A little bit more T5

Well, you knew I wouldn't be able to leave this alone!

First, the dress from cardstock ((#9), napkin (#25) and ribbon (#18).

I started with the dress shape cut from cardstock and a piece of the top ply of the napkin.

The piece of napkin is wrapped around the front of the dress shape and glued to the edges of the back.

 The bottom edge of the napkin is glued in five spots along the bottom of the dress shape.

The napkin is gathered at the waist and a piece of ribbon wrapped across the front and the ends glued to the back.

 The top of the napkin is shaped across the bodice and folded to the back

 then the back piece is trimmed so it folds over the back about 1/4" then it's glued to the back.

I've glued ribbon to the back to form straps.

 And here's the dress:

Now for the hat. On the computer I made two pattern pieces: one .8” diameter circle and one strip 2.9” x .3”, printed them out and used them to cut the pieces from a piece of felt.

Spread glue around the edge of the felt circle

 then add the strip of felt around the circle and join the ends of the strip with glue.

Where the strip met, I added some feather pieces. I then cut a narrow (about 1/8" wide) strip of the napkin and spread glue along the length of the wrong side then wrapped it around the lower edge of the hat.

 Finished hat:

I knew that I wanted to use the tea leaves from the tea bag (#21) as dirt in a plant pot (#10) but didn't really see anything on the list to make a plant from.

But I had taken out green silk (as #22 - piece of green fabric) and it caught my eye. So I cut out a small piece of it and decided to experiment.

I coated the entire piece of silk with Weldbond glue

and let it dry. Absolutely love the effect!

 I cut a bunch of leaves from the glue-covered silk and shaped them with my fingers. They look SO good! (If I do say so myself VBG)

I had this blue bottle cap but didn't care for the colour for a plant pot. (Normally I love the colour.)

 So I've covered it with a generous coating of gesso and I'll paint it terra cotta when the gesso is dry. For this I wanted a rough finish so didn't smooth the gesso.

I'll let it dry overnight then try to arrange my leaves in it.

T5 update

I got a few more things done last night and this morning.

I designed this folding chair several years ago. The pattern is printed on cardstock (#9)

then it's run through the printer again to put a wallpaper design on the back of the sheet.

Cut out the pattern and score on all the solid inner lines.

Fold into chair shape

 Glue the back pieces together and glue the top flap over to the back with clothespins to hold in place until the glue dries.

 The chair:

 with a strip of fun foam (#12) glued in place to cushion the seat and back.

The origami kimono from gift wrap (#4) was a nightmare. I had the instructions, the paper and even a sample but just couldn't get it right. Finally I found some other step-by-step instructions that were a big help. (There are even demonstrations on youtube but I didn't check those out.

 I found an image of a pair of scissors, sized it,  printed it on cardstock (#9) and cut it out.

Then I painted the handles with my new Sakura 3-D ink glaze pen. I'm looking forward to discovering new ways to use this as it's so neat. It's embossing without heat or powders!

Then I coloured the blades with my silver Pilot pen.

I knew I wanted to make the sewing machine table from a box (#7) and 2 paper clips (#23). But the box could have no side longer than 3" and that posed a real problem. Finally found a small Avon box that ear-rings had come in. I cut off the top flaps and glued the remaining pieces so there were no gaps in the cardboard.

The box had a glossy finish which I didn't think would take acrylic paint very well so I decided to spray paint it with some white Krylon enamel. Actually, this was just an excuse to try out the spray tent that June K. gave me. VBG It's great!

Here I've added the butterfly paper clips as table legs. Even with the box being fairly deep for its size, I couldn't put the clips up any higher or the table would be too low.

To help stabilize the legs, I glued the top of the clip to the box and held it in place with clothespins until the glue dried.

 Sewing machine in place

The table isn't right! The skirt is so low that you can't get close to the machine (even if it were moved forward to the edge of the table).

So I cut a knee hole and used part of the cutout piece to make two faux drawers with handles of drops of the 3D glaze. Much better, I think.

Now the conundrum...

I only have four days and some hours before I leave on the trip to Arizona...and I have tons of paperwork that HAVE to be tackled before then...BUT, on the other hand, I only  have 9 items left on the list for the T5 challenge...and I know what I plan on doing with them...but it's not due until March 17 so I have 5 days to work on it after I return...

Decisions, decisions, decisions...

T5 Challenge - off to a good start

This is the eraser I hope to make into a sewing machine. First I wrapped a piece of tape around it to guide my cut and, hopefully, keep it straight.

Using a straight blade to make the first cut

 I then repeated that on the other side to get a rectangle roughly the 1:12 size of my RL sewing machine.

I then sketched the shape of the machine on the front of the eraser

 and on the ends.

 I used the straight blade to make what cuts I could. Some of the inner cuts couldn't be made with the straight blade then I remembered the X-Acto carving blades I had and did more shaping with them.

I used an emery board, needle files and a scalpel to do the final shaping.

I then coated the shape with gesso to try and smooth it out a bit.

 I used a hole punch (from Dollarama) to cut the side knobs out of another thin piece of eraser.

 Using another piece of eraser, I made a foot pedal.

I took a photo of the RL sewing machine dials and resized it.

While the gesso was drying, I started making the work table. My original plan was to make the table top with the stir sticks but that would have given me a tabletop that was only 15" wide - much too narrow. So I decided to make the table top with a double layer of cardstock, the table skirt from three stir sticks and the legs from square toothpicks.

The cardstock ready to be glued together.

 The four table skirt pieces with the leftovers below.

Four square toothpicks with the points cut off.

The skirt and legs glued to the tabletop.

Right side up

Pattern and pincushion on the table. The pattern is from Jim Collins and the pincushion was made from a cap filled with a piece of cotton ball and topped with a small piece of red felt.

Here the printed panel has been glued to the front of the machine. A straight pin was pushed through the left hand top piece and forms the needle. The foot plate is painted on with a bit of silver nail polish. The spool holder is another piece of straight pin. The punched out circles were pasted to the right hand end. Two pieces of thread (my one allowable addition to the list) were glued into the end of the machine: one has the foot control on the other end and the second has a bead for a plug.

I've since sanded the front piece a bit more but it's still not as smooth as I would like. I should have smoothed it a bit more when the gesso was still damp.

Trash to Treasure Twenty Twelve (T5) Challenge

Last night before bed I sat down with the list of 'trash' to go in this challenge. I'm looking at eraser, foam sheet and bottle caps and my first reaction is sandwiches - foam bread, eraser cold cuts on a bottle cap liner plate. But that's only three items and nothing else really fits in the food category - except maybe a feather to make a fish skeleton.

The feathers and felt lend themselves to hats. 

1. 4 feathers hats, fish skeletons

2. 10 Beads hat pins, buttons, lamp bases, lamp bulbs
3. 3 cotton balls muff
4. 10" sq wrapping paper
5. Eraser brown for meat slices, white for cheese slices
6. 5 stir sticks some sort of furniture, table top
7. small box (no side longer than 3") dresser, maybe
8. 2 stickers
9. 1 full sheet of cardstock (any colour) Kleenex (well, napkin) dresses, hat boxes, paint some silver for full length mirror?
10. 4 bottle caps (any size) liners for plates
11. Greeting card find one with a window scene?
12. 6" Foam sheet bread for sandwiches, purses, shoes
13. 6" Felt square hats
14. 6 Toothpicks square toothpicks for table legs, pointy end for shoe heels
15. 2 sheets of Paper (8.5 x 11) printies
16. 4 Q Tips slit the plastic part to make a mirror frame, use the cotton parts glued together for a hat stand?
17. 3 Thumb Tacks or Push Pins (any type) push pin lamp bases
18. 6" length of ribbon hats, clothing, shoes
19. 2 Toothpaste caps (or any toiletry lid) lamp shade, flower/plant pot, garbage can
20. Small mirror (under 2")
21. TeaBag fabric for hat veil, tea for plant dirt, string for belt
22. 6" Sq Green fabric (any print or solid) clothing, stiffened with glue to make couple plant leaves?
23. 2 Paper Clips I'm going to use butterfly paper clips as table legs
24. 6 Straight Pins hat pins
25. A Napkin dress, tablecloth, wallpaper

I had been at coffee yesterday and brought home my napkin thinking I could use it as a nice piece of fabric for something, someday. VBG

Then I have my AHA moment! I'll add a sewing machine as my one allowed extra piece and I'll make a sewing/millinery room. BUT I look and I can't  find the sewing machine I was sure I had! So I frantically e-mail Joanne to see if she has one I can borrow. (Just now remembered that I had a Chrysnbon sewing machine kit that Sue from Calgary gave me!)

Then I have another AHA moment! I can use my white art eraser to carve a portable sewing machine, and use the small box I'm allowed for a table to set it on with the butterfly paper clips for legs!

The wrapping paper (#4) can be the wrapping paper 'fabric' I got at club with the instructions to fold it into an origami kimono.

Now it's all coming together in my head. (As a matter of fact, I woke up a couple times in the night with ideas coming hard and fast.)

Dug around and found most of the things on the list and have them set out ready to go. Some pieces, like the green fabric, won't be cut to the size given until later.

Now to dig out my RL sewing machine and start taking measurements.

I love it when a plan comes together!