Sunday, May 15, 2011

MAY KIT RELEASED EARLY...WHAT!!??

I know the time is suppose to be 8pm for me to reveal the kit on the 15th, but I am just so darn excited about this kit that I just couldn't hold my horses!! Also, I just fell in love with the design team this month with the beautiful kit!! Head on over to House of Art to get yours before they go flying out the door like hot cakes!!

Trinkets and Treasures: $29.99 plus S+H






Saturday, April 30, 2011

House of Art Sketch by Kat Poole!!!

Hey, everyone! Kat here to try to inspire you today. When I get “Scrapper’s Block” I always turn to sketches to help me out. They always manage to jumpstart my creativity. Here is a sketch that I have created for you:

And here is a layout I made with this sketch, using this month’s kit:

I hope this sketch inspires you. And please, if you make a layout using it, link it up in the comments section. We would love to see what you create!

Have a great day!
Kat Poole

Saturday, April 16, 2011

The APRIL KIT IS HERE!!

I'm pleased to announce the April kit: Hip Hip Hooray!!!


If you would like to see the closeups for this kit, check out our kits page!

Also, a few things have changed this month in the gallery. Now when you go to the gallery you can choose to take a quick look at the designers work by playing the video, or you can click the link "view this gallery" under the video to take a closer look at all the layouts and closeups!!

Friday, April 15, 2011

April Kit Reveal DELAYED until tomorrow!

Hi everyone,
  I have been trying to publish the new kit and design work to the site for the past 15 minutes, and I'm assuming the server is down, or there is some sort of technical difficulties going on from my hosting companies side.  There customer service is closed until tomorrow morning, Im going to post the design team work here so you can see the different elements of the kit.  I am so sorry everyone, I'm so upset about this, especially being that House of Art is a new company and trying to make a good first impression!!  I hope the design team work can hold you over!! Here they are:


Nicole Martel




Kat Poole



Taraleigh Gray

w

Lisa Houpt

APRIL KIT REVEAL TONIGHT!!!

The time is finally here to reveal the April kit!! I'm so excited about this kit because it has some really awesome elements in it!!! So, check back here or House of Art to see the reveal at 8pm PST!!! Cant wait!!!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

April Kit Sneaks

Sneak Peeks for the April Kit will be released tomorrow with the reveal being on Friday, the 15th at 8pm PST.  If you would like to see a few *sneakies* of Kat Poole's work with the April kit, head on over to her Blog!!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

3D Flower How-To with Taraleigh Gray

Hello friends and family of House of Art! I am gladly here to teach you all about how to make some lovely 3-D flowers like the ones on the layout below.
This layout is one I created using March’s kit Carnival Ride. The 3-D flowers are actually really simple to make. There's a few different ways to create them so let’s get started. 

Here is what you will need:
  • Patterned Paper/Cardstock
  • Scissors
  • Large Circle Punches/Scallop Punches (1.75" or larger)
  • Adhesive (glue dots work great!)
  • Optional: Sizzix Big Shot and 3D Flower Die. 
First I am going to walk you through making the flowers with the Sizzix die-cut, since that is what I used for my layout. Doing it this way is only one way of creating the flowers, so don't panic if you don't have a Sizzix! I will show you other ways of creating these beauties as well.

Sizziz Die-Cut Method
I started out by running the die through the machine to cut scalloped spirals out of some of the paper from March's kit.
As you can see, I have 3 potential flowers in the photo above.  The next step is to take the die-cut and start twisting/rolling it up from the outside in.
This is important: starting from the very outside will make gluing the final product a lot easier, so remember to start on the very outside of the spiral. See the photo above for some illustration. (I've been told that you can use a toothpick to help begin rolling the paper, but I found it was easier just starting the paper by folding/rolling it on its own. Do whatever works for you.)
Once you have it all rolled up you will take some adhesive (like I said, glue dots work great!) and apply it to the back of the flower. Don't be afraid to press down gently to make sure all the bottom edges get stuck to the glue dot. In the photo above, you can see what the finished flower looks like compared to what we started with.

For my layout, I created a cluster of these 3-D lovelies and applied them to the space below the photo and journaling.
As you can see, the flowers helped fill in the space and gave the layout a wonderful added texture. There’s so much more dimension on the page, and it is all thanks to these really simple 3-D flowers.
Circle/Scallop Punch method:
You can create the same effect using the circle/scallop punches, so grab some large punches and a pair of scissors and let’s give this method a try
1. Punch out a circle/scallop using your the punch of your choice. (Remember, larger circles work best, as the size of the finished flower is a fraction of the actual starting circle size.)
2. Pick any point on the outside of the circular shape and with your scissors begin cutting a spiral. See the photo below for illustration:
I went over my cuts with a green marker to show what I mean by a spiral; as you can see, I just started cutting from the outside and worked my way to the center of the shape. On the plain circle, I snipped of the pointed beginning I could begin rolling with a straight edge. Note: You will want to leave a good center so that gluing the flower is easier when you get to that point.
3. Once your spiral is cut, starting rolling the flower from the outside (just like I described in the Sizzix method). When you have it all rolled, apply a glue dot or adhesive of your choice and voila! Here is what the two different flowers look like side by side:
These little flowers are so fun to experiment with! Now that you know how to make them, try adding them to your next layout or project. I've even tried making these flowers out of fabric and felt and the results are to die for! The possibilities with these flowers are endless!! Thanks for letting me share this little technique with you. If you have any questions, leave a comment here or on my blog (taraleighgray.blogspot.com) and I will be sure to get back to you. 

Have a lovely day!