Friday 25 May 2018

Craft Consortium 'English Garden', Paper Weave, Bag

Several years ago my daughter was bought a Paper FX - a toy you can use to tear, crease, fold and weave paper.

I never threw it out or donated it elsewhere as crafting was our thing together when she was young...  


Well, I dusted off that toy for this project - which thankfully came with some instructions! 
 Unfortunately they weren't accurate instructions - which meant time was wasted on making paper strips I didn't actually need.

Ho hum...  I'm sure I'll put them to use somehow!



So would you like to see my project?









As you can see I've chosen to use three different patterns from Craft Consortium's 'English Garden' premium paper pad.

Then I've simply added a topper, glued on some lace around the top edge, added handles from a dark brown twine that I also weaved together (sticking with a theme here!)...  and job done!




Now you might be thinking, 'yes, that's all very nice.  But I don't own a Paper FX'. 

Well, the truth is you don't actually need one. 


But you do need to be able to paper weave!



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Craft Consortium Supplies used:







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Instructions:

You will need to make your paper strips first...




7 long - measuring 30.5 x 7cm
16 medium - measuring 17.5 x 7cm
10 short - measuring 13cm x 7cm.



You will need to score each of these strips from top to bottom (as shown).
Score at a 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 mark.


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Once all of the scoring has been done, you will need to fold the two outer edges into the centre fold for each piece of paper.

 Repeat that step so that each strip has been folded into itself twice.
(see photo above).

You have now made 26 OPEN strips of paper...

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CLOSED strips are when an OPEN strip has been glued along the centre to prevent it from coming apart.

Keep 2 long strips OPEN and CLOSE the rest.

Keep 2 of your medium pieces OPEN and CLOSE the rest.

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(This photo is for illustration purposes only and does not use the correct sized pieces...)

I suggest that you use a clip board of some kind and some large bull dog clips - at least until you get going.


First create three woven pieces...

The first should be 7 'long' strips wide by 12 'medium' strips long.



Secure the 7 'long' strips into place at the top end only - with a slight gap in between each piece.
The first strip on the left should be OPEN with the opening facing outwards/away from the rest of the strips.  The last strip on the right should also be OPEN with the opening facing outwards/away from the rest of the strips.

The 5 strips in the middle should be your CLOSED 'long' strips.


To paper weave, you are going to thread one 'medium' strip at a time through the 'long' strips - and you are going to add a dab of glue (one 'medium' strip at a time) on to those 'long' strips to help keep everything in place.
The first strip you use must be OPEN, and your final/last strip must also be OPEN.  The rest are CLOSED strips.


***You weave must always start and end with OPEN strips that have the opening facing outwards/away from the rest of the weave.*** 


This 7 strip x 12 strip piece is the base and two sides of your bag.
Just fold it so that you have a 5, 2, 5 configuration (5 strips down, then fold = one side of bag, 2 strips down, then fold again = base, 5 strips left = other side of bag).

Leave the top edges of your bag for now...

I'll come back to the method on how to make those TABS into a CLOSED EDGE later on.

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Now to make the two side parts...



These will each be 5 strips wide (5 'short' pieces) by 2 strips long ( 2 'medium' pieces).

2 medium pieces - OPEN strip.
5 short pieces - 2 OPEN, 3 CLOSED strip.

Don't forget that your weave must always start and end with OPEN strips.


(Start by securing the two medium pieces from the top with bull dog clips - just like before)...




(This photo is for illustration purposes only and does not use the correct sized pieces...)

One you have finished these two pieces you will note that they are the same length as the body of the bag you have already folded into shape - except that the edges do not look like edges just yet.

They are TABS.

You will need to fold and glue these TABS into the OPEN edges of the 7 x 12 piece you made and folded earlier to create your finished bag shape.

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Now all you need to do is to finish off the top edge of the bag...

Fold the TABS into the OPEN strip - and glue them all into place.


Once dry, glue the entire OPEN strip closed...




Finished!  

...  (except for adding handles and decoration/s of your choice)...

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I hoped that helped somebody somewhere...

Donna. x

Sunday 6 May 2018

Red Wine Card, Embossed Acetate, 8x8

There's a little story behind this card.

It's the reason why this embossed acetate layer was added in the first place...  although I have to admit that I think I actually quite like it.


What is it they say?  Necessity is the Mother of Invention?





You see, this is yet another 8x8 card that hubby had asked me to make for him for work - with not an awful lot of notice for someone who was already juggling a few projects at the time.



The brief?

Turning 60, male, likes wine and photography.



So I said yes knowing full well it would be a quick card.  Super quick in fact, as I have to make another with the same brief for the following week.



So long story short...  found a picture online (eventually), printed it out on to copy paper to check the size, then wanted to print on to photography paper.

The problem was we were low on ink and it's not due to be delivered in time and I'm not going out to get some.


So I hope for the best and print out a copy...  only to find those dreaded stripes running all across the image.

Do you know the ones I mean?



That's why I came up with a design with embossed acetate.

It hides those lines and you would never know!



How good is that?!!


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Hope this little tip helps somebody out some day...




Donna. x

Saturday 5 May 2018

Craft Consortium 'Wildflower Meadow' Treat Box - With Sequins

I have a simple little treat box idea to share with you today that uses an old style Quickutz/Lifestyle crafts die called 'Treat Box' in conjunction with the cardboard from the cover of the Wildflower Meadow Collection - Premium Paper Pad.

It's also a great way to gift some sequins (also part of the collection).


Simply split a bag into two, three or even four of those small resealable bags that you can buy (depends on the size of your treat box), place it inside at the front to seal the aperture...  with maybe a small chocolate treat behind (?) and 'hey presto'...


I've decorated mine with a stamped, painted and varnished image and added a few charms, too!




The sides of the box have also been decorated, using one of the designs from the premium paper pad collection along with toppers, rhinestones...




...  and even a sequin!






Here's the list of supplies used...


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Craft Consortium really do sell some of the most beautiful things...


If this is your style of crafting I would encourage you to take a look at their website for yourself.

I don't think you'll be disappointed...




Donna. x

Friday 4 May 2018

Craft Consortium 'Wildflower Meadow' Card, Hello, Shrew

On or two of you may remember a huge 8x8 'Hello' card that I made quite recently...

Today's card uses the negative space from that card and is another way to use up some of those offcuts of pretty papers you may have lying around...





I've scored the kraft card into four sections, slightly distressed and inked some of the edges and varied my stamping strength/the number of times I've reapplied ink to give some variation to the stamped edges on this card.



Want to see the list of Craft Consortium supplies used?


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As ever, if you have any questions about how this was made all you have to do is ask...




Enjoy your weekend.

Donna. x

Thursday 3 May 2018

Craft Consortium 'Wildflower Meadow' Decoupage Card

I've mixed decoupage papers with cardboard toppers from the inside of the 'Wildflower Meadow' paper pad packaging and combined them with stamped, water coloured and varnished images for todays card.




Rather than glue the decoupage papers into place I've simply secured them from the back.

And I've used foam squares to add extra height to the dragonfly and grasshopper.




I wonder...  Is it easy to spot the three images I've stamped, cut and varnished?

I think it is, but just in case you're not completely sure it's the dragonfly, grasshopper and white flower that's in amongst the bunch at the top.












Let me give you a run down of the supplies I used...

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All of this (and more) is available from Craft Consortium


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I hope the sun is shining wherever you are today...



Donna. x

Wednesday 2 May 2018

Craft Consortium 'Wildflower Meadow', Stamped Image, Photo Frame

 I wanted to create a simple colour wash effect on this pretty little flower...

I thought long and hard about whether or not I should add a colour wash background, or add some paint splatters...  but in the end I decided that I wanted the beauty of this simple little stamped image to be the focus.

So simple it is...


Can you see that I added dimension to the butterfly just by gluing at the centre?





This stamped image is part of a collection of stamps from the Wildflower Meadow range.





There are two other stamp sets available, as well as the most gorgeous of paper pad sets and coordinating sequins.


Why not stop by Craft Consortium and see for yourself?


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Thanks for stopping by today...






Donna. x