Up cycle

I had this kokopelli box which I was keeping for the longest time, waiting for the right opportunity to alter it.

The chance came on Evelyn's birthday, when I bought a "gem" encrusted ribbon necklace for her. I had to make a box to send along the gift and espied the kokopelli box in the corner. With black soft velvet lining, it was perfect!

I pulled out my Japanese fabric tape, lace , pearls and set to work. Happily it came to this. Thanks also to the fabric tape, I managed to transform the loose lid box into a flap cover.

My finishing touches was from Martha Stewart's frame, and the tiny veneer from Studio Calico. Tada!

Grand Bling

Here's one that I did for my niece on my husband's side.  We bought her this ginormous bling ring and it didn't look quite nice sitting on the ring tag.   So I decided to whip up this tag to attach the ring and give it to her.  Behind the birdcage was the handwritten message.

Can you see where the ring is?

 

New Year Blooms

I tag this as the last project I did in 2011, and the first I have done in 2012.  I was making the bloom brooches in the night for 4 friends who were different from one another.  The tags to put them on were pieced together on the first morning of 2012.

As you can see, it is a fast and easy way to pull together a gift and make it look more complete than just giving it plain.  I find that putting a little consideration and some feeling will bring you a long way in putting together the final product. 

If you have some great ideas for displaying and giving your gifts, do share your idea with me!

Old School Bond

My cousin has a little girl about the same age as my firstborn, Miss E.  They were born two weeks apart, with Miss E being the older one.  The two girls spend a lot of their early growing years together as my cousins make effort to meet up every week so they would bond.  Of course, we all grew up as close cousins as well so we unconciously wanted the same thing for our children.

Here's one taken at the Mid-Autumn festival where the two were delighted to see each other after a long break. 

This was made from papers from Pink Paislee's Old School and Butterfly Garden.  The trims are from Prima, including the wire that I twined and twirl.  The cage, large tag and bird are recycled cardboard from 7 Gypsies' shadow box, cut by the Tim Holtz Sizzix Dies.  I just love sparkly and glittery stuff so I had to paint my chipboard bird with pinkish glitter.   That little "old school" strip was from that little extra bit that always comes with the 12x12 paper.  Recycled it into the title as I thought yes, this is really old school kind of bonding!

Girls have all the fun yes?