CLEARLY CREATIVE BLOG HOP - Friday and Saturday

 April 16 and 17

Welcome to our second LBH Media Team Blog Hop. This time we are featuring the Bella Blvd Clear Cuts which are available both in store and online. Each team member will be showing how she used them in a variety of projects. 

Here is the list of participating blogs and links in case you get lost along the way. And, you will have two days to visit all the blogs!

-Lindsey (LBH Blog) http://www.thelittlebluehouseblog.blogspot.com/
-Miss Tracy http://www.misstracycreates.com/
-Nadine http://myscrapnstuff.blogspot.com/
-Angi  http://cokiepopaper.blogspot.com/
-Vicki http://vickichrisman.blogspot.com/
-Susan Tidwell http://susan-artfulmusings.blogspot.com/ (you are here!)

-Kristyn McElroy  http://www.theinspiredmonkey.blogspot.com/

Be sure to visit each blog and leave a comment. Here's a peek at the fun prize for one lucky commenter!

So let's get started! The Clear Cuts are polka-dot transparency overlays in lots of colors and are fun to use.  They can be punched, die cut, cut on a die cutting machine, sewn, adhered over another pattern, made into flowers, painted and I'm sure there are many other options we haven't thought of yet!

I created two small projects - (1) a cute little pinwheel which would be great as a cupcake topper or even a package trim and (2) a small envelope perfect for a gift card or a note.

PINWHEEL INSTRUCTIONS

For the pinwheel you will need:

 (1) 3" square of Clear Cuts (I used the red polka dots - love it!)

1 coordinating brad

1 Queen & Co. decorative straw (*in store only)

 approximately 6" narrow ribbon

 1.  Cut from each corner of the 3" square toward the center but do not cut through the center. The easiest way to do this is to hold the center of the square with your thumb and index finger of your non-dominant hand and cut from each corner just to your fingers. In the photo below I have placed the Clear Cut on white paper and drawn the cut lines since it is hard to see this in a photograph. The little area in the center is what will be left uncut.

2.  Punch a small hole in the center and one corner of each "triangle" as shown below (black dots).

3. Place brad in one corner hole and then insert the brad into the next corner hole. Repeat adding all corners to the brad. When all four are stacked on brad, insert brad into the center hole. Open brad ends to secure. That's it!

4. Cut straw to desired length and glue completed pinwheel to the end OR you can punch a hole through both sides of the end of the straw, open the brad and insert the ends through the holes to secure without glue.

5. Knot a piece of coordinating ribbon around the base of the pinwheel. Insert in a cupcake or add to a package!

GIFT CARD ENVELOPE INSTRUCTIONS

For the clear envelope you will need:

 a 5" square of the Clear Cuts (or larger, depending on the size of envelope desired)

WeR Envelope Punch Board  (available at LBH store)

 Glossy Accents

1. Place Clear Cut square on the envelope punch board (I have added white paper behind the clear square in these photos so you can see it better) with the left edge aligned on the number indicated in the printed directions on the board. For this, I used a 5" x 5" square to make a 2" x 3.5" envelope and aligned the edge at #2. Punch at top and score on the right with the scoring tool. Rotate the square counter-clockwise to align this score line with the little blue score guide and punch and score again. Repeat this until all four sides have been punched and scored.

This is what your square will look like after punching and scoring.

2. Fold along both short score lines and one long score line and glue overlapping edges. I used Glossy Accents and it barely shows. The top flap will remain open. You're done!

3. Insert a gift card or note and give to someone special!

I hope you are enjoying all the girls' projects. From here you will hop on over to Kristyn's blog to check out her project. And don't forget to comment! YOU could be the lucky winner!