Enjoy The Little Things

Hi everyone! Today I get to share my Little Yellow Bicycle project with you all. I can't tell you how much fun I had, playing around with the Fern & Forest Boy collection! My project was inspired mainly, by the little elf seen here. Initially, he was going to be part of the project but because of the scale of things, I decided to leave him off.

If you have a chance, please stop by see more of my project on the new LYB blog.

Here's how the elf cottage was put together.

The Roof: The tip of a paper mache cone was cut off, then sealed up with a piece of chipboard. Three slits were cut along the bottom edge of the cone, then slightly curled up. Random shaped pieces of patterned paper were applied to the surface of the cone with mod podge. Then some hand stitching was applied to the seams. Some circles were cut out from patterned paper and applied to the roof along with some pearl stickers. Stick pins, twigs, paper and real feathers were tied together with twine and then attached to the front of the roof.

The chimney was made out of rolled recycled cardboard, that was fitted together then covered with patterned paper. A small paper cone was then adhered to the top and thin wire was wrapped loosely around it. A hole was made in the roof, then the chimney was carefully pushed into place. A little hot glue was applied on the inside of the roof to secure in place.

The House: For the main part of the house, I used part of a birdhouse. After covering the house with patterned paper, glue was applied to the bottom edge then turned upside down. The glue was allowed to drizzle down the sides of the house and glitter was applied. Leave the house upside-down and allow to dry. A doorway was cut out of some chipboard then wrapped with jute. A thin piece of wood was then adhered to the back of the jute, to create the door before it was glued onto the front of the house. Next, a piece of a canvas border was glued above the door in layers.

The Base: Two round box lids were covered with patterned paper then glued together before shaped borders were attached. A phase sticker and chipboard banner were then adhered to the bottom lid. The lids were then attached to an oval wood plaque. Once the base was complete, the house was glued in place. Glue was poured around the bottom of the house and more glitter was applied.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Jen :)

Happy Birthday!

Hi everyone! It's great to be back and sharing a project with you all today. My youngest will be turning 7 the end of this month, so I wanted to make a centerpiece for his birthday celebration. My son likes cupcakes instead cake, so I thought this would work on the top tier of a cake stand, surrounded by some yummy cupcakes - Hope he likes it!

The Marvin the Martian outline was cut in black vinyl twice, using my Silhouette. The first vinyl cut out was placed on white foam board and cut out. Then the second one was used to add a little dimension to the piece. If you look on the side of Marvin you can see how I glued 2 layers of foam onto his "skirt," his shoes, helmet. (His visor is an additional layer cut from chipboard.) The solid primary colors were cut in paper, then cut and glued into place. I then painted the sides and back of the piece with black paint.

The number seven was hand drawn and then cut out of 2 layers of foam board and covered with patterned paper.  A zig-zag border was then applied around the edges. Pennant flags were stamped onto patterned and solid papers, strung together and then pinned in place with small pinwheels.

I used two paper mache boxes to create the base. They were covered with patterned paper and borders and a little zipper trim, then stacked. The number dial was created out of a large round sticker, that was mounted to some chipboard. I then used my Silhouette to cut a out the "happy birthday" border in black cardstock and attached it to the back of the dial. The traffic light is also a sticker that was mounted to some chipboard and  embellished with buttons.

 Supplies:

Maya Road - pennant stamps, trinket pins, zipper trim, wood buttons and chipboard circle.

Basic Grey - brad and solid papers (red, yellow, teal and green)

October Afternoon - patterned papers, stickers and die-cuts

Silhouette - Black vinyl, (cutting files: Marvin the Martian, arrow, borders and pin-wheels)

Other craft supplies -  2 round boxes, dowel, cardstock, foam core and raw chipboard.

Some Bunny Loves You!

Hello everyone and Happy Valentine's Day! I made it back just in time to share my V- day bunny.

Here she is in a close up. Technically, I made her as a Valentine's decoration, but she's become a little pin cushion holder and now sits on a shelf just above my work area.

This project was very simple to make. The  pattern / image (seen below) is actually from my Silhouette library. I used a sketch pen to draw the image onto some cardstock, then cut it out by hand to make the pattern. After tracing out the images  onto some felt, I cut the pieces out and added about a 1/4" around each piece for the seam allowance.

The two body pieces were stitched together, turned inside out then stuffed. The ears were stitched together and turned inside out also, but instead of stuffing them I used a blanket stitch around the outer edges.  The ears were then stitched onto the head. For the front paws, I cut them out freehand. I wanted them to hold the heart and the original design's feet wouldn't have worked, as I needed them to look more like hands. I also decided to add a white muzzle, (which was also cut freehand) to the face and omit the teeth. The base the bunny is sitting on, is made out of a paper mache box lid. The lid was covered in felt and then embellished  with a felt border, ribbon and flower.

Supplies Used:

Fancy Pants - felt arrow, flowers and frames.

Maya Road - red flower

Basic Grey - felt trim and small hearts

Hobby Lobby - felt, paper mache box lid, stuffing, embroidery thread, micro beads, wood dowel.

Other - cardstock, black marker, brad, felt ric-rac and printer.

Have a great Valentine's Day!

Jen