How To Make a Pen Holder

Hi Guys! I'm Mabel and it's my turn again to create a tutorial for Off the Rails Scrapbooking!

My project today was inspired by OTRS November Mood board which you can find more details HERE!

As you can see, the theme is about recycling. So I decided to make a pen holder out of toilet roll.

The toilet roll I got measures 3 inches wide and 3.5 inches tall. 

I'm using natural jute hemp cord and twirled it around the toilet roll. 

Next, I cut of the circumference of the toilet roll after I traced it on a piece of cupboard. I glued it to one side of the toilet roll to create a base. I then tidied up the rough edges by continuing to glue the hemp cord such that it'll cover the edges.

Now that the surface and the base were done, it's time for colours and embellishments!

I randomly painted white gesso on random areas to create some contrast with the burlap colours.

I also cut up a piece of chipboard from dusty attic (which I can't remember the name anymore I'm sorry!) and painted it with an even coat of white gesso.

This is how it looked like after embellishments. I'm using some flowers from Prima Marketing and from local craft stores (which were brandless). The floral vellum was made using Martha Stewart Adhesive Silkscreen with an even coat of white gesso.

And here's the final look!

I used Colourarte's Silks in Guatemalan Green, African Jade, Mango Tango and Pink Anthurium to achieve this result.

To achieve this soft-washed effect for the flower in the picture below, I simply dilute my colours and applied the colour with a wet brush at the bottom of the flower. The colour will spread and create this effect.

That's all for this tutorial!

Thanks for reading and I hope you like it!

To see more of my tutorials, click on the links below!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thecraftminded

Instagram: https://instagram.com/mabelsim/

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/MabelSimCraftminded

Cheers!

Recycle or Upcylce November Challenge

Welcome to November, this month not only do we have one of our fantastic mood boards to inspire you with, but also we want you to either recycle or upcycle something. Do you have a cereal box just about to be thrown in the trash or an old card or even some advertising material from your mail box? Maybe you have a background from a layout, a card or a mixed media canvas that you started but you only got so far before you decided that it wasn't heading in the direction you want. Now is the time to use these things and do what the name of our blog suggestions go Off The Rails and create something that you never dreamed of creating. 

Is the mood board giving you lots of ideas? Lets get those thoughts and idea flowing even more and see what the Design Team from created.

Wendy

Joan

Mabel

Sue

Luciana

Sneak Peek come back on the 24th to see the whole design

This month we welcome back Imaginarium Designs as our monthly sponsor.

You're One In A Million

Hi Guys! 

It's Mabel here again!

It's my turn to share with you a quick tutorial of how I made this simple mixed media card with few leftover supplies from my other scrap projects.

Firstly, prepare a card base and a patterned paper. I chose plain white card stock that was cut to 5.5 x 8.5 inches for a 'landscape' card and my patterned paper from Blue Fern Studios was cut to 5.25 x 4 inches. I used my Prima Marketing tool to distress the edges of my card front.

After prepping my card base and front, I applied Liquitex Resin Sand texture paste over a Prima Marketing Stencil and let it dry thoroughly.

It's colouring time! 

I simply used my Colourarte's twinkling H2Os in Mediterranean Blue, English Lavender and Pink Cloud to add colour to my card front. To use twinkling H2Os, you just have to spray some water into the little pots and let it sits for awhile. The long you 'activate' it, the more intense the colour will be. To see more of Colourarte's products, CLICK HERE!

Let everything dry and you can proceed to embellish your card!

This is the final look of my card.

I feel inspired by this YouTube video (CLICK HERE!) I saw that teaches us how to make flowers from scratch. So out of curiosity, I did it and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. 

I also added more mulberry flowers on top of that  handmade flowers to fill in the additional space (I made that flower too big, haha).

The dimensional embellishments are from Dear Lizzy's older collection and the feathers are from Kaisercraft's Bow and Arrow sticker sheet.

As a finishing touch, I gently applied some white gesso over the raised areas where the Liquitex Resin Sand are to create some highlights. 

That's all for this tutorial. 

Thanks for reading! :)

Do visit my blog by clicking on the image below to see more tutorials! :)

Spring Has Sprung

Here in Australia it is the first day of Spring, we are yet to feel it in Melbourne but it is on it's way I am sure (and hoping). Because it is the first of the month that means we have a mood board challenge. It is moody, dramatic and the design team have done an amazing job with it.

Wendy

Joan

Luciana

Deena

Mabel

Sue

Tina

We would like to welcome back 2Crafty Chipboard who are our sponsor this month. They are offering the lucky winner a mixture of their

 gorgeous chipboard. Who doesn't love chipboard.

Please Note our sponsors this month, 2Crafty, will post Australia-wide only.  International entrants, please note that if you enter, we have to assume that in the event you are chosen as a winner this month, you are prepared to pay the postage for your prize.

Collect Moments Not Things

Hi Off the Rails Scrapbooking readers!

I'm Mabel Sim from Singapore and this is the first tutorial I created for Off the Rails Scrapbooking, bringing you a photo tutorial on how I created my Mixed Media Canvas display piece.

I first primed by 5.5 x 7 inches canvas board with white gesso. I pulled out my Tim Holtz blending tool as well as Peacock Feathers and Seedless Preserve ink pads. I randomly brushed on those inks using my blending tool onto stencils from Crafter's Workshop and Dylusions. Since the inks are water soluble, I actually sprayed water to allow the inks to flow slightly. 

See the white patches? I create the effect by 'stamping' gesso using my palette knife. I just thought that the colours are slightly too vivid and wanted to tone down my colours slightly. So by creating this white patches, I can not only tone down my colours, I can also create some additional interest and effects.

As my canvas was inspired by galactic theme, I wanted something sparkly and dimensional for my canvas. I applied heavy matte medium from Liquitex over my Dina Wakley stencil and poured a mixture of Black Sparkle and Silver Tinsel embossing powder from Ranger. As the matte medium was still wet, it managed to capture those embossing powder. The trick to this technique is to wait till the medium is completely dried before you heat-set the embossing powder to prevent the medium from bubbling.

So this is the final look after embellishments. The papers are from 7 Dots Studio Soulmates Collection and my sentiment is actually a sticker from Mambi. I used Thailand's Mulberry flowers for my canvas, but you can actually purchase these flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts. 

I used 13arts pastel mists in Lavender and Cobalt to highlight my centerpiece. I actually dipped my brush into the mist bottles and colour it around my centrepiece. 

See those texture over there? I actually mixed Glass Microspheres from 13arts with my Clear Gesso. I chose to use Clear Gesso instead of matte medium was that my matte medium will act as a resist to watercolours unlike clear gesso. So I randomly swipe this mixture onto my canvas and also sprinkle some Platinum Glass Glitter from Prima Finnabair line. I also gently brushed on white gesso as highlight after everything dried.

And who say stamens can only be used at the center of flowers? I layered stamens underneath my flower composition so that it looks like they are bursting around the flowers. 

That's all for my tutorial.

Thanks for reading! :)

You can see more of my projects over HERE!

July's Challenge

Welcome to the second half of the year, I am not too sure where the first half has gone but gone it has.

This month we are giving you the choice of two very different but gorgeous mood palettes.

Which one will you choose to be inspired by? Shall we see what our creative Design Team came up with?

Joan

Luciana

Mabel

Sue

Out for publication 

 Wendy

Deena

Tina

What an amazing array of work created. I am sure that you will find lots to inspire you.

This month we welcome back  Imaginarium Designs as our sponsor, thank you Imaginarium Designs.