Shabby Chic Lace Flower Tutorial

This is so easy, it practically makes itself.

Shabby Chic Lace Flowers are really hot at the moment so this is my tutorial pick for today. It's a video tutorial for a change. If you click the image you will see the video.

I was inspired to make this flower as www.craftfairy.co.uk is now stocking this fabulous pointed lace. I believe that it is leavers lace. That is the same type of lace as the one used on Kate Middleton's wedding dress.

Apart from the lace, you will need a needle and thread and a flower to put in the centre. Please see my video on making folded flowers to see how to make one for yourself.

Lots more tutorials on my own blog.

http://craftfairydesigns.blogspot.co.uk/

How to Make Halloween Eraser Magnets

Hey all, this is angie from Desperate Houselife. This is a super easy tutorial I originally posted in 2011, but I figured i’d share it anyhow for Halloween.

This is a super easy tutorial, but I figured i'd share it anyhow. I made Halloween magnets from erasers I bought at Dollar Tree. They are cute and cheap home decoration, or gift ideas. Spookify your fridge, hand them out in lieu of candy, or give them as favors at a hosted Halloween party. Fun!

Materials: Magnet, Super Glue and Erasers. I Bought A 12-pack of Magnets at Dollar Tree.

Cut the magnet comparable to the size of the magnet and Super Glue it to ensure that it holds. I find the regular magnet adhesive to be lacking in strength. The smaller you cut, the less it will hold on your fridge.

Put those babies up and coo at them.

Owl Bookmark Or Treat Topper Tutorial

I'm not sure what all the hype is with the owls lately but I was again wasting my time on Pinterest and came across these cute bookmarks.  I have my monthly stamp club swap coming up and our challenge this month was to create something other than a card.  So I thought I would make these and show you how easy they are too.  

We only had to make one thing per person in my stamp club and that totaled 7 of us. But since these can be used as treat toppers or bookmarks I made six for everyone. 

Let me break down the amount of things I had to punch out just because it's ALOT!  Oh and here's where the how-to comes in.  I used a Sizzix Top Note Die for the base and I needed 42 of them.  Thank goodness for my Big Shot on that part!  You can also just cut a piece of cardstock at 4 1/2 x 3 1/2.  

Then you need circles (2 of each) cut at 1/4 inch, 1 inch and 1 3/8 inches.  For me that amounted to 252 HAND PUNCHED CIRCLES!  Ok, got a little excited but if I didn't have carpal tunnel before, I have it now.  I also used a five petal flower punch and just used one petal for the beak.  See the picture below for everything you need then just assemble it together.  Easy peasy!  

Have fun!

Thanks!  Monica

3D Stamped Card/Project Tutorial

Good Evening Everyone,

My name is Fiona from feeleedesigns.blogspot.com.au I have recently been given the pleasure of contributing to Inspirational. To start off I am posting a tutorial I did for a 3D stamped project that I completed.

This tutorial gives you a step by step guide on creating 3D stamped images for your cards or projects. For this particular piece I have used a La La Land stamp Kitty Kat Marci.

STEP ONE:  You will need to stamp your image a number of times. For this project I have stamped my image four times in total.  (Three stamps I used to colour for my pop up areas and these will be cut up and the last stamped image I used for the base of my stamp). If you are using digital stamps then print your image a number of times.  To begin with you will need to colour the areas on your stamp that you wish to raise and have popped up, these areas will all be cut out.  This is shown in the photograph below.

For my first areas I have coloured the hat, top and skirt on Marci.

For my second areas I have coloured the ears and crosses on Marci's Hat, the details on her shirt, shoes and the flowers centre.

For the final area to be raised on my stamp I have coloured the flower.

STEP TWO: Once you have coloured each area that you wish to raise you then need to cut them out. This is a little time consuming however it is absolutely worth it as the end result looks wonderful. You can either fussy cut with scissors or you may like to use a craft knife. I prefer the scissors, however it is personal preference.

STEP THREE:  For the base of the image which is the fourth image stamped you then need to colour the rest of Marci these areas are what will remain flat and will be the base for which you will stick the pop up pieces. So in this case I coloured her hair, face and her stockings.  You will notice that I have then coloured all the other areas black.  This is the base for my pop up areas. I have coloured them black as it gives a more finished and professional look when the image is all finished.

This is a close up look of your main completed base stamp of Marci and how it should look just before you are ready to assemble and stick all your raised coloured sections on.

This is what you should start with when ready to stick all your pieces together. To complete your project each cut out coloured area is then stuck on your main completed stamp. 

This is Marci all stuck together. I find zots glue dots the best option for this project. However you can use what you have available. Any 3D glue or sticky dots will work fine.

A close up view of Marci raised. I have cut her out completely to finish the stamp off nicely.

STEP FOUR: Its now time to assemble your completed project on card stock or whatever you wish.  I have chosen to do a sweet little note book for my daughter.

For my completed project I have chosen a blue, red and lemon colour scheme. I have sewn my papers together and used red, white and lemon flowers, blue satin ribbon, pearl accents, a smile embellishment and red brads to complete the notebook!

Thank you for taking the time to share my tutorial. I hope you like it!  This is particularly fun to do and the end result is so cute! If you like what you see if you could please take the time to leave a comment on my blog that would be wonderful! Have a great weekend and I hope you stop by soon.

(the original tutorial was posted on the 14th May 2012)

xxx

Hugs

Fiona xxx

Instagram Mini Album Video Tutorial

Enjoy!
Jana

DIY Crayon Art

Last week while I was wasting my time on Pintrest I came across quite a few pins on crayon art.  The first thing I thought of was....can I steal all of the neighbors kids crayons and possibly their science project.  I guess that's why I don't have kids.  Well since I don't have any kids I had to buy my own stuff.  My sister has kids so this would be a great project for her and the kids.  Hey I could've stolen their stuff!  I wanted to try my own.  I saw a lot of rainbow art and a few like the one I created.

So here's what you need to steal get:

A artist canvas, you can buy one for practically nothing (or at least 40% off with a coupon at Hobby Lobby or Michael's) or you can "re purpose" your kids old art project.  Again why I don't have kids.  

A glue gun and glue sticks

A hair dryer or a heat embossing tool.  

Crayons, go ahead, the kids won't miss 12 of the 13 greens they give you in a box of Crayons.

Something to protect the floor and also a back drop to protect your walls.  That's where the science project comes in.  Those 3 fold things that the kids write all their baking soda volcano info on is what I used.

It's really easy, let's get started:

Glue your crayons onto your canvas with a glue gun.  I used a high temperature glue gun.  Don't worry, it won't melt the crayons. 

Set up your backdrop and protection on the floor.

Now here's the fun part.  I started out using a blow dryer but it took too long to get the crayons melted and it also moved around the wax too much.  The heat embossing tool melted them much faster and you had more control over the wax and where it was going.  Be careful with the heat tool as I set a few of the crayon tops on fire.  The thing in the middle holding the canvas upright so it won't slide is just some cardboard I taped together and then taped to the protective sheet on the floor.

Here's what you'll get when your done.  It took about 10 minutes to do it all.  Don't worry that your crayon paper gets discolored during melting, only worry when it starts smoking like mine did.

 Wait for it to dry.  I gave it about a half hour.  That's only because I had to take a shower, it could be less time though, who knows.  I flipped it over, gave the white canvas that was showing a quick spritz of light blue shimmering mist and glued some of my quilled flowers I made to the canvas.  Ta Da! 

Visit me for other fun stuff too!

Go grab your kids or their stuff and make some art!  Have fun!

Monica

Upcycle An Old Shutter

Again I was wasting time on Pintrest and found some great ideas for re purposing a shutter.  I thought they were really cute ideas but I didn't have a shutter laying around.  I was at my local thrift store when I came across.......you guessed it, a shutter!  I think there is a sneaky crafty fairy that knows what I want to make and finds things for me.  Ok ok, I purposely went to the thrift store to find a shutter, I'm just trying to justify my shopping habits.  But hey, it was only $1.00!  

It was easy and fun so here we go!

Here's what it looked like when I purchased it.  I removed the hardware (I'm saving that for another project) and then I threw a bunch of soap and water on it and scrubbed and scrubbed.  I think the dirt had been on there since the 70's.  Then I let it dry.  Quick note....wood expands when wet and cheap shutter wood doesn't un-expand (I know un-expand isn't a word and there's a word for un-expand but I just can't think of it so please make un-expand your word of the day!).  

After it was dry I couldn't open or close it easily anymore.  I think it was in shock at being so clean.  Ok maybe I just shouldn't have practically soaked it in soap and water.  In hindsight it's a good thing it doesn't open easily now.  I'll go into that later.

After it was clean I painted it.  I love getting packages in the mail but I really love reusing the boxes for future crafts.  Again I'm trying to justify my shopping habits.  I didn't have a color of paint that I liked so I made my own color.  I used acrylic paint in white, some green color and I threw in some gold and silver.  Quick note....throwing in metallics to regular acrylic doesn't make it sparkle.  Who knew?  I'm not a painter.  Anyway here's what it looked like when I was done painting.  I applied 2 coats of paint.  Oh another quick note...if you are mixing your own "custom" color (lol) and plan on doing more than one coat, make enough for all of the coats.  I loved the first coat of paint color but do you think the second came out the same, nope.

I let the paint dry overnight.  Remember how I mentioned that the shutter wouldn't open or close easily after I cleaned it?  Well after the paint dried it doesn't open or close at all.  I had this all planned out, really!  I'm kind of happy that it doesn't open or close because my reason for using it doesn't require it (nor do I want it to) open or close.  I'm just lucky that there was enough spaces between the stuck shutters.  I finished it off with some of my quilled flowers that I attached ribbon to as the stems.  I'm using it to hold my favorite cards but you can use it to hold new mail that comes in or photos would be cute in it too. 

Visit me for more fun stuff!

Happy crafting!  Monica