Papercrafting: Happy Accident Paper Towel Flower Core

 

I had so much fun with the Dyed Coffee Filter Flowers I shared last week. As I was drying the coffee filters I dyed, I laid them on some paper towel to absorb the excess water and it resulted in one of my favorite things: a happy accident! 

Supplies

• Dyed Coffee Filters
• Dyed Paper Towel
• Stamens
• Dimensional Glue

This is the paper towel that absorbed the excess liquid from the dyed coffee filter flowers. It was too pretty to just throw away. I get giddy about being able to use things like this. Waste-not, justify more craft supplies, is my motto! 

Besides, I had some leftover filters to use up. I had just enough paper towel to use to make two flower centers. I folded in quarters, then cut and snipped the edge into a fringe. After cutting my coffee filter layers, I assembled as shown in last week's tutorial. 

I poked the stamen bunch through the center, added a few drops of glue (I used Glossy Accents by Ranger) and then pinched around the base. 

Side view.

I'm giddy! And will absolutely be repeating this as I make future flowers. 

Papercrafting: Dyed Coffee Filter Flowers Part One

 

I've seen so many Reels pop up in my social media feeds showing how to dye coffee filters for projects and I was excited to try my own. Once you start playing, it's very addictive! It's also a fun and inexpensive craft that is only limited by your imagination. 

Supplies:

• Coffee Filters (I got a 100 pack at Dollar Tree)
• Acrylic Paints (Craft Smart from Michaels)
• Water
• Bottles (Dollar Tree)
• Shallow Tray (Dollar Tree)
• Stamens (80% off JoAnn after Christmas!)
• Dimensional Glue

First, gather your supplies. I chose these colors of acrylic paint (Craft Smart, Michaels) and Dollar Tree has these three-compartment plastic trays that are PERFECT for this! They also carry the small bottles shown which are great for mixing colors. 

I squirted some of the paint into the bottles as shown. Then added water. There's no right formula. I wanted a more watercolor look vs intense colors so I mixed to a thin consistency. Shake well to blend. 

I then prepped my coffee filters and filled the tray with a little bit of water. I tend to crumple my coffee filters to disguise the fluting they come with and give them an even overall texture, plus I have this theory that "working" paper, scrunching, crumpling, etc. strengthens the paper. 

I did the colors standalone in two of the three sections of the tray and mixed them in the third. 

Then I added the coffee filters to their dye bath. I didn't time how long they took to absorb the dye...it's the kind of thing you can do in between other projects. When I was happy with them, I took them out and lay them on some cardboard to dry. 

And here they are all done! Now you're ready to make flowers and I'll show you how in Part Two tomorrow! 

 

Papercrafting: Mother's Day Cards

 

While I haven't been able to do much lately, I was able to knock out some Mother's Day cards for family and friends. Last year, I was busy with my Mom being in physical therapy rehab after a fall, this year it's been medical appts with my husband. Yikes! But I felt so bad last year when one friend thought my card hadn't made it, and I had to tell her I hadn't sent any, so I was DETERMINED!

Supplies

• Coordinating Scrapbook Papers
• Coordinating Glitter Papers
• Foam Squares
• Focal Image
• Digital Cutting Machine

I pulled together coordinating papers from my stash. A mixture of patterns, foiled, plain, and glitter. All of my papers are Recollections, from Michaels. 

I cut my cards to 5x7 using 110lb cardstock, cut the printed panels to the same size, and created the focal panel for the card in Cricut Design Space, using a floral image that I welded to a frame so it's all one piece. 

Then I attached foam squares (Dollar Tree) to the back of the panels as shown, and adhered them to the printed panels.

To finish, I got my stash of self adhesive rhinestones out and went to town!

I had fun mixing the glitter papers with the printed papers, sometimes matching, others, contrasting. And they're on their way to friends and fam. 

Amethyst

Fuschia

Rose

Turquoise

It also provided what I needed. A creative break and joy! 

Papercrafting: 2024 Christmas Cards

 

My first love remains papercrafting and cardmaking. I still make all of my holiday and birthday cards for friends and family and remain honored each year that several keep and use them in their own holiday decorating. 

I have amassed quite the collection of papers but can't resist checking out new ones every year and sometimes combining with collections from previous years. I start stalking Michaels in September for their holiday papers since they go fast when they come out. Here's this year's crop! 

Supplies

• Holiday Themed Papers: New stacks this year High Shine and Holiday Cheer by Recollections
• White 110lb Cardstock: Recollections
• Glitter Cardstock (Amazon)
• Foam Tape and Squares (Dollar Tree)
• Tape Runner and Tape
• Self Adhesive Rhinestones

See? Stacks on stacks! 

I found some wonderful tree images via my Creative Fabrica subscription that are reminiscent of handmade papercuts. Thanks to modern technology I can use my Cricut to cut! I uploaded the images to Cricut Design Space, used the offset feature to create another layer, and cut them out.

I love metallics and glitter papers but especially at Christmas. I cut the offset layer from foil cardstock and the tree from glitter. Then layered the papercut tree on to the offset layer using foam squares. 

For a few I went glitter on glitter. The more sparkle, the better!

I chose various papers from the stacks to use as background and kept these fairly simple (for me) since I have to keep postage in mind and I am convinced the post office says "Not her again". 

Oops a little off on the placement here. Photos don't lie, but at any rate, you get the idea!

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Papercrafting: Birthday Card in Two Colors

 

I finally got back to making! Have a couple of early July birthdays and didn't plan on making matching cards but while looking through the paper stack I realized that the same paper came in two different colors and...

Supplies

• Recollections Background Paper (Watercolor Stack)
• Recollections 110lb Cardstock
• Recollections Foiled Papers
• Birthday SVG File 
• Birthday Balloon Stickers
• Tape Runner
• Double Sided Foam Tape

I decided on the patterned papers then pulled coordinating solid papers and cardstock from my stash. 

I wanted to accent the gold foil in the background papers and chose gold for the top layer and silver for the layer that would show the present. 

I cut out the SVG file layers, ending with the gold layer, and attached with my ATG Tape Runner, foam tape, and spray adhesive and did the same for the pink card. 

I saved the present cutouts and added some washi tape and rhinestones to accent the cards, then chose some balloon stickers (Dollar Tree) from my stash to embellish te middle balloon. Et, voila!

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