liveSPACE

...hanging vase

hi everyone!  hannah, the assistant, here for another guest posting.  here in california the weather is getting cooler but it’s still pleasantly warm in the daytime.

today we’re going to make a hanging vase that could hold flowers from any arbor or tree to nicely decorate an early al fresco lunch.  if you happen to live where it’s already too cold these hanging vases could still make a nice addition to a dining table or mantle.  we’ll decoupage or paper-mâché mambi paper together to create our vase.  very simple, easy, and affordable.  this is a great project to do with the kids. 

materials:
Kay’s Autumn Specialty Cardstock pad (PXT-09), cut in to strips
balloons, i’m using water balloons
glue, i’d recommend a tacky glue
paintbrush
styrofoam cup
plastic container
water

instructions:
1. if you’ll be working indoors be sure to cover any table tops with newspaper.

2. blow up your balloons, as many as you need. choose a few different papers from Kay’s Autumn Specialty Cardstock pad.  cut in to strips, 1/2-1” wide.

3. in your plastic container put good dollop of glue and maybe 1Tb amount of water.  we’re working with cardstock which is on the thicker side.  the water will be there to keep the glue damp and soften the water however we’ll be working mostly with the glue directly. 

4.start by layering strips of paper in an X pattern on the bottom of the balloon.  we want to make sure the bottom of our vase will be sturdy.  use your paintbrush to brush glue directly on the balloon and then place your strip on the glue and apply more glue on top of the paper.  drip your paintbrush in water if the glue dries too quickly or if the paper is too stiff.  be very generous with the glue!

5. once the bottom has a good infrastructure start to layering your strips around the ballon being sure to overlap over the previous layer of paper.

6. cover the balloon as much as you’d like (i stopped a few inches from the top) put it in a styrofoam cup to dry.  use any type of cup that you can dispose and won’t stick to the glue.  let it dry until the glue has dried.  the time will vary depending on how many layers of paper you’ve glued.  i dried mine overnight. 

7. once the glue has dried pop the balloon and discard.  if it’s still damp inside the paper shell let it dry some more, opening side up.

8. once completely dry punch holes on the side and knot string on either side of punched holes.  tie small bouquets to place inside the vase.

***9. if you’ll be using the vases inside the rounded bottom will pose a problem.  simply cut the bottom of the vase using an xacto knife.  use a small votive candle holder to hold your flowers but slip the vase to hide your candle holder.*** 

...a spook-tacular haunted house birthday card

hannah, the assistant here for another guest posting.  don't you just love fall?  i love the change in weather, the colors, and pumpkin everything!  pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin spice muffins, i love it all! 

here at the MAMBI art department we love birthdays and we try to make a special card for our birthday people.  one such birthday baby is tonya.  she's one of our wonderful graphic artists and her birthday happens to fall on october 31st!  how cool is that?

since her birthday is especially unique we decided to make a spook-tacular haunted house birthday card with a surprise inside when she opens it.  this is an adaptation of renée's original box template (which you can find under "project sheets" to the right). 

materials:
for top of box:
4 – sheets of the same patterned paper from MAMBI's Bright Coordinates paper pad, cut to 8" x 8"
black and white cardstock for ghosts and house details
white pencil/pen
follow lid template

for bottom of box:
4 – sheets of the same patterned paper from MAMBI's Bright Coordinates paper pad, cut to 8" x 12"
black cardstock for doors and windows
follow bottom template

inside box:
strips of coordinating pattern or color paper to write messages on,
tape runner

instructions:
1. assemble box lid and bottom according to templates provided above. 

2. cut house roof-top from black cardstock and adhere to lid of box.  cut out ghosts from white cardstock and color in eyes. adhere to roof-top in a spooky way.  take black cardstock scraps and make a little door and windows for the bottom of the box. use your white pencil/pen to draw in details.

3. take your strips of paper (we xyroned two different patterns back to back) and write your birthday messages but leaving 1/2" at one end of the strip blank so you can adhere the strips to the inside of the box lid.  this is great if you have a lot of people signing one card or have a lot of things to say.  fold your strips of paper in an accordion style so the strips will fit inside the box and will tumble open when the lid is lifted off.  you'll want to fold before your adhere strips to the lid. 

4. if you have empty areas you can add a spooky ghost to the strips to fill in the area. 

hope you are inspired to make a handmade card for your next birthday friend and that you have a safe and fun halloween.  happy halloween!

... meet frank

 

everyone hannah the assistant here, long time no post!  can you believe it?  summer has ended and fall is on our doorstep. 

today i’d like to share a project that builds upon the box template that renée shared a while back.  it’s using our awesome ‘Bright Coordinates’ paper pad.  this huge stack of paper is a great go-to pad for basic colors in some awesome patterns.  we’ll be making a frankenstein box that puts us in the mood for halloween. 

supplies:

8 pieces of green paper from the MAMBI ‘Bright Coordinates’ paper pad
12x12” black paper
scrap paper in pink and ivory
scissors
tape
distressing ink + sponge

instructions:

step 1
follow the box template provided.  make two sets of the bottom using green sheets from the pad.  you don’t want to make a top and bottom because we want the halves to sit on top of each other.

step 2
next use the bottom edge of one of your box halves to trace on to your 12x12” black paper.  this will become the hair. 

draw a jagged pattern around the square shape to create the hairline for frank.

step 3
cut along the jagged lines.  score along the traced box shape.  fold down firmly along your score lines making sure the pencil marks are hidden inside.  we want the hair to lay flat on the green box so cut in towards the corners of the scored box, hair to scored box. 

 

use tape runner along the inside edges of the box and attach to the top half of your box.  tape the hair down on all four sides and you might find that you’ll need to cut off more of the hair around the corners of the box.

step 4
tape your two box halves together creating a hinge.  i used white tape so it’s easier to see better but you could also xyron a strip of paper or use clear tape. 

step 5
create the face features using your scrap paper and inking the edges to create depth.  only attach your features to the appropriate box half so frank’s mouth can still open.

 

there you go! 

...a sassy giveaway

ok, so this has got to be the longest it's ever taken me to do a post. i wanted to post this giveaway last week. but, for one reason or another i couldn't get my act together. but, i did a couple of things that i can be proud of so it's not so bad afterall.

 

if you haven't seen our new collection in JoAnn's, then let me be the first to introduce you to sassy. it's bright and fun with a dash of dark gray and black. personally, i LOVE it. it's simply sassy. i know normally i would want to make a card but, for some reason it reminds me of paper lanterns. now, this is not my original idea but, it definitely has the renée spin on it.

my project:

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my tip:
for the insert of the lantern i used a transparency from our black and white specialty pad with transparency (PXT-08). i also used a battery operated votive and a piece of chipboard for the base.

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the giveaway: the entire sassy collection

the catch:
i will pick one winner on friday evening. tell me what have you procrastinated about in the last week and what did you do instead that thing you were really supposed to be doing. after you've recieved you winnings tell me what your favorite product is by sending me an email.

...paper flowers?

i've noticed in the last 2 days that a lot of you have been looking at my past post titled: ...flowers from my paper garden. so, if you are interested in how to make the paper flowers i used for my favors at my wedding reception i thought i would help you out by posting the link here so you wouldn't have to go searching deep into the blog for it.

layering different colors to create a richer palette

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a garden of paper flowers

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rachel and hannah having fun (you can even attach it to a head band as a fun accessory)

...a summer b-day card

summer is almost over and the birthday's have come and gone. this is one of my favorite cards from this summer. i guess because it's different... it is a mobile, a birthday card mobile. which could make any birthday celebration fun. i used the chipboard from our 12x12 scrapbook kits and covered it with cardstock then sanded the edges. it was difficult to align the embroidery floss with the main center circle but, i finally got it. i purposely had 2 distinct sides to the card so whenever it blew in the wind you would see something different. i also used velcro to close the 2 cards on either side of the circle. everything else are stickers from our new sticker collection and some kind words to the birthday person.

...a simple wedding

ok, so last spring he asked and i said yes. but, it's so much more than that. besides the things that one should pay attention to; like, i will love and cherish him forever. i'm still a designer and have to design everything. but, then i thought. i don't want to get caught up in that. all that design stuff. hmmmm. it's so much more than that. it's the planning and the decisions for the wedding and always keeping in mind how much i love him. so, me & my BIG ideas (no punn intended  or maybe, who knows) got together and thought i could pull off something a little designed. yeah, right. i thought i would have a simple wedding with a simple invite, simple flowers, with a simple dress and just our parents. we are 2 months away from the BIG day and no, it's not so simple after all.

here's a sneak peek of my invite. i'll show you the real thing later when it's done. they go out in the mail in 1 week. yikes! i am driving myself absolutely crazy! but, it's so beautiful and i love what i do.

so, if you have any advice about any of this marriage, wedding or life stuff i'm listening.

...a little cardboard and bubble wrap

in our creative space we always have these grandiose ideas about the next big thing. when, really what the best thing to do; in some cases, is to do the easy thing. last week we had a business meeting to attend and realized the boards we were taking would have to be checked-in on the air plane. if we carried it on then, the suitcase would be too big. so, i fashioned a carry-on box. OMG, this was one of the funniest things i've ever done at the end of a busy work day with a tight deadline. can you believe how far you can get with a little cardboard and some bubble wrap? you got it all the way to texas. oh, and yes i did have to add the black satin ribbon and some bling. how funny!

 

...marvelous mat pad

hi everyone!  long time no post, it's hannah the assistant!  today i'd like to feature our new Destination Paradise mat pad.  renée and i were talking and we both agreed that the mat pad is often under-rated.  i'd like to share some ideas i had on using our mat pad in some fun ways. 

of course the mat pad can be used to frame a picture or cut down to be used as journaling space but the great thing about our mat pads are that you have a coordinating paper pad that can be used without ruining a 12x12" sheet or Destination Paradise paper...because sometimes you just need a little scrap piece, you know?

idea #1
making an impromptu 'thank you' card (or any occasion for that matter) when you forget to get a card for your preschooler's teacher or your niece's graduation.

idea #2
making small labels for your home organization needs.  we all have great ikea storage or magazine boxes that need labels!  no need to ruin a 12x12" sheet for such a little job. 

idea#3
paper for you paper punching needs.  our mat pad can come in handy when you need a coordinating paper but can't sacrifice a 12x12" sheet.

idea #4
table seating cards.  summer is here and that means dinner parties at home!  what cuter way than to make seating cards for your guests?  (the 'place mat' is from our Destination Paradise die-cut paper!)

idea #5
making party favors crackers.  inexpensive and totally cute favor for kids or adults!

idea #6
party favor bags.  perfect for summer birthday parties for the kids!

idea #7
votive candle covers.  remember to put the paper on the outside of the votive holder, not the inside!

idea #8
jewelry gift tag.  ok, so i ripped this idea off of how anthropologie displays their necklaces but it's a really good idea!
 

so check out our new Destination Paradise mat pad and i hope you can appreciate the MAMBI mat pad as much as i do now.  it's a great little addition to your scrapbooking and crafting arsenal! 

...a quick mini book

in the hustle and bustle of our lives (you know what i mean). it's hard to find the time to do the things we love most, make things and live creatively. but, we try. i would like to introduce you to the mambi chipboard mini book with specialty treatment. just add your photos and stickers and then you are done. it's that simple. for stickers i used some of our new chipboard stickers with foil and flocking. i also used one of our new soft spoken skus and i added a 4" round clear acrylic as the front cover. this took me about an hour, from printing photos to putting it together.