About a month ago, my previous Graphic 45 DT member Nichola Battilana shared her fairy lantern tutorial on Facebook which caught my attention. This practically gave me an idea what to do with some of my pixies diecuts which I've been thinking what I can do with these new Marianne Design dies I bought.
Subsequently, my new Graphic 45 DT pack came and within my package there's some garden fairy chippies from Gypsy Soul Lasercuts. And I was thinking perhaps I could do up something with these little fairies. Very much wanted to do up some sort of prayer shrine/room/house. With the inspiration coming from Nichola's fairy lantern, I managed to do up this little fairy prayer house for this week's Graphic 45-Petaloo Blog Hop.
“I Say a Little Prayer for You” was what came to my mind as I built this little house which is made out from the die-cuts of Eileen Hull’s canister XL Bigz. I’m not really a huge fan of purple (neither do I really hate this colour), but the purplish velvet Petaloo flowers literally won my heart. So…. I ended up using purple as the main colour for this prayer’s house using Graphic 45 Children Hour's March montage and calendar papers.
I fixed a LED candlelight above and made a floral cap to cover the on-off switch. When needed to, just remove the floral cap, on the light and cover it back. When it is lit up at night it is exceptionally beautiful. This would make a wonderful little bedside companion at night.
May you have a peaceful night! I do hope this little project has brought you some joy! Happy Crafting!! Cheers!!
I absolutely love fussy cutting! I have to admit that I can be a real freak in fussy cutting! Undeniably, it can be really therapeutic. Your brain will just shut off and only focus in cutting, as if your entire world is only about you and your scissors. While investing in a good pair of precision scissors is a must for fussy cutters, for some reasons I do like to fussy cut using my utility knife. Mainly due to the intricate, smooth and detail cuts I can achieve which scissors is unable to.
I didn't realize I've been cutting things the wrong way till I was taking my pattern-making modules during my footwear design course, where we've to use utility knife to cut our patterns out from cardboard and scissors are strictly prohibited. This is where I learned the proper way to cut things. If you didn't use the right tool and cut things the wrong way, it's no doubt it could be a potential health hazard. For this weekend, I'm sharing this short tutorial in how to fussy cut using the utility knife. Sit back and enjoy!
Below here are 2 utility knives I used frequently for all my cuttings:
Martha Stewart Utility Bone Folder
A multi-functional craft tool that allows you to score, trim, emboss and pierce. It comes with a detachable tweezers as well which you can use to pick up stuffs. This tool is also known as the 5-in-1 craft tool. Below is a YouTube review by Jenny of CraftTestDummies.com.
What really attracts me to get this tool is it's versatility, plus the blade itself is extremely sharp. I use this for most of my fussy cuttings which I demonstrated explicitly in my video. While I love to use this tool to fussy cut, unfortunately it doesn't has any auto-lock system in place to hold the blade. There're several occasions where the blade flew off when I exert too much pressure as I cut. SOooo I won't really recommend this tool for cutting chipboard.
I bought this tool at full price and now it seems to me that Martha Stewart is going to discontinue this product, so everywhere is having some sort of clearance at great discounted prices. Great news to those who are interested to get one, but the bad news is the blades don't seems to be available abundantly and they are pretty expensive for a set of 3.
Amazon.com is selling at $16.99
Martha Stewart Crafts Australia is selling these blades at AUD$6.60
This seems to be really great tool to have, especially when you are travelling. This tool will seriously save you the hassle to pack so many tools into your luggage. I do find the tweezers pretty useless as I don't really use it, mainly 'cos I tend to work on small stuffs and very much prefer a sharp pointed tweezers over this. Other than that, the clean and sleek design does make this a really classy tool to have.
NT Cutter A-300R/RP
Considered one of the best utility knives ever available. Artists preferred cutter, and it's also one of the world's best selling product. The tool has this ABS exterior body which is extremely durable and it's designed to provide a good grip. Comes with Ratchet-lock slider which automatic lock the blade as you push up the blade. Definitely not as pretty as Martha Stewart's.
I got to own this tool from my father about 15 years ago and that's exactly the one I featured in my video. This really shows how durable this tool is and it has yet to fail me. Once you own a good tool, you will very much prefer to use it for as long as you can survive. There's a reason why this NT-Cutter is consider one of the best selling product. Though I didn't really demonstrate how to fussy cut using this tool, the same technique still applies.
The precision blades are available at pack of 50-100 pieces at Amazon.com. These snap off blades are made of high quality carbon steel which is definitely of a much better quality compared to Martha Stewart's blades. Despite of it's standard duty, I used these blades in most of my chipboard cuttings without much problems though it tends to get blunt easily.
I'd have to say in the long run, investment in this tool plus the blades certainly has a much better economic value compared to the Martha Stewart's. In terms of the price and durability, you are certainly paying for quality and functionality. Unlike for Martha Stewart, you are actually paying mainly for the brand and design itself, not exactly the functionality.
Though I do like Martha Stewart products (mainly due to her sleek and clean designs), sometimes I do really find them rather expensive. She does produce some good quality products, however for someone like me who cuts stuffs a lot, it's always better to get a utility knife that's solely designed for cutting.
I hope this has been helpful. If you've any questions, feel free to ask by leaving a comment below.
As I was looking through my past Graphic 45 projects, I realised I didn't share this little puppy project which I did last year. Better than never, so here I'm presenting this cute little project using Raining Cats and Dogs paper collection.
Undoubtedly, I built this little dog house from scratch. Sometimes it's better to create your very own version than to hunt for the one you'd think you could find. Unfortunately, I always didn't ended up getting stuffs I want, so building up stuffs eventually became part of me.
I crocheted this cute little puppy using one type of crochet technique known as Amigurumi (a Japanese term for knitted stuff toys). Ain't sure should I called it a form of technique but you can find a lot of free patterns on the internet.
Well, I hope this late sharing of this project can get you to start building some stuffs out. Along the way I tend to pick up new stuffs to learn. Seems there's seriously A LOT out there to learn and 24hr a day (minus 6-8hr of sleep) is never enough!!!
It's 2016!!! Seriously, why does time flies so fast? Does he really slow down? Alright, I believe everyone feels that way except for children. They are dying to grow up fast and wish time will fly fast, but definitely not for grown ups. I regretted making that wish when I was a child. Damn!
So the little child in me and very much wanted to still stay in the Christmas mode, I made these 2 little fairies, namely Holly and Jolly. They had been receiving presents, and very much of them that they need a sleigh to ferry them. But the naughty Jolly ditched the presents aside and wanted to parade with the sleigh instead!!!
Winged up with ornate wings and dressed in little puffy skirts and white bloom millinery, they seriously look very angelic here. Oh well, it's still winter. Certainly the fur over their skirts do keep them warm.
Oh look at how beautiful the ornate wings are!!! And how can I ever miss out glitters? They sparkle the wings so well!!!
See how petite the are in my hand. Love 'em!!!! Off they go with their sleigh. They will be busy opening the presents when they reach home.
Holly and Jolly hereby wish everyone a very Happy New Year and have a Holly Jolly Twenty-16!!!
Though the festive season is over, everyone seems to be busy shopping trying to grab great deals. It seems to me everyone is still in a very much holiday mood. For this very reason, for I'm a poor girl, so there's not much shopping for me to do. But I do have lots of junk and definitely Graphic 45 goodies. Nothing beats handmade and I can assure you the personal touch is something no amount of money can be bought. Here I'm showing a dainty gift box for everyday occasion which can be done with 2 large ivory tag, a few sheets of pattern papers and some ribbons. Click HERE to view the full tutorial.
I hope this tutorial can be useful for your everyday, any other day occasion or last minute gift packaging. To further expand my sweet treat labels, I've created more sweeter treats which can be purchased at my Etsy store HERE.
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