Special Shadowbox

Shadowbox

Hi friends sharing a special project I made as a birthday present for my husband. He is a nature lover, an avid gardener and loves birds and butterflies . He also loves looking at houses and his catch phrase is "Enjoy". I tend to reach for Graphic 45 papers whenever I want to make something really special. So I made a special shadowbox using Graphic 45 papers and tried to incorporate all  my husband's favourite elements!

Shadowbox

I have used mainly the gorgeous Graphic 45 Artisan Style papers to make this project. 

The lovely light bulb is from Prima.

Made the peacock by layering 3 diecuts and adding pearls and glitter. Added flowers , leaves , fruits ad butterflies at different depths.

Shadowbox

A tiny bird nests on the rooftop hidden from direct view by the hanging flowers!

Shadowbox

Another little bird nests atop lovely flowers near the pillars of the house. Many of the  flowers in this shadowbox were made using the technique  of Sospeso Transparente .

Shadowbox

A pair of peacocks were  cut and layered atop the same peacock design to give a 3 D look.  I have used a lot of   flowers and butterflies fussy cut from snippets of paper and jazzed them up with glitter.

Shadowbox

Added tiny pearl  hearts on the feathers of the   peacocks.

Shadowbox

More butterflies, flowers and cute mushrooms on this corner! I used so many different dies to make the foliage as I wanted a medley of different leaves just like in nature!

Shadowbox

This picture shows the multiple layers of the shadowbox. I think from this view you can fathom the  many hours I spent making this project. It was indeed a labour of love!

Shadowbox

The shadowbox has a protective glass frame and I decoupaged it with matching paper from the same paper stack collection.

Shadowbox

Supplies used: Dies :  DMC Foliage and Leaves 9,Little Birdie Meadow Foliage,Little Birdie Fresh Foliage,Little Birdie Fern Forest,Little Birdie Fern Foliage

Papers : Graphic 45 Artisan Style, Graphic 45 Nature Sketchbook,Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary, Graphic 45 Baby to Bride for the sides of the  shadowbox

House Shaped Box

 

House Shaped Box

Hi friends do you sometimes look back on an old project and felt it was downright boring! Well I decided to revamp this somewhat plain paper holder I made  more than 3 yrs back!

House Shaped Box

I love adding handmade flowers to my projects and find making flowers from shrink plastic absolutely fantastic! 

Shrink Plastic

There is something magical about cutting a sheet of plain plastic , heating it , oohing and aahing over how it shrinks & shaping it into a beautiful flower!

House Shaped Box

Here is how the box looks with the roof removed!

House Shaped Box

And hehe though this is a utility item, I admit I don't really use the papers from this holder...this paper holder just sits on my table for me to look at and smile!!

Supplies used: Dies :  Flower and Leaf dies from Dress My Craft, Lace ,Leaf- Crealies. Papers : Graphic 45 Time to Flourish

Decoupaged Bookends

Decoupaged Bookends

Hi friends do you have favourite papers you just can't bear to cut into? Well like many of you I do tend to hoard pretty papers for ahem years! 

Decoupaged Bookends

When I can finally convince myself to use my treasure of pretty papers ,I love to make home decor and utility items with them so that I can  continue drooling over them!

Decoupaged Bookends

So these are sturdy wooden bookends decoupaged with lovely Graphic 45 papers!

Decoupaged Bookends

These are some of my most loved papers as they help bring not only a smile but a slice of nature into my daughter's room!

Decoupaged Bookends

I hope you enjoyed my projects and I think my crafty friends can identify with me how hard it is to cut into pretty paper!!

Supplies used: Papers : Graphic 45 Floral Shoppe, Graphic 45 Time to Flourish

MDF Bookend from Itsy Bitsy

Puzzle Shaped Home Decor

Hi friends...sharing a mixed media project in the  shape of a Puzzle which I made as a birthday present for my husband who loves gardening, flowers and birds!

I made it with the  new MDF Puzzle from Crealies which is a very large puzzle and has  lots of room to express your creativity!

I painted the  Puzzle with a coat of gesso and decoupaged spring themed elements from a paper napkin onto it

Applied a brick stencil design using crackle texture paste and stamped a chicken wire design in the  gaps of my design

Made flowers to match the  design on the  paper using circles!

Added cute little birds behind the  flowers!

And of course I had to add my favourite sentiment die from Crealies  "Smile" on a banner. I used the  Crealies  sticker sheets to die cut the  smile...the  sticker sheets are so useful to diecut and stick delicate diecuts such as the  text dies.

I added the  new Crealies  gear dies here and there both inside the  design and on the  back of the  puzzle.

Added tiny pearls at various places for a lovely texture

The cheerful bow from Crealies  is never out of place!!

Stringed some tassels on a leafy ribbon to finish of the  Puzzle

The whole piece can hang using a metal and satin handle which is actually a handbag handle!

I hope you liked this project.

Crealies MDF :

Puzzle

Crealies Dies/Stansen :

Crea Nest Lies XXL No 84

Duo Dies no.39

Duo Dies no.41

Partz No.32

Set of 3 no.41

Set of 3 No 56
Set of 3 No 59

Text Dies no. 13

Crealies Stamps/Stempel :

Bits and Pieces No 163

Crealies Stencil:

Stencilzz No 203

Crealies Basics:

Crealies Make a Sticker

Crealies  Foam Adhesive

Graphic 45 Decoupaged Boxes

Decoupaged Box

Hi friends sharing 2 simple projects which I had felt did not merit a blog post and had posted on facebook but they were so popular I thought I would share on the  blog as well.

Decoupaged Box

It is  simple watch /jewelry boxes which I gessoed, painted and decoupaged with gorgeous Graphic 45 papers. I used my favourite Graphic 45 Time to Flourish to make it .

Decoupaged Box

The 2nd project is more masculine and is a watch box decoupaged with Graphic 45 World's Fair

Decoupaged Box

I love the  richness of Graphic 45 papers and their thickness is perfect for all kinds of projects!

Decoupaged Box

I love using my favourite papers for projects I can keep around in my home...what about you how do you like to use your favourite papers?

Unicorn Theme Party

Unicorn Theme Party

       Hi friends one of my crafty resolutions for 2020 is to get back to sharing crafts with my friends in blog-land and other social media. My daughter and I made so many things in 2019 but photographing and sharing the  projects online took a huge backseat. I had raised the bar on myself and felt either the  projects were too simple or the  photos were subpar or life simply got in the  way and I ended up sharing very few of my projects last year! Trying not to let self doubt and procrastination get in the  way this year!

Unicorns are so popular with both children and adults and we celebrated my daughter's 13th birthday with a super fun Unicorn theme party.

Unicorn Theme Party

My daughter's birthday falls on May 30th and she has summer vacations in April and May ...so every year we spend a good chunk of the  vacation planning her birthday.
We had the  party in our living room so we  put up the  main decorations in our living room.We had a pink and white balloon arch at the  doorway to our living room.

Unicorn Theme Party

We put up pink and white balloons and large flowers all over the  room but concentrated majority of the  unicorn decorations on this wall. You can see a huge handmade Unicorn banner,cute  clouds and rainbows ,a rainbow unicorn, floating hot air balloons and nearly a dozen decoupaged unicorns!

Unicorn Theme Party

The hot air balloons were die cut using the Spellbinders  Hot Air Balloon Contour Steel Rule Die and yes it did take hours to make the  balloons 3d! .My daughter helped to layer the  balloons atop Crealies  oval die cuts and we topped off the  hot air balloon danglers with die cut clouds [ made using Itsy Bitsy clouddie]

Unicorn Theme Party

The balloons dangle from blue satin ribbons and I added  clouds [ made using Memory Box dies]  on alternate ribbons.They looked fabulous swinging in the  wind!

Unicorn Theme Party

We put the  letters of  our "Happy Birthday Prisha" banner on Unicorn faces.The ears and face were made using Crealies  oval foam die cuts ...we could have added unicorn horns but my daughter wanted them to be plain horses!!The tiny floral stamps are also from Crealies  and the  flowers were also die cut with Crealies  dies.

Unicorn Theme Party

 My kiddo made the  Cloud hanging decoration freehand...aren't those cloud eyes simply adorable !!

Unicorn Theme Party- Rainbows and Clouds Decoration

The rainbows were pretty easy to make...we used  foam with rainbow colours and cut out big semicircular arches to make the  rainbows and added Memory Box die cut clouds on the  ends.

Unicorn Theme Party Cloud Pinata

 My little girl[ well officially a teenager but a little girl to me!!] made the  super cute cloud pinata all by herself...in fact she took hours to make it but it does look super adorable doesn't it!

Unicorn Theme Party 

She also drew and colored this gorgeous huge Unicorn..the  locks of hair are outlined with glitter glue and looks really special !
And here is the  birthday girl! The gorgeous hair bow is handmade...I made the  beautiful rose and foliage using foam !

Unicorn Theme Party

We had around 20 teenage girls for our party and planned some simple crafts for the  girls to make . We set up 4 big tables and here is how our table looked.

Unicorn Theme Party

And this is what the  girls made...Unicorn post it note holders. I cut up pieces of chipboard before hand so that the  base would be strong and pre-scored card stock stands for the  holder.Gave the  girls an assortment of pretty pattern papers to choose and lots of embellishments like rhinestones, pom poms , flowers, sequins and glitter to personalize their Post it note holders.

Unicorn Theme Party

The girls also played quite a few games but I didn't have to stress too much about the  games as my daughter herself organised all the  games !!

It was heartening to see the  girls enjoy themselves and after the  party so many of the  girls' mothers messaged me how much the  girls' enjoyed themselves!

I made quite a few Unicorn themed decoupaged decorations and since decoupage is such a time consuming craft ...I started making all the  decorations weeks before the  party!

Unicorn Theme Party

 Upcycled an old plate into a Unicorn!!

Unicorn Theme Party

And recycled a bottle into a Unicorn...this time with a frilly ruffled ribbon top and  pearls!!

Unicorn Theme Party

Made the  Unicorn themed boxes to hold our craft activity supplies by upcycling cardboard boxes

Unicorn Theme Party

And since every party needs tissue boxes...Unicorn tissue boxes!

Unicorn Theme Party

Made 3 Pen stands by recycling old Nutella jars into Unicorns!

Unicorn Theme Party

They are my personal favourite!

Unicorn Theme Party

I don't have a good photograph of our cake  but here is our 2 tier homemade Unicorn cake...It is a chocolate cake with butter icing done using Russian nozzles. My daughter made all the  cute  unicorns by hand sculpting fondant!

Unicorn Theme Party- Home made Cake

And though no unicorns in this one...I have to share it as it is always so popular at parties...a Jelly Flower cake...completely handmade with Jelly! [I am especially proud of  how it turned out as I managed to make it in between the  mad rush of getting the  house cleaned , putting up the  party decorations , baking and icing the cake and cooking for the  party!!]

Unicorn Theme Party- Jelly Cake

I hope you enjoyed reading about our party and hope some of these ideas may be useful !
Here are posts from our previous themed birthday parties:
A Frozen theme Party
Minion themed Party
Giant Paper Flowers Tutorial
Egyptian themed party - Scroll Invitations
Egyptian themed party - How to make a huge Mummy
Egyptian Themed Party- Framed Decorations Tutorial
Rapunzel Theme Party