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Sylvia van der Steen

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Cinco de mayo

May 5, 2023

Hi all, it’s Sylvia here again. Happy Cinco de Mayo! By mistake my blogpost from yesterday got switched with the one that should have been on the blog in 2 weeks so therefore you see me here 2 days in a row! Isn’t that fun?! 😉 So today I would like to show you this festive card, that can also be used as a square pocket page in your planner. Many people in the US and Mexico will celebrate ‘Cinco de Mayo’, so let’s have a little fiësta.

First cut a piece of cardstock 10×20 cm and fold it in half to get a 10×10 cm square card. Keep the fold at the top. Cut a mat of 9,7×9,7 cm in black.

Diecut from Soft Finish Cardstock as follows:

1859 farmer: hat rim

1995 holiday stocking: toe and decorative trims

1931 beaver: tail, hind legs you might want to opt for the arms instead of the legs, your choice

1982 filefolder 1: banner

1670 camping accessories: guitar, other option is the guitar from the retro bus set 1928

1991 mrs claus: trimmings

1707 halloween accessories: spoon 2 x (not in this photo, I added them later)

Diecut from set 2012 food truck both wheels (fold almost in half for the taco shell) from set 2013 the lettuce from the hotdog and the swirl sauce, from set 1990 (santa) all fluffy trims (for lettuce and meat) and from set 1931 (beaver) the 4 circles (2x) (for tomato and cucumber slices) and colour all parts to create a taco or 2. Arrange the food in the taco and glue it shut.

Diecut all separate letters ‘happy cinco de mayo’ from the month dies in set 2008 tickets & tabs.

Use a colour medium of your choice to colour all pieces in the main colours red, green and yellow. I used my markers for the small parts and distress ink for the larger ones.

Glue the stocking toe to the hat rim to form a sombrero. Use both the loop trimmings at the rim (trim off the extra) and use Mrs. Claus’ trimmings to decorate the top.

Glue the beaver legs on either side of the beaver tail to make a cactus. Decorate the spoons (see photo) to become samba balls /maracas. You might want to shorten them a bit.

Arrange the front of the card with the banner, cactus, guitar and samba balls. The sombrero will go on the in side.

Happy cinco de mayo to everyone and happy crafting to you all. Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

Love, Sylvia

Elizabeth Craft Designs supplies:

2 Comments
Joset Designs

How to create ‘new’animals

May 4, 2023

Hi all! It is me again here, Sylvia. As you might know, I like to play with my dies and mix and match several die sets to create ‘new’ animals. So here is a little ‘how-to’ to make some new animals with the dies you already own.

Today we will create a small hummingbird, a snake in a basket and a little monkey. Using Soft Finish cardstock, die cut pieces from the following die sets:

For the hummingbird
1682 fox: tail and tail tip
1729 koala: ear
1665 parrot: wings, 1 leg
1684 owl: feet
1664 rhino: tail

Hummingbird:
First draw lines on the ‘body’ and on the ‘head’ as shown in the photo. Colour all parts to your liking with a colour medium of your choice. I used my markers. Draw an eye on the head (see photo). Assemble as in the photo.

For the monkey:
1931 beaver: 1 leg, 1 arm, eyes
1618 monkey: tail
1746 mermaid: both arms
1707 halloween accessories: skull

Primate/monkey:
Colour all parts in a brown shade, except for the skull, hands and ears. Those need just a hint of cream. Assemble as in the photo.

For the snake in the basket:
2013 food truck accessories: basket
1931beaver: arms, eyes
1703 dragon: face
1671 fire accessories: hose
1978 party time: balloon rope
1735 peel-a-boo love set: mouth

Snake:
Cut the basket and use only the upper part. Cut the balloon rope in half (this will become the snake’s tongue). Colour all parts and stripe the hose (this is the snake’s body). Use photo for reference and asseble.

Now you have 3 “new” animals that you can use on either a card or in your planner or scrapbook page.
This is how I like to mix and match my dies, just be creative and think outside the box. Have fun inventing new animals. I hope this little tutorial is helpful. Please do not hesitate to contact me in case something is not clear, I’d love to help you out.

Happy crafting!
Sylvia

Elizabeth Craft Designs supplies:

3 Comments
Uncategorized

S.W.A.K.

April 2, 2023

Hi all. Sylvia here. It’s my turn on the blog again. With Mother’s Day just around the corner in my part of the world, I would like to show you a sweet card that can be sent to all moms or MIL’s that do not live close to you. Are you ready to craft with me?

First diecut the birthday flip card from set 1980 in Soft Finish Cardstock and diecut the layers/mats from design paper of your choice. Also diecut the small envelop from David’s set 2015 Journal file XL 2 in a matching colour. (Photo 1)

Card, mats, envelop

Next cut a giftcard holder in designpaper and cut the slots in. For the slots you use the die that comes with the birthday flip card set. Also diecut 2 letters M from set 1863 stitched alphabet in coloured cardstock, 2 x a kiss (lips) from set 2009 in coloured cardstock plus the corresponding solid 2x in Soft Finish Cardstock and optional: the smallest heart from set 1265 (also in coloured cardstock). (photo 2, I added the second kiss afterwards, so it is not in this photo)

Step 3: glue the mats from designpaper to the flip card and assemble the little envelop and both of the kisses. Align both M’s with one of the kisses to form the word Mom, one kiss representing the O in the word MOM and centre it on the card (photo 3).

Sealed with a kiss

Use the second kiss as closure to the little envelop. In the envelop you can put a sweet note for your mom to tell her how much you love her! Finally another option: diecut a banner from set 1390 in coloured cardstock, stamp I love you on it, and adhere that right under the word Mom. This is optional.

Instead of a giftcard, you could also put an extra note card at the position of the giftcard and glue the little heart on it. (photo 4)

Happy Mother’s Day

Happy Crafting

Sylvia

coming soon:

2015 journal files XL 2

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Uncategorized

Quick easter basket

March 26, 2023

Hi all! Sylvia here with a quick easter basket for the little ones. Let’s craft together!

Step 1: Take a sheet of patterned paper 15×15 cm (6×6 inch) and score both horizontally and vertically at 5 and 10 cm (2 and 4 inch) so that you end up with 9 equal square parts.

Step 2: Cut along the red lines as shown in the photo below.  Fold all other scorelines.

Step 3: Glue the tips of the outer squares together to form the basket.

Step 4: Cut a strip of cardstock of approx 20 cm (8 inch) in a matching colour for the handle and adhere to the basket.

Step 5: Assemble some ‘easter’ critters from Joset (I used set 1929 bunny and 1626 little chick, but the sheep would also fit) to decorate your basket with.

Happy easter everyone!

Supplies:

1 Comment
Joset Designs

But first… coffee

March 17, 2023

Hi all! Sylvia here. Today I have a quick card for you, using the brand new stampset from the foodtruck, combined with Esther’s new ticket dies. This card can be an invitation for a friend to get together and have some coffee. Let’s start creating!



Step 1: cut a piece of white cardstock of approx 10×15 cm [4×6 inch]
Step 2: using the coffeebean stamps, stamp lots of beans randomly at the top of the card, working your way down to the bottom, slowly fading out the pattern, as shown in the photo. I used a dark brown colour of ink.



Step 3: cut a ticket from set 2008 tickets and tabs in white cardstock and layer it on a bigger ticket from the same set. Stamp ‘but first… coffee’ from set CS 296 on the white ticket



Step 4: layer your stamped coffeebean card on a light brown mat, in which you cut a notch approx 4 cm from the botton. Adhere the beancard with attached mat with foam tape to the dark brown bottom mat


Step 5: cut another white ticket, stamp the same coffebeen pattern all over this ticket and adhere a ‘kiss’ in red on the small part of this ticket. Stamp the text ‘calories don’t count’ on the larger part of this ticket. Slide the ticket in between the 2 mats at the notch.

Happy crafting!
Sylvia

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies:

Joset Designs

Farm fresh pick up truck

March 12, 2023

Hi all! It’s Sylvia here with a fun twist in the brand new food truck. Have you seen it yet? Joset turned my idea perfectly into a great design and together with all the accessories it is such a versatile set. Here is another fun variation that you can create with this food truck. Are you ready?

Step 1: diecut all parts of the foodtruck from Soft Finish Cardstock. Diecut as well some fruits, veggies and crates from set 1858 farm accessories and a basket from the foodtruck accessories, also in Soft Finish cardstock

Step 2: trim off the small part above the hind wheel, as shown in the photo below

Trim off the small strip on the left

Step 3: cut the foodtruck at the black lines as shown in the next photo. Now you’ll have a base for a pick up truck.

Step 4: colour all parts to your liking. I used distress ink salvaged patina and speckled egg for the blueish tones and brushed corduroy for the browns, I also rubbed some copper wax randomly to get a ‘rusty look’ on the pick up truck.

Step 5: assemble the truck as shown in the photo and stamp ‘farm fresh’ on the side, using the stamp from set CS 296 goid food, good mood

Step 6: colour the crates, basket, fruits and veggies to your liking. Note: I used the centre part of the sunflower as oranges

Step 7: arrange the crates, basket, fruits and veggies on the pick up truck. I added a steering wheel and used the T-shape from set 1620 safari accessories for mine. Now your truck is ready to deliver the harvest to the market. You can use it in your planner or send it as a card to a friend.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask! I love to see your trucks.

Happy crafting!

Sylvia

Elizabeth Craft Designs supplies:

Other supplies:

Color medium like distress ink or similar, metallic rub on

4 Comments
Uncategorized

Valentine’s sweets

February 11, 2023

Hi all, Sylvia here with a quick but lovely little gift. Valentine’s is just around the corner, so I made this fun ‘sweets for my sweet’ tag gift. Let’s give it a go.

Step 1 using Soft Finish Cardstock diecut 2 identical tags from set 1998 (nested tags), size depends on what you will put in between them. Make sure they are both the same size

Step 2 Score each tag approx 1/2 inch (1 cm) from the bottom and glue them together at the score line (see photos)

Step 3 Find some Valentine’s treats, love tea or chocolate and put that in a small zip lock, small enough to fit in between the 2 tags.

Step 4 decorate your tags with splashes of red and black, using the watercolor palette. Diecut heart reinforcements from planner essentials set 1658.

Step 5 diecut 2 of the smallest banners from set 1329 (stitched fishtail banners) and 1 in red cardstock, 1 size up. Diecut the heartbeat from Sidekick Essentials 1, set 1765 in red cardstock (sorry, forgot the photo)

Step 6 use all heart stamps from set CS 158 for some more decoration on the tags and stamp ‘be mine’ on 1 small banner and ‘hugs&kisses’ on the other one. Both stamps are also from set CS 158. Make a hole in all 3 banners and attach a heart reinforcement on all banners. Use the other reinforcements for the tags.

Step 7 Slide the zip lock bag with sweets in between the tags and bind the banners to the tags with a nice ribbon. If you have any questions please let me know! Happy Valentine!!

Joset Designs

Let’s go to Mexico

February 4, 2023

Hi all!! Sylvia here with my very first post on the Elizabeth Craft Designs blog. I am so happy to be a member of the talented design team at Elizabeth Craft Designs! You might know me from the ECD family page where I regularly show new characters by mixing and matching my dies. Today I’d like to show you how I build my characters, mixing and matching dies from various die sets from Joset’s collections.
We are creating a male and female Mexican character, so let’s get started. (Photo)

Step 1: Die cutting

Die cut all parts needed from Soft finish cardstock, using mrs. Claus for the Mexican girl (photo 2), some flowers for her hair from Adventure Edges 2 and parts of the farmer set, prince, gnomes, holiday stocking and the guitar from the safari accessories set for the male (Photo 3), see full supply list below. Note: die cut Mrs. Claus’ neck/body 2x (1 for the male, 1 for the female).

Step 2: Coloring

Use distress ink, oxide ink and markers to color all parts. (Photo). Use Tea dye Distress Ink for all skin tone body parts (head, neck, arms, hands, legs), Black soot oxide for hair, moustache, dress, pants, shoes, Lumberjack plaid for red trims, Mustard seed for sombrero rim and top and yellow trims, markers in yellow, red and orange for the poncho and orange trims. (Photo)

Step 3: Drawing

Draw a pattern on the poncho as shown in the photo using a black fineliner and use the markers for coloring. Cut off the rounded corners (use photo as reference). Draw the eyes, brows, nose and mouth with a fineliner, following the embossed lines. I gave the female an extra mole. (Photo)

Step 4: assemble the female

I wanted the dress to be off shoulder, so I glued it a bit lower than normal on the body. Her hands are behind her back. Decorate the dress to your liking with yellow, red and orange trims and add flowers to her hair. (Photo)

Step 5: assemble the male

First cut a slot in the rim of the sombrero, wide enough to fit the head (photo).

Glue the hair, moustache and neck on to the head. Slide the sombrero rim over the hair and glue it down. Stick the top on the sombrero. (Photo)


Stick the pants on the body and the shoes under the pants. Stick the poncho on top of the body. Stick one hand to a straight sleeve and the other hand to the bend sleeve. Glue the guitar in place, position both arms and stick them down. (Photo)

Now you have 2 Mexican characters to use on a card or in your planner. (Photos). Hope you enjoyed my tutorial. If you have any questions, please ask. Note: the characters on the card below are slightly different than the ones we created today (that’s because I created them a few months ago)

Happy crafting!!

Sylvia

Elizabeth Craft Designs Supplies:

Other Supplies:
Distress ink, oxide ink, markers
Liquid glue
Black fineliner

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