cut squares of paper to right size
2. Mod-podge the squares to the tiles making sure to get right to the edges
3. Apply 3 coats of Mod-Podge over the top of the paper
4. Spray with acrylic sealer

Here are some close-up shots.  These were supposed to be "rustic" looking so I was not concerned with the unfinished edges of the tiles, but you could of course paint them if you wanted a more even look.

Folded Mini Album

I have shown this type of album many times before (album made from one single sheet of paper - see here for my tutorial) but this time I wanted to demonstrate how the "Noteworthy" Paper from the For the Record Collection was perfect for creating a special little notebook

I am a listmaker - so these little titles from the Element Sticker Sheet were perfect for accenting the front of the album! The elements from the Noteworthy paper fit perfectly inside the 4"x3" size of the finished album

 

Each page has a spot for a list, note or little photo

 

Please post a comment with any questions

Lowri :-)

Family Frame with Echo Park and Scrapware

Hi Everyone

Some of my favourite finds of the SENZ weekend (and I had a few!) were the Scrapware products. Now I know the Aussies are REALLY into their die-cut chipboard but I had never had a chance to take a good look at some before.

One of the first things I found was this gorgeous little frame. It's made of wood as opposed to chipboard and I decided not to alter or paint it at all. I have used the Echo Park "For the Record" Collection as it one I have been wanting to use for ages!

It was easy to measure the small pieces of paper required as I just measured inside each frame and added a 1mm border around each side to ensure they were big enough.

Now, me finding these gorgeous chipboard pieces coincided with me finally buying a heat gun. No more tweezers, burnt fingers and fishing stuff out of the toaster for me! As you can see I went a little embossing crazy with making these embellishments, but they are so delicate and tiny that they ended up looking rather cute!

To create the text effect on the trees, I first embossed the piece with a plain colour using Versamark and Zing powder, and then when they were dry I stamped on them again using Versamark, a text stamp (Kaisercraft) and then used a contrasting Zing colour for embossing the text. (In case you were wondering, Zing is just the brand name for the American Crafts embossing powders..)

I love how this little frame turned out - it's such a fun way to display pictures and paper - without having the daunting task of having to create a 12x12 layout!

Lowri :-)