Computer sentiment tutorial

A number of people have asked how I do my computer sentiments, so I have put together a tutorial  for how to do it using MS Publisher.  My software of choice is Silhouette Studio (available to download for free) but I figure that more people would have Publisher already installed.

Sorry, but this is a picture heavy post, so may be frustrating to read if your connection speed is poor.

I have used this card for demonstration purposes, because the sentiment had to be in a very specific place.
I knew that the finished card would be A6 ~ 14.8 x 10.5cm.  I measured the stamp I was going to use, & decided that a 4.8cm square would look the best.

Open MS Publisher & draw your card front to the right size as shown below.

Repeat steps 1 to 4 to make a square 4.8cm long.

With only the square selected, you can then use the up & down arrow keys on the keyboard to move it to the right place.  If you have a specific distance from the top, draw another rectangle using this dimension as the height, & use the new rectangle as a spacer (hope that makes sense...).

Now for the sentiment.

Now you can use the keyboard arrows to position the sentiment exactly where it needs to be in relation to the other items on your card.

So now you are left with the sentiment in the right place for printing on an A6 card, at the bottom of an A4 sheet of paper.

Some things to remember:

Don't worry, you can always undo stuff.

When putting text close to the edge of the page, your printer might leave a border so be aware of this.

Try it out on cheap computer paper first.

Phewwww!  I'm worn out now.  Congratulations if you have managed to stay the course.  I hope I have made things clear enough; I find it a difficult line to tread- giving sufficient info without being patronising.  If something is still unclear, leave me a comment & I'll try to help.

Make a Post It Note holder

There are a lot of these to be found on the web. I think this version is a bit beefier than some I have seen, so may be a little more robust.

This is a bit of a photo heavy post, so you may want to grab a cup of tea first...

To make this you will need a cereal packet, plain paper & patterned paper.   Measurements are to fit a standard Post-It Note & the pencil I have used.  You may have to adjust things slightly, depending on your choice of writing implement.

First, cut  3 10 cm squares from the cereal packet.  

I have found that scoring lightly with a knife allows the glue to penetrate the cardboard a bit better, & make for a stronger finished item.  If you are using dry adhesive, omit the scoring.

Glue the 3 layers together & leave under a heavy book for a few minutes.

When the the square is dry, cover it with the plain paper.  Make sure it is a little wider than the square & just over twice as long.  Sit the square to one side, allowing an even border on 3 sides.  Draw around the square & cut as shown.

Stick the square in place with dry adhesive &, using an embossing stylus (or old biro) score around the edge, to make folding the paper easier & give a neat edge.  Fold & stick the 3 small flaps first & then the large one.  The side of the square where the flaps meet will be the BACK of the note holder.

To make the front piece, cut the patterned paper to the same width as your covered square.  Depending on the thickness of the plain paper you used to cover the square, it may have grown quite a bit, so re-measure.

The pencil I used needed a 1cm square hole to middle piece back through the hole.

 Apply strong adhesive as shown by the red lines.  This is actually red line tape, which is super sticky, so that the front piece won't come away. 

Orientate the covered square so that the flaps meet on the back, on the pencil side of the holder.  This way, the major join will be hidden when the front piece is in place. 

Carefully place the front piece in position & stick it down, folding the small flap around the back.

Finally, stick the note-pad in place.  Don't just rely on the sticky back of the notes, use some double-sided tape.

Chevron patterned paper is from Pink Petticoat, colour is tangerine.  Pencils were a lucky find in Sainsbury's last year - from the kids' party bag section.

Well congratulations if you've made it to the end.  I think this post took longer to write than it did to make.  Enjoy!

More desk-top storage

How to turn a smoothie box into something pretty & useful.

I needed some storage for my small Papertrey Ink stamp collection, so had a quick rummage through the recycling box.  This smoothie box was just the right size to fit a few cd cases in.

To begin with, draw an angled line on one side of the box.

Then carefully undo the box so it lies flat.  This line will be one edge of the finished item, so cut as straight as possible.  I used a guillotine.  Keep the piece you cut off & use this as a template for the diagonal cut on the other side.

When both diagonals have been cut, re-assemble the box.  The front & back ends will be a bit uneven & need a little more work before the box can be covered.

First, measure the width of the box. Cut a strip of card (cereal box is ideal) to that width, & mark off the height needed at the back. Cut to size & repeat at the front. Stick these well to the outside of the box. This gives strength as well as neat edges.

Inside the box, there will be a difference in the number of cardboard layers, which could lead to problems when lining. This is easily rectified by cutting pieces from the discarded box top & sticking them in the right places inside the front & back.

Now cut pieces of card to fit the 4 inside faces, using the box itself as a template. It is best to cut something slightly larger & gradually trim tiny amounts off until it is a snug fit. If you cut off too much, there will be gaps in the lining.

In addition to the 4 pieces shown, you will also need a bottom piece. These can now be covered in the paper of your choice.

A little care may be needed when lining up the patter. The paper I chose for the lining has a grid pattern on it, so I had to make sure that all my pieces were in line with the grid before cutting.

This box is relatively small & can be covered by 2 pieces of A4 paper. By using a design that is easy to match up & you can make 1 long piece by sticking the 2 together at an appropriate place in the pattern.

Use this to cover the outside of the box, ensuring that there are no joins on the front of the box.  Having folded this down over each edge & stuck down the folds, stick in the previously covered lining pieces. 

I find that double-side tape is best for covering the all the cardboard, or a glue stick.  I think wet glue may wrinkle the paper & would take too long to dry.

Ta daah!

Paper used is from a digital pack by Crystal Wilkerson, Orange Soda, a HUGE collection of patterns currently only $1.  There is a luscious range of colours & I have succumbed to more than one!

Hope this makes sense.  If you have any questions, leave a comment & I'll try to help if i can.

Make & line an envelope to match your card

This envelope is for the 5 inch square card I posted yesterday.

Cut a square of Kraft paper (I used a manilla suspension file) & score as shown below.





Round all the corners of the square & one corner of the lining piece.  Use temporary adhesive to stick the lining piece in position on one of the envelope flaps.  Draw lines parallel to the Kraft piece on each side, & fold the flap over.

 

Remove the liner & cut along the lines you have drawn. Stick the liner down to the flap first, then fold over & stick the inside.

Fold & stick the 3 other flaps, ensuring there is no adhesive on the inside of the envelope.

Quilt card from paper scraps

I cut a 12cm square of printer paper & found the centre by drawing lines diagonal to diagonal.  Using temporary adhesive I stuck a 3cm square of card in the centre.

 

I cut 4 strips of paper 4.5cm long by 1.5cm wide.  The edges were sponged with brown ink to give them definition. They were stuck around the centre, making sure the edges lined up by using a ruler as shown.  The centre square was then removed so I could use a brayer to ensure everything was adhered properly.

The next strips were 7.5cm long, & then as long as was needed to go across the paper.

Turning the quilted piece over, I scored along the original edge of the 12cm square, then folded the excess over & stuck it down.

The cardboard square from the centre was covered in paper, stuck in position & finished with a faux button & some twine.

The quilted piece was then matted on to Kraft card & adhered to a 5" square card base. 

Paper used is a digital design,  Love Cherries from Sheri K Designs.