It's a Creative World

What to do with a fabric collage

or two?

It's Eleanor, back with some stamping, stitching, snipping stuff.

Some weeks ago I made a couple of 8 inch square (ish) pieces, just freestyle, but they didn't really set me on fire, so I put them away until I felt inspired to finish them off.

That day came, I added a few more scraps, buttons and stitches, joined them together, added a border of tea-dyed broderie anglaise trim, and stitched the whole thing to some artists' canvas. 

I added a couple of flaps inside, made plenty of pages from kraft card (Staples own brand manila files in a previous life) and toning cardstock, stitched lace or ribbon on each page, bound the lot with the Bind it all and slipped the front and back pages into the cover flaps.

All done.

x

A poem for a new mum

Our new neighbour has a little boy and is expecting a little girl very soon.We were talking about housework and all the pressure to have a tidy house as well as looking after two children under two years old. I found this little poem online ages ago, thought it offered very good advice, and decided to make her a little hanging plaque with it on.

The paper rose was made using a punch and the pearl dots finish off the border around the writing.

I'm not very happy with the writing, if my computer had not died at the time, I would have printed the poem out instead.

I used mount board ribbon and off cuts of paper. I hope she likes it. I would love to hear any other poems offering good advice.

Debbie x

You Are Cordially Invited...

Hello bloggers! Happy Friday!

It's so good to be back, thank you all for popping by for our Easter Eggstravaganza (see what I did there? lol) and now we are all keyed up with creative inspiration that we want to share!

My post for today is to show how crafty projects can change and develop as they are created... And my example is a wedding invitation I created for a friend. She went through any vaguely wedding-like stash, and came up with a vintage teaparty theme and the following colour scheme- this is my first of three variations:

She took it, said she didn't need any more, and that was that... Ever had a customer that did that? I didn't believe it either, and I got a text a few days later saying she wanted to tweak it. Which is fine, it's her wedding and she can have whatever she likes, within budget :)

She wanted to change the one large cup for 3 smaller ones, rearrange the flags into bunting, and add a Swahili greeting (her sweetheart is from Zanzibar), and finally came up with this:

Unfortunately time has not been on our side, so I couldn't hand stamp them all... Which led to her selecting some digital elements, and me printing the main body of the invite before embellishing it with scraps of die-cut card and some subtle satin ribbon (plus a little bling, as she wanted some glam, but not glitter offload!)

It served as a good reminder to me to let go of creative control, and give the customer what they want - and also that any crafting project can change from initial conception to physical manifestation.

So grab a sketch, and veer off it, or design a card and end up with a key ring... Creativity is born of change!

Thanks for stopping by, come again tomorrow, when the girls will have another little something for your weekend,

Leanne x

www.beautifulimpressions.co.uk

www.craftaholicleanie.co.uk

 

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Easter Wreath

Happy Easter and welcome back! It's so lovely to be creating for IACW again. I have missed sharing projects with you and I think 2013 is going to be an exciting one.

My Easter project is a make do and mend, rather than going out and spending money on something I already have but it's not quite what I want! So my thought process went something like this......I need an easter wreath to hang on the door, oh yeah I have one that mum bought for me, but it's not quite right as it's a bit loose and floppy (!!!), so i'll have to get a new one. Or should I make one? Although i'll have to buy all the stuff for it as I don't actually have any Easter themed embellishments (that's a big fat lie right there!). Okay i'll buy a new one.

I then went into my Easter decoration basket and looked lovingly at my Easter wreath. I do really love it and it's muted colours.

But holding it up the 'branches' just flop forward. It's a great table wreath and I usually put a glass vase in the middle with a large church candle. It does make a beautiful center piece.

So I took it upstairs and raided my ribbon stash, looking for a ribbon that was long enough to wrap around the wreath and make a 'hanger'. It also had to be the right colour. Of course I was convinced I wouldn't have any so would have to go out and buy some! Seriously what is wrong with using your stash. Us crafters are such horders.

Anyway I did find a piece of ribbon, long enough and the right colour. And I refashioned my wreath by simply wrapping the ribbon around tucking the branches in.

The pink is complementary and doesn't distract from the beautiful yellow, blue and green of the eggs.

My wreath is now hanging on the back of the front door, simply because we don't use our front door so it's a waste having it on the outside and our back door is not one that things can be hung from. And i'm a HUGE fan of the series Friends, where they used to hang stuff on the back of the door.

As i've not stuck or sewn my ribbon in place it can simply be taken off if I want to use the wreath as a table decoration again. It's got a new lease of life, and it would have been a total waste of money to have gone out and buy a new one, which I might not have liked as much.

Make do and mend this Easter and give some new life to decorations you may already have. Oh and use up some stash ;)

Caz xx

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