Jennifer's DIY Embellishments!
You all know, we love Jennifer's write ups as much as her projects, so make sure you sing along (and memorize) Katy Perry's song, Firework to belt it out, whenever you accomplish something awesome using your eCraft!
"Firework"
You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow
Maybe your reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road
Like a lightning bolt, your heart will glow
And when it's time, you'll know
You just gotta ignite, the light, and let it shine
Just own the night like the 4th of July
'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through-ough-ough
'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on, show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby, you're a firework
Come on, let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, Oh, Oh"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe, awe, awe
-Katy Perry
So I was sitting in my craft room playing Farmville *cough* I mean, brainstorming project ideas...yeah, that’s right - that’s what I was doing lol and I happened to glance over at the mini-baby book I had made a couple days prior. And as I sat there staring at the front cover, it dawned on me - Here I have a really great electronic die cutter, yet I bought embellishments from the store.
Why did I do that?!?!?! Do I not think that my eCraft is up to the task? No. We all know that Mischief is quite capable of some seriously impressive work... Do I not have the supplies on hand to make my own embellishments? I’ve got supplies lol No shortage there! heeheehee
Could it be something as simple as thinking mine could never look ‘that good’? Honestly...I think that’s exactly what went through my head. And I’m sure many, many years ago, that might have been the case, but its certainly not that way now. I just got into the habit of buying what was out there that I pretty much checked my crafting independence at the door. And anyone one that knows me...I mean, REALLY knows me...knows that I’m not one to back down from a challenge ;-)
This week, instead of doing a full blown project - I’m going to show you a couple revamped embellishments, using some unexpected (at least from me lol) materials.
Look familiar, don’t they? They’re basically the same pages that I created last week...but with a twist! I’ll wait while you flip over to the previous post and look at the book again ;-)
What I Used:
My rockin’ eCraft
eCraftshop Pro Software
Adobe Photoshop
eCraft Die-cuttable Paper - Blue Potatoes, Butternut Squash, Molasses Cookies & Mint
Inkjet Opaque Print & Cut - www.printonit.com
Peachy Keen “Funshine Face Parts’ stamp set
Epiphany Shape Studio
Stickles
Perfect Pearls
Black Ink Pad
Various Pattern Paper
Scotch ATG
Scor-Tape
Chipboard
Various Ribbons
Foam Glue Squares
Glue Dots
Craft Knife
Red Chalk
Cotton Fabric - Blue and Brown
Heat N Bond
Household Iron
Animal Print Image
Various Pattern Images
Printer
How I Did It:
I googled ‘patterns’ and found a bunch of images with patterns that were in similar color families as my project and I used Photoshop to ‘grab’ little squares of each pattern and created a mock quilt - complete with little embroidery lines lol Then I printed the quilt out onto the Inkjet Opaque Print & Cut paper. My mini-quilt is 2”x2”, so I used my eCraft to cut my quilt out of the paper, since I don’t cut all that straight freehand.
Did you know that your eCraft can cut fabric? I knew it could...but up until this week, I had never tried it.
The special Inkjet paper is meant to go on fabric... and that was exactly what I needed to add more realism to my little quilt... but in order to do that, I had some prep work to do.
Certain materials are stiff enough that you can run them through the eCraft in a freezer paper sandwich. But if your material frays easily, you can use Heat N Bond on one side to keep that from happening. I used my eCraft to cut out the Teddy Bear AND the ‘backing’ for my quilt. Since this is my first quilt, I kept the backing uber simple - blue cotton.
After cutting out the shapes, I set my teddy bear aside, picked up my blue cotton and the quilt I printed and ironed them according to the directions that came with the special Inkjet paper. SO COOL!
See how tiny that quilt is? That’s the paper ironed on to the fabric! Way better then some paper sticker...
Back to the Teddy Bear - since he was cut out of fabric, I cut a second bear out of paper and glued them together. The gave my bear the support he needed... I used my printer for the ‘Sleep tight’ lettering and stickles for the sparkly border.
I did the same thing with the giraffe, except he’s a combo of card stock and the special Inkjet paper…
I made the basic rattle shape in eCraftshop Pro - 3 circles, 1 rectangle...2 paths. lol I know you guys say you struggle with the software - but there really is A LOT you can do with basic shapes. A lot! I used a cute 2-tone blue striped image and printed it on the special Inkjet paper and then gave it a lovely coat of watery perfect pearls. Its hard to see the stripes, but they’re there... Slide the paper into the Epiphany Shape Studio, plop in the epoxy shape and presto! One very adorable baby rattle!
I’ve decided to re-vamp the entire baby book with embellishments made with my eCraft and I’m taking you along for the ride! Because if I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT!
-Jennifer
Thank you Jen!!! We are so pumped! Have you made your own embellishments before?! Aren't Jennifer's embellishment super adorable?!
If you like Jennifer's ideas, let her know by leaving a comment!
If you like Jennifer's ideas, let her know by leaving a comment!
To see more of Jen's work, follow her blog here:
Awesome Jennifer! TFS I am sure learning with all your tips and ideas, I hope to try them soon!
ReplyDeleteHave a great day!
Liz
adorable!
ReplyDelete