Saturday, March 8, 2014

Graphic 45 Design Team 2014 Audition

I can't believe I'm actually auditioning for the Graphic 45 Design Team 2014! Li'l old me from the upside down Land Down Under! I can only try I guess. Would be an amazing experience don't you think!

So...I have to provide at least 6 different projects which I have made. Hmmmm...which ones??? I guess because my design strength leans more toward building and construction of storage items, I have decided to include a couple of these items for which I used other paper lines.

The first project is one of which I am very proud - the Distress Ink Storage Unit. This one used a LOT of chipboard and glue (most of my projects do LOL) and very little paper! I designed it myself and the making of this was recorded live on Ustream. Click HERE to view the recording. I added a Lazy Susan spinner for the base and created a label sheet to print onto copy paper which prints the label on all four sides of the ink pads.

Distress Ink Storage Unit

"spinner" attached

Labels


My next project is Valentine's Day themed. I say themed because I'm not a huge fan of Valentine's Day and all the red, so the perfect paper to use on this project was Graphic 45's Le Romantique! My daughter, Mandy wanted me to make her a box to hold sentiment cards as a gift to her husband, Tod for Valentine's Day. The cards were titled "I love the fact that..." and Mandy filled in each card with things she likes about Tod. I designed this box also. It is just a box, but I made a mistake or two so I "hid" the "mistakes" with some strips of chipboard around the edge of the top, and it looked so good I added to the bottom also/ I thought this inclusion actually made the project "pop", as well as being practical as the bottom pieces stopped the lid from slipping all the way down to the bottom of the box which would have made it difficult to open.


The caption on the paper here was made for this project!




I have not been bitten by the Project Life bug - yet - however Mandy (yes, Mandy again) needed a storage box to hold all her PL cards, so I set sail again and designed a storage unit for Project Life cards. I have since made another Project Life Storage Unit (PLSU) - again for Mandy as she wanted to fill a 23"x8" space on her desk. I must digress here as I thought this was kind of a funny story as to why I built a bigger PLSU.

So....Mandy's husband Tod was so impressed by the first PLSU I made for Mandy that he asked if I could make him one to use as a "remote boat" (storage for his many remotes - TV, X-box, stereo, etc). So I built him one - no big deal. THEN Mandy cleans her craft work area and decides Tod's "remote boat" and her original PLSU fit "almost" perfectly in this 23"x8" space on her desk. Well, I was told that I could either make Tod another Remote Boat OR I could make one BIG PLSU for Mandy so Tod could have his original "Remote Boat" back. Yes, you guessed it, I made the mambo jambo PLSU for Mandy LOL.

Original PLSU (I use it for a desk organiser)

Version 3 (Mandy's) Empty

Version 3 Filled with Project Life Cards
And the next project is my latest "spinning" storage unit. This one was made for my grandson, Justin. I had just finished a spinning desk organiser for his sister, Amelia, but Justin had to have one also LOL. I didn't have any paper that would suit a boy in my stash (yeah, go figure!) but what I did find suited Justin perfectly! Justin LOVES the circus, so guess what paper line I used - that's right, Graphic 45's Le Cirque!!! I love how this one turned out, and so did Justin! All sides contain at least one drawer, the fourth side I built a vertical paper rack. To complete this spinning organiser I decided to add a circus tent on the top level. Justin LOVED the circus tent!!! Nan did good! LOL

Justin's "spinning" desk organiser
The side with the letter rack




 

 
The circus tent
I thought I should add a card to this submission as I do love making cards. The one I chose to include was a "New Baby" card using Graphic 45's Little Darlings paper. What I set out to do with this card was to use up some of the bits and pieces left over from another project (mini album). I also used a chipboard die-cut piece from the Little Darlings Tags 2 die-cut collection, as well as the "Love" stamp from the Little Darlings stamp set. This is what I came up with.



I think I'll have to add just one more project to the list here. For some unknown reason I decided to make a log cabin. Sooooo....after countless strips of 5/8" chipboard pieces, a LOT of adhesive, a LOT of paint, and a LOT of water to get the curve of a true log shape, I came up with this:

This side shows the chimney

The front shows the flower boxes on the windows and the verandah


Close-up of the front door - hinges were made from paper!

The side door is the spine of the enclosed mini album


Oh my! Choosing which projects to include here in the Graphic 45 Design Team 2014 Audition was much harder than I thought! Hopefully the selection shows my style and how I make use of the papers. Thanks for the opportunity to submit my audition and for all the support from my crafty friends, without whom I would never have considered I was good enough to at least try for it!

Smiles
Jen

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Card Series-New Baby #1

Hi everyone!

I'm on the card kick again and this time it's a New Baby card! What better way to start off a new card series, a new baby card series, than creating one using Graphic 45's "Little Darlings" paper collection!

Other supplies I used were: 
  •     The 'love' stamp from the Little Darlings stamp set
  •     NEW ARRIVAL chipboard piece from the Little Darlings Tags 2 die-cut set
  •     Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla cardstock for the card base
  •     Large scalloped punch by Stampin' Up!
  •     Mini doily stamp from the Vintage Labels stamp set by Stampin' Up!
  •     Tim Holtz distress tool
  •     Scor-tape
  •     Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue
  •     3 half-back pearls
I wanted to use up some of the bits and pieces of paper left over from other projects, so that's what I did! I made a beautiful card using the leftovers!

Below is a pic of the completed card, but if you would like to view more photos and/or watch the making of the card, I have uploaded a start-to-finish video up on YouTube and you can view it here at the bottom of this post, or click HERE to watch it on YouTube.






Saturday, March 1, 2014

Justin's Spinning Desk Organiser

G'day everyone!

Well, it is FINALLY finished! this one had me second guessing myself so many times it was getting so frustrating. I would say time and time again that I would put it away for a few days and come back to it with a fresh mindset. Well, that didn't work for long as it kept eating away at me that I was 'losing' it!

Many of you who know me, know that I 'love' working out measurements for things I'm making, heck I measure EVERYTHING lol. So when things were NOT fitting into their spaces I was shaking my head and wondering what the heck I was doing! This rarely happens to me, so I'm of the opinion that my mind is starting to feel the effects of old age OR I really need to get back out into the workforce! I'm hoping it's the latter lol!

Having three grandsons you would think I would have had some paper suitable for boys that would be perfect - WRONG! What I did find (and might I say it was the PERFECT choice) was a complete paper pad of Le Cirque by Graphic 45. Justin LOVES the circus, so it just had to be!

Anyway, I finally finished Justin's "spinner" and while I did film most of the making of it I'm not sure whether I will try and edit all those videos and upload to YouTube or whether I should just put up a 'bloopers' video of it - the verdict is still out on that one, but will let you all know.

I have put a slideshow together and uploaded it to YouTube to show you up close how it all looks, until I decide on a start-to-finish video. Below is the slideshow and beneath that is the video of Justin's reaction to seeing his "spinner" for the first time.






Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Amelia's Spinning Desktop Organiser

After Amelia saw my spinning Stickles Storage Unit she asked if I could make her one, so I set about making a "spinning" organiser for her desk.


I am currently editing the videos I filmed whilst making the spinner and will have a link to YouTube videos (yes, there will be multiple parts) here soon, but for now you can watch Miss Amelia's reaction upon receiving her "spinner" here.



Saturday, February 8, 2014

S T I C K L E S Spinner Storage Unit - Completed

Hi everyone!

Thanks so much to all who attended my stream recently when I made the second S T I C K L E S Spinner Storage Unit (SSSU), and a massive THANK YOU to Miss Amelia for stealing the show LOL.

My first SSSU ended up being very shabby chic, frilly and soft colours, more of a show piece than a useable piece. My second (and hopefully final) SSSU came out very plain, and as ArteDar said "a work horse" LOL. Because that's exactly what it looks like - tough and ready to be knocked around - and USED!

Anyway, the SSSU will take you quite a long time to create. It takes approximately 3 hours per unit (there are 4 in total). By the time you cut out all the chipboard (also cutting the angles of the ledges) and gluing it all together. So in total it probably took me (including embellishing the first SSSU) 18 hours. The prep time is just as time-consuming as gluing it all together!

There will be no written instructions for this storage unit, however I do have a document containing the chipboard and cardstock dimensions if you'd like to give this one a go!

Click HERE for the cutting guide.
Click HERE for the Ustream recording - Part 1
Click HERE for the Ustream recording - Part 2
Click HERE to go to my YouTube channel

Anyway, I think it came out great for my use. I like things to be practical (so don't know where the shabby chic version came from LOL) so I can use most of the items I make - this is why I make so many storage units. I love to craft but cannot stand making things just for the heck of it.

Please let me know by commenting below if you decide to make one of these. I would love to see photos and/or videos!!!

SSSU-MII - Stickles
SSSU-MII - Single side view
   
SSSU-MII - empty


SSSU-MI - closeup

SSSU-MI - filled with goodness

SSSU-MI - empty


Happy Crafting!
Jen


Project Life Storage Unit for Mandy

Well I thought I was done and dusted with making PL storage units, that is until Mandy asked if I would make her one that would fit into her 23"x8" space on her desk :-0!

Well it was a brain strain, that's for sure! We worked it out so that we had 7 even partitions on the front for the 3x4's and 5 (almost even) partitions on the back for the 4x6's. I had no chipboard 23" long so I decided to make it one section at a time, each time adding it to the next, until it was all put together.

Once it was all put together I decided I should check and see if it would fit in the space it would live. So I went over to Mandy's and, holding my breath, voila! Perfect fit!

Then came time to cover it - what to do!!! I decided to gesso all edges, nooks and crannies. Then to cover it with the paper Mandy wanted. I think it was KaiserCraft "Vintage Rose" paper that was chosen, so I went to work cutting and pasting a million pieces onto it (exaggeration I know LOL).

I ended up using over a roll of 1/4" Scor-tape, a quarter roll of 1/8" Scor-tape, 2/3 bottle of Helmar's 450 clear glue, I think I used 5 pieces of A3 medium weight chipboard and about 12 sheets of patterned paper to cover it. Man hours, I can't remember, but it came together in 2 days!!! I think I was just focused on getting it made and out of my craft room LOL.

This unit will hold the following:
  • 4 core kits
  • 3 mini kits
  • 4 co-ordinating 6x4 cardstock
  • 1 pack 6x4 grid
  • 2 packs 3x4 co-ordinating cardstock
  • Has enough room for 5 more packs of 3x4 grid/colour/blank cards
I'm happy with how it turned out and Mandy is now very happy with her organised desk area and can work away happily on her Project Life albums :)



Filled with goodness!

Close-up

Empty - waiting to be sent to new home
 
In new home!

Monday, February 3, 2014

S T I C K L E S Spinner



I think I am all ready to stream making this on:

Oz time-Friday 7 February at 11am
USA EST-Thursday 6 February at 7pm
UK time-midnight Thursday 6 February/Friday 7 February

I don't have many S T I C K L E S but this unit is great for Alcohol Inks, Ink Refills and Liquid Pearls.

I have made 3 of the 4 units that make up this storage unit so that I can hope to finish it on stream. It will be recorded but I hope to see some of you that can make it join me :)

Click HERE to go to my Ustream channel.




 
© 2014 – Design and creation by Jenny Potter (ozegran)
Please do not reproduce this Stickles Storage Unit for sale
in any form (classes, tutorial, design) without the prior consent of the owner