Decorative Trimmings Blog Hop!

Who doesn't like trim!  You can use it to update, upcycle, refresh and renew within minutes....  For example, I bought a cute dress for Easter Sunday - my daughter politely informed me it would be okay to wear over leggings, but even though I wore mini skirts in the 60's (as in the 1960's) it might not be quite so cool for a mum IN her 60's..... hmmmm.  Guess I need to get some lace (wide lace) and sew it around the bottom...

In the meantime I received a box of trim from Decorative Trimmings for this month's Designer Crafts Connection blog hop.  Designers love to play with new product and I am no exception.  Unfortunately I received white lace trim in my goodie box - I needed black to lengthen my dress, but at least I now know where to get some!

Spring is wedding season and nothing says "wedding" like lace, so I pulled some additional supplies together and set to work.

Weddings + lace + candlelight = romance, so I pulled out some tall and short LED candles and simply wrapped them with the lace.  There was additional narrow trim in my goodie box, so I wrapped that around the top edge of the lace on the tall candle, added a bow and a flower and voilà, a quick'n EZ candle decoration fit for the church and/or wedding reception.

I wanted to do something a little different with the shorter candle, so I added the narrow trim around the neck of a glass container I found at the dollar store then placed the shorter candle inside.

 

Simple, elegant and made in a jiffy.......  I think it looks great just like this, but you could also put it in the center of a floral candle ring.

Outdoor weddings are also popular this time of year and I've noticed a lot of burlap being used for that "country feel", so here are some additional ideas using the same lace and trim.

 

I covered a rectangular shaped glass container with burlap then added the lace and the trim along the top edge of the lace.  The table number is also burlap, decorated with the trim (and a little lace brad at each corner that I found in my stash of stuff).  I attached the burlap to a piece of acrylic (from an old frame I think) with double sided tape and the iron on number at the center with glue dots; (quicker than getting my iron out).  This was then glued to a bamboo skewer and placed between the flowers.  You could also prop it up against the container.

There are lots more ideas to look at.  Use the blue, DCC logo in my sidebar to hop thru the webring to see them all, then don't forget to check out our post on the DCC Blog.   Enjoy!  Y'all come back now....

Yours truly,

Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!

Designer Crafts - Flowers

April showers may bring May flowers, but Designer Crafts Connection members are bringing them to you in April for their DCC First Monday project.

Flowers are everywhere, and not just in your garden.  You don't have to look too far for flower themed projects, especially now that Mothers' Day is right around the corner (May 10th, in case you need a reminder).  You can easily find ideas for paper flowers, painted flowers, molded flowers, fondant flowers, etc, etc......  but my flower project is all about magnetic flowers......

I usually visit the Dallas Gift Market in winter and summer and one of my favorite showrooms is Demdaco.  I think I could spend the whole day browsing their creative displays.  One of the companies they represent is "Embellish Your Story" by Roeda.  This company has designed a whole line of metal frames, boards and embellishments for every season and family celebration you can possibly think of.  You can imagine how delighted I was to see that this company was a new exhibitor this year at the CHA trade show in Anaheim.

I've been dying to work with their product and the representative offered to send me a few samples to play with.  Each item is already perfect, but, what can I say, I'm a designer and, like everyone else, I can't resist adding my own personal touch.  Here's what I received:

2 large magnetic boards - one black chalkboard and one aluminum
2 sets of 4 small flowers (yellow and teal) and
a set of green magnetic flower frames.

As you can see from their booth photos, this is just a smidgeon of what they have to offer.

Since our theme this month is flowers, I started with the chalkboard.  I have 3 grandchildren, so I was immediately drawn to the flower frames (I used the stock photos that came with the frames for this project), but needed to add just a little touch of my own.  It had to be quick'n EZ, so I added brush handle dots around the edge of each frame.

To make the dots, you need a paintbrush with a small handle and some white craft paint.  Squeeze some of the paint onto a disposable plate, or piece of wax paper, then, holding the brush straight up and down, dip the end of the brush handle into the puddle of paint.



Lift then place a dot of paint onto the edge of the frame.  Dip the handle into the paint each time you want to make a dot, so all your dots will be the same size.

I also wanted to add a touch of white to the small, yellow flowers.  Using the same technique, I placed a dot at the outer edge of each petal, but instead of lifting the handle up again I dragged it toward the flower center to create a short line.  You can also do this with a toothpick if you want a narrower line.

Once I had all the embellishments embellished, I used chalk to to draw straight lines and leaves for flower stems on the chalkboard, added my saying, lines around the edge and it was done.  It was so easy!

Chalkboard art and lettering is very forgiving and it's supposed look as if it was made by hand, so no one can go wrong here - and if you do, wipe it off with a damp cloth and start again.

I created something completely different with the aluminum board.  I love photography and am fascinated by the look of photos on metal.  I don't have whatever it is that one needs to print directly onto metal, but I have the next best thing.

 

My sister took this photo of my daughter and granddaughter, so I printed it onto Craft Attitude™ a printable film for inkjet printers that is perfectly clear and adheres to any surface.  I also have a Cricut™ Explore™ digital die cutting machine, so I used that to cut out the title in vinyl and added it to the bottom together with a thin black strip to underline.  I'm sure you can do this with any die cutting machine that will make intricate cuts.  There are tabs on the back of each board, so all I have to do now is add a ribbon and hang it my room.

You can find more information about where to buy this product here: http://www.demdaco.com/Embellish-Your-Story-collection/collection-landing-embellishyourstory,default,pg.html?title=Embellish%20Your%20Story&brandId=B2C

Watch how everything clicks together here: https://vimeo.com/70141513

 Hope you enjoyed my introduction to this new "craft" product....  y'all come back now!

Yours truly,
Julie :)

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON CRAFTING!