It’s pretty handy, with working pockets and a velcro closure. 

To make it, I started out by cutting some Kunin felt with the wraparound journal die. 

Then I folded it into thirds and sewed the sides to make a pocket and added some velcro tabs. The wrap journal die cuts holes to help with binding. I left these holes rather than covering them up because I liked the detail. 

I made two of them, and glued a felt bone on the front flaps. The bone also helped to cover up the stitching from the velcro underneath. I then measured a strap that would fit around Gershwin’s chest and sewed the two backpacks on the strap. (Gershwin modeled for me as I was making it so I got the measurements right. He was very cooperative and curious.) I also sewed velcro tabs to the strap.

I decided to sew on a chest and neck strap to keep the main strap from moving around.

Now it looks legit, and Gershwin is styling with it.

These are the Sizzix dies I used: Thinlits 661107 Rolled flower, Flower 3-D Fringed, 66111 Leaves Spring, 657721 Borders & Hydrangeas, 661110 Flower Romance, Leaves and Flower Petal Power.

For the background, I used the Flower 3-D Fringed die because the round shape provided great coverage, and the fringes added a nice texture to make it look dimensional. I also used one of Eileen Hull’s ColorBox Blends (color: Bay) to give each of the circles an impressionistic swipe of color.

I glued the backs with Aleene’s Clear Gel Tacky Glue.And then I glued the shapes to a 16″ x 20″ white mat board. I didn’t go all the way down to the bottom because the top was mostly sky, and the bottom was mountains and the town, which I would fill in later.

Then it was time to figure out which floral shapes worked best to recreate starry night. The coolest find was the swirl of the Thinlits Rolled Flower, which was perfect for the cloud swirls.

The Flower Romance die is probably one of my favorites — I use it for everything. And it makes great big stars. I also used the negative pieces of the die cuts to create the Van Gogh-like vibrating lines around the stars. Not a lot of paper went to waste for this project. 

One of my favorite discoveries was in the Spring Leaves die. The one twiggy leaf has multiple little leaves, so I cut them off, and they made great pointillism shapes.

I couldn’t believe how well this turned out. I hope Vincent is looking down from the stars, at peace, and happy with what I’ve done. 

The key to making the façade look real is to line up the spines of actual books on a photocopier so that the photocopy captures the shadows between the books. The photocopy is then mounted on a piece of foam core board, trimmed and glued onto the storage containers. To the casual visitor, they look just like any other books on the bookshelf. But only you know that they’re not really books, but a secret hiding place.

1. Line up the spines of your books on a color photocopier. Choose enough books so that they measure about a foot. I recommend using a laser copier at the copy store instead of your inkjet printer at home. The resulting image will be more realistic, capturing both shadows and reflections. Oh, and you’ll probably have to use the 11 by 17 paper. 

2. Apply spray adhesive to the back of the photocopy, and adhere it to a piece of foam core board. Then I cut around the image of the books with a hobby knife. 

3. For the storage compartments behind this book facade, I used — very appropriately — one of the dies from Eileen Hull’s Book Club collection for Sizzix. It’s the Card Box/Planner Storage and Organizer. I also used her Box die from a few seasons back. I first covered mat board in dictionary pages, and then die cut out the shapes.
4. I assembled the individual organizers with hot glue, and then attached them together in a row with more hot glue.
5. Then I hot glued the organizers to the back of the book facade.So when you turned it around, the storage is hidden behind the facade.And placed within a book shelf with real books, no one can tell the difference. Except you!

First, I adhered some tan-colored Kunin felt to some Sizzix mat board using my Xyron 9″ Creative Station. (I stopped using spray adhesive months ago and only use my Xyron now, and my lungs have never been happier.) Then I ran the mat board through the basket die to get these pieces. (I ended up not using the two strips on the far right.)

I decided to remove the pieces of felt on the edge of the main body so it would be easier to glue, and there would be less bulk as well.

Then I hot glued the two sides to the middle section.

I cut the long strips with the holes at the end in half to create four legs, and I attached them to the body with brads, lining up the holes. How perfect was that? I adjusted them with scissors so the reindeer would stand up straight and not fall over. (I ended up gluing pieces of felt to the other sides of the legs too so they would be less “naked.”)

Then I ran some card stock through the Spring Leaves die to make the antlers and glued them to a cork, which I used for the reindeer head. I also glued some googly eyes and a pom pom for the nose. A red nose for Rudolph and a black nose for “Olive,” the other reindeer. And I glued on some felt ears by the antlers so this reindeer would be able to hear Santa’s “ho ho hos.” And then I glued the head to the front of the body. 

These reindeer were super fun and easy to make. I think they just may go down in his-to-ryyyyyy.

So for this month’s design challenge for Eileen Hull’s Inspiration Team, I used her new Sizzix Trinket Box & Frame die to make it. How did I come up with this idea? In researching DIY iPhone stands, I knew I needed a main holder that the iPhone could sit in, and when I saw the oval “frame” of the trinket box, I thought that would make an ideal holder. Then it was just a matter of the support mechanism. With a little experimentation, I found that all I needed was use the rectangles with 4 score lines that came with the die. So just three pieces from this die made the iPhone stand. Let me show you how.

These are the 3 pieces that were cut — two of the scored rectangles and one of the frames.

Bend one of the rectangles at the farthest score line.

And attach it to the bottom of the frame with permanent double-sided tape. (The frame needs to be horizontal.)

Then take the second scored rectangle piece and fold it into a square tube, taping it shut with double-sided tape. This will be the support bar. You can glue weights inside the support bar, e.g. screws or bolts, to make the stand more stable. 

Attach this to the base of the iPhone stand about a half inch from the frame, also with double-sided tape. (A glue gun would also work.)

As you can see, you would insert the iPhone through the opening and place it in front of the support bar. To decorate the iPhone stand, I glued Pantone chips to the front and trimmed off all the excess. I’m always looking for ways to use my Pantone chips.

Yay, I have a place for my iPhone. Now if I can just find my keys…

My most used crafting device is my Sizzix Big Shot die-cutting machine, so here’s my latest creation: a bowl made of copper leaves that I cut out using Eileen Hull’s Spring Leaves die. The metallic copper gives it a cool, nontraditional twist. It’s also the perfect size for storing keys or mail at the front door.

I started with a small mixing bowl, turned it upside down, and covered it in cling wrap.

Then I ran M-D Copper Sheets through the Sizzix Big Shot using the Spring Leaves die — well, two of the leaves on the die, anyway. There are 4 leaves on the die, and I thought these two would work best for the bowl. The M-D Copper Sheets work great with the Big Shot.

The M-D copper sheets also bend nicely. I curved the copper leaves around the bowl and attached them one by one to each other with Gorilla Glue Super Glue Gel. I had to press the pieces firmly for a minute or two for them to hold, but the Gorilla Glue worked.  I let the glue cure 24 hours, and then took the bowl off its mold. Then I was able to bend the leaves a bit more to my liking. You know, when I envisioned this project, I wasn’t sure how it would turn out or if it would even work, but I’m really glad it did. 

I was also inspired by the Broadway musical adaption of the movie “Amelie.” In the musical, a young Amelie gets a goldfish as her only friend, and she calls it Fluffy. So this is my new desktop friend to keep me company as I work.

The fish for this aquarium is made from one of Eileen’s leaf dies. I wanted it to look like the fish is swimming in the water, so it’s attached to the back with one of those springy things from a ballpoint pen. The scalloped edge that serves as the “water level” is from Eileen’s hydrangeas and borders die. I also put a piece of plastic on the inside of the frame so it really does look like the fish is in a bowl. That piece of plastic is from some Sizzix packaging. I always save that plastic packaging. It’s good stuff. I hope you like the fish bowl — and I’m not fishing for compliments.

I have lots of album covers I buy from used record stores for crafting. The album covers are sturdier than regular card stock, yet lighter weight than mat board. And best of all, you can use them with thinlits dies! But would they be sturdy enough to hold a succulent? I played around with the construction of the plant stand and yes, they are surprisingly sturdy. Here’s how to make them.

1. Cut four pocket shapes from the front of the album cover and four from the back. 

2. The four front cover pieces will comprise the four sides of the plant stand. They will be connected — and reinforced — by the four back cover pieces. For the four back cover pieces, lightly score them crosswise 3 inches down, about 3/8″ above the point where the the sides start tapering down. Crease at the score lines.

3. There will be extra pieces of album cover. From the scraps, cut four rectangles that are 2.75″ x 1.5″. Then lightly score lengthwise down the center with a hobby knife and fold the rectangles.

4. We’ll need one more piece of reinforcement coming from the bottom of the plant stand. For this, cut a 4.75″ x 4.75″ square from card stock, poster board, mat board, gift box or even another album cover. Then score it with a hobby knife so there is a 4.25″ square in the middle with .25″ flaps on all sides. Cut the corners while you’re at it.

5. Place adhesive on the backs of all the pieces you cut except for the four front panel pieces. I used my Xyron 9″ Creative Station and Xyron 1.5″ Sticker Maker. 

6. Line up the back pieces with the front pieces (with artwork facing out) and press down on the rectangular sections to adhere them. Do NOT stick the triangular sections together. 

7. Line up two sides perpendicular to each other and reinforce/connect the corners with one of the scored 1.5″ x 2.75″ rectangular pieces. You’ll do this twice. Adhere the triangular sections that have adhesive to each other. Again, do not adhere the triangular sections that do not have adhesive. These are the “legs” of the plant stand and should be left alone.

8. Now join the two halves using the two other little rectangles to connect and reinforce them. Allow the bottom triangles to stick to each other to form the base of the plant stand. It looks good in there!

9. Finally, we’ll add a reinforcement to the bottom. Flip the plant stand upside down and place the last piece of reinforcement (that 4.25″ square with the .25″ flaps) on the bottom so that the flaps go up and attach to the sides. Press with your fingers all around to make sure that all the sides are gripping each other securely with the adhesive. 

I made a plant stand with the B 52s and Madonna. What can I say, I’m a child of the 80s!

Here’s how the other sides look. Oh, a word of advice: since the album covers don’t hold up to water, I would water the succulents outside the plant stands and not put them in until they’ve stopped dripping water. You can also line the plant stands with plastic wrap. Or you can also put fake plants in them. 

These are just another example of how versatile Eileen Hull’s Sizzix dies are!

The trick was to put the tortilla and die between two sheets of wax paper so you don’t make a mess. Also, all those paper fibers stuck on the plastic cutting pads won’t transfer to your tortilla that way. After cutting two house shapes, it was time for the cheese die cuts. The way I’m making the quesadillas, they will be filled with cheese (so it doesn’t matter what that cheese looks like), and it will also be topped with cheese shapes to look like a house. So it’s an open-faced, filled quesadilla. Yummy! I tried cutting the details of the house/pocket with the smaller dies that came with the set, but the only one I had luck with was the large rectangle, i.e. the door. The smaller elements were too delicate for the cheese. I also had a hard time getting the cheese to fit right through the Sizzix Big Shot. With the multipurpose platform on two different thicknesses, it either flattened out the cheese too much, or it hardly cut it at all. So I decided the easiest way to use the thinlit dies was just to press it by hand on the cheese, kind of like a cookie cutter. Again, I did it between two sheets of wax paper so it was easier to work with.

Another shape that worked really well was one of the flowers on the Stitchy Flowers and Leaf die set. It was big enough and held its shape in the cheese. Oh, and here’s another hint: natural cheeses tend to crumble, so I went with the most processed cheese I could find — Velveeta slices.

Then it was time to fry up the quesadillas. I greased a pan, put the bottom layers of the tortillas in the pan, topped them with cheese, and then put on the top tortillas.

After the first sides were browned, I flipped them over. Then I placed the cheese details on top of the quesadilla to finish the house, and continued cooking until the cheese was melted inside and out. I cut one of the long rectangles in half to make windows. And the flower cheese shape made a nice window for the top of the house, don’t you think?

I had some roasted peppers in the fridge, so I cut them up for garnishes that doubled as the doorknobs and window panes. Served with salsa, this is a Sizzix project that really sizzles!

I stamped the Frida Kahlo design on some fabric with black Clearsnap Colorbox Crafter’s ink. 

Then I sewed two pieces of fabric together with the face on one side, wrong side out. (Even though I did wrong side out, the Frida design still showed on the wrong side, which was great because I could see where to sew.) 

I turned it inside out and stuffed the doll with Fairfield Poly-Fil, and then sewed it up. 

At this point, my Frida Kahlo doll looked like a tube of toothpaste, but never fear, my Sizzix die is here. I ran various colors of Kunin Felt through Eileen Hull’s Borders & Hydrangea die, and those borders made a beautiful shawl and dress for little Frida. I glued them on the doll form with Aleene’s Fast Grab Tacky Glue because that stuff works great on felt and really holds it in place. Okay, I can’t get over how perfect that shawl is.

And those cute little hydrangea flowers made the most fabulous floral headdress!

The scalloped edge at the bottom of the dress, when fanned out, helps her stand. Hello, (Frida) Dolly!