Paper Patchwork Scrappy Dress

A while ago, my friend cut me a dress shape out of some thick pink foam for me to decorate. Well, every now and then I would work on it....a bit of paper patchwork here, a bit there, until yesterday. Yesterday I finally decided I would finish it so I set about combining lots of my scrap serviette and colour washed papers and lace. The finishing touch was a sweet little pocket with a lace hanky peeping out.

Flower Card Using Vintage Book Pages

On this rainy Friday, I pottered about making this card. Colour-washed background paper; flowers punched from a vintage book; faux pearls for the centre of the flowers; wonky donkey stitching for the stem; a scrap of lace; a butterfly and dragonfly.

My Second Handkerchief Curtain

I finally finished my second handkerchief curtain. All new hankies were used and the light is diffused and looks really pretty. Some wonky hand stitching but it was so much fun to do!

Go out into the sunshine....

 

Saturday was a rainy, cloudy day here in Sydney so that meant it was the perfect day for crafting! I had some paper that I had colour-washed that I wanted to use. This sweet girl was just whiling away her time in an old children's book that was falling apart so I decided to bring her out to play. I knew I wanted her to be in the sunshine and after flicking through lots of my old books, I found the words I wanted to use. A little strip of lace and a sparkly flower and my card was finished.

Thank You Card, Using Scraps

I used fabric, lace and paper scraps, a button and a sparkly dragonfly to make this card. My girl is now ready to start the day!

A Pocketfull of Happiness

A pocketfull of happiness is all we need.....

A scrap of material, lace and a button and my sweet girl is made. Can you see something sparkly in her pocket? Yes, she has just picked a little flower. The words from a vintage book tell you how she is feeling.

Orange and Almond Cake

Today I made an orange and almond cake for the family to have for dessert tonight.....served with a generous dollop of whipped cream, yum! The recipe comes from Food Safari and here is the link
http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/orange-and-almond-cake

It really was extremely easy to make and the taste is scrumptious....this has become my new fave recipe!!

Handkerchief Curtains

I bought a few packets of new hankies with the plan to make curtains for my craft room. I have now completed the first half and added some pink lace tabs at the top. Keep in mind that I usually work with paper, so don't look too closely at my stitching....

The hankies were actually very inexpensive as I bought them from a discount store and there were 10 large hankies in each pack for $2.00. As I needed 40, that was only 4 packs, although I bought an extra pack in case. Total cost of the hankies.....$10.00.

Matchbox Art......Abilene's Surprise Visitor....

 

I covered a small matchbox with some colour-washed paper and then added a vintage picture of a sweet girl, who I am calling Abilene, from the book The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. In the book, she is separated from her treasured china rabbit, Edward Tulane.

 

 Inside the matchbox, I used some foam to make a mattress and a piece of serviette paper for the sheet.

 

 Then I added another piece of serviette paper for the quilt and glued a small piece of lace trim to the top. Finally came the pillow and a cheeky little teddy bear who has snuggled into her bed while she is out looking for Edward.

I am sure Abilene will get a surprise when she comes home...

It won't be the same without Edward, but teddy might make her feel a little better....maybe....what do you think?

Envelope Art...And You Shall See The Beautiful Things.....

I used a piece of my colour-washed paper to make an envelope. It seemed the perfect background for my sweet girl picking flowers. The picture came from a vintage children's book and I added fabric scraps, pearls and a little handmade postage stamp.

 

A piece of my colour-washed paper sprinkled with salt was used for this envelope. Again, I have used vintage pictures and words from a children's book and added lace, a doily, a pearl and a handmade postage stamp.

Heart Paper Patchwork Birthday Card

I used some scraps of my prepared paper serviettes to punch out some squares to make a patchwork heart and then stencilled Happy Birthday. The final part was to add a sparkly jewel.

Super Six Comprehension Strategies Bookmark

I work in two primary schools as a School Learning Support Officer and the super six comprehension strategies is part of the curriculum. I thought I would make a handy bookmark for when I am helping the students. The photo shows both sides with three strategies on each. I will be covering it in clear contact to make it more durable.

Paper Patchwork Birthday Card

I used one of my colour-washed background papers for this card and added a paper patchwork window with a lace curtain. The finishing touch was to stencil the words "Happy Birthday" and add a sparkly dragonfly.

Background Papers Using Watercolour Paints, Salt and Icing Sugar

I was running out of background papers for my cards so I decided to have an afternoon painting. The supplies are very simple......white pages from a visual arts diary, watercolour paints, salt and icing sugar. Some pages I just used the watercolour paints and others I added either salt or icing sugar....not both together. The pages are now dried and ready to be used.

I made some handmade envelopes from the paper....

Upcycle Hankies into Envelope Purses for Your Handbag

A while ago I bought a lot of new hankies with the idea of patchworking them together to make a curtain for my craft room. That was the idea. Today, I had another idea....I decided to see if I could turn a hankie into a small purse. It measures 19cm x 14cm. I sewed on a button and made a small slit so you can do up the button to close it. You can put anything you like inside....make-up, sunglasses, notepaper and pens.....

Mixed Media Envelope Art

I just love making my own envelopes and decorating them. I particularly love the illustrations of Krys Kirkpatrick and wanted to include one of her sweet girls in my envelope art. I have provided a link so you can check out more of her gorgeous work http://kryskirkpatrickdesign.com/

For this envelope I used vintage pics from an old, falling-apart children's book, paper serviettes, fabric scraps, lace and buttons.

Scraps of material and lace, snippets out of old books and the odd button, pearl and butterflies.

A lovely picture of woodland folk from an old book, material scraps and a sparkly dragonfly.

Op Shop Drinking Glass, Paper Serviette and Mod Podge.... more creating!

I bought 10 of these drinking glasses at Vinnies and they are just the perfect size to turn into  tea light holders. All you need is the glass, pretty paper....I use paper serviettes....a brush and Mod Podge.

I have made two so far and added some pretty lace (also from Vinnies) as the only embellishment.

These are so easy to make so I will craft a few more for my next market stall :)

Op Shop Glass Bowl, Fabric Scrap and Mod Podge......let's create!!

 I started with a clear, glass bowl from an op shop. The best place to buy things!

 I had this gorgeous scrap of material that was just waiting for a project....

 I Mod Podged the bowl and then laid the material, design side down, over the bowl and pressed it out with my fingers to make it smooth. It is worth spending a bit of time on this to make sure you get out any bubbles or air pockets.

 Toffee thought the drying time was too long, but it was only over an hour. Keep in mind that it was a warm day so allow more time if the weather is cooler. Once dried, I used sharp scissors to trim the edges.

The final step is to Mod Podge the back to make it durable. You can put anything you like in the bowl, and just give it a wipe out with a wet cloth. Easy craft and great for gifts!!

With some leftover scraps from the bowl, I covered a glass candle holder and added some pink lace and a button. I have just lit the tea light inside and it looks really lovely glowing through the floral fabric.

Shadow Box

I am on holidays at the moment and am loving the time to craft. My latest project is a shadow box. I found an empty perfume and soap box in a bag of material that my friend gave me. It was just the perfect size with a flip-open lid.

  The painting is all done now and I am about to start working on the inside.

  

All finished!

 

 I used the original pages from several old children's books to create a scene to go with my favourite words from a Joan Walsh Anglund book. The sweet, pink flower came from the window box on my dollhouse.