Twilight Love

Welcome Crafters and Readers to the first article of the Crafty Boutique. I am very excited to be here. I hope to bring you fun and fresh projects each month and I’ll hope you will be here with me as I do so.

For my first article I revisited a theme that we all know and love. It is a theme that has many of us biting at the bit to get a piece of the action; it is a theme that has our pulse racing every time we get a glimpse of it. And yes, perhaps, you may not be a fan but if you have a daughter, granddaughter, niece, neighbor or if you don’t live underneath a rock then you have most certainly heard of it. Yes ladies, I am talking about the one and only dreamboats Edward Cullen and Jacob Black (insert noise of screaming fans).

The vampire phenomenon has hit us hard and it is here to stay. In previous eras, the vampire cult was more of an underground theme and it was associated with a specific group of people. But in recent years, the way we see Vampires has changed. Stephanie Meyer and her Twilight Saga introduced us to a more beautiful and romantic vampire. Her vampires are described as extremely beautiful creatures that sparkle like diamonds in the sun. And with these beautiful vampires she also brought along another set of beautiful creatures, the wolves – the shape shifters.

To those unaware of the meaning behind Twilight, it isn’t just about vampires and wolves but it is about Love. It is about everlasting, all consuming Love, an entity that we all hope to attain. Those that have read the books or seen the movies, say I want Edward’s love and believe that Edward is Bella’s soul mate whereas many say that Jacob’s love is much healthier and he should be the chosen one. This love triangle led to much discussion and riffs between fans. They formed two teams, one for Edward and for Jacob {personally I’m Team Jasper :)}. So the series question here today is, are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?

It seems as though our talented ladies are more Team Edward. They just swoon over the sparkly beautiful vampire and you can see it in the beautiful cards, tags and altered art work that they lovingly created for themselves or for loved ones.

Sparkle Birthday by Erika Valdez

Supplies: Paper: Papertrey Ink, Cardstock: Die Cuts With a View, Ribbon: Recollections, Glitter Glue: Stickles Ranger Industries, Pens: Sakura, Ink Pad: Stazon, ColorBox, Coloring Pencils: Prismacolor, Adhesive: Scotch (3M). Tools: Electronic Die Cutter: Cricut Expression (Provo Craft). Cartridges: George and Basic Shapes (Provo Craft). Stamps: The Paper Company Studio, Artful INKables. Other: specialty paper, gamsol, sandpaper, adhesive foam. Digital Supplies: Digital Stamp: The Greeting Farm.

Design Notes: I made this special birthday card for my younger sister who is a Twilight Fanatic and is definitely on Team Edward. I used diamond stickles on Edward’s skin to give him the shine and sparkle his skin throws off when he is in the sunlight. Since I was unable to find a sentiment I liked I decided to create my own. I also created a matching envelope to make the card much more special.

To see more of Erika’s extremely cutesy work that is a combination of Provo Craft’s Cricut and Stamps visit her at Cricut Love.

Breaking Dawn Tag by Natasha Daly

Supplies: Paper: Creative Imaginations, Kaisercraft, Cardstock: Bazzil Basic Paper, Ribbon: Craftworks, Glitter Glue: Kindy Glitz, Ink Pad: Memento Ink, VersaMark, Embossing Powder: Stamp World, Glimmermist: Tattered Angels, Markers: Copic, Adhesive: Glossy Accents Ranger (Inkssentials), Xpress-It Double Side. Other: Charms, Stickpins, Lace, Ribbon, Tulle, Fibers, Felt, Fabric. Tools: Die Cut Machine: Sizzix Big Shot, Dies: Sizzix,  Tim Holtz’s Visual Artistry Collection. Other: sewing needle, thread, novelty plastic wedding bands, heating tool, hot glue gun. Digital Supplies: Digital Stamps: The Greeting Farm.

Design Notes: This tag was created for an online swap that was inspired by Twilight. I was part of the “Team Edward” group. I used various techniques, scraps and tools to create this tag. I created a secret pocket for the tag which allowed me to add my image of Bella. I really liked creating this tag because I used scrap lace, ribbon, fabric, tulle, fibers and beads to create my own rosette, stick pin and embellishments. This is my tip to you: do not be afraid of using scraps found in your crafting stash. I generally always color or use glimmermist to alter an item or try to colors match my colors. For example the red rose I made was muted using slate glimmermist and the ribbon rose was a cream rose I colored using my copic markers. There is always a way so just experiment.

To see more of Natasha’s experimentations and beautiful homemade pins and flowers visit her at Tamali Creations.

Twilight Saga Altered Tray by Regan Giangrande

Supplies: Paper: Stampin’ Up!, Me & My Big Ideas, The Paper Company Studio, Core’dinations, Cardstock: Georgia Pacific, Stickers: Jolee’s by You (EK Success), Remimisce, Ribbon: Recollections, Charms: Madame Delphine’s (Blue Moon), Tim Holtz Ideaology, Markers: Prismacolor Art Markers, Adhesive: Tombow.  Tools: Stamps: The Greeting Farm, Artful INKables, Photo tray: 7gypsies, Other: foam tape. Digital Supplies: Digital Stamps: The Greeting Farm.

Design Notes: I made this for my best friend’s birthday. She is a Twi-hard and decided to throw herself a Twilight Saga themed party. (Yes, we’re 30-something going on 13! Lol) This was her gift from me. As soon as I saw the tray in the store I knew what I was going to do with it! It was one of those “AH-HA genius moments”! Coloring and cutting out 9 images was a lot of work, but the resulting delight from the recipient was well worth it!

To see more of Regan’s spectacular “AH-HA” moments visit her at Charmed Stamping.