Iris Fiddling

Last weekend I attempted to teach 40 women how to do Iris Folding. You know, it actually went pretty well. I shared samples and passed around a magazine that had detailed instructions with photographs, so before we started everyone had an idea what it was about.

 

Right away a few women decided it wasn't something they would like to do so they took their supplies to make something else with and that's totally acceptable.  My samples were card fronts with open backs so everyone could get a behind the scenes look at what Iris Folding looks like. The one above doesn't even have the middle piece in it so they can really get a good look at its inner workings.

The other three I put in middles and jazzed up a bit so folks could get an idea of the end result. Everyone received either a black, white or red card front with a square cut out of it, their choice of two patterned papers in black and white, and either a black, white, or red middle piece (which was really just the bit cut out of the card front.

While I think everyone who participated had fun I don't think I made too many Iris Folding converts. It is one of my favorite techniques.

The Fine Print: Black and white papers from Recollections and DCWV (I had two B&W paper pads), square hole via Spellbinders die, and greeting stamps by DeNami Designs. Did you notice the sample card that the cat bit a hole into?

No Coloring Required

This morning I was sorting through my Copic markers after a failed attempt to reorganize them differently.  Hubby was leaning over my desk and helping me pull out colors.  He didn't hand me R00 when I was putting away the pinks because didn't realize it was pink. As I picked up the first one and then the second one I explained that I used it for flesh tones and that was why I had duplicates of it since I teach classes and look, here's a third one. Oh, and now a fourth and gosh, I have five of them. I mentioned that I thought that five might be a bit excessive.  Hubby allowed that just might be....

...Especially if you are going to go all crazy and make cards like this with no coloring required.  Last month I did a card exchange where the theme was "opposites." I pulled out some of my favorites for this one: black and white, circle and square, and left and right.

The Fine Print: Happy Birthday greeting by A Muse Studio, word window punches by Stampin' Up, papers by DCWV. Do you spot the boo boo? 

Oops!

So there is this one lady I often end up in crafting groups with and she cracks me up.  At every gathering she'll be like, "Oops! I forgot my adhesive." Or, "Oh, I forgot my scissors."  Every gathering she forgets some major component of paper crafting.  We've all been there and all done that but not every single time.

The funny part is she'll always follow up her "Oops" with, "I didn't realize we needed that."  I truly don't think she is making a joke or being ironic, which is silly because if you are a paper crafter then how can you not realize you need scissors, adhesive, or a bone folder.  I'm betting if she ever held a workshop she'd forget the paper.

Anyway, she's a good pal so we all forgive her and share our tools.  After all, paper crafters are good people.

Oops. I  forgot to put any stamping on this card.

Happy Halloween Folded Card

I made a ridiculous amount of Halloween cards this year, but my favoritest one is the one I made after my mom came to visit and I showed her what Iris Folding was about.

The Halloween themed folded papers, the shimmer bat and the glitter tape all combined together for a really cool card.  I liked it so much I made a second one.

I would have made more but as I said I had already made a huge amount of Halloween cards. Of course I could have gotten a jump on next year's cards... Here's hoping I remember this technique next year!

The Fine Print: Besides Iris Folding this card was motivated by the need to use up some of those shimmer bats of which I had a huge pile of, somehow I didn't want to carry those over to next year either.  Designer papers by DCWV, bat punch by Martha Stewart, glitter tape by Recollections, and greeting by A Muse Studio.

What Life's About

Remember the black and white iris fold card I shared with you recently?  You can revisit it HERE.  I mailed that card to my mom who is currently in town visiting.  She mentioned how she was really impressed with it and wondered how it was made.  Since I just happened to still have the pattern sitting on my desk I got it out and proceeded to show her just how it was made.  I used some origami paper strips that I had lying around and between the two of us we came up with this card.

So of course now my mom is going to rush right home and make a dozen or so of these cards for her Christmas card.  Or not.  Yeah, definitely I think it is the latter.  But that, friends, is what life is all about... making cards and having fun.

The Fine Print: There is a chance that greeting stamp is by Penny Black.  There is also a chance that I'm wrong.  The glittery piece in the middle is from DCWV and all the other stuff is from my stash.  You will note that life is not about biology homework.  My apologies in advance to any science teachers. 

What's Black and White?

This card!

Remember when I shared THIS Iris Fold card with you?  Well, I made this one at the same time but I hadn't finished it off.  It was naked in the very middle and didn't have a border, greeting, butterfly, or card base. Now it does and it is perfect.  Iris Folding makes me happy!

The Fine Print: I'm happy! You should be happy too.  Be happy!  Because I said so!  Why are you still reading this? I've got nothing for you on the products that made this card.  They just exist.  Accept it.

Iris Folding Frame

I made this card at a workshop this past week (you know, because I didn't have anything else to do with my life*).  The class was about Iris Folding which I know about, but it is always good to see someone else's perspective on it.  I got some new ideas from this class. Plus I learned how to make this nifty frame for this festive card.

The Fine Print: *I've been really busy lately with school  and projects but mostly school. All the everything's by Stampin' Up. 

A Black and White Thursday

Have I mentioned lately that I really like Iris Folding?  Well, I do. I know they have lots of different shapes that you can fill in but I'm partial to the basic circle. Probably because it was the first thing I learned how to do.  This circle, however, got a little crazy big.

I like how it came out, but it was a little touch and go along those close edges.  The middle piece isn't the usual iridescent shiny piece.  It is a piece of white glitter paper but you can't tell it from the photos.

The Fine Print: Black and white papers by DCWV from a big fat pad of black and white papers (squee!), greeting by A Muse Artstamps, small flower brads from my stash.  Have a happy black and white day.

Snippets on a Sunday

It feels like it has been a long time since I've been out to play at the snippets playground.  It is a great place to go for inspiration for using up those bits and pieces of cardstock and paper we all have lying around.

I made this iris folded apple using up scrap designer paper. My advice on copying this idea is don't do it!  It turns out that about halfway through the design you start to sweat that you may not have enough scraps left to finish.  So don't do it unless you are sure that you have enough to finish because taking these things apart is no fun.  I also used snippets for the fancy corner piece, the stem, and the leaf.

The Fine Print: Apple die by MFT, fancy corner by Provo Craft.  I saw someone use a fancy corner die the other day, decided I needed one, and then remembered that I had this one!  Also, the secret to getting the layer with the folding on it to stay as flat as possible is to coat the back of it with carpet tape.  That stuff won't keep a carpet in place but it will ensure that layer of paper won't pop up.

Convention Update and Snippets

I stole this photo of us happy card making fools from my friend's Facebook page.  We were wrapping up the make and take party at the end of the convention.  I am in the lower left corner, next to my is my pal Joan.  Above me is my friend Lora, whose photo this is and next to her is our buddy Lin, who won the big deal ultimate grand prize giveaway.  Peeking out in the back is Mechele from the Stamp Doctor. She's a great lady and you should buy lots of stuff from her so she can afford to come back to town.

I didn't take pictures of my haul yet (believe me, it's quiet extensive) but here is a photo of a hot trend from the convention.  I know glittering on acetate is old school but they've added in a new twist.  First off, throw away that Staz On pad that never works anyway. Stamp On It sells images pre-printed onto acetate for you.  No longer do you have to mess with "glitter glue" that may or may not dry clear as promised; now they use clear stuff like crystal lacquer, diamond glaze, etc. Its a stunning effect.  The background paper is pearlized so it looks extra stunning when embossed in a folder.  The company I sell, A Muse Studio sells lots of different colors of pearlized paper called Shimmer Couture.  You should buy lots from my so I can afford to have the the Stamp Doctor come back to town.

Dies from all sorts of manufacturers such as Spellbinders, Cheery Lynn, Marianne, etc. continue to be hot, hot, hot (and the reason we'll be eating ketchup soup for the rest of the month).  There were lots of samples of the fabulous things you can do with your dies including glittering them, stacking them up and pairing them with other dies.

An interesting note about the convention was the people I know there and what we bought.  You see that top photo?  Every single one of us in the photo (minus Mechele) bought a stamp of Arizona from B&J's Art Stamps. We had a good laugh as we all pulled out that stamp to show each other.  Everyone one of us bought the stamp flip flop card die from Mechele, along with the matching borders, pop up piece, and coordinating stamps.  Amongst the 4 of us, there were several other duplicates.  Several other friends I ran into showed off their purchases--which were also in my bag. Not only do we share a love of paper crafting, but we tend to have the same tastes in products!

Before this post gets any longer, here is my snippet card that I am bringing to Pixie's Snippet Playground. She is always after us to use up those bits and pieces, waste not, want not and all. I made this iris folding card the other day using a pattern lovingly sent to me from across the pond by Hettie. For the snippets I've used up a bunch of strips of a paper. I've been hoarding the background cloud paper as well because it has been retired and I'm afraid to use it all up, which is silly as it fun and should be shared.

Thanks for sticking by this looooong post with lots of links!

The Fine Print: By the way, I thought it funny that glittering was such a hot thing at the convention because I had begrudgingly pulled out my box filled with jars of loose glitter to make the Merry Monday card I showed yesterday.  That's one thing I didn't need to buy!  There was also a booth that had iris folding and 3D paper tole crafts that made my heart go pitter patter.  That's one way I differ from my friends, but I did try hard to get them to buy the paper tole sheets because they punch out now--no fussy cutting needed!

Hearts & Flowers

Recently, in my blog travels I came across an iris folded card and immediately realized that was what my life was missing.  Strangely enough, before then I didn't even know that something was missing.

Now that I've made this hearts and flowers themed iris folded card, I guess I can say that my life is complete.  Hmmm... somehow I thought feeling complete would have a different feeling than this.  This feels vaguely like allergies. 

And welcome to my new followers who have come out of the woodwork in droves.  That's so cool to see you here in JudyLandia, where things are vaguely odd and oddly vague.

The Fine Print: The card was made from stuff that came from places.  That's about all I can tell you about that except the red flowers are Prima and the XOXO is by DeNami Designs.  Oh, I can also tell you that those are the worst silver brads on the planet.  The two prongs don't come together so they are very hard to thread through a hole and the metal they are made out of is so stiff you can hardly fold them down.  Terrible things.  Don't buy that kind... if I only knew what kind it was.

Couple of Oldies

I don't have anything new to share today but I do have things that haven't been shared before.  That is almost like new isn't it?

This first card is an iris fold card.  I've had this card lying around for inspiration for ages.  I've always liked this card because of the different papers used in the inside.  I always just used text weight paper that was plain or had a tight pattern.  The white with red dots is one of those.  The gold is a thin shiny metallic paper.  I believe it was wrapping paper or the like.  The other red and white paper is official origami paper.  This card is bigger than an A2 which is unusual for me, plus I like how I layered it up and have the extra hearts punched in the corner.  I often feel that iris folded cards need a little bit more than their focal point and this really does it.

The second card was from a swap called "What was I Thinking?"  The idea was to send a couple of images to your partner and in return you would receive a couple of images to make a card with and return.  The images were to be using some stamp that you were unsure of why you bought it in the first place.  The images I received were of this dog.  I'm not a dog person so I'm not familiar with dog breeds at all.  To me this dog looks like he has the mumps, so I thought a get well card was in order.  I was disappointed to find out that the "get well soon" was mounted on the wood crooked so it stamped out crooked.  I put the dots under it in hopes it would like straighter to the eye.  I never did get a return card from the images I sent.

The Fine Print: I really got nothing for you, except I can say the dog background paper is DCWV.

Today's Post

My original goal for the day was to go in search of my crafting table top, but somewhere along the way I decided that was boring.  Instead, here are some more cards from my snow kit.  Speaking of the snow kit, check out my giveaway in yesterday's post where I am offering up a chance to win the shaped cards and left over parts (there are still plenty!) from that kit.

The previous day when making snow cards I went in search of some fun foam snowflake shapes to add to my cards.  I didn't find them in the obvious places which means either I used them already, never really owned them in the first place and it was all a big hallucination, or that I put them in a not-so-obvious place.  Any of those are a possibility.  Instead I did find the snowman sticker package and of course I HAD to use him.  I'm quite pleased with how that card came out.  The other card is no slouch either.

Then I fast forwarded several holidays and made an Easter card.  Yesterday I received a gift of an iris folding book.  I really wanted that particular book because it offered general iris patterns.  The general patterns were a large square and a large triangle so you place any opening over it and make it into an iris fold.  I have wanted that for quite some time.  I even tried making my own (no bueno).  Now I have those patterns plus a tutorial on how to draw my own so I can be an iris fold fool!    For some reason an egg came to mind as the first thing to try out with my new book.  The pattern I used is the general triangle shape.  My egg was originally bordered by a gold sticker border, but that peeled off in the night.  I guess it wasn't happy trying to maintain an egg shape.

The Fine Print: Snow kit by Annie's Attic, mittens stamp by Imaginisce, snowman and flake stickers by Sandylion, Iris Fold book: The Simplicity of Iris Folding by Sarah Decker, gold stickers by unknown and greeting stamp by AMuse Artstamps. 

Mystery Challenge Swaps

I had a great SALSA stamp club meeting today.  We've been rather topsy turvy lately with lots of changes going on.  Some of our changes are good and some not so good.  Change always makes folks anxious, even if it is a good change.  I think folks are realizing that we just have to roll with things and take the good with the bad.

One thing that we've been doing for awhile and will continue to do is called the Mystery Challenge Exchange.  We get a different person every month to bring in some item to be used with paper crafting.  The folks who want to play raise their hand and get the item to make a card with.  The catch is you don't know what the item is until you get it!  So you are agreeing to make a card with something that you don't know what it is, hence the name Mystery Challenge.  The following month you bring back your completed project where they will be exchanged amongst the participants.   We've had some fun items to play with and we've had some real doozies.  Some of the past items include a BBQ skewer, a penny, a piece of cloth, tulle netting, and false eyelashes (just to name a small selection!).  Last month we were given a punched out prancing reindeer.  Here is the card I made for the exchange.

The card I received in exchange had some nice textures on it.  It had a two layers of foiled paper, square brads, ribbon, bling, and the reindeer had been covered in Flower Soft. I got permission to share it with you all so check it out!  Doesn't that reindeer look absolutely pettable?

 Card by Diane Cooper

The Fine Print: Iris Folding Technique, reindeer punch by Fiskars, corner punch by unknown (from back in the day before punch companies put their name on their product), and Merry Christmas foil stickers by Stampendous.