Easel Drawer Box Card

Easel Drawer Box Card

       Hi friends....have you ever made a card you felt happy about when you made it but months later thought...what a lame card and could never bring yourself to send it anyone?!!

Well I have quite a few of those "what was I thinking when I made that" type of cards in my collection ...and have been challenging myself to rework some of them rather than throw them away!

So here is the ancestor of this easel drawer card... a  Glittery Card  I just couldn't bring myself to send to anyone despite being in my stash since 2016!

Glitter Card

So I went to work on it using handmade flowers and dozens of die cuts and made a Birthday Card [as my DT project for  Cuttlebugmania  Challenge where the theme is Birthday]! 

Wanted to play in a few favorite Challenges and so converted it into an easel card with blue and green color theme and dozens of butterflies for Mrs A's Butterfly Challenge !

Easel Drawer Box Card

 I still didnt like the card much and so decided to try and wave a magic wand once again and tried to make it into an easel card with a drawer box!

Easel Drawer Box Card

My poor card was already quite bulky so rather than risk making a wobbly card stock drawer I very ambitiously made the drawer box from chipboard!

Easel Drawer Box Card

And that was easier said than done as it involved endless measuring and re- measuring, gluing and re-gluing!!!....Ufff...this sure wasn't one of those easy projects!

Easel Drawer Box Card

And though I am not a 100% happy with the overall project I do love how the drawer part turned out!
The drawer pull has a metal butterfly I transformed into a shabby white beauty using Stampendous embossing powder.

Altered Butterfly

 It did turn out gorgeous and shabby!!

Easel Drawer Box Card

The drawer box has blue crystal flowers as feet[ you can see the same Crystal flowers in this post : Crystal flower bouquet Tutorial ] and butterflies galore all around it.

Easel Drawer Box Card

 The easel part rests on a pearl - rhinestone border and a gorgeous satin flower trim. When you lift up the easel...you will see birthday wishes once again and gorgeous peacock blue butterflies.

Easel Drawer Box Card

 And on turning the card- box ...more birthday wishes!!!

Easel Drawer Box Card

 I may be weird but after all the work I think I like the backside of the card drawer box more than the front!!

Easel Drawer Box Card

 If you stayed  with me till here without falling asleep or running away...Thank you so much !!!

Easel Drawer Box Card

And here are the dies I used!! :

Winnie and Walter  Essentials Audrey Cutaways , Winnie and Walter Cover Model Multifaceted Cutaway,X cut 3 D Butterfly,Magnolia Doohickeys Vintage Box Lacing Coffee,Joy Crafts 6002-0251[Butterfly Border],Marianne Anjas Vintage Decoration LR0269,Cheery Lynn  Large Rose,Cheery Lynn  Flourish 13,Spellbinders Annabelle's Trousseau Layering Frame,Spellbinders Rose Creations  ,Spellbinders Magnolia,Tonic Studios Birthday Swirl.

Dont forget to join in at the Cuttlebugmania  Challenge with a Birthday themed project. It is special as we are celebrating Jannie's birthday [ Jannie is the sweet and wonderful owner of the Cuttlebugmania Challenge blog]

Linking to
 - Use Old favorites...The blue flowers were made using the Spellbinders Rose Creations  one of my oldest dies and a special favorite
Creative Fingers Challenge ,CraftyHazelnut's Pattern Paper Challenge,

This project was Top 3 at the Butterfly Challenge ! Yippeee!! Thank you Mrs A. 
It was also featured at 613 Avenue Create
It was also featured as Top 5 at All Sorts Challenge! So honored and thrilled!
It was also chosen and featured as top 5 at Fussy and Fancy Challenge . Thank you so much !!
It was also in the honorable mentions at Scrappyland Challenge ! Thank you !

CD Reycling with Sospeso Transparente

CD Sospeso Trasparente Art

Hi friends of late I have been in a "non- paper crafting" mood .My fascination with the Italian craft of Sospeso Trasparente continues.To display the beautiful Sospeso Trasparente flowers I recycled a CD.

CD Recycling

The picture above shows the CD, pattern paper cut out to fit it and glitter foam cut to fit the CD with my favorite Poppy Stamps Meso background die.

CD Recycling

Glued the pattern paper to the CD and used PVA glue[ Fevicol Mr ] to stick the glitter foam die cut to the paper. I used circle dies to cut a circular framework to fit snugly around the Meso background lattice.

How are Sospeso Trasparente flowers made?

Sospeso Transparente materials

I had already introduced you to Sospeso Trasparente in 2 previous posts [ Sospeso Trasparente bouquet tutorial and Ice crystal flowers].

Sospeso Trasparente flowers

The flowers in this project were made by sticking flower designs from thin paper sheets called Paper veils onto special Sospeso Trasparente plastic sheets and cutting and heating them to form 3 dimensional flowers

Sospeso Trasparente tutorial 

Roughly cut out the flower / leaf designs from the "Paper veils"

Sospeso Trasparente tutorial 

Apply diluted Sospeso Trasparente glue to the cut outs and stick to the plastic films. You can stick design side up or down depending on whether you want a  paper or plastic look for your final Sospeso Trasparente flowers.

Sospeso Trasparente on film

Allow the designs to dry, then cut out the designs and cut inwards towards the flower centers so that you can shape them later.

Sospeso Trasparente technique

Hold the plastic side towards a candle flame and heat and emboss.Emboss the petals of the flowers from the under surface and emboss the center as shown below.

Sospeso Trasparente embossing

The Sospeso Trasparente flowers look gorgeous just as they are but you can make them sparkle by adding 

• Diamond dust
• Ground glass crystals
• Distress glitter

Here is the detailed tutorial to each technique : Sospeso Trasparente techniques

Sospeso Transparente Crackle Paint

The flower above have a crackled  glossy look because it was painted with Clear Rock Candy crackle paint.

Diamond dust flowers

The flowers above have diamond dust and ice crystals

Sospeso Trasparente Crystal flowers

Dusted some of the Sospeso Trasparente leaves and flowers with distress glitter for a subtle shimmer effect.And some of the flowers like the one shown below were left plain and gorgeous !

Sospeso Trasparente flowers

         Many crafters asked me about best gluing options for Sospeso Trasparente as they found their work falling off projects! Sospeso Trasparente has  plastic and as you all know plastic is not the easiest medium to glue! 

        One option is to use a sticky clay like mseal to adhere to glass/ metal/ plastic etc like I did in the Sospeso Trasparente bouquet tutorial 

           Another option is to stick to foam! Foam and plastic literally melt into each other with hot glue form the simple glue gun and so you know the reason why I made my lattice background in foam!

Sospeso Trasparente 

I hope you like my altered CD craft.

Supplies : All Sospeso Trasparente material courtesy Crafters Corner, Distress Glitter, Crackle paint, Diamond dust, _ from Craftes Corner

Poppy stamps meso background die, Glitter foam, DCWV floral recollection,

Sospeso Transparente Ice Crystal Flowers

Sospeso Transparente 

Hi friends sharing yet another Sospeso Transparente floral project. This time with "Ice crystals" technique!

Sospeso Transparente ice crystals

Made a Christmas themed lantern with Sospeso Transparente flowers. You can read about the Italian craft of Sospeso Transparente here : Sospeso Transparente Bouquet tutorial 

Sospeso Transparente 

To run you through how I made the Sospeso Transparente flowers : my  flowers started off as flat designs on a special plastic sheet. They were cut , heated and embossed to create 3 dimensional Sospeso Transparente flowers

Sospeso Transparente 

Used hot glue to stack some of the flowers together.

Sospeso Transparente 

Inked the edges of the flower petals using red permanent markers and glass paint[ if you are using glass paint use a thin paint brush]

Sospeso Transparente 

Achieved the Ice crystal Effect by mixing  equal amounts of Vetrification gel and Ground crystal glass [invented by Sospeso Transparente inventor Monica Allegro] in a plastic dish and applying it over my Sospeso Transparente flowers.

Sospeso Transparente ice effect

The toughest part is that you have to be really patient and not touch or move the flowers as they dry or the crystals will fall off !! [Best left overnight so that you are not tempted to poke them!]

Ice crystal Sospeso Transparente 

You can completely cover your flowers and leaves or just give a splattering of ice crystals

Sospeso Transparente leaves

I added my Sospeso Transparente flowers to a hanging lantern whose base is removable to fit in an LED light.

Sospeso Transparente 

You can make your own  centers for your Sospeso Transparente flowers like I did in the Sospeso Transparente tutorial  or add pollen like the ones here

Sospeso Transparente

I hope you enjoyed looking at this new craft of Sospeso Transparente designed by Monica Allegro

Sospeso Transparente flowers

Do tell me how you liked my decorated lantern.

Supplies : All Sospeso Transparente supplies and Pollen from Crafters Corner

Foam Flower Tutorial - Cala Lily

Handmade Photoframe

Dear friends thank you so much for the wonderful sweet comments on my previous post of handmade foam flowers.The foam cala lilies were so easy to make that I whipped up some more and added them to a handmade photoframe

Handmade Foam flowers

Added Marianne die cut leaves and pink punchcraft roses to mellow out the purple Cala lilies.[The gorgeous white flowers are a gift from blogger friend Jovi]

I feel so happy when I get requests for tutorials and extremely thrilled when one of my tutorials is appreciated or put to use !!

Here is the  Cala Lily foam flowers tutorial

Materials required
Foam-you can get foam sheets in A 4 or large chart paper size sheets and in different thickness.I found that cala lilies are best made with the thinner type of foam sheet.
To cut the Foam :use scissors, dies or foam punches .

To make the Cala Lily Petal : Cut foam into rough hearts.If you are hand cutting  the hearts dont obsess about getting a perfect heart shape as it doesnt really matter for the final appearance of your foam flower

Foam flower tutorial

To make the Cala Lily Center : I used Amos playdough as it dries without cracking and is super lightweight so ideal for paper crafting. You can also experiment with a paper mache type roll, paper rolled on a tooth pick or even a ear bud[Q tip] dipped in paint like I did in this post :Pop up card tutorial [yes you read right..I did use a slim ear bud for those paper cala lilies!! We ENT surgeons dont recommend using ear buds in the ear but I had some lying around so crafted with them!!]

I got the idea for the heart shape and the play dough center from some pins I had pinned here : Flower Making tutorials.
To make the Cala Lily Stem - use floral wire/other wire you have ; tooth picks, skewers, ear buds , paper rolls or even a used ball point pen refill![More recycling ideas welcome!]

To Glue it all together- If you are the patient sort use white glue[Fevicol]Otherwise ..I found the hot glue gun the quickest and easiest option for making these cala lily foam flowers.

Foam flower tutorial

Roll a pea sized ball of playdough  into a tapered rod and insert thin floral wire nearly to the center of the rod.Place it on the center of your inverted foam heart and apply a dot of hot glue on the playdough right at the base as shown in the photo of the foam flower tutorial

Foam flower tutorial

Fold over one half of your petal. Apply another dot of glue at its base as shown and fold over the other half. If you are happy with this shape then your cala lily is ready otherwise fold over the top edges of the cala lily and optionally add a teeny bit of glue to hold in place. [I found some flowers retained the fold even without any gluing!]

Sharing how I made some easy leaves you can add to any project.

Leaf tutorial

Die cut,Punch [caution: punches and glitter paper usually dont get along] or Freehand cut leaves .I freehand cut some leaves from Itsy Bitsy Glitter card stock

Leaf tutorial

Place floral wire on the base of the leaf ,apply glue and stick waxed floral tape over it.Roll the floral tape on the wire to make a leaf and branch or add it to your foam cala lily flower.

Cala Lily tutorial

I can be crazy stingy at times and try to save the weirdest of stuff...the above photos show how I saved floral tape[Not because they are expensive...I just love floral tape too much to waste it!!] by wrapping my cala lily and leaf wires together and using the leaf's floral tape to make a stem!! Ha Ha do any of you get these crazy drives to save craft supplies....?

The photo shows the Foam Flowers card I had shared earlier along with my handmade photoframe

Handmade Photoframe

The photoframe is an altered old desktop calendar.Most of my readers have seen lots of examples of my recycling handmade photoframes but for my new readers here are DIY photoframe tutorials

The crystal flower on the photoframe is another easy to make handmade flower and here is the tutorial link : Crystal flower tutorial

Handmade Crystal flower

I made a collage for my pinterest readers to easily pin the Cala Lily foam flower tutorial.

Foam flower tutorial

I am again so grateful to my readers and blogger friends for the loving and supportive comments you write.I hope you enjoyed this handmade foam flower tutorial.

Foam Flowers

Supplies: Dies: Marianne Anja Leaves- Priya. White flowers : Gift from Jovita,Corrugated card- Mantri mall.Ribbon- Gift from Kalindi. Glitter paper- Itsy Bitsy
I have made flowers from some crazy materials .Here are links to some "non paper" flower tutorials.
Foam rose tutorial
Styrofoam /Thermocol Flower tutorial
Crystal Flowers Tutorial
Playdough/Clay/Mseal/Marzipan Rose tutorial
Spoon flower tutorial
Sponge flower tutorial
Beaded Flower tutorial
Aluminium foil flower tutorial
Salt dough tutorial
Easy No sew ribbon flower tutorial