A Gift from the HeART by Linda Kay's Art

What a wonderful way to share the love you feel for friends and family by making a handmade gift. Something that will show them, every day, that they are well thought of and loved.

This is what I did for some very special friends who saw me through a very difficult time recently.
I needed a simple, economical yet meaningful gift to give to my friends as a small token of my gratitude. I chose a heart.

I was perusing Pinterest recently for ideas and found a 4 sided heart ornament made of paper that I instantly fell in love with. So, to make it very personal, I chose a 3 sided design as that is a special number for me and holds deep meaning that I wanted to embed in my gifts.

Now I went into production mode!

After cutting out a bunch of hearts with my Cricut machine, I went about and put these heart ornaments together. First I creased a line down the center with my ruler and bone folder.

I gather a lot of soft colors and pretty designs for my hearts as I wanted to reflect my loving thoughts with sweet colors and patterns.

I cut lots of fibers to use as hangers and set them aside.

Choosing which ones worked well together was a lot of fun. I worked on a crafting mat to help keep the mess manageable. 

Using Modge Podge and a 1" flat brush, I started pasting them together. One heart laid face down, the other two folded in half and matching edges with the first.

Laying the folded fiber hanger in half, I placed it in the center of the remaining side, laid on enough glue and squeezed the pieces together keeping the hanger as close to the center as possible. Some of them were a bit lumpy and bumpy, but I didn't think that hurt any of them. I just made sure to fill them with good thoughts of love and hugs!

I let them dry overnight and hoped my cats would not try to run off with too many of them. They really like to sleep on this table and love yarn even more!

I tied on some shiny beads; one on the top, two on the bottom.

I have a special ornament hanger that I got from Crate and Barrel last year which worked out perfectly for the display. It created quite a interest at my party where everyone was encouraged to pick one out and take it home. 

So, if you need to make a special gift on a budget and don't have a lot of time, these little hearts might just be the trick. 

Best wishes and Happy Holidays!

Linda Kay

Use these links to find me. 

My Website ~ http://lindakaysart.com/

My Blog ~ http://lindakaysart.com/blog/

Facebook ~ https://www.facebook.com/LindaKaysArt

Instagram ~ http://instagram.com/lindakaysart

And make sure to come by the FB group and share all your projects!!

Mantra Mobile by Michelle Reynolds

What a wonderful project this one is! 

This project could also be a tree ornament, an affirmation for yourself or a friend, or just a beautiful mobile piece to hang anywhere! 

You’ll want to make lots of these!

Hi everyone!!

I'm Michelle Reynolds from www.shellsinthebush.com/ and the Cre8ive Klatch Team.

I'm here today to show you how I made my Mantra Mobile and to inspire you to create your own.

Here are the supplies I used but I encourage you to use what you have already or to check out your $2 shop for some special items.

Paper - gelli prints and scrapbooking paper, pencil, scissors, glue stick, alphabet stamp set and ink, hole punch, ribbon.

1. First of all you'll need a mantra - two to five words that resonate with you.  I've created a Pinterest board if you need some inspiration.

2. Decide which shape you would like your mobile to be - for example if your mantra is Live Laugh Love you might decide on a heart shape.

3. Choose some papers - I love gelli printing so I have a lot of gelli prints and I also have a stash of scrapbooking papers which are plain and patterned.

Choose a colour scheme - think of contrasting your papers - warm colours and cool colours, plain and patterened, or red/white/blue etc.

Your top layer with words on it should be plain enough so the words stand out and don't get lost in the pattern.

4. Cut out your papers - I have cut out three circles - using a round gelli print made the bottom layer easy to cut and I have already made up circle templates to use but look around your home - in the past I have used small plates and bowls and glasses to create a circle shape.

5. Use a glue stick to glue your layers together.

6. Put your words onto your top layer - I have used stamps, paint pens and gel pens. Another idea is to use words or letters from a magazine.

7. Then continue to decorate your mobile to your heart's content. You could use a paper doilly as one of the layers - see image below.

8. I punched a hole in the top and threaded some ribbon through.  If you feel your paper is too thin and not strong enough then you may have to glue some cardstock to the back of your mobile.

I hope you have fun creating your Mantra Mobile.  Please join our Cre8ive Klatch FaceBook Group and share your creations - I would be thrilled to see them and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Michelle.

PS If you would like to buy some gelli prints to use to create this mobile or in your art journal, for collage and mixed media art then check out my Etsy store for some great Gelli Print Packages.