Here's my post for It's A Creative World today:

I wanted to make a layout using a large fabric flower like the Prima Frillies

but didn't have one in the right colour so decided to make my own.

I started by cutting heart shapes from some dyed cotton from a fabric inspiration pack I had. I originally cut 5 but then decided 7 would be better. I then layered the hearts on each other and used an invisible sewing thread to sew them all together:

Having done this I then cut more heart shapes but this time in a dyed pink organza and then layered these on top of the cotton flower. When this was done I added a button to the centre and then sewed beads around this. I attached sequins to the cotton under the organza and then inked the edges of the flower with chalk ink to add some depth:

The next step then was to add it to the layout:

Recycling old jewellery - IACW

Here's my post from the It's A Creative World blog today:

Back in the 90's (and the days of being a rock chick!) I used to wear huge dangly earrings and various bracelets and bangles. I kept them all in a tin with various other bits and bobs that I didn't want to throw out. Today I found that tin again:

I decided to try and use some of the jewellery on craft items and first up I made a card and used part of an old earring as an embellishment.

I cut off the dangles from the bottom and also the actual part that goes through the ear before glueing the rest of the earring to the centre of the flower. For my next project I started with another earring and this time used a variegated perle cotton to cover it in blanket stitch: When this was finished I threaded some more perle cotton through the ring at the top and added beads to it before removing the ear-piece. I then added the earring to a textile ATC I'd made as an embellishment.

Have you got any old costume jewellery lying around that you could use? I'd love to see the results if you do.

(EDITED TO ADD) Materials used for card: Papermill card, HOTP papers, Delish Designs background stamp, Stampbord, Distress inks - black soot, mustard seed, worn lipstick and dusty concord, black Versafine ink, Crafty Individuals stamp, Prima flowers, Crafty Notions Rainbow Drops. Antique lace, beads and earring from stash.

Materials used for ATC: antique white felt, dyed silk fibres, KARS metallic thread, Anchor variegated perle cotton, old earring and beads.

Simple Clay Embellishments

Here's my post from It's A Creative World earlier in the week: I don't know about you but I personally don't like to spend a lot of money on embellishments but prefer to buy them cheaply or make them myself. I had bought some Fimo to try but we didn't get along very well so I decided to try an air-drying clayand also some mini cutting shapes and paperclips.

I started by rolling some of the clay until it was approximately 3mm thick and then cutting out various shapes.

While the clay was still malleable I embedded some paperclips in a few shapes and used a spare piece of clay to keep it stuck together. For the other shapes I used various rubber stamps to deboss the design in the clay and also experimented by pressing an embossing plate into another piece:

Once the clay had dried (I left it 24 hours) I decorated the shapes. The paperclip embellishments were coloured with chalk inks and then a letter sticker added before covering with Diamond Glaze. The other shapes were just inked. Of course paint and other mediums could be used instead of ink:

These could be used for scrapbooking, cardmaking or perhaps you could have personalised paperclips?

Here's my post from yesterday at It's a Creative World:

I don't know about you but I love felt - it's so versatile, comes in loads of colours, is so easy to sew and is great as embellishments for card making and scrapbooking. Here's what I've been making with it recently. First I cut my felt into the shapes I wanted. This was easily done by drawing around some chipboard but you could use any shape or template that you like:

I then started decorating the felt using whatever I had to hand. To begin with I blanket-stitched around the edge of the heart using some fibres that I've had in my stash for years before adding a couple of sequins. For the flower I backstitched all around the inside before sewing beads in the middle and for the star I used beads again but in bright contrasting colours.

You can use anything you have to hand. Here I used eyelets , more beads, strung sequins, buttons and brads. Once you've made your felt embellishments you can add them to anything. Here's a couple of quick examples:

So go on - I hope I've inspired you to dig out those pieces of felt and see what you can make!