May Arts Graphic 45 Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Hello everyone. I am very excited to say that this is my VERY FIRST G45 blog hop! And ironically it's my Birthday! So to celebrate, not only am I going to share a wonderful tutorial with you, I am going to give away THIS COMPLETED PROJECT too! Simply follow my blog and leave a comment on this post and I will choose a random winner to be announced June 25th at 6pm PST here on the blog. (if you are already a follower just let me know in your comment!)

So what's in the box? A handwired necklaced created with Graphic 45 and May Arts Ribbon!

To purchase some of the Amazing Ribbon in the tutorial visit May Arts  CLICK HERE!

Visit Graphic 45's Blog they are ALSO having a giveaway!  CLICK HERE!

{I used May Arts Silk Ribbon for this bow- this is my FAVORITE!}

{I used 5 different types of May Arts Ribbon to create the necklace}

{I used another May Arts Ribbon glued to the interior to hold the necklace in place}

{The box and the image are all from Graphic 45's new line A Ladies Diary, look for it in your local scrapbook store or online now!}

{The neclace is made from wrapping May Arts Ribbon around heavy gauge wire}

Please pop by these other amazing blogs to see what they created!

Denise Hahn: http://www.inmyblueroom.blogspot.com/ <----- you are here!

Laura Denison: http://www.followingthepapertrail.blogspot.com/

Susan Lui: http://luv2scrap-pages.blogspot.com/

Jen: http://jenshearsdesigns.blogspot.com/

Candy: http://candyscraps.typepad.com/scraps/

Kimberly: http://serendipityvintagestudio.blogspot.com/

To view the tutorial please click on read more below!

TUTORIAL

supplies:

14 gauge wire

20 gauge wire

flat nose pliers

round nose pliers

wire cutters

May Arts Ribbons-assorted

Bead, baubles, buttons

scissors

Tacky Glue

bone folder

Graphic 45 paper 4 sheets

chipboard 2 sheets

Silk flower and sparkle gyp

Start with some 14 gauge wire I use THIS- something nice and thick that will hold its shape-cut to your size liking- I wanted mine about 10 inches finished so I cut 14 inches to leave room to make the loops

grab about 2 inches below the end

and bend to a 90 degree angle with your flat nosed pliers

wrap around the top of your round nosed pliers

Take out your pliers and insert them so the bottom round nose is now in the hole- look carefully at pic above and this one to see difference where the pliers are positioned.

Then wrap wire the rest of the way around creating a loop

Grab the loops with your flat nosed pliers and with your finger wrap wire around base of loop-see below

Now- as a rule I would teach you to use your other set of pliers to do the wrapping but this wire is very strong and you can ruin your pliers- you only need to go around twice and it doesn't need to be pretty- it wont show!

snip off any excess wire

very important- sand down the sharp edge! and Repeat for other side!

now you should have your 10 inch or so wire with loops on both ends

now grab your 20 gauge wire- I used Artistic Wire in gunmetal you can get HERE

Now measure out 3.5 times the length of your Base wire- thats 35 inches for a 10 inch base

Now grab your May Arts ribbon stash!

Cut each ribbon 3 or so inches longer than your Base piece- 13 inches for mine

You want to pick a variety of ribbon, different colors shapes, textures etc. I used 5 in the final project- too many and some get lost-too little and you can see the base wire.

Now group them all up around one of the ends, going just slightly past the very end- the base wire should be in the middle

Take your 20 gauge wire and do a few tight wraps around the end right below the loop to secure the ribbon

Now the fun begins! Grab a handful of beads, buttons, charms, vintage lace whatever you can string on a wire!

Start at the end of the 20 gauge and string your pieces along, wrapping around the Base wire as you go

You will be going down and back up, so only put something every other wrap

Kepp an eye out for what is the front and make sure your pieces all face front

when you get to the end-do a few more tight wraps right under the loop and go back down adding more goodies as you go

I actually cut this one a little short- I only did 3x the length of my base wire so it was a little short- but no worries....

wherever it ends...

just take your round nose and bend it inward and bury it in the ribbon

Now, I liked how the end s of the ribbon looked so I just trimmed them a little

on the starting side though I trimmed them right down to the loop.

Now on to the focal piece. I got this little one at a show somewhere, but you can find some cool ones to use HERE. I traced around my image from Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary and cut it out

Then I hot glued behind the piece- making sure it was a solid line of glue so my 3D Crystal Lacquer wouldn't spill out

This is what I mean- a solid line

Then I filled in with Crystal Lacquer but you can use Glossy Accents or ICE resin

You can find this HERE

while that's drying- I added some old chain to each end of my Base

then added a salvaged toggle clasp

I didn't use jump rings-just added them right on the chain

After my piece fully dried- I stamped a hole in my focal piece- many of the filligree settings already have holes

I then took a jump ring and just looped it onto one of the wires

Here it is!

Now for the gift box- do a rough measurement to see what size box you will need

Im thinking 9x9

To make my box I will need to take that 9 inches and add two for the bottom and 1 inch for the top

here is my 11x11 inch Ladies Diary and my 10x10 inch

Now to support the box I need two pieces of chipboard- No chipboard? I use the back page of my scrapbook stacks- they are perfect!

Now I cut the chipboard to 9x9- BUT now here is the trick!!! Cut ONE of them 1/8 th of an inch bigger so 9 1/8 x 9 1/8... that will make the lid fit perfectly!

Now you will need two more sheets of paper to cover the chipboard.

I like to use spray adhesive for big pieces- attach your cardstock to the chipboard

Now get out your 11x11 piece and using a ruler make a dash at 1 inch in from side....

and 1 inch in from bottom...

Glue up your chipboard piece...

flip over and line it up on the dashes you made- then use your ruler to get it exact- using glue allows forgiveness so you can slid it into place!

now do the same for the lid

Now we are going to Score all 4 sides- my surface is hard so I use a mouse pad to help me- score right up against the chipboard but use your ruler for the ends to keep your score line straight

fold in all sides

and snip the corner on all 4 sides- 4 snips two on one side and two exactly across from each other

fold in the tabs you just created and glue them. I prefer glue to tape runners- they just dont hold up well for boxes.

now do the same for the lid!

Now to add out necklace- I want it to stay in place so I hot glued down some May Arts ribbon to hold it

Added and inked A Ladies Diary Tag

A little trcik to attach tags- usually the bow I tie makes the tag hang funny so I trim a little strip from the ribbon and tie it to the tag

Like this- then I just lay it in the knot and tie the bow- always lays flat!

Now the top just looked a little too new! So I took some Colorbox Chalk in Creamy Brown find it HERE

That's better!

I added some silk flower and then a few strips of the ribbon I used in the necklace to embellish it with

I love Glitter Gyp- I get it in downtown LA but I think you can buy it HERE too

And here it is! What lucky commenter will get it?

Thanks for looking and hope to see you back In My Blue Room soon!