Teddy Bear Multi-Strip Quilled Technique

You will need glue and paper the color of the bear and an alternative color. I also use a BBQ skewer to roll the paper around.

Cut 2 strips in brown or white (depending on color of bear) down the length of the paper
Cut 1 strip length in another color (for example: blue for boys or pink for girls) down the length of the paper
These pieces will be looped three times with the middle loop the longest

Glue the strips at one end

Form a loop but pull 2 of the strips down to make the loop open up and make layers. Glue the ends of the loop.

Create a second loop slightly larger than the next and make layers again. Glue the ends of the loop.

Make a final loop at the same size as the first loop. Glue the ends of the loop.

Wrap the remaining length all the way around the loop creating a large loop and glue it in place.

Cut the excess off. Take the colorful piece of extra and cut it half. Quill both small pieces for eyes. Pinch at one end to create a tear shape.

Cut 1 strip down the shorter width the color of the bear and cut in half for the ears.

Cut 1 strip down the length in bear color for the head.

Cut 2 strips down the shorter width the color of the bear for the feet.

Cut 2 strips down the sorter width the color of the bear for the arms- pinch when quill is glued to make it tear shaped.

Grand Close Ups

Grand: grandpeople, grandparents, grandaunt and granduncle. Here's a layout feature some of the grandest people in my life.

This is my Grandma Betty. She was full of life from being hungover in the bathroom, to boating and outdoors fun or simply making a face at her work she oozed life.

I am one weekend from launching my on-line embellishment shop. I will continue demonstrating the occassional how-to's, but I will also sell goodies for those less motivated. Here's a few of my favorite hand-mades: blinged butterfly and rolled flowers.

I also making iris folded tags. The shape was the left over after I cut out the above butterfly.

Here's a rose bush another of my favorite hand-made yummies.

This title was fun to make as I found the word "grand" and other "grand" related words in the dictionary.

Here's my son from baseball 2 years ago. Love the action shot and this close up. This is actual a scraplift so the layout is copy of This is actual a scraplift so the layout is copy of The more I practice...by Hanging By A Moment from sb.com.

Step 2 for give away -

tell people about it


Check out this give away - http://wwscrapdivas.blogspot.com/

Curled Flower

I am guilty of falling in love with a store bought flower, yet I try to do everything as thrifty as possible, so I knew my love could NOT last due to the shortage in my wallet. I have been working on a way to create a similar flower. While my version is nowhere as beautiful as the store-bought-beauty-that-stole my heart, I am very pleased with how they have turned out and would like to share them with you.



Supplies:
Two- hand-cut or die cut flowers (I used the “Wedding” cartridge on my Cricut) I found that three flowers works nice too with the bottom flower remaining straight
Ink - I used a blue marker
A bbq skewer
Spray starch (you can use a spray bottle of water or a wet cloth)
Adhesive (I find a glue gun does the job strong and quick)
A rolled rose (see my previous blog if you’ve never made one of these: http://ohschwietscrap.blogspot.com/2009/11/paper-rose-schwiet-way.html or anything creative for the center like a botton, brad, circle hole punch, or even a quilled circle



I start by ink staining the edges of the flower and marking a little into the center of the flower.
Using those marks, I cut up into the center of the flower a little. This will emphasize the curl more.



I glue the two flowers together. Feel free to play with sizes. I also find that double sided is the most impressive since the underside will be exposed when the flower is curled; however, I cheat and glue two coordinating papers together.



Spray the now double flower with starch. Before I roll the petals I dab a little off. If you don't have spray starch, you can wet the petals for the similiar less stiff result. I wet by placing the flower on a damp cloth, but a spray bottle of water would work. I've also been told Glimmer Mist works too.



I pull back one edge of a petal on the top layer while curling it around the skewer.



When the petal seems to be in the position I like I scrape a bit of the paper with my thumb nail making a crease.

Repeat the rolling to all that petal on the top layer and continue with the bottom layer. Play around and experiment with how much curl you want as well as the direction of the curl. Here’s a little tip: even with the starch the flower will uncurl just slightly so you will want to exaggerate the curl some. I have found that I prefer rolling the top layer and the bottom layer in the same direction with the top layer having a tighter curl. I now love rolling the petals forward towards the center!!

When it dries it will remain relatively stiff.



At this point I hot glue a rose bud to the middle. Some flowers I crunch slightly around the bud.

After playing some more I discovered a few tricks by mistake....I really like the look of only one flower rolled...also lining the two flowers up and rolling just the front layer looks pretty cool too.

Handmade Embellishments

I feel like I'm so weird. I'd rather spend a few hours making a handmade embellishment in place of just buying embellishments at the store. Today while making more roses, I added the roses and buds to wire and made a rose vine. It looked like something I bought. Here's a few of my favorites. They could be your favorites, too; just ask me how.

Paper Rose the Schwiet Way

You have probally made paper roses and this is just another one of those tutorials about making them, but I found a way to make them easier by using a BBQ skewer to complete the rolling step.

Here’s a layout of my DStep-D’s posing at Sea World using these paper roses. The layout itself is a lift of the very talented “2-Dogs”.



Supplies: paper, circle template (wine glass), wooden skewer (a toothpick would probably work), scissors, and glue gun.

First, I traced a circle using the wine glass as a template. My circle was just under 3 inches. The size you use will determine the rose size and number of layers.

Next, I cut out the circle and then cut the circle into a spiral shape.

Using the skewer, I rolled the paper around the skewer by starting with the outside edge of the spiral. I find this much easier than the free-handed version I have been using. I pinch the bottom of the rose making it a little tighter as I go along.

Finally, I pullout the skewer and allow the little bundle to spread open more to my liking. Using the glue gun, I dab a little glue on the flowers bottom and I fold the end (the inside of the spiral) snuggly around the rose. For my rose in the page above, I added a little touch of silver glitter glue.

Southern Comfort Close Ups

Here's my son with his family on an airboat ride.




Tag made using the tips I gave in an earlier post. I used styrofoam plates covered in aluminum tape and layered with paint. The duck was left over from a picture I cropped earlier.

The gator is made from clay.

I cut the flower using my cricut. I sprayed the flower with starch and twisted the petal. The rose is hand made and I'll post a how-to next.