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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

A sweet Irish blessing to you as St. Patrick's Day approaches:

May the wind always be at your back
May the road rise up to meet you
May the sun shine warm upon your face
The rains fall soft upon your fields
And until we meet again
May God hold you in the palm of his hand
(author unknown)

I used this Irish blessing in a craft project, and I thought I'd share it with you too.
 
 

This is a wreath I made for a lovely lady whose heritage is Irish.  She and her daughters are involved in Traditional Irish Dance, and they love to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, of course!

Here's a tutorial on how I made the wreath.

  Cover a wooden wreath form with batting.

  Tie batting on with string.
See the red wire?  Before covering wreath with batting, attach a sturdy wire so you'll be able to hang your wreath easily.


  Then use fabric to cover your wreath.  I like to use vintage gowns with lots of fabulous beading already done!
 
 Pin the fabric all around the batting.


 I added white beaded fabric on the bottom of the wreath.

 Hand stitch.

 Then you have your basic beginning!

 And you end up with a mess like this!  Ha ha ha!  What's crafting without a mess?
 
 Maybe..... Now for the fun part!  Embellishing!  What to use, what to use....


 Maybe..... Maybe.....

Okay,  with a combination of my own stash of embellishments, and my client's own items that had sentimental value to her (items from her daughter's dance competitions, family heirlooms), I put together the final package.


 I printed an Irish blessing onto fabric, then cut each phrase into individual ribbons.

 
 I printed the St. Patrick's Day banner using letters from the Dover line of printables.

 An Irish crochet cross layered upon Irish crochet leaves.
 The tiara was worn by my client's daughter during an Irish dance competition.  The pins to the right also hold sentimental value.
 

Here are a few more random projects I'm working on....
 My daughter's birthday cake!
 I decided to learn how to embroider....making a pillow...more posts on this later....
Fun and fabulous pumpkins for fall...
 
So many projects....so little time!  What are you making?
 
Linking up with:
 
Minute for me Thursday at Marcia's Crafty Sewing
One Project at a Time at A Bowl Full of Lemons
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style
Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do
The Scoop Tuesdays at The Farmhouse Porch
Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Nick of Time Tuesday at Knick of Time Interiors
Tweak it Tuesday at Cozy Little House
You're Gonna Love it at Kathe With an E
What's It Wednesday at Ivy and Elephants
What We Accomplished Wednesdays at Green Willow Pond
Look What I Made Wednesday at Creations by Kara
Wow us Wednesday at Family Home and Life
 That DIY Party at DIY Showoff


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

A Repurposed Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  Hope you and your sweetie have a lovely and romantic Valentine's Day!

Here is a Valentine's project I've been working on....

It's a fun Valentine's Day wreath!  I made it with a vintage beaded gown and a vintage book entitled "Cunning Cupid."  Not your everyday Valentines Day Decoration...

I used an ornate silver picture frame and a page from the book for the background of this lovely clip art of cupid.  Then I surrounded cupid with silver glitter!  The clip art was from The Graphics Fairy - she has such lovely vintage clip art for free!  You can find The Graphics Fairy here. 
 






 



Then I used quotes from the book to add a touch of fun and whimsy!



 

 


 
Next I've been commissioned to make a St. Patrick's Day wreath.  Here's the beginning, I've still got some work to do...


 
Next post will show the completed wreath....