Handmade Jute Flowers and Leaves

Jute Flowers

          Hi friends sharing yet another DIY Pen Stand with jute[burlap] flowers made using this tutorial : Jute Flower tutorial 

Recycled tin

This is the tin I lined with pattern paper and die cuts and tidied up the borders with a red glitter border!

Jute flowers

The  butterfly is a Hero arts- Sizzix stamp- die combo ...though I am not a big stamper I guess this butterfly is passable!

Stamped Butterfly

I hand-cut all the jute/burlap leaves in this project - Though I am addicted to die cutting it sometimes feels so good using a scissors!

Jute flowers

I love the red- green white color combination and I confess I have quite a few dresses in this combination!

Jute flowers

A fluffy feather to break up the monotony!

Resin Fairy

And my favorite handmade resin fairy which I made at home using resin and a silicon mold I picked up from my local craft store!

Resin Fairy

Its a very simple project and it joins the  set of 10 DIY Pen stands we made as teachers day gifts. I hope you liked it!

Supplies : Dies :Marianne Designs Anja Leaf 3, Sizzix Bigz Tattered Floral, Memory Box Spring border, Spellbinders Asian accents, Sizzix Butterfly

Here are links to more DIY Pen Stands

Handmade Burlap Flowers

Burlap Flowers

           I have a definite obsessive style to my crafting ...when I love something I like to keep on experimenting with it...and so you have seen my foam phase, corrugated sheet photo-frame phase ,oval accordion die phase, Sospeso Trasparente phase etc etc. Well now its a Jute [other wise  called Burlap/ Hessian] phase!

Altered Box with Jute Flowers

            Its always fun to alter a mundane object and this time an empty ice cream container got the works!If you have not tasted this flavour of ice cream...you have missed something big time...its Tender Coconut flavour and my its divine!! No I am not associated with the company who manufactures it...just giving a shout out to tickle your sweet tooth!!!

Altered Box

         Stuck pattern paper over the lid of the box and layered an inked PoppyStamps Meso background  die cut over it. Added Burlap flowers and some quilled fringed flowers and Burlap leaves.

Jute Flower

I am in love with autumn colors and couldn't resist adding a yummy orange pear and berries on a golden fence!

Fringed Flower

I cant resist buying leaf dies and punches so you can see leaves made from different dies in this altered box!In case you missed it here is the link to the Burlap/Jute Flower tutorial 

Jute Flowers

Added a hanging bronze lamp from the lattice to light up my autumn garden!

Jute Flowers Stationary Set

And here is how the whole Burlap Flower Stationary set looks- a box, an altered pen stand and a clock!

I hope you enjoy my Jute obsession.....more projects in the pipeline!

Supplies : Dies :Marianne Designs Anja Leaf 3, Marianne Designs Anja Leaf 1,Marianne Designs Fence ,Cheery Lynn  Butterfly ,Cheery Lynn  Grass, PoppyStamps Meso background , Sizzix Bigz Flower with leaves flourish, Provocraft Leaf die, Sizzix Tapered Fringe decorative strip

Die Cutting Fun and Jute Flower Tutorial

Handmade Jute Flowers

         Hi friends ,we have a lot of pen-stands at home and when I am in the mood for a quick craft ,I grab the most mundane looking one and try to give it a crafty makeover!

Plastic Pen-stand

           This sorry looking pen stand holds  plastic embossing tools which I used to use quite a lot for making paper flowers .Now I prefer to use metallic embossing tools for paper flower making since these plastic ones started breaking after a while! I haven't thrown them away since my daughter and I often use them in clay crafts.

Stencilling with Die Cut

           Of late I have become brave enough to play with texturing media but since I dont own a lot of stencils I  have to be creative with what I have! I used a PoppyStamps swirly curl border die cut as a stencil with Whipped Spackle texture medium to create a beautiful floral texture on my penstand!

Whipped Spackle Texture Media

Used the left over Whipped Spackle to create a rim on the pen-stand

Whipped Spackle Texture Media

           Though I do splurge a lot on craft supplies it does feel good to be frugal at times .....meaning I am resisting buying all the gorgeous stencils out there but finding more reasons to justify my cutting die buying addiction!!

Jute Flowers

        Here is how the PoppyStamps swirly curl border die was used to create the stenciled texture + on its own!

Cheery Lynn  butterfly

           As I said I love playing with dies and sometimes its fun to cut up your die cuts and try and create new designs. I snipped off the lower scrolls of this Cheery Lynn  butterfly and stuck it on top to give the butterfly antennae...and lo I have a new butterfly!

Texture Media

Jute Flower making tutorial 

       Most of my readers know I love making flowers using different media including  styrofoam/thermocol, sponge, marzipan, foam ,crystal, sola wood , felt etc. You can see the tutorial links here : Handmade Flower tutorials

Jute Flower Tutorial 

Jute Flower Making -Materials Required

• Jute Sheets - laminated ones are easier to craft with as the cut edges wont fray.Jute is known by different names in different countries .Its also called Hessian or Burlap
• Scissors- featured in the picture is the Fiskars Hobby Snip a sturdy scissors which is a favorite of mine.You can read more about it here : Paper Cutting Tools. The advantage of this scissors for this particular project is its a strong sturdy scissors sharp enough to cut jute and because it has a spring action your hands wont tire even if you are hand-cutting dozens of jute flowers!
• BigZ die - OPTIONAL - If you dont have a die cutting machine you can still easily make jute flowers by roughly drawing designs on the jute sheet and hand-cutting it . But if you are going to be tempted to use a die to cut jute you need to have  a die  which can cut through laminated jute [ its a pretty strong material!] I tried using thin dies from various companies and even the sizzlits but none could give as clean and effortless cutting as the Big Z dies
• Glue Gun- Jute is difficult to stick so unless you want to whip up your needle and thread and do some stitching  a glue gun is indispensable

Jute Flower Tutorial 

         I used the Sizzix Floral leaves flourish BigZ die to cut 2 jute flowers and a lifestyle crafts die to cut a small circle from glitter foam

Jute Flower Tutorial 

I tried layering the 2 flowers on top of each other...they looked flat and insipid so made the flowers dimensional using the easiest 3 D flower making trick...make a cut between 2 flower petals to reach the center.

Jute Flower Tutorial 

Apply hot glue to one petal adjacent to the cut and stick the other petal on top of it !

Jute Flower Tutorial 

Apply a generous blob of hot glue on the flat flower and stick the cupped flower on top .

Jute Flower Tutorial 

 Press on the center of the flower to stick it nicely. Since jute is fairly thick you can actually poke your finger into the cup of the flower and press it onto the blob of hot glue underneath without burning your fingers!

Jute Flower Tutorial 

Stick the foam center and your easy handmade jute flower is ready!

Handmade Jute Flowers

Tips to craft with Jute

• Jute sheets sold for crafting are laminated and don't fray as much as regular burlap but be prepared to have a lot of fabric shreds on your working surface and some frayed edges
• Using a hot glue gun while crafting with jute is great as unlike paper and foam which are thin and  more likely to give you burns jute is fairly thick and its easier to hot glue ! Also the laminated surface literally melts with hot glue and you get a good adhesion

If you would like to try some more jute/burlap crafts be sure to drop in at Gail's blog...she has some amazing inspirational jute crafts! 

Jute Flowers

I dressed up a small clock in the same autumn color theme to give my pen-stand company!

Jute Flowers Set

I hope you enjoyed my altered Autumn Projects.

Supplies :Jute Sheets - Itsy Bitsy, Dies :Marianne Designs Anja Leaf 3, Marianne Designs Anja Leaf 1,Cheery Lynn  tiny things with wings,Cheery Lynn  Butterfly ,Cheery Lynn  flourish leaf strip  ,PoppyStamps swirly curl border , Sizzix Bigz Flower with leaves flourish, Sizzix Bigz Tattered Floral, Heartfelt creations Botanical Wings , Provocraft Leaf die, Memory Box fringe border

Whipped Spackle, Fiskars Hobby Snip Scissors - Crafters Corner
Edited : This project came top 3 at Scrappy Land 25 Yippee!!

Fabric Flowers Tutorial

Fabric Flowers on Altered Bottle

Hi friends Thank you so much for all the appreciation on my Handmade flowers card...I am still basking in the warm glow of the heartwarming comments!!
Sharing an altered bottle with gorgeous Fabric Flowers  made using  Sospeso Transparente technique[Here is my first introductory post on this beautiful Italian craft of Sospeso Transparente ]

Fabric Flowers

Sospeso Transparente is a magical craft indeed as its amazing to be able to turn a wisp of paper, plastic or fabric into a gorgeous 3 dimensional structure by heating and embossing!

Altered Bottle

Here is the bottle I altered. Painting with paint brushes is so time consuming and I hate the inevitable visible brushstrokes so this time sponged on white acrylic paint using a regular sponge...not only was it fun and quick but the texture is so lovely !

Altered Bottle

Here is how I made the Fabric Flowers

Materials - All the Sospeso Transparente materials have been generously sent to me by Shalini Mittal of Crafters Corner.Being on the DT of the top Craft shop in India [Crafters Corner Inspirational Blog] sure has its advantages...one gets to play with in vogue and wonderful products!!

1. Sospeso Transparente Fabric Tape  
2. Sospeso Transparente Glue
3. Sospeso Transparente Plastic films 
4. Sospeso Transparente Embossing Pad and Embossing Tools
5. Candle - good quality, non smoky variety
6. Good Scissors

Fabric Flower Making

The inventor of the craft Monica Allegro has designed some beautiful "Fabric tapes" especially for fabric Sospeso Transparente .These tapes are made of thick cotton and have beautiful floral designs on them.

Fabric flower tutorial 

Roughly cut  out the floral design, apply glue [Sospeso Transparente glue recommended as it needs to be a nice strong, heat resistant adhesive that dries clear] to the reverse of the fabric and stick it on to transparent plastic films specially designed for the craft.

Fabric flower tutorial 

Blot the extra glue with a towel or baby wipe.

Fabric flower tutorial 

Run a decoupage spatula if you have one across the designs you glued to remove excess glue from under the fabric and ensure a wrinkle free adhesion of the fabric design onto the plastic film.

3 D volume decupage

Leave the design to dry- drying time will depend on the weather conditions- have patience!

Fabric flower tutorial 

Once dry use a good scissors[ I use the Tim Holtz Tonic for this] to cut out the fabric- plastic designs and cut the flower petals to wards the center just like you would  paper flower petals when you make paper flowers so that it will be easier to shape later.

Fabric flower tutorial 

Once you have cut out all the designs you are ready to create the magical flowers!
Do refer to my DT post on Sospeso Transparente for all the detailed steps on heating and embossing

Fabric flower tutorial 

Show the plastic side of your fabric-plastic designs to a handle flame and emboss while hot to shape the flowers and leaves. Its just like in the other techniques of Sospeso Transparente , the only difference being you have to exert a little bit more force since you are embossing a thick layer of fabric + plastic.

Fabric flowers

I dressed my bottle with a few Spellbinders border-abilities die cuts , added pearls and stuck on my fabric flowers using hot glue.

Magic floating photoframe

One roll of fabric tape yielded so many 3 D fabric flowers that I used some on a floating cube photoframe I picked up from a local shop .

Fabric flowers Photoframe

After shaping the flowers, pierced the center of the fabric flower design with a scissors and added pollen to it.

Fabric flowers

Though I have been singing praise about Sospeso Transparente ever since I was introduced to this craft I think among all the different sub-types of Sospeso Transparente [ includes printed films, paper veils, napkins and fabric tape], the fabric flowers are the most beautiful !

Fabric flowers

I didnt yet add my family photos to the frame but here you can see the photo-cube rotating

Fabric flowers

And here is the cube removed from the frame [ it snaps on via a magnet!]

Fabric flowers

I hope you liked my altered bottle and frame with Sospeso Transparente fabric flowers.
Supplies 
1.Sospeso Transparente Materials : So many people are asking me where to buy Sospeso Transparente :  In India its available at the best price at Shalini Mittal's Crafter's Corner and here is the link to Sospeso Transparente on her shop : Sospeso Transparente materials .
International crafters can look for the distributors of their country in Monica Allegro's[ the inventor of Sospeso Transparente ]  website .
2. Flower pollen, Spellbinders Borderabilities