Wednesday, June 1, 2011

One Sheet Wonders: Getting Started

On June 3rd it's my three year Blog-versary and I have lots of fun prizes, tutorials and giveaways planned for everyone over the next few weeks.

I thought I'd start with an easy to do project.

One Sheet Wonders


Last night I didn't have any focus...none at all. No mojo either. Having been unfocused and mojo-less in the past, I knew hauling out some stamps and making a full sheet pattern would be just the thing. This is good if your sick, in pain or just plain tired.

Distracting without being taxing.

You'll need:

White paper - I used Papertrey as it's thick enough that if you mess up 
(practically impossible but you know how judge-y we can be of our own work) you can start over again on the back.
Ink in a couple of colors. Three colors is nice; I used Distress Ink
Stamps: Mine are Urban Botanicals from Raisin Boat



1. Start with your largest stamp and stamp a few randomly on your paper. Make sure that several run off the side of the page.



2. Use your next largest stamp in a different color. Stamp randomly around the page making sure a few run off the page and some overlap.



3. Continue this way using smaller stamps until your page is full.



4. Use a tiny stamp in a contrasting or neutral color to fill in the smallest spaces. 
This will make your design pop and blend.


And you're done. I kept this one intentionally simple so each step showed vividly.



I thought I'd share with you several one sheet wonders I made in about a half an hour last night. It's very relaxing.

(this one is a little crazy, but there are sections I absolutely love so it's a keeper)


One of my favorite ways to make a single sheet is to use the same stamp in different colors, like this:


Here's the back side of the page... I thought this was a "mistake" one but my husband and the kids all commented (unprovoked) that it was their favorite. You just never know. There's something boy-pleasing about this one.


While you have your ink out, run it along some seam binding, spritz with water and squish it a bit in your hand. Then congratulate yourself for the foresight of making matching ribbon :-)


Now I want you to make one (or five) one sheet wonders yourself so you can play along this week. 

Come back tomorrow and I'll show you what you can do with them. 
There'll be prizes :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~

Just so you know, the CupCards To Go Kits go live at 6:00 PM PST tonight. 

Want to see one last peek from the cards I made?





5 comments:

Teri said...

Great idea! I just can't seem to find the right fabric for summery pillow covers and this idea would allow me to create my own colors and patterns! Too clever!

Ginaj said...

Haven't done this for a long time. I may just have to play along!

Kathi said...

OK. This technique is flat out terrific and yields great results.

I'll try to grab some time and play along with some Bombshell roses and skulls perhaps...

Rebecca Geile said...

I did this tonight and I'm pretty pumped about the results. I've never done anything like this before. Thanks for the easy to follow tutorial. Now to figure out what to do with it. That'll have to wait til tomorrow.

www.StarHughes.com said...

That is such a great idea! I'm inspired. Might have to make something like it this summer! That is such a great design!
Star Hughes Living