Fabric....Aimes style!

Hey!

Happy, happy Monday everyone! Super duper happy today for me because:

1. It's the first Monday lie-in of the summer holidays - bliss!
   
2. It's time to kick of Round 3 of Gallery Idol 2011!

Y'know all weekend I've tried to get my ahead around the fact that I'm still in this competition - it all still feels like a dream to me! But thanks to you lovely, lovely people I'm still here and ready for the next round which just so happens to be the Semi-Final of the competition! This is where things heat up a little - and in my case they heated up literally if you read on...

The design brief was to create a card which incorporates fabric...

....yup....

....non-seamstress me......and.....

....fabric...*shudder*

Did you hear me scream from my place when I read that? LOL!

As most of you will know, my kinda material is paper and that's about it! I can push it to ribbon but anything else just scares me (and don't even get me started on my love/hate relationship with my sewing machine - Machiney!)

But a challenge is a challenge and with a place in the Final of Gallery Idol up for grabs I just had to think of something! So I rooted through my supplies and dug out some sheets of organza material that I'd purchased super cheap years ago (seriously - years ago!) and started to play.

Here's my end result:

I promise you that I actually made that flower without a single stitch! No sewing required at all! Even better - I attached that flower onto a clip so you can remove it from the card and place it on anything or anyone for extra prettiness :)

Now that's my kinda fun with fabric :)

Wanna make your own? I've gotta confess that I'm slightly addicted myself; you will be too after following these simple steps:

Step One
Get your supplies!

• Few small sheets of organza material
• die cutting machine and circular dies of 3 different sizes (don't worry if you don't have them you can just hand cut them!)

And in addition to this:

• Small candle and matches
  
• Heatproof surface (for step 3!)
  
• Tweezers (to prevent burnt fingers!)
  

Step Two
Cut out a couple of sizes of each circle



Step Three
Here's where any kids will definitely need an adult's supervision!
Light a candle on a heatproof surface, and with tweezers gently hold the edges of each circle of organza about 10cm above the flame.

Yup - Gallery Idol 2011 - the competition is *seriously* heating up!

You'll notice the edges curl and seal; the more random your edges, the more realistic your flower will look (trust me - I skipped this step on my first attempt and my flower looked pretty lame) Move each piece around so all edges are affected. There is a knack to this and it's easy to get the gist of - trust me; if I can do this, anyone can!

Step Four
Here's what you should now have:


Now simply layer the circles on top of each other and place a brad through the centre to secure - the nature of organza means you can just simply push the brad through all layers in one go! You may choose to omit layers or even add some more - it's totally up to you. Just position the layers until you're happy!

Step Five
Add desired centre. I went for an arrangement of bling with a poppy-style centre but you could use pearls or buttons - the world's your oyster!

Step Six (Optional)
Adhere flower to small clip (I'd recommend a hot glue gun for this to ensure that your flower stays secure!)

Ta-dah!

Here's a close up:

To attach the clip to the card I simply punched two holes to thread the clip through. The front layer adhered to the card base on raised foam-pads so the inside of your card stays nice perfect :)

I also went ahead and stamped a flower on my card front and dusted with shimmer chalk. It's a little finishing touch that means once the clip is removed, the card still looks somewhat complete!

And of course - I've had my mascot, Pigster, cheering me along from my desk throughout this whole competition so it's only fair that Pigster got a chance to shine too, right?!

*grin*

Finally just a few design pointers that you might not see from my pics:

1. The front panel of my card is matted on a layer of vellum. This continues the floaty/transparency theme of the organza flower. It's also a super idea to use vellum for layering onto coloured card-bases for perfect colour-coordinated layers.
   
2. The leaves are stamped twice each side of the flower to add more depth when dusted with chalks.
   
3. The sentiment and gems are placed to reflect the design of the flower and leaves (with the sentiment reflecting the position of the flower and the gems reflecting the position as the leaves)
   

Phew! I think that's everything!

So do you likey? If you do then be sure to vote for it! This is the semi-final and the only way I can get into the final is with your votes! Be sure to check out the rest of the other amazing entries too and make your vote count because you only get one! (you can click on the link in my side bar for a direct hop across to my entry *wink*)

Thank you so, so, so much for all your support and encouragement! I'll be needing all of it if I'm to move through to the final. But still, if I don't I have had an awesome time in this competition and feel blessed to have had such fabulous support!

Thank YOU!
♥

Catch ya later!






Card Deets
{Celebrate}
Stamps: Sentiment from Frame-It (Waltzingmouse Stamps)/Leaves from Turning a New Leaf (Papertrey Ink)/Flower from Hope Blooms (Verve Stamps)
Ink: Versamark
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Vellum Cardstock (Papertrey ink)/Grey (Craft Supply)
Accessories: Cuttlebug (Provocraft)/Nestabilities (Spellbinders)/Linen Impression Plate (Papertrey Ink)/Organza (craft supply)/Gems (Hero Arts)/Brad (We R Memory Keepers)/Shimmer Chalks (Dovecraft)/Hair clip (my own!)