Tuesday, August 24

Drummer Girl

Free Printable #57
I've been busily trying to catch up on some of the reader's requests that have been posted over the last couple of months. There are some things that have definitely been a challenge, and some that are just beyond me, so I apologise to all who will have to go without their designs.

The image of this little drummer girl was requested by Rachel in honour of her own drum playing daughter.


Designed: 19.08.10
copyright Beccy Muir

Sunday, August 22

Quilted Cow


Originally Designed: July 2010
Remastered: April 2021
Original artwork by Beccy Muir, all rights reserved. Images are for personal use and must not be copied, swapped, shared, resold or mass produced without the express written permission of the artist.

Friday, August 20

Quilted Chicken

Free Printable #55
Now, I'm not sure if this is a chicken, a hen, a rooster or just an old boiler... I'll leave it up to you to decide! Colour it in nice and bright for Hen's Night invitations, or use lovely soft pastels for a new baby or a one year old's card. Give it to an "Old Chook" for her birthday, or add it to an Easter card. Print it at a larger size for scrapbook layouts and off the page projects.



Designed: 03.07.10
copyright Beccy Muir

Thursday, August 19

Cupcake - Strawberry



Originally designed 13th August 2010.
Digitally remastered April 2017.
Original artwork by Beccy Muir, all rights reserved. Images are for personal use and must not be copied, swapped, shared, resold or mass produced without the express written permission of the artist.

Cupcake with the Works

I think this is the way all cupcakes should be created - fling on as much sugary sweetness as possible, then throw something chocolatey at it for good measure.

This is the last design in the cupcake series.

Tuesday, August 17

Cupcake - Cherry

Free Printable #53

Designed: 13.08.10
copyright Beccy Muir

A Cherry On Top

To get the nice shiny icing and cherry, simply leave an uncoloured area of the design where you think the light would fall. The sudden change in colour gives the impression of a very high shine off a smooth or slick surface. Use this method any time you want to create an area of light, such as the shine on hair or the points of light in eyes.


Sunday, August 15

Cupcake - Cream

Free Printable #52

Designed: 13.08.10
copyright Beccy Muir

It's Cupcake Week!!

I've been busy with the cupcakes again... still no baking involved though... and yep, I still have a disappointed hubby who would rather they were made out of flour and eggs than paper and inks.

Saturday, August 14

Cupcake - Plain

Free Printable #51
This is the little cupcake image I used in the previous tutorial. It's nice and simple so that you can use the basic image for elaborate embellishments such as puff paint, lace, layered paper, fabric or prepurchased embellishments.

Designed: 13.08.10
copyright Beccy Muir

Technique Class - Puff Paint Cupcakes

Puff paint is a very versatile, easy to use medium that is also lots of fun! You can use it to add fur to animals, for beards, clouds, snow or as trim for Santa's coat. Use coloured puff paint for rocks, tree trunks or to add dimension to scrapbook pages and handmade cards.
Today I want to share a tutorial on making creamy cupcakes for cards or scrapbook pages.

Requirements:
Coloured cupcake image
Foam tape
Puff Paint
Heat gun
Assorted cardstock
Embellishments of choice - I used ribbon and rhinestones

1. Colour the cupcake image as desired. Even though you are going to coat the top of the cake with puff paint, it's still important to colour the entire picture as you will leave some gaps in the "cream" for effect.

2. Cut out the image.

3. Mount your cupcake with foam tape on to some darker coloured cardstock. Remember that we will be using white puff paint which will show up best against a dark background.

4. Squeeze the puff paint straight from the tube onto the top of the cupcake. Work from the bottom to the top leaving gaps between each row, which will allow some of the "cake" to peek through. Keep in mind that puff paint expands to several times it's original size, so don't overdo it.

5. Heat gently with a heat gun until the paint expands. Keep applying the heat until the paint no longer puffs, but take care not to burn it.

6. I used some pink Kaiser rhinestones and a little brown organza bow to embellish my cake. It's now ready to use on your project!

Cupcake Crazy

It's official! The cupcake craze has hit our household... at least in terms of paper, cardstock and coloured pens, much to my hubby's disappointment. I've been busy playing around with puff paint, which is a wonderfully fun medium that is easy to use and readily available in most craft stores. If you haven't already given it a try I would highly recommend going out and grabbing a bottle.


Here are a few of the cards I put together using the little cupcake with puff paint cream. In the next post I'm going to show you how to make these cute little embellishments - but be warned - they are extremely addictive!

Thursday, August 12

Boy Fairy

Free Printable #50

Designed: 03.07.10
copyright Beccy Muir

Cooper and Friend

Slugs, snails and puppy dog tails are the order of the day for all small boys!

Wednesday, August 11

Technique Class - Hinged Box

a.k.a. The Ultimate Box Makeover
Today I want to show you how to transform one of those inexpensive little gift boxes you can pick up in the dollar shops into a beautiful keepsake box perfect for holding jewellery and other precious items. You may have noticed that I decorated the top of my box with the handmade roses we made in a previous tutorial but you can add whatever embellishments suit the theme or purpose of your creation.

Requirements:
1 gift box
Co-ordinating patterned papers - enough to cover the whole box
Adhesives - I used strong liquid glue, double sided tape and glue dots
Matte varnish - optional
Soft brush for applying the varnish
Small metal hinges - available in hardward stores and most variety supermarkets
Small metal brads
Piercing tool
Pencil and eraser
For Embellishing:
Assorted ribbon
Braiding
Flowers
Self-adhesive pearls - I used Kaisercraft
Metal ball feet - I used the ones from Tim Holtz
Metal key hole and key - I used the ones from Tim Holtz


1. Start with your gift box. The one I chose was about 6" long and 4" wide and made from covered cardboard. It cost about $2.50 from a discount store at the local shopping centre. When selecting your box, look for one that has a very loose lid as you will be building up the sides with patterned paper making it a much tighter fit. You also want a box that is nice and straight without twists, bends and buckled sides. Check that the box is sturdy and not coming loose at any of the joins.

2. Cover the entire box, inside and out including the lid, with patterned paper. I used papers from the gorgeous Capella series by Basic Grey. Try to keep any joins at the back of your project, preferrably away from the corners and edges of the box where the majority of the wearing will occur. Use reliable adhesives to keep the papers secured. If your original box is smooth and slick like mine was it's a good idea to give it a quick sanding to help the adhesive grip better.

3. Apply two or three coats of clear matte varnish to your project to help maintain it's strength and keep it safe from dust and dirt. Make sure you choose a good quality varnish that will not yellow over time and apply it with a nice soft brush. Allow to dry.

4. Applying the hinges can be a little tricky as they are going to be attached in a slightly different way than normal. Look closely at the following pictures and read the instructions carefully. The screws or nails that come with the hinges are no good for our project since they are much too long and won't hold if we cut them to size. This is where the little brads and the strong adhesive are required.
Measure and mark the placement of the hinges on the INSIDE of the box lid. (Normally hinges are positioned on the outside of a box, but because we are using a lid that overlaps the bottom we need to place the two sections of the hinge in different places.) My hinges are placed about 1" from either side. You will need to adjust this measurement if either your box or hinges are larger or smaller than mine.

5. Use your piercing tool to punch holes through the box lid. This is where you will attach your hinge with the little brads.

6. Apply some strong liquid glue to the right side of the top section of your hinge and glue to the inside of the box lid, lining up the holes of the hinge with the holes you punched in the previous step.

7. Push the brads through the box lid then through the hinge so that the tops of the brads are visible on the outside of the lid. As you can see from the picture below, the moving part of the hinge rests above the lip of the box lid.

8. Open the brads on the inside of the box lid as shown below. I use a small hammer to neatly flatten and tighten the brads.

9. Repeat the process with the other brad. Allow the glue to dry before continuing.

10. Place the lid securely on the box and use the pencil to mark the position of the holes in the lower section of the hinge.

11. Punch through the box with your piercing tool then secure the bottom section of the hinge to the outside of the box with liquid adhesive and the little brads just as you did with the lid.

12. Open the brads on the inside of the box and gently flatten with the hammer. Allow the glue to dry completly.

13. You have now completed the basic hinged box. The remainder of this tutorial deals with the outer embellishments that I added to my own project, which you may wish to use as a guide for your own creation.

14. The next step is to attach the metal feet. Please note that this is the method I personally use to attach these items to my projects. You may wish to visit Tim's site for more ideas and uses for his products.

15. Using strong liquid adhesive (I use Pritt glue) attach the ball feet to the bottom of the box. Attach all four at once and hold them in place with several rubber bands stretched around all four feet. Ensure you have a rubber band (or tie of some kind) keeping tension on the top of the feet and one keeping tension on the bottom of the feet. Stand your project up and weight it down slightly as the glue dries. Along with the rubber bands, I placed a heavy book on top of my box and left it to dry overnight.

16. To hide the brad ends that are visible on the inside of the box, I attached a piece of ribbon and a bow. Measure the inside of the box so that your ribbon is even all the way around. Attach the ribbon in a single length with double sided tape or glue. The bow is made and attached separately over the join.

17. Glue some co-ordinating braid around the box lid. Be sure you secure this well with adhesive as it tends to be the place people will put their fingers to open the lid. (If you look closely you can see the rubber bands still holding the metal feet in place.)

18. Now it's a matter of embellishing the top and sides of the box as desired. I glued a Tim Holtz metal lock to the front of the box and a key on the top. I added lots of pearls and some handmade flowers to complete the look.