Impressers' Extraordinaire: Gold and Strawberries

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Gold and Strawberries

Have you ever imagined something, but until it was close to "just right" in your mind you just couldn't put that idea into reality? You may have noticed I haven't posted anything for a few days, and that's because I had (above) this rolling around my brain, but couldn't get it to the REAL stage. Until now. To give credit where credit is due, I watched a You Tube video by Dawn Griffith and she showed how to make some strawberries, so I set out to do just that. However, I didn't have any of the same tools she used to create her berries, so I had to figure out how to improvise. Here's what I did:

Using the Floral Framelits Die, 2nd largest, I cut out my strawberry and then embossed with the Perfect Polka Dots EF. I made my leaves from the Pansy Punch and then began to construct my first berry.

I folded the Real Red Card Stock in half, all the way around. Next I cut out two of the sections, ending up with the piece you see below.

I refolded this piece in half and punched the 6 sections of the strawberry. I then used the Multipurpose Adhesive and glued the 2 adjacent sections together and formed a preliminary version of the finished berry. Taking a needle and some Linen Thread, about 8 inches, give or take, I whip-stitched through the holes, ending in the same hole I began. BE SURE TO BEGIN IN THE DOUBLED UP PIECE, BECAUSE WHEN YOU CINCH YOUR THREAD, YOU'LL NEED THE STRENGTH OF THIS PIECE!

Before you begin cinching up the thread you need to cut 1/4" to 3/8" down between each section on your berry. This will make it easier to gather. Then carefully cinch up the thread and double knot it before cutting off the excess Linen Thread.

Your berry is almost complete, but you need your leaves to top them off. I used Old Olive card stock, punched it with the Pansy punch and then added texture by first lightly spritzing the leaves with water.

Then I wadded this piece as tightly and gently as I could and then carefully unfolded it. I used pencil markings to guide where I punched 2 small holes that I then put linen thread through, to imitate a stem.