Jewel Box Saga ... Pt1

Hi Everybody,

Lots of you were just as excited about the Jewel Box as I was.

And it seems that many of you have the same, or a similar box and  you are wanting to alter yours too.

The first thing is to take it all apart.

I have removed all the hinges, door  handles and drawer knobs and put them in a safe place.

And then I set too with some 120 grit sandpaper and rubbed all the shine off the varnish.

You don't have to be too precious about this because all you are doing is preparing the surface to take the next step.

The inside is going to be the tricky bit because all the material is stained and I don't really want to start pulling it apart.

So I will take some time and think about that bit and let you know what I come up with.

But for now .... get all those hinges and handles off and get rubbing the wood down for a nice keyed smooth finish.

Watch out for the ...  Jewel Box Saga Pt 2 ... coming soon to a cinema near you    (Joking)

If you're still looking for  the Give Away then click  Blending Tools  and add your name to the list.  The winner will be announced on Saturday 26th January ..... Good Luck 

Hugs xx

Look at this little treasure

Hi Everybody,

I visited my daughter over the weekend and I said in conversation that I was going to start going to the Car Boot sales and looking for items that I can alter

I said  I was looking  in particular for  old Jewelry boxes that I can alter into something really pretty  

And would you believe this is what she was throwing away because the hinges at the top are broken and the lid won't close properly.

My little eyes lit up when she said ... "You can have this if you want it " ... do I want it !!!

Now I ask you which Crafter wouldn't want this little treasure ????  

 It's gorgeous and oh what I am going to do to this.

It stands about 11" tall and has pewter handles and knobs

The mirror in the lid is in tact and all the linings  in the cupboards and drawers are there and will need cleaning.

The cupboards have holders for chains and necklaces and  the bottom drawer has a ring slots in it.

The top drawer doesn't open but under the lid there are compartments for earrings.

So I am going to take all the hinges off it and strip it all back to create something really lovely ..... and then..... she will want it back again  .....   NO Chance 

As I progress with this I will show you the stages it goes through and at the moment I have all sorts of ideas whizzing around my head.

Hugs xx

Just have to show you ...

Hi Everybody,

I just have to show you this .... and then I promise I will leave dress forms alone ... well for a little while at least.


This is one I have been  asked to make for a Mothers Day gift and I love, love, love it.

The dress form had to be black and silver.  I  painted the stand and hat peg in matt black and the skin has had two coats of a "Flesh"   acrylic paint.

I painted the dress shape in white for a base coat and then  I add Silver Gilding flakes to it.

The straps to the dress are Diamante  from  Want2Scrap

I even added in a necklace with some fine silver chain.

The skirt is black taffeta ruffles and along the side opening I added in some lace.

The braiding at the top of the waistband is black and silver.

The large silver flower hides the Velcro that holds the skirt together.

You can see the silver under layer in this photo.

And I added an even larger silver flower to the stand.  And then came the hat ...

This has the same black lace around the brim and lovely feathers with another silver flower in the centre.

It even has a small hat pin in there too.

And I am really pleased with this one and I know that the person it is going to will treasure it

Hugs xx

Little Black Dress...

Hi Everybody,

This is the LBD that I started to paint in the video Painting Your Dress Form  ... and of course I had to leave it to dry and so it was never finished in time for the film.

 I thought I would take this opportunity to show you what I did to complete the dress form.

I made this a one shoulder style.

When it was dry I added some really beautiful Diamante and Black Pearl "Bling" from Want2Scrap  along the shoulder line and the hem of the dress.

Then the next thing was to give the form a skirt.

 It doesn't matter what material you use you can still follow the steps in the video I added yesterday 

 Dress Form Skirt

I am pleased with this but I have yet to add in the hat peg and the hat.

But the little skirt is all fringes and silver balls and it looks much better in real life.

This is the back of the dress and for this one I painted the top part of the form with a Flesh coloured Acrylic paint.

With all the exposed skin I thought it would look better.

This is another one that my family have claimed as theirs so once the hat is done it will be going to a new home 

Now although my "Film Crew" has been kept busy he did arrange for us to go out to the cinema and for tea afterwards.

I told you we were going to see Les Miserables

What a film ... I cried most of the way through it and then had to go out to tea with blotchy cheeks, red eyes and a runny nose and sit there and order food.

Griff said to me .... "You just want to go into a corner and cry don't you?" and all I could do was nod.

Hugs xx

I love these ....

Hi Everybody,

Over the weekend my "Film Crew" and I have been extremely busy porducing  not one ... not two ... but THREE   video tutorials for you to see and I know you are going to love these.

I showed you how to get pattern on your dress form in the last video by using one of your favorite stamps and some tissues .

But you may not have a favorite stamp or even some tissue to hand ...  so how about this idea instead.

The new videos  will take you all the way through  Painting Your Dress Form   and creating this kind of look.

Then decorating it up with any pretty trim that you have in your "Stash"


The flowers I have added  are from Wild Orchid Crafts 

Then how about adding a

 Dress Form Skirt
to make it even more beautiful.

The stands are made by my "Film Crew" and the hat pegs are added by me to make them a little different and of course to add the Hat...

Which are the subject of the third video, because to me the hats just finish off what is a beautiful gift for any woman you care to give them too.

This is an alternative style for the hat we covered in Dress Form Hats

That video produced a hat with a rounded dome to the crown ...

This one gives you more of a Top Hat shape but is is just a pretty.

Please take a look at Dress Form Hats - Another Style   and then you will have two to choose from.

This is the finished dress form and has gone to it's new owner to stand on her dressing table.

And I have to say she is as pleased with it as I was.

Hugs xx

Beautiful Miniature Hats

Hi Everybody,

Yesterday I added the Video Tutorial to create the dress forms and today I am adding another to create the  Dress Form Hat 

This easy to make hat will compliment the mannequines and make them a far prettier gift for your friends and family.

To get the circles I have used Spellbinders but you can make them with any method that you have to hand.

The Dress Froms with the stand are from IndigoBlu

The instructions are all in the video and it is not a long one ... but I am sure that you will really love the end product.

 

 This pink one is my favorite and I have added it to the mannequin that I am keeping for my self.

But I have been inundated with requests for these ...  I could start a business just making them to sell.

Any way I hope you will enjoy making them for yourself and please add your photos to the
Card Making Magic
Gallery Page

That way you will create your own web page on my website that you can send your friends and family to visit

And the more you add the more pages you will create.

Share all your  beautiful creations with the world.

 

Hugs xx

 ...

Those Dress Forms ...

Hi Everybody ...

I have been inundated with email requests about the Dress Forms as they are such an on trend project at the moment... and people want to know how I did them.

And so I have got my "Film Crew" busy ... after his long Christmas break ... to do a short video tutorial on how I created this look.

The dress form itself and the stamp that I used are from IndigoBlu  and the only thing I have added in is a Shaker peg to carry the hat.... and  I bought those,  in a set of ten,  from B&Q

IndigoBlu are a UK company so you will need to check if they deliver to your part of the world.  But do check out their other products as they have a really good selection of items for you to choose from.

The picture is not very large but the video ... Decorating Dress Forms ... will show this particular one being made.

In the next video ...  planned for this week ...  I will show you how to make the  hat that fits the mannequin.

The ribbon is from my "Stash"   The Spellbinder is Les Papillion for the butterflies and the "Blng" as always is from Want2Scrap

And in  answer to the questions about yesterdays post with Henry the vacuum cleaner .... Yes he does work ... he is battery operated, very small and can be used to clean out your PC's keyboard.

He is from   Amazon  ....  click the link to go to the page and he is a DESKTOP Cleaner.


But choose carefully as all the prices are different and he was NOT expensive ... just over  a  tenner  Griff says.

Hugs xx

Altered Notebook

Sometimes when we want to give a small gift it is hard thinking of something suitable.

This Altered Notebook with Spellbinders is  something that could be decorated as you like and given to anyone.

The flowers are all created from Spellbinders and because I have had so many emails asking me about them I have done a complete video on the subject which I will add later.

For this project you will need a spiral bound notebook but they are so cheap to buy I bought a whole pack of them and decorated them up in different ways.

And  they were well received  by those I gave them to as a stocking filler at Christmas.

The "Bling" on both of the books is from Want2Scrap and they are self adhesive pearls in long flourishes.

I have cut them down to use as they were too big for what I needed.

But by doing this I get a lot more for my money from each piece.

The Pink one has lace, silver net and diamante on the front cover, and it looks so much prettier in real life.


This Black and White one is full of my favorite things ... Flowers, Ribbons and Pearls ... so it's no wonder that I named my Blog the same way...



Hugs xx