Beginner Photoshop Tutorials

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Sister #2 added some great beginner Photoshop tutorials on our "Digitally Speaking" page. If you're a Photoshop newbie like me, you'll appreciate the clear, simple instructions. Hopefully she'll be adding more soon! Take a look at these great before and after shots she did with some of our old family photos:

 

 

Have a great day, and go Get Crafty!

~Sister #3

Shop Amazon - Valentine's Day Top Gift Ideas

Our First Event! (Part 3) Final Pictures

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Cupcake Platters:  Final Pictures

Large polka-dots made from plain cardstock. 

This cutie was made from a bowl and plate I found on sale at Target.  I didn't have the heart to paint it.

Thrift shop find.

  Valentine cupcake plate with bowl:  Another Target find--this time I did paint over the inner square of the plate, since it had a Christmas theme.

lol, this funny one was made with a light fixture and a glass candlestick.  I filled the candlestick with plumbers putty and shoved the screw from the knob into it. 

Designed with a cut and paste image.

Target Christmas plates, wooden candlestick, door stop with teardrop wooden bead on top.

Three tiers using a combination of different candlesticks.

Christmas platter and bowl put together with parts from a lamp.

Thanksgiving theme with portion of newel post.

I found the plates at a thrift store.  They already had the stripes.  I added the print and cut flowers.

 

All 21 of them!

Until next time,

~Sister #2

Our First Event! (Part 2)

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On to the assembly:

Cupcake stand "bodies."

The "stand" part of the cupcake stands were made from various items found mostly at thrift stores and garage sales:  candlesticks, furniture legs, newel posts (cut down to size) and even a salt and pepper shaker set.  I have to thank my mother for most of these finds, since it's hard for me to visit these places on a regular basis. (Thanks, Mom!)

Cupcake stand parts.

 I used a variety of items for the handles:  drawer knobs, door stops and wooden beads.  Extras for assembly included screws in varying lengths, and a variety of odds and ends from a big tin collect-all in the garage.  (I even used parts from a few old trophies, lol.)

The plates, now decorated and sprayed with a clear acrylic finisher spray, were drilled assembly-line style (I learned the hard way to start with a small hole and gradually enlarge):

a dremel for the first hole (because the dremel accommodated the smallest bit),

an electric drill for the second (the electric drill was more powerful than the cordless), and

a cordless drill for the third.

Finally, the plates were ready to put together!

Melamine plates painted "ballet slipper" pink, ceramic candlestick "body," brass candlestick base, wood bead topper.

Print and cut design using inkjet transparencies.

Silver vinyl designs

Print and cut design using inkjet transparencies.

Black cardstock

Print and cut design using inkjet transparencies.

Print and cut design using inkjet transparencies.

Until next time,

~Sister #2

Coming Soon:  Our First Event! (Part 3--at the event)

Our First Event! (Part 1)

Pin It One of the gifts I churned out this holiday season was a set of cupcake stands:

Cupcake stands:  melamine plates, candlesticks and drawer knobs.

I used some cute melamine plates I had found on sale and some wooden and brass candle holders.

A friend loved them so much that she asked me to create 20 for an upcoming event.

20!

Of course I said yes.  Crazy, right?  Especially since the cute (cheap) plates had all been sold by that time.  But I found a bunch of Christmas plates for 70% off at Target.

Most of the plates were scratched and some were even chipped.  I kept a few back for myself, and used the rest.

Problem was, they were Christmas plates!  So I started crafting like crazy to make it work.

First I sprayed them with gesso, which allowed me to paint the plates without fear of the paint chipping or peeling off.

While the paint was drying, I scoured the Internet for designs to cut with my trusty Craft Robo.  I eventually designed part of them on my own (using Photoshop), and bought some from Fotolia.com, where I buy most of the designs I don't make myself.

Here are some of the designs I plan on using:

Butterfly silhouette for vinyl cutter.

Princess  silhouette for vinyl cutter.

Ballerina silhouettes for vinyl cutter.

Beast from Beauty and the Beast silhouette for vinyl cutter.

Perched owls (Valentine's Day)  silhouette for vinyl cutter.

Bride silhouette for vinyl cutter.

Until next time,

~Sister #2

Coming Soon:  Our First Event! (Part 2)

Pinterest Party - Recycled Magazine Crosses

Pin It Our first Pinterest party was a big hit!  Between the spirits and the food and the laughter, we managed to finish most of our crosses--albeit at varying levels of expertise, lol.  {To see the tutorial for this craft, click here.} Take a look at the fun:

Different sizes of folded and wrapped coils. 

Adding to the design.

It seemed as if we were never going to stop folding paper!

The jokes were flying at this end of the table.  :)

Nearing the end--concentrated gluing.

Did I say varying levels?

\

All in all it was a great evening--we had lots of fun and learned something new to boot.

Here's a preview of what our next party will bring:

Modge-podge crosses

Can't wait until then!  In the meantime,

Go Get Crafty, Sister!

Pinterest Party -Our 1st One Ever!

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Hosting the first ever Pinterest Party (at least for us) should be great fun! Lots of laughs, good company, and spirits are expected...oh yes and time spent creating RECYCLED MAGAZINE CROSSES. Each guest is asked to bring pre-rolled cores and rolls made of 1/2 magazine page rolled into a tight circle + folded pages to use for outside border/frame.

MATERIALS:

1 or 2 old magazines (8 x 10 or 11 x 14)

box cutter

scissors

*14 - 18 small cores

*5 large rolls of varying sizes

*1 large roll to form center of cross

*18-20 folded 1/2 pages to use for outside border/frame

clothes pins

rubber bands

Modge Podge

paint brush

STEP 1: Find 1 or 2 outdated, non-essential magazines (preferably taking up space in the restroom magazine basket). The magazines should have slick pages (avoid those with thicker, smaller pages like National Geographic). Once the magazines have been chosen, try to stick to this same size or magazines for the entire cross.

STEP 2: Remove one page from the magazine. (Actually, I took a box cutter and removed the entire binding from the magazines on my original one.)

STEP 3: Cut this page in half. You will work with half pages to create each of the cores.

STEP 4: Using the half page, fold it in half (lengthwise).

STEP 5: Fold each side to the center.

STEP 6: Repeat by folding each side into the center again.

STEP 7: Be sure edges are flattened by running a ruler along them. Then use Elmer's or stick glue to seal the inner fold together.

STEP 8: Fold the center together. Run a line of glue along one side of the folded paper.

STEP 9: Begin at one end and roll the page along the folded side that has been glued; roll tightly.

Until you reach the end of the page.

STEP 10: Set aside and fold another half page. Follow the same procedure, using glue to seal the center folds together and another line of glue along one side of the folded page. Beginning at the end of the initial roll, begin rolling the new folded page around the core.

STEP 11: This is a building process when producing the larger rolls for the cross and requires wrapping the newly folded pages around the core to make it grow larger and larger. As the core grows, wrap a rubber band around the resultant core to hold it together until the new page is folded and ready to glue on.

We used a 13oz. can of chicken breast to determine the size of the center roll for the cross. Once the roll grew to a size that it just fit into the top of the can, we began to work on the other 6 large rolls. These other 6 were of varying sizes. We also used an additional 14-18 small, "core" rolls to create the final cross shape.

(This cross can be found at TipJunky.) We will post Pinterest Party Pics and our crosses next week!

Peace be with you!

~Sister #1

Other RECYCLED MAGAZINE PROJECTS you might like:

RECYCLED MAGAZINE BOXES with tutorial at "Abstract Octopus"

OR this RECYCLED MAGAZINE BOWL made by gluing rolls around a balloon.