Reverse Stenciling

First the back story...

Last fall I joined a weekly Bible Study/craft group. We shared our worries and our joys and discussed our Daily Devotion and how it applied to our lives. THEN... we made a craft.
Yes, I know! THAT is a great combination!

I'm going to share the awesome book I worked on from week to week in another post. But, out of all the techniques we were taught from our inspirational leader Diana, this reverse stenciling thing was so easy and packed a punch.

I knew right away I could use it in more wedding crafty goodness.

Daniel and Katie's wedding was taking place in a barn with the reception taking place in a big fancy tent.

And in between the two was a trailer housing the bathrooms!

Then there was the thought 

"how can those bathrooms look crafty and charming?"

With some cute signs of course!

So, with the bride's blessing, I began this simple little project

•First I cut scraps of paper with mostly yellows and grays and used a mixture of white glue and water (very watery) to adhere the pieces all over the canvas board.
•I cut out photos of Daniel and Katie from when they were little.
The 'photos' were actually photocopies that I did on a laser printer at a local FedEx Office Print and Ship Center.
•please note that the photo is just printed on
regular paper not photo paper!

•Next you will need a set of alphabet stickers
You select the font and size
The color doesn't matter
you'll be throwing away the letters that you use in this project

•I placed the letters right on top of the paper scraps
that were already glued to the canvas board.

•Next I used an artist palette knife to spread Patching Plaster OVER the background of the canvas board
INCLUDING over the letters!
I went close to the photo's edge but not over the photo.
I used the Patching Plaster by DAP sold at my local Lowe's
This is actually a great compound for lots of art projects.
I keep my tub in my studio, not in the garage!
Also, it's nice to let a little of the background paper
show through here and there.

• Before the Plaster dried, I removed the letter stickers.
I used a straight pin to pick at a corner of a letter.
With the pin I was able to lift the sticker up and off of the canvas.
I did this step immediately after I finished spreading the plaster.
Once you get a corner lifted with the pin
you can gently pull up the entire letter with your fingers!

Here is the result!

When it is completely dry
you can apply a protective finish.
Then just add a ribbon to the back for hanging!

•••••
As I said at the beginning of this post
I learned this technique from my good friend Diana.

Below was my first attempt.
I will show off my little book in another post.
You'll even see how these pages
changed and took on new life.

Another thing to note by looking at this example
is how bold the paper is for some of the letters
and not for others
•Lesson learned•
use strong colors
such as what I used for "my"
and the "han" of "hand"

how to sew beads onto a wedding veil OR handmade wedding part four!

When my sisters and I got married (a long time ago!) our talented mother made our wedding veils. Well actually, she made the bridesmaids dresses for two of the weddings and even one of the wedding gowns...

that's how talented she is!

So when my daughter-in-law was trying on dresses (yes, I was blessed to be invited to tag along with Katie and her mom), I volunteered to make the veil. Katie wanted a long veil, Cathedral length, but simple in design. 

 

First I purchased a VERY inexpensive veil from a bridal website. It was sort of a 'Craigslist for weddings' website. Turns out it was long and skinny, oh so skinny! It looked like a long tail. Not to mention the color white was practically a purple/blue white. Since it was only $15 there was no harm done there. And I've since used it at a bridal shower just for fun!

In the meantime Katie's mom purchased the correct color white veil from the Bridal Shop where her dress was purchased. 

Even when it comes to tulle...there are a lot of different whites! Keep this in mind if you make your own veil.

Now, all I needed to do was sew thousands of tiny beads along the perimeter of the veil.

Katie picked out the beads and made a pattern about an inch long.

First an 11/0 (that's seed bead size talk) silver lined crystal followed by a tiny pearl. Next up 3mm pearl, then back to the seed pearl, 3mm pearl, seed pearl, 3mm pearl, seed pearl and back to the silver lined crystal.

Maybe a list is better for clarity?

silver lined crystal 11/0 seed bead

tiny round pearl seed bead

3mm pearl

tiny round pearl seed bead

3mm pearl 

tiny round pearl seed bead

3mm pearl 

tiny round pearl seed bead

silver lined crystal 11/0 seed bead

and repeat

again and again and again 

and here is how much I purchased:

silver lined crystal 11/0 seed bead - 4 containers (600)
tiny round pearl seed bead - about 1,950
3mm pearl - about 1,350
I didn't use everything but this gives you an idea of what will cover such a long veil. 

NOTE: I compared the glass 3mm pearl to the Swarovski Crystal 3mm pearl. HUGE difference in price.  I DO love the real thing but, the fact is, you are looking at the veil from afar and it just becomes a tiny row of beads. Only in examining the beads up close could you tell the difference.

When sewing on tulle you can't pull very hard or it will bunch up. There just isn't a lot of actual fabric to tulle!

Notice that my sewing line is about 1/2 inch from the edge.

I tried it closer to the edge at first but it was hard with how fine the tulle is.

I realized that it would be more stable like this and it would actually look as though it is right on the edge anyway.

My tried a few sewing techniques to keep the line of beads as straight as possible and this is what worked for me.

1. I put my needle through 3 beads then I went around the last bead and down through the tulle BEHIND the last bead. 

The thread can be seen on the side of the bead but barely. And I'm telling you, it can't be seen by people who don't sew and are gazing at the beautiful bride in her beautiful veil.

2. Now the needle comes back up through the tulle in front of the last bead, then through three new beads, then finish step 1.

3. After you have strung the third set of three beads on the needle and pushed the needle down through the tulle behind the last bead, 

go to step 4 BELOW.

4. Bring the needle up two beads back from where it went down and make a knot there.

5. After making the knot put the needle back down through the tulle and bring it up again in front of the last bead.

At this point you will repeat the process all over again. Going back every third bead and making a knot every 9th bead will secure your line of beads. It will become routine and you can probably vary it a bit. I may have done 4 beads instead of 3 every now and again!

If you notice your line going crooked or pulling too tight, just unthread the needle and gently use the tip of the needle to pull some stitches out.
Don't be alarmed by how little you may progress in the first hour. When I first started this project I barely went over an inch in an hour. Once I got my rhythm I was sewing 11 inches in an hour!

I spent 31 hours sewing over 3,000 beads onto Katie's veil and I enjoyed every minute of it!
•••••
And here's a little secret...
that beautiful photo of Daniel and Katie with the veil drifting in the South Carolina breeze?
happened like this:

oh, and that's my beautiful daughter Holli!

say you love it!

handmade wedding part one • DIY felt Craspedia flowers

other than June 23rd, 1979, the closest to my heart that a wedding has ever been, happened on March 9th, 2013 in Aiken•SC

it was the marriage ceremony of my first born son Daniel to the love of his life Katie

since the wedding ceremony and reception is traditionally planned and carried out by the bride and her family, I took on the rehearsal dinner and a couples shower with joy and anticipation!

I had wanted to make felt ball flowers for some time. I was also curious about paper flowers and wondered how I could incorporate them into the mix.

I was very familiar with felt balls from my days working at Ornamentea.com. I used 2cm wool felt balls to make a flower that looked much like a Craspedia, commonly called Billy Balls.

••• this is the look I was going for•••

and this is how I did it

photo 1

poke a hole in the felt ball with a very sharp needle • poke ALMOST all the way through but don't ACTUALLY go ALL the way through! this hole is just to get you started

photo 2

the second needle I used was thick and dull • this needle came in a pack of upholstery needles • keep in mind that some of these were sharp but this one needs to be a fat dull needle so that you can create a hole big enough for the stem to go into the felt ball

this time you REALLY do not want to go all the way through the ball

but what you DO want to do is move the thicker needle around in a circular motion to create a bigger hole (see photo 3)

photo 4 

dip the end of a floral stem wire in white glue • I used green covered wire stems that I purchased at AC Moore • 12 pieces in a pack for $1.99 • I poured some glue in the bottom of a butter tub, it's easy to use and you can put a lid on it to store it • I bought a gallon of white glue years ago for all my projects • sometimes I need a mixture of 3 parts water to 1 part glue so these butter tubs are handy for that

dip about 1/2" of the stem in the glue and immediately insert the stem into the hole (see photo 5)

photo 6

no need to worry about any glue showing on your felt ball as it will dry clear • you can lay them on your work table to dry or stand them in a glass or vase to dry

NOTES

sometimes the green thread on the stem wire will push back as you insert them into the felt ball • no need to worry about that as it can make them look more realistic!

Ornamentea.com has a great selection of felt balls in many color combination packages. However, for this project I needed many of one color so I purchased 100 in Lemon from Felt Supplier on Etsy • and don't be fooled by the fact that they came from Poland, the turnaround time was pretty fast

you'll notice that some of the stems are curled • that's simple!

 the first bouquet of felt ball craspedia flowers ready for a party to 'shower' Daniel and Katie

 next up... paper flowers

not just for girls

If you're a boy and you want to impress your girlfriend, I've got the perfect project for you!

My oldest son who is 29 and lives in SC came to visit for a weekend in July.  Much to my disbelief, he wanted to make a headband for his girlfriend who is working in Colorado.

He did all the Google research on the type and size and I had him 'shop' in my huge fabric supply right here in my studio.

We used this Between The Lines blog post as our guide.

While reading the directions, Daniel saw that the headband shown was made for a child so we adjusted our measurements, but not by much.

We cut the large piece (the main part of the headband) 

5 inches x 17 inches

We cut the smaller piece (the part that covers the elastic)

6cm x 20cm

and the piece of wide elastic 

12cm long

YES

that is correct

we used inches AND centimeters

the blog is French!

And as long as we were going to make one girl happy, why not two?

so we made one for Holli as well.

I gave direction

Daniel did the sewing and pressing

When the project was complete he headed straight to the big screen to catch what he had missed in the Womens World Cup

no worries here that he's changing his hobbies from sports to sewing

but it sure was fun for a day!

 Holli's is pink and gray

Katie's is green and blue

 Daniel pulling the elastic through its sleeve

It took me awhile to figure out the directions for this part because I had a hard time telling the difference between the right and wrong side of the fabric in the original blog photos. 

I think this photo will help me with future headbands

 the man at the machine!

 the finished product

I folded the widest part in a little for this look

and sent a surprise photo/text message to Holli

maybe I'll get photos of the girls one day...

Blog update
Daniel, Katie and the headband!

Check THAT off my list Holli!

Daniel graduated from high school over 10 years ago so it was finally time to paint his Cary Imp Green walls a different color!

One of the walls has a floor to ceiling world map and I think the whole family wanted to keep it that way.  Holli and I are always brainstorming decorating ideas.  We came up with a great way to incorporate the world map while still making the bedroom a welcoming place for Daniel to "come home" to and friends and family to feel comfortable in.  

We decided that since we have all been blessed with trips outside the United States, we could print photos of those adventures and hang them on the wall.  Black and white photos in black frames.  So many ideas, so much to do to make the ideas a realty!

So, a few weeks ago Jeff painted the other three walls a color called Bagel.  Then last Saturday when it was so beautiful outside, I took on the task of converting an antique door into a head board.  

 I scrubbed it.

I scraped it.

 I even found the brass door knob plate under all that paint.

 I got down to the wood in some spots and kept two shades of cream and some white visible in other spots.

 I found a can of green paint called Twig in the garage.

perfect.

I mixed it with some glaze and painted it on.

I rubbed it off.

Within minutes I was sanding some areas to reveal the wood beneath again.

I love how the green mixes with the dark wood.

a nice surprise.

Jeff and I used the existing hinges to hang the door on the wall.

SUCCESS!

Really, the only thing missing from this project was Holli.

We're a great project team.

Just like my mom and I used to be.

In fact, I inherited my 'you can do anything' attitude from my mom and dad. And I'm happy to pass it on.

I also like to surprise people and check things off my list.

So Holli,

SURPRISE!

check the painting and the headboard off the list.

I hope you're pleased.

Next up...the photos in the frames.

not to mention

 the lamp

the rug

the windows

the quilt

baby steps....baby steps...