Thursday, March 28, 2013

Wedding Card


I have a friend who is getting married in less than a month. This is the card I was able to come up with on short notice because unfortunately, I am not going to have time to make the card in the next few weeks. I was going for a clean, simple design. I thought it turned out rather well, much better than my last attempt at a wedding card, although I really wish that I had an embossing set to fancy up the background. I did get the chance to break out my new stamp set though. The tuxedo and the veil were extremely tricky to make – I need to get myself a pair of tweezers. 





Now this card needs to make its rounds to my friends for signing.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Beaded Bunny




Dimensions: 16 x 5 x 4 cm
Materials: 6 mm yellow acrylic beads, 6 mm pink acrylic beads, 6 mm black round acrylic bead, 0.55 mm clear fishing line, black seed beads
Tools:  Just my hands!
Time to Make: Hmm…don’t remember…

Compared to the seal, this bunny was a lot more complex to make. I have to admit, I’m not too crazy about stringing together arms and legs. They are by far the most difficult parts. Round things, like the body and head, are so much easier. This is the only completed beaded bunny figure that I have made. It was my third attempt. Previously, I had made two bunny heads for birthday presents but had run out of time to make the bodies (It’s never a good idea to start on a birthday present the night before). A little bit macabre for a present now that I think of it…just heads in boxes. : D

(Update 07/04/2015 - this post is now linked to: Gluesticks Friday Finds Link Party

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Beaded Buddies


When I was in high school, my aunt in Hong Kong sent over a bunch of glass beads and two books on how to bead animals. I have beaded so many creatures since then using a variety of different beads. My favorite to use so far is the 6mm acrylic bead because it is cheap and the large size makes for great displays. The major downside to this hobby though is that it can be fairly pricey. Projects need certain sizes, shapes and colours. I also prefer if all the beads are made of the same material (mixing up glass and acrylic is quite obvious and does not look that nice). One of these days, I am going to get myself some fancy crystal beads and make a really sparkly (and expensive!) animal.




Dimensions: 6 x 4 x 4 cm
Materials: 6mm blue acrylic beads, 6mm round black acrylic beads, 0.55mm clear fishing line, black fishing line, blue seed beads
Tools:  Just my hands!
Time to Make: 2 hours

The simplicity of this design makes it my favorite to make. I can whip one together in about 1.5 hours now. It was the first design that I attempted. It is pretty much just a ball with some fins and a tail but it is so cute. I think this particular one is the third seal that I have made. 

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Sort of Like Origami Lego...


I recently got back into making paper stars (the phases come and go) and found it a great way to pass the time during long bus rides and waiting in dental offices. However, there is only so much you can do with a paper star so after filling two large jars with my recent efforts, I started looking for something else I could do during those pockets of time. It had to be portable, fairly simple, involve no tools but still be something I felt was worth doing. 3D origami was perfect: I could fold the little triangles during my commute (or discreetly during lectures : P) and then put the models together when I got home.

This fellow is my first creation:



Dimensions: 16 x 7.5 x 7.5 cm
Materials: White paper, red paper, black cardstock, red cardstock
Tools: knife, glue, hole puncher  
Time to Make: ~7 hours 

I am rather proud of his eyes – they have that slightly droopy ‘precious moments’ look to them. I pulled ideas from various designs to create him. I am quite pleased with how he turned out although he probably would look better with a more defined neck. He was originally going to be all white but that ended up looking rather odd so I added a few layers of red. It made a huge difference. This one was a gift for a family friend. That’s really the best thing for me to do with my diversions – the fun’s already been had in the making.