Joyrides & Coasters...

All month long, my crafty and talented design teammates at Imaginisce have been showing off some incredibly inspiring projects using Imaginisce tools and today I get to share mine!

If you read TSB regularly, you will know that I have a very special love for a good hobby blade. I love to cut things out, especially very finely detailed images and I also love a straight edge! I knew I wanted to showcase my all-time favorite hobby blade: The Clicut Retractable Pen Knife. (To be fair, I'm also showing off the ever-cool i-Mat 8 x 8 Self-healing Mat!)

My first project is a layout. I wanted to do something special with the photo of my little rugrat having the time of his life on a train ride and decided to create a woven photo. (see tutorial below) I was inspired by the cool sketch at Mid-Week Mojo.

The Clicut was just what I needed to make straight, clean cut strips. Here's a close-up:

Here's a quick tutorial:

A. Print 2 copies of the same image, one in full color, the other in black & white. B. My photo is a 5 x 7.  The smaller the photo, the tricker the weave as photo paper is thick. This size worked well. C. Trim one photo horizontally. D. Trim second photo vertically. E. Weave strips as you would a basket. Don't worry if you are left with a crazy looking shape as you try to line up the image. F. Crop and trim the woven image and mat with cardstock.

My next project is a set of colorful Photo Coasters. These are super fun and easy to make and would make a great gift!

I used various papers from Imaginisce and printed out small photos of the rugrat.

1. Trim patterned paper slightly larger than coaster. 2. Adhere coaster with strong adhesive.  3. Trim with Clicut around coaster. 4. Repeat with each coaster and also after applying laminate sheet.

I added a few embellishments, being careful to keep things relatively flat, as these would be usable coasters. I also applied a self-adhesive laminate sheet (available at your local office supply store) and trimmed with the Clicut.

Here are close-ups of each coaster:

BEAN NOTES

Joyride Layout

Patterned Paper: Bon Voyage Collection; Autumn Splendor Collection (Imaginisce)

Stamps: Just the Ticket sentiment (PTI)

Cardstock: Brown textured (American Crafts); Very Vanilla, Basic Grey, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)

Fibers: Canvas Rope (Canvas Corp.)

Accents: Pinstripe Mister Huet (Studio Calico)

Dies: Train Tracks (Taylored Expressions); Pennants and Notebook (PTI); Studio Classic Dies (Lifestyle Crafts)

Photo Coasters

Patterned Paper: Makin' Waves Collection, Hippity Hop Collection, Hello Cupcake Collection (Imaginisce)

Stickers: Hello Cupcake, Makin' Waves, Hippity Hop (Imaginisce)

Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Pear Pizazz, Chocolate Chip; Pumpkin Pie (Stampin' Up!)

Accents: Mister Huey (Studio Calico)

Other: Self-Adhesive Laminating Sheets (Avery); Coasters (PTI)

I hope you enjoyed my projects today!

If you missed any projects from the month, head over to the Imaginisce Blog and prepare to be inspired to use some cool tools! They are also doing an awesome giveaway, so be sure to leave some love!