How to Tie Perfect Bows

Many of my students have lamented that when it comes to tying bows, they end up in knots more often than not. If that sounds like you, then you'll appreciate this little video which shows you how to make perfect bows every time. It's short and simple, with just the facts on how to tie perfect bows using a great little gadget called Bow-Easy. If you'd like a printable version of the tutorial, head on over to Mill Lane Studio where you can download and print a step by step pdf. It will have you mastering the art of tying bows in no time. 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printable pdfs ...

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Butterfly Bouquet Wall Art

I got carried away with drawing butterflies last week and made so many that I decided to use them for the final frame in my black and white butterfly series. You can see the other ones here , here and here . Not being much of a sketcher, I found it challenging to create a pair of identical wings. But what I discovered is that the wings don't need to be identical. As long as the outline of the butterfly is symmetrical, then your eye doesn't notice the differences in the pattern from one half of the butterfly to the other. And the easy way to get a symmetrical butterfly is to use a die cut! Anyway, here it is: the final black and white butterfly shadow box in the series. For this project I die cut 7 Sizzix butterflies  (retired design) and 1 Cuttlebug butterfly . Then I went to town sketching/colouring butterflies with a Pigma Micro Pen  for the black-on-white butterflies and Inkssentials White Opaque Pen  for the white-on-black butterflies. To help with the patter......

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Doodling Butterflies

What do you do when you're staying in a motel room without access to your craft supplies? Sitting around with idle hands drives me crazy (just ask my DH!). So on a recent visit to Canberra, the only crafting supplies I could take were pen and paper. Keeping in mind the butterfly projects I've been creating lately, I die cut several butterflies and packed them into a ziplock bag with a fine black marker. Whenever I got a few spare minutes I whipped them out and started drawing. Here's a peek at what I've been working on. I haven't forgotten about the final shadow box in my black and white butterfly series - it's still on the drawing board. But perhaps some of these will make it into the last one. 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printable pdfs ...

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Vintage Crystal Butterfly Frame - Faux Marquasite Butterfly

This week, I'm continuing with the butterfly theme. Here's the third of the four butterfly shadow box frames I've made which showcase the elegant simplicity of black and white. Three of these boxes will be displayed together on the wall so I'm trying to keep each one quite simple - their impact will come from being part of a larger group. For this one I've used a central butterfly surrounded by a circle of contrasting black and damask butterflies. I love the soft look the white doodling gives to the black butterfly. With all the little dots, it reminds me of marcasite, especially with a few crystals to highlight the design. They give the butterfly that aged, vintage look. Supplies for this shadow box:  Ikea Ribba shadow box frame ; Inkssentials white opaque pen ; Cuttlebug Combo Butterflies ; Sizzix Birds & Butterflies by Eileen Hull ;  Kaiser Craft crystals ; black card stock and damask tissue paper glued to white card stock. Just one more shadow ......

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Butterfly Obelisk Bonbonniere - a Keepsake for Weddings and Special Celebrations

Having bonbonnieres or party favours for guests to take home after a special occasion is a lovely way to thank them for coming along to celebrate with you. Traditionally, wedding bonbonnieres are filled with sugared almonds, also known as jordan almonds but these days, you can fill them with anything sweet. If you have to make a large number of bonbonnieres, then you'll need to simplify this idea but if you only need a few, then you can go to town and make them as fancy as you like. That's what I did with this pretty purple obelisk covered with a cascade of butterflies. I've started with a Krafty Lady template and traced it onto the back of purple card stock, scored the fold lines and then cut it out. These templates are no longer available but you can find templates of all shapes and sizes online. Or you can save yourself a heap of tracing and hand cutting by using a die and running it through a die cutting machine. I want my bonbonnieres to be see through so I......

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A Flourish of Butterflies

It's been a while since I Zentangled but working with the framed black and white butterflies earlier in the week prompted me to grab my ultra fine markers and start doodling.  As you can see, I'm still playing with butterflies! Some are black on white......   and some are white on black...... Put them all together....... and you get a flourish of butterflies ready for mounting on the wall. Supplies for this project: Ikea Ribba shadow box frame ; Collections Elements Dainty Butterflies chipboard (painted white); ZVA Creative Flourishing - jet crystal; Inkssentials white opaque pen , Sakura Microperm ; and Martha Stewart Royal Butterfly punch. There are more butterfly frames in this series. Check them out here: Vintage Crystal Butterfly Frame Butterfly Chic Butterfly Bouquet 'Til next time..... If you can't get enough of My Tutorials and you want even more inspiration,  click here to find my books and printable pdfs ...

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Butterfly Chic Wall Art

Butterflies have been popping up in my studio a lot lately. Most of them have been purple but today I've gone back to basic black and white. When my girls flew the nest last year, all the personality in their room went with them to their new homes so I'm taking this opportunity to give the room a new look and add something handmade - a simple butterfly collage in a shadow box frame. Butterflies are by nature so beautiful, but the beauty of this project lies in just how quick it is to make. All you need is a variety of butterfly punches and dies and a selection of coordinating papers. I've chosen black and white to suit the room. The Ribba frame is from Ikea and it comes in both black and white.  Discard the paper that came in the frame and cut a piece of cardboard to the same size. Use a pencil to mark the corners of the cut out and then connect the corners together with a ruler and pencil. Mark the half way point along each of the four sides to give you a gu......

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A Little Bit of This.....

I am being such a Gemini at the moment - I have so many projects on the go and none of them is finished! It really would be helpful if I could just focus on one project at a time but like a true Gemini I am easily distracted by the next exciting thing! I have so many ideas in my head but I just can't finish any of them fast enough. In fairness though, I am working away diligently on the edible mixed media project that I mentioned in my last post and I'm really pleased with how it's coming along. It's time consuming and a bit repetitive, but I love the idea of eating your art and can't wait to share it with you, but it's going to take at least another week to finish this project. I'm also working on bonbonnieres for THE dinner party. Each one is hand cut using a Krafty Lady template - and a great template it is, but at times like this it would be so much faster to have a die to run through the die cutting machine. I'm working on these one componen......

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