Little Outbursts of Creativity

Haunted Halloween house

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:

Love To Code Chibi Chip
Pink, Orange, Green MegaPack (30 stickers)
Copper Tape
White LEDs MegaPack (30 stickers)
Sizzix Bigz L Die - Village Manor Item #661591
Sizzix Bigz XL Die - Village Dwelling Item #660992

Chibitronics meets Lawn Fawn, a match made in heaven

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. 

Light up car window using Chibitronics and happy news!

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!

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A small art journal page for Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft

I'm up at the Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft blog today for a guest post making a small art journal page. If you click here you can find the full post with an instructional video and list of materials used for my project. That small art journal is so darn cute and very fun to work with.

I hope you like it and if you come back tomorrow I'll have another art journal page for you, a big one with lots of psychedelic colors. That's what happens when you listens to '70s rock while crafting ;) 

Disclaimer: I received product from Faber-Castell Design Memory Craft to create this project, but all opinions are my own.

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Tutorial for making backgrounds

This week has been tutorial week over at En liten butik and my contribution is how to make a lovely water color-effect kind of background. I’ve used some mist and distress stains but you can really use any color product you have in your stash. I generally use at least one product with shimmer in it since it gives a lovely marbel-effect and I just love everything that shimmers ;)

I use a plastic packaging to make my backgrounds. That way I have a general idea of the placement of my colors. It never turns out really like you thought but I am a control freak so I have to imagine I have some control over something at least. I started so smear out the distress stain and then dropped the mist where I wanted it. Then I generously spray water all over the background. This is the key to getting the water color effect. You can skip this step but then the pattern will be a lot more defined. Also you can use a stick or brush to make patterns before spraying the water, it looks cool.

This is the result after the first try. It looks a little... blah... so I will go over it with my heat tool to dry it and then give it another layer.

Here you can see what it looks like before spraying the water.

And after drying it the second time this is the result and I’m happy. It never turns out like you think and you will have to be prepared to toss some of the backgrounds in the garbage bin. Or just cut out the nice parts to make cards and embellishments and toss the rest.

I made a LO with my background. I think the photo was perfect with this background, it looks dreamy. Like clouds ad bokah or something.

I hope you will try to make your own backgrouds. It is fun and quick when you use a heat tool to dry it. And it is easy to match your papers and photos to the background.

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Sm å små blommor!

Igår öppnade jag ett paket med grejor jag beställt från nätet. Nätshopping är ju supernajs när man inte hinner ut så mycket och dessutom får grym beslutsångest när man står i affären. Problemet är väl att man kanske inte alltid får en känsla för dimensioner. Jag beställde en MS One inch scallop square-punch och i mitt huvud var den dubbelt så stor. Gissa om jag blev förvånad när jag packade upp den och kunde puncha saker stora som frimärken med den. Först blev jag lite sur på mig själv som inte riktigt kan konvertera inchar i huvudet än, men så satt jag och lekte med den och upptäckte att om jag punchade hörnen på fyrkanterna igen så blev det små söta blommor. Låter lite konstigt, men jag ska visa med bilder sen. Jag mindes att jag sett på en blogg hur man gör små blombuketter av papper och genast tog jag fram mina nya älsklingar, pro markerpennorna, och vips hade jag en bunt söta små syrenblommor. Jag ska visa hur jag gjorde, ljuset var superdåligt, det är så molnigt och grått hela tiden. Men ni fattar säkert ändå.

Först tog jag ut en fyrkant.

Sen stoppade jag in hörnet på fyrkanten i punchen och såg till att "blombladen" såg bra ut innan jag punchade.

Jag använde Slate, Lilac och Lavendel för att färglägga blommorna. Eftersom jag använde vanligt skisspapper så blödde färgen helt genom pappret så undersidan blir målad "på köpet".

Först en prick med Slate.

Sen duttade jag med Lilac runt om så att färgerna blandades ordentligt.

Sist duttade jag innifrån och ut med Lavendel. Blommorna ser mörka ut på bilden men när de torkar blir de mycket ljusare. En del blommor målade jag två ggr för att det skulle bli lite färgskiftningar.

Sen tog jag ett embossingverktyg och cirklade med inne i blommorna och ut mot kanterna så att bladen ställde sig upp. Ja, det är en yogamatta jag använder. Man tager vad man haver. Jag använder även två bitar av mattan istället för en brun embossingmatta till min spellbinders impressabilitys när jag kör den i min Epic 6. Alltid hittar man nåt att använda saker till :)

Färdiga blommor, mycket ljusare när de har torkat. Jag fäster dem med en bit Mini Glue Dot som jag klippt i fyra bitar. Ett tipps är att stansa ut en hel bunt blommor på en gång och måla alla samtidigt så går det mycket fortare. Lite pilligt men när man kommer in i det går det rätt fort. Och de blir supersöta! Går ju att färga rosa för att se ut som körsbärsblommor eller nån annan färg såklart.