Friday, February 8, 2013
Valentine Embroidered Coffee Jacket
You would win thoughtful spouse/friend/significant other of the year if you delivered a latte on Valentine’s day complete with a handmade embroidered coffee sleeve!
Materials for this project:
- Your favorite coffee beverage complete with sleeve
- hammer (I used my meat tenderizer because I couldn’t be bothered to look through the mess in the workshop)
- stick pin (later found that a finishing nail worked better and when my husband came home I found out we owned a leather punch which would be ideal)
- embroidery floss
- embroidery needle
- glue gun
Carefully remove the coffee sleeve and open it at the seam then trace it onto an 8X10 sheet of Purely Pulp.
Determine your design and trace it onto the crafting board then using a finishing nail and hammer or a punch or like me a meat tenderizer and tiny push pin…. punch along the lines of the design.
Now grab your floss and needle and embroider – simple!
Now you want to glue your sleeve together but first you want to reduce the bulk at the seam. Taking a crafting knife cut half way through the thickness of the board on each end where you will glue and overlap to create the seam. You then pull back half the layer along the cut line. Make sure that on the other end you take the layer off the opposite side of the board.
Below is a picture after I have pulled back a layer. See all the tiny little fibres standing up? They will provide an excellent bond for the glue. These shots also give you a nice look at the texture of Purely Pulp, the top picture shows the smoother side and the bottom shows the more textured side. For this project I used the smooth side out but I have found the textured side provide some interesting results on other projects.
I don’t show a picture of this but you will add your glue to the peeled strip.
On my first go around I just tried to join the ends together but I got some ugly wrinkles and there was a lot of strain on the seam. Applying a similar technique to woodworkers I ended up boiling a kettle of water and steaming the sleeve until it was a little more subtle and wow what a difference!!
Here is the finished product – it has such a natural feel in my hands. Next one I might add some water sealer because it turns out I am not a dribble free drinker…
Here is a picture of Allie embroidering a heart of her own. It reminded me of the early days when we had those boards you would embroider with string to work on dexterity – probably another great idea for Purely Pulp…
Happy Valentines Day!
Jennifer
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Valentine Washi Tape Necklace Tutorial
I have been in love with Washi tape for sometime now but so far have only collected and stared at it. Now that I have discovered how great it works with Purely Pulp I gone a little overboard with projects…
My first project was to make necklaces with it – what a great way to keep your favorite things with you all the time! Okay maybe that is bordering obsessive..
This little project took me all of 15 minutes to set up and complete so it was a super project to do with my seven year old daughter since instant gratification and volume crafting is a factor.
I started by cutting 1 and 1/2 inch strips from an 8X 10 sheet of Purely Pulp with my paper cutter. Remember that the sheets are dense and sturdy so you will need to score each side a couple of times to get a clean cut. I then cut these strips into 1 1/2 inch squares which seemed to be just a nice size for our necks while still letting the washi patterns stand out. Next came the fun part – covering the squares with washi! This is pretty intuitive so I won’t go into details. To get the necklace hole I used a brad punch which made a nice clean cut through all the layers. I bought the chain and a package of jump rings from Michaels.
The pendant is great on its own but I also tried one with Dimensional Magic Mod Podge which elavated the project to craft fair worthy. Check out Mod Podge Rocks for more information on Dimensional Magic.
Why is Purely Pulp so great for this project?
- It is sturdy and stiff
- It is white so there is no show through
- It is paper so tape sticks to it!!
- You can cut it with your scissors or cutter, no special tools needed (although I’d love to know how it would work in a die cutter…)
Jennifer
(P.S I painted the heart on Purely Pulp with Martha Stewart Craft Paint in Beetle Black and Wedding Cake White)
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Monday, January 7, 2013
Spelling Practice
Well, we are back to school today after a glorious Christmas break. With back to school also comes skating lessons, piano lessons, ski team, archery and homework! As we get in from our evening activities it is always a mad scramble around here to find a scrap of paper for spelling practice. I promised myself that in 2013 I would find a solution, and here it is:
To make this handy little clipboard I used one piece of 8X 10 Purely Pulp Crafting Board, Mod Podge, a clip,Martha Stewart scrapbooking paper, paint brush and a paper cutter.
First cut your Purely Pulp crafting board into two – 5 X 8 pieces. Since the board is quite dense I used my paper cutter and scored each side of the board 3 or 4 times until I got a nice clean cut. You can make two clip boards or save the second piece for another project.
Next cut two pieces of scrapbook paper, one for the front and one for the back,
Using Mod Podge and a paint brush apply a thin layer of glue to Purely Pulp and attach paper. Try to keep the application as even as possible to avoid warping the board as it dries. You can see how awesomely sturdy Purely Pulp is!
Next glue on a strip of paper to your clip
You’re done! I made the pad of paper using this tutorial from Full Of Great Ideas. In that tutorial rubber cement is used to secure the end but you can use Mod Podge, just do two coats and allow to dry inbetween or just leave the sheets loose. You can also easily use paper from the recyle bin to make the pad.
I also made mine reversible.
This would make a great school craft to encourage spelling practice! Purely Pulp is fantastic to paint on too so you can always recycle paintings for this project.
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Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Christmas Tree Hunting
Like many families, our holiday season begins with our annual Christmas Tree hunt . It is usually a full day which must include tobogganing, hot dog roasting and plenty of wildlife viewing.
Rosie’s favourite game, try to steal the toboggan…
Momma moose and baby,
Momma elk and baby,
A golden eagle (a first for me!)
After a great day, we returned refreshed and rosie cheeked. Connecting with nature is a great way to rejuvenate the creative juices. Here is some art by our young daughter that was inspired by the day:
These paintings were produced with acrylic paint on Purely Pulp, mounted directly on the wall with sticky tack.
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Saturday, December 8, 2012
Pulp Stars!
I have been cranking out dozens of these paper stars in preparation for Christmas.
They are so strong I haven’t worried one bit about packing them into boxes and shipping them off to family around Canada.
These stars would also make a great trivet. Here is my teapot sitting on top of one!
To start cut 6 , 8″ X 0.75 “ strips from an 8X10 sheet of Purely Pulp. Purely Pulp is very dense so I like to use a heavy duty paper cutter like the ones in schools but if you don’t have access to one just carefully measure your strips and cut with sturdy sharp scissors or a ruler and exacto knife. If you end up with rough edges use a nail file to smooth out.
Using a utility knife,lightly score the strip at 2 inch intervals then bend at the score marks. I like to put a 45 degree angle cut on the two ends so that when you glue the ends together it produces a nice sharp angle.
Using your glue gun, apply glue to one of the three sides of the 8″ strip and with the joined points in the centre, bond all 6 , diamond shaped strips together in the shape of a star.
I like to add a grommet and ribbon to one of the strips before it is bent.
Happy Holiday Crafting!
Jennifer
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