Making Roses

I finally figured out how I injured my side.  While working in the garden I was pulling and moving large plant containers.  I must have pulled a muscle while pulling one across the patio.  By Saturday I was feeling much better.  That is when my husband was kind enough to share his cold with me.  So, needless to say it was a rough weekend.

For today's project I decided to take it easy and play with a new toy for my Big Shot machine that I ordered on the Internet.  It  cuts out a rose.  Actually 3 roses at a time.

It makes the prettiest shabby roses.

This die cuts 3 layers of paper at once.  Just use 3 pieces of card stock to fit the rose die.  They cut out looking like this.

I used 2 shades of distress ink on the edge of the petals, a pink and a stone color to give the finished roses an aged appearance.

I like to lightly spritz the entire piece with plain water to make it easier to roll and bend the petals.

Next I tightly rolled the rose from the small end to the large center.

Next I bent the edges of the petals and loosen the rose a bit before gluing the coil to the base. On the back side I used my large succulent die to cut out green for leaves.

By cutting the die cut out in 4 pieces I created the rose leaves.

These I distressed with green ink.

I also cut out one of the smaller succulent pieces in green to create a calyx and glued the calyx and the leaves to the back of the rose.  I ended up making 3 leaves for each rose blossom.

When the glue was dry I used Stickles to add a bit of sparkle to the bloom and leaves.

I really love to make paper flowers and this will make it so much easier.  

These are so pretty and delicate. I think I will find a lot of places to use these roses.

Happy Crafting!

Large Magazine Rack Redo

I didn't have a ton of time to work on projects last week.  I cleared a path for our refrigerator to be brought in by the front door, down our long hallway, only to realize it wouldn't make the turn into the kitchen.  That meant that I had to clear a path from the back door.  Not such an easy task since there was a china cabinet in the way.  So I proceeded to remove, wrap and box all my china and glassware.  Move the cabinet and make room for the refrigerator to come through.  Now I need to unpack, wash and replace everything.  It will be so nice to get my house back in shape.

One project I did get done was to redo this large wooden magazine rack I found at a vintage sale a couple of weeks ago.  It appears to be handmade by the way it is put together.

I decided to paint it pink with an off white interior.  Here you can see the inside painted white.

And the outside pink.

I separated the top layer from printed napkins with roses and tore the roses from the napkin.

Using Mod Podge I adhered the napkins to the ends and sides of the dried painted wooden magazine rack.

Using the leftover pieces of the checkered background of the napkins I glued those randomly to the handle at the top.

Not sure how or where I want to use this piece.  It is very large.  I could get 2 rows of magazines in it side by side.

Happy Crafting!

Shabby Chic Christmas Deer

Awhile back I found these 2 little wooden deer at the thrift store.  I paid $.50 each.  I thought I would make the pair of shabby chic momma and baby deer.

The first thing I needed to do was to remove the glue from the larger one.  That was a tough job.  I ended up, very carefully, using an Xacto Knife to carve and chip away all the glue.

Next I gave both of them a coat of white chalk paint.

Then I choose a rose patterned napkin from my stash and carefully separated the top printed layer from the bottom to layers.

After that I cut and tore the motifs I decided to use for the project.

Then using Mod Podge I glued the roses and buds in a pleasing design.  

I also glued three flowers to the back shoulders of the momma deer and 1 flower by her ear.

I gave them both a complete coat of Mod Podge and let them dry.

For their eyes I glued teardrop shaped black crystals to the baby and 2 black heart crystals for the momma.

Happy Crafting!

Altered Ballerina Picture

Last weekend was very pleasant.   The weather was perfect for enjoying the outdoors.

Saturday I lunched with a bunch of gals I have known most of my life, since middle school.

It was so great to see them and catch up on all their news.  We don't get together often enough but so glad we do stay in touch.  We enjoyed a nice lunch on the patio at a local restaurant.

Today's project is an altered picture of a ballerina, tutu and all.

I started with a vintage picture of a ballerina I found on Pinterest. What did we ever do without Pinterest?

The first thing I did was to paint a green frame roughly with pink then dry brushed with white.  Next I distressed the frame and added bling around the frame for a little sparkle.

I resized the ballerina picture to  give a white border around the image.

Then I coated the picture with Mod Podge, using a stippling technique for a vintage effect.  Then waited for that to dry.

On the bodice I glued a small piece of embroidered fabric added two vintage rick rack straps and a few crystals across the top.  At the waistline I hot glued two pieces of dark pink velvet ribbon and a few roses.  I also glued a tiny rose bud to the bonnet on her head.

For her tutu I layered a ruffle of dress pattern tissue, two layers of off white gathered lace and a row of gathered netting where I glued more tiny rosebuds. 

I also added some sparkly glitter to her ballet slippers under the netting skirt.

I finished the back with a co ordinating paper.  I still need to attach the picture hanger to the backside.

And her she is all finished.  Wouldn't she be perfect on a little girl's wall?  I am thinking of adding a cut out scroll in the bottom right corner and the word "Dream".  I'll see how that will look before I decide to make it permanent.

Happy Crafting!

Altered Ikea Glass Dish

I have been wanting to make a shabby chic decoupaged plate for awhile.  So on my last visit to Ikea I bought a few of the dinner size clear glass plates with the idea of altering them.

I also sent for a package of gorgeous rose print napkins from Amazon.  These where luncheon sized.

I began by cleaning the plate throughly. Separated the two layers of the napkins and cut out the flowers I wanted to use.

Next I taped the back white layer of the napkin to a piece of printer paper.  Sized the Eiffel Tower graphic to fit the center of the plate and ran that through my printer.

On my printer if I secure tissue paper to printer paper with tape it goes through just like regular paper and prints the image perfectly.  You will need to experiment with your printer to make sure it won't cause a paper jam.  I have tried to do this on my husband's printer and it jams.

After all the images where cut out I decided on the placement and using Mod Podge I adhered the images to the back side of the plate being very careful not to tear the delicate images as I smoothed out all the air bubbles.

I also added a few faux gold nuggets for a little bling.  (These are actually tiny pieces of gold foil from saved candy wrappers.)  And I left the piece to dry.

I decided I wanted a bit of sheen to my design.  For this I used a light pink metallic paint from Martha Stewart.  I painted that coat on with a very thin transparent coat so the white paint to follow would  still show through.  Let that dry and coated the back of the plate with several layers of white acrylic paint, allowing the paint to dry between layers. When the paint was dry I added a protective coat of acrylic sealer.

I am very pleased the way this turned out.  I love it when something I see in my minds eye turns out to look the way I envisioned it.

Now I am trying to decide if I want to have a pair of these plates by making a co-ordinating plate.

Happy Crafting!