PolkaDoodles Octavia Frosted Winter Christmas Cushion

Have you seen the latest launch from PolkaDoodles? It's an absolutely stunning collection and available as a download or on CD. I was lucky enough to be asked to make samples for the Create and Craft show, sadly I only had time to complete this project. I do however, have at least four UFO's sitting on my dining room table!

Now, I'll be honest I'm not a sewer but do have a love of fabric and textiles. I've had this idea floating around in my head for an absolute age and as soon as I spotted some of the lush papers in the collection I knew that it was time to try and make it a reality. I will have a full tutorial on my blog tomorrow showing you exactly how I made the cushion, in the meantime here's a brief description.

I printed the digital papers and images onto a piece of A3 fabric. Before attempting to cut out the images and embellishments I ironed Bonda-Web.

Next I decided that I wanted to add some texture and dimension to the cushion so I tried to print directly onto felt..... epic fail! Not to be deterred I decided to try printing onto t-shirt transfer paper and iron that onto the felt. I think it worked pretty well despite the fact that it changed the colours significantly (just to give you an idea of how much the colour changed, the flowers should be the same red as the "25")

Once I'd printed and cut out all of the elements I set about assembling the cushion. Now this is where I panicked... it all sounded really easy in my head but there was one small problem... I'm not an experienced sewer and there were sooooo many elements to this project that it completely overwhelmed me! I put it to oneside intending for it to stay as a UFO but then I thought I've spent so much time effort that it's stupid not to finish it. So with that I removed the backing from the Bonda-web and ironed and stitched my pieces into place!

I don't think I'm too unhappy with the end result - it's far from perfect but for an experiment and first attempt it's come out OK. There are things I'd do differently and definitely things that I'd be aware of (like making sure you cut the fabric with the weave going the same way) but hey it's been a good learning curve.

Thanks for stopping by.

Claire x

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Octavia Frosted Winter

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Little Claire's Digi Challenge - Christmas
Creative Corner - Anything but a card
CRAFT - Christmas
Crafting By Design - Get Ready For Christmas
A Snowflakes Promise - Christmas
Not Just Cards - Anything Goes
2 Creative Chicks - Anything Goes
Altered Ecletics - Anything Goes
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra - Anything goes
Crafty Time - Anything but a card

Altered Ribbon Reel -

This is another of the samples that I made for the release of the new Winston CD, you may have spotted it sitting on the counter alongside the altered sardine can. I warn you now there is picture overload on this post but I still failed miserably to capture it properly. It's not often I say this, but the photos really don't do this justice!

I got given this empty ribbon spool by one the members of staff in Hobbycraft who said they just bin them and if I could make any use of it then I was more than welcome to it. So being the hoarder that I am I carried it home with me and shoved it in my stash of altering bits. I have to be honest and say that I'd almost completely forgotten about it until I went to retrieve the sardine can for the other project. That said I glanced at it and thought no more of it until I'd coloured up Sewing Etty and decided that I wanted to decoupage her! Being short of time I decided that I'd scan the image and print multiple copies, however, it changed the colour tone and it no longer fitted with the papers I'd chosen. So I sat and pondered for a while and then suddenly the ribbon reel came to mind and I knew exactly what I would do!

So I grabbed it from the box and sat the image on top of it and as luck would have it, it was the right size! So I set to work and painted the reel with Gesso and Acrylic Paints so that it resembled wood.

Once dry I glued the lace and pearls onto the reel and added some tape measure ribbon that I had in my stash.

I then cut out the image and layered it up before adding glitter and Glossy Accents.

I decided that I wanted the reel to be viewed from all angles so I created a "fabric" panel screen using papers from the CD and hot glued it into place.

I then added the image to reel and started to add various embellishments from the CD such as the hat, pins, scissors, bunting, birds etc...

Once they were in place I felt that the reel needed some 3D elements so I added some little wooden reels available from Polka Doodles.

By this point I was starting to run really short on time so I grabbed my mini flower punch that I seem to use on almost every project at the moment and punched an assortment of flowers from the papers I'd printed from the CD. I then mixed these up with some of the handcut flowers from the CD.

I had lots of fun making this project and will definitely be grabbing more of these reels for use in future projects.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Claire x

I'd like to enter this project into the following challenges:
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Ladybug Crafts - Anything Goes
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Anything Goes
The Mirror Cracked - Anything Goes
Crafty Cardmakers - Ribbons,Lace & Pearls
Not Just Cards- Antything Goes
Try it on Tuesday - Recycle It

Vintage Sewing Book Card

Ahh Ha!!! You weren't expecting to see me today were you? I bet you're wondering what I'm upto? Well I'm super proud and rather excited to be able to tell you that I'm part of the Studio 12 Design Team and as such it's my turn to post over on the new Studio 12 blog. If you've not been over there yet, please do stop by as everyday one of the team post an inspirational piece.

Today I've decided to show you my final TV sample that I made using the new All Sewn Up Kit from the Studio 12 -  Picknix Collection 1. I've taken several pictures to try and give you an idea of what the book looks like from different angles (so apologies yet again for another picture heavy post!).

This is the front of the book (see this post for links to the tutorial). The image has been coloured with Promarkers, Flex-markers and Prismacolor Pencils.

I created the shop front window using a Memory Box Die and some Glossy Accents. The Dress Form is a pre-coloured element from the CD. The book is held closed by some seam binding which has been aged with Distress Ink.

Once you open the book, you're greeted by this little scene which has been created using a few buttons and lots of elements from the kit. I only used real buttons cos I was seriously pushed for time on this project, otherwise I'd have used the ones that come with the kit.

The tape measures have been printed onto masking tape. I love the effect that this gives as it looks really delicate, but it's actually really robust! I've then dusted the back of the tape with talcum powder (this stops it sticking together and also from sticking to the wrong place on the layout. Once I've got it in position I've used silcone glue so that the dimension holds.

I made the little fabric roll simply by creating a cardboard tube out of some kraft card and then wrapping some of the DP around it. The edges have been swiped with Distress Inks to make them pop a little. The little dress was created simply by cutting a semi circle of paper and then concertina folding (this forms the skirt) and drawing around the top of the dress form to create the bodice.

The sentiment has been printed onto white cardstock, aged with Distress Ink and then faux stitched. I've added Stickles to the words "Sewing" and "Soul".

Well that's about it from me today. I'll be back in the morning with my Delicious Doodles post.

Thanks for stopping by.

Claire xxx

I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:
Crafts & Me - Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly - Bingo (Ribbon, Die Cut & Buttons).
Craft Your Passion - Flips & Folds
Make It Monday - Anything Goes
The Cutie Pie Challenge - Stitching
Gingerloft - Vintage
Sugar Creek Hollow - More is better
Inspire Me Fridays - Anything goes
Stampin With The Dragon - Anything goes