Home Sweet Home - mark 2

Hi when I've not been busy with granny squares I've been dabbling with frames again. This one is bigger than the last one I found but I gave it the white treatment again.

No bunting this time but the flowers stuck......

.....those felt flowers, would you like to know how I make them? They are good for 3D projects and of course if you make your own  embellishments you get to choose what colour they are.

First cut five flowers shapes, I use my ever useful tattered floral die but if you don't have a flower die, circles would work just as well.

Take one of the flower shapes and fold it in half and half again so it's a quarter of it's original size. Hold it's shape with a couple of stitches at the pointed end.

Taking one the shapes as the base of your flower sew the quartered flower to the centre of the base with a couple of stitches. Repeat folding the other three shapes and sew them in position too covering the whole base shape.

Once you've finished you should have a fluffy looking flower. The felt gives it a very rounded shape and two back to back would give a pom-pom effect. (mmmmm now I'm thinking they would make lovely tree decorations.....don't get distracted!) If you make them from fabric they have a less structured look but are still as effective. It's fun to experiment with different flower shapes too.

Have fun creating.

The Holly and The .........

Hi. Today I thought I'd share some very simple and quick instructions to make some holly leaves. Now I know some of you are not thinking about Christmas just yet it's just that I am trying to get organised and have many projects in the making. To be honest you could use the instructions to make any sort of leaf you like.

So you will need.....

A leaf template to draw around (or you can go freestyle), some strong thin double sided tape, some glue, book pages or any type of paper you fancy using and some thin floristry wire.

For each leaf you will need to cut out two identical shapes. Secure a bit of tape down the centre of the leaf shape and fix your wire on top. Glue the second leaf on top with the wire sandwiched in the middle.

You can then ink them, add glitter, doodle around the edges or whatever takes your fancy. You could even make them out of felt or fabric. They would be great for Christmas journals or layouts, Christmas cards and 3D projects.

In my stash I found some small flat back red pearls perfect for berries and as they are wired you shape them however you want. So now I have some holly ready to go.

Say It With Flowers Gift Box

I often make gift boxes to give small gifts in and as I had a couple to make I thought I'd share with you how I made them. My gift box measures 10cm but you can use this technique for making any sized box and mine only used two pieces of cardstock and 1 piece of 8x8 patterned paper. As I make quite a few boxes I invested in a Coppernob scoring board but there are lots on the market to choose from and easy to make. I find that punching a small half circle in the lid section adds a professional finishing touch.



You will also need a piece of acetate and two nestabilities dies I used two from the labels 1 set.

Once you have cut your lid and bottom sections next you need to cut a piece of your chosen patterned paper so it fits on the inside of the lid (as below). Stick it temporarily with respositionable tape or as I used a piece of doubled over masking tape.

You want the paper to stay in place while you cut out the aperture - use the smallest of your chosen dies.

Next you need to cut a frame from the patterned paper using both of your dies, placed one inside the other. The thickness of your frame will depend on which dies you have chosen.

You should end up with two pieces which look similar to this

Cut your piece of acetate to cover the aperture but so it also fits the inside of your lid and stick down using DST removing the pattern paper first. Don't worry if it looks messy that's why we cut the first piece of paper to cover it you need to sandwich the acetate between the lid and the paper.

Stick the cut out frame on the front of the box lid framing the aperture and also the piece of paper on the inside. Next make up your box lid and bottom. I like to use tacky glue for this part and I also like to line the bottom section of the box with paper but it's not necessary.

Tip: use one of the offcuts from the first stage to make a matching gift tag.

Embellish the lid as you wish - my box is decorated with flowers and I made an extra one to fit inside the box which can be seen through the acetate.

Here is another version in green teamed with Amy Butler paper

I hope this tutorial has been useful - have fun creating