If you would like to learn more about crafting in this style, you can get my book here.
One of my dear friends recently experienced a terrible tragedy. Her son passed away at 33. I did all the things I could think of, and I realized her birthday was coming up. It was her sixtieth birthday, too! I wanted to make her something special. Something that would bring her joy when she looked at it. But I didn't want to do a jewelry Christmas tree, because it wasn't a holiday gift. So I decided to try a bouquet of flowers. I went to the thrift store and found a frame for three dollars. I liked the frame because it was leafy. In my craft inventory, I already had some dark blue crushed velvet, and the combination looked good. I used spray glue to attach the fabric to the frame back.
Isn't this frame lovely?
Now it was time to pick out jewelry. I had a few old pieces in a drawer and about five dollars' worth of jewelry that I bought when I purchased the frame. So technically I have spent about eight dollars on this gift, but that doesn't include the fabric, which I already had. Still, it was not expensive by my standards.
I took the pieces that I wanted to use and laid them out on the frame, and took a picture. Honestly, laying the pieces out is the most fun part of the process. The blue butterfly is from a broken bracelet. There are a bunch more of them, so expect to see them in other framed works.
I left the work unfinished for several days and decided that I didn't like the chain I was using to make the stems. They were too flimsy. Fortunately, I found another chain that had more substance. I cut three pieces to use as the stems. When I eventually glued everything down, it didn't look exactly the same, but I love it.
Because I didn't use a background pattern, (which would have covered the areas I wanted to be free from jewelry), the gluing was a bit stressful for me. The pieces were small and if I dropped one on the velvet, it would be hard to cover up the glue spot. Gluing down the chain for the stems proved to be the most difficult part, so I didn't attach them at the bottom, just at the top, and where they came together under the bow. I added the bow last. If I had it to do over again, I would glue the chain stems down before the flowers, instead of after. Still, all's well that ends well. I spent about eight hours on this, but I wasn't in a hurry. In a hurry, I could have done it in four hours.
I cropped my friend's face out of respect for her privacy, but I think you can tell from the smile that she really liked her gift.
If you would like to learn more about crafting in this style, you can get my book here.
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