DIY Sheer Blooms

**A few months ago, I shared this tutorial on the Imaginisce blog.  I thought I'd share it here in case any of you missed this one.**

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I have a new addiction. 

FLOWERS. 

But not just any flowers.  You see, these flowers are extra special.  Not because they soft and beautiful and polka dot and sheer.  They are extra special because I made them myself.  Grin.  I get extra excited over
things like that and I'm hoping that if you are reading right now you get that and are excited too.  So without further rambling, here they are:

Each bloom is made using 4 identical sheer, polka dot blooms found in the Fashion Fabric Flowers collections. 

Materials:

-4 identical sheer flowers per flower

-needle and coordinating thread

-i-Bond glue gun

-flower stamens, found at any local craft supply shop

Step One:

-fold one flower into quarters and put a stitch in the bottom to hold it together.

Step Two:

-fold a second flower into quarters and stitch it to the first flower.  Repeat this same sequence with each of the four flowers layering them beside and on top of one another until you have desired fullness.

Step Three:

-using i-bond tool, adhere flower stamens to the center of the flower. 

Here are just a few project ideas using these flowers:

The first one I made as a brooch for my CHA apron.  I simply added a badge Daddy to the back.

Here is the same flower used on a layout.

A small and a large bloom pair nicely to create this headband.

I used the white flower and the new badge/pin combo to make a broach that doubles as a hair accessory.



These flowers really are that simple to make and that versatile to use.  I can see me making many more of these and I hope I have inspired you to try them too.

Have a wonderful day!

DIY Sheer Blooms

Today on the Imaginisce blog, I have posted a tutorial on how to make these beautiful flowers in three simple steps along with a few ways to use them in paper crafting projects.

As a thank you to all my blog readers, I have a fun giveaway courtesy of Imaginise.  Just post a comment on this post to be entered into the drawing.  The winner will be announced on this blog by the end of the week. Thanks so much to all of you for visiting.

Photographing Projects - the inside scoop

**This is a post I shared on the Imaginisce blog a couple of weeks ago. I thought I'd also share it here for those of you who may have missed it.**

Taking great photos of crafty projects is difficult.  It really is. In fact, I believe it is an art of sorts too .  While I won't profess to have all the answers I have spent a fair bit of time working on my technique, reading about what others do, and finding a method that works for me.  Today, I have been asked to share some tips on how I get that "perfect" shot of my projects.

Location, Location, LOCATION:

While shooting outside is ideal, that is very seldom possible for me.  It's either raining, snowing, too windy or too bright when I want to take my photo.  So when I can't go outside, this is what I do.  I find the brightest place in my house, my sunroom.  Patio doors are a perfect place to take photos of projects.  This is where I take 95% of mine.

STAGING:

Layouts:
I place my layout on the floor in front of my patio doors. I use the floor tiles to line it up square. Standing directly over the page and looking down, I take the photo. I use the automatic setting with no flash. I usually take a couple, checking the display each time to see if I need to make any adjustments.  Is the photo straight?  Are there any shadows?  Is the focus OK?

Cards, Mini Albums:
I do this one a little differently.  I place two sheets of patterned paper on a chair, one up the back and the second on the seat. This gives me a place to position a card while also giving a nice back drop. I position the chair so that is is fully light by natural light and take the photo. 

Sometimes, I will set my piano bench in front of the patio door and use it to place "hard to photograph" projects.  As long as my stage is well light with natural light, I am good.


EQUIPMENT:

I shoot with a Canon 60D but you don't need a fancy camera to get a great photo.  Don't get me wrong.  It helps for sure but if you don't own a dSLR,  you can still get great shots.  To prove just that, I dug out old point and shoot Fugi S5000 bought in 2004 for the photos in this blog post.

So if the camera isn't the secret, what is the secret?

POST PHOTO EDITING

It took me awhile to figure out that even with a great camera, photos can still use some editing to tweak the sharpness, colours, contrast and lighting.  I use Photoshop Elements 6.0 to edit my photos.  There are newer versions available but this is the one I own so that is what I use.  There are some great auto functions under the ENHANCE tab.  Something as simple as the "auto contrast" function will sometimes go a long way to brightening up a layout.  I use either "AUTO LEVELS" or "AUTO CONTRAST" on most every photo.  Try each one individually and see which one works best for your individual photo. 

Take a look at these examples:

This is a cropped version of the layout I staged above.  I have not done a single other thing to this shot.

(For full design details on this page, visit THIS LINK.)

Adjusted Coloring:  On this photo, both the auto contrast and auto colors functions didn't really do a whole lot to change the photo (wouldn't you know it!) so I dug a little deeper in the menu and adjusted the colours for skin tones.  Notice how grey my daughter's skin tone is above.  By adjusting the skin tone, the entire page warms up and looks more natural.

Once you have chosen the "adjust color for skin tone" feature, simply click anywhere on the photo where there is skin and watch the colours change.  Because my daughter is so fair, this function works really well for me. There is a menu that comes up where you can use the sliders for different skin tones but I have never used it.
The last thing I do to my photos before saving is sharpen them.

Now I will admit that those are some of the most basic photo editing functions that I use.  If you want to delve deeper into this topic, I would recommend taking an online course.  I chose one by Jessica Sprague called "How to Edit Photos Like a Rockstar".  This is the single moment where my photo editing changed dramatically and to a point where I was really starting to be happy with my end result.  I edit all my photos now in RAW and have developed a work flow that works for me.  This is what you will need to do as well - find a work flow that works best for you.  Start by trying a few of the things I've mentioned here.  I use that skin tone trick alot.  I also use the auto functions alot.  Experiment a little bit and try not to tackle too much at once.  All of the little things I've learned have been over time.  I'm still learning.

Additional Tips:

Photographing Shaped Layouts:  Place the layout on a piece of white poster board.  I place the poster board in front of my patio doors like I do with any other project and take the photo.  Crop the photo like you would any other layout and adjust colours and contrast as needed.  Then, in Photoshop Elements, use the Paint Bucket tool on the white colour setting to make the white background "disappear".  Click on the photo where the poster board is and everything around the shape of the layout "should" turn perfectly white.  You may need to click on more than one area if it all doesn't turn white at once.  If you have shadows on your photograph, you may have difficulty.  Just play around with it and don't give up.  This tip only works well if your shaped paper is not white or very light in colour.  In this case, use black poster board and black on the paint bucket tool.

So there is it, in the smallest nutshell I could, some of my tips for making your projects shine when photographing them.  I hope you are able to take at least one thing away from these tips and apply it to your arsenol of photograhy tips.

Roly Rosie Projects

The projects that I have to share today use the new fabric roly rosie flowers to make matching head and wristbands.  I'm really getting into the whole hair accessory thing so I started a "Hair Accessories" label on the side bar of my blog so they would be easy to find. 

To create this XL fabric blooms, I used three - four rolled flowers.

Directions:
1.  Roll 3-4 fabric blooms with Fabric Petal Rolling Tool.  Once each bloom is removed from the tool, set it on a flat surface and let it unfurl as it wants to.  The longer it sits, the larger it will become so start with your bottom layer first.  Roll the fabric so the pattern is rolled inward.

Notice how they are all different sizes.  The newprint one was rolled first and hence has unfurled the most. 

2.  Starting with the largest bloom and your i-Bond Tool (glue gun), layer the flowers, one on top of the other, securing with hot glue and you go.

So far, I have only put glue on the circle pad at the bottom.  I will attach all the side pieces as needed at the end.  This will allow me some flexibility to shape my flower.

3. Continue adding layers until you have the desired fullness.

At this point, you can add another tightly coiled flower like I did with the wristband or add a fabric topped brad like I did with the headband.

4.  To make fabric topped flower center use i-Top Tool, a small white flower and gems.

I like to wrap the flower around the top piece of the twist (brad or snap) daddy myself so I can really pull that flower tight and then I insert it into the tool. 

It will look something like this when you are done.  Because the flowers have holes in the center, I cover those with gems.

To Assemble Headband: 
Put a hole in the center of the XL flower made above and thread it onto the screw post of the headband.  Top with custom flower center.  Note:  I used hot glue to adhere mine as the headband was made with larger size twist daddies.  Add ribbon details to complete hairband.

To Assemble Wristband:
I had a premade one so I just added to flower to jazz it up a bit.  If you don't already have a band, you can make one by sewing a length of elastic to sheer ribbon.

And here they are being modelled:

I'm thinking I may have to make some more headbands to go around as everyone wanted a chance to wear this one.

I have another fabric roly rosie project to share but I'll wait until tomorrow.  Be sure to check back then. 
Make sure you stop by the Imaginisce blog and comment for your chance to win your very own Roly Rosie prize package.

Thanks, as always, for visiting.

Blinging Out Some Hair Clips

The new i-rock accessories release party finishes up today and I decided to make some hair clips.  One can never have too many of those around with three little girls in the house.

Materials:

-i-Rock and accessories of choice

-i-Top, Medium Snap Daddies, Bobby Pins

-Sheer Flowers, Decorative Flowers

Instructions:

1.  Cover top piece of Snap Daddy with sheer flower and secure it to the snap using i-Top tool. For a video on how to use the i-Top with fabric, you can check out THIS LINK.  The sheer flower is perfect as it does not need to be trimmed.  It also allows the shine of the metal to show through the fabric but gives just enough texture to allow glam rocks to fully adhere.

2.  Glam it up with your favourite i-rock accessories.

3.  Assemble clip and try it on.  It really is that simple.

Here are some other examples:

Be sure to stop on over to the Imaginisce blog for more fun projects with bling and another great hair clip idea by Cristal.  Thanks so much for visiting.

i-Rock Blog Hop - Fun with Fabric

Hello and welcome i-Rock Blog Hoppers. 

I have a confession.  I love Gymboree.  As adorable as the clothing is, I also enjoy the thrill of getting a deal so combine the two and I am sold. The project you are about to see was born out of a love of their hair accessories.  My girls love the hair ribbon elastics the best... and of course, I only have one.  So I decided to sit down with my Imaginisce goodies and create my own.  Now there will be no more arguing over who will get to wear the hair ribbons, at least in theory! 

Supplies:  Ribbon, Flowers, i-Rock & Gems (Imaginisce), Elastic and Wide Ribbon (Craft Supply Store)

Instructions:

1.  Cut 9 lengths of coordinating ribbon is a variety of widths, each one 14 inches long.

2.  Remove one of the larger width lengths from the pile and cross-cross the remaining pieces.

3.  Sew the ribbons together in the center either by hand or by machine.

4.  Attach the elastic:  Lay the elastic on the stitched area and thread the reserved ribbon length through the elastic.  The ribbon will lay across the center of the ribbons, going up and down this time.  Stitch on either side of the elastic making a little pocket over it with the ribbon.

5.  Embellish with i-rock flowers and gems as desired.

Here are the finished ribbons:

Imaginisce ribbon cards are perfect for a project like this as there are several coordinating patterns in one package.  I used ribbons from the "Enchanted" and "Garden Party" Collections for this project.

This is your last stop on the blog hop today.  Thanks so much for participating and be sure to return to the Imaginisce blog and let us know what you think of today's projects.  You may even be the lucky winner of an i-rock package of your own.  GOOD LUCK and thanks so much for visiting.

Sharing Another Card

I made this card a few weeks ago for Lori Allred over at Imaginisce.  The design team flooded her office with Berrylicious cards to celebrate her birthday.

All Supplies Imaginisce except twine by Martha Stewart.

To create a shaped card, I google clipart for the desired shape, in this case a strawberry.  When I find one I like, I print it and then enlarge it on my copier until I have the desired size.  I cut all the different pieces out and trace them onto my patterned paper and then I glue it onto a card base and cut it all out.

I stitched the pieces before I placed them on the card base.  To create the card base, fold a sheet of white cardstock and layer the strawberry on top so that the left edge is offset slightly.  This will create a hinge for the card once it is all cut out.

I used the same process when I created THIS CARD last fall.

Shaped cards are a quick and easy way to create a dramatic card.  Next time you see a card like this on my blog, I hope to have it staged on my "new" antique floral frogs.  I'll give you more details on those when they arrive.

Thanks, as always, for visiting.



"5 GOLD-EN Rings" (sung in my best shower voice)

On the Scrap Within Reach blog we have been counting down the weeks before Christmas using the ever popular "12 Days of Christmas" as our theme song.  My turn is today and my line is "5 Golden Rings".  Awhile back I mentioned that toilet paper rolls keep finding their way into my craft room and today you are going to see my Christmas version of toilet paper roll napkin rings.  Who would have thought? The funny part is, it took me a few weeks to come up with something clever to make and I was so darn proud of myself to come up with such an original idea.  So I made my napkin rings a month before the deadline. I liked them so much I made a second set for fall and then decided to google handmade napkin rings so see what other people are doing.  Would you believe this is not a new idea at all??  People have been making napkin rings out of everything from beads to toilet paper rolls since forever.  Oh well.  I guess my design is original even if the medium isn't.  So here they are.

"Handmade Christmas Napkin Rings"

Supplies:  Paper (Scrap Within Reach), Ribbon & Pearls (Making Memories), Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels), Mod Podge

Now they aren't gold, but if you look carefully you will see some gold rings in the design.  I used the "Modern Minimal" sheet from the Urban Garden line to decorate the rings.

Instructions:
1.  Cut a toilet paper roll in half.
2.  Spray inside and out with Scarlet Glimmer Mist.  Allow to thoroughly dry.
3.  Fussy cut design from patterned paper and adhere around ring with Mod Podge. 
4.  Cover the entire outer surface in another coat of Mod Podge to seal. 
5.  Add trim and pearl details.

Aren't they cute?  I'm thinking one could make custom napkin rings for most any occasion.  There is certainly no shortage of toilet paper rolls around and spraying them with glimmer mist made short work of colouring them.  Make sure you let me know if you give this idea a try.  I'd love to see them.

Before I sign off for today, here is another little project I made using the same paper line: Urban Garden.

Be sure to check the Scrap Within Reach blog next week for another installment in our countdown to Christmas. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.