I’m really pleased with how these earrings turned out. I used to make a version of them a few years ago with clear embossing powder, but I found that even more time consuming and messy than working with the resin. Other than the investment in a big box of the resin stuff, this is a really cheap project, another great way to use up paper scraps, and a way of taking those papers and fabrics we love so much and draping ourselves with them.

Start by cutting a pair of earring shapes out of chipboard or really thin cardboard. I just love this stuff, I can’t stop working with it. And again, if you’re looking for it, go somewhere that sells scrapbook paper and ask to raid their shelves. Chipboard is shipping material in the paper world, so it’s usually treated like garbage.

Cut a couple of pieces of paper the same shape as your chipboard for each earring. You’ll need four total for each pair, one for each front and back.

Glue the paper to the chipboard with an acrylic sealer. Here’s the one I use.

Of course, if your design requires something printed off your home computer, and, like me, you don’t happen to have a laser printer, you’re going to have to take one extra precautionary step. An inkjet printer doesn’t print water tight, so if you start spreading a sealer or glue around your ink is going to run. So I use a spray sealer first to seal the printing, and then I proceed as normal. Here’s the spray sealer I happened to have around.

Before you start throwing the resin down, you’ll want to cover up those unsightly cardboard edges, so I gave them a quick brush with some acrylic paint. If you do this step after you’ve sealed the paper nice and tight, then you can just wipe off any stray paint.

Apply your resin, one side at a time, and let cure.

A few days later you’re ready to add the hardware.

The cardboard splits easily, so don’t try to drill through the whole thing. Use a small drill bit to get your hole started and to create a nice finished look on the front, and then stop once you hit cardboard. Use a thick needle to finish off the hole. Attach a jump ring and earring hook and you’re all done.

I’ll have a whole mess of these waiting in the shop at the end of the month too.

Technically, this was one of my string of crafty failures. Not because the craft itself was a failure, but because what I intended was a failure.

I think these turned out just beautiful, which is a good thing, but I also think they’re a little too beautiful for what I was going for. In one of the many fancy pants boutiques around the area, I came across a big bowlful of silk flowers. Normally I don’t like silk flowers at all, but these just looked stunning. I could tell the edges had been melted which caused the petals to curl in and gave the whole thing a more haphazard look, which almost came across organic. So I ran home to raid the stash and see what I could come up with to fill the many many empty bowls I have scattered throughout the house.

I happened to have a bunch of organza laying around from a series of failed projects, so I thought it would be perfect. But the flowers came out so pretty and romantic, and very shabby chic, that it could not have been more out of place in my streamlined modern home.

So off to the etsy shop they go.

Here’s what I did:

Cut four or five flower shapes out of an organza. I’m sure mine was some poly blend, since I got it all at JoAnns. You can see from this picture that I’m being generous by calling this a “flower shape” I could really just say cut four or five little blobby guys that have vague suggestions of petals.

Hold each petal over a lit candle. You don’t want to touch the flame, just let that hot air kiss the fabric. This takes a little bit of practice, but don’t worry about any messups, this is one project where sloppiness is only in your favor. The worst thing that could happen is that you’re petal looks extra curly and crunchy. Once you layer these, you’ll be amazed at how great it looks.

Layer the petals together. I usually put the extra crispy ones on top and the floppier ones on the bottom to really emphasize the curling in of those petals. Arrange them so the petals aren’t stacked neatly on top of each other, but kind of go all over the place.

Use a thread that matches the organza, and come up from the back of all but one layer. This way your knot will be hidden by the bottom most petal. Sew on a scattering of beads, making some loops of five or more beads to look like little stamens. When you’re finished, go back down through all but the last layer to tie off your thread.

Honestly, I’m a little surprised I could make something so girly and pretty. It figures that it could only happen by accident.

edited to add:
Wow, what a great response! Isn’t it funny, I never even considered these would be useful in a wedding, and that’s where they really seem to be attracting attention.

Brides, if you’re interested in these just drop me a line. I do take custom orders.

Anonymous asked if I had any tips on how to make the petals bend more naturally. A little practice here is really the best teacher, but I found that if I held the flower over the flame in a certain way, I could kind of encourage how the petal was going to curl. I basically just held it so that my thumb was in the middle of the petal, kind of bending it as I held it over the flame. It will always be a little unpredictable, but this at least makes sure that all the petals curl in or out in the same direction.

Desanera suggested doing a modern version with layered circles, and I think that sounds fantastic. In my head they end up looking like ranunclus.

DMB suggested adding a stem to make a bouquet out of them, and I think she’s a genius. I’m sure you could rig up something with some wire and floral tape, but I just might have to experiment with that for a while.

As I mentioned the other day, these are papercuttings that I’ve mounted on a wooden board I stained a reddish teak color, and then covered in resin.

I have this little trio of niches I needed something special for, and I just couldn’t find what I had in mind, so of course I decided to make it. {I haven’t decided, should I leave them propped up or should I hang them in the center of the niche? What do you guys think?}

I was scouring etsy, looking for some kind of a painting or illustration that reflected a midcentury modern or art deco style, and I just couldn’t find anything. The only midcentury artwork I found at all was very 60’s lounge looking, and I don’t want to go to far that direction. Ever since Austin Powers, that starts to look very campy very quickly.

I went out and bought this Dover book* looking for inspiration. On a piece of tissue paper, I traced the image from the book, and then made the lines thick enough to do a paper cutting from it. Images intended for stained glass make PERFECT papercuttings.

* Side note – I didn’t know about Dover until my graphic designer friend Chris turned me onto them. If you are a collage artist, or really any kind of artist, they are just indispensable. Royalty free images from throughout the history of art.

Here’s a papercut I made when I was toying around with the idea of making coasters like this. Um, no. WAY too labor intensive. But this gives you an idea of how thick I made the lines, about 1/4″ thick, to hide the edges of the paper behind it.

Then I pulled out all the scraps of solid colored cardstock I had lying around. As a scrapbooker I literally have drawers full of this stuff, and it made color selection pretty easy since I tend to use my favorite colors over and over, the scraps of them all kind of worked together.

Now, take your papercutting and use it to trace the shape you want to fill each section. Make sure that your papercutting and your cardstock are both right side down so you don’t have to deal with pencil marks. I ended up marking the back of my papercutting because I kept getting confused and then all my pieces were facing the wrong way. Cut your traced piece out, leaving about 1/8″ margin around the pencil line to make sure that all the edges get hidden.

The gluing is a little bit tricky, so you have to do it in steps. You’ll need to make this paper water tight because the resin will change the colors, so instead of using a glue, I actually use an acrylic sealer. I took a spare piece of cardstock, traced the papercutting to make myself a kind of a map, and then used the sealer to glue all the pieces in place. I let it dry with a heavy book on top to prevent the curling that wet paper does so well. Then, when it was dry, I used the sealer to glue the papercutting on top. I sealed the whole top about twice more, sealed the papercutting to the wood board, and when it had dried overnight, I poured the resin over the top.

I made a whole extra set of these while I was making mine, so they’ll be in the shop whenever I decide to make that happen. It’s a little bit of a time consuming process, and since I’ve decided I’m not a huge fan of resin I’d like to see if there’s anything else I can use to get a result I’m pleased with, but the papercuttings themselves? Mighty addictive. Especially the playing around with color and making a little puzzle for myself. I think I’ll come back to this project again soon.