I must admit this wasn't my original idea -- I recently came across this wonderful Valentine Chandelier and wanted to make my own version of it -- a little more vintage-themed one, so here's my take on it! Sorry these photos are not better -- it's hard to get a good photo of things that are constantly turning and twisting!
For the base of the chandelier, I used one chipboard heart "page" from Maya Road's Heart Chipboard Album:
These hearts are a nice size -- approximately 6.50" at the widest point and almost 6.25" tall. With eight "pages", you can either make a lot of these type of projects, or a very full Valentine album! Alternately, you could use some of Ellen's Craft-a-Board or Crystal Clear Plastic to fashion whatever shape you'd like your chandelier to have. That's what I was originally going to do, until I saw how nice and large this heart album was!
I covered the chipboard heart with patterned papers from 7 Gypsies' Lille 6x6 paper pack -- I love the warm tones and vintage collage style of these papers!
The 6-inch paper will not quite cover all of the heart chipboard -- it must be turned at an angle into the corner of the paper and then just some tiny slivers of the chipboard will still show. The rose trim I used around the edge of the heart chipboard shape finished covering the chipboard just fine. But if this bothers you, the Lille papers are also available in a larger 8-inch size!
I trimmed the edge of the heart with Cream Small Organza Roses, adhered with Copic's X-Press It Double-Sided High Tack Tape (shown below is the top side of my paper-covered chipboard heart, untrimmed and the bottom side, shown trimmed with the cream roses):
For the photos, I used Ellen's fabulous selection of Assorted Doilies:
See those cute heart doilies in the pack? They are the perfect size (approximately 4" x 4") for about a 2.50" x 3" photo! So I made them into "frames" by cutting my black & white photos into heart shapes and adding some Zva Clear Swirl Crystals to dress them up:
I backed the doilies with patterned paper, to give them more stability & weight, and make them pretty on the reverse side, too! I sponged some Antique Linen Distress Ink on the white doilies, so they would match the vintage patterned papers a little better. Instructions for the red tissue flowers are below with the Bingo card and the little "love bird" was die cut with Spellbinders smallest Nested Bird die set.
I used a Jenni Bowlin Red Adore Mini Bingo Card and since the back of it is plain white, I machine stitched more of the Lille paper onto the back and then trimmed the edges with pinking shears.
To accent the front of the Bingo card, I made a tissue flower by die cutting several layers of red tissue paper with Spellbinders Nested Peony dies. After die cutting, just stack the layers of tissue paper together and secure them in the center (I used Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher) and cover the staple with a large pearl or rhinestone. Then fluff up the layers of tissue paper -- quick and easy! Alternately, you could use a brad to secure the center of the flower.
The "wonky" hanging hearts were die cut with Tim Holtz's Heart Wing Bigz Die (shown below):
from Memory Box Cranberry cardstock (solid heart) and then topped with the swirly heart die cut from Lille papers (these are two separate shapes on the die):
More solid hearts were die cut from Memory Box's Red Biscotti cardstock, aged with Antique Linen Distress Ink so they would match the Lille papers better, and accented with red gemstones. To make it quick and easy to die cut matching images (that you want to have a nice front and back), fold the cardstock in half (Memory Box is colored on one side and white on the back), so the white is on the inside. After die cutting, just adhere these two mirror images together and you'll have a colored heart on both sides! To adhere smaller die cuts like the swirly heart above, I like to use a mini bottle of Ranger's Glossy Accents -- it's a great liquid glue! The bottle is easier to hold, the small applicator makes it easy to control the "glue" in tight spaces, and it dries quickly. The double heart at the bottom of the photo above was cut on the fold of the cardstock and then opened up and backed with another piece of patterned cardstock.
If you've never used any of Tim's or Sizzix's Bigz dies and don't have either Sizzix's or Tim's die cutting machines but have a Cuttlebug, these dies work perfectly and easily in it! I just use a Cuttlebug B plate on either side of the die and get perfect cuts every time, even with cardstock doubled like I've done here.
The birds were die cut with Spellbinders Nested Bird die, again from doubled Memory Box Cranberry cardstock, and I made the wings from Tim Holtz's Heart Wings Bigz Die!
To assemble the the chandelier, I lined up all my elements in four different columns and played with the placement. Then I threaded an embroidery needle with fishing line and strung each of the four lines separately, leaving enough fishing line at the top and bottom of each string to allow for tying. Using my Crop-a-Dile, I punched holes at the point of the heart and on the top of the heart, at each of the curves. A piercing tool was used to place a hole in the center of the heart for the fourth line.
NOTE: When adhering the heart and bird fronts and backs together, I only placed a strong adhesive on the edges and not in the middles, so I would be able to string the fishing line through the centers of the double-sided cardstock shapes. These "sandwiched" shapes were then easy to slide up and down the fishing line, to determine good placement and then stayed in place very well.
To anchor the doily heart frames to the fishing line (since I had not thought ahead and glued all of the photos and backing papers to the doilies and didn't leave a space through the middles!), I sewed the fishing line through the bottom of the front of the heart, along the back, and then back through the top of the heart to the front side. Until the exact placement of the frames was determined, this let me slide the frames up and down the fishing line easily:
Once the proper placement was determined, I placed Mini Glue dots on the back of the heart frame where the fishing line was "sewn" through the cardstock. To make the Glue Dot a little prettier, I sprinkled Glitter Ritz Warm Highlights Transparent Microfine glitter over them!
To weight the ends of the fishing line, I used these beautiful Melissa Frances Diamond Chandelier Drops:
The Chandelier Drops also help to weight each line, so they hang nicely. And the darling butterflies are Jenni Bowlin Vellum Embellished Butterflies in Red!
Finally, to make the hanger at the top of my chandelier, I used ivory satin ribbon threaded through each of the three outer holes (knotted separately on the bottom of the heart base) and knotted them together at the top. I hope I've explained the construction of this chandelier well - if not, please let me know if the comments and I'll answer your questions! Thanks for visiting the CLASSroom today! ~ Sharon
Paper: 7 Gypsies-Lille 6x6 paper pack, Memory Box Cranberry Cardstock & Cranberry Biscotti Cardstdock; Essentials by Ellen Assorted Doilies,
Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Ink-Antique Linen,
Copic Markers
Tools: Tim Holtz Bigz Die-Heart Wings; Spellbinders Nested Bird & Nested Peony die templates; WRM Crop-a-Dile, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher,
Accessories: Jenni Bowlin Vellum Embellished Butterflies-Red & Mini Bingo Cards-Red; Maya Road Chipboard Album-Heart; Prima Small Organza Roses-Cream; Melissa Frances Chandelier Drops-Diamond; Hero Arts Assorted Gemstones-Red; Ranger Ink Blending Tool & Mini Glossy Accents; 3/8" Glue Dots; Glue Glider Pro with Perma Tac adhesive, Copic X-Press It High Tack Double-Sided Tape; Zva Clear Swirl Crystals, Glitter Ritz Warm Highlights Transparent Microfine glitter,
Other: fishing line, red tissue paper, pinking shears, sewing machine + ivory thread, embroidery needle
