New tutorials, tips and inspiration

HELLO -  MY MOST RECENT CREATIVE TIPS, INSPIRATION, CLASS DETAILS  AND TUTORIALS CAN BE FOUND HERE

Painting at sea

at last I have time to post on here again!

it has been a busy time for me since I last wrote, with lots of painting, crafting and travelling.

I absolutely loved teaching on the cruise ships - I had a wonderful class room and met lots of lovely ladies.

These are some of the ladies who attended a beginners' class and painted bamboo.


If you
would like to try painting bamboo one of my projects is at
http://www.decoart.com/cgi-bin/Projects.cgi?JapaneseDeskSet 

painting  flowers

and I  demonstrated decorative painting a few times

We all had great fun and most of the ladies are very keen to continue at home. I gave them some of my practice sheets and suggested they use the same paints I teach with,which are DecoArt Americana and Decoart Traditions


We visited beautiful places and I will share pictures in my next blog

Happy painting and crafting

Origami Dresses

Playing with paper is fun and these dress were all made from squares of origami paper

they are easy to make and make lovely cards and invitations

I added pieces of lace, rhinestones, pearls, buttons & silk ribbon so that each dress is unique

and how could I work on any project with including a graphic from Karen's blog The Graphics Fairy
- for this card I chose a French theme because the dress is rather classic chic, don't you think?

getting married?

or"Ladies who Lunch"  - this was a custom order for place cards

There are lots of links to tutorials & videos to make these dresses -  here is the one I used

and...............for the man in your life I made this with a £20 note

and this was  a $20 note

the tutorial for folding dollar note is shirts right   here

Happy Paper Crafting

Gill

Gift Wrapping

I have been having a busy time preparing for classes and one of the classes I enjoy most is gift wrapping. 

There are so many things you can do with paper, ribbon, tapes, jewels, lace and other bits and pieces that it is fairly easy to make something original and make yours a unique "Designer" wrap

These are a few of the wraps I have designed in the last week - I hope they inspire you

Pink metallic paper, velvet ribbon with hand made & dyed silk roses

Duck egg wallpaper with a satin ribbon Tiffany bow and vintage rhinestones from a damaged piece of vintage jewellery

for the man in your life - add a keyring as an extra little present (I used a leather boot keyring)

this would look great if you were giving a pair of Jimmy Choos!

lace & pearls on wallpaper

HAPPY WRAPPING & PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT OR FOLLOW IF YOU LIKE MY PAGE

Gill

Easy to make fork bows tutorial

I am spending lots of time preparing for classes, but still manage to fit in time to try new things - you know what it's like. Something just grabs you and you must try it!

My latest "play" is covering journals with linen and giving them an individual look

I will shortly post a link on how to do this,  but today  thought I would just share how to make some teeny weeny little ribbons bows.

 These are modelled on a fork and take less than a minute to make!

Materials:
1 x fork

20 cms x 7mm wide  ribbon (I used100% silk)

 Fold the ribbon around the fork - the lower ribbon should be about 3 cms longer than the top one

bring the bottom ribbon up and pass diagonally over the top ribbon and  through the centre tines

bring the other end around and over, & pass it down through the  centre tine in front of the other ribbon. The 2 ends will now be at the back of the the fork

 

turn the fork over and tie the two ends with a single bow (pull the ribbon as tight as you can)

 slide the loops from the fork

cut the ends diagonally and you have a neat little bow

I used  one of these cute bows on this linen covered journal, and added some vintage lace, tatting and mother-of-pearl buttons. I copied the beautiful silhouette from the Graphics Fairy - I now have a big stash of Karen's graphics that I want to use. 

The method I use to transfer the image was to copy the image on to Reynold's Freezer Paper and then burnish it on to the fabric with a spoon.

HAPPY CRAFTING

Gill

Sea Shell Pendant Tutorial

I love to collect sea shells  - I am fascinated by all the beautiful shapes, colours and textures. On our recent trip to Portugal I collected some on Barril beach, Santa Lucia

I will be running a few sea glass pendant making workshops shortly 

........and thought the shells would add some interests if the students finish their projects early.

I soaked the shells in a 50/50 mix water and bleach overnight. Next morning I left them to air dry and then rubbed some baby oil on them, to enhance the colour and finish.

Next I wire wrapped them with 24 gauge jewellery wire and added a faux pearl to one. I think they are quite pretty and yet the only cost a few pence to make. They could be hung on voile ribbon or twine if you want a sun-kissed beach look lol

an inexpensive way to preserve the memory of happy day on the beach

see you soon......and, if you have enjoyed visiting today, please leave a message or follow by email

Tattlets and painting

I have no excuse for not posting for so long, except that we have been travelling in Europe in our motorhome.

I didn't do much crafting but here a few things I did to idle away some time

this card was  a trial in combining tatting and painting on a card ......the card was going to be white but I wasn't happy with the bottom part so I added a piece of black, painted it and voila... a monochrome card 

I really enjoy painting on black card as the colours seem to pop

iT is possible to buy special paint for painting on card but I find DecoArt Americana works really well so don't feel a need to buy more paints

I also made a few tatted items.......this little tattlet

and a pair of big earrings (I used the Stumpy bookmark pattern by Kersti Anear)

Happy crafting

Fabric Painting on Jeans

why is it that it is always your favourite things which get marks on them?

I couldn't believe it when I went to put on my newly laundered jeans and found a big mark on them - what it is or how it got there is anyone's guess!

My first reaction was that they would make a nice pair of holiday shorts but, seeing as we are on a winter holiday in Portugal, and it's quite cold, this wasn't a great idea.

I always bring paint with me when we travel; but because we are travelling in a motor home I can't bring all my paints (that would take a truck lol), but I do always bring some fabric paints.

I use So Soft Fabric Paint by Decoart  because it is by far the best wearing and soft-to-touch paint on the market. I also love the extensive colour range which you can see here  (63 colours!)

I  also use DecoArt brushes

Painting on fabric is just the same as on other surfaces, but I do dip the tip of the brushes in water (only the tip - you don't want to add too much water or the paint may bleed on the fabric. I always try a test piece on the inside of a garment before proceeding)  to minimize dragging on the fabric. 

This is my jeans look now and I do actually prefer them as I like to wear things that are different 

So Soft Fabric Paint can also be used on t-shirts

and cotton shirts (this one below has a removable brooch I made with hand dyed silk ribbon roses)

and this one has rhinestones

a little tip is that it is always advisable to wash garment prior to painting as this removes any starch used by the manufacturer (and best not to use fabric conditioner)

Happy fabric painting - expensive designer looks on a budget!

Faux Vintage Perfume Box - a tutorial

Hi - I have been diagnosed....well self diagnosis and I am suffering from OCD (Obsessive Crafting Disorder).  This disorder is always with you! It can get you  in the middle of the night, whilst you are eating and, worst of all when you are doing housework! Suddenly you must stop whatever you are doing whilst this idea that will change mankind is in the forefront of your mind!  In my case OCD is hereditary and I can blame (thank actually) my mother, who was a soft furnisher. Even in the 50s and 60s she used to up-cycle furniture

I was recently given a lovely sample of  perfume and it came in a beautiful little box, which was too pretty to throw away

so I decided to give it a romantic looking aged effect and this is what I did:


I mixed instant coffee with hot water

and brushed it on the edges

then printed off 3 images from my favourite source The Graphics Fairy - 2 for the front and one inside

and  brushed the coffee over the images and allowed them to dry. I mixed some stronger coffee and flicked it over the images to give a more vintage look. I used a flat brush, but an old toothbrush works well

next I cut the images to fit the lid, inside and out,  and stuck them on with craft glue

then added a silk ribbon bow (which I dipped in the coffee and allowed to dry), added a vintage button and 2 little rhinestones at the edges of the script

Finally  I glued some vintage lace around the edge

and that's it - trash to treasure!

Roses and teapots