Zipper flowers

I LOVE trying out new techniques and projects, and my latest conquest is one I've been practising on and off for some time now.  I know I've still got to practice more before I'm completely happy with everything, but here's my first real efforts worth sharing.

 

I made these zipper flowers each out of a 7" zip.  The pink ones are mostly stitched, whereas the black is mostly hot glued.  I followed these excellent instructions on You Tube, for the pink ones here and the black here.  I'll be using the 2 pink flowers on my current project, and the black one has been made into a brooch for a friend as below.  Instructions to attach the pin are included in the pink tutorial.

 

I hope you have found this helpful and would love to see your efforts also.  I'm now off to try some multi-coloured flowers or perhaps a butterfly or dragonfly. 

 

As always have a happy scrappy day, and please leave a comment.

 

 

 

 

July IARDC

Time for another challenge at I am Roses where this month they've asked for something to be recycled, along with their regular criteria of using a minimum of 2 of their gorgeous products.  Here I've recycled an old CD, attaching it to a chipboard key from Imagine if . .

 

To start I covered the CD with old book paper, then attached the little chipboard house (again from Imagine if . .), the lettering followed then the gorgeous flowers. 

The IAR flowers I've used are Daisies, carnation, mini rose (which I sprayed with Dylusions Ink Sprays to get the vibrant violet), little S10 blooms & of course the buds (again touched off with Ink Spray).

The key was painted brown then I heat embossed it with TH Distress Embossing Powder, which I then inked.  The pearls then link everything together.  This measures 9" x 3" so will look very nice hanging on my wall.

 

Thank you for visiting, and please have a happy, scrappy day.

Fairies that sparkle at night

How's everyone handling this colder weather?  After last weeks extreme wet & wind its been a blessing having these days of clear skies, even though it means  really cold nights and mornings.  However I have been inspired to get stuck into some more crafting rather than get cold and wet being out in the garden.
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Todays project is for the 2nd Imagine if . . blog hop for July and is something I've been working on for some time on & off.  When Jo sent out her gorgeous fairies to us I really struggled for inspiration (as I live in a house full of males).  Then wedding photos on facebook from a friend gave me an idea to be a bit cheeky. 

 

 

While still searching for ideas I came across this very tired and dated table lamp at the local SPCA second hand shop, so at only $8.00 I thought I'd try to recover it and go from there.  This fabric is off white with a slight zig zag pattern on it.  The sequinned trim 'pretties' up the edges without being too much.  I HATED the square base so I had to create this round one to match, also covering with the same fabric & trim.  The beaded trim dangles look gorgeous in real life and as seen above really sparkle when the light is on.

 

 

This is when my cheeky plan came into play.  Debby is a friend of mine and coincidentally she is also a fabulous artist (visit her facebook page here) AND grandma of 2 little girls, so I asked her if she would paint these fairies in return for the lamp when it was finished.  How could she resist such a great offer?  I LOVE her efforts, she has painted everything then lastly added sparkle with Stickles.  All were then carefully shaped then glued into place.

 

Lastly I had to create the 'flower garden' on the base.  These are more of my satin roses, you can find a tutorial here.

So if you are following this blog hop correctly you should have started with Jo, and come through the ladies, and visiting Carol before me.  Next stop is to hop over to see what Lilian has in store for you all.  As previous blog hops, just leave a comment at all sites to be in with the chance to win.  The giveaway this week is two new chipboard clock cutouts and a set of keys (something I don't even have  yet). 

 

Good luck and thank you for visiting.

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Kiwiana brag book

Here we are again with our first blog hop for Imagine if . .  since the great success of SENZ.  I believe all who attended had a great weekend.  I really enjoyed wandering around all the stalls and spending all my money, but mostly meeting some of my fellow crafters for the first time and also catching up with old faces.

Again follow through our blog hop where you should have started with Jo telling you about all these awesome creations ahead of you.  Remember to leave a comment here and at every other blog you visit for a chance to win a small prize of amazing Imagine if . . products

Today I'm sharing with you a favourite little brag book I make quite often, featuring lots of the smaller kiwiana pieces (chipboard & felt) made by Imagine if . . which I will be sending over to friends in the UK.

                                     

 

This little book measures 4" x 4", and has fabric covered chipboard covers.  I have found fabric is much more durable than paper, although you can use paper if you wish.

Cut your fabric about 4.5 - 5" square, then glue to the chipboard.

 

 

Cut 3  8" squares of cardstock.  Fold in half & score then open out, turn once clockwise then fold in half & score again, open out again (folded into quarters), now turn cardstock over and fold in half diagonally & score ONCE ONLY.  Do this to all 3 pieces of cardstock.

 

Once you have all the lines folded & scored punch ONE corner only with a corner punch, of the outside corner of the unfolded quarter on 2 pages only.  This will help all the folds fit together more snuggly when putting the pages together.

 

Arrange the 3 sheets as the photo, overlapping an unfolded quarter on each page.  Glue together with a strong glue.  There's no reason why you couldn't add more pages if required at this stage.

 

Now fold the pages back down into its 4" square concertina fashion.



 

Before attaching the covers consider how the book is to be securely closed.  I generally attach a length of ribbon (or similar) to the inside of the back cover, then glue both covers to the cardstock pages with a strong glue.  The ribbon then ties around the front in a bow.

 

Then decorate away.  For this book I have used a lot of different kiwiana pieces, some appropriate sayings from the quote sheets and lots of lovely pictures from travel books to showcase our gorgeous country.  In other books I have used patterned papers, photos, recipes, verses, even small embellishments like charms, tags, flowers etc. 

 

I hope you can understand my instructions, if you have any problems please leave a comment & I'll try to help you out.

 

Next stop on the blog hop is the awesome creation made by Beth, go visit her from here, leave another comment and you're in with another chance to win.

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Love our Dog

Time for another new challenge at Southern Girls Challenge where the theme this time is 'You spin me right round baby' (circles).  Straight away I thought of using circle shaped photos, and then the rest just grew from there

 

I started with a Heartfelt Creations paper where I've distressed the edges, then lots of texture was added using 2 different TCW templates.  A bit of ink was rubbed under the larger stitched circles, then I just stitched the smaller circles to match in the corners.  The awesome little dogs, chipboard word & lettering come from Imagine if . . .

 

This closeup shows the lollipop flowers (yes, more circles) with the clear beads in the centres.  The satin fabric I've used was different thickness, hence the different effects I've got when heating the edges.

 

This has been a fun page to make, especially when I realised that I haven't actually made a layout since the last SGC layout I made 6 weeks ago.  I've been too busy doing OTP creations for SENZ, which is finally upon us this weekend.  I hope some of you can make it and go and see some of my work, and that of the other awesome designers at the Imagine if . . stand.

 

Thanks for visiting, please leave a comment, as I will when I visit your entry into this challenge.  Lets see what you can all do with circles.  Good luck to you all.