Make Believe | Sam Ball | Handmade Embellishments

With so many scrapbooking collections having co-ordinating embellishments, and with so many of us scrapping in and amongst other commitments, taking the time to make handmade embellishments is something we simply don’t have the time to do!

A couple of years ago, I did a fine metalworking class that I really enjoyed. I knew it was perfect for translating onto scrapbooking layouts, as it combined paper and fabric with metal, and incorporated other crafts such as crochet, to ultimately make wall art. 

Like so many of these crafts, I was smitten and bought a whole host of the necessary equipment including different wire gauges and cutters! And like so many of these crafts that we fall for, it occasionally comes out the cupboard!

So, with this months’ theme being handmade embellishments, I decided upon making a few simple shapes to complement a scrapbooking collection. For a novice like me, the shapes themselves are best suited to simpler ones, so I decided to reach for Magical Forest by Crate Paper, as it features a whimsy of cute animals, along with a good dash of make believe!

Having bent the wire into a star, moon and cloud, I bound the join using a very fine wire. Each shape was then backed with a paper, with the cloud having the additional embellishment of a buttonhole stitched edge.

I created three groupings, each incorporating a journaling card, ephemera and the wirework embellishment, raising some bits on foam 3D pads and adding chipboard pieces for extra depth.

Before sticking it all down, I used the new Tim Holtz Speckled Egg oxide spray to create splatters, then once everything was fixed in place, I mixed water with the matching oxide ink pad on my messy mat to add a soft halo effect around each cluster.

I’ve loved how it turned out and have every good intention to include handmade wire embellishments on future layouts!

Have you ever made your own embellishments… people do believe that when your mojo is AWOL, it’s a great way to kick start it!

Don’t forget to share your layouts over on our Facebook page, or tag us on Instagram if you’ve played along this month? It’s a great way to use up old stash whilst enjoying new collections too!