French Country & Lots of FUN Techniques!

My apologies to all of my subscribers who had an unedited draft of this post emailed to them.

I love a card that uses a lot of techniques but doesn’t cost a fortune to make.

That is the case with this card. I was going to save it for Earth Day next month but I was afraid I would forget so you get it today instead!

Technique #1: Fabric flowers with homemade “Gluebers”

What’s a glueber you might ask? Well, it is a really big glue dot and it is used to make fabric and twine flowers. It is also expensive so here is how you make your own gluebers and glue dots: You need a bottle of Aleens Tack It Over & Over glue (you can order it online line from joann or custom crops and most craft stores for about $3 a bottle-it lasts a LONG time!) Squirt out a circle of glue on waxed paper the size you want. For the flower my circle was about 2.5″ wide. Let the glue dry. After the glue is dry cover the sheet of dots with another sheet of waxed paper to save for later. Cut apart the large dots. To make the flower cut a 2″ wide strip of fabric (whatever kind you like and have on hand) and tie a knot close to the end. Press the knot in the center of the glue circle and twist the remaining fabric as you wrap it in a spiral around the knot pressing the fabric in the glue as you go.  Stick the fabric tail to the back and snip off any excess. I used about 24″ of fabric for this. It took all of 3 minutes. You can try low temp hot glue as well for this technique, just work on a silicone mat:)

Technique #2: Make Your Own Baker’s Twine

I did a post on that, you can read it here.

Technique #3: Make a yarn nest!

I love this technique and it is so easy, just wrap yarn around 3 fingers and scrunch up some in the middle and press into a gob or hot glue. EASY! then you can add little plastic eggs. FUN!

Technique 4: Raid your back yard!

When I needed a bit of organic goodness for my card I poked around in my back yard for twigs and pinecones. Free & fabulous!

Technique #5 (for those of you with Stampmakers) Stencil & Embosss!

I made a stencil with my TC Stampmaker and stenciled the background. I’m not sure I am in love with the stencil packs because I could cut a better stencil on my die cut machine. The stencil is thicker than it should be I think HOWEVER  I tried embossing with the stencil in my big shot die cutter and it worked beautifully. Also I made a woodgrain embossing plate with my stampmaker (see the kraft paper under the nest) and I quite enjoy that.

 So, there you have it! Lots of fun techniques you can try! Til next time happy crafting!