My first tutorial(s)! I scream, you scream, we all scream for….

the petal cone die!!!! Bet you thought I was going to say, ice cream?!  Ice cream is a favorite around here and one of my favorite crafting accessories these days is definitely the Petal Cone Die!  It's so much a favorite that I'm going to be offering a petal cone class in early April.  I'll be announcing details of that class soon, so stay tuned!

Ready for a shocker?!  ….can you believe that I thought maybe I wouldn't even purchase this die?!  I know, it's shocking to think there was an item I thought I didn't need?!  I wasn't crazy about it at first sight, but as usual it wasn't long before many a demo out there in blog land were busily, steadily & excitedly sharing crazy wonderful ideas created with this die!  I've done such a 180 with this die that I think I'm ready to proclaim it as, 'the most versatile die we offer' …it might even need a super crafter name?!  Susie, are you up to the task?!   Be prepared to find many, many fantastic ideas out there for this die.  I'll start here by saving you some of the work and am going to share one of my favorite creations made from the Petal Cone.  This is one that I've seen many variations on by many different demos (one in particular is Angie Juda, the basket we made at the Valentine class was a case of one of her chocolate projects…the projects made with this die really are unending!).  I'll save you even more work at my upcoming class if you are able to participate!  I can't wait! 

We'll begin with the Ice Cream Cone card that my stamp club members got to create (with one group yet to come…) this month.  I gave them the option to create a pull-out card or an opening card.  Everyone was surprised at how easy both projects were to create.  The other project was the card I posted last week with the girl silhouette from Easter Blossoms.  It was also a hit!

Here are the two versions they chose from.  The first one is an opening card and the 2nd one has a pull-out and some extra dimension added to the banner. 

 

I've got plenty of photos to share with you here.  I'm going to attempt my first photo tutorial.  Bear with me…I hope this makes sense and is helpful!  And to those of you who missed, hopefully you'll see how we created your project for you!  I want to show you how easy it is to create a cherry for the top of your ice cream cone, cupcakes etc.  The Bird Punch is another one of our very versatile must-haves.  I used it here for the leaf and stem on the cherry but it has also been used to create flames, tulips and has many other creative uses!  Here goes…

Disclaimer: (smile) After many attempts to put the photos side by side I can't figure out how to get it to appear that way when you view it, so I'm going to have to trail these photos one after the other.  When I do figure it out, I'll try to come back to update my tutorial…but for now I hope this helps!

Creating the Cherry

1.  Punch the tip of the branch out of Old Olive CS.                                

      

2.  Cut all the leaves off but the one that is on the left

     side of the stem by itself.  

      

 3. Color the 'stem' with a Chocolate Chip or Early

      Espresso marker on both the front and the          

      back.

              

4.  Adhere the colored stem and leaf to the white

      side of one 1/2" circle of Red Glimmer Paper. 

      

         (thanks David for the coloring tip!)

5.  Adhere a 2nd 1/2" circle of Red and now you've 

     got a simple to create, but yet adorable cherry!  

     (keep in mind that you will actually only need one

     stem to complete this process.  I just wanted to

     illustrate how it goes from one step to the other

     so I've included as many in this tutorial as there

     are steps to illustrate the change from one step to

     the next).  I hope this makes sense and gives you a

     fun new way to create a cherry!

     

 

My dear friend and club member, Susie, shared an easy way (as in easier than cutting off an 1/8" of an inch from each side of the Very Vanilla cone) to make the Vanilla piece fit just inside the Crumb Cake cone.  This one takes just one cut.  Gotta love how easy that is!  Here's my 2nd tutorial ever and all in one post.  

 

Creating a text space for the inside of your cone

(Using half of the foldable cone that you cut from Very Vanilla CS using the Petal Cone die. (you'll get two inserts from each full cut with the die.))

         

1.  See here how the Vanilla  piece is the same 

       size as the cone?               

      

2.  Slide the Vanilla piece towards the top of the 

     cone about an 1/8" so that you have equal

     spacing on each side of the vanilla 'cone'.

     

3.  Draw a line to cut along or trim off enough so

     that the top is shortened enough to fit below the

     top of the cone as pictured in the next photo. 

     

4.   You will end up with a Vanilla piece that nicely

     fits just inside the cone with just one cut.   

     Brilliant! Thanks Susie!

     

 

NOTE: If you are creating the cone that has the pull-out insert, you will need to cut an 1/8" off each side, but keeping the top of the cone intact.  This will allow you to fit the Vanilla insert into the cone all the way.  Have fun with your ice cream!  

I hope this made sense and helped you out.  Please feel free to leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts.  ….now after all this ice cream, I really can't wait for summer!

p.s. only four more sleeps til the Birthday Boy turns 7!!!  I'm sure our weekend will be FULL of ice cream and excitement!   I hope your week is fun too!  …and maybe even includes ice cream..especially the paper kind!