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Monday 16 June 2014

Destination Inspiration - Sewing Room Shadow Box


Hello Everyone! Jennie here from Live the Dream and it is my pleasure to be sharing a project with you  today at the Destination Inspiration Booth - the place for Creative Guides to share with you techniques and ideas which will motivate YOUR creative experience.

One of my most used dies is the Sewing Room die. I just love the dress form and use it in so many ways on tags, cards, books and in my scrapbooking.  I thought I would share with you today my absolute favourite way of using it - so very effective but VERY easy to achieve! 


I hope you are ready for this as it is quite photo heavy! So here we go …………


 To start you need to die cut the dress form from some reasonable weight board - I have used coaster board here but any mount board or grey board will do. Cut two and leave one complete but cut the other one in half - right down the middle.



Blend a little Vintage Photo around the edges.



Using a good quality glue which you can run along the outside edge of the piece you cut in half, glue this to the middle of the complete dress form piece. You might have to hold it in place for a while until it dries, but if you use a good glue this should feel quite solid once it is set. Two segments have now been created which can be filled with the paper leaves.



And now for the dress - cut ten "dresses" from book paper. I know many of you don't like ripping up old books, but for this project I have used a modern paperback bought from the local charity shop. You could of course stamp your own papers with a text stamp.


Again blend Vintage Photo  Distress Ink around the edges of the cut dresses - both sides - and fold them in half.


Again using a good quality glue run a little glue along the folded edge and glue five pieces into each of the two segments. Start from the outside edges and move inwards so that the last piece you glue is in the middle of the others.


I like to put a little bit of lace around the middle and a strategically placed flower at the top hides some of my uneven glueing! 

And now to make a box to showcase our lovely dress form.



The base of the shadow box is the Postage Stamp Die. Again I have used Coaster Board and covered it in the lovely sewing paper from the Wallflower stack.  I cut four strips of Coaster Board 1/2 inch wide and cut these to fit along the top and sides. Vintage Photo Distress Ink was blended around the edges before I stuck them down. (The Postage Stamp Die actually has a crease line which runs around the inside edges and I glue my box strips along this line.)


I cut another piece for the top of the shadow box using the Postage Stamp Die and cut an aperture using a rectangle die. This top piece was inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and once dry I used Paper Artsy Crackle Glaze to give it an "older" texture.


I filled the inside of the box with some stamped sewing embellishments before glueing the top in place.


This photograph shows how shallow the shadow box actually is. 


Once the top was in place I added a few more embellishments, including a handmade flower and the fabulous brass scissors.


Finally I glued the dress form onto the right hand side of the box.

If you are still with me well done! I hope this tutorial inspires you to try this effect and you can find other dies to make something similar.



A simple circle die can also be very effective!

Have fun!

Jennie x


Footnote: Unfortunately the Dress Form Die is not now available at Country View Crafts, however, the Mini Dress Form Die is still available  and would make a good replacement.  Jennie 



24 comments:

  1. A beautiful piece Jennie. Love the 3 D dress form and crackle paint too. Karen.x

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  2. Jennie - this so lovely and vintage. I love the crackle paint, I seem to forget about it until I see how you have made it look so fab. Thanks for the great DI - I am certainly Inspired!

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  3. Beautiful vintage creation Jennie. Love the dress form. In all its glory. Great tutorial on how it was done. Have a Good Day. Hugs Rita xxx

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  4. such a clever ue of the die - brilliant! Hugs rachel x

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  5. Fabulous tutorial Jennie, you make it so clear and the effect on the dress form looks amazing! I have admired this one before so it's great to know now how you put it together. It looks great on the ball too though, I'm thinking "vintage Christmas decorations"... Great inspiration, thank you!

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  6. oh wow this is amazing,love my dress form,too use it a lot,but this is just divine,great tutorial too hugs Cherylxxx

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  7. The dress form is so beautiful, love how you created the shape
    nd that really cool crackle

    Jools x

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  8. What a brilliant creation - it would make a great gift for a sewing friend. Very well described - thanks for sharing

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  9. The treatment you have given the dress form is stunning, so much better than honeycomb paper, it has a wonderful vintage feel to it. Your tutorial is excellent and I will certainly be having a go at this technique. Thanks for the inspiration! Hugs, Anne xx

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  10. A brilliant tutorial, Jennie - and such an enchanting finished result. I love the book pages, and I think you've probably finally tipped the balance on me pursuing the Postage Stamp too... what a wonderful shadow box it makes! Thanks for sharing your tips, and lots of inspiration.
    Alison xx

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  11. Well thought out, cleverly executed and a beautiful, beautiful result. A fabulous make Jennie and a great step by step. Chris xxx

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  12. Love this Jennie, such a gorgeous project and a great tutorial xx

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  13. Its Beautiful and I love photo heavy x

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  14. I just love your weathered frame box Jennie - with it's crackled finish - and your technique on the dress form is wonderful!

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  15. Very creative! I, too, love this die but don't seem to use it enough :-(

    Sally

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  16. This is a fabulous project Jennie, I adore it all Nikki xx

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  17. What a great tutorial - you made it look so easy. Must go and look out the dress form die! Margaret

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  18. the entire piece is spectacular but I especially like what you did with the dress form!

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  19. what a wonderful project; thank you for being so detailed; your work's the absolute best!!

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  20. Wow! What a great tutorial! You have made everything so plain and do-able! Thank you so much! I shall definitely be book-marking this one and giving it a go, as I have that die! Julie Ann xxx

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  21. What a clever shadow box design, Jennie! Great tutorial and that dress from is absolutely wonderful! Love this and all the crackle and sewing room theme! Hugs!

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  22. A stunning project Jennie. I love all the wonderful details and techniques that you have shown in the DI.

    Thank you for sharing this inspiring make

    Hugs Annie x

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  23. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful tutorial Jennie. The dress form looks fabulous as does your shadow box. Mo x

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  24. This is ridiculously clever Jennie and I am afraid I will definitely be CASE'ing it some time soon! Thank you for sharing such a fabulous tutorial. Jenny x

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