Today I wanted to share with you all some gorgeous handmade gifts I made a couple of weeks ago for my Sister in law's baby shower. She recently purchased some gorgeous Purple and Green Iron Butterfly motifs to put on her new baby girl's wall, so I wanted to continue on with these colours yet add a hint of pink in there.
First up I made this gorgeous Photo Album for her. My sister in law has tried scrapbooking in the past and it wasn't for her so I thought this lovely photo album would be a great way to get a sort of scrapbook into my new niece's life hehehe. Inside the album is 20 6x4 sleeves empty ready for new baby pics.
This album was actually purchased second hand and I always had every intention of altering it. Originally the album was Navy Blue so I have used Gesso to cover the album. On the front cover I have applied a second layer of Gesso after placing some Glimmer Mist Screens on top. I then quickly took the screens off and let the album dry overnight. The rest was very simple. A few squirts of Gumdrop and Purple Pansy Glimmer Mist along with some stamping with one of my background stamps and then I began creating my clusters
I have used lots of different brand flowers on this project including Prima, Kaisercraft, Green Tara, AS4E, Crafty Koala. I actually did not have many green flowers in my stash that were the right shades of green so I have soaked some White flowers in Green ink and water. I didnt have to soak them for long to grab the colour (Paper flowers were quicker than the fabric ones) but I did need to let them dry for a couple of days.
These images really don't do this album justice. The glimmer and texture of this album is incredible and because Mother Nature has mixed up her seasons lately, well good lighting is non existant :S
Hidden in the midst of this gorgeous cluster of flowers is a beautiful purple butterfly. This is a Kaisercraft Wood Flourish that I have simply glimmer misted with Pop Rocks Glimmer Mist and then coated with Step 1 & Step 2 Crackle Medium from Helmar. The butterfly is actually quite crackled yet again lighting is terrible for this photo and you can hardly tell :(
The second gift I made for my beautiful new niece is a beautiful large mirror for her bedroom. Her name is still not 100% decided so I thought adding the word "Enchanting" for a princess's room would be perfect!
Now I had originally planned on using Gesso for this mirror so it would match the album but alas, I ran out of Gesso and could not find any local stores with any stock left :S
So my last resort was paint and paper. Now this mirror is huge! Which means that 12x12 paper to cover the whole frame was just not going to cut it as I would have had to use 4 sheets so I decided to do a patchwork quilt style. After lots of measurements and trimming I finally perfected the size of the pieces i was going to use and started adhering.
After all the pieces were adhered I hand drew some fake stitches along the seams as well as sanding and inking the edges. I then added a thin layer of Gloss Varnish over the top to protect it for years to come from the elements.
Next up I painted this gorgeous Paper Inklings Chipboard word with some Pretty Pink Paint from Kaisercraft. I also hand drew some fake stitching around the edges of the word so it really popped! I adhered this before adding flowers so I knew it was centred.
I have used soooo many flowers on this I think I went a little crazy hehehe but it turned out so stunning and everyone was talking about it at the shower!
There is again a mix of branded flowers including Prima, Kaisercraft, Green Tara, AS4E & Crafty Koala PLUS I also hand dyed some white flowers green so I had some more green to add.
Another interesting thing I used on this project is some swirls and leaves from the Prima Winter Icicle Branch that I have Glimmer Misted green and then trimmed into smaller pieces to use on the entire project.
Underneath the beautiful cluster of flowers, butterflies, leaves and swirls is a stunning Dusty Attic Chipboard Swirl that is actually only 30cm but I have bent and shaped it to sit along the inside of the mirror perfectly. I simply painted this with Mauve Kaisercraft Paint and then topped it with some Purple Pansy Glimmer Mist for a bit of extra sparkle.
Also hidden amongt the flowers is some beautiful Kaisercraft Sparklets. Just subtle hints of bling sticking out here and there.
Well that's it from me today but don't forget to checkout the Design Team Call over at the Scrapbooking Haven!
Until next time, Happy Scrapping!
