Paris in a watch case.

It all started with this little metal figurine. I had planned for her to go on a shelf  at  the Brocante shop but painting her was pretty hard and I felt she deserved a bit of special treatment after being so patient.

The more I worked on her the more she reminded me of a character from a book I like very much. This lady called Eline wore clothes just like the ones on the figurine  and she took great pride in her appearance.
 In the book Eline goes on a trip to Paris and I felt that would suit my little lady much better than being on a shelf in a shop.



I decided a vintage looking watch case would be a perfect place for this Paris in  spring  scene.

She goes to look at the then brandnew Eiffel Tower so I  used a picture of that as a starting point.
I printed it twice because the watch case has glass on  all  sides and I wanted to cover the back of the watch too. So I decoupaged the Eiffel tower once with the picture showing on the outside and once  on top of the back of this picture with the picture showing on the other side. Top photo shows the outside of the watch case,  the photo below the inside that will become the background for the scene. Hope this makes sense.

To add a bit more interest and depth. I printed the Notre Dame church  two times as well.
One whole image was decoupaged to the inside of the watch case, next to the Eiffel Tower and the second version was added to the top of it using double sided foam tape.

Foam tape at the back of the Cathedral

To add a spring atmosphere I used some tiny dried branches and covered them in Flower Foam. This is a mix of colors that I think looks very nice amd reminds me of spring time trees in Paris.

A tree added to the right side of the picter and a branch sticking out addedto the left. Remember to stay away from the rim or your watch case will not close.

 Here is the scene inside the watch case but without Eline so just showing the background.

There she is ......adding a lot more depth to the scene and making it come alive.

I am actually planning to have her take a few more trips in the future.

Greetings card holder

A super quick project today : a greetings card holder. This will be just brilliant for all those christmas cards  or you can use it in a shop or a little craftroom.

The picture shows  them on the wall filled with different types of mini cards  I made.

I kept mine simple but you can decorate the tops of the holders if you like.

Per cardholder you  will need :
 a popsicle stick and  some hook parts of hook and eye closures and some glue.  It does not matter what type  of hooks as long as they fit on your popsicle stick.


It is very practical to have your cards handy especially if they are different sizes for you can use them to mark where  the hooks need to go on the wood for every card to have enough room.

Glue the hooks in place. Leave to dry and add cards. That is all there is to it.


PS . You can also display some cards open if you like,  For a cards with a flap that comes down you can fold the hook down and have it support the card. But those cards will have to be glued down.

A little shop that sells Sea shells

I wanted a  place where I could show off some of the tiny sea shells from my collection but it had to be small  and take up now room whatshowever. That is how  She Sellls Sea Shells was born.

It is a wall hanging shop that is only about 3 inches deep.

I bought a cheap picture frame ( thrift shop)  with the glass  and a wooden back to get started with.

I had seen the idea ( I cannot remember where, sorry) of making a shopfront by gluying the wood parts to a piece of glass so I would not have to add glass behind the door and window  and I would not have to do any real building.

I took the frame apart so I could use the wood for my shop.  

This shows the idea of gluing the wood part to the glass. I used a ready made door frame and window frame and some odd  pieces of wood and strips from the picture frame for mine but this gives the idea.

While the glue was drying I made a frame to add behind the front to create a little bit of depth for the shop. This was going to be finished with  the wooden  back of the window frame later.

To give the idea of there really being a shop I added some glass shelves behind the window. I also put wallpaper on the wood for the back of the shop and I painted the inside of the wooden frame to make sure it would look nice when you looked through the windows.

I painted the outside of the shop in a soft colour that would match the shells. For the stone parts I started with gluing on crumpled tissue paper.  The woodwork was painted with a brush  while the brick was sponge painted with white and the pink color.

 You have to fill the shop before adding the back which feels a bit odd.  I learned that it is very important to glue everything down  very well and check a few times before you add the back !

For sale  are little shell pictures that I made myself. Some paintings made from printies I found on the net.  The two boats came from broken ships in bottles that I got for free at the thrift shop.  The lovely shell decorations outside and   behind the door where vintage brooches  that I found at a fleamarket.

 There are lose shells and the little mermaid was once a Barbie pencil topper.  Her tail is stiffened fabric  painted and decorated  and she also got a bit of a make over.

I left the whole thing for a few days to see if I liked it and then I took the final steps.

   I glued the shop front to the frame and the back behind the frame and I felt very pleased when it all fitted and looked good.

 When all the glue had dried , I added the pavement  as well just to make it feel like the shop was not floating but standing.

Make a lovely dress from vintage lace by adding a bit of crochet.

What you need :

 A doll for  or dress form to fit the dress on. You can make the dress to go on the doll but I wanted mine to go on a hanger. I used a girl doll but you can use a baby or even a lady doll you will just have to adjust the sizes.

A piece of lace that will be long enough to make the skirt and wide enough to fit around the waist of your doll twice.

Thin crochet thread in a color to match your lace. I used DMC fil dentelles and a 60 mm crochet hook for mne,

Sewing needles, pins, tacky glue .

Measure the waist of the doll and make a strip of crochet to fit round it.  Chain enough stitches to fit round the doll and work in single crochet till it is high enough for your doll.  Mine just reaches the arm pits but you can make it higher if you like . I cannot give exact stitches here for it all depends on your model.

Gather your lace using tiny stitches till it fits the bottom of your crochet bodice.

 Sew the lace skirt to the bottom of the bodice.

Close the back seam of the bodic and skirt. I did sew first and then finished the edges of the lace with some tacky glue.

 Ask your model to help you find where the sleeves are going to fit.  Mark the spots where  you want the sleeves. I used thread.

 Attach crochet thread to one of the stitches marked on the front of the bodice.
Chain enough stitches for the sleeve opening and attach the last chain to the corresponding marked stitch at the back of the bodice forming a loop that will fit found the top of the arms of your doll.

Chain 3 and turn work, work 2 double crochet in every stich to create the puff sleeves.
Work a few more rows working 1 dc in every stitch, from now on you can word in the round  till the sleeves are long enough . Leave a long tail  of thread so you can use that to gather and finish the sleeves later.

For the front panel you will have to cut a small piece of lace that will fit  between the sleeves. Look at the photo for reference. Glue in place  with tacky glue. It is a good idea to put a little piece of paper inside the dress so you do not glue front and back together.

 If you like you can do the same thing for the back of the dress as well.

Gather the sleeves and add little bows. Glue a little silk flower to the lace pannel at the front and decorate the skit with silk ribbon bows if you like.

Some more candle making. tips

A while ago  I shared my tips for making candles using erasers. Here is a link to that tutorial.

http://herminiverse.blogspot.nl/2014/12/the-easiest-way-to-make-mini-candles.html

When I bought some new pens today I noticed that the protective caps fit my little candles perfectly. So tons of  new ways to use my candles. I used a pink cap for this photo because it shows up better. But you can use any color you like, clear ones look brilliant too. I added a bow and some  ittle flowers to make it into a little arrangement to go on a table.

On the bottom shelf ( right) you will see a similar cap with a little picture decoupaged  on it . It looks a bit religious now. I added a similar picture to a candle as well.

Then I played with some candles and plates. Glued the candles to the plates and decorated around them with some sand and tiny shells.

I wanted to try and fill a shell with some wax as well and turn it into a candle. Instead of the wax I used tacky glue. Much easier and less risk of burns .

The cups ar done in the same way. Here is how it works :

Select a cup ( any kind you like )  or whatever other container you feel like using. You will also need a cotton thread for the wick.

Glue the wick to the bottom of your cup at the center. Leaving a long tail. Leave to dry for a while and then fill up the cup with Tacky glue

Leave to dry at least overnight. Glue will shrink quite a bit so you may have to top it up with glue  one more time. Check that the wick is upright !!

The dried glue will become clear so you will see the color of your cup. If you want to have colored wax just paint the top with some glass paint or nailpolish. Cut the wick to the right size.

A souffle that will not flop.

Soufflé that will hold its  shape.

 This is a very easy  recipe using foam board and amber colour glass paint  as  basic ingredients.  For the soufflé use the thickest foam board you can find. The thicker the foam the higher your soufflé will be.

You will also need :

A soufflé dish.

Please note that it is very important that you use the soufflé dish  to make the circle with when you cut the round shape out of the foam board or your soufflé may not fit.

 Oil pastels or chalk in a pastry color. You can use watercolors but I prefer the more subtle shades of the chalks or pastels

Take your souffle dish , hold it upside down and press it gently into the foam board   making  sure  to flatten the foam  as little as possible for with  a soufflé it is the higher the better ! 

Use a knife to remove the round shape for your souffle from the foam board.

Colour your soufflé with the oil pastels . Just rub the pastels or chalk into the foam board. If you like you can use water colors as well . It may help to use a moist brush to apply the pastels or chalk, 

When you add the colouring  use a just a little bit of colour or your soufflé will look burned. 

When the soufflé is dry after colouring, you can glue it into the dish. Leave alone till the glue has dried.

  Then paint the top of your soufflé with a really thin layer of glass paint, it should not be too shiny.  When the paint has dried, you can cut the top ( just a small cut) with your craft knife and slightly open up the cut area to give it that cracked  center  that soufflés often have.   Give the now exposed foam a hint of colour with your oil pastels.

Tip : for an even more  impressive soufflé you can glue two layers of foam board together. But please note that it can take a long time ( like 12 hours) for the glue to dry between the foam board layers.

Icing sugar will   look very good on a soufflé. Use a very  thin layer of  Mod Podge  and sprinkle some   talcum powder over the soufflé. Leave to dry and blow off excess.

An other tip is to cut the top of your soufflé  with a knife in several places  and slightly opening up the cuts.  Use your chalks or pastels to create a little bit of color on the now exposed areas. This will make your soufflé  look a bit more rustic.

I am sure your soufflé with look  awesome and there is no risk at all of it collapsing before you serve it.