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Jessica Acs. Crazy Happy Chaos

Jessica Acs. Crazy Happy Chaos

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Tutorials

Altered Paint Can Tutorial

June 5, 2009 by Jess Leave a Comment

 

Today’s tutorial is another altered paint can. I apologize for ANOTHER paint can tutorial, but I promise that this is the last one! It’s all because I’ve been cleaning out my scraproom and I came across these 2 paint cans on the shelf that I just HAD to have (at the time, which was about 3 years ago!). I figured I should do something with them.

For this paint can, I turned it into a container (for whatever, I’m thinking maybe to hold pens or paint brushes or something along those lines…) and also it doubles as a magnetic note board.

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What you need:

– empty (new) paint can

– Claudine Hellmuth Gesso

– Claudine Hellmuth Acrylic paints (I just love using these paints)

– Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas

– Black archival ink

– Stamps

– paint brushes (foam and fine tipped)

– magnets

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1. Cover the entire paint can with the gesso. I find it easiest to apply it with a foam brush.

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2. Once the gesso has dried, paint the can with whatever color of acrylic paint you’d like.

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3. Once your paint has dried, the fun part begins! Decorating your paint can!

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4. On your sheet of stick back canvas, stamp some stamps onto it with black archival ink.

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5. put a tiny dab of paint onto your craft sheet and spray with water. Mix it up so its a very watery paint.

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6. Using a fine tipped paint brush, “paint” your stamped images on the sticky back canvas.

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7. Now carefully cut each stamped image out. (works best if you let them dry first)

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8. Peel the backing off the canvas and stick them right onto your paint can.

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9. Another way you can decorate your can is to use foam stamps and apply the acrylic paint directly to the stamp

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10. Stamp it right onto the can (carefully!)

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Continue decorating until you get your desired look. Now add some fun magnets and little notes : )

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Filed Under: Crafts, Tutorials

Thursday’s Tutorial…another great gift one!

June 4, 2009 by Jess Leave a Comment

I thought I’d get this tutorial up earlier today, before we start more painting : ) I really just want to be outside today – the weather is gorgeous here once more!

Today’s tutorial is: Flip Style Desk Calendar. It’s small and cute and will sit perfectly on any desk – totally would make a great gift for a teacher, a friend, or even for yourself. I made this one rather small so it won’t take up a lot of room – it measures 3.5 x 3.5″.

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You will need:

– 31 squares of patterned paper (cardstock weight) cut into 3.5 x 3.5″

-2 binder rings

– sheet of chipboard

– crop-a-dile or strong hole punch

– various embellishments

– number stickers or thickers

– scoring blade

– ribbon

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1. cut your chipboard sheet into a piece that measure 3.5 x 7″

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2. Using your scoring blade, score the chipboard down the middle (at 3.5″)

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3. Bend the chipboard at the score line so it looks like the above photo

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4. holding the chipboard folded in half, punch two holes (using the large hole punch on the crop-a-dile) at the top (near the fold) of the folded chipboard.

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5. Now, using the small hole on the crop-a-dile, punch 2 holes (slightly closer together) on the bottom of the chipboard ( make sure you punch through both sides)

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6. Cut 2 pieces of ribbon about 5 inches in length

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7. Thread the ribbon through 2 of the small holes and knot on the outside of the chipboard. Make sure the ribbon is the same length for going through both holes.

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8. Stand the chipboard frame up and insert 2 binder rings in the top holes

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9. Decorate your pages however you’d like and hang them onto the binder rings (all 31 in order). Then simply put on your desk and flip it to a new page each day depending on what date it is. This will work for any month : )

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Filed Under: Crafts, Scrapbooking/ Mini Albums, Tutorials

Day 3 – New Tutorial & a Sweet Treat idea

June 3, 2009 by Jess Leave a Comment

here is day 3’s tutorial, sorry I’m getting this posted so late, we’ve been painting in our house all day and I haven’t been on the computer at all today.

So here it is: a very quick and easy little gift project: Pillow box gift card holder. This would be perfect to give as a birthday gift or to that special teacher as a thank you gift. : ) It’s just the right size to slip a gift card into.

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You will need:

– 1 sheet patterened paper, cardstock weight

– bone folder

– adhesive

– pillowbox template. (there are lots of them online – do a google search under images) the one I used can be found here

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1. Cut out your pillowbox template and trace it onto your patterned paper

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2. Cut the pillowbox shape out of the patterned paper.

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3. Lay the template ontop of the patterned paper cut out and trace the lines with a bone folder. Press hard.

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4. Fold along all the lines, press with bone folder if needed

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5. Carfeully fold in the side flaps, this can be a little tricky

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6. Glue the small flap to the inside of the box

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7. Fold sides in on both sides and your box is complete!

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Add some ribbon, embellishments and a tag and it’s ready to give as a gift.

One more thing for tonight: it’s not a recipe but just a cool idea for a summer treat. It’s been SUPER HOT here this week (I’m not complaining, really I’m not, just stating a fact….haha) so I’ve been trying to find ways to keep cool. (It gets unbearably hot in our house too…I’m really looking forward to having air conditioning when I move down south). So here is a little something I did today and it turned out pretty good.

Frozen Pudding Popsicles

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I took some of these little puddings by Kozy Shack – this package is the Apple Pie ones (mmmm…) and they are also the no sugar added ones! bonus!!

Simply open the pudding cup, mix it up, and insert a popsicle stick.

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Put them in the freezer. (I only had mine in there a couple hours and they were already frozen hard)

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Once frozen, run the cup under hot water until the popsicle slips right out. Enjoy!

Filed Under: Crafts, Recipes, Tutorials

Mini Book Tutorial

June 2, 2009 by Jess Leave a Comment

Today’s tutorial is on a mini accordion album – it’s a real quick one, you could probably make the entire thing in 30 minutes.  : )

honestymini You can see photos of my entire finished album right at the end of the tutorial.

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What you need:

– 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock

– patterned paper

– scoring blade

– inks and embellishments

– twine

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1. Start by cutting your cardstock into 3 equal strips measuring 4 x 12″

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2. Pop your scoring blade in and score each strip at 3, 6 and 9″

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3. Fold the creases accordion style: fold one piece to the back, the next to the front, etc. Then glue the two strips together as shown in the above photo. If you’d like more pages, go ahead and glue the third strip on as well.

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4. Now cut your pages out of patterned paper. Measurements are 2.75 x 3.75″. Ink the edges if you desire. (I used Colorbox Dark Brown Ink). Glue your pages onto the album.

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5. Cut a strip of cardstock measuring 7.5 inches. Wrap this around the middle of your album. If it overlaps in the front too much, trim a bit off.  I ripped the edges of mine.

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6. Glue a piece of twine to the strip on the backside of the album.

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7. Tie the twine at the front of the album. Make it tight enough that it won’t fall off but not so tight that you can’t wiggle the middle band off the mini book without untying it.

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8. You should be able to just slip it right off now.

9. Now have fun embellishing your book!  A tip: – try not to make the book too bulky as you won’t be able to close it with the band you just made.

You can use any theme at all for this kind of album- it’s so versatile!

Here is my completed album:

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Remember that you don’t always have to add photos to your mini books, sometimes journaling is all you need. My book turned out to be some Reflections about how life doesn’t always turn out the way you expect it too. There are bumps in the road but also some unexpected surprises.

Here is a challenge for you if you’re up for it: Create your own little book of “Deep Thoughts”. Were there some things you expected to happen in your life that didn’t? What were some of the surprises?

If you do end up making one of these mini books, I’d love to see it! please leave a link to where it can be seen : )

Lastly, I want to share this cute photo of Oscar. I took it the other day and completely forgot about it, then when I was downloading the photos for the tutorial this morning, I found this little gem amongst them. I love it when that happens! The photo is a bit bright as he was sitting in the sun – but it was one of those moments where I had to rush to get the camera before he moved.

oscarsitting

He sits like this a lot – it’s hilarious. Usually he moves though before I’m able to snap a photo of it. Geez, I can’t believe I’m not going to get to see this cute guy for an entire year (and Gracie too)…. (I won’t get any time off from school until next summer and it will just be for 1 week). I will miss them so much…. I can’t think about it right now cause it makes me feel sick : (

Filed Under: Scrapbooking/ Mini Albums, Tutorials

New kit giveaway – and 7 days of tutorials starts today! plus 2 new cookie recipes!

June 1, 2009 by Jess 101 Comments

Happy Monday! Let’s get started with a brand new giveaway for this week : )

This week, up for grabs is the newest  kit – just launched – Cherry Sundae. It’s full of the new line: Cherry Hill by October Afternoon. I am absolutely in love with this entire line – the colors and papers are fantastic!

cherrysundae

To be entered in the draw, leave a comment here by Thursday at midnight and I’ll have random.org select a winner on Friday.  My question for you today is: What is your latest obsession? (can be scrapbook related or not) : )

7 Days of Tutorials!!!!!

Starts Today!

For the next week, I will post a different tutorial each day – I’ve got some fun ones planned for you 🙂 – lots of great gift ideas too! Today I have an easy tutorial for a great gift to make as well as a couple yummy recipes for you.

Recipes first! here we go…  (I’m sure it’s no secret, but I love to bake, and I’m not always so good at following recipes. I prefer to branch out on my own and create my own recipes sometimes. Both of the recipes below are my own creations)

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp caramel or vanilla extract

mix eggs well, add sugar then peanut butter, and mix well again. Add baking powder, extract and then flour. Drop spoonfuls onto greased pan, then press with a fork. (tip: spray the fork with cooking spray before pressing into cookie dough – this way it won’t stick to the fork!)

bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until done. (if you like the cookies chewy like Brent does, take them out at about 8-10 minutes (depending on your oven, but before they start to brown. If you like them crunchy, wait until the edges of the cookies turn golden brown)
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I made these cookies this morning as a treat for Brent and I also wanted to use them as part of today’s tutorial, hehe. It was so tempting to help myself to these yummy looking cookies but since I am on a special detox diet right now, it means no sugar or fun stuff. boo….. So I quickly came up with a new recipe for something yummy that I can eat -and they turned out wonderfully! So for all you who might be on special diets or if you’re allergic to certain things, try this out – so easy, quick and delicious!

No bake egg-less, flour-less sugar free protein coco balls (I wonder how many other words I can fit into the title….)

1/2 cup oats
1 tbls pure cocoa powder
1/8 cup chocolate protein powder
1/4 cup all natural almond butter
bit of unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp caramel or vanilla extract

Mix oats, cocoa powder, protein powder, extract and almond butter together until well mixed. The mixture should be crumbly. Add a bit of unsweetened applesauce so the mixture is the consistency of dough (something you are able to roll into balls). If you add too much applesauce, add some more oats in.

Once well mixed, roll the dough into small balls and place on a wax paper covered plate. Place in the freezer. This is my first time making these so I’m honestly not sure how long they will keep in the fridge or freezer. I can tell you that they won’t last long in mine! I’ll probably have them all eaten up by tonight, lol.

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Tutorial time!! Today’s tutorial is on an altered Paint Can.

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This is a fun project to transform a paint can into a gorgeous container for giving as a gift. Fill with home made goodies like cookies, scones, biscotti, or fill with candies, little gifts or even a small mini album. This would make a great end of the year gift for teachers – have your child make a card to attach to the paint can for an added touch.

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You will need:

– 1 Paint Can (please use a NEW one for this project, especially if you will be filling it with food related items): you can go to any paint store or home depot and just ask for a new empty can – they usually only cost a dollar or 2.

– Claudine Hellmuth Studio Multi Medium (if you don’t have this, try using mod podge)

– Foam brush

– patterned paper

– book paper

– embellishments, stickers

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1. Liberally brush on the multi medium (I used gloss for this project – this stuff works great for so many things!), and stick on random pieces of the book paper. (I ripped it into various sized pieces). Brush over top of the paper with the medium as well. Continue untilt the entire paint can is covered.

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2. Cut 2 strips of paper (I used lined paper by Scenic Route) so they measure 6 x 12″. Wrap each around the middle of the can and glue down. (so it fits as a band around the entire can)

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3. Now cut 2 strips of paper 12 x 1.5″ out of a patterned piece of paper. (I used one of the new Cherry Hill papers from October Afternoon)

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4. Wrap those strips around the middle of the lined paper and glue down.

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5. Cut a circle out of a piece of patterned paper to fit the top of the paint can, then trace a CD and cut the circle out of another piece of patterned paper.

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6. Add whatever title or saying you’d like to the circle. I also inked the edges of mine with Jumbo Java ink.

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7. Stick the circle onto the front of the paint can – be sure to use a strong adhesive here (I used medium glue dots)

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8.  If you’d like to add a tag, an easy way is to use a journaling card. This one is also part of the Cherry Hill Line. I added some felt Thickers to the front of it, then punched a hole in the upper left corner and then attached it to the paint can handle with some lace.

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All done! Now you can fill it with whatever you can think of! Of course today, mine is filled with cookies : )

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Check back tomorrow for another fun tutorial: lots more great gift ideas coming your way! : )

One last thing for today: I want to say a big Happy Birthday to my sweet niece who turns SEVEN today! Where does the time go? I’m very excited that I’m going to get to see her in 3 weeks!

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Filed Under: Crafts, Daily Life, Recipes, Tutorials

Fun tutorial and another giveaway!

May 25, 2009 by Jess 68 Comments

Another week starting already…where is the time going? I am up to my eye balls right now with packing, getting rid of stuff, and majorly cleaning every nook and cranny in the house. Only 6 weeks left until my big move but really I need to have it all done by June 21 as I head over to Victoria to visit my family for the remainder of June.

Some good news: I just got confirmation that I have a place to live in California! yay! I will be renting a house with 3 other girls who will be in my class. It’s only a few minutes away from the college (by car) and there is a fenced back yard – the dogs will love it!

Now onto the giveaway!! From now on, each Monday I’m going to do a giveaway – just a fun little way to start the week off. : )
This week I’m giving away a class kit from a previous class I taught at CKC for a cute little maze mini album.
You will get everything in the kit needed to make this little book, including instructions of course.

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I will choose a random winner (via random.org) Friday morning. So leave a comment here by Thursday at midnight to be entered in this draw. My question for you this week is: What kind of tutorials would you like to see here? I had a lot of fun taking a break from packing/cleaning today and actually being able to create stuff! I am going to try to do it more often before I have to pack all my scrap stuff up. (those will be the last things I pack up!).

Summer {paper} Flower Garden tutorial

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You will need:

– patterned paper cut into 4 x 4 squares

– popsicle sticks

– buttons or other embellishments

– scissors

– pencil

Optional:

– Claudine Hellmuth Studio Sticky Back Canvas

– Claudine Hellmuth Studio matte multi medium & acrylic paints

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1.  Once you have your 4 x 4 squares of paper, freehand draw a flower shape onto the first sheet.

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2. Cut your flower shape out, then trace onto another sheet that you want to be the back side of your flower. (they are reversible). Cut your second flower out.

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3. Tape the popsicle stick to the inside on one of the flower pieces, then glue the two of them together.

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4. I love using these clips to hold things together while I’m waiting for the adhesive to dry.

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5. You may need to trim around some of the edges of your flowers, and you can go ahead and ink the edges now if you’d like to.

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Optional

6. Another fun way of creating your flowers is by using Sticky Back Canvas sheets by Claudine Hellmuth Studio.

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7. Do as you did in the first step and cut the sticky back canvas sheet into pieces measuring 4 x 4. Draw your flower shape with a pencil onto the canvas and cut the shapes out. (You can back them onto another piece of sticky back canvas or onto paper)

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8. For the first flower I used a glaze. Mix a dollop of multi medium onto a non stick craft sheet and mix a bit of acrylic paint into it. Mix together and brush onto the flower shape. This will give it a nice glaze with color that is more sheer.

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9. For the second flower, I used the acrylic paint directly from the jar – this gives it more coverage and more solid color.

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10. The multi medium acts as a great adhesive! I used it here to glue the buttons down.

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11. Go ahead and embellish your flowers any way you’d like. I really love incorporating vintage book paper in my projects lately, and of course, I still love buttons!

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Filed Under: Crafts, Tutorials

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