Tres Chic~ Unique!

Bienvenue! Welcome to the September Tres Chic and Unique Challenges at Bella Creations. This is National Sewing Month...did you know that? If you have never sewed, or want to get back to it, there are lots of resources to help you. Check out the National Sewing Month website for inspiration!
I am a self-taught sewer and have been making home decor projects, quilts, costumes and clothing for my daughter, as well as gifts for years. I have a fabulous Pfaff that embroiders...just need to get off this laptop and plug it in! I seem to get sidetracked by paper crafting but eventually go back to my machine~ With sewing in mind, the Challenges this month at Bella Creations are;

Tres Chic, which is a style challenge. The style this month is 'sew-riffic' and the guidelines require that you use real or faux sewing, pearls, fabric and a flower. Here is my creation~

I made an APC, or Altered Playing Card, for my Tres Chic. It is an actual "Joker" card from a standard deck of cards. I sanded the center, painted it with white Adirondack Dabber paint, then stitched around the perimeter and attached a ruffle. I dyed the flower pink with Spun Sugar Distress Ink, then used Glossy Accents to adhere glitter to the petals. The dress form is a die cut covered in Ranger Rock Candy Crackle Paint. The little spool is chipboard. 

The reverse side is decorated too!

I used a Tim Holtz Seamless Experience stamp for the faux sewing on this side, did some other stamping, included safety pinned fabric swatches and a chipboard button~ The ruffle is sandwiched between the Joker card and the cardstock I backed it with.

The winner for the Tres Chic gets these COPIC pens!

Unique is a technique challenge. This month you are to try making a flower from tissue paper. I used sewing pattern tissue!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjn084rYRLg

I decorated a box and placed the tissue paper flower I made on it. This little box, as well as many of the items I used for my Tres Chic and Unique projects, are from the September Embellishment Kit.
The prize for this challenge will be provided by Flying Unicorn!

I love how it turned out! I had a fun time stamping on cardstock to decorate the sides. I also painted the chipboard butterfly, added pretty trim & pearls, put glitter on the dress form, included fabric swatches, and wrapped embroidery thread around the inked spool. I had a zipper pull left over from another project (see below) and I found the perfect place for it...on the front!

This little gift box encloses a fresh baked scone for the birthday girl!

And I still had more goodies from the Sewing Embellishment Kit to play with. Look at what I made next...a card!

I painted the dress form and wrapped it in batting. (included in the kit!) I stamped some pattern tissue and made it into a skirt. The background of this card is covered in two different pinked-edged fabrics! Cute, eh? I used three different Marvy square punches for the sentiment, and made the flower from a pink zipper.....this is where the zipper pull came from! I did not need it when making the flower. Waste not, want not! Check out Bella Creations for the wonderful Embellishment Kit. Come play in our Challenges (there is another called Muse, as well as various Group Challenges) and look at the kits. I think this month's kits are some of the best we've offered!

Bella Creations July Tres Chic Challenge~

Wow, another month has come and gone. It is July! I hope you enjoyed a safe and relaxing celebration of our country's founding and had the opportunity to thank a serviceman or woman. At Bella Creations the Tres Chic Challenge theme for July is 'soft and romantic', and there is a sketch to use created by our own design team member, Heather. Here is the sketch~

Here is the page I made using this sketch and the Bella Creations Kit.

I used a Martha Stewart corner punch on the striped oval layer. I also made the library pocket from one of the Melissa Frances pieces in the kit, then inked the edges. I substituted my own fabric strip to make the bow. I made the dress my daughter is wearing in the photo and had saved the remnants all these years! That's a true crafter for ya! haha~ The fairy in the upper left is from the Fairyopolis Card Kit and his wing is double layered.

                                  I placed two stick pins in the fabric bow.

I stamped on this layout and sewed the green ribbon on by machine. I used Ranger Distress Inks for stamping and distressing. There is journaling on the tag in the library pocket.~

Bella Creation's  lovely Kit includes paper from the Melissa Frances line. The kit also has flowers, ribbon, a fabric strip, pretty white leaves, a doily, and M. Frances stickers.(see below)

If you participate in the Tres Chic Challenge you could win a Fairyopolis card kit from Crafters Companion! The card kit includes rub-ons, cards & envelopes, die cuts and more.

Happy May Day at Bella Creations!~

This month is PACKED full of fun and goodies at Bella Creations! We have three monthly Challenges and wonderful sponsors and prizes, so come play along! For the Tres Chic  Style Challenge the sponsor is

and they are offering an RAK which is a kit to make this sweet mini album~

For our Bella Muse Challenge make a project using this image from Gecko Galz~

and you could win an RAK from the Scrappy Gourmet! And last but NOT least, Flying Unicorn is offering a fantastic RAK for one lucky participant in the Bella Unique Challenge, which will have you making a sueded embellishment for your project~

And next month we are having a Blog Hop with prizes, surprises, and our first monthly kit designed by Lacee~ Don't miss all the excitement!!