by VioletLeBeaux | Aug 23, 2010 | Craft, Other-Tutorials, Tutorial
The last few weeks have made me really sick of the calender programs on my iPhone. I miss pen and paper, for like 8 years I used my trusty black leather Filofax for everything and it was with me every single day. Then I got my phone and I got caught up in all the applications so the filofax started gathering dust. After a few years without it I missed the poor old thing! I drafted my very first comic book in it so it’s very nostalgic! ^_^
Unfortunately the whole black leather thing doesn’t really go with my look anymore and with no cash to spend it was time for a re-think! There’s no point it just sitting there doing nothing, Filofaxes are there to be uuuused!
Digging into my fabric scraps box I found a couple of pieces for inspiration 😀 I think this post is more of a guide than a tutorial because I’ll just give you the general idea and you can take it and run with it how you like rather than making exact versions.
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I decided on a light pink satin cover and ironed it flat. I then used hot glue around the edges of the diary to attach it:
Flattening the whole thing out I trimmed the extra fabric off.
And glued down the edges. I was careful not to glue any of the inside pockets shut in the process.
The outside:
That was a bit plain for me so I decided to add a band of colourful floral fabric that was a scrap from a dress I made ages ago. I ironed it out and folded the edges over.
Very carefully I glued it around the middle.
Cuter already right?
I carefully covered the clasp thingy too and then cut a small hole so it could still click closed. This is it pre-hole:
And post hole showing how it closes:
I was so caught up I kind of forgot to take photos of the next bit sorry! Basically I used the floral fabric to completely cover the inside including all of the pockets. I’m sure you can use your imagination ^_^ I then added lace around the outsides to hide all of the glued areas. So it ended up like this:
I realised I needed some cute paper to write on too! Luckily I had a bunch of supplies left over from a Cristina Re gift bag I was given when we had out tea party earlier in the year so I set to work.
I used an old page of diary to find the right size to fit my diary.
Then I carefully cut it all out.
Hole punch at the ready…
Taadaaa cute paper!
I needed new dividers as well so I used one to get the shape and cut them out of thing cardboard.
Lastly I added some black and white flocked paper and stickers as decoration.
I used the flocked paper on the back too.
And there you have it! Super cute new diary/planner/Filofax thingy all finished and ready to be used!
I’m really happy with the way it came out and it suits my personality perfectly.
I’ve been using it for a good few weeks now and it’s made life much easier 😀
I actually enjoy writing on such pretty paper too 😀
Do you guys use a paper planner or are you all iPhone/Blackberry junkies? |
by VioletLeBeaux | Aug 14, 2010 | Craft, Life
When we first moved here, we brought everything down in a car. I mean *everything*. It didn’t leave much room for furniture though so our new apartment was very empty. Well it was full of stuff but we had no where to put it and no where to sit and no money to buy anything to fix it.
So I looked around at what I did have and tried to come up with a solution. I had boxes, the packing junk that comes in boxes and craft supplies.
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My brain made lots of clicking and whirring sounds. Lots of cutting and swearing ensued.
This was the first thing I mocked up. It’s a set of shelves for my craft junk. At this point nothing was taped together, it was just balanced so I could see how it would end up.
I taped and hot glued everything in place. I wasn’t aiming for perfect, just workable. Next I covered it all in fabric.
Covering the back was a bit of a waste but I can always re-claim the fabric when we have more money for better shelves. Covering the insides was more time consuming but still very easy.
If I was going to do this again as a proper project I would spend more time ironing the fabric and making sure everything was even/straight. Considering I had limited time though this worked out well. After covering with fabric…
Lastly I covered all of the ugly seams and joins with ribbon and added a couple of bows to cutesy it up a bit. |
BAM! Finished and ready for craft supplies:
You’re probably thinking it wouldn’t hold anything but the extra supports in the middle+hot glue+tape really make it a lot more structurally sound. Currently it is full to the brim with yarn, craft junk, fabric, my sewing machine and overlocker, nail art stuff and deco bits.
Next my make shift couch/ottoman.
I took all of the boxes we had and cut them flat. I then stuffed a bigger box with them. I packed it full then I stood on it and packed it even fuller. James stomped on it and we packed it again.
I taped an old ugly pillow I was going to chuck out to the top.
Got some kick-arse (that’s kick-ass for my American friends) purple zebra print fabric…
And covered the whole thing. I’m planning to cover the seams using silver thumb tacs when I can find some that aren’t ridiculously priced. It seems silly but we couldn’t afford a couch and this has been perfect so far. 2 months and still going strong ^_^ I also made out tv stand this way but I haven’t had time to cover it yet, I want it to be pinstripe!
So have you guys done stuff like this before? I think it’s very common to see students with furniture built out of milk crates and stuff, it’s like a right of passage XD
by VioletLeBeaux | Aug 9, 2010 | Craft, Hair-Accessory-Tutorials, Other-Tutorials, Tutorial
Continuing the series of tutorials on making basic bows today I’ll show you how you can make the perfect bow out of ribbon.
This is what the finished product will look like:
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You need:
- Ribbon
- Scissors
- Needle and thread
- Lighter
Firstly decide how big you want your bow to be by mocking it up with you ribbon.
Cut the length you decide on and make sure to add 2cm extra for seam allowance. Use your lighter to lightly melt the edges of the ribbon so they don’t fray. BE VERY CAREFUL YOU DON’T BURN YOURSELF.
Fold your ribbon like this with the edges overlapping in the middle…
Use you needle and thread to running stitch from the bottom to top. Make sure to tie it in a knot in the beginning so it doesn’t pull through
Now pull the thread and your bow will fold up on itself. Tie your thread off securely.
Now to add the bottom tail, measure how long you want it by folding like this:
Again knot the thread and running stitch up the folded tail like this:
Pull the thread tight and tie it off:
Sew the tail behind the bow part ^_^
Cut another piece of ribbon that is long enough to wrap around the middle of the bow plus 1cm. Fold the sides of the ribbon like this and seal the edges with the lighter.
Wrap the piece around the middle of your bow.
Stitch it in place ^_^
Cut the tails into what ever shape you like, I prefer them with “v”‘s cut out. Seal the ends with the lighter again and you’re finished! You can experiment with all different ribbons, I like to add a darker colour on top like this one:
Simple and very quick to make! You can add a bobby pin or brooch back or whatever to the back to attach it to hair/clothes or anything you like. Hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial! |
by VioletLeBeaux | Aug 8, 2010 | Craft, Shoe-Tutorials, Tutorial
Morning everyone! After talking about it for quite a while Valerie and I have decided to make Sneaker Sunday a fortnightly thing (every second week for the Americans reading 😉 ) We decided to post about it less so we have more time to come up with awesome tutorials and fun things for you guys!
Let’s make this…
From this:
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Pretty cute right?Well what you need is this:
- Plain canvas shoes. Mine were $10 from Target
- Permanent markers, I’m using Sharpies and Copics. Copic markers aren’t permanent but I only have 2 Sharpies so I’ll just avoid puddles in these sneakers XD
So you need to find something that inspires you for the design. I’m using a piece of sticky leopard fabric from The Sticker Monster.
So first thing’s first, take the laces out 😀
Practice drawing your design on a piece of paper before you do it on the shoes.
I’m doing leopard print so I started by drawing the inside blobs in light purple.
Make sure to make them odd sizes, if they are all completely even it will look very unnatural. Pastel pink and purple leopard print is of course very natural 😉
Add in a pink background around the blobs.
Then add a dark purple border around the blobs. The border should be broken up and rough. Like this:
Finished the back part 😀 Now the front. I decided to draw a swirly ribbon that ends in a heart. You should draw your picture in the lightest colour you have, I used light pink for the heart and light purple for the ribbon.
I then outlined in a darker pink/purple.
Lastly I added shading with a very dark colour. Shadows are very important in giving simple designs like this depth ^_^
I found a white paint pen laying around so I used it to add a couple of highlights. to the ribbon. I also added some small dots around the ribbon.
And you’re done!
Nice and simple and it doesn’t take long at all!
Close up:
I am quite pleased with the end result! I also love the idea that for $10 I can have sneakers that look like anything that I can pull out of my imagination 😀
Time to take them for a spin!
I hope you are all having an awesome Sneaker Sunday and if you want to see what Valerie did with her sneakers just head over to her blog and check it out! |
by VioletLeBeaux | Aug 4, 2010 | Craft, Other-Tutorials, Tutorial
A lot of people have been asking me questions about blogging lately, I’m planning something quite large to help you all if you’re starting your own blogs but as a little taste today I’m going to show you how to create a really easy backdrop to make your photos cuter 😀
Having nice photos doesn’t have to depend on a fancy camera there are lots of little things you can do to make your photos cute even if you don’t have a great camera. One very cheap easy example is making a cute backdrop to take them on~
What you need:
- Cardboard
- Pretty paper/fabric
- Iron + ironing board
- Glue/tape
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I am using the paper that came on a bunch of flowers I was given. Very pretty and very durable since one side is covered in waxy-ness.Because it’s all wrinkled I decided to iron it. This is important otherwise your photos will have crinkles all over it! If you are ironing paper you should always use the lowest setting.
Get your large piece of cardboard and cut it to be around 1 inch shorter on each side than your paper.
Now fold one side of the paper over the edge of the cardboard and start gluing/taping it in place.
When you get to the corner fold it neatly on an angle.
Continue on all of the sides until you’re finished.
You get something like this…
Make two of them! The reason you should make two is so you can have one flat on the ground and one propped up at a right angle behind the item you’re photographing. This way when you take your photo you will have a nice consistent back drop no matter what angle you choose.
Now you just need to test it out 😀 Taadaa!
If you have any questions you would like answered just pop them in the comments and I’ll do my best to help 🙂
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by VioletLeBeaux | Aug 2, 2010 | Craft, Other-Tutorials, Tutorial
So yesterday we were going to post you all a Sneaker Sunday tutorial on doing something very awesome with plain white sneakers but due to unexpected technical problems it will have to wait until next week. Sorry!
To make up for though it I’ve got a week of really cool posts coming up though and I’m planning to update my shop very soon with new deco items and make some other changes to the site to make it easier to find older tutorials etc 🙂
While Celeste was in Singapore recently she picked me up some goodies! One of the things was this little craft kit on how to make a little strawberry tart thingy.
Obviously I can’t take any credit for making this tutorial because I was just following their instructions. Full credit goes to the original company but as I took photos while I was making it I though you might find it interesting anyway ^_^ You can find most of the materials around the house and you can easily substitute anything you like.
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It will end up like this:
What you need:
- 3 circles of felt, light brown, dark brown and pink
- 1 semi circle of felt, red
- 1 rectangle of red/brown felt
- Green felt for the top of the strawberry
- Matching thread
- Stuffing
- 2 circles of cardboard the same size you want the base of your tart to be.
Start with the squishy pink inside. Get your thread and using a running stitch go around the outside of the circle a couple of mm from the edge. Don’t tie it off.
Pull the thread so it all crimps up.
Shove stuffing inside.
Add one of your cardboard pieces on top.
Pull tight as you can so it looks like this… Then tie it off and put it to the side.
Now let’s make the chocolate shell thingy. Get your two brown circles and thread.
Sew them in the same way as the pink part.
Put the other cardboard circle in the middle to act as a base.
Pull the thread tight so it comes up around the cardboard like this and tie it off.
Put the pink thingy inside. You can glue it if you want or stitch in place.
Now get your redish brown rectangle.
Roll it into a tube.
Using a dark brown thread you should tie it at one end and then spiral down to the other. Tie it off and hide the ends inside.
Strawberry time!
Stitch little white lines in the pattern shown below…
Fold the felt in half and then sew from the point to the top using a blanket stitch.
Flip it inside out.
Stuff that strawberry!
Running stitch around the top and pull it tight to close it off.
Cut out a little green leaf part and stitch it on top. I personally think the strawberry looks a little skinny and sickly so if I was to make it again I would probably go with 3/4 of a circle instead of 1/2 of one. Also I think I would use a different shape for the leaves so they sit down in a cuter way.
Stick it all together either with glue or thread and you’re finished.
This little yummy treat can be added to a different base depending on what you want it to be in the end. The pack included a magnet but I’m thinking I might want to put it on a hair accessory ^_^ |
Tomorrow I have a very special post (hopefully)… I’m only going to give you one clue though… I’m going to take you on a trip somewhere very special 😀
Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a list of all of my downloadable tutorials? OMG so convenient! I know right?