Arnold Grummer's Design Team Blog

© Michele Emerson-Robert 2016 Spring has sprung! Trees are budding and the flowers are waking up from their winter’s slumber. I love this time of year when things are starting to turn green and the first blooms are opening up. With several friends birthdays this month and my not having proper cards for them….it is the perfect opportunity to use some of the wonderful handmade paper to create a pair of tags. Adding a birthday wish on the back makes them the perfect birthday card! Supplies: ·        Any of the Arnold Grummer® paper making kits ·        Blender, strainer, cello sponges and soft towels ·        A sunny window ·        Scraps of white paper (think junk mail, etc.) ·        Scraps of white card stock to die cut ·        Dies: CheeryLynn TM DL112 Exotic Butterflies mini, M...

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016 Taking a trip by car, boat or plane? During down time - you can think great thoughts or have interesting conversations with Questions from the Traveling Skewer Book. Supplies: Arnold Grummer Paper Making Kit Arnold Grummer How To Make Paper  Two pieces of handmade paper - 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches Two pieces of color coordinated paper -  5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches Two 6 inch bamboo skewers   2 pieces of ribbon  - 15 inches each Bone folder, hole punch, double sided tape Road Trip rubber stamp Twelve questions to ask while traveling - see below. Prepare two signatures:  One piece of handmade paper and one piece of coordinated paper each. Punch holes in both signatures an inch from the top and bottom. Place a skewer inside each signature. Thread the ribbon from the outside into the first signature, around the skewer and out. Repeat for the second signature using the same ribbon. Snug up t...

©Anne Rita Taylor 2016 I made these pouches for each person in my writing group. With a list of words we used as prompts for writing an essay. After writing for 15 minutes, we would read to the group what we wrote - fun! Supplies: Arnold Grummer Paper Making Kit Blender, strainer, sponges, towels Scissors, bone folder 24 inch ribbon Rubber stamp for front of Pouch, see my  Carving Images for Prints  for carving instructions Journal prompt words: Recognition, Honesty, Routine, Assertive, Productivity, Profound, Silence, Respect, Rebellious, Unique, Legendary, Expansive, Achievement, Harmony, Hope Follow instructions in the  Arnold Grummer Paper Making Kit Cut handmade paper into an 8 inch square Fold into triangle using the bone folder; Open and fold into opposite side triangle Turn the paper over Fold in thirds again using the bone folder to measure: 2 & 5/8 inches Open and fold the other way into thirds again; the bone folder m...

© Anne Rita Taylor 2016 We had interesting themes when we swapped handmade books online a few years ago. It was always fun seeing what each person made. The books had content, except when we would have a Blank Book Exchange or a How-To Book Binding. The How-To Book Binding theme always received the most participation! We included the paper and instructions. I sent the Ribbon Binding - pretty and an easy book to make. It requires only 4 pages with a cover, plus a good amount of ribbon. Especially good for using leftover hand-made paper scraps. Supplies:  Arnold Grummer Paper Making supplies .  Arnold Grummer Paper Making how-to . Cover: 5 1/2 by 8 inches, folded in half to 4 inches by 5 1/2 inches Paper : 4 pages 5 1/2 by 8 inches, also folded in half - I used stationery with roses on the edges Pretty Hand-made paper: 3 by 4 inches - Paper that I made with flower inclusions Optional paper for framing the handmade paper on the cover: 2 1/2 by 3...

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2015 I love this angel mold and made several extra full castings the day I made the casting for the Angel Baby card (where I used only a part of the mold). A dear friend that I will be visiting next month has a beautiful guest bathroom done in shades of royal blue with lots of blue glass bottles, jars etc. She is also a collector of Angels. I purchased this decretive heart shaped bottle several years ago and it will be the perfect hostess gift with the addition of the Angel casting. Supplies: Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits AG Cotton Press Angel casting mold Scraps of white paper (think junk mail, etc.)  Microwave, traditional oven, heat tool or a sunny window Blender, cello sponges and soft towels Westcott® scissors BowEasy™ Beacon QuickGrip™  & ZipDry™ Adhesives 24” of ½” iridescent royal blue ribbon Iridescent glitter Pastels, chalks or powdered eye makeup and applica...

©Michele Emerson-Roberts   2015 I mail about 50 inspirational handmade cards a month and like to make them in batches. I will often gather up scraps left over from other handmade paper projects and use them in the creation of the new cards. If I am short on time I will use card stock as the card base and use the handmade papers as the accents. If you have been following the blog, you know that I always save my scraps….but in case you don’t have any handmade paper scraps, the instructions below will walk you through the process. I ran across these sentiment stamps from JustRite™ stamps and think they will be perfect for March’s batch of cards.   Supplies: Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits Scraps of dark gold, tan, burgundy and olive green paper (think junk mail, etc.) Blender, small strainer, cello sponges and soft towels Westcott® paper cutter & scissors, X-acto knife and cutting mat Score-Pal™ Dies:  Spellbinders™...

©Michele Emerson-Roberts   2014 I have a close friend who is simply elegant in all that she does. Perhaps “classy” is a better word to describe her. I needed to create a special birthday card for her that would be elegant and classy. Her favorite colors are peach and burgundy. I hope you will like the card as much as she did. Supplies: Any of the Arnold Grummer paper making kits Mold: the bottom of a glass bowl (secretly barrowed from her china cabinet)  Heat gun or a sunny window Blender, small strainer, cello sponges and soft towels, scissors, bone folder Beacon Quick Grip™ Adhesive, double sided foam tape or foam dots Scraps of peach and white paper (think colored junk mail, etc.) One 6 x12” Burgundy  90# card stock folded in half (I used World Win) Envelope for a 6 x 6” card Dies: Spellbinders™ Circles, CherryLynn Doily Spellbinders Grand Calibur™ Machine ColorBox ™ Chalk Ink pads in Peach and ...

©Michele Emerson-Roberts 2014 The quiet time between Christmas day and New Year’s Day is a time for me to relax, reflect and look back at the past year and start planning and looking forward to 2015. My thoughts always go to “love”, weddings and Valentine’s Day. The card I am working on today will be for my wonderful husband Charles who grows beautiful flowers and is indeed my Valentine. Just a small reminder that he still makes my heart flutter. Supplies:  Any of the Arnold Grummer™ paper making kits Microwave, heat gun or a sunny window Blender, small strainer, cello sponges Iron and pressing cloth Westcott® personal paper cutter, scissors Scor-Pal™ Beacon ZipDry™ & QuickGrip™ Adhesives Scraps of white and lavender paper or cardstock (think junk mail, etc.) - or use lavender scrap from a previous project. Remember: ALWAYS save the scraps. Black cardstock 5 ½” x 8 ½”  (Checked my stash and did not have any handmade paper….darn) Envelopes for a 4 ¼ x 5 ...

I recently became the Art Teacher at a local Catholic school.  I am responsible for grades K-8th, each coming once a week.  My background in teaching is with the Elementary grades (K-5) so 6th-8th may be a little challenging.  Thankfully the former art teacher left me a ton of fabulous ideas that I can use as a jumpstart. One thing that she had for middle schoolers was to cover an art journal in some permanent way (paint, paper, fabric, etc) that reflected a little of their artistic style.  Fabulous jump start to the year!  I gave the assignment to them during the first class and answered any questions that they had..."Can I use Duck Tape?"  "yes"  "Can I wallpaper?"  "yes"  "Can I...???" You get the idea.  I realized that I could not expect them to decorate a journal without doing one myself, so for the first time in my adult life I shall have an art journal of my own.  With that background, let's decorate a journal...