Some crafty stuff I've been keeping myself very busy with...

Hi, it's been some time since my last post. Had a craft market that I had to prepare for. I still have some weird and wonderful request from brides 2 be for centerpieces for their weddings, small bags to put confetti in and also some bridal jewellery to work on.

Just wanted to showcase some of my handmade products here and will hopefully also add a new post in the near future about a nice wedding centerpiece I'm currently procrastinating about... ;).

My stall for the craft market

For the craft market I was pretty busy making felt brooches, beaded jewellery, etc. So here's a few pics:
                                

Some wooden bead necklaces

I also made some other beaded necklaces...

 

These felt brooches takes quite some time to make, but love them!

If you'd like to see a tutorial on the making of any of these products, please feel free to let me know. Would love to write about something that I know you would be interested in and enjoy.

I also recently taught myself (thanks to YouTube) to crochet! Go check out my first little crochet heart on my facebook page, www.facebook.com/BeadsBloomsAndSparkles. Oh, how I enjoyed it, crocheting is utterly addictive...

Enjoy the rest of your day and weekend :)
 

Pretty coral and yellow wedding stationery

Recently I had the privilege to work with a great group of people to put together some very pretty things for a styled wedding shoot. The colour pallet was coral and yellow, with a very feminine, fresh feel.

I was a bit nervous about this project, as it was the first of it's kind for me (and hopefully not the last!).

At first I really had a bit of a creative block, maybe because I knew the things I had to make really had to look good. The success of this photo shoot depended on everyone's individual work which had to fit into each other like a puzzle. So the pressure was on to produce something unique and beautiful.

My briefing was to make the table number, invitation and a decoration for the table. The invitation was the least of my worries as I've been making cards (handmade with stamps and stuff) from primary school. I must admit that the printing on the inside made me a bit nervous, as I'm not a graphic designer and don't have much experience with designing the printed parts of the stationery ;)  (hehe, to tell you the truth, I don't even have design tools on my computer like Coral Draw and the rest...). So, armed with my craft supplies, an old laptop I found in our archives (as my pc which I usually use has some kind of problem that has to get fixed) and the mood board I received from the photographer I started my first "real" stationery design project.

In the end (just to make sure that they had something they could use) I made 3 sets of stationery... I was so scared that they wouldn't like it or would think it wasn't good enough. Needless to say that I sat in my craft room many very late nights to finish it.

I told myself, after receiving the beautiful pictures from the photo shoot, that I should really stop doubting myself and my abilities with regards to designing and creating beautiful things...

I would really love to hear from you if you ever went through something similar, and please feel free to post pics of your projects on my Facebook Page.

I would like to thank Alicia S Photography for the opportunity to be a part of this project and also all the other service providers (Tanique Echardt: Model, Cupcakes and Candy: Cake decorations, Chantelle Nel: Make-up, Rene Nune: Hair, Alicia Smit: Photographer and stylist).

How to decorate a door with mosaic tiles and chalkboard paint

I'm introducing you to a good friend, Alida Venter, today who doesn't even realize how much this guest post is helping me at this stage. She's not a regular blogger, but I think she should really consider it. Hopefully this won't be the last contribution from this fellow crafter. 

This is her beautifully completed project:

I must admit that I shamelessly copied this idea from a friend. She has a square of black chalk board paint on her kitchen wall, surrounded by beautiful mosaic tiles. I wanted to do something similar in my kitchen, but as it is quite small I didn’t really have a good spot on the wall for it. Luckily the back door was perfect for this. At first I only did the top half, but after my (almost) two-year old son discovered that he can draw on there, I just had to do the bottom, too. Now the top half is mine and the bottom is his.

How to: this is really easy! 

All you need is:

•           Medium grain sandpaper
•          Chalk board paint, 500 ml is more than enough. Mine was from Plascon, about R100 for 500 ml at Builder’s Warehouse. (I really wanted to try one of the new funky colours, but in the end I chickened out and stuck with black.)
•          Paint brush or small roller (I used a brush, but in retrospect I think a roller will give a neater finish.)
•           Masking tape to mark off the area you want to paint
•           Mosaic tiles in colours of your choice
•           Glue to stick the tiles onto the door. I used No more Nails, it worked really well.
•      Plastic or old cloth to protect the floor.

Start by sanding the area of the door that you want to paint very lightly. All you really need is to remove the very top layer of varnish so that the paint will stick to the wood properly. I suppose you can then treat the area with a wood primer or something, but I didn’t bother with that. After sanding, wipe the area clean with a damp cloth to remove all the dust. 

Apply as many layers of paint as necessary, waiting the appropriate time between layers (see product specifications). I did three layers, but only because I still had a lot of paint. I think two layers will be fine.

After the paint is done and completely dry, you can start gluing the tiles onto the door. Put them in a random pattern or follow a sequence, whatever you feel like doing. Note – I found it easier to lay out the tiles I wanted to use for one side of each rectangle, and to start sticking the row from both corners, working towards the middle. Otherwise you might end up with the row ending with a space still left at the end, that is too big and noticeable but too small to fit another tile. Also, the No More Nails glue is wonderful, as it holds strong enough to be able to stick a tile and then remove your hand after about a second, but still remaining soft enough to be able to move a tile a few minutes later if necessary.

And, voila, you’re done! Start scribbling away – use the space for shopping lists, inspirational quotes, toddler drawings, reminders… the possibilities are endless.

How to make washi tape cupcake toppers

I couldn't stay away from the new collection of washi tape and started playing around with it.

People often ask me what washi tape can be used for. I did a bit 'research' and came to the conclusion that you can use it in a million ways... Use it any way you use paint, so stick it onto anything instead of painting. Use it to make cards, tags, jewellery, mark your guests' glasses, make cake bunting, cupcake toppers, do any kids' craft imaginable. The list is endless.

I invite you to check out some the ideas on my Pinterest page as well, just by searching for Beads Blooms & Sparkles.

These cupcake topper flags I made took me 5 minutes and you won't need more than a roll a washi tape of your choice, some toothpicks (or other craft sticks) and scissors.

Measure the same lenghth of washi tape as the lenghth of the toothpick (more or less 6.5cm). Place the toothpick in the middle of the tape and fold the tape in half, sticking it together. Cut a v-shape on the end, and voila!

 

I used the cute yellow, pink, teal and white striped tape (will soon be available in the online store on the code below the pic).