It's a Creative World

Book Tree

Hello Kerry here with a tree made from an old book. 

I've been noticing these sort of trees all over blogland and wanted to try and have a go.  I found a really easy tutorial from Readers Digest (click the link for the tutorial).  Apparently these have been going for a very long time but I've not seen them before this year.

Not being a reader of their magazine I decided to have a go with an old book.  I'm saying old but I only bought it last year for the grand sum of 99p from Amazon before anybody gasps at me recycling a very old valuable book. 

I started by removing the covers and then made the first folds

After a few folds it looked like this

and then after 200+ pages it looked like this.  I have no idea how many pages a Readers Digest magazine has so this might have been a little too many but it worked.

I stuck the first and last pages together and then got to work with my most festive mists.

 

Left it to dry and then decorated it with some tinsel on the top, some fringing from my ribbon box and some buttons. 

I can see me making one of these for each season especially as my local library has a mountain of old books at dirt cheap prices which would be ideal.

Have a lovely Christmas everybody.

a very Vintage style wreath...

Hi all...alix here again!

We really should chat more here at Creative Towers, eh...you've gone and ended up with a Christmas wreath 2 days in a row...but i have to say they couldn't be more different...even though the design is essentially the same.  That really is one of the fabulous things i love about crafting your own...you can stick to a simple design...in this case a repetition of the same embellishment over and over around a ring, and by changing the colours and the materials you get a totally different feel to the finished piece. Eleanor's wreath is simply stunning in a serene, modern, understated and frosty way...and mine is a cosy, nostalgic and warm one.  I love them both!

To create my poinsettia flowers i cut out LOTS of shapes from a paperback book using a Creatables die and my big shot...but you could use a cricut to save time if you are lucky enough to have one!  I laid the flowers out on sheets of copy paper and put them in a large cardboard box before spraying them liberally with Dylusions mica mist sprays in red and green.  While they were drying, I covered a foam wreath base with buff coloured tissue paper, scrumpling as i went and then coated the whole thing in clear Viva Decor Croco glaze.  Then i went to bed...

In the morning...i assembled the poinsettia by layering one large green, two medium sized red and one tiny red flower shape on top of each other and adding them to the wreath base with a selection of beads in the middle, secured with sequin pins.  {Sequin pins are just like regular pins but shorter.}  The poinsettia on the top of the wreath all have a large crystal bead in the middle, and the ones on the side have 3 tiny seed beads.  Trust me...after a few you will want a thimble!! ;0)

I continued adding my poinsettia all the way around, leaving small gaps into which i pushed some large glittery brads that i've had forever and then i tied an oversized bow with some lovely organza ribbon and secured it at the top with another poinsettia flower.  Finally, a scrap of ribbon was pinned to the reverse as a hanging loop.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out, its pearly from the mica spray {sorry my photography skills won't allow me to show this!}, twinkly when the lights shine on the crackled base in the evening and rather opulent because of the luxurious ribbon and faceted beads.  Best this of all...as its all attached by pins...i can simply unpin all the flowers if i want to make something totally different next year!

Let me know what you think...does my wreath stand up next to Eleanors..?  

Finally, a great big HAPPY CHRISTMAS SEASON to you all,

alixxxxx

A Hearty Reminder

Hello! I am Gabrielle and I am very excited to be writing my first post for IACW - I'd like to thank the rest of the DT for inviting me along and for being so welcoming and I am really looking forward to getting to know you all so please do leave comments!

I wanted to be a little more orgainised in my new studio and to have a place for me to write reminders to myself so for my first project I have made just that! I covered one of Wendy Vecchi's Art Parts with some of Tim Holtz's Christmas Kraft Resist paper. I then used Picket Fence Distress Stain but you could use any colour - Fired Brick looks fabulous! I used a bookplate Art Part and again inked it with Picket Fence and then stamped it with a dotty stamp in Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I edged them both in the Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

To the back of the bookplate I added some of the paper (but reversed!) and also stamped as before. The letters are Grungeboard Mixed Minis that I covered with Vintage Photo Distress Stain. I added two brads and glued it to the heart. I then made two holes for eyelets.

The leaves are another Art Part inked and stamped with one of Wendy's text stamps. The rose is made from left over paper, a Tattered Florals die and again edged in Vintage Photo Distress Ink and adhered with Glossy Accents.

I inked the ribbon myself as I like the effect. Want to dye your own ribbon? My method is easy! Wet both sides of the ribbon (this one is pure cotton) and then drag an ink pad over it (you can use the Distress Stains too). While it's still wet crumple it up and then dry with a heat gun so the colour is uneven and the ribbon has wonderful creases.You do get inky fingers but that's part of the fun!

The sticky notes are from Paperchase and are just fabulous! Thank you for stopping by and I hope you found some inspiration today!

Gabrielle x

TAG TIME

I've been stitching again, this time with my machine and all sorts of scraps of fabric and ribbon.

I've made a whole set of tags for my sister and her family.

She can use them, re-use them, give them away, or put them away, it's up to her.

She might use them on gifts, or as meal table place markers, or hang them on door handles.

She could label shoe bags, luggage, tools, gadgets or lunches.

They could be bookmarks or coatpeg labels.

Each one is 3in by 4in, and has a basic layer of cream damask, onto one side of which I stitched fragments of fabrics such as chunky corduroy, or printed cotton, and then to the other side I added ribbons or lace, using those short pieces left over from other projects. Somewhere on each tag is a piece of twill with a name stamped on.

Finally I threaded a large eyed needle with a length of narrow ribbon,  pushed it through from front to back, and knotted the ends.

There are frayed edges and visible stitching, all intentional, and lending a certain rustic charm, l reckon.

Bye for now

Eleanor

xx

A little something to take away

Having recently help host a 190 guest Royal Wedding (in my village!) I wanted to share our little decor and keepsake inspiration.

Hi from Caz :)

 

On the 29th we helped celebrate the wedding of William and Catherine on our village green, and working to a tight budget we needed some decor that was practical and something that could be taken away as a little keepsake of the day. Oh and we wanted a little eco friendly thrown in too. This was the idea.

A recycled jam jar for each table of 6, with napkins, cutlery and straws, tied with a custom made ribbon.

 

When the wind finally died down a bit we popped in a waving flag too. The tables looked awesome and as most guests dressed in red, white and blue the whole day was very British!

I am using my jar as a vase for my Peonies which are just flowering and too beautiful to be left outside in the rain.

I'll definatly use this idea again, even if it's not a take away keepsake it's a great use of old jam jars and keeps everything neat and tidy on the BBQ table.

As always thanks for visiting and have a good week!
Caz
xx

A bit of stitching

Hi Joy here,

what a beautiful Spring day we have had today.  I hope the sun has shone for you too, wherever you are in 
the world.

I have had time to do a little scrapbooking in the last week and I have been sorting out my sewing basket and I decided to combine the two.

I bought this template some time ago as I thought it was going to be very useful. However I hadn't even got it out the packet.

 

It is very easy to use and only requires you to pierce holes where you would like to have circles. I was impressed with the number of sizes you could use.

 

I applied repositionable to the back of the template to keep it still while I pierced the holes.

 

Backstitch gives a nice smooth look.  Do not tie knots in the embroidery thread because they will make a bump in your card or paper when it has been pressed inside your album. I stick down the ends with photo tabs.

 

The finished page. The papers were from Echo Park - which I am so in love with.

 

This is also done with Echo Park - I love the journaling cards and the title blocks.

I now have a two week holiday coming up. One of the joys of working in a school. I have lots of crafting plans. I will share with you soon.  I have just discovered the joys of Promarkers.  There is lots of colouring- in going on in my house.

Take care xxx

Baby Patchwork Ribbon Blankie

Hi, this is Mandy here...

When I last saw my baby nephew, I got chatting to my sister-in-law about making him a Ribbon Blankie (or Taggie Blanket).  Here's what I made ...

 

It's about 11" across.  I do want to credit 'Melissa Sews' blog as I read her excellent tutorial.  My Ribbon Blankie has a patchwork top, very simply made with 2" strips of brightly coloured fabric (photographed on my blue spotty ironing board)...

 

I trimmed the patchwork to a 9" square, then rummaged through my ribbon stash for a variety of ribbons (different colours, textures, patterns and widths) which I cut into 4" lengths...

 

 I folded the ribbons and pinned them onto contrasting colours on the patchwork, spacing them out...

 

I used my machine to sew around the edge twice...

 

I deliberately had the ribbons hang over the edge so I could make sure they were sewn really, really firmly, so even if the ribbon frays it won't come loose (baby safety)...

 

I cut a piece of blue fleece, just 0.25" bigger than the patchwork top.  Then I made a sandwich with the fleece and patchwork top, right-sides together, ribbons on the inside.  It's important to leave a 4" gap so the blankie can be turned around the right way.  Again I sewed around twice.

 

Once the rightway out, I pinned around the blankie, ready to sew one last time...

 

Machine sewn all around, and hand sewn across the gap...


 

The back is soft fleece...

 

I'll be posting this little Ribbon Blankie off to my sister-in-law, brother and their happy, gorgeous baby...

 

Thanks for looking!

Mandy

Green and Black

Hello, Eleanor here, with a skirt in need of cheering up! 

I bought a lovely Next black linen skirt from an op shop for £1. It was too long, but with what I had in mind, that didn't matter.

First I shortened it, both at the hem and at the waist, to just below knee length, then I rootled about in my ribbon box and found almost a whole reel of green silk ribbon. I wanted something similar to a Boden skirt I saw a while back, so I pinned on the ribbon, tacked it and then hand-stitched it in place.

 

It's meant to be 'here and there', honest!

So now, here I am:

and there's a surprise at the back (and yes, I've remembered how linen creases so easily, but hey, never mind, these little strips of organza ribbon sparkle and make me smile):

 

That's all from me, till next time.

xx

Alcohol Ink Colour Swatch Book...

Hi, Mandy here.

I've made myself a 'Colour Swatch Book' for my new collection of Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks, using a CD holder...

 

I  was really blessed to get several bottles of alcohol ink from ebay as a birthday present  (I am a very lucky girl).  They came in sets of three with names like 'Rustic Lodge' & 'Tuscan Garden' .  I decided to make a 'swatch' of the inks because it's a bit hard to tell from the bottle, or their names, what the colour looks like exactly (take 'mushroom' for example!?!)   I'm also keen on inking onto see-through acetate at the moment to make my own scrapbook embellishments, so I wanted to know the exact colour when it's see-through.  This needed to be a really simple system, nothing fancy, so my swatch pages look like this...

 
The pages are made from CD envelopes.  First off I dabbed an ink swatch onto the outside of the see-through plastic envelope.  I wrote the name of the ink onto a piece of white paper & slipped it into the envelope together with the name of the set of inks (the above set is 'Cottage Path').   Then I inked a 'Rummikub' tile which are cream not white.  Into the back of the CD envelope I am going to store the felt pads for each colour...

 
Next I used my cropodile to punch each page in the top left corner & threaded the pages onto a large jump ring.  I want to be able to swivel the pages to compare the colours from different sets...

The cover of the CD book was black fabric and I wanted to somehow use alcohol inks to decorate it.  Well, I had already been playing about with the inks, seeing how they looked on metal & had made the sample below. It's made from a flattened out aluminium drinks can.  

 
As you might expect it was extremely sharp as I was cutting it out but I do like the effect. So, for the book cover I cut out a heart shape and decided to sew it to the cover by punching a few holes with my cropodile...

 
  ...and setting eyelets into the holes.  I then used embroidery floss to sew the heart on...

 

Next, I wanted to have a title on the book saying 'Alcohol Ink' but I'd already rejected the idea of stamping letters onto the inked metal because it didn't show up very well when I tried it (even with my fave black STAZON ink).  So I thought about sewing letter beads onto the cover, which actually ended up threaded onto wire, hanging from the jump ring.  I coloured the white letter beads with some matching alcohol ink holding them with tweezers...

 
I used some old Making Memories turquoise wire & threaded up the letters with other glass beads...  

Here's a close up of the hanging beads and ribbon tied to the jump ring...

I'm know I will use this colour swatch book and I tell you what....alcohol inks are fabulous fun! 

Bye now,

Mandy.

Ribbon Flowers

Hi Lynne here

At the moment I seem to be adding flowers to everything I make.

Somtimes I can't find quite the right colour or shape so I decided to make some of my own.

They are really simple and all you need are some ribbons or strips of fabric, glue and a piece of paper or card.

For this one I used organza ribbon, not thinking clearly I stuck it on a piece of patterned paper which shows through.  I quite like the effect.

This was made using a strip of net fabric and stuck on white card.

You take a length of ribbon and stick one end onto a piece of paper with a glue dot.  Twisting the ribbon as you go you wind round the centre working out adding glue every so often to hold it in place. When you've made the size you want glue the final end in place and trim the paper / card to the edge of the flower. Then add a button or bling to the centre to complete it.

Twisting tighter gives you a smaller more compact flower.

I also tried using a strip of voile with frayed edges,

Do try making some yourself, they are great fun.

Lynne x