Blissmade: May 2013

Very Easy DIY :)
I think this is one of my best tutorials and the easiest!
This tutorial is both creative & it gives such a cool effect and it really is easy, cheap and a fast way to wrap up whatever letter you want to give to anyone special :)

The coolest thing about it is..its handmade and it gives something special to it. So let's start :)

Here's what you need :

1) Paper ( I of course had file separators and since its thick and hard i used that)

2) Glue (anything that pastes very well depending on the paper you use)

3) A Marker, Siccor, Some stick it notes of colors, Foam stickers or other type of sticker.

4) Lastly A Letter (Obviously)

Let's Start!
How to Do :

1) Take the paper and draw half of a huge heart on it with your marker/pen. I used a whiteboard marker so it was easy to erase the excess marks off.

Now fold the paper and cut...

You will end up with this image below,

2) Now fold the corner into the middle of the paper. Make sure you fold it exactly like this image below. Reason is, the part you leave is the length you are going to have to put your letter inside the envelop.

REMEMBER : My paper had no right side, both sides are the same so if you are using a paper that has two different sides..this is happening in the inside of it.

Do both sides like the above image and you will end up like this,

3) Now fold the top part of the above image of step 2 onto the two folded sides. It will look like this from the outside :

Now paste that top part which will be the envelope's end onto the two folded sides. Remember when you are pasting be careful because this is where if you mess up, you won't be able to put your letter inside properly.

Take your glue and paste the two half folds together. The middle won't be glued at all!

After glueing press it hard or keeping it under a pile of books so it will paste properly and won't come off. It should look like this below image and should stay like this without any support to press it after its dried off.

4) Now fold the top part which is left like a normal envelop. Make sure you fold it properly so the corners are pretty sharp and the envelope's corners are closed properly by folding it. It will look like this,

For support use foam stickers, stickers, or a beads, maybe candle wax? to paste the envelope's backside so your letter won't fall off. I used a foam sticker so its easy for the reader to take it off and also put it back whenever he/she wants to. I thought its pretty user friendly that way! :)

5) Lastly decorate the front of your envelop!

I used some stick it notes of different colors. Over in these two envelops i used blue and orange as you can see in the below pictures..

I cut different shapes to make it look more creative and interesting for the reader and i think its pretty cool :) You can cut anything you want, and i ended up writing the person's name i wanted to give it to and i had some more space to write several stuff to make it more complicated!

Check the pictures out of what i ended up with! :)

Do yours & Enjoy! x
With Love,
Kavi Sam.

Do you want to make this incredible cloth with an amazing print, it almost looks like its printed out? Guess what, I handmade it! Now you can do yours too, its easy, cheap and washable if you use the correct paint for cloth.

This tutorial is just an idea for a complicated print..You can even print hearts or tiger prints or kisses or anything you wish and just make it look like cloth you bought off the store!

I've actually only taken a simple piece of cloth, nothing big..As i said, Bliss Made gives ideas so you can be creative yourself..Comment what you came up with too at the end of the post! :)

My one could be used as a simple table mat because i really like how it came out, so pretty it almost looks real printed cloth! :) Let's start shall we? :)

I'll start off with what you need :

1) Cloth..I'd prefer it would be the perfect material..usually if you're planning to do an animal print, go for a off white cloth with a little fur on it.

2) Paint brush (Any Size), Fabric Paint (If you use any other..it won't be washable; meaning whatever you paint might just go away and leave the cloth with stains all smudged -_- )
For y Leopard Print, get black & brown paint..

3) Lace to curve the ends and make it look beautiful. Anything would be fine.. :)
4) Sewing Machine OR Needle & Thread.
5) Little bit of water.

That's it! Lets Start!
How to do :

1) We'll i found a leftover cloth and i cut it into a usable piece for a table mat. shown in the left side in small image.

Well now before cutting what i want..i took a felt pen and market the part i want with the help of a ruler! This is not optional, if you know exactly how much you want.

Now i cut it and ended up with what
i'm going to paint :) let's go ahead to the next step then!

2) NOTE : DO THE LACE STEP/ SEWING BEFORE PAINTING (otherwise the paint would smudge or you will have to wait till it dries off and it could take HOURS :/ )

::::So first of all, i'm going to sew the lace. Or if in your case you aren't using a lace..well ribbons could be useful or you can just use nothing and just neaten the ends.

Neatening the end are important if you aren't sewing anything to the end/corners otherwise the thread of the cloth will just pop out and look ugly and also it could make matters worse and end up tearing apart.

-So i used my Sewing Machine to sew the lace, you can use the needle & thread won't really matter either way. I just did a normal stitch to sew the lace. Make sure it's tight & not loose ALSO it should look very neat so it won't look bad and choose the appropriate color thread which is very important! (All basics of sewing)

-Neatening can be done using a bracket stitch to the ends and don't make those so tight, keep a little air to it so the cloth's ends won't get crumbled.

I stitched my lace to the back side of the cloth like this,
--This one was when i sew from the back side of the cloth...and the next image shows how it looks to the front.

This is how it came out as,

3) Now to Paint!

First we shall start with the basic. This is actually like shading something. You start with the base, then you go ahead for the top layers.

-BASE LAYER out of 3 Layers!
Start with taking black paint. If you don't know how to draw this print or what it looks like, here's what t should look like...just a rough sketch. Just Google otherwise for more!

So starting off the base i'll show how i did with images and a description on top. :)

:::: Paint with the black paint like this,
The print doesn't have to be an exact same! Not all cats have the same spots right?
Use a teeny tiny little bit of water along with the fabric paint to spread and properly color (Depending on the cloth, my one was a little rough and bit furry..so it needed water because my paint was pretty thick)

If you want o duplicate the spot and it just won't come right with your hand..then go ahead and turn the in half the second right after painting that spot.

Press to get a better spot!

Now paint all over the cloth. Mine ended up like this with different shapes of Leopard print and i just painted. Its really not a hard job to put some curves here and there :)

The smudged part is because i used little bit of water with the paint and darkened the spots. You better do so too to get a nicer effect :)

Base done!

4) SECOND LAYER out of 3 Layers!
This one is to apply a little shade here and there of brown color.

So take the brown color and start painting.
Remember, you don't need to be an artist for this!

TIP : To get the Leopard effect, Paint the brown at the corners of the spots. And fade it a little along to the middle. don't apply too much. First do lightly on the spots..and after you are done with all the spots..then darken them on top with a little more brown. You can use a little water.

Mine ended like this,

5) LAST LAYER out of of 3 Layers!

Now this one is all about smudging. I want you to dip your paintbrush in the water a little and mix the paint off to the water, don't do too much so the whole paint goes off the paint brush!! The reason w're doing this is to lighten the color to smudge the cloth to get the dirrty effect.

p.s- Thats my dirty water, haha :D Wasn't bothered to clean it! xD

Now you need the excess water to go away, so i suggest you take an old cloth and dry it abit, don't do too much just apply the brush on the cloth like your brushing dust off the couch.

And now of course the smudge the spots! All you have to do is.. hit the blank places of the cloth (which in mine is obviously plain white) And hit the cloth really hard because sometimes once you keep hitting and then there's no paint left in the brush at all that it probably won't leave any stains!

So for that, just dip it in the water again and do the above two images again and continue this step.