Two's company!

I enjoy crafting alone; but yes, with a friend, its most enjoyable. A friend of mine who is not into crafting, came over the other day and after lunch we decided to make some valentine cards. I was actually surprised to find her so eager to craft. After selecting a card to case, I helped her with the initial stages. But then she took over and amazed me. Her card did turn out very beautiful. I dont have a photo of it but i'll try getting one.
In the mean time I tried making a card keeping these challenges in mind:
Simon Says....Tag it & Crafty JC Challenge #14 - Valentine  with Non Traditional colours
I have never made a tag with a card and this is an attempt. I hope it is a good one. If there is something you can point out for me to improve or correct, feel free to comment. Thats how we grow, right?
So here's my card:

 Supplies: DCVW paper (black), echo paper victoria gardens pp, Jef's lattice punch, x-cut 2.5" circle punch, papermania stamp (butterfly), maya road white ink, ribbon.

It is a 4x6 easel card in black and white keeping up with the non traditional colour theme. I ran the bottom half of the black cardstock through the cuttlebug using the polka dot embossing folder. I stuck the PP on the plain half of the black cardstock and added the punched strip to cover the joining. The tag is a 2.5" circle on which 2 butteflies are stamped and their paths are hand drawn with a white gel pen. A hole was punched on the top, an eyelet was fixed using a crop a dile and the ribbon was attached. The tag is attached to the card with foam dots (sorry, cant remember the real word for them)
I attached a strip of punched cardstock for the inside to give it some continuity. Since I dont have many stamps with sentiments, I handwrote this sentiment "You make my heart sing" and fixed it with double sided foam dots. Ofcourse this went to my DH and he loved it. :) He does make my heart sing!
How did you like it? Feel free to let me know.
Hugs.

TP Roll Wall Art Tutorial

Hi!
News came in finally that we are going home. Although obviously happy with the news, it just meant trying to put (stuff) in all our (mostly mine) belongings into bags. And i've been at it whole of yesterday but the packing just doesnt get over 'coz now i have much more items to take back than what i came with. I have 2 bags full, 2 almost full and still so much lying around.
Anyways, today i will share with you something i made with toilet paper rolls. I had many of these empty rolls in the cabin and wanted to make something with it. I looked online and found some fantastic inspirations. The one I saw on Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom was intricate and beautiful, while the one on Creative Jewish Mom was simple and easy to do. So this is what i made:

I made this with about 2 n a half  toilet paper roll tubes.
Read on for a mini tutorial:

You will need:
- around 2-3 toilet paper tubes
- 2-3 sheets of newspaper (shredded)
- modpodge
- craft glue
- paint


I first marked the tubes at 1/2'' intervals and cut them to get 1/2'' rings.

I then tore newspaper into small pieces. The smalled the pieces, the better.

I glued newspaper pieces onto the the toilet paper roll rings with modpodge. This is optional. The reason I did this was because I felt the rings were a bit thin and weak on its own and i wanted a stronger wall art. Be generous with the glue.

Let it dry.

Next I placed all the pieces together to form a pattern that appealed to me and used up most of the pieces.

Then i painted each piece with acrylic paints. I gave them 2 coats of colour to get a even look.

Then i stuck them piece by piece together with craft glue.

Voila! Your wall art is ready.
Isnt it easy? Im sure you are already thinking of patterns and colours. So go ahead, make one. I'd love to see what you create.
Hugs.