Wreath? Rectangleth?

 

Thanks to GJ and her husband MJ for cutting the stick I needed for the branch.👍

Wreath - means round/circular.  This one isn't. It's a rectangle. So is it a Rectangleth? Never heard that word before. I'll leave it at Door Decoration (DD).

It's fall, one of my favorite seasons.  I wanted to use up some of my craft stash (so that I can buy more 😄) and free up space in my crafting area.

It didn't look full enough so I brought it back in.

😞  No

Fuller  and better . I like it. 

(up close)

Just needed a little more fluff 

😀😃

Happy Fall Everyone!

That's it ***

Calendar To Envelopes

Two calendars from 2012

There’s been more than one tutorial I’ve seen showing the recycling of old calendars into envelopes. Most times the calendars I buy are from the Dollar Store printed on lightweight thin paper. Since I also recycle office paper, I used that to line the envelopes to give them some stability. Simply Rebekah has a great tutorial. I used many of her directions.

And, before I forget let me say that I took both sizes of envelopes to the post office to make sure they were OK to use for snail mail. I suppose I should have done it before finishing them all but had they not approved I would have used them as gift envelopes.

Gather the crew

Materials: old calendars, used office paper for lining envelopes, paper cutter, mailing labels, scissors, glue stick, envelope template.


At the top you can see the envelope I steamed open. To the left is the cut calendar page. To the right is the office paper being recycled for the lining.

I steamed open a purchased 3 5/8 x 6 ½ in envelope to use as a template. I laid it on the calendar page of choice and traced around it with a marker.

The envelope cut and the side that will be showing

After cutting it out I measured from top of the closing flap to the bottom flap to get measurements for the lining. I wasn’t trying to be exact with this only approximate.

After cutting out the lining I placed glue stick over the entire back of the printed side and stuck it onto the envelope. It’s important to get the glue on the edges , otherwise the lining will separate from the envelope.

After allowing all to dry, I trimmed off any bits of white lining peeking out.



You can see on the left where I've placed a line of glue that I will spread to cover the entire side flap.
The right flap has already been glued.

Now the folding begins. Using my template and a ruler I precreased the sides where I would be gluing the envelope. I preferred to use white glue for this part make sure all parts of the flap had glue so that it wouldn’t lift up while enroute to someone.
Seeing an address on a graphic envelope would be near impossible so I used self stick address labels.

2 x 4 inch labels were used in the ‘TO’ section and 1 x 2 5/8 inch labels were used in the ‘FROM’ section.

They looked stark so I decided to give it some color by drawing around the labels.

I've really got to learn to operate a camera. These came out really pretty but who can tell with all of this frost?

As a second thought I cut some of the 1 x 2 5/8 into threes and placed a squared in the POSTAGE area. (I'd already taken the picture before I put the postage square on)

ALMOST

SQUARE

 ENVELOPES

The second set of envelopes were closer to a square measuring 5 x 5 ½ inches. I suppose these would be more suited for cards.

This might be a good way to recycle greeting cards discarding the second page, saving the cover and writing on the back of the cover.

I didn’t use a template for these nor did I line them. There was quite a bit of folding it into itself making it sturdy without a lining. And this was also the Dollar Store calendar which had larger pages. I probably should have used a template but I was in the zone and didn’t want to stop.



On these you can see where I put the postage square. Up top you can see where I made one of them business
size. I quickly let go of that notion.



By folding the sheet into a triangle (I should have used Simply Rebekah's method) it caused the picture to become somewhat distorted. I don’t have photos of my progress with these, just the finished work. I used transparent tape at the bottom of the envelope as well as glue stick.

This calendar page started out as a picture of mountains peaks and snow. It's really hard
to tell that from the picture. I will perfect my methods.

It was my intention to make decorative self stick labels on the computer for the 'TO' and 'FROM'sections. I couldn’t quite get it the way I wanted it so I did my own sketches with ink pen , Sharpie markers and colored pencils.

I'd seen a recipe for envelope glue but I have opted not to use it. In order to seal them I'll be using glue stick and/or doublesided stick tape. 

I’ll be using these as my own personal stationery.

THAT'S IT***

Copycat 2 or Inspiration necklace



http://www.jlkjewelry.com/

 More flattery through imitation. I saw this necklace at  JLK Jewelry. It's made from silver and semiprecious stones. Her website  describes her work in the quote below .
"Jennie Lorette Keatts creates handmade pottery cabochons, using Jugtown Pottery glazes. She then sets the stones into her own hand fabricated silver designs."



                 

Here's my DIY

I used:

flat glass beads (Dollar Store)

Floral wire (Dollar Store)

Cardboard (free)

hot glue

white school glue

 jump rings (in my stash )

paper clip

I began with prepping the cardboard the way I explained in my previous post titled Copycat. I made a freehand drawing of a triangle with curved angles and used it as a template. After cutting out the number of triangles I needed, I painted them with Dark Patina, a metallic acrylic paint by DecoArt.  I went around the edges with a silver Sharpie pen. The pieces were sealed with a matte water based sealer.

After the pieces were completely dry, I used my drill to place the holes for the jump rings and to join the pieces together.

The inspirational necklace has  earthy  semiprecious stones.  I didn’t have those so I used flat glass beads that are often used in flower vases and other decorations. If you go to my Tablescape post you’ll see where I used them as a decorative accent.

I didn’t have any silver wire so I decided to use blue floral wire which matches the flat glass beads. I could have painted the wire after gluing it to the triangle but I would have to sand it first to rough it up so that it would accept the paint.

I have yet to figure out a cheap, free, creative way to make a bezel for the settings. In this case I used a silver Sharpie( see yellow arrow) and colored around the flat bead to give the appearance of a bevel before gluing it on.

The hooked end of the clasp I made from a paper clip (see blue arrow). I need more practice on this.   

AFTERTHOUGHTS    The metallic paint was not the color I expected. Under store lights and in the bottle it appeared to be what I wanted but it was too dark.   The glue gun gave me fits with strings going everywhere.  It would make huge globs when I didn't need it to and not enough glue when I needed it. It made the project not as neat as I would have liked it. I have since learned that cleaning the nozzle and freezing the glue sticks is supposed to help with that problem. I'll try it and see. Using the silver Sharpie to imitate a bezel didn't work.

This is me wearing the necklace.

It has more of a medieval look to me.

THAT'S IT***

FALL CLUTCH

I surf the NET frequently to get ideas and inspiration for crafts. I came upon this clutch purse some time ago and saved it on my thumb drive on my inspiration page. (Not Pinterest) 

 Time ran out for this seasonal purse of dried rose petals and leaves on a white background..



The rose petal and leaves are probably silk.



I decided I'd do a fall clutch purse. I had the fabric in my stash of "projects never finished but won't throw it away." It's a piece of patterned orange linen. Perfect color for fall. I bought two bags of fabric table scatter leaves from the dollar store. 



orange patterned linen,roll of Stitch Witchery, silkish leaves from the Dollar Store



Each bag of leaves has 50 pieces



The leaves were in olive green, yellow and red/orange.




I'm aware that using linen is out of season but since most of it will be
 covered with the leaves and it IS orange I decided  to
use it.

 1.  I cut out two pieces of the orange fabric so that I could line the purse.

2. I put the lining to the side and worked with just the part that would have the leaves.
3. I couldn't decide if I wanted to glue on the leaves with OK To Wash It glue or use Stitch Witchery.
4. I decided on Stitch Witchery.
5. I cut a strip of Stitch Witchery and laid the leaves randomly across the strip. Using a paper bag as a pressing cloth I pressed the leaves onto the strip


It was not my intention to adhere the entire surface of the leaves to the fabric. I wanted it free in areas to add to the look and texture.

6. I sewed wrong sides together of the appliqued fabric and the lining, leaving a small open area to turn it inside out .
7. I folded the strip of decorated fabric in the form of a clutch purse  sewing the finished wrong sides together and boxing it at the bottom.
8. I sewed on a square of velcro also adding a button and elasticized loops on the ends for extra closure security.
FINISHED almost



The clutch purse opened




The clutch purse closed. You probably can't see it but I did
 sew the grid of stitches across the leaves as in the
inspirational purse at the top



AFTER THOUGHTS
*The leaves will be raveling because they didn't have finished edges which will make for a short life for this purse.
*Those leaves that were in the bends and folds of the purse with loose edges, I did use fabric glue to secure.
*I will probably add a strap to hang it on my wrist.
* I failed to mention that I tried to stiffen it some by ironing on interfacing to the lining before putting it all together. I thought about using cardboard but if it got wet that could be disastrous.
*There is a pocket inside. I didn't bother to post the picture because it didn't show up well.
* Lastly, I have got to learn to take better pictures.

THAT'S IT***