Scrapbook Layouts with Foam

Scrapbook Layout

As my regular readers will know I am not much into scrapbooking .[Here are my earlier 2 scrapbook layouts : Interactive Scrapbook , Tulip Flower tutorial ] but my  daughter seems to find it interesting.She loved choosing the photos to scrap and loved deciding on the embellies.So what  you are seeing are kiddy style fun scrapbook pages.

Baby Scrapbook Layout

The chubby cutie framed in the glittery snowflake border [cut out on foam] is my daughter when she was 4 months old.We used to take her around in her rocker seat in which she was so comfy.She would sleep, eat and play in her "Rocky"

Scrapbook Layout

The cutie has grown up into a 7 year old who decided to embellish the layout with a momma and baby frog!

Scrapbook layout

The adorable windmill and trees are foam stickers. We added a die cut fence and some punched flowers .
The embossed “Happiness” is a new sentiment Die from Spellbinders.

Scrapbook layout

Here is the front page of the spiral bound scrapbook with a huge house foam sticker and silver peacock feathers.

Scrapbook layout

The layout below has all foam embellishment [I am particularly fond of foam for its no crush and resistant to dirt qualities].

Scrapbook layout

I love all the kiddy - style elements in this page..my daughter was very particular the bee and the aeroplane had clouds for company!
Though extremely simple…I hope you enjoyed these fun scrapbook layouts.
Supplies : Dies : Marianne fence, Cheery Lynn grass, Cheery Lynn corn,Cheery lynn flourish,Memory Box snowflake, Ship, car, aeroplane are Spellbinders,Spellbinder peacock feathers.

Dr Sonia S V

Foam Crafts - DIY Dinosaur Mobile

DIY Dino mobile

Dear friends I better issue a warning at the beginning of this post :”Not for the faint hearted!”

My 7 year old daughter is learning about Reptiles and Dinosaurs in particular. Yesterday she came home from school and demanded we make a large diorama with lots of dinosaurs as another child had brought a diorama to school.

Like all moms I do have my “not in a mood to do anything” days…yesterday was one of those days! Eventually I give in seeing her enthusiasm …but alas I didnt have a good sturdy box for a large diorama!

DIY mobile

This was one of those times when being a blogger came in handy!I follow a blog on felt crafts by Carla and she makes the most adorable mobiles…so ambitiously I decided to to make a dinosaur mobile!

We had just 2 hours before my daughters bedtime so it was a super fast project and I dont have step by step photos to share.

I recycled the frame of an old toy clock to make the frame of our handmade dinosaur mobile.

Dinosaur school project

Tied up all  my daughters toy dinosaurs  to the frame . We didnt have time to colour the white ropes so my daughter prettied it up by wrapping sparkly green pipe stem cleaners on all the ropes of the dinosaurs mobile.

Foam crafts

The frame looked ghastly with all the ropes tied on, so we cut up grass freehand from textured foam and glued it onto the mobile frame with the glue gun [I love the glue gun…it  makes school projects such a breeze!].The red roses are also made from foam.

We strung alpha beads on pipe stem cleaners  to write my daughters name and wrapped it on our mobile frame

She also wanted to add her toy snakes on the mobile and eeeek they did look scary all wiggly on our DIY reptile mobile!

Dinosaur school project

My poor husband had to help carry it to school!! It was a big hit in her class and she proudly came and showed me the “sticker” she had got for it !!

I hope this idea comes in handy for a unique school project! Do tell me how you like it
Here are links to more Foam crafts :

• Foam Flower tutorials :Foam Rose tutorial 1, Foam Rose tutorial 2,Foam Cala Lily tutorial
• Foam Fridge magnets
• Foam DIY Pen stands: Foam Pen stand -Fairy land, Foam Penstand -Panda

Thermocol Crafts- Lotus tutorial

Thermocol craft lotus

For quite some time now I have been fascinated by thermocol /styrofoam ball ornaments .

You can dress up thermocol balls with ribbons,fabric scraps,pretty paper ,sequins or beads [lots of ideas!!]

I had a bit of a tough time following some of the pine cone tutorials on the net and finally decided to make my own version…it turned out looking like a lotus!!

Thermocol craft lotus

So sharing how we made our thermocol lotus ball!

Materials Required for the Thermocol Ball craft

Lotus flower tutorial

• Thermocol balls – we used 2 inch sized ones. If you are not able to get a thermocol ball dont worry you can still make your lotus using a plastic ball but instead of pinning you will have to do a lot of gluing !
• Ribbon ,fabric or paper -I used 1 inch width pink ribbon.Use sizes and colors you want.
• Pins
• Scissors

From the pink ribbon Cut one square[ 1 x 1 inch] and many 1 x 2 inch rectangles [cut rectangles double the width of your ribbon/paper]

Lotus tutorial

Fold the rectangles into triangles by folding up the lower corners to meet the upper edge.

Ribbon flowers

My ribbon is kinda satiny and stiff like paper so I could fold and the creases remained

Ribbon flower tutorial

If you are using fabric or normal ribbon you will have to  hold the fold with your fingers

Ribbon flower tutorial

When you have folded up the other corner you will get a nice triangle.Doesnt matter if you get imperfect overlapping edges!

Ribbon flower tutorial

Pin the square onto the thermocol ball

Ribbon flower tutorial

Take the triangle you had folded and Pin the lower 2 corners of the triangle on to the corners of the square as shown keeping the flaps hidden inside.

Ribbon crafts

Keep pinning triangles to cover adjacent corners of the square keeping the lower edges of the triangles in a line on the thermocol ball

Thermocol Ball crafts

You can even use one pin to hold 2 adjacent triangle corners as you get used to pinning on the thermocol ball!

Thermocol Ball crafts

On completing a layer of triangles atop the square start pinning the next layer lower down .

Thermocol Ball crafts

My next layer also had just 4 triangles. Here is the side view showing how the triangles are overlapped on the thermocol ball

Thermocol crafts

Complete the thermocol ball lotus by pinning more triangles and finishing off with green ribbon leaves!

Do tell me how you like this thermocol - ribbon Lotus!!

I think it would look cool as a home decor and for religious souls I guess it would be lovely as a  Pooja  decoration for goddess Lakshmi!

PS: the stand for the lotus may be familiar to some of you.Here is how I made it : Fancy fold card tutorial

Where to buy Thermocol Balls ?: Try your local fancy store.If you are in Bangalore its available cheaply in many sizes at a Packing Material Supply shop in Ebrahim street[ parallel to Commercial street].Also available at Itsy Bitsy. You can also check out my compilation of Craft Supply Stores in India

Edited :this project got Honorable mention at Crafter corner Festive theme

Castle shaped slider card tutorial

Pop up Slider castle card

Dear friends I had shared this Castle slider card some time back as my Guest DT post at Itsy Bitsy. Posting it on my blog for  my new readers and followers

Pop up slider card

This interactive pop up slider "castle shaped card" can be a fun birthday card or invitation card .The central fort of the castle can be pulled up to reveal a space to write the Invitation and party details.

Castle shaped slider card

Sharing how to make a Castle Shaped Pop up Slider Card.[Click on the pictures for a detailed view]
Materials Required
This is an easy card to make which does not require any fancy tools.
Basic Supplies
Card Stock -Sturdy card stock is a must.Handmade paper will not give as neat an effect in this slider card.
Craft-knife, Scissors,Scale
Cutting mat  [or kitchen cutting board]
Double Sided Foam tape,Glue

If you want to jazz it up a bit..

Big Shot /Other Die cutting Machine
Embossing folders : I used Itsy Bitsy spots folder and Itsy Bitsy swirls.
Dies : to make the castle door [Itsy Bitsy Nesting dies] and domes [Scallop circles]
Punches : Square

Materials Required

Measurements are not really important for this type of card but to make things easier giving approximate measurements.
You need card stock for the front, base and slider piece.For the front of the castle card...take half of an A 4 card [or 6 x 8 ^1/4 ]

Pop Up slider Card

Use a ruler and craft knife to cut 2 vertical lines from either edge leaving at least 1 inch from the top and bottom edge as shown.Join the 2 vertical cuts horizontally at the lower ends as shown in the slider tutorial

Pop Up slider Card

Score horizontally to join the upper ends of the vertical cuts or use a scale to fold up the flap as shown.Fold down this flap in half as shown.

Pop Up slider Card

The front of your slider card will look like this now. Take a slider piece of approx

 8 ^1/4 x  2 ^½ inch and fold up one edge[approx 1/2 to 3/4 inch] 

Pop Up slider Card

This step is optional: I wanted to make my slider a castle fort so chopped off rectangles 1/2 x 2 inches from the top edges as shown

Pop Up slider Card

Attach the lower folded tab of the slider to the back of the vertical cut flap as shown.

Pop Up slider Card

If you plan to emboss your card front do so before attaching the slider pieces.Keep the lower part of the central vertical flap un-embossed  by keeping it outside your embossing folder as embossing tends to weaken most cardstocks and you want the central flap sturdy!

Pop Up slider Card

For  the Pop up piece ..you can stamp, quill,draw or cut out a castle shape like I did. From a 4 x 5 inch pearl pink card stock I marked 1 inch from either edge and chopped off 1/2 x 2 inch rectangles . Further chopped off a part of the central rectangle to get my castle shape..do whatever appeals to you!

Pop Up slider Card

To further decorate your pop up castle..do whatever you fancy but dont make it too bulky or your castle wont stand up well! 

Pop up Castle

 I  die cut a door in my castle and then embossed it  using the spots embossing folder.I die cut and embossed scallop circles to make the domes of the  castle card.Simple triangles would work just as well for the castle domes!

Pop Up slider Card

The glue dots came in handy sticking the domes to the castle[ you need a bit of  patience if you use regular glue on embossed card stock!]

Pop Up slider Card

Punched out squares on a 1 inch width pearl card stock to make my castle accents which were stuck to the castle with double sided foam!

Pop Up slider Card

Stick on the castle to the front of the lower half of the central flap

Pop Up slider Card

On the back of the castle card stick double sided foam tape on the lower edge and sides as shown.Leave enough gap near the central flap so that your slider can move freely.Stick it to a same size or larger base card.

Castle shaped card

Do not stick too tightly as you need a bit of gap between your base and top card for the slider to move freely.

Castle shaped card 

My daughter loves pink and purple so that was what heavily influenced the colors of this castle shaped pop up slider card!

Castle Shaped Card and Box

We had also made Castle shaped boxes as party favor boxes to go along with our castle shaped cards
Do share how you like this Interactive card tutorial

Rapunzel Pop up Card

Rapunzel Pop up card

          Dear  friends  I am sure that every little girl [and the not so little ones too] who saw the Disney movie Tangled was enchanted by Rapunzel's character !

Sharing a Tangled theme pop up card I had made with a pop up tower and Rapunzel jumping down from the tower on to the waiting horse.

Princess Pop up card

I found the hero  Flynn Rider quite charming and had to add him dashing through the woods!
Used corrugated card and moonstone paper to make the grassy fields in the pop up scene

On closing this interactive card  the pop up tower goes absolutely flat and the card closes flat for mailing! The type of pop up in this card is called a cylindrical pop up and is rather tricky to execute so I wont subject you to a tutorial this time!! [Also I cant seem to find the website where I got the idea from]
Here are post on a home made Rapunzel themed Cake and Rapunzel themed Birthday decor

Here are links to Pop up card tutorials

Here are links to more than 30 Card making tutorials

Easy Interactive Card Tutorial

Interactive Slider Card

I love interactive books and cards and this particular tutorial is for a super simple easy to make interactive mechanism which can be used in cards,scrapbooks or even a school chart like we have done .

Kinetic slider card

The pic I have used to illustrate the sliding mechanism in this interactive card is of our  Lhasa-apso Snowy who is sitting majestically on the bed posing for the photo!
Yesterday my 7 year old  had to take a chart on "time measuring devices" to her school.

Clocks school project

She had to write interesting facts for each type of clock and we made interactive sliders below each clock picture to pack in all the extra information and still keep the chart "clean"!!

Clock Interactive school project

It was fun reading up about various crazy types of clocks [ Have you heard of an incense clock or a calibrated candle clock?!!]

Interactive school project

Rather than type out the "facts' like we had done in the Festivals of India school project this time my kiddo proudly used her own cutie handwriting on all her hidden sliders!

Clock school project

As the center focus of her school chart we made an interactive clock with moving hands using a split pin [brad]

Interactive clock

We also made an interactive "princess" swinging pendulum clock using a hidden brad

Interactive School chart

How to make an easy Interactive Card

Each photo we used in the school chart has a pull tab which when pulled slides out to reveal a hidden message.

This slider mechanism is quite easy to make but I am posting lots of step by step photos so that it may benefit a "non crafter" too!!

Interactive card tutorial

Materials required

• Thick sturdy card stock [Indian readers- ask for Ivory sheets in stationary shops] - size depends on the size of your picture
• Scissors
• Double sided foam tape - the narrow 1 cm variety is the best for slider cards
• Glue

If you want to make a slider for photos ..paste the photo on card stock and create the slider mechanism on the other side of the card.

Interactive card tutorial

Stick double sided tape on 3 sides of the card leaving one side open for your slider

Interactive card tutorial

Cut a card strip to loosely fit within the area framed by the foam tape

Interactive card tutorial

To make a stopper mechanism for your slider strip stick squares of foam tape at the slider opening as shown above

Interactive card tutorial

Cut off approximately 1/2 inch strips off your slider strip at the top and bottom edges as shown leaving around an inch on one side to  get a T shaped slider

Interactive card tutorial

Test if your slider moves freely by sliding it in and out of the foam tape framed card.

Easy Interactive Card Tutorial

The T stopper of the slider strip bears the maximum wear and tear in this type of slider card so it needs to be strengthened.To do this fold and stick as shown above

Easy Interactive Card Tutorial

Your slider mechanism is ready. You can trim excess lengths of your slider strip at the region where you will pull it.
Keep the T slider strip within the foam framed area and Peel off the paper from the foam tape,taking care the T slider doesnt stick to the tape.
Stick to a base card or a sturdy chart to make your fun kinetic card.

Kinetic card tutorial

Of all the types of clocks ,my daughter was terribly fascinated by the water clock also called the Clepsydra and wanted me to make a 3 D model but we compromised by making an interactive water clock!

The water clock also works on a sliding mechanism.On pulling the  slider strip the shiny holographic water empties from the container!!

Slider card

I modified the basic slider card tutorial explained above to make this interactive water clock!

I hope this interactive card tutorial comes in handy to add a bit of fun in card making ,scrapbooking or to jazz up any type of presentation at school,college or office!

Do tell me how you liked it!
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