Hi! Just a quick post to say that I have moved my blog to a new adress. So if you want to keep seeing what I create please update your bookmarks or feeds.
I hope you will find me in my new home, I love all of your visits and comments and hope you will stick with me after the move.
Happy Halloween everyone! Here in Sweden we don't really celebrate Halloween but I still love the celebrations and all the fun spooky stuff that surrounds it. Today Chibitronics and Sizzix are having a collaboration and a I really really wanted to make a haunted house using the Tim Holtz dies. I mean, look at the house! It's so cool and and with Chibitronics I could make it light up too. So I started building and soon discovered that I just wanted to keep adding details to it. Here's a warning. This is a picture heavy post with pictures of both constructing the inside electronics and a lot of pictures of the outside. Don't tell me I didn't warn you!
As you can see all the window lights up and I used different colored LEDs for different windows and also different effects for different windows. You can check out the video to see it in action.
It's really super cool, and the secret is the ChibiChip that makes it easy to program each LEDs behaviour. It's not hard at all, but if you aren't into programming (which you should be because it's super fun!) then you can use the effect stickers to achieve a similar effect.
I made a birds nest for a thieving magpie to hide it's treasures, some little trinkets I had laying around. The nest is made from twine dipped in matte medium and wrapped around my finger and left there to harden.
I found a small tombstone in my charm box and colored it grey and added some dry grass. Packing twine cut up inte short section creates a yellow-brownish dried grass that you can glue down. And can you spot the sword in the background by the front? I made the cracked window panes using vellum and covered it with crackle accents.
I went through the kids pearls and made pumpkins out of them. The larger one was already pumpkin shaped so I just painted it and cut off the top ring. The smaller ones I painted and then rolled up green paper and put inside to act as stems. The ground itself is embossed first, using an embossing folder with round polkadots. Then I painted it and added structure by dotting my finger on the paint before it dried. I also added some different types of Distress Stickles in earthy colors and some gold micro beads that I toned down with some diluted black paint. And I cut some more of my string to create patches of dried grass.
To build the house itself I started out by cutting everything out in just plain white thick cardstock. I built the house following the instructions. Then I made wooden boards by embossing a piece of brown cardstock, cutting it into strips and then using distress ink to darken the edges a bit before gluing them to the house. I also embossed black cardstock for the roof. I used an WRMK next level embossing folder for that, it looked a bit like tin roof. For the front porch piece and the chimneys I colored it using gesso that I dyed grey and applied with a finger, just tapping the cardstock to create an uneven surface. I added gilding vax to everything to bring out the details and then I also added some different brown and black Distress stickles so it catches the light in some angles. The door and the window trimming is coated with a thicker layer of gilding vax. I also added a black raised platform to be able to fit the ChibiChip under it.
For the inside I created a slightly smaller house and marked the placement of the windows of the outer house.
I also cut a hole in the roof of the outer house to be able to light up the top windows too. That's what the long flappy thing goes. Here's a video so you can see what the inside part looks like all the way round. When copper tape overlaps I build bridges using washi tape so they won't touch.
I wanted to make sure you was able to change the batteries when they ran out so I made the battery holder inside the inner house and made hinge for it to be able to flip up to change it. I have cut a hole in the bottom plate to allow the copper tape to reach the chip on the under side of the platform. The hinge also works to allow the copper tape to go over it down on the underside. I also marked what LED was which, using numbers, so I knew when later programming them.
Here's the underside with the ChibiChip. Each number corresponds to one (or in some cases two) LEDs. And the GND is the negative for all of them. I made one long strip connecting the negatives leading to the left ground connection. The GND on the right side and the +3V connects to the battery. So the battery powers the chip that tells what lights to light up. You program it by connecting it to the audio port on your computer or any device really. It's really easy, there are great instructions on how to connect and code the chip here on the Chibitronics website.
Ti make the house not move around on the base I cut two slits in the base plate and attached strips of cardstock that I glued to the house. I can push down the cardstock flaps into the slits and fold them to keep the house secured to the ground. when I want to change the batteries it's easy to just lift the house up and flip the inner house to the side and change the battery, and then just put back the house once again.
I hope you enjoyed my project. It is by far the funnest one I have made in a long time. These houses are so much fun. My 9 year daughter was building a house before I even got to use the dies, she was super happy to get to make it her own way and had no problems figuring out how to do it. Hers does not light up but it's super cute.
Please stop by the Chibitronics blog for links to my DT friends who also built some amazing houses.
Here are the materials I used:
Today I made a tutorial for the chibitronics blog on how to make this card twinkle with lights. I used the Chibitronics effect stickers, they are super fun! If you want to see how I made it, hop on over to this blog post and you can see the inside of the card and learn how to make one by yourself.
I absolutely love this happy crocodile, he is so adorable. He's from Heffy Doodle stamps, who also made the tiny press here stamp from a set that is perfect for interactive cards. I also used some of the opaque embossing powders by WOW to make the background, they look almost fluorescent against the black background. The dotted stamp is by Dylusions/Ranger ink.
I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. I think I will spend the day in the sofa, listening to a good audiobook and knitting. I think that would be an excellent way to spend the afternoon. Or should I go craft something? I really can't decide. Weekends with no plans are my favourite thing!
World cardmaking day is one of my favourite days of the year. I love hopping along in all the fun bloghops and always try to take part in at least one challenge somewhere. There's a lot of fun going on around the web today. So I'm particularly excited to be a part of this hop along with Honey Bee stamps and Chibitronics. I hope you will find a lot of inspiration along the way and you have a chance to win some fun prices too.
Honeybee is giving a $25 gift certificate drawn randomly from comments left across all blogs and Chibitronics is giving away a starter kit so you too can have fun and make light up cards and other crafts . Comments will close at 11:59 ET on Sunday, October 8th and the winners will be announced next week.
I absolutely adore this stamp set called Country Blooms so that's what I used for my card. To be honest they gave me a bit of a struggle since I was experimenting with reactive mist and foil for this card and my idea of painting the flowers with mist and then foil them wasn't the success I was hoping for. I think more mist will solve this problem but I hate to toss anything I've started so I kept at it. I kinda liked the mottled effect of the foil.
I watercolored the flowers red. Well, as you can see they are not red, it looked super weird. So I sort of lifted the color and added blue instead. This was better but originally I had embossed the lines in a beautiful speckled embossing powder that did not make the flowers look flowery at all. So I embossed them again in silver (thank you MISTI for once again saving me from a bad decision) and it started looking better. When the background was in place I was actually really happy with the weird mottled flowers.
Here's what went wrong next. I was going to diecut text that would light up, using letter dies. Well when I started looking around ALL of my dies was missing. Turns out I had left them at a craft event I went to the week before. Doh! So, what to do then? I went through my stash with really old things that I haven't used for years and found this butterfly die that went perfectly with the flowers. It was so much better than the letters I had thought about so it all turned out well in the end but hey, this card was a struggle from start to finish! Still, I'm super happy that I did not toss it and started over.
Look at the foiled gold speckles and the foil in the flowers. So pretty. And the lights from under the butterflies wings are really catching the foiled to reflect off the card. I don't even mind having mixed gold, rose gold and silver on the same card. My OCD was screaming STOP but I pushed on.
Making the card I went through the same steps as I always do when adding LEDs. I have seen some of my friends on the Chibitronic teams very neat plans for their cards. Let's just say that I'm not a neat crafter. I'm more of a do-stuff-first-think-later kind of crafter. LEDs take a bit of planning but most mistakes is fixable when you suddenly remember you forgot to add a switch or place for the battery ;) Aaaanyways, I start by marking where the lights should be placed. In this case under the butterfly. I lifted the wings and drew small marks to see where to put them.
I then drew out the circuit. As you can see, not tidy at all. No one will see the inside (except for you, but you won't tell. Right?) I have found adding a pull switch is better for my LED cards You can sort of turn on the lights and let them shine and not have to push down on a button type switch. But it depends on the kind of effect you want too.
Talking about switches. I wanted to show how I make mine. Here's the card with the tape and LEDs in place. The switch is on the right side.
I made a T-shaped paper strip and added foam tape to the sides and as a stop to the left so you can't push the tab all the way in. I also put tape on the T-shape BUT DON'T TAKE OFF THE PROTECTION PAPER ON TOP! (you may ask why I have to actually write that out. It's because I've done it myself. More than once. Doh!) This foam tape is for pressing down the switch and making sure the connection is good. Removing the protection paper would make the switch stick to the top and not slide.
Here's what the switch look under the sliding part. I cut off a tiny bit of the tape to break the circuit. I add copper tape to the bottom of the slide, so when it covers the gap the circuit is closed again.
And here's my finished card. No sentiment feels a bit weird but I guess you could stamp something on the inside to fit the occasion. I hope you got inspired and keep jumping along on the list below. Have fun and have a fantastic World Cardmaking Day.
Chibitronics supplies used:
CR2032 battery
Honey Bee Stamps http://blog.honeybeestamps.com/world-cardmaking-day-collab…/
Amy Rysavy http://prairiepaperandink.typepad.com/…/honey-bee-stamps-ch…
Eiko Uchida https://eikenlabo.blogspot.com/…/chibitronics-and-honey-bee…
Emily Midgett https://emilymidgett.com/…/world-cardmaking-day-honey-bee-…/
Kelley Kohout https://inkohoutsdesign.blogspot.com/…/world-card-making-da…
Kelly Griglione https://notablenest.blogspot.com/…/chibitronics-and-honeybe…
Kelly Szafron https://kellyspapercrafting.blogspot.com/…/hi-welcome-to-my…
Lisa Cisneros https://happypapercrafts.blogspot.com/…/world-cardmaking-da…
Maya Isaksson http://mayasblog.typepad.com/…/chibitronics-and-honey-bee-s…
Melissa Bickford https://melissabickford.blogspot.com/…/honey-bee-stamps-chi…
Nichol Spohr http://nicholmagouirk.typepad.com/…/world-cardmaking-day-bl…
Taniesa Vlasak https://thecraftypickle.com/…/a-bright-idea-using-honey-be…/
Tiffany Au https://cardsbytiffanyblog.wordpress.com/…/chibitronics-hon…
Tracy Freeman http://inkyfingersandribbon.com/…/world-cardmaking-day-hon…/
Vanessa Amann http://vanilljas.blogspot.com/
Vera Wirianta Yates https://lingshappyplace.blogspot.com/…/honey-bee-stamps-chi…
Wei Wei Wang https://twwangkamiy.blogspot.com/…/chibitronicsandhoneybees…
Chibitronics Blog https://chibitronics.com/blog/hbhop
Today I'm part of a bloghop to showcase some lovely products by Chibitronics and CAS-ual Fridays. And what’s a hop without a giveaway?! There's a chance to win a Chibitronics starter kit and CAS-ual Friday Stamps is giving away a $30 gift card to one lucky commenter so hop along us and be prepared for lots of inspiration!
I saw these dies called Lovely Links an I instantly knew I needed to light them up using Chibitronics LED lights. I also fell in love with the Frankly'isms stamps. I'm a sucker for funny sentiments. I really enjoyed this collaboration and had a lot of fun making my card.
I made a background using different inks and then diecut the link from glitter paper and fun foam to make it a bit more dimensional. I backed the large openings with vellum so you don't see the LEDs behind them. It also gives a softer light. I heat embossed the sentiment in silver, it sort of melted in with the background on the photos but in real life it's really pretty and shiny.
This collage shows the steps I took to make the card. I started by making the background and marking where I wanted the lights. I used the diecut as a template and just put it on top and drew marks for the lights. Then I cut holes for the lights and marked them on a piece of cardstock the same size as the background. This makes it easy to line up the lights after making the circuit.
I used the Chibitronics template to mark the placement of the leds and made a holder for the battery. I then connected all negative sides of the leds with one side of the battery holder and all the positive sides to the other side. It doesn't really matter which one goes where, I just flip the battery if it doesn't light up. For some reason I always mix it up so I have stopped even trying to mark which cide is which. I intended to make a push button switch for the lights but changed my mind later and made a tab you can pull to light up the card. I did this by cutting off a small piece of the copper tape and putting a pull tab there. Adding a bit of copper tape on the back of the tab making sure it will close the circuit when pulled out and break it when pushed in again. I made a small track för the tab, using foam tape, so it keeps in place. I also added some fun foam to the back of the tab to make sure it will be make a connection and not lift up. It also prevents the tab from being pulled all the way out. The last thing to do is to test the circuit, making sure all the lights are connected and that the switch works. Then attach the card front and glue it all to a card base. Voila!
A close up on the funny text. I actually got a bracelet from a friend saying this. I had to get these stamps too when I saw this text :)
Here's a list of the rest of the participants, leave a comment on each blog and you enter to win a gift card certificate from CAS-ual Fridays stamp and a Chibitronics starter kit. Happy hopping:
Chibitronics blog https://chibitronics.com/blog/
Maureen Merritt http://www.mamamostamps.com/
Tiffany Au https://cardsbytiffanyblog.wordpress.com/
Lisa Lahiff http://lisascreativeniche.blogspot.com/
Kelly Griglione http://notablenest.blogspot.com/
Jeanne Jachna http://akeptlife.blogspot.com/
Eiko Uchida https://eikenlabo.blogspot.com/…/chibitronics-and-cas-ual-f…
Kimberly Rendino http://kimpletekreativity.blogspot.com/
CAS-Fridays blog http://cas-ualfridaysstamps.blogspot.com/
Supplies used:
Chibitronics Pink, Orange and Green LED Stickers Pack
CAS-ual Fridays Lovely Links Frie-Dies
CAS-ual Fridays Frankly'isms
Hi! It’s collaboration week with Chibitronics and Newton's Nook Designs. There's so much inspiration to see on the company blog and the design team members blogs so I hope you take the time to look around. Chibitronics and Newton's Nook are each giving away a $30 starter kit and a $30 gift certificate. To enter to win please leave a comment on all the blogs and we will randomly choose a winner at the end of the week! Yay! Right?
I used the fun set Cosmic Newton to make my card, it was perfect for a light up card. Instead of making stars that twinkled, which was my first idea, I went for making the fire coming out of the engine and the little star light up. I added an effect sticker to make the lights flicker to look more like real fire. I was happy to see the result, it looked just like I was hoping it would! See the short video below for a peek at the effect.
I started by stamping the image where I wanted it on a diecut front panel. I used a craft knife to cut out the flame and the star and on an identical panel lined up with the stamped one I drew the outlines for the flame and the star to know where to put the LEDs. I also stamped the image again on vellum and colored the flame orange-red and the star yellow and attached it to the back of the panel after coloring it. That way I could use the white LEDs for the flame and it would still have a color to it.
I used the stencil to draw in where I wanted the LEDs placed, and also the effect sticker and battery.
I always draw out where to put the tape so I don't make (as many) mistakes. I'm not the best planner and this makes me think before I stick stuff down.
Since the copper tape crosses over each other I put down a piece of paper as a "bridge". The positive and negative lines can not touch and I grab whatever is closest when I have to have them cross. A piece of washi tape, some scotch tape, a piece of paper or whatever is within reach. I also made a battery holder. I used thin foam tape pads this time so I could stick the battery to it and the extra thickness makes sure the copper tape is pressed to the battery when everything is mounted. I also started to make a switch, that's the two rows of foam tape on the edge.
Here's the circuit all done. Battery inside the flap of paper. The effect sticker on the left side and the complete switch in the bottom. I cut the copper wire under the switch to break the circuit. On the back side of the pull tab I put a piece of copper tape that covers the break and connect the circuit when the tab is in the right place. I did however make one mistake and I didn't think about it until I closed everything up. The circuit is closed when the tab is pushed in, so when you pull the tab the lights go off. And when pushed in the lights are off. Ugh. Annoying! But stuff like that happens to everyone, right? The purpose of the foam tape on the back of the pull tab is to make sure the copper tape pushes against the circuit, ensuring a good connection.
Here's the inside of the card, ready to be mounted to the card front. Can you spot my second mistake here? I actually removed the backing paper on the foam tape on the back of the pull tab. That would make it pretty hard to pull out... I fixed it with an embossing buddy, it has a fine powder inside and I applied it to the tab to make sure all the sticky was gone before attaching the card front.
I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and keep hopping to the other girls to see what they made. I really enjoyed this collaboration as I've never had any Newtons Nook stamps before. But Newton is so cute and the stamps are so much fun to color so this was right up my alley.
Here's the link back to Chibitronics blog so you can go back to check out the rest of the creations.
Happy Hopping!
Ha, see what I did there? I made a space card! Feel free to groan, I know my husband will ;) Anyways. Chibitronics team up with the amazing Lawn Fawn to make some fun light up projects. Today is day three and there's a lot of fun projects to check out, I'll link to each of the posts on Chibitronics and Lawn Fawn blogs for you to check out. AND theres a surprise for you too. There is a $30 Lawn Fawn gift card and a Chibitronics starter kit (valued at $30) that will be given away randomly to two winners drawn from comments across all days and all blogs so the more you visit and comment, the better your chances to win!
All Lawn Fawn stamps are so much fun to use with the lights, I had so many ideas but I went with this space card in the end.
It works like a slider card, when the little astronaut is moved down it lights up the sun and the planet holding the flag. I did some trial and error to come up with a switch that would work for this idea but luckily enough you won't have to, because I'm going to show you just how I did it.
First step was to color all the cute images up and make a galaxy background. I rarely plan my cards in advance but I've learned that when playing with Chibitronics it's always best to start with a plan. That way you don't waste any LEDs or copper tape when making your circuit. I placed my images where I wanted them and left some space for a sentiment in the lower right corner.
I marked the placements of the LEDs and the track the astronaut would move up and down and made holes for the lights to shine through. I also made sure to save the rectangular piece from the track. It will later hide the white background behind the astronaut when she is in the lower parts of the track.
I cut a background piece to the same size as the cardfront and marked where the holes for the leds was and where the switch was. I also made somewhere for the battery to live, I had to color and cut out another planet for hiding the battery behind.
Then I planned my circuits. I had to make two separate circuits, one for each LED, making sure the copper tape would not cross each other. I also attached the background for the tracks and made a flap to hold the battery and to allow the copper tape to reach the other side of the battery.
Always make sure to test the circuit before adding the foam tape and card front. It will save you a lot of work. Ask me how I know ;)
After all this was done I cut the circuit on the track for the astronaut. What! After all that work? Don't worry. I figured out how to make a switch out of a coin and some thin foam adhesive.
I made a track big enough for a coin to fit where the track for the astronaut was. On the backside of the coin I first placed some thin double sided foam pads and then covered them with copper tape (sorry, I forgot to take a picture). I noticed that the coin was to flat and hard to make a good connection but adding some foam made it press down to the copper tape on the card better and that made it work much better. The copper tape on the coin will now close the circuits again when in the lowest position, and when slided up it will break the circuit and make the lights go off.
I made a hole for the battery to have more room and building it in with a thin strip of foam tape. I also used a thin strip of foam tape to attach the astronaut to the coin on top of the card front. Now you are able to slide it up and down making the lights go on and off.
After that I just glued al the elements down again and attached it to a folded notecard in the same size. I added some glitter stars around the card to make it sparkle some more. I hope you like my project and got inspired to try something similar.
Here are the links to Chibitronic and Lawn Fawn blogs, do check them out. There's so much inspiration there, and don't forget to comment for a chance to win!
https://chibitronics.com/blog/
http://lawnfawn.blogspot.se
I used the stamps and dies from Lawn Fawns Out of This World sets, together with the smily face dies in the die set Make Me Smile. Supplies from Chibitronics were the regular white LED lights and copper tape.
I am super happy to show you my first project as a member of the Chibitronics DT. Yes! You read that right, I'm on the team! And I'm having way to much fun figuring out what to light up next. With LED-stickers. Not fire ;) Promise!
Take a look at the Chibitronics website to see the rest of the awesome team.
I had all kinds of ideas looking at this stamp set by Honey Bee Stamps, it has a super cute pickup that you can load up with different things in the back. I also had the beautiful Zen-flowers set and those flowers are just too much fun to color. I colored up a night scene combining the two sets and wanted to make the window of the truck light up.
This is how I made it happen.
I typically make the cardfront first to plan out where to put my elements. I try to come up with a plan before even starting so all the elements will have enough space and there is somewhere to put the battery and power switch. For this image I wanted the car window to light up. To make all of it light up and not just a spot I cut it all out and stamped it again on Vellum to make a kind of frosted window so you can see the light but not the LED-sticker itself. I also colored the back of the Vellum blue with an alcohol marker to tint it a bit. I attached the Vellum on the back of my card front using a glue pen.
There are different way to make a switch but for this I just wanted a switch where you press it and the window lights up. I also didn't want to make the whole card as thick as the battery so I used a diecut to make a circular hole big enough for the battery and some foam tape to keep it in place.
Then I drew out my circuit on a piece of white paper, cut to the same size as the cardfront. I marked out where the window and battery was placed and where to place the copper tape. I also marked out what is + and what is - so I would not turn the LED-sticker the wrong way. Pointy end is - ant the base of the triangle is + on the sticker. Even if you would happen to put it the wrong way you just would have to flip the battery upside down, so no big disaster, but I always draw it out this way.
This is what the switch and circuit looks like. I like to make a flap that folds over the battery and have the copper tape fold over it. And I build a little nest around the battery to keep it from falling out. The tape on the battery is just because I use an old battery that is out of power to measure the size of the battery holder and I've marked it so I don't mix it up with fresh batteries.
On top of the battery holder I attach a circle the same size as the hole in the card front and then on top of that I glue on the moon with the sentiment. Since they are the same size as the hole I made using the same die I can just make the switch pop up through the hole in the card front and glue the front to the circuit. I used a thin layer of foam for the cardfront and a double layer for the switch so the LED would not rest directly at the Vellum, a bit of a distance makes the light spread a bit better. When you press down on the switch the LED will light up.
If you look at the side of the card you will see the battery holder.
That's all there is to it. I hope you got inspired to make your own light up cards and projects. Have fun!
Today I'm super happy to have been invited to take part of the five year anniversary of A Blog Named Hero. Not only there's a lot of inspiration to be had but a FANTASTIC giveaway with great prizes.
I was a part of the ABNH DT something like three years ago and I really enjoyed the time on the team. When I started crafting, something like 9-10 years ago, Hero Arts was one of the first stamp companies I discovered. They just keep making fantastic stamps and products all the time and I don't think I will ever get over my first stamp love. Being a part of the team was super exiting for me. As a bonus I met so many incredible talented crafters that still keeps inspiring me. I also made a lot of great crafty friends, all of them very supportive and caring. It was a great team to be on.
I am thrilled getting to not only take part of this second day of the two day long blog hop, but also to hop through it myself and see all the wonderful projects. So let's stop blabbering and get to the good stuff.
I made this card using the Flower Garden stamp set. It's not a new set but I love it because of the many things you can do with it. I made a background using distress ink and stamped a floral pattern in gold on top. I used a diecut inlay technique with foil and glitter cardstock for the hear,t and then heat embossed the sentiment in the set on vellum.
Next stop on your way is the amazing Niki Garcia
A Blog Named Hero (if you get lost on your way or want to start from the beginning)
Good luck and happy hopping!!I made this card while crafting with some of my favourite people last weekend. I was there for a full day and only managed to finish two cards. But it's just as important to sit and talk all day, right? It was a great day actually and I got a lot of inspiration and energy with me home. Never underestimate the power of crafty friends, they are truly the best!
So this card is also blogged at Design in Papers today. I really loved the Winter Fairies stamp set so I had to get the original one too, even though I'm way after everyone else. I colored them using my Spectrum Noir ColourBlends, I really have grown to love colored pencils lately. It's so relaxing to color using them. Of course I added some shimmer to the wings with Spectrum Sparkle pens.
There's a new challenge up at Spectrum Noir now by the way. I will blog my inspiration for that later this week but you can find it on the Spectrum Noir facebook page if you want to start create right now.
Thanks for stopping by and see you soon again!
Happy scrapper from Sweden.
Recent Comments