Workshop #3 - Easter/Spring

Today was the third workshop that I've hosted at my house. (I apologize now if the layout of the images are disproportionate, I've been having issues with my computer and the Internet!) The theme revolved around Easter and Spring and it included a handful of crafts that took some assembling. The bulk of the projects made required the use of my new favorite tool - the Big Shot Express (Sizzix). It's a die-cutting machine, but unlike my other die-cutting tools (Quickutz Squeeze and Revolution), it is AUTOMATED... at the push of a button, it takes the die-cut and paper and cuts/embosses in a flash, no more hand turning. And the best part is that it also can use the die-cuts from my Quickutz collection, YEAH! The projects included making an Easter/Spring card that had a pop-up message inside, a pop-up ball that could be used in a card or in our case on a string, two pillow boxes and two baskets.

Here was the card we made. All the stamps were from CTMH (Eastertime D1259), the grass was cut on the Quickutz Silhouette, the eggs and the bunny die-cuts were from Quickutz, the striped background paper was from DCWV, the scalloped square is from Marvy Punches, the pop-up feature was made with a Sizzix Bigz XL die-cut and I've had the flowers for so long I don't know the manufacturer (could be Prima). Sorry the pop-up image is sideways...oops!

This pop-up ball/Easter egg was so cute, the picture does not do it justice. This project took the most work but was worth the effort! All the pieces are created from the Sizzix Bigz XL Pop-up Ball. It can actually be attached to a card and when you open the card, it would pop-up to it's current state. I'm working on some projects that has some embellishment to what we made. When it's done, I will post it. I choose to put the ribbon through the top so that it can be hung up and displayed so that all sides could be seen. So cute and amazing the way it's assembled.

The pillow box was the easiest project to make but the variety on how to decorate them was endless. The pillow box is made with a Sizzix Bigz die-cut and the Easter bunny was stamped with CTMH (Celebrating Life C1128). Some of the boxes were embossed using the Sizzix Textured Impression Embossing Folders (if you look closely at the purple and pink boxes you can see the embossing). I used both transparency and card stock, other ideas created at the workshop used printed card stock which also turned out adorable. I used a tag punch by EK Success and even though you can't tell as easily in the photo, I used an Around The Block paper tagger to attach the tag to the ribbon (love this tool).

Here are the baskets that were made using the Sizzix Bigz XL. There are plenty of ways to decorate the baskets, even just simple patterned card stock was adorable, as well as stamping on plain card stock also gave it another cute look. Embellish as you please or just leave it simple, either way this basket was adorable. Stamps used in the samples came from the two CTMH sets mentioned above.

Below are samples of the projects made by the workshop attendees:

This card was the same template as my original card except that different colors were used.

Above projects showed the variety of looks depending on the pattern of the paper used.

One of the ladies at the workshop needed a Birthday card, so we mixed up the parts from the original card and turned it into this adorable spring like card. I love how the eggs were turned upside down to become balloons!

Thanks to the ladies who attended the workshop (not all pictured above), they did a great job! Some of the projects took some patience and a little engineering but the end result was well worth the adorable products!