I hope everyone is finally getting to enjoy some Spring weather - it finally seems to have appeared here in Central Illinois and I am so very ready, lol! Today I want to share a birdhouse frame I used several different Helmar products on for different techniques so bear with me while I try to give you the scoop!
I purchased this unfinished wood frame (isn't it adorable!) from a craft store and in taking off the perch, it broke. I always remove perches from birdhouses I am altering (and I alter a LOT of them, which is why I fell in love with the frame!) because it really makes covering the front with paper much easier. After you've finished papering, simply run your finger across it to find the indentation from the perch hole and use an embossing tool to neatly poke back through the paper. A drop of Helmar Premium Craft Glue, re-insert the perch and voila!
So anyways, back to my poor, broken frame. I live about 45 minutes away from the craft store and already had my heart set on altering this particular frame and had zero intentions of waiting until I could get another. So Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to the rescue!
While that was drying, I went ahead and painted my edges, roof overhangs, and perch. Then I used an adorable paper from Karen Foster's Spring collection - I am so in love with this line - to cover the front of the frame and a coordinating paper for the roof using Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue. I already knew I was going to be using several of the stickers from the line and stuck those down onto some white cardstock and trimmed them with a tiny border. I know, I know, they're stickers - why not just stick them on? Well first, because on an altered project, I never, ever trust the original sticker adhesive. Some are fine, some are not - I'd rather not find out when my project is hanging on the wall or something that the sticker adhesive was lousy. So for all stickers, I either mat them like this, or at least "de-stickify" them and then use an adhesive I know I can trust. In this case, I used Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots because I wanted some dimension.
Because I also make jewelry, I have tons of beads hanging around and love to incorporate them into my papercrafting as well. Seed beads are an especially fun crossover product because of the massive array of colors available. Seed beads come packaged in two ways. The most common in craft stores is to have the beads loose in a vial, bag, etc. Which will leave the most patient crafter pulling their hair out and chasing after them all over the floor. So instead, try to find them "packaged" in what is called a hank. In this method, they are pre-strung onto thin cotton cords and looped into groups of around 20 or so long strands. Trust me - once you try working with them this way, you will NEVER look at a bag or vial of beads again! When beading, you simply pull one strand loose and slide them directly from the string onto your needle or wire. But we're not beading, right? Of course not - this technique I'm about to show you is so much more fun (and easier, lol)!
Using Helmar Premium Craft Glue and a string of seed beads, you can literally draw with beads! First of all, a tip. The Premium Craft Glue dries quickly so a "skin" forms almost immediately - work in small (about an inch at a time, tops) increments or the beads will not stick once the skin has formed. You can lightly sketch out your path first with pencil, however I just winged it (pun intended) and went right to the fun part. Separate out one strand of seed beads from the hank and have it ready. Draw with Helmar Premium Craft Glue and immediately place the string of beads into it. Using a needle tool or detail tweezers, nudge it exactly where you want it. Draw the next section and continue. When everything is just right, you can remove the string by gently pulling. Or you can also leave the string in! I did that with the sign border so that if any of the beads got knocked loose, I won't lose them because they'll still be held there by the string! I had so much fun with this technique and now I'm eyeing the huge collection of seed bead hanks I have and thinking of all the things I want to do with them! Because honestly, I just don't have the patience to actually BEAD with them, lol - I just buy them because I love how they look hanging all together in all their gorgeous colors!
The last little detail I want to mention is the sign post. Recognize it? I simply took a piece of tan Magic Mesh and folded it several times. Then I ran a line of Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive along it and pressed it onto my project. I love that it added such a subtle little texture to that corner mixed in with the bright shiny beads and the pretty, muted colors of the cardstock stickers from Karen Foster.
Supply list:
Karen Foster paper
Seed Beads
Ranger Paint
Unfinished wood birdhouse frame
We would LOVE to see what you do with Helmar adhesives and seed beads (and any other projects with Helmar adhesives!) so be sure to let us know what you're making! Have a wonderful week!
Helmar US DT Member
Totally fun project!!
Posted by: Lynda aka alrlsmom | May 12, 2009 at 12:55 PM
Jenna, this is gorgeous! I love how you used that Karen Foster product.
Posted by: Marci K | April 28, 2009 at 11:48 AM